《The Strongest Assassin Reincarnates in Another World》


 Chapter 1 Assassination

    ?"Yesterday, a mafia boss was assassinated. His head was swiftly severed before he even had a chance to react," reported the journalist on the television, delving into the details of the shocking event.


    "The method of execution strongly suggests the involvement of the notorious assassin known as the Reaper. His signature style entails a single, precise strike to the victim''s neck. The Reaper remains atrge, and the authorities are actively pursuing leads to apprehend him," the reporter continued, captivating the audience with the elusive figure''s exploits.


    Growing weary of the incessant coverage surrounding the assassination, Aiden switched off the television. He nced at the items resting next to him on the couch¡ªthe dagger still stained with fresh blood, and the eerie mask resembling the visage of the reaper. These were the tools he employed to end the life of the mafia boss. It didn''t take much deduction to realize whose blood coated the de.


    "Why do they hate me? I just killed a really bad man, I don''t understand why they would hate me," murmured Aiden, not understanding why the poption was against his assassinations.


    Aiden''sprehension of the world was limited. From a young age, he had been molded into an assassin, trained to conceal himself skillfully and suppress his emotions. The relentless training he had endured as a boy shattered his psyche, leaving him obedient to themands of the organization that had forged him into a deadly killer.


    Living as an assassin had always been hard for Aiden, but he had no alternative. He embarked on missions, asionally venturing into the city to glimpse what a normal life entailed. However, even in those moments, his vision of a normal world was quite different from that of normal persons. But, when he went into the city he could sometimes see the smiles they had on their faces when they were hanging out with friends and it made Aiden realize that he would be alone, forever.


    Suddenly, the door to his room swung open, revealing Jack, the man who had trained him all those years.


    "Excellent job on eliminating the mafia boss. You''ve shown remarkable growth and strength in recent years," Jack praised, acknowledging Aiden''s achievement.


    "Thank you," Aiden curtly replied, keeping his response concise to avoid provoking the unsettling presence of his former mentor. He wanted Jack to leave the room because he didn''t like his presence because of how he had traumatized Aiden in his life.


    As Jack was leaving he informed of a mission that he would have to do, "Aiden, I have a task for you tomorrow. I will send you the details tonight. Be prepared."


    Aiden remained silent, offering only a nod as his response, devoid of any emotion, thinking of leaving this ce forever not wanting to stay here anymore.


    Retreating to his bed, he sought sce in the television once again, but this time, he changed channels to evade the disparaging remarks and negative discussions about his recent actions. He refused to let such criticism sour his mood.


    Several hourster, Aiden retired for the night, preparing himself for the impending mission.


    The following day, as he readied himself for the task ahead, Aiden held his now clean dagger, its familiarity a testament to his proficiency with the weapon. He then adorned his signature mask, resembling the visage of a reaper¡ªthe symbol of his ndestine identity.


    Yet, an unease settled within him for the first time in his life. He had a feeling that something would go wrong but he couldn''t tell what it was. This disconcerting feeling felt alien to him.


    Dismissing it as an unfounded concern, Aiden rationalized that he had no reason to be apprehensive. The task at hand seemed straightforward, he had to eliminate a gang boss residing in the slums. A task like that was supposed to be easy, so why was he having that feeling?


    Arriving in the slums, Aiden saw something horrible. People were in the streets looking unhealthy as if they would drop dead at any moment. However, Aiden couldn''t care for them at the moment, he had toplete his mission.


    Finally, he arrived at the spot which Jack had told him of yesterday, and he entered.


    It was weird, why wasn''t he hearing anything it was like he was in some sort of abandoned building, where only the wind could be heard.


    Advancing cautiously toward the bedroom, Aiden discerned the sounds of someone engrossed in their work. His target, unaware of the impending danger, continued his activities, oblivious to the fate that loomed over him.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    Approaching his prey noiselessly, Aiden readied his dagger, preparing for the fatal strike. However, to his disbelief, his attack was thwarted as the target deflected the blow effortlessly, never diverting his attention from his task.


    Caught off guard, Aiden quickly regrouped,unching another attack. Yet, a shadowy figure emerged from the darkness,unching a vicious counter-attack, slicing Aiden''s abdomen and causing blood to spill forth.


    "Ahaha, you really came, huh?" taunted the masked assant, a cruel smile adorning his face.


    Silent and resilient, Aiden refused to utter a word. Because of his training from young age, he acted as if he didn''t feel any pain, not making any noise.


    "Do you not recognize me?" the assant inquired, his grin widening.


    "It''s me, Jack."


    As the words reverberated through Aiden''s mind, his eyes widened with disbelief. He couldn''t fathom why the man who had taught him everything would betray him. All he had ever done was obey orders, yet here he stood, facing his own demise at Jack''s hands.


    "Why... What have I done to deserve this?" Aiden questioned silently, his thoughts veering toward the iprehensible betrayal unfolding before him.


    "The reason is simple, Aiden. Your increasing strength has started to make me nervous. I felt you were getting stronger and stronger. That''s why, I organized this trap," Jack exined, his voice tinged with a chilling resolve, as he proceeded to sever both of Aiden''s arms.


    Aiden grimaced, but no cry of pain escaped his lips. The brutal training of his youth had forged an indomitable spirit, unyielding to physical agony.


    "This is the end. Goodbye," Jack dered coldly, delivering a final, decisive sh to Aiden''s neck.


    ''If I ever get reborn, I will do my absolute best to be free, I won''t be locked in a cage like you did with me,'' thought Aiden as his consciousness faded.


    ***


    In another world, a young man had decided to kill himself. He knew that his life would never get better and all he was good at was disappointing the ones around him.


    He had decided to kill himself by using drugs which would kill him for good.


    Gobbling up the pills, he started shaking uncontrobly, salivaing out of his mouth. He was moving up and down, he really was going to die.


    And that he did, the reaction he was having continued for a few minutes until he waspletely lifeless, not even a heartbeat could be heard.N?v(el)B\\jnn


    Suddenly, the body of the boy that waspletely lifeless started shaking as if another reaction was happening to it.


    The eyes of the young man who had just died shot open and words starteding out his mouth "How am I alive?"

 Chapter 2 New Body

    ?As Aiden slowly opened his eyes, he had no idea where he was or even why he was still alive. His mind was clouded, and he couldn''t remember anything about himself or his past. He tried to move his arms and was surprised to see that they were still there.


    ''Am I in heaven?'' he thought to himself, looking around in confusion.


    But that thought was short lived as he started looking around the room. It was small and sparsely furnished, with just a bed, a small closet, and a mirror. The ce looked like a cheap motel you could find on the side of the road.


    As he was starting to look around, shock could be seen in his eyes as he looked at his reflection in the mirror. He didn''t look anything like before. His body was frail without an ounce of muscle visible, but his face looked quite handsome. If we only took his face, he could probably be a model, and girls would surely be interested in him. But he looked sick with his skin that was pale. It almost looked like the body he was in had just died.


    His eyes were dark brown and his hair was light brown looking almost like dirty blonde but not quite.


    ''Did I revive in the body of a dead person?'' thought Aiden, feeling a shiver run down his spine.


    But those questions vanished when a massive headache urred to Aiden. Memories from the body he had just taken over were all blurry, and he tried to understand some things, but not much made sense to him as someone who had no idea what this world even was.


    However, he was able to understand some things.


    The first was who he was. His name was Aiden Nightshade, a noble who got disowned by his family because he held no talent at all, and since his family was elitist and couldn''t ept failure, they kicked him out.


    ''Why is our name the same? Are we linked in some sort of way?'' thought Aiden, trying to make sense of why they would both have the same name.


    The second thing he learned was that the ce he had appeared in was one where the strong ruled over the weak, which is why he was in the slums with nothing to even eat.N?v(el)B\\jnn


    He saw some memories of people doing things that should be normally impossible, and Aiden didn''t understand it at all. People were able to jump from buildings andnd without any injury. Rocks could be lifted with one hand, and some were even doing magic that he had only seen in movies, casting spells and the like.


    It was truly incredible and mind-blowing for Aiden. He couldn''t make sense of any of this, especially when his whole life had been dictated since the start.


    Seeing those strong people, Aiden became inspired. They all looked free, with nothing holding them down. It seemed as if they could do anything, and nobody would reprimand them. He decided that he wanted to be strong like them to see what it would feel like.


    But, how could he do such a thing was the question he was currently asking himself. Suddenly, memories were starting toe back slowly and he learned that the people he saw in those memories were beings called Awakeners.


    ''Just how the hell can I awaken?'' thought Aiden, wanting to be stronger at any cost not wanting to be the one betrayed this time.


    Based on the memories he had, it seemed as if people could awaken randomly but stronger families like the one he had been part of, had some sort of special method to increase their chances, but since it didn''t work for him they banished him from the family he was from and made him disappear.


    Aiden was devastated, if he couldn''t awaken, he would live a life with nothing, being treated as less just like before. This was something he didn''t want, anger could be felt as he remembered how he had felt hopeless in the face of Jack when he killed him.


    Emotions started overwhelming him. Anger, hopelessness, sadness, those emotions started to manifest from the deepest part of his being.


    The rage and other emotions he was feeling seemed to unlock something deep inside his being. It seemed like power that had been stored inside of him for many years and he had never essed it before.


    Chains that were trying as hard as possible to keep what was inside of him started to detach themselves, but there were still some that stayed.


    Aiden didn''t even know about those chains as he couldn''t even see them.


    But as the chains started to loosen up, an interface appeared in front of him with some information.


    [Aiden Nightshade]


    [Level 1]


    [Health: 100]


    [Mana: 5]


    [Race: Human]


    [ss: None]<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    [Strength: 1]


    [Agility: 1]


    [Dexterity: 1]


    [Defense: 1]


    [Stamina: 1]


    [Charm: 2]


    [Unallocated Stat Points: 0]


    [Skills]


    [Shadow Steps Lvl.MAX(Passive): You can walk as silently as you wish, you have learned this skill through after many years of hard training.]


    [Dagger mastery Lvl.3 (Passive): You have learned how to wield a dagger with efficiency always aiming to kill your opponent any chance you get.]


    [You will be summoned to the Otherworld in 15 minutes.]


    ''Wait did I just awaken?'' eximed excitedly Aiden, trying to calm himself as he watched the screen right in front of him.


    After calming down, Aiden started analyzing the screen which indicated general information about him, it seemed as if the system had taken into ount that he came from another world which was weird.


    ''How can the system know that I am not the Aiden Nightshade of this world?''


    Those preupations were of little importance for Aiden since he had achieved what he wanted since he got those memories.


    Continuing to look at the information in front of him, he finally read the message about the Otherworld.


    ''Just what the hell is that?''


    Aiden didn''t have any information about that ce and it seemed the memories in his mind wouldn''t help him this time.


    ''Could it be another world? Just how many are there?''


    Many questions were starting to appear in his mind when he saw the word Otherworld. Wasn''t he already in another world in the first ce?


    Minutester, it was finally time for Aiden to be summoned to the ce they called Otherworld.


    [0:05]


    [0:04]


    [0:03]


    [0:02]


    [0:01]


    [You are being teleported to the Otherworld.]

 Chapter 3 Waiting Room

    ?Arriving in the Otherworld, Aiden looked around with curiosity, realizing that he wasn''t alone. There were four others with him, including Aiden, and they all seemed equally intrigued by their new surroundings.


    They were in a white room, with nothing inside of it. It kinda looked like a waiting room where you can rest in between levels.


    Suddenly, a message from the same system that had sent him here appeared.


    [The first trial will start in five minutes. Take this time to get to know your teammates.]


    As Aiden began to introduce himself to the group, but immediately after doing so, he was interrupted by a strikingly beautiful girl. Her presencemanded everyone''s attention, and Aiden couldn''t help but be captivated by her grace and allure. She was truly perfect, she was beautiful, Aiden hadn''t seen anyone who looked as great as her.


    "Is this anyone''s first trial?" she asked, giggling at the reactions she received.


    Each member confirmed that it was indeed their first time, including the girl herself. Aiden, however, had a question since he was confused about what she had just asked.


    "We can attempt the trials multiple times?" asked Aiden, who was confused because he thought you could only do it one time.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    "Well, yes, but there are some consequences for those who fail over and over again," answered a small man who resembled a dwarf, sporting impressive armorpared to the others.


    Aiden found it peculiar that only the dwarf had such equipment, but he didn''t dwell on it for long. He wanted to understand the potential consequences of the trials.


    "What kind of consequences are we talking about?" Aiden asked, genuinely curious.


    "If you continue to die repeatedly, you''ll lose stats. And if you lose all of them, you''ll forfeit your awakening powers. However, the first trial allows for a free attempt without consequences, designed for neers like us who are still unfamiliar with the Otherworld," exined the dwarf.


    "I see, and sorry if I''m asking too many questions, but could someone tell me what is the trial that we would be doing?" Aiden inquired, eager to gain some insight.


    "That''s the tricky part. We don''t know the specifics until we''re summoned. However, the first trial is typically one of the easiest, meant to test the potential of the Awakened. Those who fail it usually don''t possess much promise in this world, on the other hand, the ones who excel in the first trial sometimes be famous in the real world." the dwarf replied.


    Interrupting their conversation, the girl spoke up, reminding them of the limited time they had left and suggesting introductions along with their respective sses.


    "I''ll start. I''m Ava, an enchantress. I have the ability to cast spells on monsters and impair their senses," she introduced herself with confidence.


    Aiden couldn''t help but notice how everyone''s attention seemed to gravitate toward Ava whenever she spoke. Her enchanting presence was undeniable.


    "I''m Gus, a shieldbearer," the dwarf introduced himself, pointing to his formidable armor.


    The third member, who had been rather quiet until now, finally spoke up. "I''m Michael, an assassin," he said in a mysterious tone, dressed entirely in ck and sporting a visible scar on his face. He had some sort of menacing auraing off of him which could probably affect some but it was not the case for Aiden.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    Now, it was Aiden''s turn to introduce himself. However, he realized that he had no ss to share, a fact that surprised him. He had assumed that everyone awakened with a ss, given their unique abilities. Shouldn''t he be an assassin, considering his past life?


    Feelingpelled to speak up and not wanting to raise suspicions, Aiden informed his teammates about hisck of a ss, hoping they might shed some light on the matter.


    "I''m Aiden, and... I have no ss. Is that normal?" he confessed.


    The group was taken aback, clearly puzzled by Aiden''s revtion. It seemed unheard of not to have a ss in this world. They exchanged bewildered nces, aware that awakening was usually apanied by a ss and a starting skill.


    "Did you receive a starting skill at least?" the dwarf inquired, trying to make sense of the situation.


    Aiden contemted whether to divulge the skills from his past life that had appeared in his system. However, he decided against it, expecting that his teammates would not believe him or find it irrelevant.


    "No, I didn''t receive anything," Aiden responded honestly, still unsure why hisck of a ss and starting skill was causing such a reaction.


    As Aiden''s words sank in, his teammates looked at him with a mix of surprise and concern.


    "Then, aren''t you useless? You don''t even have a skill, and judging by your physique, your starting stats are probably weak," Ava remarked, her attitude shiftingpletely as she assessed him.


    The dwarf and the assassin seemed to agree with her assessment, their expressions reflecting doubt and disappointment.


    Aiden understood their reaction but was still mad at them for changing their attitude so quickly. He knew he wasn''t any weaker than hispanions. In fact, his past life experiences had granted him a level of strength and resourcefulness that they couldn''t evenprehend.


    Before Aiden could respond, Ava continued, "I think we should leave him behind when we enter the trial. He probably won''t be of much help."


    James and Gus blindly supported Ava''s decision without even questioning her as if they were under her control. It was clear to Aiden that they were under her influence, oblivious to the change in her attitude.


    As the first trial was about tomence in a matter of seconds, Aiden silently resolved that he would prove himself, even if he had to face it alone. He had always found a way to ovee challenges, and this would be no different.


    ''I can''t wait to see what the first trial holds, even if I have to face it on my own. I''ll find a way, just as I always have,'' Aiden thought determinedly, reminded of his past memories.


    Nervousness started to fill the air as the group realized that their first trial was about to begin. The oue of this trial could significantly impact their standing in the real world.


    [You are being summoned to the first trial.]


    As they disappeared, Aiden held onto his conviction, ready to prove himself and unveil his true potential, regardless of the doubts cast upon him.

 Chapter 4 The First Trial

    ?[You have arrived at your first trial.]


    [Description: You are in an abandoned city in an unknown world. Protect the city from the monsters that are invading it. Survive the waves of monsters.]


    [Rewards: Will depend on your performance.]


    The four of them appeared in the middle of an abandoned city. The city they were in seemed to contain some inhabitants. The people that Aiden and the rest of his teammates could see were all skinny, they looked malnourished as if they had been forced to live there.


    Buildings were half destroyed, there were pieces of the buildings in the roads that restricted the ways in which they could go. The road had holes everywhere which didn''t make it easy for Aiden and the rest of the team to move. The city was inplete ruins.


    There were two gates from both sides of the city that seemed to indicate that the zombies woulde from those.


    "Well, I guess this is goodbye," said Ava, smiling at Aiden, as James and Gus followed right behind leaving Aiden to die.


    Seeing them leaving, Aiden didn''t mind as he had spent his whole life wandering the world alone and it''s not like he needed their help.


    Without saying anything to them, he turned around and left.


    Aiden had decided to go toward one of the abandoned buildings, it was the tallest one. He wanted to have a bird eyes view of the city to analyze what type of monsters would be arriving, and as he was doing so, a message appeared in front of him.


    [The first wave of monsters ising.]


    Reading this, he started to move faster, he knew he didn''t have much time before monsters woulde his way.


    He even heard monsters making noises not far away from him.


    As he arrived at the top of the building, he could see the type of monsters that wereing his way. They were zombies, they didn''t look strong but there were so many of them, that it would probably be hard to face them all at the same time.


    He could also see his teammates on the other side of the city attacking the zombies, not observing the situation beforehand. It seemed they hadn''t made the same choice as Aiden, maybe because theycked experience or they felt too confident.


    After seeing the situation, he decided to wait for the zombies toe into the city and for the perfect asion to kill them in one strike.


    However, the problem was that he didn''t have any weapon. He didn''t have the time to get one before being summoned to the Otherworld since he knew nothing about it and didn''t know he would be facing such a trial.


    Realizing this, Aiden, started to look around him to see if he could find some type of sharp object. It didn''t matter what it was as long as it was sharp enough to kill zombies.


    [Ava has killed a zombie.]


    [+1 point]


    [James has killed a zombie.]


    [+1 point]''


    [The rankings have been updated.]


    [1st: Ava and James (1 point)]


    [2nd: Aiden and Gus (0 point)]


    Notifications started to appear in front of him that told him that his teammates were already killing some of the zombies that were attacking the city.


    It seemed like there was a ranking to see how much each of them impacted during the trial which was fair because the rewards would be distributed ordingly.


    Seeing those notifications, he decided to hurry up because he didn''t want to fall behind and have bad rewards.


    Then, out of nowhere, he saw something shine under some dirt. He decided to pick it up to see what it was. And to his surprise, it was a small knife but it looked dull, he probably wouldn''t be able to make good use of it, still, it was better than nothing.


    Now with a weapon in his hands, Aiden decided it was time for him to y those monsters, he even had a smile on his face just thinking about killing those zombies.


    He went ahead with the n that he had in his mind and hid in a building that was close.


    A couple of secondster, he could see zombies walking in front of him. He waited until he spotted a zombie alone and one minuteter, there it was.


    He acted as silently as he could not wanting to attract the other zombies who were close, not a noise could be heard as it seemed his passive was working wonders.


    He jumped out of the building and aimed for the neck of the zombie, trying to kill him in one strike. However, it didn''t work out since the knife was too dull topletely sh the head of the zombie.


    With the experience he had with assassination, he knew that it didn''t always work out and that sometimes you need to improvise which he why he continued hitting the zombie.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    He had such precision that every hit he made was at the exact same spot on the zombie, he never missed his strike. The zombie tried defending but he wasn''t able to do anything, Aiden was dodging every attacking his way.


    After the fifth strike to the neck, the zombie waspletely decapitated. As the head dropped from his body, it started to dematerialize. It was bing particles like it had never existed.


    A message appeared in front of him.


    [You have killed a zombie.]


    [+1 point]


    [You have gained 2 Experience Points (XP)]


    Seeing he could gain experience killing monsters, he wanted to see how much he needed to level up. So, he opened his interface.


    [Aiden Nightshade]


    [Level 1 (2/40)]


    [Health: 100]


    [Mana: 5]


    [Race: Human]


    [ss: None]


    [Strength: 1]


    [Agility: 1]


    [Dexterity: 1]


    [Defense: 1]


    [Stamina: 1]


    [Charm: 2]


    It seemed like he would need to kill 19 other zombies to be able to level up again which wasn''t necessarily hard, it would just take a long time since he was alone. But that didn''t deter him, he didn''t waste any more time and went to find another zombie.


    The same scene repeated once again, and Aiden didn''t even get close to getting hurt, he even killed a zombie with four strikes this time instead of five.


    [You have killed a zombie.]


    [You have gained experience.]N?v(el)B\\jnn


    [+1 point]


    ***


    On the other side of the city, the rest of his team were fighting zombies as a team but they were still having a lot of problems.


    The two men tried their absolute best trying to impress the beautiful girl that watched their every move which caused them to make some mistakes.


    Gus was tanking every hit of the zombies because of his ss which helped him being a good tank, and it seemed to work. He truly was good at defending his teammates, especially Ava.


    "Good job boys!" said Ava, casting her spells from far away not taking risks.


    On the other hand, the assassin was shing the necks of monsters with much difficulty even with the dagger he had brought over. He wasn''t able to aim as urately as Aiden causing him not to be able to kill them with ease, it seemed that he wasn''t as experienced with the dagger as Aiden which was normal considering Aiden''s past life.


    Suddenly, a message appeared in front of them


    [Aiden has killed a zombie.]


    [+1 point]


    Shock could be seen in the eyes of all of them, trying to understand how he was not dead yet.

 Chapter 5 New Skill?

    ?All of them were shocked to see that the teammate they thought would die early on was still alive and was even getting points.


    "Just how is this possible?!" eximed Ava, confused by the notification she had just gotten.


    "I don''t know, maybe he lied to us because he didn''t want to show us what he was able to do," responded Gus.


    "Who cares, let''s speed up we can''t let him get more points than us. We''re supposed to be faster than him," said James, angry at the performance they were putting up.


    [Rankings]


    [Ava: 3 points]


    [James: 2 points]


    [Aiden: 2 points]


    [Gus: 0 points]


    ***


    Meanwhile


    Aiden, again, hid and pounced on a zombie that was alone, it was now the third time and he was getting more efficient because he was getting used to how zombies behaved.


    However, he started to slow down because he couldn''t find zombies who were alone. He started to ask himself if he should start attacking groups of zombies.


    His mind was trying to find a way to fight multiple zombies simultaneously, but it always came back to the same problem, his weapon. The dull knife he took as a weapon was truly garbage, if the zombies were not alone when he attacked them, they would''ve started to gang up on him and he would probably fail to kill them because they would overpower him.


    If only he could find a better weapon, he would be able to kill zombies at a much faster pace than right now. But he had no alternative, so he decided to continue what he was doing.


    However, there was a big problem, the sheer number of zombies was massive. If Aiden and the others didn''t get rid of them soon, they would reach the center of the city.


    The monsters reaching the center of the city was a big problem because the monsters would be able to go behind the rest of Aiden''s teammates. That''s why Aiden decided to go faster and not waste any more time thinking. He let his instinct as an assassin take over his body, his concentration seemed to be at its peak.


    An aura was starting to appear in the air, it was dark red, just like blood, and it seemed thick.


    [You have created a new skill: ???]


    This aura seemed to cause a reaction in the system, a message seemed to appear but Aiden wasn''t looking at it and had no idea it had even appeared. The only thing on his mind was killing the zombies as silently and quickly as possible because he couldn''t lose time anymore.


    It seemed that this instinct changed the way he fought, but he didn''t go hide in a building after each kill, he continued attacking the zombies close to him at a pace that wasn''t anything like earlier.


    The weapon he had in his hand didn''t seem to matter anymore, he was now able to sh everything in front of him with no problem.


    One sh had the same meaning as one kill.


    A couple of secondster, no zombie still had their head.


    The aura he was emitting was now starting to dissipate and he was starting to gain control of his mind, not knowing how he had achieved all of those things just now.


    It seemed he hadpletely forgotten about the actions he had just taken.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    ''What happened just now?'' questioned Aiden, looking around and seeing all the dead zombies around him not knowing that he was, in fact, him who killed them all.


    ***


    Ava and the others were awaiting the start of the second wave at the other gate entrance because they had now finished killing the zombies that wereing their way. They were now watching the messages popping up telling them that Aiden was killing zombies, but the speed at which the messages weren''t normal by any means.


    They started questioning his identity, and where he came from.


    The shock in their eyes from earlier could still be seen.


    ***


    Suddenly, a message appeared that announced that they had killed all the monsters from the first wave and that the second wave would now start.


    [The Second Wave will now start.]


    Finally killing all the zombies, Aiden decided to open the rankings to see how many points the rest of his team had gotten.


    [Rankings]n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    [Aiden: 13 points]


    [Ava: 7 points]


    [James: 5 points]


    [Gus: 1 point]


    It seemed Aiden was doing far better than his teammates, they couldn''t even, as a team, beat him who was all alone.


    As he was looking at the rankings, he started hearing the sounds of monstersing from all around him. But it wasn''t the same as earlier, it seemed that the monsters had changed this time around, Aiden could hear sounds that resembled those of wolves, bears, and animals in general.


    Aiden decided to apply the same strategy as earlier, hide and wait for them to be alone to kill one of them. But the enemiesing this time would probably be much stronger than before since they didn''t look as slow and weak as the zombies.


    It seemed fighting against them would be much more difficult this time around.


    A couple of seconds after the monsters entered the city, Aiden spotted a lone wolfpletely isted from the others. Seeing this opportunity, he had no choice but to take it.


    He activated [Shadow Steps] which made him walk silently so that the wolf couldn''t hear him. The skill seemed to have worked, the wolf waspletely unaware that right behind him there was a man trying to kill it.


    Aiden started to move his knife upward to generate power when striking the neck of the lone wolf. He knew it wouldn''t be able to kill it in one strike but it didn''t matter, he wanted to hurt it as much as possible before it realized its presence.


    The strike he had been preparing was released on the neck of the wolf, but it didn''t do much, a small amount of blood wasing out of his neck. However, there was no reaction from the wolf, he seemed intact not even looking hurt from the strike of Aiden.


    Maybe it was because of the nonexistent muscle on the body of Aiden that his attack did no damage. However, the fact that Aiden had awakened meant that he, now, had way more power than a normal human being even if he only had one point in each of his stat. Being Awakened made their physical abilities superior.


    An unawakened ifpared with the weakest awakened would not even have a fifth of their strength which caused disparity in society.


    Seeing the result of his attack, it seemed as if the fight against the lone wolf wouldn''t be an easy one.

 Chapter 6 Level Up!

    ?Seeing that his strike didn''t do much, Aiden backed off to think about what he could do to kill the wolf.


    Knowing that his weapon wasn''t effective against the massive wolf-like creatures, Aiden decided to leave the immediate confrontation and assess his options. He scanned the area, his eyes searching for anything that could potentially be used as a weapon against these formidable foes.


    Amongst the rubble of the destroyed buildings, he spottedrge pieces of twisted metal and scattered bricks. Aiden knew that these objects had the potential to cause damage, but theycked the necessary sharpness to deliver a killing blow. Nevertheless, he realized that their weight and size could be an advantage if used strategically.


    With a determined mindset, Aiden began to carefully examine the surrounding environment, assessing the terrain and identifying the ideal location for his trap. He envisioned a high vantage point on one of the sturdy buildings, a ce where he could maximize the force of gravity and increase the impact of his makeshift weapons.


    Each piece of metal and brick he found was a challenge to move, their weight far surpassing what he was ustomed to handling with his dagger. He attempted to lift them initially but quickly realized it was futile. Undeterred, he adjusted his approach, deciding to drag the heavy objects to the designated location instead.


    Straining every muscle, Aiden exerted himself to position the pieces atop the chosen building. He carefully arranged them, ensuring that they were stable and ready to be released. Beads of sweat formed on his forehead as he focused on aligning the contraption, knowing that the sess of his n hinged on precise timing and execution.


    Finally, when everything was in ce, Aiden surveyed his handiwork. The anticipation built within him as he realized the trap was set. Now all he needed to do was lure the creatures into the kill zone.


    Aiden contemted his next move, strategizing how to attract the attention of the monsters. He decided that creating a distraction through noise would be the most effective method. With a deep breath, he summoned his vocal cords and pped his hands, generating a cacophony of sound that echoed through the deste streets.


    The head of every creature in the vicinity turned, their attention drawn toward the source of themotion. Aiden''s heart raced as he watched them converge on his position, driven by instinct and the promise of an easy meal. He had sessfully baited them into his trap.


    His system was having problems showing all the rewards he got.


    [You have killed a wolf.]


    [You have gained XP.]


    [You have killed a bear.]


    [You have gained XP]


    [You have leveled up.]


    ...


    The notifications weren''t stopping and it seemed he had leveled up at least one time and Aiden was interested in seeing what rewards he would get leveling up.


    ''Status'' thought Aiden.


    [Aiden Nightshade]


    [Level 4]


    [Health: 100]


    [Mana: 5]


    [Race: Human]


    [ss: None]


    [Strength: 1]


    [Agility: 1]


    [Dexterity: 1]


    [Defense: 1]


    [Stamina: 1]


    [Charm: 2]


    [Unallocated Stat Points: 4]


    [Skills]<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    [Shadow Steps Lvl.MAX(Passive)]


    [Dagger mastery Lvl.3 (Passive)]


    [???]


    ''What is this?'' thought Aiden, not understanding why a skill had appeared in his status and he couldn''t get any type of information about it, which was quite weird.


    But he also knew that thinking about this wouldn''t give him anything so he quickly switched his thoughts to the free stat points he could add to his current stats.


    It seemed he had leveled up to level four which didn''t shock Aiden that much. But if any of the teammates who had abandoned him at the start heard about this they would feel even more shocked than just seeing those notifications popping up in front of them. It was a leveling speed that had never been seen before and Aiden had no idea of his achievement.


    As he saw the free stat points he could add to his stats, he now understood that when leveling up, he would be able to get one unallocated stat point which he would be able to apply to the stat he wished. Seeing his four free stat points, he questioned himself to see what stat would be best to upgrade to fight those monsters.


    At first, he thought it would be best for him to get more agility since he was used to being nimble and it will help him with the current skills he had right now because they were assassination oriented.


    But he didn''t want to only add stats points to his agility, he thought that strength and dexterity were good options since having more strength could probably allow him to hurt stronger enemies just like those wolves. He, also, didn''t want to be in the same situation as earlier since he wouldn''t be able to make those types of traps every time.


    However, the stats he didn''t even consider were defense, stamina, and charm since they wouldn''t give him anything that would help him right now, but they would probably be able to help him in other trials.


    His final choice was to add two stat points to agility, one to strength, and one to dexterity.


    After adding those stats, he started moving and he could immediately see the changes, he could feel that he was faster than earlier. He could feel himself bing faster, he could feel the upgrade even if it was a small one.


    ***


    On the other side of the city, the rest of his teammates were still fighting hard against the monsters and it seemed that they had a bit of difficulty but since they were acting as a team they didn''t have to employ a strategy that looked like the one of Aiden.


    They were straight up fighting the wolves but it wasn''t as efficient as Aiden''s method and they were slower than him which caused them to see all the notifications of his kills, and they knew that they had made a mistake separating from him.


    However, they were still able to kill all the monstersing after them.


    But this didn''t prevent Ava from regretting her choice of abandoning him, as she was looking at the rankings, shocked to see the number of points Aiden had gotten.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    [Rankings]


    [Aiden: 32 points]


    [Ava: 14 points]


    [James: 10 points]


    [Gus: 4 points]


    Ava was now truly disturbed by the pace Aiden had been killing monsters.


    ''Just who is that guy? He shouldn''t be able to kill that amount of zombies in such a small time. Is he someone from the big families?'' thought Ava, not understanding the talent that wasing out of Aiden.


    Gus and James, too, found themselves grappling with simr thoughts. The speed and efficiency with which Aiden had decimated the first wave of monsters left them bewildered. It appeared that Aiden had intentionally concealed his true power and identity during their encounter in the waiting room. The realization left them feeling a mix of curiosity, respect, and a touch of regret for their past behavior.


    Ava couldn''t help but regret her previous attitude towards Aiden. If he truly hailed from one of the formidable families, she knew they held unimaginable authority and influence. They dictated the rules and norms of society, with the power to shape the world ording to their whims. If Aiden belonged to such a lineage, he could easily make her vanish without a trace, erasing any lingering questions or doubts.


    However, she didn''t seem scared on the outside and kept a smile on her face, trying to show that she was still confident about her decision.


    The moment the two other boys saw her smile, they immediately lost control of any rational thought and wanted to protect her.


    "Should we go back and go see him, maybe he can help us after all," said Ava.


    "Yes, you''re right that''s a great idea!" responded the two other guys, not paying attention to whatever they were saying.

 Chapter 7 New Weapon?

    ?Aiden was now waiting, not doing anything worth noting. He was simply waiting for the new wave of monsters to appear, so that he could try and get some experience again. Because the feeling of strength he had gotten from upgrading his stats was simply addicting and he wanted to feel it once again.


    Suddenly, a message appeared in front of him.


    [The monsters of the second wave have all been eliminated.]


    [The next and final wave will appear in 5 minutes, try to prepare for it.]


    The thing about those messages that Aiden liked the most was the five-minute break. It might seem short, but it would make him able to sit down a little to prepare for the final wave which would probably be the hardest for him and his teammates.


    Five minutester, as Aiden had finally rxed a little, he immediately got back to how he was previously, serious and aware of his surroundings just like an assassin would be, he seemed ready to fight at any moment, always looking around himself.


    *Boom*


    *Boom*


    Explosions could be heard by Aiden, it seemed like the monsters were starting to appear. Aiden couldn''t see them well since they were so far away from the city, but there was one of the monsters which he felt he shouldn''t approach, that is, if he didn''t want to die.


    The monster was really big and tall, it only had one eye it looked like one of those fantastic creatures which you can see in movies. It looked like a Cyclops but Aiden wasn''t sure of it since the only ones he had seen were from movies, maybe it was another monster he didn''t know.


    [The final wave is starting to approach the city, try to defend it.]


    [If you kill the boss monster, extra rewards will be given. You can decide to leave the trial without killing the boss monster.]


    Looking at the big monster, Aiden thought that it was probably the boss monster and that he would need to kill it if he wanted to get stronger and faster.


    However, before fighting him he would need to kill the monsters that wereing toward the city gates at a fast rate.


    ¡¤?¦Èm The weaker monsters were green and all had a weapon with them, which didn''t happen beforehand. The weapon they were carrying looked like a mace, which seemed quite heavy, but the monsters were swinging it like nothing.


    As they entered the city, Aiden activated his passive skill [Shadow Steps] because he didn''t want to be noticed by those hungry-looking monsters. He wanted to test, how strong one of them was, alone, before wanting to fight many of them.


    He did the same strategy as with the other monsters and hid until he spotted one that acted alone and decided to see the strength of the monster.


    The orc was looking around not knowing what was happening around him, it seemed that those monsters were not the smartest, but that meant that their pure strength would probably be massive.


    Going behind the orc, Aiden, was charging his attack with the dull knife from earlier, he didn''t get the chance to find a better weapon and was still stuck with it. He started charging his strike aiming at his neck.


    However, at thest moment before the strike, the orc turned around by pure luck and saw that Aiden preparing this attack.


    Seeing this the Orc raised his mace and protected himself not wanting to be hurt by the human in front of him.


    Aiden didn''t give up and tried to attack the orc again, this time, by throwing a fake strike at him to see how he would react.


    It was a good idea because the Orcs were not the smartest, to say the least. From the way they walked to the way, they moved their body. They seemed to be the embodiment of stupidity.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    The fake attack used by Aiden caused the monster to defend himself for no reason which created an opening that Aiden decided to use as soon as he saw it because he didn''t know if he would be able to get another clean strike anytime soon.


    The attack seemed to work with green blood beingced around the de of the knife Aiden had used to attack it.


    The orc touched his arm which was injured because of the attack from the knife and he looked furiously at Aiden, it seemed to be the first time in his life that he had gotten hurt by something.


    Enraged, the orc started swinging his mace around himself. The mace was only hitting the air with no real target.


    But this reaction from the Orc, only caused its downfall since it opened many more opportunities for Aiden to attack it because the monster seemed to have lost control of his emotions.


    Aiden started hitting the orc with his knife, not being able to sh him because the knife was not sharp enough to do so. He continued hitting him over and over again as he sometimes saw green blood flowing out of the body of the orc.


    After a while, the orc was found on the ground, it seemed like he had lost so much blood that he wasn''t able to stand and had lost all functions in his body. It seemed like Aiden had finally seeded in killing this orc as a message from the system started to appear in front of him.


    [You have killed an orc]


    [You have gained 20 experience.]


    [+4 points]


    [An item has been dropped.]


    Seeing thest message from the system, Aiden decided to look at the ce where the body of the orc has disappeared into particles and there it was, the mace that the orc had used while fighting Aiden.


    It seemed like Aiden had finally found a better weapon than the one he had currently which would make it much easier to hunt the other monsters around him.


    He decided to pick it up and inspect it. As he did so, a panel from the system opened in front of his eyes.


    [Orc''s Mace]


    [Rank: Basic]


    [Description: A mace used by most of the orcs when fighting. It is made of quality material but the cksmith who crafted this mace was not skilled enough to make it one of a kind.]


    It was the first time for him that he had gotten an item that the system recognized, the knife he had used before had not activated this system probably because it was too weak and wasn''t useful to any type of awakener.


    However, this mace that the orc was using was of the Basic rank which was probably the lowest rank possible for items. The mace was clearly better than the dull knife that Aiden had been using.


    The mace would probably help Aiden fight against the orcs because this weapon would cause a lot more damage to monsters in a shorter amount of time.


    Aiden was excited to test it out on the other monsters and didn''t waste any time finding his new victim.N?v(el)B\\jnn

 Chapter 8 Killing Spree

    ?Spotting another orc not far away from where he was, he dashed with [Shadow Steps] active at the monster with the improved agility he had gotten. The orc once again didn''t notice Aiden approaching and was taken by surprise by this attack.


    The attack Aiden was just as powerful as before, but he now had a weapon capable of damage which he didn''t have in hisst fight. However, one thing that was important to note was that the mace could be considered heavy by the standards of Aiden since he always used a dagger since he was young.


    Realizing that weapons were essential for survival, Aiden decided that he would buy the best dagger he could when clearing this trial. But to buy this dagger he would need to get good rewards which was exactly why he still focused on the trial ahead.


    Swinging down the mace without much precision, only hoping to hit the head of the orc blood could be seen spilling out of the orc''s body. It seemed that the weapon Aiden had obtained which was considered of Basic rank by the system, was quite powerful against monsters of this caliber.


    The fight this time was shorter since the attacks procured much more damage and after the fifth hit, the orc was once again starting to disappear into particles.


    [You have killed an orc.]


    [You have gained 20 XP.]


    [+4 points]


    ''Just where are those monsters disappearing to? Where do theye from?'' asked Aiden to himself, not understanding how monsters could be spawned all around him.


    ''Just what is the secret of this ce?''


    However, before he could find answers to those questions a group of orcs seemed to being after him, it looked like the monsters around him were starting to realize that someone was killing their kind and they needed to be careful fighting against him.


    Seeing the group of orcs approaching him, Aiden kept his cool and stayed concentrated to see any type of move they would try on him. Aiden didn''t seem scared, he was confident that he could win against them but he knew it wouldn''t be an easy fight by any means.


    The orcs were looking at the human that was not moving an inch of his body and thought that he was scared out of his mind and started approaching with a mace in their hands just like the one from earlier. It seemed that Aiden would have no choice but to fight them.


    Realizing this, Aiden dashed toward the orc who seemed the weakest out of the three that were approaching him. He was moving at a speed at which the orc had difficulty following him with only their eyes, it seemed their instinct was well developed since the orc was able to block his attack.


    *Ding*N?v(el)B\\jnn


    The sound of the two maces colliding against one another resonated close to them. Aiden hoped that none of the orcs around them heard that or else he would be in big problem, not having a trap to rely on this time.


    However, having his attack blocked didn''t deter Aiden from continuing attacking, and tried to fake an attack just like he did against the first orc he had fought against.


    The orc had the exact same reaction as the one from earlier and gave an opportunity that Aiden didn''t miss for a single second. He mmed the mace to the open spot on his chest trying to make as much damage as possible.


    As he was doing that, the orcs who were around them started to realize that maybe theirrade wouldn''t be able to kill him and that he needed their help. So, they decided to swing their mace at Aiden hoping to hit him but once again he was too fast dodging every single attacking toward him.


    Seeing those attacks Aiden reacted quickly and swung at both of them and hit them right in their head. It looked like they had received some considerable damage and that it was only a question of time until he finished the three of them off.


    This is exactly what he did, and swung at the three of them until he could see the same particles as earliering off of him.


    [You have killed an orc.]


    [You have gained 20 XP.]


    [You have killed an orc.]


    [You have gained 20 XP.]<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    ...


    [You have leveled up.]


    It seemed that killing those orcs made Aiden gain enough experience for him to level 5. Right after receiving his unallocated stat point, he directly added it to his agility because he felt like he wasn''t as fast as he wanted to. He could feel that some of the moves he made before weren''t as smooth now.


    ¡¤?¦Èm *p*


    *p*


    *p*


    pping sounds were starting to be heard by Aiden, asking himself just where did thate from.


    Suddenly, shadows of figures which didn''t look like one of an orc were starting to appear on the ground. It looked like humans were approaching him, but Aiden didn''t understand, just who wasing toward him.


    He knew that his teammates were on the side of the city and wouldn''te looking for him since there was no need to because he was doing his job correctly and hadn''t missed a single monster since the start of the trial.


    They were probably happy with the results he was producing.


    The shadows continued to advance toward Aiden and that was when he noticed that they looked quite simr to his former teammates who had abandoned him. It seemed that they hade to see him for reasons which were unknown to Aiden.


    "Aiden! Are you okay? It looks like a big fight happened around here," eximed Ava, trying to sound as cute as possible.


    ''What the hell are they doing here'' thought Aiden.


    "Oh, wow you killed those three orcs by yourself, you really are strong," said Ava, as she approached herself and grabbed the arm of Aiden and interlocked it with hers.


    Aiden not happy with being touched without his permission tried to free his arm but it was no sess, it seemed that she would not let it go.


    "Alright fine keep holding it, but what are you guys doing here? Didn''t you guys want to abandon me?" said Aiden, looking at all of them in the eyes, anger could be felt through that look.


    "Well... we saw how good you were doing and decided toe back to where you were. We thought it would be better to act as a team, don''t you think so too?" said Ava, with pleading eyes.


    "Ahah, why would I need you guys, I''m doing great on my own just go back it''s fine I don''t need all of you."


    "Don''t say that, didn''t you see that boss monster? Don''t you think that you will need our help to kill it, or don''t tell me you want to clear the trial without killing it?"


    "Hmm, the boss monster, huh? I guess I can let you guys stay but you will need to prove that you have enough strength to be useful. Each of you will have to kill an orc."


    "Do I really have to do it too?" asked Ava, trying to use her charm and her big melons to her advantage.


    "You, hmm I guess you don''t need to since you are ranked second in the rankings," said Aiden, acting like he was being influenced.


    Hearing this, Ava was smiling, it seemed like her charm affected the man in front of her. He even gave her some type of preferential treatment.


    But, that was far from the truth, Aiden wanted to see just what had Ava nned to do.

 Chapter 9 Proving Themselves

    ?It was now time for Gus and James to prepare to fight against an orc, but they seemed stressed about what could happen. That''s why they decided to talk to Aiden a bit to see if he would change his mind.


    "Humm... Aiden, I know what we did to you at the start wasn''t smart of us. But please reconsider, I specialize in tanking fighting against an orc by myself is impossible, that''s why I didn''t kill many beasts, it''s not what I do. I know you can''t rte since you don''t have ss, but we''re different from you, please," said Gus, pleading to Aiden to reconsider the proposal.


    "I agree with what Gus said, I too am an assassin, a new one. Is it possible for me and that dwarf to fight against an orc together, it would give us a better chance for us to survive, and then we could help you. What do you say?" said James, trying to let Aiden fight the orc in a team of two.


    Realizing that his demands weren''t adapted to his teammates'' sses, Aiden thought about whether or not to ept, but one thing was sure if they weren''t able to do so then they would have to hunt alone without the help of Ava or Aiden.


    The two men were looking at Aiden with eyes full of fear because of his choice, which would determine their fate.


    "Sure, I ept let''s see if you guys will be of any use," answered Aiden, still having his arms interlocked with Ava desperately trying to gain the attention of Aiden.


    "Beware that if you guys are in danger and are close to dying I will not intervene, you will simply have to do the first trial once again."


    Now being able to fight an orc as a team, Gus and James decided to go and try to spot one who was alone.


    After a few minutes of trying to find one, they finally did and he was not even moving, or even paying attention to his surroundings, it was the perfect one.


    Going up to the orc, they were not as discreet as Aiden. The dwarf was making a lot of noise because of his armor, which made some metal sounds while moving. This sound caused the orc to turn around and see the dwarf.


    It seemed that the assassin wasn''t there with him, maybe that was part of the strategy that they had decided beforehand.


    James was actually right behind the orc, it seemed he had used some type of movement to not be noticed by the orc which was used often by assassins on Earth.


    The movements of James were all seen by Aiden since he was used to seeing those types of moves and he wasn''t that good at them, he seemed to be relying on an active skill to move without making a sound which wasn''t the case Aiden who had his footwork imprinted in him for a long time.


    James had the dagger which he had brought from Nova, but it was known that on the first trial, you could only bring weapons and equipment that weren''t ranked by the system. That meant that the weapon he had brought wasn''t great but was probably only as good as the dull knife Aiden used at the start of the trial.


    He charged an attack with his attack wanting to slice the neck of the orc in a single try, and it worked because the orc had no idea of the assassin''s presence and was only concentrating on the dwarf who was blocking the attacks he was making.<novelsnext></novelsnext>n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    A couple of secondster, the orc disappeared which caused James and Gus to receive messages from the system about what they had just achieved.


    "I leveled up, finally!" eximed Gus, it seemed he hadn''t received less experience because he was always tanking the monsters.


    It seemed the system still counted his participation in the elimination of the monster which was a good thing or else getting the monster stolen from people could happen often.


    Coming out of the hidden building, Aiden was pleasantly surprised to see the skill which the both of them had and he thought that they could probably be usefulter when they would have to fight against the boss monster.


    ***


    When the fight was going on, Ava was trying to get some information out of Aiden to see who he was and how he was so strong.


    Using her features, she approached him once again looking him in the eyes, in a way that made Aiden difficult to refuse her. Her biggest features were starting to bounce and touch the arm of Aiden which caused him to be red since it was the first time in his life he had felt that.


    "Aiden... did you lie to us at the start, do you really have no ss?" said Ava, as she was touching the muscles on the body of Aiden.


    "Hmm, yeah it''s true I don''t have any ss and could you please stop touching me? It''s annoying," said Aiden, starting to annoyed with her behavior, it seemed that she was used to getting what she wanted and it started to piss off Aiden.


    "Then, how are you so strong? What family are you part of?"


    Aiden remembered what he saw on his status panel, and told her thest name that was written there. He knew he was from an important family but it probably wasn''t that big of a deal revealing it to others since he wasn''t part of it anymore.


    "The Nightshade... seriously, I knew you weren''t normal. It''s finally starting to make sense," mumbled Ava, making Aiden not hear what she had just said.


    After asking that question, Ava becamepletely silent not trying to approach Aiden anymore it seemed the name he had just pronounced just caused fear to appear inside her heart and every time he asked a question she seemed to answer with the best of her abilities.


    Aiden noticed this change but didn''t think much of it.

 Chapter 10 Clearing Up The Monsters

    ?After they killed the orc, Aiden decided to look at the rankings to see how many points they had gotten beforeing here with him.


    Thinking about it, the ranking panel opened in front of him instantly.


    [Rankings]


    [Aiden: 52 points]


    [Ava: 28 points]


    [James: 18 points]


    [Gus: 12 points]


    Aiden was in front by arge margin since every kill he made would be his and he had received no help killing them which put him at the top of the leaderboards.


    While Aiden was looking at the rankings, Gus and James were starting to approach Aiden, feeling happy to have seeded in killing the orc.


    "Did you see how I distracted him and then James did some weird moves!" said Gus, moving his hands in the air trying to imitate what James had just done while killing the orc.


    "Yeah, I saw all of it. You guys looked pretty strong out there, did you know each other before this trial, or are you used to fighting together?"


    "Oh no, we''ve never seen each other before," replied Gus, confused as to why Aiden would ask that.


    "Well, now that you guys proved that you at least had some strength for yourselves, let''s kill the rest of the orcs," said Aiden as he looked around him and saw at least fifteen orcs moving nonchntly, unaware of them.


    As Aiden was talking, he seemed to notice an even bigger change than earlier in Ava, she seemed scared, not saying anything which wasn''t anything like she had acted since the start of the trial, it was weird. She, also, didn''t try to approach Aiden anymore, maybe something had happened when they were fighting the orc, thought James.


    "We should prepare a n to make sure none of us even would die, what do you say?"


    "A n? No need for a n, let''s just charge in, we''re clearly stronger than them! Look at those!" said Gus, as he showed off his muscles which were most likely made of fat.


    "Sure, whatever not like it affects me," said Aiden, not caring if they made a n or not since he was able to kill the orcs by himself without any help.


    "Let''s split up, me and Ava will form a group and you guys will form another. Killing them this way would be faster."


    "But, we would be alone again," said Gus with a tone that indicated he wasn''t sure if it was the best idea.


    "Aren''t both of you guys strong, I mean you just killed that orc like it was nothing right!" interrupted Aiden, acting friendly with them trying to boost their morale.


    "You''re right, let''s do it, James let''s try to kill at least one more than them!"


    As Gus said that, the group separated into two pairs and left to hunt the orcs remaining.


    Ava had not said anything when Aiden had proposed the idea of splitting but she didn''t want to form a team with that man especially now that she knew from which family he came. One mistake would probably result in her death when they finished this trial.


    She tried to distance herself from Aiden as best as possible because she didn''t want him to hate her after leaving him alone at the start, but it didn''t work Aiden went closer to her every time and started speaking to her.


    "Alright, do you see that one," said Aiden as he pointed once again at an orc.


    "Hmm, sorry if it offends you when I say this but before fighting shouldn''t we at least know what we can do?"


    "I guess you''re right, well I remember your skill. Your skills are charm rted and can affect the mental monsters right?"


    "That''s pretty much it. But what can you do?"<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "Well, you''ll see when we fight but I can do most things since as I have said before I am not being restricted by any type of ss," answered Aiden, keeping the mystery around his abilities a secret from Ava.


    "Now, that''s done let''s go and fight one!" said Aiden, excited about this fight since it would be the first time he would be getting help from someone when fighting an enemy even in his past life he didn''t get that opportunity.


    As they were moving toward the orc that had chosen to fight, Ava couldn''t help but notice that Aiden seemed like a ghost beside her.


    ''Why the hell can''t I hear any noise from him when he''s moving around? Is it a skill? Or some type of technique that he has learned from his family?'' thought Ava, realizing that Aiden was even more powerful than she thought before.


    Getting close to the monster, Ava decided to cast her spell which caused the orc to be even more confused than he already was, which helped Aiden because there would be no chance of the orc noticing him.


    He did almost the same moves as James earlier but there were executed much better which shocked Ava.


    ''Did he learn this skill just by watching him earlier, that''s crazy! Is that the power of one of the four families? Or is it his ability?''


    However, what she didn''t know was that she was very far away from the truth since he had been abandoned by his own family and was currently living in the slums. He also didn''t learn the skill just by watching James since he already knew of it and had practiced it for many years.


    Then, using his movements, Aiden appeared right behind the orc and swung down his mace which caused a lot of damage to the orc once again, but it didn''t kill it in one strike. But as he did another one, the monster started to dematerialize into particles like all the monsters he had killed before him.


    [You have killed an orc.]


    [You have gained 20 XP.]


    [+2 points]


    It seemed the points for killing the Orc had been separated between the two of them.


    He was now level 7 and had added his two free stat points to his strength.


    An hourter, the two groups had seeded in killing all the orcs that had entered the city and received a message from the system.


    [You have killed all the monsters from the final wave, do you wish to fight the boss monster?]


    Seeing this message, Ava and Aiden went to find the other two who were sitting down and lookedpletely exhausted. It seemed like the fight against the orcs wasn''t as simple for them as it was for Aiden and Ava who seemed to be in good shape that they could even take on another dozen of monsters.


    "Do you guys want to fight against the boss monster?" asked Aiden.


    "No chance! I don''t want to, killing the boss monster is only for the elites, why would I even try," said Gus whose attitude took aplete turn around, he didn''t look confident anymore. It seemed fighting that many monsters for a while caused him to think about his strength.


    "You, James?"n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    "No, I''m fine. I don''t want to," answered James, keeping his answer brief.


    "Ava?"


    "Hmm, sure I guess I can''t leave you alone," replied Ava, thinking that if she epted maybe it would make her gain points with the Nightshade family and Aiden would forget about her previous actions.


    "I guess it will be just the two of us."


    "Well, guess I''ll leave, good luck! I hope to see you guys again," said Gus loudly just as he had been doing since they had arrived.


    Without saying anything, both James and Gus disappeared just like the monsters teleporting back to the real world.


    "Let''s do this!" said Aiden confidently, as he looked where he could see a monster as tall as a giant who was also looking at them menacingly.

 Chapter 11 Boss Monster

    n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    ?It looked like the two of them would have to fight the boss monster toplete the first trial or else they wouldn''t get anything and would have to do a trial all over again.


    They could see the monster approaching and it looked dangerous. He had green skin and he exuded an aura of pure horror. He had ws that were at least five inches that looked sharp enough to sh the throat of anyone in his path.


    "Ready?" asked Aiden who was not feeling the pressure of the monster in front of him. He seemed to be excited to fight such a strong monster.


    "Let''s do this."


    The monster was getting closer and closer, it was now time for Aiden and Ava to attack it, but there was one thing that Aiden ignored that Ava knew.


    Boss monsters would appear in each trial and be much more powerful than all the other monstersbined in that trial. It was known in society that those who fought would be able to get a much faster progression but they would have to face riskier situations. Most awakened decided against fighting it for safety.


    Killing a boss monster would give extremely good rewards, this was one of the reasons Ava agreed to fight alongside Aiden and she also had the reason that she wanted to have a good rtionship with someone from that family.


    However, this was no time to doubt her choice and she decided to give her all fighting that monster since he was getting closer and closer to them.


    Seeing it get close to them, Aiden dashed toward the monster before him and was no longer by her side.


    Not expecting this, she started casting her one and only skill which seemed to affect the monster a bit. He started moving aggressively, it looked like the skill affected his emotions and he was now shing the air, probably thinking some monsters were attacking him from the sky.


    Aiden used this chance to give a good hit to the monster in front of him, and he seeded he got a good hit in the chest and blood could be seen leaving the body of the boss monster.


    However, something unexpected happened and the wound on the body of the monster that Aiden had just done was starting to regenerate at a speed that was not humanly possible. It seemed that the orc possessed a skill and a powerful one that helped his regeneration.


    ''Monster can have skills?'' thought Aiden, realizing that the monster in front of him wasn''t like the ones he had fought before.


    Seeing his body regenerate, he decided to back off and go back to where Ava was standing.


    "Do you know anything about a monster like that, I mean he regenerated like what I did was nothing," said Aiden, trying to get some type of clue to fight this monster the best way possible.


    "Well, this monster seems to be a Cyclops, and it seems to have a skill that helps its regeneration. Actually, killing a Cyclops in our first trial would be quite the exploit since not many on their first trial are able to attempt to kill the boss," replied Ava, not sure why he would ask something that obvious to her.


    However, she didn''t ask for detail as to why he didn''t know that type of information and simply continued exining the best way to deal with monsters that can regenerate.


    "The method which is used most of the time when dealing with monsters that can regenerate is to simply hurt him until he is unable to regenerate anymore. But, that''s difficult to do especially for us since we are not strong enough to hurt him over and over again."<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "Is there another method to kill regenerative-type of monsters?" asked Aiden.


    "Well, the other way to deal with this type of monster is to sh his neck in one swift motion which causes him to not be able to regenerate anymore."


    Hearing this, Aiden started thinking about how he could slice the neck of the Cyclops, it seemed to be quite difficult to achieve because he would need a lot of force to do such a thing even more with a mace. If only he had some type of weapon like a sword or a dagger that was sharp enough to do that, but that was only wishful thinking, he wouldn''t be able to find such a weapon here.


    "Hmm, I don''t think the second option will be possible as you see I only have this mace here with me. Even if you think that hurting it until it can''t regenerate anymore is harder to achieve, I still think that we should choose that method, who knows maybe we can do it,"


    "Sure, whatever you want," replied Ava, understanding his logic.


    Aiden was confused as to why the attitude of Ava had changed towards him, he noticed that it had changed since he mentioned his family, but were they really that strong?


    She now addressed him with respect and didn''t try anything to seduce him anymore.


    "Alright let''s try to do this, can you cast your skill again and do you have any type of weapon to attack the monster with me after activating it."


    "Sure, and I have a bow with me actually. I''ll try to hit him from a distance."


    After learning that she had a weapon, Aiden was overjoyed since it meant they could make a lot more damage in a short time window.


    The same scene from earlier was starting to happen, the only thing changing was the arrowsing from Ava toward the monster.


    As the arrows were starting to rain from the sky Aiden swung his mace with all his might trying to make as much damage as possible. But the same thing as earlier happened the wound he had just made was starting to heal by itself.


    The Cyclops realizing he had just been attacked decided to counter-attack and swung his ws in the direction of Aiden since he was the only one close to him.


    The speed was far above what Aiden had ever seen, even though he wasn''t as fast as the monster he tried dodging the strike as best he could and received some damage to his chest leaving marks of ws on it.


    This didn''t seem to affect Aiden, it seemed to boost him as he seemed even more concentrated on the fight that was unfolding right in front of his very eyes. His concentration was reaching its peak and a red aura seemed to being from him. But this time he was fully aware of what was happening, and he wouldn''t forget this moment.


    [Mind of an Assassin has activated.]

 Chapter 12 Mind Of An Assassin

    ?[Mind of An Assassin has activated.]


    The skill seemed to activate deep inside the body of Aiden but he couldn''t quite remember where this skill came from, he could feel he had used it once before since arriving here. However, he was sure of one thing, he hadn''t used this skill on Earth, not once.


    Did he create this skill bying over to this world? Questions started to appear inside his mind, I mean it wasn''t even written on his status panel.


    ''Wait wasn''t there a skill that I couldn''t ess any information about? Maybe that''s the skill that is activating right now, but I have no idea how I activated or created such a skill.'' thought Aiden, confused about how he had gotten a skill out of nowhere.


    However, those thoughtspletely vanished as the skill seemed to take over his mind, and he wasn''t his usual self anymore, it seemed as if all he thought about was killing the enemy that was in front of him. Multiple scenarios started to appear in his mind, it seemed the skill was trying to show the most efficient path to kill the opponent in front of him.


    In those paths, sometimes he died, and sometimes he ran for his life, but after a while, he finally arrived at one scenario where he had utterly dominated the beast that was in front of him.


    This path where he overwhelmed the beast seemed to appear in some sort of blur that resembled himself, he could a shadow of himself that was doing the same thing that he saw inside of his head. He could now see how to kill this beast because he could see the image of himself fighting the beast before it even happened.


    He decided to execute the same movement as his shadow forgetting everything that surrounded him, the trial, the monster, and the world he was now in. None of that mattered anymore, his mind was telling him that the only thing that mattered as of now is the path that was shown to him, to dominate the beast in front of him as efficiently as possible.


    Following the movements shown, he dodged the attack the Cyclops had justunched without even seeing it because his stats were not on par with the ones of the Cyclops, but his skillpensated and made him able to hurt him.


    The red aura that was enveloping Aiden was starting to grow stronger and thicker, it seemed that the aura represented the intensity at which Aiden is using the skill and he seemed to be pushing the skill to his absolute limits because the aura was getting bigger and bigger that even Ava was able to see it from distance.


    ''What is happening to him? Did he activate some secret skill of his'' thought Ava, shocked by the scene she was witnessing with her very eyes. She knew that the young man in front of her would be a force to be reckoned with especially if he is already this strong in the first trial.


    He continued to follow the movements shown to him and because of that, he was able to hit the Cyclops over and over again without ever being in danger, it seemed that the scenario that he had just seen in his mind was taking of everything, Aiden only needed toply with it.


    The Cyclops was now starting to have some difficulty regenerating the wounds that were caused by the arrows and the constant hitting of Aiden. He was submerged in blood if he didn''t have that skill he would have killed it a long time ago.


    Suddenly, a message from the system appeared in front of him.


    [Enraged phase of the boss monster is now activating.]


    ''What does this mean, was he not at his full strength, will his stupid skill be even more strengthened?'' thought Aiden, not knowing what the changes of the Cyclops were going to be, scared of it bing even more powerful than it was.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    The Cyclops seemed to start to change, he was bing taller and bigger. The monster entering the enraged phase probably meant that the monster would have an increase in all stats except for intelligence where it would decrease.


    Seeing this didn''t change much for Aiden because another path was being created right in front of him, he could see his shadow dying over and over again until the skill seemed to find a way to kill this monster in front of him. But it didn''t seem to be quite as simple as earlier because the shadow was currently retreating and not fighting this monster head-on, it seemed he would have to use some type of strategy to defeat it.


    He followed his shadow, which guided him back to where Ava was, and he started talking to Ava about the n he was shown in his mind and her role in it. However, he didn''t reveal that he got this n because of the skill he was currently using.


    Hearing Aiden talk about his n, scared, Ava, out of her mind not knowing if it was going to work since it seemed to be quite risky. However, looking at the confidenceing off Aiden, it seemed that this n would work no matter what.


    After understanding what she needed to do, she started running toward the monster, shouting and moving around him trying to get his attention.


    Aiden, on the other hand, continued to follow the path that was being shown to him and he was currently going through abandoned buildings of the city trying to find an angle to arrive behind the Cyclops to try and get a clean strike on him.


    The n of having Ava distract the Cyclops seemed to have worked because it was starting to forget about his surroundings only watching Ava as she ran away from it, this was probably a side effect of the monster bing [Enraged].


    "Now!" shouted Aiden out of nowhere, appearing right behind the Cyclops still following the path shown to him.


    Hearing her cue, Ava got her bow and charged an arrow aimed right at the throat of the Cyclops. Aiden, on the other hand, had his mace out charging an attack at the neck of the Cyclops.


    It seemed that they were trying to go for abo attack and were trying to kill the boss monster with the second method Ava had mentioned which wasplete decapitation.


    And they proceeded with thebo attack, Aiden followed the image of himself perfectly and he swung his mace as shown, but the momentum of his swing was starting to decrease as it reached the middle of the neck of the monster. That''s when the arrowunched by Ava entered the y as it pierced the piece of flesh which seemed to block the mace from continuing the decapitation.


    Regaining momentum, the mace was able to follow through the neck of the Cyclopspletely decapitating it.


    A message from the system popped up as his head touched the ground.


    [You have defeated the boss monster.]N?v(el)B\\jnn

 Chapter 13 Rewards

    ?Aiden and Ava instantly got teleported into another room, which was all white. It looked the same as the waiting room in which Aiden had appeared at the start of the trial.


    ''Is this the ce where they give us our rewards?'' thought Aiden.


    ¡¤?¦Èm Suddenly, the system was frantic, messages appeared one after another.


    [You have killed the boss monster.]


    [You have received 500 XP.]


    [+50 points]


    [You have obtained the core of the boss monster.]


    [The boss monster has dropped a skill book.]


    [Final Rankings]


    [1st: Aiden]


    [2nd: Ava]


    [3rd: James]


    [4th: Gus]


    [You have cleared the first trial.]


    [You have finished first in the rankings.]


    [You have obtained 1000 XP.]


    [You have obtained an item.]


    Two boxes that looked like gifts appeared out of nowhere in front of Aiden, they seemed to be the skill book and the item he had. One of them was gray and the other was green but Aiden didn''t know what that meant. Ava, on the other hand, only received one gray gift.


    ''So many rewards!'' thought Aiden as he looked in front of him and at the messages from the system. He was shocked when he saw that killing the boss monster would give him 500 XP, half of what he had gotten from doing the trial.


    Looking at all the rewards he had gotten, he was curious about what Ava had obtained by killing the boss monster with him and finishing second in the rankings of the trial.


    "Ava, what did you get?" said Aiden, excited by the amount of rewards he had gotten.


    "Oh, I got some experience and I got an item from the boss monster, I got a gray box and some other things," said Ava, realizing that her attitude was not respectful toward Aiden and that she needed to at least tell him about some of her rewards.


    ''Maybe it''s not polite to ask others the rewards they get after a trial?'' thought Aiden, not understanding why she didn''t answer himpletely and didn''t mention all of them.


    "Well, I got pretty much the same as you except, I received an item and a skill book," said Aiden, nonchntly.


    "A skill book?!" eximed Ava, shocked by what she had just hearde out of the mouth of Aiden.


    "Yeah, is that a big deal?"


    "Of course, it is, a skill book is the best reward you can get when doing the first trial, it can only be obtained by killing the boss monster. Those who have obtained skill books on their first trial are called the Celestials because they have the best potential out of everyone. You''re really lucky!"


    "I guess, I am ahah," replied Aiden, not understandingpletely what she was saying, he just thought that it was normal to obtain something like this. After all, he didn''t know the strength of the average Awakened and he couldn''tpare himself to other Awakened.


    He was certain that the teammates he got matched with for his first trial were probably not that great because they didn''t seem prepared for the trial. Aiden thought that people from strong families like the one he came from would probably being into the first trial better prepared and they would be more skillful than the ones with Aiden.


    "Well, I guess it''s time to say goodbye, right?"


    "Yeah, I guess so... I hope you''ll forget what we did at the start of the trial and won''t be mad at us," said Ava, looking forward to what he would say.


    "Oh that''s fine, it didn''t affect me that much during the trial. I was, also, able to progress way faster because of that since the experience I had for killing a monster was all mine," said Aiden.


    Of course, he was frustrated at the start, but he understood why they had done so. I mean having a useless teammate would have surely not helped them.


    "Then, I''ll see you again at the tournament!" said Ava as she disappeared from his sight.


    ''Tournament? What is she talking about?'' thought Aiden as he didn''t understand what she was talking about.


    However, he didn''t dwell on it for too long as a message from the system appeared in front of him.


    [Teleporting back to the real world.]


    It seemed it was time for him to go back to the real world.


    He appeared in the same room as earlier when he left, the room was stillpletely empty with only a bed and a mirror. However, when he looked at himself in the mirror, he could see that he had changed a bit physically his muscles were still not visible by a lot but they were starting to appear little by little.


    *Poof*<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    *Poof*


    The two boxes from earlier, also, appeared in front of him. However, before opening them he decided to look at what level he was currently at with the experience he had received from the trial.


    ''Status''


    [Aiden Nightshade]


    [Level 10]


    [Health: 150]


    [Mana: 10]


    [Race: Human]


    [ss: None]


    [Strength: 4]


    [Agility: 4]


    [Dexterity: 2]


    [Defense: 1]


    [Stamina: 1]


    [Charm: 2]


    [Unallocated Stat Points: 3]


    [Skills]


    [Shadow Steps Lvl.MAX(Passive)]


    [Dagger mastery Lvl.3 (Passive)]


    [Mind of an Assassin Lvl.1(Active skill), Cost: 0 MP]


    Looking at his status, he was surprised to see that he had already attained level 10. He, also, noticed that he had three stat points to apply to whatever stat he wanted, so he decided to add one stat point to Defense, Stamina, and Charm. He chose those stats because he didn''t want any of his stats to fall behind since he wanted to be great at everything and not only one.


    Also, he noticed that his health had increased by 50 and that his mana had increased by five which was probably because he had reached level 10 since he hadn''t seen them change in the previous levels.


    After upgrading his stats and looking at the changes in health and mana, Aiden, excited, decided to open the gray box he had gotten from the trial because it didn''t look as great as the one in green, it was just a feeling but he felt that the green one would probably be much better.


    As he picked it up, a message from the system appeared.


    [Basic Item Box]


    [Description: The user opening this box will obtain a Basic Tier Item.]


    Reading the description of the gray box, he decided to open it.


    [Speed Boots]


    [Rank: Basic]


    [Restrictions: Only Assassins can equip.]


    [Description: Boots that were crafted skillfully, will provide the user with a 5% increase when he is moving at full speed. Those boots are useful when running away or engaging with opponents.]


    Aiden was sad that one of the rewards he had gotten from his trial was the weakest grade item someone could get.


    But what Aiden didn''t know was that just having one Basic tier reward aftering out of the first trial was already good, and the fact he had gotten two rewards was exceptional. The fact that one of the rewards he got was a skill book was even more exceptional.


    However, Aiden noticed that there was a restriction on the boots which said that only assassins could equip them seeing this Aiden got frustrated because he didn''t have a ss which meant he couldn''t even equip that item.


    But that didn''t deter him from trying the boots, so he decided to try them on maybe the restriction wouldn''t apply to him since he didn''t have a ss, and from what Gus had told him, he was probably the only one in the world who didn''t have one.


    [Equipping Speed Boots]


    [Error]


    [Error]


    [Error: User has no ss.]N?v(el)B\\jnn

 Chapter 14 Error

    ¡¤?¦Èm ?''An error? Is the system having a problem?'' thought Aiden, unsure of what was happening right now.


    The messages of an error continued appearing, it kept going telling him that he couldn''t equip the equipment because he had no ss which was quite weird shouldn''t it just say to him that he couldn''t put them on right away without making all this fuss.


    Aiden didn''t understand the appearance of an error in the system, he found it quite weird since it was the first time it happened since he had arrived.


    But that made Aiden realize that maybe he didn''t know a lot about the world that he transmigrated him. Since he had arrived in this body not much was normal, powers, the Awakened, it was a lot to take in. It seemed that absorbing all this information took some energy out of Aiden for him to keep up with everything that was happening.


    While thinking about this, the system was still beeping over and over in his head which started to annoy him a little bit,  but he still wanted to know what was happening to the system. Would it remove its Awakened Powers, thinking he is an anomaly?


    Nobody could find the answer to that question, even people who had lived their entire life in this world didn''t know much about the powers they were given and where they hade from. It seemed that having powers for them was normal and they didn''t find it weird.


    However, that wasn''t the case for Aiden who had just found out about everything that was surrounding him, the powers, the system, the Otherworld, it was a lot for him to take in a couple of hours. The fact he didn''te from this world caused him to think about questions that people who had lived their entire life here didn''t think of.


    Interrupting his thoughts, the system stopped beeping inside of his mind and a new message appeared in front of Aiden. It seemed to have found a solution to the problem at hand.


    [The restrictions on equipment are no longer being applied to you.]


    Seeing this, Aiden was shocked because this was huge news. It meant he could use whatever equipment he wanted and he could change weapons depending on the situation at hand, it was such a big advantage over others.


    ''Is this going to apply to the skills as well?'' thought Aiden about the possibilities.


    If it did work with the skills, Aiden could possibly be a master of all since he would be able to learn the skills from all the sses. Maybe he could use the techniques that were developed by some powerful families.


    Realizing the importance of the message in front of him, he decided to test if it was true by equipping those boots.


    He put on the boots that didn''t have much detail, it seemed the person who had created them didn''t put much thought into the design and only wanted it to be used for its skill and not its beauty.


    The boots were grey just like the box they hade out from, with small white lines traversing the boots which gave a little style to them but it really wasn''t much. They were simple, but they fit into his feet perfectly as if they were created for him. The fact that they were not beautiful didn''t cause a problem for Aiden, because as long as they would help him be stronger he had no problem with how they looked.


    As he put them on, he seemed to feel some type of energy entering his body, it was the same feeling he felt when upgrading his stats, it seemed that the effect from the boots was working.


    They were perfect. Now, Aiden didn''t need to worry about the equipment he would choose now, he would take the ones that would benefit him the most.


    [Your speed has been increased by 5%.]<novelsnext></novelsnext>N?v(el)B\\jnn


    It was now official, even the system was telling him that the effect had been activated.


    It was now time for Aiden to look at his other reward, the green box which contained the skill, his most important reward.


    Excited he looked at the green box as if he wouldpletely devour it, wanting to see what he would obtain because if he couldn''t use he would probably have to sell it.


    But Aiden had absolutely no idea where he could find a ce to sell his rewards, the memories of the old Aiden didn''t seem to appear in his mind anymore. It looked like he was alone, now, trying to discover this world by himself.


    However, one thing that he could still feel from his old body was the hatred he felt when he thought about the Nightshade family.


    Just having those thoughts caused Aiden to feel rage from deep within him. Aiden couldn''t see it but if he looked in the mirror he would''ve seen his fists clenched and his eyes filled with fury. He was starting to lose control of his body without even realizing it.


    ''What have they done to him for him to feel such rage by simply thinking about it.'' thought Aiden.


    He knew they had abandoned him but he had no idea about what he had gone through.


    Seeing his body reacting this way, he quickly thought about the green box he was going to open.


    When he opened the green box in front of him, the heart of Aiden seemed to calm down instantly.


    It really was a weird sensation, losing control of your own body.


    Not wanting to have that feeling again anytime soon, he started opening the box.


    [Green Skill Box]


    [Description: Will obtain a Green ranked Skill Book by opening it.]


    Lighting out of itpletely blinded Aiden for a moment which caused him to not see what was inside the box, but as the light started to disappear a book could be seen inside of it.


    The book was red and ck with a title but Aiden was too far away to see what was written on it, he would probably have to take it out to see the title. The contrast between the red and ck made the book stand out and captivating to the eye. An aura could also be seen to being out of the book, the aura wasn''t that great but it probably represented the power contained inside of the skill book.


    ''Is that what a skill book looks like?'' thought Aiden, observing the book and the power that seemed toe out of it.

 Chapter 15 Skill Book

    ?As Aiden was looking at the red and ck skill book, a system panel opened in front of him.


    [You have obtained a skill book.]


    [Skill Book]


    [Regeneration]


    [Rank: Green]


    [Restrictions: None]


    [Cost two Mana to activate.]


    [Description: This skill will make it possible for the user to heal at a higher rate than before, injuries while fighting will heal faster. However, since the user isn''t a Cyclops, the effects of the skill have been reduced by a big margin.]


    ''Wow, this looks great!'' thought Aiden, looking at the description of the skill in front of him.


    The description of the skill was quite good and the fact that it had no restrictions was even better but that meant Aiden wasn''t going to be able to test the reaction of the system to him learning skills that are ss restricted. It was also written that the skill effects would be reduced because he wasn''t a Cyclops, did that mean he would be able at some point to change his race?


    Aiden didn''t waste time and decided to learn it since it seemed to be a great skill to start off.


    [Learn the skill <Regeneration> ?]


    Aiden seeing the message tapped the on the screen [Yes], and the book that was in his hands started to disappear, it was the same effect as when he had killed monsters.


    This time he didn''t feel anything different in his body which caused him to think if it worked. To make sure, he decided to test it by hurting himself by taking his mace and hitting his arm until it started to bleed.


    *Bang*


    His arm was nowpletely submerged in blood. Aiden made a face that indicated he didn''t like the moment but he not wanting to miss the effects of the skill, he started to analyze the changes to his wound.


    Fifteen secondster, the wound had healed up and no more blood wasing out of it. The skill was in fact not as good as when the Cyclops had used it but it would surely help Aiden in the future in his second trial.


    [You have learned the skill <Regeneration>.]


    [You have only 4 skill slots left.]


    [It is level one, to level up your skills you will need to use them over and over again. However, the skill being Green rated would never be able topete with a Blue skill even if it''s level max.]


    ''What there''s skill slots?''


    Aiden was shocked, he didn''t know why didn''t the system tell him that before he learned it, it was crucial information.


    ''Did the system do it on purpose?'' thought Aiden.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    But he quickly dismissed the idea, thinking that such things were not possible for a machine. However, it now meant that Aiden could only choose four other skills for his future and the skills chosen needed to fit perfectly with his fighting style.


    Luckily, Aiden was happy with the skill he had chosen, but the one thing that was disturbing him was the rank of the skill, it didn''t seem to be high. Wanting he decided to do something he hadn''t thought of before, ask the system.


    Aiden didn''t know if the system would be able to answer him but he still asked, if it could maybe the system could help him understand some aspects of the world that surrounds him.


    Surprisingly, a beeping sound sounded in the head of Aiden.


    ''System what do those ranks mean?'' asked Aiden, inside of his mind.


    [Skills are separated into different ranks, the lowest one is gray. Gray skills are most of the time not useful and are not powerful. Green is the rank after Gray, Green skills are somewhat useful but are pretty situational. Afterward, you have in order, Blue, Purple, and Orange skills. Skills will be more powerful depending on the rank they possess.]


    Aiden had actually put a green skill, in his slots. Wasn''t this bad, if he waited he probably could have gotten a better skill. This caused Aiden to ask a question to the system, once again.


    ''Can we change the five skills chosen or are they forever going to be there?''


    Another beeping sounded in his head.


    [Skills learned cannot be removed, but you change them for their upgraded version. For example, you have the Gray book of the skill [Swift Strike] well you will be able to change it to a green, blue, purple, or even orange. However, most skills don''t have higher ranks and you will not be able to upgrade them. Oh, forget to mention it, but skills have a really small chance to evolve, if they are in the right conditions to do so.]


    The system confirmed what Aiden was thinking which was that he could never change the skills chosen, but thest bit of information given by the system was quite interesting, the skills would be able to evolve by themselves.


    ''What are the conditions for the skill to evolve?''


    But this time, no beeping sound could be heard. Aiden tried once asking the same question but he had no answer for the second time in a row. Was the system keeping some information secret from Aiden?


    Noticing that the system didn''t answer anymore, Aiden decided that it was time for him to finally leave his room and explore the world he had been transmigrated to.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    He headed to the door towards the door, to see just in what neighborhood he lived.


    As he was starting to open the door, knocks could be heard on the other side of the door.


    ''Just who woulde here? Didn''t I live alone?'' thought Aiden, thinking about who it could be.


    The door was not in good condition and had small cracks in it that allowed Aiden to see bits of the person on the other side of the door.


    He could see clothing that seemed to look like some type of dress. It seemed that a girl had visited him.


    ''Why would a girl visit me? Just who is she?'' thought Aiden, trying to ess the memories of the old owner but it had been a while since he wasn''t able to ess them anymore.


    It seemed that he would have to open the door to see who was knocking.

 Chapter 16 Aidens Maid

    ?Opening the door, Aiden was stunned seeing a beauty like that knocking on his door.


    The person in front of him was wearing a ck dress thatplimented her perfect figure. Her face was simply stunning with her brown hair and blue eyes. Her body didn''t have too much form but it was fit, it looked like she had trained her body for a long time because her muscles were more visible than the ones on Aiden''s body. However, looking closely at her face, she didn''t seem to be happy being here having a frown on her face.


    "Aiden, everything''s as usual?" asked the girl in front of him, with a tone that seemed to contain disdain.


    Thispletely confused Aiden, was he supposed to know her, was she anyone important to him. But he quickly dismissed it, because anger seemed to bubble up inside of him once again looking at this person.


    "Yes, you are?" asked Aiden, trying to know more about the girl in front of him.


    "You don''t remember who I am? Did you lose your memories or what, ahah?" said the girl once again,ughing at Aiden.


    "I apologize, but I''ve been having memory issuestely. Could you remind me who you are?" said Aiden, making it known he didn''t remember much.


    "Wow, you truly are useless. You can''t even remember the maid who took care of you since you were little." said the maid, looking at Aiden with clear disgust on her face.


    "You? You''re a maid, how? You look too strong to be a simple maid," said Aiden, not understanding why someone who seemed to have trained her entire life would be a simple maid.


    "Well, obviously I''m not a simple maid. I''m a maid of the Nightshade''s family which like any strong family needs to have maids that can defend the young master they are taking care of against people who will attack him," exined the maid, Emily, with a sense of superiority contained inside of her voice.


    "So, you''re supposed to take care of me, huh? Then why areughing at me?" answered Aiden, unhappy with her current attitude toward him.


    "It''s simple really, your existence has been a nuisance to me. You were supposed to be talented and gifted but years after you were born, you were still the same trash as when you were born. Because of that, the family kicked you out and decided to send me here once a week to check up on you." answered the maid, clearly unhappy with her situation and disgusted with Aiden.


    "So did anything changetely?" asked the maid once again, nonchntly, seemingly not caring about the answer Aiden would give her.


    Aiden, hearing that she noted the things that changed about him, decided to not tell her about his awakening and decided to keep her in the dark about his current situation.


    "No, nothing much, everything''s as usual," responded Aiden.


    "Then, I''ll leave. I''lle back here in a week," said Emily, as she left the small room which Aiden called home with an evil smile on her face.


    "Bye," said Aiden, with a deadpan face seemingly not happy with the meeting he just had with this person.


    It seemed that Aiden would have to deal with quite an annoying person once a week from now on. And if she discovered he awakened and told his family. Aiden wasn''t sure what the reaction from his family would be, but he knew he didn''t want to go back there, ever again.


    ''That maid isn''t even respecting me, I''m supposed to be her master. Imagine the rest of the family.'' thought Aiden, convinced that he would never go back there at any cost.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    After she left Aiden opened his system and saw the same notification as when he had first transmigrated in this body.


    [You will be summoned to the Otherworld in three days.]


    Realizing he only had three days left before being summoned again, he decided to go outside his room and find a ce to buy new equipment because he only had three days to do so. If he wanted to get better results in his second trial, he would need to prepare for it and not be oblivious like in the first one.


    However, there was a big problem, Aiden didn''t have any money. He only had this small core of the boss monster and he had no idea of its actual value. Aiden thought that the mace would not get him much money because it didn''t look great and would probably bemon for most people.


    But he didn''t change his mind and exited his small room. As he closed the door behind him, he got a look at the new world of which he was now part, it seemed his house was located in the slums because trash could be found everywhere around him.


    He could, also, see some people who looked exactly like him before awakening on the ground. They looked feeble and didn''t seem to have any energy to do anything, but when Aiden started to look at them. They all turned their head toward him, without even speaking he could see that those people suffered even more than him.


    Not knowing where to go to buy equipment, he asked one of those guys where he needed to go sell his items.


    The man who answered had difficulty speaking but Aiden was still able to make some sense of his words. It seemed that there was a shop close by, that bought items from the Otherworld. But, Aiden didn''t know if that shop was safe or if he would get attacked, after all, he was currently in the slums. No one knew what could happen to him.


    However, Aiden wasn''t scared of anyone attacking him because he knew that he would most likely be able to escape from them with his skills as an assassin.


    After walking for a couple of minutes in the direction the homeless man had given him, he seemed to have arrived at the shop the man had talked to him about.


    N?v(el)B\\jnn


    Aiden wasn''tpletely sure if it was the right ce because the building looked like it was abandoned a long time ago. The emblem of the shop on which was written [Otherwold Shop] was starting to detach itself, almost falling down.


    But, he still walked in, maybe the interior of the shop would be way better.


    Surprise, it wasn''t anything better, the only thing that could be seen inside the shop was a single wooden door. No one seemed to be working or living in this ce, it was truly abandoned.


    Still, havinge all this way here, Aiden decided to check what would happen when he opened the door.


    The system which had been silent for a while now, suddenly activated with a message that Aiden had never expected to see.


    [You are being teleported to the Underground Otherworld Shop.]


    "This old wooden door is a teleportation tool, what the hell is this ce?" eximed Aiden, not knowing what was happening.

 Chapter 17 Underground Otherworld Shop

    ?[You are being teleported to the Underground Otherworld Shop.]


    A teleportation device seemed to have been put inside the wooden door he had just opened and transported him to this ce that looked nothing like the slums or the building he had taken toe here.N?v(el)B\\jnn


    It was bustling with different types of people of other races, with a quick look, Aiden saw a group of dwarfs, an elf, and a vampire, he even saw what seemed to be a human with some parts of a dragon attached to him.


    ''Is this ce in the Otherworld, or are we still in the real world?'' thought Aiden, trying to make sense of the situation unfolding before him.


    Wanting to get some information about where he was, Aiden started looking around him and saw what seemed to be an information center with an elf seemingly wanting someone toe and ask her some questions.


    The elf didn''t look that old but one could never know with the elves. She was quite good-looking and seemed friendly. She had white hair with ears that were pointy, she really looked like an elf one could see in movies.


    "Hello young awakener, what can I do for you today?" asked the elf with a smile.


    "Well, to tell you the truth I kind of got here by ident and I was wondering if there was any way of telling me, what this ce is?"


    "Oh, you''re one of those. Well, it''s simple you are in the Underground Otherworld Shop that was created long ago by the four founding families, the Nightshade, the ckthorn, the Ravenwood, and the Moonshadow. They have created this space to help young awakeners like yourself to sell the items they gain in the Otherworld."


    "Oh ok, is this ce in the Otherworld or are we still in the real world?" asked Aiden to make sure.


    "If by the real world you mean, being in Nova, our. Then yes we are still in the real world, you didn''t get teleported to the ce where your trials take ce don''t worry."


    "If we''re not in the Otherworld, then how were we teleported here?"


    "Who knows? It''s probably a secret closely guarded by the four families to impede others from creating spaces like this everywhere."


    "Oh ok, then that''s all I had to ask, bye," said Aiden, as he turned around not interested in hearing more about the founding families.


    But as he was leaving, he suddenly turned around looking as if he had forgotten something.


    "Do you know where I could sell this and that?" said Aiden, as he showed his mace and the boss monster core.


    "Wow, you got a core from a boss monster. Well, the experts in that field aren''t that far away from here, go in a straight line on your left and you will find the shop. It''s called [Core Expert]. As for your mace, it seems to be only of Basic Tier which probably won''t amount to much but there are people who buy scrap items around here. Just go in any type of shop and they will give a price for it."


    She seemed surprised that the boy in front of her had a core monster, she thought it was given to him by his family as support. She didn''t believe the feeble boy in front of her could have killed a boss monster in a trial since it''s so hard to do even for people who train their whole life.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "And also, do you know of a ce where I could buy a dagger? You see I''m trying to equip myself as best as possible before doing my second trial."


    "Oh, it''s no problem, ask as many questions as you want. Usually, I''m bored out of my mind since most people know this ce from the inside out." said the elf, looking desperate for some clients


    "Then to answer your question, the most renowned shop that sells weapons around here is a shop that is managed by one of the four founding families, the Ravenwood. The Ravenwood family is known for their cksmiths and the quality of their equipment. You should be able to find what you want there, they have all types of weapons for any price. Did you want to know anything else?"


    "No, actually I think I''m good, I should probably go. Thank you once again for your help!"


    When Aiden turned around the elf at the counter made a subtle move, seemingly calling someone to take her ce.


    It seemed that the elf at the counter wasn''t as ordinary as Aiden thought. Aiden managed to get her curiosity about wanting to learn more about the young man she had met for the first time.


    The reason for her curiosity about Aiden was because of the items Aiden had shown her, if he was powerful enough to kill a boss monster on the first trial then it was worth it to look into him. Also, having a good rtionship with a young awakened was always good.


    She started running behind at a speed that was way too fast for the naked eye to see.


    "Since you look kind of lost even with the information I gave, do you want me to apany you? I could tell you if some of the merchants are trying to rip you off. My name is Maelis, by the way, nice to meet you..." said the elf, appearing in front of Aiden, looking breathless because she ran.


    "Oh, Aiden, the name''s Aiden. But, are you sure you want to apany me, wouldn''t that be a waste of your time?"


    "Oh that''s fine, I actually don''t do much besides working here. Also, with me being with you nobody will try to steal from you, and don''t worry about me even if I don''t look like the strongest, I can defend myself quite well," said Maelis, with a big smile on her face.


    "Then I guess you can apany me if you want."


    "Then where do you want to go first?"


    "Well, I don''t really have money, so I''m hoping to exchange this core for some money and then I will go buy my dagger with the money I got."


    After deciding what he wanted to do, Aiden headed straight left toward the shop known as [Core Expert] where he would exchange his core for money.


    Five minutester, they arrived in front of the shop and it was magnificent, it didn''t look anything like the shop he had found in the slums. It was crazy, all types of people were entering and leaving the building very fast.


    Some of them were emitting a dangerous aura which meant that they were strong, he couldn''t wait to see the strength of the ones who managed this shop.

 Chapter 18 Maelis

    ?Aiden could feel the aura of multiple strong awakeners as he was looking at the shop. It seemed this shop wasn''t one of the best in the market for no reason, many strong awakeners were guarding it.


    Sensing all those auras made Aiden alert. He was ready to fight at any moment if one of them woulde after him, he wasn''t scared of battling out with anybody.


    Noticing Aiden''s reaction, Maelis questioned herself if he was actually able to feel the strength of some of the people looking at them. If that was actually the case, it meant he had excellent intuition that could only be formed by experience, but the thing that bugged her was, where did this experience of hise from?


    She knew he had onlypleted the first trial because he had told her that. Thinking about where he could have grown, she started analyzing what he was wearing which didn''t seem luxurious or anything, it was some in clothing that didn''t indicate much to her. She would need to ask him some questions to learn more about him.


    "Humm... Aiden, sorry it''s too personal but... where do you live? I have never seen you before and I know most of the names of all up-anding young awakeners, it''s really weird I never heard your name, not even once." said Maelis, truly founding it weird that she had never once heard her name before.


    Aiden receiving this sudden question out of nowhere didn''t know how to answer, but quickly calming his mind, he decided to actually tell her where he lives right now since that would probably clear up her confusion.


    "I''m actually living in the slums," said Aiden, as he patted the back because of the embarrassment he was feeling.


    n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    "You-You''re living in the slum, with this talent of yours, and no one has once taken notice of you?" responded Maelis, shocked by this information.


    ''Does this mean no one knows about his potential, maybe this could be my chance, to take him in my family. He should probably ept, after all, he lives in the slums.'' thought Maelis, thinking about the possibilities of recruiting Aiden.


    "I mean... it''s been almost one day since I have awakened, it''s normal no one will notice me that fast. And I''m probably not that specialpared to the best of the young awakeners, that you speak of."


    "Don''t be so sure about that, if you killed the boss monster on the first trial you should be getting praise and admiration. But that''s probably going to be difficult since you live in the slums. By the way, if you don''t mind me asking, did you always live there?"


    ''Should I tell her the truth? Probably not, I don''t know much about her, and for all I know she could have connections with my family.'' thought Aiden, realizing he didn''t know much about Maelis.


    "I will answer on one condition, after that question of yours we will ask each other questions in turn because I don''t much about you except that you are helping me for no reason at all," said Aiden, as he started to doubt Maelis and what her purpose was.


    However contrary to the expectations of Aiden, Maelis didn''t even think about whether or not to ept this proposition of his, this actually gave hope to Aiden that maybe she didn''t have any hidden reason for helping him.


    It was now time for Aiden to answer her question and he decided to lie because he couldn''t tell about where he came from since then it would be much moreplicated.


    "I was born in the slums and lived there all my life. I guess you could say I was lucky for awakening recently because, with the money I will make from the trials and the equipment I will sell from the Otherworld, I''ll probably be able to leave this hellish ce," said Aiden, as he said things he didn''t really care about like leaving the slums to find another home.


    He only said that to convince Maelis that he was actually telling the truth. He didn''t care that much about the room he would be living in because he was always used to the bare minimum in his past life, having a bed and some clothes. He only got a television, thest month before his death.


    "My turn now," said Aiden.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "What is the reason you are following me around, are you actually here to help me?"


    Maelis contemted telling him the truth which was that she wanted to recruit him into his family but she decided against it, saying only a bit of the truth.


    "I''m actually only trying to help you, I can swear that I have no bad intentions toward you," said Maelis, keeping it short not wanting to reveal something she didn''t mean to.


    "Don''t take it wrong, it''s just I have a problem in trusting people. I guess, it''s your turn now what did you want to learn about me?"


    "How the hell are you able to walk silently all the time, are you an assassin or something, it''s weird not hearing your footsteps. I can never tell when you''re right beside me, it''s creeping me out,"


    "Oh, sorry I wasn''t doing it on purpose and I developed this habit of mine, living in the slums, not wanting people to find or hear me," said Aiden, as lies seemed to be the only thinging out of his mouth but he didn''t have a choice.


    "What trial are you currently at? Are you strong?"


    ''Oh, it seems he can''t see through me.''


    "Well, I''m currently a trial seven and I''m not really powerful most of the time I get carried in the trials," said Maelis, it was now her time to lie to him, not wanting to reveal to him that she was actually strong.


    "Alright, let''s say this is thest question we ask, we need to enter the shop after all, we shouldn''t waste too much time. Did you have the most impact when killing the boss monster on the first trial, is that why you have its core, or were you given it?"


    "Yeah, I was, actually we were only two from our original team of four. Two of the teammates decided to leave the trial without killing the boss monster, not wanting to fail their first trial because that would be bad for their reputation," said Aiden, not knowing that killing a monster with only one other person was truly a big aplishment and that not many could do it.


    ''He killed a boss monster with only one other person, just what special ss does he have?'' thought Maelis, thinking that he was one of the special ss holders.


    ***


    Author''s Note:


    If I hit 100 powerstones before the end of the week I will drop one bonus chapter, might be two if I have time :)


    If you like the story, please add it to the library!

 Chapter 19 Maeliss Influence

    ?As Maelis was questioning herself if Aiden was a special ss holder, Aiden decided not to waste time and go inside the store and sell the core obtained from the boss monster.


    He didn''t have any other questions to ask Maelis, so he decided to end the questioning there. He would probably learn more about her as they continued shopping together.


    As Aiden was going to enter the shop, Maelis finally realized that he wasn''t right beside her. Her mind was so distracted by thatst answer of his that she stopped keeping track of what surrounded her.


    She got distracted because if Aiden was a special ss holder, anyone would try to recruit him no matter what it took. Special sses have a big advantage over all other awakeners, they each have a special stat that they can upgrade which is not the case for normal ss holders.


    Those special stats were not the ones you would find normally in normal video games, for example, luck could be one of the stats from a special ss. Any type of stat can be given to special ss holders but the ones given to them are always based upon their personality.


    However, Maelis needed to push those thoughts aside as they were going to enter [Core Expert], she wanted to make a good impression on Aiden by helping him have the best price on his core andter on when buying the rest of his equipment.


    Maybe Aiden would feel indebted to her because of the effort she put into helping him.


    As they entered the shop, Aiden was shocked by the beauty of the shop. It was equipped with technology he had never seen before. Every single client had someone who advise them on what they were looking for. It truly deserved to be one of the best stores in the Underground Otherworld Shop based on a quick look around.


    "Hello, young sir! What can I do for you today," said a dwarf, weing him inside the shop.


    N?v(el)B\\jnn


    Then the dwarf noticed he wasn''t actually alone and started to introduce himself to the other person who was with the young man but he stopped himself when he saw who the young man was with, seeing who had entered the shop. He was stunned.


    ''Why is she here? If she is apanying this young man, is he someone worth taking attention to? Is he strong?'' thought the dwarf, looking at Aiden to see what he had missed when he had first seen him.


    But after looking at Aiden for a few seconds, he didn''t notice anything unusual. In his eyes, Aiden even looked weak, so why would someone of her caliber being with him into this shop?


    He acted as if he didn''t notice who she was and continued doing this job normally because the eyes she gave him clearly weren''t friendly and gave him the chills. He didn''t want to take his chances, who knew what she could do to him if she wished it.


    "Hmm... I''m here to sell this" said Aiden as he showed the core of the boss monster, confused as to why the dwarf was looking at him with such attention.


    "Oh a core from a Cyclops, that''s not so rare, where did you get it young man?"


    "I got it from the first trial."


    "Then, you should be pretty talented to kill a boss monster on your first trial, good job," said the dwarf, not believing even a second what Aiden had just said, he thought Maelis had given it to him as some sort of gift.


    I mean who would be stupid to believe that someone who didn''t seem in shape and didn''t have any muscles would be able to kill a boss monster that the most talented young awakeners who trained all their life for have difficulty killing.


    "How much is it?" asked Aiden, not caring for what he had to say, he only wanted the money for this core and that was it.


    "I can give at most 200 Credits for it"


    "Sure, that sounds good. Right?" said Aiden as he turned around to look at Maelis asking for her opinion.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "That seems a bit low of a price don''t you think mister?" said Maelis, her friendly attitude from earlier disappearing in front of the eyes of Aiden.


    He didn''t understand why she was acting so different from earlier, it was almost as if she would kill the seller if he didn''t give her what she wanted. However, Aiden seemed to notice that even when she was emitting her pressure, he couldn''t even feel it. It looked like she had enough control over it to direct it onto someone.


    ''Is she really someone on the seventh trial, are they all this strong? I really am nothingpared to others,'' thought Aiden.


    The lies told by Maelispletely demolished the rankings and strength, Aiden, had given awakeners based on the trial they were at. He, now, thought of himself as trash whenparing himself to Maelis, thinking everyone would be as strong as her when reaching that trial.


    The dwarf being under pressure from Maelis, couldn''t even breathe. He surrendered immediately and gave the price of 1000 Credits, instantly without even bargaining.


    After the dwarf epted to give more Credits to Aiden, Maelis released her pressure and he could finally breathe again.


    Aiden was still thinking, not noticing the scene in front of him.


    ¡¤?¦Èm ''Who is she, for her to be able to even influence sellers from one of the best shops in the Underground Otherworld Shop(UOS)'' thought Aiden, now starting to doubt the identity she had given him and the answers she told him earlier.


    ''Is she trustworthy or would she betray like all the others when she learns I have no ss?'' thought Aiden, thinking about the reaction of his teammates in the first trial when they learned he didn''t have a ss.


    "There, 1000 Credits," said the dwarf, as he handed them to Aiden.


    *Umm*


    *Umm*


    The dwarf made some noises with his throat to get the attention of Aiden, who waspletely in his thoughts. Not caring about anything that was surrounding him.


    "1000?!, wasn''t it 200 Credits, why are you giving me so much?" asked Aiden, confused by the amount he was being given. He thought that if Maelis put some pressure on the seller he would up the price to a maximum of 300 Credits but he was actually giving him 5 times the original price.


    "Not much reason behind it, if you want to know why I gave you so much ask her, now scram I won''t give you more," said the dwarf, angrily, as he pointed toward the door indicating them to leave.


    Something was weird and he knew it was rted to the identity of Maelis but he didn''t know who she was exactly. Thinking about it, he didn''t care who she was as long as she gave those benefits everywhere they went. Maybe he would be able to get a good dagger with her help.


    ***


    Author''s Note:


    If I hit 100 powerstones before the end of the week I will drop one bonus chapter, might be two if I have time :)


    If you like the story, please add it to the library!

 Chapter 20 Ravenwoods Shop

    ?Leaving the shop, Aiden continued thinking about the weird reaction the dwarf was having when Maelis was talking to him, he found it weird. But as long as it didn''t affect him negatively, he didn''t care all that much.


    After exchanging the core obtained from the boss monster, he had 1000 Credits to buy a dagger and maybe some light armor, to have some protection.


    "Ready? Let''s go to Ravenwood''s shop," said Maelis, her attitude, once again, being positive and not aggressive at all.


    She seemed to be the sweetest person that could exist but Aiden knew that wasn''t the case anymore. He knows that he needs to be careful around her, not wanting to get on her bad side.


    Those worries from Aiden were useless since Maelis only wanted to help him to recruit him into her family, but that was not information he knew about.


    "Sure, I''ll follow you," responded Aiden, as he showed the way in front of him and followed her tracks.


    While going to the Ravenwood''s shop, Maelis was telling Aiden what he should avoid when inside that shop.


    "Aiden when we arrive there, just keep in mind that I won''t be able to do the same thing as with the dwarf. The Ravenwood family is too powerful for someone like me to rival them," said Maelis, dead serious.


    ¡¤?¦Èm "Can I know what family, you''re part of? Honestly, at some point I thought you were part of a founding family," asked Aiden, wanting to learn more about her background.


    "I am part of a medium-level family called Everheart, and maybe I shouldn''t tell you but I am the matriarch of that family," said Maelis, finally revealing her identity to Aiden.


    "A matriarch is only on the seventh trial? Wa-Wait you''re a matriarch of a family, how?" asked Aiden, confused.


    "Well, I''m actually older than I seem, so don''t get fooled by my appearance. And, no I''m actually a lot stronger than someone on the seventh trial. I am currently on the 26th trial of the Otherworld, which is one of the highest numbers of trials reached by a medium-level family."


    "Wait, so you lied to me earlier? Why?"


    "Yeah, I lied to you but it''s not for any bad reasons, don''t worry. The answer I gave about helping you is true and wasn''t a lie. But, I can''t tell you much more about why I''m helping you." said Maelis, keeping some elements of mystery about her from Aiden.


    "And, the medium-level families, how do theypare to the founding families?" asked wanting to know more about the difference in strength between the families.


    "Well, it''s kindaplicated, just keep in mind that we are inferior to them and by arge margin at them because of all the special techniques they have decided to keep to themselves."


    "What type of techniques have they developed over the years?"


    "Well, each family has its strength and weaknesses, and all of them have different techniques which not many know nothing about. Even me, I don''t even know their techniques, they are kept secret at all costs," said Maelis, emphasizing the fact that no one knows about them except a select few.


    "So, even someone with your power doesn''t know much about the founding families," murmured Aiden, thinking out loud.


    "Now, that you know a little more about me, I want to tell you to be careful and to not show any hostility inside their shop or we would probably have some difficulty getting out of there alive."<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "Alright, I won''t take any chances I will let you do the talking. I''ll just pick the dagger I want and I''ll let you deal with them. Is that good for you?"


    "Sure that works," said Maelis, happy that he wasn''t someone that would be stubborn about things like this.


    The more she learned about Aiden, the more she was captivated by him. She was sure that he would be the perfect choice as a new recruit for her family.


    A few minutester, as they were advancing in the streets that contained a lot of people, Aiden could see many types of shops, some of them looked abandoned while others were at the cutting edge of technology with people entering and exiting.


    The UOS (Underground Otherworld Shop) was truly a one of kind ce being able to wee that many awakeners at the same time without any problem whatsoever.


    After looking at the shops while walking, they finally arrived at Ravenwood''s shop. It was splendid, it didn''t look anything like the other stores. It was one big tower that seemed to be big enough to wee at least 10000 people at the same time but the weird thing was that you could only see the tower once close enough to the store.N?v(el)B\\jnn


    After entering the store, Aiden and Maelis were in one big circr hallway with weapons behind clear ss on both sides. All the people on this floor seemed to bepletely silent, which was weird.


    Deciding to expect the weapons behind the clear ss, Aiden was shocked at the price, the weapon he was currently looking at cost 100 000 Credits. He looked at another one and it was 75 000 Credits, how the hell would he be able to buy anything in here?


    Seeing this, he decided to silently ask Maelis how he would be able to buy anything here, didn''t she say that they had all types of prices?


    "Hmm... I can''t buy those weapons, I told you, I only have the 1000 Credits we just traded," whispered Aiden in her ear, not wanting to disrupt the people surrounding them.


    "Don''t worry those aren''t the weapons we will buy, follow me. We need to go up," said Maelis as she pointed up and started going toward the stairs.


    They were circr stairs and Aiden couldn''t even see where those stairs were going.


    "We have to climb for how much time?" asked Aiden, exasperated when seeing the number of steps he would need to take.


    "Not long, don''t worry," said Maelis,pletely lying to him.


    The climb would be a long and excruciating one.


    ***


    Author''s Note:


    If I hit 100 powerstones before the end of the week I will drop one bonus chapter, might be two if I have time :)


    If you like the story, please add it to the library!

 Chapter 21 Buying The Dagger

    ?"Won''t be long, won''t be long. How is this not long, it''s been one hour since we started climbing, can''t they put some sort of teleportation to go to the top"ined Aiden, as he had been doing for the past 30 minutes.


    At the start, he didn''t mind it as he was looking around and enjoying the scenery, but as they continued to go up, the body of Aiden started to have difficulty keeping, after all, he wasn''t in good shape.


    "Don''t worry, we''ll soon arrive at the floor where we will buy your weapon," said Maelis, as she had been saying to Aiden for the past 30 minutes, but this time it was actually the truth.


    The worst thing about climbing those stairs was that Aiden could see many floors with different but each time they were too expensive. The way their store worked was that the most important people wouldn''t have to go up much to buy their weapons and the ones of were poor would have to work for it.


    ''Why are the poor people always the ones who have to do more?'' thought Aiden, exasperated.


    As he thought that, Maelis started shouting right beside him.


    "We''re here!"


    "Why are you shouting, couldn''t you just tell me normally?" said Aiden, getting annoyed quickly because of hisck of sleep.


    He didn''t even sleep since he had taken over this body and he could feel the effects, now more than ever. He felt as if he would crumble from the smallest push


    Aiden not wanting to waste time and start falling asleep right there, started walking inside the floor. There were not many here, they were actually the only ones who had gone up here, everything inside this ce seemed to beplete scrap. The hallway from the start was nowhere to be seen. It looked like a storage room for useless equipment.


    "Why did you bring me here? Everything seems to beplete trash, please don''t tell me I climbed all the way up here for absolutely nothing," said Aiden as he continued to look around himself, exasperated.


    "You''repletely wrong, I thought you would have an eye for this sort of thing but it seems like I was wrong. The weapons that can be found in this ce are all made by apprentice cksmiths of the Ravenwood family, even if they are not the best. They are still making quality equipment, don''t worry."


    "Okay sure they make good equipment, but how the hell are we going to find the weapon I want inside this ce," said Aiden, looking at all the weapons on the ground that seemed to have been dropped here.


    "Just use the system by picking the daggers on the ground, he''ll give you information on the weapon or piece of equipment you picked up."N?v(el)B\\jnn


    As she said that, Aiden picked up a sword on the ground, and sure enough a panel from the system appeared.


    [Sunfire Sword]


    [Rank: Intermediate]


    [Restriction: Can only be used by Swordsman or a Special ss rted to swords.]


    [Skill: The sword can be enveloped by fire for 30 seconds. While on fire, the damage from the sword is doubled.]


    [Description: A sword crafted skillfully by a cksmith that needs experience. Overall, it is a good sword to use and it has a skill attached to it.]


    Not wanting a sword he dropped it, but he was surprised to see that even items could have skills. After all, the weapons didn''t have a system but maybe weapons are connected to the system because when crafting equipment, cksmiths use the cores of monsters.


    Wanting to know more about how weapons acquire skills he decided to ask his system to know more about it.


    ''System, what weapons or equipment, in general,e with skills?'' asked Aiden in his mind to the system.


    *Beep*


    [Skill appear randomly on weapons but the more skillfully they are made, the more chances there are that a skill will appear on it. Basically, the higher their rank the more chances they have to have a skill.]


    After learning about the skills of weapons and how they appeared on them, Aiden decided to pick up another weapon, this time a dagger.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    The dagger was dark, with some lines of red running through it. It looked like lines of blood were on the dagger, and it caught the eyes of Aiden.


    The system panel for the items once again appeared in front of him.


    [Shadow Strike Dagger]


    [Rank: Intermediate]


    [Restrictions: Can only be used by Assassin or a Special ss rted to assassination.]


    [Skill (Shadow Strike): A strike which cannot be seen by the enemy except when the enemy has a higher Charm. It cost three Mana Points to activate.]


    [Description: A dagger made for assassins, it was made skillfully by a talented apprentice cksmith who was able to pass on some of the emotions he was feeling when crafting it. The skill of the weaponplements the type of user who can use it.]


    Before calling Maelis over he decided to try and equip the weapon to see if he was able to use it.


    This time no error message appeared it seemed he could use all types of weapons without any problem.


    "Maelis,e here, I think I found a good dagger," said Aiden, calling Maelis over to him.


    "How much does it cost, did you check? Normally, weapons made by apprentices don''t cost much but if they are special they might cost more," said Maelis as she started to go over to Aiden.


    "No, I''ll check," answered Aiden, as he started looking at the price of the dagger which was attached to it.


    "Bad news it''s 1500 Credits, seems like I can''t buy it," said Aiden, sad that he was not able to get this dagger because he really like the skill that was attached to it.


    "Calm down, if you really want this dagger then I''ll give you the 500 Credits you''re missing. It''s not much for someone like me, and you don''t need to give it back. Let''s just say you owe me one," said Maelis, trying to get a favor


    "Sure, then should we go buy it," said Aiden, even if he didn''t want to owe her one. He really liked the dagger and the skill that was on it, and he wanted it.


    "Alright, I know you won''t like it but to buy it we need to go back down, and we have to take the stairs once again."


    "No, no, no, please is there nothing to help us around here to help us get back to the first floor," said Aiden, remembering the hell he suffered climbing those stairs.


    Not having a choice, Maelis and Aiden made their way down to the first floor.


    One hourter, they had finally arrived and Aiden went to buy the dagger.


    "Finally, I can leave this damn ce. Before leaving, I only need to buy this dagger," said Aiden as went to the counter and bought the dagger.


    It could finally leave Ravenwood''s shop after two hours of exercise. He decided that if he ever came back there, he would have a lot of money because he didn''t want to climb those stairs again.


    ***


    Author''s Note:


    If I hit 100 powerstones before the end of the week I will drop one bonus chapter, might be two if I have time :)


    If you like the story, please add it to the library!

 Chapter 22 Everhearts Manor

    ?After buying the dagger for Aiden, they decided to leave the shop. Aiden, now, wanted to leave right away and sleep in the ce he called but he didn''t even know how to go back to the slums.


    "Maelis, how can I go back to the slums?" asked Aiden.


    "Oh well, it''s simple you just need to find an exit door which can be found almost everywhere around here and you will be teleported back to the ce where you entered the Otherworld Underground Shop," said Maelis, looking as if she wanted to ask something.


    After a moment of silence, she decided to ask it.


    "Hmm... Aiden, when is your next trial?"


    "In about two days why?"


    "Well, I was thinking about some things today and I decided that I wanted to invite you to visit my family manor. If you like our infrastructure and our family, I thought that we could try to recruit you into it. What do you say?" asked Maelis, nervous as to what Aiden would respond.


    "If I go over there and think about joining it, will it count as the favor I owe you?"


    Aiden wanted to get rid of that favor as soon as possible because he didn''t want Maelis to ask anything too important from him.


    "Sure, if that''s what it takes," said Maelis, she looked desperate for him toe to try and convince him.


    She wanted him toe because if she was able to recruit him, maybe he could help her family be even stronger with the appearance of a special ss, which was what she thought he was.N?v(el)B\\jnn


    Maelis was convinced Aiden had a special ss but she didn''t ask him yet. She decided to wait until he came to their mansion to ask.


    One thing to know was that if she ever learned about his connection with the Nightshade family, she would never try to poach Aiden even a little, scared of the reaction of the Nightshade.


    "Then, where''s your family manor located and how do I go there?" asked Aiden.


    "Don''t worry about it, we''ll find you and pick you up. How''s 10 am sound like?" asked Maelis.


    "Sure, I''ll be ready by then."


    After exchanging their goodbyes, Aiden was now in search of an exit door that would allow him to go back to the slums, wanting to find his bed as quickly as possible.


    Maelis, on the other hand, didn''t have the luxury of rxing. She needed to prepare everything for the next day so that everything would be perfect. She, also, needed to find where Aiden lived in the slums. To find out where he lived, she hurried to the information center where she had met Aiden and quickly asked an elf to find all the information possible on Aiden.


    Meanwhile, after a couple of minutes, Aiden finally found an exit door and quickly opened it wanting to be teleported back.


    A message from the system appeared once again, telling him he was going to get teleported.


    [You are being teleported to the Slums Otherworld Underground Entrance.]


    After returning to the slums, Aiden went back to his home and slept like he never did before. His eyes closed by themselves, and he slept instantly. It seemed that all the actions he had gone through recently were hard on him and that he at least needed some rest.


    However, before going to bed, he quickly checked how much time was left until he would get summoned to his second trial.


    [You will be summoned to the Otherworld in one day.]


    The next day, Aiden woke up because he started hearing the sounds of someone knocking on his half-broken door.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    *Knock*


    *Knock*


    Walking up to the door he kinda knew who was on the other side, and it was exactly what he had thought.


    There was someone wearing all ck that resembled an elf knocking on his door, she was probably here to take him to Everheart''s family.


    "Are you ready to go?" asked the elf before him as she showed the ck limousine behind her.


    "One second, I''ll go change, it won''t take long," said Aiden as he quickly went back to his room and changed clothes.


    He came back and was now ready to leave.


    He followed the elf dressed in ck and entered the ck limousine that was parked in front of his shed. The luxurious car being parked outside of his house was weird when looking at the environment that was surrounded by people who had barely enough to survive.


    Twenty minutester, Aiden finally arrived at the manor of the Everheart where all their operations seemed to take ce.


    At the entrance gate of the manor, were two maids, one on each side of the gate, that looked exactly like Emily. The maid, however clearly didn''t have the same power as Emily. That was probably normal since they were not one of the founding families and only a medium-level one.


    ¡¤?¦Èm "Wee to the Everheart Manor," said both the maids at the entrance gate at the same time while bowing toward him.


    It was now time for Aiden to enter the manor and he got greeted like he was an important guest for the first time in his life, the maids acted as if he was already their master, treating him with more respect than Emily ever did.


    It felt good being respected for the first time, his mentor never once truly respected him and only used Aiden for his own goal.


    His mentorplimented him after finishing his missions but he never respected him one bit, the proof of this was him killing Aiden when he felt Aiden bing too powerful and that he would soon surpass him.


    Not wanting to remember anything else about his mentor, he quickly dismissed those thoughts.


    He entered the manor and it was beautiful, he had never seen a building that was this luxurious, he was in a ce where they liked to show their wealth, to say the least, with their furniture that seemed to be made out of gold. Everyone inside the manor seemed to be wearing armor that cost at least twenty times the value of his dagger.


    ''Can I get equipment like this if I join this family?'' thought Aiden.


    The equipment he was seeing was really tempting and was clearly tilting the chances of epting the deal, that Maelis would propose to himter, positively.


    ''Maybe it wouldn''t be so bad to live here?'' thought Aiden looking at the interior of the manor.


    ***


    Author''s Note:


    If I hit 100 powerstones before the end of the week I will drop one bonus chapter, might be two if I have time :)


    If you like the story, please add it to the library!

 Chapter 23 Training Ground

    ?Interrupting his thoughts about joining the Everheart Family, Maelis was going down the stairs that were right in front of Aiden, weing him.


    "Aiden, you''re here!" said Maelis, happy that he was finally here after she had prepared all night for his arrival.


    She took care of everything and everything was part of her n, the two maids in front of the manor were her n to show him that he could have one of those maids just by joining. She, also, asked for the highest-ranked members toe to the lobby at around 10 in the morning to impress him and to show him their equipment and wealth.


    "Hey, now that I''m here what should we do, what did you want to show me?" asked Aiden, wanting to know more about what she had prepared for him.


    "Well, what do you say that we start with a tour of this ce? I''ll show you our training grounds, storage room, sparring grounds, and many other things."


    "Alright then, I''ll follow you," said Aiden, as he indicated to her that he was going to follow right behind her.


    The maids from the entrance, also, followed right behind them making sure that Aiden had everything he needed.


    As they were walking, Maelis started talking about the history of her family and how it formed.


    "Well, I don''t know if you have noticed but most of the people that live here are actually elves. That''s because the person who founded the family at the start was an elf and he only recruited elves into the family which caused arge amount of elves to be part of this family."


    "Are you a descendant of the one who created this family?" asked Aiden, curious about what she would say.


    "Yes, I am that''s why I''m currently the matriarch of the family. But that''s not the only reason, I''m also the strongest if we take into ount all the members of the family," said Maelis, making sure that he knew she was the best in her family.


    "Then, does your family have any type of specialty for techniques like the founding families?"


    "Well, the technique we use is one for archers and long ranges sses, which probably doesn''t correspond to you since you bought a dagger for assassins yesterday. But, don''t worry about the technique we use as it is not even a high-tier one and won''t have much impact if you decide to join this family."


    This was actually a lie, practicing even the lowest-tier technique given to you is important and helps you develop yourself and get stronger faster.


    Because a technique is stronger than a skill since it doesn''t require any mana points to activate. Also, a technique has a wide range of abilities, so it is basically abination of many skills which is why it makes it so strong, it also doesn''t count in the limited skill slots.


    "Are techniques not important? Because when you were talking about medium-level families and higher ranked ones, the main point you pointed out was the techniques they possessed, and the difference in strength they had," said Aiden, doubting the information Maelis had just told him.


    Hearing this question, Maelis knew she couldn''t lie but she still tried to hide some elements from him.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    "I mean, they are important but you would still be able to be strong even without one."


    "Hmm... Sure I guess," responded Aiden.


    He knew that she answered his question to make it seem like he didn''t need a technique but what she just said meant that not having one would decelerate his growth. Basically, having good techniques was better than having good skills.


    After walking for some time, they finally arrived at the training grounds.


    "Alright, here we are, this is the training ground. As you can see, members of the guild practice here every day to improve their skills," said Maelis as she showed the training ground to Aiden.


    The training ground was quite big and it wasn''t anything like Aiden had expected. There seemed to be small challenges, that focused on certain stats like agility, strength, dexterity, and others, all around the training ground with a ranking written right beside it which indicated who was the best at those challenges.


    Seeing those challenges, Aiden decided to ask Maelis if he could try one.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "Can I try one of the challenges?"


    "Of course, you can even try them all," answered Maelis, pleased that she was finally going to see the strength of Aiden, she was starting to get excited.


    As he obtained the right to do the challenges, Aiden decided to do the trial that seemed to be a little parkour which interested him. The parkour seemed to beposed of five tforms that were each different from one another separated from each other which would force Aiden to jump from one another, also the ground under the tforms was riddled with little spikes that would surely hurt if he did fall.


    Before doing it, he checked the rankings right beside it and some names and times were written on it.


    [Rankings - Parkour]


    [1st: Emma Everheart (1:32)]


    [2nd: Benjamin Everheart (1:43)]


    [3rd: Matthew Walker (2:01)]


    [...]


    Looking at it he noticed that the person who was first had quite the advantage over the second, and the second had an even bigger gap with the third.


    He found it weird that Maelis wasn''t on the rankings.


    "Why are you not on here?"


    "Well, the rankings for the challenges in the training grounds are reserved for awakeners that have notpleted their fifth trial yet which means I can''t put my name up there," exined Maelis to Aiden


    "Oh, and I almost forgot but when doing the challenges all of your stats are limited to one, it was decided like this because what we train doing those challenges is our basics."


    Learning that his stats would be limited to one didn''t affect much Aiden since he knew that his movement techniques were already much better than what others would use.


    He was sure that would absolutely destroy the rankings cing first. If he didn''t it would be disappointing for Aiden since he takes pride in his movement.


    [You are entering a zone with a stat restriction.]


    [All of your stats are being limited to one.]


    ***


    Author''s note:


    If I hit 100 powerstones before the end of the week I will drop one bonus chapter, might be two if I have time :)


    If you like the story, please add it to the library!

 Chapter 24 Parkour Challenge

    ?As he stepped toward the parkour challenge, two messages from the system appeared in front of him.


    [You are entering a zone with a stat restriction.]


    [All of your stats are being limited to one.]


    Instantly after receiving those two messages, strength seemed to leave the body of Aiden, he was back to how he had first started which was a weird feeling.


    All the power he had umted didn''t seem like much but when it left his body, he could feel the difference pretty well, he started moving his arms and feet to get used to that feeling.


    "How does it feel?" asked Maelis, seeing Aiden moving his arms and legs.


    She knew it was quite weird to experience having your stats restricted the first time since she, also, acted simrly the first time her stats were suppressed.


    "It''s strange, how did you limit my stats, is that some type of item from the Otherworld?"


    "Yes, it''s an item that can be obtained in the rewards of the 10th trial but you have to be quite lucky to get it. It''s rare and costs a fortune to buy, I think we bought this stat limiter for 350 000 Credits but even then it''s on the lower end and this one can be considered cheap."


    "350 000 Credits?!" repeated Aiden, not believing what he had just heard if he continuedpleting his trials in the same fashion as the first one then it wouldn''t take long for him to have a fortune.


    "Yes it''s quite expensive but it''s great for training which is why most families use it. So, are you used to having your stats restricted now?" asked Maelis, wanting to see Aiden perform.


    "I think so," answered Aiden as he was doing quick jumps trying to make sure he was used to it before starting the challenge.


    After confirming that he was ready, Aiden advanced toward the starting line. Close to it, a big chronometer was on his right and would show the time he would take toplete the challenge in real time.


    The system also had its own chronometer that only appeared for Aiden, which indicated at the moment 00:00.


    Now that Aiden was close to the tforms, he could see all sorts of obstacles in his way that would make it difficult for him. And just like he had seen from far away, little spikes could be seen under the tforms which was probably used to motivate the members to give their all so they didn''t fall on them and hurt themselves.


    Five tforms were there too, but on them were different types of obstacles. He could see bullets being shot consistently on a tform, on the other one there wasva in some spots, another had two big walls and no ground, the other was in with nothing on it which was weird.


    The parkour he would have to do looked a bit like what he did in his previous life. But the one with his mentor was even more dangerous which technically gave the advantage to Aiden for finishing first because he already had a bit of experience.


    It was now time for Aiden to beat the fastest time that the members of the Everheart family had achieved and show Maelis just how strong he actually was when giving his all.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    He had adjusted himself to the stats he now had and was ready to do the impossible and beat the record on his first try without any practice whatsoever.


    In an instant, he started running on the first tform which didn''t contain any traps, and quickly approached the second one.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    The second looked exactly like the first one, there was nothing on it which Aiden found weird.


    ''Is this a running challenge or what?'' thought Aiden but he knew the other tforms had traps as he had seen them even before starting the challenge.


    But suddenly as he was running on the second tform, he felt something under his feet open wide, and sensing it, he quickly jumped up to dodge whatever that was happening.


    As he was in the air because of his jump he saw that right under him was a hole in the tform, but Aiden was sure that there wasn''t one before. It seemed like the trap on this tform was the ground that could open and make him fall toward the little spikes.


    But this trap wasn''t really dangerous for Aiden and quickly jumped whenever he felt a tform open.


    ''All I need to do is jump when I feel the ground is going to open, this is way too easy," thought Aiden, not knowing that what he was doing was actually really hard or even impossible for others.


    On the other hand, Maelis was shocked looking at Aiden jumping around.


    ''How the hell is he able to jump in reaction to the ground opening? Emma learned the pattern and where they would open, but she''s not able to do whatever he is doing right now. Just who are you Aiden?'' thought Maelis, watching him continue to dodge the trap as if it was nothing.


    He quickly arrived at the end of the second tform by executing the same jumps over and over again. To reach the next tform which was the one with rock andva surrounding it, he only needed to make onest jump.


    And his jumpnded, he was now on the third tform with littles rocks in front of him. Not wasting any time he jumped on the rocks without even doubting that he would lose his bnce and fall in theva.


    The heart Aiden was calm while doing those actions because he had performed far worse with his past mentor. He knew that he was able to jump from one rock to another without any problem and the most important thing to note was that while jumping, he wasn''t making any noises, he waspletely silent if one was close to him, he would not even be able to hear him move.


    The fact that he was silent while doing all of this was unknown to Maelis, but that was already enough to impress her, imagine if she knew about this ability of his. She had already noticed how silent he was while walking but that was only while walking normally, how could she know that he was able to do so in every situation possible?


    After crossing the third tform, only two of them were left which were the two hardest, where even Aiden would have to be careful on them.


    The time on the chronometer shown by the system was 00:47, if he wanted to beat Emma Everheart he would need toplete the rest of the challenge in under 45 seconds, it would be a close one.


    ***


    Author''s note:


    Will Aiden be able to beat the time Emma established or will he fail?


    If I hit 100 powerstones before the end of the week I will drop one bonus chapter, might be two if I have time :)


    If you like the story, please add it to the library!

 Chapter 25 Beating The First Ranked In Parkour Challenge

    ?After jumping on the rocks surrounded byva, Aiden jumped onto the fourth tform, which was a bit different from the others he had faced before.


    On the fourth tform, there was no ground, only two walls, one on each side. To reach the other side, Aiden would have to jump between the two walls at a speed that would prevent him from falling on the ground.


    Meanwhile, Maelis had her sight locked onto Aiden impressed with what she had seen so far.


    ''He arrived at the fourth tform, it''s the ce where most people stop, unable toplete it. Let''s see if he will be able to pull it off in a single try,'' thought Maelis, kind of expecting him to seed.


    Maelis had no doubt in her mind that Aiden wouldn''t be able to do such a thing when she saw the fashion in which he passed the second tform with the jumps he was performing there.


    Aiden, seeing those two walls, didn''t even question what he would have to do and immediately jumped onto one of the walls, knowing he only had 42 seconds left to beat the record of this challenge.


    He wasn''t typically thatpetitive, normally getting first ce wouldn''t have much importance to him but it seemed that this challenge had awakened something in him: the sense ofpetition.


    He wanted to beat the person who was in the first ce, to prove to himself that he was good at this and that even the best in this ce couldn''t rival him in terms of movement and agility.


    He activated his skill [Mind of an Assassin] to calm his mind and focus on the task ahead. He also wanted to be able to see the best way toplete the challenge, and a red aura started emitting from him, which was noticed immediately by Maelis.


    ''He already has an aura, but how? He onlypleted the first trial; just what did he aplish on the first trial for him to have one?'' thought Maelis, shock in her eyes as she saw some sort of powering out of Aiden.


    With his skill, Aiden saw an image of himself running in front of him, not even jumping to the other wall. It seemed like the most efficient way to pass this trial was to run on the wall and not jump but would it really work?


    Not questioning the image he was seeing, he followed it just like he did when he killed the boss monster. He knew he was going to seed if he did everything that his image showed him.


    ''Why isn''t he jumping from one wall to another? Wait, is he actually running on the wall?'' thought Maelis, once again shocked by the actions of Aiden.


    "Come see this!"


    "How is he doing this?"


    This action of Aiden attracted people who were training in the training grounds. The fact that the matriarch was even watching made them realize that the person who was doing this was important or would be important.


    The people watching were even more shocked when they saw the time on the chronometer, which indicated that only 57 seconds had passed since he started the challenge.


    "Is he really going to beat Emma?"


    "Don''t be ridiculous. She''s the most talented awakened in the history of the Everheart family."


    "Right, she even has a special ss. Someone like him probably won''t be able to beat her time."


    "But why is the matriarch watching him?"


    "Are you dumb? She obviously wants to recruit him into the family."<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    Discussion about the identity of the young man doing the challenge and why the matriarch was also there watching started happening all around the training grounds.


    But Aiden, in his current situation, didn''t hear a thing and waspletely focused on finishing as fast as possible.


    His mind waspletely clear because of the skill he had activated; the only thing he could feel was the beating of his heart, which was steady, not even elerating.


    He ran on the wall without falling down and reached the other side. He quickly jumped onto thest tform, and he now had 25 seconds to finish thest tform, which was considered by many to be the hardest, with deadly projectiles being thrown at him that he needed to dodge.


    The thing was that the projectiles thrown were almost impossible to see with the naked eye, especially when the stats were being limited to one.


    But with his skill, it wouldn''t be much of a problem. He simply followed the trail shown by his clone and saw bullets passing on his right and left, never being close to hitting him.


    "How is he able to see the bullets? Does he have some power that allows him to see into the future?" eximed one of the people watching him.


    ''Is his ss rted to seeing the future, agility, or maybe even sight? I can''t even tell because he is good at too many things. It''s like the system gave him the opportunity to do anything he wanted,'' thought Maelis.


    Aiden continued advancing forward, once again not even hearing the reactions from the public that had gathered to watch him finish the challenge.


    All of them were amazed by how he advanced from each tform. It wasn''t anything like what the others did.


    Usually, when arriving at thest part of the challenge, the participants would have memorized the pattern of the bullets to be able to dodge them, but that wasn''t even the case with Aiden, who seemed to be doing it purely on instinct.


    Arriving at the finish line, Aiden gave a quick nce at the chronometer that his system was showing him and saw the number [01:22].


    He had done it; he got first ce in only one try.


    "1 minute and 22 seconds in a single try. Imagine if he does it again?" said one of the people watching him.


    ''He was able to beat Emma, and without any practice. How the hell are you this talented?'' questioned Maelis, not understanding the moves Aiden had just pulled off."


    ***


    Author''s Note :


    What will be the reaction of Maelis when she learns that Aiden has no ss?N?v(el)B\\jnn


    If I hit 100 powerstones before the end of the week I will drop one bonus chapter, might be two if I have time :)


    If you like the story, please add it to the library!

 Chapter 26 No Class?

    ?"Wow, how did he do it?"


    "He was like woosh woosh," said someone, making signs with his hands, "and dodged every projectileing at him."


    Aiden was happy hearing the praise of those watching him. After all, he had never heard much praise in his life, and he had to admit that it felt great. He understood why people were pursuing fame, and being adored by many could be addicting fast.


    Aiden got down and went back to the start of the challenge, heading toward Maelis, ignoring the others who were close and had seen himplete the challenge.


    Aiden could see that Maelis seemed shocked by what he had just done, fixated on him like never before. He could see that she appeared agitated or excited; he couldn''t tell just from the expression on her face.


    "Should we go somewhere, um, a little bit more private?" said Aiden, not wanting to attract too much attention, also indicating that he was ready to discuss joining the family with her.


    "Ye-yes, follow me," said Maelis, quickly leaving the training grounds and going to her office where she would discuss some things with Aiden.


    On the way to her office,plete silence reigned between the two of them. Maelis wasn''t talking to calm herself, and Aiden saw that she didn''t want to talk yet, so he respected her decision and waited until they arrived at the office.


    The truth was that her mind was full of thoughts, trying to find an offer that could be good enough to attract the young man in front of her. The truth was that she had prepared one for him, a good one at that, but seeing what he was able to do, she knew it wasn''t enough and that he deserved much more.


    However, for her to give him an offer, she would need to learn more about his ss, the level he had reached, and the skills he possessed. Knowing this type of information when recruiting someone wasmon and usually didn''t cause any problems.


    She knew that having someone with the talent he had in her medium-level family could probably propel them to the high-tier in a few years as he continued to develop. She had no choice but to go all in with her offer to please him as best as possible.


    Arriving at her office, Aiden was surprised that it didn''t look that fancypared to the rest of the building. Inside the office were only the necessities needed: a desk, a chair, and not much else. There wasn''t much decoration; it was simply nd and empty.


    Maelis quickly went to the other side of the desk and sat down on her chair, which was the only one in the room that seemed to cost quite a bit because it was really big, fitting of an important person.


    The chair looked like some sort of throne with some gold attached to it. It truly was the only thing that was standing out because everything else inside the room didn''t look all that great.


    "You can sit down," said Maelis, pointing at the small chair that wasn''t like the one she was sitting on.


    "Alright, before we discuss the benefits and the contract you would have to sign to join the family, I''ll need to know your level, skills, and your ss. Is that good for you?"


    "I''m level 10. For skills, I have two. One is called [Mind of the Assassin]; it helps me calm my mind and find the best way out of a situation. The other one I got as a reward forpleting the first trial, and it''s a skill called Regeneration, which, as its name suggests, helps me regenerate," said Aiden, not wanting to reveal his passive skills. He also decided to reveal his skill [Mind of the Assassin] because she had seen him use it and saw his red aura during the challenge.


    "What about your ss?" asked Maelis, thinking that maybe he had forgotten about it.


    "My ss is nothing," said Aiden, not wanting to hide it from her since he knew she didn''t seem like the type to reveal this type of information.


    "What do you mean it''s nothing?" asked Maelis, confused about his answer because she was sure he was going to announce to her that he had a special ss.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "Well, I don''t have an actual ss."


    "So, you aren''t a special ss holder? Then how the hell were you able to do all that in the parkour?" asked Maelis, not understanding anything anymore.


    "Special ss holder? What the hell is that?" asked Aiden, not evenprehending the words that came out of her mouth.


    "It''s not important; don''t worry about it. Even if you don''t have a special ss, you should still have a ss. Do you really not have one?"


    Maelis was disappointed to learn that he wasn''t a special ss holder because that would have helped the family gain even more power. They already had one in the family, Emma Everheart, whom Aiden had beaten in the parkour challenge. If they could have gotten two, then their potential for bing a higher-ranked family would have increased significantly.


    "Yeah, I really don''t have one. Believe me, I wish I had one."


    "Alright, then what about the dagger we bought yesterday? Wasn''t it restricted for Assassins or a special ss rted to assassins?"


    "Oh, item restrictions don''t affect me. That''s why I bought it and can equip it."


    "You can bypass the restrictions set up by the system? How?"


    "I have no idea. I tried to equip an item with a restriction, and the system let me do it."


    "Wait, is it the same thing for skills? Can you learn any type of skills?" said Maelis, excited about the possibility of him being able to do so.


    "Actually, I haven''t tried yet because, as you know, I don''t have enough money to buy different skills."


    ''Maybe he is special after all,'' thought Maelis.


    "Come with me; we''ll go try it right now," said Maelis, with newfound energy contained in her voice as she stood up.


    ***


    Author''s Note :


    If I hit 100 powerstones before the end of the week I will drop one bonus chapter, might be two if I have time :)


    Add to the library, if you liked the chapter!N?v(el)B\\jnn

 Chapter 27 Selecting A New Skill

    ?Maelis stood up and told Aiden to follow her, she looked determined to test if the restrictions on skills were also lifted.


    Because if that were the case, Aiden could be anything and wouldn''t have to focus on a single path like all the others, it would be a Jack of all trades capable of pulling the move needed at the moment.N?v(el)B\\jnn


    Maelis was currently going toward their storage room which had some skill books that were not used by the members. The skills in the storage room were there for one of two reasons, the first one is that the members couldn''t learn them because of the restriction or the skill limit, or the skill was simply too bad to learn.


    After two minutes of walking quickly, Maelis stopped and took a right turn, and in front of her was a tall door that seemed to be made of a special material that seemed solid.


    Maelis started touching random spots on the door and a clicking sound could be heard, she had opened the door.


    ''Is it a special code for entering?'' thought Aiden.


    "Alright Aiden, this is our storage room, I know it looks good, but that''s not what''s important. Choose a skill that you like here which can normally be used by a certain ss to try to learn it."


    The storage had fifteen or twenty skill books on a bookshelf, it was crazy to think that they possessed that many unused skill books. Most of them probably weren''t great but it was still impressive. There was also, equipment that was left there, like swords, daggers, bows, and more. All of those weapons looked great


    "I can choose whatever skill book that I want in here?" repeated Aiden, making sure he had heard her correctly.


    Having a new skill was perfect for Aiden, especially before his second trial which was not even in an hour.


    "Yes, fast we don''t have all day since you are going to be summoned to the Otherworld soon right?"


    Aiden hearing her say that made him check how much time left he had.


    "You''re right, I only have one hour before being summoned."


    "Go, we need to find out before you leave. Don''t you know the second trial is a lot harder than the first one and will at least take you a couple of days toplete, I don''t wait to find out if someone like you who can ignore the system restrictions exists."


    Hearing her excitement in finding out, Aiden quickly checked the details of the skill books in front of him.


    There were all types of them, three were for mages, one for healers, two for swordmen, and many others.


    But after getting through all of them, Aiden had made his selection of three skills for him to choose from.


    Selecting a skill was very important and he couldn''t rush this decision since he already had used one chance out of his five to learn a skill book. Knowing this, he took his time calming down not getting influenced by the emotions Maelis was projecting onto him.


    It was now time for him to choose between those three skills, all of them were Green rated, it seemed blue rated skills were rare if even they didn''t have one at their disposal.


    ''Maybe they already used them all," thought Aiden noticing that the only ranks of skill books they had were green and gray.


    [Iron Fortress]


    [Rank: Green]


    [Restriction: User has to be of the Shieldbearer ss.]


    [Description: It is a great defensive skill that will make you into a literal iron fortress, your skill will be hard as metal. It will be much harder to prate it and harm you.]


    [Cost: 4 Mana Points]


    [Duration: 30 seconds]


    [Cooldown: 15 minutes]


    ---<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    [Phantom Parry]


    [Rank: Green]


    [Restriction: User has to be of the Assassin ss.]


    [Description: Use it for counter-attacking. The Phantom Parry is a skill that will make you able to block any type of attack even the ones you cannot see. The Phantom Parry efficiency depends on the agility stats, the higher it is the better, it will work.]


    [Cost: 1 Mana Point]


    [Cooldown: 2 minutes]


    ---


    [Swift Evasion]


    [Rank: Green]


    [Restriction: User needs to have at least five points in agility to perform the skill.]


    [Description: Use the skill for evading and trying to flee, it is not a skill used to attack others. It will make you incredibly fast, making you able to flee. It can only be activated when fleeing from enemies.]


    [Duration: 15 seconds]


    [Cost: 3 Mana Points]


    [Cooldown: 10 minutes]


    ---


    Aiden had chosen three skills that were defense-oriented because he didn''t want to have to stress about not being able to kill an opponent in a single strike and get hurt because of that. He wanted to make sure, he had at least a way to defend himself.


    Looking at the three options he had chosen, he decided to discard [Swift Evasion] because it wasn''t in his style to flee, he liked it more to fight opponents head to head.


    After eliminating one of the skills, he only needed to choose between the [Phantom Parry] or the [Iron Fortress].


    He started weighing which skills would make more sense to him.


    The skill [Iron Fortress] was great because it could be used by Aiden to block some of the attacksing at him for a whole 30 seconds which was quite long, but the thing that he didn''t like about the skill was the cost and the cooldown that were quite high.


    On the other hand, [Phantom Parry] had a low cost of Mana Points to use and it had a really short cooldown. However, the skill by itself wasn''t as strong as [Iron Fortress].


    Comparing the two of them, it was time for Aiden to make his final choice and he decided to take the skill [Phantom Parry].


    Picking it up in his hands, it was now time to see if he would be able to learn it or not.


    ***


    Author''s Note :


    If I hit 100 powerstones before the end of the week I will drop one bonus chapter, might be two if I have time :)


    Add to the library, if you liked the chapter!

 Chapter 28 Unable To Learn The Skill

    ?[Learn the skill


    ?]


    Hearing the question from the system, Aiden immediately responded yes, wanting to see what was going to happen.


    Maelis was, also, watching the situation unfold with interest, wanting to know if he was going to be able to learn that skill or not.


    "Yes, I want to learn


    "


    *Beep*


    [Error detected: User does not have permission to learn the skill.]


    It didn''t continue putting errors, it quickly stopped unlikest time when it continued for a while, it seemed like he couldn''t learn any type of skill.


    "I don''t think, it''s working, I got an error message."


    "Can''t you try again to make sure it isn''t working?"


    The face of Maelis was one that showed disappointment because he wasn''t able to learn all types of skills which could have revolutionized the world they were living in but she still had some hope that he would be able to learn it if he tried again.


    ''If only it worked, we could have be a high-tier family with the strength he would have developed,'' thought Maelis.


    Aiden was, also, disappointed but not as much as Maelis because he didn''t understand the importance of being able to learn skills from different sses. He didn''t think much of it because ever since he had arrived he hadn''t depended that much on skills in general and much more on his experience in fighting as an assassin.


    However, deciding to listen to Maelis he tried once again to learn the skill book.


    [Learn the skill


    ?]


    "Yes, I want to learn


    "


    [Error detected: User does not currently have permission to learn the skill.]


    Seeing the error message, it seemed that the situation was once again repeated with no sess.


    "It''s not working, it''s showing the same error message from earlier," said Aiden.


    But taking a closer look at the error message he saw that a word had been added, he didn''t currently have permission to learn the skill.


    "Wa-wait, a word changed it says that I don''t currently have permission to learn the skill. I might be able to earn permission from the system," eximed Aiden, happy with himself that he had read the error message and not simply nced over it.


    "Doesn''t that mean, you''ll be able to have ess to learning the skill at some point?" questioned Maelis, who was as clueless as Aiden since it was the first time she was experiencing this type of stuff.


    "I''ll ask the system, what I have to do, just a second."


    "System, what do I have to do to be able to learn [Phantom Parry]?" asked Aiden, opening his ears as wide as possible to not lose a single detailing out of the system.


    [To be able to learn [Phantom Parry] or any other type of skill that is rted to the Assassin ss, you will have toplete the second trial alone and kill the boss monster alone. Know thatpleting a trial and killing the boss monster alone has never been done before and is extremely hard.]N?v(el)B\\jnn


    "What do you mean by alone, aren''t we always a team when facing trials?" asked Aiden to the system.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    [Normally, that is the case but since your situation is different from others we have given you the opportunity to face the second trial by yourself. The reward for doing so is to gain ess to learning Assassin ss skills.]


    [Do you ept?]


    "What is it saying?" asked Maelis, wanting to know more as she couldn''t hear what the system was telling Aiden.


    "It says that I can gain ess to Assassins ss skills bypleting the second trial alone."


    "Completing the second trial alone? But that''s impossible."


    "Not only the trial it also wants me to kill the boss monster of the trial."


    "That''s even more impossible, I don''t what the system is thinking. You don''t need to ept it we''ll find another way for you to have skills. I''ll try to find the best skills without any restrictions once you join the family, don''t worry. Seeing your talent in the parkour challenge, I don''t think you will need to depend on skills that much," said Maelis, not even thinking about the possibility of Aiden epting the offer.


    However, the next words that came out of the mouth of Aiden weren''t the ones she was expecting.


    "I ept to do the second trial alone," said Aiden,pletely ignoring the words that came out of Maelis''s mouth.


    "Wh-what are you doing, if you die in the second trial you will lose all your skills and you will lose the levels you got on the first trial," said Maelis, trying to convince Aiden to not ept the proposition but it looked like it was toote to do so.


    A message from the system appeared.


    [You will be summoned by yourself to the Otherworld in 5 minutes.]


    It seemed like the system had reduced the time before his summoning to five minutes, not giving a lot of time to Aiden.


    "It''s fine, don''t worry I''m sure I''ll be able to do it, after all, I experienced far worse," said Aiden, murmuring thest words which were not heard by Maelis.


    "You''re saying that because you didn''t experience the second trial like me. It''s not as simple as the first one, it''s not about defending a city or killing monsters. The task given is much harder and extremely hard especially if you are alone, you will incarnate a new person and will have a new role that you will need to aplish."


    "It doesn''t matter, I''m sure I''ll be able to do it, as it already happened to me."


    "Even if I don''t know much I know, you''ll have a lot of trouble beating alone even if you are really strong."


    "Well, it doesn''t matter what you think, I''m going to be summoned in a couple of seconds. Let''s talk about the condition of me joining your family when I get back," said Aiden as he started disappearing in particles.


    "Let''s hope you don''t die over there I guess," said Maelis after Aiden hadpletely disappeared from her eyes, hoping that he would not lose the skills and levels he had gotten in the first trial.


    ***


    Author''s Note:


    If I hit 100 powerstones before the end of the week I will drop one bonus chapter, might be two if I have time :)


    Add to the library, if you liked the chapter!

 Chapter 29 Start Of The Second Trial

    ?


    [Wee to the waiting room]


    He was now back in the white room he had first appeared in where he had met his teammates for the trial ahead of him but this time there was no one with him. He was alone and he would try toplete it without the help of anyone.


    Before he left, he heard Maelis say to him that he would incarnate the role of someone in the Otherworld, this information actually put his mind at ease since he even had experience in that domain and was now used to it.


    [Since you have been summoned to unlock ess to the assassin-type skills, the trial you will go under will be simr.]


    [You will be summoned into the second trial in 30 seconds because you have no teammates to discuss with and present yourself to.]


    [A description of where and who you are, will appear at the start of the trial.]


    Seeing this message from the system, he started getting excited at the prospect of doing his second trial which was supposed to be harder. He wanted to see what the trial he would have to aplish would be.


    30 secondster, he was being summoned.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    [You are summoned into the second trial.]


    [Trial Description: You are being transported into a world that is at war, two emperors are fighting against each other because they want more power and are greedy for it. In this world, you take over the body of the king''s assassin of the Avaloria Empire, your role will be to listen to the king''smands andplete them perfectly. If you fail to do so, you will fail the trial. Keep in mind that you won''t take over his body and simply rece him, but the inhabitants will not be able to notice it.]


    [Reward: Gain ess to learning skill books rted to the ss <Assassin>.]


    [Failure: Death]


    "Wait, what is this?" said Aiden looking at what would happen if he failed the trial, "It''s written death as in real death, I won''t have another chance. Didn''t they tell me that you couldn''t actually die in these trials?" said Aiden, talking about his first teammates who had told him that information.


    Aiden was shocked to learn that he could die if he failed the trial, but he didn''t have much time to think about it, as he started appearing in a room where a meeting seemed to ur.


    Inside the room was a big round table with twelve people around it excluding Aiden, it looked like they were all the generals of the troops or important persons at least.


    The chairs that they sat on were different than the chair which was on the end of the table, that chair couldn''t be called a chair, it would be better to call it a throne. A throne were a king would be sitting.


    "As you all know we are currently in a war against the Epsilon Empire, and we need to do something to try and get the advantage over them," said the person who was most likely the king because he had a crown on his head.


    Suddenly pointing toward Aiden''s direction, the king continued speaking, "Aiden as you all know is the best assassin of our empire and I want to trust him and give him a really important mission. I will tell him in private because we never know if the information might leak."


    Someints could be heard around the table, saying that they were loyal to the king and all of that, but it didn''t change what the king had in mind.


    "You may leave, Aiden will stay and I will tell him about it," said the king finishing his talk, andmanding Aiden to stay.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    It seemed Aiden arrived in the middle of a conversation and had no idea of what they were discussing apart from the war with the Upsilon Empire which was information he already knew about since the system had told him about it.


    "What is the special mission you have for me, my king," said Aiden with as much respect as possible, not wanting trouble with the king or else he would surely die.


    "Why are you calling me like that, didn''t I tell you to call me Victor when we''re alone?" answered the king in a lighthearted tone.


    He didn''t know how to respond to that because he simply didn''t know that they were close.


    "Victor?, yeah right, sorry it''s just a habit. Well, what is the special mission, Victor?" asked Aiden.


    "That''s better, aha," said Victor as he patted the shoulders of Aiden.


    Seeing how the king treated Aiden, they seemed to have a good rtionship from the point of view of Aiden, he couldn''t imagine doing this with anyone.


    "So, the special I have for you isn''t an easy one but I believe that with your talent you will be able to seed.


    Also, hearing the word special missioning out of the mouth of the king, Aiden was all ears and wanted to learn more about the trial he would have to do because all the information he got from the system was to listen to the king''s orders.


    "What is it going to be?" asked Aiden.


    "The special mission I have for you is to assassinate the four generals of the enemy''s troops by infiltrating them."


    Hearing the difficulty of the mission the king had for Aiden kind of shocked him, but he still remained stoic not showing a reaction befitting of being an assassin. He was used to getting hard missions and alwayspleted them in his life and he would make sure to do the same again in this trial.


    [Trial objective: Kill all the generals from the Upsilon Empire. (0/4)]


    [The boss of this trial will be revealed whenpleting the <Trial Objective>. For your information, it is not necessarily a monster, it can be a human.]


    "How much time do I have?" asked Aiden, wanting to know if he needed to rush into the enemy camp.


    "No, I will give you the entire week, and during our surprise attack, you will infiltrate the enemy camp."


    "So, the goal of the surprise attack is for me to infiltrate the enemy camp," asked Aiden to make sure about the king''s n.


    Victor once again confirmed it and then dismissed Aiden.

 Chapter 30 The Shapeshifter

    ?


    As Aiden left the king, he was relieved when he heard the content of the mission he would have to do. It was a ssic mission for an assassin and he had done one that resembled what he was asked many times in his past life.


    Infiltration was one of the tasks he preferred because it was the one where he was the best at. He had done many of them which at some point gave him the title of the Reaper betraying his teammates when they least expected it, but he decided to not have this killer nature in the world he had transmigrated, not wanting to live the same life as before, one of loneliness.


    He wanted to make friends in this world as he did with Maelis.


    Thinking about the trial and the infiltration into the other camp, Aiden didn''t want to waste any time and already wanted to leave this city to take as little time as possible doing this trial, beforeing back to the real world.


    After leaving the room with the king, Aiden saw the twelve people who were around the table looking at him weirdly, almost with desire.


    The twelve people who were around the table were outside waiting, probably wanting to interrogate Aiden to find out what the king asked of him.


    They all wanted to know his task because, maybe, they could rece him and do it in his ce, after everyone wanted to gain a favor from the king, and this could be a way to get it. They all wanted that favor at all cost even if it meant killing Aiden to get it, so they approached him.


    However, Aiden wasn''t dumb, he knew that some of them were approaching him with bad intentions wanting to learn about what he needed to do. He, also, didn''t know if there was a spy in the spies of the Avaloria Empire, which he was part of. Not wanting to reveal any type of information, he started leaving not even speaking a single word.


    Seeing him act like this angered some of the generals who were greedy, but they didn''t do anything because they knew that the king''s assassin was almost impossible to beat in a one versus one.


    Aiden was lucky that the person he had taken over was a renowned assassin that was very strong because it had just saved him from trouble.


    However, that didn''t mean that the other generals wouldn''t try anything as a group, thinking that may have a chance.


    As Aiden was leaving the ce where the meeting had taken ce, he started looking around him and it seemed that he was currently in a ce where not much technology had been invented because looking at the walls and the architecture, it seemed like he was currently in the Middles Ages where knights and army were formed.


    ''Am I in a castle?'' asked Aiden to himself, almost sure he was because the walls were made of rocks.


    He was happy that he wasn''t summoned to some sort of strange ce like the first trial.


    To Aiden''s knowledge, there was no monster, no weird races. There were only humans like him which made himfortable not having to deal with the appearance of strange people.


    While Aiden was thinking about what kind of ce he had been summoned, one person out of the twelve who were around the table was currently talking to someone, or a better word for it might be a monster.


    It seemed Aiden was wrong about the world he was currently in having no monster because the creature that the general named Oliver was talking to didn''t look anything like a monster, in fact, the creature kept changing appearance as it spoke.


    "I need you to learn more about the task that the king has given to the king''s assassin, find him and seduce him by taking a beautiful appearance, here," said Oliver, one of the generals to the ever-changing monster throwing to him a dead body, the one of a woman.


    "Master thank you for this opportunity," said the monster with some difficulty talking, looking at the dead body.


    "Master, where is that person which you are talking about," asked the monster which now had the appearance of a beautiful young woman, capable of seducing anyone.


    "He should be around the exit of the castle as we speak, try to get to him before he leaves for his mission and bring him back to me," said Oliver as he started giving the monster all the details about the current situation that was unfolding.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    Without saying another word, the monster who had the appearance of a beautiful woman left in the direction of the castle''s exit.


    Oliver, on the other hand, hadn''t finished what he wanted to do, and quickly got out of his hand some weird type of device, which looked like a mirror.N?v(el)B\\jnn


    By pressing some ces on the mirror, a face appeared on it that anyone from the Avaloria Empire could recognize in an instant, it was the Uplison Emperor''s face right there on the mirror.


    "My king, I have some important news to give you," said Oliver, not wasting any time.


    "Which is?" asked the king, not even acknowledging Oliver for a single second.


    "The Avaloria king''s assassin is on the move and has been given a secret mission by the king, but no one knows anything about it."


    "Did you really use themunication mirror, just to tell me this?" asked the king, which had no reaction whatsoever to that information.


    "But, this assassin is dangerous, don''t you know the rumors about him, my king? It is said that he has abilities that defy those of this world."


    "How is this any relevant information to me, it''s not like a single person can defeat our empire, that''s simply impossible," said the Upsilon emperor not taking seriously Aiden for one second.


    "I only wanted to let you know, sorry to have bothered..."


    "Why can''t you take care of him, aren''t you a general of my army?" asked the king, interrupting the salutations Oliver.


    "I''m trying. I sent the shapeshifter, I will soon know if it has seeded since I ordered it to capture him and bring him back to me as soon as possible."


    "That''s good, just make sure that you aren''t discovered. If you die or get discovered, we would lose the biggest advantage that we have over the Avaloria Empire."


    After saying that, the king and Oliver, one of the generals that Aiden needed to kill toplete his trial, said their goodbyes, and Oliver started going in the direction of the castle''s exit where the shapeshifter had left toward.


    ***


    Author''s Note:


    Do you think the shapeshifter that went after Aiden will seed in capturing him?


    If I hit 100 powerstones before the end of the week I will drop one bonus chapter, might be two if I have time :)


    Add to the library, if you liked the chapter!

 Chapter 31 Why Is She Bothering Me?

    ?


    As Aiden wasing out of the castle, he was blinded by the light of the sun which went directly into his eyes.


    A couple of secondster, after adjusting to the light of the world he was now in, Aiden saw that he was currently on the top of a mountain where a castle was actually built.


    Because he was currently pretty high in altitude, he got a pretty bird eyes vision of the city of Avaloria, and he caught the sight of a bustling market square, where merchants and vigers seemed to do trades with each other.N?v(el)B\\jnn


    Moving his eyes around trying to observe everything from his point of view, he was amazed at the city had many inhabitants and how well developed it was with a big market that seemed to be bustling with sellers and buyers.


    Aiden didn''t know why but he kept feeling some of sensations that he was being observed by someone around him, but as he kept looking around he couldn''t find anyone or anything really.


    However, the instinct of Aiden was correct there really was someone watching him, it was the monster that Oliver had sent after him, it was observing its every move. It seemed to be analyzing Aiden, trying to find the best way to interact with him, but it didn''t reveal its position yet wanting for the perfect time.


    As he kept looking around, not finding anything Aiden decided it was time for him to visit the pub.


    He decided to go down this massive mountain using the stairs that were right beside him which were leading to the city he was currently looking at.


    As he started walking down the stairs, the beautiful woman who was watching him started doing the same thing as him.


    After 5 minutes of going down the mountain, Aiden finally arrived in the city.


    He looked even bigger with even more people, Aiden didn''t want to waste time and kept asking himself where he could find as much information as possible.


    He started looking in front of him, he could see the little shops made by merchants who were selling their products which didn''t interest him much. After looking at the shop, he continued looking around trying to find something that wasn''t created by a merchant.


    And that''s when he saw someone entering some type of building that looked like a pub, the man who he had seen entering didn''t seem to be the type of guy who would go into a pub for no reason. Because of that, Aiden thought that maybe something was special about that ce, maybe it was a ce where soldiers would regroup to talk about the war against the Upsilon Empire.


    Not wasting another second, he went toward the pub to see if his instincts were right about that ce.


    But just before he could leave, he heard the voice of a woman.


    "Young man, young man, I''m sorry but could I ask you something?" asked the beautiful woman.


    Aiden not thinking the woman was talking to him, continued going forward not caring about the voice that was right behind him.


    "Why are you ignoring me?" asked the woman.


    "Oh, are you talking to me?" said Aiden, as he turned around pointing at himself.


    "Yes, who do you think I''m talking to?"


    "It''s not that I don''t want to hear what you want to say to me, but I don''t have time to listen to what you have to say," said Aiden, not wanting to be dyed by some random conversation.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "Wait wait I have something important to tell you."


    "Can''t you just tell while we''re walking toward that pub over there," said Aiden, pointing at the pub.


    "Sure," said the woman as she started walking with Aiden toward the pub.


    "So what I wanted to talk to you about is about the Upsilon Empire, didn''t you hear that we are preparing some sort of attack on them? I saw you leave the castle so I thought you might know a little about it."


    "No, I don''t know anything about it. Can you leave now," said Aiden, wanting to concentrate on his mission and try toplete it as fast as possible since he only had a week to do so.


    The beautiful woman or the shapeshifter was annoyed by how Aiden was acting like nothing mattered only concentrating on what was ahead of him, never looking at her. Not even a quick look.


    ''Why does she keep wanting to talk to me? Does she know me or was she sent by one of those guys from earlier?'' thought Aiden, talking about the twelve persons from earlier.


    "You really are coldhearted," said the woman as she kept walking side by side with Aiden.


    "What?" eximed Aiden, not understanding why she would say that.


    "You''re coldhearted."


    "I understood you the first time, how the hell am I coldhearted? I am listening to you aren''t I," said Aiden, getting kind of angry with the woman who kept bothering him. He had enough, he just wanted toplete this mission alone and be done with it.


    "If you continue to be rude to me, I will have no other choice..." said the beautiful woman, as her voice kept changing tone weirdly.


    "What is happening to you?" asked Aiden, seeing the woman in front of him starting to change appearance over and over again.


    Suddenly, the ever-changing thing that was in front of Aiden stopped transforming and got into her initial appearance.


    "Sorry about that, it happens sometimes when I''m angry," said what seemed to be a woman.


    "Now, that you''ve seen this part, I guess I have no other choice," murmured the monster who was in front of Aiden.


    Suddenly, the woman attacked Aiden out of nowhere with her fist, but Aiden was ready for it anticipating that she was going to try something like this.


    He blocked it with his dagger easily because he was expecting it.


    But shock could be seen in the eyes of Aiden as he saw the appearance of what seemed to be a woman change once again.


    It had turned into him.

 Chapter 32 Captured?

    ?


    ''How the hell can she do that?'' thought Aiden looking at the woman that was changing into him.


    The appearance of the once-beautiful woman was now exactly how Aiden was looking.


    "Just what are you?" shouted Aiden.


    "Kekekeke, who knows, I can be what I want to be," said the monster who now had the same voice as Aiden.


    The monster wasughing almost as if he had been waiting for that moment to happen.


    Seeing that monster, a question popped into the mind of Aiden.


    ''Is it able to copy my abilities?'' thought Aiden, scared that it would be able to do such a thing.


    He was scared because if he was able to ess his strength and abilities than wouldn''t the monster be as strong as him.


    "What are you looking like that for, kekeke," said the monsterughing in a weird manner.


    "Do you want to me ore back with me peacefully?" asked the monster, losing all yfulness in his voice, he was serious.


    Seeing those wordsing out of his mouth, Aiden didn''t understand much. Where would he have to go back to? He knew that the task given by the king would attract some attention to him, be it positive or negative.


    ''Just who sent this thing after me?'' thought Aiden, thinking about the possibilities.


    The most obvious ones were obviously the twelve people who were in the room with Aiden when the king announced that he would be getting a special. Actually, they were the only suspects because Aiden didn''t even meet anybody else since he hade here. But he didn''t have a single clue about which one it might be since they all pretty much acted the same, none of them were different in terms of personality.


    "Come back with you, why the hell would I do that, I can just beat you up and make you tell me all the information you have," said Aiden, preparing himself to attack that monster, wanting to know who his master was.


    He dashed toward the monster at a speed that the monster couldn''t even react and did a quick sh to its legs.N?v(el)B\\jnn


    The monster not having enough time to react didn''t have much choice but to get hit by this attack.


    Both legs of the Aiden look-a-like were chopped up, but no blood could be seening out of them, in fact, there was no liquiding out of the legs of the monster.


    The inside of his leg was a void without anything inside of it.


    "Now, you will answer me, who sent yo," asked Aiden, looking at the monster who suddenly interrupted him.


    "Why are they always attacking when I ask politely?" interrupted the monster calmly, seemingly not feeling that he had lost his legs.


    "Every time I say that they always attack me for no reason. Why? why? Do I need to hurt you too for you toe back with me," said the monster starting to lose reason.


    Losing his mind, the monster picked up the two legs that were right beside him and put them where they had been cut off.


    ''What is that thing doing, putting your legs there won''t do an...'' thought Aiden, but he stopped talking as he saw something impossible happen right in front of his very eyes.


    The legs which Aiden had clearly cut off were starting to reassemble with his body. But Aiden had no idea how they were reattaching the monster''s body because he couldn''t see its bones or anything, the interior of its body looked empty.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    ''Just what is he made of,'' thought Aiden, thinking back to how he had reacted when his legs had gotten cut off, in fact, he was more angry than hurt.


    Aiden didn''t want the monster to be able to reattach himself, so he quickly shed his legs once again. Not wanting it to be able to fight back.


    "Now, you will tell me, who sent you after me? What is their goal?"


    "I won''t tell you. You won''t be able to make me talk, kekeke, I can''t even feel pain and I can''t reveal any information about him or I will simply disintegrate," said the monsterughing once again not caring about what Aiden would be doing to him.


    Aiden repeated the question once again but he was met once again withughter from the monster.


    This reaction that the monster had, angered Aiden because it told him that the monster didn''t care about his presence.


    This made Aiden think about a technique that eh had promised himself not to use ever again because of how badly hurt when it had been used against him. A torture technique that had made Aiden unable to think normally for days, a technique that was shown through practice and applied directly to his body.


    "We''ll see if you won''t talk to me," murmured Aiden dangerously.


    But before deciding to do the torture technique needed to find a private ce, not close to the public. He didn''t even notice that while both of them were fighting, nobody had tried interrupting them.


    ''Are we invisible or something?''


    Deciding to test that theory of his, Aiden shouted loudly to see if any of the merchants or inhabitants of the city was hearing them. But, no reaction could be seen from the merchants or anyone really.


    "What have you done?" shouted Aiden, this time truly angered.


    "Kekeke, who knows when you will be able to get out of this ce?"


    "What is this?" asked Aiden, looking at the monster menacingly.


    "Don''t worry about it, my master will soone visit you."


    "Visit me? I''ll just leave this ce before hees," said Aiden as he started walking away.


    But as he reached 20 meters of distance from the monster, he seemed to be stopped in his tracks, a big wall made out of energy was stopping him from leaving.


    Not believing that he had actually got trapped in here, he took his dagger and started shing at the wall, over and over again without stopping that is until he saw that he was making no progress.


    He was trapped and had no idea how to escape.


    ***


    Author''s Note: The second trial continues, will Aiden be able to defeat Oliver and the shapeshifter who trapped him?


    Every 100 PS, a bonus chapter will be posted!

 Chapter 33 Oliver Arrives

    ?


    Realizing that he was trapped in some weird type of dome that had invisible walls which were made out of energy.


    Aiden, at first, tried to destroy what was surrounding him with his dagger but it didn''t work at all, he was still stuck inside of it, not able to get out.


    Then, he sat on the ground trying to think about a way to get out of this.


    The monster seeing Aiden sit down took advantage of that opportunity and immediately ridiculed Aiden.


    "Already giving up? I told you the only way for you to get out is to wait for my master toe and get you, kekeke," said the monster, always startingughing after finishing a sentence, which deeply annoyed Aiden.


    Seeing that the monster was talking again, Aiden tried to talk to him again about that master of his, wanting more information on him


    ¡¤?¦Èm "Do I know this master of yours?" Aiden asked, his voice filled with intrigue.


    The monster''s eyes gleamed with a mix of amusement and cunning. It relished the opportunity to toy with Aiden''s curiosity.


    "Maybe, maybe not, who knows?" the monster replied, its voice dripping with mischief.


    Aiden''s brows furrowed, his mind racing to uncover any clues or connections that could lead him to the identity of the mysterious master. He needed more information, but he had to tread carefully.


    "You really are a good little ve," Aiden remarked, a hint of slyness in his tone, hoping to goad the monster into revealing more.


    The monster''s eyes narrowed, a flicker of anger dancing within them. It struggled to maintain itsposure, fighting against the instinct of wanting to please its master.


    "Yes, yes, yes, I am. Right? Right? Right?" the monster muttered, its voice growing increasingly erratic.


    Aiden realized he had struck a nerve. He needed to exploit this vulnerability, gently prodding for more details without triggering aplete meltdown.


    "Why do you like your master that much?" Aiden asked, his voice softening slightly, attempting to appeal to the monster''s need for validation.


    The monster''s frenzied demeanor momentarily subsided, reced by a contemtive expression. It seemed caught off guard by Aiden''s question as if it hadn''t considered the reason behind its blind loyalty before.


    "I don''t know," the monster admitted, a hint of confusion creeping into its voice. "He''s just perfect. He''s like me, kekeke, able to trick everyone, he''s great."


    Aiden''s curiosity deepened. The mention of trickery intrigued him, as it hinted at the master''s maniptive nature. It was a piece of the puzzle he couldn''t ignore.


    "Trick everyone, how is he doing it?" Aiden pressed, hoping to uncover the master''s methods and gain insight into their true intentions.


    The monster hesitated for a moment as if weighing the consequences of sharing more information. A sinister smile curled on its lips, an eerie blend of pride and fear.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "I guess, it doesn''t matter if I tell you more about him, kekeke, since it will soon be here because of the signal I activated the moment I captured you," said the monster, revealing that his master would soon being.


    "He''s just the best, kekeke, able to trick everyone in this ce into believing that he is one of yours. When actually he is not."


    n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    Hearing the words that wereing out of the monster''s mouth, Aiden was trying to make sense of those with the little information he had of this world.


    He started thinking about all the information he had collected until now, the two Empires, the fight between them, and the king''s request. Thinking about those things made something click inside his mind of Aiden, connecting the dots from the different pieces of information.


    He was able to discern some information with almost certainty, his master was a spy from the Upsilon Empire and a spy which from the way the monster had described him is, currently, in a high position.


    To confirm his thoughts Aiden decided to ask the monster, "Is your master an enemy of the Avaloria Empire?"


    "Of course, kekeke, why do you think he told me toe and capture you? When he learned the king had given you a mission, he immediately went to see me," said the monster, confirming that his master had heard the king talking about the special mission for Aiden.


    "What does he want from me?" said Aiden, his eyes locking onto the monster wanting to learn more.


    The monster grinned, "Oh, he has ns for you, actually maybe he only as one. Death, kekeke" said the monster starting tough out loud.


    "Yeah, death, that''s the only oue for you, kekeke."


    Aiden hearing this wasn''t that worried because he knew that he was strong for a being in the second trial which meant that he was probably going to be stronger than this master of his. After all, he had dealt with the monster without even struggling. His master surely wasn''t going to be that strong if he even used a monster to approach him.


    He, also, wasn''t the king''s assassin but Aiden Nightshade. He was probably stronger than some being from the second trial.


    If his master was confident, he would havee here by himself and fought Aiden to his death, but he didn''t which made Aiden think that he was probably scared or something simr to that.


    "Then why is your master still not here? Is he scared of me?" asked Aiden, making fun of the monster.


    The monster gritted his teeth, "Master, scared, never, it''s impossible he is the strongest I know," continued the monster.


    Suddenly, the monster turned his head toward one of the sides of the dome and started shouting.


    "He has arrived, kekeke, you are done. He will kill in a single strike. Wait I need a better angle to see the splendor of my master," said the monsterpletely losing it, his god had finally arrived.


    Aiden started to feel some vibration from the dome and there he saw him, a man was entering the dome wearing a helmet and some armor, he looked prepared to finish Aiden at all costs.


    "For this fight, I will need your help, he''s strong." said Oliver talking to the shapeshifter who was trying to get a better view.

 Chapter 34 Aiden Vs Oliver

    ?


    "Are you serious master?" asked the shapeshifter, not understanding why his master was saying such a thing.


    "Yes,e fast," shouted Oliver, knowing that he couldn''t waste too much time-fighting Aiden in here as the special formation which was currently restricting them would soon disappear.


    If the merchants and inhabitants of the city were to see Oliver and Aiden fight, they would surely have loads of questions and the king would probably take the side of Aiden, knowing their rtionship which was quite close.


    The shapeshifter not losing any time quickly went right beside his master.


    "Did you try to change into him?" asked Oliver.


    "Yeah, but it doesn''t work as it normally does, I can''t use his power."


    Normally, the shapeshifter when transforming appearance into another person was able to get his stats but it wasn''t the case with Aiden for unknown reasons.


    "What, are you sure?" asked Oliver, not believing what he had just heard.


    "Yes master, should I change into you so that I can help you?"


    "Yes quickly, with the two of us, we should be able to defeat him."


    N?v(el)B\\jnn


    Aiden was watching them have a little conversation, noticing that they were even looking at him. Using this opportunity, he dashed close to the shapeshifter who was now looking exactly like Oliver and the real Oliver.


    The way for Aiden to discern them was that one of them had a lot of equipment, an armor that seemed to cost quite a lot, a sword, and other things like that.


    The other one was almost naked, only having normal clothes on him.


    As Aiden dashed forward, the shapeshifter stepped forward wanting to take on the hit since he basically couldn''t die from normal attacks.


    Seeing the shapeshifter taking on the attack, Oliver went behind him preparing an attack for Aiden.


    Aiden shed the shapeshifter without much problem because it wasn''t really resistant as he had seen earlier


    As Oliver predicted, Aiden had sessfully shed the shapeshifter but wasn''t prepared to receive another attack.


    Oliver with his sword starting his attack as he put his sword over his head, ready to sh down at Aiden.


    Seeing Oliver charge his attack, Aiden started trying to go back to dodge it, but he wasn''t fast enough.


    *sh*


    Blood could be seening out of the abdomen of Aiden who had slightly hit by the sword of Oliver.


    However, instantly after getting hurt, Aiden decided to activate the skill he had obtained in the first trial [Regeneration], and in only five seconds the blood had stoppeding out. It was like he had never been hurt before.


    Noticing that his attack didn''t do much damage frustrated Oliver who had given his all into the attack.


    "Why are you not hurt anymore? What sort of magic did you use?"


    "Who knows?" responded Aiden, not talking much as he concentrated on his fight once again.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    He didn''t reveal the skill he had because he didn''t have any reason to do so, it was better to keep it hidden.


    After saying that Aiden dashed once again toward Oliver who didn''t have the shapeshifter to protect him this time as he was currently reassembling his body on the ground as fast as possible.


    *sh*


    Aiden did a quick movement with his dagger aiming directly for the neck of his victim, not wanting to prolong the fight too much as he would get tired quickly fighting two opponents at the same time.


    Seeing the attacking his way, Oliver brought his sword close to his neck as fast as he could but he wasn''t fast enough and only deflected the attack into one of his eyes, losing sight from one eye.


    Having lost the use of one of his eyespletelyplicated the task of defeating Aiden even more.


    At first, he had thought that he might have a good chance with the shapeshifter''s help but seeing how Aiden had dealt with him at the start of the fight, it was clear that he wouldn''t have much impact.


    Now without hisplete sight, it was far easier for Aiden to find the blindspots of his opponent.


    Not relenting in his attacks, he continued attacking him on his right since he had lost vision on that side making it difficult for Oliver to defend against Aiden.


    Oliver was starting to bleed from everywhere on his body, realizing that he was going to lose. He tried to get Aiden to stop attacking by talking.


    "St-stop, I have information for you..." said Oliver out of breath, close to losing consciousness.


    "What type of information?" asked Aiden, slowing down in his attacks, only holding his dagger at the neck of Oliver.


    "I-I can tell you everything you want, I know everything about that empire," said Oliver in a hurried manner as he was scared that he was going die any second now.


    "How? How do you know so much about the Upsilon Empire," asked Aiden, wanting to confirm what the shapeshifter had said earlier.


    "I''m a spy sent from over there, I was born and raised here ever since young age. However, don''t get fooled, my loyalty still lies with the Upsilon Empire."


    This totally confirmed what Aiden was thinking, there really was a spy in the most important members of the Empire.


    ''Who knows how much he told the other side about my arrival there?''


    ''He probably told them that I had a special mission, but they don''t have any idea of what it is.'' thought Aiden quickly thinking about what the enemy camp could know about him.


    Wanting to know more about what he had told them, Aiden asked one question.


    "Do they know about my mission?"


    "No, of course not, it''s actually the reason I am here fighting you. I wanted to get information to alert them, but as you can see it didn''t work."


    The answer from Oliver relieved Aiden since he was stressed about the enemy knowing of his arrival.


    "Actually, that''s my only question. Then, I guess this is goodbye," said Aiden as he shed the neck of Oliver.


    [You have killed a general from the Upsilon Empire.]

 Chapter 35 The Pub

    ?


    [You have killed a general from the Upsilon Empire (1/4).]


    [You have gained 1000 XP.]


    [You have leveled up.]


    [You have leveled up.]


    [You have no gained points from the kill since you are alone.]


    Seeing all those notifications, Aiden was surprised to know that he had gained almost as much experience as in his first trial total.


    But this time it looked like it would take a lot more experience to level up even by one level.


    After shing the head of Oliver, the shapeshifter who had been on the ground trying to reattach himself was starting to disappear into particles.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    [You have killed a shapeshifter.]


    [You have gained 200 XP.]


    [You need 1200 XP to level up.]


    The sort of dome which covered their fight was now gone, revealing the dead body of Oliver on the main street.


    It didn''t seem to vanish like all the beings he had killed before.


    ''Am I really in another world like for real?'' thought Aiden when he saw that he had maybe killed a real person.


    ''Just where the hell am I? And how does the Otherworld have ess to all of those worlds?'' thought Aiden, suddenly having even more questions than before.


    ''Will I be able to go back to Earth?'' thought Aiden.


    It was a crucial thought for Aiden, wanting to get revenge on his master who had betrayed him but there was no way for him to know how many worlds were connected to the Otherworld or if he was in a world created by some unknown beings.


    Either way, he needed toplete his task to go back to Maelis and Nova, the universe in which he now lived, Earth didn''t matter that much to him in the first ce since all he did there was being stuck in a room andpleting missions.


    While he was thinking, he heard the cries of multiple people in the street.


    "AH!!!! A dead body."


    "Where? What happened?"


    "Wait isn''t that Oliver, one of the generals of the army?"


    "You''re right, how did he die in the middle of this ce."


    "Fast alert the guards, the killer must be close. He couldn''t have gotten quite far.


    Aiden hearing the words pronounced by some of the civilians watching this scene, he quickly left the scene and went toward the pub which was originally his objective before getting stopped by that monster.


    A few secondster, he was casually entering the pub acting like nothing had happened, as soon as he entered. The ce became dead silent and they all turned to look at him.


    Aiden who was ignoring their looks casually walked toward the bar, just like how you see in movies.


    "What can I get you?" asked the man.


    "A water," said Aiden not knowing what he could get in a pub since he had never been.


    Laughs could be heard as he said those words.


    "Who is that guy?"


    "Is he serious, a water," said a guy whileughing.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    The barman who was serving him asked him a question, "You''re not from around here, huh?"


    "Well, yeah I came here because I thought I would be able to get some information," said Aiden, telling them the reason why he was here.


    "Wait, before that, you look like someone I''ve seen before," said the barman as he started looking at Aiden from top to bottom, analyzing him.


    "Yeah, right you''re that assassin everyone has been talking abouttely," said one of the guys who was in the pub recognizing him.


    ¡¤?¦Èm "What are you really doing here? I''m sure someone like you would be able to get all types of information, whye here?" asked the barman.


    ''Why would I be able to?'' thought Aiden, confused.


    ''Fuck, couldn''t I have just asked in what direction was the Upsilon to one of the citizens around here,'' thought Aiden, realizing his mistake.


    "I really am here for information, actually I''m here for a guide as well," said Aiden who thought that having someone guide him to the Upsilon Empire wouldn''t be bad at all.


    "Where do you want to go?" said a girl sitting at one of the tables.


    "I need to infiltrate myself into the Upsilon Empire, is there anyone here who can help do that?"


    After saying this, Aiden realized that he may have sounded a little rude to the others, but he soon realized that it didn''t matter in those types of ces where strength dictated how others would react.


    "Oh is he getting a little cocky, I like it!" said one of the guys.


    "You want to infiltrate the Upsilon Empire?" asked the same girl, once again.


    "Yes."


    "Thene sit here, I''m sure we can make a deal. I know a way to get in without getting noticed by anyone," said the girl, as she pointed toward the chair right in front of her.


    Hearing her say that was like music to his ears since one of his main problems was probably going to be fixed.


    When he sat down, the conversations all around the pub which had been interrupted by Aiden started once again.


    "So, when do you want to leave?"


    The girl who was sitting across from Aiden didn''t look all that strong. She had small arms and legs but one thing which she didn''tck was the two mountains on her chest that moved each time she started speaking.


    "As soon as possible" responded Aiden, who once again didn''t want to waste any more time in this ce.


    "How''s tonight sounding?"


    "Yes, let''s leave tonight," said Aiden as he started getting up.


    "Wait, don''t leave so fast. We haven''t finished talking."


    "What more is there to say?" asked Aiden.


    "Can you protect us if we get into a fight? Are you strong enough?" asked the girl, knowing that she wasn''t going to be able to survive if a group of bandits attacked them.


    "Didn''t you hear the guys from earlier, I''m the king''s assassin. Of course, I can protect you."


    "Alright then see you tonight, we''ll talk about the payment when we meet tonight," said the girl as she made signs that meant that Aiden could now leave.


    Author''s Note (Doesn''t cost coins):


    The privilege tier that I have only cost one coin. So, if you want to ess thest two chapters you can as it cost pretty much nothing.


    If I reach the first tier of Privilege this month, I''ll do a mass release of Chapters(3 Bonus Chapters in a single day). Thank you if you consider buying it! (It would help me a lot)

 Chapter 36 Conversation With The King

    ?


    Aiden had gotten back from the pub and was now in the castle currently checking that everything was going to be ready when he knocks on his door.


    *Knock*


    *Knock*


    *Knock*


    Hearing those, he quickly went to open the door, still making that the person on the other side of it wasn''t an enemy of his.


    However, he was shocked when he saw who was on the other side of the door. It was the king in the flesh and blood who hade to talk to him, but what the hell did he want to talk about?


    After opening the door, the king entered making himselffortable by sitting on the couch which was in the middle of his room.


    He started by looking Aiden in his eyes for about five seconds and then he started talking, "Did you hear about the death of Oliver?"


    Aiden thought a bit before answering the king, ''Should I tell the truth? Would he believe me?''


    But then he had to answer or else it would seem suspicious, not talking for a second or two. After all, hesitation could have been felt if he waited too much. Not having too much time, he went with his instinct which was to lie to the king.


    "Yeah, I heard that it was horrible," said Aiden deciding to y the innocent not wanting to deal with the king since he needed to join the girl from the pub soon.


    "Yeah, yeah, I''m sure it was," said the king not saying much afterward.


    "Was that all? Did youe all this way, just to tell me this?" asked Aiden when he noticed that the king wasn''t going to say anything else.


    "Aiden, I''m not sure if you know but people saw you on the scene of the crime a few testimonies saw you over his body at one point."


    ''Fuck'' thought Aiden, it was the only word he could think of. ''Why didn''t I tell him the truth at the start? How can I tell him the truth now?''


    "Oh really now."


    "Yes, many people saw you, do you have anything to say about that?"


    Hearing that he was sure of his sources, Aiden realized that he needed the truth or else he would be stuck here for a long time.


    "To tell you the truth, I was there and to be honest it was me who killed him," said Aiden revealing everything.


    "Why? Why did you kill him, I told you I needed you to defeat the Upsilon Empire, why would you do such a thing, why would you betray me," the king said, emotions taking over him as anger could be felt in his words, the calm demeanor from earlier had left.


    "Please, listen to what I have to say, you''ll see, I had a really good reason to kill him you''ll even be happy that I killed him," said Aiden, who was going to exin to the king why he had killed Oliver.


    "Go ahead, I''m listening," said the king calming down, realizing that maybe Aiden had good reasons to kill him. <novelsnext></novelsnext>


    After all, the king had always trusted Aiden, his assassin, when he heard the news that Aiden might have killed Oliver he was shocked and he didn''t understand why he would''ve done such a thing.


    "The reason that I killed Oliver is because he''s an assassin," said Aiden, waiting to see the king''s reaction.


    But there wasn''t any reaction from the king, he didn''t move one inch, and no words wereing out of his mouth. It was like he had just heard something that shocked him to his core.


    n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    Aiden noticing that the king wouldn''t talk or move decided to continue with his exnations, "When you gave me your mission, I decided to go and get some information at the pub which is when I was approached by a woman who had followed me..." said Aiden, as he continued exining everything that had happened which had caused his death.


    After Aiden exined everything, the king still wasn''t moving, he was shocked in seemed.


    But, when Aiden thought that the king was frozen, he opened his mouth, "How was he a spy, I raised him here since he was ten, and he even told me that he was abandoned. Was our rtionship just a lie?"


    It seemed the king was rambling by himself not remembering that Aiden was right beside him.


    Realizing that Aiden was listening to what he was saying, he apologized for rambling about some distant memories.


    But what he had just heard from Aiden,pletely shocked him. How was Oliver a spy, he was a little boy who came to the Empire and had been raised here.


    Not wanting Aiden to see him like this, he decided to leave the room and leave him to whatever he was preparing to do.


    After the king left, Aiden realized that it was 8 pm and that the girl was probably waiting for him, so he decided to hurry up not wanting to waste any more time here because he only had a week to kill the three other generals.


    Five minutester, he arrived at the pub, and the same girl as earlier was there, with her two melons also present.


    They were so big that they could also probably count as a person.


    "Oh you''re here," said the girl as she noticed Aiden entering.


    "Are you ready?" continued the girl.


    "Yeah, sure but before we go, didn''t you say that you wanted to talk about payment," said Aiden, worrying about what she was going to say since he didn''t have any money to give her.


    "That''s fine, we''ll talk about it when we arrive there, after all, I won''t have money if I die," said the girl, clearly indicating that this would be a dangerous ride with many risks.


    "Yeah, I guess you''re right about that one," said Aiden,ughing a little bit.


    "Follow me, I''ll show you with what we will travel. Oh, and by the way my name''s Mia," said Mia, as she stood up from her table leaving the pub.


    "Right, I''m Aiden," said Aiden as he started following right behind Mia.


    A few minutester, Aiden couldn''t believe that they were actually going to go to the Upsilon Empire in this...

 Chapter 37 Leaving For The Upsilon Empire

    ?


    "So, you want us to leave with that," said Aiden as he looked at the state of both of the horses who didn''t even look in proper health.


    "You don''t like it? I even made an effort for you," said Mia, not understanding the shock that could be seen in the eyes of Aiden.


    Seeing the answer that came out of the mouth of Mia, Aiden had no choice but to ept that he was going to travel with her using those two horses.


    ¡¤?¦Èm "Sure, I like it," said Aiden as he forced a smile to appear on his face.


    The truth was that Aiden had never ridden a horse since on Earth cars had reced them a long time ago, that was the main reason why Aiden was acting like this.


    "Hmm, actually can I tell you something?"


    "Sure, what is it?" asked Mia, as she jumped on the back of the horse not wasting time.


    "Well... the truth is, I never have ridden a horse."


    Hearing this, Mia was extremely confused, how could someone have never ridden a horse before wasn''t it basic knowledge for anyone in this world?


    N?v(el)B\\jnn


    "What? Are you joking or are you actually telling the truth," asked Mia, who was already on the back of the horse.


    "I really am telling the truth, so can you please show me? Don''t worry, I''m a quick learner," said Aiden as he winked in the direction of Mia.


    "Sure, I''ll show you, but be quick I don''t want to bete," said Mia, as she got off her horse and went to Aiden wanting to help get on the horse.


    Helping him, she put both of her hands on his abdomen and pushed him upward.


    ''Wow, I didn''t think he would have abs,'' thought Mia who started blushing, as she felt the abdomen of Aiden which were rock solid.


    It was normal of her, to think that Aiden wouldn''t have those since when you gave him a quick look not a lot of muscles were showing. He was more lean than muscr.


    Aiden was finally on the back of his horse and it was now time for Mia to tell him what he needed to do.


    "Alright, now hold the reins, and simply put your weight forward and the horse will start moving forward," exined Mia quickly.


    He did exactly as he was told and followed her instructions and it worked the horse started moving forward.


    He had a little trouble finding his bnce, almost falling off, but he didn''t as he continued moving in circles around Mia.


    It seemed like Aiden had learned how to ride a horse, it actually wasn''t that hard. Well, for someone with Aiden''s talent who was pretty good and used to moving his body.


    "Alright, ready?" asked Mia, as she got back on her horse and got ready to leave.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "Yeah, let''s go," said Aiden as he waited for Mia to get him in front of him so that he would follow her.


    Two minutester, the two horses started going into the forest known as Aurora, a forest known to have many monsters inside of it.


    This information was unknown to Aiden and Mia didn''t think that she had to tell Aiden since it really wasmon information.


    As they were on the road, Mia and Aiden started to learn about each other because if they stayed silent all the time, it would have been one hell of a boring ride.


    "So, you''re the king''s assassin?" asked Mia, trying to learn more about Aiden.


    "Yes, I am, and you are some type of person who takes onmissions like this often?"


    "I guess so, but I only take the ones where there''s no fighting involved since as you can see I''m not fit to be fighting anyone," said Mia, as she pointed at her physique which didn''t have an ounce of muscle.


    "You don''t look that bad," said Aiden as he looked at her from head to toe, profiting from the moments to admire her beauty.


    Seeing the look that Aiden was giving Mia, she blushed. She got those looks often from other people but she didn''t find any of them attractive, but the man in front of her looked quite good, his face especially was beautiful to look at.


    Realizing that she was also fixing him, she quickly looked away not wanting to be noticed by Aiden.


    But unknowingly to her, Aiden had seen her blushing and turn away, and the truth was that he, also, found her quite cute.


    ''I wonder if I will be able to see her again after the trial,'' thought Aiden, knowing that after hepleted his mission, he would probably never see her again.


    "So, hum hum, how much time will it take us to arrive at the Upsilon Empire?" asked Aiden, ignoring this little situation between them as he wanted to stay concentrated on the task ahead.


    "Probably a day or two, it depends on how much time we take to rest."


    Hearing this, Aiden knew that he wouldn''t have much time to finish his quest, he would only have five days or so toplete it. If he didn''tplete it in five days, he wasn''t sure if it meant that he would fail the trial.


    "It would be best to arrive in one day," said Aiden returning to his usual attitude, not getting distracted by the physique of the person guiding him.


    After all, what truly mattered here waspleting the quest, so that he would have ess to the assassin-type skills. Women could always appearter, it''s not like he wanted some right now.


    "Then we should continue for a couple of hours, we don''t want to take too much time to rest," said Mia who was also, concentrating back on the task she was asked to do.


    Five hourster, they decided to sleep for a bit. Aiden was currently taking guard, but he didn''t understand why he needed to do so, were there supposed to be monsters in this forest?

 Chapter 38 Monsters Attacking

    As Aiden was taking guard on the tent that they had set up, he started questioning why he needed to do so.


    ''Are there monsters in this forest, if so why didn''t she tell me?'' thought Aiden.


    As Aiden was thinking about whether or not, there were monsters or not in this forest, he started hearing growlings nearby.


    But thinking that it was only normal animals, Aiden quickly dismissed them and went back to waiting.


    ''Should I go to sleep, I''m sure there won''t be any problem either way,'' thought Aiden as his eyes were starting to close by themself.


    Fatigue overwhelmed him and he felt asleep right outside of the tent with monsters nearby who were ready to pounce on him at any moment.


    Was he going to wake him in time, or would he get woken up as he is being eaten by a monster?


    A few moments after Aiden had fallen asleep, a little green monster was entering the camp they had just made.


    It was a goblin, he felt that the presence who was guarding this ce had suddenly disappeared and he decided to use this opportunity to attack them and steal some of their items.


    The goblin was armed with a little sword that corresponded to his small green body. He approached discretely Aiden who was on the ground, face first, he really did fall asleep.


    As it was getting closer and closer to Aiden, he started moving his dagger closer to the neck of Aiden.


    Aiden who was a trained assassin had obviously woken up long ago, feeling the presence creeping up on him.


    After all, this was part of his basic training as an assassin always be ready for any sort of attack even if you don''t expect it.


    Aiden had let the small creature enter the camp to see what it would do first and he felt that it wasing toward him, he already knew what it would try to do.


    Aiden gripped his dagger while still faking his sleep, when the goblin got close enough Aiden shed behind a speed which was extremely fast and depicatated the goblin in a single strike.


    [You have killed a goblin.]


    [You have gained 40 XP.]


    After killing the goblin, it seemed that some sort of signal was sent because a lot more of the growling from earlier was starting to be heard and it was getting closer from all around them.


    Noticing Aiden decided to wake up Mia to let her know that they were being attacked.


    "Mia! We''re being attacked, wake up!" shouted Aiden as hard as he could still trying to make sure that she would be waking up.


    After all, he didn''t want her to die in her sleep by a monster which had slipped from his hands.


    Mia hearing a shout opened her eyes not understanding what was happening. <novelsnext></novelsnext>


    She didn''t understand what Aiden had just shouted, she inly had woken because of the noise created by it.


    As she opened the tent, she saw a horrible scene, goblins, animals, and different types of monsters were all on the ground dead but that wasn''t all as she turned her head toward the left, she could see Aiden who was still fighting against at least five monsters at the same time.


    ''Doesn''t he look hot right now?'' thought Mia, as she started blushing because of what she had just thought of.


    It''s just that how fierce his face looked thatpletely seduced Mia, but it wasn''t the time to think about this.


    She quickly changed her mind and went straight out the tent wanting to help Aiden who, in reality, wasn''t having much difficulty fighting those monsters because if he got hurt than he could regenerate and his weapon was excellent, only needing a single hit per monster.


    It truly was different from the first trial where his weapon were so dull that he needed multiple strikes to kill zombies.


    It felt great to Aiden to have that feeling once again of being a Reaper, decapitating his enemy in a single strike. He had missed it even if he didn''t want to admit it.


    He was immersed into killing those beasts that he didn''t even notice Mia who was approaching him.


    He didn''t notice her presence since she didn''t have the objective of hurting Aiden.


    Any monster in the facility who wanted to hurt Aiden would be felt by his incredible senses.


    Shortly after entering that trance of his, he had killed every monster who were around him with Mia who had no been able to do anything because of how fast Aiden was at killing those monsters.


    It truly was impressive, that it once again made her think of how beautiful looking he was right now, with small amount of monster blood on his face.


    ''He looks like a Reaper, ready to kill anyone who approaches him,'' thought Mia, having absolutely no idea of how close her statement was close to the reality.


    Suddenly, Aiden looked besides him and finally noticed that Mia had been watching him all this time.


    "So, how was it, was I able to protect you?, ahaha" said Aiden as he startedughing which dropped the tension in the air between the two of them.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    "Ye-yeah, it was fine, you were great," said Mia, having difficulty speaking as she turned around and went back into the tent.


    "Wait! Isn''t my turn to sleep?" said Aiden who was now really sleepy after defeating all those monsters.


    "Oh and don''t worry about being attacked by monsters, I''m quite sensitive to noise while sleeping," said Aiden.


    "Sure, you can sleep but let me reorganize the inside of the tent, first. I didn''t n for us two to sleep at the same time," said Mia as she started going into the tent making sure that there was some sort of wall in between the two of them so that they wouldn''t touch each other at all, scared that something might happen.


    After she was done, she called Aiden into the tent and they both slept well. This time, not being distracted by any monster.

 Chapter 39 Arriving At The Fort

    ?


    The next day, Aiden and Mia were preparing themselves to continue their travel toward the Upsilon Empire.


    Nothing happened during the night, they were both well separated by the wall made of cushions made by Mia.


    "Alright, so in about an hour or two, we will arrive at the Fort built by our empire. There shouldn''t be any problems as we will just go threw it," said Mia, who started exining where they would be going for the day.


    This was all new information for Aiden but he still acted as if he already had this information, "Oh right the Fort," said Aiden with a voice that contained a certain uncertainty which was immediately noticed by Mia.


    "You''ve never been? Well, I guess that''s why you need my help," said Mia, realizing that the king''s assassin didn''t know much about the world that surrounded them.


    She found it weird that he was so oblivious to the current situation but she still didn''t emphasize it, thinking that he probably didn''t leave the empire much.


    "When we arrive there, just tell them that you''re the king''s assassin and they should let us go threw, they probably won''t ask many questions," said Mia expecting that the assassin would also be renowned enough that simple guards would let them through.


    Aiden understood what he needed to do and continued going forward on the back of his malnourished horse.


    While they were on the way to the Fort, they continued talking to each other to pass the time.


    "What was that yesterday, you seemedpletely different than right now, as if the only thing on your mind was killing what surrounded you," asked Mia, who had gotten curious about what she had seenst night.


    Aiden who heard her ask this didn''t quite know how to respond because the person she had seen yesterday was the one from Earth, the Reaper, the one who would kill all of his targets in a single strike to the head.


    Not wanting to reveal where he came from he told her whatever excuse came to his mind, "I don''t know myself, I think it''s some sort of side effects from my assassin training, ahaha," said Aiden whileughing to decrease the tension in the air.


    "I guess that''s what it was, you really looked... free," said Mia, thinking about the right word to describe him. "It was as if nothing was holding you back anymore."


    "I guess so," said Aiden not knowing how to answer.


    Noticing that Aiden didn''t want to talk about this subject, Mia decided to change the subject.


    "By the way, after we pass through the Fort we will be in the territory of the Upsilon Empire, so we will have to be a bit more discreet than we are right now."


    "How are we going to be more discreet?" asked Aiden, not sure how they were going to hide with the two horses who were making loads of noise.


    "What I want to say, is that we will have to travel by foot, leaving the horses by the Fort and we will take them back with me when we get back," exined Mia to Aiden.N?v(el)B\\jnn


    "Won''t that take too long?," asked Aiden who had a bit of time restraint to respect which made him worry if he would have enough time to kill the rest of the generals.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "Don''t worry, the Fort is really close to the Upsilon Empire, it should take probably 5-6 hours by foot.


    "That''s not what I call really close," murmured Aiden, remembering of the stairs he had to climb to buy his dagger and the pain he felt in his legs at the end.


    "I promise you it''s really not that bad, I mean if you want we can keep the horse," said Mia realizing that Aiden didn''t so pleased that he would have to use his legs.


    Hearing this, Aiden was happy but at the same time he knew that he had no other choice but to walk on foot because he needed to infiltrate the territory without anyone finding him.


    "No it''s fine we''ll go the horses," said Aiden with much difficulty.


    One hour and a halfter, they finally arrived at what seemed to be the Fort that Mia had talked about. It almost looked like a castle but it was much smaller and was in the form of a big observation tower.


    You could probably be able to see everything that surrounded the Fort when a person was at the top. However, with all the trees blocking their vision, it wasn''t that easy.


    In front of the wall, there seemed to be a big wall that served as some sort of defense against invaders.


    Seeing this, Aiden and Mia decided to direct themself to the gate which could be found on the giant wall to be able to enter the Fort and finally enter the territory of the Upsilon Empire.


    Guards spotted them approaching and decided to act with precaution, "What is your purpose foring here?"


    "I have been given a mission by the king which is secret. But, toplete it I need to go to the Upsilon Empire," said Aiden, announcing why he was here.


    Hearing this, the two guards at the gate started speaking between themselves about whether or not to let him enter.


    "We have heard that you would be arriving soon, you can enter," said one of the guards opening the gate on letting them go through into enemy territory.


    Aiden was surprised to hear that they had been informed of his arrival. He didn''t think that the king would inform some guards about his arrival.


    But, it wasn''t something that he didn''t like as it simplified the task that he needed to do.


    After entering, Aiden and Mia left the horses there since they now had to travel by foot as they had discussed before.


    Now, all that was left was to infiltrate the Upsilon Empire and kill the general which was easy to say butplicated to do.

 Chapter 40 Arriving In Enemy Territory

    ?


    After they got through the Fort and left the horses behind, it was time for Mia and Aiden to walk until they arrived at the Upsilon Empire.


    Aiden wasn''t motivated at all but he had no choice, so he started walking but they didn''t go on the nice path which was clean and easy to follow.


    They decided to walk close to the path but in the forest so that no one would spot them which was the point of why Aiden was having someone with him.


    She needed to show him the path to enter discreetly which was why Aiden had hired a guide.


    "Alright since we won''t be on the main path anymore we''ll have to be on the lookout for monsters," said Mia.


    "Yeah, we don''t want a repeat ofst night, ahaha," said Aiden, as heughed at the end.


    After saying that, they started walking in the direction of the Upsilon Empire.


    This time they didn''t talk all that much as they had already talked about anything they could find.


    After all, it had been one day since they had been spending all day with each other.


    Suddenly, they were both walking silently which for Aiden was as easy as breathing. They heard big stomps close to them.


    *Boom*


    *Boom*


    *Boom*


    He could feel vibrations in the ground every time the stomps were being made. It was difficult for both Mia and Aiden to keep their bnce.


    "What is happening?" asked Aiden as he tried his best not to fall on the ground.


    "I-I think it''s a minotaur," said Mia who started to be scared just by hearing the sound of those steps on the ground.


    Aiden who didn''t know what a minotaur was didn''t understand why her mouth started trembling.


    "We-we should hide quickly, even you won''t be able to kill such a thing. I''m telling you... it''s terrifying," said Mia, as she started trembling once again it seemed she didn''t have good memories of the Minotaur.


    "Is it really that dangerous?" asked Aiden as he went to hide behind a tree with Mia on hisp.


    "Ye-yes, you don''t understand how strong it is, m-my friends once tried to fight one, and..." said Mia, as she didn''t have the strength to finish her words as she started crying.


    Aiden didn''t quite understand what was happening why did she start crying in his arms, what did he need to do?


    After all, he never had any contact with a woman in his entire life, and he was even oblivious to how others projected their emotions being raised as an assassin.


    The only emotion that Aiden knew how to emit was anger because of the betrayal of his master.


    Aiden, not knowing what to do, decided to give small awkward pats on her head.N?v(el)B\\jnn


    "It''s gonna be alright, don''t worry," said Aiden as he continued to pat her head.


    ''What is happening?'' thought Mia, not understanding why he was giving her a pat on her head as if she was an animal, but she didn''t get his hand off as it rforted her even if it was pretty weird.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "Tha-thank you," said Mia, as she started calming down, her heart which had been beating scared to rx from the touch of Aiden. Her tears which had beening out of her eyes also stopped from the simplest touch of Aiden.


    ''What is happening to me, is he able to control my emotions? Why am I so calm when he touches me?'' thought Mia, not understanding why she liked Aiden touching her so much.


    Aiden, on the other hand, was confused when he saw messages appear in from of him, the system was once again sending him messages.


    [You have created a skill.]


    ''Again? What the hell did I do?'' thought Aiden not sure how this happened.


    [You have created the skill <Gentle Touch>.]


    [Gentle Touch]


    [Rank: Blue(Unique)]


    [Description: A skill created by a person who doesn''t know how to deal with emotions. Because of his indifference toward others when they show emotions, he has developed a touch capable of calming down others instantly not wanting to deal with them.]


    [Cost: 0 MP]


    [No Cooldown]


    ''What the hell is that skill?'' thought Aiden as he read the description notprehending how he had created it.


    He knew that he wasn''t the best when it came to dealing with emotions but he didn''t think that it would be so bad that even the system would offer him the skill to deal with others.


    ''It''s even Blue Ranked?!'' thought Aidenpletely shocked when he saw that. After all, the skills he had currently were all of Green Ranked.


    Wanting to test the skill, Aiden continued patting her head but this time with the skill in use. The effects were instant, Mia stopped crying and her melons which were going up and down really fast slowed down. It seemed like she really was calming down instantly.


    One or two minutester, the stomps on the ground started decreasing, it seemed like the minotaur had gotten away. He probably got bored when he didn''t find what he was looking for.


    Mia got off thep of Aiden when she stopped hearing the Minotaur and his stomps. Then, she looked him in the eyes not knowing what just happened.


    "How did you do that?"


    "Did what?" said Aiden, acting innocent.


    "You know, when you started to pat me on the head," said Mia not talking about the part where she liked it and calmed down because of it.


    "Hmm, I just didn''t know what to do when you started crying and all so I just... I don''t know," said Aiden, kind of to have patted her on the head.


    "It''s fine you don''t need to exin yourself, it''s not that I disliked it or anything. It even calmed me down," said Mia, as she yed with her thumbs blushing a little bit.


    "Did it?" asked Aiden acting like he didn''t know why it would do such a thing.


    "Yeah, I don''t why, I''m not usually thatfortable around strangers but you... you''re different."


    "Thank you, I guess," Aiden responded not knowing how to respond to that as it was the skill''s fault that she had suddenly calmed down.

 Chapter 41 How Did I Create That Skill?

    ?


    After that weird interaction, Aiden and Mia were closer to each other, well Mia at least, as she was now sure that she liked his presence around her.


    She actually got closer to him but didn''t touch him, still keeping some distance between them.


    Aiden on the other wasn''t sure what he was feeling, actually, he wasn''t thinking about what had just happened.


    ''How the hell did I create that skill?'' thought Aiden, asking the question to himself.


    *Beep*


    A sound from the system popped up in his head.


    ''Oh right, I forgot, the system can help me,'' thought Aiden, not noticing the sudden closer movements of Mia toward him.


    [Creation of skill is quiteplicated to exin, most of the time it will be created depending on certain situations where you might need help. For example, because you wanted tofort Mia but actually didn''t know why, the system helped you by creating a skill. Please keep in mind that creating a skill is really rare and can only happen to the most talented Awakeners that exist.]


    ''It''s rare? Then how did I create two of them already,'' thought Aiden, realizing that maybe he was very talented.


    *Beep*


    [The main reason that your skill <Mind of an Assassin> has been created is because of your transmigration to this world which made the system glitch, granting you a skill.]


    ''So, the first skill I got wasn''t because of what I did?'' asked Aiden in his head.


    *Beep*


    [Yes and no, a created skill is always rted to the person who creates it but in your case, the system granted you one since it didn''t assign to you any ss.]


    Mia who was right beside Aiden started looking at him and saw that he waspletely distracted but she didn''t have any idea what was distracting him because there didn''t seem to be any close to them.


    Not wanting to distract him from his thoughts, Mia just continued walking at the same pace as Aiden.


    ''Why would you help me?'' asked Aiden to the system.


    But this time, no beeps could be heard as the system became totally silent.


    Aiden once again repeated the question, ''Why would you help me?'', but still no answer.


    ''Is it ignoring me because it can''t answer or because it doesn''t want to reveal why it helped me,'' thought Aiden, trying to make sense of why the system wasn''t working anymore.


    It made Aiden think that maybe the system had orchestrated him getting into this body in the first ce. Was it really a coincidence that he had gotten into a body in another world that had the exact same name as him?


    Aiden obviously couldn''t answer that question as he didn''t know anything about the Otherworld, maybe the four founding families would have more information about it in general which is why he decided that when he finished this trial that he would be going to visit the Nightshade family.


    Mia who was still watching Aidenpletely absent-minded with what surrounded him found it weird.


    ''It''s been five minutes since he stopped talking and he hasn''t moved his gaze,'' thought Mia.


    "Aiden? You there?" asked Mia, unsure if Aiden would even be able to hear her.


    But suddenly the gaze of Aiden which hadn''t moved in a long time got down and looked straight into the eyes of Mia.


    "Yes?" asked Aiden, not sure why Mia had called his name.


    "Oh nothing you just seemed preupied," said Mia, telling him why she had distracted him.


    Hearing this made Aiden realized that he hadn''t paid attention to his surrounding since earlier.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "Sorry, I just had something on my mind."


    "Oh, what is it? Maybe I can help you," said Mia wanting to help him just like she helped her earlier.


    Aiden thought about telling her but decided against it as she would be confused more than anything hearing that he wasn''t really from here.


    "Hmm, it''splicated, you probably wouldn''t understand."


    Seeing that Aiden seemed hesitant to talk about what was on his mind, Mia decided to let it go not wanting to press him.


    "Oh sure, it''s probably personal I won''t ask again."


    Aiden noticed that Mia hadpletely misunderstood but he was fine with it as he would have to lie to her.


    "Yeah, thanks for understanding."


    After their quick interaction, Aiden went back to asking the question from earlier to the system but it still didn''t work.


    Wanting to know if the system was having problems, he decided to ask it another questionpletely different.


    ''What are you?'' asked Aiden.


    But there was still no answer.


    ''Who created you?''


    But there was still no answer.


    ''It really seems like I will have to go to one of the founding families to get information, they might know something about this,'' thought Aiden who now didn''t have a choice but to go visit one of the founding families or find a way to talk to one.


    He didn''t want to go back to the Nightshade since he didn''t know what they would do to him, after learning that he had awakened.


    ''Maybe I could back to the Ravenwood store and ask them there?''


    ''No, that probably won''t work, whatever, I''ll talk to Maelis when I get back she might be able to help me contact one of them.'' thought Aiden, deciding on a n for when he got back.


    "Aiden? Aiden?" whispered Mia to Aiden as she started hiding behind a tree.


    "What?" said Aiden, also whispering acting like she did.


    "There, look," said Mia as she pointed at some people who were on horses on the main road.


    All of them were wearing armor, they seemed to be soldiers from the Upsilon Empire.


    ''So that''s what they look like, huh?'' thought Aiden, looking at their gray armor with some red lines on them.


    Not wanting to get spotted, they hid behind the tree until they got far enough.


    ¡¤?¦Èm "Looks like we''re finally arriving," said Aiden when he was sure that the soldiers he had just seen were nowhere to be found.


    ***N?v(el)B\\jnn


    Author''s Note(Doesn''t cost coins): As we reached 100 PS. One Bonus Chapter will be released today.

 Chapter 42 [BONUS CHAPTER] The Minotaur?

    ?


    "We''ll need to be extra careful now," said Mia, whispering to Aiden.


    Aiden only nodded knowing that if he made a lot of noise he could maybe get spotted by an enemy.


    "Follow me, I''ll guide you to where you''ll be infiltrating the empire," said Mia, as she started walking away who knows where.


    Aiden didn''t even question where she was going as he immediately followed right behind her.


    Hepletely trusted Mia since from the start all she did was help Aiden, she also didn''t act weird around him. She stayed the same from start to finish.


    After a couple of minutes of walking in the forest, something was really weird. Not a single monster had been spotted by the two of them.


    Aiden had noticed it after walking for a bit of time. He found it weird but didn''t think all that much about it.


    ''They''re probably just scared of us,'' he thought, not even saying this detail to Mia as he found it unimportant.


    Then, as Aiden was thinking about how weird it was that no monster were close to them, Mia asked him the same question once again.


    "So, are you excited to see how we''ll enter the empire," she asked out loud since she was sure that no one could hear them, knowing that the only way for someone to hear them was to have been followed.


    But that was almost impossible as the senses of Aiden were highly developed not missing a single sound.


    Aiden who was starting to get annoyed, simply asked her how they would enter. "Can''t you just tell me how we''ll enter?"


    "Just take a guess," said Mia, wanting to y a little bit with Aiden.


    "Are we entering in the Upsilon Empire by flying?" said Aiden, as his previous guesses were climbing and disguising themselves into the soldiers they had seen earlier, but Mia always had the same answer, no.


    "Ahaha, you''re really bad at this, how could we even fly? We don''t have weird powers that make us fly," said Mia, making fun once again of Aiden as she hit his arm softly.


    It started to be a habit for her as every time sheughed, she would always hit softly the arm of Aiden for no reason, it was quite weird, at least for Aiden who just didn''t understand why she would do such a thing.


    But for anyone normal, it was clear that Mia was trying to flirt with Aiden, touching him as much as possible.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    She started acting this way ever since Aiden calmed her down by patting her head. It seemed that it left quite an impression on her.


    "Why do you keep hitting my arm?" asked Aiden,pletely oblivious that she was trying to flirt with him.


    Hearing him say this made Mia blush immediately not understanding why he would ask that.


    ''Am I not obvious enough,'' thought Mia, who had no idea how to respond as she didn''t want to tell him that she was trying to flirt with him.


    "What''s happening to you, you''re all red. Are you feeling okay?" asked Aiden thinking that some kind of reaction was happening to her.


    He really was oblivious to how emotions worked, not even understanding that Mia was just acting shy.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "Ye-yeah, I''m fine, don''t worry" responded Mia, shyly, thinking that Aiden was kind of mocking her.


    After all, why the hell would she think that Aiden didn''t even know what blushing was?


    "Alright, just make sure you''re okay, because without you I wouldn''t even know where to go," said Aiden once again putting emphasis on thinking that she was sick.


    ''Is he actually thinking that I''m sick, was he not joking?'' thought Mia, not sure if he was being sarcastic or not.


    "Don''t worry, I''m fine I''m telling you," repeated Mia.


    Then, Mia decided to change the subject since they finally arrived at a ce where they would both need to use their concentration as a single mistake would mean death.


    "Alright, we''re close. From here on out, you''ll need to ce your feet exactly where I ce them as there are a lot of traps around here."


    After saying that, Mia took some small steps and long steps.


    Aiden did the exact same thing as her. He didn''t have much difficulty following her since he already had experience doing this because of his skill [Mind of an Assassin] which was basically the same thing as this.


    A couple of minutester, as Aiden continued making the same movement as her, nothing special was happening that is until a big explosion was heard.


    *Boom*


    Mia immediately knew that something had gotten caught in the traps which were located close to them.


    "Don''t worry, it''s just a mine that exploded, it''s probably some monster who stepped on it. Let''s go check it out," said Mia as she started changing directions.


    "Are you sure we should be going there, will you remember the path toe back here, I''m telling you. I don''t want to be the one exploding," said Aidenpletely serious.


    "Yeah, don''t worry, I know this ce like the back of my hand nothing will happen," said Mia, as she rforted Aiden.


    After hearing her say that, Aiden didn''t have much of a choice but to follow her.


    A couple of minutester, they seemed to arrive where the explosion had happened. It was easy to spot it since a small pit had been created because of the explosion.


    Inside the pit, a really disgusting scene could be perceived.


    There was a monster inside of it just as Mia had expected, but it was missing his head and both his arms. Blood could still be seening out of the monster''s body. It was truly disgusting to look at.


    But it didn''t shock Mia all that much as she seemed to be concentrating on somethingpletely different.


    "Why is that thing here?" said Mia, as she recognized the monster''s corpse, it was the minotaur from earlier.

 Chapter 43 Melons?*

    ?


    Mia was looking in detail at the minotaur''s body, wondering why it would be here.


    After all, that minotaur was supposed to be the protector of this forest which was why Mia was so scared of it.


    She knew how exactly how powerful it was since her friends and herself had tried to fight against it, wanting to test if it really was as strong as the rumors.


    The minotaur wasn''t what they had expected, it was way stronger than they had thought.


    His defense, strength, agility, and everything about the minotaur were overpowered. So, why the hell would such a strong get killed in such a fashion?


    ¡¤?¦Èm Mia knew firsthand that the mines weren''t powerful enough to kill them since she had been the one to ce them all. So who had prepared this?


    Aiden, also, didn''t even blink when he saw the body of the minotaur finding its state totally normal as he had seen way worse in his past life.


    But what caught Aiden''s eyes wasn''t that it was the minotaur, but the little stone that was emitting constant light as if calling him.


    Aiden doubting his eyes asked Mia if she was seeing the same thing as him.


    "Mia," said Aiden tapping on her shoulder as she looked deep in thought.


    "Ye-yes," she responded looking around herself.


    "Do you see that lighting from the pit," asked Aiden as he pointed toward the stone.


    However, when Mia looked at the spot where Aiden was pointing, she couldn''t see anything.


    "Are you ying with me? There''s nothing there, ahaha," said Mia, thinking that Aiden was joking with her.


    "Are you sure you''re not seeing that small white stone?" he asked again trying to make sure.


    Realizing that Aiden wasn''t joking, she answered him seriously.


    "No, there''s nothing I''m sure of it, are you sure that your eyes aren''t ying a trick on you?"


    "Maybe, I don''t know, stay here I''ll go take a look," said Aiden as he went down into the pit in the direction of the stone.


    "No wait for me, I''ll go with you," said Mia as she started running down the pit.


    As she ran, her foot got stuck in the ground which caused her to fall down.


    "Kiyaahh"


    Thest thing she saw before rolling down to the bottom of the pit was the legs of Aiden that were right in front of her face.


    *Bang*


    She rammed into his legs which caused him to fall onto her, but as he fell, Aiden put his hands right in front of him, not wanting to get hurt by falling down on the ground head first.


    ''What''s this? It''s so soft,'' thought Aiden as he got his hands onto some weird type of material that was squishy and soft.


    He decided to grab that weird material.


    ''Why did he grab me there? It''s my sensitive spot,'' thought Mia as she tried to not make a sound that would reveal that she liked him doing that.


    However, as he kept ying with her melons, she couldn''t keep it in anymore.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "Annhhh~" a moan got out of her mouth as Aiden kept grappling her melons over and over again trying to understand what he was touching, "Stop touching m..., Annhhhh~" as she moaned once again.


    Aiden hearing her make weird sounds didn''t understand what was happening, then he looked down and saw that he had his hands on her two melons.


    ''Is that why she''s so sensible?'' thought Aiden as he grabbed her melons once again trying to see how she would react.


    "Annhh~", moaned again Mia.


    "Stop doing that~," Mia said as she was nowpletely red.


    "Huh, but I''m not doing anything," said Aiden who was right on top of Mia looking at her dead in the eyes.


    "Sto-stop," she said once again.


    "Stop doing what?" said Aiden.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    "Stop doing that please~," said Mia with her voice quivering, pointing at his hands.


    Aiden didn''t quite understand what she was talking about but he still listened as he stood up releasing her melons.


    However, his mind was still focused on the melons he had just touched even when he got up.


    ''I don''t know why but it felt really good touching those,'' thought Aiden as he kept ncing at those bouncy mountains of Mia''s body.


    ''I wonder if she would let me feel them again,'' thought Aiden, already wanting to touch them again.


    It seemed like he really liked the sensation and would do anything to do it again.


    However as he was thinking about that, Mia who was still on the ground noticed that he kept ncing at her, and she immediately put her arms on her body trying to hide them.


    Aiden noticed that she may have gotten hurt as she kept grabbing her body repeatedly for no reason.


    "Are you okay? Do you need some help?" proposed Aiden wanting to help her get back on her feet.


    But he would have never imagined the answer that he got.


    "Yes, I''m fine just leave me here, and go check up on that light of yours," said Mia, who kept blushing.


    She didn''t want to show Aiden how much she liked it.


    ''Did he not feel anything, he kept grabbing them over and over again just what type of person would do such a thing?'' thought Mia, not understanding why he would do that to her.


    It was a normal thought because a normal person would have apologized for doing such a thing but Aiden didn''t even seem embarrassed, it''s like he didn''t even care that he had touched her private parts.


    For Aiden who didn''t even know the importance of such things, it truly wasn''t a big deal. Actually, his mind was now focused on somethingpletely different, the white stone that kept emitting light.


    He didn''t even look back once as he kept going forward getting closer to the stone.


    He did like the feeling of touching them but it wouldn''t be enough to distract him from that weird light that was calling him.


    Walking a little bit forward, he could finally grab the stone and shock could be seen in his eyes when he saw what it was.


    [You have obtained a Return Stone.]

 Chapter 44 Return Stone?

    ?


    [You have obtained a Return Stone.]


    [Do you wish to use it?]N?v(el)B\\jnn


    ''What''s this'', thought Aiden as he picked up the white stone looking at the description that appeared.


    [Return Stone]


    [Description: You can return to the world withoutpleting the trial using this stone. When you use the stone, you will not receive the penalties which given at the start of every trial. Think of it as a second chance if you are close to dying.]


    "Wait, this is great!" shouted Aiden out of nowhere.


    When Mia heard him shout, she immediately got up from the ground to see what was happening to him but was extremely confused when she saw him looking at his hands intensively.


    She tried going toward him but quickly stopped not wanting to approach him again so soon after what happened.


    She was embarrassed and she didn''t want this to happen again.


    ''Is he going to do it again?'' thought Mia, imagining a scenario in her head.


    She didn''t want him to think that she was an easy girl as she didn''t evenin to him when he did it.


    ''What if he thinks of me as some sort of whore,'' thought Mia, worrying.


    But Mia was worrying about absolutely nothing as Aiden didn''t think about what had happened between the two of them.


    He didn''t even care about it since he had no idea that what he did could be considered as intimate, having no contact with any women in his life.


    His mind, on the contrary, was focused on that little stone in his hands.


    He was thinking about the possibility of using this stone when he was close to failing a trial. He thought exactly the same as the system, this was perfect for a second chance at a trial.


    But as kept thinking about his use, a question popped into his mind.


    ''Why is such a thing here?''


    He did not understand why something like that would be here, after all, it seemed like the [Return Stone] came from the minotaur who had just died which didn''t make any sense.


    *Beep*


    It seemed like the system had an answer for him as he heard the beep sound in his mind.


    [Return Stones can only appear one time in every trial. The only way to acquire them is to kill the strongest monster of the trial.]


    As he read the information given to him by the system, he thought about when he killed the boss monster in the first trial which clearly was the strongest monster there.


    Another beep resounded in his head.


    [Return Stones cannot be obtained in the first trial since in the first trial finding the strongest monster is quite simple. Afterpleting the first trial, you get summoned into bigger universes which increases the difficulty of finding the [Return Stone].]


    ''So, if I understand correctly the minotaur over there was the strongest being in this trial which is why he dropped the [Return Stone]?''


    *Beep*


    [Strongest monster, not being. But, yes he was the strongest monster.] answered the system keeping it short.


    ''Being? Does that mean there''s someone stronger in this universe?'' asked Aiden to the system, but once again there was no answer.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    The system really seemed to answer only the questions he wanted as if someone was controlling it from behind.


    After answering all the questions he had in his mind, Aiden decided to confirm that only he could see this stone.


    ¡¤?¦Èm "Mia?," called Aiden.


    Hearing her name, she jumped up a little wondering what he would ask of her.


    "Yes?"


    "Can you see something in my hand?"


    It was a question that shepletely didn''t expect, it was clear that there was nothing in his hands.


    "Hmm, are you trying to trick me like earlier? I''m sorry if you wanted another answer, but there''s nothing in your hand."


    Hearing this, confirmed the fact that only awakened beings could see the stone in his hand. It seemed like this object was hidden from the people leaving there.


    "Alright, I guess I''m hallucinating then, should we back?" asked Aiden, not wanting to lose any more time on the task that he would have to aplish.


    ''I only have five days left, I''ll need to be fast.''


    It really surprised Mia that Aiden didn''t seem to want to talk about their little incident together.


    ''Is he ignoring it?''


    Even if Mia wanted to talk about it she decided that it was best to do the same as Aiden and focus on the task ahead of them.


    "Sure, follow me," said Mia as she started walking back.


    "So, are you finally going to tell me how I''ll infiltrate the Upsilon Empire?"


    "Oh, yeah, I forgot about that. You''ll be entering by going into a secret tunnel," responded Mia, who didn''t want to tease him again.


    "Did you build it?" asked Aiden, wondering about how the existence of the tunnel came.


    "I guess you can say that," responded Mia not saying anything more.


    A few minutester, Aiden and Mia were arriving in front of a hole that was big enough for at most two persons.


    "There it is to enter the Upsilon Empire simply follow it, I''ll be waiting for you here to guide you back. If you don''te back in five days I will take for granted that you have died."


    Aiden nodded his head as he heard her exnation.


    "Then, I guess I''ll see you in five days," said Aiden as he started descending into the hole.


    "Wait, not so fast, I think you forgot. It''s time to talk about the payment."


    ''Oh no, what is she going to ask of me?'' thought Aiden.


    "I won''t ask for much as you saved me from the monsters yesterday, but there''s something I need that can only be found inside the Upsilon Empire. It''s some sort of Elixir, I heard it can do miracles to one''s body."


    "Where can I find it?", asked Aiden immediately.


    ''Maybe it could even help me, well it depends on its effects,'' thought Aiden as Mia started exining to him where to find it.

 Chapter 45 His First Kiss*

    n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    ?


    "Where can I find this elixir that you''re talking about?"


    "Hmm, well honestly I don''t know much about it. The only I know is that only the people who are valued by the empire have ess to it," said Mia, wondering if Aiden would still ept her request knowing this.


    But in the mind of Aiden, it was literally perfect. What she was asking aligned perfectly with the king''s task.


    However, he still wanted to know as she hadn''t really revealed any important information.


    "That''s all you know about it?"


    "Well... I only heard rumors and that''s all people were saying," said Mia, who was bing more and more worried that he wouldn''t ept.


    ''Maybe I can ask him for something else?'' she thought, who was sure that he would refuse.


    But she never imagined the words that came out of Aiden''s mouth, "I guess I can do that much for you. After all, you guided me here, without I would have probably been caught by guards."


    ''What!? It''s that easy to make him ept, maybe it''s his form of apologizing for what happened in the pit, but he didn''t need to..." thought Mia as shock could be seen in her eyes.


    "You know I can ask you something if you think it''s too hard."


    "No don''t worry, this is perfect."


    ''He''s even insisting, did he really feel that bad for earlier? I guess he isn''t good at exining himself with words,'' thought Mia, who was mistaking why Aiden was epting her request.


    "So I guess I''ll go, and don''t worry about me. I''ll be back in five days," said Aiden as he started to go down in the tunnel.


    However, conflict arose in the mind of Mia as this would maybe be thest time she saw him. After all, being the king''s assassin it was clear that he would be taking on a dangerous mission.


    "Wait!" she shouted realizing that.


    ''What''s happening?'' as he turned his head once again toward her.


    But when he turned it, he could only see the back of her head, feeling her two squishy mountains squeezing against his body which caused a little reaction in between his legs.


    Even in the pit, his rod hadn''t gone up from him constantly touching them.


    But now, as he could smell her, feel her, touch her again. The little rod in his legs finally got up.


    ''Why is it doing this?'' thought Aiden, not understanding that the emotion he was currently feeling was arousal.


    ¡¤?¦Èm Sensing the penis in between the legs of Aiden getting harder and harder, Mia blushed as she became red but she still continued to hug him not caring about his reactions.


    She liked him, even if he was a little weird. He was different from the other men that she had met before.


    Usually, a line full of men would be asking her out. But most of them would only look at her body, not caring about her personality or anything.


    ''He''s different, I can just feel it,'' thought Mia having some kind of intuition.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    She was right, how could he be like the others when he touched he touched his first melons literally 20 minutes ago?


    However, that waspletely unknown to her at all. The thing which reinforced her affection for Aiden was the fact that he had managed to calm her down almost instantly when she was having a panic attack from the minotaur.


    She was sure that the man in front of her was the right one, and she would do anything for their rtionship to continue.


    ''Why is she hugging me?'' Aiden thought, not sure what was happening as he kept getting more and more aroused from her melons squeezing against his body


    He decided to try and get her to release him, but it didn''t work at all as she hugged him even harder this time.


    "Did I do something? Why are you doing this?"


    "Stupid, stop acting like you don''t understand," said Mia, thinking that Aiden was still acting as if he didn''t understand her actions.


    But he really didn''t understand what she was doing. Knowing that he couldn''t get out of this situation he decided to embrace her like she was doing.


    "See, wasn''t so bad, huh?" said Mia who was now smiling ear to ear.


    "You know what? I don''t need to Elixir after all. The only thing I want is a promise from you saying that you wille back alive."


    This change in her request actually change the fact that he was still going to be looking for it. After all, maybe it could help him get stronger.


    "Sure, I can promise you that. Do you want anything else, this just doesn''t feel right," said Aiden, who didn''t understand why she would only need this.


    "Then... I guess you could do something right now," said Mia as she started blushing even more.


    "What is it?" asked Aiden instantly, still having her in his arms holding her tightly.


    Her mind was running wild with all sorts of thoughts. But then, she calmed down and told him.


    "Well..." said Mia as she started ying with her hands as she left his embrace. "C-Could you m-maybe kiss me goodbye?"


    ''Is she stupid? The only thing she wants from me is a single kiss,'' thought Aiden, confused why she would ask that.


    But still, he decided to ept it as it wasn''t a big deal for him. He had already seen plenty of people on the television kiss, how hard could it be?


    "Sure, I''ll kiss you."


    ''H-h-he epted,'' thought Mia, as she was now very scared of actually kissing him.


    Then, Mia closed her eyes pouting her lips wanting for Aiden to approach her.


    Aiden got close to her, grabbed her ass and he started kissing her just like he had seen people do in movies.


    ''Mmmmmh, this feels so good,'' thought Mia, enjoying every second of their kiss. ''I need more,'' thought Mia as she stepped back a little releasing their lips, realizing that this just wasn''t enough for her.

 Chapter 46 Entering His Rod Into Her**

    ?


    As she looked at him, she felt something wet between her legs. It seemed like a kiss was all that was needed for Mia to get even more aroused.


    After finishing their kiss, Aiden''s mind was now back on the task ahead of him not even noticing the state of Mia who kept looking at him as if she would devour him.


    "Aiden... I know I only said that you would need to kiss me one time, but maybe we could do a little more~" said Mia seductively as she started revealing her melons to him.


    Just as Aiden caught a glimpse of them, his rod which had gone back down from earlier had now be harder than ever, ready for anything.


    "I guess you want to~," said Mia, as she started ying with both her tits teasing Aiden.


    It seemed like instincts took control over Aiden''s body as suddenly approached Mia aggressively as if wanting to see more and more from her.


    His natural instincts were telling him to go and fuck the girl in front of him as hard as he could.


    He started ripping her clothes, wanting to see her plump body to his full extent.


    ''Hmmm~~, yes, yes, this is it,'' thought Mia, as she started to get dominated by Aiden.


    ''What''s happening to me?'' thought Aiden, not sure why he felt that way as he continued to y with her beautiful body which waspletely naked with only some pieces of clothes that were ripped off by Aiden.


    "Annh~"


    As he kept ying with her body, jolts of pleasure assaulted Mia''s body which was already sensible from their kiss earlier. She wanted him to tell him how much she liked it but the tingling feeling that she was feeling from him kneading her butt made her unable to talk.


    However, before she could fully enjoy the feeling, Aiden''s hand went down her plump tights and then to her legs.


    "What are you doing~, go back, please, please," she asked pleading to him, as she wanted to feel the earlier sensation.


    But Aiden continued to go down to her legs which caused a big pout to appear on Mia''s face which made Aiden smile.


    He didn''t know why but he liked seeing her frustrated.


    "Ah!," eximed Mia as she got lifted up in the air by Aiden.


    After picking her up in the air, he quickly moved over to a tree that was close to them and then he dropped her there.


    There she was, on the groundpletely defenseless with her clothes ripped and Aiden looking down on her, wanting to devour her.


    "Are you ready?" asked Aiden as the pants he was wearing started to go down, revealing his gigantic rod.


    "I knew you were different~," said Mia who was pleased when she saw the size of his penis.


    However, before putting it in, Aiden decided to tease her a little bit again as he started massaging her body again.


    As he was doing so, liquid seemed to gush out of Mia''s secret ce.


    "Anhh~ put it in," she demanded not being able to hold on anymore.


    She wanted to be filled, she wanted to be ravaged like never before.


    "What did you say?" teased Aiden, knowing exactly what she wanted.


    "Please put it in~"<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "Here?" said Aiden as he took his rod and put it against her butt.


    "No, there," said Mia as she pointed over to her secret ce which was drowning from her constant climaxes.


    "Here?"


    "Yes..." said Mia, who became red as she realized that she was begging for his rod.


    Then Aiden didn''t waste any more time, as his rod entered her canal which was now free of ess because of her ripped clothes.


    "Annnnnnnh~"


    With her insides already wet from all the teasing and stimtions, Aiden''s dick slipped into her deepest part without any resistance whatsoever.


    "So deep~"


    "Annh~"


    Mia moaned in delight. The pleasure was so intense that her eyes rolled as she let out another moan.


    She felt as if she was finally full, his big penis had filled her up without any problem unlike her other partners.


    Aiden was the perfect fit, filling her to the brink. Her other partners all had small weapons which didn''t even go deep inside her.


    ¡¤?¦Èm Never when having sex before had she felt like this. A single thrust from Aiden was all that was needed for her to be on cloud nine.


    "Ugghhh~"


    Of course, she wasn''t the only one feeling good. Aiden who had just lost his virginity felts jolts of pleasure assaulting his body every time he would thrust into her tight pussy. He could feel her squishy insides which were clustered around his dick sucking it deeper and deeper in.


    Feeling his dick getting sucked in over and over again. He felt some weird liquid in his dick.


    ''Don''t tell me I''m going to pee,'' thought Aiden, who didn''t understand that it was cum that was trying toe out.


    As he thought about that, his thick milk filled her insides, it was as if herst wall was broken and she moaned in ecstasy before her juices gushed out as well.


    "AAnnnnnnh~"


    Aiden then let his body fall right on top of Mia''s who had lost consciousness from pleasure, both of them didn''t have enough energy to stay awake.


    ***


    After a while, Aiden woke up feeling that his rod waspletely empty not having an ounce of energy left.


    He opened his eyes and could see Mia''s body which still had the ripped clothes on her. It seemed like she hadn''t woken up yet. n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    ''What was that?'' thought Aiden not understanding why he had acted this way, ravaging her that way.


    But his actions were only natural, no man wouldn''t have sex with a girl practically offering her body.


    Author''s Note(doesn''t cost coins): Will probably be one of the few sex scenes in this novel as I don''t think it fits well with the novel. Also, I''m not great at writing them...

 Chapter 47 Goodbyes And Arriving In The Upsilon Empire

    ?


    ''What happened to me yesterday? Why did my instincts take over myself,'' thought Aiden as he was sure that he had good control over his emotions being raised as an assassin.


    He was normally good at not showing any sensations to others but then why would a girl inviting him to sleep with her have that much impact upon him?


    ''Did something take over me?'' thought Aiden as he truly didn''t understand why he would do such a thing.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    He had never been truly attracted to other women, only concentrating on bing stronger so why would he lose control over someone like her?


    "Did she use something on me, or did I really lose control?" said Aiden, who couldn''t understand why he would do something like that.


    As he was trying to think about the woman who was still in his arms starting to open her eyes with a slight blush on her face.


    "When did you wake up?" she asked seeing him who was still on top of her, his head on her massive tits serving as a pillow for him to sleep on.


    "Hasn''t been long, and hmm sorry about this," as he lifted his face from her tits.


    But as he tried to get his head back up and stand up, the hands of Mia blocked him.


    "You don''t need to stand up, aren''t wefortable here?" said Mia, looking at him with a look that was sure to seduce any man.


    But Aiden knew that he couldn''t waste any more time with her as the deadline for the king''s task wasing soon, he only had four days left because of the little fun he had with Mia.


    He also didn''t feel that attracted to her anymore, so he simply stood up.


    "You know I wish I could stay here longer with you, but I really to aplish the task given to me by the king," said Aiden as freed himself from her clutches.


    "Before you go, please give me onest kiss, please~," said Mia, as she started closing her eyes waiting for Aiden to kiss her.


    "Sure, there," said Aiden as he leaned in and give her a quick kiss so as to not anger her before leaving.


    "Please stay alive ande back in one piece, if you do, we''ll do it again. I promise!" said Mia, as she blushed.


    "Yes, don''t worry, I''lle back soon," lied Aiden as he entered the tunnel leaving Mia who was half naked on the ground with her clothes that had been ripped by Aiden yesterday.


    He actually didn''t know if he would be able toe back as the trial would actually make the choice for him. It was going to depend on whether or not the boss was in the Upsilon Empire.


    ***


    Aiden was now entering the tunnel which waspletely dark, and not even being able to see two meters in front of him.


    But as he continued going forward, he perceived a light that seemed to belong to a torch that was hanging on the wall of the tunnel.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    He walked in the direction of the torch and picked it up so that he could guide himself in this small tunnel.


    "I guess I only have to go where the path leads me," said Aiden as he started walking forward following the path created by the tunnel.


    As he walked, his surroundings werepletely silent, it seemed like he was alone in this secret tunnel. It wasn''t a secret for nothing.


    He continued advancing and nothing was in his way, it seemed like nothing weird would happen in this tunnel as no monsters appeared from both sides. He could just continue walking without any problem.


    After an hour of walking with only a torch in hand, Aiden could see some type of hatch that seemed to be made of wood.


    ''Finally, I arrived,'' thought Aiden, happy to have reached the Upsilon Empire after many days.


    It wasn''t easying all this way, he had to learn how to mount a horse, he had to kill monsters, he had to go through a minefield. He even had sex with the guide, it was a crazy ride just to arrive here.


    ''I wonder how different the Upsilon Empire will bepared to the Avaloria Empire,'' thought Aiden as he started opening the wooden hatch.


    The tunnel was connected to what looked like an old building as a lot of dust could be found on the furniture around him.


    He decided to explore the house a little bit, but there were only the necessities to live inside of it which made him remember his house in the slums back in Nova, the world he had been transmigrated into.


    There was a mirror, a bed, a small closet, it looked almost exactly like the house he had in the slums.


    ''What a coincidence,'' thought Aiden, not surprised that the tunnel would be linked to a house of this type.


    The tunnel needed to be linked to a house that didn''t have many visitors because the tunnel needed to remain secret or else it would be blocked or something simr.


    Then having wasted enough time looking around the house. It was now time for Aiden to search for the three generals that he still needed to kill as he looked at his <Trial Objective>.


    [Trial Objective: Kill all the generals of the Upsilon Empire (1/4)]


    [The Boss of this trial will be revealed afterpleting the <Trial Objective>.]


    As he left the house, he saw a scenery that didn''t look anything like what it had seen in the Avaloria Empire which made Aiden ask himself why the Upsilon Empire hadn''t won the war yet.


    There was a big market just like the one you could see in the Avaloria Empire, but what they sold waspletely different.


    Aiden really didn''t understand how they didn''t win the war with all those things which were clearly superior to the Avaloria Empire.

 Chapter 48 Upsilon Empire

    ?


    There were shops just like Avaloria Empire but the things they were selling werepletely different.


    Aiden had a quick look around and notice that potions were the main thing being bought from those shops.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    But there wasn''t only one type of potion, they had an agility potion, a strength potion, a longevity potion, and a health potion.


    ''Is that the reason, everyone here looks so young,'' thought Aiden, picking up a longevity potion from a shop.


    He hadn''t seen a single old person in this ce, they all looked young.


    ''But if they can live longer and have all these advantages that the Avaloria Empire doesn''t have, how are they not winning the war?'' thought Aiden as he thought that the situation between the two empires made no sense.


    The most probable cause for them not winning yet would be their poption which was a lot smaller as the streets of the city weren''t even full.


    In Avaloria, the streets were always full which was a big contrast and disadvantage to them.


    However, the Upsilon Empire was a lot more developed as he noticed that buildings were well-built and modern which was a really weird contrast from the Avaloria Empire.


    ''Maybe I could try one of their potions to see their effects,'' thought Aiden as he was now tempted into stealing one as he didn''t have any money in this world.


    When the vendor of the potion shop looked away, Aiden using his agility quickly put a red potion in his pocket.


    It was a strength potion as he didn''t have the choice to choose which one he wanted the most.


    Then, he whistled away as if he had done nothing wrong with the potion in his pocket.


    ''Maybe this will be like a worst version of the Elixir that Mia was talking about before I left.''


    He didn''t ask himself any questions and started drinking it.


    He was pretty sure it was safe as the potion was sold in the middle of the streets.


    *Beep*


    [You are drinking a strength potion.]


    *Beep*


    [You have obtained an extra stat point in strength.]


    As he started reading those two messages sent from the system.


    He was shocked.


    ''Didn''t I need to level up to get ess to stats?'' thought Aiden, not understanding how he had gotten stronger from drinking a small red vial.


    But then, a realization hit him.


    ''Wait does that mean that if I drink a bunch of those potions, I''ll be invincible.''


    Then he asked himself if he should all those potions, but he decided against it as he didn''t want to be noticed stealing all the potions of the merchant. <novelsnext></novelsnext>


    Instead, he decided to try to find an alternative to his solution.


    ''I should probably try to find the creator of this potion, he could even be the creator of the Elixir. This man should be well guarded as he is an incredible resource to the Empire.''


    The thought that the merchant that was in charge of the shop would be the creator didn''t even cross his mind as he simply looked stupid. There was no chance in hell that someone who created those potions would be there, selling them.


    The man would be creating those potions and not selling them was what Aiden thought, which was smart of him as there were good chances that he was right.


    Then, Aiden started looking around himself, thinking about the ce he should visit first as he wanted to find the man as fast as possible.


    There might even be the possibility that the man would be protected by one of the generals of the Empire.


    ''What would be the ce where the most powerful men of the Empire would gather?'' he asked himself, trying to figure out where the generals of the army would be.


    At first, he thought about asking the people on the streets but he decided against it not wanting to be noticed by the inhabitants asking weird questions that probably anyone would know.


    So, he decided that his best choice would be to go toward the city''s biggest building because usually the strongest buildings would always be owned by the strongest.


    So, when he saw what seemed to be a castle, he directly went in that direction.


    But he wasn''t running or anything, he kept walking not wanting to be noticed.


    As he got closer to the castle, he realized that it was surrounded by what seemed to be a fence that was going all around the castle not letting anyone in without permission.


    He also saw that two guards were in front of the castle seemingly guarding it against unknown visitors just like Aiden.


    The guards kept looking left and right, ensuring no one would invade the castle.


    ''Who could be living in this ce?'' thought Aiden, deciding that he needed to enter this manor.


    But a small fence like this wasn''t anything that could stop Aiden, he moved swiftly upward the fence not being noticed by the guards.


    It was s small fence for Aiden but the fence was still a few meters in height, which wouldn''t make it easy to climb for anyone.


    As he arrived at the top of the fence but he couldn''t take a lot of time as he needed to act fast as the guards were about to turn their heads and caught sight of him.


    He jumped from the fence onto the tree that was right in front of him, which made him able to hide from the eyes of the guards.


    "Did you hear something?" asked one of the guards.


    "No, why did you?"


    The two guards hadn''t heard Aiden climb the fence as he was silent, not making a single noise.


    "I don''t know I just have a feeling that someone was trying to infiltrate this ce,'' said the guard talking about the castle.


    "Ahahaha, who would be stupid enough to do that,"ughed the guard hearing what the other had said.


    After all, who would be stupid enough to infiltrate a castle owned by the emperor?

 Chapter 49 Infiltrating The Castle [Part 1]

    ¡¤?¦Èm ?


    Aiden was on the tree, not making any sounds waiting for the perfect opportunity to drop down so that he could find a ce to go inside the castle.


    Seeing the guards look away a second time, Aiden dropped down and started running while trying to find some type of entrance for him to go in.


    ''Just where can I enter this ce? Don''t tell me there''s only one entrance.''


    If there was going to be one entrance then it would have been a big problem for Aiden since what he needed to do was go in without being noticed.


    He was only trying to get information about who owned this ce and who lived in it.


    He wasn''t trying to find anybody, the task he had given himself was to simply observe.


    As he kept running around the castle trying to find a window that was unlocked or anything that could help him enter, he perceived what seemed to be a garden.


    But it wasn''t a garden you could find in other ces, there was a beautiful pathway made of stone that was surrounded by beautiful flowers.


    Seeing this, Aiden decided to get closer to it because that would probably be his best bet to enter the castle.


    But as he got closer, he started hearing people in that garden talk, so he slowed down immediately not making a single as he started listening to what they were saying.


    "Did you hear about Alex?" said one of the voices.


    "No why?"


    "He said to have created the elixir," said the voice which contained excitement.


    Hearing them talk about the elixir, Aiden got closer wanting to hear more about it. He wanted to least know what both of these guys would look like.


    Because if he saw what both of them looked like, he could use that information to his advantage by maybe going after themter.


    So, Aiden peeked his head and saw two men who were extremely built, Aiden had never seen people this big.


    Their muscles seemed to bulge out of their body, and rotating their body would probably be a difficult task for them.


    ''Can they even move with all those muscles on their body?'' thought Aiden as he was imagining a scene where they would start running around.


    But what Aiden needed to look at wasn''t their body but their faces as that was the most important thing for him.


    When he looked at both their faces, two beeping sounds were heard in his mind almost simultaneously.


    *Beep*


    [You have detected one of the generals that you need to kill.]


    *Beep*


    [You have detected one of the generals that you need to kill.]


    Reading those two messages, Aiden was shocked, were those two muscr guys both generals?N?v(el)B\\jnn


    If that was the case then the <Trial Objective> had gotten a lot easier.


    Aiden gaged both of them as they continued talking about the elixir and a certain Alex.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "Are you talking about that Elixir?" continued one of the two generals.


    "What else would I be talking about?"


    "No way, I can''t wait to use it."


    As they continued talking about the Elixir, Aiden started thinking about what its effects would be for the two of the strongest of this world to be talking about it so excitedly that they couldn''t wait to get their hands on it.


    ''It''ll probably be able to upgrade my stats even more than that little potion at the store earlier.''


    Having spotted two out of three generals that were left to find. Aiden decided that the best course of action would be to wait for them to leave this castle at night.


    When they would leave the castle, they would separate themselves and it would be the best time for Aiden to act.


    The perfect n for Aiden would be to kill them in their sleep as they would have no way of protecting themselves.


    So, Aiden decided to go back and leave the territory of this castle and hid in a bush, waiting for them toe out of the castleter at night.


    Climbing and jumping down from the fence without being noticed by the guards, Aiden now needed to find a spot to have a clear view of who entered and who left this ce.


    He thought for a bit and decided to climb on a tree that was like 200 meters from the castle''s main entrance waiting for them toe out.


    It was currently the afternoon as the sun was still out, so Aiden would probably have to wait quite a bit for them toe out of there.


    One hour passed, and they didn''t leave yet.


    Two hours, three hours, four hours, five hours passed.


    It was now dark outside which made Aiden think that maybe the generals didn''t have a home outside of this gigantic castle and that maybe they lived inside of it.


    He had no other option, he would have to go into the castle and kill them there but it would probably be highly guarded.


    However, he didn''t want to wait for another day before killing at least a general.


    He needed to advance his quest after all.


    Then he decided that it was time for him to infiltrate the castle as it waspletely dark outside.


    ''I should probably enter by the garden, there will be fewer guards,'' thought Aiden as he made his way toward the garden by jumping over the fence andnding inside of it.


    He made sure that no one was in the garden and then jumped down


    Hended in the garden wlessly without making any noise as he started making his way toward the door that led inside the mansion.


    However, before he could do so, someone behind was calling him.


    "Oh, a visitor how nice," said the man as he watched the back of Aiden.


    ''How is someone behind me? I''m sure that I checked there wasn''t anybody,'' thought Aiden, panicking a little.

 Chapter 50 Infiltrating The Castle [Part 2]

    ?


    "So, hmm... why are you trying to infiltrate the castle?" asked the weird man in front of Aiden.


    But Aiden didn''t answer, his mind was still trying to find a way to get out of this dangerous situation.


    The man was wearing ab coat, his hair was in the air as if he hadn''t taken care of them in days. He was very dirty with dirt all over him. He didn''t even look strong which was weird considering where Aiden was trying to infiltrate.


    ''Maybe I should just kill him. It won''t do anything bad,'' thought Aiden, thinking that was the best solution.


    But before he could act, the man in front of him spoke once again.


    "Don''t worry, I won''t tell anyone. Even if I told them, they''d probably think I''m crazy," said the weird man as he held his head.


    ''Is he even telling the truth?'' thought Aiden as he looked at the man who was sweating a lot, it seemed like he was under a lot of stress.


    Aiden seeing him act weirdly truly asked himself if he wasn''t talking to a degenerate.


    But he quickly got that out of his mind, the people inside this castle were probably all useful in some type of way, he just needed to figure out what that guy''s usefulness was.


    "So, you won''t tell anyone about me being here, huh?" asked Aiden using a tone that showed his hostility.


    "Yes, don''t worry not a single soul will hear about it!" said the man, enthusiastically.


    Aiden thought about killing him, but he decided otherwise as this was the perfect situation for him to learn more about the generals and the secret creator of those potions.


    "Then, if I were to tell you that I came here to kill two of the generals of your army, you still wouldn''t say anything," said Aiden as he tried to see any type of reaction out of the man.


    The only emotion that Aiden could find on the man''s face was joy.


    ''Why the hell is he happy that I told him that?'' thought Aiden, as he looked at the smiling face of the man.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    "You don''t need to worry about me telling anyone about that, ahaha," said the man as he startedughing. "You have no idea how much I hate them."


    Hearing this Aiden was very confused, why would this man hate the generals of the army?


    ''Shouldn''t he be on their side?'' thought Aiden not sure if the man he was talking to was ok in his head.


    "Why do you hate them?" asked Aiden, wanting to know more.


    "Obviously because they don''t respect me, they just use what I create and then they throw me away," said the man angrily who seemed to have bad memories about them.


    "What you create?" asked Aiden not sure he was understanding what the man in front of him was talking about.


    "Yes, the potions, the elixirs, you probably heard about it too," said the man nonchntly.


    Hearing the man in front of him mention the potions and the elixirs, Aiden was absolutely shocked.


    Why is a man who does such a thing in such bad condition looking at his dirty hair and coat?


    "Wait, wait, wait, you''re the one who created the Elixir," said Aiden as he remembered the earlier conversation between the two generals.


    ''If I remember correctly I think his name was Alex.''<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "Yes, I am, hehe," said the man proudly, as he knew that what he had done had revolutionized the Upsilon Empire.


    "Then is your name Alex?"


    "Indeed it is! Alex, Alex Foster," said Alex who was really one weird character.


    "So, hmm, Alex, those elixirs that you produce, do you think I could get two of them?" asked Aiden wanting to get his hands on them.


    "You want an Elixir?" asked Alex, not sure if Aiden was being serious.


    "Yeah, why is there something wrong with giving me Elixirs?"


    "Well, I wouldn''t mind but all the Elixirs that I produce are for the generals, ahaha," said Alex, as he started tough awkwardly.


    Hearing this, Aiden didn''t back down and continued pressing wanting one.


    "Then can''t you create one for me?"


    "Create one just for you? Well, I guess I could but the materials needed for it are really hard to get and are given to me by the Emperor himself."


    ''Just what are the effects of that Elixir if even the emperor himself is giving the resources needed to him,'' thought Aiden as he started thinking that getting that Elixir was essential.


    "What if I can get those materials for you?"


    "You?" said Alex, as he gave a quick look to Aiden showing that he wasn''t sure if he was going to be able to do that.


    "Yes. Me. I''ll do it, don''t let my appearance fool you, I''m strong," said Aiden unhappy that a scientist was judging him about that.


    "Well, if you say so... Here are the ingredients needed," said Alex as he handed a white sheet with things written on it.


    ''What the hell are those?'' thought Aiden he started looking at the list.


    "Could the emperor have those somewhere?" asked Aiden as he couldn''t waste much time on this.


    "Well... the emperor probably has those but I mean... he''s the emperor."


    "The emperor, huh? I guess I''ll have to steal from him, then," said Aiden nonchntly as if it wasn''t to be hard at all.


    Alex noticed the determination in his eyes and decided to give him a little something that could help Aiden.


    "Seeing as you''re determined, I guess I can help you a little," said Alex as he handed a potion to Aiden.


    As Aiden picked it up, an information interface appeared in front of him.


    [Invisibility Potion]


    [Description: Will make you invisible for one minute. Only your smell and the noise you emit will make you detectable to others.]


    ''This is so good. This guy is a literal gold mine with all those inventions,'' thought Aiden, happy that he had found someone that could help him get stronger.

 Chapter 51 Infiltrating The Castle [Part 3]

    ?


    "So, you''re giving me this for free?" asked Aiden unsure as to why he would give him this potion.


    "I already told you, I want you to get rid of those generals, that''s why I''m giving it to you."


    "Yeah but isn''t you giving me this potion a clear opposition to the Upsilon Empire?"


    "Who cares? It''s not like I''m with them or anything. They just took me in for my potions and I epted because they would provide me with materials."


    Hearing this, Aiden understood that the man in front of him didn''t care about anything. He would simply do as he wished.


    "Alright, just to make sure, if Ie back with the ingredients for the Elixir you will craft it for me?"


    "Yes, exactly."


    ''That guy really is stupid,'' thought Aiden as he couldn''t why that man would do such a thing.


    Even if he hated the generals and the army of the Upsilon Empire shouldn''t he still support them?


    ''Well, I guess he doesn''t know that I''m an assassin from the Avaloria Empire or else he probably wouldn''t help me.''


    "Then... thank you for this and I''ll get going as I can''t waste any more time here," said Aiden as he thanked him for the potion of invisibility.


    "Good luck, you''ll need it, those guys are strong I''m telling you."


    ''Well, if they''re as strong as Olivier it really shouldn''t be any problem killing them,'' thought Aiden as Oliver wasn''t anything special.


    "Oh and could you tell me where the rooms of those generals you speak of are?" asked Aiden just before turning his back.


    "Hmm, I don''t think I need to tell you that, you''ll see they''re easy to spot," said Alex.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    ''Easy to spot? What does that mean?''


    But he didn''t think a lot about this as Alex was probably telling the truth. So, he turned his back and started walking toward the entrance of the castle.


    ''Alright, so all I need to do to get back to Nova is find the three generals and kill them, then I''ll need to kill the boss that I don''t even know about yet,'' thought Aiden as he ced his feet inside the castle.


    As soon as he entered, he noticed that he was in arge hallway that seemed to lead toward a big room that was probably the ce where visitors would first enter.


    As he started advancing in the hallway, he started seeing feet and arms which were close to the wall.


    ''Shit! Don''t tell me there are guards even inside?'' thought as he quickly hid behind a wall as he didn''t want to get spotted by the guards which he could see even now.


    He thought that the guards would only be outside as it probably wasn''t that useful to have them even inside as this castle seemed to be quite well protected.


    There were many of them, they were all watching around them. They seemed to be taking their jobs seriously unlike the guards who were outside which weren''t that great.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    But those guards still probably wouldn''t be able to do much against Aiden in a one versus one. The problem was that if they started alerting everyone then he would be in big trouble as everyone would starting toward him and he probably wouldn''t be able to win if they all came upon him.


    Not knowing what to do, he decided to use the potion which Alex had given him so that he could infiltrate without any risk of getting caught.


    It didn''t matter if he couldn''t get his hands on the ingredients for the Elixir.


    What mattered right now waspleting the trial without dying because if Aiden died, then he would die for real this time. He wouldn''t being back to life like the others had said.


    The only other option a part from using the potion was to use the [Return Stone] but that would mean that he would have to start apletely new trial which didn''t make any sense.


    ''I guess I have no other choice, I need to use it,'' thought Aiden as he didn''t want to take risks that would likely result in his death.


    He decided that it was best for him to y it safe and make sure that he was going to be able toplete the <Trial Objective>.


    [Potion of Invisibility has been used.]


    [You now have one minute where you will bepletely invisible.]


    Aiden sensed the effects of the potions and he decided to look at his arms to make sure it was working.


    ''Wow, this is crazy, it really works, my arm is nowpletely invisible,'' thought Aiden shocked by the effects.


    But he didn''t have time to admire the effects as the duration of the potion was quite low, he needed to hurry up before he would be discovered by the guards.


    He started running in the hallway getting closer and closer to the guards, but as usual, he didn''t make any noise. He really was a phantom moving silently in between the guards.


    After arriving in the big room with all the guards around him, he now had 45 seconds to decide where to go next as he had absolutely no idea where to find the rooms of the generals.


    Looking around himself, he needed to find a way to leave this spot as he would surely be killed if the potion stopped working right there.


    As he continued to look around himself, he spotted a gigantic staircase right in front of him.


    Without wasting any time he ran toward it as fast as he could wanting to get out of the vision of the guards.


    As he arrived at the staircase which was now out of the vision of the guards.


    He was now safe, all he needed to do was find the rooms of the generals and kill them in their sleep.


    [The effects of the invisibility potion have stopped.]


    [You are now visible to everyone around you.]

 Chapter 52 Infiltrating The Castle [Part 4]

    ?


    Aiden regretted using the potion like that but he didn''t have another choice if he didn''t want to be noticed by the guards.


    ¡¤?¦Èm He wanted to keep it so that he could steal the materials for the Elixir but I guess life wasn''t meant this way.


    There were literally no other options for him, the only way to advance in the castle was to go through this hallway.


    He was now on the stairs and there didn''t seem to be any guards close to him, so he decided to go upstairs, maybe the generals would be there in their room.


    As he reached the top of the stairs, there was another hallway with multiple doors on each side with names written on them probably indicating which rooms belonged to which person.


    There were many names but obviously didn''t have the names of the two generals that he had seen in the garden.


    ''How am I going to know which door to open, there''s too many,''ined in his mind. ''I should have asked for their names Alex, I''m sure he would have given them to me.''


    Alex would have probably given them to him given his personality which seemed to have a certain toward those individuals.


    Maybe he told him that the rooms they were in were easy to spot because their names are written onto it, but it wasn''t simple for someone who didn''t know their names. n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    Hell, he didn''t even know the name of the Upsilon Empire.


    The first thing he knew was that the generals were not females, so any door with a girl''s name written on it didn''t have to be checked by Aiden.


    ''I think the only option I have is to open each door slowly and check who is sleeping there,'' thought Aiden as he knew what the faces of two out of the three generals looked like.


    He also gambled on the fact that the system would tell him if he was looking at generals just like he had done earlier today.


    So, he decided to open silently each door as he took extra care so as to not wake up people inside their rooms.


    He hadn''t used the potion of invisibility just to be noticed once he was so close to his goal.


    The first door he came across had the name, Sylvia Brown, on it. Seeing that it was a girl, he simply passed by the door and went toward the other one.


    The next one was written the name Alex Foster which was obviously the name of the guy he met outside so he simply went to the other door once again.


    The third door had a name that he had never seen before and it was also a boy''s name. It was written the name Jacob Miller on it.


    It was now time for Aiden to try and open the door without making too much noise.


    He was trying is hardest as he turned the doorknob as slowly as possible, then a small clicking noise was heard which meant that he had seeded in opening the door.


    *Click*


    Aiden slowly walked in and tried to see the face of the man who was sleeping peacefully.


    The guy was in his bed his face turned the other way which made it difficult for Aiden to see it.


    The body of the man was also covered by sheets and it was dark which made it impossible for Aiden to figure it out just by his figure.


    Having no other choice, he started walking to the other side of the bed, slowly, not wanting to wake the guy as that would simply ruin everything he had done to get there.


    As he was creeping up onto the other side of the bed, the man who was supposed to be asleep started talking.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "Bwahshda, shkling, sh,"


    ''What the hell is he saying?'' thought Aiden as he got scared for a second that Jacob had woken up and was going to see him.


    But he was just sleep-talking as he clearly had no idea that anyone was in his room preparing themselves to kill him.


    This reassured Aiden that he hadn''t lost touch with his movement and that he was still as silent as in his previous life.


    He was now on the other side of the bed and he could finally get a clear picture as to what this person looked like.


    And then, just like before a beeping sound was heard inside the mind of Aiden.


    *Beep*


    [You have detected one of the generals that you need to kill.]


    Seeing this, he got his dagger ready immediately he started preparing a strike that would directly go into the neck of the general.


    *sh*


    This scene in which he would swiftly kill somebody in a single strike made him remember his past when people were calling him the Reaper and were scared of what he would do.


    Those were good memories at least for Aiden, but they got ruined when he got betrayed by Jack.


    A beeping sound was heard as the head of Jacob Miller hit the ground.


    *Beep*


    [You have killed a general.]


    [You have gained 1000 XP.]


    [You need 200 XP to level up.]


    [You have no gained points from the kill since you are alone in this trial.]


    [The <Trial Objective> is progressing.]


    [You now need to kill the two other generals and the boss which will be revealed afterpleting the <Trial Objective>.]


    Aiden started watching all those messages from the system and was extremely happy to see them as it meant that he would soon be able to go back.


    All he needed to do was to repeat what he just did two times and then he would have to fight the Boss of this trial which would surely be his hardest fight.


    Then, he left the room of Jacob and started walking to the next one.


    Inside the room was now the head of Jacob on the ground decapitated as blood kept flowing out of his body.

 Chapter 53 Infiltrating The Castle [Part 5]

    ?


    He went past a couple of rooms that indicated girl names, which he didn''t enter for obvious reasons.


    He stopped at every room where the name of a boy was written and saw if the system would tell him if the man was a general.


    But he didn''t have any sess in thest two rooms he had entered.


    ''They''ll probably be in the rooms which are further away,'' thought Aiden as they weren''t any options for them.


    He hadn''t seen theme out of the castle, so he was sure that at least to out of three of them were still there inside this ce.


    He had no information on the third one but he hoped that he was also there as it would simplify his task not having to search for him in the city.


    After walking for a bit, he saw another room on which a boy''s name was written on the door, the name was Andrew Miller.


    ''Miller?'' thought Aiden as he remembered that the first general he had killed was also a Miller.


    This meant that there were good chances that the man inside of this room would a general.


    He didn''t waste any time as he started opening the door carefully just like he had done previously.


    And it was the exact same scene, the man who was sleeping had his back turned from Aiden.


    Aiden did the same thing as before and crept up to see the face of the man.


    Then as he saw his face, another message appeared in front of him.


    [You have detected one of the generals that you need to kill.]


    Seeing this, Aiden prepared his dagger as he did a swift move with it decapitating yet another general with ease which cause Aiden to think about what Maelis had said before he left for his trial.


    ''She said that the trial wouldn''t be easy, but the enemies that I kill are really weak. I''m alone it just doesn''t make sense for the trial to be this easy,'' thought Aiden wondering whether or not Maelis had exaggerated trying to convince them not to go.


    ''I guess it''s different and all that, but is it really hard?'' thought Aiden who was unsure about it.


    He admitted that it waspletely different from the first trial as he had been thrown into apletely different and under a persona of someone who lived there, but the trial by itself wasn''t that hard.


    As he was thinking about that in his head, he prepared his dagger as he would once again kill yet another general sleeping.


    *sh*n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    [You have killed a general of the Upsilon Empire (3/4)]


    [You have gained 1000 XP.]


    [You have leveled up.]


    [You need 3000 XP to level up.]


    [You have no gained points from the kill since you are alone in this trial.]<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    [The <Trial Objective> is progressing.]


    Aiden had now leveled up three times since the start of the trial, but in the situation he was in right now, it probably wasn''t the best time for him to check his status and upgrade his stats.


    He decided to wait until he left the castle to do so as he would be safe from any people suddenly seeing him.


    Even if it was unlikely that someone would enter this room as it was night, he didn''t want to take the chance of getting caught off guard.


    Then, he started walking toward another room but it wasn''t a sess as they weren''t any general inside of it.


    Actually, Aiden didn''t even know if he was going to find thest one here, as he had only seen two this morning.


    He continued checking all the rooms but it wasn''t a sess as the system never recognized one of the generals.


    He had now checked all of the rooms and he hadn''t spotted thest general.


    ''Just where the hell can I find thest one?'' thought Aiden as he had no idea about where he could go to find him.


    He was kind of sad since he would now have to search for him which was going to be extremely difficult because of how vast their Empire was.


    He, also, thought of going into the room of the emperor but he didn''t know who it was and the rooms all looked the exact same which meant that he had no idea of knowing which room was his.


    As he thought about that, he now had no choice but to think about how he would be able to get out of there.


    ''By the window? Or maybe the generals have some clothes that I could disguise myself with,'' thought Aiden as he went toward the closet of the room of Andrew Miller wanting to check if he had any clothes for him.


    But there weren''t since all the clothes inside their closet were made for much bigger people than Aiden who was quite slim and didn''t have much muscle which waspletely different from thetwo generals who were extremely massive.


    Having no other choices, Aiden decided that his best bet would be to jump out of the window.


    Because if he went downstairs then the guards would alert everyone that there was an intruder in the castle.


    He got closer to the window as he started to open it slowly trying to make as little noise as possible.


    However, as he kept opening the window some small creaking noise could be heard.


    *Creak*


    It wasn''t loud by any means but because it waspletely silent inside the castle, the guards who were downstairs seemed to have heard it as Aiden started hearing footsteps of people going upstairs.


    Having no other choice he jumped down as fast as possible as he started running toward the fence as he started climbing it as quickly as possible.


    By the time the guards had reached the top of the staircase Aiden was nowhere to be seen.


    However, the window that was open was seen by all the guards who found it kind of weird.


    The real problem was when they would discover the corpses of two of the generals in their own rooms.

 Chapter 54 Outside Of The Castle

    ?


    But Aiden didn''t care whether or not they would discover the bodies inside of their room as he was already out of the castle and literally no one could know that it was him who had done this.


    Well... except Alex, but he probably wouldn''t say with that personality of his.


    The direction in which Aiden was going was the old and rusty house he hade in when he first entered this ce.


    He still needed some sleep after all. He wasn''t an insomniac or something along those lines.


    After killing some people it was obvious that he would to sleep. So, he started heading over there as the street waspletely empty as most people were probably sleeping.


    Well, everyone except those who seemed to be in the Upsilon Empire''s pub. They were making so much noise that even Aiden could hear it as he was walking down the street.


    ''Should I go take a look? Maybe I could try a drink or two?'' thought Aiden as he had never tried drinking alcohol before and he wanted to try it as he still had time for the rest of his task.


    He was sure that he was going toplete it as he still had twoplete days to find and kill thest general.


    Even if he didn''t know where he was, it shouldn''t matter that much as he would ask for some information from people in the city, he could even try asking Alex for some information about him, trying to figure it out.


    Thinking that his sleep could be pushedter, he decided to enter the pub which was still making as much noise as earlier with people shouting everywhere.


    As he entered, he went directly to the counter, but this time he wouldn''t be asking for water. He would ask for a beer wanting to know the effects it would have on him.


    He had seen in movies people drink alcohol and they always in the worst scenarios possible so Aiden decided to go lightly on the alcohol and simply test it out.


    Then, he started looking around him as he could observe people dancing, talking, and flirting with each other which made him think about his purpose in life.


    ''Is this what life should be like? Having fun with people?'' thought Aiden, who didn''t really understand the concept as it didn''t make a lot of sense in his mind.


    He had never gotten one small bit of fun in his life, the only time he had truly enjoyed himself was when he had sex with Mia.


    Maybe that was what he had felt with Mia, fun.


    He didn''t understand why he had acted this way with Mia but maybe this was the reason. His body was trying to tell him to have fun.


    As he heard the bartender behind him say that his beer was ready, hepletely threw his earlier thoughts about drinking responsibly as he started jugging the entire beer.


    People around the bar noticed it and started hyping him up telling him to drink him even faster which is exactly what he did.


    But as he finished it, the drink seemed to want to resurface as his body clearly wasn''t used to having any type of alcohol.


    His body reaction was totally normal, as Aiden started to vomit what he had just drunk.


    People all around the pub startedughing at Aiden not understanding why someone would do such a thing.


    "Ahaha, did you see him?"


    "Yeah, I don''t know why someone would do that."


    But as Aiden got his head up after vomiting on the ground, he didn''t want to finish his night there so he asked another beer to the bartender who epted with pleasure, putting the beer on his tab.


    Aiden, on the other hand, had totally forgotten that he didn''t have money but he didn''t care as he could simply beat up anyone who woulde after him, as he had killed two of their generals.


    As he got his second beer in his hands which this time he would drink slowly. An rm sounded from the castle.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    Big beeping sounds could be heard all around the city.


    *BEEP*


    *BEEP*


    *BEEP*


    Aiden who was about to drink instantly understood what had happened.


    The guards had gone into one of the rooms of the generals and had seen one of their dead bodies.


    Aiden didn''t panic as they had absolutely no way of finding it out it was him, but he still expected them to find the bodies tomorrow since there was no reason for them to check the rooms.


    ''I should probably leave this ce,'' thought Aiden as he gave back his beer to the bartender who was confused as to what was happening to the Empire.


    But it wasn''t only him, many people in the pub were asking themselves the same question.


    "Are we under attack?"


    "Why the hell is the rm sounding thiste at night?"


    As Aiden heard them say that he understood that this rm was only set on when a big situation was arriving in the Empire.


    Hearing the words of those around him, heughed a little.


    ''I guess they didn''t like what I did,'' thought Aiden finding this situation kind of funny.


    But as went to get out of the bar, he gave one final look behind him and saw a man who was sitting alone in the bar and hadn''t moved since the rm had started.


    The man truly was weird, he was only sipping on his drink. Observing those around him like a hawk.


    As Aiden looked at his face, a message from the system appeared in front of him.


    [You have detected one of the generals that you need to kill.]


    When he saw this message appear in front of his eyes, he waspletely shocked.


    He stared at the man for a bit longer than one would usually do.


    But, he quickly turned around as all sorts of questions passed through his mind.


    Why was thest general that he needed to kill in a pubte at night?


    What was he doing there?


    But he was approaching the door to leave, he heard a voice behind him calling him.


    "Where are you going like that?"n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

 Chapter 55 The Last General

    ?


    "Where are you going like that?" said a voice from behind Aiden.


    Aiden not thinking that the man was talking to him continued leaving the pub, after all, he had just seen that thest general was inside of it.


    That meant that he needed to be careful with how he acted if he didn''t want to get caught.


    "Don''t ignore me," said the voice from behind Aiden as he started raising his voice.


    Aiden hearing this turned around trying to understand if the voice was talking to him.


    Seeing that the person was indeed talking to him, Aiden was getting confused about why did the general started talking to him.


    The only thing that Aiden had done was look at him in the eyes. Maybe he looked at him longer than a normal person would but it wasn''t anything worth noting.


    Then the general continued, "Didn''t you hear the rm why are you still trying to leave this building?"


    Hearing this, Aiden was really confused as he had no idea what he was doing was wrong.


    ''Can''t I just leave this ce? What does the rm have to do with anything?''


    "Can''t I leave?" asked Aiden in a cautious manner.


    "Is it notmon knowledge that when the rm is set on no one can go in the streets?" asked the general to everyone present in the bar


    All sorts of people started agreeing with him in the pub.


    "Yes, of course."


    "Who would be stupid enough not to know that."


    ''Fuck. What can I say as an excuse?'' thought Aiden, as he was trying to think as fast as possible for an excuse.


    The only one that he had found at the moment was that he had forgotten about that rule which wasn''t necessarily a lie as he had no idea about this rule in the first ce.


    "Oh, I''m so so sorry about that, Ipletely forgot about it."


    "You forgot?" said the general with a tone of mockery in his voice. "How can someone forget about such a simple rule?"


    "Well, you know I drank alcohol, it probably yed a role," said Aiden as he had seen in movies people lose their memory because of alcohol.N?v(el)B\\jnn


    "You don''t know who I am right?" asked the general totally ignoring his question.


    ''Why is he asking me such a thing? Does he not believe me?''


    Using the information from the system, he simply responded that he was a general of the Upsilon Empire.


    "Oh, and what''s my name?"


    When he heard that questione out of his mouth, the general thought that he had tricked Aiden but there was something that he didn''t know.


    When Aiden had checked all the rooms in the castle, he found a single room that had absolutely nobody inside and he remembered the name on that door.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "Matthew Davis, you''re a general of our army how couldn''t I know about it," said Aiden, truly happy that he had remembered this name.


    Because, if he hadn''t known about his name which was probably famous around the empire then the general would have started doubting his true identity.


    "Mmh, I guess you do know who I am. But I don''t believe that excuse about the alcohol, I saw you vomit on the ground after trying to drink that beer in one go. Why were you trying to leave this ce?" said Matthew continuing the sort of interrogation between the two of them.


    "I don''t know I told you, I just forgot."


    "We''ll see about that,e with me. I need to get you back to the castle," said Matthew as he stood up unsure if Aiden was really telling the truth as many elements pointed against it.


    ¡¤?¦Èm Aiden didn''t panic and simply epted going back there, well on the surface.


    Because as Matthew was getting closer to him, his mind was already trying to find a way out of this situation.


    ''I can probably eliminate him on the way to the castle,'' thought Aiden as if that was going to be simple.


    Well, from his previous encounters, he shouldn''t have any problem killing the general.


    Also, if he killed this man then the system would reveal to him the identity of the boss and then he would be able to finish this trial.


    There was also the fact that if he didn''t get back in a week to his house in the slums, then Beatrix his maid would probably tell the Nightshade about his disappearance which would bring a lot of problems to Aiden since he didn''t want to go back to that ce ever again.


    "Alright, let''s go," said Matthew as he simply held the hands of Aiden not putting anything on him as if he was sure that he was stronger than the frail man in front of him.


    Aiden didn''t resist one bit as he let him get restrained by Matthew as he knew that if he wanted to, he could get out of his clutches as easily as he could breathe.


    ''He''s not even putting force does he think that I''m that weak?''


    Aiden didn''t mind if he looked like someone who was weak as he could use that to his advantageter.


    Then they left the pub and the roads were full of soldiers and guards from the Upsilon Empire.


    But it was clear that there weren''t any civilians.


    It seemed that the rule was quitemon as Aiden couldn''t perceive a single on the street.


    "So, do you want to tell me why you lied to me?"


    Hearing him ask about why he lied Aiden was kind of relieved as he was now sure that he had no idea about him infiltrating the castle.


    It seemed like his n had worked, no one had seen hime in ande out.


    They were all in the dark about who murdered the two generals.


    Also, if Matthew was in the pub when he killed the two others, he had no idea of what happened yet and that he was simply bringing him because of the rm.


    "I simply forgot, I''m telling you."

 Chapter 56 Killing The Last General

    ?


    "Do you really have to take me to the castle?" asked Aiden trying to change the mind of Matthew.


    "Listen, if you did nothing wrong there is nothing to fear. It''s just the way you answered my questions which I found quite weird."


    Aiden kept silent as he had nothing else to say.


    Aiden knew why Matthew was taking him to the castle. It was now time to find a way to kill him before reaching the castle.


    Because once they arrived there, the task that Aiden would have to aplish is going to be a lot moreplicated than before as he is going to be suspected.


    ''How can I make him go off the main street?'' thought Aiden as they were currently walking on the main street which was surrounded on both sides by building with people who were currently watching what was going on as they had been woken up by the rm.


    "Look it seems like they caught a criminal," said one of the people who were watching Aiden from their homes.


    "Maybe he''s the reason for the rm."


    "Put him in jail!"


    As he heard the people shouting around him, Aiden didn''t even care as he simply continued walking without even having a reaction to those words.


    Instead, he was still trying to find a way to get off the main street.


    "Hmm, sorry to ask but could I go pee?" asked Aiden as this was the only thing he had thought of at the moment as the castle was getting closer and closer.


    "You want to pee? Right now?" asked Matthew as he looked at Aiden noticing that he wasn''t stressed in the least.


    ''Maybe he didn''t do anything wrong,'' thought Matthew.


    After all, any person who would have something to hide would be stressed out of their mind after being caught, but as he continued watching Aiden, he noticed that he was extremely calm as his heart was beating at a normal rate.


    But he didn''t want to take any chances, so he still decided to bring him back to the castle but he didn''t that it would hurt for Aiden to go pee.


    After all, what could happen?


    "Sure, you can go pee," said Matthew as he got off the main street and went toward the forest which was at least 200 meters from there.


    ''Yes! I don''t know how that worked, but it did that''s all that matters,'' thought Aiden not understanding why he would ept such a stupid request that could probably have waited.


    As they arrived close to the forest, Matthew released the arms of Aiden because he didn''t want to see him pee, and even if he would try to get away he would be able to get him back.


    But that was the fatal w of Matthew, his overestimation of his strength.


    "Get back here quickly, I don''t have all night," said Matthew as he started waiting for Aiden to pee.


    "Yeah, it won''t take long," said Aiden as he started going behind a tree thatpletely hid his body from the point of view of Matthew.


    Not a single part of his body could be seen and it was obviously done on purpose, as Aiden started climbing the tree silently, not making a single noise that could alert thest general.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    When climbing it, he made sure that he still couldn''t see him as it was crucial that the general couldn''t see him.


    Arriving on top of it, Aiden was clearly out of the point of view of Matthew who was still looking at the bottom of the tree.


    After all, why would he think that Aiden was now at the top of it and what could he even do at the top of it?


    "Are you still not done?" asked Matthew as he getting bored waiting for him.


    Aiden obviously didn''t answer as he didn''t want Matthew to know that he was at the top of a tree.


    As he heard this question, Aiden knew that he didn''t have much time until Matthew would starting toward the tree where he hid.


    And that was exactly his n, he was waiting for Matthew to go check the base of the tree so that he could drop down and give him a fast sh to the neck.


    "Hey, answer me!" said Matthew as he started going toward the tree just like Aiden had nned.


    ''Did something happen?'' thought Matthew not understanding why Aiden wasn''t answering as he hadn''t seen him move from that tree.


    Aiden watching him get closer to the tree was extremely happy because he knew that he could finally finish the <Trial Objective>, it was now only a question of seconds before he would be able to learn the identity of the Boss of this trial.


    Matthew was now one meter away from the tree and as he looked behind the tree, Aiden jumped down with his dagger in his hands preparing to give a quick sh to the neck just like he had done before with the other generals.


    As he was still in the air, he executed a perfect strike to the neck of thest general who got decapitated instantly.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    ''If only I had this weapon for my trial, imagine how easy it would have been.''


    Because the only thing that had caused him problems in the first trial was pretty much his weapon as it was the only thing holding him back from killing the monsters faster.


    Then a beeping sound was heard, which confirmed the death of thest general.


    [You have killed a general of the Upsilon Empire (4/4)]


    [You have gained 1000 XP.]


    [You need 2000 XP to level up.]


    [You have no gained points from the kill since you are alone in this trial.]


    [You havepleted the <Trial Objective>.]


    [The rewards forpleting the <Trial Objective> will be given at the end.]


    [The Boss''s identity will now be revealed.]


    [The Boss that you will need to eliminate in this trial is...]

 Chapter 57 Boss Monster

    ?


    [The Boss that you will need to eliminate in this trial is the Upsilon Empire''s Emperor.]


    [You have 6 hours to kill the Boss of this trial.]


    Aiden looking at the message wasn''t that surprised since he had kind of anticipated it.


    Why would the <Trial Objective> be of killing all the generals, if he wasn''t going to kill the emperor at the end?


    Aiden thought that it was a fitting ending to the trial which made sense.


    But, now there was a big problem for him.


    ¡¤?¦Èm How would he kill the emperor, if the Empire was on alert with soldiers and guards in the streets?


    Aiden assumed that the emperor was in the castle since that was the safest ce in the Empire, as he couldn''t see any other buildings which had that defense.


    It made sense as every single Emperor that existed would want to stay safe and let his soldiers fight for him.


    ''How am I going to infiltrate the castle?''


    That was the question kept asking himself as he had absolutely no idea, the first time he had got in by the garden but it was probably going to be even more secure this time.


    The only solution that came to his mind was to kill one of the soldiers roaming the streets and change into what they wore.


    It was the only thing that Aiden had thought of and because the soldiers had helmets on their heads, it would be impossible for the soldiers to recognize Aiden.


    In fact, even if he didn''t have a helmet on his head it wouldn''t have changed anything as no one knew about him and what he looked like.


    But he couldn''t really roam the streets in normal clothes as no other normal citizens were doing so since they were all hiding in their homes.


    So he decided that was the n for him, disguise himself as a soldier and infiltrate the castle.


    He now came back from the woods leaving behind the body of Matthew, thest general that he needed to kill which was once again decapitated in one quick strike to the neck.


    As he was getting closer to the city, he started slowing down and was now trying to find a prey that was alone so that he could kill him swiftly.


    Then, when he arrived, he decided to roam in the streets surrounding the main one where is was walking earlier as there were a lot fewer people in them which was what he wanted.


    As he entered one of the streets, he noticed that there wasn''t anyone on the street which meant that it was the perfect ce for him to wait for a soldier toe.


    He decided to wait beside a house that hid himpletely from both sides of the streets.


    The only thing he needed to do now was wait for a soldier toe.


    After five minutes of waiting, a lone soldier was entering the streetpletely alone as he was probably trying to find the man who had killed two of the generals.


    Well, three but they didn''t know that yet.


    As soon, as the soldier started advancing a little, Aiden was now already behind him as he had used his movement to arrive behind him as fast as possible.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    As he got behind the soldier, he prepared his dagger preparing to do one clean strike to his neck but as the man was wearing armor it was a little bit moreplicated for Aiden.


    But the armor was moving up and down every step the man took which revealed a gap in his armor every time he took a step forward.


    Noticing this, Aiden waited for him to take a step for him to perfectly time his strike and kill him instantly without putting blood on the armor as that would alert the others if they saw blood on the armor of another soldier.


    *sh*


    Then, the head of the soldier dropped on the floor cleanly without putting any blood onto the armor.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    [You have killed a soldier of the Upsilon Empire.]


    [You have obtained 150 XP.]


    Aiden didn''t care about the messages from the system as he ignored them and simply waited to put on the armor as fast as possible and finish the task.


    After all, he only had five hours left to kill the emperor before the trial would be considered as failed which would result in his death.


    Without waiting for another second, Aiden took the armor off his dead body and put it on his own.


    After putting the helmet on, he quickly closed it hiding his face.


    Then, it was time for him to go back to the castle and enter it.


    He hoped that his disguise would work or else he would have to fight the entire empire at the same time.


    He decided to go back to the main street of the city which had the fastest ess to the castle and he started walking toward it.


    He was acting like all the other soldiers that were there as he started walking the same way as them.


    Nobody questioned him as he seemed to be part of them.


    ''Yes, it worked!'' thought Aiden, celebrating inside of his mind.


    There weren''t any reasons why it wouldn''t work but it still felt great that his idea was going well.


    Then as he kept getting closer and closer to the castle, he kept seeing soldiersing out of it.


    Nobody was going inside of it which was going to be a problem for Aiden as he needed to get into the castle and not out of it.


    As he was getting closer to the main gate, two guards were on each side and started questioning why he wasing back to the castle.


    "You there, why do you want to go inside the castle?" asked one of the guards.


    Aiden knew that he had to lie and quickly at that, he couldn''t doubt his answer as he was so close to his goal.

 Chapter 58 Meeting The Emperor [Part 1]

    ?


    "You there, why do you want to go inside the castle?" asked one of the guards.


    ¡¤?¦Èm "Oh, don''t mind me, I just forgot something inside," said Aiden as he started inside as if what he was doing was nothing wrong.


    "Not so fast," said the guard as held back Aiden from going in. "What did you forget inside?"


    Aiden hearing this question didn''t know exactly how to respond as he actually had no idea what type of things the soldiers had inside the castle.


    ''A sword? Would that work?'' thought Aiden as this was the only thing that came to his mind.


    "M-my sword, I forgot my sword," said Aiden as some hesitation could be felt in his words.


    "Is that right huh?" said the guard looking at Aiden up and down seemingly judging him. "Alright go in but be quick."


    Hearing the guard give him permission to go in, Aiden was extremely happy as he didn''t even know if the soldiers had their swords in the castle.


    This was all a bet that he had made and it worked.


    Aiden started walking into the castle and noticed that there were a lot of soldiers inside it preparing to go outside in his search.


    Then he hearding from above him, "Remember we need to find this man at all costs, he has killed two of our generals."


    The man speaking seemed to be an advisor of some sorts which would tell people what to do.


    ''He probably has some contact with the emperor,'' thought Aiden as he looked at him. ''I need to go up there and not look suspicious but how can I do that?''


    He started looking around but this time he really had no idea of what to do because it would be really weird if some random soldier would go upstairs for no reason.


    He continued to move forward passing through the soldiers who were preparing as he continued to try and find a way to go find the emperor.


    Then he got an idea.


    ''Maybe I should go into the garden, maybe Alex is there,'' thought Aiden as hisst option was Alex.


    Maybe he would help him, who knew what he really wanted?


    After all, he had helped Aiden kill two of the generals of the Upsilon Empire army, maybe he would even help him kill the emperor.


    ''I could promise him all the materials he needs for his Elixir,'' thought Aiden because when the emperor would die, Alex wouldn''t have difficulties finding all the resources as the entire empire would be in shambles.


    He went toward the garden which had some guards at the entrance of it but they let Aiden go through as he was a soldier.


    It wasn''t weird for soldiers to go to the garden as it seemed that they didn''t have any problems with him going there.


    When Aiden entered, he started looking around the garden trying to find the crazy scientist he hadst seen there.


    And immediately Aiden spotted him, he was on the ground sleeping.


    ''How can he sleep when the rm just sounded?'' thought Aiden as he found that Alex really didn''t care about anything.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    He got closer and started doing a little cough trying to wake him up.


    *Cough*


    *Cough*


    But obviously, it didn''t work as he even started snoring as if entering deep sleep.


    It enraged Aiden a little bit seeing him snore, so he decided to give him a little hit to the head.


    "Hmph, who''s there?" said the scientist jumping up immediately as if he wasn''t sleeping.


    Alex started looking around him and was surprised to see a soldier had woken him up.


    "What do you want from me? Oh, if it''s for an elixir, I don''t have any," said Alex as he seemed used to those types of situations.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    "No, no, it''s nothing of the sort," said Aiden keeping the helmet on his head not revealing who he was yet. "I needed your help for something else."


    "Weird, normally you guys onlye for my potions," said Alex, confused as to what a soldier would want from him.


    "Well, it might help you if I do this," said Aiden as he removed his helmet.


    He knew he was taking a big risk revealing who he was, but he still took it as he had no other option to get in contact with the emperor.


    "Is your face supposed to tell me something?" asked Alex, who was even more confused now.


    ''What? He doesn''t even remember who I am, but I saw him like three hours ago,'' thought Aiden shocked that he had been forgotten so easily.


    "Are you sure that you have no idea who I am?" asked Aiden once again.


    Hearing Aiden ask him this, Alex tried concentrating as much as possible but nothing. He had no idea who this man was supposed to be.


    Seeing that he really had no idea, Aiden decided to help him.


    "If I tell you that it''s me who killed the two generals inside," whispered Aiden not wanting to be heard even by the guards who were at the entrance of the garden.


    "Wait? That''s you!" said Alex, a little too loud as even the guards started questioning what was happening between the two of them.


    "Lower your voice," whispered Aiden. "Yes, that''s me the guy you gave the potion of invisibility to."


    "Isn''t everyone in the empire searching for you, why would you be here?" asked Alex not understanding why Aiden would go straight into the enemy camp.


    "It''splicated, but what I need from you is to help me get in contact with the emperor," said Aiden, not revealing that he wanted to kill as he didn''t know what his reaction would be.


    "The emperor, huh? And what do I get in return?" asked Alex, before adding. "I already helped you once, so why would I help you a second time."


    "If you can get me to meet him then you will have all the resources you want for your potions."

 Chapter 59 Meeting The Emperor [Part 2]

    ?


    "If you help me then you will have all the resources you want for your potions," said Aiden trying to convince Alex by any means.


    "All?" asked Alex, unsure.


    "Yes, if you can get me to meet the emperor he will have no choice but to give you whatever you want," said Aiden, again, not revealing that he wanted to kill the emperor.


    Hearing him confirm it once again, Alex still thought that it wouldn''t happen but for Aiden to say such a thing twice he must have a n of some sort.


    "What''s your n? What are you going to do with him?"


    Aiden kind of anticipated the question and just straight lied to Alex not knowing what his reaction would be if he told him the truth.


    After all, he was supposed to be from the Upsilon Empire helping them. Sure, he had helped Aiden by giving a potion but that didn''t mean he was on his side yet.


    "Let''s just say that I have something that he absolutely cannot refuse."


    "And I''m guessing you won''t tell me what it is?"


    "Ahah, well I would like to but I can''t sorry."


    After saying that, Alex thought deeply about whether or not to help Aiden.


    After 30 seconds, the mouth of Alex started to move once again. It seemed like he had made his choice.


    "Hmm, I''ll help you but you better give me what you promise me. Are we clear?" said Alex as he took a tone that even scared Aiden for a moment.


    His, not caring about anything, personality seemed to have disappeared the moment that Aiden mentioned the fact that he would be able to get all the resources he wished.


    Hearing him agreeing to help, Aiden was overjoyed as all his ns now depended on Alex.


    "So, how do we proceed?"


    "Well, it''s quite simple after all the king will meet me if I ask him," said Alex with absolute confidence.


    ''Do they really depend on him so much, that even the king needs to respect him?'' thought Aiden shocked to learn that Alex could meet the king whenever he wanted.


    "Then, let''s go what are we waiting for," said Aiden as he started walking over to the castle as he didn''t want to waste any time.


    "Not so fast, there''s no need to go into the castle just follow me," said Alex as he entered the small little shack behind him.


    Aiden couldn''tprehend why they would go into such a small ce but he didn''t ask any questions as to not upset him.


    But his mind on the hand kept cursing at him. ''Why the hell are we wasting time, doesn''t he understand that I don''t need to waste any time?''


    But as Aiden kept cursing at him, Alex opened what seemed to be a small wooden hatch just like the one that Aiden had gone to enter the empire.


    ¡¤?¦Èm "Come, if we follow this path we''ll meet the emperor," said Alex as he continued to advance forward not even looking back toward Aiden.


    Realizing that Alex was only trying to make them gain time and also be discreet, Aiden was suddenly a fan of what he was proposing.


    ''Yes, that''s what I''m talking about, forget everything that I said before.''


    Then, Aiden started following him right behind his steps not wanting to lose sight of him as this tunnel was quite dark which made it so that Aiden couldn''t see well Alex.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "You still there?" asked Alex as he continued walking.


    He asked that because he felt like there was absolutely no one behind him as he couldn''t hear anything due to the passive [Shadow Steps].


    "Yeah, don''t worry."


    "We''re almost there, it won''t take more than a minute."


    After one minute or so, they arrived at another wooden hatch which made them arrive into Alex''s chamber.


    "Alright, you just need to follow me, I know where he is," said Alex once again with a tone ofplete confidence.


    ''He knows where the emperor is even when the rm is on,'' thought Aiden kind of shocked, surprised that Alex was so informed about the emperor.


    Then, Alex quickly left his room with Aiden following behind as Aiden was once again back in the hallway with all the rooms.


    It was the ce where he had killed two out of the three generals, it literally went back to his crime scene.


    "I guess you recognized this ce huh," said Alex as he continued walking toward the stairs.


    By saying this, Aiden understood that Alex knew about what he had done but he still didn''t say anything to the emperor or anyone just like he had promised.


    As both of them started going downstairs, Alex stopped midway out of nowhere.


    Not seeing stop, Aiden almost tripped into him but he was able to keep his bnce and not fall at thest minute.


    Then, Alex seemed to touch the wall in some random ces as if doing a code on the wall, right after finishing doing so.


    n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    A clicking sound could be heard meaning that a door had opened.


    *Click*


    ''Is that a hidden door?'' thought Aiden shocked that they had those types of mechanisms in a castle like this which didn''t seem advanced in technology.


    Then without giving any time for Aiden to realize what was happening, Alex started going right in.


    It was a small room with nothing inside of it except a couple of chairs scattered around.


    Aiden entered and couldn''t understand what was happening, did Alex trick him?


    There was literally nothing in front of him.


    The emperor surely wasn''t there as Aiden couldn''t even feel his presence.


    But then, out of nowhere, Alex continued walking forward as if wanting to go through the wall, and he exactly did that.


    ''What? What are those walls made of?'' thought Aiden, not understanding how someone could do such a thing.


    But he didn''t ask himself too many questions as he also went through the wall where he discovered apletely different room that resembled the empty one he had just seen.

 Chapter 60 Meeting The Emperor [Part 3]

    ?


    As he crossed the seemingly fake wall, Aiden discovered apletely new space.


    It was a lot bigger than the small room from before, everything was beautiful and luxurious which was fitting for a king.


    It was almost as big as a house who would have thought that when Aiden first walked in and saw the state of the room.


    As Aiden continued to walk in, Alex stopped him as he was now faced with a door right in front of him.


    "This is his bedroom, let me do the talking and you''ll see he''ll meet you," whispered Alex to Aiden, not wanting to anger the emperor.


    "Humm, Humm," coughed Alex to show his presence. "Sorry to disturb you, but I came with a visitor that would like to meet you. I believe that he has something that you should like.


    "Alex is that you?" said a voice inside that room.


    "Yes, will you let us in?"


    "Who''s with you?"


    "I told you, someone, that would like to meet you, he says to have something that could interest you," repeated Alex once again.


    "Are you sure I can trust him, didn''t you hear the rm the empire isn''t safe," said the emperor wanting to know more about this visitor.


    ''Is he someone you can trust?'' thought Alex as the answer that came to his mind was immediately ''no'' as he was almost certain that Aiden was the one to have killed the two generals.


    But he didn''t mention it to the king as he wanted to have what Aiden promised to him, greed was taking over his rational thoughts.


    "Yes, he''s someone you can trust, don''t worry." lied Alex.


    Hearing Alex say that Aiden was over the moon because he started questioning whether or not he would have to act right away killing both of them as this would make it easier for him.


    "Then give me a second, and I''lle out," said the emperor as Aiden and Alex could hear him standing and getting closer to the door.


    ''Should I kill him the moment I see him?'' thought Aiden, unsure what to do. "No, I should probably ask him a couple of questions about the materials for the potions and stuff like that before killing him.''


    Then the door opened and a seemingly young man wasing out of it. He clearly didn''t seem to have the age for being an emperor, in fact, he looked the age of Aiden who wasn''t older than twenty years old.


    "So, what do you want?" asked the emperor seemingly not wanting to get out of his room for too long.


    "Actually I had a question for you," said Aiden as he prepared his dagger behind his back, ready to kill him at any moment.


    "Yes, what is it?" the emperor asked again, looking pressed by time.


    "Where are you keeping the materials for the potions of Alex?"


    "Why the hell do you think I would answer that," said the emperor not understanding how stupid the person in front of him could be.


    "Well, why would I think you would answer that huh?" said Aiden as he got out the dagger from behind his back threatening the emperor. "This is why."


    Looking at the dagger, the emperor started panicking as he shouted at Alex for bringing such an individual here.


    "What''s the meaning of this Alex?"


    Alex looking at the scene in front of him was confused but not so much as he had anticipated the actions of Aiden.


    However, the reason why he hadn''t tried to stop him was simply because he didn''t care enough.


    The only thing he wanted was what Aiden promised and if that was the way to get it then he really didn''t care.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "I-I don''t know, I was sure that he was someone you could trust," said Alex, acting scared.


    "Do something!" said the emperor to Alex.


    But when the emperor said that, Alex didn''t move a muscle and kept still letting Aiden do whatever he wanted.


    "So will you answer me or do you want to die?" asked Aiden as he continued to threaten the emperor with his dagger that was getting closer to his neck.


    Seeing that Alex seemed to be in on it, the emperor was even more scared and was now to the mercy of Aiden.


    "Y-yes I will," said the emperor who was feeling the pressure.


    ''I don''t know why Alex isn''t doing anything but I don''t mind it,'' thought Aiden confused by the actions of Alex who was letting him so what he wanted to the emperor of his empire.


    ''Shouldn''t he try to protect him? I guess he doesn''t care about him,'' concluded Aiden.


    But he didn''t think about too much as his mind was now back on the emperor, his <Trial Objective> was now so close to beingpleted.


    He only needed to sh his throat and he would be done with this trial and will be able to see Maelis again.


    "So, where are the materials for those potions?" asked Aiden once again.


    "In my room, they''re in the safe in my room. It''s already opened."


    Hearing this, Alex was already heading into his room.


    Those materials really were the only thing that mattered to him, it seemed.


    "They''re in here, I found them," said Alex out loud finding them in his safe.


    It was now time for Aiden to finally have his Elixir, after all, the reason he wanted Alex to have those materials since the beginning was for him to craft an Elixir for him.


    "Well, I guess I have no need for you but I''ll keep you alive a bit longer," said Aiden as he didn''t know whether or not he would be teleported back as soon as he killed him.


    He shed both his legs which rendered the emperor immobile for the time being.


    Then, Alex came out with the materials and Aiden reminded him of the deal they had made the first time they had seen each other.


    "I remember you saying that you would craft an Elixir if I brought you the materials, so are you going to do it?" asked Aiden with a menacing tone that meant that he wouldn''t ept a refusal.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    ***


    Author''s Note (Doesn''t cost coins):


    Hello, I hope you are liking the story.


    The Second Volume of the novel will soon start.


    I hope you liked the First Volume as it will end with the end of the second trial.


    Also, I wanted to tell you that if you can give me the power stones which you get daily that it would help me a lot as I would get more exposure for my book.


    But the choice is still yours, just consider it as it would help me a ton!

 Chapter 61 Crafting The Elixir

    ?


    Looking at Aiden''s eyes, it was clear that there was absolutely no way for Alex to say no to his request.


    He had to craft it or else he would probably be in the same state as the emperor.


    "Y-yes I''ll do it," said Alex who now realized that he wasn''t dealing with some random person.


    The person in front of him was dangerous.


    "Then, get to it. I need to keep my eyes on the emperor in the meantime," said Aiden as he didn''t want to take any risk of failing this trial.


    The Elixir was simply a bonus for him as he could already havepleted this trial if he wanted.


    He just wanted to have all the effects possible before leaving this trial.


    He would also miss Mia, but he couldn''t do much about it as he would be doing to another world.


    "Humm, to do the Elixir, I need to have my equipment but it isn''t here, it''s in the little shack back in the garden."


    Aiden had kind of anticipated that he wouldn''t be able to do it right away without any equipment.


    However, that was a big problem as he couldn''t really leave Alex as he didn''t know what he would do.


    ''Would he tell the guards?'' thought Aiden, but he soon realized that was stupid as Alex had also threatened the emperor even if it wasn''t direct.


    This would probably result in his death if the emperor was to be released.


    This made Aiden think that maybe he could let Alex leave by himself, but he still wasn''t convinced that he wouldn''t do anything.


    "What can you do to prove to me that you won''t tell anyone that I''m here?" asked Aiden who didn''t want to leave the injured emperor alone.


    "I promise I won''t. You should know that even if I tell someone I will also be killed, don''t you get it? I''m also involved in whatever you are trying to do," said Alex who proved that was Aiden was thinking made sense.


    ''I guess he''s right, he can''t tell anyone,'' thought Aiden who was getting more and more convinced that there wouldn''t be any problem letting him go alone.


    "Alright, I''ll let you leave but you need toe back with your equipment here in five minutes, can you do it?" said Aiden as he added a time constraint wanting to make Alex stress and make him act faster as that would result in fewer risks for Aiden.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    "Sure, I''ll be back in five minutes."


    Then, after hearing that Alex quickly turned around as he crossed the fake wall and went to get his equipment.


    However, Aiden started counting the seconds as he would kill the emperor in five minutes if Alex didn''te back.


    After, he didn''t want to jeopardize the mission simply for some Elixir that he didn''t know the effects of.


    Alex hurried as his life depended on it, as he didn''t want Aiden to think that he was going to betray him.


    But the time he had given him would be a little short as the equipment he needed to get was quite difficult to transport alone.


    But, he would still do it if that''s what it took.


    Five minutester, Alex still hadn''te back which meant that it was time for Aiden to kill the emperor once and for all.


    Aiden started preparing his strike, and his arm was going down toward the neck of the emperor, he started hearing a voice from behind the fake wall.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "Sorry, I''mte," said Alex as he started crossing the wall and saw the dagger that Aiden had right under the neck of the emperor as small amounts of blood started to drip from it.


    ''I guess, he really wasn''t kidding when he said that I only had five minutes. One more second and the emperor would have been gone,'' thought Alex, but then he started finding it weird that Aiden was keeping him alive.


    Shouldn''t he simply kill him and be done with him?


    ''He must have a reason, but what is it?'' thought Alex as he got prepared his equipment to prepare the Elixir.


    But his thoughts were immediately interrupted as Aiden started speaking to him.


    "So, hmm what exactly are the effects of this Elixir?" asked Aiden, as he wanted to know more about it as he still had no clue about what it was.


    "What? You don''t know its effects and you did all that!?" said Alex, shocked to learn this.


    He thought that Aiden''s only goal since their first meeting was to get him to do the Elixir, but it seemed like he was wrong as he didn''t even know the effects of it.


    "Does that really matter, just tell me," said Aiden who wanted to get straight to the point.


    "Well, I guess you''re right. The Elixir is my invention, obviously," said Alex, proudly. "Its effects are revolutionary, after drinking it you will feel like a new man as power starts coursing through your veins."


    ¡¤?¦Èm ''Power huh? Is it like stats points, will it have a bigger effect than the potion from earlier,'' thought Aiden as he was getting more and more interested in this Elixir of his.


    "What gives this power?"


    "Well, it''s the cores of the monsters which are used to do it."


    ''The monsters here also have cores, why didn''t I notice before,'' thought Aiden, as he couldn''t see any monster cores in all the monsters he had killed.


    "Then, I''ll let you do it," said Aiden as he turned his head toward the emperor, ensuring he hadn''t moved since earlier.


    And sure enough, when your life is on the line. Anyone would submit under the strong.


    The emperor hadn''t moved or spoken since earlier, he really had be the perfect subordinate.


    Noticing that the emperor couldn''t do anything as his legs were badly hurt, Aiden gave his attention once again to what Alex was doing as he started doing some weird concoctions in his cauldron.


    ***


    Author''s Note (doesn''t cost coins): Sorry for theck of uploads. I had some health problems which made me unable to write, I had medical attention and now everything is fine. I was able to stack a couple of chapters in the fifteen or so days of absence.


    I will start posting two chapters a day as usual once again.


    Also, I changed the privilege. There will be four tiers, one for 2 chapters in advance (which is 1 coin), one for 5 (200 coins), one for 10(500 coins), and one for 14 (800 coins).


    They will be avable as I post chapters but keep in mind that I will continue to post two chapters a day which is why sometimes you won''t be able to read the new chapters since they won''t reach the tier given for them but don''t worry you will be able to read them at some point.


    After the first week of uploading all privileged chapters will be uploaded and there won''t be any problems for reading.


    Once again, sorry for the absence it won''t happen again.

 Chapter 62 The Elixir

    ?


    Aiden started watching Alex perform some maniptions with the different ingredients he had brought over here.


    There were eyes of monsters, some weird liquids that resembled blood, there were obviously cores of monsters as it was the mainponent of the Elixir.


    After a couple of minutes, Alex started to walk back from the cauldron he had used to craft the Elixir.


    "I finished."


    Aiden hearing him decided to approach the cauldron as he wanted to see what the Elixir would look like.


    It was red and some sort of energy seemed to radiate off of it. As Aiden kept looking at the liquid inside the cauldron it seemed to change color into a light red, and finally into the color blue.


    But it didn''t stop there as it continued changing color continuously, it then became green, then orange, and back to red.


    It was a cycle that kept going.


    "Why does the color of the Elixir keep changing?" asked Aiden, intrigued by what would cause such a thing to happen.


    "Honestly, I have no idea. I still need to make some tests on the Elixir as I don''t know much about it, but one thing is sure. It is safe to drink," said Alex, as he wanted to reassure Aiden about the Elixir has absolutely no danger.


    Then, Alex pulled out of his pocket a small sk to insert the Elixir inside of it which is exactly what he did.


    After doing so, he simply gave it to Aiden as he didn''t have much choice.


    Aiden simply took it in his hands and started drinking it as he didn''t know if he was going to be able to bring it back to Nova.


    Aiden was surprised to see that nothing happened when he finished drinking, no beeping sounds could be heard.


    A reaction seemed to happen deep inside his body but it wasn''t even noticeable for Aiden.


    The chains which had loosened up when he had awakened once again started to react as he continued drinking the Elixir.


    However, Aiden once again had no idea about what was happening inside his body as he didn''t know of the existence of those chains.


    ''Did this thing even do something for me?'' thought Aiden as he didn''t understand why he tried to get his hand on such a useless potion.


    But then, as he waited for a couple of seconds, the usual beeping sound came to his mind.


    *BEEP*


    Then, a message appeared in front of him.


    [You have awakened the hidden potential of your body.]


    Reading this, Aiden was honestly confused as nothing else appeared apart from that small message and he couldn''t get more details.


    Alex had told him that he should feel the power flowing through him, but he didn''t feel anything like that. If not for the message from the system, he wouldn''t have noticed such a thing.


    Even when he asked the system inside of his mind, nothing happened. The system seemed like he didn''t want to answer, maybe this was something where he couldn''t reveal anything.


    After a couple of minutes, trying to gain information about this potential of his. Aiden eventually gave up as he returned to the task at hand which he could end by simply killing the emperor that was simply in front of him, doing simply nothing.


    His legs were still hurt which forced him to simply watch Aiden do what he wanted without being able to do anything.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    He obviously wanted to escape as despair appeared in his eyes once again as Aiden started to approach him again.


    "Alex, help me I promise that nothing will happen to you," shouted the emperor as Aiden started to approach him once again.


    Unfortunately, Alex didn''t want to take any risk as he had no idea if he was even speaking the truth.


    Because when someone is close to dying anything coulde out of their mouth, emotions and desperation would instead take control over what they would do or say.


    Aiden obviously had a lot of experience in that department as he often saw people begging and promising things to him when he was close to killing his prey.


    Well... when they could see him.


    Alex heard the emperor asking for help and simply scuffed as he knew he had no other choice but to watch him die.


    He turned and left Aiden in the room with the emperor, confirming the faith of the emperor.


    He wouldn''t risk his life for him as the emperor couldn''t even give him what he wanted anymore.


    He finally had ess to all the ingredients he wanted to do tests and things of the same genre.


    In fact, what could he even do?


    He was simply weaker than Aiden and had no choice but toply with what Aiden asked of him.


    Aiden seeing the emperor in front of him powerless, simply prepared his dagger and he started walking toward him.


    The emperor watching him do such a thing started to panic even more than earlier shouting even louder than earlier.N?v(el)B\\jnn


    He started ramping on the floor away from Aiden, but it didn''t matter one of them was walking and the other was on the ground ramping.


    His shouts, also had no effect, as the room which was designed for him had been well built, sounds simply couldn''t go through those walls.


    His fate was doomed and he had to ept it.


    As Aiden kept getting closer, the emperor started promising things to him this time and it obviously had absolutely no effect on Aiden who simply wanted to go home.


    He had discovered many things in this ce but it was time for him to see Maelis once again.


    Who knew what had happened to Nova while Aiden was gone?


    Aiden was actually quite pressed to go back, but he couldn''t forget Mia who he had his first experience with women where he had experienced pleasure like never before.


    But then, those thoughts vanished from his mind as he was now close enough to the emperor to decapitate him.


    His strike was swift and precise just like all the others he had done on this trial.


    Only a single noise could be heard in that room.


    The head of the emperor falling on the ground.

 Chapter 63 Back To The Everheart Manor

    ?


    [You have killed the Boss of the trial.]


    [You have obtained 2000 XP.]


    [You have leveled up.]


    [To level up, you will need 5000 XP.]


    Aiden noticed that as he leveled up, the experience would also increase, but it wasn''t proportional. It kept increasing in an exponential manner which caused a longer time spent on each level.


    Who knew how much XP he would need on level 20?


    ''Why is it so long to level up?''


    But if anyone heard about what he had just thought, they would have started coughing up blood. His speed at which he was going to level up was incredible and there were probably not many who were level 14 after finishing only the second trial.


    Usually, it would take the third or even the fourth in some cases.


    But he quickly dismissed those thoughts as a sudden message appeared in front of him.


    Seeing the message, Aiden knew that he would soon be sent back to the waiting room just like in the first trial.


    But he didn''t know if it was going to happen right away...


    *BEEP*


    [You will be sent to the Reward Room in 5 seconds.]


    The system which seemed omniscient kind of replied to him with this notification.


    Five secondster, the body that Aiden was upying didn''t disappear in particles since it wasn''t his.


    Only his mind was separated from the body as he was now in an astral form watching over the body he upied for the trial.


    He couldn''t move freely as a portal appeared right in front of him which sent him to the Reward Room which just like previously looked just like the waiting room.


    His mind was sent back into his body and took over it.


    Arriving there, Aiden waited to get the rewards from the trial and was excited about it, he couldn''t wait to get stronger and those rewards were the best way for him to get stronger.


    After all, he knew thatpleting this trial had given him ess to Assassin-Rted Skills, but he couldn''t believe that was going to be the only thing that he was going to get out of this long trial.


    He wasn''t even on a team for the trial, this surely needed to increase his rewards even if they were already quite high, to begin with.


    As he started to think about his rewards, the system started sending messages.


    *BEEP*


    [Bypleting the Trial Objective wlessly, you have only obtained 3000 XP as you already have a massive reward that had never been given to anyone.]


    *BEEP*


    [No other rewards will be given as the ess given to you is a major reward that has reced the ones which you would normally be given to you.]


    The system was obviously talking about the Assassin-Rted Skills that he would now have ess to.


    Seeing what the system had just sent him, Aiden was obviously unhappy but he understood that what he had just gained was massive and that it was a reward that the system had never expected to give him.


    He could probably have ess to other ss-Rted Skills with other trials which would make him truly powerful by having ess to so many skills in the future.


    But who knew what the future held for him?


    Knowing that he wouldn''t get anything thinking about this, he then decided that maybe it was time for him to apply his stats which is exactly what he did.


    ''Status''


    [Aiden Nightshade]


    [Level 14]


    [Health: 150]


    [Mana: 10]<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    [Race: Human]


    [Body: ???]


    [ss: None]


    [Strength: 5]


    [Agility: 4]


    [Dexterity: 4]


    [Defense: 1]


    [Stamina: 3]


    [Charm: 5]


    [Unallocated Stat Points: 0]


    [Equipment]


    [Shadow Strike Dagger]


    [Return Stone]


    [Skills]


    [Shadow Strike: A strike which cannot be seen by the enemy except when the enemy has a higher Charm. It cost three Mana Points to activate. It is linked with the [Shadow Strike Dagger].]


    [Shadow Steps Lvl.MAX(Passive)]


    [Dagger mastery Lvl.3 (Passive)]


    [Gentle Touch Lvl.1 (Active Skill), Cost: 0 MP)


    [Mind of an Assassin Lvl.1(Active skill), Cost: 0 MP]


    He decided to put two points in his charm since one of his skills'' efficiency actually depended on it, and he also put one point in Dexterity and two points in Stamina.


    He decided to ignore the Defense Stat for the moment because he thought that he could simply dodge the attacksing to him.


    It was his confidence in his skills that made him able to make this choice.


    He had also noticed that a one-point increase had indeed appeared in his strength.


    But the thing that really caught his eye was a new category that just appeared which was called [Body].


    He had no information about it and when he asked the system, he had simply no information which meant that this was another thing that he would have to ask Maelis.


    Having no other rewards to check out, he started disappearing in particles just like in the first trial.


    Suddenly, he appeared in the room that he hadst left, the room where he had been unable to learn the Assassin-Rted Skill.


    He noticed that he was all alone there as Maelis had obviously left during the time that he was away, but as soon as he started moving, beeping sounds could be heard. It seemed like there were movement detectors in this room as it was important for this middle-level family since it contained all their techniques.


    Hearing the rm, Aiden didn''t panic since he had nothing to be scared of. In fact, Maelis probably told someone in the guild that someone would appear there in the week toe.


    But he still couldn''t be sure, so he simply went toward the wall and waited for someone to open the weird door in front of him which Maelis had opened with a weirdbination when he had first gotten here.


    After a few minutes, Aiden started hearing footsteps which indicated that many people wereing over there and not only Maelis.


    ''Did she actually forget to tell people that I had taken the second trial in here?'' thought Aiden,ughing by himself when he heard the voice of a guard from the other side of the door.


    ***


    Author''s Note: End of the First Volume.


    Hope you liked it!n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

 Chapter 64 Meeting Maelis Again

    ?


    "Come out right this instant, I have no idea how you got there but you better get out," shouted the guard who was on the other side of the door.


    ¡¤?¦Èm Aiden hearing this confirmed his thoughts from earlier that Maelis had indeed told no one about him being there.


    Then, a weird interaction happened between the guards and Aiden when he noticed that Aiden was leaning on a wall waiting not even caring about what was happening.


    Aiden then exined to the guards what happened, but they simply didn''t believe him. He didn''t want to take any risk since he would lose his job if he let the person in front of him do what he wants.


    But then, the guard asked for Aiden''s name wanting to know more about this person who has a certain connection with the matriarch.


    "Aiden," he said once again not revealing hisst name since he knew that it would be dangerous for him.


    As Aiden finished pronouncing his name, the guard who was interrogating him was shocked as his eyes almost popped out of his eyelids.


    "Wait are you the guy who finished first in the parkour? The Aiden?" asked the guard, his tonepletely shifting as he was now looking excited.


    It was as if he was looking at some kind of legend.


    Not knowing how to respond, he replied shyly. "Y-yes, that''s me why?"


    "Well, everyone knows about you! You even beat a descendant of the Everheart, just who wouldn''t know about you."


    Hearing the words, made Aiden think as he didn''t know that the little challenge he did before leaving had left such an impact on the people inside the family.


    But Aiden was still confused as to why the guard simply believed his words, not even doubting them at all.


    However, he didn''t want to ask the guard why as he would probably make this conversation longer for no reason, as he simply wanted to go see Maelis at this moment since he had some questions for her.


    He wanted to get in contact with one of the four founding families after all which was sure to be a hard task.


    Not wanting to waste too much, he decided to cut this conversation short asking the guard about where Maelis was at the moment.


    He also needed to decide about going back to the Slums to meet the maid or not since she would be alerting the main family about his disappearance.


    There were many things to do and he obviously didn''t have much time to think about all of those.


    But, the guard didn''t hold him and simply started guiding him toward the office of Maelis.


    After walking for a bit, the guard started knocking on the door in front of him.


    The same door that Aiden had seen thest time that he was here.


    "Sorry, to interrupt you Madam, but a certain Aiden wants to meet you," said the guard who was clearly respecting the privacy of the matriarch inside this room.


    As soon as the guard finished his sentence, the door in front of him opened right away and he saw Maelis peeking her head clearly in search of the person he had just mentioned.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    The look on her face was obviously one of worry as she still had no idea what had happened to Aiden in the second trial, she simply hoped that he didn''t lose too much of his levels and statistics in it.


    The thought that he had actually aplished the trial alone didn''t even cross her mind as she was sure that he had failed.


    n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    Even if she had seen his potential, she knew that difference between the first and second trials would be quite hard for some people to adapt.


    After all, the two trials didn''t have anything inmon.


    In fact, the second trial was considered the first real trial as it embodied the type of trial that woulde after it.


    But then, as she looked around she noticed the figure of Aiden which didn''t look as frail as before with some of his muscles being defined since he was lean.


    His appearance had obviously gotten much better since he had put three points of Charm into it, but it didn''t make Maelis blush or even react as she was used to seeing such beauty in her daily life.


    Sure Aiden looked better than most with his brown hair and brown eyes. His chiseled face alsoplimented his looks, one thing for certain he didn''t get weaker in his second trial, or else his looks would have been downgraded and not upgraded.


    After observing Aiden up and down, she quickly dismissed the guard and quickly let Aiden enter as she wanted to know more about the second trial and what he had to do since trials would always differ depending on the person.


    She quickly gave him a chair and started shooting questions at a speed that was impossible to answer.


    "What happened there?"


    "What were your rewards?"


    "Wait, before that what was your <Trial Objective>?"


    "Did you manage to kill the boss?"


    Aiden didn''t even have the time to answer her but she continued not even noticing it.


    It seemed she was a little too excited seeing Aiden once again and she was also happy that he had cleared his second trial, an aplishment that she deemed impossible.


    Aiden not knowing what to do simply started talking calmly trying to calm her down.


    "Please rx, I will tell you everything that you want but before that shouldn''t we discuss where we left offst time? Shouldn''t we talk about whether or not I will be joining this family?" said Aiden, ignoring her past questions and bringing an important subject to the table.


    Right before she opened, her mouth he added a littlement, "And just so you know my worth has increased..."


    He knew that what he had just aplished wasn''t a small feat and that Maelis would have to give him many resources as she didn''t want to go to other families.


    Hell, even high-level families would be interested in his talent. After all, it was the first time that someone hadpleted a trial by themselves.

 Chapter 65 Discussing About His Future

    ?


    "Your worth has increased and how can I judge that?" asked Maelis who knew that he had gotten stronger but she couldn''t tell with only a quick look how strong he had gotten.


    "Oh, right I didn''t think of that. Well, I guess I could tell you about the rewards I got," said Aiden, understanding that he had to reveal some things about himself for her to offer a good offer to him.


    "So, first off by seeding in the trial as you know I got ess to all Assassin-Rted Skills, and who knows I would probably be able to get ess to other ss skills as well in the future," said Aiden waiting to see her reaction.


    He could that she started nodding as she seemed to analyze the information that he had just said, after all, it was a first even for her.


    "Did the trial give you another reward?" asked Maelis wanting to know more about what he has received.


    "Well, I got a [Return Stone] in the trial and some experience at the end but that was it."


    She kept nodding not being surprised by theck of rewards since he had already obtained a massive one in her opinion.


    But then she heard an item that she hadn''t expectede out of the voice of Aiden.


    "Wait can you repeat what you just said?" asked Mia, wanting to be sure of what she had just heard.


    "I got some experience at the end of the trial?" said Aiden, unsure why she asked him to repeat.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    "Not that, the thing you said right before."


    "Oh I also got a [Return Stone]," said Aiden nonchntly not knowing why she was making such a big deal out of it.


    ''He really did get one, but how did he get it? He was alone goddammit,'' thought Maelis, not understanding how he could have one.


    Return Stones were after all, only obtainable by killing the strongest monster in the trial and Aiden having one meant that he had seeded in doing so.


    She wanted to know more about how he got it, so she started questioning him.


    "How did you get it?"


    "Did you get help killing it?"


    It was the exact same as earlier multiple questions kepting out of her mouth not letting Aiden talk.


    Aiden once again needed to calm her down, "Please rx, I''ll tell you but before that, you need to make me an offer for me to join."


    He wanted to see the benefits he could gain from being in a middle-level family.


    Coming out of her excitement, she didn''t give him an offer but instead a question.


    "What do you want?"


    The fact that she asked this question meant that she would do anything to keep him here.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    His achievements were simply too good to not take him in.


    He hadpleted the second trial alone, he had gotten a [Return Stone], and he had this weird thing where he could gain ess to different ss Rted Skills.


    He was simply too good to pass on, she needed to act before the other families caught wind of his existence.


    ''What do I want?'' thought Aiden as he didn''t expect this question toe out of Maelis''s mouth.


    "Can you give me a couple of seconds to think about it," said Aiden wanting to organize his thoughts to ask exactly what he wanted.


    Maelis quickly epted but she reminded him that she couldn''t give him everything she owned, he had to be reasonable with his demands as she didn''t have infinite funds.


    Even if he was talented and quite promising, she couldn''t ruin her family just to obtain him.


    Aiden heard her and nodded knowing that he couldn''t be too unreasonable with her.


    The first thing he wanted was to have more information about the system which granted everyone power, he didn''t understand how it worked as it seemed to be a real person controlling it behind the scenes since it always tried to skip some of his questions.


    He also wanted more information about the creation of skills even if the system had answered him vaguely, he needed more details on it since he could get more skills that way.


    After all, created skills didn''t use the slots that he had for the skills.


    He wanted light armor to protect in some ces but that wasn''t an emergency even if Maelis refused he didn''t really care.


    He obviously wanted to learn about their technique and if he would fit with his fighting style even if Maelis had already told him that he wasn''t quite good for a closebatant.


    After a minute or so of thinking, the mouth of Aiden started opening keeping Maelis on the edge of her seat.


    "Tell me if any of those demands are too hard to aplish," said Aiden, waiting for Maelis to nod. "Alright, the first I want is probably quite hard to get but I would need to speak with someone who can tell me more about the system which everyone uses."


    "During the Second Trial, I noticed some weirds things about it and I need someone that can tell me more," said Aiden as he waited for Maelis to tell him if it was possible.


    This was his most important demand and the only one which he really cared about.


    "You want to learn more about the system, huh? That should be possible, but what kind of things do you want to learn?" asked Maelis not sure if the person she had in mind could answer all his questions.


    "Well, things like where ites from? Who created it? How does it create skills, especially for us? Just general knowledge."


    Maelis nodded, Aiden was asking good questions and she was now sure that she could find someone to answer him.


    Even though she knew some answers to his questions, her knowledge was quite vague as she didn''t care that much about the origins of this system as she had simply lived with it for her entire life.


    She didn''t want to say things to Aiden that wasn''t true which is why she decided to not tell him anything about such things.

 Chapter 66 Inter-Family Tournament

    ?


    "Sure, that''s possible, what else do you want?" asked Maelis, knowing that wasn''t the only thing that he was going to be asking.


    "I want to learn your technique, light armor, and the skill that I was about to learn when I decided to do the trial," said Aiden finding his demands to be quite fair.


    In his mind, he knew his value and he thought that those demands respected what he was worth.


    "Sure I can give you all that, anything else?" asked Mia, also finding those demands quite reasonable.


    Hearing her ask if he was done made him think for a couple of seconds but he didn''t find anything else to ask her.


    "Yeah, I think that''s about it."


    As Aiden finished his answer, a contract seemed to appear out of nowhere, on it were some of his demands and the demands of this guild which didn''t restrict his movements and even encouraged his freedom.


    It seemed that the contract was already ready for him as they simply added his demands on it.


    However, as he kept reading the contract he arrived at something that he wasn''t quite sure to understand.


    It was written that he would have to participate in the Inter-Family Tournament.


    ''Is it the tournament that Ava mentioned when she disappeared in the reward room? She did say that we would meet again, but I didn''t understand what she was talking about at the time maybe that was it,'' thought Aiden, starting to understand the meaning of the tournament that Ava mentioned.


    Having absolutely no idea about what it was, Aiden immediately raised his head with a questioning gaze.


    "What is this Inter-Family Tournament and why do I have to participate in it?" asked Aiden, wanting to know more about it to confirm his thoughts.


    "You don''t know about it?" said Maelis surprised but then she realized that he was part of the Slums and probably didn''t have the opportunity to hear about it.


    "It''s quite simple, it''s a tournament between the best talents of the families. You will surely participate in it as you will be our strongest Awakened if you decide to join us. This tournament is held every five years and it is quite the attraction as everyonees over to watch the winner of it."


    "And don''t worry, you won''t participate for nothing, you will get great rewards if you perform well in it," said Maelis when she noticed the face of Aiden who didn''t seem too happy about this news.


    However, the emotions that came off the face of Aiden weren''t because of the reasons that Maelis was thinking.


    Aiden was actually thinking about the Nightshade and if they were going to participate in the tournament which caused him to ask a question to Maelis.


    "Are the founding families participating?"


    Noticing that Aiden hadn''t been relieved by her mention of rewards, she knew that there was something else that didn''t make him too happy about participating.


    ''Maybe he doesn''t want to reveal his talent? But why?'' thought Maelis, not understanding his motive, but she quickly removed those thoughts from her mind as she was only specting and answered Aiden to the best of her capacities.


    "Yes, the founding families will participate and they will probably win as usual since they have the most resources and techniques out of all the families."


    Aiden wasn''t surprised by the fact that the founding families were obviously dominating over the rest of the families.


    But, the real problem was that participating in the tournament would reveal to the Nightshade family his talent and his existence.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    After all, Emily, Aiden''s maid would probably soon arrive at his little house in the slums and find out that he wasn''t there anymore and that he had disappeared.


    The Nightshade probably wouldn''t react over the disappearance of their useless son but they would probably try to get some information about him since they would nothing about what happened to him.


    "Then, can I not participate?" asked Aiden, not wanting the Nightshade to learn about him.


    "What? Why? Didn''t you hear me, you are going get many rewards simply by participating," said Maelis, not quite understanding his reasons.


    But, how could she?


    She didn''t know anything about the origins of Aiden, or else who knew what she might do.


    "I just don''t want to participate, can I?"


    "I guess you can not participate but if it''s about your identity and not wanting to reveal it to others, you don''t need to worry about it," said Maelis as she was almost convinced that was the reason that Aiden didn''t want to participate.


    "Every time the tournament is held, some people go under anonymously not wanting to reveal their identity to others."n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    "Seriously, I can go anonymously?" asked Aiden, as he understood that his problem was going to be fixed.


    "Yes, so if you go anonymously there won''t be any problem?" asked Maelis relieved to hear that.


    After all, going far into the tournament would give her family fame and also rewards as they will have the merit of developing this awakened.


    Winning the tournament might give her the power to reach high-level families.


    Because to be a high-level family, one needed to have high-ranking techniques and also three members that are over level 50.


    ¡¤?¦Èm One of those conditions was already met but the other wasn''t.


    That''s why she hoped that this tournament would help them in many ways.


    Aiden quickly nodded at the question of Maelis not revealing why he didn''t want his identity to be revealed to anyone.


    He simply let her get ideas about it as it would be simpler that way.


    "So, when is that tournament going to take ce?" asked Aiden as he still didn''t know the date and stuff like that.


    After all, he needed to make sure not to be in a trial when the Inter-Family took ce.


    He didn''t want to not respect his contract since the punishment for it was quite severe, he would get stripped of his status as an awakened if he didn''t respect the terms.


    It wasn''t difficult to respect the terms since they only had one demand which was for him to be at the tournament.

 Chapter 67 Mana

    ?


    "The tournament won''t be held soon, it doesn''t have a date yet but it is said that it will be in at least a month. So, you don''t need to worry about it as of right now. I''ll tell you when it''s time for you to participate."


    Then, after saying that, they quickly talked about some details about the armor he wanted and other stuff like that.


    Maelis decided that the armor that he was going to receive was going to be custom-made by one of the best cksmiths in the guild.


    She reassured him that it was going to be quite good and that it was going to be at least intermediate.


    After a couple of minutes, there didn''t seem to be any problem with the contract and Aiden simply signed it.


    It was now official, he had joined a middle-level family.


    *BEEP*


    [You are now bound to the Everheart family.]


    Even the system acknowledged his rtionship with it since the contract probably had ties with the system since he had basically appeared out of nowhere.


    After signing the contract, Aiden was quite impatient as he wanted to meet the person who would answer his questions about the system.


    "So, when can I meet the person who knows about the system?"


    But as he asked the question, he noticed that Maelis didn''t respond right away and started thinking a little, unsure about the dy it would take.


    "Well, it will probably take a week or so to get here as he is probably busy at the moment," said Maelis as she still didn''t reveal the identity.


    "Who is he?" asked Aiden, as he wanted to learn more about the person who was supposed to exin the system.


    He wanted to make that he would be good enough, he didn''t want half-baked information.


    But, clear and simple facts.


    "He''s a mercenary, he isn''t affiliated with any families even the founding families. It is said that he has obtained a lot of knowledge as he kept clearing trials and exploring the world of Nova," exined Maelis as she started to exin who he was.


    Aiden started to get intrigued when he learned that the man she was talking about wasn''t in any of the families.


    This didn''t make much sense to Aiden as he knew that the easiest way to get stronger was to join a family as they would give resources to you.


    Aiden thought about asking him questions about his journey when meeting as he could probably help him.


    "Are mercenaries rare?" asked Aiden, trying to get more information.


    "Yes, they are. Mercenaries are quite umon since most people decide to join a family to get stronger. However, most of the time, those mercenaries are really talented which gave them the opportunity to not depend on everyone else except themselves."


    It confirmed Aiden''s thoughts from earlier that mercenaries were quite rare and umon.


    He started thinking that maybe bing a mercenary would have been a better choice, but he quickly dismissed those thoughts from his mind as he knew that it didn''t make much sense because he had already joined the Everheart family.


    "Then, can you tell me when he arrives?"<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "Sure, how can I contact you?" asked Maelis, as she didn''t know of any way to contact him.


    "Hmm, I don''t really know about that I lived in the Slums my entire life, shouldn''t you be the one telling me?" asked Aiden, as he had absolutely no idea about what they used here.


    It probably wasn''t cell phones like on Earth since they had ess to magic and mana who knew what they hade up with.


    "You''re right, I totally forgot about that. Here, that''s what we call a [Mental Transmitor]. Just infuse some of your mana inside of it and it will connect to mine right away," exined Maelis as she knew that Aiden had no idea how it worked.


    The [Mental Transmitor] didn''t look anything like a cell phone, it was as thin as a sheet of paper and waspletely white.


    Actually, it really resembled a small sheet of paper, but there was probably more to it that Aiden couldn''t understand.


    Taking the [Mental Transmitor] in his hands, Aiden wanted to try and see if it worked.


    But, when he tried to infuse mana into the small sheet of paper. n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    He realized that he had actually no idea of how to move the mana contained in his body.


    Sure he knew, that he had 10 points of this Mana since it was in his [Status], but he didn''t know how to use it.


    After all, his skills didn''t require any mana, they simply came from his past life except [Mind of an Assassin] and [Gentle Touch].


    He was kind of embarrassed that he needed to ask Maelis, but he still went ahead with it since he had no other choice.


    "What I''m about to say might be weird... but I actually don''t know how to use Mana," said Aiden with an expression that showed how embarrassed he was at the moment.


    This revtion shocked her for a quick second, but she quickly remembered that he was born in the Slums with no knowledge about how the world actually worked.


    "Right, don''t worry about it. Actually, it''s quite simple, I''ll teach you how to use it."


    "Close your eyes, try to focus on yourself."


    "Only what is inside your mind is important everything else is useless."


    Then, Aiden enteredplete silence as he listened to her every word.


    He now had a view of inside his body, he couldn''t see anything. He was inplete darkness.


    But then, he heard the voice of Maelis once again.


    "Try to find the energy inside of you. It should be a small blue ball, it''s usually around the neck area, but if it''s not there then do not worry it will probably be close to it."


    As Maelis said that, Aiden started to try and find the small blue energy which she was talking about.


    And after a few seconds, he still couldn''t find it.


    It seemed like his mana wasn''t around his neck.

 Chapter 68 Chains

    ?


    If the mana wasn''t around his neck then where was it?


    Maelis had mentioned that it wasn''t necessary there, but it was supposed to be close but as he explored the area of his neck.


    He stayed in the darkness unable to find this little blue ball of energy that Maelis had talked about.


    "I can''t find it," said Aiden keeping himself in a meditative state not moving any other muscle except his mouth.


    "Try to look around your abdomen, it should be around there," announced Maelis as she was almost sure that it was going to be there.


    Aiden listened and started to look at where his abdomen was located but once again he couldn''t find his mana.


    "It''s still not there," said Aiden, deciding not to listen to Maelis anymore as he simply started to explore the darkness areas inside his body.


    ¡¤?¦Èm Maelis said something to him, but he simply ignored it.


    As he started exploring what was inside him, he started hearing some weird noise.


    It seemed to be some sort of metallic noise that kept resounding.


    *CLING*


    *CLING*


    *CLING*


    Intrigued, he started to advance toward the noise and the scene in front of himpletely shocked him.


    He was now looking around his heart and he could see chains that seemed topletely surround his heart.


    Right next to his heart, there seemed to be many things locked. Aiden couldn''t recognize most of the things that were chained as he simply had no idea about what they were.


    There were some weird purple energy, some blue energy, and some ck energy.


    There were even what seemed to be solid materials right next to his heart.


    Not knowing if he could tell Maelis about his discovery, he decided to ignore the things that surrounded the chains and simply asked Maelis what to do as he had finally found his small ball of blue mana.


    It was covered by chains but it wasn''t as bad as the other energies that were present there.


    "I think I found it," said Aiden not realizing that he had spent almost five minutes inplete silence exploring his interior body.


    Maelis was panicking when Aiden stopped talking to her but she quickly became calm once she realized that he was simply concentrating.


    And she was right, for thest five minutes he hadn''t even noticed her voice speaking to him.


    The realization that he wasn''t as simple as he expected kind of shocked him and even more questions started to appear inside of his mind.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    He wanted to know why there were metal chains inside of him.


    ''How did the previous owner of this body have this?''


    ''Was this why he wasn''t able to awaken?''


    But then his thoughts were interrupted when Maelis answered him.


    "Where is it situated?" <novelsnext></novelsnext>


    Aiden hesitated to tell the truth, but he decided to do so as he didn''t want to take any risk so close to his heart.


    Maybe the methods would change depending on where the mana was situated and it was best for him to tell the truth.


    "It''s around my heart."


    "Your heart? Are you sure?" asked Maelis in a tone that didn''t seem exactly happy about the news.


    "Yeah, I''m sure it''s around there," confirmed Aiden as he didn''t understand the change in her tone.


    "Well, there''s bad news and good news which one do you want?" asked Maelis as she noticed that Aiden seemed toe out of his meditative state as he opened his eyes.


    "Just tell me, I don''t care," answered Aiden not wanting to lose time and he simply wanted his answer.


    "The positive is that your mana will be more powerful which will increase the power of your skills, which means that the effects of your skills will be different than what the system tells you most of the time."


    "But, the negative is that you will have a lot less mana than others as the heart cannot hold much of it."


    She said that really fast, but Aiden quickly understood everything that came out of her mouth as it was very important to him.


    "So that means that I won''t be able to use skills that require a lot of mana?" asked Aiden as he tried to understand better what this meant.


    "Well, not necessarily but it will probably be better for you to concentrate on skills that are not mana dependant."


    Aiden nodded.


    He didn''t find this news too disturbing as he is already used to fighting without even using mana. This was simply a bonus for him.


    The fact that he didn''t even use mana before already proved that.


    "Well, it''s not that bad, the skills that do use mana will be even better," said Aiden seemingly not taking this whole thing as a big thing.


    "Then, if you understand do you want to finish learning how to use mana?"


    "Oh, right," said Aiden as he once again entered his meditative state.


    "After finding your mana, the system should have given you ess to it. It normally sends you a message."


    And she was right, as she said that, the system released a beeping sound inside of Aiden''s mind.


    *BEEP*


    [You can now use Mana.]


    The blue ball that was on the side of the chains started to separate itself and slowly started advancing toward one of his hands.


    Then he opened his eyes and the Mana flowed into the [Mental Transmitor] as it changed color and became blue.


    Even the form of the [Mental Transmitor] changed and he could hear the voice of Maelising from the other side of it as she also held it close to her mouth.


    After verifying that everything was working fine and that they would be able to contact themselves, Aiden quickly left her office since Maelis told him that his rewards should being in about a day or two.


    Well, except for the Mercenary, it would probably take longer.


    After leaving her office, Aiden was now going toward the training grounds because he was intrigued by what the guard had said when he had first arrived.

 Chapter 69 The Legend Of The Training Grounds

    ?


    The girl seemed quite good as many people were watching the parkour trial.


    She was wearing a tight ck uniform which clearly showed how fit she was. But that wasn''t all that the uniform revealed, her forms and curves could be seen quite easily even from far away.


    She had blonde hair and blue eyes, just like a typical elf, she also had their characteristic those pointy ears that indicated that she was, in fact, an elf.


    Her slim body truly entuated her features which raised the rod in between Aiden''s legs. It had been dormant since Mia but it seemed to have woken up when he looked at her.


    But, Aiden quickly calmed his mind down as he started to look at the scene around him. He wasn''t the type to be distracted simply because of a girl, after all.


    Then, he started looking around him.


    He noticed that there weren''t as many people watching as when he had done the trial.


    It was to be expected since he had been apanied by the Matriarch when he had done so, but he still noted it inside of his mind.


    Seeing her moves impressed Aiden as he wasn''t sure what type of movement she was using.


    She didn''t look as good as Aiden but she surely had talent even Aiden couldn''t say otherwise.


    Interested, he decided to get a closer look as he wanted to learn about who that person was.


    As he got closer, he started hearing some people in public talking about her and the performance she was putting up.


    "Do you think she will be able to surpass him today?" asked one of the people in the public.


    "Nah, no way, he was already on the fourth tform by now, and look at her she''s still finishing the third tform. I''m telling you, that record nobody will be able to beat it," answered the other guy, mentioning facts.


    The other person had no choice but to agree with him when he heard the information he had just said.


    "Who is she trying to beat?" interrupted Aiden as he arrived in the middle of their conversation.


    The two of them turned around with a judgemental looks on their faces as they simply couldn''tprehend how someone would ask such a stupid question.


    "What am I supposed to know?" said Aiden, noticing the looks they were giving to him.


    "Of course, you''re supposed to. Didn''t you hear about the legend of the training ground?" said the man excitedly as if he was going to reveal a secret to Aiden.


    "The legend of the training ground?" repeated Aiden showing that he didn''t know what they were talking about.


    "Well, of course, the Aiden. The one who beat the record of the Parkour Trial in a single try."


    n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    ''I became a legend,'' thought Aiden not sure if he had understood the man correctly.


    After all, he had simplypleted one of the many challenges. He didn''t do much except ce first, he didn''t think that it was that much of an achievement that he deserved to be called a legend.


    Another thing that surprised him was the speed at which everyone became to know about him in the Everheart Manor.


    Things seemed to travel fast inside this family, Aiden would probably have to get used to it.


    "This Aiden that you''re talking about, is he that great?" asked Aiden, acting like he didn''t know anything.


    "Of course he is, or else we wouldn''t call him a legend," replied the man as if it was obvious.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    Confirming once again how they thought of him, he wanted details about the beautiful girl who was trying to beat his record.


    "And that girl who is trying to beat his record, who is she exactly?"


    Then the two guys once again turned around but their judgemental looks were even more intense.


    It almost felt like a crime to not know about the identity of this person.


    "You don''t know who she is?" asked the man, trying to make sure he had indeed heard him correctly.


    "Yeah, who is she?" said Aiden not caring about the looks that they were giving to him.


    "Are you new?" asked the man as he simply couldn''t understand how the person in front of him didn''t know of this girl.


    Sure, not knowing about the legend of the training ground was fine. It had only been a week since he appeared but she had been around for years now.


    "Kind of, yeah."


    "I guess, that exins it then, she is Emma Everheart. The daughter of the Matriarch of the Everheart family."


    ''Maelis has a daughter?!'' thought Aiden as shock couldn''t help but be seen inside of his eyes.


    ''Why didn''t she mention it when I first did the trial?''


    He was shocked that Maelis hadn''t even told him about her, but he didn''t care that much as he was also hiding many things from her.


    "Is she strong?" asked Aiden wanting to know more about her.


    But as he kept thinking about the name, he seemed to remember the rankings when he had first done this trial.


    He remembered seeing her name at the top of them.


    That meant Aiden had reced her from the first ce in the Rankings.


    He didn''t like it that much since it gave him attention but it wasn''t anything that he couldn''t deal with.


    "Of course, she is. She''s the first in pretty much all the challenges around here," said the man confirming Aiden''s thoughts.


    Then, he raised his head when he noticed people around him started to leave.


    It seemed like Emma had finished her attempt and that she had once again failed at the trial.


    Noticing this, Aiden actually ignored the time that she had achieved and started advancing toward the starting line.


    Many ignored him simply that some random person had advanced to the starting line, but then a shout was heard from one of the people which had stayed admiring the beauty of Emma.


    "That''s him! That''s Aiden."


    He would show everyone why they started calling him the legend of the training grounds.

 Chapter 70 Emma Everheart

    ?


    When people heard someone shout the name ''Aiden'', everyone turned around and came to watch what was happening over the Parkour Challenge.


    Even Emma seemed to have some sort of shock on her face as she also stared at the man who was approaching the starting line.


    She quickly started going down as she started to shout toward Aiden.


    "Wait, don''t start yet."


    But Aiden didn''t give her any attention as he started to get ready to proceed with the challenge.


    His face became devoid of any emotions as he wanted to concentrate as much as possible on the task ahead of him.


    As he prepared himself, his stats were restricted but he didn''t mind it.


    He also saw the chronometer created by the system which was on the top right of his vision.


    He quickly verified that everything was fine, then he directly started running as fast as he could.


    His goal this time was still to beat the first ranked, but it was different fromst time. The best time was already him.


    He needed to prove to himself that he had indeed improved.


    Emma finally arrived close to starting line but noticed that he had already started the trial which pissed her off.


    Nobody had ever dared to disrespect her, she was the Matriarch''s daughter who would even dare to disrespect her.


    But she didn''t say anything as she started watching the man who was supposedly the one who had beaten her record.


    Emma still wasn''t sure if that man was actually the Aiden, but she still watched intrigued.


    She had to say that his physique was quite pleasing to her eyes, he didn''t have an ounce of fat on him which showed the firm muscles on his body.


    The view was in fact pleasing but that wasn''t what truly interested her. His movement techniques were the thing that she looked at in detail.


    As she kept looking at his feet, she just couldn''t understand how they were able to move at such a pace even when his stats were restricted.


    She just couldn''t believe her eyes.


    The fact that her eyes had difficulty following his movements meant one thing and one thing only, the person she was watching really is the one who beat her.


    Realizing this, she concentrated even trying to see the methods he had used to beat her.


    The first change she noticed was that on the second tform, the one where the floor would fall when stepping on it, he didn''t know the best path like her.


    He would simply jump when he felt the floor under him open, but this scene was unbelievable.


    n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    How could someone even do something like this?


    This was the first change between them, then he jumped on the third tform, the one withva and rocks, but this time he did the same as her.


    He then arrived at the fourth tform which required to jump on the walls on each side since there was no tform under him.


    However, what he had just donepletely shocked her.


    He didn''t jump in between the walls, he was simply running on a wall almost falling on the ground at any moment.


    But, the important thing to note was that he didn''t.


    He had seeded, he had passed the fourth tform simply by running on the wall. <novelsnext></novelsnext>


    Emma realized that if she was able to do such a thing, then she would be able to gain time.


    However, there was a problem, she had no idea how to do such a thing. It simply looked impossible.


    But then, he jumped toward thest tform, the most difficult.


    It was the tform on which projectiles would be thrown at the person at an impossible speed.


    As she looked at Aiden, she noticed that some sort of red energy seemed toe off his body.


    It seemed like he had activated [Mind of an Assassin], but Emma had no idea about this skill of his as she didn''t understand what was happening to him.


    But then, a shout could be heard from the public watching Aiden.


    "He''s using it again! The red aura."


    Many shouts could be heard around as they seemed excited to see him use this aura once again.


    Emma didn''t understand what was happening at all what was happening, but she didn''t mind it.


    She was simply mesmerized by the skill of this person.


    She couldn''t wait to go talk to him, she wanted to know more about the person which her mother had brought over here.


    After all, being the daughter of the Matriarch, she knew about Aiden and how her mother had met him.


    ¡¤?¦Èm She knew that he came from the Slums and she wanted to know how he had such good movement.


    She just couldn''t understand.


    Seconds went by and Aiden was finally at the end of the Challenge.


    And the time shown was [1:19], he had upgraded his time by three seconds and this was only his second try on this challenge.


    ''Who knows how many tries it took to reduce my time by that much.''


    Three seconds might seem small but it was actually quite massive, it meant that he had gained three seconds with small details.


    Aiden was now at the finish line.


    He was happy with the time he had just achieved but he didn''t focus on it.


    He started looking down and he could see all the people who had watched him but his eyes quickly found the person he wanted to talk to.


    After all, what the two guys had said earlier interested him.


    She was supposed to be the most talented here, how couldn''t he be interested in knowing her more.


    He quickly jumped down from the tform and started approaching her.


    The looks he was giving her were quite intense but she didn''t mind it.


    She wasn''t looking at his physique, but simply admiring the speed at which he hadpleted this challenge.


    "So, are you the famous Emma Everheart?" asked Aiden who kept looking at her blue eyes.

 Chapter 71 Learning More About Her

    ?


    While Aiden was doing the Parkour Challenge in the Everheart Manor, someone was knocking on his door in the slums.


    Tapping her feet on the door as she waited impatiently for Aiden to open the door but30 secondster, she grew tired and simply entered the house.


    This person was obviously Emily, Aiden''s maid.


    "Aiden, you there?" she said out loud in a reasonable tone of voice that could easily reach the entirety of the house.


    But, unsurprisingly, there was no answer.


    "Stop hiding ande out," she said almost sure that he was currently hiding somewhere inside this house.


    After all, she knew that he wasn''t doing anything in this ce, he always slept on his bed not even going outside.


    But she couldn''t hear even the faintest noise inside this small little shack.


    She decided to search for him inside since there was only a single ce where he could hide, the closet.


    But as she opened it, there was simply nothing inside of it which meant that Aiden had either gone outside or he had left this ce.


    Knowing that he wasn''t there, she decided that he probably went out.


    ¡¤?¦Èm Even if it was odd she didn''t have much of a choice since she needed to tell the Nightshade family about any changes.


    A couple of hourster, it was now the night and Aiden still wasn''t there.


    She started to lose patience and simply left as it was pretty much obvious that Aiden wouldn''t being home.


    She didn''t care enough about him to search for him, so she simply left as she would go back to the Nightshade Territory which was quite far away.


    ''I''ll just tell them that he disappeared, it shouldn''t be that big of a deal,'' thought Emily, knowing that the family didn''t care that much about him.


    She then left the Slums and went back to the Nightshade territory preparing herself to announce this news.


    Emily was happy that she hadn''t found him since it mean that she wouldn''t have toe back to this dirty ce ever again.


    Well, that''s what she hoped.


    ***


    Back to the training grounds of the Everheart Family


    "So, are you the famous Emma Everheart?" asked Aiden who kept looking at her blue eyes.


    As he pronounced those words, members of the family kept looking at them, intrigued by how she was going to respond to Aiden.


    After all, it wasn''t every day that people went to talk to the daughter of the Matriarch openly.


    Most people found her unattainable as she was talented, beautiful, and strong. She was simply perfect, from the outside she just seemed like the perfect person.


    But to reach that state, she had needed to work her entire life as she didn''t want to disappoint her mother.


    She knew that Maelis would support her even if she wasn''t the best but she knew that would put pressure on her which is why she decided to try her best to support her as best as she could.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "Yes, I am and you''re Aiden, right?" said Emma as she had obviously learned his name as she kept trying to beat his record.


    "Yep," said Aiden nodding before opening his mouth once again. "So, what did you think? Am I as good as you thought?"


    Those questions kind of stunned Emma as she didn''t think that he would simply go right into the subject before doing a proper introduction.


    But she didn''t mind as it would simply save both of them time.


    n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    However, the problem was that she didn''t really know how to answer.


    But, after thinking it through a little, she found what seemed to be an alright answer.


    "I thought you would be a little better, with some practice I should beat you easily," lied Emma without showing any signs of it.


    The crowd hearing that deration was getting more and more excited as some sort of rivalry was starting to be created between the two of them.


    But Aiden didn''t really care about what she had just said. After all, he didn''t think it meant much, in his mind, she simply said such a thing because she thought it was the truth.


    He just couldn''t pick on those small hidden messages, he didn''t have the capabilities to do so.


    Living his life isted without any friends had made him this way and there was nothing he could do about it as he wasn''t aware of what was wrong with his understanding of general matters.


    "Alright, I guess, want to go talk in private?" he asked as he didn''t want everyone around them to hear about their conversation.


    "Sure," said Emma as she also wasn''tfortable being observed so much.


    Then, the two of them started walking toward the entrance of the training grounds as they kept discussing.


    The crowd which was watching had understood the message and left them alone not wanting to anger Emma.


    "So, what did you want to talk about?" asked Emma, not really having an idea what to talk about.


    "Well, I heard that you were Maelis''s daughter, how much do you know about me?" asked Aiden as he wanted to understand the information Maelis had revealed about him.


    "Nothing much, she just told me that you came from the Slums and that you had some talent in many things such as parkour," said Emma as Aiden could still feel him beating her in something that had hurt her.


    It seemed like she waspetitive not wanting to lose at any cost, but that wasn''t the problem of Aiden who had simply participated to reach first ce on the Rankings, but also to prove that he still had a good mastery over his movement techniques.


    "So, what do you think, I proved my talent right?"


    "I already told you with some practice I will easily be better than you," said Emma once again not acknowledging Aiden.


    She didn''t want him to think that she was inferior to him.


    Author''s Note: If I obtain 1000 Privilege Unlocks then there will be a 5 chapters Mass Release.


    To help with the task, you can take the first tier which cost 1 coin, with it you will be able to unlock two privilege chaps per day which would help me a ton.


    So, please consider it.

 Chapter 72 Emma is Shy

    ?


    "So, you''re strong, right?"


    "Yes, of course, I am, my mom said that I was one of the most talented awakened of this generation," said Emma with a proud air on her face.


    She seemed to really like to show off and wouldn''t lose an opportunity to do so.


    But what she had just said made Aiden think, if she was one of the most talented awakened of her generation then would she also participate in the Inter-Family Tournament just like Aiden?


    "Are you participating in the tournament?" asked Aiden, only realizing this now.


    "The Inter-Family Tournament? Of course, I am! I''m the strongest there is, I''ll make sure to bring back good rewards for my mother."


    ''Can two members of the same family participate?'' thought Aiden as he remembered that Maelis didn''t give him much detail on how the selection of the participants actually worked.


    "That''s cool, I''m also participating," said Aiden, not mentioning his doubts and instead waiting for her reaction.


    "You are? Interesting, I didn''t think someone like you would be able to get the second spot," said Emma as she was still sending insults toward Aiden.


    But every time she did, she noticed that Aiden didn''t even react.


    It seemed like insults wouldn''t affect him at all.


    "Do all families have permission to send two members?" asked Aiden, not minding herstment.


    "Isn''t that basic knowledge? Low-level families have one spot, Medium-level families like ours have two spots, High-tier families have three spots, and I think you can guess how many thest one has."


    It seemed to make sense the stronger your family the more members you could send which would as a result make your family stronger in general.


    "Then, I guess that means we''ll both participate in the tournament together."


    "Don''t believe for one second that we''re a team, I don''t need help," said Emma, once again showing herpetitiveness.


    Aiden didn''t understand what he had done for her to act that way with him, but he simply nodded his head as he opened his mouth.


    "I didn''t want to form a team either way."


    "I know that I''m beautiful and talented and that you probably wishe-," said Emma as she stopped speaking when she noticed the answer that Aiden had just said.


    "Wait, you didn''t want to be in a team with me?" asked Emma with a trace of sadness contained in her voice with tears forming in the corner of her eyes.


    Aiden didn''t quite understand the reaction she was having, wasn''t she the one that had just said that?


    Not wanting to deal with a sudden outburst of emotion, he simply ced his hand on her while activating his Unique Skill [Gentle Touch] which worked instantly as the tears that were forming in her eyes instantly disappeared.


    ''What''s happening to me?'' thought Emma as she felt her emotions being controlled by someone.


    ''Is it him that''s causing this?'' thought Emma as she couldn''t find any other reason that she would be reacting this way.


    Her conclusion was simple there wasn''t anyone else with them which only indicated that Aiden was the one who was altering her emotions at the moment.


    Noticing her starting to calm down, Aiden removed his hand from her but he didn''t expect her reaction.


    "What did you just do to me?" asked in anger Emma.


    It was theplete opposite of the reaction Mia had when Aiden used it on her.


    Mia felt relieved and calm which eventually led to them doing the deed but this time after he removed his hand Emma seemed truly angered at him.


    "What do you mean?" asked Aiden deciding to y the innocent card as Emma didn''t have any proof that he did something.


    And even if she did, why was she so unhappy?


    Didn''t he just remove the negative emotions she was feeling?


    Shouldn''t she be thanking him instead?


    "I was about to cry, but then you touched me, and I lost all the emotions I felt a moment ago."n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    "What can I say, you seem to like me touching you," said Aiden, not realizing the meaning behind those words as Emma instantly becamepletely red.


    "W-what are you talking about, why would I like you touching me?" said Emma as her face kept the same shade of red.


    "I don''t know can you tell me? Do you want me to touch you again?" asked Aiden as he started having fun seeing the reactions she was having.


    "T-touch me again?! What kind of pervert are you?" she said as she became shocked by the words that were starting toe out of Aiden''s mouth.


    ''What the hell is she thinking?'' thought Aiden, not understanding why her reactions were so intense.


    He simply wanted to touch her shoulder or maybe her hand to show her that he hadn''t done anything earlier but she seemed to think about something elsepletely.


    "I just want to show that I didn''t do anything, stop panicking."


    Noticing that he had be serious, Emma stopped speaking as she started to get scared of the aura that he was putting off.


    He seemed annoyed at her by the looks he was giving her.


    Taking note of it, she quickly got her mind back together as she understood that he didn''t want to do anything to her and that she simply imagined a scene.


    ''Just why did I think of such things?''


    But as she thought of that, she started to look Aiden up and down once again realizing how charming the person in front of her was.


    Her thoughts became dirty again as she imagined him touching the most private parts of her body.


    Her face was starting to gain the same shade of red as earlier because of those thoughts which confused Aiden even more as he just couldn''t understand about the person in front of him.


    Out of nowhere she turned her back and started to leave him as she was simply too embarrassed to look him in the eyes.


    She had just imagined him naked which caused her to have this reaction.

 Chapter 73 His New Quarters

    ?


    Seeing her leave, Aiden didn''t go after her as he didn''t want to relive the same exact scene once again.


    Instead, he thought that it would be great for him to go to sleep.


    He had stayed awake for quite a long time in the trial and it was starting to get to him as it started to be visible on his face.


    But there was a problem, he still didn''t know where he could sleep.


    Maelis hadn''t told him if he could actually stay here or not.


    Returning to the Slums wasn''t really a problem but he still remembered about his maid and he didn''t know if she hade or not yet.


    Wanting to know where he would need to sleep, he started walking in the direction of Maelis''s office.


    But as he got closer, he started hearing the same voice as earlier, the voice of Emma who was talking to Maelis.


    "Mom, I''m telling you, he''s a bad guy he tried to touch my melons as soon as we were alone," she saidpletely lying to her mother.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    "I don''t think he''s that type of person, what did he really do? And don''t you dare lie to me again."


    Aiden wasn''t inside her office but she could feel that Maelis had bepletely serious as the tone she was using wasn''t anything like he had heard previously.


    Aiden had never heard her sound like that and he hoped that he would never have to.


    Just her voice was scary, he couldn''t imagine what would happen facing her directly.


    "I-I just don''t like him mom, can''t you kick him out of the family? Aren''t I good enough for you?"


    "Kick him out of the family? Are you crazy, you don''t understand his talent, how could you after all you only met him one time. I''m telling you he''s special, he isn''t like any other awakened that I met before, and just to make it clear," said Maelis as anger could clearly be felt in her voice.


    "I will not kick him out of the family even if you ask me to. Yes, you''re strong but with the two of you, I cannot even begin to imagine the benefits that we will have at the tournament."


    Realizing that what she was asking of her was quite disrespectful, Emma bowed her head and left Maelis''s office since she knew that her mother had made a decision and that she wouldn''t be able to change it.


    As she opened the door to leave, Emma immediately noticed Aiden who was right in front of it.


    Her blush quickly returned to her face upon seeing him once again.


    ''How much did he hear?'' thought Emma as she didn''t want to make him her enemy.


    He hadn''t really done anything to her and she knew that her reactions from earlier were out of proportion.


    Not wanting to talk to him, she ran a way just like earlier not even meeting the eyes of Aiden.


    Then, Aiden stopped looking at her and focused on the person which was looking at him with a smile on her face.


    "It seemed like you left quite the impression on my daughter," said Maelis with a smile.


    "Did you like our conversation?" asked Maelis revealing that she knew that he had heard pretty much everything.


    "Thank you for defending me, I''d say you were quite convincing," said Aiden, showing that he had indeed appreciated what she had just done.


    "But why are you here, I don''t remember calling you?" said Maelis showing that she was quite annoyed by his presence.


    "I just had a question, where am I supposed to sleep?"


    "Did you reallye here just to ask me such a thing?" asked Maelis not understanding how someone with so much talent could be as dumb as this.


    "Yeah, do I have a room here or do I need to find a ce for myself?"


    "No, you won''t need to, but you do know that we have maids pretty much all around this ce at your disposal."


    "Yes and?" said Aiden not understanding where she wanted to go with this.


    "Then, why didn''t you ask them where you had to stay?"


    ''Oh, yeah, she''s right why didn''t I do that?'' thought Aiden as he also found what he had just done quite stupid.


    "Either way, it doesn''t matter follow me I''ll show you your room. Don''t worry, I''m sure you''ll like it," she said as she gave him a quick wink.


    Then, Aiden started following Maelis right behind her as she seemed to reach a ce where there didn''t seem much as he could see doors on both sides of the walls which made him remember his trial and the castle he had infiltrated.


    But she didn''t stop at one of the doors in this hall as she continued going forward and then she took a left where only a single door could be found.


    "Little disimer before we enter, you''ll have a roommate," said Maelis as she started giggling with a smile on her smile.


    Aiden immediately thought about who that person could be, but he was almost sure that the roommate she was talking about was Emma, her daughter.


    "Don''t worry, I''m sure that your rommie will learn to ept you," said Maelis trying to reassure Aiden as he didn''t seem to appreciate that he would have to live with someone else.


    ''Why the hell couldn''t I get a room alone?'' thought Aiden as he simply didn''t want to deal with another person other than himself.


    Then, Maelis opened the door slowly but no one could be seen.


    However, the sound of water running could be heard.


    It seemed like someone was in the shower.


    "Come out of the shower quickly, you have a visitor," said Maelis as she didn''t want to spend the entire day here.


    As Maelis said that the water was stopped and the door of the bathroom opened.


    "You?! Why am I seeing you so much?" she said as she opened the door and saw Aiden standing there inside her room.

 Chapter 74 His New Quarters [Part 2]

    ?


    "Why are you here again?" she shouted as she started walking out of the bathroom and saw Aiden.


    "What can''t he be here?" asked Maelis watching the face of her daughter started to turn red.


    After all, it was a normal reaction.


    Her hair was still wet and she was almost naked only with a towel covering her body.


    Her well-defined body was seen easily as Aiden quickly nced at her.


    ''They''re not as big as Mia''s,'' he thoughtparing inside his mind.


    Emma noticing him looking over her body quickly covered it.


    "Don''t look at me like that," she said before turning toward her mother. "See, I told you already he''s a pervert. Look at him, he''s lusting over my body as we speak."


    Maelis, hearing what she just said, turned her head to see what Aiden was looking at and she noticed that he was indeed looking at her body.


    However, Emma had lied about one thing, he didn''t have any lust in the looks he was giving.


    ''Maybe her body isn''t enough to make him hard?''


    After all, the reason why she had brought Aiden over here was to find a ce for him to sleep but also to make him and Emma morefortable with each other.


    They were going to participate in the Inter-Family Tournament together.


    She wanted them to have a good rtionship and not hate each other.


    She knew the personality of her daughter quite well and it was pretty known that she didn''t like to cooperate with others.


    On the other hand, she didn''t know much about Aiden''s Personality as it hadn''t been long since they met.


    She thought that this was going to be the best opportunity for her to see how both of them would react to such a change.


    "He''s not even looking at you," lied Maelis right through her teeth.


    "Yes he is, loo-"


    "Stop talking, I don''t care if you don''t like him or whatever you need to start to like him as he would be staying as of hmm, well right now."


    "W-What?! Why? Why are you doing this to me?" she said as she started to panic about the sudden news.


    "Why are you so mad, you should be thanking me that such a beautiful, strong, and healthy boy is going to live with you," she said winking at her daughter who had immediately became red.


    "What are you even saying?" Emma as she hid her face which was constantly blushing.


    Aiden who was watching this scene was once again really confused by what was happening in front of him.


    ''Just what is wrong with that girl,'' he thought looking at the girl who was covering her face from him.


    This whole was truly ridiculous from his point of view.


    A girl started using him of being lustful.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    Then, her mother defended him.


    It really was ridiculous.


    "So, I need to live with her until when exactly?" Aiden asked as he wasn''t exactly happy that he would have to live with such an emotional person.


    Even if he had his skill, he didn''t want to use it on her again as she started shouting at him when he hadst done so.


    n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    He didn''t want to deal with her daily emotional crisis.


    "Don''t even act like this wasn''t your idea, pervert," interrupted Emma who was clearly angry with the decision of him staying here.


    "Until the tournament," said Maelispletely ignoring what her daughter had just said.


    "Are there really no other rooms for me?" said Aiden as he kept trying to find a way out of this situation.


    "Well... because of your unexpected arrival, all the rooms are currently upied. I also thought that it would be great if you started to learn a little more about my daughter. And don''t worry, you can learn about her in detail." she said winking at Aiden this time.


    ''Learn about her in detail? Does she mean taking notes of what she does?''


    Aiden just couldn''t understand the meaning of what she had just said.


    But he just nodded acting like he did.


    "Wait, wait, wait, why are you acting all depressed over living with me?" she said as she looked hurt by the words he hadst used.


    "Do you really think that I''m that much of an annoying person?" she said as her arms seemed to squeeze the top of her towel which revealed her cleavage even more.


    This action immediately brought Aiden''s eye over to her melon area.


    "Mom, Mom, look, he is doing it again, he''s lusting over my body."


    It seemed that her reaction was a ploy to make Aiden look like a pervert once again.


    "Alright, stop with your act Emma and go put on some clothes goddammit. I know that you don''t like it but he doesn''t either alright. I was the one who made this choice and you are going to respect it. Am I clear?" said Maelis raising the tone of her voice and using her pressure across the room.


    It seemed that Emma''s actions had angered Maelis for real this time.


    "I''m sorry about her, don''t worry I''m sure she''ll open up to you soon enough," said Maelis as she started leaving the room after saying what she had to say.


    "Alright, good luck you two and Aiden, don''t worry about what you asked they will soon arrive," she said as she opened the door and left the room leaving Aiden and Emmapletely alone.


    One was half-naked and the other wearing clothes, if anyone entered who knew what would be going through their minds seeing both of them?


    "Wait here and don''t move. I''m going to put some clothes on," said Emma as she headed toward her bedroom.


    A few secondster, Emma came out of her room with the ck uniform that she had worn earlier today when doing the parkour challenge.


    "So, I guess that we need to set some boundaries between each other, what do you think?" said Emma as she looked at Aiden who didn''t seem to even care about what she was going to say.

 Chapter 75 Sparring With Emma

    ?


    After Emma showed Aiden where he would live, eat, and shower. It seemed like everything was set for Aiden to actually live inside this ce.


    The room was actually the same one as Emma''s as she basically had enough space for two beds to fit inside of it.


    It was decided that they would both prepare their food as Emma specially mentioned that she didn''t want to rely on Aiden for anything.


    And showering... well it was quite simple they would both go one at a time.


    Then, Aiden was all set to live in this new environment. He didn''t sad for a single second as his old one was simply garbagepared to this one.


    He didn''t have a shower in his old ce, can you imagine?


    Then, he decided to go to sleep to prepare for tomorrow.


    The next day, Aiden woke up and Emma was still sleeping peacefully as he could see her chest from here going up and down.


    Aiden had actually constituted a n inside his head today.


    He would first head toward the training ground as he would be training for the whole month as he wanted to be in his best shape for the tournament.


    That was basically his whole n for the day and for the whole month.


    He basically didn''t have anything to do for the day except training.


    His demands for joining the family would soon arrive which would upy him for a little but he had nothing else.


    However, just before he left, he quickly his [Status] to see what was happening with his next trial.


    Would he have to be summoned like the others or something simr.


    He opened it and moved his eyes down wanting to see what was written.


    [You can ess the Third Trial when you are ready.]


    It seemed like he wouldn''t be summoned randomly anymore.


    After taking note of this, he quickly left for the training grounds leaving the sleeping Emma back in her room.


    But as he opened to leave the room, her voice resounded from right behind him.


    It seemed she had just woken up as her eyes looked sleepy as if she would fall asleep at any moment.


    "Where are you going?" she asked in a sleepy voice.


    Aiden not wanting to waste time answered rudely. "The Training Grounds."


    "That''s it?" she asked as if wanting for him to exin more about his n.


    "Yes, I''m going to the Training Grounds," he repeated.


    "What are you going to do over there?"


    "Isn''t it obvious overtake your first ce in the rest of the challenges." teased Aiden smiling when he saw the face Emma was making.


    Emma wasn''t happy hearing him say this as she knew that he could possibly do it.


    She didn''t know the full extent of his abilities and that worried her a lot. She didn''t know the things where he excelled at.


    Well, except for his really good movement which she had already seen.


    "Don''t you want to fight me? See who''s the best between us?" she asked almost sure that Aiden wasn''t going to refuse.


    Some silence remained in the air as Emma waited for his answer.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    ''Why would he even say no, ahaha?'' she thought as no reasons for refusal came to her mind.


    "Umm, no I don''t think that''s necessary."


    Shock then appeared on the sleepy face of Emma which suddenly seemed to wake up.


    "Why? Why wouldn''t you fight me I''m the most talented in the family?" she asked not understanding why he would make such a decision as easily.


    "It''s quite simple actually, it''s simply a waste of time. What would I even gain fighting you?" he said emotionlessly.


    "What you can gain?! Is that why you''re refusing? Then, the winner of our fight has the right to ask anything from the other person."


    ''Surely, this will be enough to convince him.''


    The reward for the result of the spar was quite high but neither Emma nor Aiden thought that were going to lose.


    After all, this whole conversation was a ploy made by Aiden as he actually wanted to fight her since he had first arrived here.


    He wanted to know what the top talent of a middle-level academy would be like.


    "Sure, are we going to do it now?" asked Aiden making sure that Emma saw how he looked at her.


    "Stop, looking at me like that, just let me change and head toward the training grounds," she said quickly heading back inside her room.


    A few momentster, she came out as a new person with her usual clothes, a ck training kit which as always entuated her curves.


    "Let''s go I''ll show who''s the best between us," she said as she went right past him not caring about the usual looks he was giving her.


    ''It''s funny seeing her getting angry,'' he thought not realizing that the reason that he kept watching her melons was to tease her and annoy her.


    He didn''t realize it yet but he actually like her attitude.


    Then, Aiden followed right behind her.


    Arriving at the training grounds, Aiden continued following Emma as she seemed to know exactly where to go for the both of them to spar.


    As they walked, Aiden noticed that there wasn''t anyone training.


    ''Maybe they''re sleeping, weird, I don''t think it''s that early,'' he thought as he looked at the time.


    It was written clearly that it was 4 AM.


    But that wasn''t early at all for Aiden as he was used to waking up a lot earlier in his past life.


    Looking back in front of him, he saw Emma entering a room and telling him to enter.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    After entering, multiple beeping sounds could be heard inside Aiden''s mind.


    *BEEP*


    *BEEP*


    *BEEP*


    [You have entered a sparring room.]


    [You cannot die inside this ce.]


    [The reward for the victor of the spar can be decided beforehand.]


    "So, are we doing this?" she asked, her attitude from earlierpletely changing as she seemed serious this time.

 Chapter 76 Sparring With Emma [Part 2]

    ?


    Entering the room, the tension seemed to be rising as both Emma and Aiden started looking at each other.


    "I don''t think we need to set up a reward for the winner, our word is enough," she said believing that Aiden was a man of his word.


    He didn''t seem like the type of guy to trick others after all.


    From a single nce, it was quite obvious that he was simple minded not able to think too far ahead.


    But that was far from the truth.


    The reason why he looked simple and dumb was his constant emotionless face that made him look this way.


    "Sure, but can we kill each other in here?" asked Aiden as he had seen earlier a message that said that they couldn''t die at all in here.


    "This ce is a little special, as you probably know it''s a reward from the higher trials and it''s quite valuable as it lets the people inside of it do life and death battles without the risk of actually dying."


    "So, be happy that you won''t actually experience death by my hands?" she said as her kind of friendly from earlierpletely vanished from her.


    She seemed fully focused on the task ahead of her, she only had one thought inside her mind and it was to win against him.


    Winning might not seem like a big deal to Aiden but it was to her as it would determine who is the strongest in the Everheart family.


    She needed to know only her but everyone inside of the family that she was the most talented youngster and that some random kid from the Slums couldn''t dethrone her.


    "So, are we doing this?" she said as she was now battle-focused.


    Aiden was concentrated as much as her but he simply wanted a good fight between the two of them.


    On one hand, he wanted to learn more about her.


    Her ss, her skills, her talent, all those things interested Aiden deeply.


    The second thing that interested him was how strong a talented young awakener actually was as he hadn''t been able topare himself to anyone since he had arrived in Nova.


    He also hadn''t been able to have a real fight where he would have to use his skills.


    It was now time to prove to himself that he had talent and that his second chance at life wasn''t for nothing.


    ''Let''s do this,'' said Aiden to himself encouraging himself as he nodded toward Emma.


    Then, Emma seemed to press something in her system as a countdown appeared right in front of Aiden.


    [3]


    [2]


    [1]


    [The sparring has now started.]


    n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    As that messaged appeared the white room in which they werepletely changed as they were now in apletely different area, there were trees all around them almost as if they were inside of a forest.


    The length of the room also changed as it got a lot bigger creating a real arena where both of them could fight to the death, well to fake death.


    As Aiden read thest message, he immediatelyunched forward toward Emma not giving her any time to prepare herself.


    But she didn''t need time to prepare as she was already since the beginning.


    She quickly started going away from Aiden as she got out a weapon out of nowhere.


    ''Where did that bowe from?'' thought Aiden as he just couldn''t understand what happened.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>


    But he didn''t have time to concentrate on that, it seemed like Emma was a archer or some type of long-range ss.


    ''Perfect, an assassin like me shouldn''t have a problem taking her out,'' thought Aiden as it wasmon knowledge that long-range attackers were naturally weak against close-range people.


    This knowledge was obviously known to both Aiden and Emma.


    ''Shit he has a dagger, what the hell is my luck,'' she thought instantly seeing the red and ck dagger Aiden was using.


    Then after gaining some distance with Aiden, Emma decided to gain some height using the environment as her advantage as she jumped up a tree.


    This jump of hers was obviously way higher than a normal person could achieve.


    She was awakened after all.


    Then, as shended on a branch of the tree, she charged an arrow inside her bow.


    The arrow changed color as she kept pulling it back.


    It started as a green color until it became yellow and thenpletely red.


    When the arrow turned in a red color, Emma instantly released it toward Aiden.


    The arrow flew at a speed that wasn''t humanly possible to react to, but Aiden wasn''t normal either.


    He wasn''t the number ranked in the Parkour Challenge for nothing.


    He naturally dodged it as he went to his left hiding behind a tree.


    *Bang*


    It seemed like the arrow had hit its mark, the tree where Aiden was hiding.


    Her prediction of where Aiden would go was simply incredible and this precision was surely only attained with a lot of practice.


    But as Aiden thought that he was safe, the tree which he was hiding behind started poking at him a little.


    Feeling some pressure in his lower back, he quickly looked behind him and what he saw shocked him.


    The arrow which Emma had shot wasn''t normal at all, it had gone through the whole tree.


    Yes, it had slowed only poking Aiden a little but it was still a massive achievement.


    The red arrow was probably the cause of this but Aiden couldn''t be sure of what she had done to it.


    But his first thought was obviously that it was a skill of her as pure strength simply couldn''t have such a result.


    His quick analysis told him that it was a skill that entuated the speed and pration of the arrow she was using.


    If she was able to use it a lot then it will surely be a problem.


    Knowing that he had no other choice when seeing that skill. He decided to take this fight seriously as a red aura seemed toe off his body.


    He had activated [Mind of an Assassin].


    Hurt her.


    Kill her.


    None of that mattered anymore.

 Chapter 77 Sparring With Emma [Part 3]

    ?


    Killing her didn''t seem so bad anymore, even if she dies it wouldn''t even be real.


    It would be a fake death.


    Knowing this he activated [Mind of an Assassin].


    His red aura wasing off from both sides of the tree and was immediately seen by Emma.


    This was quite an easy feat for her since she had trained from a young age to perceive clearly even from a long distance.


    She needed to have this much talent if she wanted to be equal to Aiden.


    ''What is that energying off of him?'' she thought not knowing what was happening.


    Not knowing what to do, she drew another arrow which once again changed color to red.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    ''I have to be careful, this skill uses one point of mana and I have 25,'' she thought knowing that she just couldn''t continue to use those special arrows for a long time.


    Then, the figure of Aiden enveloped in that red aura appeared on the right side of the tree.


    But, Emma quickly noticed that he wasn''t even trying to find where she was, he was looking in front of him not caring about anything else.


    Noticing that he seemed distracted, she shot a normal arrow aiming directly at its head.


    She didn''t use the mana-boosted one as she wanted to keep some mana for other skills of hers that would demand more of it.


    She saw the arrowing closer and closer to his head as Aiden still didn''t move.


    It would only take less than a second before it would hit him.


    ''Is he alright? Why isn''t he moving?'' she thought finding it weird that he would suddenly not move for more than fifteen seconds.


    Fifteen seconds might seem short but a lot can happen in that time.


    For example, an arrow going directly into your head.


    But when the arrow was about to hit its target, the body of Aiden simply took a step to the left evading the arrow with precise movement.


    ''How? How did he do such a thing, he didn''t even look at it,'' sheined to herself inside her mind as the movements he just pulled didn''t make any sense.


    After evading the arrow, Aiden slowly raised his head and seemed to have spotted the spot in which Emma was hiding.


    He had found the tree and the branch on which she was.


    ''How can he be so fast?'' she thought as Aiden started moving at a much faster pace than her own.


    He was slowly getting closer and closer to her, he was only 70 meters or so behind her.


    Having no other choice, she quickly elerated using one of her skills which made her gain 75% of her current speed.


    By using this skill she distanced herself from Aiden again as she turned again charging one of her arrows.


    It turned red and she then released toward Aiden once again aiming for his head.


    Aiden was still not looking at it, but he dodged it by simply moving his head to the right this time.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>


    ''Again, but how? Is it because of this aura around him?''


    Her thoughts were quite normal as Aiden seemed to change ever since this red aura of his appeared around him as if he following the movements of someone else.


    ''I need to find a way to make that aura disappear,'' she thought instantly trying to find a solution to this problem of hers.


    She wanted his aura to disappear because if the fight continued like this, she would lose, and by arge margin at that.


    But how could she stop that aura from enveloping him.


    ''The aura seems toe from inside is body, from within him,'' she quickly analyzed looking at Aiden.


    ''Wait, within him? Yes, that''s it,'' she said to herself as she seemed to have found something to stop the strongest skill of Aiden.


    After thinking that, the bow in her hand changed for an even bigger one with white and gold lines intertwined inside of it.


    This bow seemed to be of much quality than the one she used before.


    ''Alright, just like you practiced,'' she said, encouraging herself.


    Then, a little blue ball seemed toe out of Emma''s hand as it seemed to form some type of arrow.


    It looked like she was trying to create an arrow purely out of mana.


    The little blue balls seemed to start to form a shape of an arrow just like she wanted.


    It seemed ready to be used as she grabbed it, once again looking at Aiden who was still quite far away from her.


    Giving her the time to aim correctly at Aiden make sure not to miss this time.


    Then, she released the arrow aiming straight toward Aiden who was still running at full speed toward who knew where.


    ''Please hit, please,'' she kept thinking as she knew that he could dodge it at thest moment.


    The arrow was getting closer and closer.


    It was now one meter away from Aiden''s face still moving really fast.


    Aiden did not have even half a second left to dodge it.


    As Emma was holding her breath scared of what was going to happen, the mana arrow seemed to enter the body of Aiden not damaging his exterior physique.


    It seemed like the mana arrow only attacked his insides which was exactly what she wanted.


    ''What happened how did I get hit? My shadow didn''t even move, did it not see what hit us?'' Aiden thought confused that [Mind of an Assassin] had a w.


    And this w cost him, as pain overwhelmed his body in its entirety.


    It seemed like this attack based on mana had beenpletely missed by the [Mind of an Assassin] skill which resulted in him being hit.


    ''I shouldn''t fully trust it next time I use it,'' said Aiden to himself as the red aura that came off his body started to vanish a little.


    Seeing this, Emma was obviously overjoyed as she had seeded in making that aura of his disappear.

 Chapter 78 Sparring With Emma [Part 4]

    ?


    [Your skill <Mind of an Assassin> has been forcefully deactivated.]


    This was the result of being hit by the arrow created solely of mana.


    It seemed like the arrow Emma hadunched wasn''t a normal one as Aiden could only feel pain from his insides.


    ''What the hell just hit me?'' he thought confused reading the message from the system.


    ''Can she deactivate any skill that she wants?''


    However, if that was one of the power of that arrow it wouldn''t matter much against an opponent like Aiden as he rarely even used skills.


    ''Shit, another arrow,'' he thought seeing something at a fast speed toward him.


    It seemed to be a normal one this time as Aiden could perceive it easily dodging it by doing a quick step to his right.


    Then, Aiden looked up and started searching from where that arrow hade from.


    He needed to have an idea of where she was before acting and moving around.


    He needed to n how to get rid of her.


    Then as he continued thinking, another arrow aimed at his head came out on his upper left flying down at a high speed.


    He didn''t even concentrate on the arrow as he simply dashed forward in the general direction of where the arrow hade from.


    After all, it wasn''t simple to spot someone who was hiding in one of the multiple trees of this forest.


    Sure, Aiden had the match-up in terms of being close-range, and her long-range.


    But the environment of this fight clearly favored Emma as she could hide herself easily always changing spots without being noticed.


    Aiden running was still looking up trying to see a glimpse of her but without sess.


    ''I need a change of ns, this simply isn''t going to work. I can''t even spot her,'' he thought looking around himself.


    As he started thinking about another n, another arrow came toward him but this time from his right.


    It seemed like Emma had gotten enough time to go around the other side in that small amount of time.


    She clearly wasn''t second in the parkour challenge for nothing it seemed.


    ''I need to be faster than her just like earlier,'' Aiden thought as he remembered that he was close to catching her earlier but then she elerated like crazy out of nowhere.


    But he noticed that she was panting a little after elerating like that.


    His decision was made, he needed to increase the speed at which he was going right now.


    That was basically his only solution as he didn''t have time to find anything else.


    He was in a fight to the death right now, so he couldn''t sit down and think about a better alternative.


    Then, he decided that he would also go on one of the trees that surrounded them, making him harder to spot and hit.


    As hended on one of the branches that were close to where Emma had shot her arrow thest time.


    He saw what seemed to be a ck figure jumping from one tree to another without losing any time in doing so.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>


    She was minimizing her movements to the utmost trying to reduce the chances of Aiden catching up to her.


    But it was simply the inevitable.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    Finding her, he didn''t lose any time and also jumped from one tree to another.


    But there was one thing that was different between the two of them.


    The time that Emma took to jump to another tree, well... it was the time that Aiden took to jump two.


    It was only a matter of time before Aiden would catch up to her.


    Sometimes, Emma quickly turned her body and shot an arrow at Aiden but when doing so she lost her momentum and made Aiden catch up to her even faster.


    Those arrows sent by Emma would also need to be dodged by Aiden which caused him to slow down.


    But after some time, Aiden was once again at a distance where he could try to strike at Emma.


    She was still a bit far from him but striking should be possible.


    ''Is she going to use her skill again?'' he thought already expecting her to do so.


    But she didn''t do anything of the sort, she turned around getting another weapon out of nowhere.


    Aiden couldn''t help but be amazed at how she got things in her hand out of nowhere every time.


    She now had another weapon in her hands, which wasn''t a bow or anything of the sort.


    It was a dagger, just like the one Aiden was using.


    ''Is she stupid? Does she think she can beat me with a dagger?''


    However, Emma couldn''t have known that Aiden was a past assassin who had trained how to get better and better with a dagger especially.


    Then, another type of fight started.


    It was the fight of an expert against a beginner.


    The moves she was executing weren''t bad at all and she had clearly practiced using a dagger before.


    But it couldn''t match the experience Aiden had with the weapon, having spent years practicing with it.


    Aiden could literally see through all her moves.


    ''Fuck, what can I do now?'' Emma thought as she kept trying to attack Aiden as much as he could not letting him the chance tond a hit on her.


    Because she knew from the way he was handling her attacks that if she slowed even for a millisecond then she would lose.


    ''Do I really need to use that skill again?'' she asked herself as she knew that her eleration speed came at a great cost.


    That skill of hers which made her go a lot faster than she would normally would cost 10 Mana Points, which was almost half of her total reserves.


    She knew that if she used it now, she wouldn''t have any mana left for the rest of the fight as she would have used it all.


    ''But if I do use it, what else can I do? It''s too easy for him.''

 Chapter 79 Family Technique

    ?


    ''Should I use that?'' she thought still debating whether or not to flee with her skill.


    ''Yeah, if I can''t beat him using this then what else can I even do.''


    As she was thinking that, she was still sending a lot of attacks toward Aiden who was calmly defending them as he was a lot more experimented than her.


    His dagger was moving exactly to the spot where her attacks would be deflected by only a little.


    If someone was watching this scene, they would simply be amazed by the talent proposed by those two.


    Then, realizing that she had no other choice but to use that, she turned around and started running with her skill activated which rendered her mana capacity to aplete zero.


    She wouldn''t be able to use any skill that used mana.


    But she already knew all of that, so why did she still decide to go ahead and run away from Aiden?


    What could she possibly do to defeat him?


    After gaining some distance because of her movement skill, she looked right behind her to see how much time she had.


    Looking at the distance between the two of them, Emma seemed to have at least 30 seconds before Aiden caught up to her.


    Knowing that time was of the essence, she closed her eyes making sure she remembered everything correctly.


    "I draw my bow, then I use the energy that surrounds me, then..." she whispered in a weak tone.


    Telling herself the steps to pull this off made her find some confidence.


    She then applied everything that she had just thought of.


    She started by drawing her bow without an arrow inside of it, only the string was pulled back.


    She then closed her eyes which instantly caused a shift in the environment.


    He had such a huge effect that even Aiden who was quite far away from her felt it.


    ''Why is the wind going in that direction,'' he thought feeling the wind coursing through him.


    Her hair started to fly around because of the sudden arrival of the wind that surrounded them.


    But that wasn''t all, water and rocks also started to be pulled around condensing around the area where the string was pulled.


    All those things started to form an arrow which wasn''t solid constantly moving around as making itpletely solid was really considering where the elements came from.


    But the best thing about what she had just used was that this arrow had more power than anything she could even imagine to muster.


    n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    And the funny part.


    Well, it didn''t even consume mana to use.


    However, the reason why hadn''t used it yet is because of itsplexity.


    It might have seen easy from the point of view of someone on the outside, but the concentration needed to pull this off wasn''t a joke.


    The more concentrated you are, the more the elements you are attracted to you which in a result creates an even bigger attack.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>


    What she had just done wasn''t something random that she created on the spot, it was the technique of the Everheart family.


    A technique that she had taken years to learn even with her talent.


    A technique that would be able to defeat Aiden.


    Seeing the amount of energy her bow was amassing she continued and continued to gather it making sure that there would simply be no way for Aiden to dodge or protect himself.


    When Aiden was close enough, she released the string of her bow, and a massive boom sound was heard.


    *BOOM*


    This sound came from the wind that she gathered.


    But that wasn''t all.


    The rocks which were also mixed with wind, started to move at a fast pace toward Aiden, and not only that but they were everywhere.


    There was literally no way for Aiden to dodge that attack.


    Even if he hid behind a tree than it wouldn''t do anything as the wind with the rocks would simply go through it.


    ''Am I really going to lose?'' thought Aiden having no idea of what to do.


    Even with the movement technique that he had developed in his past life, he simply couldn''t do anything to even survive this attack.


    He could feel it, this was dangerous and if he didn''t dodge then he would die and lose this fight owing a favor to Emma.


    ''Then, I guess that''s it. I wonder how death will feel this time,'' Aiden thought knowing that there wasn''t any danger of dying inside this ce just like Emma had said earlier.


    The rock and the wind started going through his body not even slowing down as they simply went through him not even losing any momentum.


    The pain was felt by Aiden but he wasn''t muchpared to when he hadst died at the hands of Jack.


    Then, a single rock prated the forehead of Aiden killing him on the spot.


    For a split second, he felt devoid of anything as if he was the definition of useless.


    ''What did I even do in both of my life?'' he thought as questions kept popping up in his head questioning his very existence.


    This split second might have been short but it had been an eternity for Aiden.


    But his mind immediately went back to the situation at hand when he heard Emma''s voice.


    "Seems like you lost to me after all," she said smiling proudly.


    "Congrats, but I have a question, what the hell was that final attack of yours?" said Aiden intrigued as herst attack was the only reason why he had lost to her.


    "Oh that, well the Everheart technique," she said as if it wasmon knowledge.


    "You don''t know of it? Weird I thought for sure, that Mom would have given ess to you," she said confused by the development of the conversation.


    "Don''t worry she promised me that she would show it to me. I guess she just wants to give my rewards all at the same time."

 Chapter 80 The Family Technique [Part 2]

    ?


    ''So, a technique is really that strong,'' thought Aiden falling into his thoughts not caring about his surrounding.


    ''But it doesn''t fit me at all, it looks like a bow is needed to use it, I''ll need to see how it works as I still don''t know if I can make use of it,'' he thought not sure if he wanted to learn how to use another weapon.


    He was after all used to the dagger and had a lot of experience, but if he came to getting stronger by learning how to use a bow then he would absolutely do it.


    He knew that the way to be respected and not betrayed was to be the strongest.


    Because the strongest person or most influential person in the world is always the one who determines the rules of the world.


    That''s what he wanted to aim for, he wanted to be strongest determining how others lived under his rule.


    "And for this technique of yours, is a bow needed for it?" he asked wanting to make sure that his assumptions were correct.


    "Well, yes, or any long-range weapon but the bow is probably the best one you can choose."


    ''So without a bow, I wouldn''t be able to use that kind of technique at all,'' he thought realizing that maybe joining this family wasn''t that great of an idea.


    He now understood how strong and essential the techniques that families had were.


    At the Inter-Family Tournament, it was almost sure that everyone participating would have ess to one since the participants were usually nurtured from a young age.


    If Aiden was the only one without ess to one then he would surely have problemspeting against others.


    He also knew that he would be one of the people who would be determined the weakest if they based it on stats alone.


    He had, after all, onlypleted two trials, making him level 14.


    But those who had awakened since they were young clearly had the advantage.


    ''Should I learn the bow? Is that really my only choice to have a better shot at the tournament?'' he thought, having no other choice if he wanted to have a technique for the tournament that was a month from now.


    ''Emma did say that he took her years to learn,'' he thought unsure if he was going to pull it off.


    Then, he looked up in front of him and saw the face of Emma right in front of him.


    "Woah, you really were focused, what are you even thinking about?" she asked seeing that since earlier he had beenplete except when he asked that question.


    She was so close that her boobs touched Aiden''s body a little bit.


    But when she saw that he started moving she quickly backed off from him not wanting him to notice.


    Aiden did notice but he didn''t mind as he was about to request something to Emma.


    "Umm, Emma."<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>


    "Yes... Aiden?" she asked unsure of what was going on.


    "I know that you won the fight and all, but let''s say that I asked something out of you would you be fine with it?" he asked before quickly adding. "and let''s say that this something would be beneficial for both of us."


    "What is it?" she asked curious that Aiden was this serious about something.


    "What do you say that you teach me how to use a bow and that I teach you how to use a dagger better?" he asked looking carefully at her, noting all of her reactions.


    She was clearly surprised but she quickly her calm. "So you want my help, huh?" she said smiling that Aiden was depending on her.


    This request once again proved that she was the best and the most talented.


    "Sure, but for me to ept you will need to say something," she said, smiling even more.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    "Why? It benefits both of us, shouldn''t you just agree," said Aiden not sure what she would be asking him of him.


    "Don''t worry, I''ll ept your offer if you say those exact words," she said giggling a little. "Emma Everheart is the best and I will never surpass her."


    ''She only wants me to say this, but why?'' Aiden thought not understanding why she would go to such lengths to feel like she was the best.


    ''Does she want eptance that much? Guess it doesn''t really matter I''ll just say it and be done with it,'' he thought not understanding how someone would reach that need of eptance.


    "Sure, I''ll say it if that''s what it takes," he said noticing that Emma was giggling as she watched him do as she said.


    Her behavior from before the fight was gone and reced by a more casual and happy Emma who lost all seriousness around her.


    "Emma Everheart is the best and I will never surpass her."


    "Ahaha, you really said it, so how does it feel to be weaker than me," she said getting closer to Aiden without even realizing it.


    "Well, if I''m being honest, I don''t really care that much about it, it''s just words. My future actions will simply prove that I''m better than you."


    "You''re no fun why can''t you be sad over losing against me," said Emma realizing that he didn''t mind what he had asked of him at all.


    She found it weird because it seemed like Aiden didn''t have any type of an ego which was clearly different from the other young awakened that she had met before him.


    Those talented people always thought of themselves as the best there were. They also all had an extremely big ego over their head.


    If one of them would have been asked to say such a thing, they would probably have refused, but Aiden didn''t even hesitate as if all of this didn''t even matter and was only in his way.


    "You''re a weird one Aiden," she said, noticing all the differences he had from the other people she had met before.

 Chapter 81 Charm

    ?


    "You''re a weird one Aiden," she said, noticing all the differences he had from the other people she had met before.


    "I''m the weird one, huh?" said Aiden smiling a bit, looking at Emma.


    "What does that even mean?"


    "Don''t worry about it, so do you want me to start to teach you a little about how to fight with a dagger?"


    "Don''t try and change the subject, you think I''m weird is that it?" she asked once again getting mad.


    ''Yes, of course, you are.''


    "No, of course not you''re the most normal person there is," he lied as he didn''t want to deal with another problem.


    What he wanted to do was stop losing time discussing and actually start practicing because the sooner he started practicing, the more he would have a chance at using the Everheart technique.


    "Right?"


    "You are. Now can we start training?"


    "Want me to start teaching you how to use a bow or do you want to start teaching how to fight with a dagger?"


    "As you want," said Aiden as he really didn''t care that much as long as he learned how to use a bow.


    "Then, I''ll start you''re the one who needs my help the most, after all," she said once again smiling at Aiden as she could show how better she was than him.


    "Then, I guess you don''t have a bow with you," she said as she opened a portal on her right getting a bow out of it.


    ''Oh right, I wanted to ask her about this.''


    "Emma, can you tell me what is that portal you''re using?"


    "The portal? Are you talking about my inventory?" she asked as if what he was asking was really stupid. "You really don''t know anything, I guessing from the Slums didn''t help."


    "So, how can I get one?" asked Aiden since he was interested in having one as it would help him, in general, stocking his weapons and equipment.


    "Well, they are quite rare, you should probably ask for one from my mom. She would probably give you one even if it cost a lot," she said as she noticed that Maelis really liked Aiden.


    "Are they all the same grade or are they like any other items?" asked Aiden as he wanted to know if he needed to ask for something in particr.


    "Well, like all items they have different grades which would change the ce you have inside of it but the smallest one should be fine as you don''t look like someone who owns a lot of stuff," said Emma as she noticed that he hadn''t brought many clothes yesterday.


    n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    In fact, he had only brought one outfit and nothing else.


    The one outfit that he was wearing at the moment.


    A ck training kit with some red lines embroidered into it making him look beautiful.


    ''It really suits him,'' she thought observing him and his body with his muscles that were visible even when he was wearing clothes.


    She blushed a little before concentrating back on the task ahead of her.


    "So I can ask for any type of inventory and everything will be fine," asked Aiden making sure that everything was fine.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>


    "Yes, that should be fine."


    Then, she approached Aiden giving him the bow in his hands.


    It was now time to teach how to hold it and draw an arrow from it.


    She would be teaching the basics of the basics.


    ''I wonder if he''s going to be good?'' she thought asking herself if his talent would reach even the bow.


    It had been thirty minutes since Aiden had started to try and shoot an arrow but it never went where he wanted it to.


    She had told him approximately what he needed to do, but it was simply too hard. He was fully concentrated but nothing worked. It seemed like he would need a lot of practice to be good with a bow.


    "It''s hard huh? Can I?" she said getting closer to Aiden as it was simply not working as arrows were flying everywhere.


    She then went behind him trying to hold the bow but she had difficulty as she was a bit shorter than Aiden.


    "Can you lower yourself I''ll guide you," she said as Aiden lowered himself.


    Obviously, in this situation, the two of them were so close, that the melons of Emma were clearly touching the back of Aiden''s body.


    This caused a reaction in the lower body of Aiden waking up his rod which had been dormant.


    But, he couldn''t allow himself to be distracted.


    ''Focus Aiden, Focus,'' he thought keeping his mind on the right track.


    Aiden was able to get his mind back on the task but Emma who was right behind him wasn''t in the same situation as she started struggling to keep her mind on the task.


    ''Why does he smell so good?'' she thought as his scent was addicting.


    She just couldn''t stop breathing it in and out.


    ''His muscles are also so firm,'' she thought feeling his whole body which was as hard as a rock.


    "Umm... Aiden," she asked, shyly.


    "Yes, are you okay?" asked Aiden as he noticed that she hadn''t moved since she had gotten behind him.


    "Well, how high is your Charm stat?" she asked thinking that maybe that was the reason she was feeling this way.


    "Five, why? Are you sure you''re fine, I can feel you breathing heavily," said Aiden as he felt her melons going up and down on his back.


    ''Five?! Why did he put so many stats into his charm?'' she thought as she now knew the reason she felt so attracted to him.


    She hadn''t felt this way when keeping her distance but staying close to him for a long time had made her realize this.


    His scent, his body, his face, everything about him was drawing her in.


    ''I need to be careful or else I will definitely fall for him,'' she thought as she started to move her body trying to guide Aiden on how to draw a bow.

 Chapter 82 Shooting An Arrow

    ?


    Emma had finally seeded in not being affected by his charm as she started touching her arms guiding him into shooting the arrow with good aim.


    "Just like I exined earlier, keep your breath steady first," said Emma waiting for Aiden to do so.


    This first step of the process was obviously easy for Aiden as he used to bepletely silent not making the slightest noise.


    "Alright, now pull back the string and try to be as steady as possible, you don''t want the string to move at all."


    Then, Aiden tried to pull the string as steadily as possible, and every time something was wrong in the process Emma who was right behind corrected it by holding his arms.


    For any person who came from Earth, this scene would look like a boy teaching a girl how to y golf.


    But this time the roles were reversed as Emma was behind him holding him tightly making sure that he would actually seed.


    "See, you pull it back just like that, now calm your mind and release the arrow," she said as Aiden released his fingers from the string.


    *Swoosh*


    The arrows that were shot earlier didn''t look anything like that as this one even made a sound that indicated its speed.


    It went right in front of him without deviating at all.


    It seemed like he had seeded in shooting his very first arrow.


    "See that''s how you do it, it''s very easy, I don''t understand why you''re even struggling," she said smiling not missing the chance to show that she was better than him at something once again.


    "I just can''t wait for you to receive my teachings," said Aiden, thinking about all the teachings he had received in his past life.


    ''Maybe torture until she can''t feel pain anymore, maybe she can swing her arm around until she can''t move them?'' he thought smiling having ideasing to his mind.


    His smile sent shivers down her body.


    ''Maybe I should calm down with my bullying, who knows what he might do?'' she said to herself as she started getting scared of Aiden.


    "So want to try shooting one alone this time," she said without adding her usual insult at the end of the sentence.


    Aiden only nodded once again concentrating on remembering the words that she had just said.


    ''First, I hold my breath.''


    ''Then, I draw the string with the arrow on it.''


    ''When everything is ready I simply release it.''


    After thinking that he simply looked ahead as he had released his grasp on the bow.


    And the arrow... well had deviated a little but it was still much before than before Emma''s help.


    But it still couldn''tpare to when she was behind him guiding, Aiden hadn''t really noticed what she did at the time, however, it clearly had a massive impact.


    Then, Aiden continued training this time without the help of Emma who onlymented when she noticed that he did something bad which was... well almost every time.


    She would only ept perfection and she simply wanted to help him raise his skills.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>


    Her constant actually didn''t make Aiden angry as he needed this feedback to get better faster.


    After two hours of continuous training, Emma was starting to get tired of watching Aiden.


    "Aiden, when can I start practicing? You''ve been doing it for two hours already and people would soon arrive at the training grounds," said Emma as her mind was getting heavy from the constant watching of Aiden.


    Aiden came out of his focused state and said confused, "It''s already been two hours, wow time passes fast when training."


    "Also, are you scared of people? Why would you even care if people arrived here?"


    ''Obviously, because I don''t want them to see you teach me something, how dumb is this guy?''


    "Stop asking questions and just do as I say," she said not wanting to reveal what she had just thought of.


    She was supposed to be the best, so if anyone saw her learning from someone of the same age, what would be that person''s conclusion?


    Obviously that she was inferior than that person.


    She, also, didn''t want rumors going around that a boy was teaching her stuff, that would be the worst.


    "Alright, so you have some basics on how to fight with a dagger right?" asked Aiden wanting to know her level with a dagger.


    "Yes, I''ve trained here and there but I still need to train with it," she said admitting that she wasn''t the best with it.


    "Then, I have a couple of exercises for you and tell me if you find them too hard," said Aiden smiling from ear to ear.


    "Ah, you really think that I''m scared of what you''ll make me do? Don''t worry, I, Emma Everheart, will do all the exercises that you give me. I''m giving you my word."


    One hourter,


    "Can we stop here? What even is the point of this," said Emma who was still swinging her dagger around with no real purpose.


    "Remind me what you said earlier?" said Aiden using her own words against her.


    "That I will do all the exercises that you want."


    "Good, then don''t ask any questions you''ll see that this exercise will help you greatly in many things."


    Another hourter, Emma was still swinging her dagger around with no real purpose.


    She was starting to get angry as Aiden didn''t even say anything to her at all.


    "What even is the point of this?" she said angrily as her arm was starting to hurt.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    "Fuck this, teach me properly just like I did. This isn''t fair at all."


    Aiden hearing herints was honestly confused as this was how he had learned to get better with the dagger.


    ''Maybe I should change my teaching strategies a little, I don''t want her to stop teaching me the bow after all,'' thought Aiden realizing that maybe he was going a little too far.


    "Alright,e here, I will show you a move of mine."

 Chapter 83 Scared Of Aiden?

    ?


    "Alrighte here I''ll show you a move of mine," said Aiden as Emma got closer to him.


    "You wanted to see what would happen if you followed the exercise that I''m giving you right?"


    Emma nodded and said, "Of course, I do."


    "Then,e here I''ll show you."


    "Try to defend against this move of mine," said Aiden as he got his dagger into his hands preparing to strike down.


    ''Should I do one of my most ssic moves?'' he thought still debating what he wanted to show her.


    Then he thought about all the moves he had once practiced and chose his most ssic one.


    His strike to the head of his opponent was a strike that had been countered less than five times in his entire life.


    ''Yeah, that should do it,'' he thought as he started concentrating as if he really wanted to kill her.


    His aura instantly changed to a cold one that was threatening even Emma instinctively started walking backward.


    Aiden didn''t notice it but he was even affecting his surroundings which were bing darker and darker as if he was death in person.


    He gripped his dagger even harder, preparing for his strike for real this time.


    "You don''t need to show me, I''m already convinced," said Emma as she had already seen enough to know that his methods were sure to be good.


    As Emma said that the whole dark aura surrounding Aidenpletely disappeared returning to his previous one.


    He started acting as if nothing had happened at all.


    ''Just what type of past did you have to go through to have such a deadly aura around you at such an age,'' thought Emma realizing that whatever she had gone through her young couldn''t remotelypare to what he had gone through.


    She had already noticed that he didn''t like to show any emotions as if he didn''t have any.


    His smile had only appeared once since the first time she had seen him.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    Then, as she was about to continue the exercise that he had given her, sounds of people entering the training ground could be heard.


    She quickly stopped whatever she was doing, and acted as she would usually do.


    Shepletely ignored Aiden so people wouldn''t notice him at all.


    But she had forgotten a massive detail, she wasn''t the only one known around here.


    Right behind her wasn''t an unknown person at the training ground.


    His nickname wasn''t for nothing after all.


    "Look, Emma and The Legend of the Training Ground are training together," eximed one of the people who had just walked in.


    Emma was furious when she heard that, did they really think that she was on the same level as him?


    "We are not, he''s currently learning from me, trying to get better at using the bow, isn''t that right Aiden?" she said as she hit the stomach from the side discreetly.


    "Y-yes, of course, I am the one that is learning from her," he said as he understood what she had meant.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>


    He understood her much better when she used actions instead of words.


    Words were after all, always full of hidden messages.


    The crowd hearing Aiden didn''t ask many questions not wanting to distract the two of them.


    But then, as everyone had stopped watching Aiden approached Emma from behind her whispering. "Want to continue in our room?"


    Emma obviously got scared as she didn''t hear him getting close to her as his steps were always silent.


    When she heard him ask that, she thought of a scene that she simply wanted to forget.


    She hadn''t realized instantly what Aiden was asking, so her mind went into all sorts of ces.


    A scene where Aiden was asking if she wanted to continue the deed inside their room.


    "S-sure, let''s go back and continue the training," she said out loud making sure everyone around heard what she had just said.


    Back in their room, Emma once again started swinging her dagger not evenining.


    She had learned what would happen if sheined and she didn''t want to relive that scene.


    Unknowingly to her, she had be a little bit scared of how Aiden would react most of the time.


    "I''ll leave you here, continue swinging the dagger until your arms cannot even more anymore, I''m going back to the training ground," he said leaving her alone in her exercise.


    He also wanted to practice in their room but he simply couldn''t as many holes would be created all around the room.


    He then left for the training ground and trained for the rest of the day noticing small ameliorations in his aim with the bow, but it still wasn''t anything like the arrow he had shot with Emma''s help.


    That was his goal to shoot an arrow as precise as the one Emma shoots.


    He wanted to recreate the noise that it had made at the time.


    Then, he started going back to his room to get some rest.


    But then, as he was about to reach it. A small sheet of paper started vibrating inside Aiden''s pocket.


    It was the [Mental Transmitor] that Maelis had given him.


    It seemed like she was calling him but why would she do so at such a time?


    It was almost two in the morning, what important reason would she have to call him?


    "Yes?" answered Aiden inserting his mana into the [Mental Transmitor].


    "I learned from my daughter earlier that you started learning how to use a bow from her."


    "Yes, I did she was really helpful, but is that why you''re calling thiste at night?" asked Aiden almost sure that there was something else that she wanted to talk about.


    "Well, since you are learning the bow. I think it would be great if you got hold of our family technique as soon as possible," she said as she simply wanted to help him as much as she possibly could.


    "Oh sure, I also wanted to talk to you about something," said Aiden thinking back to the start of the day when Emma and Aiden had finished sparring.

 Chapter 84 Inventory And Family Technique

    ?


    After their little interaction through the [Mental Transmitor], Maelis told Aiden toe to her office as she would give him a copy of the technique so that he can learn it.


    *Knock*


    *Knock*


    Knock sounds could be heard as Aiden was knocking on Maelis''s office door.


    "You can enter."


    Then, Aiden opened the door and walked right in, and sat in his usual seat.


    "So, before I give you the technique, what did you want to talk to me about?" asked Maelis as she still had no idea what Aiden could probably ask of her.


    She had, after all, epted all his demands for him to join the family, so why did they need to talk once again?


    "It''s nothing major, so you don''t need to worry. Actually, I noticed that Emma had some sort of dimension where she kept some of her items. So, I decided to ask her about it after the fight and she told me that it was inventory."


    "I thought it looked useful, so I asked how I could get one and she told me that you could probably give me one if I asked," said Aiden still wondering if she would actually give an inventory to him.


    "Did she now? She trains you, she even gives you information about some things. Tell me what''s happening between the two of you," said Maelis, smiling.


    "Well, it''s nothing much, I help her and she helps me. I don''t think anything special is going on between the two of us. From my point of view at least," said Aiden not understanding what type of rtionship she was expecting.


    "Well, you two sure got along fast it hasn''t even been a full day since I left the two of you alone and you are already helping each other in training. I can''t begin to wonder what will happen if I leave you alone for a full week," said Maelis, giggling.


    "And about the inventory, I should be able to get one for you, but it would of the lowest grade as you have already asked a lot recently."


    Aiden simply nodded as he didn''t mind what grade the inventory was as long as he had one in the future.


    "Then, shall we talk about the family technique? I already heard from my daughter that she performed it to defeat you, so what was it like?" asked Maelis, curious about how Aiden felt when facing it.


    "Honestly when sheunched that attack against me, I was simply hopeless as I had no way of protecting myself against it," responded Aiden truthfully as he had no reason of lying to her.


    "It''s strong, right? But we are simply a middle-level family, imagine the techniques of high-level families or even of the founding families. Their techniques just cannotpare to the one we have," said Maelis as she was clearly unhappy with their current situation.


    "I can only imagine," said Aiden, thinking about what would have happened if he had returned to the Nightshade family.


    ***


    In the Nightshade Manor, Emily wasing back from her usual visit to the Slums but this time she had a happy expression on her face.


    ''Finally, I got rid of this useless task of mine.''


    ''Since he''s disappeared, I will probably be able to choose another master to serve,'' she said to herself, happy that her life was finally going to change.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>


    ''But before that, I should probably go report what happened to the Director.''


    She, then, continued walking through the manor which was almost five times as big as the one that the Everheart family had.


    And that wasn''t all, their manor was only a small part of their possession, they had a whole city under their rules.


    A city where other families resided all under their control, it was the city where the manor of the Everheart family was.


    After walking for a bit, she arrived in front of a door guarded by two guards exuding a dangerous aura.N?v(el)B\\jnn


    They simply moved away from the door as they were used to seeing here here once a week.


    They had also been instructed of letting her through.


    As she opened the door, a single person could be seen sitting on a chair submerged by different documents all around him.


    "Emily, quickly your report," said the man not even looking as he got a new sheet of paper in his hands.


    "Aiden is either dead or he has disappeared," she said keeping it short as she knew in front of her didn''t like useless details.


    He was, after all, the one responsible for all the affairs of the family. He was the one who possessed all the information.


    "Dead? Disappeared?" he said lifting his head up for the first time and looking right into the eyes of Emily, trying to confirm what she had just said.


    "Wait?! Aiden disappeared?" eximed the man, who simply couldn''t believe his ears.


    Emily was very confused seeing his reaction as she didn''t think that it would cause a big deal. He had been banished from the family for a long time after all.


    "Alright, listen to my words closely, we need to find him. Even if we need to search the whole world to find him, you need to." said the man not giving any details, simplymanding Emily.


    Emily was honestly very confused by what the Director asked of her, but she simply nodded, not questioning his decision.


    She knew he didn''t like being questioned and that thest person who had done so had been gravely injured.


    "Do I need to do it discreetly?" she asked, wanting to make sure that she wouldn''t cause any mistakes.


    "Of course, did you think that we were going to openly search for him, now scram ande report to me if you get any progress," he said as he indicated the door.


    "Yes, sir," she said before leaving the room.


    Then, she left and a big sigh came out of the man''s mouth.

 Chapter 85 The Everheart Technique

    ?


    Back in the Everheart Manor


    "So, want to see what the technique actually is?" asked Maelis, trying to make Aiden as curious as possible.


    "Sure," said Aiden, then waiting patiently for Maelis to give it to him.


    "You''re really no fun, you know that right?" said Maelis as she got some old paper in her hands.


    "Here you go, one look at this paper and you should retain all the information that it contains, I didn''t want to show it to you at first as I didn''t think that you wanted to train the bow."


    "I was actually thinking about convincing you about training different weapons since as you know your situation is quite different from others," said Maelis referencing the fact that he doesn''t have a ss.


    "Well, since I don''t have a ss, I think it''s best for me to try and be good at pretty much everything there is," said Aiden to Maelis who only nodded.


    "You''re right, I think that''s your best bet, but it will take a long time that''s for sure," said Maelis who knew how long it could take someone to get good at pretty much everything.


    Aiden nodded agreeing with her, he knew that he wasn''t on a path that was supposed to be easy, but he still wanted to go onto it.


    It didn''t matter what it took, he wanted to be the strongest there was.


    Then, Maelis handed the old parchment to Aiden, who only nced at it before receiving multiple beeping sounds inside of his mind.


    *Beep*


    *Beep*


    [You have discovered an ancient technique.]


    [You have gained all the information rted to it.]


    Suddenly, he was attacked by knowledge that kept entering his mind nonstop.


    It made him think about when he had first transmigrated into this body.


    The memories that had entered his mind which had showed him what was possible in this worldpared to Earth.


    The memories that had made him awaken.


    "So, did it work?" asked Maelis seeing Aiden hold his head a little as if it was hurting.


    "I guess, it did. Are all techniques like that?" asked Aiden wanting to learn more about what the system would call ancient techniques.


    "If you''re talking about the headache, well I think so. But remember, having the knowledge rted to it is great but actually applying it ispletely different. Well, you''ll see how hard it is."


    Aiden already knew that it was going hard to learn in a month when even Emma had taken years to learn it.


    Would he even be able to learn itpletely, who knows?


    "Then, I should go back to my room, it''s gettingte or do you want to say something else to me," said Aiden as he was already walking towards the door.


    He was tired, but he obviously could go on if it was needed.


    "Just one thing, don''t be too hard on my daughter. I know she''s always acting tuff and all, but she is a sweet girl," she said as she noticed the way Aiden treated her most of the time.


    "Don''t worry, I already appreciate the fact that she is helping me learn how to use a bow," he said opening the door of the office.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>


    "Oh and don''t be too naughty tonight," she said winking at him, letting him leave.


    ''Naughty? Why would I be naughty tonight?'' thought Aiden not sure what she had meant.


    How could he know that Emma had talked to her mother about how close they had gotten while training together?


    How could he know that Emma said to her mother that she had almost been charmed by simply smelling his scent?


    After walking a little, he finally arrived at his room and slowly opened the door not wanting to distract Emma.


    But what he saw when he enteredpletely shocked him, Emma wasn''t training at all anymore as she had already gone to see her mother before Aiden.


    But she was on the couch sleeping peacefully.


    However, the position that she was in at the moment was, to say the least, revealing.


    Her legs were on the couch and her face was on the ground.


    ''How did she even fall asleep,'' thought Aiden looking at the ridiculous position she had at the moment.


    The position that she was in currently also entuated the form of her ass, making her look even more appealing to the eyes of Aiden.


    ''Her boobs aren''t bigger than Mia''s but her ass is that''s for sure,'' thought Aiden observing her whole body stillparing her to Mia as he didn''t have any other references.


    ''Should I wake her up?'' he thought slowly approaching her.


    He simply tapped on her lower back, trying to be as soft as possible.


    "Emma," he whispered right in her ear.


    "Mom, go away, I want to sleep," she whispered as she still seemed to be sleeping.


    "It''s not mom, it''s Aiden," he whispered once again finding this whole scene quite funny.


    "Aiden? Aiden?!" she saidpletely waking up, looking like she had never slept before.


    ''Did he see me in that in that position, how embarrassing,'' she thought imagining the scene of him walking and seeing her that way.


    Thinking of this, she becamepletely red.N?v(el)B\\jnn


    There was also the fact that he was so close to her as his scent started to enter her nose.


    "A-Aiden can you please go into your room, I''ll sleep here tonight," she said, shyly not even looking into his eyes.


    Aidenughed a little interiorly, seeing this scene.


    "Are you sure? I can stay here you know?" he said thinking about what Maelis had said that she had a strong character and that she was acting all tuff.


    He wanted to help her as it would benefit him in the long run as he would be able to receive more help from her.


    Maybe if he continued being nice with her then she would help him once again to shoot an arrow.

 Chapter 86 Getting Closer

    ?


    "Are you sure? I can stay here you know," said Aiden thinking about the possible benefits of acting this way.


    Smelling his scent once again, it seemed like her mind was starting to fade away.


    Aiden needed to leave her alone right now or else who knew what would happen.


    "Everything''s fine, just leave me alone," she said using her usual condescending tone toward Aiden.


    "Alright then, see you tomorrow I guess," said Aiden entering the bedroom.


    When Aiden closed the door behind him, relief appeared on Emma''s face as she couldn''t control herself when Aiden started to get close to her.


    Everything about him simply looked too addicting.


    If one day she tasted it, she might never be able to get rid of it.


    While she started to calm down, she felt some liquid in between her legsing out of her sacred ce.


    ''Don''t tell me that I was this excited?'' she thought not believing that only his smell and touch had caused such a reaction out of her body.


    ''It must be sweat, yeah sweat,'' she thought trying to convince herself.


    ''It''s not like I''m interested in him, it''s just because of his Charm stat points. Yeah, that must be it, why would I even be interested in him?''


    Thinking of all this, her face was obviously red. She was ashamed of her own behavior.


    ''Why am I acting this way, when he doesn''t even seem to have any reaction regarding my body?''


    ''Am I not beautiful?'' she thought, standing up and looking in the mirror.


    ''Are they not big enough?'' thought Emma as she grabbed both her tits squeezing them together.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    This time it wasn''t her face that was red but her pointy ears.


    ''Why am I even thinking of all this, I need to go to sleep who cares how someone like him thinks?'' she then thought going back on the couch.


    The next day, Aiden and Emma once again went to the training early in the morning as they both slept only two hours.


    They both did their respective training as Emma kept swinging her dagger and Aiden kept shooting arrows sometimes with Emma''s supervision, and sometimes without it.


    Once again, when people started arriving inside the training grounds, Emma left Aiden and went back to their room to continue practicing.


    Seeing Emma leave, a sudden thought came to Aiden''s mind.


    ''Oh shit, I forgot to tell her about the Everheart technique.''


    ''I''ll just tell her tonight,'' he then thought as he didn''t want to interrupt his current training.


    As he continued shooting arrows nonstop he could see that he was making some ameliorations but it was still a long process.


    He continued training until midnight as he wanted to discuss with Emma the Everheart technique and the fastest way to learn it.


    Getting back to his room, he opened the door, and this time Emma was still swinging her dagger around as it seemed she still had the energy to do so.


    "Emma, could I ask you something?"


    "Y-yes, what do you want to ask?" answered Emma clearly stressed about what Aiden would ask of her.


    Waiting for him to talk, her mind was creating multiple options of what he would ask and without much surprise, most of them were quite lewd.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>


    "I actually forgot to tell you earlier today, but yesterday night Maelis gave me ess to the knowledge of the Everheart technique."


    ''Why would I even think that he would ask me such things? Why is my mind so twisted?'' she thought, before regaining her calm appearance.


    "Yes, and?" she said, calmly, not letting show her earlier thoughts.


    "Well, I was wondering as you already know how to use it if you could give me some tips on how to apply the knowledge that I got from it," said Aiden hoping that Emma wouldn''t ask for anything weird this time.


    "It''s not that I don''t want to help you, but from my own experience I would say that it''s better to experiment with the technique," she said as she knew that people had different ways ofprehending something.


    Aiden nodded and continued as he had already guessed as such.


    "Alright thanks anyway, I will probably spend the night analyzing the knowledge from that old parchment."


    "I''ll probablye soon, I can feel that my arms are close toing off on their own," said Emma watching Aiden enter their bedroom.


    Then, a bitter Aiden was on his bed with his eyes closed as a beeping sounded inside his mind.


    *Beep*


    [Do you wish to ess the details of the Everheart technique?]


    ''Yes,'' thought Aiden answering the system.


    But as he responded inside his mind, a single image appeared inside his mind which actually didn''t contain that much information.


    [Creator: Anonymous]


    [Middle-level Technique]


    [Description: You will be able to concentrate the natural elements that surround you into a single attack. A long-range weapon is needed to use this technique.]


    [Steps to use it: ...]


    Aiden continued reading everything noting the steps to realize this technique.


    But the thing that interested him the most was the creator of this technique.


    ''Why is the name of the creator of this technique hidden?'' thought Aiden finding it weird.


    ''Wouldn''t it be the Everheart family that created it?'' Aiden thought, not sure why they would hide their name on it.


    But he didn''t spend too much time thinking about it as he simply couldn''t get anything relevant out of this information.


    The way to learn the technique was what really mattered.


    There was a total of fifteen steps.


    And even if Aiden seeded in all those steps, it wouldn''t even be sure that he would actually be able to use this technique.


    He now understood why Emma had taken years to master the technique.


    It was already looking quite a long to learn, but she also had to master each step which probably took even longer.


    Aiden without mastering the steps could potentially release the technique, but it would be random as to whether he would seed or not.


    Then, as he was about to go to sleep, Emma entered the room with both her arms looking dead as they were hanging from her body.

 Chapter 87 Getting Closer [Part 2]

    ?


    "Good training, huh?" said Aidenughing a little as she lookedpletely out of energy.


    "No, but seriously though when am I going to actually do something else. I can kind of guess why you are asking me to do such an exercise, but it''s hard you know," sheined as she showed that both her arms didn''t have the strength to move anymore.


    "Didn''t you say that you would do what I say? You''ll see. I think that in a week from now, we could probably go onto the next step," announced Aiden to give some type of goal for her to aplish.


    "Alright I guess, and by the way, I think that you should try moving while shooting as it will help you in the future because when you are in a fight it will be hard to bepletely still when shooting," said Emmapletely changing the topic of the conversation.


    "Hmm, I''ll alright I''ll try that, but I think I''ll take a little break from training the bow, I need to concentrate on learning the technique of your family."


    "Sure, do as you want, but you will still oversee what I''m doing right?" she asked not wanting him topletely abandon her.


    She wanted to get stronger and practicing her close-range fighting was simply her best option.


    "Oh, and Aiden, I know that most of the time I can appear arrogant and all of that, but please believe me that it''s just a facade to make myself feel more confident," she said, finally telling the obvious truth to Aiden.


    ''It''s not like your mother hadn''t already told me this,'' thought Aiden preparing to act surprised as best as he could.


    "Really?! It''s all just a facade," said Aiden, sarcastically.


    "Did you really not notice? Even I don''t think I hide my real personality that well," she said, surprised that Aiden hadn''t noticed that she was acting most of the time only trying to show her superiority.


    n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    "Yeah, you''re a good actor," said Aiden as he just couldn''t change his answer anymore.


    ''If I could have known that before I could have said the truth,'' said Aiden to himself.


    "Well, thank you I guess," she said as she blushed a little gettingplimented by Aiden.


    Then, the both of them went into their respective bedspletely silent.


    After five minutes of silence, Emma once again started talking.


    "And Aiden?"


    "Yes?" said Aiden not sure what she wanted to say.


    "You know that you can tell me if something isn''t going well in your life, right?" she said remembering his aura when he was about to show one of his dagger techniques to Emma.


    The aura that felt like death itself.


    Ever since she had seen it, she kept questioning herself over how Aiden attained such a thing but she never had the guts to ask.


    "Thank you, but everything is great," said Aiden confused as to why she would ask such a thing.


    "Alright, just keep that in mind," she said as the silence in the room once again took over.


    ''Does she know something about me?'' thought Aiden as he just couldn''t grasp why she would ask those questions.


    They just came out of absolutely nowhere.


    However, he quickly dismissed those thoughts as he never spoke to anyone about his past.


    "Goodnight," said Emma as she prepared herself to go to sleep.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>


    She only responded with silence as Aiden also prepared himself to go to sleep.


    The next day, a new routine installed itself as Aiden stayed in his room practicing the steps needed to seed in the technique.


    Emma, on the other hand, continued with Aiden''s training but she didn''t leave for the training grounds and simply stayed with Aiden as they could sometimes talk if things were getting too boring.


    Well, the discussion was mostly for Emma as Aiden didn''t care whether they talked or not.


    "Aiden, what was your life like in the Slums?"


    His past had be her main interest as only asked questions about it and nothing else.


    "Hard and dirty," said Aiden keeping it short just like all his previous answers.


    "Did you always live alone? What about your parents?"


    "Don''t know them, I was probably abandoned," lied Aiden nonchntly.


    "And you don''t want to find them?" asked Emma shocked that Aiden didn''t seem to care about where he came from.


    "Why would I? They abandoned me, there''s probably a good reason for it," said Aiden once again not showing any emotions when talking as if all this didn''t even matter to him.


    Getting tired of answering questions about his false origin, Aiden went up to Emma.


    "Emma, can you please stop with the questioning it''s annoying," said Aiden as he put his hand on her shoulder activating his skill [Gentle Touch] wanting to calm whatever was going on inside of her mind.


    "O-ok, I''ll stop sorry."


    ''It''s the same sensation as when he first touched me,'' she thought feeling her emotions leaving her body.


    ''Can he really control my emotions? What type of skill even is that, and how did I never hear of it?'' said Emma to herself not reacting as violently as before.


    ''Good, she seems to calm down I think it should be fine now,'' he said releasing her from his grasp and observing her reaction.


    He didn''t want to explode again likest time so he waited to see what would happen.


    But this time, everything was fine as she didn''t even seem to mind it at all.


    ''He smells so good,'' thought Emma unknowingly getting closer and closer to Aiden.


    "Emma? Are you okay, why are you hugging me?" asked Aiden getting squeezed by Emma''s arms.


    "Don''t move, let me do what I want please..." said Emma as her eyes seemed to change as if Aiden had be an obsession that she absolutely needed.


    Her mind seemed to be fuzzy as she wasn''t acting anything like her previous self.


    Aiden didn''t mind her hugging him as he simply let her do what she wanted not moving a single inch, not wanting to upset her as she seemed to have lost her mind.


    Author''s Note: The next chapters will be r-18 and you can skip if you don''t like it as it will not have an impact on the story.

 Chapter 88 Getting Closer [Part 3]*

    ?


    Her eyes were fixed on Aiden''s body as she kept murmuring something which Aiden couldn''t quite grasp.


    She kept hugging and then her murmuring stopped as her mouth opened this time speaking out loud.


    "Do what you just did to me again," shemanded him wanting to have that feeling again.


    Aiden as usual decided to lie to Emma about his ability as he didn''t know what Emma had in mind.


    Was she mad?


    Was she happy?


    Aiden simply couldn''t have an idea as this girl was too unpredictable, she, after all, hugged Aiden for no apparent reason.


    "What did I do?" he asked acting oblivious to the situation.


    "Well... you know when you controlled my emotions," she said looking deep in his eyes.


    Her eyes seemed to exclude a certain emotion but Aiden couldn''t point it out as he had never felt before.


    It was a mix of obsession and love.


    "Do it to me again, please~, I want to feel you taking control of me."


    ''Control of her, what is she even thinking?'' thought Aiden as Emma looked up to him but this time a wide smile was on her face.


    "I-if you do it again, then you''ll be able to touch those," she said as her eyes clearly indicated her two beautiful melons that were squeezed against Aiden''s body.


    Only by being pressed against his body, Aiden knew that they were soft as if no one had ever touched them before.


    When she said that, a part of Aiden remembered thest time he had sex with Mia, his first time.


    The feeling of touching boobs, he missed it, this feeling of excitement and happiness that he had felt at the time.


    He missed it and there was an opportunity for him to do so again right in front of him.


    "You want me to take control of your emotions?" asked Aiden once again making sure that she was okay with it.


    "Yes~, do it fast, fast, I need to feel controlled," she said as the obsession she had over Aiden seemed to resurface.


    Her eyes were now changing forms as an image of a heart could be seen within them.


    Then, without losing time, Aiden executed hermand as he activated [Gentle Touch].


    As soon as he did, a jolt of pleasure seemed to go through Emma''s body as she felt some of her emotions vanishing and some amplifying.


    ''Yes, yes, this is it, I need this. I need you,'' she thought as she let go of Aiden and pushed onto the bed right behind them.


    This bed which was supposed to be for a single person was now for the two of them as Emma was right on top of him, looking down on Aiden who still kept a calm face not showing much emotions.


    "Why aren''t you getting excited, am I not good enough?" she said as tears started toe out of her eyes.


    She seemed to be on an emotional rollercoaster as her emotions kept changing over and over again.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>


    Seeing her cry, Aiden once again activated his skill as he thought that it would bring her back to the state she was before.


    Energy once again entered Emma''s body as she suddenly stopped crying.


    "Keep going, keep going~," she said as she could feel some liquid starting to want toe out of her sacred ce.


    ''What even is happening? Isn''t this skill supposed to remove all the emotions she''s feeling then why can she look at me with such desire in her eyes,'' thought Aiden not understanding why his skill was acting this way.


    It was simply too weird, a skill that was supposed to remove all emotions was amplifying the emotions that Emma was feeling, well, it seemed.


    "Why aren''t you grabbing them, they were part of the deal remember~," she said with an excited voice as she started to feel a slight budgeing from the pants of Aiden.


    It wasn''t because of the situation that he was currently in that his penis was starting to get hard.


    It was because of the memories that he was passing into his mind of Mia and his first time.


    Emma who didn''t know this thought that it was of the words she had just pronounced.


    However, when she saw that Aiden wasn''t even paying attention to her she waspletely furious.


    ''A girl like me is throwing herself at him and he ignores it. Does he like guys or what?'' she thought not understanding how a guy could react this way when a girl was acting the way she was currently doing.


    She wasn''t ugly, she had forms, she was strong, she was rich, she had everything, so what was the actual problem?


    Wasn''t she just perfect?


    "Dumbass, what are you even thinking about?" she said as her rationality seemed toe back.


    She didn''t look like the mindless idiot who was acting just a moment ago.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    No obsession could be seen in her eyes when she looked at Aiden.


    "You want me to grab them?" he asked wanting to make her admit it that she liked his touch.


    Her arrogance towards, it was the time for payback.


    "Stupid, now you want to grab them, what even is your problem?"


    The reason why Aiden was suddenly interested in grabbing them was because Emma was suddenly throwing insults at him.


    "Do you want me to or not?" he asked as the slight budge in his pants seemed topletely disappear which as a result angered Emma.


    "Pervert, stupid, dumbass," said Emma as she kept saying names that served to insult Aiden.


    But as she said that she seemed to blush as both her cheeks werepletely red. She was shy about how she had just acted with him.


    ''Does he want me to admit it? Sorry, but that will never happen!,'' she thought, determined to make Aiden sub under her charms.


    ''Does she not want to admit it? Guess I''ll just have to make her.'' he thought, determined to make her admit that she wanted Aiden.


    War was now unhinged as both of them were determined.

 Chapter 89 Getting Closer [Part 4]**

    ?


    "Dummie, just grab them and be done with it, I know you want to," she said using a cute voice this time trying to attract him toward her.


    "What happened? You don''t want me anymore, you don''t want to feel controlled," he said with a smug smile on his face as he reused the words that Emma had once said to him.


    "Controlled? Me? You wouldn''t be able to do so even if you wanted to," she said as she was still sitting on top of him as liquid started to leak from her secret ce.


    The liquid ran down the top of the legs onto Aiden''s stomach.


    ''Why is my stomach suddenly wet?'' thought Aiden not understanding the sudden development.


    Emma was sitting on top of him, so how could the shirt that he was wearing be wet.


    ''Wait is it the same liquid that came out of Mia''s body when we did it, but it''s weird we haven''t even done anything yet,'' thought Aiden finding it weird that it would be the same asst time as they hadn''t even done it.


    Emma who was feeling her fluids run down her body was obviously scared that Aiden was going to use this to his advantage saying that she was excited by him or whatever of the sort.


    But to her surprise, he only showed a small reaction of confusion.


    ''I guess he doesn''t know what it is,'' she thought as his smell once again entered her nose making her excited once more as more liquid started running down the top of her legs.


    "What''s happening to you? Why do you keep releasing this weird liquid?" asked Aiden as just couldn''t understand what was happening at the time.


    ''Is it really the same liquid that Mia also hadst time,'' he thought seeing Emma''s red face.


    "N-no reason, I don''t know what you''re talking about," she said, struggling to even speak a full sentence.


    "Sure?" said Aiden as he grabbed one of her tits while activating [Gentle Touch] controlling some of her emotions.


    ''No, not this again, if he does this again then I would lose control,'' she thought as she felt that weird energy once again entering her body.


    The weird energy then entered her body directly affecting her mind as her eyes once again began taking the shape of hearts looking down on Aiden.


    "Do whatever you want to me, use me as you want," she said, revealing what she had wanted to say since earlier but had restrained herself to.


    "Then, if I do this, you won''t say anything," said Aiden as his other grabbed the other melon that she had left.


    As he did so, another wave of fluids wasing out of Emma''s pussy.


    "Ahhnnn~"


    Moans started toe out of her mouth as she put her hands on Aiden''s torso feeling his muscles.


    Aiden then continued groping them as he wanted as Emma simply didn''t care anymore.


    She was lost in pleasure as Aiden continued touching her.


    Moans and fluids kepting out of her mouth and pussy nonstop.


    Then, her hands started to slowly move down from Aiden''s torso to Aiden''s lower area.


    But, when Aiden saw this he knew that he needed to make her work for it.


    "Not so fast," he said suddenly tightening his hold on one of her tits.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>


    "Ahhhhhhhnnnnnn~"


    As he did so a massive moan came out of her mouth as she simply couldn''t hold it back anymore.


    "I''ll do anything~ Just let me suck it~," she said in a pleading tone as if bing a ve of Aiden.


    "You''ll do anything, right?" asked Aiden as he could see that she had truly meant it just by the expression on her face.


    The expression especially showed that she was trying to resist her urges as hard as she could.


    "Then, turn around and show me your ass," ordered Aiden, waiting for her to actually do it.


    "As you wish master~," she said turning around.


    But as she did so, she also removed her wet panty showing her pussy directly to Aiden as if inviting him to do as he wanted.


    Seeing this Aiden obviously got hard but still controlled his urges as he wanted Emma to beg for it.


    ''She needs to be on the ground begging for me to put it in,'' thought Aiden as a huge smile appeared on his face.


    ''Who would have thought that something like this would even happen?'' thought Aiden as he simply couldn''t understand how they had reached such a stage.


    It, after all, started when Emma started hugging him for no reason seemingly losing all reason.


    How could have Aiden known that the situation would develop to such a point that she started calling him master?


    "Like the view," she said as she shook her ass right in front of Aiden.


    As she shook it, her ass kept going up and down and showed a certain firmness that indicated that this ass wasn''t made of fat but from muscle.


    Aiden instead of answering, took both his hands and pped her ass.


    But it wasn''t a little p, it was a p that left a deep red mark of his hand on her ass.


    "Ahhhhhhnnn~!"


    "Like this, everyone will know that you own me~," she said as she had clearly lost her mind over to Aiden.


    Her usually calm and witty attitude was nowhere to be seen as she kept trying to pleasure Aiden as best she could by shaking her ass.


    But as she shook her ass, the fluids from earlier kept releasing onto Aiden''s body and didn''t stop for a single minute.


    "See this is a sign of love," she said talking about the liquid that kept running down her legs.


    "Alright, that''s enough you can turn around, now beg. Beg for it."n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    Emma who would have usually opposed this strongly, didn''t even care as she got on her fours as if she was a dog.


    "Please I beg of you master, give me your dick."

 Chapter 90 Getting Closer [Part 5]**

    ?


    As Emma was on her fours, Aiden simply couldn''t imagine what made her act this way.


    She was literally listening to all of his orders not even speaking and simply executing them.


    The usual Emma was nowhere to be seen as the words that came out of her mouthpletely shocked Aiden.


    "Please I beg of you master, give me your dick," she said as she was trying to get closer to his lower body.


    ''She really said it, well she''s truly lost it,'' thought Aiden smiling a little as he couldn''t have imagined before that a girl would be doing that to him.


    Seeing her crawl toward him, Aiden slowly walked and gave her another order to see if she would listen or not.


    "Remove the rest of your clothes and walk toward me," he said as Emma immediately stopped what she was doing, standing up.


    ''Did she just take control of her mind once again,'' he thought seeing her standing up.


    However, her next movementspletely changed what he had in mind as she started removing her tight ck training suit revealing her two beautiful melons that couldn''t stop moving up and down as she removed the rest of her clothes.


    Seeing them juggle around, the rod between Aiden''s legs that hadn''t gone up yet immediately started to get hard with this incredible view.


    Then when she finished removing the rest of her clothes, she immediately got back to crawling on the floor.


    But she wasn''t doing the exact same way as earlier.


    She made sure to move her hips in an exaggerated manner to show her jiggly ass.


    And this simple action immediately caught Aiden''s eyes as he simply couldn''t remove his eyes from her it.


    It kept moving right and left, up and down.


    It was too mesmerizing to not look at it.


    But then, without even realizing it, Emma was arriving close to him as both her hands took hold of his pants.


    "Can I~?" she said as a small of fluid ran down her leg.


    Aiden, also, wanting to get a taste of this beautiful woman simply nodded as he just couldn''t act any different anymore.


    A girl was at his feet listening to everything he wanted, any man would be begging to have such a situation in front of them.


    Emma seeing Aiden''s nodding quickly started removing the top of his pants as she wanted to see what his rod would look like.


    Going as fast as she could a massive rod came of Aiden''s face which hit Emma''s nose.


    ''It''s perfect~,'' she thought as saliva starteding out of her mouth by simply watching this beautiful dick right in her face.


    Not even asking this time, she took hold of it as a jolt of pleasure ran through her.


    "Finally, finally, I can get a taste of it~," she said excitedly as her hands started moving up and down along the massive shaft of Aiden.


    "Does it feel good?" she asked seeing that Aiden wasn''t showing much excitation even after she started ying with his dick.


    ''Her skills just aren''t as good as Mia''s,'' he thought as he remembered the feeling that he obtained thest he had done the deed.


    "Try with your mouth instead."


    ''Is it even going to fit inside of my mouth,'' she thought as a big gulp could be heard by Aiden.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>


    Wanting to see her flushed face once again, Aiden took hold of her head as she had started putting it in her mouth.


    With his hands behind her head, he simply pushed it as he wanted her topletely deepthroat it.


    Tears seemed to form in the corners of her eyes as this simply looked like too much for her, but she didn''t even try to resist as Aiden removed his pressure.


    She kept trying to stay there, sucking him off like the good girl she is.


    Then, as she kept sucking him off, a white liquid seemed to form on the tip of Aiden''s dick.


    At the same that this liquid wasing off, Aiden was inplete pleasure as he moaned a little.


    "Ahnn~! Don''t you dare stop," he said as Emma started going back and forth even faster this time.


    ''I need to take all of it,'' she thought as more liquid started entering her mouth.


    However, the white liquid stayed in her mouth as she didn''t want to drop this precious liquid.


    "Alright, you can stop," said Aiden as he sat on the bed that was right behind him.


    Emma who had her mouthpletely full of cum, started drinking it bit by bit as to show her love to Aiden.


    She was drinking it right in front of him to show that she wouldn''t discard his most important fluid.


    ''It tastes so great!'' she thought as she continued drinking it.


    Aiden seeing this was once more excited as this view in front of him was simply too exhrating for him.


    A girl was choking on his cum.


    This view started to make his dick hard once again.


    "Master, are you happy~?"


    Hearing this, Aiden didn''t even answer as he stood up and took her in his arms.


    "Kiyaah~"N?v(el)B\\jnn


    A cute scream came out of Emma''s mouth as he did.


    After picking her up from the floor, he dropped her on the bed making sure that her back was towards him.


    As he saw her ass jiggling once again, he approached it and pped it as hard as he could leaving another red mark on it.


    "Ahhnnnn~," moaned Emma as she really liked getting hit by Aiden.


    "Again, do it again," said Emma in a pleading tone wanting to feel his strength again.


    Then, Aiden listened and pped her ass again without any hesitation.


    Another moan came out of Emma''s mouth as he did so.


    "You really like that, huh?" said Aiden as hended on the bed, taking his huge dick in his hands and cing it right in front of Emma''s pussy.

 Chapter 91 No Memories Of It

    ?


    "Want me to put it in?" asked Aiden as he kept rubbing the tip of his penis onto Emma''s pussy.


    "Yess~," she said as moans kepting out of her mouth.


    But then, as Aiden was going to put it in, Emma''s body fell forward as if she had lost consciousness.


    "Emma? Are you still there?" asked Aiden wondering what could have happened to her to act this way.


    However, there was no answer at all from Emma.


    "Did she really just fall asleep?" said Aiden somewhat frustrated as he really wanted to do it with her this time.


    All the actions that she had done to seduce him had excited him to a point where all he wanted was to fuck her, but now that she was unconscious, Aiden didn''t want to do it anymore.


    It was against his morals to fuck an unconscious person and he honestly found it disgusting.


    That''s why he stood up and put on his pants watching the back of Emma''s body.


    ''Urgh, whatever it''s not like we won''t be able to do it another time,'' thought Aiden as he knew that those types of situations would be more and more frequent since they had already done everything that there was to do between them.


    "However, one thing kept bugging me when I used [Gentle Touch] earlier, why weren''t her emotions about me fading, and why were amplifying," he said as he simply couldn''t understand that part.


    Maybe the skill only removed negative emotions and amplified the emotions which were considered good.


    That was currently the only hypothesis that Aiden had as he couldn''t think of anything else.


    "Should I wait for her to wake up or do I simply go to sleep?" said Aiden as he quickly decided to go to sleep.


    Nheless, he didn''t go sleep on his bed as Emma was upying it.


    He went to sleep in Emma''s bed.


    ***


    In the middle of the night,


    Emma slowly woke up as her eyes opened up.


    ''Why am I naked?'' she thought not understanding the situation she had been in, not remembering what had happened yet.


    She remembered that she had hugged Aiden, but there was nothing after that.


    It was a part of her memories thatpletely vanished leaving a hole in her memories.


    She didn''t even remember the time when she had kind of regained control of her mind.


    Herst memory ofst night was simply hugging Aiden.


    But then, she lifted her head up and started looking around as she didn''t understand why she was on this side of the room.


    ''Shouldn''t I be on the left?'' she thought not understanding why she was sleeping on the other side of the room.


    ''Wait, wait, wait, I''m naked, I''m in Aiden''s bed, is he in my bed?'' she thought trying to make sense of the situation.


    Then she looked toward her bed, and she saw Aiden''s figure which waspletely covered up sleeping peacefully.


    ''Did something happenst night?'' she thought trying as hard as she could to remember.


    But, it didn''t matter the effort that she was putting in to remember, she still couldn''t.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>


    The thing that really bugged her was the fact that she was naked.


    Did Aiden see her like this?


    Did he see her whole naked body?


    She didn''t know yet but Aiden had actually seen a lot more than simply her body.


    He had seen her act in a way that even she wouldn''t be able to understand.


    ''I hope that he didn''t see me in this state,'' she thought as she quickly stood up as she picked up her clothes from the ground.


    As she picked up her panty, she noticed that it was wet.


    Then she touched her legs and also felt that there was some residual of a certain on it.


    ''Wait, there''s no way right?'' she thought as she touched her pussy.


    ''No, no, no, don''t tell me that we did it,'' she thought as she now knew that something had happenedst night.


    ''Please tell me, that he also doesn''t remember,'' she thought as she could only pray that Aiden wasn''t going to remind her over and over again about how they fucked each other.


    She was panicking as she quickly went to find another outfit to put on as this one well... was a bit dirty, to say the least.


    Then, she decided that the best course of action would be to simply wait for tomorrow morning and wait for Aiden''s reaction.


    She realized that she couldn''t do anything to change what happened.


    The past was the past and nothing could change it.


    Then, she went back to sleep in Aiden''s bed which was filled with her own fluids, but she didn''t realize it as she fell asleep right away.


    ***


    The next morning, Aiden woke up and saw that Emma was still sleeping.


    So, he decided not to wake her up and simply go train once again.N?v(el)B\\jnn


    Personally, for him, it wasn''t really a big deal what happened yesterday so he decided that he would wait for her to talk about it.


    It was, after all, her that had started everything.


    Then, he arrived at the training ground early in the morning and there was still no one around as he could shoot his arrows in peace.


    One hourter, as Aiden was fully concentrated in his task, he heard some steps from the entrance of the training ground.


    Looking back, he saw pointy ears and a tight training uniform.


    It was Emma, she had just entered the training ground.


    However, something about her was different as when Aiden looked at her, she would always evade his look.


    "Emma, are you alright? Did something happen?" asked Aiden acting concerned toward her, wanting to see what she would say.


    ''Let''s see, does she want to talk about it?'' thought Aiden as he had simply no idea that she didn''t even remember what happened between them.


    "Y-yes everything''s alright, how''s the training?"

 Chapter 92 Advancing With The Everheart Technique

    ?


    "Y-yes everything''s alright, how''s the training?" asked Emma clearly avoiding her discoveries ofst night.


    However, Aiden wasn''t going to let it go, he wanted to see how she would react if he continued to press on her previous actions.


    "Are your knees hurting?" he said referencing the time she was begging for his dick on the ground.


    However, as Emma didn''t have any memories of it, she responded truthfully not quite understanding the hidden meaning.


    "No, they''re not, why?"


    Aiden noticing the pure expression on her face, he simply decided to aboard another topic.


    She didn''t seem like she wanted to talk about it and he wasn''t going to force her.


    Only time will be able to make their rtionship progress even more than it was at the moment.


    "Don''t worry about it, it''s nothing."


    Then, some silence got in between the two of them as Emma kept racking her brain trying to find a topic of discussion for the two of them.


    "So, how''s your progress with the Everheart technique?" asked Emma changing the topic of the discussion.


    The technique which Aiden was trying to learn before the tournament was a harder task than he had thought as he was only on the second step out of fifteen and he didn''t even master the first one, he had only seeded in doing it once.


    He knew that it was going to be hard to learn as Emma had took a long time to learn it even with her talent, but he didn''t think that it was going to be that bad.


    There wasn''t a lot of time left before the tournament and he had given up on the idea of learning itpletely, his goal had changed, he wanted to seed in the technique at least one time.


    Also, the time he had spent learning how to use a bow would clearly be useful because just like Emma had said using a bow was essential for the technique, and Aiden being more adept with that weapon wouldn''t be a bad thing.


    "Honestly, it''s pretty bad, I will probably have a hard time performing it a single time before the tournament," he said without showing much disappointment as he knew that learning the Everheart in thirty days would have been crazy even for the most talented person that existed.


    Emma nodded as she knew of the difficulties that he was going through, she knew that it wasn''t simple but she still respected the fact that he was trying to learn it at all.


    Many had been given ess to the technique but had given it up halfway as they thought of it as too hard.


    But that wasn''t the case for Aiden and she respected that.


    Then, Aiden and Emma said some words to each other and brought back their focus on their current training.


    Emma''s task had changed, she wasn''t moving her arms around for no reason but this time she needed to make quick shes in session on a mannequin made for training.


    The mannequin after thirty minutes or so of training was having difficulty keeping its head as almost all her strikes were aimed at its neck because of Aiden''s rmendations.


    Was he trying to create a female version of him, capable of shing the head off of someone''s body in a single strike?


    Aiden had said that she should aim for the neck as it was the most sensible spot for any person. <novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>


    He also said that it was the best ce to aim at, because it was the ce where killing someone would be the easiest.


    When he had said that, obviously some shivers ran down Emma''s spine but she still kept a straight face not showing it.


    She was obviously happy that she was finally changing exercise.


    This one even seemed to hold some true purpose as she was actually effectuating a movement and not simply working on her endurance.


    Endurance, that''s what she thought Aiden was making her practice by swinging her around as he still didn''t reveal why she had done such a weird exercise.


    But in her mind, she just couldn''t find another reason as to why he had asked that.


    Aiden, on the other hand, was sometimes practicing the bow, this time moving while doing so just like Emma had mentioned, and when he wasn''t, well... he was practicing the Everheart technique which at the moment didn''t have any corrtion to the bow.


    The second step which he needed to seed at least once was to make the ground beneath him shake for a quick second.


    There were obviously details inside the technique as to how to achieve such a thing, and Aiden was trying his hardest to actually do so.


    However, even after many tries, he wasn''t able to do so and was a little disappointed but he still didn''t give up. n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    He wanted to seed in it once and he would do so.


    ***


    Later at night, after havingpleted their training, both Aiden and Emma were going to their room, as usual, when Aiden felt a small vibration in his pocket.


    His [Mental Transmitor] was vibrating as it seemed that Maelis was trying to contact him.


    Aiden''s first thought as to why she was calling was obviously about the rewards that he had asked for.


    Thinking that it was this, some excitement started to be visible within Aiden''s face and body.


    Then, he quickly infused some mana into the [Mental Transmitor].


    The blue energy went from his heart, to his hand and into the small sheet of paper.


    Then, feeling the connection being established, Aiden heard the voice of Maelis on the other side just like he had expected as she was the only one who could join him this way.


    "Aiden?e see me in my office, it''s about your rewards."


    "Alright, I''lle right away," he said before Maelis discontineud the connection between the two [Mental Transmitor].


    "Seems like I have to go, try not to fall asleep on the couch this time," he said smiling a little before quickly leaving in the direction of Maelis''s office.

 Chapter 93 Rewards

    ?


    After walking for a little, he entered Maelis''s office as fast as he could without even knocking as he wanted his rewards.


    He wanted to see what his armor would look like, he wanted to see if she had managed to contact the mercenary she had talked aboutst time.


    After all, the meeting with the mercenary was what he wanted to have as soon as possible.


    He simply had too many interrogations without answers as the system never wanted to answer the juicy questions as if having a mind of its own.


    "Oh, Aiden, make yourself at home I guess," said Maelis seeing Aiden entering not even looking at her as he went to sit at his usual seat.


    Aiden hearing this only nodded and waited in silence as if it was obvious what he was waiting for.


    "Hello? Can you even speak?" said Maelis finding Aiden''s attitude quite rude as he wouldn''t usually act like this at all.


    Aiden realizing that he wasn''t acting like a normal being quickly opened his mouth.


    "Oh, sorry about that, it''s just when I heard you talk about rewards I was too excited," said Aiden as he knew that his reaction had been quite excessive.


    "That''s fine, ahaha, so how''s your learning of the technique going?" asked Maelis as she wanted to talk about his overall progression before showing him the rewards that he so wanted to see.


    Aiden obviously was going to say an answer that resembled the one he had just given Emma.


    "Well... quite bad to be honest I''m stuck on the second step, any tips?" asked Aiden trying himself even if he knew that it was better for him to find on his own.


    "The shaking of the ground, huh? Well, Emma probably told you already but it''s better for you to find on your own, nheless what helped when I was stuck at this stage was focus on what was beneath the ground and not at its surface," said Maelis, hoping that it could help him a little.


    ''Focus on what is beneath the ground,'' Aiden kept repeating inside his mind trying to make sense of what she had just said as it couldn''t be useless.


    But as he racked his mind for over a good minute, he realized that it didn''t help him at all at the moment.


    Nevertheless, he kept this information in the back of his mind for when he would be trying the technique again.N?v(el)B\\jnn


    "Thanks, I guess," said Aiden after a good minute of useless thinking.


    "What about Emma, how''s it going?" asked Maelis who still didn''t know what had happened between the two of them.


    Funnily enough, Maelis was almost in the same situation as Emma, having no memories of their moment together.


    ''Should I tell her about it?'' thought Aiden, debating whether or not to do it.


    The most dominating answer in his mind was obviously "no" as it wouldn''t make him gain anything to say to Maelis that her daughter was on the ground begging for his dick as if nothing else mattered.


    He thought as hard as he could trying to find an advantage to saying "yes" but he just couldn''t. The only small advantage would be that because of that their rtionship was growing well, but it still wasn''t enough.


    Because of those reasons, he answered that nothing major happened and that everything was going as per usual with their respective teachings of each other.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>


    Then, it was finally time, it was time for Aiden to see his light armor that he would now wear pretty much all the time as he didn''t have any other clothes.


    The outfit that he was wearing was starting to smell quite bad and he needed a change.


    "Ready?" asked Maelis smiling seeing Aiden''s expression which couldn''t contain his excitement.


    He still didn''t know if she was able to join the mercenary but this was only secondary in his mind as his armor was about to be revealed.


    But before Maelis showed him, she added some words just to annoy Aiden a bit because of his earlier actions.


    "It was crafted by a talented cksmith/craftsman, you will see that it is quite detailed. Maybe this will make your rtionship with Emma develop even more," she said winking not knowing that it had already developed by a lot.


    Aiden hearing her teasing him, only nodding as he knew that if he showed any emotions that showed his annoyance then maybe she was going to make him wait even more.


    Then, after a long wait, Maelis was finally going to reveal what his armor would look like.


    But that wasn''t what truly interested Aiden, he wanted to see its rank, and what it would give him.


    She opened a drawer from her desk and out of it came out an armor made out of leather.


    The leather was of the color ck as Maelis knew that he liked being discreet which is why she had taken this choice.


    The armor was basically an all-ck armor made out of leather.


    The choice of this material was also great for Aiden as he liked moving around a lot and this material made sure that his movements wouldn''t be restrained at all.


    He knew that this wouldn''t be the best armor defensively but it was still better than nothing.


    "I like it, it looks cool," said Aiden showing his gratitude.


    But, then as he thought that this was it, Maelis still wasn''t done as she took something else out of her drawer.


    It was all ck, however, there was some kind of design on it, a design that Aiden had seen before in his past life.


    The design was in white color which showed a clear contrast to the ck color.


    But then as Aiden started to see some more of what wasing out of the drawer, his eyes opened wide in shock as he simply couldn''t believe it.


    "Do you like it? It''s for the tournament," said Maelis showing what she had in her hand to Aiden clearly.


    Author''s Note: A change will happen to Aiden''s Personality soon... well you''ll see.

 Chapter 94 Reaper Mask

    ?


    "Do you like it? It''s for the tournament," said Maelis showing what she had in her hand to Aiden clearly.


    Aiden simply couldn''t believe his eyes as he didn''t think that he would see it again.


    "What? You don''t like it?" asked Maelis seeing that Aiden didn''t move or say anything as if frozen.


    Aiden still didn''t answer as his mind was in clear turmoil, asking himself how this was even remotely possible.


    ''Why is that here? How is that possible?'' he thought looking at the object Maelis had in her hands.


    ''It looks exactly like back then.''


    Then, as he was thinking and thinking, he got hit on the forehead.


    Being hit, he suddenly came out of his thinking process and saw that Maelis was the one who had done so.


    "Why did you do that?" he said cing his hands on his forehead.


    "You weren''t moving, I thought you had died standing still,"ughing a little as she said that.


    "But are you fine? Is it not cool, I thought that it would be perfect for the tournament since you wanted to participate in secret without people knowing who you are," she said, confused, noticing Aiden''s shock on his face.


    "No, no, it''s great, it''s just that I didn''t expect to see it again," said Aiden as he whispered thest words of his sentence making them inaudible for Maelis to hear.


    "You didn''t expect what?"


    "Oh, nothing, nothing don''t worry about it."


    After all, he didn''t want Maelis to know that he had already seen what she had in her hands in his past life.


    And it wasn''t any random item, she held one of his most prized possession.


    His mask.


    His mask that had the face of a reaper on it.


    "I also thought of a nickname for you at the tournament, can you guess it?" added Maelis, happy that Aiden was so interested in that surprise of hers.


    ''The Reaper,'' thought Aiden answering her question in his mind.


    "The Reaper, isn''t it great? It even matches your personality a little."


    When Aiden heard her confirm that the nickname she had chosen was indeed the Reaper, he was truly bbergasted.


    He just couldn''t believe that everything that happened was simple coincidence.


    Why did he reincarnate in a body that had the same as him in his past life?


    Why was the system helping him?


    Why didn''t he receive a ss like everyone else when awakening?


    Just what was making him so different from everyone else, he needed to find out as he just couldn''t continue living in the dark about this situation.


    But, the real problem was that even if he thought about it for an entire day, he would still be stuck in the same ce.


    He had no way of knowing the answers to those questions, the only hope he had resided in the other reward that he was supposed to receive.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>


    Information.


    Information from the mercenary that Maelis had talked about.


    Aiden really hoped that this man would have an idea about some of the things that had happened to him.


    But he still knew that he wasn''t going to be able to say all his secrets to an unknown person.


    He wouldn''t be able to ask all the questions he had on his mind as he would need to discover some of them by himself, but the mercenary''s answer couldn''t hurt pointing him in the right direction.


    N?v(el)B\\jnn


    Then, he got hit again on his forehead.


    "Are you sure you''re alright?" said Maelis as she noticed that he wasn''t very present mentally seemingly away, thinking about who knows what.


    "Y-yes, it''s fine, and what about my other reward, you know about the mercenary?" asked Aiden as he really wanted to know this time.


    "Never mind that don''t you want to try to put the mask on?" said Maelis trying to change the subject for no apparent reason.


    Aiden was getting impatient as some anger appeared in his tone. "No I don''t want to put it on, I need answers."


    Anger was clearly taking over him as the sudden appearance of his mask had flustered him quite a bit.


    He needed to know why and he couldn''t wait anymore, he didn''t want to entertain her anymore.


    "What''s gotten into you?" she asked noticing a sudden mood swing out of him.


    "About the mercenary, I still don''t have any news about himing here soon. We contacted him, but we have no idea when he mighte," said Maelis, knowing that Aiden was going to be sad learning that.


    But, she thought that Aiden was going to be sad or disappointed.


    However, the reaction that he was showing as of right now was out of the scope of what she expected.


    His face was showing clear anger, unlike anything she had seen before out of Aiden.


    He usually had a cool and collected mind, but that wasn''t the case at the moment.


    ''Why? Why can''t I know?'' he thought as he clenched his fists.


    His anger was normal. He had been thrown into an unknown world with no idea of where he was and what would happen.


    He also noticed some weirds things about the world that surrounded him, but when he saw the mask that he had used in his previous life, it was too much.


    It was like a switch had turned within him, everything looked connected as if his arrival in this world was nned since the beginning.


    However, as usual, he couldn''t prove any of this.


    "Can''t you make hime faster?" asked Aiden regaining some of his calm.


    "Unfortunately, no I can''t as I already told you, mercenaries are free and do as they wish. Who knows when he might arrive?" said Maelis careful in how she revealed the information as Aiden''s mind at the moment seemed... fragile.


    Aiden hearing this nodded, took his armor, and left her room without a single word.


    He was disappointed, but he knew that he couldn''t do anything about it.


    He was too weak, he needed to be stronger.

 Chapter 95 Emma Conforting Aiden

    ?


    Heading back to his room, he was still upset about being oblivious to his situation.


    So many things were happening to him, so many changes had happened to his life, and he couldn''t do anything about it.


    He was too weak, others were always dictating how he was living.


    In his past life, Jack was the one who made the choices for him.


    In this life, he seemed to be free but it seemed like all the moves that he was performing were under constant surveince by some system which he knew nothing about.


    It was truly infuriating.


    This situation made him think.


    He remembered some of the foolish mistakes he had done in his past life and in this life, in fact, all his mistakes came from one thing and one thing only.


    His trust.


    Thinking about it, he was bing more and more frustrated about it, why was everyone always a deceiving bunch, why couldn''t people be simple and say things that were on their minds?


    Because of this realization, he decided one thing.


    He decided that his trust would have to be earned now.


    He knew that all his mistakes depended on that one thing and he would now do his best to avoid giving it away too easily.


    He realized that he would have to get stronger and faster than before.


    The current speed at which he was gaining strength wasn''t enough, there were too many things that could kill him as if he was an ant.


    And the first thing that came to his mind was his family in this world, the Nightshade family.


    What would even be the reaction of Maelis if they came knocking on their door asking questions?


    She would probably tell her everything that she knew about him.


    And the reason that she would do such a thing is simple.


    He didn''t hold enough value for her to lie about his existence.


    Then, his thoughts were interrupted as he reached the door to his room.


    ''I need to calm down and act as if everything is going great. But I need to put some distance between Emma and I.''


    ***


    While Aiden was heading toward his room


    Maelis was worried about Aiden, as she began infusing mana in a small sheet of paper, into a [Mental Transmitor].


    Then, almost instantly on the other side of the [Mental Transmitor] a female voice could be heard.


    "Mom? Is everything alright?"


    It was obviously Emma who answered on the other side.


    "Something weird just happened, Aiden didn''t seem to be in his right mind. I know that you don''t get along too well, but please be nice to him tonight," said Maelis, telling Emma to not act like her usual self as she didn''t know how Aiden would react.


    "What happened? Wasn''t he going there to get rewards?" asked Emma, unsure, about what could have caused this development.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>


    "I don''t know, I said that one of his rewards was going to be dyed and he had a strong reaction to it. Just don''t act with your usual attitude, is that clear?" Maelis repeated what she had just said once again.


    She didn''t want to lose him, he was a potential talent.


    She knew that he had talent and that was why, she was trying to help him the best she could, but tonight he had revealed a part of his personality that made her worry quite a bit about his future actions.


    When he left silently her office, it was like something had changed within him.


    "Don''t worry," she said thinking about the discoveries that she had madest night.


    ''In fact, I''m sure he wouldn''t mind my presence,'' she thought thinking about how wet the clothes she had foundst night.


    "Alright, remember just try to calm him down, don''t anger him."


    Then, as she said that, the connection between the two [Mental Transmitor] was cut, leaving Emma perplexed about how she should act when he arrived.


    ''Act like I know nothing?''


    ''Maybe give him a hug like yesterday.''


    The second one was quickly eliminated as she didn''t want something like that to happen once again.


    ''I''ll just adapt to what he says.''


    That was her final thought as the door of her room was opening.


    ***


    "Oh, Emma," said Aiden putting on the best fake expression that he could muster in that short time.


    Emma who was sitting on the couch had quite the revealing appearance as she had put on a tank top that revealed her underboob, but still, Aiden paid it no mind as his mind was obviously in turmoil over the conversation with Maelis.


    "Aiden, everything''s fine?" asked Emma, still having her conversation with her mother fresh in her mind.


    But the act that Aiden was putting on, at the moment was convincing even her as Aiden looked perfectly fine, even happy.


    "Yeah, of course, why?"


    Aiden had decided that it was best if he kept some distance from Emma as he still didn''t know if he could trust herpletely.


    "No reason, no reason, going to sleep?" asked Emma seeing Aiden go into their bedroom.


    "No, I''ll probably study the technique a little before."


    "Are you sure that everything''s fine, you know that you can talk to me, right?" said Emma standing up and not getting too close to him as she remembered her mind going fuzzy thest time she had done it.


    Aiden was clearly tempted to talk about his problems to Emma, but he knew that if he did reveal his secrets then it would be a mistake.


    Because everything revolved around his trust.


    "Don''t worry about it, and tomorrow I''ll probably train alone for the rest of the month. I want to be ready for the tournament. So, no need toe see or anything."


    Aiden had a change in mentality and was making it known to Emma who was about to say something but then closed her mouth as she saw Aiden''s face who seemed determined to reach a new goal of his.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    Emma nodded and then watched him enter his room, noticing that something had definitely changed within him.


    He wanted strength and he didn''t have any time to waste on useless people.

 Chapter 96 Training Alone

    ?


    As days passed by, Aiden acted like he had said to Emma a couple of days ago.


    He woke up, and went to the training grounds, this time without her apanying him.


    He trained untilte at night and came back to their room then, sometimes he gave a few tips to Emma regarding how to use her dagger, but he seemed a lot more interested in her as if his mentality had changedpletely.


    He didn''t care about how she dressed, what she looked like, or anything like that, his mind was solely focused on training stronger.


    He wanted to get stronger, strong enough to get any answers that he wanted to have.


    Strong enough that others couldn''t decide what would happen to him.


    He wouldn''t let others dictate his life, that was what he had decided and he was going to try and do it to the best of his abilities.


    His progress with the Everheart was also quite slow and it was almost sure that he wouldn''t be able to use it before the tournament, he was still on the 7th step and there were few days before the tournament.


    As a matter of fact, the interactions between Emma and Aiden were bing scarce as they only said greetings to each other, not talking like they would before.


    Emma obviously wanted to go back to the old rtionship between the two of them, but well... under the orders of her mother, she was asked to not disturb Aiden at all and to simply leave him alone.


    Nheless, Emma stillpletely listened to her mother sometimes acting in certain ways to maybe try and get Aiden to talk to her, but it was like she was a hindrance to him.


    In the days that passed by, Maelis and Aiden didn''t have any contact with each other, she only watched him from far away trying to see what were his daily actions.


    She had also not received any news from her about the mercenary and it seemed like he wouldn''t be able toe before the tournament, was he upied with something?


    No one knew, she had stopped receiving any news from him a couple of days ago.


    It was a worrying situation for her as she didn''t want to have lied to Aiden about the rewards that he would be getting when joining the family.


    But she couldn''t do much about the situation as she couldn''t summon him how she wanted.


    Still, the change in Aiden''s behavior was quite hard to deal with from her perspective as she thought that it was her fault that he was acting this way.


    Well in a way, it was.


    But in another, it really was because of that mask she had shown him.


    A mask that was connected to his past life, which had made Aiden question everything that had happened before transmigrating to this world.


    Without its appearance, who knew what would have happened between Aiden and Emma, one was sure it was that they would have gotten a lot closer to each other.


    ***


    "Aiden, can we speak?" asked Emma, seeing Aiden entering their bedroom as usualte at night.


    However, as usual, he continued on his way not paying any mind to her, only responding a clear and concise "no".<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    He knew that if he started acting like he did before then he would start to get naive and believe whatever words.


    He knew that if any person from the Nightshade family would being that they would be weing them with open arms.


    He couldn''t be foolish anymore, he needed to prepare for their arrival.


    He knew that he wouldn''t be able to resist what they wanted after he was weak, only level fourteen in a middle-level family without any technique to help him.


    ***


    Then, another week passed by the same way as it did previously, that was until they were both called to meet with Maelis, it seemed like she had something to say to both of them.


    It was quite obvious what she was going to say, but well... they still needed to go and see her.


    They both of them were walking toward her office with Emma trying to start some conversation, but as usual, it didn''t work it was like she was speaking with a rock which only answered with "yes" and "no".


    It was like the rock wasn''t able to develop any form of interesting answers.


    After a couple of tries, she gave up epting that he had changed and that he probably didn''t care about her at all.


    But who could me him?


    This wasn''t where he came from and he didn''t know anything about this world except that he could get stronger by going into trials.


    Then, after walking for a bit in silence, they knocked on the door to Maelis''s office.


    And a voice could be heard on the other side of it.


    "Come in."


    Entering, Aiden nodded as a greeting and Emma did the same with a more rxed expression than him.


    "You probably already know why I called you here, but I''ll still say it. The official date for the tournament has been announced and where it will take ce also," said Maelis waiting for both Emma and Aiden to pay attention.


    "The tournament will take ce in three days, and I''d say that your best course of action is to rx yourselves to be in the best shape possible when arriving there. As the ce you will be going is as usual one of the territories owned by one of the founding families."


    ''Wait, it takes ce in one of the backyards of the founding families and she didn''t tell me which one it was?''


    Some panic seemed to enter his body but he tried his best controlling it as both Emma and Maelis didn''t seem to even notice his reaction.


    Actually, Emma seemed excited as this was the first time she was going to the territory of one of the founding families.


    Authors Note: will proofread soon

 Chapter 97 Emplacement

    ?


    "Which one is it this year?" asked Emma before adding, "Please tell me, it''s not the Nightshade, I want to travel a little."


    The meaning of her words was quite simple as they were part of the territory of the Nightshades, Emma didn''t want the tournament to be here, she wanted to explore a little more about the world that surrounded them.


    She had never left this territory, and she was quite excited to discover what the other territories would look like, after all, she was sure that the other territories probably had a different style of architecture or stuff like that.


    Aiden, also, nodded hearing the words she said at the end of her sentence, it didn''t want the tournament to be here under all the eyes of the Nightshade family.


    Sure, he was still in their territory but it was so big that he was simply an ant inside of it.


    He didn''t want to fight right in front of their very eyes, who knew if they could see through his mask?


    He knew that even if the tournament was in another territory, he would fight in front of some of its members, but there would probably be a lot less than if he were to fight here.


    Then, Maelis nodding at Emma''s words revealed where the Inter-Family Tournament would be taking ce.


    Actually, Aiden already knew a bit about it, he knew that they were one of the best at creating weapons as his dagger even originated from them.


    "The tournament will take ce in Ravenwood''s territory which isn''t that far away from here as it will only take a single day to leave to go there."


    ''Aplete day of travel isn''t far?!'' thought Aiden, unsure he had heard that correctly.


    But then as Maelis was about to continue talking Emma interrupted her.


    "Mom, mom, can''t we leave now, it will give us a few days to explore the city," said Emma as excitement seemed to be contained in her voice.


    "Aiden? Do you want to?" asked Maelis before pronouncing her decision, they were a team after all.


    Both Emma and Aiden mattered.


    "Yes," said Aiden as he didn''t see any negative points regarding leaving right away, in fact, it will be beneficial as they are going to be well rested going there in advance.


    However, Maelis who had not expected this response was pleasantly surprised.


    She had expected him to refuse thinking that he would want to continue training but it seemed like he was more open-minded to it than she thought.


    "Then, I guess it''s decided we will leave tomorrow morning as I still need to prepare a way for us to go there," said Maelis before continuing her earlier exnation.


    "Also, as I wanted to say earlier, Aiden is participating in the tournament anonymously, so Emma does not call him by his name. You can when he is not wearing his mask, but when he is you need to call him by his nickname, The Reaper, or Reaper for short."


    Emma was obviously surprised by this news as she still didn''t know about it.


    "He wants to participate without anyone knowing that it''s him fighting, but why didn''t you tell him that he could get famous if he did," asked Emma confused about Aiden''s choice.


    Maelis only sighed and gave a strict stare at Emma, "Obviously I told him, but it''s his choice, so don''t interfere."<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>


    Emma gulped seeing her mother staring at her in such a way closing her mouth, listening to what she was going to say next.


    "Then, I guess that''s all, I will contact the Mental Transmitor tomorrow morning, so make sure to be ready."


    Then, both Emma and Aiden stood up nodding while leaving the room.


    As soon as they left, Emma was obviously really excited about the news and once again was trying to make Aiden speak.


    "Did you hear that? We''re leaving this ce!" she said really excited that she was finally going to see some other city for the first time in her life.


    Aiden who was clearly not as excited, only responded with a single word, "yes".


    "Come on! Get some emotions on your face," she said as the emotionless face of Aiden was starting to get on her nerves.


    It was the same face she had seen for thest month, never showing a smile or anything of the sort.


    However, Aiden still didn''t care.


    Understanding that he wasn''t going to speak to her, Emma started talking to herself.


    "The Ravenwood, almost all weapons that, we, awakeners usee from there, who knows maybe we''ll be able to get one," she said out loud for no real purpose.


    Then, she had a thought.


    "Aiden, isn''t your dagger from there?"


    As usual, one word came out of his mouth, "yes".


    "Then, what do you say we find the creator of your dagger? Or maybe we can get you a custom-made one?" she said as if the price of such things didn''t even exist in her mind.


    But still, herst words managed to spike Aiden''s interest as it would help him get stronger.


    "A custom-dagger, I guess it would be nice, but as you know I don''t have enough Credit for it," said Aiden forming a full sentence for the first time in a long time.


    ''No way, he really spoke to me, am I dreaming or something?'' thought Emma surprised to hear him speak to her after such a long time.


    In fact, at one point, she thought that he had been reced by a robot as all he did was wake up, eat, and train, over and over again.


    "I was joking, it cost way too much to get one, even if we used all our resources to buy one, I don''t think we could get you one."


    "Oh, I see," said Aiden, already kind of knowing this.


    "But, who knows? Maybe you''ll be able to get one in one of the tournament rewards," said Maelis, not wanting the conversation they had in days to stop.N?v(el)B\\jnn

 Chapter 98 Meeting New Members Of The Everheart Family

    ?


    The next day, Aiden and Emma were preparing themselves to leave for the tournament in the Ravenwood territory.


    Emma was excited and Aiden not so much which created a clear contrast between the two of them.


    But, still, Aiden was happy that he was going to discover another ce that isn''t anything like he had seen before.


    Then, as both of them were ready, their [Mental Transmitor] vibrated and they both heard the same thing.


    "Come to the front of the manor."


    They both did as Maelis had just said and quickly went in front of the manor.


    Once again, there was a clear contrast on how much they were bringing over to the Ravenwood territory.


    Aiden didn''t have much, in fact, he didn''t have anything except his dagger, no clothes, nothing.


    Emma, on the other hand, has all the necessities that one would need when traveling.


    They really were opposites of each other.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    A couple of minutester, they arrived in front of the manor and Aiden was surprised to see two people which he had never met before in his short stay at the Everheart manor.


    One looked quite old with a beard and blue eyes. However, he didn''t have pointy ears which meant that he wasn''t an elf.


    The other had pointy ears which indicated right away that he was an elf, his proud expression also told him so, he had long blonde hair and blue eyes.


    He looked exactly like the stereotypical elf that we could find in novels and mangas.


    "Oh, you must be the Legend of the Training Grounds," said the old man, clearly making fun of that nickname.


    "Aiden, call me Aiden, what''s yours?" asked Aiden still as rude as one might be.


    "Oh, quite to the point, I see, I''m Gerald Everheart, you can call me Ger," said the old man clearly to create some type of rtionship between the two of them.


    But Aiden only nodded when hearing that information.


    Then, before Aiden would continue making a bad impression, Maelis quickly took over and made the elf present himself.


    "Finrod Everheart, the one you reced," he said, clearly showing hostility while talking.


    ''The one I reced? Oh, it was probably the one that was going to participate in the tournament,'' thought Aiden clearly making sense of hisment.


    But, he didn''t care about the hostility that the elf was showing as he responded in the way, even going as far as to provoke him.


    "If youre talking about the tournament, then I was probably a better choice, that''s it."


    Those words made Finrod mad, as he knew that he was the second best.


    "What do you say? Want to try and fight me?" he said trying to provoke Aiden.


    But, it was no sess as Aiden only responded to his attempt with an emotionless face, not caring about what this guy was going to say.


    There was probably a good reason that he had reced him, and fighting amongst themselves probably wasn''t the best idea.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>


    And he was right as Maelis started to calm the situation down.


    "Calm down, both of you and Finrod you better respect him," said Maelis showing her usual aggressive look.


    This made him quickly shut his mouth.


    Then, Maelis continued as she wanted to make a better presentation out of Gerald as he didn''t even reveal his role.


    "And for your information, Gerald will be the one apanying you in the city, protecting you all from unknown threats as I will probably be a little busy talking to other family leaders."


    Aiden and Emma both nodded when hearing this, but Emma added something as she was happy to see the old man.


    "Ger, don''t be annoying alright," she said giggling a little, which was unlike her usual public facade.


    But what Aiden didn''t know was that Gerald had been close to Emma since her young age which was why she acted this way.


    "I promise, little monster," he said, alsoughing.


    Finrod hearing their conversation was kind of shocked at the closeness between the two as he had never even seen Emmaugh in his entire life.


    But, he came out of his thoughts hearing the voice of Maelis bringing them back to order.


    "I think, it''s about time we leave, what do you say?" announced Maelis as she saw the excited look on all their faces, except on the one of Aiden and Gerald.


    Gerald wasn''t excited as he had already visited the Ravenwoods territory.


    Then, some weird vehicle appeared behind her, it had four wheels and an engine.


    For someone who came from Earth the first thing that came to Aiden''s mind was that this vehicle was a car.


    However it didn''t look like any car, it looked like a big van that you could see on the road on Earth.


    But, he quickly thought otherwise when he looked at the back of the car where two gigantic propulsor could be seen, they looked really powerful probably capable of reaching a pretty impressive top speed.


    ''It''s going to take one full day of travel using this?!'' thought Aiden, realizing that the world that he had been transmigrated into was incredibly massive.


    "No way, can we really take this to go there?" asked Emma, her eyes brimming with excitement.


    It looked like this type of vehicle wasn''t thatmon as Emma seemed quite surprised by it.


    "Yes, we can. Aren''t I the best?" said Maelis, clearly proud to have found such a ride in the time restraint they had.


    Then without responding, they all got aboard this weird vehicle which honestly didn''t look all that impressive to the eyes of Aiden.


    He had seen way more impressive things than this since arriving in this world.


    Then, the engine started, and the power of the two propulsors behind shocked Aiden who almost fell off his seat because of that.


    This small scene caused a little giggle out of Emma, but she still controlled seeing that Aiden didn''t even look the least bit flustered.


    "Well, what should we do to pass the time?" asked Ger, as he knew that one day would be quite a long time to wait by doing nothing.

 Chapter 99 Ravendwoods Territory

    ?


    "Finally, we arrived," eximed Emmaing out of the weird-looking van, looking quite exhausted.


    "Finally? Was mypany that bad?" said Gerald, making fun of Emma.


    Both Gerald and Emma in the whole day of travel, hadn''t stopped talking even once.


    It had be quite tiring to constantly hear them speak, in fact, it had reached such a point that even Maelis had been tired of their constant.


    But, now that had gotten out of the vehicle, Aiden could finally leave the two of them alone and explore the city without any distractions.


    Then, as he was trying to get away discreetly, he quickly got called back by Maelis.


    "Aiden? Where are you going?"


    Then, instead of answering he just got back to where he was.


    "I know that you want to explore the Ravenwood''s territory but not so fast, I need to tell you guys something, and I know that you''ll be interested," she said with a certain tone of certainty.


    Catching Aiden''s attention, she continued to exin what she had discovered yesterday when they had left.


    "I was informed yesterday by one of the representing of the Ravenwood family, that there will be a special auction on the asion of the Inter-Family Tournament."


    Immediately after saying that, Emma interrupted her with excitement.


    "An auction? Where?"N?v(el)B\\jnn


    "Obviously, in the Ravenwood Pavillon where all the auctions take ce. Also, since there is an auction, I have decided to give both Emma and Aiden some Credits to spend buying better gear for the tournament," said Maelis as she looked to the side where Finrod was and made a little "sorry".


    "It will be held tomorrow at noon so make sure to be there as many interesting items and skill books will be presented there. Don''t forget that we are in the territory where most weapons that we, awakeners, use are crafted."


    "I will give both of you 30 000 Credits which you will be able to spend as you wish, it won''t be enough to buy the best items, but with it, an upgrade of your equipment should be somewhat feasible," she added looking at Aiden particrly.


    Then, as she finished saying that she said her goodbyes as she had some meetings in the city with other family leaders.


    "Shall we go look where this Pavillon that she talked about is?" said Gerald, smiling, seeing Emma''s excited face.


    Then, the four of them started exploring this vast city that they were now is.


    The first change that immediately caught Aiden''s eyes was that most people living inside this territory were dwarves which made sense as they were known to the best cksmiths.


    Then, the architecture of the city was also quite different than what he was used to.


    How could he describe it simply?


    It looked old...


    Well, oldpared to the territory of the Nightshade which was technologically advanced with inventions that he had never seen before.


    But here, well it looked as if they were back in the Middles Age, with cksmiths on each corner of the road, with dwarves walking the street with a hammer in hand.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>


    It really was a city of crafters, a city where the majority of people knew how to use their hands to craft beautiful things.


    Then, as they were in the direction of the Pavillon as Gerald pretty much knew where he was, a dwarfing out of a cksmith went right up to Aiden.


    "Hey, you!" said the dwarfing closer and closer to Aiden.


    ''What did I even do?'' thought Aiden not finding any reason as to why a dwarf would go up to him.


    The dwarf was like in any manga, it had a long beard, was very small, and had a red hair.


    He had quite well-defined muscles all over his body, and calluses on his hands which clearly showed that he had spent a lot of time hammering and crafting.


    But then, the next words of the words exined the situation. "Where''d you find that dagger, I thought that I had thrown it away as thrash."


    Aiden was confused when he heard that as he knew that this dagger wasn''t the best, but it still wasn''t thrash in his mind at least.


    "Well, I guess it took me a long climb to find it," said Aiden remembering the stairs that he had to go up to finally find the dagger in his hands.


    "A long climb? Doesn''t matter, do you like it?" asked the weird dwarf clearly talking about the dagger in Aiden''s hands.


    "Uh, I guess, why?" said Aiden not sure where this was going.


    "Well, it might surprise you, but it was me that crafted that dagger, it was one of my very first creations," he said with a pensive expression on his face, "Time sure flies by."


    Aiden was shocked not by the fact that the man had recognized the dagger, but by the fact that he had done so with such distance between them.


    After all, they had been quite far away from him and they hadn''t even paid attention to him.


    His eyes were impressive, to say the least.


    "And why did youe up to me?" asked Aiden as he still didn''t understand why that dwarf was still talking to him.


    Sure, he had crafted Aiden''s dagger, but what else? That simply couldn''t be it.


    "Oh nothing much, I was just surprised to see a weapon that I had made such a long time ago," said the dwarf before returning inside his smith seemingly finished with that little interaction.


    "Oh and my name''s Thorin, don''t forget it."


    "Well, that was weird," said Emma to the side who had simply watched this little interaction between the dwarf and Aiden.


    "You should have seen your face when he came up to you, ahaha," she saidughing, still trying to make some type of conversation between the two of them.


    It seemed like she still hadn''t given up on making them friends again, she liked the old Aiden, the one who would at least be a little more talkative.


    Author''s Note: Go check out my other novel, The Only Cultivator.

 Chapter 100 Vip Entries?

    ?


    After that weird interaction with Thorin, the dwarf, Aiden, and the others continued exploring this amazing territory.


    They were still going toward the pavilion, but they could see it from a distance even if they hadn''t reached it yet.


    Because just like in the Otherworld shop, it was a really tall building.


    Nheless, it wasn''t exactly the same as in the Otherworld Shop as Aiden could perceive the top of it.


    But, still, it was impressive that they had seeded in building such a building when most of the citizens were 3 feet tall.


    Imagine all the dwarves building this, probably wasn''t easy.


    "Do you want to go to the Ravenwood Pavillon, or visit other ces since we''ll go there tomorrow for the auction," asked Gerald, wanting to hear the opinions of those he should be guarding.


    "I guess we can go check out some other parts of the city," said Emma, excitedly.


    But, Aiden immediately changed the atmosphere surrounding them as he realized that what they were doing right now had no real purpose.


    Visiting a city?


    Why would he lose time doing that when he could get stronger instead?


    "Is there any training ground around here?" he asked as he knew that Gerald had already visited this ce a little in the past.


    "Oh? You want to go to the training ground, huh?" asked Gerald, smiling a little.


    "Yes, let''s go there, good idea Aiden," she said as she got closer to him.


    His addictive scent was still on him but with the past month she had grown used to it, it didn''t affect her as much as before.


    That was a good thing as they literally lived together.


    Imagine if the person you were living with, was turned on each time they were too close.


    Some might say that''s great, but some would be annoyed.


    But still, Emma got so close to Aiden that they had some skin contact with each other.


    Their hands barely touched each other, but it felt nice.


    Well, for Emma, at least, who was still in theplete dark about the time when she had begged for his dick.


    Finrod seeing them act so close got a little jealous.


    ''Are they a thing? Why is she so close to this mongrel?'' he thought, clearly despising Aiden as he had stolen everything from him.


    Before his arrival, he had the spot for the tournament, he had some interactions with his Goddess Emma, and he was considered the second best talented young awakened in the family.


    But, this man in front of him had changed everything.


    Emma who was usually stoic and arrogant wasn''t anything like that around him.


    In fact, she looked as if she would do anything that he would say.


    The Goddess of the Everheart family, the most talented there was, was acting like she wanted eptance from a little boy from the Slums.


    Finrod having these thoughts was furious and started thinking about what he could do to change that.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>


    After all, he was still a substitute for the Inter-Family Tournament.


    ***


    Sometimeter, the three youngsters with Gerald apanying them arrived at the training grounds.


    However, it wasn''t anything like the training grounds found at the Everheart Manor as this one was public without any of the instations that the Everheart Manor had.


    Just like in the rest of the territory, it looked old and not updated with the current technology.


    N?v(el)B\\jnn


    Aiden could see multiple scarecrows acting as targets for many close-rangebatants. There were also targets for people who needed to practice long-range.


    And, unsurprisingly, the public training ground was quite the attraction as a lot of people were there practicing.


    It seemed like it was the tournament that had caused this as the whole training ground was literally full.


    Every scarecrow, every long-range target. Everything was already being used by someone.


    Seeing this Aiden quickly wanted to leave and find another spot to train as this one was literally useless.


    But then, an excited voice was heard right beside him.


    Who could have guessed? It was Emma.


    "Aiden, look, look, it looks like they set up a special challenge for the tournament," she said pointing to his left toward an area which he hadn''t observed yet.


    There were a lot of people all in line as if waiting for their turn to participate in this... challenge... well it looked like one.


    But he wasn''t sure as people were all in line toward a small portal.


    Clearing his doubts about what this was a voice was heard.


    "Come, Come, If you beat the fifth level you will receive a reward!" said an announcer who seemed to be trying to draw people in this little event of his.


    ''A reward?'' thought Aiden, his ears opening up wanting to know more about this reward.


    "Aiden, you heard right, let''s go and try it, I''m sure we''ll be able to do it," she said grabbing his arm and dragging him there.


    When she did so, a small blush appeared on her face, but it quickly vanished when she saw his emotionless face.


    Then, as they got to the back of the line waiting for the challenge, the announcer continued talking trying to bring more people over.


    "The reward is two VIP Entries for the auction tomorrow."


    ''Well, it''s not like any of those randoms will be able to get it,'' thought the announcer clearly looking with disdain at the people who started running to get in line.


    Aiden hearing this was interesting but not that much as he had no idea what those VIP Entries would give him.


    He was sure that it was a good thing to have them, but he had no idea of what advantages a VIP would have.


    Gerald who finally caught back to them, smiled when he had what the announcer just said.


    "VIP Entries, huh? I guess it would be a good idea to have them for tomorrow."


    But as Aiden was about to ask him questions about what it would give you, Emma spoke up.

 Chapter 101 Aiden And Emma

    ?


    "What are those? I''ve never heard of it," said Emma who for once was as clueless as Aiden about something.


    "It''s quite simple actually, you''ll get to be with the other VIPs in a suite reserved for all of you to be in. That can be great to form connections with others. However, that''s not very enticing now is it?"


    Responding to his question both Emma and Aiden nodded with Finrod not caring about this conversation as he didn''t have any funds to participate either way.


    "The most important thing about the VIP Entries is the discount that you can have while being a VIP in an auction. All VIPs have a discount of 15% on the price they buy an item."


    "For example, let''s say you bought something at the price of 100 000 Credits, you will only pay 85 000 Credits which considering the grand schemes of things, it is quite a big advantage."


    Aiden instantly realized that this wasn''t something to be neglected as it would help him buy more things in the auction, as he only had 30 000 Credits to spend.


    Well, "only" was a big word as 30 000 Credits was a big sum, after all.


    "Then, I guess we have no choice but to pass this level five of the challenge they created," said Emma trying to motivate Aiden a little, who still looked as dead as one could be.


    Then, time passed as they moved up in the line getting closer and closer to the challenge.


    But there was one thought that didn''t leave Aiden''s mind this whole time, what was this challenge even about?n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    They had no way of knowing this as all they saw was a little portal that people entered and left after some time.


    But the announcer hadn''t revealed anything about it, he had only revealed the reward.


    Nheless, they continued advancing with Aiden trying to figure out what this challenge would be about.


    Then, after walking a little Emma, Aiden, and Finrod arrived in front of the portal with the announcer right beside it.


    Gerald couldn''t participate as he was told by the announcer that he was too old and to assure fairness he couldn''t try.


    Actually, the real reason was that the announcer had felt that Gerald wasn''t an inexperienced person and he was almost sure that he would have been able toplete the first five levels without much problem.


    Not wanting to give his VIP Entries, the man quickly dismissed Gerald.


    "Want to go first?" asked Emma to Aiden.


    But before he could answer, the announcer interrupted her from answering.


    "Woah, before that, give me my Credits. You think this is a charity," said the man, smiling seeing their faces.


    Of course, both Emma and Aiden had no idea that they needed to pay to try and win the VIP Entries.


    "How much is it?" asked Emma, not really minding as they had just received 30 000 Credits.


    "Only a hundred."


    Emma handed two hundred Credits for both her''s and Aiden''s participation but she didn''t give enough for Finrod''s participation.


    Aiden only nodded as a thanks.


    Maybe it wasn''t clear until now, but it didn''t look like she appreciated Finrod a lot.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>


    Finrod noticed this and was mad but not at Emma.


    He was mad at Aiden because it was him who had caused her to change this way.


    Still, he also handed one hundred Credits from his own personal bnce.


    "Great, great, but it''s one person at a time, so who''s going first?" asked the man repeating the question that Emma had asked before being interrupted.


    Then, a small silence was created between the three of them, who kept looking at each other.


    Finrod was the one who spoke first.


    "I''ll go first, I guess," he said walking forward in a proud manner as if he was proving something to others.


    It was like he said that to prove to Emma that he was courageous, but he was quickly disappointed when he saw that she wasn''t even looking at him.


    She was actually still trying to make some conversation with Aiden who still responded the same way as usual with some "yes" and "no".


    Not even once had she looked at Finrod, it was as if he was invisible.


    This made it even clearer that Finrod held no importance for Emma.


    But, still, he continued with his chest up walking right into the portal.


    Aiden was actually happy that he had gone in first as he would be able to tell him what type of challenge it was.


    He didn''t believe that he was going to pass level five as no one had even done so while they waited in line.


    "Aiden? Aiden? You there?" said Emma over and over again noticing that Aiden wasn''t paying any attention to her once again.


    Then, he looked at her without saying anything as she continued talking.


    "So, as I was saying, what do you want to buy tomorrow at the auction?" she asked wondering if he actually was going to respond to her.


    Aiden not finding anything wrong with the question decided to respond to her.


    It wasn''t like he didn''t like speaking to her anymore, it was more that he wouldn''t talk with her about personal information as he didn''t want a close rtionship with her.


    He didn''t want to get too close to her as he knew that it would only be temporary since if the Nightshade family found out about him then they would take him back.


    Well, probably.


    "I''ll try to buy a skill and if there isn''t one that interests me then probably a new weapon. I''m not sure," he said as a smile appeared on Emma''s face.


    "So, now you''re talking to me again, huh?" she said as it was the second time in a shortpse of time that he had formed a full sentence to talk to her.


    "It''s not that I don''t want to talk to you, it''s just that... your questions are a waste of time," he said clearly stating why he had stopped talking to her.

 Chapter 102 Dark Place

    Chapter 102 Dark cen/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    A couple of minutester after Finrod had entered the challenge, he came out of it.


    But, just like all the ones before him that had entered, he was battered.


    He didn''t look hurt, it was only his clothes that made him look that way.


    As soon as he came out, Aiden who wanted some information about the challenge tried to go talk to him, but as we were about to, the announcer interrupted him.


    "You think you can use your friends to help you win?" said the announcer, a smile appearing in the corner of his mouth.


    Aiden didn''t respond and waited for his turn. He had tried to gain more information to have more insurance about having those two VIP Entries, but it''s not like he needed them.


    Hisst month of training without the distraction of anyone, it wasn''t for anything.


    He hadn''t gotten stronger in terms of stats, but he had learned to better use his body.


    Even if his stats hadn''t gone up, his overall power did.


    "So, now, is it going to be you? Or this beautiful young girl?" said the announcer, looking at Emma with a creepy look.


    Seeing him look her way, Emma discreetly covered her assets as she wasn''t interested in having him look at her this way.


    Emma not wanting to be looked at this way, decided that she would be next to go in.


    "Maybe you won''t have to go in," she said winking at him and entering the little portal in front of her.


    Aiden, this time, thought that maybe Emma would be able to seed in beating the level five that the announcer had talked about.


    She had beaten him a month ago, so she had strength.


    But still, it depended on what the challenge inside actually was.


    If it was a strength one then both Emma and Aiden would have difficulty as they didn''t possess much strength.


    They were more of the agile type, and who knew what was on the other side of this portal?


    "Aren''t you afraid for your girlfriend, what if she gets hurt?" said the man, trying to scare Aiden a little.


    "She''s not my girlfriend," he said in a stoic tone.


    But then, his mind also thought of something else.


    ''Well... she could''ve been. No, you need to think about strength... Yeah... right, strength. That''s the most important,'' thought Aiden, steeling his mind on the previous decision that he had made.


    "She isn''t, oh then I guess she''s free," he said, licking his lips.


    Hearing this, Gerald who was on the side, quickly intervened as he didn''t like what he was hearing at all.


    "I wouldn''t if I were you," he said in a dark tone,pletely different than the one which he would usually use when talking to Emma or even Aiden.


    Feeling the aura surrounding Gerald, the announcer panicked a little.


    "I was only joking, no need to get all angry, ahaha," he said trying to calm the sudden change in the atmosphere.


    Gerald seeing him back off right away didn''t create a scene and let him go.


    "But, young man, what do you think is behind that portal?"


    "I don''t know, what do you think?" said Aiden trying to trick the announcer into tell him.


    But it didn''t work as the attempt Aiden had made was well... bad.


    Who would have even fallen for such a thing?


    Then, small noises could be hearding out of the portal, it looked like Emma had finished her attempt at the challenge and wasing out.


    She was also battered, her clothes bing a little revealing as it seemed that she had some problems inside. However, she wasn''t hurt physically from the look of it, just like Finrod.


    Then, when Aiden looked at the man in front of him, he noticed a big smile on his face.


    A big creepy smile just like the one he had given earlier.


    Aiden didn''t know why but seeing him look at Emma this way, was making him angry.


    As if what he was feeling was jealousy. But he quickly dismissed that thought as it was impossible, he had pushed her away and he didn''t even care about her.


    "I guess, she wasn''t able to beat level five, ahaha," said the man as he already knew before Emma had even announced it.


    "Then, off you go young man, and good luck, you''ll probably need it," he said as he pushed Aiden in the back practically dragging him in.


    As he entered, the usual beeping sound could be heard in his mind.


    *BEEP*


    *BEEP*


    In fact, it was a sort of calming sound as it had been a while since Aiden had even heard it.


    [Entering an unknown space.]


    [All your injuries will be healed when leaving this space.]


    ''Um, I guess that''s why only their clothes were in bad condition whening out,'' he thought quickly analyzing the information.


    Then, without wasting time, he looked in front of him, but there was still nothing, he was in a dark ce without an ounce of light.


    In fact, he hadn''t looked in front of him, he had simply raised his head, but couldn''t perceive anything.


    Without any light, he had no idea if there was actually anything surrounding him. Then, looking behind him, thinking that maybe he could go back through the portal.


    But, it wasn''t there anymore as another beeping sound was heard in his mind.


    *BEEP*


    [The portal will appear once you are done.]


    ''That''s just great... great! Am I really stuck here?'' he thought carefully stepping forward in front of him scared to hit something with his legs.


    But there was nothing, as he continued going forward thinking that maybe something would happen if he continued doing so.


    ''Just what is this? Am I even in the right ce?'' thought Aiden, not understanding what type of challenge this might be.


    Then, as he questioned whether or not he was in the right ce, a robotic voice spoke.


    "Level 1."

 Chapter 103 Level 1

    ?


    As Aiden slowly started advancing blindly in front of him, a robotic voice spoke, its words echoing in the darkness, "Level 1."


    Then, Aiden, who was inplete darkness, heard a small, subtle noiseing from his left.


    Swoosh


    The sound startled him, and almost instantly after hearing it, he felt a sharp impact as an object collided with his body.


    Staggering back, Aiden winced in pain as the robotic voice spoke once again, its tone unyielding, "If you are hit five times, then you have lost the challenge."


    ''Wait, is this really the challenge?'' Aiden thought, his mind racing as he tried to make sense of the situation. ''I need to dodge things that I can''t even see.''


    Determined and focused, Aiden concentrated as hard as he could, his senses heightened in the darkness. He prepared himself to hear the next noise, bracing for the impending threat.


    His n was actually quite simple: when he heard the noise, he would jump as high as he could, relying on his agility and instinct to evade whatever wasing at him. With each passing moment, his anticipation grew, and he readied himself to execute his daring maneuver.


    The familiar sound echoed through the darkness, piercing the silence around Aiden.


    Swoosh


    Reacting swiftly, Aiden executed his n, leaping into the air with all his might. His muscles strained as he propelled himself upward, reaching the peak of his jump before gravity pulled him back down to the ground.


    As hended safely, a sense of relief washed over him. He had sessfully evaded whatever object had beenunched at him. His confidence grew, and he readied himself for the next challenge, bracing for the anticipated sound.


    However, this time, there seemed to be a slight dy. Aiden strained his ears, waiting for the noise to resound in the darkness, but it didn''te immediately. He started to wonder if the trial hade to an end if he had managed to pass the first level unscathed.


    Thinking the ordeal was over, he rxed his body, letting his guard down for a moment. The tension in his muscles dissipated, and he prepared himself to hear the robotic voice dering his victory.N?v(el)B\\jnn


    But just as he settled into this brief respite, a split second before voicing hisint about the malfunctioning robotic voice, the sound once again reached his ears.


    Swoosh


    Aiden''s body instinctively tensed, and his senses sharpened. He realized that the challenge was far from over, and he needed to remain alert and agile to survive. The dy had been a trick, a deliberate ploy to test hisposure and reaction time.


    The darkness that enveloped him seemed to stretch on endlessly, distorting his perception of time. In this eerie realm, seconds felt like minutes, and minutes like hours. Aiden''s disorientation intensified as he struggled to gauge the passing of time, a disconcerting feeling that only added to the already unnerving challenge.


    Yet, despite his confusion, Aiden steeled himself, determined to ovee whatever obstaclesy ahead. He couldn''t afford to let his guard down again. He focused his attention, attuning his ears to detect even the faintest hint of movement, preparing to evade each iing threat with swift precision.


    With a renewed sense of purpose, Aiden braced himself for the next object, the next test of his abilities. The darkness may have concealed his surroundings, but it couldn''t dampen his determination to conquer the challenge before him.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>


    As the robotic voice dered the beginning of "Level 2," an oppressive silence descended upon Aiden. It was as if all sound had been swallowed by the void, leaving him in a state of eerie stillness. Even the faintest echoes of his own bodily functions seemed to fade away, leaving him in a disconcerting void of absolute silence.


    Aiden''s heart pounded in his chest, its rhythm now a deafening presence in his own ears. He realized that Level 2 had imposed a restriction on his hearing, rendering him unable to rely on auditory cues as before. Panic threatened to take hold as he grappled with the daunting challenge ahead.


    "How the hell am I going to pull this off?" Aiden''s thoughts raced, his mind desperate for a solution. Without the familiar swoosh to signal impending danger, he had no way of knowing when to jump or dodge. The absence of sound heightened the tension, intensifying the pressure he felt.


    In the midst of this uncertainty, a flicker of an idea sparked in Aiden''s mind. It wasn''t a perfect n, far from it, but in the limited time he had, it seemed like the best course of action. He decided to keep moving, remaining as mobile as possible, hoping that he wouldn''t be hit by anythinging his way.


    It was a strategy born out of necessity, a gamble in the face of unknown challenges. Aiden understood the risks, but at this moment, he saw no other viable option.


    Then, he did exactly as he had nned as he started running and jumping, hoping that he wouldn''t get hit.


    But then he thought about something.


    ''How am I going to know when I pass the second level?''


    It was a normal thought because as of right now he wouldn''t be able to hear the robotic voice that announced everything to him.


    Sure, he would be able to know if the projectiles would hit him, but he wouldn''t be able to know when he would be advancing.


    Then, he continued running around feeling that his body was bing more and more tired by the constant effort that he was putting in. Adding jumping into his movement, was also making it even more tiring.


    Sprinting and jumping for seconds was hard for every human, but Aiden was awakened.


    He had better stamina than normal humans, he was able to sprint for several seconds, but for several minutes...


    That would be a challenge, even for him.


    But would he even be able to hold on or would fatigue catch up to him making him unable to reach the third level?


    ***


    Author''s Note: Tomorrow, you won''t be able to ess the new chapters as I am currently updating the privilege. Also, if it is possible to give power stones to my novel, it would be great as I would get more exposure from webnovel.


    Nheless, thank you for reading my novel as it means a lot to me!

 Chapter 104 Unable To Feel

    ?


    Aiden''s relentless running and evasive maneuvers had taken a toll on his body. His breath came in ragged gasps, his muscles ached with exhaustion, and his movements became increasingly sluggish. Despite his efforts, he couldn''t shake the feeling of uncertainty that lingered in his mind.


    Hours passed¡ªor so it seemed in Aiden''s perception¡ªwithout any sign of progress. The absence of sound and the relentless barrage of obstacles began to wear on him mentally and physically.


    He realized that his initial n, relying solely on physical prowess, was not sustainable in the long run. It was clear that he needed a more strategic approach to ovee Level 2.


    Stopping in his tracks, Aiden assessed the situation. He couldn''t continue aimlessly running without a clear sense of direction. He needed to utilize his mind, to find a solution that would allow him to pass this level with efficiency and precision.


    Aiden''s mind whirled with thoughts and possibilities as he continued to run and dodge imaginary projectiles.


    Yet, despite his intense concentration, no breakthrough idea surfaced. Frustration crept in, threatening to dampen his spirits. He knew he had to shift gears and explore another approach.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    With a determined sigh, Aiden made the decision to stop in his tracks and face the challenge head-on. He reasoned that if he couldn''t rely on visual or auditory cues, perhaps he could rely on pure instinct and reaction.


    He steeled himself for the impending onught, ready to rely on his reflexes alone.


    As he stood still, his senses heightened to their utmost capacity, Aiden sought the smallest indication of an iing projectile.


    He was acutely aware of every subtle change in the air, every minuscule vibration that might betray the presence of an object hurtling towards him.


    Time seemed to stretch in the darkness, his mind fixated on the absence of stimuli. The silence that enveloped him became a weight on his senses, amplifying his anticipation. It was a strange experience, losing two of his primary senses¡ªthe ability to see and hear.


    Yet, he knew he had to push through the difort and focus on the task at hand.


    As he stood immobile, Aiden''s mind wavered between thoughts of the unusual nature of his circumstances and the need to stay present in the trial.


    He had to recalibrate his focus, setting aside the confusion that threatened to distract him. The challenge demanded hisplete attention, and he would not let the absence of sight or sound hinder him.


    He needed to see if it was possible to dodge one of the projectilesing at him.


    The method he was trying to use at the moment was a pure gamble, as Aiden only had five chances of being hit by an object.


    Then, as his concentration reached its peak, he felt a small movement in the air, the wind grazed his skin.


    But it was subtle, he had only felt it because of his insane concentration.


    As soon as he felt it, he tried to move away from that sensation, trusting his reflexes and physical abilities.


    ''Fuck,'' he thought as he felt that something had grazed him near his lower ribs.


    He knew that he had only four chances left.


    However, it wasn''t something harmless that had grazed him, as he could feel pain assaulting his mind right away.


    But, he didn''t let that pain make him lose control as he resolved himself.


    He knew that he would be able to do it if another projectile came to him.


    Aiden now knew what type of sensation he needed to wait for, the wind grazing his skin.


    That was where all his attention was focused on. His skin, the air, and the general sensations that his body felt.


    Then, he felt it again.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>


    That little amount of wind collided with his skin.


    Feeling it, he tried to move his body as fast as possible.


    The time between the projectile hitting and him dodging was infinitely small, probably milliseconds.


    And he seeded, he had dodged it.


    He hadn''t seen how close it was to hitting him, but one thing was sure, he had been close, really close.


    If he had reacted a little bitter than he would have been with a total of three chances left.


    Then, seeding once, he decided to do it again.


    However, he realized that something had just changed again.


    He couldn''t feel anything.


    As he pressed on his skin, there was no sensation. Everywhere that he touched, there was literally no signal that was sent to his brain.


    ''No, no, no, don''t tell that I lost another of my sense,'' he thought, as he knew that it was going to be even harder to be concentrated.


    But that wasn''t the main problem, it was that the method that he had just created to dodge thatst projectile was now useless.


    He couldn''t feel the wind anymore.


    He couldn''t even feel it when he pressed like a degenerate on it, so a little wind only grazed it.


    There was no chance of him noticing such a thing.


    This time, he actually had no idea how to proceed.


    What could he even depend on?


    His instinct and..., no that was it only his instinct was left.


    There was literally nothing that could help him anymore.


    He couldn''t hear, see, feel.


    Sure, he could smell, but what could that even do to help him in that situation?


    Then, having to think things through he started to run and jump like a madman once again.


    He had been able to get back some of his stamina, but he still wasn''t in top shape.


    After only a couple of minutes, he could feel his breath getting heavy once again with his heart pumping more blood by the minute.


    But that wasn''t the worst of all, he was hurt.


    The pain that he had ignored was still there causing him to slow down his speed by a lot. Having one side of his body bleeding also didn''t help with stamina as he could his muscles getting tired by the second.

 Chapter 105 Sixth Sense

    ?


    As he could smell that this would be the end if it continued this way, he was starting to get frustrated.


    ''Is this really what I amount to? Will I really lose in some silly challenge?'' he thought as he knew that was simply too small of a hurdle to fail.


    He had many more important things that he had to reach.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    If his strength really was only this much after aplete month of training, then why would he continue training?


    If he couldn''t seed in reaching that level five, then why shouldn''t he give up and simply ept that his life with forever be controlled by an outside force?


    Jack, the system, his family, all those things were weighing heavily on his mind and it was harder and harder for him to believe in himself.


    ''No, this can''t be the end, I wasn''t sent here for nothing. This won''t stop me, I need to conquer it,'' he thought as he stopped running.


    He would be facing whatever would being at him.


    He knew that there weren''t a lot of chances of him seeding as only had ess to his instinct.


    But then, as he focused and focused.


    He became sure, he was sure that whatever woulde his way, he would be able to dodge it.


    Even if he couldn''t see, hear, or feel it.


    His instinct was telling him that he was going to surpass to minuscule hurdle and reach greater heights.


    Aiden stood there in the darkness, his mind consumed by thoughts of doubt and frustration. As he lingered in immobility, a peculiar sensation stirred within his consciousness.


    It was an intangible presence, a subtle nudge from his inner self. It whispered, almost imperceptibly, urging him to move¡ªto take action before it was toote.


    Listening to this instinctive urging, Aiden made a split-second decision and swiftly moved to the right. The silence around him remained unbroken, leaving him uncertain of whether he had sessfully evaded a projectile or if his action was in vain.


    Maybe he was going crazy as it felt like he had felt days inside this ce.


    But it actually hadn''t even been thirty minutes.


    Then, he felt that his brain was once again asking him to move.


    A few secondster, he happened again, and again, and again.


    It reached a point where he had to keep dodging over and over again because he trusted the signals sent by his brain over to him.


    He trusted his instincts as he hadn''t been hit by anything yet, well to his knowledge as he simply couldn''t know.


    He couldn''t feel anything remember.


    Maybe he was starting to bleed out, but well... he wouldn''t know.


    But as he kept dodging ording to his instinct, a subtle light appeared in front of him, blinding him.


    It was the portal in which he had entered this hellish dimension.


    A dimension where your senses would be locked, leaving you defenseless.


    He now understood why everyone kept failing this challenge.


    Like him, they probably tried to think of solutions to dodge arrows and stuff like that.


    Maybe some reached the stage where they could dodge by feeling the wind on their skin. <novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>


    But none of them had probably seeded in dodging the projectiles when having lost of all useful senses in the challenge.


    That''s why the reward was so valuable, the man who was advertising this ce, thought that no one would be able to seed as the challenge was too hard.


    But, well... he had been mistaken.


    Aiden had done it.


    He hadpleted the challenge and level five which he had talked about.


    He hadn''t heard the robotic voice tell him, but he knew.


    He knew that hepleted the challenge wlessly.


    ***


    "You think your friend is going to seed, ahaha," said the manughing a little when he saw Emma''s hopeful face.


    "Of course, he will," she said with absolute certainty in her voice.


    Even if she hadn''t talked to him for thest few days or even aplete month. She had still observed him, he had trained himself to the bones.


    She knew that he would seed as the training he had gone through was probably worse than that.


    However, her thoughts were interrupted as Finrod opened his damned mouth.


    "If I may, if you didn''t seed then there he is simply no one that a kid from the Slums will be able to do so," said Finrod making sure topliment Emma and insult Aiden at the same time.


    However, he didn''t expect that reaction toe out of Emma.


    She was mad at Finrod for the words he had just said.


    "You''re so stupid, stop admiring me for a single second and learn to analyze your surroundings," she said frustrated that he was showing disrespect toward Aiden.


    There were two reasons that caused her anger.


    The first one was that she liked Aiden''s personality, well his old one. He didn''t care about her status, not treating her differently even once.


    Because of that, she knew that he was a real person, not one that would tter her ego every day, truth be told, it was a nice feeling to have someone like that close to her.


    And the second reason was that she had acknowledged that he was stronger than her with the dagger which had caused him to be her temporary teacher.


    This meant that even though she had epted that Aiden was strong, so when Finrod said that he was inferior, she didn''t like it.


    In fact, she despised his opinion.


    Then, as her mind was inplete turmoil, the portal reappeared, but this time, the face of the announcer wasn''t one of joy.


    He seemed unhappy as he had no cheeky little smile on his face.


    It wasn''t him that had a smile on his face, but Aiden.


    The first smile he had shown in months of training.


    This smile caused Emma to also smile, happy to see some emotionsing out of him.


    Happy to have seeded in oveing this challenge.

 Chapter 106 Sixth Sense [Part 2]

    ?


    The announcer who had quite a sour look on his face, prepared himself to announce they had a winner.


    "Looks like someone has been able to pass the fifth level, everyone apuds him," he shouted acting like he was happy that such a thing had happened.


    As he said that, the line full of people disappeared without making any noise as if they didn''t care about this little challenge anymore which was normal as the reward was what had attracted everyone around.


    In his mind, he wasn''t as this was simply a way for him to make money. He didn''t expect that someone was actually going to beat it.


    Even he had difficulty beating this challenge as he didn''t even seed when he tried doing it most of the time.


    "You did it!" said Emma, running up to Aiden.


    Aiden who had a stern face as he cracked a little smile, happy to have done it.


    This challenge certainly wasn''t easy at all.


    It required you to dodge projectiles without being hit more than five times. But that wasn''t the worst part, he had dodged those projectiles without seeing, hearing or looking at them.


    It wasn''t hard to understand why no one had won it before.


    Even Emma hadn''t been able to do so.


    ''But that''s only the first step,'' he thought as his smile disappeared as quickly as it appeared on his face.


    He knew that he shouldn''t rejoice over aplishing something like that.


    He was supposed to surpass the fifth level, that''s what he should have thought.


    But, still, even if that was how he had been supposed to act, he was quite happy with himself.


    ''It seemed like the past month of training hasn''t been for nothing,'' he thought as he couldn''t imagine himself without the training he had gone through which had helped him in many ways.


    First, he had improved his confidence in himself as he just wasn''t sure of himself after realizing that everything he did was somehow connected to his past life.


    Secondly, his training improved his general abilities which made him able to dodge thest projectiles, the ones where he could only rely on his instincts.


    "How did you do it?" asked Emma over and over again like an impatient child.


    This caused Finrod to raise an eyebrow, as he hadn''t seen Emma act like this with anyone, well except Gerald.


    However, before Aiden could muster any type of answer, the announcer handed something to Aiden, still with a sour look on his face.


    "Here, that''s the two VIP Entries," he said, mustering up the best fake smile he could.


    Aiden just took them out of his hands quite happy with what he had received.


    Because just like Gerald had said, this would make him able to buy more things or stuff that would be out of his budget.


    It really was something that was great which was why everyone had tried to win them.


    It would also make you able to meet powerful people, but that wasn''t something that Aiden really cared about.


    Why would he care about other people when he was going there to find something that could make him stronger?


    After taking the two VIP Entries, Aiden left behind the announcer, who looked devastated, with Emma and the others.


    Before Emma could ask her earlier question, Aiden wanted to know something which caused him to ask a question.


    "At what point were you unable to continue?" he asked looking at Emma, as what Finrod had done didn''t even interest him.


    "Well, I don''t really know the level at which I stopped, but I can''t tell you that I couldn''t see, hear, and feel. At this point, I wasn''t able to do anything, in fact, I was wondering how did you even achieve something like that?" she asked Aiden as she really had no idea how something like that was even possible.


    Face with this question, even Aiden wasn''t sure how to respond as all he had done was basically trust his mind and his instincts.


    Without anything else to answer, he simply said: "I trusted my instincts, I guess."


    Emma was obviously quite sad hearing this as she expected a detailed answer.


    "Are you sure that''s it, you didn''t rely on a skill of yours?" she asked trying to see if she could make him remember something that he might have forgotten.


    "No, I didn''t rely on anything, I''m telling you, only my instincts and my mind were at y there."


    It was the truth, it was his mind that sent him weird signals for him to dodge the projectiles in the trial.


    He hadn''t seen or heard any beeping in the trial that also indicated something like that.


    ''Wait,'' he thought opening up his Status and making sure that he had obtained some sort of ability during the trial.


    ''Status''


    [Aiden Nightshade]


    [Level 14]


    [Health: 150]


    [Mana: 10]


    [Race: Human]


    [Body: ???]


    [ss: None]


    [Strength: 5]<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>


    [Agility: 4]


    [Dexterity: 4]


    [Defense: 1]


    [Stamina: 3]


    [Charm: 5]


    [Unallocated Stat Points: 0]


    [Equipment]


    [Shadow Strike Dagger]


    [Return Stone]


    [Skills]


    [Shadow Strike Lvl.1 (Active Skill), Cost: 3.5 MP]


    [Shadow Steps Lvl.MAX(Passive Skill)]


    [Dagger mastery Lvl.3 (Passive Skill)]


    [Gentle Touch Lvl.1 (Active Skill), Cost: 0 MP)


    [Mind of an Assassin Lvl.1(Active skill), Cost: 0 MP]


    [Sixth Sense Lvl.1 (Passive Skill)]


    Looking at it, he made sure to double-check all the information that he was seeing, starting from the top to the bottom of his ''Status''.


    He started with the stats which looked the exact same as before. It seemed that nothing had happened to them.


    Then, he looked at his equipment, already kind of knowing that nothing would have appeared there.


    It was now time to look at his skills, the ce where the change would have most likely been.


    Then, as he read all the skills which he acquired, he nodded, but then a confused expression appeared on his face as he got to thest skill on his ''Status''.


    ''Sixth Sense? What''s this? I''m sure that it wasn''t there before,'' thought Aiden as he looked at hisst skill on his ''Status''.


    It was something that waspletely new that appeared at some point during the challenge.


    That was most likely the case because if it had appeared before he would have noticed it for many reasons.


    The first one being the beeping noise and the second one being the pop-up message that appears every time he created a new skill of his.


    It was almost certain that he wouldn''t have missed something like that, especially while he was fully focused on his training without any time for distractions.


    It was also quite obvious that the reason why he hadn''t seen it being created was because that he had been in the challenge when it happened.


    With his hearing and sight restricted, it was normal that he hadn''t been able to hear the beeping noise or the message from the system.


    It just made sense, this skill must have been created while in the challenge.


    But now that this was solved, the question that was even more important was could this skill even do?N?v(el)B\\jnn


    He could see that it was a passive skill just like some of the rest of his skills, which meant that he couldn''t activate it like he wanted as it was simply always activated.


    ''System, what is this new skill of mine?'' asked Aiden inside his mind to the System, remembering that it would most likely answer him.


    But then, as the system was about to respond, the voice of Emma brought him back from his thinking.


    "Aiden, Aiden, you there?" she said over and over while tugging on his shirt.


    In fact, the most surprising thing there was that he hadn''te out of his thoughts before.


    Seeing Aiden look down at her, she knew that she had gained his attention once again.


    Not wanting to lose it, she quickly repeated the question she had asked earlier.


    "So, are you sure that no skills were involved?"


    But, she didn''t even receive an answer as Aiden was once again in his thoughts not caring about his surroundings.


    Well, he did care about his surroundings but he knew that he was safe at the moment with Emma, Gerald, and Finrod around him.


    Well... apart from Finrod, he knew that he could trust those that were currently surrounding him, or even more protecting him, clearly thinking of Gerald as this was his sole purpose of being here.


    The reason why he hadn''t paid attention to Emma''s question was because his question was also being answered.


    And the answer from the system was a lot more important than whatever Emma was even going to say.


    It was an answer which was going to reveal to him what the effect of this skill was going to be.


    Then, waiting for a little, the usual beeping sound resounded in his head.


    It seemed the system was ready to give him an answer.


    Beep

 Chapter 107 Sixth Sense [Part 3]

    ?


    Beep


    ''Your skill, [Sixth Sense], is a passive skill that you have created. Its functions are quite simple, with it you will have some sort of indication of iing unknown threats toward you,'' said the System as it stopped speaking not adding any more details.


    Aiden wasn''t happy with the answer from the system as he didn''t even know the grade of this new skill of his.


    And then, he realized that he had created a skill, again...


    Aiden had been told by the System in person that creating skills was something that was rare, so why did he always manage to create new ones?


    This, once again, made him think about how weird this System was as if a real person was behind it.


    And for unknown reasons, this person who was behind the system was awarding Aiden with rewards that he shouldn''t be receiving.


    With a quick thought, he remembered all the weird things rted to the system.


    The main ones were that he had no ss.


    That he got the opportunity to learn ss-Rted Skills.


    That the trial had been through was different from what the other awakeners would have to go through as no one had done a trial alone before.


    There were many more, but those were the things that Aiden focused on the most.


    Especially, the one where he didn''t have a ss.


    Why was his awakening unique?


    Why was he the only one who got such a thing?


    But, he knew that he couldn''t answer those questions even if he thought of them all day.


    "Aiden? Why are you ignoring me?"ined Emma seeing that Aiden was once again not paying any attention to her.


    Not wanting her to continue to pester him, he kept looking in the same direction as to not give any indications that he could hear her.


    He knew that she would ask him all types of questions just like he had done the past month where he had done exactly the same as he was currently acting.


    Ignoring her, as if she didn''t exist.


    ***


    The next day, Aiden apanied by Emma was on his way toward the Ravenwood Pavillon with their VIP Entries in their hands.


    "Excited? Who knows what we might buy there?" she said as if trying to draw Aiden''s attention who was still ignoring her with his usual ''yes'' and ''no'' answers.


    Seeing him not respond, she pouted, sad that Aiden was still ignoring her even after all this time.


    ''Just what happened to you?'' she asked herself, just as she had done for the past month.


    For someone''s personality to change that much, there had to be something massive that happened to him.


    This change started when he received his rewards from Maelis, but this was what confused Emma the most.


    Weren''t rewards a good thing to have?


    What sort of rewards could make him react in such a way?


    But then as she kept thinking about it without making any way forward, she dismissed those thoughts.


    What would she even achieve thinking about it all day, she knew nothing of what happened after all.


    Even when she had asked her mother, she hadn''t obtained any type of answers that could direct her to the right decision.


    Then, as she lifted her head dismissing her thoughts.


    They were right in front of a massive tower, they were in front of the Ravenwood Pavillon.


    Then, an idea came to her mind.


    ''Maybe I could buy him something? Would that work?''


    As Emma was pondering how she could get closer to Aiden, their footsteps drew them nearer to the magnificent Ravenwood Pavillon. The grand structure loomed before them, its towering presence captivating their attention.


    As they walked toward it, they started to perceive a small person, which was obviously a dwarf who seemed to be guarding the entrance to the Pavillon.


    Aiden had seen the Ravenwood Pavillon from far away, but being so close to it was quite mindblowing as when he raised his head, he could barely see the top.


    ''To think that they were able to build something like that, maybe there''s a ss for builders or something,'' he thought, creating hypotheses in his head as to how they had managed such a thing.


    Then, while Aiden was thinking about how they had built such a thing, the dwarf who was at the entrance walked up to them.


    "Are you here for the auction?" asked the dwarf, who still had quite a load of muscles on him.


    Aiden was about to answer, but the energetic Emma who was right beside him beat it to it.


    "Yes, of course, and here," she said as she handed him the two VIP Entries that they had gained in the challenge which Aiden had won.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>


    The dwarf wasn''t prepared to have someone handing him something as he got defensive.


    But realizing that there was no harm in the movements portrayed by Emma, he simply took them into his hands, analyzing them.


    "VIPs, both of you?" asked the dwarf looking up and down Emma and Aiden.


    But he didn''t look a long time at Emma, the one who seemed to be the problem at the moment wasn''t her, but Aiden.


    It seemed his simplistic style didn''t fit such a fancy ce.


    "Is there a problem?" inquired Emma seeing the weird looks Aiden was receiving.


    However, the dwarf indicated that there wasn''t a problem as he looked back up.


    Sure, Aiden was not well dressed but what could he even do about it?


    He hadn''t brought any clothes that could remotely be called fancy.


    He simply had this ck leather armor on him, which he had worn for the past month.


    The armor was honestly quite decent as Aiden had liked looking at the description given by the system.


    [ck Panther]


    [Description: An armor that has been crafted to be as discreet as possible. The crafter was also under a lot of pressure while crafting it which caused the final result to be even better as he gave his everything, making sure that the person that ordered this would be content with him.]


    The description was quite interesting as it even gave details on its creator and the process that he had gone through while doing it.


    Nheless, what really interested Aiden when he had received it was whether or not there would be a skill attached and the answer was... no.


    There was no skill attached to it, but there was something else.


    The armor which he was currently wearing gave him, stats points.


    It actually gave him two stats points of agility which meant that his current stats would be the ones of someone two levels higher than he currently was.


    "There''s no problem, someone would soon arrive to escort both of you," said the dwarf as he stepped to the side showing that they could advance.


    Then, as they entered the Ravenwood Pavillon, Aiden was amazed as he looked around.


    There were so many seats, but that wasn''t all as he raised his head trying to understand why an Auction House would be built vertically and not horizontally.


    Even if he thought really hard about it, it simply didn''t make sense at all.


    Raising his head, he still didn''t understand why they built it in such a way as there was literally nothing up there, well... except four balconies.


    As Aiden kept looking around, Emma quickly gave hit him in the ribs as a person was approaching.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    ''Why does she keep doing this?'' he thought to himself but still didn''t say anything about his behavior.


    In fact, even if he wanted to say something about that behavior of hers, he wouldn''t do it in front of someone else.


    "Hello dears, I will be the one guiding you toward the suites where you will be spending the rest of your day," she said politely while bowing toward the two of them.


    While she was bowing, Aiden took this opportunity to see what she looked like as he was quite surprised that this person wasn''t a dwarf.


    Actually, even after getting a good look at her, Aiden had no idea what race she came from.


    She wasn''t an elf and a dwarf, that she was sure but he had no idea if she was a human or some type of different race.


    Emma, who noticed Aiden looking at the person with a look that was quite weird, once again hit him in his ribs.


    ''What did I even do this time?'' thought Aiden as he really didn''t like this behavior that wasing more and more frequently out of Emma.


    "Please follow me," said the girl as she stopped bowing toward them.


    Then, they started to follow right behind just like they had been instructed for a few minutes.


    It seemed that the ce to which they were going wasn''t close.


    In fact, they weren''t walking anymore, they were climbing.


    Climbing damn stairs once again.


    ''What is it with the Ravenwood and their stairs,'' said Aiden to himself frustrated that he had to go upstairs once again.


    This time, he wasn''t hurting or anything as his body had be quite a bit stronger due to his second trial and his training.


    But as Aiden was starting to get really annoyed, their guide spoke up.


    "We have arrived," she said as a big entrance could be seen in front of Aiden, it was only two steps away from him.


    Even with some distance from it, he started hearing voices from various people.


    And from what he could hear, most people in the VIP Suite seemed to hold quite an egotistical personality.

 Chapter 108 Ava

    ?


    As they got closer and closer to the entrance of what seemed to look like the VIP Suite, the person who had guided them all this way, once again bowed as she uttered.


    "I will let you meet the people inside, the auction should start in around thirty minutes. Use this time wisely."


    ''Use my time wisely, huh?'' thought Aiden as he continued climbing the final stairs before arriving in front of the entrance of the VIP Suite.


    The guide who had said that probably meant that they should use those thirty minutes to make some connections to other families as Aiden clearly looked like he needed some.


    As he crossed the entrance with Emma right beside him, a couple of people had their eyes drawn to them as they didn''t understand how such a thing was possible.


    A gorgeous woman with great curves was being apanied by someone who didn''t even seem like he took care of himself.


    Sure, Aiden was handsome since he had put points in his Charm Stat, but that wouldn''t change everything, he still needed to dress well and take care of himself if he wanted people to find him beautiful.


    "Why is a homeless person here?" eximed someone with clear disdain toward Aiden.


    In fact, most of them had the same look on their faces while watching Aiden, as if Aiden wasn''t fitting in.


    ''Do I look that bad?'' asked Aiden to himself as he didn''t think that his current appearance was that bad.


    Wanting to make sure, he bent down a little as he reached Emma''s ears whispering into them.


    "Do I look bad? Why is everyone looking at me that way?" whispered Aiden to Emma, making sure that no one except him could hear him.


    Hearing him take the initiative in starting a conversation, Emma was obviously shocked as she immediately answered him excitedly, also whispering.


    "Yes, don''t worry, they''re just jealous," said Emma as she didn''t want Aiden to feel bad or something like that.


    In fact, she didn''t think that his current appearance was bad at all, he looked quite pretty, well... that was her opinion.


    Hearing this, Aiden nodded as he wasn''t 100% sure if he could trust what Emma had just said as everyone kept looking at him with disdain.


    However, he noticed that the looks that Emma was receiving were theplete opposite as many looked at her with lust in their eyes.


    But, Emma simply ignored those looks as she was already used to it as many people in the Everheart family would also give them to her.


    That was also one of the reasons why she liked Aiden so much, he never once looked at her body with lust in his eyes.


    When they had first met, she had lied about that to get him kicked out of the Everheart family, but after learning a little more about him, she knew that he would never do such a thing.


    Then, as everyone was looking at Emma with eyes full of lust, Aiden didn''t know why but he didn''t like it.


    Jealousy?


    He wasn''t sure as he had made sure to keep his distance from her, not wanting to develop feelings after the night that they had spent together.


    After discovering that he wasn''t strong enough, he had pushed her away thinking that he wouldn''t feel anything about her anymore as he didn''t even talk to her for the past month, well... almost.


    Noticing that no one was approaching them, Emma and Aiden decided that they shouldn''t go and meet others as it wouldn''t amount to anything either way.


    Everyone in this room looked as fake as one might be, showing their fake smiles to everyone.


    The only thing that they would get out of talking to someone in this room was knowing from which family they came from.


    Aiden also didn''t want to go and meet people who were supposed to be important as he didn''t know if a person from the Nightshade family could be here with him in this room.N?v(el)B\\jnn


    As they sat down, Aiden once again started a conversation with Emma as he just couldn''t hold himself back anymore, those res were starting to get on his nerves.


    "Doesn''t it make you mad?" asked Aiden in a low tone of voice making sure that only she could hear him, talking about the res she was receiving.


    Emma cracked a little smile hearing him say that.


    "Do I smell jealousy?" she asked as she found it funny that Aiden was even caring as he hadn''t cared about her for the past month.


    But, it seemed like those res were starting to piss him off so much that he couldn''t ignore her anymore.


    "Jealousy? Why would I be jealous? I''m just asking as I don''t think that I could be reacting the way you currently are," said Aiden, whispering, still inplete denial about being jealous.


    "Oh, I see, well... I''m just used to it," answered Emma still smiling widely as she now realized that he still cared about her, well... even if it wasn''t much she still liked this sensation.


    Then, their conversation ended that way as minutes passed by with no one even attempting to approach them at all.


    It looked like Aiden was too much for those nobles inside this room.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>


    After 30 minutes ofplete silence between Aiden and Emma, the person who had guided them up here was now appearing on the stage with a big smile on her face.


    This time, she was wearing different clothes which highlighted her features quite well.


    She had curves just like Emma and Mia, it was probably useful in that line of work as many people were in awe because of her appearance.


    But, they weren''t in awe simply because of that, the tail which wasing from her ass, indicated what race she was from.


    Aiden who earlier had no idea, now, he knew.


    She was a subus.


    A subus is a demon who uses her charm to seduce others and do her bidding. But that isn''t their main ability as they are known to be quite good in bed.


    Seeing her using her looks to her advantage, Aiden thought about the first person he had met whening here, Ava.


    Ava, the person that he had first met in this world, after his transmigration.


    And he still remembered what she said to him when leaving the first trial. She had said that they should meet once again at the tournament.


    But Aiden didn''t know whether she was part of an important family or not. He knew that she wasn''t part of one of the founding families because considering her personality she probably would have revealed it to everyone.


    But then, thinking about her, Aiden thought about how she knew that he was a Nightshade.


    He remembered that he had revealed it in the first trial and thinking back to that moment, he had to admit that it was quite a stupid move, he didn''t even know her, so why did he do such a thing?


    He didn''t quite remember, but he could guess that he had probably revealed it without thinking much about it, as he didn''t know the importance of the founding families at the time.


    There was also the fact that he wasn''t wearing his mask at the moment, deep inside him, he hoped that she wasn''t in this room.


    He started looking around a little and didn''t notice anyone that looked like her, it seemed that he was safe, for the time being at least.


    Emma, who was right beside Aiden, noticed that he was quite focused on the subus that was currently putting on a show.


    ''Does he like those types of people?'' she thought, as she had noticed some nces while going upstairs.


    But then she dismissed those thoughts, as Aiden was probably focused because of the auction and not because of the subus that was currently wearing revealing clothes.


    She knew that he wasn''t like that in the first ce, as he didn''t even spare a nce at her when his mind was set.


    Then, she came out of her thoughts, as the first item of the auction wasing out.


    "As you all know, we will start with the cheapest items and we will then raise the prices little by little," she said as she purposely moved around in a way that made her boobs juggle.


    She really was great at using her body, guess that''s why she was a subus.


    Aiden wondered what the first item was going to be as he nced downward toward the stage, expecting it to be a weapon or something like that.


    "Are you ready?" she said as her hand was on the white cloth which was clearly hiding the first item of this auction.


    Then, the crowd which was under Aiden, all shouted, "Yes!"


    In the VIP Suite, the reactions were quite different though.


    "Look at those mongrels, they''re happy right now because they''ll be able to buy those items," said one of the people in the VIP Suite with clear disdain.


    "You''re right, they''re getting excited over the worst items of the auction, ahaha, how stupid,"mented another person.


    ''Why do they all possess such a big ego?'' thought Aiden as he couldn''t understand why the people in this room were so full of themselves.


    They were in the VIP Suite, and they probably had a good background, but who cares about all that?


    Sure, it can help you in the short term. But as you get older, your family won''t support you as they are doing now, only strength will be able to make you achieve great things.


    "Stupid..." mindlessly said Aiden.


    Everyone in the room heard that and turned toward him.


    "Stupid? Are you talking about us?" asked one of them.

 Chapter 109 Skill

    n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    ?


    The person who had just asked that seemed to be somewhat of a big shot as he had several people around him, who would listen to whatever he was going to say.


    However, not wanting any problem, Aiden simply denied it.


    He was there for the auction, he wasn''t there to make problems for himself or Emma.


    "No, I was also talking about them," lied Aiden, as if it was normal for him.


    "...Right, make sense," said the man, not sure whether or not Aiden was saying the truth.


    But, the people had no choice but to let it go, as it made sense, why would he call the people in this room stupid, after all?


    They were the most important young men of this generation, why would anyone try to be an enemy with any of them?


    It simply didn''t make any sense to do so.


    Then, Aiden once again looked down toward the stage as the subus still hadn''t revealed what was under the white cloth.


    It seemed like she wanted the crowd to be as excited as it could be, before revealing the item, as shouts could still be heard from the crowd which was situated right under Aiden.


    Then, after a couple of seconds of teasing from the subus still moving her body to reveal her most beautiful features.


    She pulled the white cloth revealing the first item of the auction which wasn''t what Aiden had expected at all.


    It was a small sk with some liquid inside.


    Looking at it carefully, he realized that he had seen it once before, in hisst trial.


    ''Why is the Elixir here?'' he thought not sure that he wasprehending what was happening.


    Then, the subus started exining this small sk.


    "This is an Elixir that can be received as a reward for the fifth trial, but it is very rarely given out by the system," said the subus trying to raise the value of this item.


    "It might not look like much, but this item is capable of increasing your power instantly by simply drinking it."


    ''Why is she lying? I drank it and literally, nothing happened except a small message from the system, I didn''t get stronger or anything right away,'' he thought finding it weird.


    "The starting price of this item is 5000 Credits," she said as people started shouting different prices.


    But, no one from the VIP Suite seemed interested in the item as if they had already seen it or even drank it.


    Even Emma didn''t react in any way. It seemed like this was a worldwide known item.


    But what the subus said perturbed a little Aiden, a reward of the fifth trial?


    He had gotten it at his second trial.


    Sure, this item didn''t seem like much but if someone obtained it at the second trial, it would surely be a great aplishment.


    Aiden having those thoughts, decided that the best person that could answer those questions was Emma.


    "Emma, this elixir that they''re showing is it any good?" he asked, whispering trying to learn more about it as he didn''t know much.


    He acted like he didn''t know what it was as it would be simpler for his further questions.


    Because if Emma didn''t think that he knew what it was, she wouldn''t think that he would already have it.


    "It is, it''s a great item, however, you can only use it once. That''s why nobody here is interested in it as they probably have consumed it before," exined Emma.


    Aiden hearing this nodded.


    "And what are the effects of this Elixir, she mentioned that they could help you instantly," asked Aiden as this didn''t happen to him when taking it.


    "Well, you get a boost from all your stats. That''s what happened when I took it at least," she said, not finding it weird that Aiden was asking so many questions.


    After all, he came from the Slums, he probably didn''t know much about the awakened world which was why he was asking such questions that would normally be quitemon information.


    ''A boost from all stats, huh?'' thought Aiden as this wasn''t the effect that he had received at all.


    He had only received a small message from the system saying that his body''s hidden potential had been unlocked.


    Once again, that was another thing that was quite weird with the system, but Aiden already that many things were weird.


    So, he didn''t mind all that much and simply went back to asking questions.


    "And it''s a reward that can only be found as a reward of the fifth trial?" asked Aiden as this was the question that he most wanted to say.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>


    Emma once again didn''t find anything strange from those questions, and simply whispered to him back.


    "Well... normally, yes. But sometimes you can find it in your trials as items that people are developing. Just like all the system rewards for that matter," she exined, clearing some of the doubts that Aiden was currently having.


    What she had just said meant that rewards that you could receive whenpleting a trial, could be found inside the world in which the trial is taking ce.


    It made sense as this was exactly what happened to Aiden, the Elixir which he got in his second trial, is supposed to be a reward of the fifth trial.


    But since it was an item that existed in the world he visited, he was able to ess it before the fifth trial.


    Then, Aiden thanked Emma as he didn''t have any other questions.


    "Do you want it?" asked Emma, out of nowhere, as she noticed his interest in the item.


    ''She probably thinks that I''m interested in it now,'' thought Aiden.


    "No, I don''t need it, don''t worry, it''s fine," said Aiden as he had already consumed it once.


    And just like Emma said, the Elixir could only be consumed once, or else it wouldn''t have any effect.


    It was clear that if this Elixir could be consumed multiple times that it would be a way better item than it was right now.


    Because as of right now, it was simply a one-time boost.


    Emma only nodded at Aiden''s answer, still thinking about what item she should buy him.


    Since she didn''t think that she would need anything in this auction.


    ''I should just help him buy an item if its price is too high,'' she thought.


    This looked like the best option she currently had, as she would be able to make sure that it was an item that interested him.


    She didn''t want to buy a random item that Aiden didn''t find any value in it.


    Then, after their quick conversation, the Elixir was sold to one of the people in the crowd at the price of 8000 Credits.


    ''If only I could go back and see that crazy scientist,'' thought Aiden, as this Elixir was quite an opportunity to make some money.


    Imagine if he could have a bunch of them, and bring them back to sell them.


    It would be rich.


    Those 30 000 Credits that Maelis had given would be nothing.


    Only four Elixirs would give him that, based on the price that it sold at.


    However, he quickly dismissed those thoughts as they didn''t have any purpose.


    He couldn''t go back there even if he wanted to, his trial was done and there was no way for him to go back there.


    Then, he looked back down on the tform as another item would soone out.


    Another white cloth came out right behind the subus which was still talking which pleased most of the spectators.


    This time, she didn''t waste any time and removed the cloth revealing a small stone. It was another item that Aiden currently had in his possession, a [Return Stone].


    The sight of another item that he had seen before frustrated him, but he knew that other items would soone out.


    Emma noticed that Aiden didn''t seem in the best mood and wondered why, as they were literally in an auction, a ce where he would be able to upgrade his current strength.


    "Why are you mad?" she whispered to him, as it was weird.


    "Nothing, don''t worry," said Aiden, not wanting to reveal that he had already the two previous items and that they were currently in his possession.


    Then, another war over the item happened, where the [Return Stone] sold for a total of 10 000 Credits.


    It seemed like the subus didn''t lie, the price and rarity of items would go up as time passed by.


    Aiden was interested in what the first interesting item would look like.


    Was it going to be a weapon, a skill book, or some other item that he didn''t know of its existence?


    However, he didn''t care all that much as he would simply buy the item that would benefit him the most.


    Well... as long as it didn''t go over his 30000 Credits budget.

 Chapter 110 Veil of Darkness

    Chapter 110 Veil of Darkness


    Then, other items, potions, weapons, and skills kepting out, but none of them interested Aiden as they were simply not good enough for him. The price range of the items that were currently being presented was between 15,000 Credits and 20,000 Credits. However, upon careful examination, aided by Emma''s expertise, he knew that the items shown weren''t of high value or interest to him.


    Since Aiden couldn''t see the information panel of the weapon he was looking at, he felt a bit frustrated. Touching the weapon was necessary to reveal the information, but he hesitated, not wanting to attract unnecessary attention. He knew how some of the VIPs in the suite loved to unt their wealth, and he didn''t want to be seen as an outsider, especially since he was here on a whim.


    Then, the subus again brought out a white cloth covering an item. The crowd buzzed with anticipation, and Aiden couldn''t help but feel a surge of curiosity about whaty beneath the enigmatic cloth. But, the subus didn''t immediately uncover it; instead, she seemed to relish teasing everyone present about the item concealed beneath this mysterious shroud.


    "This is the first item that might interest some of the VIPs present," said the subus, her eyes scanning the VIP suite where Aiden and the rest of the egotistical kids were seated. She knew how to y her audience, and her captivating aura held the room in rapt attention.


    Aiden''s curiosity was piqued further as the subus teased the VIPs with the hidden item. He leaned forward, trying to get a better look at the mysterious object. The atmosphere in the VIP suite shifted, and even the egotistical kids, who had been indifferent to the previous items, now showed genuine interest. It was as if an invisible thread connected them all to the subus'' captivating performance.


    For the past 30 minutes, they had paid little attention to the items shown, deeming them of little value. However, this particr moment had caught their attention, and they were all eager to see what had sparked such excitement among their peers. N?v(el)B\\jnn


    The subus continued to y with anticipation, gradually revealing the item bit by bit, savoring the thrill she was creating in the room. Aiden noticed that some of the other VIPs were whispering among themselves, specting about what the item could be.


    Despite the intrigue, only those in the crowd who weren''t VIPs were participating in the bidding. It seemed that the true target of this particr auction was the elite few who upied the VIP suite.


    Finally, shepletely removed the cloth, and there it was¡ªa book, elegantly bound in deep crimson leather, adorned with intricate golden runes that seemed to shimmer with an otherworldly glow. The room was hushed for a moment as the VIPs took in the beauty and aura of this mysterious skill book.


    Many in the VIP Suite leaned forward in anticipation, their curiosity piqued as they waited for the subus to unveil the secrets of this mysterious skill. The allure of the unknown and the potential power thaty within the book held them spellbound.


    But from their position, they couldn''t ess its details. The subus knew how to create an air of exclusivity and mystery, and she used it to full effect in her auctions.


    "Before I talk about the effects and grade of this skill," she began, her voice a mesmerizing blend of silk and honey, "it''s important to know that this bid will start at 30,000 Credits."


    The hushed murmur of the crowd filled the room, and some looked at each other in astonishment. 30,000 Credits was no small sum, even for the wealthy elite present in the VIP suite. It was the price of a luxurious estate or a rare, high-tier enchanted weapon.


    That''s why the subus stopped looking at the crowd closest to her and turned her gaze towards the VIP Suite. She knew that only a select few among them could afford to bid on such a valuable item.


    "Now, the name of this skill is [Veil of Darkness], a movement-type skill rted to the assassin ss," said the subus, as she took a small break, letting the anticipation build further.


    ''Assassin ss-rted, what luck!'' eximed Aiden inside his mind. His heart raced with excitement, realizing that the skill being presented was one that he could actually learn and use. At the moment, skills rted to his ss were the only ones essible to him, and having a new, powerful skill could greatly enhance his abilities.


    The name "Veil of Darkness" intrigued him, and he couldn''t wait to hear about its actual effect. The possibilities swirled in his mind as he considered the tactical advantages such a skill could offer.


    However, a small problem dawned on him¡ªthe starting price was 30,000 Credits, and well... he only had that amount. While he could make use of the VIP discount, which offered a 15% reduction, bringing his maximum spending to 34,500 Credits, he knew it might not be enough to win this skill book.


    He had overheard several people talking about their ss, and from what he had heard, there were five people who imed to be part of the assassin ss. Thepetition for this skill book might be fierce, and his chances of outbidding the others seemed uncertain.


    Out of those five people, the person who had talked to Aiden earlier when he had identally said the word "Stupid"; from what he had heard, his name was Jack.


    He seemed to be quite the important person and Aiden was wondering whether or not he would be able to outbid him.


    There weren''t many chances of that as he eximed the room.


    "I don''t care about the item''s effect, but it''s mine."


    It seemed like there was no way that Aiden would be able to get it, that is until Emma whispered to his ear something.


    "Want me to help you?" she whispered in his ear while smiling.


    This was simply the best opportunity for her to help him, she could see how interested he was in the skill.


    There was also the fact that someone had just announced that he would do anything to get this skill out loud.


    Emma didn''t know of this person, but she knew that he couldn''t be simple as he had many followers who were constantly following him around, ttering him.


    Aiden, however, hearing her say that to him, he was kind of confused.


    What did she even mean by helping him?


    Would she really give him the money that she currently had?


    Because that was really the only thing that was currently passing through her head as he couldn''t think of anything that could help him.


    However, he neither said "yes" nor "no" to Emma as the subus once again started talking.


    "Now, herees the interesting part of the skill. The effect that it has is...," she said maintaining the suspense.


    It was tiring as it had been a full minute since she had announced this skill book and they still didn''t even know what it would do.


    Aiden was getting a little impatient, but he still managed to hold hisposure as the situation wasn''t that bad. However, the reactions of the other people in the room surprised him.


    Some of them were bing increasingly frustrated and started cursing at the subus.


    Others were taking their frustration out on the walls nearby, hitting them in anger.


    Aiden couldn''t help but be shocked by their behaviour. He couldn''t fathom what they would do if something truly terrible happened.


    ''Just a bunch of privileged people,'' he thought, observing their entitled reactions.


    In the midst of the chaos, he couldn''t help but wonder if young awakeners from the founding families acted the same way. He imagined what it would be like if members of the Nightshade family, known for their prestige, would also behave in such an unruly manner when things didn''t go their way.


    Reflecting on this, Aiden felt relieved that he didn''t live with them. He shuddered to think about how he might behave if faced with simr situations. He took a moment to appreciate his own self-control and was grateful that he didn''t let his emotions get the better of him.


    Then, as he mindlessly thought about those situations, he once again focused on what the subus was about to say.


    "The effect of the skill named [Veil of Darkness] is the ability to go through walls as you wish. You will be an entity that isn''t part of the world anymore which will give you the right to go through the environment surrounding you. It doesn''t matter what it is, you will be able to go through it," exined the subus.


    ''What is this overpowered skill? Only for 30000 Credits? Isn''t that a bit too low of a price?'' thought Aiden, but then the subus once again opened her mouth as it seemed that she wasn''t finished talking.


    NEW BOOK WPC Entry

 Chapter 111 Veil of Darkness [Part 2]

    Chapter 111 Veil of Darkness [Part 2]


    "But since this skill has such a good ability, you must be thinking, why is it only at a starting price of 30000 Credits?" said the subus, her voice carrying a hint of mischief.


    Hearing this, Aiden obviously nodded as he had just thought of that. His curiosity piqued, he was eager to learn more about the skill''s limitations and drawbacks.


    "For this skill to have such a good ability, something probably made it not so great," Aiden spected quietly to himself, his mind racing with possibilities.


    Aiden was only waiting for the subus to reveal the catch, knowing that with such a valuable skill, there had to be a downside.


    "The reason for the skill''s price is so low is because of the cooldown, and the cost of mana," the subus exined, her ruby-red lips curling into a sly smile. "The cooldown of the skill is seven days, and the cost of mana is quiteplicated to exin. However, do remember that it will require quite an amount of mana to use it," she added, leaving the specifics shrouded in mystery.


    Aiden''s heart sank slightly when he heard about the cooldown and mana cost. He knew that his mana reserves were limited, as they were located close to his heart. Unlike most others, he wouldn''t have ess to as much mana, which could potentially hinder his ability to make full use of the skill.


    Still, he couldn''t deny his fascination with the skill''s potential. Infiltration, dodging attacks that would normally be impossible to evade ¨C there were countless situations where such a skill would be incredibly useful.


    The other downside, the seven-day cooldown, was indeed quite long. Aiden now understood why the price was rtively low. If the cooldown and mana cost were reduced, the skill would undoubtedly be overpowered, and everyone would desire it. However, with such limitations, it became more exclusive and sought after by only those who could fully utilize it.


    "People taking part in trials or battles would probably only be able to use it once in a crucial moment," Aiden mused, realizing the strategic importance of such a skill in limited scenarios.


    Still, despite the drawbacks, Aiden couldn''t shake his interest in the skill. Its allure was simply too enticing, and he couldn''t resist considering the possibilities it held for him. n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    As he decided that he wanted to buy the skill, he took a moment to look around the room, observing the reactions of others. Among the five assassins who were present earlier, only one seemed interested in the skill. It was evident that the high cost and limitations were deterring many potential buyers.


    Yet, the person who stood out the most in the VIP Suite was Jake. He was the only one who seemed genuinely interested in acquiring the skill. From the start, Jake had announced his determination to obtain it, which might have intimidated the others, leading them to retreat from the bidding war.


    Aiden found himself in an unusual position. Despite the apparent drawbacks, he still wanted the skill, making him an outlier among the attendees. But he knew that the potential benefits were worth the risk.


    As the subus continued talking and the bidding war began, Aiden snapped back to reality, focusing on the stage below him.


    "We will start the bidding war, 30000 Credits is the starting price," announced the subus, her voice resounding through the room.


    Aiden, sitting in the VIP Suite, felt a bit lost. He had no experience with auctions and didn''t know how to proceed. However, he didn''t have to wait long to figure it out, as Jake confidently raised his hand in the VIP Suite. The subus immediately spotted him and dered his bid aloud.


    "We have 30000, anyone else?" she asked, scanning the room.


    Aiden hesitated for a moment, contemting whether he shouldpete with Jake for the skill. He raised his hand, showing his interest and determination. However, in the back of his mind, he knew he had a budget constraint, and he could only afford to spend 34500 Credits ¨C not a single credit more.


    ncing at the other bidder, he couldn''t gauge their budget, but they seemed unperturbed by the increasing price. It was possible they had a significantly higher spending limit than Aiden, making him uncertain about his chances of winning the bid.


    Then, Emma got closer to Aiden once again, realizing that he seemed to want this item.


    She didn''t care about finding and buying an item for herself, she would simply help Aiden as it would probably help their rtionship go back to how it was before.


    Emma really had changed a lot.


    The first time she had met Aiden, she didn''t like him at all, lying about him to his mother hoping for him to get kicked out of the family.


    After that, her mother forced the two of them to live together, which wasn''t something Emma nor Aiden had appreciated, well... at the start.


    Because soon after that, they decided to spar against one another to determine who was the strongest between the two of them as they participated in the tournament.


    Aiden lost, but this caused them to get closer as Emma was happy to have proven herself.


    Then, Aiden decided that he wanted to learn how to use a bow with her help, and at the same time, he helped her learn how to make better use of her dagger.


    And after that, well Emma got a little memory problem which made her not remember how close, she and Aiden had gotten.


    That was for the better..., yeah probably.


    It actually was because if she even had an idea of how she had acted in front of Aiden on that fateful night, then she probably wouldn''t even be able to look him in the eyes.


    Remembering all that happened between them, she whispered the same thing as earlier.


    "Want me to help you?"


    Aiden still didn''t respond as he had some funds yet, but realizing that he probably wouldn''t get it, he turned toward her.


    "Alright, but what do you want in exchange?" he asked not believing that Emma was simply offering help out of the goodness of her heart.


    There had to be some secret n behind that proposal of hers.


    He knew that people weren''t always as benevolent as they might seem and he had learnt that the hard way.


    He had died to learn it.


    However, the answering out of Emma''s mouth surprised him, to say the least.


    "I don''t want anything, I just want you to stop ignoring me, and go back to your old self. I don''t know what happened to you, but please try to go back," she pleaded, as much as she could.


    This was a golden opportunity to make him try to change how he was before.


    She had felt really lonely in the past month, sure all of her life, she had been away from others since she was always scared that the people she was getting close to only wanted to get closer to her because of who she was.


    Did they want to get closer to Emma because of her personality and who she truly was or did they want to get closer to her because of the connections they could gain from doing so?


    Aiden was the first person she had met that seemed to not care about any of that.


    It was like he didn''t care about her background or any of that, treating her like any other human being.


    He wouldn''t try his hardest to please her, he would simply act how he wanted and that''s what Emma liked the most about him.


    "Alright, I''ll try," said Aiden, realizing that maybe Emma wasn''t the type of person to betray him in a heartbeat.


    After all, she was about to help out of the goodness of her heart, well... almost.


    She had made a small little request, that Aiden would try to respect.


    But, it wasn''t going to be simple, because if he started opening up to her once again, he was scared that he would need to do so with others around him.


    Emma, hearing his answer, simply smiled and decided that if needed she would give the whole 30000 Credits that she currently had in her possession.


    It wasn''t like she actually needed them.


    Then, the subus seeing Aiden''s raised hand once again started talking.


    "31000 Credits!"


    Then, Jake who was right behind Aiden also raised his hand.


    "32000 Credits!"


    Aiden once again raised his hand, as he knew that he had a lot of Credit left because of Emma''s help.


    Then, as he was about to raise his hand once again, he heard a voice from behind him.


    Looking back, he saw that the owner of this voice was Jake and he certainly didn''t have the friendliest expression on his face.


    "Are you sure that you want to go against my family?" asked Jake as if the family he was a part of wasmon information.

 Chapter 112 Truth?

    ?


    "Are you sure that you want to go against my family?" asked Jake as if the family he was a part of wasmon information.


    Aiden hearing him, ignored him at first, as he had no idea what this person was even talking about.


    What sort of family was he even part of that he should be afraid of it.


    A founding family?


    Aiden didn''t think so as this person simply didn''t emit the aura of an elite. In his mind, he was at most part of a high-level family.


    He was still better than what Aiden was currently a part of, but he didn''t mind it too much. He knew that his family probably wouldn''t do anything over a single item.


    "Are you ignoring me?" asked Jake as he got closer to Emma and Aiden who were currently sat still watching the stage.


    Hearing him say that, Aiden simply raised his hand, not caring about his approaching behind.


    The voice of the subus resounded in the Ravenwood Pavillon once again.


    "33000!"


    Jake also raised his hand.


    "Let''s see if you even have the funds to go against me, ahaha," said Jakeughing a little noticing that Aiden was dead set on not answering his taunts.


    After all, Aiden didn''t want to have any problems with anyone, which is why he decided not to add to the little taunts that he was currently receiving from Jake.


    In his mind, it was simply better to let him talk alone without responding even once.


    Emma seemed to be of the same opinion as she also didn''t respond to him, ignoring Jake at the same time.


    Then, it became a bidding war as Aiden and Jake both raised their hands one at a time, it was now at a price of 50000 Credits, and none of them were slowly down.


    Maybe Jake wasing close to spending all of his money but he didn''t let it show on his face at all.


    This battle between the two of them continued until 60000 Credits where it started to slow down as even the subus was starting to question what was happening in the VIP Suite.


    ''Are they in a war of some sort?'' she thought, however, she had a smile just thinking about the profits that they were currently making.


    Then, Jake having just raised his hand once again, the price was now of 61000 Credits.


    Aiden seeing this decided to raise his hand onest time.


    If Jake continued, he would stop and simply wait for another item as he started to feel bad as he was currently using almost all the money they had on a skill that was good but had a lot of bacsh to its use.


    In fact, Aiden didn''t even know if he could use it as the subus hadn''t even revealed the mana use.


    However, Aiden was sure that he had enough to at least make use of it one time. Also, most of his skills didn''t depend on mana either so he didn''t need to use the rest of his mana for other spells.


    So, he raised his hand onest time, not caring about whether or not he would win this bidding war.


    The worst-case scenario was that he could the money for another item. It was just that he didn''t know if there was going to be another skill that he would be able to use.


    "62000! Would this be the final price?" said out loud the subus, keeping the tension in the room.


    Then, she waited as usual a couple of seconds, but no hand was raised.


    "Is this it?" she asked once again to make sure, looking in the direction of the VIP Suite.


    ***


    "Did you see his face, ahaha," said Emma,ughing as she came out of the Ravenwood Pavillon.


    "You''ll hear of me soon," said Emma imitating the voice of Jake after Aiden had won the item at a price of 62000 Credits which wasn''t low in the least.


    In fact, Aiden wasn''t happy with what happened, he had used all the money that they had. And it was all used by a single person on a single item.


    "...Emma," said Aiden, unhappy with what just happened. "I''m sorry."


    Emma who was currently joking realized that Aiden wasn''t proud of what he had done.


    "Sorry about what, just make sure to keep your promise to me," said Emma smiling.


    She was happy, Aiden who hadn''t shown emotions for one full month, was currently frustrated.


    He had only smiled briefly after the challenge and there he was once again, showing emotions.


    It might not seem like much, but to Emma, it was a big step forward.


    Aiden, hearing what Emma had just said, nodded.


    "I know, that you didn''t mind, but still I''m sorry. I used all the money we had, and only on one item," he said, knowing that he had gotten a little stubborn with the bidding war.


    He hadn''t shown it, but at some point, he wanted to show Jake that he also had money.


    He had tried his best not to do anything, and he had seeded.


    Not responding to the taunts or anything of the sort.


    But, he had reacted in another way, he hadn''t made the decisions because of the emotions that he had been feeling.


    Even if he hadn''t shown them, he had felt them while Jake was talking down to him, he had been frustrated for a long time and it just helped relieved some of that frustration.


    "Aiden, just remember that you can talk to me," said Emma, not understanding the overreaction of Aiden.


    It had only spent money, it wasn''t like he had killed somebody that she loved, so why was he reacting so strongly to what happened?


    The first thing that came to her mind was what happened one month ago which cause that change within him.


    "Y-yes, sure I''ll try," said Aiden, realizing bit by bit that maybe Emma wasn''t part of the people that would betray him in a heartbeat.


    ***


    "So, how was the auction," asked Maelis,ing back from the meetings she had with some of the other families which were taking part in the tournament.


    Both Emma and Aiden didn''t want to reveal that someone named Jake seemed quite displeased with their attitude and that he might want to take revenge.


    So, they had both decided that the decision, at the moment, was to lie to her.


    "Everything was fine, right Aiden?" she said, slightly hitting him.N?v(el)B\\jnn


    "Uh, yeah... right, everything was great no need to worry," said Aiden looking up to Maelis.


    However, Maelis wasn''t dumb, just looking at the expressions on both of their faces, she knew that something had happened over there.


    Especially for her, it was easy to tell whether or not Emma was lying or not.


    "Emma, nothing happened?" asked Maelis once again, with a tone that seemed to suggest that something did happen.


    "Yep, nothing," lied Emma as if everything was normal.


    "Aiden? You wouldn''t lie to me right?" she said looking at Aiden directly in the eyes.


    The look which she currently had was different from everything else that Aiden had previously experienced.


    "No, nothing happened, don''t worry."


    Maelis who had hoped that at least Aiden wouldn''t lie was disappointed.


    However, she had noticed that ever sinceing inside this room, the look in his eyes wasn''t as emotionless as before.


    It seemed like whatever happened at the Ravenwood Pavillon, maybe wasn''t all that bad.


    Aiden seemed to be a little better even if it wasn''t a big change. It was still something to take note of.


    But she still couldn''t let it go, she knew what had happened from meeting with one of the families.


    "Then, if nothing happened. Why did a high-level familye up to me saying all sorts of usations," said Maelis, still gazing at the two of them.


    ''How did he know what family we were part of?'' thought Aiden as he hadn''t revealed any information regarding that matter.


    In fact, he still didn''t know the family of this Jake person.


    So, how and when, did Jake learn about it?


    "That''s weird," said Emma, still lying.


    It seemed like Emma would never the truth even if there was proof against them.


    "Honestly, I don''t really care about what the two of you did, but next time, just tell me the truth. It''s not like something bad happened, you only outbid his son," said Maelis.


    ''So, she knew all along, huh?'' thought Mia, not really minding it.


    "Sure, next time, we''ll tell you the truth. Right, Aiden?"


    ''Truth, huh? Can I tell them the truth?'' he thought inside his mind, not caring about the situation unfolding in front of him as he mindlessly responded "Yes".


    ''I wonder what they would do to me if they knew the full truth,'' thought Aiden, remembering his previous thoughts about what would happen.


    He remembered thinking that they would simply send him to the Nightshade family, but he wasn''t so sure that would happen as he looked at both Maelis and Emma.

 Chapter 113 Tournament

    ?


    The Ravenwood Territory was abuzz with excitement as families from all corners of the region gathered for the long-awaited Inter Family Tournament. The Everheart family, along with numerous others, were preparing to head to the undisclosed location where the prestigious event would take ce. Spections ran rampant among the participants about the grand venue that would befit such a momentous asion.


    Aiden, like the rest, was well aware that the tournament would be held in a magnificent setting, showcasing the power and prestige of the founding families. The anticipation in the air was palpable, and even he couldn''t help but feel a tinge of excitement mixed with apprehension.


    However, he had his reservations. As someone who had been keeping a low profile, he had no desire to draw unnecessary attention or interact with anyone, especially those from the powerful founding families and his reasons for acting this way were quite obvious.


    He didn''t want people from the Nightshade Family to recognize him. He had a mask to hide his identity but still, he wanted to be careful as he could.


    Emma, on the other hand, was positively brimming with excitement. She couldn''t contain her enthusiasm at the possibility of meeting a member of the founding families. Her eyes sparkled with wonder as she envisioned the opportunity to engage in conversation with someone of such esteemed lineage.


    "Aiden, do you think we might actually get to meet someone from the founding families?" Emma asked, her voice tinged with eagerness.


    Aiden''s response was guarded, "Maybe we will."


    Emma yfully nudged him, trying to get him to open up a little. "Come on, don''t be so reserved! Talk to me, share your thoughts."


    Aiden grumbled, "What do you even want me to talk about?" His annoyance was evident, not understanding Emma''s excitement.


    Undeterred, Emma smiled and continued walking forward, seemingly content with her sess in getting a reaction from Aiden.


    As they continued their journey, Maelis, the Everheart family''s caretaker, chimed in, "We will soon arrive, so let''s put an end to your bickering."


    Finally, they reached the location where the tournament was being held, and what awaited them was a massive line of people stretching as far as the eye could see. The queue was overwhelming, and Emma couldn''t help butin about the sheer number of participants.


    "Ugh, why are there so many people?" she grumbled, having been forced toe to a standstill.


    ***


    Several hourster, after patiently waiting in line, they found themselves at the front of the queue. However, the grand venue was not immediately visible. Instead, they were faced with yet another portal, leaving Aiden feeling even more frustrated.


    He couldn''t help but wonder why they had to go through the trouble of traveling to this location only to enter another portal. It seemed like a needless detour that distracted him from his training and preparation for the tournament.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    "Why did we have toe here, Maelis? Couldn''t we have just used a portal back in Nightshade''s Territory to ess the tournament''s location?" Aiden questioned, his annoyance evident in his tone.


    Maelis simply replied, "Well, we wouldn''t have been able to do that, that''s why we''re here."


    Aiden found her answer cryptic, but he didn''t press for further exnation. There must have been a valid reason for the decision, and he trusted Maelis''s judgment.


    Finally, the time came for them to step through the portal. As they approached, a person overseeing the entrance recognized Maelis, making the process smoother for them.


    Without further ado, they crossed the threshold of the portal, and the world around them shifted once again. The dimension they entered was nothing short of awe-inspiring. Breathtaking structures and magical wonders surrounded them, revealing the sheer brilliance of the Ravenwood Family''s craftsmanship.


    In front of them was a magnificent arena, as they advanced toward it, Aiden couldn''t help but already guess what sort of things they would have to do in there.


    He only had one guess and it seemed quite logical, it would be duels. Well, teams duels or one versus one, he still didn''t know.


    However, he was almost sure that it would be fights that would take ce in this massive Arena.


    "Aiden, let''s do our best!" said Emma. "Oh, sorry I guess I should now call you the Reaper," she said as sheughed a little, clearly making fun of the nickname.


    Aiden, however, didn''t mind it at all, he was used to this nickname. He had been part of his life for such a long time that he didn''t care about it anymore.


    ***


    Aiden and Emma were now inside of the Arena which they had seen from outside.


    Now, from a different point of view, it could say with certainty that the inside of this Arena was extremely grandiose.


    From both points of view, it was extremely beautiful and well-made.


    They had been separated from the rest of the people who were part of her family.


    Only the two of them were together, in a small restrained area.


    They were probably a lot of those areas to separate the families.


    They had been told to wait there and not move as someone would soon call them.


    ''It''s probably some sort of waiting area,'' thought Aiden as he knew that the tournament still hadn''t started and that it would probably take a little while until it officially started.


    "So, how was your training this month? Did you make any progress on the Everheart Technique?" asked Emma to Aiden, wanting to know more about his progress this past month as she didn''t know anything about it.


    He had after all, not responded to any of her questions this past month. This little moment between the two of them would be her opportunity to know more about his training.


    "Umm... not really, but well... I can''t fully apply the technique like you did, but I might be able to do some of the things that I practiced. Like some of the steps needed to perform it," exined Aiden, who wasn''t as restrained as before in his answers.


    Emma hearing him, nodded clearly understanding what he meant by that. She knew about the steps to achieve the Everheart technique and she, also, knew that some of them would be able to somewhat affect the battles that he would be going through.


    "What about the bow, would you use it during the tournament?" asked Emma, not sure of the answer that Aiden was about to say.


    The bow, he still wasn''t sure about using it as he still wasn''t the best with it, he had practiced a lot and had gotten better with it, but he still wasn''t the best at using it.


    He had gotten better at it while moving but he still hadn''t felt the same way as when he had shot the arrow with Emma.


    It still hadn''t heard the same noise that it had made with her.


    Every time that he had shot one when practicing he remembered when doing so, but it still wasn''t enough, he hadn''t been able to recreate the arrow that he had shot with her help.


    "Um... maybe, not sure," answered Aiden as he wasn''t sure if he was confident enough to actually use it.


    "What about you, did you continue to train the dagger," asked Aiden knowing that she must have stopped as he didn''t even give her any attention.


    He had seen her practice the dagger a few times and had given a few tips but that was a long time ago, at she kept practicing it or not?


    Aiden had no idea.


    "Well, because of someone who I won''t name," she said as she focused her eyes on Aiden. "My training with the dagger wasn''t the best, but I still continued practicing it as I knew that I was quitecking with it. However, I guess I stopped doing the crazy exercises that you were asking me at the start," exined Emma, calmly.


    She didn''t even seem mad that he had stopped helping her.


    But then, as Aiden heard thest name of her sentence, he spoke up.


    "Why are you saying that I made you crazy exercises?" said Aiden, acting unhappy, hiding his smile as best as possible.


    Emma, hearing this, only red at him, before putting on a big smile on her face for no reason.


    ''Guess, he''s slowly starting toe back to how he was before,'' thought Emma.


    "Weren''t they crazy? Just tell me the use of the first one, why did I swing my arms like that crazy?" said Emma, losing the smile on her face.


    She was actually wondering what was the point of such an exercise.


    "Well, isn''t it obvious, it was for you to train your endurance," said Aiden.


    "I knew it! But why couldn''t you give me another exercise to do so?" said Emma, unhappy.


    "Obviously, because I didn''t think of another one. To put it simply, it was too much work."


    "Too much work? It wouldn''t have been hard to think of another one."


    Then, Aiden stopped talking not sure why she wasining, he had been through the same and hadn''t felt like it was too hard.


    So, why was she overreacting over such a small exercise?


    He had been through a lot worse.

 Chapter 114 Tournament [Part 2]

    ?


    Then as the both of them continued a little about what happened this past month.


    A voice echoed through the walls of the small room that they were currently in.


    It seemed that there were being called because the tournament would soon start.


    "All participants, please leave the room that you are currently in, and follow the orders of the person responsible for all of you," said the voice.


    Aiden and Emma obviously listened to what it had just said and opened the door of their room.


    As they opened it, they saw a lot of people doing the exact same thing, it seemed that had all been in such ces.


    That was probably the case so that it would be easier to direct everyone over the area that they wanted.


    Aiden and Emma, also, hadn''t seen anybody enter those rooms and had no idea that other participants were also behind them.


    Well, they thought that might be the case, but they weren''t certain.


    The masked Aiden and Emmaing out paid attention to those around them trying to see what their future opponents would look like.


    But before they could do so, they were interrupted by the person who seemed responsible for them.


    Unsurprisingly, that person wasn''t a human, but a dwarf. Well, they were in the Ravenwood Territory, after all.


    "Your attention everyone, I will exin to each one of you, how this Inter Family will be proceeding," said the dwarf, calming down everyone.


    All the people who had currently been speaking instantly closed their mouths as this right here was one of the most important moments for them.


    "Alright, so this tournament as you can probably guess from the ce which we are in currently will be in the forms of duels," said the dwarf, taking a little pause.


    ''Just like I thought,'' thought Aiden, smugly.


    "So, you might ask yourselves, will this be team duels? How will it work? Well, don''t worry because just like I said, I''m here to exin everything."


    "Alright, make sure to follow me as this exnation is for all of you and not me. You all amount to a number of 200 participants, to make it so that the tournament doesn''t go on days. We, the Ravenwoods, have decided that the first round will be in teams of four."


    "The teams will be formed this way, it will be two members from the same family, with two members of another family. If you don''t have two members participating in your family, then it will be two members of a family and two other members from a different family, is that clear?" asked the dwarf, realizing that his exnation maybe wasn''t the best.


    ''Well, not really, but I think that I understood,'' thought Aiden.


    ''Basically, Emma and I will be on the same team and will be paired up with members of another family or from two different families depending on the scenario.''


    "Alright, I''ll take that as a yes," said the dwarf since no one even uttered a word when asked that.


    "And I don''t think that I need to say that the team that loses the battle will be eliminated from the tournament."


    "Then, after that, there will be one hundred of you left. It will be another team fight, this time, however, it will be two versus two. The same system as earlier will be applied when creating the teams."


    "And, after that, then it will be true duels, where you only have a single opponent against you, did all of you understand how the tournament will take ce?" said the dwarf, which seemed done with the exnation that he was currently giving.


    Everyone in the crowd nodded, however, it seemed like some of them had some questions as they raised their hands.


    "Yes, you," he said pointing toward one of the people who had raised his hand.


    "Hello, I was just wondering about the rewards, is there that we can learn a little more about what they are?" asked the person.


    The others who had their hands raised put them down as it seemed that this was the question that was on everyone''s mind.


    Aiden, hearing that question, was actually quite interested in it as he made sure to listen even more carefully to the answering out of the dwarf''s mouth.


    However, he was a little disappointed when he heard it.


    "The rewards, huh? I guess that''s why all of you are here. Well... I can''t tell you that much, but we will be able to win something if you reach the duels that I just mentioned. However, I can''t tell you what they will be, nheless, you should learn about them as you continue progressing in the tournament," said the dwarf.


    Hearing this, many in the crowd only nodded already expecting such an answer, however, many were a bit annoyed by it.


    Still, they didn''t let it vocally as it was only their faces that seemed to show displeasure.


    "Alright, so any more questions?" asked once again the dwarf.


    Noticing that no one had raised their hands, he opened his mouth once again.


    "Then I guess, I should start by forming the teams, huh? So, hmm... yeah I think that would work," muttered the dwarf, thinking about some potential solutions for drawing the teams.


    Then, as he finished muttering some words, the system which had been calm since earlier made the usual beeping sound in the head of everyone present here.


    Beep


    [Your team is the following: Emma Everheart, The Reaper, Olivia Starweaver, and Logan Starweaver.]


    ''How the hell did that happen?'' thought Aiden as he just couldn''t understand how the little dwarf who was on the stage in front of him did such a thing.


    He was like he asked the system something and itplied.


    Was such a thing possible?


    Aiden was very confused about it and remembered that he still hadn''t gotten to meet with that mercenary that Maelis had talked about.


    The mercenary, who was one of the main reasons why he had changed so much in the past month.N?v(el)B\\jnn


    Still, he didn''t too long about it, because as usual, he couldn''t get any answers.


    He now had to meet this Starweaver family, were they a middle-level family like them or a high-level one?


    Aiden didn''t know much about families, so it made sense that he had absolutely no idea who they even were.


    There was also another problem on his mind, he had to find his teammates, how would he even try to do that?


    They were 200 people, and they had to find two people.


    "Do you know what they look like?" asked Aiden to Emma since she was a little more informed about such things than him.


    But, she probably wasn''t the best either as she hadn''t recognized anyone in the VIP Suite.


    "Hmm... no idea," replied Emma, as she didn''t even know of a Starweaver family.


    If Aiden were, to be honest at the moment, well... he would tell straight to Emma''s face that she was useless.


    But still, he managed to keep those words in his head.


    She had been in this world for her whole life and she didn''t know of the most important people of this generation.


    Honestly, Aiden was a little disappointed in her, but he still remembered that she was also part of the most talented awakeners of her generation.


    Then, as Aiden and Emma seemedpletely lost, having no idea how to proceed, two people were approaching them.


    Those two who were advancing toward them seemed to have an uneasy look, or rather an uncertain look, Aiden wasn''t sure.


    "Are you Emma and The Reaper...?" said the man, who seemed scared for some reason.


    Maybe it was because of Aiden''s appearance as he was wearing full ck clothes with his mask which honestly could be considered scary.


    But, if this was one of his teammates and if he was scared only because of his appearance then Aiden was going to be quite unhappy.


    "Well... nice to meet you, I''m Logan and this is-"


    "I''m Olivia Starwwaver, nice to meet you," interrupted the girl who had a little annoyed look on her face.


    "Don''t mind my brother, he is pretty shy in general but he has great skill, I can assure you that," said the girl, not even letting Emma or Aiden present themselves.


    "I guess you''re The Reaper, huh? Why are you hiding your identity, are you dumb?" asked the girl once again not letting either Emma or Aiden ce a single word.


    ''First time that we met and she''s already insulting, well alright...'' thought Aiden.


    "I''m not dumb, and yeah I''m the Reaper, I guess it''s obvious from how I look," said Aiden, with a bit of anger as it wasn''t pleasant to be insulted by some unknown person.


    "Then, you must be Emma, wow, you look so good, are you guys together?" she said speaking really bombarding Emma with words.


    Emma wasn''t prepared for such a question as she blushed a little.

 Chapter 115 Tournament [Part 3]

    ?


    "W-what are you saying, of course, we aren''t dating," said Emma, having a little difficulty speaking.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    She was nowpletely as if this question from Olivia had totally blindsided her.


    It was totally unexpected and why would she ask such a question in the first ce?


    Based on what sort of indications she thought that they were dating, hell... she couldn''t even see Aiden''s face which was hidden under his mask.


    "Then, why did you be red like a tomato when I asked about it?" asked Olivia Starweaver, curiously.


    Then, as Emma was about to respond, she was interrupted by Aiden who was quite annoyed by the direction of this conversation.


    Why are they even talking about such a thing when the Inter Family Tournament was about to start?


    They hadn''t been told an exact time, but the dwarf who was still watching would probably give them some time to learn about their teammate''s strengths and weaknesses.


    They didn''t have any time to waste, they needed to concentrate on the task ahead and prepare some strategies for the team battles which would soonmence.


    "Why are you even talking about such a thing? We should talk about how we''re going to fight," said Aiden, ignoring the earlier conversation as if it didn''t have any meaning.


    Sure, he had gotten close to Emma once, but it was because of Emma''s actions, not his.


    He didn''t even care about what happened between and Emma clearly didn''t care as she hadn''t even talked to him about it.


    Well, the reason for her to not talk about it was because she didn''t even remember about it in the first ce, but Aiden didn''t know about that.


    "Oh, is Mister here getting protective or something?" said Olivia, smiling while approaching the masked Aiden, not scared at all.


    ''Why are their personalities so different? Didn''t they say that they were brother and sister,'' thought Aiden, trying to make as little sense as he could of their personality.


    "Leave them alone, sis, he''s right, this is a big opportunity for all of us here," said Logan, gaining the courage to speak up albeit in a low tone that was barely audible by Aiden or Emma.


    It seemed like he was either really shy or scared, well, Aiden didn''t know yet.


    "Hmm... I guess you are right, little bro, then, I''ll start," she said as pumped her chest. "I am Olivia Starweaver, me and my brother are Starweavers and as you probably know we are a high-level family," said Olivia, finally revealing what type of family they were since Aiden or Emma had absolutely no idea.


    "I am a mage, so I will be in the back when we will be fighting releasing the strongest skills that I can pull off," said Olivia, continuing her little speech, not letting a single second for someone to interrupt her.


    ''A mage, huh?'' thought Aiden as this was the first time that he was seeing one.


    Well, on second thought, it kind of made sense that she was a mage as she held a massive stick of wood with some blue sphere at the top of it.


    Her hair was alsopletely red, and she was wearing in clothes that weren''t revealing any part of her body which was quite the contrast to Emma who was currently wearing a tank top as she still hadn''t put on her armour.


    The reason for that was her inventory. She would just put it on when needed.


    "A-as for me, well, I''m a shieldbearer," said Logan, timidly.


    This time, Aiden was quite surprised as he literally couldn''t have guessed it.


    Weren''t people on the front line quite massive, especially for a shieldbearer who would rely on his body to tank some of the attacks from others?


    Then, why was Logan so small and frail?


    It looked like he would die from a single hit as his body was so unmuscr and frail. It literally made no sense for him to be on the front lines.


    Olivia who had noticed the looks that Emma was giving her brother, immediately came to his rescue.


    She would have noticed the ones that Aiden had been giving, but well... is was wearing a mask which hid his entire face.


    "Please don''t judge for his appearance, I''m telling you he won''t bring us down," affirmed Olivia, sounding so sure of herself that Emma or Aiden didn''t ask her to prove anything.


    ''Well, he must be strong if he''s here,'' thought Aiden.


    That was a good point brought up for Aiden, if he was at the Inter Family Tournament then he must be one of the most talented awakeners of their generation.


    So, there was no need for them to worry too much about his strength.


    Then, it seemed like it was time for Aiden and Emma to present themselves.


    "I''m an archer, so I will also be long-range," said Emma smiling looking at Aiden as it was now his time to tell them about his ss.


    But, before he could do so, Emma once again opened her mouth seemingly forgetting something.


    "Oh, and as you probably saw, we''re from the Everheart family, a middle-level family," said Emma, also revealing the strength of their family in case they didn''t know of it.


    As she said that, the two from the Starweaver family nodded as if learning something.


    It seemed like they hadn''t heard of the Everheart family.


    ''I guess, it''s time for me to reveal and my ss,'' thought Aiden, apprehensive about the whole situation.


    He didn''t know what to do, well he had two choices and was currently hesitating between the two of them.


    He either had to tell them that his ss was Assassin or just not reveal anything to them.


    Telling them about the fact that he didn''t have a ss wasn''t even part of the option as this was a pretty hidden secret of his and there was also no need to tell them about it.


    However, telling them that he was part of the Assassin ss would help his team be more coordinated with him.


    So, after thinking things through, he decided that he would simply reveal that he was of the Assassin ss as it would help him in the end.


    He didn''t want to lose the first fight after all.


    "As for me, I''m an Assassin. So, I won''t be able to be on the front line either, I will probably be hiding and surging at some moments onto enemies," said Aiden as he looked over to Logan trying to see what his reaction was because of this information.


    Even if he knew that he must have some strength, he still couldn''t trust either Olivia or Logan, he had never met them before after all.


    He wanted to watch for his reaction because it would certainly be some sort of indicator as to whether or not he would be confident.


    But, Logan didn''t have any reaction and didn''t look more scared than earlier., his face was still the face.


    ''I guess, its is resting face,'' thought Aiden noticing not a single change.


    Then, as Aiden mentioned his ss, the dwarf who was in front of them was growing tired of them, as he made some noises from time to time to show his unhappiness.


    "Are you finished or what?" said the dwarf, looking at the 200 people in front of him.


    Faced with no answers, he simply said. "You have three minutes left, so try to make it quick. The tournament will start after three minutes."


    "Well, I guess we got some time, what did you guys want to talk about?" asked Olivia as they had pretty much said anything that was needed.


    "Hey, Reaper, show me your face," she asked out of nowhere.


    But, Aiden simply ignored her as he didn''t want to talk to her and he also didn''t want to show his face.


    "Just leave him alone," said Emma when she heard her ask that.


    Was she jealous that someone was trying to catch a glimpse of Aiden?


    Three minutester which the team of Aiden had passed in silence, well... most of the members had done so.


    It would have been silence if it wasn''t for one person in their team who hadn''t shut her mouth.


    She hadn''t stopped talking for the past three minutes, always some subject to talk about.


    Even though she was talking to herself, she didn''t stop.


    But, then they were saved from her rambling as the dwarf once again started talking.


    "Alright time''s up, it''s now time to start this damn tournament!" said the dwarf excitedly.


    "Then, I guess we should send you to the middle of the arena. Oh, and don''t worry everyone will be fighting at the same time, we don''t want to spend days here after all," said the dwarf as Aiden and everyone around started to turn into particles.


    ''They can teleport us at will too? Just what is this dimension? Was this why we couldn''t participate from anywhere?'' thought Aiden, trying to think about how this was even possible.

 Chapter 116 116 - The Founding Families

    ?


    "They can control everything in here or what?" muttered Aiden, he just didn''t understand how this was even possible.


    It was like they could decide what they wanted to do with everyone in there. It was probably an impression, but it was still scary when thinking about it.


    He didn''t have any control over himself... once again.


    It made him feel how powerless he was but he quickly suppressed that feeling as he arrived in the middle of an Arena.


    Cheers resounded everywhere around him, as he nced around in the stands, looking at all those people that were currently looking down on the 200 most talented awakeners of this generation.


    And, it was weird to think that Aiden was part of them as he hadn''t even been part of their world that long ago. But, he had still adapted quickly as he was now here, admired by many.


    "Are you nervous?" said Olivia, as she appeared right beside Aiden''s masked appearance.


    It seemed like she was still teasing even in such a situation, pressure didn''t seem to affect her at all as she could still tease and talk to her teammates.


    "Why would I be nervous?" answered Aiden, even if he had some nerves running through his body.


    There were many things that could go wrong here if his identity were to be discovered and he needed to make sure that no such thing would happen or else, who knew what would happen.


    Then, as Olivia was about to continue to tease him, she was interrupted by a deep voicepletely different from the voice of the dwarf from earlier.


    If Aiden were to describe, he had to say that this voice was heavier or more powerful, he wasn''t sure.


    But one thing was sure, the owner of that voice had to be powerful, much more powerful than any other person Aiden had seen yet.


    "Are you ready?" eximed the deep voice, as the environment around Aiden seemed to change.


    It looked exactly like the time he had duelled with Emma, he was now in a forest with trees everywhere around him. But that wasn''t all, there was some sort of force field that was in front of them, restricting them from exploring the territory which was in front of them.


    It seemed that the goal of having such a thing was to make them unable to ess and analyze thepletely new environment where they will have to fight against.


    "Oh, we''re lucky," eximed Olivia seeing that they were now in a forest.


    What she meant was that they had an assassin and an archer who would be able to hide in the trees that surrounded them giving them quite an obvious advantage which was perfect to win this first fight.


    "As Funrir said, the ones who will lose this fight will be eliminated from the Inter Family Tournament," said the voice as a small message appeared in front of Aiden.


    [You cannot die in this territory.]


    [The team fight will now start in five seconds.]


    [4]


    [3]


    [2]


    [1]


    Then, as the cooldown in zero, the voice once again spoke with some enthusiasm in his voice this time, changing his earlier tone.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    "The fights will now begin! May the best win."


    The force field which had been in front of them also disappeared, letting them advance forward.


    ''Wait, are we fighting without even knowing our opponents?'' thought Aiden, finding this weird as he had thought that they would at least be able to have some information on the people that they would be facing.


    It will have been great to know what sort of ss the other team had.


    ***


    While Aiden and his team were preparing to fight, the dirigent of the founding families were all watching down on some small crystal globes which portrayed some images at really high speed. To make it simple, they were showing videos of the current participants meeting each other.


    "Who do you think will win this year?" asked the Nightshade Patriarch, looking down on his globe paying focus to one particr person.


    The person he was looking at seemed to be of his family as his armour had a small insignia on the top left shoulder in the shape of a moon.


    "Ahaha, why would you ask such a stupid question? It will obviously be us," said the dwarf loudly, stating his confidence over this whole tournament.


    It seemed that the Ravenwood Patriarch was quite confident winning as they were in their own territory, but maybe this confidence that he exuded was because of his character.


    Then, as the dwarf was about to add something someone interrupted him before he even spoke.


    "Um, I think we have good chances this year," said a slender elf, on the other side of the room.


    This man was part of the Vndil family, the one who had reigned over the elf race over the years.


    They didn''t haveplete control as they still let elves choose what they want to do with their lives, but they are still the ones who had the most prestige and power.


    The character of his elf seemed to be also a lot more restrained than the one of the dwarf, as he didn''t think that victory was assured simply stating that they had some chances to win.


    "What about you?" said the Nightshade Patriarch, looking over the only person who hadn''t said anything about winning this tournament or losing it yet.


    The person that the Nightshade Patriarch was currently looking at, had a long grey beard on his face, clearly showing that he was an old person. However, when a person would look more in detail at that person''s face, they wouldn''t be able to see a single wrinkle as if his age was simply an illusion.


    "Me? What about me? What about you?" responded the grey-bearded man, turning the question around.


    Then, the others in the room turned their gaze toward the Nightshade family Patriarch, seemingly waiting for his answer, but they were only met with silence.

 Chapter 117 117 - Observing The Enemy Team

    ?


    As the invisible barrier dropped in front of them, Aiden and his team didn''t rush into the forest right away.


    They wanted to discuss what their n was going to be.


    How they were going to act?


    They had told themselves the basics of how they would be fighting as a team, but they hadn''t known of the situation that they were currently in.


    They knew about the roles that they would each hold while fighting, but they wanted to go over in more detail.


    They had time pressure, so they didn''t want to spend five minutes talking about what they had to do, but they wanted to have an overall n for this team fight of theirs.


    None of them wanted to lose, even if some seemed to not even feel the pressure, they would surely try their absolute best to win this tournament as it could help not only them but the whole family that was currently supporting them.


    "I think that our best option would be for the Reaper to scout ahead discreetly, and give us some information about the enemy that we are about to face," said Olivia, taking the lead, just like she had done when they had first met.


    The girl wasn''t shy from taking the lead and simply continued talking while others were still listening to her.


    Aiden, also, agreed with what she had just asked of him, because it will be a good idea to have some information about the other team, so that they would know what to expect when first meeting them.


    Aiden didn''t lose any more time, listening to what Olivia was going to say next as he jumped onto one of the trees going forward.


    "I''lle back close to here when I find some information," said Aiden, leaving the rest of his teammates not even looking back at them, fully concentrated on the task ahead of him.


    The environment that they had been given to fight was quite big as Aiden jumped from branch to branch without stopping, making absolutely no noise while doing so.


    His movement really was skillful as no one else other than him could pull off such a thing, especially without a skill. Well... he did technically have a skill, but it was one that he inherited from Earth before transmigrating, so it doesn''t really count.


    Then, as he kept going forward without stopping or taking a small break, he could hear some voices below him, not too far away from him.


    It was the enemy team which was also running forward with quite the speed, also not slowing down.


    It seemed that the other team''s n was to simply go forward and kill what was in front of them, well that was their actions told Aiden.


    He could be wrong but running without even caring about the environment around them, was quite reckless as Aiden would never do such a thing.


    But, then he understood that he would have to quickly go back to his team to tell him about their fast-approaching speed.


    So, he decided to go at the same speed as the other team watching them, trying to learn as much as he could from what they were wearing.


    He was also able to go at a much faster speed than they were going but he wanted to have as much information as he could before doing so.


    Then, looking down and analyzing what each of them was wearing, Aiden noticed that one of them had a sword on his back.


    ''Guess he also doesn''t have an inventory, he probably isn''t dangerous,'' thought Aiden, noticing that the person with the sword was carrying his equipment in his hands which revealed some things about him.


    The first one was that he didn''te from a rich family, well... that was actually the only thing. But still, Aiden didn''t disregard him as a possible threat as he had also awakened in the Slums and looked where he was now.


    Sure, the body which he currently had possession over had been part of the Nightshade family, but that didn''t mean much as the old Aiden hadn''t even been able to awaken.


    And, Aiden also didn''t have an inventory at the moment as Maelis still hadn''t given him one.


    Then, he looked at the other person who was part of that swordsman group and saw that she didn''t have any sort of weapon on her which indicated that she had an inventory.


    However, getting a closer look at her, she seemed to be wearing some revealing clothes, which clearly amplified her fit body as even from a good distance, Aiden could see her tits moving up and down and well... there wasn''t much tissue covering them.


    So, he guessed that she possessed a ss that was simr to the one that Ava had used, Enchantress.


    There was also, another girl in their group, however, she didn''t have the beautiful slender physique of the Enchantress, she was more bulky having armour that seemed quite heavy onto her.


    Her muscles were even showing from such a distance which clearly indicated that she wasn''t one to be rivalled with.


    Aiden''s intuitive guess was that she was someone who had a ss that was rted to being a Tank.


    Then, thest person was the weirdest as he had some white cloth on both of his eyes whichpletely blocked his vision. He had absolutely no weapon on him which meant that he also had an inventory.


    Seeing that, Aiden had absolutely no idea as to what ss he could be rted to with the small amount of knowledge that he had gotten since arriving in this world.


    After getting a good look out of the enemy team, Aiden elerated going twice as fast as them.


    He needed to be at least this fast if he wanted to share the information that he had gotten.


    Only a couple of seconds after going a lot faster, he turned his head back trying to see his some of the other team had noticed him, but well... it didn''t seem that way.


    ***


    Author''s Note: Tomorrow, you won''t be able to ess the new chapters as I am currently updating the privilege. Also, if it is possible to give power stones to my novel, it would be great as I would get more exposure from webnovel.


    Nheless, thank you for reading my novel as it means a lot to me!n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

 Chapter 118 118 - Coming Back To His Team

    ?


    Not wanting to dy his arrival, he turned his head back once again, going as fast as he possibly could toward Emma and the rest of his team.


    While running, he kept thinking back to the man with a piece of white cloth on his eyes.


    ''How is a blind person able to run at such speed? It''s as if he was able to observe his surroundings even when he had something blocking his vision,'' thought Aiden, as he ran forward.


    He wondered about what sort of abilities such a man could have. Maybe he could feel his surroundings or something like that.


    Then, he thought back to the moment when he had looked at him, analyzing him.


    He hadn''t realized it at the moment, but the blind man had reacted when Aiden nced at him as if knowing that someone was currently watching.


    However, it was such a faint reaction that maybe Aiden was wrong. The only thing that he had done when Aiden started watching him, was tilt his head a little to the right.


    Maybe it was a coincidence, but Aiden wasn''t sure as he made sure to go as fast as he could wanting to share this information that he had gathered.


    Jumping from one branch to another, Aiden started getting closer to the spot where he had left at the start of this team fight.


    But, as he nced down, he couldn''t find anyone, it seemed like they had decided to leave this ce and advance without him.


    Nheless, Aiden found it weird that he hadn''t seen them at all whening back here. He, also, couldn''t wait too much as the enemy was currently on its way over here.


    Even if Aiden had been able to go at a much higher pace than them, he still needed to make the best of the restricted time that he currently had.


    He jumped off from the tree branch,nding on the ground without making a single noise.


    Aiden wanted to have a better look around here, as he wasn''t sure whether or not he had missed theming here, but as he thought about it. The rest of his team had to be really close to this ce.


    It''s not like they could have gotten far away.


    "Emma?" he whispered, not wanting to make too much noise.


    He didn''t want to alert the enemy team, after all, he had to be discreet.


    But, he waited for one full minute and... he had gotten absolutely zero answers from anyone.


    ''Just where could they be?'' thought Aiden, as he kept looking around himself, trying to find the smallest clue as to where they had fled.


    Then, as he spent 20 seconds doing that, noticing that there was literally nothing around here that could help him, he gave up and decided that it was for him to go back and search close to this point.


    As he was about to jump, a small whisper could be heard from the bushes that were on his right.


    "We''re here," said a feminine voice, whispering in a low tone.


    ''Wait, is that Emma or Olivia?'' he thought recognizing somewhat the voice that had just spoken to him.


    Aiden simply approached the bushes on his right, but he approached them carefully not sure what was happening.


    "Emma? You''re there?" asked Aiden, once again, as he wasn''t sure why she hadn''t answered him earlier.


    But there was no response, noticing this Aiden just picked up the pace, wanting to see what was happening behind those bushes.


    Then, he got so close that he could see some of the bush leaves move, again and again, as if someone was held captive behind them.


    Having no other choice, he jumped in that direction with his dagger in his hands, ready for whatever could happen.


    But, when he jumped, he was able to have a good look at what was happening behind that bush, and well... he was shocked, to say the least.


    He just couldn''t believe his eyes.


    Emma was currently unable to talk because Olivia had her hand on her mouth.


    She also couldn''t move her body because Logan was currently holding her down as Aiden was able to nce at some of his muscles.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    Emma''s body wasn''t under her control anymore as her tits were tightly held by Olivia and Logan. Her tits were squished tightly against her body. Emma kept trying to move out of their clutches, which caused her big melons to move a little, however, no matter how much strength she was trying to put. It seemed like she was held down quite well.


    However, Aiden didn''t even care about Emma''s current situation as he focused on the muscles on Logan''s body. All he could think when seeing them was that they were quite feeble-looking. He just couldn''t help but question whether or not he would be able to help in fighting the other team.


    Nevertheless, he dismissed those thoughts as he remembered the person with a white piece of cloth around his eyes. He knew that he shouldn''t judge anyone based on their physique.


    "What are you guys doing?" asked Aiden, seeing such a disturbing scene.


    "Oh, are you talking to us?" said Olivia as if nothing was wrong. "We''re just having a little while waiting for you," she said as she started to giggle a little.


    "A little fun, huh?" he said, now focusing on the current situation that Emma was currently in. "Well, I guess you can release her now that I''m here, right?"


    As he said that Logan and Olivia who had their clutches on Emma''s body released their strength over her, and let her be free once again.


    As soon as she could move on her own, she immediately when toward Aiden, jumping and grabbing hold of him as if she felt safe with him.


    "Thank god you''re here, you have no idea what they put me through waiting for you," she said as she squeezed her body against his.

 Chapter 119 119 - White Cloth

    ?


    ''Just what the fuck is this team?'' thought Aiden as Emma started exining what they had done to her when he had left.


    They hadn''t started to think about a n or anything. As soon as he had left, they had grabbed her and held her down in the bush where Aiden had found her.


    Why had they done so?


    Because Olivia seemed to find this whole situation quite funny as she keptughing when hearing Emma saying all the things that they had done to Emma.


    Aiden hearing all of this for the first time, was quite angry with Olivia and Logan as they really seemed to not be taking thispetition seriously at all.


    However, there was a more pressing matter over this whole situation.


    "Um, Emma... can you like, get off me," said Aiden, as Emma was still in his arms.


    Aiden wasn''t easily affected by her body and things like that, but the constant squishing of her tits against his body was starting to simte his mind a lot, as he could feel his dick starting to get hard a little.


    There was also the fact that Aiden was currently under another identity, which was quite weird as Emma always had to be careful not to say his name out loud.


    "Oh, right," muttered Emma, as she released her grasp of Aiden''s body.


    However, as she did so, her mind was kind of everywhere and her face waspletely red.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    ''What got over me? Why did I act like that?'' she thought.


    She found it weird that she would go toward Aiden in such a way, especially with others around them, who could be saying her actionster when they finished their fight.


    There was also the fact that she was very close to Aiden, which caused some redness to appear on her face.


    "Oh, is our Emma shy?" said Olivia getting closer to Emma, as she suddenly grabbed both of her tits, ying with them as if they were hers.


    "Cut this out, we need to focus on this fight, don''t you want to hear about the information that I gathered," said Aiden, tired that Olivia always seemed to taking none of this seriously at all.


    However, it seemed that Olivia wasn''t hearing her as she kept trying to touch Emma''s tits over and over again as Emma also tried to get away from her.


    Aiden didn''t know why but Emma wasn''t even trying to defend herself as she simply started to run in his direction, hiding behind him.


    Aiden saw that Olivia was alsoing this way, not even paying attention to him, thinking that he wouldn''t do anything.


    ''We don''t have time to waste on this shit, why are they acting like this?'' thought Aiden, as he needed to find a way for everyone to be serious once again.


    "What did I say?" said Aiden, as he approached slowly Olivia.


    As he pronounced those words, a ck aura seemed toe off Aiden''s body.


    It was intimidating as the whole area around them seemed to be affected. It seemed Aiden was truly angry this time, as Emma remembered one time when the same sort of thing happened.


    The time when she had asked why she was doing those pointless exercises.


    She remembered that look in his eyes as he held his dagger approaching her dangerously. His current actions reminded her exactly of that time when he had done almost the exact same thing.


    However, looking at that scene once again, she realized that this time was much worse than when he had done it to her.


    ''Just how can he release such an aura?'' thought Emma, not understanding how someone from the Slums could have such a horrifying aura.


    Olivia, looking at her surroundings which were now pitch ck, started to panic a little.


    ''What is this? How is he able to do that?'' she thought, seeing his ck figure getting closer and closer to her.


    "Stop, stop, I was just joking, no need to get all serious," she said as some fear could be heard in her tone.


    It seemed like what Aiden had just done, had made her realize that she wasn''t necessarily the strongest here and that the ones who were in her team were as dangerous as her.


    "We don''t have time to waste, their team is on their way, and they are going quite fast toward here," said Aiden as he maintained the aura around him as he didn''t want the atmosphere to go back to what it once was.


    "So, stop joking and ying around, this is serious. We need to win against them," said Aiden, using a tone that allowed no refusal as others just listened to what he said without interrupting even once.


    Even Olivia was listening, not once trying to open her mouth.


    She seemed to understand that Aiden was dead serious about this tournament and that they shouldn''t fool around.


    Aiden was also right that this was a serious situation because as of this moment, four people were running in their direction and fast at that.


    If Aiden was to calcte how much time it would take them to reach them, then it would be two minutes, at most.


    "Alright, so listen to me, one of them is a swordsman, one of them is an Enchantress, one of them is bulky and seemed to be the one that will protect the rest of his team. However, there was one person which I couldn''t figure out what ss he was part of as he was weird," said Aiden, enumerating the information that he had gotten no long.


    He didn''t exin it in detail as he knew that they were on restricted time.


    However, Olivia seemed to be interested in thest person that he had talked about.


    Wanting to ask something, she made sure that he wasn''t talking before opening her mouth.


    "How was he weird, thatst person that you''re talking about?" she asked making sure that he wouldn''t mind it as his ck aura was still surrounding them.


    "He was wearing some white piece of cloth around his eyes, that''s why," said Aiden.


    "A white piece of cloth?" repeated Olivia. "Are you sure?"

 Chapter 120 120 - The Tournament Winner?

    ?


    "Are you sure that he had a white cloth around his eyes?" repeated Olivia, making sure that she had heard correctly.


    The tone in her voice was quite serious which made Aiden think that maybe she knew something about his identity.


    Even Emma seemed to know something about such a person as she looked at him with shock in her eyes. However, she didn''t talk only observing the situation unfold in front of her.


    She was still scared of the ck aura that had just been released and she didn''t want to upset him. What if that aura were to be directed at her instead of Olivia?


    She didn''t want to be scared of him, which is why she only decided to watch as she had noticed that Aiden was on the verge of getting very mad.


    It seemed that this tournament was important for him for some reason.


    Well, the reason was simple, he wanted to prove to himself that he wasn''t weak anymore and that he would be able to face others.


    He wanted to show that he wasn''t weak so weak that he would be controlled by anyone, well... that was what he wanted but he knew deep inside that he wouldn''t be powerful enough to do so.


    But, he still wanted to try and show that he was the best amongst his peers, that was his short-term goal.


    "Yes, he had some weird bandage on his eyes," responded Aiden, waiting for Olivia to exin why she had asked him if he was sure.


    "No way," she muttered, almost whispering.


    Aiden got frustrated hearing that whisper as he wanted her to exin it to the whole group and he once again knew that didn''t have much time left before their arrival.


    "Fast, who is he?" said Aiden, trying to pressure her into responding right away.


    "Yeah, right, he''s called the prodigy. Someone whoes from a low-level family who is supposed to have a shot at winning this tournament," said Olivia.


    Hearing what she had just said, Aiden was confused, to say the least, as he didn''t understand why someone talented would be stuck in a low-level family, especially one who had enough talent to have a nickname.


    "The prodigy? How skilled is he?" asked Aiden, trying to make a fair assumption of his skills.


    But Olivia''s answerpletely ruined that idea of his.


    "That''s the thing, nobody knows his skills or his ss," exined Olivia.


    "That''s right, I only heard of his title, but I never heard of his skills," added Emma, confirming what Olivia had just said.


    ''Guess, we''ll discover them as we fight,'' thought Aiden, as he knew that the fight between the two teams would be arriving very soon.N?v(el)B\\jnn


    Then, as Aiden was about to continue talking the one who had been shy since earlier, spoke up seemingly having something to say at such a time.


    "Hmm, you guys should look behind, it seems like they''re here," said Logan as he advanced toward the four people who had just arrived.


    He went past Emma, Aiden, and Olivia, assuming his role as a front line. He seemed determined to not let anyone pass through this challenge.


    ***


    Meanwhile, the four founding families'' Patriarchs and Matriarchs were now talking about how some of the fights were currently progressing.


    "Are you still looking at your son, stupid Nightshade," said the bulky dwarf.


    However, the Nightshade Patriarch didn''t even bother to even answer such insults as he kept himself focused, seemingly analyzing every single detail.


    "Don''t bother talking to him, you know how he is?" said the grey-bearded man, who had no wrinkles on his face.


    Then, the dwarf turned toward that person as he said almost the exact same thing.


    "And you? Who are you looking at?" asked the dwarf, aggressively. "And remove that damn disguise," said the dwarf shortly after.


    "What do you mean disguise?" said the grey-bearded man, like he didn''t know what he was doing.


    However, the dwarf wasn''t a dupe.


    "You know exactly what I''m talking about, Melinda," said the dwarf as he could see some parts of the bearded man starting to change.


    The eyes, the nose, the mouth, all of them seemed to start to twitch. Then, it was his body which changed, the muscr man was starting to lose muscle, as he became rather slim.


    On his chest, appeared two big mountains.


    "Did you not like it, Thorin?" said Melinda, smiling gently toward the little dwarf.


    "I prefer looking at you this way, hehe," said the dwarf as his cheeks turnedpletely red as he looked at her body.


    "You see that''s why I didn''t reveal my true appearance, pig," said Melinda, disgusted by the expression Thorin currently had on his face.


    "Ahaha, I guess you were right, but who cares, what about the tournament, who do you think will win?" asked Thorin, once again, as he was actually curious about her opinion.


    "Hmm... well, I don''t know. I don''t think my family will win, I don''t have a really strong awakener. I don''t know if that was what you were asking," answered Melinda as she knew that he was probably interested in that.


    She knew that he wanted to learn a little more about her current strength, so she just answered the question in a way that wouldn''t make Thorin bother her.


    "No I don''t care about that, who do you think will win this year, overall?" asked Thorin again, seemingly not interested in her family''s strength.


    "Um, I don''t know, I have many prospects, we have Mister Nightshade''s son on the list, Mister Alex Nightshade. I think he has a good shot at winning," said Melinda as it seemed to be an obvious answer, but then she added something out of nowhere.


    "But, I don''t know, I feel like we might be surprised on who might be winning this tournament, this year," she said as she nced toward the crystal globe that was right beneath her.


    On it, was a man exuding apletely dark aura, as if he was death himself.

 Chapter 121 121 - Melinda

    ?


    "A surprise?" said Thorin, not sure what she meant by that, as he knew that they were almost sure of winning this Inter Family Tournament.


    They were, after all, the strongest there was. Nobody could rival them, in fact, not a single one out of the high-level families could dream of bing a founding family.


    Because it was told in the name, there were the founding families, the ones which had been the strongest a long time ago, well... that was what the history said at least.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    "Yes, a surprise, who knows? Maybe this year, someone will be able to surpass our youngsters," said Melinda with apletely serious expression.


    The Nightshade Patriarch who had been silent since earlier spoke up for the first time as he seemed quite dissatisfied with the words that he was currently hearing.


    "Are you talking about the Prodigy as they call him, sorry but he won''t amount too much. My son is obviously way better than him," said the Nightshade Patriarch, talking about Alex Nightshade, not Aiden.


    Melinda only nodded upon hearing that, as she seemed quite excited seeing such a dark auraing out of such a young body.


    ''Just who is this kid?'' she thought, not understanding how someone their age, could be releasing such a dark aura.


    ''What about him? Would he be able to do such a thing?'' she thought, having the image of a person in her mind.


    The figure of that person was slender as he only had a dagger in his hands, with long ck behind his back. His face, however, couldn''t be seen as she didn''t have an idea of who that might be.


    She had only seen his figure from far away, once, and that was a long time ago. Melinda had gone around asking about a slim figure dressed in ck, however, no one had been able to tell her about him.


    ''Who knows? It''s not like I have any idea of his strength,'' she thought, as she dismissed those thoughts from her mind as it wouldn''t amount to anything either way.


    "I wasn''t talking about the Prodigy, I also, don''t think that he will stay in thispetition for long," said Melinda as she knew that this masked person that she was currently watching would soon be eliminating him.


    There was a single shred of doubt in her mind that someone capable of such an aura wouldn''t win against someone who was blind.


    ''Maybe I could recruit him? He might know something about that person,'' she thought, as she seemed quite interested in all of Aiden''s actions.


    ***


    Meanwhile, Aiden''s team was now facing the enemy team with the bulky girl that he had seen earlier in front.


    The one who had epted those responsibilities in Aiden''s team had been Logan as he was supposed to be a front-liner, however, no matter how much Aiden tried to convince himself, he wasn''t sure whether or not that man would fulfill his job well.


    That was the reason why he decided that he wouldn''t be depending on anyone for this fight, he would simply use his teammates as a distraction. He had kept thinking about the way to use his current power and he had concluded that seemed to be the best option.


    Who cares if one of them got hurt?


    At the end of the day, if he was going to win, he couldn''t care less about anything that would happen because of the actions that he would be taking.


    "Alright, I''ll leave the rest to you guys," said Aiden as he jumped onto one of the trees that were surrounding them.


    It seemed that the environment in which the fight would be taking ce would be helping Aiden''s team just like Olivia and the others had already expected.


    ''Let''s just pray that this guy will be able to tank a little of the attacks,'' thought Aiden as he looked at the situation from above trying to see if a slimmer of an opportunity would be appearing in front of him.


    Emma, who was next to Olivia, was quite ufortable because of the earlier situation which was why she decided to do exactly like Aiden did as she also jumped into one of the trees that was close to her.


    Who knew if Olivia would try to do as she did earlier during the fight?


    Emma was pretty sure that it wouldn''t happen, but she still wanted to make sure that it wouldn''t happen which was why she jumped away.


    Now, only Olivia and Logan were the only ones on the ground. He someone would have a nce at the current situation, it looked like a group of people where grouping up on two lone people who were isted.


    "Bro, I guess, they went into hiding, show them what you''re made of," said Olivia, winking at her brother who had just looked back.


    "I guess, I will," he muttered in an extremely low voice, as some parts of his body seemed to start to shake.


    Blood could be seening out of his body as he was currently going through aplete transformation.


    His non-existent muscle started to increase in size over and over again.


    Aiden who was watching this from above was totally shocked, as he couldn''t understand what was currently happening.


    ''What''s happening to him? Why is he screaming?'' he thought, as Logan hadn''t stopped screaming ever since those changes started appearing.


    It seemed that this skill of his had quite the cost and changed his entire body.


    "Quickly, attack him, who knows what''s happening to him?" said the swordsman as he advanced toward Logan''s ever-changing body.


    "A-attack me? Why would you do that? Where am I? What''s happening?" he said as he kept stuttering while saying so.


    Maybe his body had changed, but his personality certainly hadn''t, he was still very scared of others even with that massive body of his.


    But, then as the swordsman was about to attack Logan, Olivia who was right behind him, shouted.


    "They''re trying to attack me, please protect me."


    As those words were pronounced, it seemed like a switch had turned on inside of Logan''s mind.


    ***


    Author''s Note: Do you like those POVs changes? I try to make them as short as possible and as interesting as I can.

 Chapter 122 122 - Blood

    ?


    As Olivia pronounced those words, the state of insecurity that Logan was currently exuding seemed topletely disappear, in fact, he seemed to havepletely lost his mind. Rage seemed to be overwhelming him as he roared.


    "WHO DARES HURT MY LITTLE SISTER?" he shouted at the top of his lungs as he saw a sword approaching him on his right.


    Logan tried to react in time to block, but couldn''t as the sword reached his abdomen shing part of it. However, even while being shed the furor which had currently taken over his body was still present as he didn''t even seem to notice the attack which he had just suffered.


    The sword was now stuck inside Logan''s abdomen, as the swordsman tried to take it out with as much strength as he could possibly muster, nheless, he wasn''t able to. His sword was stuck inside this bleeding monster. Logan instead of minding about having a sword inside his body, looked in front of him, as he saw that the swordsman was still in front of him, pulling on something.


    But, he didn''t care about any of that, his objective was simple, protect his sister from any potential danger.


    "Is he the one trying to hurt us?" asked Logan with a sweet tone of voice,pletely different from the roar he had just emitted seconds ago.


    Olivia, hearing that question, didn''t waste any time and shouted, "Yes, it''s the four in front of you."


    Logan, hearing her, grabbed the swordsman''s hand with as much strength as he could muster. He wanted to hurt him, hurt him bad, bad enough for him not to be able to walk out of here alive.


    But as he was about to do so, he wasn''t able to do as someone held down his arm.


    That person who had just done so was the bulky tank who was now in front of him, rivalling with him face to face.


    This situation prompted the fight into starting for real, as an arrow appeared right in front of the swordsman''s eyes.


    He was only able to slightly dodge it as he moved his face a little to the right, but even as he dodged some blood could be seen running down his cheek.


    But, that wasn''t all, Olivia who was hiding her brother, got a big wooden stick out of her inventory as she raised it in the air.


    As she did so, fireballs seemed to form on the end of that stick as if ready to rain down literal hell on her opponents.


    And that was exactly what she did as sheunched multiple fireballs on the enemy team which caused them to retreat slightly.


    Aiden, on the other hand, didn''t make any moves as he kept watching over the situation, debating when the best time to appear was.


    There was one thing that kept worrying him over and over again. The person who was called the Prodigy was the only person who hadn''t moved at all since the start of the fight.


    Aiden had no idea why, but he knew that it couldn''t be a good thing. Whatever that person was preparing couldn''t be good.


    That was why Aiden decided to wait and see how he would act, he wanted to react to their attacks, not the opposite.


    Logan, who was furious, kept advancing forward as he ravaged everything that was in his way, as he had truly lost his mind.


    ''I guess, that was why she told us not to worry about him,'' thought Aiden, realizing that he wasn''t weak at all. He actually had quite a special skill, and while Aiden wasn''t sure what the cost was, it didn''t seem to be mana, which was weird.


    The cost of using the skill that Logan was currently under seemed to be rted to the state of one''s body and mind. His intelligence decreased, but his body strength increased like crazy. Depending on your point of view, you could see it as a good skill or a bad one.


    However, with Logan''s personality, it was quite a good skill as he didn''t seem like the type to be aggressive and defend others with overwhelming force. Well, that was what Aiden had figured out in the short time that they had taken trying to learn about each other.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    Then, as the man with a white cloth around his eyes seemed to be a statue, he made a subtle move with his head, looking in a random direction. Well, it looked that way for Olivia, who was watching, but suddenly, he twisted his head violently.


    However, that wasn''t the case at all; the blind person wasn''t looking in a random direction, but exactly where Aiden was located, overseeing this whole fight.


    ''How? How is this possible? I surely didn''t make any noise,'' thought Aiden, as he just couldn''t understand how such a thing was even possible.


    He had made no noise while moving in that direction, he had given no clues as to where he might be. But the thing that confused him the most was how a blind person was able to "see" where he was.


    Aiden just couldn''t understand how that was even possible; he began to question if that person was really blind, as it didn''t make any sense otherwise.


    Then, the presumably blind man made a move; he wasn''t a statue anymore as he jumped onto one of the branches of a nearby tree, the same one Aiden was currently standing on.


    Then, he slowly raised his head as he looked straight in Aiden''s direction, more precisely, directly into Aiden''s eyes.


    ''There''s no way, does he really know where I am?'' thought Aiden, as he realized that he had been discovered by a blind person.


    Finding it strange, he decided to move, still making no noise. However, the head of the prodigy kept following him no matter where he moved.


    "You really think you have a chance at winning against us? We have the prodigy, ahaha," said the bulky female who was in front of the enraged Logan.


    The fight had reached a critical juncture, and the oue hung in the bnce as the sh between Logan, Olivia, Aiden''s team, and the enemy continued to unfold. The mystery of the Prodigy''s true powers, and the enthralling blend of rage, magic, and strategy, promised an enthralling and unpredictable confrontation yet toe.


    Then, Aiden who was on the branch looked in front of him as he could see that the Prodigy kept looking at him no matter where he moved.


    He had no choice, he would have to face him, even if he didn''t want to.


    It hadn''t been his n, but what other choices did he have?


    Try to escape from him?


    Why would he even try to do that, it just wouldn''t make any sense as he would have to face him at some point and if it was a one versus one then Aiden was almost sure that he would be winning it.


    After all, assassins excelled in duels.


    Sure, Aiden had lost against Emma in a one versus one, but that was because of the Everheart technique, not because of his skill or power.


    In terms of raw skills, he was much better, he also had ess to multiple skills.


    ''Guess, I have no choice,'' thought Aiden as he saw the blinded man jump in his direction, seemingly determined to end things with him.


    However, Aiden noticed one thing while the blind man was jumping, he had no change of emotions on his face, no rage, no excitement, nothing... he was simply emotionless.


    ''Wait is he an assassin too?'' thought Aiden, as he saw the blind man get a dagger from his inventory.


    ''Well, that''s even better, I''m almost sure of winning,'' thought Aiden as he seemed to regain confidence in himself as he knew that if it was a duel between assassins, he would be winning.


    He had experience which was something that his opponent didn''t have, it would be the key to this fight, experience.


    As the Prodigy and Aiden were fighting, Olivia, Logan, and Emma, were facing the rest of the enemy team not even looking into Aiden''s direction as they simply couldn''t.


    They were in way too much trouble at the moment, and they needed to concentrate as much as they could because one mistake might result in death.


    Well, a fake death as they couldn''t really die in here.


    Olivia kept releasing her fireballs onto the enemy team who had no choice but to try and dodge over and over again as they didn''t want to be hit by one head-on.


    But, her mana reserves were not infinite and she would soon have to slow down her fire rate, as she still needed some mana for some other spells.


    Then, Emma who was on one of the trees around, looked down and released the arrow which she had drawn.


    It was in the direction of the Enchantress, who still hadn''t cast a single spell yet.

 Chapter 123 123 - Illusions

    ?


    Emma who was on a tree hidden from everyone else, saw that the enchantress in the back of the enemy team waspletely defenceless as she didn''t even seem to pay attention to her surroundings.


    Seeing that, she didn''t lose any time and started to draw her bow in her direction as she held her breath, calming down her heartbeat, trying to have her bow as steady as possible before shooting it.


    Then, she released an arrow in her direction without losing any more time, thinking that this was a good opportunity to finally get rid of someone in the enemy team.


    ''This should do it,'' she thought, seeing that the arrow wasing closer and closer to her opponent''s head.


    She didn''t doubt for a single moment that she would miss, as she knew that she had enough experience with the bow to not miss a single arrow.


    The only way to dodge the arrow she shot would be for the enchantress to dodge, but well... as she didn''t pay attention to her surroundings, Emma was sure that it would result in her death.


    *Swoosh*


    The arrow starteding at a fast speed toward the Enchantress''s head. It even made a piercing sound in the air because of its speed.


    The enchantress who waspletely defenceless, was just standing still without any idea that an arrow wasing for her life.


    And, one secondter, the arrow that Emma had shot was in the Enchantress''s head.


    The Enchantress''s body was on the ground without moving, however, something unexpected happened.


    Her dead body started to fade away as if it had never existed.


    ''Oh shit,'' thought Emma, as she knew what had just happened.


    It seemed that she was currently under the influence of the Enchantress because what she had just seen with her eyes wasn''t the truth but simply an illusion created from the ground up.


    This meant that Emma was currently out of the fight and she needed to get out of that illusion as quickly as possible.


    Then, she remembered some of the things that she had been taught over the years when she was still a child.


    A period where she had gone under a huge amount of tutge because of her mother.


    Maelis had wanted Emma, to be stronger and stronger, so that she wouldn''t be able to threatened by anyone. The same type of goal which Aiden had at the moment, but it wasn''t at the same level of importance as the younger Emma didn''t care about being strong.


    But, she still remembered something about that tutge, she remembered something that was about illusions.


    She could see her mother talking to her about some random information which she called useful.


    She focused on the words that wereing out of her mother''s mouth, focusing on the movement of her mouth, trying to make sure that she was remembering everything correctly.


    Emma, who had a clear image of that situation, concentrated on it, trying to read what her mother was saying on her lips.


    "Illusions... head... hurt."


    Those were three of the words which she had managed to remember as it had been quite a long time.


    There was also the reason that she didn''tpletely listen to all the lessons given to her as she didn''t think of them as useful. In her mind, they were quite useless as they wouldn''t have any sort of short-term impact.


    ''If only I had listened attentively,'' thought Emma, as she currently trying to figure out, how to get out of this illusion.


    ''Head, hurt, head, hurt,'' she thought, repeating those words again and again in her head, trying to figure something out.


    Did she need to hit her head?


    Would she have to get rid of that headache which was currently taking over her mind?


    She had no idea what to do, or how to get rid of that headache that kept impeding her thought.


    But, she guessed that the way to get out of here would be to get rid of that headache of hers.


    However, there was a big problem, she had no idea how to do such a thing.


    She tried to think back to the scene where her mother had exined how to get out of illusions as she kept thinking about the same three words.


    ''There has to be something about those words if I keep remembering them,'' thought Emma, as she knew that there had to be something else regarding those damn words.


    They just couldn''t mean that she had to rid of a headache. Everyone stuck in here would have wanted to get rid of that terrible headache, there had to be something else.


    She had to think fast as she knew each minute that she would take to get out of that illusion would be a minute where she wouldn''t be able to help her team win this fight.


    Sure, Aiden is strong and isn''t the type to rely on others, especially in the past month, but she wasn''t sure if he was going to be able to win against the prodigy.


    But, then she remembered his aura, the training that she had given her. She knew that he was special and that she had no idea how much he had made to get here, where he was now.


    She knew that he had grown up in the Slums but that was it, she had absolutely no other information about his past, it really was quite intriguing.


    But then, she dismissed those useless thoughts, as they were only taking time away from her real important thinking.


    Those words that kepting to her mind.


    ''It has to be something that has to be rted to my head,'' thought Emma, she was sure that it was rted to it.


    ''Maybe there''s something that I have to do to get out of here,'' she thought as she looked at her surroundings which werepletely empty as all she could see was the forest that was in.


    No one was in it, she waspletely alone, it seemed that the enemy Enchantress had made the illusion this way.


    Then, as she continued to nce around while thinking about some other option, she was able to nce at something in the distance.


    It was some red little orb that was floating in the air as if the environment couldn''t affect it.


    ''Do I need to destroy that?'' thought Emma.


    ''Maybe that was what the word hurt meant? I need to hurt this red little orb,'' she thought, still trying to make sense out of those three words that kept popping up in her mind.


    Having no other idea, she started to draw her bow in the direction of that small little red orb, as she made sure to use enough strength topletely destroy it, she even used her skill that made her arrow more powerful.


    Then, she released the arrow, which once again made a piercing noise across the woods as it flew straight in the direction of that orb.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    The arrow which had just been released, then pierced the small red orb quite easily as it didn''t even seem to resist the attack.


    And as it did, the world which Emma was currently started to lift as if it had never existed, revealing apletely different scene, where she could see on her right, Aiden and the blind man fighting, on below her the rest of her team were still fighting, however, they were currently at a disadvantage as they were in a three versus two.


    This meant that at the moment, the team of Aiden was on the losing side, so she needed to act quickly.


    Returning to reality, she was just d that her guess had been the right one as she started to draw her bow in the direction of the Enchantress once again.


    She wanted to eliminate her so that there would be no way of getting stuck in an illusion once again.


    She was sure that Aiden had no idea how to get out of such an illusion as he hadn''t received any teachings since the beginning of his life, living in the Slums and all.


    *Swoosh*


    The piercing resounded even louder this time, as Emma had made sure to give her everything into that arrow, aiming at the head of the girl with big boobs.


    And, this time, the arrow hit as it went through the head of the Enchantress who was now on the ground lifeless, as a little pop-up appeared in front of everyone.


    [Lilia has died.]


    It seemed that the girl with big boobs was named Lilia.


    Everyone on Aiden''s team reading that message shed a little smile as they knew that they were now in a much better spot to win this team fight and reach the second stage of that tournament.


    Olivia didn''t lose any time and made fun of the bulky girl in front of her, shouting.


    "Still think you''re going to win, ahaha," she said whileughing as loud as she possibly could.

 Chapter 124 124 - Aiden Vs The Prodigy

    ?


    Aiden on the other hand couldn''t even bother to look at the little message that had appeared in front of him as he was currently in a fight that required all of his attention, he was trying to make sure that he wouldn''t lose against the Prodigy.


    He knew that he was better than him, but he still needed to fully concentrate as he knew that if he made a mistake then his opponent would be capitalizing on it.


    They were currently reaching the peak of the fight, as the tension was as high as possible, both Aiden and the blind man were currently fighting with such intensity that those who were looking at them from the outside would have difficulty realizing who currently had the upper hand.


    It was close, but at the moment, it seemed that Aiden was much better as he was able to deal blows quite easily and whenever he would be surprised by one of the attacks made by the Prodigy. His Sixth Sense seemed to kick in as he seemed to realize that he was being attacked.


    This skill [Sixth Sense] which he had gained by doing the trial for the VIP Entries was quite useful as Aiden could feel a certain threat from each blow that came from his opponent, it really was quite interesting.


    Aiden could faintly hear the voice of Olivia in his ears as she shouted really loudly.


    "Still think you''re going to win, look, your prodigy doesn''t seem to be in the best shape," she said as she pointed to the tree which Aiden and the Prodigy were currently fighting.


    What Olivia had just said was true, even if the fight felt close, Aiden kept doing more damage from the little details which he had polished in his other life, Aiden was able to spot all the mistakes which the Prodigy was currently making.


    ''Maybe he isn''t that much of a prodigy,'' thought Aiden, as he didn''t think for a single moment that losing was an option at the moment.


    Whatever the man in front of him was trying, Aiden was able to counter it.


    However, he had to admit that it was impressive for someone who couldn''t use his eyes, to be able to spot him and fight him with such intensity.


    It was quite an impressive feat and Aiden had to respect it.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    ''Um, I guess this is the end,'' thought Aiden, as he spotted an opening in the Prodigy''s defence which made him vulnerable to an attack to the neck.


    It was Aiden''s special move, he couldn''t resist to the temptation as he swung his dagger instantly in the direction of his neck.


    The dagger was approaching closer and closer to it, and it seemed that the Prodigy was going to lose this fight as they were no way for him to dodge it anymore, it was too close to him.


    The only way for him to survive at the moment would be for someone to block the attack of Aiden, but it was unthinkable.


    It was set in stone, the man in front of him would die.


    Well, not die for real but still, there would only be two more opponents to defeat and one of them, would be the swordsman who didn''t seem to be that great.


    Aiden would surely be able to overpower him.


    There was literally no doubt in his mind.


    His strike continued and just as it was about to touch the skin of the Prodigy, the skin which was around his neck started to glow.


    ''What''s this?'' thought Aiden, as he continued his moment, surprised to see lighte out of his opponent''s neck.


    Nheless, Aiden didn''t care about it, as it was only light, it''s not like it would be able to make his weapon bounce off like nothing.


    Then as the dagger reached his opponent''s neck, the light that wasing off from it amplified even more, as it blinded Aiden.


    *Cling*


    That was the sound that the dagger had made when reaching the neck of his opponent. It was metallic as if his dagger had hit a metallic surface which caused it to bounce off.


    Then, the prodigy smiled as he opened his mouth for the very first time since this fight started.


    "Um, guess, you didn''t expect that," he said in a low tone, knowing that Aiden was probably shocked by what just happened.


    ''What happened? Why did my dagger bounce off his neck?'' thought Aiden, not sure why he heard such a noise as if something had blocked his strike.


    However, there was no way to know what had happened. The reason for that was that he had been blinded by the light that hade off his opponent''s neck.


    Aiden simply continued attacking him as if nothing happened trying to figure out what had happened as he needed to know if he wanted to defeat his opponent.


    ''Did his skin be harder?'' thought Aiden, as this was the only thing that came to his mind at the moment.


    The sound that it had made when hitting him was what made him doubt that hypothesis.


    That was a metallic sound which was heard and Aiden was supposed to have hit the skin, it just didn''t make any sense.


    Then, his mind kept trying to find some other option as he just couldn''t figure it out.


    ''Wait, maybe his skin turned metallic which could exin the metallic noise,'' thought Aiden as it resolve the problem with his previous thought.


    If this was the case, that he was able to change the hardness of his skin, then it would be a big problem as Aiden wouldn''t be able to hurt him.


    However, he had been able to hurt him, he had made a few shes onto the Prodigy''s body and there hadn''t been a single problem.


    This was what made Aiden think even more as he wanted to have the right answer before trying another deadly attack.


    ''Should I just try to attack him again? Maybe he won''t have enough mana for it,'' Aiden thought, as he knew that the Prodigy wasn''t constantly activating it taking in some hits.


    Then, the fight between the two of them continued, as they kept attacking each other over and over again with their daggers colliding.


    Aiden was currently in the process of trying to find a weak point in his opponent''s defence so that he would be able to make another deadly attack.


    But, that showed to be a bigger problem than he thought as it seemed that the Prodigy had be a lot more solid in his defence, not letting any opportunities for Aiden to attack him.


    ***


    Meanwhile, Melinda was still watching over Aiden who was masked,


    ''Let''s see how he will react to this skill,'' she thought, knowing exactly what had happened as she had already seen it multiple times.


    She, also, knew of multiple ways to counter such a skill, however, she couldn''t really tell Aiden at the moment as she was watching him from so far away.


    ''If he''s able to adapt to such a situation, I might really consider recruiting him, he''s just too interesting,'' she thought, her eyes glued to the crystal ball that was right below her.


    "Melinda, are you still watching that kid?" asked the dwarf, who was basically the only one who would go around and talk loudly to others.


    No one other than him would do such a thing, as they were concentrated on the Inter Family Tournament as it really was quite important.


    However, it seemed that Thorin didn''t even care about it as he wasn''t even in front of his crystal ball as he kept going over each one of the founding families.


    "I am, what about it," she said, clearly annoyed by his constant bickering.


    "Oh, nothing, but why do you keep watching over him, shouldn''t you watch over your family members that are participating," said Thoring as he just couldn''t grasp her intentions.


    "I''m just scouting, now go away, and stop disturbing me."


    "Alright, alright, no need to get all angry at me," said Thorin as he started backing away from her.


    Then, she continued to observe Aiden''s next actions as she was quite interested in the performance that he was going to show.


    She knew that being able to get rid of someone with that skill would be hard especially if you had no idea how to counter it.


    But, that was what made her even more interested as she wanted to see him adapt and get stronger.


    That aura from earlier had made her sure that there was something special about that boy.


    She had also seen his strike to the neck of his opponent earlier. She had noticed that when he had done so, he hadn''t even felt any hesitation or anything, he had just gone for it.


    Sure, the prodigy wouldn''t have died, but someone who had never killed anyone before had to be scared of hurting someone else, it was a normal reaction.


    Then, her eyes widened as she saw what Aiden was trying to pull off.


    ''No way.''

 Chapter 125 125 - Killing Another

    ?


    Aiden kept trying to find an opening but no matter how much he tried, he wasn''t able to.


    He had no idea why, but after almost killing the person in front of him, it was like he had changed. As if, someone or something had taken over him as he made moves which weren''t anything like before.


    ''Maybe that was the effect of the light?'' thought Aiden, as he kept trying to find something while constantly attacking the Prodigy, not letting him a single moment to rx.


    Even, if wasn''t able to attack him directly, then he would make that he wouldn''t be able to move his arms by the end of that fight, as Aiden was almost sure that he had a lot more endurance than him, having trained like a maniac in his past life and in this life.


    ''Maybe he really is another person?'' thought Aiden, as he knew that everything was possible in this world.


    He had seen many things since arriving and this wouldn''t be his first time being so surprised over something. In fact, it wasn''t that ridiculous that a skill would be able to make you stronger by impersonating you or something like that.


    However, that still didn''t exin the metallic sound which he had heard when hitting his neck.


    Had he really turned his skin into metal?


    There was only one way to know and that was to try and do the same attack that he once did which was exactly what he was currently trying to do.


    It wasn''t going to be easy, as he was much better than earlier, but Aiden continued to persevere as he knew that he had to win.


    Because if he lost, the rest of his team would surely lose this fight and on the same asion this tournament.


    So, he continued attacking without a single moment of pause, knowing that his opponent wouldn''t be able to keep this up for an eternity.


    Then, another opening appeared in his opponent''s defence and he instantly went for it, as he once again aimed for the neck of his opponent.


    ''Now, what''s going to happen?'' thought Aiden, as he could that his dagger was getting closer and closer to his neck.


    Then, the same blinding light as earlier started to appear. However, this time, Aiden was ready for it as he kept his eyes open as he needed to see what sort of trick was happening.


    However, even with his eyes open, it was difficult to see something as the light was just too strong and blocked most of his vision.


    But he was able to get a nce of what was happening inside all of that light, the sound seemed to be created out of thin air, as he could see the neck of his opponent,pletely disappearing as if it hadn''t been there in the first ce.


    ''Who am I even fighting against?'' thought Aiden, as he just couldn''t make any sense of what he had just seen.


    If he was confused before, then he was even more confused this time.


    He had seen the neck of his opponent disappear. However, when it disappeared, it seemed to be able to stop his strike and create a metallic sound, just what the hell was that skill?


    Could it only be used on its neck?


    That was the thing that Aiden wondered the most about, because if he couldn''t use it on his chest then it wouldn''t be that much of a problem as he would be able to simply kill him without much problem because he had noticed that his opponent started to have some gaps in its defence.


    His opponent wasn''t able to block all his attacks as efficiently as before as he made somerger movements than necessary which caused many openings in his opponent''s defence.


    Aiden used this to try and attack his chest this time as he wanted to see if he was right that he could only use his skill on his neck.


    He moved his dagger backwards as he swiftly shed in the direction of the opponent''s chest which started to emit light.


    ''Fuck, what is this? What is this overpowered skill?'' thought Aiden, as he simply couldn''t understand what was happening at all.


    ''Guess, I''ll have to try something big,'' thought Aiden, as he knew that if he didn''t then he wouldn''t have any way of winning this fight as he couldn''t hurt the guy in front of him.


    Well, he could but he wouldn''t be able to kill any time soon.


    ''Guess, I have no choice but to use that,'' thought Aiden, as his surroundings started to tremble a little.


    ***


    Meanwhile, Emma, Olivia, and Logan were facing the rest of the enemy team.


    They had the advantage as they were currently in a three versus two. And one of the two people that they were facing didn''t seem all that great.


    It was the swordsman that Aiden had seen, he knew that he wasn''t incredible as he didn''t have an inventory and he had been quite naive at the start of the fight, rushing in without any of his teammates backing him off.


    There was also another problem that really didn''t help their chances.


    The swordsman needed to go past this mass of muscles that was currently in front of him, blocking his view.


    He knew that it wouldn''t be simple at all to go through, but this was simply ridiculous.


    Each time that he tried to attack Logan, his sword would get stuck inside of him, and he would be unable to pull it out. It simply made no sense, just how this feeble-looking guy transformed into this mass of muscles who kept bleeding without even flinching.


    It was crazy, Logan kept bleeding since the start of his transformation, however not once had he seemed in pain as no sound escaped his mouth.


    Well, he had his asional roars that just showed that he really wasn''t in his right mind.


    Then, the swordsman tried to outspeed Logan, as he ran on one side of it as fast as he could as he needed to reach that backline where Olivia was situated with her long stick rising in the air.


    Olivia asionally sent a fireball, but her fire rate had decreased since earlier as her mana was starting to be quite scarce. She needed to make sure that there wouldn''t be any problem with using bigger spells that required more mana, which was why she was currently notunching a torrent of skills.


    Emma, who was still hidden in one of the trees around, was currently looking not at the fight below her, but at Aiden who was fighting like a madmanpletely isted from the rest of them.


    There was also another reason why she looked this way, the light.


    She had seen some lighte from that direction and couldn''t help but be curious about it as she had absolutely no idea who had managed to create such intense light.


    Then, she focused on Aiden''s shape and how well he was currently doing as he didn''t seem to have any signs of being hurt.


    ''I''m d you''re okay,'' she thought, satisfied that Aiden was currently winning his fight.


    But how could she have known of the next move that Aiden would pull off would be a crazy one, and all because of the unkible Prodigy?


    Her reaction would surely be one of shock, as she had not seen him pull out such a big move ever in her entire life.


    But then, after making sure that everything was alright, she redirected her attention onto the current fight that was taking ce under her, as it really was the most important one.


    Because if they managed to win before Aiden finished his fight then they would be able to help him kill the prodigy who seems to be quite the tough opponent.


    Redirecting her attention onto this fight, she drew her bow once again preparing to shoot an arrow in the direction of the swordsman as she was almost sure that he would die if she shot it.


    She, also, didn''t want to use her family technique to end the fight quickly as it was her trump card and not a lot of people knew what the Everheart technique would even be able to do, which was why she was keeping it in the back of her mind.


    Then, as she shot the arrow, another piercing sound was heard, as it went in the direction of the swordsman who was currently running around Logan as fast as he possibly could.


    It wasn''t going to be an easy shot as her target was currently running, but she didn''t mind it at all, as she concentrated on breathing in and out making sure that she wouldn''t miss.


    Then, the arrow was released and was getting closer and closer to the swordsman who hadn''t even noticed it yet as it entered his head.


    Another message appeared in front of everyone saying that another person had been killed.


    Was Aiden really the assassin or was it Emma?N?v(el)B\\jnn


    She had already killed two people while Aiden hadn''t been able to kill anyone.


    Sure, she had killed the easy targets, but it was still weird for her to be leading in terms of kills achieved.

 Chapter 126 126 - The Reaper Technique

    ?


    Aiden, on the other hand, had decided that he would pull off the thing that he had wanted to keep secret this whole time. The thing which he hadn''t shown to anyone yet.


    Making everyone think that he wouldn''t be able to do it, making everyone think that he wasn''t that talented.


    But, he would show everyone that he was talented and that he was able to make a difference.


    So, what was that secret of his?


    What had he been working for this past month while training?


    Sure, he had trained like an actual madman doing training that not many would actually do, but that wasn''t all or else, it would have been lost time as he could have gone ahead and done the Third Trial.


    However, there was another reason why he had taken a whole month of training away from anyone.


    He had decided to train the bow right, and it had been quite the journey. However, with the whole getting away from Emma, he had decided not to train it as much which resulted in quite a problem as he wouldn''t be able to use Everheart technique.


    Well, he decided to find a solution to that problem, what if he could use the Everheart technique not with a long-range weapon like a bow, but with his dagger?


    Wouldn''t that solve everything?


    Sure, he had practiced the bow and he was able to use it a little, however, it just couldn''t bepared to his experience with a dagger.


    He had told Emma, that he might use the bow in the tournament, well... it wasn''tpletely a lie as he might use it depending on the situation. Nheless, the chances were quite slim as he had found a way to use the Everheart technique with a dagger.


    Well, it can''t really be called the Everheart Technique anymore and it can''t really be called the Nightshade Technique as Aiden simply hate that name to his core.


    So, he decided that he should find another name for that technique of his, in fact, it was the system which had helped him to find the name.


    The system had actually given the name to Aiden while he was still thinking about it as if knowing the perfect name for it.


    And Aiden had also quite liked the name, even if it referenced his past life and his current one. He found that it was quite good.


    The system had given the idea that it should be named: [The Reaper Technique]. The reasons as to why Aiden liked and hated that name were quite obvious.


    He loved it because it could be connected to him, but he also hated it for the memories that came with that name.


    After all, it was that name that made him realize that he wasn''t happy anymore with the current situation that he was living in.


    But, how had Aiden been able to modify a technique which was so old that no one had any idea where it hade from?


    In fact, it was called the Everheart Technique but it hadn''t been them who had created it, it was some unknown person who probably hadn''t been part of any family for that matter.


    It was only called that way because they were the ones using it, but Aiden''s technique which was of course inspired by it, was his own because it was himself who had changed it.


    And the craziest thing about it was that he had learned it in a single month.


    ***


    ''Guess, I have no choice but to use that,'' thought Aiden, as his surroundings started to tremble a little.


    Around him, the ground, the wind, the rocks, everything that was natural started vibrating on the ground.


    This had only been done with a single thought from Aiden as if it was the easiest thing in the world.


    Emma, who had just shot her arrow to kill the swordsman, raised her head toward Aiden''s fight realizing that he had started to use the Everheart technique.


    She was impressed, that was the only thing she could feel at the moment. She simply couldn''t believe it.


    ''Did he really learn it in a single month? But he told me that he hadn''t been able to,'' thought Emma, finding it weird that all her surroundings started to vibrate and float around her.


    Well, she wasn''t wrong Aiden hadn''t been able to learn the Everheart technique as it simply didn''t correspond with him, at the start, he had wanted to adapt to the technique to get stronger.


    But, he had realized that if he wanted to be the strongest, then he would have to stop relying on others and start relying on himself and himself only which was why he decided that he would be changing that damn technique to one of his own.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    ''Alright, first step done,'' thought Aiden, as he started to move his dagger in a certain way, taking some distance from the blind person in front of him.


    However, it was clear that the Prodigy wouldn''t let Aiden do what he wanted so he started to attack him.


    *Swoosh*


    But, as he advanced an arrow arrived right in front of his face, not letting him get closer to Aiden.


    Olivia and Logan who now had to deal with only a single person, surely didn''t need her help anymore as Olivia would probably muster some massive spell to kill off the tank of the enemy team.


    "Aiden, continue what you''re doing, I''ll hold him off," shouted Emma from far away, bow in hand.


    The Prodigy who was right in front of Aiden couldn''t stop moving as he still needed to get to him as he could feel that the attack that he was currently preparing was one that would be dangerous for sure.


    All the natural elements that Aiden had called were now floating around the dagger in a circr motion as if waiting for Aiden''smand to be released.


    Emma, who caught sight of this was bbergasted, as she simply couldn''t believe her eyes.


    ''He isn''t using a bow? How is he doing that?'' she thought seeing all those elements floating around the small dagger which he was holding.


    Normally, those elements would be used when pulling the string of the bow, but this waspletely different as they were simply floating around the dagger, condensing itself as much as it could as the elements mixed with each other and kept getting closer and closer to each other.


    ''Is that what he had been doing this past month?'' thought Emma, as she continued to shoot arrows in the blind man''s way as she didn''t want him to interrupt whatever Aiden was currently preparing as even she was anticipating what he was going to pull off.


    Then, out of nowhere, Aiden made a quick move with his dagger which made all of the elements around it to stop movingpletely. It was like he had perfect mastery of those elements that were surrounding his dagger.


    It was incredible, as Emma was surprised that such a thing was even possible as she had never attained such mastery over the elements.


    After making all the elements stop, Aiden also stopped moving as held in his hands and started to release a dark aura.


    The exact same aura which he had released earlier toward Olivia.


    Then, he started walking forward as the rocks, and the wind followed right in its step, not even falling behind a little.


    The Prodigy felt that some danger was getting closer and closer as he started walking backwards a little.


    And as he did so, another message appeared in front of him.


    [Paulina has died.]


    It was hisst teammate who had just died.


    Then, his emotionless facepletely changed as he opened his mouth and got on the ground.


    "Please, please, listen to me. I need this," said the blind man on the ground pleading against his enemy as he knew that he would be losing.


    Aiden, hearing his pleas, only scuffed as he answered.


    "And you think we don''t need this, you should have given up earlier," he said as he raised his dagger in his hand preparing to make a swift strike to his neck, finally ending this damn fight which had taken far too long for Aiden''s taste.


    *sh*


    Then, some blinding light appeared, however, it wasn''t enough this time as Aiden''s daggerpletely went through his neck without even stopping for a single moment.


    The natural elements seemed to have helped in killing him.


    However, there was still somewhat of a problem, Aiden still had absolutely no idea what sort of skill or technique this man had used.


    ''Why did I act so quickly, I should''ve asked him,'' thought Aiden, frustrated with himself, as he had acted rashly for no reason as he should''ve waited.


    Then, all he could from below and from right beside him were cheers as everyone seemed to be quite happy with this win of theirs.


    A message, once again, appeared in front of all of them as the usual beeping sound resounded inside everyone''s mind.


    [You have won this team battle.]

 Chapter 127 127 - Special Request

    ?


    [You have won this team battle.]


    Reading this, Aiden was quite happy as he had done it.


    He had done it, the first step of many had been aplished and Aiden was overjoyed.


    However, he knew that it was only the start of a long way.


    He knew that if he wanted to win some good rewards, he would have to get a lot further into this Inter Family Tournament.


    "We did it, we did it," said Emma as she ran into the arms of Aiden.


    She didn''t realize instantly her actions as she had done them without even thinking.


    But, seconds after doing it, she realized that she was currently inside Aiden''s arms.


    "Um, sorry," she said as she moved away from Aiden as she knew that he didn''t like such things.


    However, the next words that came out of Aiden''s mouth confused her. She had expected him to not say anything, only showing some displeasure on his face, but the words that came out of his mouth shocked her.


    "Why are you sorry? There''s no need," said Aiden, realizing that he was currently opening up a little more toward Emma as he wouldn''t have said those words before.


    Emma, only blushed, hearing this, still keeping her distance away from him as she jumped down from the tree as Aiden followed right behind her.


    Aiden followed right behind her, as he could also hear the cheers from the other members of the team.


    "What was that at the end?" asked Olivia, curious as to why everything in their surroundingspletely changed.


    Aiden, however, only ignored her as he didn''t want to reveal anything about what he had just done.


    It was a secret of his, and thinking back a little, he understood that maybe he shouldn''t have used it and simply on his teammates to finish the job on their side.


    However, he hadn''t done so, to prove to himself that he didn''t need to rely on them at all.


    Maybe it wasn''t necessary, but Aiden had felt that he needed to do so.


    "You know, you really are mysterious," said Olivia, talking about Aiden as she started to get closer to him.


    Aiden once again ignored, not even looking at her as she started to get closer and closer to him.


    "And, that''s kind of hot, you know, being deadly and all," whispered Olivia, right into Aiden''s ear as her breath went onto Aiden''s neck.


    However, she once again received absolutely no reaction from Aiden, so she decided to tease him a little more.


    "What? Why are you so serious? Calm down, we won, in fact, I think that we should rx together," said Olivia as she winked at him at the end.


    Aiden this time, only shed a little smile on the corner of his mouth, finding all of this quite funny.


    "Oh, the Reaper smiled, I repeat the Reaper smiled," said Olivia getting closer and closer to him as she lifted her face up and whispered something else in his ear.


    "Are you sure that you don''t want some of this?" she said, clearly talking about her wless body.


    Aiden, however, just couldn''t grasp why this woman was trying so hard to get him.


    So, he whispered back at her without any hesitation.


    "Why are you doing this?"


    Emma who was seeing all this closeness and bickering between the two started to get a little mad, but she still didn''t say anything only observing the situation.


    "I don''t know, your vibe and all, it''s attractive," she whispered back in his ear as she moved closer on purpose so that Aiden would be able to feel her boobs going against his body, squishing against it.


    However, Aiden only nodded hearing the answer as he had no time to waste on some random female that he didn''t even know that well.


    Seeing him getting away from her, Olivia didn''t want to lose touch with a potential great power, so she quickly thought of something to stay in contact with him.


    "Then, here with this we''ll be able to talk and all, and who knows maybe I''ll be able to see your beautiful face under that scary mask of yours," said handing a Mental Transmitor to Aiden with her name on it.


    Aiden grabbed it and stored it inside his pocket.


    "And what makes you think that I''m beautiful," said Aiden, wondering why she was so sure that he was as she hadn''t been able to see his face even once.


    "Well, it''s quite simple, I trust thedies," said Olivia, as she winked toward Emma who was flustered over herment.


    But, Aiden waspletely clueless as to what that meant as he looked behind and saw Emma with apletely red face, clearly shy over what Olivia had just said.


    ''Wait did she mean that she trust Emma''s judgement,'' thought Aiden, realizing the meaning behind those words as he also blushed a little, now almost sure that Emma felt something for him.


    Well, he had always kind of knew since that fateful night between the two of them, but because she hadn''t talked about it at all, he had decided to keep his distance from her as much as possible not wanting to do anything wrong.


    Then, the forest in which they were started to disappear little by little as it turned into particles as if it had never even existed, it was like the same process that happened when you killed a monster inside of a trial, it was quite interesting.


    Then, pping sounds started being heard from their surroundings as they found themselves in the middle of the arena with all thepetitors around them.


    It seemed like everyone had finished their fight as Aiden could only see one hundred people which meant that the rest had been eliminated.


    Aiden didn''t know where they had been sent to, but he knew that they weren''t part of the tournament anymore.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    "Good job to everyone who passed the first fight," said a deep voice, without revealing its appearance.


    "I know that most of you want to pass right away to the second part of the tournament, however, there has been a weird request by one of the founding families heads," announced the voice.


    Aiden hearing that started to panic a little as he thought that they had discovered him and that they were about to eliminate him for good, killing him as if he was simply an ant.


    However, his stress only amplified when he heard those next words.


    "One of the founding families'' heads would like to meet with the Reaper," said the voice as if expecting the Reaper to show himself to everyone.


    However, it was quite the opposite as Aiden was currently hiding as much as he could not wanting to meet whoever had just called him.


    "The Reaper would you pleasee forward," said the voice once again, wanting to give some glory to Aiden.


    "Thorin, stop and just bring him to me, he clearly doesn''t like the attention that you''re giving him," said Melinda who was right beside Thorin who was actually the voice.


    Obviously, this hadn''t been heard by anyone as Thorin once again took a deep voice to talk.


    "No need toe forward, I will now teleport you in a room where you will have a private conversation with one of the strongest people that exist," said the voice trying to make Aiden stressed even more than he already was.


    ''No way, was I really discovered,'' thought Aiden, as he could feel himself being transported somewhere else against his will.


    Beside him, Olivia, Logan, and Emma all seemed jealous of him as they simply gave him looks of envy as if wanting to be in his ce.


    ''Then, take my ce, when did I ask for this,'' thought Aiden, as he really didn''t want to meet whoever was waiting for him.


    However, he had no choice as he could his vision of the Arena starting to fade as he opened his eyes again and was in apletely different ce.


    Looking around, Aiden was quite stunned by how everything looked. It was just so simple.


    It looked like someone had just organized this minutes ago, as there were in this room two chairs and one small table in the middle of it.


    There was still no one there as Aiden started advancing toward one of the two chairs, sitting down, waiting patiently as there was still no one arriving to meet him.


    ''What''s happening? Are they just leaving me here without anyoneing to see me,'' thought Aiden as he just couldn''t understand what was currently happening.


    Then, as he thought that, someone appeared in front of him, teleporting just like he had previously done.


    "Sorry about my tardiness," said Melinda who had just appeared in front of Aiden or the Reaper in this case. "You must be wondering why you''re here right?"


    Aiden hearing that only nodded, thinking that this was it. He was going to die if he even made one bad gesture.


    He was doomed.

 Chapter 128 128 - Meeting with Melinda

    Chapter128 128 - Meeting with Melinda


    ''Why is someone from the founding families meeting me? I didn''t do anything weird, right?'' thought Aiden, panicking.


    He knew that his participation was risky, however, they had found him right away it seemed, it was simply unbelievable.


    He had only done a single fight, and he was masked, did his father who had abandoned him for so long recognized his son?


    Aiden just couldn''t believe it, however, he decided to wait patiently as maybe it wasn''t rted to that at all and it was something elsepletely.


    Maybe it would be because of the strength that he showed while fighting.


    But he quickly dismissed that thought as what he had done wasn''t that impressive as Emma had more impact during the team fight.


    Then, the moment arrived and someone arrived in front of him, however, Aiden was surprised by the expression on her face.


    She seemed sorry, well... by the looks of it.


    "Sorry about my tardiness, some dumb dwarf was keeping away froming," said Melinda, showing the best smile that she could muster at the moment, expecting to catch Aiden''s attention with that.


    However, he didn''t have any effect on Aiden who kept a straight face, waiting for her to continue talking about why he was currently here.


    But, the reason why he didn''t have any impact was because of the stress that Aiden was currently under.


    He was meeting with someone that might be part of the Nightshade family, he really had to be careful. n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    "So, you''re probably wondering why you''re here, right?" she continued looking at the Reaper mask that Aiden currently had on.


    Aiden only responded with silence once again, waiting for her to continue.


    "Not much of a talker, huh?" she said,ughing a little as she said that. "Well, it doesn''t matter I''ll talk to myself I guess," she said, clearly making fun of herself a little.


    "It''s honestly quite simple, I was simply in awe by what you did during the team fight. Especially thatst move of yours, it really was impressive I have to say," she added in the end,plementing Aiden.


    ''Wait what''s happening? She met me and asked for me in front of everyone just to tell me that,'' thought Aiden as he just couldn''t make sense of such a situation.


    Aiden, then opened his mouth for the very first time as he couldn''t let her speak to herself for such a long time, after all.


    "Hm, thank you."


    "Oh, he can talk, interesting," said Melinda as she took the seat that was free.


    They were now both seated at the opposite of a table while looking at each other.


    "I guess that the reason you''re meeting me isn''t only to tell me this," said Aiden, as he really to not care at all about meeting one of the strongest in the world.


    Sure, he was intimidated but he needed to seem strong mentally not being affected by such a situation.


    "Woah, you really are heartless," she said as she once again smiled at him.


    ''What is she even doing? Is she trying to flirt with me or something,'' thought Aiden as he couldn''t even grasp why she was giving all smiles while teasing him.


    Whatever she was doing Aiden didn''t care as long as he wasn''t in any danger, she could continue to smile at him for all he cared, it was a beautiful sight to look at after all.


    ''I guess this won''t work on him, should I try something else?'' thought Melinda as she noticed that Aiden didn''t see to have any type of reaction regarding her beauty.


    ''It really is weird, everyone always tries to get in my good graces, but this guy looks like he doesn''t even care about it,'' she thought, finding him more and more strange.


    "Well, I guess you''re right, the reason why I''m here isn''t to congratte you, well, it''s not only for that reason."


    "So, um, what is it?" asked Aiden, wondering the reason why such an important would make the request to meet her.


    "Curiosity, yeah I think that''s what it is," she said.


    Aiden hearing that, was even more confused than earlier as he couldn''t understand anything that was currently happening.


    "Curiosity? And what made you curious?"


    "Well, many things of course, but the one thing that really shocked me was when you gathered everything around yourself as if you were one with nature," said Melinda, once again,plimenting him.


    Aiden hearing all thosepliments couldn''t help but doubt what was going to follow those words.


    "There was also when you released that dark aura around yourself, it made me wonder about your past and all of that."


    Aiden, hearing that, only nodded waiting for her to finally ask something as he still couldn''t see why she needed to meet him.


    "That''s all good reasons to be curious, but why are you meeting me? Couldn''t you have kept your curiosity to yourself?" asked Aiden,pletely disregarding the status of the person in front of him.


    ''He really is different, not showing an ounce of respect,'' thought Melinda as she continued smiling at him.


    "Well, you can refuse if you want but I was wondering if you could show me that beautiful face of yours behind that mask," she said, making sure to tease him while asking her request.


    ''Show what I look like? Is she crazy?'' thought Aiden, as there was literally no way that he was going to show what he looked like.


    There was a reason why he was wearing a mask and a pretty good one at that. He didn''t want to show others what he looked like, or else who knew what might happen.


    "Well, I''ll refuse," said Aiden, instantly, not even thinking about it.


    "You don''t want to, um, I had guessed that was going to happen," said Melinda, sad that her proposal had been instantly refused.


    "Then, scratch that, what can I give you for you to remove your of the founding families.


    mask?" asked Melinda, out of politeness.


    She asked it out of politeness because if she wanted to, she could literally remove it and Aiden wouldn''t be able to do anything against her as she was a lot more powerful than him being the head of one of the founding families.


    "Nothing honestly, there''s no way that I will show you what I look like," answered Aiden, making his stance on the situation clear.


    "Nothing? Absolutely nothing?" she repeated as Melinda started thinking about what she could possibly offer him to ept. "Um, let''s say that you can join my family what would you say? Is that good enough?"


    When she said that, Aiden had no intention of epting still as he didn''t know what family she was in charge of.


    "About that, what family do you even represent?" asked Aiden as he still didn''t know if that person was part of the Nightshade family.


    Hearing Aiden say that Melinda was insulted as she knew that her identity was renowned around the world and that a lot of people knew about it.


    Her family was one of the four strongest in the world, so how ignorant was the Reaper?


    "Do you really don''t know?" asked Melinda, getting a little frustrated about the question.


    "I promise that I don''t know, it''s just...," said Aiden as he stopped speaking realizing that he was about to reveal something about him.


    "Just what? You''re an ignorant person that knows nothing about the world," said Melinda using this situation to make fun of Aiden.


    However, Aiden didn''t find it even remotely funny as he simply more about my family. The name of my family is Emberbane, and most of our family concentrates on the sses such as Enchantress nodded his head epting what Melinda had just said.


    "Um, I guess you really are ignorant, then I guess I can tell you more about my family. The name of my family is Emberbane, and most of our family concentrates on the sses such as Enchantress and the like. So, I guess it''s fair to say that we focus on people with charm," she said showing off her body in front of Aiden.


    ''So she isn''t part of the Nightshade family, I guess that''s good to know,'' thought Aiden, as he continued to listen to her attentively.


    "So, that''s why I wanted to see your face, to see if you have some potential in joining our family. Also, I know that you are an assassin and all that, but don''t worry, I could get some really good skills for you," she said not wanting Aiden to be disinterested because of the ss-rted skills.


    But, before Melinda could finish her whole presentation about her family, Aiden interrupted her.


    "Before you continue for no reason, this all sounds really interesting, but I''ll need to refuse," said Aiden, not even adding the reason why he had made such a decision.


    This time, Melinda was really frustrated and insulted as Aiden had just thrown his chance at bing great into the trash, not even looking at it or considering it.


    "Then, tell me why you don''t want to join my family?" she said toward Aiden, clearly unhappy with the current situation as her smile disappeared from her face.

 Chapter 129 129 - Refusing a Golden Offer

    Chapter129 129 - Refusing a Golden Offer


    "Then, tell me why you don''t want to join my family?" she asked Aiden, clearly unhappy with the current situation as her smile disappeared from her face.


    Aiden didn''t know how to respond in a non-aggressive way, as he didn''t want to be making an enemy out of one of the strongest people that existed.


    It just wasn''t that great of an idea especially when he wanted toy low.


    However, it was now probably impossible toy low as everyone had learned of the Reaper since one of the heads of the founding families had called for him in front of everyone who had passed the first round of elimination.


    Many were probably going to be expecting a strong opponent which meant that he won''t have that element of surprise for the next fights.


    "Why can''t I join your family?" Aiden repeated the question, gaining time for him to think about an appropriate answer.


    "Well, it''s quite simple, I''m not going to leave my current family, especially after all they have done for me," said Aiden, saying the best excuse that hade to his mind.


    He couldn''t really say that he wanted to hide from the top powers of the world as it wouldn''t make any sense considering his current power level.


    "Um, and what family are you a part of? It was hidden on your profile. And just so you know, I''ll be able to find out so just tell me it will make us lose a lot less time," said Melinda, not wanting to waste some time searching for his family.


    Sure, she could do so, but she wouldn''t have the opportunity to talk with him in a one-on-one at that time.


    She wanted everything to be resolved today or before the tournament ended as it would simply simplify the task ahead of her which was of recruiting Aiden into her family.


    ''Do I even have a choice?'' thought Aiden, as he knew that he couldn''t really hide anything from the person in front of him.


    ''I shouldply, it will make it less likely for her to investigate me,'' thought Aiden, not wanting her to learn more about his arrival in the Everheart family as it really was quite the weird one.


    He wanted to be perceived as a normal awakener who hadn''t done anything bad in his life.


    Well, he couldn''t really do that, because of the dark aura which he had released but he just wanted no one to pay attention to him.


    Was that too much to ask or what?


    "I''m part of the Everheart family, you probably haven''t heard of it," said Aiden, assuming that there was no way that a founding family would be able to know the existence of a middle-level family.


    "Do you think I''m as ignorant as you, of course, I know of the Everheart family," she said, showing that she was proud of knowing such a thing.


    Aiden hearing her say that, only nodded as he took the insult quite well, not minding it that much as it was simply a fact and there was nothing he could do about it.


    After all, it hadn''t been long since he had arrived in that world so it was quite normal for him not to know everything about it.


    It was the same as if Aiden asked them questions about the Earth and where he came from, they would be the ignorants in such a case. n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    "But, do you really want to stay in a middle-level family when I''m proposing you to join a founding family? Do you even realize the chance which you currently have?" asked Melinda, not understanding how someone could refuse such a thing, especially for her demands which were practically non-existent.


    The only thing that she had asked of him in exchange for joining was to show his face, it really wasn''t much, and any other people would have epted in a heartbeat.


    But unluckily for her, Aiden was different from the rest, having aplicated past.


    "I know that I have a great chance, but I want to help my current family," repeated Aiden as he couldn''t change the reason that he had said earlier.


    And then, he thought about something, as he added something.


    "And why do you want me to join your family so much? It''s kind of weird, many people other than me would beg to join your family," said Aiden, wanting to know the true reasons for her proposal.


    "But, they''re not as special as you, isn''t it obvious?" she said, as she was desperate by Aiden''s stupidity. "Don''t you get it, no one is able to do the things you do. I''m not dumb alright I know that you modified the Everheart technique," said Melinda.


    "Such an achievement is incredible and practically no one would be able to do such a thing. And if they would be able to do such a thing, they would need an incredible amount of time and resources. However, since youe from a middle-level family you probably don''t have many resources. Hell, you don''t even have an inventory," she said, letting some of her frustratione out.


    Aiden, hearing all that, nodded without showing any emotions as he had a mask hiding the entirety of his face.


    "And, I don''t even know why I''m asking you to remove your mask, you do know that I could remove it if I wanted to. In fact, I would be able to find your identity in a heartbeat if I wanted to," she said as emotions took over her words as she really was frustrated with everything that Aiden had just pulled.


    However, Aiden needed to show that he wasn''t to be pushed around or else who knew what might happen in this room.


    He needed to protect his identity at all costs, and he would everything in his power to do so.


    Nheless, he couldn''t deny that she could do whatever she wanted with him as he was simply too weak. He hadn''t done enough trials to have enough stats to defeat such a behemoth.


    There was also something else, Aiden knew of all the opportunities that he could gain by simply joining her family. Honestly, he was interested in her offer a little, the benefits were just so big that it was hard to resist.


    Greed is something that is quite dangerous, especially in moments like this where benefits are so massive.


    "Everything you''re saying is true, you can do whatever you want to me. In fact, take my mask off if you want, but I think there''s a reason why YOU are asking ME to remove it. It''s as if you don''t want me to be frustrated against you, as if you''re trying to please me as much as you could," said Aiden, turning the current situation around.


    He wasn''t the one that was going to be the victim, she was going to be the victim, she was the one who would have to admit that she would like to have Aiden.


    "What even is your name?" asked Aiden, as he continued in his current inspiration.


    "Melinda, yours?" said Melinda,ughing as she said that.


    ''Look at this attitude of his, how long has it been since someone has talked to me like this?'' thought Melinda, realizing that he really was different from any other awakened of his age or even her age.


    It was like he didn''t care about status at all.


    And that part of him, Melinda liked it, she liked it a lot.


    "Nice one, but I still won''t tell you," answered Aiden, as he had almost said his name by ident.


    "So, Melinda I have a counter-proposal, want to know what it is?" said Aiden, as he had thought of one thing which could make him go over to her family.


    He knew that epting such an offer was dangerous, however, if there were big enough benefits then he would take the risk.


    There was just too much that he needed to know about his system, this world, and all those things that he was so ignorant about.


    He wanted to have more knowledge and the mercenary which Maelis had called still hadn''t given any news, so he was tempted in asking her instead as she was almost sure to have some of the answers that he needs.


    "Sure, what is it big guy?" said Melinda, mocking his current attitude toward her.


    "It''s quite simple actually, before saying my proposal, I also need to know some things about how your family rtions are with the rest of the founding families," said Aiden, wanting to know if her family was close with the Nightshade family.


    Melinda nodded, noting all his demands in her head, as she really didn''t mind whatever he was going to ask she really wanted to have Aiden as he was too much of a special person.


    It was as if he wasn''t from this world.


    Then, Melinda opened her mouth as she was about to reveal whether or not the Emberbane was close to the Nightshades.


    It was going to be a dealbreaker.

 Chapter 130 130 - Who Will Have Aiden?

    Chapter130 130 - Who Will Have Aiden?


    "So, before saying your counteroffer, you want me to tell you how my family is cooperating with the other founding families, is that right?" asked Melinda, not sure why Aiden would need to have something like that.


    ''It''s not like the others will care about him, they will probably all ignore his existence,'' she thought, finding the boy in front of her to be quite paranoid.


    "Yeah, that''s exactly what I asked," answered Aiden, as he made sure to listen to every word that was about toe out of her mouth as maybe he would be able to get some pretty interesting information.


    "Alright, then," she muttered, as she didn''t mind such a condition at all as he would have discovered about it when joining. "As you know there are three other founding families, the Nightshades, the Ravenwoods, and the Vndils. We, the founding families, are the strongest groups of people to exist in this world that we call Nova."


    "Are we stronger than some of them? Maybe? I''m not sure as we don''t fight directly against one another. However, I can tell you that I''m probably the strongest head as my illusions are quite deadly if you get stuck into one," she said, not missing the chance of flexing her power to Aiden.


    Aiden nodded, as he wasn''t that interested in which family was currently the strongest. He wanted to know what family they were the closest to.


    "Enough of my bragging, the Emberbane family has pretty good rtions with the Vndils and the Ravenwoods. We don''t mind them and they don''t mind us, well... most of the time. Now, about the Nightshades it''s a little moreplicated..."


    Aiden hearing this was quite happy as he understood that Melinda and the rest of her family probably weren''t that close to the Nightshades from the tone of her voice.


    "It''s a littleplicated because of their current actions, however, it''s nothing that you should know about, so I won''t tell you more about it. Basically, the family that everyone hates the most is the Nightshades because of things which the public ignores," said Melinda, not wanting to reveal their problems with the Nightshades.


    ''What did they even do?'' thought Aiden, interested in learning about it.


    "So, I think that''s pretty much it, are you happy now? Are you going to join my family?" asked Melinda, still not understanding why she was listening to Aiden and doing everything that he wanted.


    It really wasn''t a situation that she had expected.


    She had expected him to simply ept her proposal without asking any questions.


    But, no, here she was listening to all his demands without questioning anything as she absolutely wanted to get him inside her family.


    "I already told you that you''ll need to promise me something if I''m to join your family," said Aiden, with a serious look on his face.


    It was finally time for him to get some answer that he had ignored ever sinceing here.


    "Basically, all you would have to do is answer some of the questions that I have," said Aiden, not saying what type of questions they were as he knew that she would probably just ept without even thinking.


    And that''s exactly what happened.


    "Sure, what are your questions?" said Melinda, curious as to what he was going ask.


    She was expecting some normal questions which pretty much everyone knew about as she had noticed that he didn''t seem to know much about the world that surrounded them.


    "The first one is where does the systeme from?" asked Aiden, as he became extremely serious, not knowing if she was going to ept to answer this question as it seemed to be quite a hidden secret.


    ***


    Meanwhile, Emma, Olivia, and Logan were discussing what had just happened.


    Aiden had been teleported by force to meet one of the strongest beings that existed.


    Of course, they were all jealous, they had hoped that it would have been them that would have been teleported as it was simply too good of an opportunity to refuse.


    "What do you think they''re asking of him?" said Olivia.


    Emma who heard this, also didn''t know what they could possibly want with him, but then she remembered something.


    Aiden had refused categorically to participate in the tournament without a mask, so maybe it was rted to that. N?v(el)B\\jnn


    Well, it was either that or they had been impressed by what he had achieved, especially the modified technique which he had made.


    Imagine if Melinda knew that he had made it in one month, she would be so shocked that she would give everything to recruit Aiden as creating techniques is almost impossible as it required an insane amount of talent to do so.


    But atst, she ignored it, just like she ignored many things about Aiden in general.


    "Honestly, it''s probably about the fight which we just did," answered Emma, not wanting to reveal her theory about his mask.


    "Are you worried about him?" asked Olivia, right after, as she had noticed the looks that Emma had given to him.


    She really seemed to be in love with how she acted around him, there was also the fact that she was always trying to touch him at every possible opportunity.


    "Worried? Why would I be worried about him? Ahaha, you''re funny," said Emma,pletely denying those remarks by entuating herugh as much as she could.


    "Are you sure? You seem nervous," said Logan, as he looked at her hands which were fidgeting around.


    "Whatever, what if I am, who cares," said Emma, angrily, not wanting to admit that she was worried about what was happening to him.


    "What about you Olivia, don''t you think for a single moment that I didn''t notice you sneaking up on him," said Emma, redirecting the attention onto someone else as she didn''t like what was currently happening.


    "Yeah, I am, he''s hot, I''m hot, why not?" she said, admitting that she found Aiden quite handsome and that she wouldn''t mind doing something with him.


    "What? Is he yours?" said Olivia, trying to make fun of Emma.


    However, Emma was stumped in her response as she didn''t want to admit that she actually felt something for Aiden.


    "N-no, he''s not," she said, slowly.


    "Are you having trouble saying it?" added Olivia, as she noticed that Emma was speaking really quietly as if not wanting everyone around to hear her.


    "No, he''s not mine, alright," she repeated, this time, confident in her response.


    "Then, I guess you wouldn''t mind if I get closer to him, right?" said Olivia, still with a big smile on her face.


    "Just try, he won''t even pay you any attention, didn''t you see earlier, even when you were using your body, he didn''t even have a reaction. It was as if you didn''t even exist," said Emma, happy that she had found something to make fun of Olivia.


    "Who knows? I know that when he''s going to touch those," she said as she grabbed her tits in her hands. "That he won''t be able to resist my charm."


    ''Or maybe it will be theplete opposite and you won''t be able to resist his charm,'' thought Emma, as her mind was full of memories where she had imagined Aiden naked.


    She also remembered the night when she had woken up in the middle of the night when they had switched beds.


    It was that night that all her clothes were really wet.


    "I wouldn''t be so sure of that, he''ll probably forget about you, not like you''re anything worth remembering," said Emma, out of spite, mad that she was hearing such wordse out of Olivia''s mouth.


    Olivia seemed to be the type of girl who was confident and would be the one acting first. However, Emma was theplete opposite as she was really shy not starting anything.


    She was the type to wait until something happened, not that there was anything wrong with that.


    "Why would he not remember me, not like you''re the type to try anything with him," said Olivia, knowing that she was right seeing the reaction that Emma was currently having.


    She was all red as if she was a tomato.


    "Who knows? I might just try."


    Logan who was hearing that conversation was just confused as to what was happening as her sister was currently fighting for a man it seemed.


    "B-both of you, should calm down," said Logan, in a low tone of voice, scared of what their reactions were going to be.


    "My brother''s right, who cares who''ll he end up with?" said Olivia as she muttered something so quietly that no one around was able to hear her. "I will have him."


    "Yeah, who cares, right?" said Emma, as she also muttered something in a really quiet voice. "I''ll be the one to have him."


    Then, as the two of them had seemingly stopped talking about that, silence took over as they both waited for Aiden to appear once again.


    9ae64c9039acfa2b73ba339bf5aae1942dd38520ef8d5e2502e655d7ea64640f37aa1c1d5b8810aabeb3375fe08acf64d94404792744b6b8c3b491f5e8c3e14794cd6e152dbd90849cf070596ba27764

 Chapter 131 131 - Hidden Body Potential

    Chapter131 131 - Hidden Body Potential


    While Emma, Olivia, and Logan were patiently waiting for Aiden toe back.


    Aiden was currently in one of the most important conversations he ever had.


    He was about to get answers from Melinda about all the things that he ignored since he had arrived here.


    Those answers which he had waited for a really long time, and the dy in having those answers had also made him change his personality a little as he fully concentrated on himself because of that.


    It was now time for him to ask his first question.


    "My first question is where does the systeme from?" asked Aiden, as he was serious but also nervous as to what she was going to answer.


    Then, Aiden waited for a couple of seconds but he noticed that Melinda still had her mouth as if not hearing the question.


    "Where does the systeme from?" repeated Aiden, once again, waiting for her to answer.


    "The system? Where does the systeme from, huh?" repeated Melinda as if she had absolutely no idea about its origins.


    "Yeah, where does ite from?" repeated Aiden once again.


    Melinda, however, once again took a couple of seconds before answering him.


    "Um... Aiden, that''s quite a good question, I''m not sure about that answer, ahaha," she said as sheughed a little.


    "I never thought of questioning the origins of the system, I don''t know it was always part of our society, so I didn''t find any problem with it," she then exined, trying to make her words make sense.


    However, it didn''t convince Aiden at all, as he simply couldn''t believe what he was hearing.


    "So, you''re telling me that you have no idea where ites from? Is that it? You have not even thought about it once in your life?"


    Melinda didn''t answer this time she simply nodded, looking like she didn''t have anything else to say.


    "Maybe, it was too hard of a question," said Aiden, clearly mad with the first answer he had gotten.


    He was sad that he hadn''t gotten what he had expected, and there was also the fact that the answer she had given was weird as she had thought about it for a long time before answering him.


    So, he decided to ask a question which was in his opinion supposed to bemon knowledge as he had gotten that message at the end of the Second Trial.


    "What about the hidden potential of one''s body? What is that?" asked Aiden.


    ''She better answer or else there''s literally no way that I''ll join her family,'' thought Aiden.


    "Wow, you have great questions, the hidden potential of someone''s body? Where have you heard of that if I may," said Melinda, however, this time her voice contained a different tone from earlier.


    It seemed that Aiden''s question wasn''tmon knowledge as Aiden started to feel pressure on him, as Melinda seemed to really want to know the answer to her question.


    "Oh, it was the head of my family who told me about it, why?" lied Aiden, right away, as it seemed to be quite a touchy subject.


    "And that head of your family, she couldn''t exin it to you, huh?" added Melinda, picking up on some of the problems with Aiden''s answer.


    *Gulp*


    Aiden started to feel a lot of pressureing from Melinda who still had her perfect smile on her face, however, Aiden knew that behind that smile was hiding something.


    "Ah, doesn''t matter if you don''t want to answer, just a stupid question," said Aiden, quickly, noticing the change in the atmosphere.


    "Oh, no, no need to do that, I''ll answer no worries," said Melinda, who still had her smile on her face after saying that. "However, that will be yourst question, is that okay?"


    Aiden wasn''t happy to hear that, however, he still nodded as he couldn''t contradict her at the moment as she didn''t seem to be in the best of moods.


    "It''s not like you''ll go around telling what I''ll say to everyone, right?" she said as sheughed while saying that.


    "Of course not, I wouldn''t dare," answered Aiden as quickly as possible. "If you don''t want to, there''s really no need to answer the question, you know," said Aiden onest time, as he didn''t want to be burdened with that answer as it seemed quite important. n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    Sure, he wanted to know what a body''s hidden potential was, but if it was at the cost of his life then he would rather not.


    "No, I''ll answer, I''ll answer, I''m telling you, it''s nothing really. Just make sure to keep that between us or else... well who knows, ahaha," she said as she menaced Aiden once again while smiling, making her seem really scary.


    "So, a body''s hidden potential, what is it?" said Melinda, repeating the question as she was about to answer. "It''s quite simple actually, it is the potential of one''s body to transcend the world that we live in," said Melinda, not adding any other detail.


    "In fact, it seemed that your family head is quite lucky to have such a body as they are quite rarely seen," added Melinda, who started to go back to her usual self.


    ''Transcend the world? What the fuck does that mean?'' thought Aiden, as other questions started to appear in his mind.


    "But wh-"


    "No more questions, you epted remember," interrupted Melinda looking at Aiden with a friendly look in her eyes.


    "So, was that enough? You''re going to join my family now, right?" asked Melinda.


    Aiden hearing her ask such a thing, knew that he didn''t have any choice but to ept as it seemed that an important secret had been given to him.


    He would also not make the mistake of revealing it to others, as he would probably die if he did so as Melinda had quite the scary face at some point even menacing him sometimes.


    "Yeah, I''ll join it, but can we wait until the end of the tournament for it to be official," said Aiden, as he didn''t want Maelis or Emma to learn that he had changed family before they knew about it.


    "Sure, I see what you''re trying to do, doing onest dance with your old team," said Melinda, thinking of things that were not rted at all.


    "Yeah, that''s it, onest dance," said Aiden, confirming her thoughts.


    "Well, it''s no problem," said Melinda.


    Aiden was shocked at how well she was able to change the pressure that was surrounding her when she spoke. One moment he felt like he would die if he made the wrong move, and the next one he felt appreciated and loved.


    It really was quite a weird feeling.


    Then, a bit of silence installed itself between the two of them as they both looked into each other''s eyes without looking away.


    5 seconds, 10 seconds, it was like they were obligated to look at each other that way.


    Aiden was the first one to break the eye contact as he could the atmosphere bing quite awkward.


    "Hum, Hum, so was that it? Can I go back to the tournament?" asked Aiden, as he didn''t want to stay in this room for much longer, as he didn''t know when she wouldpletely change her attitude.


    "Yeah, that was it. Oh, and don''t forget that you have to show me tournament, after all," said Melinda recalling that he still hadn''t removed his mask.


    your face right now. You''re going to join my family at the end of the tournament, after all," said Melinda recalling that he still hadn''t removed his mask.


    "I got to say, it really is a beautiful mask, I feel like it represents you well," she added while waiting for Aiden''s answer.


    Aiden didn''t want to reveal what he looked like right now as he would prefer to do at the end of the tournament as he didn''t know if they were being observed at the moment.


    "Can''t I wait for the end of the tournament? Wouldn''t it be better to do everything at the end," he added, trying to convince her.


    "Heh, why not? I can wait for a little," she said as she made some gestures with her hands.


    As she did that Aiden''s vision started to change as he could feel his body starting to be teleported back to the Arena.


    Then, Melinda was alone in the white room, not moving. She seemed to be thinking about many things as she didn''t move a single muscle. Not even her eyes blinked.


    ''Should I tell the others about him?'' thought Melinda, as she learned some pretty interesting things during that conversation with him.


    ''Hidden body potential, huh? He really has some guts. He lied to me, after all,'' she thought, as she had obviously realized that he was the one who had this potential.


    Melinda was now thinking about telling the other founding families heads about her discovery of someone with such a body because just like she had said earlier, people with such potential were scarce and quite valuable.


    She had told the truth when she had talked about what it meant to have such a body, it really meant to be able to transcend the world. Basically, reaching higher nes which couldn''t be seen by normal human beings.


    9ae64c9039acfa2b73ba339bf5aae1942dd38520ef8d5e2502e655d7ea64640f37aa1c1d5b8810aabeb3375fe08acf6461003eaac4bd497ed33fedb4c1c5b7aeb0f4e88a204e7befc8262d9894e739fb539f1b8b3dfb85dad715eba596a55936

 Chapter 132 132 - Olivia or Emma?

    Chapter132 132 - Olivia or Emma?


    Then, Aiden was back in the middle of the Arena and he couldn''t help but find the tension quite awkward as pretty much everyone around was looking at him.


    It seemed that this meeting between him and Melinda had caused many to pay attention to him, which was something that he disliked a lot as he simply wanted to be low-key without anyone looking at him or wanting to fight him.


    ''And where''s Emma?'' thought Aiden, as he looked around not seeing her which was quite weird considering her personality.


    She would have usually been waiting for him, patiently and worried, about what might have happened.


    In fact, he quite liked that about her.


    He liked that she always seemed worried about him as if knowing that he could disappear at any moment.


    There was also something on Aiden''s mind which was about the deal he had just made.


    The thing is that he would need to tell both Emma and Maelis.


    Aiden wasn''t sure if there was going to be any problem with the contract that he signed when joining the Everheart family, so he had to ask Maelis so as to not get in trouble.


    He didn''t want to lose his Awakened status because of switching families without asking her. He wanted to make sure that everything was in order before doing so, as that would be when the risk would be at its lowest point.


    But then, Aiden dismissed those thoughts noticing that only Logan was her, even Olivia had disappeared to god knows where.


    ''Why is Logan here? Alone?'' thought Aiden, as he couldn''t see either Emma or Olivia.


    ''Don''t tell me that something happened to them,'' thought Aiden, as he kept looking around himself.


    "Hey, Logan where''s your sister and Emma," asked Aiden, worried, as he wanted to know what had happened to them.


    ''Did someone go up to them because of my meeting with Melinda?'' thought Aiden, as his mind was currently in turmoil as he couldn''t help but worry about Emma.


    He had learned that she wasn''t that bad of a person contrary to many and that he could trust her, well... somewhat as he still wouldn''t be able to reveal his secret to her, well, for the moment.


    However, it seemed impossible that he would tell her as he would be soon away from her, not seeing her anytime soon.


    "Who knows? They went in the opposite direction not long ago," said Logan, seemingly not that concerned about what had happened.


    The nonchnt attitude of Logan reassured Aiden because if Logan was rxed then it probably wasn''t anything big.


    "Where did Emma go?" asked Aiden, as he was a lot more worried about Emma than Olivia since he had known her for a longer time.


    "That way," said Logan, as he pointed straight in front of him.


    "Alright, thanks," said Aiden, as he immediately went that way, interested in what might have happened for Emma and Olivia to separate themselves.


    ''Wait, don''t tell me that Logan and Olivia did something to her again while I was away?'' thought Aiden as he remembered the state that Emma was in when he had left to get some information on the other team.


    ''There''s no way, they wouldn''t do that in public, right?'' thought Aiden, as it simply didn''t make any sense.


    Then, he imagined a scene in his mind, where Emma was being touched everywhere by strangers.


    As he thought of that, his stoic face which didn''t have many emotions usually became a little bit red as he couldn''t but see Emma''s body being used by others.


    His face was bing redder as he thought more about it, imagining such a scene.


    Thinking of all that, he elerated forward not even looking back, as he couldn''t but worry even more about Emma. N?v(el)B\\jnn


    The people who were looking at him asked themselves what was happening as they couldn''t understand where he was currently going.


    Hadn''t he juste back from a very important meeting, so why was he here?


    The second fight will soon be starting, there''s no way that someone who had been spotted by one of the strongest people on Nova would be that stupid.


    Then. as he continued to go walk a little more, he spotted a silhouette which looked exactly like Emma.


    "Emma? What are you doing over there?" shouted Aiden from far away as he still couldn''t quite understand why she was all the way over there.


    "Oh, so you chose me, ah I knew it," muttered Emma, as she started going toward Aiden quickly taking his hand. "Let''s go back to where Logan is, I need to show something to Olivia," said Emma, guiding Aiden as if he were a dog, holding him.


    It seemed that their disappearances had been a little game that both Emma and Olivia had organized to see which one he would ask to see first.


    But, honestly, it didn''t make any sense as it was just obvious that Aiden was going to pick Emma. There were just so many things wrong with thinking the contrary.


    They had known each other for a long time, they spent one month together even if they didn''t talk much, and they had literally slept together.


    Thatst point was only for Aiden as Emma still ignored it for the most part as she knew that something must have happened, but hadn''t asked.


    Then, the two of them went by the crowd who were still eying Aiden attentively watching his every move.


    However, not one person had tried to talk to him which was odd. Surely, someone would try and learn more about the mysterious person who had met one of the founding families'' heads.


    Then, as they were heading back to where Logan was, the voice resounded in the arena once again. It seemed like it was time for the second fight which would be in teams of two, where Aiden would be in a team with Emma.


    They weren''t the best pair as they were both the types of fighters to hide behind and strike discreetly. Not one of them was the type to be at the front line, tanking every attack, just like Logan had done not too long ago.


    Their fighting style just didn''t let such a thing happen. They were both supposed to strike when the opponents would least expect it.


    It was going to be interesting to see how they would adapt when having to fight in such a weird way.


    "Hm, now that everything has been resolved, we can go ahead and proceed with the second fight. If you don''t currently have a teammate as your family isn''t big enough, don''t worry, you will receive a message from the system assigning you one," said the voice as many seemed to be looking at their system, not caring about their surroundings.


    This was the result of the message that the voice had just talked about.


    "Aiden, quick we need to reach Olivia before this fight starts," said Emma as she started running for probably a stupid reason.


    ''Just what is happening between her and Olivia?'' thought Aiden, as he just couldn''t grasp Emma''s actions at all at the moment.


    "Emma, we need to concentrate on the tournament, why do you want to go back to Olivia?" asked Aiden who was still being pulled like a dog by Emma.


    Emma, who heard him ask such a thing, pretended not to as she continued running in the direction where Logan was waiting.


    "Emma, stop," said Aiden, as he put some strength in his arms treated.


    As Aiden and Emma had their little conversation, the voice showing that he didn''t like the way that he was currently being treated.


    As Aiden and Emma had their little conversation, the voice continued to announce what was going to happen next.


    "Alright, now that everyone has a team, then we should probably start this, we already got enough dy," said the voice once again.


    Then, the voice added something which shocked many including Aiden who was still mad at Emma. However, what the voice had said shocked him as he really hadn''t expected such a thing.


    "Emma, I don''t know why you want to group up with Olivia, bu-"


    The voice interrupted Aiden''s sentence as it was a lot louder than Aiden''s voice.


    "Oh, and before we start the second fight, I forgot to mention that you will all fight against your old teammates, ahaha. Interesting isn''t it?" said the voice, as it startedughing when saying that sentence.


    "Emma, did you hear that?" asked Aiden, now sure that they shouldn''t go back and meet Olivia and Logan.


    They needed to prepare themselves mentally for the fight that would be ahead of them.


    "Because this is a little surprise, I will give you... Hmm, one minute to prepare yourselves," said the voice, as he continuedughing while talking.


    ''One minute? That''s not nearly enough time,'' thought Aiden, as he knew that he had to talk to Emma a little about how they wanted to fight against Olivia and Logan.


    Aiden, at the start, had observed them quite well. He had noticed that they weren''t serious and didn''t pay a lot of attention to their surroundings, especially at the start of such a fight.


    However, even when the voice announced that they would have to fight against Olivia and Logan, Emma didn''t slow down as she continued walking forward toward the spot where they were.


    "Aiden, follow me, we''ll talk to them before eliminating them. You know we need to tell them goodbye or else we wouldn''t be polite," said Emma, as she looked back smiling at Aiden.

 Chapter 133 133 - Peace?

    Chapter133 133 - Peace?


    Then, Aiden followed behind Emma interested in this new attitude of hers which wasn''t anything like he was used to.


    However, while doing so, he was still debating whether this was a good use of the little time they had to prepare themselves.


    Realizing that it wouldn''t, he decided to speak up as they were clearly wasting their time.


    "Emma," he said grabbing both her arms tightly waking her up from whatever situation she had imagined. "We need to talk strategy, and I''m sure that they are also talking about that right now," added Aiden.


    ''Well maybe not, who knows what Olivia is even thinking about right now,'' thought Aiden as he knew that she could beughing right at this very moment not even caring about the fight that was ahead of them. n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    He knew that she wasn''t the most serious, especially in moments where she needed to be, but still, he wanted to talk about strategy with Emma as this was clearly the best course of action.


    "Who cares, we''ll win anyway," she said as she started behaving exactly like before, going toward the same spot as before.


    Aiden this time was mad, she had ignored him once again. Who the hell did she think she was?


    "Emma, stop this game of yours it''s annoying," said Aiden as he used apletely different tone of voice from earlier, clearly mad about this whole thing.


    As Aiden said that, the annoying voice once again resounded throughout the Arena.


    "You only have 30 seconds left to discuss with your partner, hehe."


    Hearing this, Aiden knew that he had to act fast and discuss how they would be fighting against Olivia and Logan as they could easily counter their style.


    They were both the type of people to hide and strike when the opponent wouldn''t be expecting it. However, it wouldn''t be possible this time as both Olivia and Logan would be expecting it.


    There was also another problem, Aiden had no real idea of the strength of the two as he had been focusing on the fight against the Prodigy and there was also the fact that Olivia had to chance to see the technique of Aiden.


    If they were considering all those facts, their victory wasn''t assured at all.


    "Emma, alright, listen to me, I''ll tell you what we''re going to do when we fight them. If you do as I said then we should be able to win without any problem," said Aiden, as he seemed to have already figured out a problem topletely obliterate the team of Olivia and Logan.


    Sure, Aiden may not know the full extent of their abilities, but he knew that if they did exactly as he had nned, then there shouldn''t be any surprise on who would win.


    Then, Aiden proceeded to tell her about all of his ns as she constantly nodded her head every time he said something.


    ''I guess, I''ll justugh at her after the fight,'' thought Emma, still thinking about the fact that Aiden had chosen her over Olivia.


    Then, as Aiden finished telling her everything, the voice came back It really was a great sensation, however, she didn''t want to make him all mad before the fight, so she decided to listen to that strategy which he wanted to say desperately.


    Then, as Aiden finished telling her everything, the voice came back as it once again began talking in the Arena.


    "Time''s up, then I guess we should change the environment this time," said Thorin, who was the voice,ughing as he said that.


    ''Fuck, then my n is literally useless,'' thought Aiden, hearing thatst sentence which hade out of that person''s mouth.


    He had nned to use the trees to hide himself, as his main focus would be Olivia which should be defenceless, especially when Logan activates his weird skill which makes him lose his mind.


    ''Let''s just hope that it isn''t a desert of something like that,'' thought Aiden, as he could feel himself being transported into a new zone.


    Then, as he regained his sight, they were in apletely different location which wasn''t anything like a forest, in fact, it was quite the opposite.


    It was the one thing that Aiden had wished against and here it was, a desert.


    ''Fuck, why wouldn''t they be announcing it before,'' thought Aiden as he was nowpletely in the open as he could see the forcefield in front of him.


    "Alright, Emma change of ns," muttered Aiden instantly when they appeared. He knew that his previous n wouldn''t work at all as it had taken into ount that they had somewhere to hide.


    "We''ll need to improvise," said Aiden, as he could see that Emma was still nodding, not saying a single word.


    "Are you alright? What''s up with you?" asked Aiden, noticing that weird behaviour.


    Emma still nodded once again as she didn''t seem to be able to open her mouth at all.


    ''What''s up with her?'' thought Aiden, as he just couldn''t understand why she was acting like that.


    However, he had no time to deal with that as he needed to concentrate on the task which was ahead of him.


    "Whatever, just make sure that it doesn''t affect your strength when fighting," added Aiden as he could the countdown inside of his head.


    [The fight will begin in five seconds.]


    [The fight will begin in four seconds.]


    [The fight will begin in three seconds.]


    [The fight will begin in two seconds.]


    [The fight will begin in one second.]


    [Fight!]


    Aiden heard that inside of his mind as the force field in front of himpletely disappeared, giving them a look toward the other team.


    It seemed that the force field also had the use of hiding people behind it.


    ''It seems that the distance between us is much shorter this time,'' thought Aiden, immediately as there seemed to be at most one kilometre between the two teams.


    Then, Aiden dashed forward as it needed to reach the other side of this desert before Logan activated his skill, or else the fight would be a lot moreplicated.


    If Logan wasn''t able to activate his skill then it would only be a matter of time before Aiden and Emma would be winning.


    *Swoosh*


    As Aiden had been running in front of him as fast as he could, an arrow passed right beside him and it was aimed directly at the head of Logan.


    It seemed that Emma who had been quite distracted was now totally focused on shooting arrows in Olivia''s direction, it''s not like she hadn''t wanted to do it.


    She had understood Aiden''s action instantly when seeing him run at them without caring about anything else.


    ''That will probably make me gain some points with him,'' she thought, inside of her mind, as she knew that he would be very happy if they won this fight right now.


    Then, after shooting the first arrow, she shot another in the direction of the enemy team as they weren''t that far away, well for an awakener as it would only take at most one minute to reach them.


    And if Logan started running toward Aiden, then who knew how much time it would take?


    *Swoosh*


    *Swoosh*


    Arrows kept going past Aiden as he continued running in their direction, however, when he looked ahead of him, he became confused.


    ''What is she doing?'' thought Aiden, seeing Olivia waving her hand at him as if they were not in a life and dead battle.


    A battle which would make the winner able to win great rewards for their family.


    Then, he started a faint noiseing from over there.


    "Don''t attack us, let''s talk," shouted Olivia as loud as she could.


    ''What? Talk? What is she even nning?'' thought Aiden as he could still see Emma''s arrows going straight into the direction of Aiden''s head.


    "Talk, what do you mean?" shouted Aiden back as he was getting closer and closer to them.


    The arrows which Emma had just been blocked by one of Olivia''s spells as they were hitting their target.


    "We don''t want to fight you, we''ll let you guys win. But there''s a condition," she said as she could see that Aiden was only a few meters away from them.


    Aiden, hearing that, and seeing that didn''t seem to have any hidden intentions turned his back and called Emma who wasn''t too far away from them.


    But, even while turning his back, he made sure that nothing could happen to him as he wasn''t even sure if they were even telling the truth.


    Nheless, if they were going to let them win, then why wouldn''t Aiden ept, it was literally a golden opportunity to go further into the tournament.


    Seeing that Aiden wasn''t attacking them and had just made a sign to her, she began running in their direction as she was clearly interested in what they were talking about.


    ''Don''t tell me, she''s going to use this chance to charm him,'' thought Emma, as she began picking up the pace.


    Emma was panicking over that matter as she just couldn''t imagine what they were discussing.


    She needed to know what was happening which was why she started to move at a faster pace.


    What if she proposed something to him that Aiden wouldn''t refuse, she knew that Olivia was someone known as bold and she didn''t want to take any risk.


    Then, Emma ran toward them as fast as she possibly could.


    An excited Olivia had a big smile on her face as she could finally have a conversation with Aiden alone.

 Chapter 134 134 - Visiting Her Family?

    ?


    As Emma was running as fast as she could toward Aiden to make sure that nothing weird was happening, Olivia started talking to Aiden about why she didn''t want to fight against him.


    She seemed to be somewhat excited that she could talk to him alone as she just couldn''t stop talking, not letting either Aiden or Logan interfere in her speech.


    Well, it still wasn''t that different from her usual, but it was a little more noticeable as of right now. Aiden just couldn''t pinpoint why he felt that way about her.


    However, at some point, Olivia stopped talking and Aiden could finally ce a couple of words in.


    "Olivia, stop talking about those random things and just tell me what''s your condition for letting us win," asked Aiden as he just couldn''t bother to stay close to her for such a long time.


    He didn''t mind her talking that much, but still, he didn''t want to hear her ramble on about useless things.


    "Argh, alright I guess," she said realizing that Aiden didn''t seem to be appreciating her non-stop talking.


    "My condition is simple though, it''s not really worth mentioning."


    Aiden who heard this was quite confused.


    ''Not worth mentioning? Giving up here means that you won''t get any rewards,'' thought Aiden, as he simply couldn''t understand why she was acting this.


    Aiden just simply couldn''t trust her yet as he didn''t under her hidden intentions which caused him to be on alert always wondering whether or not he was in danger.


    Then, as he was getting confused about this whole thing. He thought of the perfect solution.


    ''Can''t I just kill them? Wouldn''t that just be perfect?''


    The more he thought, the simpler it would be for both Emma and himself. By simply killing them right now, he wouldn''t have to listen to any of her demands and they would still have the victory.


    In fact, Aiden was confident that being so close to them, he would be able to kill the two of them easily and without much problem.


    He decided to simply say his idea out loud to see what the reaction of Olivia would be.


    "If it isn''t worth mentioning then I guess you won''t mind that I kill both of you right this instant," dered Aiden, showing clear hostility toward his two past teammates.


    The hostility was quite normal as he hadn''t gotten close to any of them and simply wanted to go further into the tournament.


    They had, after all, only known each other for one hour at most. So, it was normal for Aiden to be hostile against them, especially in such a weird situation.


    Olivia, however, hearing him say such a thing didn''t seem to panic one bit as if expecting such a reaction out of him.


    "Kill us? Sure, you can do that, but let''s just say that my condition isn''t really a bad thing for you," she said while winking at him.


    Hearing her say that her condition wasn''t really one, Aiden got a little interested in it as he kept listening, however, he was still wary of any sudden moves that coulde out of the two of them.


    Emma, who was still running in their direction, finally arrived up to them.


    "Get away from him," she shouted as she kept running toward them in quite a hostile way, to be honest.


    Aiden wasn''t sure why, but she seemed to be really mad at Olivia especially as she kept looking at her hostility and without backing down even once.


    "Emma, calm down, let''s listen to what they say and if we don''t like it. Then, we''ll just kill them," said Aiden out loud, not even hiding his intent of killing them.


    They were so close that there was no way for Logan to activate his weird skill to be stronger as Aiden would simply kill him before then.


    Olivia and Logan had already, and now, Aiden just wanted to see what kind of condition they were about to propose to him and Emma.


    She had mentioned that it wasn''t really a condition, so Aiden didn''t mind listening to her before finishing her off.


    "Yeah, Emma, calm down," added Olivia, smiling as she said that.


    "You! Just don''t talk to me, alright," said Emma, as she didn''t want to hear Olivia talk at all.


    It seemed that the conversation between the two of them, while they had waited for Aiden, had escted to a point where Emma didn''t even want to talk to her anymore.


    Who knew what had happened after they had gotten silent?


    Did they continue arguing like crazy causing them to split up?


    Aiden didn''t know what had happened and he just couldn''t understand what might have happened.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    "Emma, now is not the time," said Aiden, as he looked back to Olivia waiting for her to tell more about her condition. "Tell me more, what do you want to let us win?"


    ''Even if we don''t need it,'' thought Aiden inside of his mind, as he couldn''t even imagine him losing at the moment.


    He had already exined why and it still hadn''t changed that''s for sure.


    "Well, I was thinking aren''t the two of you part of a middle-level family?" asked Olivia, as she saw both nod their heads.


    ''Well, until the end of the tournament,'' thought Aiden, as he knew that he would have to join one of the founding families at the end of the tournament.


    "Alright, so I was thinking, wouldn''t you guys want toe and visit our home and see how different it is from yours? Through this, we could continue to learn about each other and all of that. You know I really liked the short time that we spent together here," said Olivia.


    Those words which hade out of her mouth deeply confused Aiden as he couldn''t understand why she was so attached to both him and Emma.


    They had only spent one hour or two at most together, and even then it was generous. So why was she so charitable?


    She literally had no reason which meant that she must have had hidden intentions in inviting them. This made Aiden doubt whether or not to ept this offer as it wasn''t going to give him anything that he truly wanted.


    He was already going to the manor of a founding family at the end of the tournament so why would he go to some high-level family house?


    There was no need to do so for him, and when he nced to his right, it seemed that Emma was in agreement with him.


    Emma was still looking at Olivia with a lot of hostility for unknown reasons.


    "I don''t understand, you''re going to give up the fight and we''ll go visit your family?" asked Aiden, who was very confused about this whole matter.


    "Logan are you agreeing with this?" asked Aiden as he couldn''t believe that he would be agreeing to such a thing.


    However, before Logan could answer, Olivia interrupted as she got in front of Aiden.


    "Yeah, to be honest, I know that I won''t win this tournament. I''m just not good enough and there probably won''t be rewards that will interest me since I won''t be going far, so I''d rather give up now," exined Olivia, making a little more sense.


    However, Aiden still couldn''t understand why she didn''t want to try at all, it really was weird. Then, he nced back toward Logan as he still wondered whether or not he agreed.


    "Logan, do you agree with her?"


    Then, Logan turned his head toward Aiden and simply raised his shoulders saying that he, also, didn''t care about the tournament.


    "But, honestly, I don''t really care about visiting your mansion or anything like that," said Aiden.


    "You hear that Olivia? He doesn''t care, just give up," she then added, clearly trying to make fun of her.


    Olivia, however, kept a straight as she started to ask multiple questions rted as to why he couldn''te or didn''t want to.


    "Is it because you don''t have a way ofing over? We are, after all, in the Emberbane territory which isn''t the closest to the Nightshade territory," said Olivia, as she waited for Aiden''s answer.


    ''Wait, they are in the Emberbane territory?'' thought Aiden.


    He was currently thinking about asking her many questions regarding the Emberbane family as he would soon join it. He wanted to know a little more about their overall reputation.


    "Uh, it''s not really because of that, but still if you answer some of my questions, then I guess I''lle," responded Aiden, as it wouldn''t be too long to go over to her house, being in the same territory and all that.


    "Hear that Emma, he''lle. Alone," said Olivia, amplifying the word "alone".


    "What do you mean you''ll go alone, I''ll go with you, it''s no problem really," said Emma, not understanding why Aiden had excluded her.


    ''Should I tell her now orter,'' thought Aiden, as she kept trying toe with him.

 Chapter 135 135 - Lucius Nightshade

    ?


    Aiden was currently wondering whether or not to tell her about his meeting with Melinda as they still hadn''t talked about it yet.


    There were many reasons for that from the fact that she hadn''t even asked anything about it and also the fact that he had to find Emma when being teleported back.


    Those things made him lose valuable time and he hadn''t even gotten the chance to talk about his meeting with Melinda at all.


    ''But if I tell her, she might tell her mom, and then who knows what might happen?'' thought Aiden as he finally decided against it.


    He would wait until the end of the tournament as it would be easier for him. It would be able to tell the two of them at the same time and see both of their reactions.


    He would also be able to see their reactions at the same time and exin to them how he was going to proceed.


    Aiden knew that the two of them wouldn''t be especially pleased by his departure, but he still needed to do it as it would be beneficial for him.


    Even if he liked the fact that Maelis had helped him ever sinceing in this world, Aiden didn''t care that much anymore as he would rather enter a powerful family which would be able to protect him.


    Because as of right now, if the Nightshade found him, they would be taking him right away without any questions as no one would be able to protect him. But, when joining the Emberbane family, he would finally have a moment for himself where he will be safe.


    A moment where he will be able to do as many Trials as he wished which would as a result get stronger.


    There was his body potential which Melinda had described briefly that interested him a lot. n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    Transcending this world?


    In Aiden''s mind, it sounded like a lot of fun.


    "Huh, I didn''t think that you would want toe," answered Aiden as he couldn''t think of another answer in the short time that he had.


    "Well, if you''re going of course I''m going," she eximed instantly, she seemed really excited to be apanying Aiden.


    ''I wonder if she''ll still do it when I announce the news to her,'' thought Aiden, already expecting a headache from the shouting that he will have to go through.


    "Then, I guess we''lle, however, who knows when we''ll get there," added Aiden at the end knowing that he might note right away being in a new family and all that.


    However, Olivia didn''t seem to mind it at all as she simply smiled.


    "Juste when you can, and there''s really no need for you toe, Emma," teased Olivia, still making fun of Emma.


    Emma once again got mad because of all that.


    However, she didn''t speak up as she knew that she was about to kill her.


    Well, it was going to be a fake death, but it would still feel pretty good at the end of the day.


    ''Oh that''s going to feel great,'' thought Emma, knowing that putting an arrow in Olivia''s head would feel pretty good.


    Aiden not knowing how to end this conversation, awkwardly said, "Then, I guess, we''ll kill you. See youter," said Aiden as he shed Olivia''s head without losing a single minute.


    He didn''t want to spend all day here, after all.


    He, also, didn''t know if the other fights were finished as they had taken quite a long time to discuss with each other.


    However, not having to fight right now was great as they were going to be full of energy for the fights which were going to happenter.


    The others who would have fought will probably be a lot more tired than both Aiden and Emma.


    It was also going to be a duel from now on, Aiden was kind of excited as he was clearly one of the greatest in terms of duel ability being an assassin.


    "Aiden, I wanted to kill her," said Emma as she pouted a little as she shot an arrow directly into Logan''s head.


    Logan became lifeless instantly and simply disappeared from both Aiden''s and Emma''s eyes.


    Then, the usual beeping sound resounded inside of him.


    *BEEP*


    [You have won the second fight of the Inter Family Tournament.]


    Then, as Aiden read this message, his surroundings changed as he was back in the middle of the arena.


    However, he didn''t hear cheers this time, but a lot of booing and it seemed to be directed at both him and Emma which was kind of logical considering what they had just done.


    They had, after all, kind of cheating by finding an agreement with each other.


    As boos continued, the voice resounded throughout the Arena once again. However, this time it wasn''t for any important information, but to simply mock Aiden and Emma.


    "Wow, a Reaper who likes to talk rather than fight, interesting," said Thorin,ughing as he said that.


    Aiden who ignored who was on the other side of this voice, was mad at that person because the booing amplified which made itpletely impossible for both him and Emma to talk to each other.


    ***


    While Thorin was mocking both Emma and Aiden for cheating, in the stands two people were cheering as loud as they could.


    It was obviously Maelis and Gerald who kept shouting as loudly as they could, however those around simply made too much noise for Aiden and Emma to hear them.


    Nheless, they were feeling one single emotion at the moment and it was a simple one. They were proud of the two people they were seeing right now.


    Sure, they hadn''t fought in the second fight, but who cares?


    There''s not a single who is against such a thing, Maelis, contrary to the crowd, found their "fight" refreshing as it waspletely different from the rest of them.


    She hadn''t heard what had been said as they don''t have ess to sound, but she found it nice to see Aiden talk to others and not simply go toward them with the intent of killing them.


    ''Let''s just hope that you reach the final,'' thought Maelis, clearly thinking about Aiden.


    She hadn''t thought of Emma as she didn''t think that she had what was needed to get to the final.


    She knew that Aiden had put in a lot of effort and she had seen the beginning of the modified Everheart Technique, and when she had seen that, she had understood many things.


    The first thing she understood was that Aiden wasn''t like the rest, he was one of the most talented beings that ever existed as the people of had created or modified techniques recently can be counted on one hand.


    She also knew that he had been able to do so in less than a month which was, objectively, insane.


    It had simply never been done before, everyone would take years and potentially decades to develop even one functioning technique and Aiden had done it in less than a month.


    She couldn''t help but find it weird that someone from the Slums had such incredible talent.


    "Gerald, who do you think will win thepetition?" asked Maelis, wondering if he was of the same opinion.


    However, as expected, it variedpletely from what she personally thought.


    "Well, isn''t it obvious? It''s going to be one of the founding families like always," he said, exasperated a little when saying so.


    "And this year more than ever with the participation of the son of the Nightshade''s Patriarch, I don''t think it''s possible for anyone other than him to win this tournament, but why are you asking me that, who do you think will win?" asked back Gerald.


    "Um, I don''t know why, but I feel like maybe Aiden will do this whole thing," she said in a low tone, making sure that no one could hear his name as he was still under the alias The Reaper.


    Gerald had a surprised expression on his face at first, but then it became one of understanding. He had also noticed what he had done in the first fight and he must say that he had been pleasantly surprised.


    "I can see why, but I still don''t think there''s a way for him to win against Lucius," responded Gerald, talking about the son of the Nightshade Patriarch.


    Maelis only nodded, as she knew that he was right, if Aiden reached the final then he would have to win against an opponent much stronger than him who had resources from the very first moment that he was born.


    However, there was another thing that she didn''t know, it was that Aiden was also from the Nightshade family. Sure, he was kicked out from at young age because of how talentless he was.


    But, at the end of the day, he still held the name Nightshade. A name which Aiden hated deeply.

 Chapter 136 136 - The Nightshade Family

    ?


    The Reaper was a nickname which kept popping up in the stands which waspletely normal. He was the one who had been asked to meet one of the strongest in the world.


    "What do you think happened?" asked some random person in the crowd wondering what the conversation could have been about.


    Someone who had heard answered instantly, "I don''t know, I watched his fight and it wasn''t that impressive, he almost lost a one versus one."


    That person was obviously clueless about Aiden''s real abilities as he didn''t know of the move that he had tried to pull off at the end thinking that it was simply a normal skill which anyone could use.


    "Right, why is everyone giving so much attention to him? Did you see him in the second fight? He didn''t even fight for godsakes," responded the other person in the crowd, who clearly held Aiden in disdain.


    However, those in the crowds didn''t matter at all as they had no actual knowledge of what happened in the Arena.


    Sure, many of them were powerful Awakeners who had once participated in this tournament, but that was a long time ago. They had clearly changed in the meantime as they weren''t able to see one of the top talents of this tournament.


    The one who did, however. hadn''t lost their touch with the world of the Awakened.


    The ones who recognized his talent were few, but they were the most important people in the crowd who weren''t stupid like everyone else.


    And from those people who recognized his talent, Melinda was included as she was currently being harassed as to why she had asked to meet such a little bitch who didn''t even want to fight in a tournament where fighting was at the center of it.


    "Melinda, why would choose him? He literally made a deal to go through the next round, is he really talented or did your scouting talent deteriorate," said Thorin, clearly mocking the person which she had decided to meet at such an early time in the tournament.


    Because meeting with one of the founding families'' heads wasn''t new, especially during the tournament. However, meeting one of them after the first stage of the tournament was simply unheard of as it didn''t make sense.


    Usually, the leaders of the founding families liked to watch before asking for a meeting with one of the participants, but it seemed that Melinda had been way too much interested in Aiden to not ask it after the first fight, which is why she responded in quite a harsh way.


    "I don''t care what you think about him, personally, I found it quite smart to not fight in the second fight," said Melinda, defending his new protege.


    "Yeah, right, you''re probably thinking that you''re making a mistake right now,"ughed Thorin as he headed back toward his chair.


    Melinda could only chuckle when she heard him say that she had made a mistake as Thorin ignored one major fact.


    It was that Aiden had a body, unlike others, a body that even Melinda and the other leaders didn''t have.


    A potential which would make many instantly jealous if they even caught a whiff of it.


    ''I bet you would all try your hardest to recruit if you knew about a fraction of his talent,'' thought Melinda, who also knew a fraction of his talent as she had only been able to discuss with him quite shortly.


    Back in the stands, people were still debating about Aiden''s actions, however, they weren''t speaking loud enough for their criticism to reach Aiden''s ears in the middle of the Arena.


    All he could hear right now was the same as earlier, booing. It just wouldn''t stop, it had been aplete five minutes since it had started and Aiden honestly started to get annoyed by it.


    This was all because of Thoring which had added a littlement which had enraged even more people in the stands.


    If he hadn''t said anything then the booing would have probably died down by now.


    However, Aiden made an effort to not concentrate on it, as it wouldn''t be useful for him, at all.


    Nheless, he couldn''t help but nce into the crowd trying to search for Maelis and Gerald. But those weren''t the only people which he was looking for at the moment.


    There was another person who was upying a ce in his mind, Ava.


    The first person which he had met when arriving here when he had entered the first trial. The only person who knew that he came from the Nightshade family as Aiden had told him at the start without knowing its importance at all.


    He kept looking in the crowd which was all around him, but it was just too hard, there were too many people.


    Then, he decided to look around himself, as maybe she was currently participating even at such a stage. However, he didn''t think that this was a possibility because of her abilities in the first trial where she hadn''t been able to aplish much.


    As he looked around himself, it seemed that he and Emma were the first team to have arrived as the others were still busy fighting for their ce. in the tournament.


    Well, Aiden didn''t mind as the longer they would fight, the more tired they would be for the next round.


    It was simply beneficial for him the longer he waited.


    Then, after one minute, another team appeared on their right.


    But, they weren''t in the same state as Emma and Aiden as they seemed to be exhausted. Nheless, they had no physical indications of being hurt, probably because of the Ravenwoods which healed everyone when leaving a fight or winning one.


    One of them was a man who had quite a well-built body which showed that he didn''t neglect his training at all and the other one was a girl who was as beautiful as the man if not more.


    Then, as Aiden kept wondering who the two of them were, the voice once again resounded inside the Arena which caused cheers for the first time since Aiden and Emma had arrived.


    "And the Nightshades reach the next round," shouted the voice, excitedly.


    Aiden hearing that the two at which he was currently looking, were part of the family which had abandoned the old owner of this body caused a small reaction in his mind.


    He was getting angrier and angrier which made him remember the anger he felt whenever he would be thinking about the Nightshade family when he had taken over this body.


    He was sort of the same type of anger as he couldn''t help but want to go up to them and try to kill them. He was attracted by them and he didn''t know why.


    Then, the man turned around as he nced at Aiden''s masked face, Aiden also looked in that direction, his eyes unwavering under the cold gaze that he was currently receiving.


    However, it didn''t take long for that person to look away from Aiden seemingly uninterested in him as if he was unimportant.


    ''I just want to see your face when I''ll defeat you,'' thought Aiden as some of his emotions started getting the better of him at the moment.


    Emma who was right beside him noticed that his breath was getting heavier and heavier. She couldn''t but worry about what was happening.


    "Are you okay? What''s happening?" asked Emma who waspletely clueless about the appearance of the Nightshade family as she had been quite distracted with all the previous booing.


    It had affected her mentally which had caused her to put her hands on her ears to block all the iing noise.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    Aiden who heard her voice, got out of his weird emotional state as he seemed to take control of his mind once again.


    "Yeah, yeah, I''m fine," muttered Aiden, as he could feel his heartbeat starting to slow down.


    However, even while he said that he kept looking in the direction of Lucius Nightshade, the man who was known as the favourite for this whole tournament.


    Just looking in his direction disgusted him.


    Then, he looked at the other Nightshade which had won with him. However, this time, hatred wasn''t what Aiden felt.


    He felt like he was happy to see such a person. He didn''t know why that feeling of happiness was taking over his body.


    All he could think of was that this woman was an exception to the Nightshade family.


    It seemed that the old Aiden had appreciated that person which was a clear contrast from Lucius.


    Aiden couldn''t help but wonder what sort of control over this body, the old Aiden had, as he could affect his emotions.


    Could he take over his body?


    Aiden didn''t know any of that, but he hoped that it wasn''t the case as he didn''t really want to share his body with anyone.


    Still, wondering why he was feeling happiness when looking at the girl, he decided to move toward her.

 Chapter 137 137 - The Appearance Of The Four Founding Family Heads

    ?


    As he was headed toward the beautiful girl from the Nightshade family, Emma couldn''t help but be confused as to why he was heading.


    Was he trying to make enemies or something?


    That was what she thought when she noticed the re that Lucius Nightshade was currently giving Aiden as he continued moving forward.


    Not wanting to get in trouble with one of the founding families, Emma quickly caught up to him grabbing his hand.


    "Why are you doing this? Look at him, he''ll probably do something if you get closer," whispered Emma to Aiden''s ear, worried.


    After all, if the Nightshade family were to get problems with Aiden then it would as a result affect the whole Everheart Family which wasn''t something that Emma liked very much.


    They were living in their territory, so they didn''t want problems with their ndlord".


    Aiden hearing Emma''s voice realized once again that he was acting on the impulse of his emotions.


    He didn''t want to be ruled by his emotions, so he stopped walking forward momentarily, scared that someone was starting to get control over his body.


    Right now, it was only his emotions, but what if the old owner of the body were to take over and rece him just like he had reced him?


    Aiden couldn''t help but panic at the thought of such a thing happening.


    ''Why do I even want to go up to her?'' thought Aiden, not understanding why he would base his decisions on the emotions he was feeling.


    It simply didn''t make sense as he had promised himself that he wouldn''t be one to do such a thing anymore.


    The only way for someone to do irrational actions would be for him the most powerful person in the mind which came back to his initial problem, hisck of power.


    Even after his training, he hadn''t gone back to the Otherworld, he had gotten increased his stats one bit, this was a big problem, especially in such a tournament where people would have be awakeners for a long timepared to him.


    Aiden had the advantage of having a lot of experience and was somewhat special which made him able topete with most people here.


    But how will hepare the elites of this world, he just wasn''t sure that he would be able to do so as he would becking the stats to do so.


    He knew that if they were on the same ying field then this tournament would be nothing more than a stepping stone, but he wasn''t.


    Seeing Aiden freeze, not moving at all, Emma was even more worried asking herself what was happening to him as she just couldn''t understand it.


    "Come on, let''s go back," she said as she grabbed his hand even harder, pulling him back.


    "Sure," said Aiden, as he turned his back and went back a little walking back to the middle of the arena.


    The girl, who had red hair, finally looked in his direction as Aiden turned his back.


    ''Do I know him?'' she thought, ncing at his slim and dark figure.


    No matter how hard she looked at him she couldn''t help but think that this man was someone whom she had seen before, but with Aiden''s mask, it was impossible for her to know.


    Then, she disregarded those thoughts focusing back on the back of the tournament. She knew that the second round would soon be happening, so she concentrated on recuperating so as to not be extremely tired of the first, one versus one, duel of the tournament.


    As minutes passed, more people started appearing in the Arena and all of them were clearly in bad shape, breathing heavily.


    Each time a team would appear, Aiden would look at them, thinking that maybe he would be able to see Ava.


    He remembered her telling him about this tournament, and that they would see each other again then.


    So, where was she?


    Then, as teams began to appear one after another, Aiden lost hope that she wasn''t part of this tournament or that she had been eliminated before.


    "Now, that all the teams have finished their fight. We now have 50 participants left, good job to every single one of them," announced Thorin, still using his mysterious voice while saying that.


    "I guess it''s time to talk about the rewards for those who are going to be eliminated this round," announced Thorin, finally talking about the rewards that they would be gaining.


    "For those who will be losing in this round, you will be able to receive one skill of your choice from a catalogue which you will receive when being eliminated. Please note that this reward will be avable to everyone under the Top 50 as the rewards that I mention would addition on top of theter ones," exined the voice.


    Aiden was excited as he heard that he was going to be able to choose a skill, and he was even more excited when he heard that all the rewards would be able to stack on top of the others.


    What this meant was that the further one would go in the tournament, the more rewards he would be gaining.


    "I will only mention this reward for the moment, and I will reveal the one each time we pass a round of fighting," said the mysterious voice.


    "Also, I think it''s time to have a real Arena for those final rounds," said the voice as one giant stage appeared in the middle of the Arena.


    The stage started forming out of nowhere and seemed to be pushing people out of it, or else many would have gotten hurt by the sudden appearance of such a massive stage.


    And, as the stage finished forming, four people could be found on it.


    Those four people were obviously the four founding families'' heads.


    When people caught sight of them, cheers resounded louder than ever inside the Arena. The cheers weren''t even remotely close to beingparable to before.


    Usually, they wouldn''t even make an appearance, but there they were on the very stage where Aiden and all the others would be fighting to keep a ce in the tournament, trying to win as many rewards as possible.


    "What do you say? Does it look great?" said Thorin, on the stage, talking about the gigantic stage which he was currently on.


    The stage was so big that it seemed to be at least 500 meters long from each side. Basically, it was a massive square where people would be fighting in.


    In the crowd, the loud shouting amplified as everyone seemed to be shouting "YES!" in excitement.


    However, Aiden was confused by the small dwarf which he was currently seeing on the stage.


    ''Wasn''t he the one who stopped me when I was visiting the city?'' thought Aiden, remembering that the small dwarf had been called Thorin.


    Aiden still hadn''t heard his name, but the overall appearance of the dwarf clearly with the one he had seen previously.


    He had red hair, was short, and had a long beard, simply everything matched with the one he had seen before. However, Aiden didn''t conclude anything as many people could look-a-like.


    However, if his name was the same then that would be a different matter, as there would be very little chance that the person on the stage would be someone else.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    Then, Aiden looked at the other three which were on the stage as he immediately caught sight of Melinda who was also staring at him, smiling just like she previously did.


    However, even with her gaze directed toward Aiden''s direction, no one seemed to be noticing it, as they were all too engrossed in the fact that they had appeared for the Inter-Family Tournament.


    And, Aiden had to say, she looked really good like really good. When he had first appeared, he had thought that Ava was the best-looking woman he had ever seen, however, Melinda was much better than whoever he had set his eyes on.


    She just looked incredible, everything about her was simply perfect. Her face, her body, her voice, everything seemed to be fitting.


    After ncing at her and being captured by her beautiful smile, he started to look at the other two, one of them was an elf he had long pointy ears on both sides of his head.


    Aiden quickly wondered if Emma knew of him, but he didn''t ask her as he decided to look at thest person who was currently on the stage.


    And then, the anger that he had felt when looking at Lucius started to take over his body once again. However, it wasn''t even remotely the same intensity as before.


    If the rage that was bubbling inside of him continued, then who knew what he would be doing in the future?


    As his breath started to get heavier and heavier, Emma who was right beside him grabbed his hand tenderly.


    "Don''t worry, everything will be alright," she whispered in his ear in aforting voice.


    She had no idea what was happening to him, but she still wanted to support him.

 Chapter 138 138 - Emotions

    ?


    Just the sight of the man on the tform was making the emotions inside Aiden''s body crazy. It was like a switch had been turned on.


    Anger, disappointment, anxiety, and more emotions started mixing inside his mind.


    All because of one person which Aiden had never even seen before.


    However, it was easy to guess who he was. That man on the stage was his father, the one who had made the old Aidene to life, the one who had abandoned him a long time ago, not caring about him at all.


    The reason why he had abandoned him?


    It was simple, Aiden hadn''t been talented enough. The man on the stage was cruel and based on his previous actions toward Aiden, he would do anything to achieve his goal.


    If he had abandoned his son for such a long time and only sent him a maid to see him ever so often, then it was clear that he didn''t care about what would happen to him.


    If he died or got hurt, Aiden was sure that his father wouldn''t even blink or recognize for that matter as he knew that it had been years since they hadst seen each other.


    It was also clear that Aiden had changed a lot during this time, especially during that past month of training, when his body started showing improvements in terms of muscles.


    When he heard Emma''s voice whisper to him in his ear, he realized that what he had at the moment was a mental breakdown.


    He could feel himself shaking and having an irregr breath. His heartbeat was elerating at a frequency which Aiden had never felt before, he could feel his sweat slowly going down on the side of his face.


    Aiden was scared of the man on the tform.


    Aiden, this time, didn''t refuse Emma''s support as he grabbed her hand back. He was in a moment of weakness and he needed support.


    He didn''t care if he was supposed to be a coldhearted person, always trying to work for his own benefit. It just wasn''t who he was.


    When he had been an assassin in his past life, emotions were unknown to him as he had almost never felt those.


    Before, he didn''t know what were anger, sadness, love, betrayal, he didn''t know what those were. But living in this new world made him discover what they were.


    Those emotions which he felt now daily were guiding him on as to whether to make the right or wrong choices.


    "Aiden, what''s happening to you?" Emma whispered in Aiden''s ears as people around them kept cheering over the four people who had just appeared on stage.


    No one around had heard Emma saying the Reaper name''s as there was too much noise.


    Aiden hearing her ask that question came out of his trance, as he realized that he was still surrounded by so many people.


    Looking on his right was Emma who was holding his, her head on his shoulder.


    "Don''t worry about it, it''s nothing," whispered back Aiden, pronouncing his first words since his mental breakdown.


    Emma was troubled when he heard him say that as she just couldn''t understand why he had reacted in such a way.


    He had been on the verge of either shouting or crying and now he was acting like everything was fine once again.


    Emma had epted that behaviour of his many times, but today was different, she had never seen him react this much.


    She had to say something, she had to affirm herself over this whole matter.


    However, she just couldn''t bring herself to do a scene right now, especially with so many people around her.


    Her mind, on the other hand, was inplete turmoil asking herself just what had happened for him to get in such a state.


    The only thing that she could possibly think of was the appearance of the four founding families'' heads.


    This had to be the reason for his reaction, and then she remembered that he had been called to meet one of the founding families'' heads.


    She observed every single one of them, thinking that some of them might be showing a sign that they knew of the Reaper or that they had met him and that''s when she caught the sight of a beautiful woman on the stage who was smiling directly in this direction.


    ''This has to be it, she''s the reason that Aiden is reacting this way,'' thought Emma, trying to figure out what could have possibly happened when Aiden had gone to meet her.


    ''Did she beat him up?''


    ''Did she force him to do something that he didn''t want to do?''


    Emma mind''s was everywhere trying to figure out who could possibly have such an effect on Aiden who, in her opinion, was quite strong mentally.


    She knew that his whole life must have been hard for him, so she knew that whatever happened between Melinda and him must have been big.


    Big enough that it would cause Aiden to act this way.


    However, she didn''t know that she was currently using the wrong person.


    She waspletely wrong and all of her assumptions were false.


    Nheless, it didn''t matter, what mattered was that she was trying to support him as much as she possibly could.


    Then, as she kept wondering about what might have happened between Aiden and Melinda, the cheerings around them stoppedpletely as one of the people on stage started talking.


    "Thank you, thank you! Now, I think that this arena will be the perfect fit for a tournament like this what do you say?" shouted Thorin, excitedly.


    The crowd once again went wild as they all shouted "Yes!"


    Aiden couldn''t believe his ears, there were so many people reunited inside this ce for the sole purpose of watching kids fight against one another.


    He had to admit that this was a lot different than whatever he had experienced before.


    Then, Thorin once again started talking as he seemed to be the one that was the best atmunicating.


    Aiden was still wondering if he was the dwarf who had interrupted him in the street, Emma also had the same thought right beside him.


    However, they couldn''t confirm no matter how much they wanted to.


    It''s not like they could gather information on one of the strongest people in the world easily. It was impossible to do so.


    "Alright, so should we start this? Or did I forget something again, ahaha," he said, as he startedughing again.


    He was referencing to the previous fight where he had mentioned at thest minute about them fighting against their old teammates.


    However, it was only him that wasughing this time as no one participating had found this part funny.


    Some had a fakeugh out of respect toward him, but most were dead serious. They clearly didn''t like that.


    "Woah, I guess it wasn''t something appreciated," said Thorin, looking at everyone''s reaction. "Well, I don''t really care, it''s my tournament after all."n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    "Alright, who should go first out of all of you?" said Thorin, as he started thinking about it on the gigantic Arena.


    "Hmm, it should be two people who had quite an impact since the start of the tournament, right? So that people will want to watch the rest," muttered Thorin to himself.


    "I think what the first fight will be!" he announced after some seconds of thinking.


    "The Reaper will be part of the first fight because of his poprity, ahaha," said Thorin as he could already hear booing from all around the crowd.


    "And, he will be facing, um, you," said Thorin as he pointed at some random person in the crowd who didn''t look too strong nor too weak.


    But, it was important that everyone reaching such ate stage in the tournament was going to be extremely talented, so Aiden didn''t think for a minute that he was stronger than his opponent.


    He was going to be fighting him as if he would fight anyone else.


    He would be giving his best to win that fight.


    Emma who was right beside Aiden was worried about him, unsure, if he had been able to get his head straight yet.


    If he was to get affected by his emotions when fighting, then Emma wasn''t sure that Aiden was going to perform to the best of his abilities.


    But, it wasn''t like she could change Thorin''s decision, so she simply whispered to him, "Good luck."


    "Alright, I hope to see a good fight," said Thorin as the four founding families'' heads disappeared from the stage to let the two participants stand on it.


    ''I''ll show you, that you should have kept me in your family,'' thought Aiden, talking about the Nightshade Patriarch.


    He was determined to show him that he shouldn''t have abandoned for no reason a long time ago.


    Aiden didn''t know why but he could feel himself wanting to take revenge for the past owner of this body.

 Chapter 139 139 - Annihilation

    ?


    Aiden was now in the Arena facing another human. He didn''t know anything about him but one thing was sure, he would win this fight.


    Aiden wanted to make sure that he would show his supremacy to the others.


    Skills, techniques, none of that would even matter in this fight, he would make sure that he would win without the opponent being able to use any of those.


    He wanted to show the Nightshade family that they had made a mistake, even if they didn''t know that it was him that was participating.


    Aiden didn''t know why he wanted to prove it at such a degree, but he still went with it, as he couldn''t be bothered by knowing the reason.


    Only one single was on his mind, annihte the person in front of him.


    Give him a feeling of powerlessness, he wanted to make the person in front of him feel the same thing which he had felt two minutes ago and one month ago.


    He wanted to make others suffer, he couldn''t be the only one suffering anymore.


    He needed those close to him to understand what it was living in his shoes and if that person in front of him was a way for him to let go of everything and let his rage take over then he didn''t care, he would do it.


    He would let all the rage which had umted inside him be released onto this random opponent.


    Then, as he was thinking about all of this, Thorin''s voice resounded in the Arena,


    "Since this isn''t inside of a duelling zone and both of you could actually die, there will be a referee for this match which will be the person that you first met whening here."


    As he said that, the person he had seen whening out of those small rooms a couple of hours ago was on the right side of the Arena looking at them carefully.


    "Don''t worry about trying to hurt each other, he will intervene if he judges that one person might die or get crippled," continued Thorin, wanting to reassure the people in the stands who were worried about the members of their family.


    It made sense that peopleing from all around the world wouldn''t want to have their members die, especially when participating in such a tournament.


    So, it made sense for measures to be taken into ount, especially where there was such a risk.


    Then, Thorin''s voice once again resounded in the Arena.


    "Are you both ready?" he shouted, trying to hype the crowd.


    Some were booing and some were shouting a name.


    "Boo!"


    "Jackson!"n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    "Boo!"


    Those boos where clearly directed toward Aiden and from what Aiden could guess, his opponent was named Jackson by the looks of it.


    However, all that didn''t matter as Aiden and Jackson both nodded their indicating that they were ready for the fight that would being ahead.


    "So, you''re the one who was so scared that you didn''t fight to win the second battle, huh?" said Jackson trying to make Aiden mad.


    But, his attempt was literally useless as Aiden didn''t even listen to him, fully concentrating on annihting him with whatever means that he knew of.


    If Aiden could even see for a millisecond an opportunity to kill his opponent, then he would take it without even blinking or doubting.


    If he wanted to win this tournament than he would have to grasp all the opportunities thrown at him.


    Seeing that Aiden wasn''t answering, Jackson tried to make him mad once again.


    "You won''t be able to make a deal with me this time," he said,ughing as he said that.


    However, Aiden had no other choice but to find this person in front of him really stupid.


    Did he think that it was him that stroke a deal?


    It was his opponents that wanted to do so, or else he would have fought to the death without any problem.


    He was ready to do so after all. In fact, he still didn''t fully understand why Olivia and Logan had given up, but well he didn''t care about it as he was further in the tournament and not them.


    All that was in Aiden''s mind at the moment was a single sentence which kepting over and over again.


    ''I''ll kill him.''


    ''I''ll kill him.''


    ''I''ll kill him.''


    Aiden clearly wasn''t in his right mind, as his emotions had gotten the better of him this time. Maybe it was his doing or maybe it was the old owner''s doings but that didn''t matter.


    The state in which Aiden was currently was scary as the ck aura which he had released in the first fight started toe out of his body as it started to be bigger and bigger and finally enveloped the entirety of the Arena.


    "Hey, hey, stop that the fight hasn''t even started yet," shouted Jack, seeing that big auraing out of Aiden.


    Nheless, the referee didn''t even nce at him as he kept his mouth shut saying that this was epted.


    Then, Thorin''s voice resounded once again.


    "May the fight begin!"


    As soon as those words resounded inside the Arena, the crowd went dead silent and the other participants did the same as most of them were trying to analyze what theirpetition would look like.


    However, there was one exception which was Lucius Nightshade who wasn''t even looking at the fight, he was sitting down and looking at the ground for no known reason.


    But the one who had won thest fight with him was looking carefully at all the actions that the Reaper was making trying to understand who he was.


    She was trying to figure out who he was because the look that he had given her earlier was weird as if that person knew who she was or something simr to that.


    But when she saw that death auraing out of the Reaper, she had absolutely no idea who that person could be as she had never seen something like this before.


    The dark aura or death aura depending on how one would look at it was currently all over the arena, hiding what was happening inside of it which meant that all spectators couldn''t see anything.


    However, there was a big fight that was going on inside, well... big wasn''t the right word for it. It was more of a boring fight as Jackson was currently running away from Aiden.


    Jackson who had felt the auraing out of Aiden had be scared out of his mind as he kept running around without looking back, trying to get away from the danger that was the Reaper.


    But, his running around only dyed the inevitable as Aiden was much faster than Jackson as he started getting closer and closer to Jackson.


    His dagger was almost able to reach the back of Jackson''s back, but that wasn''t what Aiden was aiming for.


    He wanted to deal one swift strike to his opponent, his signature move, a strike to the neck which would kill his opponent right away.


    Aiden was wondering if the referee would be able to stop him for a bit, but he quickly dismissed those thoughts as they were useless.


    The only thing he needed to do at the moment was win by whatever method necessary.


    And that''s exactly what he was about to do as he was now at arm''s reach of Jackson''s body.


    That''s when he moved his dagger toward his opponent''s neck putting as much power as he possibly could as he wanted to end this fight right at this moment.


    ''This has gone on for too long already, I need to end it,'' thought Aiden who still wanted to show to the others that he could dominate his opponent.


    Even if the other participant couldn''t see what was happening, they had a very good idea of who was going to be the winner of this fight as none of them except a few special ones had seen such an aurae out of such a young awakener.


    They were all shocked that such a person was in the same tournament as them, well except maybe Lucius and a few others who didn''t seem to shocked.


    Then, as Aiden''s dagger was about to reach the neck of Jackson''s something intervened that Aiden wasn''t even able to see which stopped his dagger and made the aura surrounding himpletely vanish.


    Then, as the aura vanished, Thorin''s voice resounded inside the Arena once again.


    "And the winner is... The Reaper," he shouted as loudly as he could.


    However, the crowd still wasn''t convinced by the abilities of the Reaper since they couldn''t see what had just happened.


    They had only seen the final scene where Aiden held a dagger right under Jackson''s neck which clearly showed that he was the winner.


    Nheless, the crowd wasining saying that maybe he had struck another deal to win this fight.


    But, a voice changed their mind instantly.

 Chapter 140 140 - Melinda鈥檚 Interference

    <h4>Chapter 140 Chapter 140 - Melinda''s Interference</h4>


    People who were now doubting The Reaper''s performancepletely changed their minds when they saw the person who had just appeared in front of everyone.


    A beautiful woman had just appeared in front of the crowd with a clear frown on her face, showing her disapproval of the actions of the public.


    This person was obviously Melinda who was angry at the crowd for booing her new recruit in her family, well... soon-to-be recruit.


    "If you can''t even what happened during the fight then I suggest you all shut your mouths," eximed Melinda, talking about to those who hadn''t been able to see the entirety of the fight down there.


    She was angry that people who were ignorant about the world of the awakened were trying to insult someone who had probably ten times all of their talent reunited into one person.


    Because the Inter Family Tournament was open to everyone who wanted to spectate, many stupid people were in the crowd which caused the intense amount of booing in the earlier stage, they were also in the Ravenwood Territory which meant that most were alike to Thorin.


    That meant that most of them had approximately the same opinion as him about The Reaper.


    It wasn''t a good one, but it was still an opinion which needed to be taken into ount. N?v(el)B\\jnn


    The crowd which had been insulting Aiden since the start, now all closed their mouths as the head of a founding family had appeared in front of them, especially to tell them that.


    There was also Emma who was on the ground looking at her floating figure which was now really confused about that whole matter.


    ''Why did she appear to defend him if he had such a reaction earlier?'' she thought, trying to make sense of what had just happened.


    She thought that she had been right about this earlier, but she wasn''t so sure anymore as a person who hated wouldn''t have appeared to defend him, it would make literally no sense.


    If Aiden hated such a person, it would literally make no sense as she was currently defending him, by even showing herself which was really rare for a founding family head.


    Normally, those types of people liked to observe everything from a distance and send someone other than them personally to intervene.


    But, she had done so for Aiden which meant that they probably had some sort of rtionship.


    She remembered that smile that she had given Aiden quite well, and thinking back on it, it seemed quite sincere.


    Then, Melinda who had just interfered to calm the crowd down, turned toward Aiden who was still on the Arena with his dagger under Jackson''t neck.


    Seeing that he had been announced victor, he slowly moved his dagger away as he didn''t want to kill in in sight, especially when such a thing wasn''t allowed.


    There was also no reason for him to do so, and even if he had wanted to he wouldn''t have been able to as the referee and Melinda were looking at him.


    "Congrattions Reaper," she said, winking toward him as shepletely disappeared.


    It was like she hadn''t even appeared in the first ce as she went back to the private room where the rest of the Founding Families Heads were all in, watching the scene of Melinda winking at the Reaper on their small crystal balls.


    As soon as she arrived, the dwarf, Thorin, came running up to her with a big smile on his face.


    "Are you trying to seduce your new member Melinda?" he said with a massive grin on his face, clearly wanting to annoy someone and unlucky for her, it was her turn to be annoyed.


    "Just shut up Thorin, no one even likes you," she said coldly, not liking thement he had just made toward her person.


    She found itpletely inappropriate as she was a lot older than Aiden, and she was a lot more mature on the same asion.


    However. she had to admit that there was something about him which was attractive, his mysterious attitude and way of acting. But, it was still not enough for Melinda to try and seduce such a young man.


    Because Melinda might look young but she was at least 150 years old which was approximately a 130-year-old gap between her and Aiden.


    Nheless, based on appearance alone it wouldn''t be shocking to see them together alone at all, but Melinda would never do such a thing. She liked to tease others but it was always yful, she was never serious when doing such things.


    "Wow, why are you like this?" said Thorin acting hurt as he went back toward his seat.


    It wasn''t the first time that he had been insulted in such a way and he didn''t mind it at all as he simply smiled as he went back to his seat.


    He knew that they all found it annoying but it didn''t care as that was simply who he was.


    As he sat back in his seat, he couldn''t help himself from saying onestment.


    "Oh and be careful, I might just steal him," he said, with a big smile on his face.


    However, this time there was a small truth in hisment, he wasn''t simply smiling or saying nonsense, he was actually saying it.


    He had to admit that the dark aura that he had released had impressed him as he was really young to have such a big one like that.


    Thorin also had a big aura but he was much older and was much more experienced with those sorts of things.


    Melinda, however, was only scuffed when hearing him say that as she knew that he would join her family at the end of the tournament.


    Still, it wasn''t official but there was no way for him to get out of it, she was simply too powerful.


    And because he owned a special body she wanted to have him at all cost and she would make sure that no one would be taking him away from her.


    Maybe it was a little obsessive, but it wasn''t like someone could go against her apart from the other founding families.


    ***


    Back in the Arena, Aiden was still unmoving only now releasing what had happened and what he had done.


    He remembered his emotions taking over his actions and wanting revenge at all costs which was why he had released such a dense aura around him and scared his opponent shitless.


    However, ying back the scene in his head, he was happy with the performance he had shown as no one would try to mess with him now as they knew that he certainly held a lot of power.


    In fact, it was even more reassuring as Melinda had stepped up personally for him.


    Then, he came out of his daze and was now outside of the Arena as it seemed that he had been teleported out of it, because he hadn''t moved in quite a time.


    Then, Thorin''s voice resounded inside the Arena.


    "The next fight will nowmence!"


    It seemed that there were already two people inside the Arena who had already started fighting as the voice of Thorin resounded.


    He had to admit that he didn''t like that his emotions had taken over his actions and he also didn''t understand how such a thing was possible.


    He knew that he had been affected by the appearance of Lucius and the Nightshade Patriarch, however, he didn''t even know them.


    So why would he react so strongly when seeing them?


    It was making him worried that maybe he wasn''tpletely himself in this new life of his which might exin why some of his behaviour when he first arrived might have been weird of him.


    But, he would now make sure that emotions wouldn''t dictate his actions, or at least, he would try harder as he would now be working on his mental.


    Then, as he lifted his head toward the Arena to watch the two people fighting one against another, a soft hand touched his slowly caressing it.


    Aiden didn''t even have to look to guess who it was, as he knew extremely well that it was Emma which was once again trying tofort him.


    However, Aiden didn''t need that support of hers anymore as he was calm once again, not feeling those bubbling emotions inside him.


    He hade back to normal which was why he moved away his hand away from Emma, not wanting to give her any type of hope that something might happen to them as he didn''t have time for that, especially since he wouldn''t be seeing her every day quite soon.


    He would soon leave and he didn''t want to be attached to someone before leaving as it would justplicate things for absolutely no reason, it would just be easier for both of them to not get attached, even if it might be toote in the case of Emma.

 Chapter 141 141 - Emma Everheart vs Lucius Nightshade

    <h4>Chapter 141 Chapter 141 - Emma Everheart vs Lucius Nightshade</h4>


    As fights continued to happen in the massive arena, the people around Aiden started to reduce little by little because the people who lost also disappeared from the Arena just like before.


    They were probably sent somewhere so that they could choose what skill they wanted.


    Well, that was what most thought as they had no idea otherwise.


    Emma still hadn''t fought as she still waiting beside Aiden, looking at him with care in her eyes. She still seemed to be worried about him as she would frequently ask the same question.


    "Are you okay?"


    Then, Aiden would answer "Yes, stop worrying for no reason."


    That scene had happened a couple of times already and it seemed that she was quite worried about this whole matter.


    Aiden could understand why since he had acted so out of ce for absolutely no reason, well no apparent ones that she should know about.


    But, Aiden still wasn''t confident enough that he would be telling her everything. He knew that she held him dear, however, he couldn''t risk his secret leaking and founding the ear of the Nightshade Family because if it did then it would be a lot of problems for Aiden.


    Aiden knew that they had no idea where he was now since he hadn''t been in the Slums in a long time and he knew that Emily probably went to visit.


    He wasn''t sure what Emily, his maid, had decided to do because of his disappearance, but the only thing that he could guess at the moment was that Emily had reported it to the upper echelons of the Nightshade Family.


    Did his father know that he had disappeared?


    Aiden had no idea, his guess would be that he would know since even if he didn''t consider Aiden his son, he would probably still want to know what happened to him.


    But those were only guesses, Aiden had no idea what had happened when Emily reported his disappearance to the family.


    That''s why the position he is in currently is quite dangerous as people had all noticed him, being a really important person inside of the tournament.


    He had wanted to stay lowkey, but that wasn''t possible since he had Melinda and all that, so Aiden had decided that he should embrace his poprity.


    If everyone had already noticed him, then why shouldn''t he try his hardest and reach the end of the tournament?


    There was no point in staying hidden any longer as there were about 30 or so people left.


    This meant that they would soon reach the next round, however, before that, there were maybe three or four fights left since that depended on the number of people left as they needed to reach a perfect 25 people left.


    Then, Aiden raised his hand, as he could that yet another person had lost.


    Aiden wasn''t idle not doing anything while waiting, he was also looking up at the stage analyzing all the participants who hade on it and fought.


    However, not many had impressed him yet, only those from the founding families had done so.


    Emma also hadn''te on the stage just yet, still waiting for an opponent and she was praying that she wouldn''t be against one person.


    And that person was without surprise Lucius Nightshade who was still idling around, looking at the ground.


    It was like he was trying to say that he didn''t even need to care about this to win this whole tournament.


    Was it ego or was it because of his strength?


    Well, in Aiden''s opinion, it was both as it was almost sure that he had an ego and his strength would also be quite impressive since he came from the Nightshade Family. N?v(el)B\\jnn


    Emma knew that he would be strong which was why, she wanted to fight anyone but him as fighting against him would almost be the same as losing.


    She knew that if she fought Lucius, the son of the Nightshade Family, then her loss would be assured as she wouldn''t be able to put up with him.


    Then, Thorin''s voice announced the winner of the fight that had just happened on top of the stage.


    "And the winner is... Thomas!"


    He, then, took a small break as he was preparing himself to calm up the participants for the next fight.


    "Those fights really aren''t that entertaining, what do you think?" he shouted, saying his opinion out loud.


    Obviously, many agreed with him because the fights had been one-sided beatdowns since the start of this round of fights.


    Except for Aiden, everyone that was left was part of either a high-levelled family or a founding family. It was clear that there was a massive gap between the families and it was even more apparent when participating in such a tournament.


    "Well, we only need to endure three more fights before entering the realpetition," shouted Thorin, inside the whole of the Arena.


    "Alright, should we make it go by quick," he continued, wanting to hype the crowd which had gone silent for a long time now as they hadn''t been entertained much in quite a time.


    In fact, apart from Aiden''s fight, there was not a single fight which caused an uproar or something simr. It seemed that Melinda''s interference had calmed them down a little which was great.


    "Alright, let''s see some excitement in the crowd for Luuuucius Nightshade," he said as loud as he possibly could.


    If someone from Earth were to see this, they would immediately think of a boxing match or something simr, however, Aiden who had no idea what they were, didn''t think anything of it as he kept listening.


    Emma who was right beside him, started to stress as she seemed to be praying to be not the one that would be chosen.


    ''Please let it not be me, please,'' she begged inside of her mind, as she didn''t want to lose so early in the tournament.


    Sure, she had reached the top 50, but she wanted to go much further with Aiden by her side, she didn''t want to leave him alone, especially with his recent mood swings.


    "And is opponent will be... Emma Everheart," he shouted with less energy this time showing a clear contrast in who he favoured.


    Thorin was like this, after all, he wasn''t the type to be hiding things from others as he would simply say whates to his mind right away without thinking about the repercussions at all.


    He was just trying to entertain himself which was why he had decided on such a fight.


    Thorin needed to see a beating, but a clean one as he knew that Lucius Nightshade would surely be able to do so as his opponent would literally be from a middle-level family.


    It would literally be a no-match, but Thorin still kept his hopes up that maybe a surprise would happen in this fight.


    However, he knew that the odds of Lucius losing were slim, like very slim.


    Thorin didn''t know what kind of training he had gone through, but he knew of the Nightshade Patriarch and his personality.


    He knew that there was no way that Lucius had cked off on his training because of his insane father.


    Emma hearing her name begin called panicked a little, she knew that this would be the end for her.


    If she would''ve fought against anyone else, it would have been closer and she might have won, but against Lucius Nightshade, the protege of the Nightshade family.


    She had no chance.


    "Well, good luck in the rest of the tournament," she whispered to Aiden, as she could feel herself being teleported onto the arena.


    "Don''t be so scared, raise your head up high and give your best," said Aiden, as he didn''t want to see Emma lose so soon in the tournament and he didn''t want to see her lose against a Nightshade.


    But he could only watch.


    Then, Aiden nced at both sides of the Arena observing both Emma''s and Lucius''sportment and behaviour.


    And he had to admit that they were quite different, on one side there was Emma who was almost shacking in ce, thinking that it was over and that she lost.


    And on the other side, there was Lucius who was still looking at the ground not even worrying about the person he was fighting against as if it wouldn''t matter at the end.


    Emma, who was on the stage, was panicking, however, she remembered Aiden''sst words before being teleported.


    ''Raise my head and give my best, huh?'' she thought, as she did exactly that.


    Her breathing which had been ragged started to slow down little by little, and her confidence which had been down started toe back.


    It seemed that the small sentence of encouragement that Aiden had mustered had given Emma enough confidence to try and fight against the monster that she was fighting against.


    Then, Thorin''s voice once again resounded inside the Arena.


    "The fight may begin!"

 Chapter 142 142 - Emma Everheart vs Lucius Nightshade (2)

    <h4>Chapter 142 Chapter 142 - Emma Everheart vs Lucius Nightshade (2)</h4>


    As the voice of Thorin resounded inside of the arena, Emma and Lucius both didn''t move which was weird, especially when someone would be announcing the start of the fight.


    Normally, both opponents would try to end each other''s lives as soon as they could by running as fast as possible toward one another.


    But, this time it was different, as both of them were slowly moving toward one another.


    Well, let me correct that, it was only Emma which was currently moving, as Lucius was still immobile looking at the ground.


    Not caring about this fight at all, well... that was what it looked like from a distance.


    Emma who had her bow in her hand started to draw as she put all the strength which she could possibly muster into that one shot, even fusing it with a skill of hers which made her arrows more powerful.


    Then, when she was ready, she nced onest time toward Lucius, making sure that he hadn''t moved yet and that he was still not paying attention to anything around him.


    When she had confirmed that he still hadn''t moved, she released her arrow as a massive resounded throughout the arena.


    Even Aiden who had heard her shooting arrows often, had never heard such a powerful noise from only one arrow begin released.


    *SWOOSH*


    It started to move faster and faster toward Lucius''s head, but Lucius still hadn''t moved a single muscle, still looking with a dead-pan expression at the ground.


    This caused everyone around to doubt what they were seeing, and why was Lucius Nightshade still not moving.


    Because if it kept being immobile then he would die.


    Even the referee started to have some sweat on his face as he just couldn''t understand what was happening to the Nightshade protege.


    It was supposed to be a simple fight, one where the victor would be determined in a single second.


    But it seemed that everyone had been wrong because of Lucius''s behaviour.


    Even Aiden who was watching just couldn''t understand why he wouldn''t try and win as soon as Thorin announced the start of the fight.


    In his mind, it simply made no sense, however, he kept watching as it still wasn''t done.


    Even, the founding families heads started to look weirdly at the Nightshade Patriarch as they couldn''t understand what his son was doing. n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    And without much surprise, Thorin was the most vocal about it, as he didn''t back down from insulting Lucius and the Nightshade Family.


    However, as the arrow was getting closer and closer to Lucius, one small movement came out of Lucius.


    If someone was too far away then they wouldn''t have been able to see it, Lucius had only moved his hand upward really fast, before putting it back to its earlier position.


    And because of that movement, the arrow which was sure to hit him, started to deviate upwards for no apparent reason.


    Lucius had only moved his hand and the arrow which contained all of Emma''s strength had changed its course.


    He had been able to do such a thing without even breaking a sweat.


    Emma just couldn''t begin to imagine what would happen if he were to move as he was still back ti his immobile position, patiently waiting for god knows what.


    Emma started to draw another arrow putting as much strength as she humanly could.


    And she released it once again, however, the same exact scene happened.


    This time, Lucius moved his hand to the right and the arrow went exactly in that direction.


    Emma just couldn''t understand how such a thing was possible, it was as if the world was obeying all of Lucius''smands.


    Whatever he would do, the world and the environment would listen.


    It was simply crazy, and Aiden was literally as confused as her.


    From the smallest of his hands, he would be able to influence his surroundings.


    Aiden who was seeing this, just couldn''t help but imagine himself in Emma''s situation trying to win against such an opponent and no matter how hard he tried to think about it, he couldn''t even see himself winning.


    However, if wouldn''t draw conclusions yet as he still hadn''t seen the person fight. Nheless, without even moving he had left a deep impression on everyone watching the fight.


    Then, it wasn''t his hand which moved this time but his legs as he started to slowly walk toward Emma who kept shooting arrows toward him.


    But, those didn''t matter as he kept doing a simple move with his hands to deflect it.


    She also knew that she wouldn''t have the time to activate the Everheart Technique, so she decided to change her npletely still thinking about what Aiden had said earlier.


    ''Just do your best.''


    That was the thought that was currently inside of Emma''s mind which kepting over and over again, giving her the confidence to do her next move.


    She opened her inventory, letting go of the bow and grabbing apletely new weapon which wasn''t her cup of tea.


    A weapon which she had trained shortly with Aiden before he went A-wall on her, a dagger.


    Realizing that her bow and arrows were useless, she didn''t have any other choice but to pick up a close-range weapon.


    Then, she started to advance slowly toward Lucius wondering whether or not he was about to do some weird move against him.


    Lucius didn''t change his pace and didn''t even seem surprised to see anothere out of Emma, as he kept an emotionless face.


    It was as if nothing could perturbed him, as he kept advancing.


    Aiden seeing that face was weirded out as it made him think of himself before transmigrating.


    He remembered always being emotionless always killing the next opponent that was in his way.


    He was never rushed or scared as he was just doing what he was asked to do.


    The more he looked at Lucius the more Aiden started to see his old self inside of him.


    He had to admit that it was quite a weird sensation to feel.


    But, nevertheless, he stopped thinking about his past life as only bad memories woulde to his mind and started thinking about the present.


    He was excited to see what Emma was about to pull off with a dagger in her hands.


    Aiden obviously remembered a little about him teaching her and wondered if she had gotten better with it since then.


    Then, he looked at Lucius who still didn''t have any weapon in his hands, keeping the same pace as earlier.


    The people in the stands that Lucius was scary as if there was nothing that could stop him or hurt him.


    Thorin who was with the other heads, was beginning to feel annoyed as nothing was happening. There were only walking toward one another for absolutely no reason.


    "Hey, stupid, tell your son to pick up the pace. If this continues, I''ll fall asleep," said Thorin, as he couldn''t be bothered by such an actionless fight.


    Sure, he had been impressed by how Lucius had deviated from Emma''s arrows, but that was it.


    After that, nothing else had happened, except for the fact that they were both slowly getting closer to one another.


    The Nightshade Patriarch had only one thing to say about Thorin''s annoying behaviour.


    "Shut up and watch, you won''t be bored soon," he said with confidence as he knew what was going to happen next.


    He had seen his son fight multiple times and whenever he was acting this way, there was literally no way for him to lose as he waspletely focused on the task ahead of him, not letting him get distracted by anything.


    Thorin hearing the confidence inside of the Nightshade Patriarch''s voice, went back to his seat anticipating a big moment.


    Then, as Emma and Lucius started to get closer and closer to each other, Lucius elerated out of nowhere appearing right beside of Emma with a dagger in his hands.


    From Emma''s vision, he hadpletely disappeared from her sight to appear right beside her. She hadn''t been able to see anything of what happened.


    ''What?'' she thought, as she felt pain inside of her shoulder.


    Blood started toe out of it, however, Emma hadn''t even seen Lucius attack her. He didn''t even have a weapon goddammit.


    Then, Emma nced toward one of Lucius''s hands and saw a bloody dagger in his hands.


    ''But how?'' she thought, shocked.


    She was paralyzed by fear as she couldn''t move anymore.


    That person in front of her was simply too powerful. He had disappeared and reappeared right beside her, and during that moment, he had found the time to sh her in the shoulder.


    Emma hurt on the shoulder couldn''t use her arm anymore as it was too painful too move, and then as everyone had be silent in the crowd, a single voice made them realize that the fight was already over.


    It was Thorin''s voice which resounded inside of the arena and he had to admit that the Nightshade Patriarch hadn''t been wrong this time.


    Thatst move of Lucius had been spectacr, well... for those who had caught sight of it.


    Everyone in the crowd started to roar over such a spectacr move as most of them hadn''t even been able to see what had just happened.


    One minute, Lucius was at least 50 meters away from Emma, and the next moment, he was standing beside her with a bloody dagger in his hands.


    However, iprehension didn''t change the fact that they all started cheering.

 Chapter 143 143 - Emma鈥檚 Elimination

    <h4>Chapter 143 Chapter 143 - Emma''s Elimination</h4>


    Emma was now on the stage, sad.


    She had just lost in a one-sided battle as she hadn''t been able to do anything against the person in front of her.


    He had been too fast, too strong, too everything. Lucius had been better than her in every single aspect.


    Aiden was also of the same opinion and he had to admit that the winning move of Lucius had been one of a kind.


    Even Aiden hadn''t been able to fully grasp what had just happened, the only thing which he had caught was the sh that Lucius had made to Emma''s shoulder, but he hadn''t even been able to grasp his movement.


    And the movement aspect was what Aiden was the most confident in, however, he was stumped no matter how hard he thought about it, he couldn''t grasp what had happened.


    How could he move at such an insane speed?


    Was it a skill or a technique?


    Aiden wasn''t sure but he knew that if he couldn''t figure it out, then it would be a massive problem in the future.


    Then as cheers started to take over the arena, the voice of Thorin, once again, resounded inside the arena.


    "Without much surprise, Lucius Nightshade has won this fight," he eximed as cheers continued to sound inside the arena.


    Thorin had obviously anticipated such a win, and he had to mention what he had just seen at the end.


    "I don''t know if any of you could see the speed at which he moved at the end, but it was simply incredible," continued Thorin, congratting Lucius who still had the same look on his face even when winning.


    Even when winning, it seemed as if he had no emotion which was a clear contrast to Emma who almost had tears in her eyes.


    However before we could see her cry or react in some weird way, she disappeared from the arena just like all the previous participants.


    No one had any idea where she had gone to, but she was probably in the process of choosing her skill, that was what everyone was telling themselves at least.


    Then, after she disappeared, Lucius got teleported out of the Arena and returned to his previous self where all he would do was look at the ground not even paying attention to his surroundings.


    Aiden, seeing this, thought that it really was quite weird for him to act in such a way.


    He had literally just won a ce in the top 25 of the tournament, but he still had absolutely no reaction.


    It was as if he was a robot, or the other option was that he simply didn''t care about this tournament as he was much stronger than everyone here.


    Aiden had to admit that if he did the move that he had just done then he would lose just as badly. N?v(el)B\\jnn


    He was a little stronger than Emma now that he had a technique, but he was still close to her in terms of power, so if she had gotten annihted in such a fight then Aiden would suffer almost the same result.


    And he simply couldn''t think of a way to counter such skill as he hadn''t even been able to see it from the side, so he couldn''t even begin to imagine how it must have felt during the fight.


    Emma must have been scared shitless when she had lost sight of Lucius suddenly.


    ''But how did he do that?'' thought Aiden, as he needed to understand or else he would suffer the exact same fate as Emma.


    He didn''t have any idea, but then he felt someone tap him on the shoulder while the other fights were ongoing.


    Aiden turned himself toward the direction of the person who had tapped his shoulder and was surprised to see that it was the other Nightshade who had appeared with Lucius earlier.


    Getting a closer look at her, Aiden had to admit that she was extremely beautiful, her face was simply perfect, and her body was also beautiful to look at.


    Her forms from her ass to her tits were literally perfect in terms of proportion, however, Aiden felt that his looking at her body made the person in front of him quite ufortable as he noticed that her face was nowpletely red.


    "Um, sorry, I didn''t mean to," said Aiden, apologizing right away.


    He was shy about what he had just done.


    He wasn''t the type to do such a thing, but his eyes had been attracted by those beautiful melons of hers.


    Then, as he looked up, he looked directly into her eyes, waiting for her to talk as it was she who hade to see him.


    "Um, yeah don''t worry about it," she said, epting his apologies.


    Then, she became silent for a bit which created a pretty awkward atmosphere.


    "Um, do I know you?" she asked, a bitter.


    Because since earlier she had been thinking that his figure resembled someone she knew well, however, with his mask, she couldn''t confirm no matter how much she wanted to.


    So, having no other option, she went up to in hopes that he would be telling her whether or not that was the case.


    She knew that the person in front of her could lie, however, she thought that she would be able to recognize him based on his voice.


    Because if it was someone she knew then there probably wouldn''t be a problem recognizing who she was.


    Well, that was what she thought, as she waited for the Reaper to answer.


    Aiden, who heard her question, was confused as to how she had been able to think that she knew of him.


    Nheless, the answer which he would be giving was going to be a simple one, he would simply deny that they knew each other as this was kind of the truth.


    The present Aiden had no idea who she was, however, the past one might have an idea of who she was but that didn''t matter.


    The present Aiden also knew that the person in front of him wasn''t supposed to be a bad person based on the emotions he had felt earlier.


    However, he wouldn''t let those emotions dictate the choices he was about to make.


    That''s why he decided to deny that they knew each other.


    "Um, no, should we?" he answered, acting confused about this whole matter.


    "Hm, maybe it''s been a long time, my name''s Lilia, does that ring a bell?" she asked


    Aiden didn''t know why but she seemed sure of herself that they knew each other however, he had no idea how that was even remotely possible as Aiden was masked and his physique had changed a lot in these past months.


    "Lilia? Um, let me think," said Aiden, acting like he was thinking about it, when he was just waiting to answer.


    "Um, no that really doesn''t ring a bell, why should we know each other?" asked Aiden once again, wanting to know why she had gone up to him confidently.


    She seemed disappointed by this whole matter, as she kept shaking her head from left to right.


    "What''s your name? I''m sure that we met before," she said, insisting.


    It seemed that she wouldn''t let it go until she was sure that she had no connection with Aiden.


    But, Aiden couldn''t really reveal to a Nightshade his name now, could he?


    "Sorry, I don''t want to," answered Aiden, not even trying to find another option or trying to lie to her as it didn''t matter since she couldn''t force him to answer.


    ''I thought that his voice would help me, but I''m in the dark,'' she thought looking at Aiden''s masked face.


    "What do you want? You must know that I''m from the Nightshade family, we have a lot of resources," she added at the end, wanting to convince him.


    It seemed like the means didn''t matter in this case as Lilia wanted to know who was hiding behind that mask.


    However, Aiden''s stance was clear, he wouldn''t reveal his identity no matter what.


    "I don''t want anything, oh well... I do want something."


    Lilia immediately jumped at the opportunity.


    "What? What is it that you want?"


    Aidenughed a little before saying it.


    "I want you to leave me alone, can you do that?"


    Lilia was insulted as this was the first time that someone had talked to her in such a way. Usually, people would always try to sugarcoat their words, especially when talking to someone who was part of a founding family.


    However, Aiden didn''t care about all those things as he had simply said what he wanted.


    "Um, the reason that you want me away? Is it because I''m making you ufortable," she said, insinuating that maybe she wasn''tpletely wrong.


    If he wanted a beautiful person like her to go away, then there had to be something.


    There was no way he would be asking that of someone from a founding family. Well, that was what Lilia thought.

 Chapter 144 144 - Lilias Deal

    ?


    "Making me ufortable? Yeah, you do. I don''t even know you and you''re getting all close to me," said Aiden, acting as if he was mad with her current actions.


    It was simple, he would act in a way that would make Lilia want to leave him alone, that was basically what he was going after.


    However, when he saw a big smile on Lilia''s face, he knew that he had messed up.


    He wasn''t sure why, but that smile scared him a little. He knew that she was about to say something which Aiden wouldn''t like at all.


    "Well, you sure didn''t seem to mind me getting all close to you earlier," she said, smiling.


    She was happy that she had found something to contradict him about.


    And her smile grew even bigger when she saw Aiden''s red face, which was clearly still embarrassed about his earlier actions.


    "T-that... I didn''t do anything, alright" muttered Aiden, who was shy about that whole matter.N?v(el)B\\jnn


    He wasn''t proud to have looked kind of lustfully at her body, he honestly didn''t know why he had done such a thing.


    "Yeah, you didn''t do anything, huh?" said Lilia, teasing him.


    She wanted to make him feel bad so that he would try and get pardoned by her. But, she wasn''t sure if it was going to work.


    Her guess was that it wouldn''t but she would still try, it''s not like she was about to lose something by simply trying.


    "Maybe I looked at you a little, but that was it. It wasn''t anything big," said Aiden, who was stillpletely red.


    If one would look at him right now, one would have difficulty differentiating him and a tomato.


    "I guess you looking at my body wasn''t a big deal, huh?" continued Lilia, trying to make him feel as bad as possible.


    Aiden was once again flushed when she heard her answer.


    Aiden also didn''t know why but the emotions which he had kept inside of him for the past month or so, were starting toe out a lot more easily.


    Because he wasn''t the type to hold a conversation like that with a stranger at all.


    "That wasn''t what I meant," pleaded Aiden, not knowing what to say.


    "Um, sure. Well, don''t worry it wasn''t that big of a deal, no need to feel bad for it. However, if you do then... maybe... you could show me your face," she said as she pleaded with her eyes.


    She looked like a cute puppy that wanted to have a treat, however, all she wanted to have was a nce at Aiden''s face.


    However, even if Aiden was entertaining the conversation for the moment in no way, did it mean that he would reveal what he looked like.


    He wasn''t stupid, he knew that if Lilia recognized him then she would say to everyone in her family that Aiden was still alive and well.


    And such a situation was something that Aiden wanted to escape at all costs because he had promised himself that he would never be going back to the Nightshade Family.


    Just thinking about doing such a thing was making Aiden turn into a sour mood, as he just couldn''t imagine the conversation that he would have with his father.


    He knew that it would be a conversation of misery and awkwardness. Aiden wanted to dodge those types of scenarios at all costs.


    "Um, I''m sorry but my face really is off limits, but I could do something else for you," proposed Aiden as there was literally a zero percent chance that he would be showing his face to anyone present here.


    Hearing this, Lilia started thinking deeply as she didn''t answer right away.


    ''Maybe I could ask him for a favour? Argh, but that wouldn''t work, he would refuse,'' she thought, immediately refusing such an idea as it literally no sense.


    He wouldn''t ept a favour if he wouldn''t show her his face.


    ''Oh, maybe I can make a deal with him, actually.''


    She suddenly had a great idea.


    There was not an ounce of doubt in her mind that Aiden would ept as it would help win the rest of the tournament.


    "Um, actually I know that you said that you didn''t want anything. But I think I have something which you would appreciate a lot," said Lilia, smiling mysteriously.


    Aiden was once again intrigued by the smile that she was showing him.


    He didn''t know what sort of deal she was about to propose to him, but he knew that it wasn''t going to be a bad one as she seemed somewhat excited about it.


    "What is it? I''m all ears," responded Aiden, clearly showing that he wasn''t close to negotiations.


    However, there was one thing where he wouldn''t budge, the reveal of his face.


    But, if it would concern something else then he wouldn''t mind hearing what she had to propose to him.


    "Did you watch the fight with Lucius inside it?" she asked beforehand, making sure that he would at least be interested in the information which she was about to propose.


    Aiden found that question stupid as pretty much around here had watched it and had been shocked.


    In fact, Aiden was almost sure that she had seen him look at the fight which was why she was asking him that.


    She was basically sure of his answer, however, she was still acting all innocent.


    "Yeah, I did see it, why?" responded Aiden, sure that her proposal would have this aspect as a central aspect.


    He wasn''t sure of it, but he knew that there were good chances that it would be the case.


    "Well, as you know, I''m part of the Nightshade Family," said Lilia as she noticed that Aiden had nodded, confirming what she had just said.


    "So basically, Lucius, the one who just obliterated your friend here, is quite powerful as you noticed."


    Aiden once again nodded confirming what she was saying as he couldn''t really disagree for the moment as all she was saying were in facts.


    "Yeah and?" said Aiden, wondering where this whole thing was going.


    "Well, you saw thatst move of his where he moved really fast and defeated your friend," she said talking about the impossible speed that he had reached at the end which had even fooled Aiden.


    Aiden quickly nodded as this interested him a lot, he wanted to figure it out, but he didn''t know how.


    "Yeah I saw it, why?" said Aiden as he was getting impatient that Lilia just wouldn''t say what she wanted to say, always dying it.


    "Well, I thought that maybe you would be interested in having some information about thatst move of his, so that... I don''t know, you can counter it."


    Immediately, Aiden was interested as it would give him a small edge over Lucius, well an edge over the information he currently had which was honestly not much.


    "And what do you want against that information?" asked Aiden, knowing that everything would cost something in this world.


    Nothing would ever be free, especially when it would benefit only one side of the coin.


    Lilia seemed pensive, acting as if she didn''t already know what she wanted.


    "Well, what do you say that I give you this information and that you reveal your face to me."


    However, when she saw the disapproving look on Aiden''s face she knew that it was already a lost cause, so quickly added something to her sentence as she really wanted to know who was behind that Reaper mask.


    She didn''t know why but she could feel that it was important for her to find out.


    "But you don''t need to reveal it to me right now, only at the end of the tournament. What do you say?" said Lilia, asking for his opinion.


    Aiden fell into his thoughts for a bit, wondering whether or not such a thing was possible to realize.


    ''Either way at the end of the tournament, I''ll need to join the Emberbane family. So she''ll probably see me or something like that. Also, with the Emberbane family protection, there shouldn''t be a problem for the Nightshade family to learn about my existence,'' thought Aiden, trying to think that maybe it wouldn''t change much if she found out about him at the end of the tournament.


    Then, he looked back up, right into Lilia''s eyes, with a serious look on his face.


    "That would be possible, however, I will only show you my appearance at the end of the tournament," said Aiden, putting emphasis on the end of his sentence.


    Lilia, however, didn''t seem to mind it at all as she had gotten what she had wanted since the very start of this conversation and it wasn''t like she would have to wait for a long time before seeing it.


    "So, are you going to tell me about that move Lucius did at the end or not?" asked Aiden, who was impatient to learn something new.

 Chapter 145 145 - Flash Step

    ?


    Lilia hearing the impatience in Aiden''s voice didn''t wait any longer and started to exin to Aiden how Lucius had been able to move at such a speed and sh Emma without her even noticing it.


    "Well, first of all, before I exin it to you. I need you to promise me that you won''t reveal this information to anyone or else I will be in a lot of problems with my family," she said, warning Aiden that he shouldn''t go rambling about the information which she was about to give.


    Aiden obviously nodded as he didn''t have anyone to tell this to, apart from Emma but well... she wasn''t here right now as she had been eliminated.


    "Alright, so the move that you saw Lucius perform is called sh Step. It isn''t a skill like you probably thought, but a technique that''s a part of my family," exined Lilia as she stopped speaking wanting to see if Aiden had grasped all of that information.


    Seeing him listening attentively, she continued her little speech.


    "As you probably know, the Nightshade Family is in generalposed of assassins which is why a movement technique like that is ridiculously strong in our hands."


    ''The Nightshade Family is full of assassins?'' thought Aiden, learning more and more information just by listening to her ramble on random things.


    "The sh Step, is one of the hardest techniques we possess and not many have been able to learn it. In fact, I haven''t been able to, even if I have tried ever since that I was little," she said, clearly a little sad about that fact.


    However, she had revealed that information to tell Aiden or rather the Reaper that such a technique really wasn''t child''s y at all.


    Aiden, however, already knew that such an incredible technique would be hard to learn. Based on his experience as an assassin, movement techniques like the one he was using, are the hardest thing to learn.


    That''s why it took Aiden years of training to learn about [Shadow Steps].


    But then as he continued thinking about useless things, Lilia had already continued her exnation about sh Step.


    "I won''t give you the technique, but I will tell you some cues that you can notice whenever Lucius is about to use sh Step. Personally, that''s how I''m able to react to Lucius when we spar together."


    ''Even if I can barely react to it,'' she thought as she knew that the spars between her and Lucius could be counted on a single hand.


    "What are those cues?" asked Aiden as he noticed that Lilia had stopped talking.


    "Oh, right, sorry about that. There are two things which you can notice whenever Lucius is about to use sh Step. Please consider that I''m only talking about Lucius and that you may not be able to find such cues when others use it," she said, emphasizing the fact that she was especially talking about Lucius.


    Aiden nodded in understanding as he knew that habits when regarding techniques could change depending on the person using them.


    That was probably why Lilia had said such a thing.


    "Alright, so the first and most obvious clue, is that he will move at quite a slow pace without elerating or slowing down. He would keep the same pace in his movement for at least five seconds, at least, that''s what I noticed," she said, clearly indicating that she didn''t know everything.


    Aiden nodded as he noticed that he had been moving at the same pace for a while before performing his move.


    Though Aiden wasn''t sure if it would help in a fight as even Lilia didn''t seem so sure of that information, however, he still noted it inside his mind.


    Because who knew when he would be able to use that information?


    Then, Lilia once again her mouth as she was about to talk about the second cue which she had noticed in her spars against Lucius.


    "The second cue is much more difficult to see, however, I''m sure that he would do it before performing it," said Lilia, sounding quite confident about this cue.


    There was a clear contrast between her telling this cue and the one before that. She seemed to be a lot more confident in herself when talking about this one.


    Aiden wondered what it was going to be as he wasn''t sure if he would have noticed it when he fought Emma.


    He tried to think of something, but no matter how hard he tried, he wasn''t able to.


    "Maybe you noticed it, or maybe you didn''t but when he did his sh Step, he will always clench one of his fists. I don''t know why he does that, but all I know is that he does it."


    ''He clenches one of his fists?'' thought Aiden, not understanding why he would do something like that.


    Was it part of the technique?


    Well, it didn''t seem so as even Lilia was confused as to why he would do such a thing.


    Aiden nodded, taking note of it, as he continued asking about something else.


    "And how do we counter this sh Step of his, do we just run away when he clenches one of his fists?" asked Aiden, wondering if it was possible to counterattack when Lucius would be executing such a move.


    However, looking at Lilia''s face, he could already kind of guess the answer that she was about to muster.


    "Well, in my personal experience, just reacting to it is already considered quite an achievement, so counterattacking sounds impossible."


    But then, when looking at the look on Aiden''s face she quickly corrected her statement.


    "Well, in my opinion, maybe you could pull it off," she said trying to raise Aiden''s morale.


    Aiden was obviously unhappy with the answer that she had given him because that would mean that Lucius would be able to have a technique with absolutely no counter.


    He knew that the only way for him to counter him was to always attack without giving a single moment to prepare his sh Step.


    It wasn''t a bad solution but he had hoped for something more, like some sort of secret strategy topletely counter the skill, however, it seemed that such things didn''t exist.


    "Um, thanks if there anything else I should know about that technique?" asked Aiden, who was about to end this conversation for good wanting to concentrate on the fight''s next round.


    He didn''t know who he was going to face, but he would make it to win.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    Well, that''s what he would be hoping for at least.


    He had made quite a deep impression with his death aura, and he hoped to do the same thing again, especially now that he was in the top 25 of the tournament.


    Aiden was also excited to hear about the rewards for those who had reached this stage of the Inter Family Tournament.


    But, well that would be in a couple of minutes as there were still people fighting themselves over a spot in the top 25.


    "Something else that you would need to know?" she questioned herself, seemingly thinking about whether or not she had said everything.


    "Um, I think I said everything. What matters now is whether or not you''ll be able to dodge his sh Step," said Lilia with a smile on her face, as if encouraging him.


    She knew very well how hard it was to dodge, so she could only hope that he would be able to do so with the little tips that she had given him.


    "Oh, and remember, don''t tell anyone about the sh Step. Am I clear? Or else people from my family will probablye after you," she said, kind of, threatening him but not so much at the same time.


    Aiden had to admit that she didn''t seem to be a bad person at all, maybe that was why he hadn''t felt hatred when he had first seen her.


    Well, whatever it might have been, Aiden had to admit that if he faced Lucius in the next round that it would be really hard for him to win.


    But, he dismissed those thoughts as Lilia was still in front of him, waiting for him to confirm that he wouldn''t talk about this to anyone.


    "Don''t worry, I won''t tell a soul. I''ll hold my word about showing you my face," said Aiden, as he said his goodbyes to Lilia.


    He had a lot of stuff to go over and he couldn''t help but nce at Lucius who was still looking at the ground not too far from him.


    Seeing Lucius''s fight, Aiden knew that his biggest threat was Lucius and that he had to pay special attention to whatever he would try to do when fighting him.


    Then, after having a quick look at Lucius, he looked toward the stage wanting to know whether or not they could pass this whole round of fighting as Aiden was honestly eager to fight once again.


    He wanted to prove that he wouldn''t lose against anyone. He wanted to prove that it didn''t matter from which family you woulde from.

 Chapter 146 146 - Two Fights Instead Of One?!

    ?


    Then, as Aiden and Lilia separated themselves, Thorin who had been silent for a while waiting for thest fight to finally end, could finally announce that they were at the top 25 stage and that the tournament would soon be finished.


    However, there was a clear problem, they were 25 which meant that someone won''t have to fight during this first round.


    "Now, that there are only 25 people left, I think it''s time to talk about what would happen to the one person who could be considered to be the odd one," announced Thorin.


    The twenty-five people who were left started to look around themselves, trying to understand what had Thorin just said.


    They knew that not everyone would be able to fight in the next round as one person would be able to skip this round or something simr to that.


    "Because we''re 25, there will have someone who will have to fight two times to go to the next round, and the ones who will select the one who will have to participate twice will be... all of you in the crowd!" shouted Thorin as loud as he could, his voice resounding everywhere inside the arena;


    The crowd who had just heard that they would have a role to y all started cheering as loudly as they possibly could.


    They were happy that there were going to choose someone who was about to suffer and in almost everyone''s head the choice was simple.


    There was one person which almost everyone hated because of his past actions, that''s why they all started chanting a name as loudly as they could.


    "The Reaper! The Reaper! The Reaper!"


    It resounded again and again and again, it seemed that if no one would be interfering that it would continue on forever.


    Aiden hearing them shout his name, he wasn''t surprised at all as he had already expected such a thing to happen when he had heard Thorin say that the crowd would be able to choose who would be fighting two times.


    The crowd which had just made their choice quite clear were all smiling seeing that the person who had made tricked this whole tournament by making a deal would have to fight two times to keep his ce for the step of the tournament.


    "I don''t know about all of you, but I think that their choice is quite obvious. What do you think Mister Reaper?" said Thorin,ughing a little as he said that.


    ''Was it a rule that they made on the spot?'' thought Aiden, unsure whether or not this was nned since the very beginning.


    Hearing the crowd approve of what Thorin had just said, Aiden now had no choice but to ept his fate.


    He would have to fight two times to keep his spot.


    However, there was one thing that the crowd ignored, it was that Aiden didn''t care how many times he would have to fight as long as he would win this damn tournament.


    Even if his path would be more difficult than the others, in his mind, it didn''t matter at all.


    If he needed to fight twenty times to reach the next stage, then he would be doing it.


    But, he dismissed those thoughts when he heard the voice of Thorin which resounded throughout the arena.


    "However, the question here is... who will our Reaper face?" asked Thorin throughout the whole of the Arena.


    People in the crowd shouted many different names but Lucius''s name always resounded a lot more frequently than the others.


    However, this time, the crowd wouldn''t be the ones deciding who Aiden would face, the founding families'' heads would do that job and they had already agreed about who he would fight first and it wouldn''t be Lucius.


    The reason that it wouldn''t be Lucius was unknown to Aiden, but the founding families'' head knew it very well, it was because of Melinda.


    It was in her best interest for Aiden to stay in the tournament for as long as possible which was why she supported him to the best of her abilities.


    She didn''t want him to fight Lucius because he was obviously the favourite which was why she decided to pick someone who could be considered the weakest in the entirety of the top 25.


    But, don''t be mistaken, if that person had reached the top 25 then he would surely be really strong, there was no doubt about it.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    Nheless, in terms of strength and abilities, he was determined as the weakest that was it.


    So, Melinda had tried her absolute best to make Aiden fight a guy named Paul and she had seeded in doing so.


    She had made it so that Aiden''s first fight would be against the weakest person in all of the top 25, well... in her opinion.


    She had watched the fights of all participants and in her opinion Paul was lucky to still be part of the tournament as he had nothing special reattached to him.


    "No it won''t be Lucius and I know that many would have wanted to see that fight, but maybe not for the right reasons, ahaha," said Thorin as he startedughing, as he knew that people were shouting this name because they wanted to the Reaper gettingpletely annihted.


    "But before you all start fighting, I''ll need to announce the rewards for reaching this far in the tournament," said Thorin as he waited a little to grasp the attention of all the participants.


    And it seemed that the word "reward" had caught all of their attention, well except for one person.


    That person without much surprise was Lucius as he hadn''t even raised his head yet, not caring about his surroundings at all or that was what it looked like as no one knew what was going on inside of his mind.


    The crowd and everyone around who hadn''t seen him before couldn''t help but be confused about his overall actions.


    But, they didn''t focus on him too long as Thorin continued talking about the rewards.


    "The reward for having reached the top 25 of the tournament, will be an item of your choice which will be crafted here in the Ravenwood territory by some of our best cksmiths," announced Thorin, happy to see those looks of anticipation onto all of their faces.


    He was happy that all those talented awakeners recognized that the Ravenwoods were the absolute best at crafting weapons or any sort of item as a matter of fact.


    However, he quickly went on to apletely different subject as he needed to remind everyone about something.


    "Also, don''t forget that all the rewards that I will announce will be umted over the different stages that you reached, so basically you will have both a weapon and a skill of your choice. Personally, I think that those are pretty damn good rewards."


    All of the participants also seemed to be agreeing with him except those from the founding families as they already had ess to such things, but those from high-level families all seemed extremely happy.


    Aiden was, of course, also really happy about this whole thing.


    "Then, I think that I talked for a bit too long, shouldn''t we start that first fight between the Reaper and Paul!" shouted Thorin announcing Aiden''s opponent.


    However, hearing Aiden''s opponent most of the people in the crowd seemed to be unhappy as they had seen Paul fight in thest round of fights and they hadn''t been impressed, to say the least.


    Nheless, that wasn''t the only fight that Aiden would have to win to reach the next stage, so it could be considered as fair for him to face the weakest opponent first.


    Then, as Thorin announced Aiden''s opponent, Aiden could feel himself being teleported onto the arena where he would be facing his opponent who seemed determined to end it with Aiden.


    This time, Aiden wasn''t being clouded by his emotions which meant that his dark aura hadn''t been released yet.


    However, if Aiden were to be in bad shape or if he were to be losing the fight then he probably wouldn''t hesitate to use that dark aura.


    But, for this fight, he decided that he would reveal one of his cards which he had hidden up his sleeve until now.


    The skill which he had gotten when he had first arrived in this new world.


    The skill which, in his opinion, was the strongest that he had.


    A beeping sound resounded in his head as he activated it.


    [Your skill <Mind of an Assassin> has been activated.]


    As that voice resounded inside his mind, red energy started to be released from Aiden''s body and as he looked in front of him, he could see an image of himself who was testing different paths to win this fight as quickly as possible.


    He hadn''t revealed this skill yet as he didn''t want the others participating to know about it as Aiden didn''t know if the counters of that skill.


    Then, as his body''s afterimage seemed to have found the right path topletely destroy his opponent. The voice of Thorin resounded inside the arena announcing the start of this fight which would determine whether or not Aiden would stay inside of the tournament.


    However for all those watching, they knew that they were about to watch a one-sided beating.


    Paul just wasn''t on the same level as Aiden, it was as simple as that.


    Complete annihtion would being and the crowd would all watch it. They were a bit disappointed that the Reaper would reach further in the tournament, but they couldn''t do much to change it.

 Chapter 147 147 - [Mind Of An Assassin]

    ?


    Then, some strange red energy seemed toe out of Aiden''s body.


    The reason for that was that he had just activated his skill [Mind of an Assassin]. Those who were in the crowd were shocked that Aiden had another aura and that thest one he had shown wasn''t the only one he possessed.


    However, the crowd was a little wrong as the ck aura that Aiden had shown in thest fight, was the only one that he owned. The red one which wasing off his body was "artificial" as it came from a skill.


    Nheless, the crowd couldn''t know that, as they were all shocked as having two auras was quite rare.


    Then, as everyone was shocked by such a thing, the voice of Thorin resounded inside the arena as he was about to announce the start of this fight.


    "This fight will determine who will be continuing in the tournament. Will it be Paul or the Reaper? Who would be able to stay in the tournament?" asked Thorin, wanting to hear what the crowd had to say.


    Some of them were half-heartedly shouting in support of Paul as they didn''t want to see Aiden, but they knew that there was a clear winner in this fight.


    Their opinions were based on thest fights which they had seen and they had to admit that Paul might have gotten this far by pure luck.


    But, who knows?


    Maybe that would change with this fight.


    "Um, the opinions are pretty mixed, then I guess we don''t have any other choice but to let them show us who will be the winner," shouted Thorin, who was still in the same room as the other founding families'' heads.


    Then, cheers and roars could be heard from the crowd because of how excited they were feeling.


    The moment Thorin gave the signal that they could go ahead and fight, Aiden didn''t lose any time as he dashed as fast as he could toward Paul with a single thing in his mind.


    Defeat him.


    Aiden wasn''t dashing without any idea in his mind as he was currently following his body''s afterimage making sure that he copied exactly what it did.


    He knew that his skill [Mind of an Assassin] had been his greatest skill since it was seriously overpowered.


    The skill was basically able to tell him the best way to approach a fight or a situation. The only time in which he had failed to use it and win with it was in the duel where Aiden fought against Emma for the very first time.


    He remembered being hit by an arrow which had rendered his skillpletely useless, but apart from that one moment, there was not a single time where it had put him in a bad situation.


    In the Parkour Challenge, the first trial, there were so many asions where this skill had been able to support him that he had no choice but to acknowledge it as his best skill.


    Aiden didn''t own a skill which could have such an impact on a fight, and he was about to prove it as he continued to run in his opponent''s direction.


    His afterimage which had been going straight toward Paul, then shifted a little to the right.


    The reason why he had done that was unknown to Aiden, but he still followed right behind it, trusting his skill.


    He had no reason to not trust it, after all.


    Then, Aiden realized why this afterimage of his had gone a little to the right.


    The reason was simple, there had been an arrow which had been aimed directly at Aiden''s head which made a simr piercing to the arrows which Emma would release.


    ''So, he''s an archer,'' thought Aiden, finally learning of his opponent''s ss as he still ignored it.


    Nheless, that information wouldn''t change how he would act as all he needed to do was follow his afterimage and win this fight.


    Then, after he saw the afterimage of his body shift a little to the right, he realized that it was now going the opposite way.


    His afterimage was going toward the left now as another piercing noise of an arrow passed right beside Aiden''s head.


    His skill calcted the best way to react to unknown situations which is why he would show moves that would take as less movement as possible.


    Everything was calcted which was why Aiden couldn''t make a single mistake using this skill.


    Because if he did, then he would surely have some problems.


    If he made a bad step or he moved his body the wrong way, then who knows? He might be hit by an arrow?


    However, he had made sure that there would be no such problem as he was now really close to Paul who was still trying to shoot arrows toward Aiden.


    Nheless, the chances of them hitting their target were really slim because of his agility and talent in movement.


    Maybe he wasn''t able to perform a sh Step like Lucius, but he was to move without making a single noise, and the most important point of all, he knew how to move efficiently.


    Sure, sh Step could be a stronger move and technique than Shadow Steps, however, Aiden didn''t care as he would use what he knew.


    Then, as Aiden was getting closer and closer to Paul, he saw his afterimage jump in the air and he did exactly the same as he jumped in the air, looking down.


    When he looked down, he saw Paul who was currently drawing an arrow right under him.


    Then, Aiden''s afterimage moved its dagger toward his Aiden''s own heart, as if protecting it from the iing arrow.


    Aiden didn''t doubt his afterimage for a moment as he moved his dagger toward his heart and as soon as he did so, a metallic noise was heard throughout the whole arena.


    It was the sound of the arrow hitting Aiden''s dagger.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    The crowd who had just seen such an insane move were shocked as doing such a thing was simply impossible.


    But it seemed that they had been proven wrong right in front of their very eyes.


    Seeing that he had just blocked an arrow from close range with such a small weapon, they had no choice but to respect Aiden.


    Not many would be able to pull off such a move and they had to admit that it was quite impressive for someone who they had one thought of as a fraud.


    They now realized that maybe the Reaper was really strong and that MAYBE they didn''t know the whole story about the second fight.


    Then, after Aiden blocked the arrow that was aimed at his heart with his dagger, he started to fall down toward Paul at quite a high speed.


    Aiden still looked at his afterimage''s doings as he couldn''t help but smile when seeing what the afterimage had just done.


    Aiden couldn''t help but think that his afterimage knew him well, as he had just seen his special move being made by it.


    However, it wasn''t made in its usual way, it seemed that his special move was beingbined with the skill of his dagger.


    It wasbined with the skill [Shadow Strike] which had as an effect that one strike of Aiden wouldn''t be seen by the enemy as long as Aiden had a higher amount of Charm.


    Obviously, Aiden had a superior amount of Charm since he had put a lot of stats point in it. Also, it was often a statistic which was ignored as it had no real effect on someone''s strength except for those with the Enchantress ss and the like who depended on it.


    Paul who wasn''t able to see Aiden''s strike was immobile thinking that he was safe from any attack as he could see that neither of Aiden''s arms had moved, staying close to his body.


    Then, another metallic noise was heard as the referee had intervened, blocking Aiden''s strike, which dered that the winner of this fight and without much surprise the winner was the Reaper, who had dominated the fight from start to finish.


    Whenever the referee would interfere to protect someone, then the winner would already be quite clear as he had just saved someone.


    Thorin''s voice now once again resounded inside the arena, however, Aiden could already something about that tone.


    Aiden didn''t know why but he felt that Thorin was about to say something which he hadn''t announced yet.


    He didn''t know why, but he felt that Thorin was currently smiling from ear to ear and he knew that his instinct was pretty much always right.


    "Congrattions to the Reaper for this specr win!" started off Thorin, congratting Aiden for his fight and the block he had made with his dagger.


    However, the founding families'' heads weren''t dumb, they had noticed that the Reaper was acting weird with how he moved.


    They knew that Aiden had been using a skill, it was just really obvious for those who had enough experience in fighting. Those moves of his jsut hadn''t been natural as if he had been controlled by something.


    Then, Thorin continued talking as it seemed that he wasn''t finished.


    ''I knew it,'' thought Aiden, hearing that Thorin was about to say something else.


    "But with such a one-sided win, shouldn''t he continue and do his second fight right away?" asked Thorin to the ground, with only his voice as he was still in his room with the other founding families'' heads.


    However, this time the crowd seemed divided, as people started to argue.

 Chapter 148 148 - Alone And Talented

    ?


    The crowd seemed to have realized that maybe the Reaper wasn''t that bad of a person as they didn''t seem to agree with what Thorin had just proposed.


    They realized that maybe they were all on his case and that maybe they should let him go a little.


    So, when Thorin said proposed that he should do his second fight right away, some people in the crowd opposed it quite fervently.


    "Shouldn''t he continue on his streak and do his second fight right away?" repeated Thorin, thinking that maybe some people were going to change their minds, however, they seemed to be determined with disagreeing with him.


    Inside the founding families'' heads room, Melinda was currentlyughing her ass off at Thorin''s attempt to make the Reaper fight once again.


    The others, the Nightshade Patriarch and the elf didn''t seem to care about any of what was happening as both of their crystal balls were currently on their members.


    The Nightshade Patriarch was still watching his son, Lucius, who was still looking at the ground for no known reason.


    However, his father didn''t seem to mind his behaviour even a little as if used to it.


    Why would he care about the reason that he would do such a thing?


    As long as his son was the best then he wouldn''t care about what sort of habits his son would have


    Then, Thorin who was currently hearing the crowd disagreeing with him decided that maybe what he was doing was too much and that maybe he should leave the Reaper alone just a little.


    "So, you don''t want him to continue fighting," asked Thorin, a little hurt that his idea had been refused.


    "Then, who do you want to see fighting?"


    He would let the crowd decide who would fight in this second round as he didn''t like when the majority would be against him.


    He wanted to be with the crowd not against them, that was why he had asked for their opinions on multiple asions throughout the tournament.


    Then, the crowd seemed to chant something over and over again.


    "The Nightshades, the Nightshades, the Nightshades!"


    Thorin, hearing this, nced to his right seeing that the Nightshade Patriarch didn''t seem to mind it at all.


    Because the Nightshade Family Head knew that whatever they would be throwing at Lucius wouldn''t work in the least.


    He was sure that Lucius would win this tournament as the Nightshade Patriarch had honestly never seen a youngster as talented as Lucius before.


    And he wasn''t biased when thinking that, it was just a simple fact.


    In his years of poaching around and getting stronger, he had not once seen someone as talented as Lucius.


    No matter what would be thrown at Lucius, he would adapt and make the best decisions without even asking the opinion of anyone around as if thinking that he had more experience than all of his tutors.


    However, the only thing that the Nightshade Patriarch didn''t like much was his attitude outside of fighting.


    He had to admit that Lucius was quite the strange person, not talking to anyone, stuck in his own bubble.


    Whenever finishing a task, he would be acting exactly as he was doing right now, sitting on the ground not paying attention to anything.


    But apart from that, the Nightshade Patriarch was proud of what his son had been able to aplish and he was sure that there would be a lot more toe.


    So, when he had heard that Lucius would have to fight he wasn''t worried in the least.


    Thorin''s grin was quite big and we could even see it through his ridiculous beard.


    He liked the idea that the crowd was giving to him, well... he liked his own interpretation of it.


    ''Should I make them fight against each other?'' thought Thorin as his grin became even bigger with this thought of his in his mind.


    "You want someone from the Nightshades to fight?" shouted Thorin as he could already hear the crowd cheering, basically approving what he had just said.


    "Then, what about two people from the Nightshade family fighting?" said Thorin, as he nced toward the Nightshade Family Head who didn''t seem that happy anymore.


    However, before he could say anything, Thorin acted.


    He had already teleported Lucius and the beautiful red-hair girl which Aiden had met not long ago.


    They were now on the stage facing one another.


    Aiden who was watching this couldn''t begin to understand how this was possible.


    Shouldn''t there be a rule that people from the same family couldn''t fight, like except when there was no other way?


    ***


    5 minutester, Aiden had a shocked look on his face.


    There was no way that this fight had been won so easily, there was literally no way that such a one-sided fight could exist.


    Even Aiden''s first duel where his opponent had been running away from him had been less of a one-sided beating than this.


    Lilia hadn''t even been able to move ten meters that she had already lost.


    And the reason for her quick loss?


    Well, it wasn''t even the sh Step which was supposed to be Lucius''s strongest technique, from what Aiden had seen.


    It was just a difference in pure skills, Lucius hadn''t even used any sort of skills.


    He had justpletely defeated Lilia from start to finish.


    Maybe it was because they knew each other well, but every move that Lilia would try toe up with would immediately be countered right away.


    It was an impressive feat, Aiden couldn''t deny that.


    It was now the time for others to fight as many from the founding families rolled onto their opponents.


    The fights were now chosen randomly because it would have taken much too long if Thorin were to ask the crowd every time.


    This tournament needed to end at one point, or else everyone would get bored from the crowd to the founding families'' heads.


    As fights passed one after another, Aiden had to say that he was beginning to feel quite lonely as no one wasing to see him or ask him anything.


    He was all alone, thest one standing.


    Thest one who would be able to win this tournament.


    He had to admit that he would like to have Emma or even Olivia by his side at the moment.


    Sure, he would sometimes dislike their constant bickering, but he had to admit that it was weird not having it.


    Even in this past month when he had tried to get away from Emma at all costs, she would still continue to try and talk to him.


    She would try to make conversation even if all he answered was "Yes." and "No.".


    He hadn''t realized until now, but he really did like having some attention toward him. He liked when people would try to learn more about him.N?v(el)B\\jnn


    Well, it depended on the person, but he had to admit that he liked the attention of those around him.


    But he couldn''t help but ask himself why he liked such a thing.


    Was it because of his past life?


    Was it because he had never received any attention or love in his past life?


    Whatever it was, Aiden knew that it was once again rted to one thing and one thing only, his fucking past life.


    Not knowing what to do or think, he decided that he needed to change his mind as this was simply unhealthy for him.


    Aiden needed to change his mind about his past life and what hade from it.


    All the thoughts which he had just had were useless and he needed to disregard them or else he would probably be affected by his emotions once again and that wasn''t something that he wanted.


    To change his mind from those depressive thoughts, he looked in front of him.


    He looked at the people who were currently fighting.


    To change his mind, he had decided that he needed to focus on something else and right now, it was winning this damn tournament.


    He knew that it wasn''t going to be simple and that he was still far from it. However, he couldn''t even imagine someone beating him.


    Well, in Aiden''s mind, there was only one person who would be capable of such a thing.


    The person that he was currently thinking of was the only person who was once again not paying any attention to anything around him, Lucius Nightshade.


    Even if Aiden felt hatred consume whenever looking at him, he had to admit that he was on a different ss from everyone else.


    He was even much superior to Lilia who had probably received simr training.


    However, there was one thing that differentiated them, talent.


    Talent would be the only thing which would be deciding who would win this Inter Family Tournament.


    The most talented would win, but the question was... would it be Aiden Nightshade or Lucius Nightshade?


    Then, another person disappeared from the arena, defeated just like all the others.

 Chapter 149 149 - Fake Trial

    ?


    Aiden was now about to fight his second fight to reach the top 12 of the tournament, and he was against pretty much a random person as he didn''t know anything about him.


    That person he would be facing wasn''t even part of a founding family like all the other participants now.


    He was the only one left which wasn''t part of the elite, well... apart from Aiden who wasn''t even part of a high-level family.


    Aiden was now on the tform against such a person and there was honestly not a single doubt inside his mind, that this fight would once again be his win.


    Aiden, personally, knew that there was only one person who could potentially threaten him and that person was Lucius Nightshade.


    Even those who were part of other founding families weren''t being considered seriously by Aiden. They were just small rocks which were in his way that he would simply have to kick out of his way.


    That was it, there was nothing more to them. Whatever techniques they would be pulling out would probably be rendered useless by Aiden.


    He didn''t know how he was going to do such a thing, but he just knew that he would be able to reach that final.


    He had a goal and he wanted to achieve it, he wanted to prove to the Nightshades that the old him hadn''t been a person without talent.


    Aiden wasn''t sure why he felt such a need to prove them wrong as he hadn''t even been inside this body when it happened.


    Maybe he was being affected by the old owner of this body, but who cares about any of that?


    Aiden for sure didn''t seem to worry, as he even agreed with proving them wrong as he would give him personal satisfaction.


    There was also the fact that Aiden didn''t want to finish this tournament early as he had made a lot of promises over the course of it.


    By the end of this tournament, Aiden knew that many changes would be happening in his life. The first one is changing family and territorypletely.


    This change, in particr, he didn''t mind much as he would give him protection against the Nightshade family, nheless, he would still be careful over his actions as he didn''t know how Melinda''s family were in general.


    The second one is that more people would learn about his face, especially Lilia who was even part of the Nightshade family.


    However, Aiden didn''t know why but he felt that he could trust Lilia for some weird reason, maybe it was because of his past or something simr.


    But, he just knew that there was something about her which was great, he knew that he could trust her somewhat.


    Nheless, Aiden would still be careful around her as what he was feeling right now were only intuitions.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    Dismissing those thoughts, he looked ahead of him ready to destroy his opponent and that''s exactly what he did as the fight had onlysted five minutes.


    Aiden had dominated the fight the whole way and he was now getting closer and closer to the final fights as there were only twelve people left.


    ''12? How are we going to finish this tournament when we''re twelve?'' thought Aiden, trying to figure out what scenario they would use.


    As he was wondering about what was going to happen, the four founding families'' heads appeared in front of everyone for the second time.


    As they appeared, Aiden had been teleported off the arena.


    However, he didn''t mind as he simply looked up from the ground once again looking at the Nightshade Patriarch with some rage bubbling up inside him.


    And, for the first time in a while, Lucius who had been looking at the ground raised his head observing the four founding families'' heads for a short moment before putting his head back toward the ground once again.


    The crowd also reacted quite heavily, cheering for their second appearance.


    Aiden however was still thinking about how the rest of the tournament would be proceeding, he knew that they had said that when reaching the top 50 it would be simply duels but Aiden had to realize that this simply didn''t make any sense as they were twelve left.


    If they wanted to reach a one versus one in finals, then they would need to be sixteen which was now impossible to attain.


    Then, he dismissed those thoughts as the people on the stage started talking.


    "Maybe some of you had noticed, maybe some of you didn''t. But there was a problem with the tournament from the very beginning," eximed Thorin with a big smile on his face.


    "We had given one small cue at the start of the tournament regarding how it would proceed, however, it seems that not many picked up on it."


    Aiden nodded in agreement with him as neither he nor Emma had noticed that problem with the number of participants.


    Thorin was right about this one, it really had been a small cue that Aiden should have picked up right away.


    But, he didn''t as he hadn''t done the mathematics, simply trusting the organizers which was something that he shouldn''t have done.


    But, Aiden shouldn''t have been so stupid, he should have been wondering about every little aspect of the tournament, but he hadn''t done so.


    He admitted to himself that it was his mistake.


    Then, he once again began paying attention to what Thorin was about to say, wondering how the rest of the tournament would be proceeding.


    "Basically, we can''t continue doing duels the way we are currently doing which is why, I have thought about a way to determine the winner in one final fight," said Thorin, smiling from ear to ear, putting emphasis on the word "I".


    The others heads only shook their heads as they couldn''t believe that he was actually trying to make himself more important in this sort of situation, they just couldn''t believe it.


    "So everyone is probably shocked right now like: Wow! I didn''t expect such a thing!" said Thorin, imitating the reactions of many in the crowd.


    He even put his hands on both of his cheeks to amplify that surprise effect.


    Aiden had to admit that Thorin was kind of a funny guy.


    Then, after making that face, he made it go back to normal as he now had a serious face.


    "You will all be reaching the final of this tournament."


    Then, Aiden and the others couldn''t help but be confused thinking what he meant by that.


    However, they soon found out about what he meant since Thorin quickly exined it.


    "Basically, the final round won''t be a team fight or any sort of duel. It will be somethingpletely different which in my opinion is going to be a lot more representative as to who is the best awakener here."


    ''Just say it goddammit why are you talking without saying anything,'' thought Aiden, frustrated that Thorin still wasn''t exining it making some long sentences for no reason at all.


    "You will all be undergoing a fake trial, yeah I think that pretty much exins it," said Thorin with a big smile looking on his right and left.


    He loved seeing all those confused faces.


    "And the one who will perform the best in their trials would be the winner of this tournament," concluded Thorin still with a giant smile on his face.


    Aiden, however, was extremely serious not letting a single emotion show on his face as he currently had many questions.


    "How will you decide who performs the best? Is it going to be the system?" asked someone on Aiden''s left.


    "Um, the short answer is yes. Just like all trials, the system will be a judge of how all of you perform. However, the trial won''t be in a team of four but alone."


    ''Well, it won''t change that much for me,'' thought Aiden as he had already done one of the trialspletely alone.


    In fact, he was in a better situation than the other participants of the tournament, having already done one.


    Nheless, Aiden couldn''t help but be frustrated as he had no idea how the people who were currently on the stage could control that system.


    It was just weird that they were able to give tasks to the system when no one else could.


    Aiden knew that they had much more knowledge than the rest of the families but he couldn''t help but wonder why no one was worried about such a thing or even realizing it.


    It really was weird, however, it wasn''t like Aiden would be able to make a change that easily.


    "Then, shall we start this fake trial and finish this damn tournament once and for all," shouted Thorin as he could already hear the crowd cheer as loud as they potentially could.


    Then, the usual beeping resounded inside Aiden''s mind.


    *BEEP*


    [You are being summoned to participate in a Trial.]


    [You will be summoned in three seconds.]


    [3]


    [2]


    [1]


    [Teleporting...]

 Chapter 150 150 - Fake Trial Or Real Trial

    ?


    Then, as Aiden could see the messages of him being teleported, he was once again in the same white room which he had seen two times already.


    Nothing had changed, the waiting room really hadn''t changed at all as there was still absolutely nothing inside of it.


    ''Do the founding families have control over the system?'' thought Aiden as he appeared in this room, still wondering how any of this was even possible.


    Because as far as everyone knew the system was an unknown entity which had appeared a long time ago.


    So, how could the founding families decide that they wanted to make a fake trial for the twelve participants that we left?


    Then, the system''s voice resounded inside of Aiden''s mind followed by its usual beeping noise.


    *BEEP*


    [Your third trial will start in two minutes.]


    Aiden mindlessly read that message which had just appeared in front of him, not caring about it that much.


    However, he thought that he had spotted something weird inside that message, wanting to make sure that everything was alright, he read it once again, this time with a shocked expression on his face.


    "Isn''t this meant to be a fake trial? Why is it written that my third trial will begin?" eximed Aiden, who waspletely alone inside this giant white room.


    Aiden wasn''t sure what was happening, not sure if this was meant to happen.


    He remembered the words of Thorin extremely and he remembered them being that they would be undergoing a fake trial, so why did the system just talk about Aiden''s third trial?


    It literally made no sense.


    "Well, it makes no sense only if they were able to send us in a fake trial in the first ce," said Aiden angrily, thinking that the four founding families'' heads had tricked them into doing their next trial instead of a fake one.


    Aiden actually didn''t mind it being a real trial, but he didn''t know if it was even supposed to be one.


    ''Surely Melinda would have said something to me,'' thought Aiden, trying to think about something which could prove that this was simply one big mistake.


    He thought that if Melinda had known that this would happen, she would have tried to tell him, but he hadn''t heard anything from her. The only thing he had received after their meeting was her smile.


    But who could even give a shit about a simple smile?


    Well, Aiden didn''t, that''s for sure.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    "System, is this a real or fake trial?" asked Aiden, remembering that the system could actually answer some of his questions.


    And the one which the system had just given exined everything to Aiden, well for the most part as he still didn''t understand some things.


    [User, there are no fake trials.]


    Hearing this Aiden instantly realized that all twelve participants had been tricked and were sent to a real trial, however, the thing that Aiden didn''t quite grasp was why he was alone at the moment.


    "System why am I alone for this trial?" asked Aiden.


    There wasn''t any type of weird situation like the one that had happened on his second trial. The system hadn''t said anything about sending him alone here.


    However, the answer from the system confused Aiden even more.


    [All twelve participants of the Inter Family Tournament will do their Trials alone. A deal was made, and the system respected it.]


    It was thosest words that the system had just said that made Aiden confused a lot.


    ''A deal? What deal are you talking about?'' thought Aiden, asking the system.


    However, as usual, when Aiden actually asked an interesting question the system wouldn''t answer him.


    Aiden was now used to it, but it was still frustrating he had to admit that.


    He didn''t try to ask again as he knew that nothing would change, no matter what Aiden would be trying to do, he would be answered by silence.


    However, how could a system make a deal?


    That was something that Aiden couldn''t even begin to understand.


    His frustration was honestly at an all-time high as he couldn''t understand anything at the moment.


    He was lied to and the system had just said to him that people could make a deal with it.


    ''Wait can I try to make a deal with it?'' thought Aiden, wanting to see what would happen if he would try to do such a thing.


    "System I want to make a deal with you," eximed Aiden as he heard a beeping noise in his mind at the same time.


    *BEEP*


    [One minute before the start of the trial.]


    "Are you ignoring me again?" asked Aiden out loud, once again mad.


    Then, he heard a beeping noise inside his mind which gave Aiden a little hope to have an answer.


    *BEEP*


    [Yes.]


    The system had just ridiculed him and Aiden was not taking it well, to say the least.


    "Now you answer me, you useless piece of shit system," insulted Aiden, right away, letting all of his anger leave his body.


    Of course, he was frustrated, he wanted to make a deal just like the founding families'' heads had made from the looks of it and he couldn''t even begin to try to make one.


    Why couldn''t he?


    What made him so different than those people?


    "Is it because of my strength? Is that why you''re ignoring me? Is it because I''m too weak," asked Aiden, frustrated, as he heard another beeping noise inside his mind.


    *BEEP*


    [Yes.]


    [You will be summoned to your third trial in 10 seconds.]


    Aiden only read the first message ignoring the second as he simply couldn''t be bothered by it at the moment.


    ''Strength, it''s always fucking strength. Can''t I just be the most powerful already?'' thought Aiden, annoyed by this whole thing.


    He knew that strength would always be important but in this world especially everyone depended on it.


    Hiscking strength was also the reason why he was wearing that stupid mask on his face.


    Aiden just didn''t care anymore as he removed it.


    "Stupid mask," he said, destroying it by punching it with all of his strength.

 Chapter 151 151 - Cultivation World?

    ?


    As Aiden nced at the fragments of his mask on the ground, the system once again did its beeping noise inside his mind.


    It seemed like it wasn''t done yet.


    *BEEP*


    [You will be summoned in your third trial in 5 seconds.]


    [5]


    [4]


    [3]


    [2]


    [1]


    [Summoning...]


    [Trial Description: You are thrown into a world of cultivation. Two sects are currently fighting one against the other, one of them is evil and the other is being supported by the heavens. In this world, you will take over the body of the greatest evil cultivator that has ever existed. Your role will be to win this war by demolishing the enemy with overwhelming strength. Keep in mind, that you will have ess to the strength of the person you are impersonating, however, it will only be for the duration of the trial.]


    [Rewards: Hidden]


    [Failure: Death]


    ''Why is failure always death? Do you have a problem with me?'' shouted Aiden inside his mind,ining to the system.


    However, this time, the system didn''t answer any cocky response and simply stayed silent as Aiden''s vision started to change from the white room to apletely different world.


    All he could see at the moment were five people bowing toward him with their heads down.


    Aiden was confused for a little bit, but then he remembered that he had reincarnated in the body of the greatest evil cultivator that existed.


    ''Are they waiting for me to speak?'' thought Aiden, as he quickly opened his mouth, not knowing what to do.


    "You may rise," said Aiden, using vocabry which he thought to be appropriate for this time.


    He was in a cultivation world after all and based on how the five people, who were bowing in front of him, were dressed. He knew that this civilization wasn''t really advanced like Nova, the world he had transmigrated into.


    Then, the five people who had their heads facing the ground slowly started to lift them up, however, some of them seemed to be shaking while doing so.


    ''Is this what strength can cause to others?'' thought Aiden, as he could clearly see that those five people were afraid of him.


    "Sect Leader, why have you called us here?" said one of the five people, looking directly into Aiden''s eyes.


    The other four quickly turned their heads toward that person, with a look which meant "What are you doing?"


    However, Aiden didn''t mind being asked a question and he also couldn''t understand why the others were all acting so shocked.


    But, there was still a problem, he had just arrived. He had no idea why he had called those five people here.


    Were they supposed to be strong?


    Then, Aiden got an idea to fix his problem somewhat.


    Well, it would at least give him a better understanding of the situation.


    "Why do you think that I brought you here?" said Aiden,pletely turning the question around.


    The five of them looked at themselves confused as to why their Sect Leader was acting this way.


    They were clearly confused as they kept looking at each other, some whispering, some stayingpletely silent.


    "Um, to make us help with the war against the Plum Blossom Sect?" asked one of them, looking up.


    ''That''s still way too vague, I still have no idea of how strong they are?'' he thought.


    "You''re right about that part. Now, what about the role that I will give all five of you?" asked Aiden, trying to figure out if they had any potential in helping him.


    "The role of generals?" said one of them, once again, confused by the question.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    All five of them couldn''t begin to understand what was happening to their Sect Leader who was usually strict not even letting them speak up or anything like that.


    They were surprised that he was currently asking them questions when he would normally simply order them around as he pleased.


    It''s not that they minded Aiden''s current actions, but they just found it weird in general.


    ''So, they''re strong,'' thought Aiden, ignoring what the five people in front of him were currently thinking.


    He had finally figured out what he had desperately wanted ever since appearing there, figure out what those people''s potential was.


    "Well, you''re right, that''s why I called you guys here. You are now the generals for our war against the Plom Blussom Sect," said Aiden, confirming what all of them had been saying.


    But as they all started bowing, one person kept his head straight looking at Aiden.


    ''What''s up with him?'' thought Aiden, not sure what was with this look that he was currently receiving.


    "Plum Blossom Sect, that''s the name of the sect that we''re going against," said that person, still looking Aiden dead in the eyes.


    ''Is he suspecting something what''s with him? And didn''t I say that?'' thought Aiden, remembering saying a name which resembled that.


    "Li Yang, bow your head right now and apologize to our supreme leader," said one of the people around.


    ''Li Yang, what''s that name?'' thought Aiden.


    ''Where did I even end up? A cultivation world? What even is that?'' thought Aiden, as multiple questions kept popping inside of his mind.


    ''Wait, I''m part of the evil sect, but why are we even evil in the first ce?''


    But, Aiden quickly dismissed all those thoughts as he needed to learn more about the state of their Sect.


    However, before doing that, Aiden needed to act like someone who had strength, only ncing at Li Yang with a look that said that he didn''t like what he had been doing.


    "Li Yang who gave you the right to talk to me like that," said Aiden, acting as mad as he possibly could.


    ''Why?''


    That was the thought of the others who were currently watching this scene. They couldn''t help but wonder why Li Yang was currently offending the Supreme Leader.


    He had no reason to, and their sect simply couldn''t afford to do such a thing in the first ce.


    "I won''t do it again," said Li Yang, deciding that he would not continue to disrespect his Sect Leader anymore.

 Chapter 152 152 - Evil Sect Leader?

    <h4>Chapter 152 Chapter 152 - Evil Sect Leader?</h4>


    ''Well, seems like that worked,'' thought Aiden.


    However, Li Yang didn''t seem to be convinced by the act which Aiden had just done as his face made quite a weird expression when looking down.


    An expression which could mean many things but one thing was sure, Li Yang was currently doubting the identity of the person that was in front of them.


    Nheless, he decided to waitter to confront him or investigate as this feeling of his was only based on intuition.


    "Right, can someone quickly summarize the current situation that we''re in?" asked Aiden to the five people in front of him.


    But when he saw the faces of disbelief on each of their faces, he knew that he had just made a mistake, however, not a single one of them asked about why he would ask such a question, they were too scared.


    In fact, the one who had just vaguely disrespected him began talking and exining everything.


    "We are currently at the start of a war against the Plum Blossom which makes up to two times the amount of cultivators that we possess, and the chances of us winning are quite low. In fact, the only way for our sect to win is your interference," said Li Yang, keeping a smile on his face.


    He didn''t want to show that he doubted the identity of the man that was currently in front of them. But, he couldn''t help himself but tell him that he would have to act for them to win.


    Li Yang was interested in the reaction of their Sect Leader who was normally quite ruthless to others.


    ''I guess, being given such a strong position, there had to be something that would make this trial difficult,'' thought Aiden, as he had already expected that this war would be difficult.


    Well, it had to be a trial, after all.


    If all Aiden did was stay inside this gigantic room sitting, then this wouldn''t even be a trial to begin with.


    "Good job keeping up with the status of the Sect, I was only testing you," said Aiden, trying to make it seem like he already knew all of that.


    All of them except Li Yang made an expression of understanding, thinking that Aiden was telling the truth.


    They didn''t want to doubt their leader, especially in such a situation.


    "And don''t worry about me, I''ll make sure that we will win. Because if I don''t, then I''ll die," said Aiden, knowing that this was something factual as the system had told him before entering the trial.


    It wasn''t like Aiden had many choices as to how he was going to act in this trial. He had no choice but to win this war.


    Maybe he wasn''t acting like he was supposed to, but did that really matter?


    All Aiden needed to do was win this war and he had also read that he had gotten the strength of the person which he was currently impersonating.


    "Then, you can go and recruit the most talented disciples that we have for this war as we will need all the help that we can get," said Aiden, with a smile on his face.


    However, Li Yang was now in disbelief, in fact, everyone''s faces in the room were one of disbelief.


    The Sect Leader who had always been emotionless, killing everything that was in his path to reach the top was smiling at them.


    Were they dreaming or did something happen between yesterday and today?


    No matter how weirded out the five people in front of Aiden were, none of them spoke up and simply bowed.


    "We will do that, when should the attack of the Plum Blossom Sect start?" asked Li Yang, who was once again, directly speaking to Aiden without using any kind of honorifics.


    However, Aiden didn''t even notice it as he wasn''t used to being respected because he didn''t have enough strength.


    He, also, had to admit that it was quite weird to see people listening to everything that he wanted without even questioning it.


    ''Did the system want me to feel what power is like?'' thought Aiden, as he knew that there was a possibility that all of this wasn''t a coincidence at all.


    He knew that the system was able of many things, and he couldn''t help but doubt that the trial that he was going through right now was rted to what he was currently living.


    In fact, his second trial had also been rted to what he had been living, as he had gotten Assassin-Rted Skills by being an assassin in his trial.


    Maybe the trials were influenced based on what the person doing them was feeling or living at the moment.


    But, then he dismissed those thoughts as he needed to answer Li Yang''s question.


    ''When should we attack them? How would I know?'' thought Aiden, as he had no idea of what decision to do at the moment.


    ''Well, the sooner we attack the better right?'' thought Aiden, quickly making a decision as he didn''t want to stay silent.


    He needed to show his now generals that he knew what he was doing at the moment.


    "In two days, we''ll attack the Plum Blossom Sect, so hurry and gather all the best cultivators that we have," said Aiden in a dismissive tone, as he didn''t want this conversation to continue any further.


    He wanted them to leave this room and let him think a little about what he was going to do because it had only been minutes since he had appeared there and he was already making decisions that could decide the oue of the trial.


    Aiden needed to figure out many things, and he needed to make sure that he would win two days from now.


    That was the most important task that he had, as he needed to win this trial in an impressive fashion as he still needed to win the Inter Family Tournament.


    Because if they had lied about this being a fake trial, the rest of what they had said would probably still be useful.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

 Chapter 153 153 - Testing His Strength

    <h4>Chapter 153 Chapter 153 - Testing His Strength</h4>


    As the five people which he had just named as general started to leave the room, Aiden was now finally alone and could think for a little.


    He knew that he had many things that he had to do, but Aiden still decided to take a couple of minutes to think things through.


    First things first, he needed to see how strong this new body of his was. In the Trial Description, it was clearly written that he would obtain its strength.


    Aiden was also supposedly the greatest evil cultivator to ever exist or something like that, so he had some expectations as to what he would be able to do.


    ''Can I fly?'' thought Aiden directly as he tried to float in the air by simply jumping and trying to go up.


    Then, as he jumped there was no sound of himnding, which meant that he was still in the air.


    But then he opened his eyes and remembered that he didn''t make any noise while moving. He hadn''t even floated a little, he had immediately gone back to the ground.


    However, Aiden didn''t care that much about not being able to fly as long as his body was strong enough to move extremely fast.


    Then, Aiden tried to run as fast as he could. n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    *Swoosh*


    Just by running around a little, he had been able to make the wind around him make some noise.


    The speed at which he had just ran was impressive, to say the least. He had been able to make the same sound of the arrow which Aiden hadunched some time ago.


    ''Well, this body seems pretty agile and quick,'' thought Aiden, as he was now, at least, one hundred meters away from his throne.


    Then, he ran back toward his throne as fast as he possibly could and he arrived next to it in less than a single second.


    ''Forget about sh Step, what is this ridiculous speed? How did this person''s body get so strong?'' thought Aiden, as he remembered the speed at which Lucius had gone andparing it to how fast Aiden was moving right now, he had to admit the sh Step technique wasn''t anything worth noting.


    ''Wait how strong am I?'' thought Aiden as he tried to grab the massive throne that he had just been sitting on while talking to his generals.


    The throne was clearly heavy because of the materials which had been used to build it as it was made from stones and other precious materials.


    Then, he grabbed both sides of the throne lifting it as if it was nothing.


    ''Is this what Melinda had talked about? Transcending the heavens or something like that?'' thought Aiden, not sure if he remembered the exact words which she had used.


    However, he knew that they were pretty close.


    His body was simply too strong even for someone who had ess to the system. Well, Aiden didn''t know what the founding families'' heads looked like fighting against others, but he wasn''t sure if their body was as strong as this.


    Maybe they had ess to better skills and stuff like that but in terms of pure physical power, this person which Aiden was currently impersonating was way better in every way.


    He was sure of it.


    ''Well, maybe he has his techniques but it''s not like I know them,'' thought Aiden, as he knew nothing about the person that he was impersonating except for the fact that he was really strong.


    Then, having verified that his body was powerful and would be able to dominate most of his enemies. Aiden began thinking about that person who had looked at him with quite a weird expression the entire time he had talked.


    ''Was he testing me?''


    Aiden wasn''t sure if that was the case because he simply couldn''t find a reason for his subordinate to test him. It didn''t make sense.


    ''Maybe he noticed that something was wrong with me?'' thought Aiden, realizing that maybe this was the real problem.


    Aiden knew that he hadn''t acted as someone evil and ruthless, asking questions and smiling, but ying a role only minutes after appearing wasn''t a simple task for anyone.


    He was also not used to acting in front of others, his talent for socializing wasn''t the best as he had practiced much in his life.


    ''Let''s just hope that he won''t do anything weird,'' thought Aiden, as he didn''t want people toe to look for him trying to verify his identity.


    But, still, he didn''t want to be caught red-handed, so he thought of a few questions which people could ask him that he absolutely needed the answer to.


    ''Well, there''s my name,'' thought Aiden, as it was kind of important for someone to know his own name.


    It would also be useful in the integrality of the trial for when people would be calling him from behind or something like that.


    Aiden would need to know that they were actually calling him.


    ''The next thing is probably my age and like my position inside this sect, Sect Leader... I think that''s what they called it,'' thought Aiden.


    He knew that he was a Sect Leader as he had heard Li Yang and the others mention it on multiple asions. Aiden kind of guessed that a Sect was some sort of organization as he would be fighting another sect.


    So, really the two things which he needed to find as soon as possible were his name and his age.


    Those were really the only two things which mattered at the moment.


    Well, they were important if people would start snooping around.


    Then, he heard a beeping noise inside his mind.


    *BEEP*


    [Do you want to ess this person''s information?]


    Aiden who read this simply couldn''t believe what he was seeing.


    ''Was that even an option? Since when?'' thought Aiden, as he hadn''t known that he could have done this in thest trial.


    It could''ve been useful in hisst trial to know more about the person which he was impresonating.

 Chapter 154 154 - Li Feng鈥檚 Status

    <h4>Chapter 154 Chapter 154 - Li Feng''s Status</h4>


    Aiden who had just heard that he could learn more about the person he was impersonating didn''t lose any time and did just that.


    ''Yes, I want to see to ess that person''s information,'' thought Aiden, epting the request from the system right away.


    Then, as he thought of that, a beeping sound resounded in his head as apletely new interface appeared in front of him with information which Aiden desperately wanted.


    [Status]


    [Name: Li Feng]


    [Age: 1512 Years Old]


    [upation: Sect Leader of Dual Cultivation Dao Sect]


    [Strength: 150]


    [Agility: 150]


    [Defense: 150]


    [Dexterity: 150]


    [Stamina: 150]


    [Charm: 500]


    [Description: A legend of the Dual Cultivation Dao Sect, known for being ruthless to anyone around him. Women are said to be dreaming of him when sleeping because of his incredible beauty. He will be gentle with those close to him, but cruel to strangers. The rumours also say that his skill in bed is incredible.]


    ''What the fuck is that description?'' thought Aiden, not sure if he liked what he was reading.


    ''Good skills in bed? Who am I even impersonating,'' thought Aiden, as he couldn''t understand how someone like that could be so strong.


    But, then he stopped looking at the description of Li Feng and started looking at the rest of the information written inside of this system interface. N?v(el)B\\jnn


    ''W-what are these stats? Sleeping with women can have this result,'' thought Aiden, not understanding how strong Li Feng was.


    All of his stats were in the hundreds and one of them was even in the 500s. Honestly, it was incredible to think that Aiden was going to be able to use all of those stats for himself.


    But, it would only be for the duration of the trial. Then, Aiden realizing that this body really was incredibly powerful, continued to look up as he could finally see the information which he had wanted to see.


    ''So my name''s Li Feng, huh?'' thought Aiden, as he quickly thought of the names which he had seen ever since arriving in this new world.


    Li Yang, Li Feng, were all names starting with a Li or something like that? And from the sound of those names, Aiden was probably in some ancient ce that''s for sure.


    However, Aiden understood quickly that ancient didn''t mean weak as the statistics of this body were simply incredible and he couldn''t even imagine someone having statistics that looked like this, there was simply no way.


    Then, he continued looking at Li Feng''s information and arrived at his age.


    His eyes which had not moved much ever since opening that interface, became bigger as he couldn''t help but be extremely surprised by the number that was written.


    ''Is that real? No, there''s no way,'' thought Aiden, reading it a couple of times making sure that he wasn''t mistaken.


    ''1512 years old, how is this even possible? Just where am I and how do these people get so strong?'' thought Aiden, wanting to learn more about their ways as they seemed quite good.


    Not only would they make a person stronger, but their methods would also make him live longer. It was simply perfect, no one could hope for something better than that.


    Then, after having ess to pretty much everything needed for the future, another beeping sound resounded in his mind.


    [Trial Objective: Win the war against the Plum Blossom Sect.]


    [Boss Monster: Unknown]


    Aiden read all of this with some confidence as he couldn''t imagine himself failing this trial with a body as strong as this.


    However, he still had his [Return Stone] which Aiden was ready to use at any moment really. If Aiden was about to die, then he would simply give up and the challenge as his life was more important than finishing first in the Inter Family Tournament.


    Thinking of the Inter Family Tournament, Aiden had to admit that he was quite lucky that things had turned out this way as it gave him a lot more chances of winning because even if he had a lot of confidence in himself.


    Aiden had to admit that Lucius Nightshade might be too strong for him, but in trials who knew what could happen?


    Especially, since Aiden had already done a trialpletely alone, so it kind of had an advantage over the others, but not a massive one that''s for sure.


    And about the Boss Monster, Aiden didn''t really care that he was unknown at the moment as he knew that he would probably find him at some point.


    It was going to be almost like thest trial where he discovered the boss afterpleting the Trial Objective except this time there''s no indication as to when Aiden will receive information about it.


    "Well, I think I did everything that I needed to do," eximed Aiden as he headed toward the exit of this massive ce that he was currently in.


    Looking around it a little before leaving, Aiden was kind of reminded of the castle which he had infiltrated in his second trial.


    However, the architecture wasn''t the same at all, in fact, the only thing that resembled was the size of it which was incredibly massive.


    Then, as Aiden was about to head out, he heard a voice behind him. But it wasn''t any voice, the voice seemed sensual as if calling him.


    "Li Feng? Are you leaving without seeing me?"


    ''Is that a girl''s voice, why didn''t I sense or see her,'' thought Aiden confused as he turned around while remembering an extremely important detail from Li Feng''s description.


    ''Don''t tell me she wants me to actually have sex with her,'' thought Aiden as he continued turning his head toward the voice''s direction.


    Then, as he looked at the person who had just called him, he couldn''t help but be extremely by what that person was wearing because well... it was absolutely nothing.


    "You don''t want toe and have some "fun" before you leave?" she asked again, looking at Aiden with pleading eyes.


    ''Why the fuck am I impersonating such a person?''

 Chapter 155 155 - Wu Lan

    <h4>Chapter 155 Chapter 155 - Wu Lan</h4>


    Aiden was kind of mad that he was someone renowned for having sex with other women at the moment. It wasn''t necessarily a bad thing, but in this context where Aiden had to finish his third trial as quickly as possible, it wasn''t the best.


    Well, he didn''t need to finish as quickly as he could, he needed to have the system rate highly his performance. However, maybe speed was involved in the grading system.


    He couldn''t be distracted or anything, he wasn''t even distracted when he had a fully naked girl in front of him. In fact, Aiden''s mind was somewhere elsepletely and his focus was clear.


    He now had the chance of being the most powerful and he wanted to make others feel how he had felt when being all powerless.


    He wanted to know what it would feel like to reach the peak of power. Being so strong that others shiver simply when hearing your name.


    Aiden wasn''t sure if that was the case with Li Feng, but just by looking at his stats Aiden knew that he had to be a respectable individual around here.


    Then, looking at the beautiful naked girl in front of him, Aiden didn''t know what to say to refuse her gently.


    He had no time to waste as he wanted to go to Nova as quickly as possible and win this damn tournament.


    "I''m sorry I don''t have the time for that right now," said Aiden, expecting the girl to understand as there was war currently iing.


    However, his eyes couldn''t but widen when he saw what that girl had just done.


    Aiden could honestly barely breathe because of her melons which were right on his face blocking his vision and everything rted to that.


    ''What is her problem?'' thought Aiden, as he couldn''t believe that this girl had jumped on his face like that for pretty much no reason.


    Then all he could hear was a soft voice in his ears which repeated what he had just heard just now.


    "You don''t want to have sex with me before leaving?" teased the girl in a lustful voice.


    Aiden didn''t know where she hade from but he knew one thing, this girl wasn''t in her right mind.


    Not wanting to do anything with her, started to push her away softly as he didn''t want to hurt her or anything. She hadn''t done anything wrong after all.


    In fact, some may argue that they would like to be in Aiden''s ce at the moment, barely breathing because of tits.


    But, then, as he pushed her away Aiden had no choice but to touch some ces which he didn''t particrly want to touch.


    He tried to remove the woman who was on top as softly as possible, but in the process, his hands were now on her the sides of her tights slowly lifting her up.


    However, his hands were so close to that women''s ass, that he didn''t have a choice but to touch it.


    "What are you doing?!" said the woman, feeling herself being pulled away from Li Feng''s body.


    Then, she felt his touch on her ass, and a small moan went out of her mouth right away.


    "Kiyaah~"


    ''Wait, couldn''t I just use that skill?'' thought Aiden, as he activated [Gentle Touch] as he wanted to calm this woman''s attitude and it did just that, as her lustful eyes seemed to go away little by little.


    She seemed to regain hermon sense and Aiden could finally have a good look at what she looked like because the only thing he had seen yet was her melons which were in her face. N?v(el)B\\jnn


    Aiden could once again see the effect of his skill in action as the lust in that girl''s eyes seemed to vanish. While that was happening he looked carefully at that girl''s looks and he couldn''t help but be mindblown by her looks.


    She was simply perfect, her hair was long and went all the way down to her back. Her eyes were blue which made her even more beautiful and her body... her body, it was perfect.


    It was simply perfect no matter how one would look at it. Aiden even wondered how it was possible to have such perfect gics.


    Her tits, her ass, her abdomen, everything was perfect not too big, not too small. Aiden had to say that if he didn''t have a trial toplete, he would have taken some time here to "release" some stress.


    However, he couldn''t do that as the girl who now seemed normal regained control of her mind, looking at Aiden or Li Feng.


    "What did you do to me? Why don''t I feel anything?"


    ''Here we go again, why does she have the balls to talk to me like that? Well, I''ll just teach her a lesson,'' thought Aiden, tired that everyone was disrespecting him at the moment.


    Wasn''t he supposed to be the strongest so why was anyone acting like he owned them something?


    They should be respectful, scared of what he might pull off just like the five who had entered this ce not long ago.


    "Who said that you could talk, what''s your name and how did you get in here?" eximed Aiden, demanding some exnations on how she had gotten in here.


    He also wanted to know her name as he would like the name of such a beautiful girl, who knows he might be able toe back here at some point.


    However, what he received was a look of confusion.


    "What do you mean by my name? You don''t know the name of your wife?" she said, clearly mad.


    ''No way, don''t tell me that''s my wife,'' thought Aiden, knowing that he had once again made another mistake.


    ''How stupid am I, of course it''s my wife why would she be acting this way otherwise?''


    ''How can I get out of this ridiculous situation?'' thought Aiden, looking at her angry expression.


    "Um, of course I know your name, it''s... it''s."


    Then, a beeping sound resounded inside his mind.


    *BEEP*


    [Her name is Wu Lan.]


    "Wu Lan, you''re name is Wu Lan. Sorry about that, had a little problem with my memory, being old like me it''s hard," exined Aiden, trying to get out of this situation.


    ''Thank you system!''

 Chapter 156 156 - No Choice But To Fuck Her

    ?n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    Aiden was currently thanking the system for its unexpected answer which saved him from quite a lot of problems.


    This made his opinion about the system grow just a little, really his opinion increased just barely.


    "That''s right, what''s up with you today?" asked Wu Lan, who couldn''t understand what was happening with her husband at all.


    He didn''t want to have any sort of physical contact with her, he was keeping his distance from her. It was as if the person in front of her wasn''t her husband.


    However, she quickly dismissed those thoughts as they didn''t make any sense. Who could even impersonate Li Feng, the most powerful cultivator of an entire era?


    "Um, nothing, everything''s fine why?" responded Aiden as he could see that Wu Lan clearly hadn''t given up yet as she currently getting closer and closer to her.


    Wu Lan clearly wasn''t happy with Aiden pushing her away from him earlier and was nowing back toward even more aggressively than before.


    "Everything''s fine, right? Thene here," she said as she grabbed his hand pulling him in some random direction.


    Aiden could kind of guess what was going to happen and he simply epted it, it''s not like it was a bad thing.


    He was going to have sex with such a beautiful woman.


    Still, he knew that it was bound to make him lose a little bit of time, but if he wanted her wife to trust him then he probably had to do something like this.


    Aiden didn''t know of her strength yet, but if she had the balls to call herself his wife, then she had to be quite powerful.


    ''But, I''m supposed to be like a God in bed, well... that''s what Li Feng''s description,'' thought Aiden, not sure if he was going to be able to pull such a thing off.


    He simply didn''t have enough experience with this whole sex thing as he had only done it two times in his entire existence. That was even considering his two lives.


    If one were to look at that record, one would have to admit that Aiden was kind of a loser, not having intercourses more than two times in two lifetimes.


    Then, Wu Lan held him tight, not wanting him to leave once again. They arrived in apletely different which had some decorations around, however, there was one thing which stood out quite well.


    It was the gigantic bed which was in the middle of the room, basically asking for someone to fuck on it or sleep.


    But in that case, it would be sex that would be happening on it.


    ''I guess, I have no choice,'' thought Aiden, pumping himself up as he needed to put on a good act.


    If this Li Feng had a good reputation then Aiden had to keep it up, not bring it down.


    Honestly, Aiden wasn''t sure if he was going to be able to satisfy her, but he still had some confidence in himself as he knew how thest time he had sex had gone well.


    Emma had be a different person listening to every single one of hismands.


    Aiden also knew that if things here would go badly, then he could simply use [Gentle Touch] on her once again, to remove some of the emotions that she would be feeling.


    And if things were to take the worst possible turn, Aiden would have to imprison her or kill her.


    Thinking about it, Aiden thought that it probably wouldn''t be that hard as he was the most powerful person in this Sect.


    Then, as they reached the bed, Wu Lan immediately ran in front of him,nding in quite an interesting position.


    She hadnded in a way that made her ass jiggle up and down. In this position, she also seemed ready to take on anything that would being from behind her.


    "You''reing?" she asked with her ass up.


    The message was quite clear, she wanted to be fucked and fast at that.


    Aiden, however, thought about it for a bit before joining her.


    This was important for the future of this trial. He knew that very well, as he could imagine that girl who was currently in his bed helping him fight against the Plum Blossom Sect.


    ''Is this worth it? Should I even be doing this? There''s a fucking waring and here I am about to have sex with someone I just met,'' thought Aiden, as he knew that what he was currently doing didn''t make much sense.


    Nheless, he knew that he was doing it because he wanted to keep his identity secret and he knew that this was basically the best way to do so.


    ''Well, I''ll try to make it seem as if I''m the real Li Feng,'' thought Aiden, deciding that fucking her right now was the better option.


    He knew that if he didn''t do it, then she would begin to have doubts about him, as she already had some and he didn''t want his wife to doubt him.


    Aiden didn''t know the impact that she had in the Sect but he didn''t want to take the risk of her being against him. He knew that to win this war against the Plum Blossom Sect he would need all the help that he would be able to gather.


    Because as he had heard from Li Yang they had half their numbers which meant that they were in quite the predicament.


    Just like Li Yang had said, Aiden would have to take an important ce in this war, especially if they wanted to win it.


    Aiden''s thoughts at the moment was that his wife was almost as strong as him which would make her a great ally during the war and if he had to fuck her to have that, he would do it any day of the week.


    Then, Aiden also jumped on the bed and he pped her ass whennding on it.


    "Annnh~"

 Chapter 157 157 - Strong And Sexy**

    ?


    Aiden who had just jumped on the bed while spanking Wu Lan couldn''t help but break a little smile when doing that.


    He had to admit that he had missed that feeling of making a girl make weird noises when touching her.


    Thest time he had done it was one month ago, and he couldn''t wait to do it again.


    Aiden remembered the joy and excitement that he felt each time he would be having with someone else.


    And that was something that he needed at the moment, excitement.


    He needed it because his life was sad, at the moment. All he did was train, he didn''t talk to anyone well... except recently when he started talking to Emma and Maelis again, but apart from them. Aiden hadn''t talked to anyone.


    Sure, his past life had been one of loneliness, but this one had been quite socially active as he met multiple people and actually had rtionships with them. Either being a friend or more, depending on the person.


    So, when he pped Wu Lan''s ass, he simply let go out of everything that he had contained inside him as there was only one thing that kept popping up in his mind and that was to pleasure the woman who was almost begging for him.


    Well, she was begging for Li Feng, but that was only a detail as Aiden didn''t even think about it as he knew that she didn''t seem to care about it at all.


    "Annnh~," moaned Wu Lan not expecting such a p on her ass which jiggled a little because of that.


    Then, she nced on her right looking at Li Feng''s body, lusting over it as her eyes were fixating on it. However, there was something which was annoying her, his clothes.


    Aiden still had his clothes on and Wu Lan seemed to be displeased by that.


    "Remove your clothes or I''ll do it," she said slowly sitting up on the bed as she approached Aiden as if she was a predator hunting for her prey.


    ''Um, I''ll let her do it,'' thought Aiden, as he waited for her toe toward him as he admired the view that he had.


    Her tits and her ass couldn''t help but bounce around as she crawled in Aiden''s direction.


    ''She''s fucking perfect,'' thought Aiden once again as he simply couldn''t believe that he was in a bed with such a beauty.


    It simply made no sense. He knew that the main reason was because of the body he was in, but still, this was incredible.


    His rod which had been sleeping since earlier raised itself instantly seeing that incredible body of hers.


    "Oh, I guess you want me to do it," muttered Wu Lan as she continued crawling toward Aiden.


    Then, as she arrived in front of him, she grabbed his clothes and simply tore them apart as if what he was wearing was a sheet of paper.


    Aiden noticing this had no choice but to admit that there was a huge chance that the girl in front of him was much more powerful than his original body.


    In fact, it would make sense.


    "God I missed them," she said as she slowly caressed Li Feng''s abdominals all the way from top to bottom as she reached his pants.


    This time, she didn''t do the same thing as earlier, as she slowly approached her mouth from his sacred rod which was currently hidden trying its best to get out.


    "Is it hurting?" she said, as her face was almost on it.


    Seeing the huge bulgeing from his pants, Wu Lan could only smile. Happy, that his husband was still as attracted to her as before.


    Then, she licked a little the top of the pants bulge wanting to see if there was going to be any reaction.


    And unsurprisingly there was, as Li Feng''s rod kept shacking, struggling to stay inside this closed ce.


    ''Fuck it hurts,'' thought Aiden, as he wanted to let it out and go right ahead and fuck her brains out.


    Just a simple lick from her had caused such a reaction out of Aiden which was quite weird as he remembered being quite endurant in the past.


    Then, not wanting to endure the pain that he felting from his penis, he took hold of his pants and started to remove them by himself.


    Wu Lan who was watching such a scene couldn''t help but smile a little pleased that he reacted in such a manner.


    "My technique is still the best, right?" said Wu Lan, looking at the excited expression of her husband. Well, fake husband.


    Aiden, however, hearing the word "technique" was a little confused, but he quickly dismissed those thoughts as the pleasure that he had felt from that lick through his pants was still affecting him and his body as he could only think of one thing and one thing only.


    ''I need to destroy her.''


    That was the only that was on his mind as he elerated the removal of his pants, as they were now both naked looking at each other with lust in their eyes.


    Aiden hadn''t experienced being crazy about someone, and he couldn''t help but wonder if that was what he was feeling at the moment.


    Then, as he could feel himself being attracted to her, he mindlessly responded yes to her question as he grabbed her thighs bringing her closer to him.


    His rod which was as hard as a rock softly touched Wu Lan''s pussy which caused another moan to be released through the room.


    Then, Aiden who now had a gigantic ass to y with, put both of his hands on it as he slowly but surely started moving one of his hands toward her pussy.


    Then as he slowly rubbed his hand against it, a massive moan came out of her mouth and a beeping sound resounded inside of Aiden''s mind.


    "Annnnh~"


    *BEEP*n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    ''Why are you interrupting me now?'' thought Aiden, as he had gotten difficulty hearing her moan. However, he had been able to feel the small shake in her body.

 Chapter 158 158 - A Married Woman**

    ?


    As the system beeped inside Aiden''s mind, frustration started to take over Aiden''s body as this was literally the worst time to be receiving some sort of message from the system.


    Not wanting to know what it was, Aiden didn''t even look at the interface which had just opened in front of him and concentrated back on the ass that was in front of him which was almost begging to be hit again,


    In fact, Wu Lan seemed to be teasing Aiden as she kept moving her ass up and down, making it shake which had created quite the view.


    Aiden smiled when seeing that as he approached his head toward Wu Lan''s pussy, he had enough of all teasing and he needed to do some actual action.


    That''s why he approached his head and put his tongue out as he slowly but surely reached her pussy and started to pleasure her with the best of his abilities.


    Aiden had never done this before, but he didn''t know why he felt like all of this was natural to him right now as he had years of experience in doing it.


    "HMPH, LI FENG, Annnnnh~," shouted Wu Lan as she moaned out loud.


    A course of electricity seemed to go through her body as Aiden could feel her shake a little struggling to keep the same posture.


    Then, another moan came out of her mouth as her legs gave out which caused her to fall face-first onto the bed, still with her ass up toward Aiden.


    "Stop, don''t do it," she muttered as she could feel something much bigger approaching her pussy, only caressing it at the moment.


    But Wu Lan knew what was going to happen when that gigantic was going to enter her body, she would lose control of herself and listen to her body''s desire which would be simple.


    Her desire would be to fuck him harder and harder.


    She was speaking from experience had she had already done so and she had to admit that it wasn''t something that she appreciated.


    However, her husband seemed to love her when she was like as he always smiled and enjoyed it even more when she was begging for his dick.


    Then, Aiden kept rubbing the tip of his dick almost making it enter her body, but he made sure that didn''t happen as he wanted to drive her crazy.


    He wanted to hear her beg for it, just like when he had sex with Emma.


    He had liked it a lot when she had begged for his dick, in fact, it was one of the things which had marked him the most when they had sex.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    Well, that and her behaviour as she was almost behaving like a ve.


    "Annnnnh~"


    "Stop Li Feng. Stop!" shouted Wu Lan as she couldn''t endure the constant teasing on her pussy which was now starting to release a lot of fluids.


    She was so wet that Aiden had almost put his dick inside her pussy by pure mistake. It was just too slippery.


    However, hearing her plead, Aiden smiled as he made sure this moment as much as he could as he knew that he would never be able to have a taste of her ever again.


    "You want me to stop, huh?" he said as he continued to make her entire body shiver because of his constant teasing.


    Aiden knew that his actions didn''t fit with his personality at the moment, but he didn''t know why but he really liked what was happening right now.


    Normally, he wouldn''t have done something like this, to begin with, but it was a necessity as Aiden didn''t want to be discovered by his wife.


    Maybe that had been an excuse to fuck her, but who could me him, it was only a couple of minutes.


    It wasn''t like something major could happen during that time.


    Then, as his mind went away for a little moment, he went right into the action as he heard her answer to his question.


    "YES! Annnnh~! Stop, please I''m begging you."


    "Sure, I''ll stop," answered Aiden as he entered his rod right inside her wet pussy in one go, not even letting her time to calm down.


    When Aiden entered it inside of her pussy, there was absolutely no resistance which meant two things.


    The first one was that she was extremely horny and the second was that her pussy had taken the shape of Li Feng''s dick.


    Those were the two reasons why Aiden''s dick had entered so easily into her body and he had to admit that the thing which was turning him on the most right now was her moans.


    The fact that she moaned each time that Aiden would put it back in, felt great.


    Then, Wu Lan who had been immobile until now patiently waiting for his dick now started to be a little more aggressive as she also moved back when he rammed her entire body which made her feel even better.


    She could already feel herself close to cumming as she felt the fluids getting closer and closer.


    "Annnnnh~, I''m cumming," said Wu Lan as her body once again fell on the giant bed.


    Aiden who saw this only smiled as he elerated his pounding even more as he also wanted toe inside her.


    Then, as he started going faster and faster he could his cum slowly approaching.


    "I''m cumming too," said Aiden as the only answer he received was a muffled yes Wu Lan seemed to be in pretty bad shape as her mouth was directly on the bed.


    Then, Aiden released the white liquid and let it all flow inside of a married woman''s body.


    ''Fuck that felt good,'' thought Aiden as he gave her one big p on her ass.


    After pping it, he made to fall on top of Wu Lan''s body as his hands went toward her tits by themselves grabbing them.


    They were now in a sleeping position with Aiden''s dick still inside of her with both of his hands on her tits.

 Chapter 159 159 - Change In Attitude

    ?


    As the two of them were hugging each other, Aiden decided to take this chance to learn a little more about her strength and all that.


    He wanted to know if she could possibly be useful for the rest of the trial because sure it felt good to "release" yourself once in a while but what mattered the most was the trial and how good Aiden would be performing in it.


    That''s why if he learned that she wouldn''t be useful then Aiden would only do the minimum toward her, as he still wouldn''t want her to doubt him for impersonating her husband.


    ''I hope my performance was enough topare to her real husband,'' thought Aiden, as he looked at Wu Lan who was still shaking a little because of Aiden''s dick which was still inside her.


    However, that wasn''t all, there was also his cum inside her pussy at this moment.


    "Li Feng, can you put it out?" she asked, pleading.


    Aiden realizing that his dick was still inside her, he immediately removed it from her body as he had a little smile on his face while doing so.


    "Um, sure."


    Then, Aiden began thinking about multiple ways of asking her if she was going to be participating in the war because that was what mattered the most at the moment.


    Thinking for a little, as he was still fondling her breasts.


    ''Yeah, I''ll just ask her inly.''


    "Wu Lan," muttered Aiden in a soft voice wanting her to respond.


    "Yes, dear?" she answered, not sure why Li Feng had started talking.


    "You do know that a war will soon bemencing. It''s only a matter of days now," said Aiden, wanting to see what sort of reaction his presumed wife would have.


    However, he couldn''t but be baffled by the response and reaction he had gotten.


    She scuffed as if saying that this war wasn''t even important.


    "Li Feng, are you worried? You''ll just destroy them like you always do, it''s not going to change after all this time."


    Wu Lan was smiling as she said that, turning her face toward Aiden, looking at him lovingly in the eyes as if wanting for a kiss.


    However, Aiden was in his thoughts not even paying attention to what she was doing.


    ''Like I do every time? So this isn''t the first time that we''re at war?'' thought Aiden, catching a pretty important detail.


    He was also now even more confident in this body''s physical power, or even overall power. Because in the manner that Wu Lan had just spoken, it seemed as if this war was a daily thing and nothing serious to worry about.


    Still, Aiden wasn''t the type to take a trial not seriously as he couldn''t imagine it being as easy as what Wu Lan was saying.


    A part of him was clearly thinking that she was biased as she was his wife.


    "Hmm, yeah, I guess," responded Aiden, not letting his worries show even a little as he noticed that Wu Lan was getting closer and closer to him.


    "Don''t worry, everything will be fine," she repeated, as she didn''t like seeing her husband worry, especially over such matters. "If you want, I cane to help you this time. I know that you usually refuse but I''m telling you there''s no need, I''m strong you know."


    ''Why wouldn''t I take her help usually?'' thought Aiden.


    If Wu Lan was saying the truth, then the real Li Feng had to be a really stupid person because Aiden simply couldn''t grasp why he wouldn''t take all the help he could gather.


    Still, Aiden decided to ept regretfully as he didn''t want to see it weird and ept without any hesitation in his voice.


    "Hmm, could you? I don''t know why but I have a bad feeling this time."


    Wu Lan smiled when hearing that as she went away from her arms and stood up happily.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    "Finally, finally, I thought that this time would have nevere," she said dancing happily on the bed.


    ''This Li Feng he''s a lucky guy, but a stupid one,'' thought Aiden, as he looked at her perfect body.


    "You know, I always waited for you to ask for my help, and finally, I''ll be able to fight by your side."


    She had s big smile when saying that as she got off the bed and put on some clothes.


    Aiden didn''t understand everything that was happening, however, the yfulness on Wu Lan''s face hadpletely disappeared and seriousness had taken over it.


    "What are you doing still sitting down? Stand up, we have a war to win," she said as she was still half-naked.


    Aiden couldn''t help but be shocked by the change in her tone when addressing him, it was as if she was apletely new person.


    ''Maybe she bes crazy when talking about fighting others?'' thought Aiden.


    Maybe that was the reason the real Li Feng never asked her help because she seemed crazy at the momentmanding Aiden to stand up right away.


    She was apletely different person, however, it wasn''t negative at all. In fact, Aiden quite liked the attitude that wasing out of her. He knew that it was going to be beneficial for the trial in general.


    He also knew that if his wife was supporting him, then the doubts that Li Yang had gotten would probably decrease by a lot.


    But, it still wouldn''t solve everything.


    So, Aiden got up from the bed and went to put his clothes on, but he realized that his shirt waspletely ripped apart, then he looked around and found another piece of clothing which was lying on the ground and put it on.


    "So, who are your generals?" asked Wu Lan, already preparing some sort of n in her mind it seemed.


    Aiden didn''t find that displeasing at all as it seemed he had found someone who would be supporting him very well during the trial.


    Did the system n that she would help or was it a miscalction on their part?


    Because it seemed like this trial would be a breeze to go through.

 Chapter 160 160 - Generals

    ?


    ''My generals, huh?'' thought Aiden as he didn''t know their names as they hadn''t mentioned it to him.


    "Um, well... there''s Li Yang," responded Aiden as he literally couldn''t think of any other names.


    However, it seemed that he was saved as Wu Lan only smiled.


    "You forgot about their names again?" she asked with a big smile.


    It seemed that his forgetting many things was quitemon as she onlyughed when saying that, not even doubting him or anything.


    "However, don''t you dare forget about mine," said Wu Lan, looking at Li Feng with a severe look on her face as she really didn''t like what had happened not long ago.


    She felt hurt that her husband hadpletely ignored her, that was why she hoped that them having sexual interference had made him remember why he loved her.


    Aiden hearing her hidden menace nodded unsure of how to react to such a thing.


    "Well, if you forgot about their names why don''t we go and search for them in the Sect. I don''t know what you told them to do, but I made a change to it," she said.


    It seemed like she had made a decision on her own regarding how they would be proceeding and Aiden honestly couldn''tin as he knew that she knew a lot more about his world than him as he had just arrived.


    "Sure, let''s go see them," said Aiden, as he followed right behind her beautiful body.


    ''Well, I wonder what she''s going to say to them,'' thought Aiden, as he remembered the order that he had given them.


    It was pretty much an empty one as he had only said to gather troops pretty much, nothing more, nothing less.


    Thinking back on it, Aiden had to admit that it really was a stupid thing to say as it wouldn''t have any impact on the war at all.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    Gather your troops, every single one of them would''ve done that either way.


    Then, as Aiden stepped outside he reminded himself to take a serious appearance as he was supposed to be the most important person of this sect which meant that others needed to fear him.


    They needed to fear because they needed to be constantly afraid of what he might decide because it was him the strongest now and the weak has to listen to the strong.


    This is just a in fact, even if you want to camouge it with as many things as you want.


    "Come follow me, we''ll go to Li Yang''s ce first," she said as she started flying in the air as if it waspletely normal.


    However, Aiden remembered trying to fly when arriving here, and he hadn''t been able to.


    But, seeing Wu Lan being able to do it meant one thing and one thing only.


    It meant that Aiden could also do it, as he was much stronger than his wife.


    Aiden who was on the ground tried his hardest to keep his cool, as he continued to figure out how do to such a thing.


    He had to figure it out fast or else, Wu Lan would know that there was a problem. In fact, she was already confused as she looked behind her seeing the immobile Li Feng who still wasn''t flying with her.


    ''Should I take a chance?'' thought Aiden, as he wasn''t sure if what he was about to propose would work.


    He knew that he didn''t have time to learn how to fly here, so he decided that it would be best for him to learn how to do thatter in the trial when he was alone.


    "Can''t we walk, you know take our time together," said Aiden, with a smile on his face as he knew that this was simply a lie.


    However, Wu Lan''s reaction was exactly what Aiden had expected as she seemed pumped to spend even more time with Aiden as she knew that flying would be a lot faster.


    "You''re right, why not?" she said as shended on the ground right beside Aiden.


    A couple of seconds afternding, Wu Lan immediately took Aiden''s hand and grabbed it as she wanted the two of them to hold hands it seemed.


    Aiden didn''t say anything, as he didn''t mind it at all. In fact, he liked it.


    It wasn''t every day that he would be able to do this, so he would be taking note of every moment that he would be spending with her.


    Then, the two of them continued walking toward Li Yang''s house, as Wu Lan would sometimes give Aiden a big hug.


    Well, it was more of a tight hug as Aiden had felt her boobs squishing against his body every single time and he had to admit that it was quite attractive and erotic.


    However, it wasn''t like they were going to undress in public as the two of them were slowly but surely arriving at Li Yang''s house.


    As they arrived in front of his house''s door, Aiden took the initiative and knocked on it.


    However, there was no response which kind of made sense as he was supposed to recruiting people to fight in the war at this very moment.


    Still, Aiden continued to knock for a couple of seconds as he wasn''t sure if he had let him enough time to answer.


    However, time passed, and the door still wasn''t opening itself which meant that he was out at the moment.


    "Well, it doesn''t matter let''s just go to the second general," she said as if knowing who he was.


    Even Aiden had no idea who the four generals he had named were, so how could she?


    "Why are you looking at me like that? You always pick the same generals when fighting against that sect, it''s like a ritual for you," exined Wu Lan, as her knowing suddenly made a lot of sense.


    But, then as they were about to leave, someone wasing toward them looking at two of them quite weirdly.

 Chapter 161 161 - Wu Lans Actions

    ?


    That someone was getting closer and closer to the two of them, giving a strange look wondering what they were doing in front of his house.


    Yes, the person who was walking toward them was Li Yang. He couldn''t grasp why Li Feng hade to see his wife, it was weird as he had never done so before, always keeping her as far away from others as possible.


    The reason that Li Feng would hide his wife from others was always a mystery inside Li Yang''s mind as he knew that most powerful people liked to show off as much as they could.


    However, on this aspect in particr, Li Yang had to admit that it wasn''t the case at all. He had such a beautiful woman by his side and he wasn''t showing her off at every possible asion, it just seemed weird to do, well... in Li Yang''s mind.


    Aiden had obviously recognized as he was about to coldly greet him, making sure to keep his facade of the strongest cultivator on.


    He knew that this person had some doubts about Aiden''s current identity which was why Aiden was being extra careful around him not wanting to arouse any suspicions about who Li Feng really was at the moment.


    However, before he could go ahead and greet him, Li Yang had beaten him obviously wondering why the two of them were in front of his house.


    "Didn''t you say that we had to meet you in two days? What changed?" asked Li Yang, not understanding the reason for that visit.


    In fact, even Aiden wasn''t sure why they were currently visiting him. It seemed that only Wu Lan knew the reason for her visit as she started walking up to Li Yang with a determined expression on her face.


    "You know who I am, right?" she asked as she was now in front of him, looking at him straight in the eyes.


    Li Yang had to admit that he didn''t understand the cold look in her eyesbined with the fact that she seemed extremely serious when talking.


    "Um, yeah, you''re Wu Lan his wife," said Li Yang as he indicated Aiden or rather Li Feng.


    "Well, since you know who I am this is going to be a lot easier. My husband which you just pointed at has decided to appoint me as the strategist of the war," she said with a smile on her face.


    Li Yang who just heard that was confused as he wasn''t if he had caught that correctly.


    ''A Strategist? What?''


    Li Yang was simply shocked that the simple-minded Li Feng would be appointing a strategist as he had never done so before for one simple reason.


    He didn''t have any sort of strategy as he would simply make the enemy recognize his overall strength.


    ''I did?'' thought Aiden as he didn''t remember any conversation about her obtaining such a position, however, he didn''t say anything as he didn''t care what position his wife would have.


    As long as he would have only to worry about fighting the other team, he honestly didn''t care.


    "And my first decision as his strategist is to remove you from his generals because of how you disrespected him earlier," she said, her tone as cold as ice.


    It seemed like she had witnessed what had happened earlier and hadn''t liked it at all. Disrespect toward her husband was the one thing which she wasn''t able to endure.


    However, not having talked about this decision with Aiden, he couldn''t help but be extremely shocked by what he had just heard.


    "Woah, let''s calm down here, we''ll need him for the war," said Aiden, slowly realizing with the real Li Feng had kept them out of fighting.


    Her actions were simply too unpredictable and Aiden would now always have to watch over them, making sure that there would be no problem rted to it.


    He was starting to regret bringing her into this, but how could he have known?N?v(el)B\\jnn


    Li Yang who was in front of them, just couldn''t understand what was happening.


    He knew that what he had done earlier was something that he shouldn''t have done, but even now more doubts started to appear in his head.


    Why had he asked Wu Lan to participate in this war when he would always categorically refuse to bring her to find with them?


    At least, that was his past decision.


    "Li Feng, there''s no need to keep him. You have me, right?" she said as she instantly gave him puppy eyes.


    She wanted him to have pity on her so that he would be epting her demand.


    She was doing it for him, after all.


    ''Why the hell is she even here?'' thought Aiden, realizing that this really was a bad idea.


    "Look, we need him and what he did earlier is already unimportant as I don''t even remember what he did. Can you just let it go this one time?" questioned Aiden, as he didn''t want to have one of his strongest fighters leave him.


    Wu Lan who heard her husband almost plead at her, decided that it was for the best to let it go. However, it seemed that she still wasn''t done as she once looked at Li Yang directly in the eyes.


    "There''s also a little change of ns, I want all of the cultivators avable to regroup tonight because tonight we will start to advance toward the enemy camp, tonight."


    Aiden who was right behind her couldn''t help but make a shocked face as this was another decision that she had decided on her.


    ''Maybe asking for her help was a bad idea after all,'' thought Aiden, as he rectified what he thought about this trial.


    It wasn''t going to be a breeze at all, in fact, with her help it would beplicating things even more as Aiden couldn''t help but imagine what she would decide to do next.


    Aiden was currently debating whether or not to send her back home as he didn''t appreciate her help at all at the moment.

 Chapter 162 162 - The Nightshade Patriarch

    <h4>Chapter 162 Chapter 162 - The Nightshade Patriarch</h4>


    "Why do we need to regroup tonight?" asked Aiden, unsure about the reasons that she had made such a decision.


    When he received a look of confusion from Wu Lan, Aiden was even more confused as it seemed that the reason was really obvious.


    "Well, so that we can spend more time together? Isn''t that obvious?" she said while looking at him with lust in her eyes.


    Li Yang who had just heard that, literally couldn''t believe it. Just how crazy was his wife?


    He started to understand why she had never been part of the war against the Plum Blossom Sect despite her strength.


    He had always found it weird, but he now understood why. This girl was simply crazy in her head, there was no way that anyone could reason with her, especially when the subject would be Li Feng.


    "Um, I''m not sure if that''s the best decision, what do you think Li Yang?" said Aiden, once again, asking Li Yang for his opinion which was umon of Li Feng.


    "You''re asking me?" he asked, not believing what he had just heard.


    ''There has to be something wrong here, who is that man?'' thought Li Yang whose suspicions only started to grow.


    "Yeah, you what do you think about what we should do?" asked Aiden, as he didn''t want his fake wife to be mad at him as he had noticed that she could be quite the crazy person.


    "Um, I think we should do as you as you said earlier."


    However, before Aiden could agree Wu Lan once again interjected as she felt being left out.


    "Why are you doubting my ideas? Let''s just do as I say," sheined to Li Feng holding onto his arm.


    ''I guess, the sooner I finish this trial the better will my rewards be,'' thought Aiden, as he wasn''t sure if this could help him win the Inter Family Tournament.


    He didn''t know because it would be the system which would be analyzing everyone''s performance inside of it.


    "Yeah, Li Yang just listen to my wife, she''s the strategist now," said Aiden as he honestly thought that she wouldn''t change the oue that much.


    Because with the stats which Aiden had currently with this body, he felt like nothing could stop him. He felt invincible as all his stats were over 150.


    This was incredible that he honestly wished that he would never lose, however, he knew that by the end of this tournament, he would be losing all that power, all that strength.


    "Alright, then I''ll gather everyone for tonight. Do you want me to tell the other generals?" asked Li Yang, knowing that this would probably be for the best as it would give time for both Aiden and Wu Lan for themselves as they seemed to be needing it.


    "Sure, you can go ahead and tell the others," responded Wu Lan as she didn''t seem to find anything wrong with that.


    ***


    Meanwhile, there were four people looking at their respective crystal globes inside their special ce. n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    "Did you guys all see their reactions when learning that this was a real trial, ahaha, they were all so shocked," said Thorin who couldn''t help himself as he startedughing as loud as he could.


    He was proud of what he had done it seemed, as the others in the room only nced at him.


    "What no one wants to say anything?" asked Thorin, sad that no one was finding this as funny as him.


    He had to say that he was kind of disappointed as it was he who had organized all of this. He had made sure that there would be a little hint at the start of the tournament regarding what would happen, but no one had picked up on it.


    It was that part that he was the most disappointed. They were supposed to be the Elites and they hadn''t caught on such an obvious hint.


    But, Thorin dismissed those thoughts as heard the voice of Melinda.


    "Can you stop talking? Some of us are trying to pay attention to what''s happening here,"ined Melinda as she found Thorin''s voice to be really annoying.


    "Are you still looking at the Reaper?" she asked as he simply couldn''t believe the obsession that she had with him.


    First, a discussion, then she interfered in front of the entire public to defend him, Thorin didn''t know what was so special about that person, but there had to be something that he ignoredpletely about him.


    It simply didn''t make sense for her to pay that much attention to a young awakener.


    Thorin kept having questions pop inside his mind however he disregarded them as he knew that Melinda would never answer them.


    "What if I mind, go back to your fucking seat Thorin," said Melinda, who was really starting to get pissed off.


    "What''s so special about him anyway?" said another in the room, who kept his eyes on the crystal ball in front of him.


    The person who had just spoken was obviously the Nightshade Patriarch who was quite curious about what Melinda found so interesting about that person.


    The Nightshade Patriarch hadn''t really looked at him at all, because he was focused on how his son was performing.


    And he also didn''t feel the need to as he knew that Lucius would be winning this entire thing, so why would he try to scout other participants it didn''t make much sense.


    Melinda who heard that the Nightshades were asking questions simply stopped answering as she knew that if he learned about his potential then he would stop at nothing to possess him.


    That was just how that man was, he was the most cruel person that Melinda knew and she knew that not having problems with him was for the best even amongst the founding families.


    "Nothing''s special, I''m just interested in what he will be doing in the trial. His skills and stuff like that."


    "Yeah, that aura of his was quite interesting in the first fight," added the Nightshade Patriarch.

 Chapter 163 163 - Masturbating*

    <h4>Chapter 163 Chapter 163 - Masturbating*</h4>


    Melinda only gritted her teeth when hearing that as she couldn''t believe what she was currently watching.


    The Reaper was currently having sex with a person instead of advancing in his trial. It literally made no sense for someone to do such a thing.


    The fact that she was able to see him inside the trial was because of the deal they had made with the system. However, they hadn''t been able to see what was happening in the waiting room which meant that she still hadn''t Aiden''s face.


    The crowd, however, was in theplete dark as they were simply waiting for everyone toeback so that they could know the victor.


    But, they knew that a trial could take many days, so many of them started leaving the Arena and returning to the real world as they were still in the Ravenwood''s dimension at the moment.


    However, she didn''t know why Aiden was currently losing his time fucking some random person as it literally made no sense.


    Shouldn''t he be trying his hardest toplete his trial objective, Melinda didn''t know what it was but she knew that it wasn''t rted to doing that.


    Nheless, she kept her mouth shut as she didn''t know the whole context and could only see their mouths moving a little.


    Then, as she kept looking at that sex scene, she didn''t know why but she felt herself being aroused a little, as she could feel that she was getting a little wet down there.


    ''What''s happening don''t tell me that I''m turned on by watching this?'' thought Melinda as she could the beautiful body of Li Feng on the screen.


    It had been so much time since she had experienced something like this as she was known to be the one with the most charm in Nova, so it was rare for her to react in such a way.


    However, how could she have known that Li Feng literally had 500 in his Charm Stat? If she was to hear this, then she would go crazy.


    Then, as she felt herself getting wetter and wetter, the Nightshade Patriarch made her realize that she was still in public.


    "Yeah, that reaper had some abilities in his first fight," admitted the Nightshade Patriarch.


    "That aura of his in particr was impressive, I wonder if I could steal him from you Melinda," said the Nightshade Patriarch with a big smile on his face.


    However, it wasn''t a friendly one at all. It was one that meant that Melinda would have to be careful in the future especially.


    Melinda didn''t enter his game as she knew that this was what he wanted desperately, so she kept her mouth shut as she kept looking at the scene in front of her.


    And the more she looked at it, the more she had to admit that Aiden was really good at using his entire body whether it be his tongue, his hands, or his rod.


    Once again, she started feeling some of her juices being released in between her legs.


    She couldn''t help herself behind fucked by such a man and just from her imagination it seemed that it would feel really good.


    It would be an experience which she had never felt before. Ever since she had be the one with the most Charm in Nova, no one had ever managed to make her climax, so she was hoping that maybe Aiden would be the one for her.


    She knew that he was much younger and that it was disgusting as she had already mentioned, but if he was the key to making her climax then all those ideologies of hers would be thrown out the window as she was someone deprived.


    "What''s happening to you Melinda," said Thorin as she saw her acting kind of weird right now. n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    Her legs weren''t rxed anymore as she put together hiding whatever was happening between them, her face was also really red, and her breathing seemed to be elerating.


    When Thorin noticed this, he couldn''t understand what was happening to her.


    "N-nothing, don''t worry about me," she stuttered while saying that which made her sound not so much convincing.


    "Sure, nothing," said Thorin, not believing her, however, he couldn''t really force an answer out of her.


    Then, Melinda remarked that maybe this wasn''t the best time to be doing this, and announced that she would be taking some time alone as she wanted some privacy right now.


    "Sorry, I need to get out of here," she said as she teleported into the room where Aiden and she had their discussion not so long ago.


    When arriving there, she took the crystal ball in front of her and simply watched the scene as she started touching herself.


    As she did so, more and more fluids started toe out of her pussy as she seemed to get closer and closer to climax for the first time in years.


    Moans kepting out of her mouth as she couldn''t help but continue masturbating.


    Then, ncing at the crystal ball she saw that the girl was on the bed barely keeping her eyes open which created a new influx of fluids toe out of her.


    "Annnnh~"


    Melinda wasn''t sure why she was reacting like this as she would normally be quite controlled regarding those sorts of things, however, it seemed like she needed to do it right now,


    Then, as she continued masturbating, she started to remove some of her clothes revealing her plump body as she started to grab her tits.


    "Oh my god, oh my god, this feels so good," she eximed as she continued what she was doing


    Then, she once again nced at the crystal ball and saw that the action had somewhat stopped as they were holding each other.


    Well, Aiden was holding her by her tits, but the action had somewhat reduced.


    This caused her to not be able to climax as the action had stopped.


    ''Fuck, I need a taste of that man,'' thought Melinda, looking at Li Feng''s perfect body.


    She was talking about Li Feng because Aiden was only impersonating him, however it gave some hope.

 Chapter 164 164 - Information

    <h4>Chapter 164 Chapter 164 - Information</h4>


    While Melinda had finished masturbating unsatisfied, Aiden was now asking some questions to Wu Lan who didn''t seem to find any wrong with her husband.


    Even if Aiden asked the weirdest question, Wu Lan would onlyugh a little and answer them without any problem, it seemed that she was just like that in general.


    But, the reason why such a thing was happening was simple, she was obsessed with her husband, it had been to this. There was simply nothing else as to why she wouldn''t doubt the simplest questions that Aiden would be asking her.


    However, Aiden didn''tin at all as it made him able to learn more about the world that he was currently in. He knew that the war was getting closer and closer, so he used his time efficiently this time, not fucking Wu Lan even if he was tempted to do so.


    In fact, he had learned some of the basics about this world.


    One of the questions that Aiden asked Wu Lan was how did people get stronger in this world. Weird question, right? Well, she didn''t even question why he asked such a thing as she seemed captivated by his strength and beauty.


    ''I guess this is what good looks and power can do,'' thought Aiden, as he knew that if he was on Nova he would never be able to do such a thing.


    It was only a distant dream for him.


    The response he had gotten had also shocked him as he couldn''t believe that it was so simple to get stronger.


    She had said that the way to get stronger was to simply have sex with others and meditate with the energy of your partner.


    Aiden believed her as she had no reason to lie, but he had to say that the method really was weird, however, it was one which he honestly considered great at the moment.


    ''But how can having sex make you stronger?'' thought Aiden, as it simply made no sense.


    ***


    When getting back to what seemed to be his house, Aiden made sure that he would be using this time to ask some questions to Wu Lan as he had many interrogations about everything.


    "Um, Wu Lan can I ask you some questions?" asked Aiden, not sure what she was about to respond.


    However, all he got in response was a big smile with a nod.


    It seemed that Wu Lan was excited to help her husband, it was that she wanted to do the most in this world after all, support him in the best way that she could.


    "Earlier you said that this war isn''t much of a problem, so do we win easily normally?" asked Aiden, hoping the answer to be a simple yes as it would simplify many things.


    However, it wouldn''t be a simple yes and he knew that very well.


    "Um, well... not really each time you usually go in and save the day when we''re about to lose, and I have no worries that you will be able to do it once again," she said with a smile on her face.


    ''Fuck, I knew it,'' thought Aiden, frustrated as he didn''t know if he was going to be able to pull the same thing that Li Feng would usually do as he wasn''t used to fighting in this body at all.


    "What about the Sect Leader of the Plum Blossom Sect, how strong is he?" asked Aiden.


    It was another question which would make many people raise their eyebrows, however, Wu Lan didn''t hesitate as she instantly answered him.


    "I''m not sure, you never really talk about him much... and I never saw him."


    ''You''re so useless,'' thought Aiden.


    "Oh that''s okay, but does he usually show up and fight against me?" asked Aiden as this was something that he was really wondering about the most.


    If the other sect leader usually showed up then Aiden knew that this would be a really hard fight as the other Sect Leader would probably be just as strong as him since his title was basically the same.


    "No, he lets his cultivator fight," answered Wu Lan with confidence. n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    Aiden nodded hearing that, happy to have finally gotten good news.


    ''Alright that''s great then,'' thought as he now maybe had a chance to seed in this trial.


    But, even if he was on the verge of losing then all he would need to do would be to use his [Return Stone] and he would be all safe back home.


    ''Alright enough about the war, I need to ask her about how she became so strong.''


    "Um, Wu Lan how did you be so strong?" asked Aiden, wondering why Wu Lan was now smiling at him whole-heartedly.


    "Are you teasing me?"


    ''Teasing you? What the fuck do you mean?'' thought Aiden, not understanding where this was going at all.


    "No, I''m not, what do you mean?"


    "Well, you know exactly how I got stronger as you were the main cause for that," she said winking at him.


    Then after winking at him, she lowered her eyes looking at the area where his rod was currently sleeping.


    ''No way, does she mean that by having she got that strong?'' thought Aiden, surprised by the news as he wasn''t sure how such a thing worked.


    Aiden not wanting to admit that he didn''t know about that, simply smiled.


    "Right, sorry about that."


    Then, a couple of minutes passed and the two of them were inplete silence as Wu Lan would sometime tease Aiden a little.


    However, all that she would get back was him telling her to back a little as he wasn''t sure if he was going to be able to control himself.


    Then, they heard a shout outside, it seemed that it was already time for them to depart and go attack the Plum Blossom Sect.


    ''Well, that didn''t take too long,'' thought Aiden as he quickly headed out of his room apanied by Wu Lan.

 Chapter 165 165 - Can鈥檛 Fly

    <h4>Chapter 165 Chapter 165 - Can''t Fly</h4>


    As Aiden and Wu Lan got out of their house, they could see the four generals waiting for them and behind were at least two hundred cultivators waiting for their orders.


    Before Aiden could say anything, Wu Lan who was right beside him acted first.


    "Why are you standing? Bow down," she shouted angrily, not happy that no one here was showing any kind of respect toward Li Fend, their Sect Leader.


    As she said everyone started to bow down as fast as they could since they were all scared of the possible acts against them.


    However, Aiden who was right beside her, didn''t think that it mattered all that much, but he still let her do as she wished as he was still ying his role as an indifferent leader.


    Then, it seemed that Wu Lan wasn''t finished as she would be announcing her n to all of them at the same time.


    It was a n that she had thought of earlier today when Li Feng had asked for her help, so she simply couldn''t refuse and immediately went to work.


    "Alright, now everyone listens to me!" she shouted as loudly as she could.


    Everyone who was looking at the ground only nodded when hearing her voice, showing that they were all listening to her.


    "We will ambush them tonight, they were probably thinking that we wouldn''t do so as we have never done it before. This is our chance to overwhelm the enemy, let''s show them how much better we are," said Wu Lan, finishing her speech.


    Aiden, who listened to her, nodded agreeing with everything that she had said, he also trusted her judgement as he couldn''t say anything to contradict as he knew a lot less than her.


    "Everyone stand up and fly to the east, we will kill right there," shouted Wu Lan, as she started flying in the air first.


    Aiden who just heard that they were going there by flying was panicking a little as it seemed that flying was a normal skill for everyone in this world.


    So, why could he, who was in the body of the strongest cultivator, not able to fly?


    What was he missing in particr?


    Aiden had no idea, but this time he wouldn''t be able to make everyone walk. He needed to find out how to fly and fast.


    When he saw that everyone in front of him had started flying, he looked at the actions that they were doing as he needed to figure it out without asking how anyone.


    Maybe he should have asked Wu Lan about how to earlier, but it was toote for that.


    Aiden was also sure that Wu Lan would have told him without thinking about the reasons for him to do so.


    But now this was actually a crucial moment as the Sect Leader was supposed to know how to fly and if everyone else could do it, then why couldn''t he?


    So, he concentrated on the movement of those who just started flying up.


    He noticed that they weren''t trying to jump up, but instead, they did theplete opposite as they seemed to take support from the ground slowly crouching and then by pure magic they started flying.


    Aiden started to do the same exact as them, as he bent his knees a little and then he waited... but nothing happened. n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    He was now not moving and if one were to look at him right now, they would think that he was currently shitting himself.


    Wu Lan who was in the air saw this and couldn''t understand what was happening. Why was her husband not able to fly?


    She didn''t know what happened to him, but it''s true that she had found him weird today. However, she didn''t question because of his performance in bed which had convinced her that this wasn''t an impostor at all.


    So, the first thought that went to her mind was that he was hurt. It had been the reason why he wasn''t able to.


    Landing right beside him, she whispered to him.


    "Are you okay? Do you need help?"


    ''Why are you asking me that, of course, I need help,'' thought Aiden, as he thought that it was quite obvious that he needed help.


    "Yes, how can I fly?" whispered back Aiden.


    He wondered if she would be questioning his identity or something simr, but she didn''t do any of that as she simply told him how.


    "Circte your Qi in your feet and then explode upwards, then maintain it under your feet," exined Wu Lan using words that Aiden had no idea the meaning of.


    ''What even is this Qi that she''s talking about?'' thought Aiden, however, he didn''t ask what it was as he tried as much as he could concentrate inside of him, trying to find a new energy inside his.


    Even if he was impersonating Li Feng, when he concentrated, he once again saw the chains that were inside him, waiting to be fully unlocked.


    There were many things inside those chains and one gray energy seemed to want to out. Aiden concentrated on it and tried to use it or guide it out of those chains.


    But, the gray seemed stuck behind those chains, there seem to be no way of unlocking it.


    Then, out of nowhere, he felt small hits on his back in certain spots which wereing from Wu Lan, which this time had an expression of confusion.


    ''Why were his pores all locked?'' she thought, not understanding how that was possible.


    He was supposed to be the strongest cultivator here, so why were his pores that circte Qi blocked?


    That was why she had hit on his back in certain spots as she wanted to unlock his Qi pathway.


    However, even after unlocking them, there was still no Qi that was going through it. They were empty it seemed.


    Aiden who was fully concentrating on that gray energy inside his body started seeing it budge a little, it seemed that something had changed.

 Chapter 166 166 - System Intervention

    <h4>Chapter 166 Chapter 166 - System Intervention</h4>


    Aiden who could see that the gray energy seemed to want to get out of those and be free tried to guide it as much as he possibly could.


    However, even with his pores and pathways open, there was no energy that seemed to be flowing through his veins.


    Wu Lan who was watching him struggle, couldn''t help but have many questions pop up in her mind.


    Li Feng was her husband and she had spent year after year close to him, if his Qi pathways were to be blocked, she would have noticed it already.


    So, this meant that the man that she was right beside wasn''t actually her husband, but an impostor.


    However, she had no idea as to who that person might be, who could even defeat her husband.


    This was simply an impossible thing to do, he was the strongest.


    Looking at him, she muttered in a dangerous tone.


    "Who are you and where did you take my husband?"


    Wu Lan needed to know whether the person with who she had sex earlier was her husband or not, this was going to be necessary for her conscience or else she would feel broken.


    She was the most loyal person that existed, so if she learned that she had cheated on him she wouldn''t be able to live with that burden.


    Aiden who was still concentrating that gray energy from within didn''t even hear her as all his attention was directed toward that energy.


    Aiden didn''t know what all those things were behind those chains, but he knew that gaining ess to one of them wouldn''t be a bad thing at all.


    In fact, it would be great as it seemed that all those things which were currently being restricted would be able to make him stronger at some point.


    Aiden had no idea how those things had appeared there, but he wasn''tining as he knew that at one point he would be able to obtain them all.


    Wu Lan who had just been ignored took things further as she hit Aiden with a lot of strength this time making sure that he would feel it.


    Aiden surprised lost his connection with the gray energy as he looked behind him, not sure what was happening.


    "What do you want?" asked Aiden who was somewhat frustrated as he was this close to getting that gray energy out of his body.


    "Who are you and where''s my husband?" shouted Wu Lan, this time as she had never seen such a look in her husband''s eyes.


    It seemed to be anger, something which she had never once seen in her husband''s eyes when talking to her.


    The others who had begun flying away didn''t understand what was happening as they watched the scene from the air, unsure as to what would happen next.


    "That''s right who even are you?" asked Li Yang who was the only one who descended from the sky, supporting Wu Lan.


    Aiden who had this question pointed at him had no idea what to say.


    Should he say the truth?


    That he came from another world and this was simply a pure coincidence.


    Should he act like a dictator? n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    Because if he wanted, he could simply get rid of all of them with the strength that he currently possessed.


    Aiden was currently debating inside his mind as he kept his mouth shut which frustrated the two people which were in front of him.


    "First, your behaviour, then your questions. How could I be so stupid, I knew it there was something wrong," eximed Li Yang, expressing his confidence.


    He seemed convinced that the person who was in front of him wasn''t Li Feng at all. There was simply to many things which had been weird about him.


    ''I''ll need their help to seed in this trial, I''ll have no choice but to tell them the truth,'' thought Aiden as he made his choice.


    He thought that it was the right one as he knew that he would need the support of the people here if he wanted to seed in this trial.


    He knew that it was going to be a shock for many of the people in front of him, but he still went with it as he couldn''t think of any other solutions at the moment.


    Then, as he opened his mouth and tried to tell them about the trial and the system, a beeping sound resounded inside his mind.


    *BEEP*


    [Unable to speak about the system.]


    Aiden reading this thought it was a mistake as he once again opened his mouth to exin everything to them.


    But, then, another beeping sound resounded in his mind.


    *BEEP*


    [Unable to speak about the system.]


    "What is this bullshit?" shouted Aiden, out of nowhere, surprising everyone around him who became even more confused.


    "Who are you?" repeated Wu Lan who started to almost cry as she remembered what she had done with this impostor.


    She had given him everything, her body, her loyalty, she had even helped him for this war that was ahead of them.


    But, then, as Aiden slowly started to give up another beeping sound resounded in his mind for the third in quick sessions.


    *BEEP*


    [Trial Reset...]


    [The people around will forget everything about what just happened.]


    Aiden who read this on his interface was really confused.


    The system that had restricted Aiden to talk to others was now helping him by erasing the memory of what just happened.


    ''How can it even do that?'' thought Aiden as he couldn''t even begin to understand how the system worked.


    ''It can even control my body,'' thought Aiden, scared that the system could literally take over and he wouldn''t be able to do anything.


    The more he thought about it the more scared he was. He didn''t know what would happen in the future, but he needed to make sure that the system wouldn''t be able to control him too.


    He didn''t know if it was toote, but that didn''t matter he would try.

 Chapter 167 167 - System Intervention [Part 2]

    ?


    After reading those messages which had just appeared in front of him, Aiden couldn''t help but wonder how the others would react.


    How will the system make them lose their memories about what had just happened?


    Aiden couldn''t even begin to understand how those sorts of things even worked. It couldn''t even understand how the system had so much impact on another world which even had people as powerful as Li Feng.


    This was simply mind-blowing to Aiden as he knew that it would be difficult for him to surpass this system which was basically controlling everything about his life.


    No matter the actions he would take, the system could probably intervene and change them back since it had even rendered Aiden impossible to speak.


    The system had basically decided that Aiden couldn''t reveal any information about it, and then it had started a Trial Reset it seemed.


    As Aiden started observing those around him, he noticed that all of them had their eyes closed at the moment.


    ''This system is just too powerful,'' thought Aiden as this was incredible.


    It could control everyone even those who didn''t use the system, how was this even possible?


    Then, everyone who had their eyes closed opened them right away, looking around them.


    Some of them muttered different things, however, it was always the same sorts of things.


    "Where am I?"


    "What happened?"


    "Why does my head hurt?"


    Those were the questions which were the most recurrent and that Aiden had heard the most. It really seemed like they had lost any sort of memory about what just happened.


    Aiden, on the other hand, didn''t have time to worry about how they were reacting and "waking" up.


    He still needed to figure out how to move that damn energy that was supposedly called Qi. He knew that the same scene would be repeating itself once again if Aiden wasn''t able to fight.


    That''s why he was currently meditating, putting all of his concentrating into letting that gray energy leave those chains in his body.


    Because he had gotten his pores and pathways opened, the energy seemed more willing to leave those chains, however, it seemed that there was still something missing as it was barelying out.


    Aiden then stopped trying to pull it out with his mind and started to think about what he could do.


    The first thing that came to mind was to ask Wu Lan, however, he knew that such a thing wasn''t possible or else the same scene would happen again and Aiden wasn''t sure if the system would be helping him that time.


    In fact, he still had no idea why the system had helped him because, honestly, for a moment Aiden thought that it was simply the end and that he would fail this trial.


    It was just such aplicated situation that he didn''t imagine getting out of it.


    But, then he dismissed those thoughts as they weren''t the most important right now.


    Aiden needed to figure out how to release that gray energy from behind those chains which were located around his heart.


    That was the thing that mattered the most as he needed to be able to fly before everyone regained their means.


    Time was ticking and Aiden needed to act as fast as possible.


    ''Alright what can I do?'' thought Aiden.


    However, as much as he wanted to find a solution, it was incredibly hard as he had never seen that energy before once in his life.


    He remembered how he had gotten used to using Mana, but that wasn''t the same thing as Aiden had been able to use Mana easily.


    However, this thing that they called Qi wouldn''t budge no matter how much mental strength Aiden would be investing in it.


    Aiden wasn''t sure what he could do, to make his system release.


    But, then, as despair took over his body he thought of something.


    He remembered that something had changed when Wu Lan hit his back as he had immediately seen a change in how the gray energy acted.


    This was the biggest hint that Aiden currently had which was why he was concentrating his thoughts on it trying his best to figure it out.


    ''I need help, I simply can''t do this alone,'' thought Aiden, as he couldn''t find a way to use Qi no matter how hard he was trying.


    He knew that he couldn''t let the others "wake" up before he learnt how to fly.


    It was important for him to find out what he needed to do.


    Then, as despair started to take over his body, another beeping sound once again resounded inside his mind.


    *BEEP*


    Just hearing that beeping noise, made Aiden curse instantly as he was tired of constantly hearing it.


    Nheless, it wasn''t like he could change anything about it.


    [Do you want the method to learn how to use Qi?]


    Reading those words which had just appeared in front of him, Aiden was shocked as the system was once again offering its help to him.


    However, Aiden wasn''t duped. He knew that nothing was free in life and that this system was a bastard.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    He knew that the system, especially, wasn''t the type to give freebies. It just wasn''t in its nature.


    ''What do you want?'' asked Aiden inside his mind as he knew that he was about to receive an answer.


    Then, a beeping sound once again resounded inside Aiden''s head.


    *BEEP*


    ''I fucking knew it, it was just too good to be true,'' thought Aiden, hearing that sound.


    [A deal.]


    Aiden who had just read this was confused.


    ''What sort of deal?'' thought Aiden as he remembered that he had once asked for a deal with the system at the beginning, however, he had been refused back then.


    However, this time there was a little dy as it seemed that even the system was currently thinking or calcting the best possible deal.


    Then, another beeping sound resounded inside Aiden''s mind.


    *BEEP*


    It seemed that the system had finished preparing that deal.

 Chapter 168 168 - Deal with the system?!

    <h4>Chapter 168 Chapter 168 - Deal with the system?!</h4>


    Aiden was currently thinking as to what that deal could possibly be, he wondered if it was going to be some impossible demand or something like that.


    He knew one thing though.


    He knew that if the system would propose a deal which would restrict his liberty then he would refuse right away and simply use his [Return Stone].


    Because the one thing which Aiden wanted was freedom. He wanted to be free without anyone controlling him from the shadows even if that was already kind of the case with the system.


    However, who knew the demands that this system could ask?


    Then, he heard a beeping noise inside his mind which dered that the system had finished preparing the deal between the two of them.


    *BEEP*


    [A deal has been created.]


    Aiden reading this was anticipating what the system was about to propose to him, he didn''t know what it was going to be, but he was curious.


    [Deal: The system will give you the method to use Qi and in exchange, Aiden Nightshade will be unable to turn against the system or do something that could harm the system for the rest of his life.]


    Aiden reading this didn''tpletely understand what he had to do. He needed to not turn against the system.


    Aiden just didn''t understand how such a thing was even possible, how could he turn his back against the system?


    Was it a person who was operating that weird system which gives him strength?


    Aiden wasn''t sure but that deal made him think that maybe the system wasn''t a machine or something like that, but simply a person who was organizing everything about it behind the scenes.


    However, the same question always popped up inside his mind. who could even manage such a thing?


    How could someone be so strong that he could control several worlds, and make people do trials on them?


    Who knew how much power was needed to have such a thing?


    But the most shocking part was that this entity or whatever it is was asking Aiden, who isn''t that strong, to not turn on him for the rest of his life.


    ''Why?'' thought Aiden, directly asking the system as he just couldn''t begin to understand why he would need to do something like that.


    Was he really such a big threat to the system?


    He knows that weird thing had revolved around him but was it so bad that the system wanted to take protective measures against him?


    Then, after asking that question, a beeping sound once again resounded in his head.


    *BEEP*


    [The system can''t reveal the reasons for this deal. Do you ept?]


    Aiden read this message and only scuffed as he had already what sort of response he would be getting.


    Aiden wasn''t sure if the best decision here was to ept, he knew that he didn''t want to restrict his freedom.


    He also knew that the system could potentially do such a thing, so he wasn''t sure if it was in his best interest to ept.


    *BEEP*


    [The system would never make actions that will negatively affect you, and the system will never control you, Aiden.]


    ''Stop reading my mind,'' thought Aiden as he knew that he had to make a choice fast as the people around him were starting to slowly wake up realizing that they still had a war to win.


    However, what the system had just added at the end pushed him in one direction. But Aiden wasn''t naive, how could he even trust the system?


    It was an entity which he knew absolutely nothing about, so how could he even know that it would its word?


    Aiden needed some type of assurance that it would respect its part of the deal or else he wouldn''t ept.


    *BEEP*


    [The system gains nothing from slowing down its growth, it wants to see you grow as fast as possible.]


    Then, give me answers you stupid system,'' thought Aiden as he saw more and more people standing up around him.


    He knew that the time was ticking and that he had to make a choice fast or else who knew what would happen.


    ''Why do want to see me grow stronger, why was I sent to this world? W-what the point of all this?'' thought Aiden in his mind, as he was starting to have a mental breakdown.


    So many answers that he ignored, so many things that he wanted to know about. However, no matter how much he wanted to have those answers he couldn''t.


    There was simply no way for him to find them without the help of someone really powerful or the system.


    The other option was the system and it was the first that Aiden was actually having a conversation with it.


    Then, as he started to lose hope that the system would be answering, another beeping sound resounded in his mind. n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    *BEEP*


    [Make your choice in five seconds or else this deal will disappear forever.]


    [5]


    ''Fuck, fuck, fuck,'' thought Aiden as he was thinking as fast as he possibly could.


    [4]


    The more he thought about it, the more he realized that there weren''t any disadvantages to refusing this deal if he trusted everything that the system had mentioned.


    That was why he was doubting whether or not to ept this deal.


    [3]


    ''I need to get stronger, that''s the best way right now,'' thought Aiden as he had made up his mind.


    He would ept this deal from the system even if he didn''t really want to.


    ''I ept,'' said Aiden in his mind, knowing that the system had won this time.


    He needed to get stronger and from what he had seen that energy called Qi had to be incredible because of how strong everyone around him was.


    *BEEP*


    [Transfering the method...]


    Aiden seeing this immediately opened his system''s interface as he saw that the method to learn Qi wasn''t there, however, there was something else there.


    He had obtained a new skill or something simr, however, he couldn''t even remember when he had gotten it.

 Chapter 169 169 - Otherwordly Teleportation

    <h4>Chapter 169 Chapter 169 - Otherwordly Teleportation</h4>


    As Aiden opened his system, he saw that he had a new skill or some new option which he had never seen before.


    Aiden then tried to remember when was thest time he had heard a beeping noise, but he couldn''t quite remember. n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    ''When could it have happened?'' he thought.


    But then he realized that he was losing his time as he needed to find that method which the system had promised to give him.


    ''Where is it?'' asked Aiden in his mind, as no matter where he searched he couldn''t find it.


    *BEEP*


    [The transfer of the method is in progress.]


    ''Well, go faster. I don''t have all day here,''ined Aiden in his mind, as if he was a crazy person.


    However, he was right he didn''t have time to wait for this transfer as more and more people stood up around him, but there was one thing which was quite the advantage for Aiden.


    Everyst one of them was extremely confused, it seemed that still didn''t all have their minds in the right ce since none of them had talked about the war with the Plum Blossom Sect yet.


    Well, Aiden was happy about that as it would give him more time to understand this whole Qi thing.


    Wanting for the method to transfer in his mind, Aiden continued to nce at his system''s interface as he couldn''t believe what he was reading.


    Since when was this there?


    Then, he concentrated as much as he could on his memories focusing on the times he had heard that beeping noise.


    ''Wait... there''s no way that''s when I got this,'' thought Aiden, as he thought about the one time when he hadn''t looked at the system message when hearing the beeping noise.


    The only time he had done so since arriving here was when he had been having sex with Wu Lan, that was the one time that he had dismissed as some unimportant detail.


    However, seeing this now, he had to say that he had probably dismissed the most important message from the system yet.


    Because this function or skill would be very useful in the future. However, it wouldn''t be in this trial, so it wasn''t that bad that he hadn''t seen it yet.


    Nheless, it was still good that Aiden had seen that.


    Then, he once again looked at the description of the skill, as he understood a little bit more why he had gotten it when having sex.


    [Otherwordly Teleportation]


    [System Function]


    [Description: Will give the option to teleport to the worlds which you have visited. However, you will only be able to teleport to the worlds in which you had sex. You will teleport to the selected world, in your real body and won''t be impersonating anyone when doing so.]


    [Cooldown: 30 Days]


    ''How does such a skill even exist?'' thought Aiden, not believing how such a thing had been created.


    He had to admit that this description was stupid, why did he need to have to go into the worlds that he had visited?


    Couldn''t he simply do it without having sex?


    Nheless, it wasn''t a deal breaker at all, in fact, Aiden wasn''t displeased by the fact that he had found a reason to have sex each time that he had a trial.


    Now, having a reason, he would be able to do it one time with a goal in his mind.


    ''Wait, this means that I''ll be able to see Mia again?'' thought Aiden, realizing the possibilities that he would be able to obtain with this skill.


    Well, it wasn''t a skill but a System Function, but Aiden wasn''t sure of the difference anyway.


    Aiden couldn''t help but imagine Mia''s body, he had to admit that he had missed her as she had been the first real friend, in his two livesbined.


    *BEEP*


    However, all those thoughts vanished when this noise resounded in his head.


    [The transfer has beenpleted.]


    Then, as Aiden read this message, memories started to invade his mind.


    The method which the system had promised was in the form of memories it seemed as if Aiden could perceive what seemed to be an old in the video.


    However, his body didn''t look old at all, in fact, its body was better than Aiden''s real one.


    One might argue that it was easy to achieve such a thing, however, when age catches up to you. Your body will slowly start to crumple, but it seemed that this wasn''t a problem for either Li Feng or the person that Aiden was currently seeing in his mind.


    The old man had no hair on his head, but he had a long brown beard that went all the way down to his chest.


    "Hello, User from the universal system, how are you doing?" said the old man.


    ''What''s happening, is it talking to me?'' thought Aiden, unsure of what was happening.


    Because of the shock that he was under, Aiden hadn''t heard the man say the word "universal".


    "Well, you probably are doing well since you received this video of me. I guess you''re trying to have ess to Qi, huh?" said the old man.


    ''I guess this really is a video,'' thought Aiden, as he didn''t quite understand how a video could be transferred in his mind.


    But well, he knew that the system was able to do many things, so he didn''t think too much about it.


    "Using Qi... it''s been a while," said the man seemingly reminiscing about the past.


    "Right, sorry, Qi. The way to use it is quite simple. First of all, go into a meditative pose," said the old man as Aiden followed the exact movements that he was seeing.


    The others who were around Aiden couldn''t help but be confused as to what was happening to their Sect Leader.


    Because some of them had finally started to realize that they had been in the process of attacking the Plum Blossom Sect.


    "Sect Leader, are you okay?" said Li Yang, who was looking worryingly at Aiden, not sure what was happening.


    However, the only thing he received in response wasplete silence.

 Chapter 170 170 - Forming a Core

    <h4>Chapter 170 Chapter 170 - Forming a Core</h4>


    Aiden didn''t have the time to answer those around him as the video with the video was currently being yed inside his mind and he didn''t want to lose a single moment.


    Aiden knew that this was important if he wanted to finish this trial, so he made sure to listen to everything from start to finish.


    He was currently in a meditative state, as he was currently sat on the ground.


    Then, the old man in the video continued to exin to him the next step that he would have to take.


    "Now, that you are in a meditative state, you will need to form a core inside of your body," said the old man as if everyone knew how to do such a thing.


    However, Aiden clearly wasn''t part of them as he continued to watch the video in his mind, waiting for some more explications.


    "So, how can you create a core to store your Qi inside?" asked the old man.


    ''Fuck, can''t he go faster, I really don''t have the time right now,'' thought Aiden as he started to hear more and more noises around him, it seemed that everyone was starting to "wake" up.


    ''I obviously don''t know, there''s a reason I''m watching this video, dumbass,'' thought Aiden.


    "The way to create a core to store your Qi, is to first find the Qi within you," said the old man as he then proceeded to exin how to find the Qi within someone.


    However, Aiden didn''t care about that part as he had already done that step, what he needed were the next steps.


    "Then, once you have found the Qi hidden within you, you will need to extract it by force. Don''t simply look at it or try to move it with your mind. This energy that we call Qi is stubborn and it won''t allow itself to be controlled," exined the old man.


    "But how can you pull that energy physically?"


    ''I don''t know, that''s why I''m watching this video,'' thought Aiden frustrated. n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    "Well, it''s simple..." said the old man as he continued to exin the next steps to Aiden bit by bit.


    While Aiden was watching that little video, Wu Lan was currently shouting right beside him as she didn''t know what was happening to him.


    From the moment she had woken up, she had looked for her husband and to her surprise he was still meditating.


    Why was he even doing that when they had a way to win?


    That''s why she was currently trying her hardest to wake him up, but no matter how loudly she shouted Li Feng simply wouldn''t open his eyes.


    This caused her to ask herself what was happening to him right at this moment. Knowing that he would open his eyes when he wanted, she simply sat beside him as she started to cultivate.


    The others who saw that, copied the two of them, thinking that this was what they currently had to do.


    So, now all two hundred of them sat in one big circle cultivating, well... except Aiden who was trying to use Qi.


    ***


    Melinda who had regained her senses from masturbating was confused as to what was happening in Aiden''s trial.


    Why was it that she had lost all connection to the challenge for a brief moment?


    She had no idea why such a thing had happened but she knew that it wasn''t a mistake from the system and that it actually was on purpose.


    There was simply no way, that the system had made a mistake as she knew that it had never happened since its creation, to her knowledge.


    It had cut when there seemed to be a problem with Aiden as everyone had been seemingly shouting at him, that was when the connection cut and she hadn''t been able to see anything.


    The connection had just resumed and she didn''t understand what had happened in between those moments.


    Everyone, who had been shouting at Aiden just now, was all sat in a big circle.


    ''Wait, no there''s no way,'' thought Melinda, seeing such a scene as she simply couldn''t believe her eyes.


    Was he really doing what she thought he was?


    She had obviously gone into a world of cultivation before, so she knew what this position that they were in meant.


    ''Don''t tell me that he can use Qi? Even I don''t know how,'' thought Melinda, not understanding how such a thing was even possible.


    It made no sense for him to be able to use Qi as no one from Nova possessed such energy, so something really was weird here.


    She knew that he had a hidden potential in his body, but that didn''t mean that Aiden could use Qi.


    Well, no one in Nova possessed this energy except one person, a lone mercenary who had been roaming the world for many years.


    One of the few people who had been able to escape from the clutches of the four founding families.


    It had been a long time since she had seen him, however, she knew that he was still out there as there was simply no way that he had died.


    He wouldn''t die before any of the four founding families'' heads, there was simply no way.


    He was too powerful.


    Then, she dismissed those thoughts as she once again looked at the crystal ball in front of her.


    She didn''t know if Aiden was able to use Qi or if he was acting, but one thing was sure.


    She was extremely happy to have recruited such a talented young man. Melinda knew that he would cause any changes to this world.


    ''Who knows what he will do in the future,'' thought Melinda, looking into the small crystal ball in front of her as she was still sitting in all her body fluids which she had released earlier.


    She was still naked, as she hadn''t gotten the time to get dressed again.


    If anyone were to see her right now, they wouldn''t believe her to be one of the strongest people in this world.

 Chapter 171 171 - Finally Flying

    <h4>Chapter 171 Chapter 171 - Finally Flying</h4>


    *BEEP*


    [You have formed a Qi Core.]


    Aiden who had finally finished watching that video, finally heard that beeping noise in his mind.


    He had finally done it, he had created a core for his Qi to gather.


    Inside his body was now a little sphere of the colour gray that was brimming with Qi.


    Aiden seeing this, decided to swiftly move it around the body of Li Feng as he didn''t have any pathways blocked because of Wu Lan''s earlier intervention.


    But then a problem arose inside Aiden''s mind.


    ''Would I have ess to this when I go back to my real body,'' thought Aiden as he knew that he was currently making all those changes to Li Feng''s body.


    But then he remembered that the real Li Feng had probably done all of those things a long time ago, so nothing was making sense at the moment.


    But then a message appeared in front of him which exined what had happened.


    [You will retain all the abilities gained in this trial except of the strength of the person you have impersonated.]


    This basically meant that Aiden would have ess to Qi when going back to Nova.


    However, there was still one problem he didn''t know what were the uses of Qi. What could it even do?


    Aiden had absolutely no idea, he only knew that you could use that energy to fly.


    Realizing that he didn''t need to be in this position, Aiden finally opened his eyes as he was shocked by the scene in front of him.


    Why were they all in the same position as him, what was even happening?


    ''Were they all copying me?'' thought Aiden as he slowly started to stand up.


    He had no idea how much time he had spent trying to form his core, but it seemed that many things that happened.


    Aiden still remembered the final moment when he finally created his core. He didn''t know why but when he had finished doing so, the chains around his heart started shaking like crazy.


    Aiden caught sight of many things behind those chains, but he had no idea what they even were.


    Some of the things were objects, though they were in some weird form. The rest were in the form of energy just like Qi and Mana in general.


    Then, as Aiden slowly stood up, Wu Lan who was right beside him, noticed it right away looking at him weirdly.


    ''Please tell me she actually forgot just like all the others,'' thought Aiden as he didn''t want to hear her shout at him once again, especially when he might be able to return to this world because of the new system function which he had acquired.


    Thinking back on it, that new option was incredible and made it possible for Aiden to go back to see Mia and Alex, the crazy scientist.


    Thinking of Alex, Aiden knew that he had a really good opportunity to make loads of money because of the elixir that he had been producing.


    Aiden knew that many people were looking to buy it, so this was simply perfect for him as he would be able to get a big amount of them.


    However, he dismissed those thoughts when he heard the voice of Wu Lan who didn''t seem too happy.


    "You''re finally opening your eyes, huh?"


    "Huh, yeah," responded Aiden, unsure what he had done wrong.


    He was just hoping that she didn''t know about him impersonating her husband, that was the only thing that he cared about at the moment.


    "Don''t you know how worried I was when I opened my eyes and saw you meditating, I thought that something had gone wrong with you," said Wu Lan, showing her worry.


    ''Seems like she doesn''t remember anything about that,'' thought Aiden as a small smile appeared on his face.


    "Did you?" said Aiden as he got closer to her, hugging her.


    Now, that she had forgotten about him being an impostor, it made things a lot simpler as Aiden would once again be able to be all touchy with her. N?v(el)B\\jnn


    "Stop, not here," she whispered in his ears as she knew that everyone around was currently hearing their little conversation.


    In fact, everyone had started to stand up and all of them seemed ready to go fight the Plum Blossom Sect it seemed.


    Aiden who had just learned how to use Qi, remembered what Wu Lan had told him earlier about flying and applied those things.


    He circted his Qi toward his feet as he bent his knees, and then he gave a small impulsion up and there he was flying just like all the others.


    He had done it, he had finally learnt how to fly, now all that was left for him to do was to learn the other things that were rted to Qi.


    Then, he got a good idea, couldn''t he simplye back here in the future?


    He sure could, so he would be able toe back and learn more about Qi and its usefulness bying back here in the future.


    Aiden had so many things to do, but the one thing that he needed to do right now was simple.


    Finish this damn trial and go back to the arena to win the Inter Family Tournament.


    In fact, even if Aiden didn''t win it, then it wouldn''t even matter as he had already gained so many things already that it was mind-blowing.


    Then, as Aiden floated in the air, he looked down on all the cultivators which were below him, looking at him with stars in their eyes.


    ''I guess this is yet another thing that strength can give you,'' he thought looking at the admiration that everyone had for him.


    Then, he prepared himself as he was about to give a little speech before the battle.


    "Tonight, we will end them."


    "Tonight, we will kill them all."


    "Tonight, we will win."


    "Tonight, this will be ourst battle against them because we will destroy everyst one of them!"


    Then, all of the cultivators cheered under him.

 Chapter 172 172 - Reaching the Plum Plossom Sect

    <h4>Chapter 172 Chapter 172 - Reaching the Plum Plossom Sect</h4>


    All Aiden could cheer as people were pping their hands and shouting.


    ''Did I really inspire them that much?'' thought Aiden, unsure whether is speech was even good.


    He had just made it on the spot without thinking about it at all, so he was surprised to see everyone so pumped to go fight against the Plum Blossom Sect.


    Then, everyone who was still on the ground started to fly in the air since they wanted to join their Sect Leader.


    Wu Lan was the first one to leave the ground as she arrived right beside him in the air, whispering something in his ear.


    "That was so hot." N?v(el)B\\jnn


    Aiden who had just heard that nodded with a small smile on his face.


    He wasn''t sure why she had found that hot, but he didn''t mind it as Wu Lan was extremely vocal physically touching him.


    Then, the rest of the people started to appear by his sides, and it was finally time for everyone to head for the Plum Blossom Sect and to destroy them.


    Aiden wanted an annihtion.


    He wanted to make sure that he would be obtaining the best possible rewards, because not only did he want to get good rewards from the trial but there was the tournament in which he needed to perform.


    Then, Aiden didn''t lose time as he followed everyone who was currently going toward the Plum Blossom Sect, Wu Lan was obviously in the front directing everyone behind her.


    Aiden didn''t know why but he felt as if this trial would be easy now that he had passed a deal with the system.


    He didn''t know why but he felt as if he had be an ally to the system. It might be a weird thing to say, but that''s what he had felt like.


    Then, as they had been flying in the air for quite some time, the pace at which Wu Lan was going slowed down, letting the others catch up behind her.


    Aiden wondering what was happening tried to look on his left and on his right, and that''s when he spotted it.


    They had finally arrived at the Plum Blossom Sect, it seemed.


    All the cultivators which were following being Wu Lan made sure to make as little noise as possible as it seemed that everyone in that sect was sleeping, not expecting an attack at night.


    Everything waspletely dark, there were no lights on. This was simply perfect for Aiden and the rest.


    It really seemed that this trial would be an actual breeze.


    Then, they all stopped flyingnding one kilometre away from the sect to discuss how they would be attacking the sect.


    Obviously, the one who was doing the strategy was Wu Lan and not Aiden as he wasn''t the strategist.


    Aiden preferred it this way as he could simply fight without worrying about anything else. It was simply for the best if he was being honest.


    "Did everyone understand the n?" asked Wu Lan looking at the four generals who were around here.


    It was obvious that the strategy meeting didn''t include all of them.


    They would be the ones instructing the rest of the two hundred of them as having a giant strategy meeting just wasn''t efficient, especially when they wanted to attack the sect as soon as possible while it was still dark outside.


    "Yes, everything is clear," responded Li Yang and the rest of them, in a low tone of voice, as he didn''t want to alert those close to him.


    Then, they all separated and went toward their respective team of cultivators, telling them exactly what they had just been told.


    It seems like it was time for them to attack the sect as everyone started flying in the air in the direction of the sect.


    They were all going as fast as they could, it seemed like discretion hadn''t been the n chosen by Wu Lan.


    Speed had been the choice it seemed.


    Nheless, the people flying made sure to be careful about what they were doing. They didn''t want to make too much noise, alerting the enemy wasn''t the goal after all.


    However, they had done it, Aiden and the rest of them had entered the sect and it seemed that no one had spotted them.


    Aiden actually found it weird that no one had been watching out for intruders, especially in times of war.


    Still, he didn''t ask himself too many questions and simply followed the n given by Wu Lan as he was now going alone toward the house of their Sect Leader.


    Aiden''s role was simple, he needed to kill their Sect Leader.


    Even if he didn''t usually participate in those wars, Wu Lan had decided that this would be thest one that they would be going through, which is why she decided topletely kill all of the Plum Blossom Sect.


    ***


    Melinda who was still looking at her crystal ball was surprised to see what was happening.


    Aiden had been able to fly without any constraint.


    This meant one thing and one thing only, Aiden had been able to learn how to use Qi.


    This time she didn''t know how to react, this was simply perfect.


    She had just recruited someone with such great talent that she couldn''t believe it at all.


    ''I just hope that he won''t turn against me in the future,'' thought Melinda, bing a little of the potential that Aiden held and the thing was that she didn''t even know half of it.


    She didn''t know that in the future he would be able to use all the sses skills, she didn''t know that he had just passed a deal with the system. She didn''t know about his past being an assassin.


    There were so many that she ignored and Aiden was still that dangerous from her point of view.


    If one thought about it for long enough, it seemed normal for the system to take protective measures against such a threat.

 Chapter 173 173 - Lucius?

    ?


    Aidenpletely ignored that Melinda was watching him while he was doing his trial, but even if he had known. He wouldn''t have acted differently for the most part.


    Well, maybe he wouldn''t have had sex with Wu Lan, but that was only a small detail. Apart from that, he would have done the exact same.


    ''I''ll try to kill him as fast as possible,'' thought Aiden as he headed to what seemed like the biggest building in the Plum Blossom Sect.


    It made sense in Aiden''s mind, that the strongest person would reside in the biggest building. Because those who were the strongest would usually have all the advantages.


    He was also following Wu Lan''s orders which was to kill their Sect Leader and that was what he would do.


    After flying in the direction of the biggest building of their Sect, hended right in front of it admiring it a little as he really was massive.


    Aiden could only barely see the sides of that house because of howrge it was. Back in Li Feng''s Sect, Aiden had to admit that his house was also massive, however, itcked a little whenparing it with this.


    Also, the house was well decorated and showed the wealth of their Sect Leader as Aiden could see many precious gems on the massive wall in front of him.


    However, that wasn''t the most impressive part, the entrance was as there were two statues of what seemed to be lions on both sides of the main door.


    Seeing that door, Aiden simply walked toward it and opened it as there was once again no surveince around it.


    Aiden noticed that and thought that it was weird, but he simply didn''t think that much of it.


    ''Maybe he likes his privacy?'' thought Aiden as he continued to walk forward into the building.


    Entering it, Aiden recognized almost his room as there was a throne inside with nothing else inside it.


    Only a throne and one long red carpet which made it all the way to that throne.


    ''Where is that guy?'' thought Aiden as he started looking left and right in hopes of finding their Sect Leader.


    Aiden knew that by killing him, victory would be pretty much assured.


    Because killing the strongest would lower everyone''s morale, that was just a in fact and Aiden knew it very well.


    Then, as he kept walking around in hopes of finding their Sect Leader, he reached the throne and started to look around it.


    As he got behind the throne, he seemed to spot someone quite a few meters away from him, sitting on the ground and looking at the ground, not minding his surroundings at all.


    Aiden seeing this for the first time found it weird, not sure who that person was.


    ''Is this their Sect Leader?'' thought Aiden, as he got closer little by little.


    While he got closer, he noticed that the person still hadn''t looked toward him yet, and Aiden was also sure of something this person was clearly awake and he wasn''t sleeping at all.


    Aiden who thought that was his opportunity to kill that person who was sitting on the ground like that, immediately dashed toward that person with only one single goal in his mind, killing that man.


    Funnily enough, the more Aiden looked at that person the more it made him think of Lucius and his behaviour back in the Arena as he had always looked down on no matter the situation.


    ''Probably a coincidence,'' thought Aiden as he arrived right beside that man, preparing his strike which would be as usual aimed at the neck of that person.


    However, when Aiden was about to kill him, he heard a voice from behind him.


    "Who are you and what are you doing here?"


    Aiden confused looked downwards, where he couldn''t see the Sect Leader anymore.


    ''Wait, how did he move so fast?'' thought Aiden as he hadn''t caught view of how he had gotten behind him.


    ***


    Melinda who was watching Aiden enter this massive building wasn''t worried in the slightest as she knew that Aiden''s strength was ridiculous now having ess to Qi, she knew that whoever he would be facing, it would surely win.


    There was literally no doubt in her mind.N?v(el)B\\jnn


    Watching him search for somebody, Melinda patiently waited as she was impatient to see him fight again, especially in the body of someone that strong.


    She wondered how he would use those physical capabilities to help him.


    Then, Aiden had now arrived around the throne and started looking around it.


    ''Just where is that person? Fucking fight, I''m tired of waiting,'' thought Melinda as she just couldn''t wait to see him fight once again.


    She wanted to see how he would use the new energy which he had ess to, Qi.


    She wondered if he was going to be able to use it as well as that mercenary.


    It was honestly a stupid thoughting from her, especially since the mercenary had trained years to fight with Qi, and Aiden had only recently gotten ess to it.


    Obviously, he wasn''t going to be as strong, it would make sense if he were.


    Then, Melinda continued looking at her crystal ball and she saw that Aiden was approaching someone which wasn''t that visible because of how dark it was inside this ce.


    Melinda caught sight of that person and she saw how weird he was acting, sitting on the ground not caring about his surroundings at all.


    ''Why does that make me think of him?'' she thought.


    She knew that someone liked to act like that, always sitting on the ground looking down as if nothing else.


    Her confidence which she had all this time about him winning started to vanish little by little as she knew that if that person really was Lucius then the chances of Aiden winning would be slim, extremely slim.


    ''I got to say, though, he really is unlucky being in the same trial as Lucius,'' thought Melinda, now sure that this person was Lucius as she had seen the speed at which he had moved.

 Chapter 174 174 - Chills

    ?N?v(el)B\\jnn


    "Who are you and what are you doing here?" said the person with a chilling voice as he wasn''t on the ground anymore.


    He was right behind Aiden ready to strike him down.


    ''How?'' thought Aiden, as he couldn''t believe that he hadn''t seen that person move behind him. He had to admit that he waspletely shocked about this whole matter.


    Aiden moved away instantly as he worried about what this man was about to do as he wasn''t sure if he was even going to be able to react.


    He hadn''t even seen him inside such a powerful body whose stats were all over 150.


    Then, Aiden remembered the initial pose of that man, who had sat on the ground exactly like Lucius had been in the Arena.


    ''There''s no way, right?'' thought Aiden, not sure if he should trust his instinct.


    Aiden just couldn''t believe that the man in front of him was Lucius. Obviously, Lucius was also currently impersonating another body.


    ''Is this even possible? Can I fight against other people from Nova when doing trials?'' thought Aiden, unsure if this was even possible in the first ce.


    However, the system which had just heard his question made a small beeping noise.


    It seemed that it had the answer and that it wouldn''t hide it from Aiden at all.


    *BEEP*


    [It''s possible to fight against people from your own world while doing a trial.]


    Aiden reading this right away, couldn''t help but ask another question inside his mind.


    ''Is that man in front of me, Lucius Nightshade?''


    Then, there was a small dy in the answer as Aiden didn''t receive a beeping noise this time.


    However, after some seconds, he did happen and another text appeared in front of him.


    *BEEP*


    [Yes, the man in front of you is currently being impersonated by Lucius Nightshade.]


    Hearing that response, Aiden muttered that name in a low tone.


    "Lucius."


    The man in front of him had a weird reaction hearing that name, however, he quickly got back into the fight without saying anything as if nothing had even happened.


    Aiden didn''t know why but knowing that the person controlling that body was Lucius, he felt that he had even more reasons than before to win.


    He needed to win.


    ''Are you watching?'' thought Aiden, as the face of the Nightshade Patriarch appeared instantly inside of his mind.


    He wanted to prove that he had made a mistake abandoning the old Aiden who was residing inside if this body.


    Aiden then started to feel some anger inside him as he released that deadly ck aura around him.


    Lucius seeing that ck aura seemed to react as he moved his head a little to the left as if wondering where he had seen this before.


    "Who are you?" repeated Lucius, in a voice which would make many shiver only by hearing it.


    Aiden hadn''t heard his voice before before and he had to admit that it wasn''t satisfying to hear at all.


    Even Aiden who was used to being talked in such a way didn''t appreciate that tone.


    ''Should I reveal my name?'' thought Aiden, not sure if he should.


    For all he knew the people watching this fight could very well be listening right at this moment.


    Thinking of that possibility, Aiden decided against it as he prepared himself to murmur his nickname, the one which had haunted so many people in his life.


    Thinking of that nickname, Aiden thought back on his mask which he had destroyed right before entering this trial.


    ''Wait, when Ie out, everyone''s going to see my face,'' thought Aiden, as he suddenly realized that what he had done at the start was one hell of a dumb move.


    ''Why did I even do that?'' thought Aiden, as he wasn''t that focused on the fight anymore.


    However, the shilling voice woke him up as he looked right in front of him, dismissing those thoughts instantly.


    "Who are you?" repeated Lucius, this time being a little bit more aggressive.


    "The Reaper," murmured Aiden, thinking that it would cause some sort of fear in Lucius, however, none of that happened as he kept a straight face.


    "Who''s that?" muttered Lucius, breaking Aiden''s confidence in half.


    ''He doesn''t know about me.''


    ''Did he really not pay attention to anyone else, but himself and that stupid ground which he was constantly looking at,'' thought Aiden as he could some rage rising inside his body.


    Aiden was clearly mad about this whole thing, but thinking about it a little more, it was kind of normal for Lucius to not know anything about him as he really didn''t pay attention to anything.


    However, it still hurt being told that in your face.


    ''I guess, I''ll just have to make him remember me,'' thought Aiden, as he made sure to have the tips which Lilia had told him about.


    He would make sure that he wouldn''t be able to use sh step, that was going to be Aiden''s main goal during this fight.


    Nheless, Aiden wasn''t duped he knew that the man in front of him would be able to use a lot of other things like skills and techniques.


    He knew that someoneing from the Nightshade family wouldn''t be depending on one thing and one thing only, he was sure to have many tricks in his bag, especially since he was called the strongest by many people around him.


    Then, making up his mind, Aiden grabbed a firm of his dagger as he looked straight into the eyes of the man Lucius was impersonating.


    After doing so, he elerated in front of him appearing in front of Lucius instantly as the speed which he could reach with this body was absolutely insane.


    Then, without losing any time, Aiden started attacking relentlessly, not wanting Lucius to even have a single break.


    "By the end of this fight you better that name, the Reaper," muttered Aiden as he continued to attack Lucius.


    "Sure," replied Lucius, nonchntly not caring about what Aiden had said at all.

 Chapter 175 175 - Struggle

    ?


    Aiden knew that this was going to be a tough fight as he was facing the one who had been called the favourite in this tournament.


    Aiden honestly wondered if Melinda and the other Patriarchs could see their fights right now, as it would surely be impressive to look at.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    Because just right now, Aiden hadn''t stopped attacking Lucius for thest few minutes. But, Aiden still hadn''t managed onto him as he kept deflecting his strikes with as minimal movement as possible.


    ''Is he some sort of machine?'' thought Aiden as he just couldn''t believe that Lucius''s movements were this perfect.


    It was as if all his movements were calcted beforehand, Aiden honestly had no choice but to be awed seeing them.


    Still, he didn''t let that achievement reach him mentally, as he slowed down his attacks a little as he needed to find a way to actually touch Lucius.


    Wanting to think for a little, he backed off, as he thought about all the things that he could use at the moment.


    ''Wait, why didn''t I activate [Mind of an Assassin] right away?'' thought Aiden, finding himself somewhat stupid at the moment.


    He should have activated it right away even if that person wasn''t Lucius, he just believe how stupid he had been.


    *BEEP*


    [Mind of an Assassin has been activated.]


    Then, an afterimage of himself appeared in front of him as he started testing the multiple paths for him to win this fight.


    While his afterimage was trying to find a way to win, Aiden tried his best to hold his own as he kept blocking all the strikes that were beingunched against him.


    It had been a couple of seconds, and the afterimage of Aiden still hadn''t found any way to defeat him.


    ''Why isn''t the skill working?'' thought Aiden, frustrated.


    Then, the message that appeared in front of him, confused him deeply.


    [Mind of an Assassin is being deactivated, no uses have been found.]


    ''No uses have been found? Does that mean that there''s no way for me to defeat Lucius?'' thought Aiden, as he simply couldn''t believe the system.


    There had to be a way, there was always a way.


    ''Well, who cares about this skill, I have other skills that I can use,'' thought Aiden, as he thought of [Veil of Darkness] and [Shadow Strike].


    However, he realized that one of those skills was useless as [Veil of Darkness] would pretty much make him untargetable.


    But, who cares about being untargetable, it wouldn''t do anything in a duel.


    He also had [Gentle Touch] but Aiden couldn''t see any potential uses for this skill as the moment which meant that he pretty much had only one skill which he could potentially use to make a difference, [Shadow Strike].


    Aiden remembered that this skill would make one of his attacks pretty much invisible as long as he had higher Charm than his opponent.


    And for the person that Lucius was impersonating to have more Charm than Li Feng was pretty much impossible as Li Feng had 500 Charm.


    Honestly, if Lucius had such a high amount of Charm, then Aiden would simply give up as he really wouldn''t be able to do anything against that man.


    He was still confident even if [Mind of an Assassin] had failed, but if this skill of his were to fail, then it would honestly be over as he could already feel that Lucius was slowly but surely starting to take advantage in the fight.


    All the strikes which Aiden was currently sending were now being deflected, and then it didn''t stop there. Lucius would now counterattack toward Aiden which made his whole attack much more difficult as he also needed to defend.


    Feeling that he was losing his advantage, Aiden jumped back putting some distance between the two of them as they started looking at each other in the eyes.


    "Not sure if I''ll remember that name of yours. This fight really is boring," uttered Lucius, looking directly into Aiden''s eyes, clearly mocking him.


    However, Aiden didn''t bite as he kept his distance trying to find the perfect timing for him to use his [Shadow Strike].


    Then, Aiden saw that Lucius was starting to approach toward him at the same pace, not varying one bit. It was constant as if he was a robot.


    Remember the advice of Lilia, he quickly acted as he attacked right away.


    Lucius had a bit of a surprised expression on his face wondering why Aiden had attacked him right away.


    "Did someone tell you some things about me?" said Lucius, instantly figuring it out.


    However, even if he knew, it wouldn''t change anything as Aiden would still be able to restrict his use of [sh Step].


    Nheless, even without it, he was still able to beat Aiden who was now once again close to Lucius.


    This time, it was Lucius who was on the offence as Aiden was defending as best as he could. However, this was all but an act to let Lucius lower his guard a little and when he would do so.


    Aiden wouldn''t even hesitate for a millisecond as he would strike.


    It wasn''t going to be a normal strike, it would be a deadly one.


    So, as Aiden kept receiving attacks and getting hurt. He remarked that Lucius was starting to be a lot more aggressive for some reason as kept attacking the same spot over and over again.


    ''Is it because of blood that he''s bing crazy?'' thought Aiden, unsure if he was right.


    But he had no time to worry about that as he seemed to have found an opening in Lucius''s defence.


    The first opening which he had seen since the start of the fight and he wasn''t going to miss as he immediatelyunched a strike with his dagger.


    Obviously aimed at Lucius''s neck.


    Then, the opening which Aiden had just seen hadpletely disappeared and a smile appeared on Lucius''s face as if this was all part of his n since the very beginning.

 Chapter 176 176 - Qi

    <h4>Chapter 176 Chapter 176 - Qi</h4>


    N?v(el)B\\jnn


    That smile was terrifying from Aiden''s point of view. It was as if Lucius had already anticipated everything.


    However, Aiden didn''t give up on his strike as he had activated his [Shadow Strike] which meant that his attack was supposed to be invisible. However, Aiden didn''t know why, but he could already tell that his attack was bound to fail.


    He just had a feeling and it seemed that he wasn''t wrong because as soon as his dagger was arriving close to his neck, Lucius literally disappeared, just like what happened when he had first tried to attack him.


    It was as if, he had some sort of defence for deadly attacks or something simr that made him disappear from Aiden''s point of view.


    Was it a technique or a skill?


    Aiden wasn''t sure, but he did know that it was ridiculously overpowered.


    Then, as Lucius appeared behind Aiden, he didn''t lose any time as he immediately went in for a strike toward Li Feng''s heart.


    Aiden literally had no way to block such an attack, so he had no choice but to get hit in the chest just like that.


    ''Am I really going to lose?'' thought Aiden, as he could some blood starting to leave his body.


    It seemed to be dead set, that Aiden would be losing this fight as everything had already told him so.


    His skill [Mind of an Assassin] had pretty much told him that it was impossible to win as it hadn''t seen any possible way of doing so. Then, he tried to use his other skill but it waspletely rendered useless in an instant.


    To be honest, Aiden had to admit that as of right now he waspletely inferior to the man who was right on top of him smiling.


    "What was your name again?" asked yfully Lucius, looking Aiden straight in the eyes.


    ''Fuck, I need to use my [Return Stone],'' thought Aiden as he knew that he was about to die.


    So, the only way for him to survive and not die right there was to consume his [Return Stone]


    However, just as he was about to do so, a beeping sound resounded in his mind.


    *BEEP*


    [Qi is circting in your body had an incredible rate.]


    [Your body is being healed, strength is taking over your body.]


    As Aiden read those words, he could feel that the hole which was in his chest started to slowly close.


    This wasn''t only because of the Qi, but also because of Aiden''s regeneration skill which he had gotten in his first trial by killing the Cyclops.


    But, the Qi was obviously ying a huge part or else Aiden would be dead right now.


    However, there was still one big problem.


    Lucius was currently on top of Aiden watching him being healed in real time was he just going to watch him being healed right in front of him?


    Of course not, which is why Aiden immediately prepared himself to receive another attack bringing both of his arms in front of his chest.


    He knew that it wouldn''t protect much, but it was better than nothing, well... that was what Aiden thought as he got hit right where his hands were.


    After being hit, Aiden started moving right away as he didn''t want to stay under Lucius as this was the most dangerous position that he could be in.


    That''s why, he took his dagger in his hand and started waving it in front of his head, wanting Lucius to move back because of the iing.


    However, that didn''t work and was still there on top of him.


    While all this was happening, Aiden''s gray energy continued to spread inside his body without slowing down at all, healing him pretty much everywhere.


    Even in such a tough situation, its effects were simply incredible and the best part was that Aiden didn''t even know how to use that energy yet, imagine what he would be able to achieve when he will.


    ''How can I get out of this situation?'' thought Aiden as he kept thinking and thinking, trying ot find a way out.


    However, he was simply stuck constantly regenerating under the attacks of Lucius who didn''t hesitate to strike down at all.


    "The Reaper, huh? Nice name, maybe I''ll take it for myself," said Lucius out of nowhere as he kept striking down without remorse.


    Then, as Aiden was about to activate his [Return Stone] as he didn''t want to die for real, he heard a beeping sound.


    And as usual, it seemed to be perfectly timed.


    *BEEP*


    [Your strength is increasing because of the amount of Qi circting inside of your body. +100 Strength.]


    Aiden saw this and instantly he grabbed one of the arms which were about to hit him once again.


    He took a hit with a firm hold. One thing was sure Aiden wouldn''t let go of that arm for anything in the world, he would hold onto it until Lucius dies.


    Well... the person he was impersonating as Aiden didn''t know what would happen to Lucius if he were to fail a trial.


    Feeling the strength course through his body, Aiden felt invincible like no one could attain him.


    Then, he slowly stood up as he grabbed Lucius''s other arm lifting him up as if he was nothing more than a sheet of paper.


    "What did you say? Can you repeat it?" asked Aiden, as he could feel the rage from within him.


    He knew that some of his emotions were starting to take over as he could feel that he was slowly losing himself in this fight.


    The only thing that he had on his mind was to get revenge.


    But the revenge of what?


    Aiden didn''t even know, he just knew that he had to take revenge and kill that person which Lucius was currently impersonating.


    Then, as the rage kept getting stronger and stronger, the eyes of Aiden closed for an instant before opening again right after.


    Something had changed, but even Lucius didn''t know as he was being destroyed right at this moment.

 Chapter 177 177 - Lost

    <h4>Chapter 177 Chapter 177 - Lost</h4>


    As Aiden closed his eyes and reopened them, his entire vibe seemed to have changed as it was a lot darker than earlier.


    "L-let go," muttered Lucius as he could feel that his arms were being literally crushed.


    However, Aiden didn''t even blink as he heard this, simply smiling while looking into Lucius''s eyes while continuing to put pressure on both his arms.


    "Repeat it, are you going to take that name?" uttered Aiden once again.


    If anyone were to see him right now they would be scared out of their minds, because his eyes, his body, his aura, everything about Aiden was incredibly scary as if someone had taken over his body.


    It had just changed so much in a matter of seconds that it didn''t make any sense.


    "Who are you?" asked Lucius once again.


    Aiden only smiled as he gave the same answer as earlier.


    "I already told you, I''m the Reaper."


    Lucius, however, faintly shook his head as he knew that this wasn''t the case. That wasn''t the person who was in front of him crushing his arms and wrists.


    The man in front of him wasn''t the same as earlier, Lucius had no idea how, but he knew that there had been a switch, something was different.


    "N-no, who are you? Your name... w-what is it?" said Lucius as he struggled to talk normally as pain invaded the entirety of his body.


    ''I shouldn''t,'' thought Aiden, unsure if that was the wisest of decisions.


    In fact, he knew that it wasn''t.


    ''I wonder what he would think about it. Yeah, he wouldn''t do it, he wouldn''t have a reason to after all.''


    The person who was currently thinking wasn''t Aiden who came from Earth but the one who was from the Nova, the one who had been thrown away.


    He had taken over Aiden''s body because of all the emotions that he had been feeling.


    He was the one who had been causing those emotions since the very start after all.


    Then, he nced at a small timer on the top right of his vision which was going down second by second.


    [5:00]


    [4:59]


    [4:58]


    ''Only five minutes is that really all the time that I gathered?'' thought Darius, frustrated a little that he wouldn''t be able to enjoy this moment as much as he would have liked too.


    However, with the bonus strength in his body, he knew that he could basically do anything to the person which was in front of him.


    The person who had made him suffer from the moment he was born, always talking down on him as if he was nothing more than an object which he could throw away with a single thought. N?v(el)B\\jnn


    That was the sort of brother Lucius had been, a maniptive son of a bitch. Even if might seem to be stupid, not caring about anything that was simply false as he would always be aware of his surroundings.


    He knew that if he really acted like a stupid person, many would underestimate him which was why he would act this way most of the time.


    But that wasn''t the only cause of that, the other reason was probably that he found it too troublesome to look at all the things around him when he could simply hear them.


    Wasn''t it simpler to just hear things, instead of seeing them?


    Well, maybe it wasn''t easier, but it was faster that''s for sure.


    "Fuck you," muttered Aiden,pletely dismissing Lucius''s question as he knew that it was in his best interest not to tell him anything.


    He needed his identity to be secret from the Nightshades or else he wouldn''t know the trouble he would get into.


    "At least release my arms," said Lucius with the strength that was left in his body.


    Aiden actually listened to him as he wanted to see the damage that he had just done to Lucius''s body and he could only smile when he saw it.


    And when he saw the state in which Lucius was, he could finally feel some happiness.


    "I hope you can see this," shouted Aiden out loud, looking up at the sky as he once again started getting closer and closer to Lucius''s body as he wasn''t finished with it at all.


    Aiden, the one from Nova, obviously hoped that his father was able to see this. He hoped that he was able to see how he was destroying his precious right now.


    He wished to see his face, but he knew that it wasn''t possible.


    Then, he saw that Lucius''s crushed hands started to move a little into what seemed to be a small portal.


    "Are you trying to take a [Return Stone] out of your inventory?" asked Aiden, as he immediately appeared right beside Lucius''s body kicking it right in the stomach.


    "Oh, that felt good," muttered Aiden as he had longed to see that look of pain and hopelessness on his brother''s body.


    Then, he quickly nced at the timer and saw that it was almost time for him to leave, the other Aiden to take over.


    [1:20]


    [1:19]


    Seeing that he pretty much had only a minute left, he didn''t care anymore as he kept hitting Lucius over and over again until he could see more and more bloode out of his body.


    "That was for all you ever did to me," said Aiden as he continued punching with all he could possibly muster.


    Then, the bloodied face of the person which Lucius was impersonating revealed a faint smile on his face.


    "You won''t be alive much longer when we leave this trial," he said as he had literal blood on his teeth basically gushing out constantly.


    Aiden, however, only scuffed as he knew that there wouldn''t much problem when getting out, he had the support of one of the families'' heads with him.


    He knew that he wasn''t close with Melinda, but he hoped that she would at least shield him from the Nightshade.


    Then, the timer reached itsst seconds, as Aiden murmured something to the dying Lucius.


    [0:03]


    [0:02]


    [0:01]


    "See youter."


    [0:00]


    [Giving ownership back...]

 Chapter 178 178 - Error

    <h4>Chapter 178 Chapter 178 - Error</h4>


    Then, Aiden''s eyes once again closed and opened.


    ''What just happened? Everything cked out for five minutes,'' thought Aiden as he looked downward toward Lucius.


    "Woah, what happened to you?" uttered Aiden as he nced at the dead body that was right below him.


    Aiden observed that body and noticed that Lucius''s wrists had been crushed, he had several hits in his stomach which could be seen because of how red some spots were on his body.


    ''Did I do that?'' thought Aiden, unsure what to think right now.


    ''Was it because of my emotions again? Did they take over my body again?'' thought Aiden.


    However, he couldn''t help but find all of this really weird, why had he felt that he had been kicked out of this body?


    Why hadn''t he felt anything for aplete five minutes, just what could that reason be?


    Aiden didn''t know, but he would do his best to figure it out as soon as possible.


    Then, he heard a small gasp from the dead body, well presumed dead body.


    *Gasp*


    The body seemed toe back to life as Aiden observed it with interest.


    "Lucius? Is that you?" asked Aiden, unsure if the real owner of the body had taken over.


    However, the only response that he got was small breathing noises. It seemed that in his current conditions, Lucius or whoever was in control of this body, couldn''t answer Aiden.


    ''Well, I guess it doesn''t matter if they can speak or not,'' thought Aiden, as he remembered his task here.


    And he remembered it clearly, all he had needed to do was to win the war against the Plum Blossom Sect, and he guessed that killing the Patriarch would be a pretty good start to doing that.


    Then, remembering that fact Aiden approached the half-dead body that was in front of him as he got out his dagger and literally shed the head of the body in front of him.


    *BEEP*


    [You have killed an Awakened Being impersonating someone.]


    [You have levelled up.]


    [You have levelled up.]


    [You have levelled up.]


    [You have levelled up.]


    However, that wasn''t the end of all those notifications as the beeping sound once again resounded in his mind.


    But, this time it was a lot more aggressive as if Aiden had done something wrong.


    *BEEEEEP*


    [Error!]


    [Error!]


    [User has killed the Boss Monster beforepletion of the Trial Objective.]


    [The system is calcting the rewards for such an action.]


    [Calcted... the added rewards will be given in case of the <Trial Objective> beingpleted.]


    Aiden started reading from the top of all those messages as he clearly saw that his message wasn''t the usual one.


    ''I guess it really was Lucius inside that body,'' thought Aiden, as he was now sure that he had eliminated Lucius.


    ''Wait, that means I''m pretty much assured of winning this tournament,'' thought Aiden as he continued reading all those messages.


    Then, he finally arrived at the error messages that he had gotten not long ago.


    "Not again, what did I do wrong this time," uttered Aiden, as he could already tell that it would be something negative, no error was positive.


    That was just how life was in general.


    Then, he continued reading all the messages in front of him, already expecting the worst possible scenario.


    "Wait, no way," mumbled Aiden, realizing that it didn''t look like. a negative thing at all.


    "Would I really get more rewards because I killed the boss monster of the trial beforepleting the <Trial Objective>?"


    "Wait, Lucius was the boss monster?"


    "Well, I guess it kind of makes sense, as he was pretty much the most important figure in the trial."


    His thought process made sense as if Lucius was impersonating the one who could have the most impact in the war which was still ongoing outside of this massive house or room, Aiden didn''t even know to be enough.


    Since the very first trial, Aiden had noticed that Boss Monsters weren''t always the strongest beings in the trial, but the ones who would have the most impact inside it.


    "So, I guess this trial is pretty much done," muttered Aiden, as he headed toward the exit slowly as he knew that this whole trial was already over.


    "Oh, before I go," said Aiden, as he went back to the dead body picking up the head which was on the ground.


    ''That should be enough to make all of them panic and lose all hope,'' thought Aiden, as he slowly walked toward the exit once again.


    He knew that he could take his time as he would probably be able to win even if every one of his sect members would have died.


    Having this head with him, Aiden knew that the rest of this trial would be a walk in the park.


    Then, he got out of the building and started flying right away as he concentrated his Qi toward his feet which made him go up in the air without any problem.


    "I guess I''ll just go toward the noise," said Aiden as he could faintly hear the sounds of swords shing not that far away from him.


    Not losing any time, he started flying in that direction without rushing.


    Then, he started to look down, scanning his there was anyone under him as he didn''t want to miss an enemy.


    He wasn''t sure if he needed to kill everyone that was part of the Plum Blossom Sect toplete the Trial Objective, but well... Aiden wouldn''t take any chances, he would eliminate them all if that was what it took.


    "Oh, there''s somebody," mumbled Aiden as he descended from the sky at a ridiculous shing of the neck of his target without him even realizing it.


    [You have killed a cultivator.]


    [You have levelled up.]


    ''A level up only from one kill, wait... this ce... this ce is perfect,'' thought Aiden as he could already imagine himself farming all the experience that he could out of this ce. N?v(el)B\\jnn


    Now having motivation, he immediately went up in the air again in search of his next experience points, um... targets, yes, targets.

 Chapter 179 179 - Future

    <h4>Chapter 179 Chapter 179 - Future</h4>


    After killing his first victim, Aiden didn''t stop as he once again ascended into the skies, looking below him in search of new targets.


    He, obviously, still had the head of their headmaster as he did that since he only needed one hand to hold his dagger and kill all those weaklings.


    "Just where are they?" uttered Aiden as he continued to roam the skies, however, this time he was moving at a ridiculous speed.


    He made sure that he could hear the people fighting while in the air as he didn''t want to miss those precious experiences points, huh... targets.


    Then, he heard the sound of a sword shing with another sword and that''s when Aiden decided to immediately go in that direction.


    After hearing that noise, he was right above the two people fighting and Aiden made sure that he could determine who was with his sect and who wasn''t.


    Well, determining who was with him was kind of simple because all of the cultivators from his sect wore a ck robe, maybe because they were an evil sect and the others all wore a white robe.


    Aiden really had to thank whoever had designed those robes as it made the job way easier for him as he started to descend from the sky directly toward the one wearing a white robe.


    Then, out of nowhere, he simply dived once again as he shed the person wearing the white robe and that person well... died instantly.


    [You have killed a cultivator.]


    But, this time, there was no mention of him levelling up which probably meant that he needed to kill another one or two to level up once again.


    So, without losing any time, he ascended into the skies once again in search of a new target to kill and strike down.


    ***


    While Aiden was trying to find those experience points which he desperately wanted, Melinda was now back in the room with all of the other founding families'' heads and the atmosphere inside there well... wasn''t the most pleasant as some shouting and cursing could clearly be heard.


    "The fuck just happened, how did Lucius lose?" shouted the Nightshade Patriarch clearly angered by what he had just watched.


    He had after all just seen his son get decapitated, well... not his son but it was practically the same or rather it held the same meaning.


    His son who was supposed to be the best of the best had been defeated by who knows.


    "How could he lose against a fucking cultivator, the only thing that they have is their fucking body," continued the Nightshade Patriarch as it seemed that he still didn''t know that it was the Reaper who had won against his son.


    Melinda listening to all of this kept quiet as she didn''t want to reveal anything as it would simply be better if the Nightshade Patriarch didn''t learn that the Reaper was the one who had won against his son.


    "He''s fucking useless," shouted the Nightshade Patriarch, as he continued to destroy every single thing that he could put his hands on.


    "Where''s my son? I need to go see him," he said, disappearing from the room that they were in as he appeared in the arena right away where he found his son on the ground.


    It seemed that he didn''t die because of his failure in the trial which probably meant that he lost stats points instead. n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    Then, on all of the crystal balls was the scene of the Nightshade Patriarch going to talk to his son.


    But as soon as the Nightshade Patriarch was within arm''s reach of Lucius, the two of them disappeared.


    Even in the remaining founding families'' heads, not a single one of them knew where he went.


    "What do you think is going to happen?" asked Thorin, seeing them vanish.


    "Well, you know his personality. I wouldn''t be surprised to see his son either dead or severely injured because of that slip-up," muttered the elf, who hadn''t said much since the start of the whole tournament.


    "Right, I wouldn''t want to be in the ce of Lucius, that''s for sure," added Thorin, agreeing with what the elf had just said.


    ''I hope that Lucius doesn''t know that it''s the Reaper who killed him,'' thought Melinda as she knew that if Lucius knew and told his father, then there would be a load of problemsing.


    She really hoped that he had kept his mouth shut during the whole fight, but she wasn''t dumb, there was probably some exchange between the two of them, especially when Aiden had started to take the advantage in the fight.


    ''Well, I''ll try my best that there''s nothing that will happen to you,'' thought Melinda, as she knew that it was in her best intentions to protect him from the Nightshades.


    She had seen his talent and potential and she had to admit that she wasn''t disappointed in the least. There was also the fact that Aiden had made her almost cum, well... it was Li Feng technically.


    But, that was only a detail the one who had acted and fucked Wu Lan had been Aiden after all, he was only in Li Feng''s body.


    "Who do you think will win the tournament now?" asked Melinda wondering what the others thought about the remaining participants, she knew that the two of them still had members of their family still in the tournament, so she kind of already expected their biased answers.


    "Do you think we''re dumb? We know the one who defeated Lucius, we weren''t like that Nightshade, we paid attention to all participants not only members of our family."


    "Truth be told, your interest in him made me very curious," admitted the dwarf.


    "At the start, I didn''t think that he was anything special, but the more that I watched, the more I realized that you were right. That boy really is one of a kind," muttered the dwarf, looking at Melinda straight in the eyes, truly believing every single one of the words he had pronounced.

 Chapter 180 180 - Finding Li Yang Again

    <h4>Chapter 180 Chapter 180 - Finding Li Yang Again</h4>


    Aiden hadn''t stopped killing all the cultivators that he saw, not even struggling while doing so. They were all simply acting as a source of experience for him and he didn''t mind it.


    It was one of the greatest chances that he had yet, and he wanted to make sure that he would take every asion that woulde from it.


    He knew that this was an insanely good opportunity to get stronger, which is why he hadn''t slowed for a single moment even if he was feeling pain all over his body.


    Aiden knew that pain was temporary and that power would stay for eternity, that''s why he hadn''t even thought about slowing down or something like that.


    Then, as he kept killing cultivators left and right, levelling up. He finally heard a voice which he recognized.


    Aiden had to admit that this sect was very big as he had been flying for minutes and he still hadn''t flown over its entirety, it really was impressive, to be honest.


    The voice that he had just heard was from Li Yang who had just shouted something, however, Aiden wasn''t sure what it was as he only recognized the voice.


    ''There must be loads of them around him,'' thought Aiden as he immediately went as fast as possible toward that voice.


    And there he saw it, the jackpot.


    There were at least fifteen cultivators below, all waiting for him to kill them and get their experience points.


    Then, Aiden descended from the sky still with the head of their sect master in his hands,ughing weirdly as if he were some viin.


    "Kekeke, did you guys think that you were going to win?" eximed Aiden as he continued with that weirdugh of his.


    He didn''t know why he was acting but in his mind, it just fit with this whole persona that the real Li Feng would show to others.


    The ones who were on the ground wondered where that voice came from. So, they all started looking up, trying to figure out who had just talked.


    Then, as they did it, every singlest one of them revealed an expression of horror on their face. N?v(el)B\\jnn


    Wasn''t that their Sect Leader, the one who they all thought was the strongest being in the world?


    After seeing the face of the Sect Leader, they started to look at the person who was holding his head with an evil smile on his face.


    "L-Li Feng, but how? There''s no way," muttered some of the cultivators looking up at the sky.


    Using that element of shock. Aiden dived down with his dagger in his hands as he started shing their necks left and right.


    It seemed that seeing the head of their Sect Leader had shocked them deeply rendering thempletely defenseless and hopeless, not even trying to protect themselves as Aiden decapitated one after another.


    Aiden kept seeing messages appear in front of him, but he dismissed them as he already knew of their content. He had already seen it too many times already.


    [You have killed a cultivator.]


    [You have levelled up.]


    Those messages kept appearing over and over again which is why Aiden had decided to ignore them.


    Then, after decapitating all of the enemy cultivators, he could finally face Li Feng.


    "Did you really kill him?" asked Li Yang as if not believing the owner of the head that Aiden was holding right now.


    Aiden simply smiled as he uttered.


    "Did you not believe in me, I''m telling you it was only a little fight," said Aiden, acting as if the fight against the other Sect Master had been easy.


    But, Aiden didn''t even know how he had killed Lucius as he had cked outpletely, in fact, he hadn''t even really thought about it yet but it really was weird what had happened.


    He just didn''t have the time to think these things through as he had so many things to do.


    Li Yang was shocked by the condition in which Li Feng''s body was, there was not even a scratch on it. Li Yang knew that his Sect Leader was powerful, but that much, he hadn''t expected it if he were to be honest.


    However, the reason as to why Aiden was in such good condition was simply because of the regeneration caused by Qi earlier which had healed all of his injuries really easily.


    Aiden still didn''t know of all the things that this new energy of his was able to do, but he had to admit that he was already anticipating the moment when he would learn all of its properties.


    It would also be quite easy to learn of them, especially with the [Otherwordly Teleportation] which would enable him toe back to this world when he liked to.


    Also, whening back here he would be in his real body and not the one of Li Feng, he wondered how people would treat him then. He knew that they wouldn''t treat him with much respect as he had already noticed that strength was the only thing that could make others respect him.


    Nheless, he wondered how different his situation would be.


    Would Li Feng remember what Aiden did with his body?


    If that was the case then Aiden would be in a lot of trouble if Li Feng were to learn what he would look like, but that was all for the future and that wasn''t something that Aiden needed to concentrate on at the moment,


    He needed to concentrate on the present.


    Regarding Aiden''s earlier statement, Li Yang had difficulty giving him an answer, but he finally did after some hesitation.


    "Um, of course, I believe in you, but did you really win that easily?" asked Li Yang, still doubting that the fight had been this one-sided.


    "Who cares about all that, I won and that''s it. Now, where are the rest of you? Where''s Wu Lan?" asked Aiden as this was the person that he wanted to go see before he left this ce.


    Who knows maybe he could have some "action" beforepleting his trial?

 Chapter 181 181 - Promise

    ?


    "The rest of us? Well, many of us are dead and the others are a bit further this way," said Li Yang, as he pointed in the direction behind Aiden.


    Aiden didn''t question anymore as he had learned of the position of other cultivators who were waiting for him to kill them.


    How nice of them!


    Then, Aiden once again flew back up in the skies as he felt the wind go against his body while navigating toward the direction that Li Yang had given.


    Li Yang had obviously started following him as he wasn''t the type to leave his friends behind, he wanted to help the sect as much as he could.N?v(el)B\\jnn


    On the way, Li Yang still couldn''t get over the fact that they had finally done, they had finally killed the Plum Blossom Sect, and there would be no more wars against them.


    Li Feng had done it, he had killed their Sect Leader which meant that they would finally be able to continue their quest toward power in peace without anyoneing after them every ten years or so.


    But, Li Yang wasn''t duped with one source of danger gone, another one would appear, it was like a never-ending cycle.


    Nheless, he was still happy that they were the ones who had won this battle as there were only a couple of cultivators left.


    Li Yang had to admit that he was surprised that Li Feng had decided to go ahead and go kill the other Sect Leader as he would always try to dodge him as much as possible in the past.


    But how could he know that the two Sect Leaders weren''t the real ones and only kids of 18 years old that were impersonating him?


    Well, he had found out, but the system had interfered when that happened.


    Then, Aiden dismissed all of those thoughts as he arrived at the next battlefield where he could Wu Lan''s figure fighting against all sorts of cultivators, she was obviously not alone, supported by many protecting her from all danger.


    Then, Aiden did the same scene as earlier with his weirdugh as he started killing everyone who had a white robe on their back.


    He wanted to make sure that there wouldn''t be anyone left from the opposing sect.


    He needed to have the best rewards possible from the system which was why he was currently trying his best toplete this trial.


    Aiden also wanted the rewards of the Inter Family Tournament which was another reason for how he was currently acting.


    "Li Feng! You did it!" shouted Wu Lan, making Aidene out of his thoughts as he felt two soft melons against her chest.


    Aiden feeling that looked down and saw that she was now in his arms, hugging him as tight as she possibly could.


    This simple action made the thing in between his legs rise, however, it wasn''t the time as he still hadn''t received any message from the System saying that he had aplished the Trial.


    This meant that he still missed something that he hadn''t seen before.


    "Are there any more cultivators from their Sect left?" asked Aiden, before hugging her back.


    He had his priorities straight after all, sex would onlye after all those things would be fixed.


    Even if he couldn''t have her right now, when he came maybe he would be able to seduce or something like that.


    The odds of that were very low, but who knows? He might be able to do such a thing.


    "No, I think we really did kill them all," replied Wu Lan, confused by how Li Feng was acting.


    Why wasn''t he hugging her back, why didn''t he seem happy?


    He just looked emotionless right now and that wasn''t something that Wu Lan appreciated at all. She wanted him to pay attention to her not this stupid war, which was why she started to get closer and closer to his face whispering something to him.


    "I''ll let you do whatever you want to meter," she whispered as she made sure that he could smell her scent and feel her perfect body.


    Aiden hearing her say that had no choice but to be extremely turned on, however, he continued to try and calm himself down as he heard a beeping sound inside his mind.


    It seemed that there had been a little dy in getting this message but it had finally arrived.


    ''I guess, I won''t be able to do it with you onest time,'' thought Aiden, as he started reading the message.


    [You havepleted the Trial Objective.]


    [The Boss Monster of this trial is the Plum Blossom''s Sect Leader, go kill him.]


    [Error! The Boss Monster is already dead.]


    [You have finished your trial.]


    [You have five minutes left before being transported into the <Rewards Room>.]


    ''Five minutes isn''t nearly enough time,'' thought Aiden, truly saying goodbye to his final intimate moment with her.


    "Um, Wu Lan," muttered Aiden, out of nowhere, preparing himself to tell her goodbye.


    "Yes?" she replied.


    Aiden wasn''t sure if this was a good idea, but he decided that he had nothing to lose and that it wouldn''t put him at much risk what he was about to do, which is why he went ahead and said something that he might regretter.


    But, then, he remembered that he couldn''t say to her that he was from another world, as no words came out of his mouth.


    "Well, nothing much, I just wanted to tell you goodbye. We might see each other again," said Aiden.


    "Oh, and can you promise me something?" added Aiden right after seeing the confused expression on her face.


    "What''s happening why are you telling me goodbye, are you dying?"


    Hearing all that, Aiden simply ignored her as he continued what he was saying.


    "Promise me that if sometimes in the future a person under the nickname The Reaperes to you, that you will help him," said Aiden, making sure to have as many advantages as he could whening back here in the future.

 Chapter 182 182 - Third Trial Done!

    ?


    "If someone named The Reaperes I will help him?" questioned Wu Lan, unsure about the reason that Li Feng was saying such weird things to her.


    "No, before that, why are you talking as if we''ll never see each other again," asked Wu Lan, once again, as she didn''t understand the choice of words of Li Feng right now.


    The battle was finished, they had won, finally. So, why was he talking as if they were never going to see each other?


    It just didn''t make any sense to her, at least.


    ''Well, personally I probably won''t see you again in a long time, but you won''t notice a thing,'' thought Aiden, as he nced at the small timer on his right which indicated the time he had left trying to convince her of helping him in the future when he woulde back.


    "Don''t worry, I''m not going anywhere," reassured Aiden as he made her go back to the previous subject. "So, can you promise me?"


    Wu Lan was confused as to why he was insisting on that matter that she had no choice but to ask some questions.


    "Who''s that Reaper that you''re talking about? And how do you know him?"


    Aiden faced with that question simply said the answers that came first to his mind.


    "I know him from a long time ago, and hees from far away. It''s just that I received notice that he mighte in a year or two, might be sooner even he doesn''t know," said Aiden, trying to sound as vague as he could.


    But looking at this answer from another point of view, Aiden didn''t even lie when saying it. It was true that he came from far away and it was true that he had no idea when he would being to this ce in the future.


    His answer was just a modified truth made on the spot.


    "And you can''t take care of him in the future?" asked Wu Lan, confused once more.


    However, Aiden had the best answer already prepared to such a question.


    "You know how bad I am taking care of people, I think it''s better if you do it," he replied,plimenting her.


    He wanted topliment her as much as he could so that she would forget about the problems in that answer of his.


    "You really think so," she said, looking at him with cute puppy eyes.


    "Of course, I do, you''re way better than me around people," said Aiden once againplimenting her.


    "Um, then sure I''ll promise that I''ll take care of that Reaper."


    Aiden hearing that, was obviously really happy that she had promised as she didn''t think that she would break a promise with Li Feng.


    There was only a small problem with this whole n and it was that it would all be for nothing if Li Feng had heard this whole conversation.


    Well, Aiden could only hope that he didn''t or else he would be in loads of trouble, especially for all the things that he had done to his wife at the start of the trial.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    But, well... there was no point in worrying about that. He hadpleted the trial and who knew what would happen whening back to this world in the future?


    Maybe Li Feng himself would teach him about that new energy called Qi, well... maybe that was a little too far-fetched but who knows what the future holds?


    It''s not like anyone can see or know the future.


    "Alright, that''s great remember that name the Reaper," said Aiden, as he saw that the five minutes that he had to get lower and lower.


    [00:20]


    [00:19]


    With only neen seconds left, Aiden decided that he would touch those melons onest time before disappearing.


    He tried to go in for a hug with Wu Lan and when they were really close, he managed to grab hold of one of them, fondling it with the utmost care.


    He wanted to savour this moment as he didn''t know if he was ever going to be able to do such a thing again.


    "What are you doing?!" whispered Wu Lan, shocked in his ear. "I already told you that we''ll do itter calm down."


    Aiden hearing this only smiled as the timer on his right hit [00:00], and as soon as it did he could feel his consciousness disappear reappearing in apletely different ce, it the usual white room that he had already seen each time that he had finished a trial.


    ''Well, they really were soft,'' thought Aiden, as he started receiving multiple messages from the system about the rewards that he had gotten in his trial.


    However, before he read them, his mind was still lingering on her melons and how soft they were,.


    Honestly, they were even better than the ones of Mia, well... he wasn''t sure as it had been a while since he hadst touched but one thing was sure, they were almost perfect.


    Then, he dismissed those useless thoughts as he needed to see what sorts of rewards that he had just gotten, this was after all the most important when doing a trial.


    What happened during it most of the time wouldn''t have much of an impact in the future.


    Well, now it would have one since Aiden would be able toe back to those worlds that he had influenced.


    In fact, he wondered how the Empire had changed since thest time Aiden had left.


    They had probably won the war and they were probably the only Empire left, but Aiden couldn''t help but wonder what were actual changes.


    But, then all those thoughts finally disappeared as it was time for him to check out the rewards that he had gotten.


    And the only thing that came to his was "How?"


    "How did I get so many rewards?" eximed Aiden, clearly shocked by the amount of messages that he was receiving.

 Chapter 183 183 - Rewards

    <h4>Chapter 183 Chapter 183 - Rewards</h4>


    It was just incredible, everywhere that he was looking there a new message appearing.


    He simply couldn''t believe it.


    Was it because he had killed the Boss Monster beforepleting the [Trial Objective]?


    Maybe, as the system had mentioned something about the rewards but this was too much even such a scenario.


    Was it because he and the system had made a deal which rendered Aiden inoffensive against the system?


    Maybe.


    There were probably many reasons for this, but all of them seemed ridiculous as they couldn''t exin that amount.


    And those were rewards that Aiden had received afterpleting the trial. It was simply a bonus from what he had obtained inside of the trial.


    All the experience points which had made him level up at least ten times.


    In fact, Aiden had levelled up so much that he didn''t even know of his level, but one thing was sure he had be a lot stronger inside there and all the rewards that he had gotten would only make him stronger than he already was.


    After all, strength was never enough.


    First of all, he saw three boxes fall from the sky. Those were item boxes which he had gotten in his first trial.


    He also remembered that their colour would influence what he could find inside of them.


    One of them was green, which wasn''t that great as he had gotten that in his first trial. However, the other two were incredible, Aiden had never those colors before but he knew that he couldn''t be anything bad.


    One of them was blue and the other purple.


    But, that was only the start of the massive amount of rewards that he had gotten. He had gotten three skills that he hadn''t checked yet, but Aiden could only pray that they were Assassin-ss Rted or else he would have to sell them.


    Selling them wouldn''t necessarily be a bad thing, but Aiden just thought that it would be a lot simpler if they were already skills that corresponded to him.


    But, then as he was looking at all those rewards, he remembered a really big problem.


    He remembered the start of the trial where he had been in this white room and smashed his masks in countless pieces.


    Aiden needed to find a way to hide his identity or else he would be in big trouble, especially with the Nightshades.


    Aiden didn''t know what they would do if they learned about his existence and the fact that he was alive but he just didn''t want to find out.


    But, what could he do at the moment he didn''t have a mask anymore?


    ''Think Aiden, think.'' said Aiden to himself, trying to find a solution to his answer.


    Then, he lifted his eyes and nced at the three boxes of different colours in front of him.


    ''I guess I''ll just have to be extremely lucky,'' thought Aiden as this would basically be pure gambling.


    The only thing that he could possibly do right now was literally. pray that he would get a mask out of those three items boxes.


    But, before opening them, Aiden needed to make sure that he could stay here for a little while.


    "System, is there a time limit for being here?" asked Aiden as he remembered being teleported against his will in the first trial with Ava.


    *BEEP*


    [The time limit has been removed to give you the time that you wish to look at your rewards because of the massive amount of them.]


    Even the system agreed with Aiden, saying that he had an insane amount of them. n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    Those item boxes and three skills were only the beginning, he had a lot more.


    However, those would wait forter as he wanted to fix this problem of his before he did anything else as this was literally the most important thing right now.


    The rewards could wait, as he didn''t have any time limit inside this room which meant that he could take as much time as he wanted simply waiting around here.


    However, there was no reason to do that as Aiden wouldn''t be able to do anything stuck in this white room filled with nothingness.


    "Alright, I''ll start with the green one," muttered Aiden as he opened it right away.


    Some light blinded him for a moment.


    Then, as he opened them again, there was an item in front of him waiting for him to pick up. However, Aiden couldn''t even be bothered by the item as it wasn''t a mask.


    It would go see what this sort of cloth was, it waspletely dark and from a quick nce, it looked like a cape that superheroes would wear.


    Not really the type of things that interested Aiden if we were to be honest, but who knows what this cape could do.


    Imagine if it came with some overpowered skill or something like 20 attribute points, it would be crazy.


    Nheless, there was little hope of that happening as the item came from a green box.


    Then, without losing any more time, Aiden grabbed the blue box which was on the ground opening it.


    Once again, there was a blinding light when he opened but it was only brief as he was able to get a look at what was inside the box secondster.


    But, he had to admit that he was starting to lose hope of him getting a mask, he had gotten what seemed to be gloves.


    The gloves were dark red as if blood had been the colour chosen for them.


    Still, Aiden didn''t pay too much attention to them as he grabbed the final item box, the rarest one, the purple one.


    He was excited about what sort of item he would be getting out of it and honestly, even if he needed it right now he would disappointed if what he found inside it was a mask.


    A mask just didn''t have much use when fighting and stuff like that.

 Chapter 184 184 - Purple Box

    <h4>Chapter 184 Chapter 184 - Purple Box</h4>


    But, still, he needed a mask or else who knew what would happen with the Nightshades.


    That''s why he still hoped for one as he grabbed the purple box in front of him.


    ''A mask, a mask, a mask, please, please, please,'' thought Aiden, praying for a mask, well... half-heartedly.


    Then, he grabbed the purple box opening it as easily as the others, there was once again a light blinding him, making him unable to see the contents of this small purple box.


    But, that didn''t matter as he got his sight back one momentter as he wasn''t sure what this thing was at first nce.


    In fact, it didn''t look anything like Aiden had seen before in his life. The item that he had gotten was even immobile, it looked like it was constantly moving or changing.


    "What is this?" muttered Aiden, as he grabbed the white object which was in constant movement.


    Well, it wasn''t really in movement it was that the material that it was made with gave that impression.


    However, now that Aiden had it in his hands, he could confirm that this was indeed not moving, but it was changing forms.


    Sometimes it became big, sometimes small, and it seemed that this item really was one of a kind.


    Aiden still didn''t know if it could used as a mask but he prayed that it could as this would make his life a lot easier for the reasons that he had mentioned previously.


    Then, having wasted enough time trying to figure out what this white thing was, he grabbed it in his as a system menu opened telling everything that there was to know about this object.


    *BEEP* n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    [Everchanging Item]


    [Owner: None]


    [Tier: Advanced]


    [Restrictions: None]


    [Description: An item thates from an unknown origin can be used to do anything and nothing at the same time depending on its host. The Everchanging Item will respond to its master''s wishes. It can be whatever someone imagines. One of the best items of the Advanced Grade.]


    Aiden reading this was a little confused when he saw that the item didn''t have an owner. Wasn''t he the owner of this item, he had gotten it after all. He also didn''t know how to be the item''s owner, however, he was sure that it wouldn''t be that hard.


    It was also happy that there were no restrictions which made it possible for Aiden to use it.


    The tier of the item was also quite nice to look at if Aiden were to be honest.


    It was his first Advanced Tier item which made this Everchanging Item the best that he had ever had in his new life of his, well, not just in his new life, in both of them.


    Then, he finally arrived at the description of the item as he could only hope for it to be good, as the appearance of this object didn''t seem all that great.


    As he started reading it, he started making a couple of different faces, one of excitement and joy. It was a mix of the two that was for sure.


    It was literally written that this was one of the best Advanced Items and he didn''t want to talk about the rest.


    It was an item that would follow its master''s imagination.


    This basically solved the problem of Aiden about his mask, but there was still one small or big problem depending on your point of view.


    The Ownership of this item wasn''t given to anyone, so how could Aiden be its master? That was the most important question that he had on his mind currently.


    "System how does one be the owner of an Item?" asked Aiden, as he didn''t have anyone or anything else to turn to for answers.


    [It''s simple to bind yourself with an item, all you need to do is ask me.]


    "Then, can you make me the Owner of the [Everchanging Item]?" asked Aiden, realizing that this wasn''t a big problem at all after all.


    *BEEP*


    [Transfering Ownership to Aiden Nightshade...]


    [Ownership Transfer Done.]


    Then, Aiden felt some sort of weird sensation pass through his body which probably meant that the the transfer of ownership had really happened.


    However, he didn''t quite grasp why the system had said it was transferring the Ownership as there were no Owner in the first ce.


    Well, Aiden didn''t think too much about it as it was probably only a small detail.


    Now, with the Ownership of this item, he decided to test whether or not it worked.


    The first thing that he imagined was his reaper mask which was still intact and almost by magic the color of the [Everchanging Item] started to change into one of pure ck.


    It also had the same details on it as if it was the original one from his past life.


    Aiden satisfied, decided to test it out with something else, but he didn''t know what.


    ''A dagger? Yeah, a ck dagger,'' thought Aiden, as the [Everchaning Object] became a ck dagger exactly like he had asked.


    ''This is insane, how strong is this?'' thought Aiden as this item''s limit was his imagination, only thinking about it Aiden was excited.


    But, then, as he thought that everything rted to this item was done, he heard a beeping sound inside his mind.


    *BEEP*


    [The item has a limit of three uses per day.]


    Aiden reading this understood that he wouldn''t be able to change it as he liked throughout the whole day, he would need to be careful with how he used it.


    Also, he knew that for hisst use, he had to make the Reaper mask once again, or else he would have to wait aplete day inside this ce which wasn''t something that he was really a fan of, he was to be honest.


    "Alright, then shall we look at my other items?" eximed Aiden as he had found a solution to his mask problem.


    Now, it was time to check out the rest of his rewards.

 Chapter 185 185 - Technique from Another World

    <h4>Chapter 185 Chapter 185 - Technique from Another World</h4>


    First off, there were the two other items that he had opened which were on the ground practically begging to be picked off from the ground.


    Aiden without losing any time picked the superhero cape, as he knew that it probably wouldn''t be that good at all.


    *BEEP*


    As he heard that beeping sound, an information panel from the system appeared in front of him.


    [ck Cape]


    [Rank: Intermediate]


    [Restrictions: None]


    [Description: A ck Cape.]


    [+3 Charm]


    Aiden looked at that information and couldn''t but be shocked by how trash it was.


    God, the item didn''t even have a proper description, it was only that it was a ck Cape what was even the point of this item?


    Was it solely to make fun of Aiden?


    That was a possibility, but the reason that Aiden thought of was that this cape was only used to have more style points, just like superheroes do.


    ''What''s that name? It''s some,'' thought Aiden, as the name of the item was the same as what it actually was just like the [Everchanging Item], however, thest one was a good one, this one... not so much.


    Having looked at that item for long enough, he simply put it on as he didn''t want to throw away three stats points as it would be stupid on his part, it was literally as if he had levelled three times just by putting this thing on.


    Then, he looked at the other item on the ground, the one that came from the blue box, which were gloves.


    They also didn''t seem good, but he didn''t want to judge it too early without seeing what it could give him in terms of stats and skills.


    So, he picked up the two dark red gloves and the usual information panel appeared in front of him.


    [Blood Gloves]


    [Tier: Advanced]


    [Restriction: Assassin ss Rted]


    [Description: Gloves that are used to kill as many people as possible. The more you kill people with those gloves the more powerful they will be. Its strength will be unlocked as you kill more and more people.]


    [Kill Count:0]


    ''Well, the name is interesting,'' thought Aiden, as it wasn''t as in as the one before that.


    It wasn''t named Dark Red Gloves, so that was a good start.


    Then, he saw the rank and immediately his eyes brimmed with happiness, it was yet another advanced Tier Item. N?v(el)B\\jnn


    However, seeing that Tier, Aiden was actually quite confused about it. Why was the purple box also an advanced item?


    The only idea that Aiden had at the moment, was that in those purple boxes were rarer items that are better in general.


    After having those thoughts, Aiden continued reading the information panel. happy that it was an Assassin ss Rted.


    Then, he went on to read the description about the [Blood Gloves] and he couldn''t help but be a little surprised.


    This item was evolutive it seemed, so it started out weak and would get stronger as he killed more and more people.


    ''Well, I guess it''s a perfect fit,'' thought Aiden as he wasn''t the type to restrain himself from killing others.


    It was a part of him after all.


    Having zero kills with those gloves yet, there was no power attached to it. Aiden couldn''t help but wonder what sorts of skills he would be developing as he killed more and more people.


    In fact, those gloves kind of gave him some sort of reason to kill people. It wasn''t a good one as there are no good reasons for murder.


    But, its skill gave him a reason, just like before where he killed bad people for a living.


    This time he would kill people to get stronger, it wasn''t the same, but who cares?


    Now, he could finally look at the three books that had appeared out of nowhere in front of him.


    He took one in his hands, then the other, then the other.


    And he couldn''t help but be a little disappointed by what he had discovered the three skill books were all restricted to other sses which Aiden didn''t have ess to.


    So, he simply took them with him as he would have to sell and he could already tell that it would be somewhat of a hassle to sell those three skills books.


    Then, he looked at the experience he had gained frompleting the Trial, and he had to say that he had never seen an amount as big as this one in his life.


    He had levelled up another five times from that experience alone. So, in total, Aiden had levelled up fifteen times in one trial which was more than when he did both the first and second trialsbined.


    Also, the higher one''s level was, the harder it was to level up. So, Aiden had gained a massive amount of experience.


    But he still wasn''t finished as there was still one thing left on the ground which had also appeared out of thin air.


    However, Aiden had never seen such a thing before. Well, maybe one time when Maelis had shown him her family technique.


    Nheless, Aiden didn''t even try to imagine that it really was a technique as it wouldn''t make much sense.


    Weren''t techniques created by the families themselves as they trained like madmen?


    Well, that was what Aiden had been told multiple times, so he couldn''t help but wonder what this old piece of paper even was.


    Then, he picked it up from the ground and the usual beeping sound appeared in his head.


    [You have obtained a technique from the world that you have just visited.]


    ''No way,'' thought Aiden, as he started opening the technique at an incredible speed, wondering what sort of technique he could have obtained from that world.


    Then, as he got a good look at the entirety of the technique, Aiden realized that this was basically the jackpot.


    That technique would surely dy his return to that world, that was a certainty.

 Chapter 186 186 - Breathing Technique

    <h4>Chapter 186 Chapter 186 - Breathing Technique</h4>


    If it was actually what was written on this piece of paper. Aiden probably wouldn''t need to return to this ce soon, as he would have already learned a technique about Qi.


    Still, with the promise he had made at the end, there probably wouldn''t be much problem returning in a while as Aiden had made to be as vague exactly for situations like this.


    [Breathing Technique]


    [Creator: Unknown]


    [World: Cultivation]


    [Description: A technique to manipte the Qi in your body, when having a perfect understanding of the technique, all of your body will be empowered indefinitely. The regenerative properties of your body will also increase at a ridiculous rate.]


    Aiden read all of this but he couldn''t but notice that there was no method on how to learn that technique was he supposed to guess, what the fuck was this bullshit?


    "Um, system can I learn that technique?" asked Aiden, remembering the system''s earlier answer.


    He knew that he could do many things simply by asking the system which is why he requested such a thing.


    Then, the usual beeping sound resounded inside his mind.


    *BEEP*


    [You now have ess to all the information needed to learn about the Breathing Technique.]


    Then, some sort of memory entered his head, it seemed to be just like back then when he had learned about how to use Qi, it seemed to be a video of the same old man.


    Aiden couldn''t help but wonder who was that man that was doing all those videos.


    How did the system have ess to all those videos?


    Aiden realized quickly that he would never be able to find an answer to such a question, so he dismissed it quickly.


    Then, he decided that learning that technique right now didn''t have much importance, so he simply dyed it. He would learn itter and he wouldn''t have much impact on his power.


    After deciding that, he started to look around himself wanting to see if he had missed anything. But, it seemed that he had gotten all of his rewards.


    He had to admit that he was quite impressed with everything that he had gathered simply by finishing this trial. n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    "Then, I guess it''s time for me to leave this room," muttered Aiden, as he could feel himself disappearing from this white room ofplete emptiness.


    A momentter, he was back in the middle of the arena once again with his three skill books in his hand.


    ***


    While Aiden was in the Reward Room, Melinda didn''t have any sort of vision for Aiden anymore. It seemed that seeing was what happening in the waiting room or the reward room wasn''t something that the system had allowed when they had made her deal.


    However, even without seeing what was happening, she knew one thing. Even if Aiden received the smallest of rewards possible, it didn''t matter because the number of experience points that he had gathered in the trial was simply phenomenal.


    In fact, she had never seen such a thing before, she didn''t know exactly how many times he had levelled up but she wouldn''t be surprised if it was more than five times at least.


    And this was being pessimistic, she knew that there were great chances that it would be higher than five, in fact, she was sure of it.


    However, she wasn''t worrying about what rewards Aiden had gotten right now.


    She worried about what was happening between both Lucius and the Nightshade Patriarch as she knew that the Nightshade Patriarch was cruel and wouldn''t hesitate to act however he may seem fit toward The Reaper if he were to learn that it was indeed him which had done such a thing to Aiden.


    She didn''t if Lucius knew that it was really the Reaper who had fought against Aiden in the trial but she could only hope that it wasn''t the case, or else she would have to step in and it wasn''t something that she wanted to do.


    However, if she had to, then she wouldn''t hesitate to as she had seen all of the potential that Aiden possessed, there was no doubt in her mind that The Reaper would be the future when talking all the young awakened of this tournament.


    She couldn''t think of anyone surpassing him, now that he had ess to that energy that all cultivators called Qi.


    An energy which was highly dangerous for all those around, but beneficial for the person who had it.


    Then, as she kept thinking about all of that, she noticed that it had been a while since The Reaper''s challenge had ended and that he was still in his reward room. Well, probably in it, as she had no information about where he was whatsoever.


    But, at one point, as minutes started passing by, she couldn''t help but think that something happened to him inside the trial, or the reward room or something like that.


    ''Did the system do something against him?'' thought Melinda as she knew that such had happened in the past on numerous asions.


    However, she dismissed those thoughts as there was no way that the system would pay attention to someone on his third trial. The Reaper was special, but not that special.


    "What do you think is going to win now that everyone has finished their trial?" asked Thorin who was on the right of Melinda.


    Melinda hearing that question didn''t hesitate for a single moment as there was already a clear victor, and that victor was The Reaper as there was no way that someone had performed better than him.


    Melinda had watched him from start to finish, even dismissing her own family members as she knew that they didn''t have the potential to win thispetition.


    "The Reaper," replied Melinda, without losing any time as she knew that this was going to be the case.


    "The Reaper? Are you sure, was his performance really that good?" questioned Thorin back, as he hadn''t paid too much attention to The Reaper as he always switched trials watching pretty much all twelve participants.

 Chapter 187 187 - Rankings

    <h4>Chapter 187 Chapter 187 - Rankings</h4>


    Aiden was now in the middle of the Arena and he noticed that there weren''t many people left in the stands which made sense because Aiden had spent loads of time in the trial, so it made sense that they weren''t around anymore.


    He nced around himself and noticed that Lucius was nowhere to be found, so his first thought was that he had either died by failing the trial or that he had already left the arena knowing that he had lost.


    Then, he noticed that there were a lot of people who had finished their trial which is why he started to look around himself counting everyone who was around him.


    "One, two, three..., twelve. Everyone already finished it," mumbled Aiden, quietly.


    ''Then, what are we waiting for? Where are the four heads?'' thought Aiden, as he didn''t want to spend too much time here in the middle of the Arena.


    He preferred being as far away as he could from the Nightshades and staying here, especially after his fight with Lucius wasn''t the thing that he preferred if he were to be honest.


    He didn''t know if Lucius had told his father about the Reaper, but he could only hope that he didn''t in the scenario that he was still alive.


    There was also the fact that he would have to announce to Maelis and Emma that he would be leaving the Everheart Family, it wasn''t something that he wanted to do as all they had done was help him. N?v(el)B\\jnn


    But, Aiden knew that it was the right choice to join a founding family, he knew that they would be able to protect if the Nightshades were to attack, and that wasn''t the case with the Everheart since they weren''t powerful enough.


    However, he still worried about what their reactions would be.


    Would they be mad?


    Would they understand?


    ''Well, they would understand if they knew my reasons,'' thought Aiden.


    However, he knew that he couldn''t tell them as he couldn''t risk it. What if they started spreading the word that Aiden was part of the Nightshades and that he had abandoned?


    It would simply be a really bad situation if he were to be honest.


    Then, as he continued to have all those thoughts, the four founding families'' heads appeared.


    ''Wait, why aren''t they four?'' thought Aiden, as he couldn''t spot the Nightshade Family Patriarch.


    He wasn''t with Melinda and the rest.


    Aiden didn''t understand why, but something clicked in his mind.


    ''It must be rted to Lucius,'' thought Aiden, now sure that Lucius hadn''t died and that he was probably with his father talking about who knows what.


    "You guys did a pretty good job," said Thorin with a big smile on his face.


    The faces of the participants were ones that showed clear annoyance toward Thorin, however, they didn''t even bother speaking up.


    "Why are you all looking at me like that? Did you like the surprise in there?" asked Thorin, clearly happy that he had seeded in fooling all of them.


    However, still, none of the participants had the guts to speak up, not even the ones of were part of Thorin''s family.


    "Well, I''ll take that as a yes, ahaha," said Thorin, as he startedughing out loud.


    But, then afterughing for a couple of seconds, he became serious once again, as he received a hit from Melinda, indicating that he needed to stop this whole thing.


    "Right, now onto the rankings. Isn''t everyone here wondering who performed the best in their trials?"


    This time, the participants all replied with a short clear and concise "Yes.".


    "Then, I will now announce the Rankings given by the system," said Thorin, as he seemed to be looking at his system and not at the people who were in front of him right now.


    "Alright, I''ll start from the bottom all the way to the top," muttered Thorin as he cleared his throat.


    *Um*


    *Um*


    "Inst ce is a surprise that no one would have expected. It''s Lucius Nightshade as he failed his trial."


    The few people who were still in the crowd were shocked by this news as Lucius was supposed to be the winner of this whole thing.


    In fact, there shouldn''t be anyone part of the founding families capable of beating him, especially after he showed his prowess in the duels before the trial.


    However, it wasn''t only the crowd everyone was shocked, well, everyone except one person Aiden since he had literally killed Aiden.


    Then, Thorin started announcing the other participants'' positions, saying how the system had graded their performance in the trial.


    It was quite simple, the performance basically ranked from F to S, S being the best and F being the worst one could get.


    The eleventh ce got a C which was too bad nor too great, simply average. He was also part of the Emberbane family, the one that Melinda owned.


    Then, he went to talk about the tenth all the way to the third ce without stopping once simply calling out all of their grades.


    The fourth ce, which was part of Thorin''s family had gotten an A- which was honestly quite good considering that the best one could get was an S.


    "Now, it''s finally time to talk about the top three of this tournament. With much surprise, someone from a middle-level family is still in the race to be the winner of this whole tournament," announced Thorin, as cheers could be heard from the crowd.


    Hearing those shouts, Aiden turned his head toward the crowd as he thought that he had recognized those voices, and when he saw the faces of the people who had just shouted, he smiled.


    However, his smile couldn''t be seen with the Reaper Mask that was on his face.


    It was obviously, Emma and Maelis who had been shouting.


    It seemed that Emma had found her way to the crowd.


    "Now it''s time to announce the third ce of the Inter Family Tournament."

 Chapter 188 188 - Jealous?

    <h4>Chapter 188 Chapter 188 - Jealous?</h4>


    As Thorin announced that it was time to reveal the top three of this tournament, everyone was listening attentively wondering who could it be.


    Would it be the Reaper, someone who wasn''t even part of a founding family?


    Or would it be the same as all the past years, someone from a founding family?


    Well, most thought that it would be like always, however, the crowd would always support the underground which was exactly what was happening right now.


    Many people were shouting Aiden''s nickname out loud,pletely changing the attitude they had at the start of the tournament.


    "The Reaper!"


    "The Reaper!"


    "The Reaper!"


    Those shouts resounded everyone inside the Arena, and Aiden couldn''t help but smile when hearing them because it felt good to feel supported and not hated.


    He didn''t mind being hated but it was always a better feeling to be loved.


    "Oh, I see that the crowd is hoping to have the underdog win this whole thing," said Thorin, with a smile on his face.


    "Well, would he be first ce or third ce, or even second?" eximed Thorin, as he wanted to keep the mystery around this whole thing.


    However, Melinda who was right beside him could only scuff as she was almost sure that he had won, he had killed Lucius in his trial. There was simply no way that he wouldn''t be first.


    Nheless, she didn''t have ess to the Rankings since it had been Thorin and only him who had gotten it from the system.


    "Alright, so in third ce, is someone from the... Vndis Family!" shouted Thorin.


    The crowd continued to shout Aiden''s nickname even louder as they seemed quite happy that he hadn''t been eliminated yet.


    Aiden was now assured a ce in the top 2, who could have guessed that at the start of the tournament?


    Especially, when the son of the Nightshade Patriarch had participated and had been announced as the victor before the tournament had even started.


    Maybe he would have won if the winner wasn''t the one who had performed best in a trial, but atst, that''s how the tournament was set up this time.


    "Isolde Vndis is third in the Inter Family tournament," shouted Thorin, announcing it once again, this time naming her.


    Aiden hearing this started to look around him, trying to spot who that person was as he was quite interested in it, obviously.


    Then, as Aiden continued to look around, it seemed that Thorin wanted to facilitate his task.


    "Isolde pleasee on the stage," continued Thorin.


    After Thoring announced that she needed toe on stage, someone listened and started moving towards it.


    Aiden took this chance to observe the beautiful elf that wasing onto the stage.


    She had a slender body with almost no visible muscles on it, however, it was obvious that she had trained hard in her life, she just hadn''t trained her body.


    Then, after looking at her body, Aiden moved up his eyes looking at her face which was incredibly beautiful without any imperfections.


    She also had her spiky ears on both sides of her head which made her even more beautiful if Aiden were to be honest.


    In fact, if one took a quick nce between Emma and Isolde, they probably wouldn''t be able to differentiate them.


    ***


    In the stands, while Isolde started walking up the stage, Emma was observing every single movementing from Aiden or rather the Reaper as that was the only thing that she could hear right now.


    ''That''s right, now you support him, huh?'' thought Emma, clearly unhappy with how fake the people in the crowd were.


    First, they had booed him for a long time, insulting him. But it seemed that they had all forgotten now, cheering him on. She was disgusted.


    But, then all those thoughts were dismissed as she saw that Aiden was watching Isolde, the third-ce winner, with a lot of attention following her every movement.


    ''Why is he looking at her like that? Does he like her? Does he find her beautiful?'' thought Emma, clearly jealous of the attention that Isolde was currently receiving.


    ''Does he look like that with me too?'' thought Emma, blushing.


    Her mother, Maelis, who was right beside her noticed this and couldn''t help butment on it. N?v(el)B\\jnn


    "What''s happening to you, Emma? Why are you so red?" asked Maelis, this time, truly not knowing the reason.


    She thought that Emma might be sick or something simr, so she was quite worried about her if she was, to be honest.


    Emma hearing that question from her mother, became even more red, thinking that she was currently teasing her.


    "Nothing Mom, nothing," mumbled Emma, as she kept looking at Aiden who had his mask on his face.


    She noticed that he was still watching the girl with all of his attention moving his head up and down.


    ''Stop looking at her body, stupid. You already have me to look at,'' thought Emma, clearly unhappy that she couldn''t be down there to keep his eyes away from her.


    Then, as she saw that scene, he couldn''t help but remember Olivia.


    She remembered that Aiden and she would be going to her high-level family. She didn''t want to, but Aiden had epted and she didn''t want to leave him alone with this whore.


    Who knew what she would do when she would be alone with Aiden, probably force herself onto him.


    Emma wasn''t sure but she knew that something would happen and Aiden probably wouldn''t have the guts to stop it or even worse he wouldn''t want it to stop.


    That''s why it was essential for him to apany him there, it was really important.


    Well, in Emma''s eyes.


    "Um, alright, do you think Aiden will win?" she said whispering as she didn''t want to reveal Aiden''s real name.


    Emma hearing this, scuffed.


    "Of course, he will who do you take him for? Lucius isn''t even in thepetition anymore, there''s no way that he will lose trust me," said Emma with absolute confidence.

 Chapter 189 189 - Sylas Nightshade

    <h4>Chapter 189 Chapter 189 - Ss Nightshade</h4>


    Isolde was now on the stage right beside the three heads of the founding families since one of them was missing.


    Aiden wondered what was taking so long for the Nightshade Patriarch, he knew that he was probably having a discussion but it had been quite a long time since Aiden had killed him in the trial.


    So, why was it taking so long?


    That was a question that only the Patriarch could answer, so Aiden quickly dismissed those thoughts.


    "It''s now time to announce who arrived second in the tournament..." said Thorin, as he wanted to keep the mystery of who it would be.


    In the crowd, the shouting hadn''t stopped as everyone was pretty much supporting Aiden as much as they could.


    "The person in second ce is part of the... Ravenwoods, Orik Ravenwoode to the stage," said Thorin, happy that someone from his family had reached this high in the rankings.


    It wasn''t the first ce, but the second ce really wasn''t that bad.


    ''I knew it!'' thought Melinda in her head, as she was now assured that The Reaper had won the tournament confirming that he was the best young awakened in Nova.


    And the cherry on top of it was that he would be joining her family. She just couldn''t help but smile knowing that someone so talented would be joining her family in hours from now.


    Now, the only that she needed was for her to see his face.


    She had imagined it a lot in those past hours and she had to admit that maybe those imaginations might be a little too perfect, but a girl can dream, right?


    The crowd had now stopped shouting Aiden''s nickname as they literally turned crazy, shouting whatever came to their heads it seemed.


    ''I did it,'' thought Aiden, realizing that he had done it.


    He had finished first ce in this damn tournament, which meant that his past month of training hadn''t been for nothing.


    Honestly, no words could describe the happiness that he was feeling.


    He just felt good knowing that you are the strongest of a certain age group. However, this happiness of his was short-lived as he still had loads of work to do as he was still way too weakpared to the heads of families or older people in general. n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    Nheless, he dismissed those thoughts about the future as he concentrated on the present and what he had achieved.


    "Now, it''s time for the one who won this tournament toe on stage, The Reaper, pleasee," eximed Thorin, still keeping the same intensity.


    It was nice that Thorin wasn''t biased as he announced things with the same tone every single time, it didn''t matter if they weren''t from his family. He still looked happy when announcing their names.


    Maybe it was a fake tone or whatever, but that didn''t matter if no one knew about it.


    As Aiden started advancing toward the stage still with his Reaper Mask on his face, he saw someone else appear on the stage appear, the Nightshade Patriarch and with him was his son, Lucius.


    The one that Aiden had killed in the trial.


    "Is that him, The Reaper that you''re talking about?" asked the Nightshade Patriarch, in a quiet tone, pointing toward Aiden.


    However, everyone had heard him since it becameplete silence the moment he appeared.


    Even the crowd had stopped cheering Aiden on as they were scared.


    The man who had just appeared was furious as he released the pressure all around him.


    Lucius seemed to be standing only because his father was holding him, however, his face, his hands, and his body, were all badly hurt as Aiden could see the blood from here.


    "Answer me!" shouted the Nightshade Patriarch, still looking toward Aiden, furious.


    Aiden who was seeing this had no choice but to be scared right now.


    He had never once felt such a strong pressure on him. He knew that he would never have a chance at beating him if the two were to fight together.


    "Y-Yes, that''s the Reaper," mumbled Lucius who clearly had difficulty speaking because of all the injuries on his face and lips.


    In fact, he was in even worse shape than when Aiden had finished him off in the trial.


    He was in an even worse shape than when he had been a half-dead body.


    Then, as soon as the Nightshade Patriarch heard those words, he disappeared and reappeared right in front of Aiden, dagger in his hands.


    However, he wasn''t the only one who had moved, Melinda had also disappeared from the stage.


    "What are you doing, Ss?" asked Melinda, who had a small fan in her hand blocking the Nightshade Patriarch''s dagger.


    A dagger that had been aimed directly at Aiden''s neck.


    "Move out the way Melinda," replied Ss, ignoring her as his eyes were still looking at Aiden''s mask.


    ''When did he move?'' thought Aiden, as he hadn''t been able to see it happen, it had just moved at a speed that Aiden''s eyes hadn''t been able to see.


    ''Was it sh Step?'' thought Aiden, as he had no other idea as to how he had done such a thing.


    "And what if I don''t?" answered Melinda, with a little smile on her face.


    "Then, you will also die," replied Ss, who for the first time since appearing turned his gaze toward Melinda.


    "Oh, will I?" responded Melinda, not sounding scared at all by Ss.


    Ss hearing her yful tone of voice gritted his teeth as he knew that if the two of them were to fight right now, it would take a while before one of them would lose.


    "Giving up?" continued Melinda, as she saw Ss''s expression on his face, clearly not satisfied with what was happening.


    "Why?" asked Ss.


    "Why what?"


    "Why are you protecting someone from a middle-level family?" asked Ss as he simply couldn''t grasp why Melinda who never interfered before would now make a move.


    "Ahaha, well it''s simple, he''s not part of a middle-level family anymore," eximed Melinda, making sure that everyone could hear what she just said.

 Chapter 190 190 - Deal?

    <h4>Chapter 190 Chapter 190 - Deal?</h4>


    Melinda''s voice echoed throughout the whole Arena, bouncing on the walls. Everyone in the Arena had heard what she had just said and that was on purpose.


    Melinda had obviously known that Aiden hadn''t yet had the time to announce to Maelis and Emma his departure, so she decided that she would do it in his ce.


    She didn''t think that he would be mad, especially since she was helping him a lot right now.


    She had basically saved him from certain death since Ss would have killed him without Aiden even knowing about it.


    "Not part of a middle-level family anymore?" mumbled Ss, as his dagger and Melinda''s fan were still at a stand-off.


    That stand-off was also really close to Aiden''s neck and it wasn''t the most pleasant situation on his side.


    Still, he didn''t mind it as the conversation that was happening right in front of him only centimetres away from him was much more interesting.


    It was that he was hearing a conversation between the top powers of this world and he couldn''t help but be extremely intrigued by all of it.


    "Wait, don''t tell me that''s why you requested to meet him after the first team fight," said Ss realizing what had happened.


    "You didn''t realize, ahaha, you really aren''t as intelligent as everyone says," uttered Melinda, keeping a big smile on her face, as if not caring about this whole situation.


    She had even insulted him in that response which caused Ss to clench his teeth once more.


    "So, are you going to stop trying to kill the winner of the Inter Family Tournament or what?" asked Melinda, losing all the easiness in her eyes.


    She was extremely serious when she said that.


    Aiden who was right beside them, could easily tell that if she didn''t like his answer then a fight would happen.


    It wasn''t something that Aiden wanted as he was still really close to them, however, he wouldn''t mind seeing how two of the strongest powers of this world would fight.


    In fact, it interested him.


    Ss started shaking his head from left to right, thinking it seemed about what his answer would be.


    "What do you want for his life?" asked Ss, clearly not wanting to fight against her.


    It wasn''t that he wasn''t confident about winning, he just knew that it wasn''t the time nor the ce to do such a thing.


    However, when Melinda heard that, she already had an answer ready for him.


    "Nothing."


    She didn''t care about whatever temporary benefits she could get from Ss Nightshade, she knew of the long-term potential of the Reaper and that was all that mattered in her mind.


    Aiden who heard her answer was also surprised as he thought that she would be bargaining something for his life just like how many would have acted in such a situation.


    "Anything, just tell me," continued Ss, looking desperate now.


    Before Melinda could even give an answer, Thorin who was still on the stage had no choice but to intervene.


    "Ss stop this ande here. We''ll discuss about all of thister. Look at your son, you probably did more damage to him than he did in the trial," said Thorin, clearly talking about the fight that Lucius and Aiden had in the trial.


    Many people in the crowd started to murmur amongst themselves as they had just learned some pretty interesting information.


    "Was it really the Reaper that made Lucius fail his trial?"


    That was the whisper which was heard the most as no one could believe that.


    Just what were the chances of the two of them being in the same trial, they were so slim that they didn''t even believe it.


    "You heard him. Let''s talk about thatter," said Melinda, regaining her non-caring tone from earlier as she continued smiling in his face.


    "Argh, fine. But, I''m telling you we''ll need to make a deal or else that boy will be assassinated soon," said Ss, threatening Melinda''s defence.


    "Sure," she muttered clearly not thinking too much about his threat, then she turned her head toward Aiden.


    "Don''t worry, everything''s fine," murmured Melinda.


    Ss had heard that and was really frustrated, but he still decided to back off because the worst-case scenario was that the Reaper needed to be killed.


    Then, as Ss got a little further away, Melinda couldn''t help but add a littlement.


    "Do you really care that Lucius got defeated or are you acting like this because your ego was hurt?" she asked nonchntly.


    She knew that the second part of her question was probably the reason why he was acting this way.


    The Reaper had basically humiliated him by beating his son. Well... that was what Ss thought at least.


    However, Ss didn''t even turn his head or respond to her question or insult depending on your point of view.


    He simply continued walking onto the stage that was right in front of him as he could see his son there all beaten up.


    However, there was no regret in Ss''s eyes, in his mind, he had done what was necessary.


    His son had failed him and there had to be consequences, that was his mentality. n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    Only the best of the best could use the name Nightshade and if his son wasn''t part of the best then he deserved it.


    "Alright, The Reaper pleasee on the stage," asked Thorin once again.


    This time, there was no interruption as Aiden walked right beside Melinda toward the stage.


    ''So, this is the pressure of a top power of this world,'' thought Aiden, as he could feel some shivers run down his spine.


    Then, as he continued walking toward the stage, he remembered Ss''s first move and no matter how many times he rewatched it in his mind, he still couldn''tprehend what had happened.


    But, Aiden came to a conclusion, what Ss had done didn''t resemble the sh Step at all.


    Maybe it was sh Step but executed with a much bigger degree of understanding than when Lucius had done it.

 Chapter 191 191 - Wish

    <h4>Chapter 191 Chapter 191 - Wish</h4>


    "Wow, I never thought that such a thing would ever happen," said Thorin, as he looked right beside him looking at the Reaper''s face, well... mask.


    Thorin was shocked because he had never expected someone from a middle-level family to win this entire tournament, in fact, no one other than the founding families had won this tournament.


    "To think that someone from a middle family would win, I''m impressed. Good job!"? said Thorin, as Aiden could really hear the sincerity in his voice.


    Aiden had to admit that it felt good when someone says such a thing about you, however, he knew that this wasn''t the whole truth.


    He was kind of from a founding family, even if the situation was quiteplicated. At the end of the day, hisst name was Nightshade just like how it was written in the system.


    Aiden who had just heard thosepliments from Thorin only nodded his head, as he made sure to try and get a good look at him.


    He remembered the one named Thorin which he had seen in the streets and he was wondering if that was him since they looked alike.


    However, after being closer to him, Aiden wasn''t sure that this person was the one who had interpelled him in the streets.


    They were simr, but they weren''t the same person and it kind of made sense that a founding family''s head would be roaming the streets for no particr reason.


    Even if it wouldn''t be surprising to see such a scene, especiallying from Thorin considering his easy-going personality.


    "Now, that all of you are on the stage and that everything has been SOLVED," uttered Thorin as he looked to his left toward Ss making sure that he wouldn''t be making another scene.


    Either way, if he was to try something on The Reaper, then it would be the three founding families'' heads against him. Maybe Thorin hadn''t made it known to Ss but he hadn''t liked what had just happened.


    "We can start talking about the rewards that everyone in the top twelve has won since I forgot about it when you all went inside your trial," said Thorin, excited to reveal the rewards that they would be receiving.


    Aiden couldn''t help but wonder what sorts of rewards he would be receiving in addition to the skill of his choice and the weapon that cksmiths from the Ravenwood family would be crafting.


    "Before I reveal the reward for the top twelve, does anyone in the crowd know about it?" asked Thorin, interested in seeing what everyone thought about the future rewards.


    After saying that, the crowd was the one speaking out loud which was kind of annoying.


    He had given a skill and a weapon, so what would be the next reward?


    More skills?


    Items?


    Items was Aiden''s guess as it would make sense since a technique might be a little too much because of how that knowledge about techniques is tightly kept in all of the families that exist.


    "Well, maybe some of you have guessed it, it will be items that we will be giving. Once again someone from the Ravenwood family will be crafting it," said Thorin, as if it wasn''t anything relevant who crafted the item.


    However, it was important since the tier of the item that he would be getting is really important since it will determine the skill and stats that you would be able to get from it.


    Would it be another advanced-tier item?


    Another evolutive item?


    Aiden didn''t know about it yet and he wouldn''t know until after crafting it.


    "Alright, now that we talked about the rewards for having reached the top 12. We will now discuss the rewards for those who have reached higher ces than the top 12," said Thorin as he made sure to nce at Lucius and Ss with a big smile on his face.


    Thorin was honestly happy that the Reaper had made Ss''s son fail his trial as it was a very entertaining sight to behold.


    In fact, it was really nice to see him so frustrated as Ss would usually be the type to simply watch with an emotionless face at everything, never showing emotions as if already knowing everything that would appear.


    "The 11th ce all the way to the 4th ce will be receiving an opportunity to have a fight with one of the founding heads'' of their choice. Also, for those in the top three, this reward won''t be added on top of everything else, it''s only for those in between the 11th and 4th ce."


    Aiden was a bit confused by this long sentence, but in the end, he understood that the reward that he had just mentioned wouldn''t be avable to him.


    However, he honestly couldn''t care less about it, it wasn''t like he wouldn''t be able to get that opportunity when arriving at the Emberbane Family.


    Aiden knew that he would be holding an important position since Melinda was probably impressed with the rating that he had obtained.


    Of course, Aiden still didn''t know that the four founding families'' heads had been able to watch their trial.


    "Now I think it''s time to talk about the rewards that the top three will be gaining. First up is you Isolde," said Thorin as Isolde''s perfect body slowly rose to the asion as she stepped forward.


    Aiden once again couldn''t help but appreciate the view of her ass and her body as it really was beautiful,


    With each step that she took, her ass bounced a little.


    However, he stopped looking at it as it was a little disrespectful to that elf. Everyone could also see him to such a thing. n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    "Alright, Isolde having reached the top three, your reward is simple. In fact, the reward will be the same for the top three," said Thorin, with a smile.


    "It''s simple your rewards will be a wish, you will be able to ask anything and we will grant it. Well, as long as it''s not too unreasonable."

 Chapter 192 192 - Training?

    <h4>Chapter 192 Chapter 192 - Training?</h4>


    ''A wish?'' thought Aiden, as he didn''t expect such a thing at all.


    ''What can I even ask for?'' he thought, as he tried to find something which would be useful for him.


    There was one thing that came to his mind, but he didn''t know if it would be possible, and that''s why he continued to think about other possibilities.


    "So, Isolde what do you want?" asked Thorin once again, as Isolde seemed to be thinking deeply about all of this.


    This was just all too sudden for her, so she needed some time to find the best possible answer.


    Aiden made sure to listen to her answer as it could maybe inspire him for his decision. However, he knew that there was little chance of that happening because he already had an idea in his mind and it would be hard for him to change it.


    "Um, could I ask for... personal training with one of the founding families heads?" said Isolde as she started feeling some pressure on her.


    It seemed like she had to answer right now to not waste too much time.


    "You want personal training? Isn''t that just what we offered to those who are lower-ranked?" asked Thorin, unsure if that was the best possible decision.


    "No you offered a fight against one of you, I want training. That''s different," said Isolde, this time, with more confidence in her voice. n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    "Um, I guess it would be possible, but for how long?" asked Thorin, as he knew that if she asked something ridiculous then they would all be quick to shut this demand down.


    "One month, I''d like to train with one of you for a month," said Isolde, as she thought that this would be pretty fair.


    However, this whole thing still wasn''t done, with whom did she want to train?


    Will she choose the head of the family that she is a part of, the Vndils or will it be someone else?


    That was what everyone was asking themselves right now as Thorin finally opened his mouth to ask that question.


    "And who do you want to train with?" asked Thorin.


    Then. Isolde made a quick nce beside her toward Aiden, however, she made sure that no one saw her when doing so.


    In fact, even Aiden hadn''t noticed it.


    "I''ll choose Melinda since she''s also focused on Charm, so I think she will be the best choice for me," said Isolde as she nced at the head of the Vndis family who didn''t look disappointed in the least.


    In fact, he looked pleased that he hadn''t been chosen to train her.


    Melinda on the other hand seemed annoyed.


    ''Why did it have to be me? I already have that Reaper to take care of,'' thought Melinda, frustrated that she would have even more things to care about.


    "Alright, your demand will be fulfilled as soon as the tournament ends. In fact, your time will also start when the tournament ends," said Thorin with a smile. "Oh, and Melinda I hope you train her well," added Thorin while winking at her.


    He knew that she was annoyed by this whole thing, and he also knew that she wasn''t the type to answer in front of everyone which is why he made sure to wink at her, to mock her at the same time.


    ''Fucking bitch,'' insulted Melinda, in her mind, as she kept a smile on her face.


    She didn''t want to show annoyance to Isolde as it would be somewhat disrespectful. However, she was annoyed by her choice.


    "Alright, now it''s time for the second ce to make his choice, what would it be?" asked Thorin, as the one who got second ce slowly advanced.


    He didn''t seem quite sure of what he could choose as he didn''t talk right away, still thinking about what he wanted for the time being.


    "What do you want?" repeated Thorin, as he applied pressure onto the person in front of him.


    He made sure to apply just enough pressure to make him nervous and want to tell his answer as soon as possible, Thorin was obviously not trying to hurt him at all.


    Orik was part of his family, after all.


    Why would Thorin try to harm him?


    It wouldn''t make any sense either way.


    "Um, you can refuse if you want," started off Orik, ncing at Thorin or rather staring at him not looking away for a single moment.


    ''Don''t tell me it''s rted to me?'' thought Thorin as he could already feel himself being annoyed that he would have to teach someone.


    "Alright, go ahead," continued Thorin making it known in his tone that he didn''t quite appreciate the attention that he was giving him.


    He wasn''t like Melinda, after all, Thorin was more of the straightforward type of person.


    This meant that it was difficult for him to hide that he wasn''t annoyed by this whole thing.


    "Alright, so could I maybe... um, be your student for the duration of a month? However, I don''t want to learn how to fight, I want to learn how to make better weapons," said Orik, wondering how Thorin would respond.


    Orik had, after all, not had many contacts with the one who was called the head of the family. In fact, not many in the family had seen Thorin before today when he finally made an appearance.


    In the Ravenwood family, usually, no one would know about Thorin or where he was.


    It was like a mystery which had be normal as time passed by.


    "You want to train your skills with me for aplete month?" asked Thorin, clearly showing that he wasn''t the happiest about this request.


    However, if Melinda had said yes to the previous request, then he couldn''t refuse this one.


    In fact, when he nced at Melinda, he saw her smile and wink at him. She was clearly trying to get back at him for earlier.


    However, she didn''t talk out loud like did, she only smiled and winked at him.

 Chapter 193 193 - Aiden鈥檚 Request

    <h4>Chapter 193 Chapter 193 - Aiden''s Request</h4>


    It was now time for Aiden to announce what he wanted as a reward for reaching first ce, he had an idea in mind.


    However, there was one thing that made him doubt whether or not to reveal it to everyone in the Arena.


    He didn''t it was the best for everyone in the Arena to hear about it, well... it would be a problem if two people were to hear it.


    The rest weren''t that much of a problem, but Aiden didn''t want Maelis and Emma to hear about his request since it concerned them pretty heavily.


    "Alright, it''s now time for our winner, The Reaper to tell everyone his request," said Thorin, regaining a smile on his face forgetting about whatever had happened before.


    The previous request that he had received wasn''t even in his mind anymore as he focused solely on Aiden or rather the Reaper.


    Thorin who had gotten curious about him, couldn''t help but wonder about what someone in a middle-level family would request.


    Well, Aiden wasn''t part of a middle-level family anymore, but the change was so recent that it didn''t even count.


    In fact, it wasn''t even official yet that Aiden had joined the Emberbane family.


    "Um, this may sound weird but can I tell my request alone with Melinda?" asked Aiden, taking a chance.


    He knew that they could very well refuse this request of him, but he still took a chance as he didn''t know whether or not they might ept it. n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    Thorin hearing this was displeased, however, the Reaper had gotten first ce and if he didn''t want to tell everyone about his request then he would be able to.


    Nheless, he was annoyed that he had chosen to speak with Melinda, even if it made a lot of sense since she was the only one who had spoken to him properly.


    "Melinda, do you mind?" asked Thorin, showing that he clearly had no problem with this whole thing.


    Melinda however quickly shook her head, excited that the Reaper wanted to speak with her in private.


    Who knows, he might show his face to her.


    "Alright, sure you can go ahead and tell her privately," added Thorin as both Melinda and Aiden disappeared from the stage, leaving behind a confused crowd.


    The crowd couldn''t help but question why they were going to speak in private and those who were the most confused or worried were Emma and Maelis who had only recently heard that Aiden would be joining another family.


    To be honest, this had been a shock to the two of them. However, they knew that Aiden wanted to get stronger and stronger. Nheless, they were still disappointed that he would be leaving the Everheart family.


    They were the ones who had helped Aiden the most, after all. So, it was a little bitter.


    Emma was the one who was the most affected by this decision as she thought that she was slowly but surely getting back into his life.


    But, she was only sad that it was clearly a one-sided feeling.


    ***


    In a private room with Melinda, Aiden slowly approached the table which wasn''t too far from them.


    In fact, they were in the same room when the two of them had first met.


    It was the same table, the same chairs. Everything was the exact same which was kind of weird, to be honest.


    However, Aiden didn''t spend too much time looking around himself as there was a lot more important stuff for him to discuss at the moment.


    Because the request which he was about to make didn''t concern him even a little, it concerned someone else. Someone who Aiden considered a friend or rather the closest thing he had to one.


    "Alright, so what did you want to talk about?" said Melinda, as she sat on the chair which was just in front of him.


    "Um, well the request that I have is a little special and it concerns you, that''s why I wanted to talk to you in private," said Aiden, exining the reason why she was stuck with him here.


    Melinda hearing the reason only nodded her head as she didn''t really care about all of this, she only wanted to hear of his request. That was the thing that interested her the most at the moment.


    "Your request, what is it?" asked Melinda, not being that patient.


    As she said that, she started to look around herself as she remembered that she had masturbated here when Aiden had been doing his trial.


    In fact, getting a quick look around, she noticed that some of her fluids were still on the ground which caused her to blush slightly, however, Aiden who was focused on his request didn''t notice any of that.


    "Would you be open to recruiting someone else into your family?" asked Aiden, before revealing what he wanted to say.


    Melinda was a little confused hearing that, dismissing her earlier lewd thoughts and getting focused on the request that Aiden was just about to make.


    "Um, sure why not?" replied Melinda, still unsure why he was going to ask.


    Well, she had an idea. In fact, what it was, but she ignored which person that Aiden would choose to join her family.


    "Alright, then would you make Emma Everheart join your family?" asked Aiden, as he stopped ying around the bush, finally revealing why he was there.


    Melinda smiled a little when hearing that name because she had heard of it before, the prodigy of the Everheart family that was what many called her.


    However, the situation wasplicated as Emma really was part of the Everheart family. Her mother was the head, would she even want to join the Emberbane family?


    Melinda didn''t know yet, but she knew that it wouldn''t be a bad thing for her to recruit Emma since Aiden clearly cared about her.


    So, wanting to please him, Melinda didn''t think about it for too long.


    "Sure, I can try. However, will she even join?"

 Chapter 194 194 - End of The Inter Family Tournament

    <h4>Chapter 194 Chapter 194 - End of The Inter Family Tournament</h4>


    ''Will Emma join?'' thought Aiden as he honestly wasn''t sure of such an answer.


    She wasn''t exactly in the same situation as Aiden, in fact, she was in apletely different one.


    She didn''t have to hide from anyone, she was living with her mom, did she want to get stronger?


    Maybe, but it wasn''t on the same scale as Aiden who really needed to get stronger.


    "But, let''s say she doesn''t want to join, do you want something else," asked Melinda, as she didn''t think that this was a request worth achieving first ce in the Inter Family Tournament.


    Aiden needed to be greedier, he needed to ask for more because right now he could.


    Who knew what would happen in the future, would he ever have an opportunity like this in the future?


    That''s why Aiden didn''t say anything right away, thinking about another reward for having the tournament.


    "Let me think," said Aiden, staying silent while his mind was inplete turmoil.


    Melinda hearing this nodded her head, waiting for him to find an appropriate answer to her question.


    ''A skill? Training with her? No, I don''t need this stuff,'' thought Aiden as he couldn''t seem to find a good request other than what he had already said.


    ''What about something that can assure my future?''


    Thinking of this set Aiden on the right path as he kept thinking about something that could help him in the future.


    ''Protection, I guess. That would be what I need the most,'' thought Aiden, pinpointing what he needed at the moment.


    However, he wasn''t sure how he could reveal to Melinda that he needed protection. Did it even make sense for someone from the Slums to need protection?


    But, Aiden had forgotten one important detail, Melinda didn''t know anything about him. She only knew that he came from a middle-level family.


    She didn''t know anything about his past.


    That''s why there wasn''t a lot of risk in asking for protection.


    ''Wait, no it actually makes sense to ask for protection right now,'' thought Aiden as he remembered the attempt that Ss had made trying to take his life.


    Right now was the perfect time to ask such a thing, especially after what just happened minutes ago.


    "If I had another request, I guess it would be protection against the Nightshades," said Aiden.


    "I knew you were going to say that," said Melinda instantly already expecting such a request since it was the one which made the most sense right now. N?v(el)B\\jnn


    She knew that the Reaper wouldn''t feel that great after being attacked in such a way, he had to be somewhat scared.


    "Then, I guess we have a deal if Emma Everheart doesn''t want to join my family. I will offer you protection," said Melinda, happy with this whole request of his.


    The reason why she was so happy was because she would be protecting him either way. So, she honestly couldn''t care less about that request of his.


    Whether she recruited Emma or not really didn''t matter much to her.


    "Alright, now that you''re about to join my family don''t you want to show me your face?" asked Melinda, still wondering what the Reaper really looked like.


    Was he anything like Li Feng?


    Because he was even remotely close to Li Feng in terms of Charm and attractiveness. She didn''t know what she would do.


    She didn''t have an orgasm in years, so she could only hope that he would do the trick and if he did then Aiden would be holding a really important ce in the family.


    However, the chances of Aiden being close to Li Feng''s Charm are small like really small since Li Feng''s Charm was of 500.


    ''Show my face?'' thought Aiden, unsure if that was the right time to do so.


    However, he knew that he would have to do it sooner orter as he had made some deals with Melinda and Lilia.


    ''Should I do itter after the tournament?'' thought Aiden as he knew that this would be the safer choice, there was literally no doubt in his mind.


    Nheless, he still hesitated over the whole matter.


    ''Does she know about the son which Ss threw away a long time ago?'' thought Aiden suddenly finding another problem.


    Because if she knew about him, what would she do?


    Would she show him to Ss again?


    Or use him against the Nightshades?


    Aiden wasn''t sure anymore, but he knew that he would be showing his faceter as he didn''t want to risk something since it was rted to the Nightshade Family.


    He preferred doing itter since it would be safer being away from the Nightshade Family.


    "No, I''ll show it to you after the tournament, just like I said previously," said Aiden, confident with the choice he had just made.


    Melinda hearing that answer didn''t even seem mad at all as she simply smiled as if expecting such an answer in the first ce.


    She had just tried to see that face of his wondering whether or not he had potential.


    "Alright, then I guess we''re done here," said Melinda as she made some signs with her hand teleporting them back to their original ce in the Arena.


    "Oh, they''re back, so what was the request?" asked Thorin, trying to know about it.


    However, that was quite a stupid attempt as Melinda only shook her head.


    "Well, I guess they decided to make it a secret," said Thorin as he prepared to make his final speech of the tournament.


    "Then, I guess this is the end of the Inter Family Tournament. This year was surprising with a middle-level family winner, maybe in years toe it will happen once again."


    ''Even if I doubt it,'' thought Thorin in his mind as he continued talking.


    "Now, it''s time for all of you to go choose the rewards that have been awarded during the whole tournament," said Thorin, talking about the skill, the weapon, the item.


    Then, the twelve participants disappeared from the stage.

 Chapter 195 195 - Skill Choice

    <h4>Chapter 195 Chapter 195 - Skill Choice</h4>


    Aiden reappeared in a roompletely alone with a screen not far away from him.


    There was nothing else inside that room except that small little tablet which was on a small pedestal.


    Aiden didn''t ask himself too many questions as he started to advance toward it as he could already guess what was on it.


    On this little screen was where he would be making his choice about what skill he would select and what weapon he would want.


    As he approached the small screen, he saw what seemed to be a logo of first ce.


    It was a little "#1" in the top left of the screen which probably meant that he had ess to more things than the others who had gotten ess to that little interactive screen.


    Then, finally reaching it, he was able to analyze it for the very first time since appearing in this room.


    There he saw what seemed to be filters to choose certain categories of skills.


    [Skill Choice]


    [ss Filters]


    [No Restriction]


    [Assassin-ss Restricted]


    [Enchantress-ss Restricted]


    ...


    Right beside all of those choices was a little box where Aiden could click on to select what filters he wanted.


    Aiden didn''t think for too long as he chose the filters [No Restriction] and [Assassin-ss Restricted].


    He didn''t have to look at the rest of them since they would have no impact since he wouldn''t be even able to use them in the first ce.


    Then, after clicking on the filters that he wanted for his skill selection. Something else appeared.


    [Confirm your choices?]


    Aiden didn''t even think for a single moment as he said "Yes."


    Then, the little interactive screen made appear many different skills which all respected the filters that he had selected before that.


    There were no skills that weren''t for Assassins or unrestricted ones.


    Every skill was usable for Aiden and that was exactly what he wanted. n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    Then, he started to analyze all the skills that were avable to him, but he realized that would take a really long time.


    There were just too many skills shown and it''s not like wanted to see all the ones that weren''t graded well.


    Aiden didn''t care about the skills that were Rated Green and below, they were just not interesting enough especially when Aiden could only have a maximum of five skills


    He needed to find those who were at least Rated Blue or else it didn''t really matter.


    That''s why Aiden started to touch the little interactive screen in search of a skill that he would like the most, and after searching for minutes and hours. He seemed to have found one that was interesting.


    It was Blue Rated since Aiden couldn''t find anything with a higher rank than that one.


    However, it really was a good skill, even better than [Gentle Touch]. It was a skill that he would be able to use in his trials, and in his daily life.


    A skill which he would be able to use every day without any problem at all.


    [Face Changer]


    [Rank: Blue]


    [Restriction: Assassin-Rted Skill]


    [Description: With this skill, you will be able to hide your identity whenever you want. You will be able to modify your face as you wish.]


    [Cost: 10 Mana]


    [Duration: One Hour]


    [Cooldown: One Day]


    With this skill, Aiden would be able to change at the most crucial moments which could potentially help him in future trials and also in his daily when he would need to hide from the Nightshades.


    Then, after making sure that this was the skill that he wanted, he simply looked a little down and saw that there were two propositions for him, a "Yes" and a "No".


    [Obtain the skill?]


    [Yes]


    [No]


    Aiden didn''t waste too much time as he simply pressed the "Yes" button, then as soon as he did the Skill Book literally appeared out of nowhere in his hands.


    Then, the usual beeping noise resounded in his mind instantly.


    *BEEP*


    [Do you want to learn this skill?]


    [Careful, you only have three skill slots left before being unable to learn more.]


    Reading the warning from the system, Aiden hesitated for a little wondering whether or not it was a good idea to actually learn.


    However, he quickly made up his mind and decided to learn it as he knew that he would be able to make good use of it in the future.


    Maybe it didn''t seem that good for others, but it would literally change Aiden''s life considering his current situation with the Nightshades.


    ''Yes, I want to learn it.''


    Then, the skill book disappeared from his hands and when he opened his system he could see his new skill written inside it, ready to be used.


    However, Aiden had no need to use it instantly so, he didn''t try it right away. He didn''t even know if someone was watching him.


    This was a weird ce after all, who knew where Melinda and the rest of them were able to observe things?


    That''s why Aiden decided that this wasn''t the time to be doing such things.


    "Alright, now what?" asked Aiden out loud as the screen of the interactive screen was nowpletely dark with nothing on it.


    And no matter how many times Aiden would try to hit it, there would be absolutely no answer from the small screen as if it becamepletely dead.


    Then, the screen lighted up out of nowhere finally showing some content on it. However, this time it was different, it wasn''t a selection of weapons.


    There were multiple pictures of cksmiths shown with a little description attached to each of them.


    In the description, there were a lot of details about the talent and experience of the particr cksmith.


    As Aiden started to search for the best ones, he saw that some of the pictures were gray with a small message written on their picture.


    [Already Chosen.]


    However, when Aiden tried pressing on their pictures, an unexpected message appeared.

 Chapter 196 196 - Blacksmith Choice

    <h4>Chapter 196 Chapter 196 - cksmith Choice</h4>


    *BEEP*


    [Having won the tournament, you have priority over the cksmith that you want.]


    Aiden seeing this smiled happy that winning the tournament had given him another advantage over the others.


    It felt good that he could feel somewhat superior to them if he was to be honest.


    Then, as Aiden started to nce at all of the cksmiths, he sometimes clicked on some of their profiles wanting to see whether or not they were good.


    Most of the time, his criteria for clicking on a profile was the stars that were under those profiles.


    He decided that he only wanted the best which is why he only clicked on the five stars cksmiths.


    Then, as he continued looking at all those profiles he remembered the dwarf who had interpelled him back in the streets.


    The one who looked almost the same as Thorin the one who was the head of a founding family.


    "Now where is he?" mumbled Aiden as he continued to look at all of those profiles, not able to find the one that he wanted the most.


    "Well, maybe he isn''t a five-star cksmith?" continued Aiden, not sure if he was looking at the right ce.


    However, he quickly dismissed what he had just uttered because Aiden remembered the calluses on that man''s hands and those were ones of an experienced person who had hammered for years if not decades.


    Then, as he continued to look at all of those profiles, he finally saw one with the name of Thorin. However, Aiden wasn''t sure if it was the right one as there was only a single star below that profile.


    [Thorin Ravenwood]


    [One-Star cksmith]


    [Description: A talented cksmith who is hard to talk to, will do as he wants with the crafting of your weapon and won''t let you give your opinion on it. The reason why he has one star is because of his horrible personality. He has the name of the head of the Ravenwood family and many confused the two.]


    "Horrible personality?" mumbled Aiden once again, not sure if he had read correctly.


    He wasn''t sure if he had done so, because it didn''t make much sense if he based his opinion on the same dwarf who had interpeted him in the streets.


    Aiden remembered that it hadn''t been all that bad and that the dwarf had been friendly with, well somewhat.


    "But that personality doesn''t seem all that bad," continued Aiden as he didn''t understand how someone''s personality could lower someone''s worth. n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    As long as he was good, he should be rated higher. So, why would someone''s personality interfere with such a rating?


    Aiden couldn''t help but find it extremely stupid.


    He didn''t know who had made such a rating, but he had to admit that it was extremely stupid.


    Seeing that no one had picked him yet, probably because of his rating. Aiden didn''t lose any more time searching for another cksmith as he simply selected him, interested in what he could make.


    Then, the little interactive screen once again changed as it showed multiple choices.


    [Weapon Choices]


    [Dagger]


    [Sword]


    [Long Sword]


    [Gloves]


    [Hammer]


    [Bow]


    ...


    Aiden read all of this and simply dismissed most of them as he already knew the type of weapon that he wanted.


    He wanted a dagger which is exactly what he clicked on.


    Then, a beeping sound resounded in his mind.


    *BEEP*


    [You have chosen the Dagger.]


    [Give further instructions to your cksmith.]


    But then after hearing that part in his mind, the screen stayed ck not showing a ce to write or say any instructions.


    Seeing this, Aiden immediately remembered the description of Thorin and suddenly everything immediately made sense.


    "I guess the system won''t let me make any suggestions to the cksmith," mumbled Aiden, not that disappointed.


    ''Well, he probably knows more than me,'' thought Aiden, knowing that a cksmith who had more experience than him would be able to make better choices when crafting a weapon.


    "Alright, now I chose the skill, the weapon, so what''s left?" muttered Aiden, as he waited for the screen to show the next reward.


    Aiden didn''t even remember what it was if he were to be honest. It hadpletely left his mind, so he decided to depend on that little interactive screen.


    Then, a couple of secondster, the screen once again lighted up this time with apletely new interface.


    [cksmith: Thorin Ravenwood]


    [Item Choice]


    [Gloves]


    [Mask]


    [Cape]


    [Pants]


    [Boots]


    ...


    "Oh, right it''s an item of our choice," mumbled Aiden, as he finally remembered about hisst reward.


    Aiden had to admit that participating in the Inter Family Tournament had been a really good idea since he had gotten so many rewards.


    However, there were times when he had been in danger of being discovered, but the overall situation had been good.


    He was now going to join a founding family where he would be protected from the Nightshades, he would have a new skill, a new weapon, and a new item.


    Aiden would have regretted not participating in it.


    Nheless, Aiden quickly dismissed those thoughts as he needed to choose what item he wanted.


    Looking quickly at all of those choices, Aiden chose the item that he needed the most right now pants or rather leggings.


    That was what he needed the most since this was the only item that he didn''t have at the moment.


    Then, the beeping sound once again resounded his mind.


    *BEEP*


    [You have chosen Pants.]


    [Give further instruction to your cksmith.]


    But, once again, the screen stayedpletely dark not letting him tell any sort of instructions to Thorin, the cksmith.


    After that, the screen once again lit up and a big message was written on it.


    [Do you want to go back to the Arena?]


    Aiden read that and didn''t think too much about it as he simply returned to the Arena once again.


    There he saw that everyone was looking at him as he was thest to arrive which was weird considering that he hadn''t given instruction to his cksmith.


    ''So now what?'' thought Aiden, wondering about what would happen next.


    ***


    Please read the Author''s Note

 Chapter 197 197 - Reunion

    <h4>Chapter 197 Chapter 197 - Reunion</h4>


    As he reappeared in the Arena, everyone around him started to re at him as if he had done something wrong.


    However, Aiden had obviously done nothing of the sort, he had simply answered everything on that little screen in that empty room.


    "Now that everyone is here, I think it''s time to leave this dimension of ours and go back to the real world!" eximed excitedly Thorin.


    Aiden found it weird that the real world was now Nova, but he didn''tment on it as he only thought a little about Earth in general.


    Then, after Thorin uttered that everyone could exit this ce, the participants that were around Aiden started to disappear one after another.


    However, as Aiden was about to disappear he felt two hands grab him on his shoulders.


    One of those hands owners was Ss Nightshade and the other one which was a lot more feminine came from Melinda Emberbane.


    "Where are you going like that? We still need to figure out our little problem," said Ss, still mad with the Reaper and what he had done to his son. n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    However, before Aiden answered, Melinda interfered.


    "Ss, let the boy go. We''ll talk about what we''ll doter," said Melinda, still with an easy-going smile on her face.


    Ss could only clench his fists as he couldn''t do anything to force Aiden to stay here.


    Then, both Lucius and Ss disappeared and left both Melinda and Aiden alone in the middle of the Arena.


    In fact, when Aiden started to nce around, he noticed that there was almost no one left in the Arena and in the stands.


    There were only Emma, Olivia, Logan, Maelis, Gerald, and Lilia in those stands.


    ''Well, I guess now would be the best time to reveal my face to all of them,'' thought Aiden as there was no one else around.


    Aiden seeing them in the stands made a sign to tell them toe and see him.


    "So, are you finally going to show that face of yours?" asked Melinda, who had also noticed that they werepletely alone in this ce.


    Aiden only nodded as he waited for everyone to reach him.


    While everyone was trying toe down to the stage, two people in particr seemed to be arguing.


    "Let go, it''s me that going to be first."


    "No, it''s going to be me."


    Those two people were obviously Emma and Olivia who were still arguing on the one who would obtain Aiden first.


    However, it wasn''t them who reached the stage first, it was both Maelis and Gerald who were obviously stronger than the rest of them whonded on the stage first.


    "Congrats on your win, I doubted you a little but I guess I shouldn''t have," said Gerald.


    He had doubted Aiden since he hadn''t known about him a lot.


    Aiden in response to this shed a smile, however, he still had his mask so it didn''t show.


    "Thanks, it feels good winning."


    Then, Maelis who was watching not too far away from them, still hadn''t said anything only ring at him.


    "So, you''re leaving the Everheart Family, huh?" she said, clearly a little sour about that matter.


    Aiden wasn''t sure how to respond as he could that she was clearly not happy about that matter at all.


    "Um, I guess I am. Sorry," said Aiden, as he couldn''t find the right words to apologize.


    Nheless, he knew that it was for the best.


    "Well, no need to apologize I get it, you know joining a founding family is not an opportunity that you can often have."


    Aiden hearing this was somewhat reassured that Maelis wasn''t too mad about that whole thing. However, he could only pray that she wouldn''t be mad when Melinda asked Emma to join her family too.


    Aiden wasn''t sure if Emma would follow him, but he still had hope.


    Then, as the two of them were about to continue their conversation, someone else reached them and it was Lilia.


    It seemed that the two girls really weren''t the fastest and Logan, well Logan was taking his time, slowly walking down toward the stage.


    "Congrats on winning! You didn''t have to face Lucius in the end, huh," she said as she remembered telling all sorts of things to beat Lucius.


    Maelis who had never seen that person before had literal question marks in her eyes. In fact, even Melinda was wondering how the Reaper had gotten to know someone from the Nightshades.


    "Oh, well I guess I didn''t have to," replied Aiden as he didn''t understand why she hadn''t caught him beating Lucius and all of that in the trial.


    It was weird that she hadn''t realized that this was the cause of Ss acting so aggressively against Aiden.


    Then, as Aiden started to feel res on his back, he slowly turned his head and saw two crazy girls ring at him.


    ''Why are they looking at me like that?'' he thought, not sure why Emma and Olivia were furious.


    "Why didn''t you tell me that you would leave the Everheart family?" shouted both Olivia and Emma.


    Aiden wasn''t sure why Olivia was frustrated about such a thing, but he didn''t question it too much.


    "Um, sorry I guess," replied Aiden, not sure how to respond to those crazy girls.


    "You better be!" the two of them responded at the same time.


    Then, Melinda who had been watching this scene, interjected in the conversation.


    "Um, um, it''s not that I want to interrupt, but could you guys do that reunionter," asked Melinda as she started to get impatient, she wanted to see what the Reaper looked like.


    She also wanted to know about his name as she still hadn''t learned anything about it.


    "Right, right, sorry," said Olivia, shutting her mouth which was a rare asion.


    "So, I guess it''s time for me to show you what I look like, huh?" mumbled Aiden, still hesitating over removing his mask.

 Chapter 198 198 - Mask Removal

    <h4>Chapter 198 Chapter 198 - Mask Removal</h4>


    Lilia, Melinda and Olivia made sure to look at Aiden''s every moment because it was finally time for him to remove that Reaper Mask that hid his face.


    Lilia didn''t know why, but she was almost sure that she knew the person that was under that mask, she had gotten that sensation ever since she hadid her eyes on that mask.


    She had that feeling deeply rooted in her mind, that she knew the person that was on the other side of that mask.


    Melinda on the other hand was wondering what he even looked like in the first ce, was he wearing a mask because he didn''t like his appearance?


    Was it rted to that?


    Well, she could only hope that it wasn''t since the entirety of her techniques depended on someone''s charm.


    ''Should I do it?'' thought Aiden, hesitating.


    Showing his identity to everyone around him was a big deal, especially to someone who was part of the Nightshade.


    However, he had a feeling that he could trust that person on his right. He wasn''t sure why, but he simply knew that he could trust that person.


    He had never spent time with her, but the emotions that he felt when looking at her gave him some confidence that she could be trusted and that she wasn''t like the rest of the Nightshade Family.


    Aiden had seen the result of losing a fight when being in the Nightshade and he had to admit that he couldn''t even begin to imagine what he had gone through when he was young, not being able to awaken.


    Olivia wanted to see Aiden''s face for almost the same reasons as Melinda, she wanted to see just how handsome that masked figure was.


    In her case, she had no doubt that the Reaper was someone extremely stunning as she had known that he was beautiful the moment that she hadid her eyes on him, having a feeling just like Lilia.


    ''What if Lilia isn''t someone I can trust,'' thought Aiden, thinking about multiple scenarios in his head.


    He knew that removing this mask was a big deal and that he needed to be careful about revealing his face.


    ''What if I use that new skill of mine?'' thought Aiden, remembering that he would be able to change the appearance of his face for one hour.


    However, he quickly dismissed that thought as he would have at some point to show his face to Melinda and the others in other instances.


    ''I guess I really don''t have any other choice,'' thought Aiden as he started to slowly remove his mask.


    Well, he wasn''t removing the mask, he was removing the Everchanging Item, but they were the same thing at the moment.


    Then, slowly some skin started to show and instantly the three girls were really excited.


    They were finally going to see what he looked like, almost all of them had been waiting to see that face since the start of the tournament.


    "What are you doing?" asked Maelis, who just couldn''t understand why Aiden would remove his mask at such a time.


    He had asked to be anonymous, so why was he going to reveal his identity to so many different people, it just didn''t make any sense in her mind.


    But, that was solely due to the fact, that she didn''t know about all of the deals that Aiden had made during the duration of the tournament.


    "Don''t worry about it," replied Aiden, as he continued to slowly lift the reaper''s mask.


    When he had pronounced those words, Aiden''s lips had been almost visible as they were able to nce at them and only his lips made Olivia confident about her intuition that the man behind that mask was one sexy person. n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    After all, for Emma to act in such a way with her, the Reaper had to be extremely beautiful and handsome, that was simply a fact.


    Then, Aiden was tired of teasing them as he finally removed the entirety of his mask, revealing face for everyone around him to see.


    Aiden was honestly interested in seeing the types of reactions that he would be receiving from his appearance as he knew that he was good-looking, much more than in his past life.


    However, was he really that attractive?


    Nheless, seeing the open-mouthed faces of those around him were doing, he now understood that maybe he really was someone extremely beautiful.


    In fact, even Melinda had her mouth wide open, shocked by the beauty that she was seeing in front of her.


    Out of all the people that she had seen in her life, she had to admit that the Reaper was one of a kind.


    But then, the three girls who were seeing his face for the very first time started to calm down as they suddenly started to question him about his identity and where hees from, things like that.


    Aiden was obviously not thatfortable answering all that information as he would often lie in his answers. However, he was so used to lying about those that his answers seemed real even for Melinda who was known in the art of fooling others.


    "So, um what''s your name?" asked Melinda, as she couldn''t wait to hear the name that went with that beautiful face of his.


    "Aiden," he replied, keeping it really short.


    "Only Aiden what about yourst name?"


    "Well, it was Everheart and now it''s Emberbane I guess."


    Melinda was a little frustrated hearing that, however, she continued to persist in trying to get answers.


    "Then, what about before that? You didn''t have a family name?" she asked, oblivious to his previous situation.


    However, before he could even try to answer Lilia who was looking at him on his right seemed to be mumbling something.


    "There''s no way, there''s just no way."


    "You''re not dead..." continued mumbling Lilia, in such a quiet tone that no one around them could even hear it.


    "What are you saying?" asked Melinda, annoyed by the constant mumbling that was going on.


    She needed to have answers and there was always this annoying background noise.

 Chapter 199 199 - Questions

    ?


    However, when asked what she was saying, Lilia immediately shut her mouth, finally realizing that she had been speaking out loud.


    Melinda who just saw her react that way didn''t ask too many questions and simply nodded her head, not caring about it as she simply wanted to hear Aiden''s answers as fast as she could.


    However, Aiden couldn''t help but be worried about what she had just mumbled, because she was the person who could potentially know about the old Aiden.


    So, that''s why when he saw her shocked face, Aiden made sure to stay calm and not show any signs of being worried.


    Nheless, it was hard to keep a straight face for so long which is why Aiden couldn''t help but slowly tap his feet on the ground as Melinda continued to ask her earlier questions.


    *Tap*


    *Tap*


    *Tap*


    "Alright, so what''s your name?" asked Melinda, ignoring the sound that Aiden was currently making.


    "Aiden, I already told you," said Aiden, repeating his earlier response, pretending to be annoyed.


    He wanted to give as little information as he could that''s why he would make sure to keep his answers short and sweet.


    "I know about that already, so what''s your realst name and don''t tell me Everheart or whatever thing you''re going toe up with. You''re real one," said Melinda, as she started to apply a little pressure onto Aiden as she was clearly tired of being yed around with.


    ''Well, I guess I can just tell her that I didn''t have one before,'' thought Aiden as this was pretty much the most logical answer that he had found in thatpse of time.


    However, before he could even attempt to respond, Emma who wasn''t too far from him replied instead of him.


    "He doesn''t have one, he has no family, hees from the Slums," she said in quick session giving some bits of information to Melinda.


    However, hearing her response, Aiden was actually happy since it made seem all the more truthful that somebody else had the same response as him.


    "The Slums?" uttered Lilia, out of nowhere.


    *Tap*


    *Tap*


    *Tap*n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    Aiden''s tapping with his foot entued when he heard her say such a thing, however, he still ignored her.


    However, seeing that everyone had turned their heads toward her, she once again shut her mouth as quickly as she had opened it.


    Seeing that she wasn''t going to talk again, everyone simply ignored her.


    "You''re from the Slums?" asked Melinda, trying to make sure that Emma wasn''t lying.


    Melinda was doubtful because who could even expect someone who had just be Awakened only a month ago to be winning the Inter Family Tournament?


    In Melinda''s mind, Aiden had been trained since a young age, having ess to all sorts of different resources.


    However, none of those assumptions were even close to the truth.


    "I am," said Aiden, once again, cutting his answers as short as he possibly could.


    "When did you join the Everheart family?" asked Melinda, as she knew that depending on his answer, his worth could potentially skyrocket even more than it already was.


    ''Should I lie about that?'' thought Aiden, as he heard the voice of Emma once again on his left.


    Aiden didn''t know why but she seemed to be trying to prove something to Melinda. Like proving that Aiden was insanely talented or something like that and while doing it she even seemed mad.


    "It''s been at most two months since he joined our family."


    Melinda this time was in shock, only two months?!


    That simply made no sense.


    "How long has it been since you awakened?" asked Melinda, as she was ready to be further shocked by what Aiden was about to say.


    "I don''t know, around two months," said Aiden this time.


    He knew that he couldn''t really lie in this scenario because of Emma and Maelis which would probably contradict him if he were to tell a lie.


    "Two months?! And you''re that strong already," eximed Melinda.


    Aiden was a little shocked by that shout, nheless, he knew that the speed at which he was getting stronger was ridiculous.


    However, in his mind, it still wasn''t enough because everywhere that he looked he saw stronger and stronger people.


    "Um, I guess," replied Aiden, not seeing happy with his progress.


    "No way," mumbled Lilia once again out of nowhere.


    This time, Melinda simply couldn''t endure anymore.


    First, there was her constant mumbling, then there was Aiden''s foot tapping and now Lilia was sometimes uttering things for no reason.


    "Are you okay? What''s going on with you?" asked Melinda, tired of hearing her.


    "Yea, yea I''m fine, sorry."


    "Then, stop shouting things out of nowhere or being surprised, it''s annoying."


    Melinda knew that she had just been surprised, however, Lilia always had a dyed reaction as if she was thinking of so many things at the same time.


    Lilia hearing Melinda reprimanding her slowly nodded making sure that no words would leave her mouth.


    However, containing herself right now was really hard.


    A person who was supposed to be dead was standing right in front of her.


    She simply couldn''t help but shout something when learning more about what had happened during the time that she had thought of him as a dead person.


    She knew that her instincts had been right since the very beginning, she knew the person in front of her very well as she had spent years with him trying tofort him as much as she could.


    Lilia knew of his past and how much he had gone through during the years when he lived with the Nightshades.


    She thought that he had been killed by his own father, but it seemed that hadn''t been the case, he was still alive and he was better than ever.


    He was right there, a few steps away from her.


    Her past boyfriend whom she had lost many years ago, was now back in front of her living apletely different life.

 Chapter 200 200 - Emmas Decision

    ?


    She was trying as hard as she could to stay away from him, not going up to him and embracing him.


    Lilia didn''t know why Aiden hadn''te to see her earlier or why he hadn''t told him about him when they talked earlier.


    Was he angry at her?


    Did he think that she was rted to everything that had happened in the family?


    She surely hoped that he didn''t or else their rtionship would be literally turning to shit.


    However, she decided that she would wait a little bit until the two of them were alone to talk about those things as he clearly didn''t want to reveal them to those around.


    She knew the reasons why since she had seen Ss''s reactions all of her life and she knew how hard the man could be on his child.


    So, it made sense for Aiden to try and be as far away as he possibly could.


    "So, Aiden are you serious about what you just said? Did it really take you two months to get this strong?" repeated Melinda, wondering whether or not he had said the truth about this whole thing.


    "Yeah, it really has been two months," said Aiden as he started to pay attention to Lilia and he started to understand little by little why she was acting this way.


    He had understood earlier, however, he still wasn''t sure if she knew.


    Nheless, those reactions were clear. She knew about his past, well the old Aiden''s path.


    "Alright, then I guess, I''ll respect the request you made earlier. Sorry Maelis if what I''m about to say offends you in any way," said Melinda as she turned toward Emma with a serious look on her face.


    While all of this was happening, Lilia who just couldn''t resist anymore started to discreetly move toward Aiden.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    Her body was now right beside Aiden''s body as their shoulders were touching each other.


    Then, she slowly moved her head upwards, so that she could try and whisper something to him.


    "Are you mad at me?"


    That was the question that she had decided to go with, as she was truly wondering if Aiden was mad at her for what happened in the past, even if she had nothing to do with it.


    In fact, she ignored what had even happened to him as she thought that he had been killed by his father, Ss Nightshade, the crazy man.


    Aiden hearing that whisper had no choice but to divert his attention toward the person who was right beside him.


    ''Mad? Why would I even be mad?'' thought Aiden, unsure about the reason that she would mention such a thing.


    It didn''t make sense from his. point of view.


    ''Oh, mad about what happened with the Nightshades.''


    After a couple of seconds, those thoughts finally clicked. However, he simply couldn''t be mad about what had happened with the Nightshades.


    Sure, he was feeling a little bit of rage inside him whenever they would talk about the Nightshades, but that came from the owner of this body which wasn''t even present anymore.


    Aiden had reced him two months ago.


    But, the real question was how could he be truly mad over what had happened, he hadn''t even lived it. So, it didn''t make sense for Aiden to be mad.


    Then, he lowered his face, as he whispered.


    "No, I''m not."


    He didn''t add any details as he didn''t want to miss the conversation which was just about to start in front of him, well it had basically started.


    "Emma, because Aiden won the tournament. He got a wish, right?" asked Melinda, making sure that she understood why she would be asking such a thing.


    "Yeah," confirmed Emma, confused as to why Melinda was talking to her.


    She was after all someone part of one of the most important families that existed and not only that, she was its head.


    So, why would she suddenly start talking to her, what did Aiden even do when he spoke to her for a second time?


    Emma had a feeling that she would learn about it right now.


    "Aiden''s request was a special one and once again this is nothing against you Maelis," said Melinda, deeply apologizing.


    Maelis couldn''t help but wonder what could cause one of the strongest people on the to apologize to her.


    It simply no sense in her mind, why would she even need to apologize two times at that?


    "Aiden asked me if you, Emma Everheart, wanted to follow him to my family," said Melinda, finally revealing Aiden''s request.


    Emma who just heard that was kind of shocked as she hadn''t expected something like that, especially considering the past month between her and Aiden.


    However, that wasn''t the biggest problem right now.


    If she were to ept this, she would be leaving her family. The family of her mother.


    Thinking about that, Emma had no choice but to nce at her mother who hadn''t said anything yet simply watching her daughter, observing her actions.


    What would she try to do?


    Aiden had no idea about what her choice would be which is why he made sure to pay attention to Emma''s every move as he wanted to tell whether or not she would ept.


    "Mom, what do you think?" asked Emma.


    However, her mother stayedpletely silent it seemed that her mother wouldn''t interfere in her choice, respecting it either way.


    Maelis would understand if her daughter wanted to join a founding family, that was the dream of every single awakened since there would be a lot of power that woulde with it.


    ''Abandon my mother? Follow Aiden?'' thought Emma, debating inside her mind, unsure of her choice.


    Would she even try to make the right choice?


    Then, while Emma was still debating over joining Melinda''s family.


    Lilia who was still right beside Aiden mumbled something that Aiden was able to hear albeit barely.


    "What if I followed him."


    Aiden who had just heard that was shocked as he simply couldn''t understand why she would say such a thing, wasn''t she already part of a founding family?

 Chapter 201 201 - Lilia?

    <h4>Chapter 201 Chapter 201 - Lilia?</h4>


    ''Follow me? Does she want to leave the Nightshade family?'' thought Aiden, unsure whether or not it was even possible.


    However, if she had uttered such a thing then she must have a certain idea about how to achieve such a thing.


    Nheless, before she could even ask Melinda about her joining, Emma was the one who was currently about many things.


    She was clearly in a dilemma about joining the Emberbane family. On one side, it was a great idea because she would have ess to a lot more resources which could help her be a lot more powerful.


    Joining a founding family was the right choice if someone was in the quest for power like Aiden, however, Emma was also in search of more power, so shouldn''t she join?


    ''But I can''t abandon my mother, leave her all alone,'' thought Emma, as she knew that the Emberbane territory wasn''t anywhere close to the Nightshade one.


    Then, Emma once again nced at her mother and noticed that she still had a calm face as if not caring about the choice that Emma would make.


    ''Will she be mad if I follow Aiden?'' she thought, unsure.


    She didn''t know if her mother was simply acting as if she didn''t care.


    "What would it mean to join your family?" asked Emma, trying to make sure that her choice would be the right one.


    Aiden who was watching her being in a dilemma had to say that he had understood what she was currently going through because he had gone through one before joining the Emberbane family.


    However, he dismissed his own thoughts as he was also interested in the answer that Melinda would mutter.


    "Well, you would get many benefits, like ess to our training facilities, a dorm and many more things. Oh, and depending on how you perform in the Otherworld you might be given some advantages," exined Melinda, not revealing everything yet it seemed.


    However, Emma needed to know about those advantages.


    "What sort of advantages?" immediately asked Emma.


    "Um, well I can''t tell you, but I must that they are really good," said Melinda, observing the reactions from around her.


    Noticing that everyone seemed annoyed by this whole thing, she decided to at least reveal one.


    "Well, one of the advantages you could get is a monthly training session with me and that''s just one of them," she added, reluctantly, as she hadn''t wanted to reveal anything.


    Aiden hearing this nodded, not sure if this would be a good reward for him as Melinda was mostly focused on the Charm skills and stuff like that.


    Nheless, the experience from someone as strong as her wasn''t something that anyone could even refuse.


    Emma, hearing that she could rewards like that was obviously interested, however, there was still one problem, and it was the same one that she had at the start.


    Her mother.


    "Mom, are you okay with this whole thing?" asked Emma once again wanting to know what she thought about this whole thing.


    At the start, Maelis didn''t open her mouth, but then she saw that Emma was truly hesitating like crazy.


    "Do what you want, follow your heart and don''t worry I won''t hold it against you. I understand," she said, trying to push Emma in the right direction.


    Maelis knew that joining a founding family was the right choice, her daughter would have ess to so many things and she would also be with Aiden.


    Maelis was also not dumb, she knew that Emma really liked Aiden, and that''s why she said that she should follow her heart.


    ''Then, should I join?'' thought Emma, for the final time.


    ''Follow my heart, huh?'' she thought.


    She had now made a decision and she was sure that it was the right one, there was not an ounce of doubt in her mind.


    "So, are you going to join or not?" asked Melinda, tired of waiting for her answer.


    Nheless, she wasn''t dumb. She knew that it was a difficult decision which is why she let Emma think about it for minutes.


    Emma hearing Melinda had no choice but to finally give her answer.


    "Yes, I''ll join it," uttered Emma as she nced at her mother and then nced at Aiden with a big smile on her face.


    This whole opportunity had been because of him, after all.


    So, she could only be grateful to him.


    Melinda hearing that answer was happy.


    ''Finally, I can leave this ce.''


    But, then she thought about the Nightshades and she had a bigger headache.


    Why did she have and get in the way of Ss?


    She knew that nothing good woulde from that, she just knew it.


    "Then, I guess we can leave this ce," she muttered preparing herself to be teleported out of this ce.


    But as she was about to leave this ce, someone else spoke up and without much surprise, it was Lilia, Lilia Nightshade.


    "Wait, don''t leave yet," she almost shouted, knowing that this would basically be her only opportunity to talk with her alone.


    Melinda hearing the owner of that voice was tempted to continue what she doing and disappear from this ce, however, she remained listening with one ear.


    "What if I wanted to join your family, what would you say," proposed Lilia, wondering how Melinda would react.


    Lilia was after all part of the Nightshade family which Melinda would probably have a lot of problems with in the near future, so why was she trying to join her family?


    Did she want to be a spy? N?v(el)B\\jnn


    "Why do you want to join it?" asked Melinda.


    She knew how the Nightshades worked and she wouldn''t be surprised if this were to be some kind of scheme organized by Ss.


    In fact, she was already thinking that was the case.


    "Um..."


    ''Should I tell her that I want to follow Aiden?''


    ''No, that wouldn''t be a good idea,'' she thought.


    Then, she tried to find a great excuse for Melinda to even consider her joining.

 Chapter 202 202 - Olivia is joining too?!

    <h4>Chapter 202 Chapter 202 - Olivia is joining too?!</h4>


    "I repeat, why do you want to join my family, when you are already part of a founding family."


    While she said that, she applied constant pressure on Lilia wanting her to respond right away as she didn''t want to hear some fabricated answer.


    However, Lilia still hadn''t been able to find a good reason to go ahead and join that family.


    ''Fast, fast, fast, I need to think of something.''


    Then, as her mind went everywhere with all sorts of different ideas, someone else spoke up.


    "What about me? Can I join your family?"


    This time, it was Olivia who had just spoken up, it seemed that she was also interested in joining a founding family. However, her reasons for doing so weren''t for power or anything rted to that.


    In fact, she could even care less about power and those sorts of things, what she wanted was to get closer and closer to Aiden.


    She wanted to spend as much time as possible with him.


    ''What''s happening why does everyone want to join my family?'' thought Melinda, not understanding where they all found the guts to ask such a thing.


    However, she knew that it wouldn''t be a bad thing to recruit the people from the Inter Family Tournament as everyone participating is pretty assured to be quite talented, that''s why Melinda didn''t outright refuse all offers.


    ''I know, that I''m part of a founding family, but it''s still weird for all of them to be so interested in joining one,'' thought Melinda as she started to think about the reason that all those girls wanted to join her.


    Then, she finally understood why those two girls wanted to join her family.


    The reason had been right in front of her this whole time, it was because of Aiden, that little yer.


    ''He doesn''t even seem aware that all those girls are in love with him, though,'' thought Melinda,ughing to herself.


    How could he be so oblivious regarding those things when he was great at fighting and observing stuff in general?


    "You want to join my family, huh? And why is that?" asked Melinda, already knowing the answer to that question.


    Nheless, she wanted to see if they would have the guts to tell her, especially since they were in front of Aiden.


    "Um, the reason? Isn''t it obvious, I want to follow Aiden there," said Olivia, not caring about this whole thing at all.


    Melinda was surprised that she would say such a thing in front of Aiden, however, when she looked in Aiden''s direction, it looked like he didn''t even care about what he had just said.


    "And what family are you a part of?" asked Melinda as she knew that she would have to go and ask them if it was okay for her to join.


    However, Olivia''s response once again surprised her.


    "Don''t worry about my family, they won''t even notice if I''m gone," said Olivia, seemingly determined to join the Emberbane Family.


    Melinda nodded hearing that.


    "Then, I guess you can join, it''s not like we''re missing space," said Melinda, truly not minding someone else joining her Family.


    In fact, it could only help her in the long run since having more members couldn''t be a bad thing in regard to resources and stuff like that.


    "Yay! Heard that Aiden, we''ll live together. You won''t even need to go visit my family!" said Olivia as she jumped right into Aiden''s arms making sure that Aiden could feel all of her forms.


    However, Aiden was just confused about this whole thing.


    ''Why is everyone joining the Emberbane family? Why is Melinda even epting?'' thought Aiden as he remembered that he had to spend his wish to win the tournament to have Emma join it.


    It just didn''t seem all that fair now.


    ''And what is she doing in my arms?'' thought Aiden, as he simply dropped her on the ground, not even looking at her.


    "Argh, why did you drop me? At least tell me first," said Olivia, teasingly, still smiling even when she noticed that Aiden wasn''t even looking at her.


    In fact, Aidenpletely ignored what she had just said as he continued to look at Melinda a little angry about this matter. n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    "Why are you epting her?" asked Aiden, angrily.


    Melinda was confused as to why was acting this way and was speaking to her in such a tone.


    "Is something wrong? Do you want me to refuse her joining the Emberbane Family?" asked Melinda.


    However, Aiden quickly shook his head.


    "No, that''s not it, I don''t care whether or not she joins your family, but if you ept her then my request from earlier is literally useless," said Aiden, mad that his reward from getting first ce had been useless.


    Sure, he didn''t have many ideas on how to use it, but he would have preferred the protection from the Nightshade family.


    Melinda understood why Aiden was reacting this way and decided that it was only fair for Aiden to have his other request respected.


    "Then, don''t worry about it, your other request will be respected," said Melinda as she was only trying to please Aiden as much as she could.


    She didn''t want to make him mad at all, she only wanted to support him.


    "Um, alright thank you," said Aiden, happy that Melinda epted to protect him from the Nightshades.


    The ones who were around them were confused about what that second request was, however, no one spoke up as there was still one person who hadn''t been epted inside of the Emberbane Family.


    It was Lilia Nightshade and she seemed to be thinking about something even after all this time.


    "So, why do you want to join my family?" repeated Melinda once again.


    It seemed that no matter how many times she asked, the only thing that she would get was silence.


    Then, she finally found something usible to tell Melinda, however, she wasn''t sure if that would work.


    ***


    Please read the Author''s Note, thanks.

 Chapter 203 203 - Lilia Gives Up

    <h4>Chapter 203 Chapter 203 - Lilia Gives Up</h4>


    ''What if I told her that I was scared of the Nightshade family,'' thought Lilia as this was the only thing that she had seemed usible.


    In fact, it was a good idea considering that Lucius had just been beaten up by Ss.


    "I''m scared, that''s why I want to join your family," answered Lilia, making sure that her voice was a little shaky while saying that.


    To be honest, she was scared of the head of the Nightshade Family as she never knew what he would try to do to her.


    "You''re scared? That''s the best you coulde up with, huh?" replied Melinda, not believing that excuse at all.


    "What do you mean? It''s the truth I''m telling you," she added.


    However, Melinda didn''t believe her one bit.


    She knew that Ss was a cruel individual and that he wasn''t scared of hurting anyone which might ruin his reputation, but this was simply too sudden.


    Why was she asking to leave now, when Lilia had been part of that family for years now?


    Melinda simply couldn''t help but find it really weird.


    "Tell me the real reason that you want to join my family and I might ask Ss about you joining," said Melinda.


    However, when Lilia heard that, she panicked.


    ''She''s going to tell Ss about me leaving? No, no, no, she can''t'' thought Lilia as she knew that Ss would never ept her leaving ever, especially after what had happened.


    "What do you mean ask Ss? I''ll just join your family that''s it. He doesn''t need to know," said Lilia, realizing that this was going to be somewhat of a big problem.


    "What do you mean I won''t tell Ss, I''m already in some trouble with him regarding Aiden, I won''t get in trouble with him by taking you away from him," said Melinda.


    She knew that it wasn''t a good idea to recruit Lilia from the Nightshade Family in the first ce, and now she wanted her to do it with Ss not even knowing about it.


    Was she crazy or something? n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    The Nightshade Family isn''t like the rest of the families, they are dangerous, especially when you go against them.


    Sure, Melinda could resist against him since she was also a founding family, but she didn''t want to provoke him for no real reason.


    ''I guess she''s right, it isn''t the greatest idea not to tell him, but then what can I do? He''ll never ept me leaving to join the Emberbanes,'' thought Lilia.


    She was starting to realize that following Aiden was basically impossible for many reasons and she didn''t want to bring more problems by following him.


    ''If I can''t follow him, then I need to at least talk to him before he goes. I need to know what happened during those past years,'' she thought, deciding that maybe it wasn''t a good idea to follow him in the first ce.


    However, she needed to know what had happened and why he wasn''t trying to talk to her.


    She just learned that he wasn''t mad at her, but why was he acting so distant?


    It was simply weird, especially considering the past where he would never leave her side.


    Well, whenever he could.


    Lilia had always been the oneforting him and now Aiden seemed distant as if not wanting her help anymore.


    ''A lot of things must have happened in those past years for him to act so cold,'' thought Lilia as she remembered that Aiden had been always smiling in the past even when he was getting maltreated.


    "Um, you''re right, then I guess I''ll have no choice but to stay with the Nightshades," said Lilia, realizing that her demand was impossible to aplish.


    Melinda was quite surprised that Lilia was changing her decision so quickly, it made her doubt that maybe she wasn''t a spy sent by Ss.


    However, even if she wasn''t one, the arguments that she had mentioned were still real, and there was little chance for Lilia to join the Emberbane Family.


    If she had been part of a high-level family, there wouldn''t have been any problem, but she was part of a founding family which made this whole thing reallyplicated.


    "Well, alright then, I guess we''re done here. For real this time," said Melinda as she prepared herself to be teleported out of this ce.


    "Aiden, Emma, and Olivia, we will leave for the Emberbane territory tomorrow morning, so make sure to be ready by then," uttered Melinda.


    Then, as she was about to finally leave it seemed that she had forgotten something as she once again turned around.


    "Oh, and don''t worry someone wille get you."


    Then, after saying thatst sentence, she finally disappeared seemingly tired.


    After disappearing, Lilia didn''t lose any time as she whispered something to Aiden''s ear.


    "Come see me,ter, we need to talk. I''ll be at the Ravenwood Hotel, room 201."


    After whispering that, she also disappears leaving Emma and Olivia in shock.


    ''Who does she think she is getting so close to him and whispering to him something,'' thought both Emma and Olivia.


    But the two of them quickly dismissed those thoughts when they saw the face that Aiden was making.


    He seemed nervous or stressed, it wasn''t clear.


    "Are you okay?" asked Olivia.


    However, Aiden didn''t even answer as he was thinking, thinking deeply for that matter.


    ''What could she want to talk about?''


    ''I know that she knows that I''m from the Nightshades, but it didn''t seem like she would tell anyone.''


    ''And what was this about me being mad at her, what happened in the past?''


    Multiple thoughts kept popping up in Aiden''s mind, however, he was trying his best to calm down.


    ''Calm down, calm down, I''m sure everything will be fine,'' thought Aiden.


    He had noticed that she didn''t seem to hold any grudges or bad intentions against him or else she would have probably revealed to everyone here that he was part of the Nightshade family.


    In fact, it seemed that she was trying her best not to reveal it.

 Chapter 204 204 - Ravenwood Hotel

    <h4>Chapter 204 Chapter 204 - Ravenwood Hotel</h4>


    Seeing that Aiden was clearly nervous about what Lilia had just said, both Emma and Olivia were currently trying their best tofort him.


    However, no matter what they did, they never got any sort of response, Aiden was simply not answering any of their questions.


    Then, after a couple of minutes, Aiden seemed toe back from the dead as he opened his eyes once again and was a little confused by the scene which he was currently seeing.


    "Why are you two holding me like that?" he asked confused as to why they were so close to him.


    Maelis who heard him say that couldn''t help but sigh.


    ''How can he be so stupid?'' she thought, not understanding how oblivious he was.


    He was literally so stupid whenever the subject of something wasn''t fighting or something like that.


    "Um, no reason," said Emma, blushing.


    "Because I like you," said Olivia, holding him even tighter.


    Aiden hearing those answers couldn''t help but reveal a little smile on his face.


    They were literally two opposites, one was confident and the other was shy.


    However, he knew that Olivia was the type to joke around, so he didn''t take her seriously at all.


    "Alright, enough with the jokes, let me go," said Aiden with a smirk.


    ''But, it''s not a joke dummie,'' thought Olivia, releasing him as she didn''t want to anger him or something like that.


    Emma, on the other hand, had already let go a few seconds ago, so she simply stayed a couple of steps away from him.


    Then, Emma got a good look at Aiden''s face and noticed that his smirk or any signs of emotions for that matter had disappeared,pletely gone.


    "Aren''t you happy that I''m joining Melinda''s family with you?" asked Emma.


    "Of course I am, why?" replied Aiden confused as to why this was the subject of the conversation.


    He had literally decided to use his wish to make her part of the same family as him, why would she even think that he wasn''t happy?


    It was Aiden, who had wanted her in the first ce.


    "I don''t know you seem, um, preupied by something."


    ''Of course, I am,'' thought Aiden, as he remembered that he needed to go and visit Liliater tonight.


    Aiden simply couldn''t imagine what was going to happen and that was making him nervous, even if he was trying as hard as he possible to stay as calm as possible, it seemed that it wasn''t even possible.


    "Then, put a smile on your face, okay?" said Emma, putting on the biggest smile that she could muster.


    Seeing her smile, Aiden tried to copy her, however, his smile was much smaller as not even his teeth were visible.


    ''Well, I guess that''s good enough,'' thought Emma, seeing that Aiden had at least tried.


    "Um, sorry to interrupt but can we leave this ce?" asked Maelis, wanting to leave this ce.


    While saying that, Aiden noticed that the tone of voice was low as if she was sad over the events that had just happened.


    Well, it was normal for her to feel down, she had just lost her daughter and probably wouldn''t see her soon at all.


    Still, it seemed that she didn''t want to show the sadness that she was currently feeling.


    "Sure," replied in unison both Emma and Olivia.


    Aiden on the other hand only nodded his hand as he put his mask back on his face.


    Then, everyone then disappeared leaving behind Logan who simply followed right behind his sister also teleporting.


    They were now all out of that dimension or portal, whatever they even called it.


    "I think we should go sleep, what do you guys say?" uttered Emma, who was clearly tired as Aiden could see dark circles right under her eyes which showed theck of sleep that she was under at the moment.


    Aiden nodded, however, his mind was somewhere elsepletely different.


    ''Ravenwood Hotel, huh? Where''s that?'' thought Aiden as he remembered that Lilia had told him to meet her thereter.


    Didter mean tonight?


    Aiden wasn''t sure but he wouldn''t lose any time as he knew that this conversation between Lilia and him would be quite interesting.


    "Um, Gerald do you know where the Ravenwood Hotel is?" asked Aiden.


    He knew that it was a question that would raise eyebrows but that didn''t matter to him, as he simply wanted to find that ce as soon as he could.


    "The Ravenwood Hotel? Sure, why?"


    Aiden wasn''t sure if he should reveal it, however, he realized that it wouldn''t matter whether he would or not as everyone who was here right now wouldn''t do anything against him.


    "I need to talk to Lilia about something," revealed Aiden, as he was suddenly being looked at intensively.


    "About what?" asked Olivia right away, as she remembered the face that he had made after she had whispered something to his ear.


    However, this time Aiden was starting to get annoyed by the constant questions.


    "None of your business, I need to meet her that''s all," he replied, coldly, making it known that he wouldn''t reveal the reason.


    Olivia was a little shocked that she had just been spoken to in such a way, however, she understood that Aiden was probably stressed and nervous about this meeting, so she decided that she wouldn''tment on it.


    "So, where is it?" asked Aiden once again.


    "Well, I can show you if you want," replied Gerald.


    "Then, show me the way," said Aiden as he indicated for Gerald to show him.


    "Wait, you want to go there right now?"


    "Yes." n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    Aiden just couldn''t wait anymore, he needed to go and meet her, so that he could learn about what she would do.


    Would she tell Ss about him?


    What was their rtionship before?


    This was the chance for Aiden to learn about many things which hepletely ignored.


    "Then, follow me," said Gerald, as he started walking in a different direction.


    The rest of them tried to follow them, however, Maelis held them back.


    "Don''t follow them, he clearly wants to be alone."

 Chapter 205 205 - Arriving At The Ravenwood Hotel

    ?


    Emma and Olivia looked at Gerald and Aiden who were slowly getting away from them, wondering what he wanted to talk about with Lilia.


    In the first ce, the two of them were confused as to how he had gotten to know someone from the Nightshades.


    They found it quite weird, to be honest.


    But the thing that was even weirder was that they seemed to be close as if they were long-time friends.


    Well, Lilia seemed to be acting in such a way, Aiden was acting just like he would always do cold and indifferent.


    However, that girl was different, she acted as if she had known Aiden for a long time, but that was simply not possible since Aiden had grown up in the Slums while she had been in a literal castle inside the Nightshade Family.


    "What is happening? Do you know mom?"


    Emma was obviously the one who was most worried about what would happen as she had noticed that Aiden had been nervous which was weird in the first ce.


    Aiden had never once been nervous around her, and from only a whisper he had be nervous.


    "Emma, why would I even know about it, if you don''t."


    "Um, I guess you''re right about that one," replied Emma as she knew that she was probably the one who was most knowledgeable about Aiden since she had lived with him and all that.


    "Well, it probably isn''t that big of a deal," mumbled Emma, seemingly trying to reassure herself as much as she could.


    Olivia such a reactioning out of Emma, thought that it was the perfect time to make fun of her.


    "Are you worried that he will do something to that girl while you''re not watching," said Olivia while giggling.


    Emma blushed hearing her, as she decided that she wasn''t going to answer to such words.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    "If you''re worried now, I don''t what''s going to happen when we reach the Emberbane Territory," said Olivia, reminding her that she would also be apanying the two of them there and one thing was sure, she simply couldn''t wait.


    ***


    While Emma and the rest questioned that meeting between Aiden and Lilia Nightshade, Gerald and Aiden were still walking at a good pace in the direction of the Ravenwood Hotel.


    Gerald who didn''t know Aiden very well, didn''t ask any questions as he could guess that he wouldn''t be getting any sort of answers.


    "We''ll soon arrive," announced Gerald as his walking speed started to slow down little by little.


    Aiden wasn''t blind and had already noticed the gigantic building in front of them.


    The hotel was literally blinding as it reflected the light from the sun, Aiden could barely look at it before looking away.


    It was made of precious materials which were of the colour red and gold it seemed which gave it some sort of cache.


    The hotel also seemed to be extremely luxurious with many balconies which gave a view of the entire Ravenwood City.


    "I guess this is it, huh?" said Aiden as he pointed toward the hotel.


    Gerald looked in the direction he pointed and nodded, confirming Aiden''s thoughts.


    "Then, good luck, try not to take too much time in there," said Gerald as he started to leave Aiden by himself.


    It seemed that he had already understood that he wasn''t supposed to be following him in there which was something that Aiden had truly appreciated.


    ''What room was it again?'' thought Aiden as he started walking inside the hotel, looking around.


    And it was incredible and clearly made for those who had insane amounts of money.


    But, then he stopped admiring the beauty of the hotel and decided to focus a little on the task at hand.


    ''It was room 200 or 201, I think it was 201,'' thought Aiden, as he headed toward the little sign that indicated that there was something to go up.


    Arriving there, he noticed that those weren''t stairs, but some sort of strange lift which many people were entering and going out of.


    If Aiden had visited a city on Earth or something simr to that before, he would instantly recognize that the lift in front of him was something called an elevator.


    Without wasting any more time, Aiden entered the lift without any problem apanied by many different types of people, there were elves, dwarves, and even vampires it seemed since some of them had the tone of skin extremely white as if they had never seen the sun once in their life.


    Then, shortly after he reached what seemed to be the second floor where he could find room 201.


    Not wasting any time, he got out of the elevator and he saw that the room was on the left, so he quickly went that way.


    ***


    *Knock*


    *Knock*


    *Knock*


    Aiden was now knocking on the door of room 201, as he had finally found out after walking around a little.


    Shortly after knocking, he started hearing footsteps from the other side of the room. It seemed that someone was literally running toward the door as fast as she could almost excited.


    Then, the door was swung open and Lilia was right on the other side of it.


    "You came already?" she asked surprised.


    "Um, yeah, was I supposed toeter?" asked back Aiden, confused.


    The first that she had just said to him was literally that he was already there.


    ''Did you not want to meet me?'' thought Aiden, unsure why she had said such a thing.


    "No, no, it''s fine,e in,e in," she said, inviting him into her room.


    Aiden slowly walked in looking around the room analyzing everything, making sure that it wasn''t a trap or anything like that.


    "Oh, you can sit," added Lilia, pointing toward the couch which was right behind him.


    Aiden listened to her as he swiftly sat on it, looking at her dead in the eyes.


    "So, what did you want to talk about?"

 Chapter 206 206 - Love?

    ?


    Lilia wasn''t expecting such a direct questioning from Aiden, especially with such a tone.


    In fact, she thought that he would be a lot more friendly if they were to be alone together, but it seemed that this wouldn''t be the case at all.


    He was cold, even colder than earlier when he was surrounded by all those people.


    Lilia thought that he had been ying a role, not wanting to show his true self to the others, however, it seemed that he was like this.


    ''I wonder what happened to him, for him to have such a radical change in his personality,'' thought Lilia.


    She knew that living in the Slums must have been extremely hard for him and he must have suffered a lot without any help from the family.


    However, then she thought about how he was being treated in the family and realized that maybe the Slums weren''t that bad for him.


    "So, what did you want to talk about?" repeated Aiden seeing that she didn''t seem able to answer at the moment, seemingly frozen, unable to move a single inch.


    Hearing his voice, it seemed that she called out of her daze.


    "R-right, what did I want to talk about," she mumbled, as she once again looked him in the eyes.


    "Do you remember me?" asked Lilia.


    ''What should I answer here?'' thought Aiden, as he had no idea of his past rtionship with the person in front of him.


    Was she a friend?


    Someone he considered family?


    There were many possibilities and Aiden had honestly no idea which one she was a part of.


    ''Should I y the idiot?'' thought Aiden as this would simply be a lot easier to get answers.N?v(el)B\\jnn


    "Um, should I?" asked Aiden, acting as if he had no idea of her identity at all.


    It seemed to have worked as Lilia seemed shocked when she heard his response.


    "Wait, you don''t know who am I?"


    Aiden moved his head from left to right, clearly wanting to say no.


    "Just what did they do to you?" uttered Lilia out of nowhere, shocked that Aiden had no idea of who she was.


    As she uttered those words, she slowly got closer to Aiden, slowly caressing his face, clearly worried about the things that he had to endure.


    ''Oh, wait... did I make a mistake here,'' thought Aiden, as it seemed that this conversation would be going in a totally different way than he had expected.


    "Did they erase your memories?" said Lilia, shocked that this was an actual possibility of what happened.


    "Do you not remember me? Your first girlfriend and probably only one," asked Lilia once again making sure that Aiden hadn''t made a mistake.


    ''Wait, I should tell her that I know about her,'' thought Aiden as he wanted to fix her mistake.


    "My first girlfriend?"


    "Wait a second, of course I remember you, Lilia," said Aiden, acting as if she knew who she was from the very beginning.


    "Wait, so you actually remember about me?" said Lilia, feeling happy once again.


    She had to admit that she had been going through mood swings recently and that it certainly was special to experience.


    "Of course, sorry I was just a little confused over this whole thing. However, I don''t have a lot of memories from my time with the Nightshades," said Aiden, not caring if he revealed any sort of information as Lilia already knew a big part of it.


    Aiden made sure to mention that he had forgotten a lot of the Nightshade since that way it would be a lot easier to lie about things when asked questions.


    "Do you remember what they did to you? They told me that you died, so don''t think for a second that I abandoned you, in fact, I always had that little hope that you were still alive," said Lilia.


    ''Wow, I guess she really loved the past Aiden, maybe that''s why I don''t feel anything negative when I look at her,'' thought Aiden, as he remembered the clear contrast of emotions when looking at her and looking at Lucius.


    It was literally night and day.


    "So, what happened to you in those past years, did it really take you two months to be this strong?" asked Lilia.


    She was curious as to whether or not Aiden had lied about some things to Melinda to make his worth increase.


    However, it seemed that it hadn''t been the case at all and that he had only told the truth in the entirety of the conversation.


    "Um, so was that the reason that you called me here?" asked Aiden as he didn''t understand why it was necessary for the two of them to talk in private.


    Sure, they had been boyfriend and girlfriend in the past but that was years ago it seemed, so why did she even care?


    "Well, I wanted to see you again and talk to you alone just like before, didn''t you also miss that feeling."


    ''Well, not really since I have no idea what you''re even talking about because I''m not the one you think you are,'' thought Aiden.


    "Well, as I said I don''t remember much of my time in the Nightshade family."


    "Oh, and since we''re alone, I need to make sure of something," said Aiden, getting a little serious.


    "I need you to promise me that you won''t tell my existence to Ss or anyone from the Nightshade Family, they must never find out about my existence."


    The fact that they already knew about the Reaper was good enough and Aiden didn''t need any more problems.


    "Sure, it''s not like I was going to tell anyone in the first ce, and don''t worry I remember how they treated you and I don''t want that to happen to you ever again."


    Lilia was a bit surprised that Aiden was asking her such a thing, however, she understood that he clearly didn''t want any contact with the Nightshade Family anymore.


    "Then, did you have anything else that you wanted to talk about?"


    "Yes, I do, why are you so cold toward me? I already told you that I wasn''t rted to whatever they did to you."


    "You know, Aiden, I still love you even after all those years, I never forgot about you even for a single moment."

 Chapter 207 207 - Meeting Thorin the Blacksmith Again

    <h4>Chapter 207 Chapter 207 - Meeting Thorin the cksmith Again</h4>


    Hearing those words, Aiden had no idea why but many emotions started to appear inside him and the one which was most dominant was one of happiness.


    ''Why am I happy? I don''t even know her,'' thought Aiden, confused by the constant stream of emotions.


    Those emotions that came out of nowhere resembled what had happened with the Nightshade Family.


    This time it was happiness and love.


    Before, it was hatred.


    Lilia was looking at him straight in the eyes waiting for his answer for what she had just said.


    However, when she realized that all she got was pure silence, she was sad, not understanding why.


    Didn''t Aiden just say that he remembered her?


    So, why was he still acting like that, not trying to touch her or anything like that?


    "Did you hear me?" repeated Lilia, getting a little further away from Aiden.


    She had been right beside him since earlier, sometimes caressing his face and stuff like that.


    However, she had just realized that maybe it wasn''t that appropriate to do something like this with Aiden as he didn''t like it very much.


    ''Hear you? Of course, I did, but it''s not because I''m feeling those emotions that I''m attracted to you,'' thought Aiden, talking to himself.


    "R-right, you love me..." said Aiden, in a very awkward tone.


    "Do you really remember me?" asked Lilia, again as she couldn''t get out of her mind that Aiden was truly acting weird right now.


    "Of course, I do, so can you stop with those questions? Now, I think we discussed everything, right?" said Aiden as he quickly stood up.


    He was tired of talking to her as this conversation was simply going nowhere, he was happy to have confirmed that she wouldn''t reveal his identity to anyone but that was it.


    That was basically the only thing that was worth noting in this entire conversation.


    Lilia was a little shocked by Aiden stopping this entire conversation right away, however, she didn''t say anything only nodding with her head, telling him that he could leave and that they were done.


    ''I know that he didn''t tell me everything, I''m sure something happened to him and he thinks I''m rted. That''s probably why he''s so cold and indifferent toward me,'' thought Lilia as she could Aiden''s figure leaving her room.


    ''Well, I don''t why I was even stressed in the first ce,'' thought Aiden as he opened the door to her room, leaving.


    Their conversation had been pretty much useless and Lilia seemed sure that something happened to him in the past, something traumatizing.


    However, she waspletely wrong, Aiden was simply not the same person as before.


    That''s why he seemed so different, sure something might have happened in the past, but that wasn''t the reason that he was acting so weirdly with her.


    ***


    Aiden was now roaming the streets in search of the cksmith that he had chosen for his weapons.


    He didn''t know how he was supposed to receive what he had asked for the tournament since the system had pretty much told him nothing.


    It had only told him to choose a cksmith to craft his item and weapon which in this case were pants and a dagger.


    Then, he decided to look around thest ce where he had seen Thorin the cksmith.


    "Hey, is that you? You motherfucker!" shouted someoneing out of a smith, angered.


    Aiden heard that voice and turned toward where it wasing from and was surprised to see a dwarfing to him with clear anger in his eyes.


    ''Is he talking to me?'' thought Aiden, as he looked around him.


    However, when he saw that there was literally no one around him, he understood that the dwarf was really talking to him.


    "Yeah you," said the dwarf as he continued to walk angrily toward Aiden.


    Then, Aiden got a better look at the person who was approaching him, wondering if he had ever met him before that.


    And he finally realized who that dwarf was.


    It was the dwarf that Aiden was looking for Thorin, the cksmith.


    "Did I do something?" asked Aiden, seeing that the cksmith he had chosen was so furious at him.


    "Of course you did, you fucking chose me to do your fucking items."


    ''Is that why he was one-star?'' thought Aiden, now understanding that his personality really wasn''t the greatest.


    The first time he had seen him, Thorin had seemed nice in the way he was interacting, but now it seemed that his real personality wasing out and it wasn''t a great one just like it was described on that little interactive screen.


    "Is there a problem with that?" replied Aiden, confused as to why he would be angry over such a matter.


    However, Thorin''s response confused him even more.


    "Of course, there is. Why would you choose me a One-Star cksmith, do you even have a brain?" he asked furious.


    Thorin had no idea why the person in front of him would choose him, who was supposed to be the worst of the worst, well... in terms of personality.


    If it was only the talent, then he would probably be at the very top, but who cares about that?


    "Um, sorry about that, but why are you mad over having a customer?" asked Aiden, confused as to why he was so furious toward him.


    "When did I ever say that I was mad about having a customer? I''m just mad that you chose you, fucking stupid person."


    ''Why is he saying fuck or fucking every chance he gets?'' thought Aiden, finding that habit of Thorin quite weird if he were to be honest.


    "Fucking follow me," said Thorin, as he indicated to Aiden that they would be going to his smith.


    ''Well, I guess that''s just how he is,'' thought Aiden, as he followed him, not caring about the insults that Thorin was saying. N?v(el)B\\jnn


    The two of them then entered the cksmith and Aiden couldn''t help but be shocked by how dirty it was.


    ''Did I really pick the right cksmith for this?''


    ***


    [Author''s Note: Because there are two Thorin in the story, I will try to write who that person is in the scene like Thorin, the cksmith or Thorin, the head of the Ravenwood Family. Yeah... I know, I could''ve chosen different names but its funnier this way, right?]

 Chapter 208 208 - Annoying Personality

    <h4>Chapter 208 Chapter 208 - Annoying Personality</h4>


    Then, both Aiden and Thorin, the cksmith, entered his smith where he would be crafting his rewards for the Inter Family Tournament.


    The first thing that came to Aiden''s mind was how dirty this ce was. N?v(el)B\\jnn


    Everywhere that he looked, Aiden could see dust, but that wasn''t that bad.


    The thing that made it truly dirty was how messy this ce was, only by walking around, Aiden could already how dense the air was which made it hard to breathe.


    *Cough*


    *Cough*


    "What are you coughing, are your lungs not strong enough?" asked Thorin, who was breathing just fine.


    ''Yeah, I mean you probably can''t reach the air which is dense,'' thought Aiden as he made fun of Thorin''s height in his mind.


    "Sure, whatever so why did you want me to follow you?" asked Aiden, trying his hardest not to cough from all the dust flowing around.


    "Weren''t you the one searching for me? Isn''t that why you were sniffing around," replied Thorin with a guess which was theplete truth.


    ''Well, I was but it''s you who found me,'' thought Aiden, talking to himself in his mind.


    Aiden only wanted to know how he would be receiving his rewards and he also wanted to make sure that they would be made with care as he would probably using them in the future.


    He didn''t want to interfere with Thorin''s crafting at all, that wasn''t the reason why he hade searching for him.


    "Whatever, it doesn''t matter who came looking for who, so-"


    "Of course, it matters you fucking twat," said Thorin, adding his usual insult while talking.


    Aiden didn''t want to deal with that foul personality of Thorin as he wouldn''t be able to endure it that was almost a certainty.


    "Sure, I came looking for you, can we talk about something else now," said Aiden, clearly annoyed by this whole thing.


    Thorin only nodded waiting for Aiden to speak.


    "Alright, so how is this going to work? How am I going to receive my rewards from the tournament?" asked Aiden, as this was what he wondered the most about.


    Thorin, however, seemed confused by that question as if it was extremely obvious.


    "I guess you aren''t the smartest, huh? It''s obvious, someone wille give it to you," answered Thorin.


    ''But how? That''s what I want to know about,'' thought Aiden, as he didn''t even hear the insult that Thorin had mumbled.


    He was bing more and more used to it.


    Seeing Aiden''s face which showed annoyance Thorin decided to add a little bit more details.


    "What you think no one will be able to find you? Don''t worry someone would go and give it to you."


    Thorin knew that there weren''t many who could evade the detections from the founding families, well... except one person who hadn''t appeared in literal years.


    Aiden hearing that nodded as it seemed to be making sense.


    If they couldn''t find it, they would simply be sending his rewards to the Emberbane Family, it wasn''t thatplicated.


    "Um, alright I get it, but what about my rewards did you already start to craft and smith them?" asked Aiden, curious if Thorin had started some sort of design for them.


    However, the answer that he got was once again quite aggressive.


    "Do you think I''m a fucking machine? Of course, I didn''t have the time to start anything, the tournament only finished like an hour ago."


    Aiden hearing this nodded his head, understanding that what he was saying clearly made some sense.


    "Don''t tell me that you came to ask some special requests?" said Thorin.


    "Um, well just make that you give me a good dagger and a good item," said Aiden, as he knew from Thorin''s tone of voice that he shouldn''t be making any request, just like how it was written in his description.


    "Sure, now scram. I don''t have the time to deal with you," replied Thorin, as he pretty much kicked out Aiden by pushing him out of the smithy.


    ''Ah, I can finally breathe normally,'' thought Aiden, talking to himself stepping outside of that ce.


    He had to say that he was surprised that Thorin was even alive, his lungs must be made of metal or something like that.


    ''Oh, fuck I forgot to ask how much time it would take for him to have the rewards ready?'' thought Aiden, as he turned back and entered the smithy once again.


    As he entered he heard a bunch of insults thrown his way.


    "Why are you fuckinging back in here, you fucking twat?"


    Aiden hearing all those insults knew that he wasn''t wee inside the smithy, however, he wanted to know the dy for him to receive his weapons.


    It was essential for him to know since he would be nning his future actions on this.


    "I just wanted to know when everything would be ready?" asked Aiden as politely as he could not wanting to shock him.


    He made sure to be as polite as he could so that he could get a proper response, however, it seemed that Thorin didn''t care about that at all.


    "Who fucking knows? They will be ready when they will be. Now, leave this ce and leave me alone or else it might take more than a month," said Thorin as he chased out Aiden once again.


    ''Well, that was helpful,'' thought Aiden as he was now outside of the smithy.


    He had hoped to have at least some sort of date or something simr, but it seemed that he had forgotten that Thorin was a One-Star cksmith only because of his personality.


    Having a date would have helped him decide whether he wanted to visit one of the worlds he had visited in the past the world of Mia.


    He also knew that this System Function had a long cooldown which was one month, so he knew that he would be stuck in those worlds for a month before being able to go back to Nova, so he was wondering if he would wait for his rewards to arrive or not.

 Chapter 209 209 - Jealousy

    <h4>Chapter 209 Chapter 209 - Jealousy</h4>


    Some time had passed and Aiden was now with both Emma and Olivia waiting for someone toe pick them up to leave for the Emberbane Teritorry.


    "What are you doing? It''s me who''s standing on that side," eximed Emma as she tried holding Aiden''s right hand.


    Olivia didn''t even try to argue with her as she continued to fight for Aiden''s hand.


    "Let go, Olivia," shouted Emma who was getting angrier and angrier.


    Aiden, on the other hand, didn''t even try to pay attention to those two maniacs who were trying to hold his hand as he was simply looking in front of him waiting for that person to appear.


    "Aiden! Do something,"ined Emma as she got pushed away from him and his hand.


    Hearing his name, he simply nced at the two girls for the first time with annoyance.


    "Can''t you guys just stop fighting it''s been like this since I returned from my discussion with Lilia," said Aiden, truly exhausted from theportment.


    They were always bickering fighting for no reason, well... they had one and it was always Aiden.


    It seemed that they were in some sort of battle regarding Aiden, however, no matter how much Aiden tried to think about what it could be about, he ignored it.


    "Emma, juste hold this hand," said Aiden, as he showed his left hand.


    However, it seemed that this wasn''t enough.


    "No, I want this one," she said pointing at his right hand.


    ''What did I do to deserve this?'' he thought.


    "Fine, then Olivia hold this one, so she stops crying like a baby," said Aiden as he handed his hand toward Olivia.


    Aiden could only hope that Olivia would be a little mature and ept.


    "Sure," said Olivia as she winked at Emma.


    Then, Emma approached and held his right hand while Olivia was holding the other one.


    "Alright, now can both of you stop talking for a moment," pleaded Aiden as he wasn''t going to be able to endure them much longer.


    In fact, he was already at his limits.


    ''Ah, finally some peace of mind,'' thought Aiden as his surroundings became silent for the first time in literal hours.


    He couldn''t even begin to imagine what it would be like when reaching the Emberbane Estate.


    His days of peace and quiet would be counted that''s for sure. N?v(el)B\\jnn


    Then, as he finally got silent, someone appeared in front of them out of nowhere. Even Aiden hadn''t been able to see where she hade from.


    He could only guess that this person had used some sort of teleportation to get there.


    "Hello, you three, I was asked to bring you to Miss Emberbane," said that person who was dressed like a maid.


    Seeing that person made Aiden think about Emily, his maid, whom he had seen when he had first arrived.


    He could only think that she must have been happy to find out that he wasn''t in the Slums anymore and that he had probably died.


    Aiden still didn''t know what she had done when finding out that he had disappeared, but he could only guess that she had done nothing as he hadn''t nothing anything different since that time.


    And the maid who had just appeared in front of Aiden was beautiful, to say the least.


    Her uniform was fitting her perfectly, showing all her curves perfectly and her face was even more beautiful.


    ''Is she a subus?'' thought Aiden as he remembered seeing one at the Ravenwood Pavillon where the auction had happened.


    However, Aiden still wasn''t sure about that as he couldn''t see any sort of tailsing from behind her.


    "Um, can the three of you grab hold of me," asked the subus, unsure of what was happening between those three.


    What were they even doing holding onto the hands of that man?


    ''Are they in some sort of rtionship?'' thought the maid, seeing that they were holding his hands with a big smile on their faces.


    "Sure," replied Aiden to her question as he managed to release both of his hands and touch the maid on her shoulder.


    While getting closer to the maid to touch her, Aiden made sure to watch out for any sort of tail and it seemed that the maid didn''t have one.


    ''I guess she isn''t one,'' thought Aiden.


    His intuition which hadn''t been wrong a lot had told him that she was one, but it seemed that he was wrong this time.


    "Um, can you girls hold me too," asked the maid seeing that they were both eyeing her quite weirdly.


    Both Olivia and Emma were currently the maid as if they were about to eat her for doing something wrong, the maid was currently quite weird.


    ''What are their problems? Is it because of him touching me?'' thought the maid, not understanding why such an action could cause such overreactions out of them.


    Then, both Emma and Olivia slowly approached her as they put their hands onto her shoulder, making sure that they were close to Aiden while doing so.


    But while they did that, the two of them whispered something.


    "You''re lucky."


    The maid hearing that was confused.


    ''Why am I lucky?'' she thought, as she nced around trying to understand what was happening.


    But then she looked at the two girls and how obsessed they seemed to be and understood what they were talking about.


    ''Are they thinking that I''ll steal him from them? They''re fucking crazy,'' thought the maid.


    While thinking that, she still stayed with a neutral face not showing emotions just like a well-trained maid would act.


    Then, she opened her mouth as it was time to go or else they would bete and Miss Emberbane wouldn''t be happy.


    "Alright, everyone got a hold of me, right?" asked the maid, as she looked around verifying.


    After making sure that everyone was holding her, she seemed to activate a skill of teleportation since not even a secondter they were in apletely different ce.


    ''Wait can''t she just teleport us to the Emberbane Territory?'' thought Aiden, confused as to why they needed to go see Melinda.

 Chapter 210 210 - Colour, too much Colour

    <h4>Chapter 210 Chapter 210 - Colour, too much Colour</h4>


    Then, everyone got teleported to apletely different location which Aiden had clearly never seen before.


    Getting a quick look around them, it seemed that they were outside the territory as Aiden could see the ramparts made of stone all around it.


    ''What are they even scared of?'' thought Aiden seeing those remparts.


    In his mind, it didn''t make sense for the city to have something to defend themselves since there were no monsters that could potentially attack them since they were all in the Otherworld and even there they were rare.


    Then, he stopped looking at the Ravenwood Territory as he nced to his right and saw a vehicle that didn''t resemble anything like what Aiden had taken to get here in the first ce.


    It wasn''t some weird vehicle, well it was but it was in apletely different form which Aiden had never seen before.


    It was literally floating, not even touching the ground and the most shocking part about all this was that there were still wheels under him for unknown reasons.


    The other thing was that this floating vehicle was immensive and it was of the colour pink which made him visible from very far away.


    ''Well, I guess it''s not something you use to be discreet,'' thought Aiden, seeing that shy colour.


    He knew that if it had been who had designed this thing, the only colour that would be on it would be ck. So, that he would be able to use it discreetly which was theplete opposite of right now.


    After getting a good look at this pink floating vehicle, he noticed that there were already multiple people on it.


    However, since he was too far away from it, he wasn''t able to see who they were. Aiden could already guess that there would be Melinda on it, but regarding the others, he wasn''t sure.


    Then, he stopped looking from far away as he got closer and closer to that floating vehicle.


    As he got onto it, he was able to nce at who was on it and then he remembered that Isolde was on it, the girl who had finished third ce.


    Aiden wasn''t sure why she was there at first, but then he remembered that she had asked for Melinda to train her, so it made sense to see her here.


    There were four other people who weren''t Isolde and Melinda, and they were all guys.


    Aiden simply gave them a nce as he wasn''t really interested in them, in fact, even Emma and Olivia didn''t look at them, ignoring them as if they were simply decorations.


    To be honest, why would they look at other guys when they had the perfect one right beside them?


    "You''re finally here," said Melinda as she noticed that Aiden had once again his mask on his face, clearly not wanting to show it to those who were present there.


    She would have to be careful regarding his name since he clearly didn''t want it to spread which was something that she couldn''t understand as everyone wanted to be renowned.


    Seeing that the Reaper had just gotten on, Isolde gave him a quick look however she quickly looked down when she saw the two crazy girls who were holding his hands.


    ''Yeah, they''re crazy,'' thought the maid seeing the looks that they were giving to Isolde.


    Were they not scared of her family or something like that?


    It was as if all that mattered in their life was Aiden.


    "Alright, now that everyone here''s what do you say that we finally leave this ce and go home," eximed Melinda, indicating for the three of them to sit in front of them.


    Aiden obviously listened as he sat down, and while doing so neither Emma nor Olivia let go of him which shocked everyone inside the floating vehicle.


    All of them had pretty much the same thought.


    ''Yeah, they''re crazy.'' N?v(el)B\\jnn


    That was what they all told themselves seeing that.


    But they didn''t give it too much importance as everyone started feeling the vehicle slowly getting higher and higher in the air.


    Then, everyone stopped talking and made sure that they wouldn''t fall off this thing, since there were only small walls to protect them from falling.


    ***


    A few minutester, they were now arriving at the Emberbane Territory and it was theplete opposite of both the Ravenwood and Nightshade Territory.


    Everything was so... colourful as if there was a party going on every single moment of the day.


    Everywhere that Aiden looked there were new colours that he had never seen before, a mix of colours that he had never thought would even exist. It was weird, especially for Aiden who was used to everything being of a dark colour.


    Feeling that everything around was joyful was a change that he would have to get used to.


    "Alright, everyone we arrived, get off," said Melinda.


    While she said that, Aiden was able to nce at the gigantic building that was right behind her and he was shocked.


    It was even worse than the city itself, everywhere that he looked he was blinded by how shy the colours were.


    ''Well, this is obviously not a ce where assassins are weed,'' thought Aiden, as it would be very difficult to hide yourself with all those colours.


    ''Well, I understand why that floating car was pink,'' thought Aiden as he slowly started to realize that it made sense considering this was the ce where they lived.


    "Do you like it?" asked Melinda, seeing everyone''s shocked face.


    Well, Olivia was obviously used to it, but it was both Emma, Olivia, and Aiden who couldn''t even begin to believe what they were saying.


    "Um, y-yeah, it certainly colourful," replied Olivia, still not convinced over this whole design.


    "Right, well I''m happy that you like it because inside is even more colourful," said Melinda excitedly while she started walking toward the front door of this colourful castle.


    ''Jeez if I stay here for too long, I''ll be blind.''


    "Alright, let''s go in," said Melinda as she started moving toward the door which wasn''t too far away from her.


    Soon after that, the rest entered this giant mansion, estate, or whatever could fit to describe how massive this thing was.


    Hell, Aiden couldn''t even see howrge it was when entering.


    Then, soon after entering, Melinda stopped in front of all of them, turning around.


    "Alright, so what do you want to go and visit first?" said Melinda, looking in the direction of Aiden making it clear that the question was for him.


    "Oh, and you boys can leave and go do whatever you usually do," said Melinda to the people who had participated in the Inter Family Tournament for her family.


    It seemed that she really didn''t care about them at all, as if they were something that she could throw away whenever she wanted.


    Well, theoretically that was the case, but whatever.


    "Um, the training hall," replied Aiden to her earlier question.


    He said that he had no choice but to think of when he had first arrived at the Everheart family and visited the training hall, bing the Legend of the training halls, well over there.


    He remembered beating that parkour challenge on his first try.


    Thinking about that, he also remembered that the training was the reason that he had met Emma who was still right beside him even now.


    Well, Aiden was excited about the differences between a founding family training hall and a middle-level family training hall.


    He couldn''t wait to see what things the other training hallcked since from Aiden''s perspective it had been pretty good.


    Then, as they were about to leave in the training hall''s direction, a voice interrupted them.


    "When we get there, I want a duel against him," said Isolde as she pointed toward Aiden who still had his face hidden behind a mask.


    ''Why me again?'' thought Aiden, as he started to get annoyed by this whole fighting thing.


    Couldn''t they simply leave him alone for a single moment, he always had to find someone different.


    In the trial, it was Lucius, now it''s her.


    What''s next?


    Melinda, however, wasn''t of the same opinion as Aiden since there was a big smile on her face.


    "Oh! I like that, what do you say Reaper, do you ept?" said Melinda, having no doubts that Aiden would ept this duel.


    ''It''ll be interesting seeing the two of them fight, and it would give some idea of how strong she is,'' thought Melinda as she remembered that she would have to train Isolde for one month.


    It was easy to say that it would be a really long time before Melinda won''t be able to know Aiden more which was basically what she dreamed of doing.


    "Sure, I''ll ept," replied Aiden, as he knew that he couldn''t show that he was someone weak or scared.


    He needed to keep this strong appearance up, even if he disliked it at the moment.

 Chapter 211 211 - Emma isn鈥檛 feeling good

    <h4>Chapter 211 Chapter 211 - Emma isn''t feeling good</h4>


    They were now going toward the training hall as there was now a duel between Isolde and Aiden.


    Emma and Olivia didn''t seem worried at all as they didn''t for a single moment that Aiden would be losing this fight, especially after the performance that he had put on at the tournament winning it.


    "Are you nervous?" asked Emma, whispering into Aiden''s ear.


    She made sure that he could feel her body rubbing against him, but once again it seemed that it had no effect on Aiden since he waspletely on the fight which would be happening in a couple of minutes.


    Aiden was honestly not worried at all about the fight that would soon be happening as he still had all those stats points that he hadn''t applied yet on him.


    He also knew that he would be fighting against an enchantress which made things extremely simple since assassins excelled when fighting in one versus one.


    "No, don''t worry, everything will be fine," whispered back Aiden.


    As he whispered his breath went against Emma''s neck which turned her on instantly as she became red as a tomato.


    "T-that''s good then," replied Emma out loud, clearly shy about her reaction.


    ''God, imagine that was only his breath and I''m already this wet, it doesn''t make sense,'' she thought, embarrassed that it was so easy to turn her on.


    In fact, her face wasn''t the only thing that changed because of Aiden''s breath, she started to feel some liquid getting released from between her legs.


    ''What''s happening to me?'' she thought, not understanding how his breath could be the cause.


    ''I am really that attracted to him,'' thought Emma, happy and confused at the same time.


    She was happy that she liked him and that her body clearly seemed to like him. But, she was confused regarding those reactions from her body.


    She didn''t want to bepletely dependent on him, too.


    Then, as she thought of all that, she started feeling some fluid running down her leg.


    ''Wait, no, no, no, what if someone sees this? Especially Olivia, that would be the end of me,'' thought Emma, trying to hide it as best as she could.


    But, as she tried to hide it, her walking became quite awkward which made it even more obvious that there was something wrong with her.


    "Um, are you okay Emma, you''re all red?" asked Olivia, right away, with a smile on her face.


    Obviously, Olivia wouldn''t miss such a golden opportunity to make fun of Emma.


    In fact, she hadn''t stopped looking at Emma the moment that her face had turned red, thinking that it was extremely weird.


    Then, some momentster she saw that there was some liquid running down her leg and she instantly understood what was happening.


    Emma was horny like a dog in heat, in search of her master.


    Hearing herment, everyone turned toward Emma wondering what was happening to her.


    Everything regarding her was weird at the moment, she was red and she was barely walking.


    Was she sick?


    That was the first question that came to Aiden''s mind as he couldn''t even begin to think that he was the cause of all this.


    "Everything''s fine! Just go to the training grounds," shouted Emma, clearly unhappy with this whole situation.


    She had wanted to be discreet in here she was being spotted by literally everyone around.


    It wasn''t something that she appreciated very much.


    Hearing the anger in her voice, everyone looked away thinking that clearly, everything was fine and that she was only feeling a little sick or something like that.


    However, for Olivia, it wasn''t the end as she got closer to Aiden face going on her tiptoes whispering something to him.


    "Do you think she''s fine? Maybe you should check on her?" she whispered, hoping that Emma would be in even worse condition than she was currently.


    Olivia''s goal was simple, it was to ridicule Emma as much as she could so that Aiden wouldn''t even look at her anymore.


    Would her n work?


    Probably not since Aiden was so oblivious to those things, but that didn''t matter as she would still try as much as she could.


    ''Should I?'' thought Aiden, hearing Olivia.


    ncing at Emma, he noticed that she clearly wasn''t in the best state and that''s when he got an idea as to why she was being this way.


    ''She must be feeling bad to have left Maelis behind!'' thought Aiden.


    Aiden thought that he had found the reason for her acting this way, but how could he know that he waspletely wrong just like most of the time when it regarded those things?


    The maid who wasn''t too far from them simply nced at them with the same questionable look as earlier.


    ''Those girls really are crazy and that guy doesn''t even realize it,'' thought the maid, as she could only smile helplessly.


    It wasn''t as if she had the right to say those things out loud or else who knew what would happen to her.


    "Um, Emma don''t worry about your mom, I''m sure she understands," said Aiden, whispering toward Emma.


    His breath once again rubbed against her neck which caused her to be even redder than she already was.


    "Stop, doing that, I''m fine. This is all because of you, I''m not even thinking of my mom," mumbled back Emma.


    ''Because of me? What did I even do?'' thought Aiden, not understanding why he could be even remotely his fault.


    All he had done was give her some support and she also didn''t even seem mad against him as she was still holding his hand as tight as she possibly could.


    Aiden was sure that if he looked at the state of both of his hands, there would be marks of fingers imprinted into his hands.


    The liquid that had stopped running down her legs started to flow out of her secret ce.


    Olivia seeing this scene had a big smile on her face as she had seeded in her n which was to embarrass Emma even more.


    Now, all that was left was to make Aiden not even look at Emma out of disgust.


    ''What''s that?'' thought Aiden, when he saw that there was something running down Emma''s leg.


    However, before he could find out about what it was, a voice made him dismiss those thoughts.


    "We''re here, wee to the training grounds," announced Melinda excitedly.


    ''Fucking colours man,'' thought Aiden as he could barely open his eyes because of how shy everything in there was. n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    Even in the hallways, it had been painful, but it wasn''t as bad as right now.


    ''What is her problem with colours that could literally make you blind?'' thought Aiden, not understanding the concept shown here.


    But, then Aiden started looking past all those shy colours and started looking at the actual state of this training ground and he had to admit that it was impressive.


    Everywhere he nced that he noticed that there were things which he had never seen before.


    With a quick nce, he noticed that they were also challenges in this ce, however, he didn''t know how they worked all that well.


    He was interested in them, but then as he was about to analyze the rest of the training he felt himself pulled pulled toward a certain direction.


    ''What are they doing?'' thought Aiden, as he could feel both Emma and Olivia pulling him.


    Why were they doing so?


    Melinda had already been walking away as it seemed that she was going toward the ce where the duel would take ce.


    It seemed that she was quite impatient in seeing the two of them fight. She knew the ss of both, well she thought that.


    So, she couldn''t see how Isolde would react against an assassin would she panic, or would she keep her calm?


    Well, only the future would be able to tell us that as both Melinda and Isolde entered an isted room quite far away from the rest of the training ground instations.


    "Where are they?" asked Melinda, turning around to see that Aiden and the rest of them had disappeared and were nowhere to be seen.


    "Don''t tell me that they''re doing some random challenge," she mumbled as she got out angrily of the duel room.


    But, as soon as she put a single foot out of the door, Aiden wasing in.


    "Sorry, about that, I didn''t see you walk away," apologized Aiden, right away, even if he found her really impatient since he was only seconds away from her.


    He had to say that Melinda could be both easygoing or crazy, it really depended on her humour.


    "Well, it doesn''t matter we don''t have any more time to lose, let''s see the two of you fight against one another," said Melinda, regaining her excited attitude from earlier.


    Then, without losing any more time Aiden entered the room and Melinda closed the door right behind him.


    "We''ll be watching the two of you. Good Luck!" said Melinda as she did a thumbs up through the small window of the door.


    "Wait, where are those two girls," uttered Melinda, confused as she couldn''t find them.


    "Don''t tell me that they got inside without me seeing them."


    While she said that, she nced at what was happening inside that room and saw that both Emma and Olivia were still holding Aiden''s hands.


    "What''s with those girls and his hands, let him go for one moment," eximed Maelis to herself as she opened the door.


    "You two,e out of this room ande with me, we''ll go watch their fight."

 Chapter 212 212 - Angry Sylas

    <h4>Chapter 212 Chapter 212 - Angry Ss</h4>


    Emma and Olivia listened to Melinda since they already that their being inside the duel room with Aiden and Isolde wasn''t correct or even eptable.


    Also, seeing the clear on Melinda''s face they thought that it was for the best if they followed everything that she said for the moment.


    Then, Melinda closed the door to the duel room leaving both Aiden and Isolde in quite a tense situation looking at one another.


    "So, who do you think is going to win?" asked Melinda.


    However, a few seconds after she pronounced those words she regretted it and the reason why she regretted was quite obvious, Emma and Olivia''s obsession with Aiden.


    "Is that a question?"


    "Aiden, isn''t it obvious? Why would you even ask such a stupid question? The fight won''t even take long, Aiden would beat her without even trying," said Emma, truly thinking those words.


    There was not a single in her mind that Aiden might be losing the fight ahead of him. Olivia was also thinking the exact same, however, Emma had already told everything.


    ''Right, I forgot that they were crazy about him, I shouldn''t have asked them anything,'' thought Melinda.


    ***


    In the duel room where both Isolde and Aiden were watching each other, there was a tension that was only growing more and more. N?v(el)B\\jnn


    Isolde was looking at Aiden as if he had wronged her in the past, but it was obvious that Aiden had never done anything to her as he had seen her for the first time yesterday.


    Then, as a few moments passed inplete silence, the usual beeping sound resounded in both of their minds.


    *BEEP*


    [The duel will start in thirty seconds.]


    [No one can die while fighting inside this room.]


    [The environment for the fight will be ake.]


    As Aiden finished all those messages that had just appeared in front of him, the floor which had been made out of stone started disappearing letting water take over.


    But that wasn''t all, it was the return of the force fields that made it absolutely impossible for someone to reach the opponent.


    ''Why ake?'' thought Aiden.


    ''Everything but ake, there''s no way I''m winning this now,'' thought Aiden, as he started to lose all the confidence that he had gathered before this fight.


    ''I can''t swim and there is ake appearing right under my feet, just what is that luck?''


    Then, he started to nce around himself, he could see that the water was getting higher and higher around him.


    ''Are there going to be trees or something,'' thought Aiden, as he couldn''t imagine that this environment would only be water, and simply that.


    There had to be something or else this fight would simply be doomed from Aiden''s side.


    Then, as the stone continued to change into water, Aiden started seeing some structures slowly being created not too far away from him.


    ''But, wait... why am I even worrying about not being able to swim?'' thought Aiden as he had forgotten quite the important fact.


    He had forgotten about one of the things which he had acquired in one of the past trials.


    He could fly.


    Who cares if the ground was only water with nothing else on it?


    He wouldn''t even be touching it, he would simply fly and this way he would be able to be much more agile and faster in pretty much every possible scenario.


    In fact, now that he thought about it, this environment was the perfect one for him as it would hinder his opponent but not him.


    Isolde couldn''t see Aiden''s face because of his Reaper''s mask, but if she could get a nce at it, she would be seeing one hell of a dangerous smile.


    Then, the timer which was situated on the right of Aiden, started to get dangerously low.


    [0:03]


    [0:02]


    [0:01]


    [0:00]


    [The duel will now start.]


    ***


    While this was happening, in the Nightshade estate, there was one person who was extremely mad, breaking everything that he touched.


    "Find me all the information possible on that Reaper or whatever he was called, and I want it now," shouted Ss as he broke his desk in half.


    But that wasn''t the worst, his whole room was in the process of getting demolished.


    Everywhere that someone looked, they would be seeing something totally broken.


    "Um, sir we can''t simply infiltrate the Emberbane Territory just like that," replied one of the people who were looking at this destruction with their own eyes.


    Surprisingly, they seemed calm. It seemed that this wasn''t the first time that something like that had happened and most of them knew that it would pass with a little bit of time.


    Also, most of the time they would not even do whatever he demanded simply letting time pass as it was simpler this way.


    Especially, when one of his requests was to find information on someone who was now part of a founding family.


    Sure, if he had been part of a high-level family or even a middle-level one, it wouldn''t have been much of a problem, but now that the Reaper had been recruited by Melinda in person, there wasn''t much they could do.


    "Just do it! Just fucking do it," continued shouting Ss, still being confused by his rage of losing the Inter Family Tournament.


    "Why was he there that little fucker, not even part of a founding family and he beats my son, my OWN FUCKING SON!"


    The people around there hearing him shout so loud, simply watched not saying anything only observing the destruction of his room.


    "What are you all still doing here? Go get information on him and fast," shouted Ss, basically chasing all of his advisors out.


    Then, he simply took the nearest object and destroyed it by literally crushing it in his palm. The people looking at him, however, still showed no reaction as they slowly started leaving his room one after another.

 Chapter 213 213 - The Director

    <h4>Chapter 213 Chapter 213 - The Director</h4>


    The advisors had no problem following that order as they simply closed the door to his room, and all watched each other with serious looks on their faces.


    "Don''t find information on the Reaper, continue searching for any traces of Aiden Nightshade. That''s the priority," said the Director of the Nightshades, the one who would oversee every operation that woulde out of this room.


    "But-"


    "No buts continue searching, I''m sure that he isn''t dead, he must be hiding somewhere and make sure that he won''t find out about his disappearance or else, it would actually be crazy," said the director, obviously talking about Ss who was on the other side of that door, destroying everything that he could grasp.


    "Yes, sir, we will continue the search," replied one of the advisors, not wanting to anger the director as it would be even more problems than the head.


    "Then, what are you still doing here," said the Director, dismissing the advisors.


    It had been a month almost two since they hadunched their research of Aiden Nightshade and they had gotten nothing, absolutely nothing.


    How was it even possible for him to disappear like that?


    Emily, his maid, had been trying to find him for thest two months without a single clue.


    ''Let''s hope that we will find something soon, well... before he finds out,'' thought the Director, as this was simply his only hope.


    If Ss were to find out that Aiden was missing or even dead, the Director couldn''t even begin to imagine what would happen to the estate.


    In a week or less, it would be inplete ruins.


    ''Where are you? Just where are you?'' thought the Director, as he simply didn''t believe that Aiden was dead and he had good reasons to believe.


    Reasons that he simply couldn''t reveal to the advisors who all told him that Aiden was dead.


    The Director was sure that Aiden was alive, there was not a single doubt in his mind.


    ***


    "Oh, ake, interesting," mumbled Melinda as she watched over the duel with great care analyzing every single detail that she could glimpse at.


    Olivia and Emma didn''t react when they saw the environment chosen for the fight, as if it wasn''t even a concern, still as confident as before.


    If only they could''ve known Aiden''s earlier thoughts before remembering his flight ability.


    Melinda, on the other hand, already knew of it since she had seen him take part in the trial and learn how to fly and use Qi.


    To be honest, that was the thing in which she was the most interested, seeing how Aiden would be using his Qi, an energy that wasn''t used by many.


    In fact, those who could use it were counted on one hand, and not all five fingers were used when counting.


    Just imagine how rare are the users of that energy, it was simply amazing for Melinda to have found one who was only starting with using it.


    It was a great opportunity for her since she would be able to see his progress over time with the utilization of Qi.


    It was an opportunity that she would make sure not to miss.


    Then, she nced at the timer which was on her right and saw that this duel was finally about to begin.


    "Let''s go, Aiden!" shouted both of the girls as they continued watching him from this little room.


    The three of them, Melina, Olivia, and Emma, were in the spectator''s room which was high in the air, right above the duel room.


    It was the perfect ce to be able to nce at the whole area without any problems.


    Then, they started hearing the countdown of the duel starting.


    [0:03]


    [0:02]


    [0:01]


    [0:00]


    [The duel will now start.]


    *** n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    As the countdown reached zero, Isolde was swimming toward the nearest boat.


    Those were the wooden structures that had been in the process of being created while Aiden had thought of the idea of flying.


    While she was going in the direction of that boat, Aiden was obviously in the air watching her struggle to reach the boat.


    In fact, it seemed that she had a little difficulty swimming, however, Aiden wasn''t one to talk since he didn''t even know how to swim in the first ce.


    ''Well, should I end this as fast as it started,'' thought Aiden as he started flowing down toward the struggling Isolde.


    Then, as he reached her, he took his dagger and prepared to sh her neck in one clean strike.


    *sh*


    However, when he saw that Isolde''s head was floating on the water, Aiden had only one single question on his mind.


    ''Why is the duel not finished yet?''


    Hadn''t he just killed her with one clean strike, so why wasn''t he hearing the usual beeping sound in the back of his mind?


    What was happening here?


    Then, Aiden inplete confusion started to look around himself, asking himself if something had happened to him or the duel for that matter.


    Had there been a malfunction with the duel room?


    Aiden wasn''t sure if that was the case as he knew that if it had been something created by the system, then the chances of there being a mistake were slim, extremely slim.


    But, then minutes passed and he noticed that nothing was happening.


    Then, having nothing else to do, he headed toward the door of the room, however, no matter how hard he tried to open it, the message appeared in front of him over and over again.


    [The duel is not finished, you cannot leave this room.]


    Aiden had tried one time, two times, three times, but nothing changed he was stuck in here with the floating body of Isolde.


    But then as he turned around, he noticed that something was weird with his surroundings as if something was constantly moving around, he didn''t know what it was.


    However, he knew that there was something weird with this room, his instinct was telling him and he wouldn''t make the mistake of not listening to it.


    ''Wait, where is her body?'' thought Aiden, as he noticed that Isolde''s body hadpletely disappeared from where it had once been.

 Chapter 214 214 - Illusions (1)

    <h4>Chapter 214 Chapter 214 - Illusions (1)</h4>


    No matter where Aiden looked, he couldn''t see the head nor the body of Isolde as if it hadpletely disappeared.


    ''How is that possible?'' thought Aiden, not understanding what was happening at all.


    How could a body simply disappear out of nowhere?


    ''I knew that something was weird when I couldn''t leave the room,'' thought Aiden, as he slowly calmed down and thought this situation through.


    First off, he had killed Isolde with one clean strike without her even looking at him as if she had no idea of her surroundings.


    That was the first problem with what had just transpired.


    The second thing that was extremely weird was that the duel hadn''t finished no matter how much time Aiden had waited for it to end.


    This one was what made Aiden realize that there was clearly something happened which hepletely ignored.


    ''But hadn''t she looked at me, before shing her down, why hadn''t she made any noise whatsoever,'' thought Aiden, as more and more things seemed to click in his mind.


    ''She was an enchantress, right?'' thought Aiden, as he finally realized what had happened.


    Truth be told, it was evident and he didn''t understand why it had taken him such a long time to realize it.


    He had been enchanted and he was now in an illusion in some ce which Isolde probably controlled.


    As Aiden realized that, it seemed that some sort of mechanism had activated as the water that had been under him started to float up slowly but surely going toward him.


    Seeing that, Aiden went as far away as he could since he wanted to see if the water would be following him or not.


    *Swoosh*


    As he moved to his right, the water also moved toward his direction.


    ''What''s happening is the water attacking me?'' thought Aiden, realizing what was happening.


    However, it wasn''t really a threat at the moment, because the water was moving at a snail''s pace.


    Aiden could literally wait for the water for more than a minute and it wouldn''t even be close to reaching him.


    "Is that it?" shouted Aiden out loud, wanting to tease her.


    As soon as he said that, the water which had been slowly elerated instantly moved toward him at a much faster pace. n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    However, it still wasn''t enough to catch him.


    But then, not only did the water start to move toward him, but the nks of wood that had been used to create the boats started to fly up toward him.


    "Fuck, how do I get out of here?" uttered Aiden as he knew that the situation would only get worse and worse as time passed.


    Aiden started to look around himself mindlessly in quest of an answer, but no matter how much he tried. He didn''t find anything out of order.


    But then, he remembered that he had felt something move not so long ago, his instinct had told him, his [Sixth Sense] had told him so.


    ***


    Inside the spectator''s room, Melinda had a big smile on her face.


    She was happy that Aiden had been tricked by Isolde. Of course, Melinda had been able to see the skill that Isolde had cast and she must say that it was quite impressive.


    She had cast her skill as soon as the fight started, and Aiden hadn''t even noticed it as he was now in the air not moving,pletely still.


    Both Olivia and Emma who were watching the fight, started to get worried that Aiden hadn''t moved yet.


    "Why is he standing still? What happened to him?" eximed the two girls clearly worried about Aiden.


    It was weird that he wasn''t trying to end the fight as fast as he could since it would be to its advantage since Isolde was still swimming toward the nearest boat.


    But, then they quickly understood that something was wrong when they heard Melinda release a littleugh while Aiden closed his eyes as if he was sleeping.


    "Don''t tell that she put him inside an illusion?" eximed Emma not believing her eyes.


    "But how? He wasn''t even close to her when it happened, when did she even find the time to cast her skill," continued Emma, panicking like never before.


    It was the first time she realized that maybe Aiden would be in trouble, and since it wasn''t something that she had expected her emotions were at an all-time high.


    "He doesn''t even know how to get out of an illusion," eximed Emma, knowing that Aiden came from the Slums and had basically no knowledge of how those things worked.


    In fact, he probably didn''t even know that he could get caught in an illusion.


    "Well, that''s even better, he might actually lose this fight," said Melinda who was watching Emma panicking with a big smile on her face.


    Melinda had also expected the fight to be extremely quick with Aiden being the winner, but now that he was stuck in an illusion without an ounce of knowledge about them, this whole fight had be interesting, much more interesting.


    She wanted to see how he would try to adapt to the illusion and how fast he would do so, because he waspletely defenceless on the outside, well... apart from the fact that he was in the air, flying.


    The fact that he was flying was also quite a big deal since Isolde didn''t seem to possess any sort of long-range weapon which meant that Aiden would be as long as he was in the sky.


    So, Aiden basically had as much time as he wanted to figure out how to get out of an illusion.


    Melinda was honestly hoping for him to get stuck inside this illusion for a little while like at least five minutes or else she would once again have to admit that Aiden was much more talented than she initially thought.


    The five minutes was also considering hisck of knowledge regarding illusions.


    "Well, let''s see how fast he will get out of it."

 Chapter 215 215 - Illusions (2)

    <h4>Chapter 215 Chapter 215 - Illusions (2)</h4>


    "Fuck, how will I get out there?" mumbled Aiden as he had no idea how he could get out of somewhere which was under the control of someone else, it just didn''t make sense.


    He didn''t even know how illusions worked in the first ce, so how could he know about getting out of one?


    One thing was sure, this would be one hell of a challenge for Aiden.


    ''Well, I think my instinct is my best clue regarding leaving this ce,'' thought Aiden, as he closed his eyes trying to focus on his surroundings without looking around him.


    However, he wasn''t able to stay in that state for too long as there was currently water going at fast speed toward him, not slowing down for even a second.


    So, he quickly reopened his eyes, still as lost as before having absolutely no clue regarding getting out.


    "Maybe my instinct isn''t the best idea," said Aiden, after trying it.


    How could someone even use his instinct, that didn''t even make sense, to be honest?


    Can we even control our instincts?


    Aiden had no idea if it was possible, but he didn''t have the time to be trying out too many things.


    ''What else can I even try to do?'' thought Aiden as he kept moving away from the nks of wooding toward him.


    "Fuck, this illusion will probably disappear after some time, I''ll just wait it out," muttered Aiden as absolutely no idea came to his mind.


    But, then he quickly found a problem with waiting it out.


    "What about my real body? Is it drowning?" mumbled Aiden, realizing that he couldn''t waste any more time stuck in this ce.


    He needed to get out as fast as possible since an immense number of things could be happening to him on the other side.


    ''What if I was being stabbed by Isolde right now,'' thought Aiden, realizing that being in this ce wasn''t any rxing matter and that he couldn''t simply wait out this illusion.


    He needed to find a solution and fast.


    ''Just what is weird around this ce,'' thought Aiden, for onest time as he made sure to get a good look around him trying to find something that wasn''t normal.


    He had no idea what he was looking for which is why Aiden was currently analyzing the walls, the water, the wood.


    He was making sure that he would miss absolutely no details.


    Then, as his eyes started looking at literally everything that was surrounding him, he noticed there was something that emitted the colour reding from the ceiling.


    It was faint, but Aiden was still able to see that red colour which wasn''t anything like the gray that surrounded that light. N?v(el)B\\jnn


    ''Is that the source of this whole thing?'' thought Aiden, as he slowly started to fly in the direction of that red light.


    But as he did so, the already fast speed of the water and the wooden nks started to elerate even more.


    They were moving so fast that Aiden was now having difficulty keeping up as he needed to use all of his abilities.


    "That must be it," eximed Aiden.


    He was convinced that he was on the track because of how the elements of the environment had reacted.


    They were now trying their hardest for him not to reach that faint red light.


    ''How much time did it take me to find this thing?'' thought Aiden as he felt like he had spent at least an hour inside this illusion.


    He hoped that this feeling really was a feeling and not a reality, because if it was then he would be in loads of problems outside.


    In fact, Aiden wouldn''t be surprised if he was in the process of drowning right about now.


    "Fucking get out of my way," shouted Aiden as a wooden nk appeared in front of him.


    He was tired of dodging everythinging his way which is why he grabbed his dagger tightly shing toward him, cutting the wooden nk into two pieces which created some space for him to continue flying forward.


    He was now about three hundred or four hundred meters away from that red light, however, something was weird it felt as if he wasn''t getting closer at all.


    But, Aiden didn''t let that discourage him as he continued to push through, thinking that he would soon be able to get out of this shitty situation.


    Then, he looked behind him and saw that the nk which he had cut into two was nowing toward him.


    Aiden had forgotten one important fact, wooden nks weren''t human beings which meant that they didn''t die if he cut them.


    In fact, if he continued cutting them, it would make his job even harder as he would have to dodge more and more projectiles which wasn''t something that Aiden really wanted to do.


    ''I guess, I''ll just dodge from now on,'' thought Aiden, as he continued flying toward the ceiling of the duel room.


    However, he still had that same feeling from earlier, it was even getting worse as he could see that red light getting further and further away from him which made absolutely no sense.


    Nheless, Aiden''s instincts were telling him that he was on the right path and that he shouldn''t try anything else.


    He wasn''t sure if his instincts were right, but he liked to think that they were.


    Aiden was now moving so fast that the water was barely able to catch up to him, and that was also the case for the wooden nks.


    "I better be arriving soon," muttered Aiden as he could himself start to slow down little by little,cking the endurance needed for such a distance.


    He didn''t know why, but he felt as if he was close to not having Qi inside his body anymore.


    Did this energy have a limit?


    Aiden wasn''t sure as he hadn''t gotten that sensation back in the trial, probably because he had been inside of Li Feng''s body.

 Chapter 216 216 - Winner, Loser

    <h4>Chapter 216 Chapter 216 - Winner, Loser</h4>


    Then, as the red light seemed to get further and further away from him, it suddenly disappeared as if it had never been there in the first ce.


    "Where is it? Fuck," shouted Aiden, realizing that the red light was nowhere to be seen.


    "Don''t tell me that this was another trick," muttered Aiden, thinking that all of this must have been another illusion or something like that.


    Then, he started looking all around himself, in search of that red light and as he looked back toward he saw the red light once again.


    However, there was one massive differencepared to before. It was a lot more apparent before as if wanting to be noticed and the other important thing it looked a lot closer than before.


    In fact, as Aiden started approaching it was getting closer and closer to him.


    ''I must have broken the illusion somehow,'' thought Aiden, as he used the remainings of his energy to fly up as fast as he possibly could.


    Then, as he got closer to that red light, he noticed that it was a sphere of red energy.


    Arriving right beside it, Aiden didn''t waste any time analyzing it as he hit it with his hands,pletely breaking it.


    Then, the red energy started going around the entire environment, and a few secondster the whole scenery had changed and Aiden could see himself in the sky standing still as if he hadn''t moved a single time ever since this whole thing happened.


    "Am I back?" mumbled Aiden, as he looked around him, trying to find Isolde as fast as he could.


    Then, he saw her climbing onto one of the boats which were lying around.


    Seeing her, Aiden started to fly in her direction with his dagger in his hand and there was only a single thought in his mind and it was to kill her.


    He didn''t want to be stuck in some other illusion, so he made sure that she wouldn''t have any other asion to do so.


    And even if he were, stuck in another illusion, Aiden had figured out a way of getting out which was rted to that little red sphere of energy.


    Aiden didn''t know what it was yet, but he would probably learn of it as he continued to live in this world.


    Then, as he was now right above Isolde which was basically defenceless, he dived down with the same goal in mind; killing her.


    As he grabbed hold of his dagger, he prepared his attack as he aimed toward the neck of Isolde shing just like he had done earlier in the illusion.


    *SLASH*


    This time, blood came out of her neck, it seemed that it really was her.


    ''Well, that was a little disappointing,'' thought Aiden, as Isolde had once again not reacted to any of his moves.


    However, Aiden caught onto something immediately after "killing" her, there was no beeping sound.


    "Don''t tell me that I''m in another illusion?" mumbled Aiden, noticing that the corpse that he had just sliced once again disappeared right in front of his eyes.


    As he started looking around in search of that red light, something was slowly approaching behind.


    Aiden hadn''t noticed it yet, but it was Isolde with a short sword in her hands, ready to strike Aiden down when he least expected it.


    Then, as she reached Aiden''s back, she prepared her strike by slowly lifting the short sword up and one momentter striking it down with all of her strength.


    Using swords wasn''t what she was the greatest at, but when she used it people would never pay attention to her. It was one of the benefits of being an enchantress.


    Then, as the short sword started getting closer and closer to Aiden''s back, shivers ran down her back.


    On her back, not the one of Aiden.


    It was only caused by a simple nce.


    Aiden had simply looked behind him because his sixth sense was telling him to do so, and he had caught her red-handed.


    It seemed that she had duplicated her body or created a clone of herself, Aiden had no idea how, but that was his guess right now about what had happened. n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    Then, as he looked behind his back, he put his dagger in such a way to deflect the short sword aiming for his life and this time he saw fear appear in Isolde''s eyes.


    Her n which she had been thinking of ever since they had gotten on that vehicle had been countered by someone who didn''t even seem to be trying, by someone who didn''t even seem to be struggling.


    Was that the difference between her and the Reaper?


    If so, then it was an overwhelming one, even if she continued and got stronger and stronger illusions then it would all be for nothing.


    Then, as Aiden deflected her short sword he noticed that there was a big gap in her defence, which meant one simple thing¡ªshe wasn''t used to fighting with such a weapon.


    "You lost," said Aiden, as he looked right into her eyes with his Reaper Mask still on his face.


    Isolde could only look down as she could only feel fear when looking into that mask.


    There was no doubt in her mind, that she had lost and that she had been thoroughly defeated, in fact, she would be even more embarrassed if she were to know that Aiden had gotten out of her illusion in a matter of minutes when he had no knowledge regarding them.


    Then, as Aiden continued staring at that face full of fear and demise, he decided that it was time to end this fight once and for all, as he shed her throat without hesitating.


    He knew that this wasn''t the end for her and that she would reappear, but even then he had to admit that it felt good.


    But, then as he saw Isolde''s head fall on the ground while turning into particles, he thought of something.


    ''Would the system think of this as a kill?'' thought Aiden, as he looked as his gloves

 Chapter 217 217 - Shock

    <h4>Chapter 217 Chapter 217 - Shock</h4>


    *BEEP*


    [You have won the duel.]


    Then, as he thought of that, the system instantly beeped inside his mind.


    It seemed that after doing that deal with it, it had be a lot more responsive to some of Aiden''s questions. However, he still refused to answer those that really mattered which pissed off Aiden to a high degree.


    *BEEP*


    [The kills inside of the duel room do not count, on the kill count of your item.]


    ''Thank you for that clear and concise response,'' said Aiden to himself in his mind.


    After making that deal with the system, he had decided to go on a softer approach with it, basically being polite as much as he could.


    He thought that maybe it would be even more responsive if he were to act like that. However, he still couldn''t see any real changes since he had made that change.


    Then, as he continued to think about the system and the answer hecked, the dead body of Isolde which had disappeared into particles started to slowly reappear in front of Aiden.


    "That always makes you feel like the worst," she muttered as she could see all the parts of her body slowly starting to reappear.


    Seeing this scene was quite impressive to Aiden since he had lived the exact same thing in the past, and he remembered the emotions that he had felt when doing that.


    He remembered the helplessness that he had felt when "dying" a second time.


    He wondered how Isolde was holding on, but it seemed that she was used to the defeats inside of this room as she revealed a little smile followed by a slight chuckle.


    "You really were scary at the end," said Isolde, acknowledging the fact that she had almost shat in her pants because of only his re.


    But what could she say that deathless re was traumatizing and she hoped that she would never have this see it again in all of her life.


    Aiden hearing that he had scared her, wasn''t confused as he knew that he didn''t have the friendliest face to exist, but for her to be that scared was a little surprising.


    ''Maybe I got carried away,'' thought Aiden as he remembered the end of the fight and some of the frustration that he had felt during its whole duration.


    "Um, sorry about that, didn''t mean to," apologized Aiden as he really hadn''t wanted to scare her off at all.


    "Ah no worries, you were trying and so was I," she said, shing a beautiful smile toward Aiden.


    However, it had little to no effect as Aiden barely even noticed it.


    "I guess we better leave this room," said Isolde as she slowly headed toward the door of the room.


    "Oh, and thank you for this fight made me understand what Icked the most," added Isolde as she turned around, seemingly, truly thinking those words from the bottom of her heart.


    Aiden was a little surprised by the thank you, but he still appreciated it. n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    One had to admit that getting thanked by the person whom you have just "killed" was quite weird, even if it made sense since the goal of this wasn''t to eliminate the opposition.


    It was a change that Aiden would have to get used to if he were, to be honest. Fighting to learn from one another wasn''t a concept that he had experienced a lot in his past life and in this one.


    Then, all of his thoughts went away when he heard the voices of the people who were entering the duel room as they were going out.


    "You won! I never even doubted you for a second," eximed Emma as she ran up toward Aiden jumping in his arms.


    Aiden not wanting to get hugged at the moment, simply moved out of the way which led to quite a funny moment of Emma being on the ground.


    "She''s lying when you stopped moving because you were in that illusion she was panicking, but I was calm, not once doubting you," said Olivia, acting like she was the most mature one of the two slowly approaching him and locking hands with him.


    Emma who was on the ground behind the two of them, then shouted something back.


    "She''s lying she was just like me, that stupid bitch," said Emma as she quickly stood up and also locked hands with Aiden.


    Then, they were back in their original position one on his left and one on his right.


    "She''s right, they were both worried about you," added Melinda, putting an end to that conversation, as she couldn''t endure the two of them arguing any longer.


    Just being in the spectator''s room with them had been exhausting, so she didn''t want to hear the two of them bickering any longer.


    "But, enough of that, you both performed well in that fight, it was actually impressive to watch. Especially, when you cast your skill at the start, even I was impressed by it," said Melinda as she turned toward Isolde congratting her a little, before turning back toward Aiden.


    "But was it true that you had no knowledge regarding illusions?" asked Melinda as this was the question which had been weighing on her mind since earlier,


    Aiden was a little confused by that question and he quickly answered it truthfully as he didn''t think of a reason to lie to her.


    Also, he wasn''t going to lie to her again and again, he needed to reveal some bits of truth at some point.


    "Um, yeah it was why?"


    But Melinda ignored his question as she was confirmed that information.


    "Then how? How did you get out of that illusion in two minutes even less?" asked Melinda, clearly shocked.


    Isolde who was right beside them was even more surprised than Melinda as she thought that the Reaper had at least some knowledge of illusions.


    "Do you really not know anything about illusions?" asked Isolde, as she simply couldn''t believe it.


    If she thought that there was a gap between the two of them, it had only grown much more.

 Chapter 218 218 - New Quarters (1)

    <h4>Chapter 218 Chapter 218 - New Quarters (1)</h4>


    "Yeah, I really didn''t, was it that impressive?" questioned Aiden as he looked around seeing everyone nod.


    ''Well, I guess I have good vision, who wouldn''t try going for that red sphere, at least hide it better,'' thought Aiden, as he didn''t understand why everyone was overreacting in such a way.


    "But did it really take me two minutes?" asked Aiden as he remembered spending quite a lot of time inside there.


    He felt as if he had spent literally hours inside that space, so he didn''t understand how there was such a big difference between what he felt and reality. Sure, he was in an illusion, but was it really all because of that?


    "Yes, it did," responded Melinda right away.


    "What you''re thinking right now is probably about how you thought that you had spent a lot more time inside that illusion, right?" said Melinda, reading Aiden''s mind, without any difficulty.


    Aiden only nodded upon hearing that as it seemed that his feeling was quitemon if Melinda had been able to guess it.


    "Well, that''s normal, the ratio between how the time goes by in an illusion and in the real world is quite different. That''s why you had that feeling."


    Aiden once again moved his head up and down showing that he had understood what she had just said.


    "Then, what does one hour equal one minute?"


    "Well, that depends on the strength of the illusion and many other things, so sometimes that might be the case and sometimes it might not be," continued exining Melinda while everyone made sure to remember every single one of those words.


    "But, yeah enough about that, both of your performances were really impressive," said Melinda, in an attempt to conclude the discussion.


    However, the two girls who were holding Aiden''s hands did not agree with that statement at all.


    "Both impressive, hmph, he was much better," said Emma as she hugged his arm shyly.


    It was rare that Olivia and Emma agreed on something, but when it was regarding Aiden they were most of the time in agreement and this was one of those times.


    That''s why she instantly nodded when she heard this.


    ''What is the deal with those two, alwaysplimenting me and holding my hands?'' thought Aiden, as he didn''t understand why both of their actions had changed so drastically over literally a few days.


    It didn''t make any sense in Aiden''s mind, that the shy Emma was now a lot more confident when talking with the others. n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    "Well, I will announce one thing here, you two won''t be in the same room as A- the Reaper," said Melinda almost letting Aiden''s name slip out of her name since she was kind of used to using it.


    The two of them, then went on toin that it wasn''t fair and that they had done nothing wrong at all, however, Melinda seemed quite serious on that matter.


    "In fact, my new student here will be living with him as I think that it will help her in the long run," said Melinda, clearly indicating that her new student was Isolde.


    ***


    "Both of you will be living in here," said Melinda talking to both Emma and Olivia and throwing them into one of the rooms which had a rainbow exterior.


    The room in which both Emma and Olivia would be living seemed to be about the same size as back in the Everheart Family Manor.


    But, it seemed that rooms of that size weremon as this whole wall was filled with quarters as big as that one and in the Everheart Manor there had been two of them.


    Nheless, a founding family shouldn''t bepared with a middle-level family since they were nowhere near the same level of resources.


    "You''lle to see us, right?" asked Emma as the rainbow door closed in front of her face.


    *BAM*


    "Are they usually that annoying?" asked Melinda, as she seemed extremely exhausted.


    However, this time Aiden shook his head as he also didn''t understand that change in both of their personality, especially for Emma. He didn''t have a good idea of Olivia''s personality but it still wasn''t like this during the Inter Family Tournament.


    "No, I don''t know what''s happening to them?"


    The maid who was still apanying them seemed to have a pretty good idea as she murmured something in a really quiet tone that no one heard.


    "It''s your fault that they''re acting this way."


    "What did you say, Cheryl?" asked Melinda, hearing a faint noise from behind her.


    "Nothing, don''t worry about it."


    Hearing that, Melinda turned her head not worrying about it at all.


    Then, the quatuor continued walking in that rainbow corridor as they suddenly took a sharp turn to the left into apletely new corridor which had fewer colours than before.


    It seemed that the theme of blinding colours hadn''t reached this ce yet, as Aiden was finally able to nce at the colour ck on one of these walls.


    ''This is incredible!'' thought Aiden to himself as he hadn''t seen that colour ever sinceing here.


    Then, Melinda who hadn''t stopped walking in a long time suddenly stopped all movement as she rotated her body toward the right facing apletely ck door.


    "This will be your room, I know it''s quite the sad colour we will make sure to fix that soon, no worries," said Melinda as she showed with her hands the exterior of that room.


    ''No, no, no, don''t fix it. Please don''t fix the colour,'' thought Aiden, as he dismissed that thought and observed the sheer size of that room.


    Aiden looking at that exterior was quite impressed by the size of that room, it seemed to be at least twice as big as the room that both Emma and Olivia had entered.


    "Come in, what are you two idling for?" said Melinda as she opened the ck door to the two of them, revealing the interior of Aiden''s new quarters.

 Chapter 219 219 - New Quarters (2)

    <h4>Chapter 219 Chapter 219 - New Quarters (2)</h4>


    As Melinda said that, the two of them entered the room and they started looking around themselves.


    Aiden had to say that it was quite pleasing to the eyes and that there really weren''t as many colours as in the rest of this estate.


    But that was honestly just a detail as Aiden started to look at the size of this thing and he was honestly impressed.


    He could start training here, he wouldn''t even have to go to the training grounds anymore.


    He could be running in circles in this room and he would be getting in shape that''s for sure.


    It was also quite well equipped with everything necessary to live and even more. It was perfect, that was it, simply perfect.


    But, then he realized that there would be a little problem with living with Isolde.


    Aiden wouldn''t keep his mask on all day long, he would need at some point to remove it and rx a little, he didn''t want to be on edge for such a long time.


    "Um, Melinda, can I talk to you quickly," said Aiden, clearly meaning that he needed to talk to her in private.


    Sure, this ce was incredible, but if he could have a ce where he would be able to live by himself then it would be even better if he were to be honest.


    "Sure," replied Melinda as she got closer to Aiden, waiting for him to whisper something to her ear.


    "Isolde can you leave the room for a minute or two?" asked Aiden, seeing as she wasn''t moving looking at the two of them.


    Aiden didn''t want to take any risks, that''s why he asked her to leave the room. He wanted to make sure that this conversation wouldn''t be overheard by anyone.


    Isolde didn''tin as she simply opened the ck door once again, leaving the room and leaving the two of them alone inside it.


    "What was so important that you had to make her leave?" asked Melinda with a quiet tone, as she knew that Aiden didn''t want this conversation to sound through the walls.


    "Can''t you find me a ce to live alone," asked Aiden, right away, before saying his reasons as he was interested in what sort of reaction she would have toward that idea.


    Obviously, she wasn''t too pleased by that idea, as she replied, "Well, are you sure that''s in your best interest being alone constantly? On the way here, I noticed that you weren''t the biggest talker, so I thought that having a new person as a roommate would be a good idea."


    She didn''t seem too keen on the idea of finding him a new room, and she had even given him reasons that Aiden couldn''t refute even if he wanted to.


    Everything that she had just said was true, and there was no doubt about it. However, that wasn''t a reason for Aiden to give up as he responded with his own arguments.


    "What about my privacy? What if I want to be alone? What if I want to remove that mask from my face? I simply can''t do anything with her here," said Aiden, as he tried to make himself sound as annoyed as he possibly could.


    Melinda took a few seconds before answering, and she had honestly found the perfect solution to his problem, however, it wasn''t one that Aiden would appreciate.


    "About your mask, why not remove it and show her your face and tell her your name, wouldn''t that solve pretty much all of your problems?" said Melinda, as she couldn''t find anything wrong with her response.


    The reason that she couldn''t find anything wrong with it was simple, there was no problem with that solution, well... no problem that she knew about.


    She didn''t know that the more people knew about Aiden''s identity, the more in danger he would be, it basically went together.


    That was what she ignored about Aiden. N?v(el)B\\jnn


    Nheless, revealing his face to someone who waspletely unrted to the Nightshade family, probably wouldn''t be that bad of an idea.


    "I don''t think that''s a good idea," replied Aiden, exactly for those reasons.


    Melinda, however, just couldn''t understand. She knew that Aiden may like his privacy, but why did he need to hide his face from everyone that he saw?


    Melinda hadn''t recognized him, so it couldn''t be because he was so popr that everyone would be recognizing him.


    He came from the Slums, for fuck sake.


    "Why? Give me one good reason?" asked back Melinda, waiting for Aiden''s answer.


    However, now Aiden''s mind was inplete turmoil as he didn''t know if he wanted to reveal the things that he knew to her or not.


    ''Should I tell her about my rtion with the Nightshades... No, no, I can''t do that what if she told Ss,'' thought Aiden as he currently thinking about a good reason that he could give her.


    Then, he realized that he couldn''t give her any reason that would refute what she had previously said.


    ''Well, I guess I''ll reveal my face, there''s basically no chance that she knows anyone from the Nightshade Family,'' thought Aiden, as he had finally made his choice.


    He knew that it would be much easier for everyone around him if Isolde knew about his identity.


    However, he knew that it would put him in more danger in the future.


    He knew that if rumours started to spread about someone named Aiden, the Nightshades would probablye running even if there was a chance that they thought he was dead.


    If there was even a chance that the trash which they had thrown away years ago, was now a prodigy.


    The Nightshade family woulde running, there was not an ounce of doubt in Aiden''s mind.


    However, he had big doubts that such a situation would happen if he only showed his face to Isolde.


    "Alright, I''ll show my face," muttered Aiden, with a dejected look on his face.


    Then, Melinda made Isolde enter the room once again and it was now time to reveal his face to another person.

 Chapter 220 220 - Wasted Skill Slot

    <h4>Chapter 220 Chapter 220 - Wasted Skill Slot</h4>


    "Isolde, you cane back in," said Melinda as she looked at the door, waiting for it to be opened.


    Then, as she walked in, Aiden started feeling somewhat nervous since he would be showing his face.


    ''Should I really do it?'' thought Aiden, with a final hesitation.


    Was it worth it to show her his face and at the same take more risks regarding his identity?


    The more he thought about it, the more he thought that in the future he would have to show his face to more people, so why not start now?


    He couldn''t hide for the rest of his life, after all.


    ''Well, I''ll just do it,'' thought Aiden, ending this dilemma that was currently happening inside his mind.


    He had already wasted enough time thinking of those things.


    "He will show his face to you," said Melinda, as she showed Aiden right behind her.


    Isolde hearing this was a little shocked, as she didn''t think that she was close enough to him for that.


    She knew that he must be valuing his privacy since he had even hidden his face in the Inter Family Tournament, a ce where fame was pretty much guaranteed if you went far enough.


    "You don''t have to if you don''t want to," said Isolde, before Aiden had even attempted to remove it.


    However, Aiden''s response surprised her.


    "I''m doing this for me, so stop saying those things, they are only making me doubt myself," answered Aiden as he didn''t want to go back into that dilemma now that he had made a choice.


    Hearing that, Isolde nodded not saying another word, simply looking at the Reaper''s mask, waiting for it to be removed from his face.


    ''I wonder what he looks like?'' thought Isolde, as she slowly observed Aiden''s body, which was pretty well built since he had made all those challenges.


    In fact, his body really had changed a lot since the time he had arrived in this world, it was honestly quite impressive to see some massive changes in such a short amount of time.


    Sure, the system yed a big role in that, but it didn''t remove any aplishments that he had really gotten that much stronger in such a short time.


    After all, pretty much everyone in this world had ess to that system, well most.


    ''He must be good-looking with a body like that,'' thought Isolde, as she slowly started to look at his face.


    Then, Aiden slowly but surely removed his [Everchanging Item] from his face, revealing his lips, his nose, his eyes, and then, his hair. n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    Isolde was pretty surprised by his appearance as she knew that he would be good-looking, but his face seemed gentle which wasn''t what she had expected, especially after that fight against him.


    He even seemed friendly from a first nce which waspletely from the dark aura that he had released during the tournament.


    "Aiden, nice to meet you," he uttered, putting his hand forward, waiting for her to shake it.


    "Oh, nice to meet and thank you for trusting me with how you look," replied Isolde,ing out of her daze.


    Aiden had noticed that she was looking at him quite intensively, but he didn''t mention simply that it was normal since it was the first time that she had seen his face.


    "Um, no problem."


    "Alright, now that you both know what you look like, what do you say that we start your training?" said Melinda, excitedly.


    ''My training? When did I ask to train with her?'' thought Aiden, not sure where this wasing from at all.


    Seeing Aiden''s face, Melinda could onlyugh.


    "Come on, you didn''t think that I would be making you stay in the same room for no reason. You''ll be training with me and Isolde, well... if she agrees since it wasn''t to be like this in the first ce," said Melinda, as she knew that the training of Isolde was supposed to bepletely private.


    "No, I think that it will be better this way since it would give me a sparring partner, even if he is a scary one," said Isolde, not finding any problems with Aiden training with them.


    However, the one who had a problem with this whole thing was Aiden as he simply couldn''t think of what Melinda would be showing him.


    He was an assassin, not an enchantress like her.


    ''Well, I guess I won''t be able to use that System Function just yet,'' thought Aiden, a little frustrated by this whole thing.


    ''I''ll try to make her change her mind, but it doesn''t seem to be an easy task at all. She even tricked me by putting me in the same room as her,'' thought Aiden, as he remembered the arguments of Melinda and at no point in time did she mention training.


    She really was sneaky when she wanted to be, Aiden would have to be careful around her, that''s for sure.


    "What are you even going to show me?" asked Aiden, wanting to see what her reaction would be.


    Melinda had already noticed that Aiden didn''t want to train with them, but she would make sure that he wouldn''t have the choice to do so.


    "I''ll show you one of my techniques. A technique that depends on Charm that will help you greatly, I''m sure of that," said Melinda, clearly not wanting to reveal too much of it.


    However, Aiden wasn''t duped, he wouldn''t agree simply because of that. He needed to know what that technique was beforehand.


    "What is it? If I''m interested in it, then I might agree to do that training of yours."


    Melinda ousted a shortugh, as she became serious once again.


    "Didn''t you already agree? Well, no matter, it''s a technique to change your appearance. But, not just your face, your entire body," said Melinda, knowing quite well that Aiden wouldn''t hesitate to grasp such an opportunity.


    She thought that Aiden would be very happy to learn this technique, but he seemed mad over something.

 Chapter 221 221 - Night, Night

    ?


    "You have a technique for that? Then, why didn''t you tell me that before, fuck," said, clearly frustrated by this whole situation?


    If he had known that she had ess to such a technique, Aiden would have never learned the [Face Changer] skill, he would have simply chosen another one.


    In fact, from what Melinda had just said, her technique was even better than the skill that Aiden had learned.


    This skill would be able to even change his body''s appearance which was better than simply the face.


    "Why are you mad?" asked Melinda, not understanding this overreactioning out of Aiden.


    She thought that he would be happy since he liked his face not being known and all of that.


    With her technique, he would basically be able to live a double life without anyone knowing.


    Hell, he wouldn''t even need a mask anymore.


    "It''s just that I chose a skill to change my face as a reward in the Inter Family Tournament. Fuck, really this sucks," said Aiden, as he couldn''t help himself but shout some mindless insults.


    He needed to exteriorize this anger that he felt.


    "Why did you even choose a skill like that in the first ce, there must have been much better ones," replied Melinda.


    She simply couldn''t understand why Aiden needed to protect his identity that much, what was he hiding so desperately?


    Her guess was that it was something that only he knew of and he thought that it was a big deal, when in reality no one would even care if he were to reveal it in the first ce.


    "Whatever, is there a way to remove a skill that you previously learned?" asked Aiden.


    However, the answer he got didn''t help his case at all.


    "No, you can''t. Once you learn a skill, you can''t unlearn it. Basically, you can''t remove it from your memories since it will always be a part of you."


    Aiden hearing this, clearly wasn''t pleased, but it wasn''t like he could change something about it.


    "Then, I guess I''ll join that training of yours since your technique is even better than my skill," replied Aiden.


    Melinda had a big smile on her smile when she heard this, however, it wasn''t a big surprise that Aiden had agreed since she had already nned other things in case he refused that first offer.


    "Alright, then why don''t we start right away," said Melinda, excitedly.


    However, it seemed that both Isolde and Aiden were quite exhausted as they instantly refused.


    "No, no chance, we need to sleep," said the two of them at the same time.


    They had just finished the Inter Family Tournament and Melinda already wanted them to train.


    Don''t tell me that she was some sort of training maniac.


    Sure, Aiden wasn''t better in that case, but since he arrived in this world the intensity of his training had decreased as he slowly realized that what he had been doing in his past life waspletely inhumane.


    He remembered training endlessly without even a goal in mind, and that was something that he didn''t want to do ever again.


    Then, as Aiden and Isolde said the same thing at the same time, they quickly nced at one another. They seemed to have found this coincidence quite funny.


    "Are you sure that you don''t want to start right away?" questioned Melinda, who seemed quite disappointed with the two of them.


    She was so excited to start this training and it seemed that her trainees didn''t have the same opinion.


    "Yes, we''re sure," said both Isolde and Aiden at the same time once again.


    ''Again?'' thought Aiden, finding it weird that they said the same thing at the same time once again.


    Then, the two of them started pushing Melinda out of their rooms, as they needed actual sleep and it seemed that it wasn''t nned by Melinda to let the two of them sleep.


    ***n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    Sometimeter, both Aiden and Isolde were going to sleep as they had both chosen a bed to sleep on.


    And the size of the beds that they could choose was simply ridiculous, Aiden could move and move around in it and he wouldn''t even be close to falling from it.


    But, that wasn''t what was important at the moment, it was that both Aiden and Isolde didn''t have a lot of clothes on, especially Isolde who basically only had a long shirt that covered her top and her bottom at the same time.


    If she was to even bend a little to get something that fell from the ground, then Aiden would be able to see pretty much everything, her pussy and her ass at the same time.


    However, Aiden didn''t want to look like a perv observing her every movement, so he simply looked away closing his eyes.


    But, then as he was about to try and go to sleep, he heard the voice of Isolde.


    "Um, Aiden?" she uttered, out of nowhere.


    ''What does she want? Don''t tell me that she''s like Emma,'' thought Aiden, as he knew that the two of them strangely looked alike.


    "What?" replied Aiden, still with his eyes closed, not even wanting to look at her.


    He knew that her outfit was extremely revealing and he wasn''t the type to peek, he wasn''t weird like that.


    "Just thank you for the fight earlier. I really appreciated it even if I lost," said Isolde, still out of nowhere.


    ''Why is she thanking me again, right now?'' thought Aiden, as the two of them were literally about to sleep.


    "Um, no problem."


    Then, a few seconds of silence passed between the two of them and Isolde once again started talking.


    "Also, thank you for telling me about your identity. I promise that I won''t tell anyone about it," she continued.


    ''We don''t even know each other, so why is she suddenly starting to make promises,'' thought Aiden, as he couldn''t understand why she was so nice toward him.


    There was literally no reason for such a thing to happen.


    "Um, thank you," said Aiden, as he finally started sleeping after that.

 Chapter 222 222 - An Old Man?

    ?


    The next day, Isolde and Aiden were getting ready as Melinda''s maid had told them to meet her on the training grounds as soon as possible, or rather at 4 in the morning, barely giving the two of them enough time to sleep.


    However, it wasn''t the worst thing in the world for the two of them since they were awakened, meaning that their overall strength and endurance were much better than those of humans.


    "Slept well?" asked Aiden to Isolde who was currently getting dressed in a tight ck uniform.


    Aiden this time had no choice but to look at her as she was literally right in front of him, and the weird thing about Isolde is that she wasn''t shy at all about her body as she had literally removed all of her clothes right in front of Aiden''s face.


    ''Maybe elves do that often?'' thought Aiden as he didn''t remember Emma doing such a thing.


    Or maybe it was something that only Isolde did.


    "Um, yeah, thanks," replied Isolde as she now had her ck training uniform on.


    ***


    Isolde and Aiden were now headed toward the training grounds for their very first training session.


    Aiden was happy to go there for one simple reason, he didn''t have two people stuck to him like literal insects.


    It seemed that both Emma and Olivia were still in their rooms as they had absolutely no knowledge regarding Aiden''s training.


    Imagine their faces or even better their reactions if they were to see that Aiden would be training with not one, but two girls.


    They would be panicking that''s for sure.


    But then, as Aiden thought of that and let out a smallugh, he had no choice but toe back to reality since they were now walking on the training grounds.


    However, as they were about to walk in, Aiden noticed a sign on which was written in big red letters, [The training grounds is unavable.].


    "Do you think that''s because of Melinda," asked Isolde as she slowly started understanding the character of the person that she had chosen for her training.


    And for what she had seen at the moment, she seemed quite the maniac when it came to training and colours.


    Aiden hearing Isolde''s question had literally no doubt in his mind that it was because of her, however, he simply replied, "We''ll see.".


    Then, after replying to that, he started walking right into the training grounds as he spotted the figure of someone not too far away from them.


    However, that person had no resemnce to Melinda at all, in fact, Aiden was wondering if they were in the right ce.


    Then, that person which was currently meditating in the middle of the training grounds surrounded by all sorts of weapons, slowly opened its eyes looking at both Isolde and Aiden.


    "Um, do you think he''s here for us," whispered Isolde not sure why Melinda wasn''t there and instead it was an old man.


    Then, the old man slowly started getting up and advancing toward them.


    "Are you the ones that Melinda sent me?" asked the old man with a long grey beard which practically reached his chest.


    Aiden who was seeing this happening was extremely confused. Wasn''t he simply supposed to learn Melinda''s technique to change appearance?


    Just who the hell was this man in front of him then?


    ''And why does this old man seem mad?'' thought Aiden as he noticed that this man didn''t seem to be in the best of moods, well in Aiden''s quick observation.


    Isolde had noticed the same thing, however, the two of them still decided that the best course of action was to simply close their mouths and listen to whatever he was about to say.


    However, before doing that, they needed to actually respond to him.


    "We are, I guess, and you are?" questioned Aiden who wasn''t in the best of moods anymore as he had just realized that Melinda had lied to him once again.


    It started to be quite a lot, especially considering Aiden''s past. However, it''s not like Aiden could revolt against her as he was simply too weak to do so.


    What he needed right now was to listen to that old man.


    "Me? My identity isn''t important, you guys only need to know that I''m stronger than the two of youbined," answered the old man with a mysterious look on his face.


    "Well, enough about that. The two of you are probably wondering what this training will be about and how it will work. Well I will exin it to the two of you," continued the old man.


    Aiden and Isolde nodded waiting for him to continue his exnation as the two of them were in the dark about what was about to happen.


    "Basically, your training duration will be of one month since Isolde will leave in a month. However, that''s not the most important, what''s important is what we will be training and how you will be training."


    Aiden hearing this started to get a little worried as he absolutely didn''t care about any sort of training, he simply wanted to learn the technique that Melinda had told him about.


    "So, how will this training period work? That''s probably what the two of you are wondering, right?"


    "Well, it''s quite simple. This training is divided into many steps or challenges if you prefer. There will be a total of five challenges and to reach the next one, you will need to havepleted thest one and so on."n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    Aiden found it quite interesting, however, he was still one bit of information which was about Melinda''s technique.


    Having five challenges and all that stuff was fine, but that wasn''t why he was here at all.


    The old man seeing the frustrated look on Aiden''s face seemed to finally remember something that he had forgotten to mention.


    "Oh, and are you the one who''s supposed to be the Reaper?" asked the old man, unsure if that was actually the case since he had been told that he would be wearing a mask.


    Aiden hearing this was a little panicked as he finally realized that he hadn''t put on his mask.


    ''Fuck, fuck, fuck,'' he thought as quickly put it back on his face.


    ''What if someone saw me in the hallways to get here?'' thought Aiden, as he realized how big the blunder he had just made was.


    Without losing any more time, he quickly put his [Everchanging Item] which was in the form of the Reaper mask back on his face as he didn''t want that old man to see his face.


    "What are you doing?" asked the man, unsure why Aiden would be putting back his mask on his face.


    He had already seen his face, but that was it, so why was that reaction?


    However, Aiden didn''t even bother replying as he put it, acting as if nothing had happened.


    "Well, whatever you''re the Reaper, right?" asked the man once again.


    "Yes, I am," replied Aiden.


    Aiden had to admit that he was quite happy that Melinda hadn''t revealed his real name to that person since it would have made it even riskier for Aiden in the future.


    It was better this way, where everyone knew him as the Reaper. In fact, it was better if everyone knew of the Reaper, but ignored everything about Aiden''s true identity.


    This was the real goal behind putting on a mask, after all.


    "Then, you''ll be happy," started off the man, interrupting Aiden''s thought and bringing him back to the situation at hand.


    "Melinda told me that if you were able toplete the fifth trial then she would teach you her Metamorphosis Technique," said the old man, with a smile.


    "But that''s only if youplete all five challenges," he said once again.


    Aiden didn''t know why but that man''s smile wasn''t giving Aiden any confidence, it seemed as if this was all but a big whole trick.


    However, Aiden had no way of verifying that which is why he simply went with it as he would be trying his hardest in the next couple of days as spending time training couldn''t be a waste at the end of the day.


    "Um, whatever, I''llplete them," replied Aiden with arrogance.


    He didn''t think that he would fail as he was sure that he had already done much worse in the past.


    The training that he would be suffering wouldn''t even phase him a little, it was going to be way too easy.


    "Oh, you will, huh? Well, I like your confidence, but you probably won''t be thinking that soon enough," responded the old man.


    The old man knew what the challenges were, and it seemed like he didn''t believe very much in that Reaper, even if he had just won the Inter Family Tournament.


    He knew that Melinda, the head of the Emberbane Family, wasn''t someone who took training lightly, especially with talented people and for those reasons he couldn''t help butugh at that arrogance.

 Chapter 223 223 - The First Challenge

    ?


    "Um, well enough about that. I need to exin that first challenge of mine, right?" said the man, as he knew that he was a little behind schedule.


    He had talked a little too much which was most of the time quite a problem with him which was why he needed to get right to the point and not talk about meaningless things.


    "Yes, that''s actually what we are waiting for," replied Aiden, as he wanted what sort of challenge they would have to do, or rather that he would have to do, to learn Melinda''s technique.


    "I like your enthusiasm, but you''ll probably lose it soon which is why I didn''t reveal it yet," said the old man, acting as if this was all part of his n when it really wasn''t.


    "Alright, that''s thest time I''ll say it, but enough. I need to talk to the two of you about the challenge that you''ll have to go through."


    "To put it in perspective, the first challenge will be easiest and it will start to grow in terms of difficulty, so don''t get too excited if you seed in my challenge quickly alright."N?v(el)B\\jnn


    "Now, what you will have to do, to reach the second challenge is quite simple. You saw the position in which I was earlier, right?" asked the old man with a smile.


    Aiden had obviously seen him as did Isolde, so they knew exactly what he was talking about.


    "Yes, what about that position?" asked Aiden.


    ''Wait, don''t tell me that this is something that resembles what I did back in my third trial,'' thought Aiden, as he was already thinking that it was a meditation technique that would help for whatever.


    "Oh, I just wanted to know if you had spotted me earlier, the position isn''t rted to the challenge, ahaha."


    Hearing that, both Aiden and Isolde started getting extremely annoyed by his behaviour as he never wanted to reveal anything relevant.


    "Just tell us, alright, we only have 30 days, right?" said Aiden, this time, without hiding the anger that he was feeling in his tone.


    He made sure that this old man knew how annoyed he was feeling right now so that he would y around and actually be serious.


    This wasn''t a time to be ying around, this was training and they only had thirty days to reach Melinda''s technique and Aiden wanted to use all of it to the best of his abilities.


    "Alright, alright, just a bad habit of mine, sorry about that."


    "The first challenge is simple, you see those two boulders in front of both of you," said the old man as he was looking at both of their feet as if there was actually something there.


    However, when Aiden and Isolde looked down, they noticed that there was absolutely nothing there.


    "What are you talking about, there''s nothing like a boulder there," eximed the two of them.


    They were getting tired of this whole thing, this man was constantly making them lose their time when they needed all of it.


    "Um, there is though look again," said the man as he snapped his fingers out of nowhere.


    Then, as they looked back down again, they noticed that there was a huge boulder that was almost reaching both of their chests.


    ''When the fuck did that appear?'' thought Aiden as he immediately thought of the snapping of fingers.


    He realized that something must have happened when he snapped those fingers which was probably rted to the appearance of those big boulders.


    "Alright, looks like you see them, ahaha," said the old man as he chuckled.


    "Now, all you have to do, is cut it in two," said the old man without adding any information.


    After hearing that, the two of them were confused as this made no sense.


    Why would an Enchantress need to learn about doing such a thing since she practically never used a weapon?


    It seemed that Isolde had that exact thought on her mind as she asked, "What do I have to do this exactly?"


    "Didn''t you notice it in your fight against him, you lost because of how trash you are with actual weapons, so go ahead and pick up that short sword of yours," said the old man.


    "Why are you looking at me like that, Melinda told me before organizing this whole thing," added the old man as he didn''t like the gazes he was receiving.


    "We simply need to cut it in two, right?" asked Aiden, as it seemed to be a really easy task for him, especially since he had done this all of his life.


    The only change was that he needed to cut necks and not rocks, but did that even matter?


    "Yes, just cut it in two. Oh, but in a single strike, wait let me show you," said the old man as he slowly approached the gigantic boulder opening a little portal on his right which was his inventory.


    He pulled out a gigantic sword which was as tall and as wide as Aiden.


    ''What is this weapon, can he even move it around,'' thought Aiden as he couldn''t even begin to imagine fighting with such a massive weapon, it simply made no sense in his mind.


    "Oh, don''t move back," said the old man as he snapped his finger once again which caused a third boulder to appear right in front of him.


    As he was preparing himself, he nced at Aiden and Isolde and muttered, "Look closely and remember all of my movements."


    Then, right after saying that he lifted the sword over his head, and waited for a second or two making sure that everything was ready to swing.


    After that, he actually shed downwards.


    The boulder which was almost as tall as Aiden and even wider than him was cut in half in a single without any struggle.


    The strike had been perfect from start to finish with excellent control, that massive old man didn''t even seem to be putting in force when he shed which was even more impressive.


    This strike hadn''t been a show of strength at all, contrary to Aiden''s expectations but a show of technique.


    Aiden honestly didn''t think that it was possible to cut a boulder like that in a single strike, however, seeing what that man had just done, all of his doubts disappeared and determination appeared instead.


    ''Maybe this training won''t be as useless as I thought,'' said Aiden to himself as he nced at the boulder that was still in front of him, waiting to be cut.


    "Did you see that kids," said the old man, as he slowly put back his massive sword into his inventory.


    Aiden and Isolde nodded with shocked faces as the two of them didn''t grasp how such a thing had been possible.


    It gave motivation to Aiden, to break that boulder no matter what.


    It had been a long time since he had felt such pure motivation which wasn''t because he wanted more strength likest month.


    "Do any one of you have an idea on how I did it?" questioned the old man.


    Aiden, hearing that question, didn''t respond right away as he was currently thinking about an answer.


    However, no matter how much he was thinking about it, he had no idea.


    The only clue that he had was that his strike hadn''t been rted to strength, but technique and mastery of his weapon.


    That was the only thing that he knew about this whole thing.


    "Cat''s got your tongue, huh?" said the old man, as he sat back down in a meditative pose, closing his eyes.


    "Wake me up, when you have an idea on how I cut it," said the old man, as he stayed still with a steady breathing.


    It seemed that he really had fallen asleep.


    "Any ideas?" asked Isolde as she knew that Aiden was a lot more experimented with such weapons.


    "Um, no. I don''t, let me think," muttered Aiden, as he sat down not even attempting to strike down the boulder.


    It seemed that Aiden''s strategy was to remember every single about that incredible strike.


    He reyed it again and again in his mind with his eyes closed.


    The only sound in the training grounds was Isolde who was trying again and again to cut this boulder in two.


    *CLING*


    *CLING*


    *CLING*


    However, no matter how much she tried, she couldn''t even see a simple dent in that boulder, it seemed that all of her efforts were for nothing.


    So, she decided that she would adopt the same strategy as Aiden which was to sit down and think about what that old man had just shown the two of them.


    Would that help her?


    Probably not since she had almost no knowledge regarding weapons and shing stuff in general.


    But, who knows maybe she would make a breakthrough by doing that.


    However, she had to admit that she was currently betting on Aiden to show her how to finish this first challenge which seemed impossible at the moment.

 Chapter 224 224 - Aura?

    ?


    After an hour or two, honestly, Aiden wasn''t sure about how much time he had spent with his eyes closed.


    But, he had finally opened them again and he had an idea in mind.


    He wasn''t sure if it would work or not, but he wouldn''t lose anything by trying it.


    ''Should I ask for his opinion about it?'' thought Aiden as he nced at the old man who still had his eyes closed and waspletely unmoving as if he were a statue.


    ''Can you even have such a state of concentration?'' thought Aiden, as he didn''t understand how that old man wasn''t moving when sleeping, he had to admit that it was extremely impressive from his point of view.


    Then, as Aiden slowly stood up and ced himself in front of the boulder. Isolde who was also sitting right beside him with her eyes closed felt someone moving close to her which is why she opened them again.


    ''Did he figure out something?'' she thought as she observed Aiden having his dagger in his hands, preparing for a strike that mightpletely cut this boulder in two.


    While all of this was happening, the old man who appeared to be sleeping, slowly opened his eyes discreetly observing Aiden''s next movements.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    ''Let''s see if he figured something out that fast,'' thought the man, as he didn''t believe for a minute that he had found how to cut that boulder.


    The old man had made it obvious that you didn''t require strength to do so, but that wasn''t the end of the trick, there was something else other than technique and he doubted that the Reaper had figured it out.


    Then, he saw that the weapon that he was using was a dagger and realized that the Reaper would have even more difficulty than Isolde since his weapon was so small.


    ''Alright, let''s see if I was actually right about this whole thing,'' thought Aiden, as he started to concentrate both his Mana and his Qi toward the dagger in his hands.


    Aiden wasn''t sure if he was right but he had seen some vibrations from the broadsword that the old man had used and he had tried to think about how he had caused those vibrations and only a single thought came to his mind.


    It was a simple one too, he had added energy, probably mana in this case to empower his weapon.


    Aiden didn''t think that this old man had ess to Qi, but he couldn''t be sure.


    Then, as Aiden felt that both Mana and Qi had reached his dagger, he started to try and solidify this energy at the end of it.


    Aiden was currently trying to form some sort of aura at the end of his weapon.


    However, he wasn''t sure if he would be able to.


    He was looking at his dagger and he started to see that both of the gray and blue energy were starting to dissipate as if it was never there before.


    Then, after a few seconds of constant struggle, the energypletely vanished as if it was never there in the first ce.


    The old man which had been faking his sleep, slowly but surely made it known that he had now woken up as he coughed a little.


    *Um*


    *Um*


    Aiden hearing that cough had no choice but to look in that direction wondering what was happening to that old man.


    Was he dying?


    He needed to know.


    However, it wasn''t anything like he had expected.


    "Young man, what you just did was..." he said as he took a small break. "Incredible!"


    ''Incredible?'' thought Aiden, confused.


    He had just failed what was so incredible about what he had just done.


    Why congratte him when he failed to do something, Aiden simply couldn''t understand.


    Shouldn''t he be punished instead or shouldn''t he feel bad about it?


    After all, that was how it was in the past, whenever he would fail at something, he would get beaten up until he couldn''t walk anymore or something like that.


    So, why was this man happy?


    "What do you mean incredible? I failed, I didn''t even get close to seeding,"mented Aiden, as he made known that he was angry to have failed.


    The old man could only chuckle hearing all that negative emotioning out of Aiden, as this was nothing to be ashamed of at all.


    In fact, it was a great achievement.


    The Reaper had figured out the way to reach the next challenge, which was to create a weapon''s aura.


    "What do you mean? You don''t think what you just did was incredible, you don''t feel proud about what you just did?" said the man, bing extremely excited about this whole thing.


    "I told you, I failed. So, why would I be happy about failing to do something?" asked Aiden, as he simply couldn''t understand that mindset.


    Why celebrate when you couldn''t do something, it simply made no sense.


    Even Isolde who was listening to Aiden''s mindset started to understand how that man who came from a middle-level family reached this ce.


    He was dedicated, so dedicated that she wasn''t even close to him in that department.


    There was a reason why he had won the Inter Family Tournament, after all.


    "Young man, why are you so pessimistic? You just figured out the way to seed and go on to the next trial. Why are you trying to go so fast? Calm down for a second," said the man, not understanding the reaction that wasing from the Reaper.


    Aiden hearing all this, didn''t even care about what that man was trying to say as he simply thought that he was trying tofort him and Aiden didn''t need that stuff at all.


    "Whatever, just leave me alone," said Aiden, as he looked at the dagger in his hand trying what he had just done once again.


    Now, that he knew that this was the right strategy to cut this boulder, he wouldn''t stop until he would be able to make an aura.


    That was his goal, now and nothing could change that.


    He would practice for such a long time that he would never fail to make one again.


    However, while he had be determined Isolde was the one that was starting to be pessimistic as she didn''t know how to make an aura or anything like that.


    Also, looking at Aiden''s state, she was debating whether or not to ask him for help since he didn''t seem to be in the best of conditions.


    However, at the end of the day, if she wanted to get further in this training which was supposed to be solely for her, she needed his help.


    So, she found all the courage that she could muster and approached Aiden as she said, "Can you exin to me what you''re doing?"


    Aiden who was currently frustrated by this whole thing dismissed this rage as he heard the voice of Isolde turning toward her wondering what she was currently asking.


    "An aura, that''s what I''m doing," he replied, still notpletely void of his frustration.


    Still, he was making some efforts to sound as nice as he could, but it wasn''t easy.


    "Um, sorry, I didn''t mean to say it like that. Basically, all you need to do is condense your mana into your de," exined Aiden, not revealing that he was mixing both Qi and Mana while doing so.


    He wasn''t the type to reveal all of his secrets, after all.


    Isolde who heard that, was still confused. How could someone condense mana? How did that work?


    "And how do you condense mana?" she asked afterwards since that was the question on her mind.


    However, the answer from Aiden didn''t help her one bit.


    "Well, look at me, does it look like I know how to condense mana? I can''t do an aura," said Aiden as he honestly found her question incredibly stupid.


    Why would she ask for him to show her or something like that, when even he couldn''t do it?


    It simply made no sense, however, Aiden didn''t make a big deal out of it.


    "Well, thank you either way. I''ll try to figure it out," said Isolde who didn''t seem to be in the greatest of moods.


    ''Why do I even have to do this? Why do I need to create an aura? I know I''mcking in terms of close fights, but do I really need to reach that level of fighting with close-range weapons?''


    ''Hell, even Aiden who uses a dagger doesn''t know how, what sort of training even is this?'' thought Isolde, frustrated.


    She thought that she would be working more on her skills as an Enchantress and here she was trying to cut one big boulder.


    "Alright, tell me if you figure out anything," said Aiden as he noticed that Isolde was going back to her spot.


    He had already calmed down and was now trying to create an aura but it seemed that he still wasn''t quite there yet.

 Chapter 225 225 - Dagger Mastery Lvl.4

    <h4>Chapter 225 Chapter 225 - Dagger Mastery Lvl.4</h4>


    It had been two days, and Aiden was still unable to form an aura around his weapon. No matter how he tried to do it, all of the energy he had mustered would simply disappear right in front of his very eyes.


    "You still aren''t able to do it?" asked Isolde, who sat right beside him.


    Aiden was extremely frustrated hearing that question, as he hadn''t stopped trying for a single moment.


    Not once had he taken a break for those two days, trying again and again.


    However, the thing that frustrated him the most was seeing Isolde, who had no experience with close-range weapons, seed in the first trial before him.


    ''How did she do it yesterday, when I can''t even begin to form that fucking aura?'' said Aiden to himself, insulting that aura, which was in the process of ruining his life at the moment.


    "Aiden?" she said, muttering his name once again.


    Hearing his name being pronounced, he dismissed those thoughts of him that were currently making him aggressive and turned to look at Isolde, who was sitting by his side.


    "No, I still can''t do it," he replied, curtly, not wanting to see that face, which would surely contain pity toward him.


    He didn''t need pity, especially from someone who had just beaten him at something that she wasn''t even good at.


    "Well, I know I already told you, but what helped me the most was the mindset in which I was. You need to have a calm mind to form it; the rest of the process is simply to concentrate that mana toward your weapon," said Isolde, trying to give him tips as she was feeling bad that he was still at the first challenge.


    If she had reached the second trial, then he should have been able to reach it too, especially since he was experimenting with the dagger.


    In fact, Isolde had never expected to achieve an aura before Aiden; she was really surprised when that happened.


    When she heard the adviceing from Isolde, it humiliated Aiden even more, as he had no choice but to think that he wasn''t as good as her in his domain of predilection.


    It was so humiliating that Aiden forced himself to change the subject as soon as he heard that.


    "What about you? How''s the second challenge?" asked Aiden, hoping that she could give him some information about it.


    But every time that he asked, he would always receive an evasive answer, as if there was a rule that restricted her from talking about it.


    That was probably the case, but Aiden could only guess.


    "You already know that I won''t talk about it, ahaha," said Isolde, as she giggled at the end.


    It seemed that Aiden was right once again and that his intuition had told him the right thing.


    "Then, if you can''t say anything, just leave me alone; I need to get back to it," said Aiden as he slowly stood up, having a little bit of difficulty doing so.


    Doing something without even a break for two days, even for an Awakened was hard, especially when it was rted to Mana and Qi which Aiden needed to wait for those energies to regenerate before attempting again.


    He didn''t exactly know how fast those two energies were regenerating, but it was quite fast since he felt that he could try again every five to ten minutes, depending on the amount of energy he had used for his attempt.


    Isolde, hearing what Aiden had just said, was somewhat angry. However, she knew the reason why he was talking with such an inappropriate tone, so she didn''tment on it.


    Not wanting to distract him any longer, the old man, who was still sitting with his eyes closed, slowly opened his eyes when he noticed that Isolde had left the training grounds to go toward the second challenge, which wasn''t too far from here.


    The reason he had opened his eyes was to observe what the Reaper was doing, as he was quite interested in his progression.


    Truth be told, he was extremely confused as to why he hadn''t been able to seed yet since the real challenge in the first challenge was to figure out that you needed to use aura, and creating one wasn''t that hard normally.


    However, it had been two days, and he hadn''t even seeded in doing it a single time; forget about being consistent.


    But every time that he was looking at him concentrating that mana around his dagger, he couldn''t help but feel that something was weird, as if he was using something that he shouldn''t.


    ''I just don''t know what it is, but something really feels wrong about this whole thing,'' thought the old man as he decided that he would finally help Aiden a little.


    He had seen the hard work that he had put in, so he decided that it was for the best if he were to help him a little; this was a training camp after all.


    "Young man,e here and show me what you''re doing," said the old man, not even standing and waiting for Aiden to get closer.


    Aiden, hearing that voice, was surprised since he would never hear it since that old man was always sleeping and not paying attention to anything. Well, from Aiden''s point of view.


    Still, at the start, Aiden hadn''t wanted any help since he wanted to reach an aura on his own, but he realized as time passed that he would need it.


    He hadn''t expected this aura thing to be soplicated; in fact, it had never even entered his mind.


    "Sure," responded Aiden as he slowly walked toward the old man.


    A few secondster, he arrived right beside him and didn''t waste any time as he startedbining both Qi and Mana into his aura, trying to make them solid.


    But it seemed that this whole thing was useless as it once again failed secondster.


    The old man who had been able to get a closer look had noticed that something had been weird, but he didn''tment on it; he simply asked for Aiden to try again.


    "Do it again, take your time."


    Then, Aiden, who could feel his reserves in both Mana and Qi started to be at the bottom of the barrel and pushed through, knowing that the old man probably wouldn''t wait on him for it to fill up.


    He saw that blue and gray energy mixed together just like it would always flow one with the other. However, it was always the same problem, whenever he would get close to seeding, everything would fall apart for no reason.


    ''Maybe I should just try with Mana, it would be easier either way,'' thought Aiden, as he started to feel impatient in reaching the second challenge. He didn''t want to be left behind by Isolde after all.


    He also needed that technique from Melinda at the end, even if it wasn''t essential to him.


    "What''s that?" said the old man, unsure of what he saw, asking Aiden what he had done.


    ''What''s what?'' thought Aiden, confused.


    "Aren''t you the expert? Why are you asking me the reason as to why I can''t do it?", said Aiden.


    The old man hearing this couldn''t refute him, as he simply stopped talking, seemingly thinking about what he had just seen.


    "Something is wrong with your Mana, it seems to be reacting strangely for unknown reasons," said the old man, as he couldn''t really give a more appropriate answer at the moment.


    He really was trying his hardest to help Aiden at the moment, it wasn''t his fault that the problem that Aiden was facing waspletely unknown to him.


    Nheless, hearing those words facilitated the task for Aiden, as he now knew where his problem had been this whole time.


    The reason he couldn''t form an aura wasn''t because he was talentless or anything like that.


    It was because of the use of Qi, that was the reason from the very beginning. N?v(el)B\\jnn


    "My mana is acting weird, huh?" mumbled Aiden as he started to move away from the old man with a smile on his face.


    He had finally figured out his problem, and honestly, he should have figured it out a lot faster.


    The old man, seeing Aiden slowly moving away from him with a smile, didn''t know what to say. He had only said a single sentence, and it wasn''t anything concrete, so what was happening?


    Then, as Aiden was now far away, right in front of his boulder, he waited five minutes so that he had enough mana to try again.


    After umting enough mana, he immediately started to guide it in the direction of his dagger, hoping that it would work this time.


    The Mana was slowly approaching the tip of his dagger, which was usually where everything would fall apart.


    However, this time it seemed that it was working, as the Mana didn''t disappear from the de of the dagger, simply enveloping it.


    Then the usual beeping sound resounded in his mind.


    *BEEP*


    [You have levelled up one of your skills.]


    [Your Dagger Mastery is now Lvl.4]


    Aiden, reading this, was obviously surprised, as he had forgotten that the skills he had could actually get stronger.


    He had forgotten since it had never happened to him, and basically, no one had talked about it before.


    Then, as he was about to open his system to look at the changes, he started hearing pping from the old man behind him, seemingly congratting him.

 Chapter 226 226 - Completing the First Challenge

    <h4>Chapter 226 Chapter 226 - Completing the First Challenge</h4>


    *CLAP*


    *CLAP*


    *CLAP*


    "Congrats young man!" shouted the old man as he slowly but surely got closer to Aiden.


    Then as the old man was getting closer it seemed that his mind was somewhere else entirely as he gave Aiden quite a weird look.


    Sure, he had congratted him, but it was still weird.


    What changed?


    The Reaper hadn''t been able to do it for multiple and multiple days, and after some words from that old man, everything had been fixed.


    It was weird, really weird, however, no matter how much the old man thought about it, he had no idea how that was even possible in the first ce.


    Hearing the congrats from the old man, Aiden was somewhat happy since it felt good to have seeded in creating an aura, especially after all this time.


    "Thank you," responded Aiden, without showing much emotion, keeping them inside him.


    "It''s no problem, it''s no problem, but what changed between the attempts before and now?" asked the old man as he simply couldn''t get rid of that question, it was implemented into his mind. n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    Aiden hearing this decided that he would simply be lying to him since he didn''t want to reveal that he failed because he was trying to mix two energies together.


    Still, thinking about that subject, Aiden had no choice but to imagine a situation where he had been able to mix those two energies together.


    He couldn''t imagine what the result would be if he mixed both Qi and Mana together, what would happen?


    Would he get a simr result?


    Aiden didn''t know if he would, but he had no doubt that the aura that he would be creating bybining those two energies would be much stronger.


    "Nothing, nothing changed. I just had an idea and it seemed that I was right," replied Aiden, lying without much difficulty.


    "Hm, an idea, huh?" muttered the old man, unsure about how much truth that answer held.


    It seemed like the answer that the Reaper had just given wasn''tpletely a lie and notpletely the truth, it was a mix of the two.


    Then, as the old man said that he returned back to his sitting position, this time, with his eyes open, waiting for the Reaper to sh that rock wide open.


    Because Aiden still hadn''tpleted the first challenge, he had only seeded in making an aura. Now, all that was left was to sh that rock in two with a single strike.


    Simple, right?


    ''Alright, you fucking rocke here,'' thought Aiden as he got closer and closer to that rock, preparing himself.


    Then, a blue light started being emitted by the dagger, it seemed that this was the result of the mana which was being used when creating the aura.


    If Aiden were to use Qi with the Mana, the colour would probably be different, still, there was no way to prove this as Qi was extremely rare.


    Having the aura on the de of the dagger, Aiden smiled underneath his mask as he knew that this rock would be cut as if it were literal butter.


    He, then, started moving his dagger downwards without an ounce of strength, letting the aura do all of the work.


    The rock slowly started getting cut without any resistance it seemed that the aura, Aiden had created was working perfectly without any problems, not that there should be problems.


    After a few seconds, Aiden had now cut the entire boulder in two with a single strike.


    He had finally done it after days of endless training.


    Right after cutting it in two, Aiden barely nced at it as he immediately turned to face the old man.


    "So, where''s the next challenge old man?" said Aiden.


    Hearing the Reaper call him old, hurt him a little as he couldn''t help but correct him.


    "Old man? Use my name instead of insulting me like this, Dan," replied the old man, not even answering Aiden''s question.


    Aiden was a little frustrated with that, but he was happy to finally learn the name of that sleepy person who was surely extremely strong.


    There was no way that he was weak after all, he could only be strong there was no doubt in Aiden''s mind about that part.


    Seeing the re that Aiden was giving him, Dan realized that he needed to answer his question and guide him to where Isolde was currently.


    "Right! The second challenge, follow me," said Dan, as he slowly stood up and started going toward the exit of the training course.


    Aiden was already quite impatient in knowing where he would go, but he had no other choice than to follow Dan, the old man.


    He didn''t know if the second challenge was close or far away, but he knew one thing. He was on schedule.


    Sure, it had taken him a long time to finally create an aura for his weapon, but it really wasn''t that bad since it had only taken him two days and he basically had the whole month left.


    It was quite clear that Aiden wasn''t in a rush toplete the next challenges, but he would still do so since he wanted to reach Melinda, to learn her technique.


    That was the reason why he had joined this training in the first ce after all.


    After a few minutes of walking around aimlessly only following Dan, it seemed that they were reaching the next destination since Aiden could already hear a voice which closely resembled Isolde''s, but that wasn''t the only voice that could be heard at the moment as there was another feminine voice.


    "What are you doing? Where are you even looking at?" said the unknown feminine voice.


    ''I wonder what sort of challenge it would be this time,'' thought Aiden as he couldn''t help but imagine challenges in his head with what he had just heard.


    Was it something rted to someone''s vision, like spotting stuff?


    Aiden couldn''t confirm any of his ideas before actually getting there, so he dismissed those useless thoughts as he observed the environment of the second challenge and he had to say that it was a weird one.


    It seemed that they were in some sort of forest which was right in the backward of the Emberbane Estate, well... it was in their backward because of how big it is.


    But, in reality, it really wasn''t that close if we''re being honest.


    The other thing was that inside the forest everything was extremely dark as Aiden was currently having some difficulties seeing Dan''s figure which wasn''t too far away from him at the moment.


    And the weirdest part about all this was that Aiden should have extremely good vision in the dark because of his past training.


    ''Maybe my vision skills weren''t transferred to this world?'' thought Aiden as he literally had no other ideas of what it could be.


    He had trained like a madman in his past life to be able to see everything, so it really was weird that it could only see a couple of steps in front of him.


    Then, as he kept following Dan, the voice of that unknown person kept getting louder and louder, it seemed that they were now quite close to Isolde''s spot.


    "Are you blind?" continued shouting the feminine voice.


    After hearing that, Aiden was now pretty much convinced that this trial was rted to vision, and like seeing in the dark, stuff like that.


    Why else would she be talking so much about being blind or not being able to see something, that was the only option and to be honest, Aiden didn''t mind it since it would once again help him in the future if he needed to infiltrate somewhere really dark.


    Either way, all skills are useful even the most absurd ones.


    Then, as Aiden kept walking behind Dan, the old manpletely stopped walking forward, turning toward Aiden getting his face close to one of Aiden''s ears.


    "Be careful of that crazy person, you''ll see that she''s the type to shout... a lot," whispered Dan, seemingly speaking from experience.


    ''Well, I already noticed that,'' thought Aiden, as he had heard her screaming from the entrance of that dark forest.


    "You''ll see that I''m much better, well a lot more rxing at least," said the old man as it seemed that he didn''t have the greatest rtionship with whoever was the owner of that voice.


    Seeing that Aiden wasn''t answering, Dan once again turned around and he kept walking in the direction of that feminine voice. Although, a bit slower than before it seemed that he didn''t want to see the owner of that voice.


    Then, as the shouts of that person were getting even louder than before, they suddenly stopped.


    ''Did something happen?'' thought Aiden as it was the first time that there was absolutely no noise inside the forest.


    "Boo!"


    Aiden jumped back as he hadn''t expected someone''s face to appear right beside his.

 Chapter 227 227 - Second Challenge

    <h4>Chapter 227 Chapter 227 - Second Challenge</h4>


    He hadn''t heard nor seen anything, but that woman had been able to creep up on him without any problem.


    ''How did she appear right beside me?'' thought Aiden, as he couldn''t understand how that was even possible in the first ce.


    He thought that he had good skills of observation spending years as an assassin in his past life, but it seemed that they were incredibly inferior to the woman who had appeared right beside him without the slightest noise.


    "Evelynn why are you trying to scare him?" said Dan, clearly annoyed by that action.


    He had wanted to leave Aiden before that woman saw him, he hadn''t wanted to see her at all as he knew that she had quite a strange personality.


    "Dan, you''re here too? Not hiding from me anymore, huh?" said Evelynn, the white-haired girl who had just appeared right beside Aiden.


    Because of how dark it was right now, Aiden could only faintly see the colour of her hair which was white, followed by the colour of her eyes which were truly of a strange colour.


    Her eyes were of the colour red.


    Honestly, only seeing her hair and her eyes, Aiden''s guess was quite simple, Evelynn was a vampire. There was no doubt in his mind, as he didn''t know of any human with red eyes.


    However, before he could say anything, he simply listened to the conversation which was happening right in front of him.


    Their conversation seemed to be quite an interesting one as Aiden couldn''t help but wonder what sort of rtionship the two people in front of him had.


    "Me? Hide from you? Eve, did you lose your mind, ahaha," uttered Dan, seemingly insulted by what the white-haired girl had just said.


    Nheless, Eve''s answer was calm as it seemed that she didn''t want to enter that little game that was currently being orchestrated by Dan who was clearly determined on wanting to rile her up.


    "Whatever, did the two of them already seed in your challenge?" asked Eve with a tone that contained a little bit of disdain.


    She seemed to be thinking that Dan''s challenge had been extremely easy since both Isolde and the Reaper had already aplished it.


    She couldn''t know that Aiden had figured out the trial in less than a day, after all. How could she know that it was because of Aiden that Isolde hadpleted the challenge so fast?


    In fact, she thought that the Reaper was somewhatcking since he was supposed to be the best of the best, winning the Inter Family Tournament.


    She didn''t understand why he hadn''t been the first to reach her.


    Well, those were all thoughts that she simply pushed in the back of her mind, because the Reaper had finally appeared in front of her and she would make sure that this time he would at least spend a week with her here.


    Her challenge wasn''t as easy as Dan''s one, that''s for sure.


    "Are you stupid? Why would I be bringing him here if that wasn''t the case," responded Dan with his usual insults when talking to her.


    Aiden had to admit that it was quite weird seeing the old man who had been so calm earlier acting in such a weird way.


    Why was he behaving so weirdly?


    "And be careful of that one, don''t show him too much or he might figure out the whole thing," warned Dan as he pointed toward Aiden.


    Even if he hadn''t shown it in the past, he still remembered that Aiden had ruined his challenge by figuring out everything regarding the aura on the first day.


    Dan had regretted showing them how to cut the boulder in two, he would have liked seeing them struggle even more, but that was now clearly impossible.


    Eve didn''t seem to take this advice to the heart as she faintly replied, "Sure, now leave I don''t want to see your face, you oldie."


    Right after saying that, she grabbed Aiden by his shoulders and lifted him off the ground, basically dragging him to where Isolde was currently.


    While getting transported Aiden noticed that Eve or whatever she was called had no difficulty at all lifting him up from the ground as if he was nothing more than a simple object that she could carry around everywhere without the slightest problem.


    He had to admit that it was a weird feeling as it felt as if he was simply a child.


    Then, after a few seconds, Aiden fell onto the ground that was right under him, face first.


    ''Why the fuck did she do that?'' said Aiden to himself as he was currently eating dirt because of hisnding.


    Then, as he made a big sound because of his crash, Isolde who wasn''t too far away from him said out loud, "Are you the Reaper?".


    She seemed scared when she said that as if she couldn''t see anything around her.


    Aiden slowly lifting his face from the ground was able to get a quick nce at the state of Isolde and he had to admit that she was in worse shape than him.


    It seemed that she couldn''t even see in front of her at all, simply looking aimlessly around her at the slightest noise that she could hear.


    Aiden could at least see a couple of steps in front of him, but it seemed that it wasn''t the case for Isolde who was truly lost.


    "Yeah, it''s me," muttered Aiden, standing up and going toward the blind Isolde who had reacted to his voice by turning her head toward him.


    But then as he was about to reach her, Aiden felt something behind him pulling him away.


    "That was a nice reunion and all, but we don''t have time to lose with that stuff," said Eve, who was currently pulling Aiden away from Isolde.


    It seemed that she didn''t want the two of them to have any sort of physical contact.


    "Now, that he''s here, I''ll exin the second challenge once again. Isolde you should listen since I don''t think you quite got it the first time."


    It was clear that Evelynn didn''t quite like Isolde from the way she was talking, it seemed that she was happy to have some fresh blood for her challenge because if it continued the way it was currently going then no one would be able to do it.


    "Sorry, madam," muttered Isolde, hearing that.


    ''Madam? What''s happening here?'' thought Aiden, as he couldn''t understand why Isolde would be using such weird words when talking. n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    It didn''t make that much sense in Aiden''s mind.


    Did Eve make her some sort of ve or some obedient person in a single day?


    As Aiden was thinking of all those things he had no choice but to dismiss them as Evelynn was about to exin the rest of the challenge.


    "As you might have noticed, we are in a dark ce, an extremely dark one which is under an enchantment which has quite a special effect. It makes us unable to see in front of us, well for those that aren''t used to it or for those who haven''t developed the skill which everyone here will need to reach the next challenge," exined Eve quickly.


    ''The skill? Shouldn''t it be a technique?'' thought Aiden as he kept his mouth shut, simply listening to whatever the two people in front of him were currently saying.


    "Since the two of you can''t see anything right now, I''ll exin the task that the two of you will have to face," continued Eve.


    However, the words which she had just pronounced confused Aiden greatly since he could see a little bit in front of him, he wasn''tpletely blind at the moment which was why he had been able to see her white hair and red eyes which pierced the dark.


    "In front of you, a couple of meters away, there is a giant parkour. I think both of you can already guess where I''m going with this," said Eve, waiting for Aiden to answer since Isolde already knew about it.


    However, all she got in response wasplete silence, so she decided that she would be the one providing the answer.


    "Indeed, you guessed right, you''ll need to reach the other side of the parkour without seeing anything. Isn''t it great?" she asked at the end sarcastically, knowing that it clearly wasn''t great at all and that the two of them would be suffering which was why she was so excited in the first ce.


    ''Um, interesting,'' thought Aiden, as he walked a couple of steps forward wanting to see the start of this parkour since Eve had just said that it was a couple of meters in front of them.


    But, as he continued to walk forward, he noticed that there was absolutely nothing in front of them. It seemed that either she had lied to the two of them about the parkour or Aiden had walked right passed it.

 Chapter 228 228 - Lies

    <h4>Chapter 228 Chapter 228 - Lies</h4>


    ''Where''s that parkour?'' thought Aiden as he looked around.


    Sure, his vision was limited, but he should be able to at least see the start of the parkour.


    However, no matter how much time he spent looking around he couldn''t see anything. He was extremely confused because of that.


    "Where are you going little Reaper?" asked Evelynn as she was now on his right, softly saying it to his ear.


    Once again, Aiden was extremely surprised by that appearance because he hadn''t seen or felt anything, it was as if that white-haired girl was a ghost.


    She was able to move everywhere without a single person even noticing it, well both Isolde and Aiden weren''t able to at least.


    Dan seemed to be able to.


    This meant one thing, and it was that Aiden''s senses weren''t developed enough. If she could move as she wanted without him even knowing about it, then it was a big problem, especially for an assassin like him who depends on his senses.


    "I''m searching for the parkour," replied Aiden as he gained control of his emotions once again.


    He didn''t want to sound surprised nor scared which was why there was a little dy with his answer.


    However, the answer which came from Evelynn surprised him even more.


    "Well, I''ll give you a hint, but you aren''t going the right way," she said as she got closer to his ear, slowly saying it.


    ''Why is she trying to scare us this badly?'' thought Aiden as he remembered hearing her scream earlier, so why was she acting so differently right now, it simply made no sense.


    However, hearing that he wasn''t the right way, Aiden slowly turned around to do a three-sixty and as he was doing so he made sure to be as clumsy as possible since he didn''t want Evelynn to know that he could see a little.


    After all, he didn''t know if she would try to make things harder for him if she knew.


    Then, as he finally turned around, he walked back to where he had been earlier and that''s when he saw Isolde''s feet once again, it seemed that they were really close by.


    "Isolde," whispered Aiden, as he slowly got closer to her.


    Then, Aiden tried to grab her shoulder, trying to tell her that he was right beside her. He was once again pulled away from her by that white-haired bitch called Evelynn.


    "I forgot to mention, but you guys can''t help one another or there will be consequences," said Evelynn, menacingly as her voice slowly started to get further and further away from where Aiden was currently.


    Hearing this the two of them quickly moved their heads up and down in understanding as they realized that they had just broken rules that they hadn''t even known of.


    Well, then maybe it wasn''t a rule to begin with, maybe she had just created it on the spot, but at the end of the day, none of that really mattered.


    After being pulled away from Isolde, Aiden was somewhat concerned about his position as he didn''t remember which way he had gone towards earlier, nheless, he knew that he was in a much better situation than Isolde who simply couldn''t see anything. She was basically walking.


    To be honest, Aiden remembered losing his sense of sight in the trial for the VIP Entries for the Auction House and he remembered how lost he had felt, not knowing where he was going at all.


    It really was a weird feeling after all.


    He had to admit that he didn''t know how they were supposed to beat this challenge if they couldn''t see anything.


    Right now, Aiden was able to see which made it possible for him to beat this challenge, but he knew that this wasn''t the normal way of doing things.


    There had to be something which he ignored that would be able to help him in this scenario, there just had to.


    So, instead of trying to reach the parkour, Aiden decided to use a simr strategy to earlier, sitting down and thinking of possible solutions.


    A few minutester after sitting down for the purpose of thinking, Aiden realized that this method wouldn''t work once again because of one yet simple detail.


    There had been no information on what he should do, all they had been told was to reach the end of a parkour which he didn''t know the emcement and if he were to ask Isolde for help, then he would have an unknown consequence which he preferred not knowing about to be honest.


    So, because of those reasons, he decided that sitting down and thinking really wasn''t the best strategy at all.


    What he needed to do was experiment.


    That was the conclusion that he had reached.


    If he wanted to find a way to beat this challenge, there was only one thing he could do, try and fail or try something and seed while doing so.


    Also, this time, failing wouldn''t be the same as the aura as he had no idea of what to do.


    So, there wouldn''t be the same type of reaction, if Aiden was to fail right now since he had absolutely no idea of what to do.


    ''Well, I guess what I need to do to experiment would be to find that parkour,'' thought Aiden, grateful that he could still barely see in this darkness that was enveloping his surroundings.


    Then, he started walking slowly, making sure that he wouldn''t get hurt by some random obstacles or some nt that woulde out of the ground.


    ***


    ''Finally!'' said Aiden to himself, happy to have found what seemed to be the start of the parkour as he could something which didn''t resemble grass or wood, so this could basically only be the parkour.


    Then, he slowly put a foot onto the concrete-looking material, but as he did so, he was pushed back with great force as if something was restricting ess to that concrete b.


    ''Just what''s happening?'' thought Aiden, as he slowly started to stand up once again,pletely lost.


    He had been pushed back by so much force that he wasn''t anywhere to where that concrete b was.


    But, thinking about it, it was probably a good thing since he probably would''ve gotten ejected once again.


    Then, as he was finally back on his own two feet he heard the voice of Evelynn which surprisingly came back after such a thing had happened.


    "Did you think that it was going to be that easy?" she asked, a bit surprised that Aiden had found the parkour this soon in the challenge as she had expected it to take at least a day since the two of them were blind.


    In fact, Isolde hadn''t been able to find it for thest few days which was why Evelynn had let her leave this forest in hopes that she would be helping the Reaper reach this ce faster since she was extremely disappointed in her.


    Evelynn had watched Isolde for the past day and honestly, there had been no progress, she was still as lost as before.


    On the other hand, the Reaper who was the winner of the Inter Family Tournament had seeded in finding the start of the parkour in not even a day.


    It was simply incredible the gap between the two of them.


    However, the time that Aiden had spent finding it and how he had found it, made Evelynn doubt whether or not he could see around himself.


    With only a quick look at him, that didn''t seem to be the case as he was always looking down, never putting his head up.


    However, as she had observed him from far away, she had noticed that every time there was a little rock or something that could potentially make him fall. He would simply raise his leg over it without a second thought.


    It seemed that he didn''t have all of his vision, but he had ess to it somewhat.


    So, that''s why Evelynn had decided to act when she saw that he had reached the parkour this soon into the challenge.


    It was she who had pushed him away by using the concrete b, it was some sort of punishment because of his cheating and it was now time to make the Reaper tell her about his secret.


    She would make sure to enjoy every single second of it.


    "Why didn''t you tell me that you could barely see?" she questioned seeing the dumbfounded AIden slowly standing up.


    Isolde who wasn''t too far away from them heard that as she questioned out loud, "Wait you can see?"


    It was clear that there were some hints of jealousy when Isolde said that, but it wasn''t like she could change something about it.


    "Wait, how did you do it?" continued Isolde as she simply couldn''t endure it.


    It had been hours and hours where she hadn''t been able to see anything butplete darkness, she needed someone to help her.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

 Chapter 229 229 - Hint

    <h4>Chapter 229 Chapter 229 - Hint</h4>


    ''How can I see?'' questioned Aiden to himself as he didn''t have any clear answer since he, himself, ignored how he was able to in the first ce.


    His best bet was because of his past life where he had trained his eyes in the dark to a crazy degree, but even then he couldn''t really reveal that information to Isolde as his past life was his most important secret.


    Instead of saying somethingpletely unrted or stupid, Aiden decided to say the truth.


    "No idea, I just can," he responded back out loud facing the direction where the voice of Isolde had resounded.


    This time, there had been no actions being taken from Evelynn as she simply stood still listening to that conversation.


    The reason why she hadn''t acted or restricted their conversation was extremely simple, she was also interested in the answers that Aiden would be giving.


    After all, that was what she was trying to figure out, why could he see when there was an enchantment which was currently restricting such a thing?


    Did he have past training?


    ''No, there''s no way he has some, Melinda told me that he came from the Slums, so there''s simply no way. But, then how...'' thought Evelynn, racking her mind, trying to find an answer to the anomaly that was the Reaper.


    In the first ce, she had been surprised to hear that someone from a middle-level family had won.


    Actually, surprised wasn''t the right word, she had beenpletely shocked by that information because in her mind it simply made no sense at all.


    "You have no idea why you can see, huh?" muttered Evelynn as she slowly approached Aiden who could obviously not see her at the moment since she was a little too far away.


    "I don''t," replied Aiden as he knew that he was actually telling the truth.


    Well, he had an idea but he wasn''t sure.


    "Then, I guess we have no choice but to make the enchantment a little stronger," eximed Evelynn as she realized that her challenge wasn''t hard enough.


    If Aiden were to find a way to seed in this challenge just as fast as he did in the first then it would be somewhat of a problem since he would have way too much time for the rest of the challenges.


    That''s why she needed to make sure that both Isolde and Aiden would be struggling this time.


    Then, after a couple of seconds, the usual beeping sound resounded in both Isolde''s and Aiden''s minds.


    BEEP


    However, even if Aiden wanted to see what the message that had just appeared was, he couldn''t.


    He was now truly blind, he was not able to see even a little bit in front of him.


    Nheless, Aiden still didn''t panic as he had already expected such a thing to happen earlier when he had heard Evelynn say that she was going to strengthen the enchantment.


    ''But is all this darkness really artificial?'' thought Aiden as he couldn''t imagine how such a thing was even possible.


    Could enchantments really affect the real world?


    Well, Aiden hadn''t been sure before, but seeing what was happening right now he had no choice but to acknowledge it.


    "Since the challenge is now a lot harder than before, I''ll give you a hint on how to gain your vision once again," eximed Evelynn, knowing that it wouldn''t be fair if she just left without saying anything.


    Before it would have been fine but with the increase in the difficulty she had no choice but to give them an idea of how to aplish this challenge.


    However, she would soon realize that it wasn''t a good idea to give a hint as Aiden probably wouldn''t have needed it in the first ce.


    ''I wonder what it would be?'' thought Aiden as he made sure to listen to every word that would being out of Evelynn''s mouth next.


    If this hint could make this challenge easier for him, then there was absolutely no reason but to listen to her.


    "I''ll give you the hint in a second, but before that, I will ept the two of you to help each other since the enchantment I just put up is quite frankly way too high of a level for the likes of you to break through. However, it wasn''t like I had a choice," she said as she looked at the now-blind Reaper who wasn''t moving a single muscle.


    This look that she was giving was simply because Aiden was the reason why she had to increase the difficulty.


    However, to bepletely honest, she didn''t mind it one bit. In fact, she found it a lot more intriguing to see how the two of them would work together to beat this enchantment and gain their sight back.


    "But, the increase isn''t necessarily a bad thing since the skill which you will develop if you beat this enchantment will be much stronger than the one which you would have gotten before," exined Evelynn, letting them know that this increase in difficulty wasn''t a bad thing at all and could be considered good.


    "But, enough about that, it''s time to talk about that hint," continued Evelynn, seemingly excited to reveal it. n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    ''Well, I won''t make it too easy or else it wouldn''t be fun,'' she thought as she was about to reveal.


    "The key to seeing once again isn''t in your eyes," she muttered, not saying anything else afterwards.


    Aiden who just heard that was somewhat confused as this hint didn''t make any sort of sense.


    ''How does this even make sense?'' he thought, unsure if he could trust this hint.


    However, he quickly dismissed those thoughts as he heard the feminine voice of Isolde which wasn''t too far away from him.


    "Where are you?" she shouted as loud as she could, making sure that Aiden would be able to hear it.


    "Just stay where you are, I''ming," responded Aiden as he started heading in the direction where Isolde''s voice had just resounded.

 Chapter 230 230 - Body

    <h4>Chapter 230 Chapter 230 - Body</h4>


    As Aiden was going in Isolde''s direction, he made sure to tell her that she needed to keep making noise if she wanted the two of them to actually find one another.


    "Isolde?" uttered Aiden, hearing Isolde''s voice a couple of meters away from him.


    Without wasting any more time, Aiden felt the touch of a hand and without much surprise, it was Isolde''s hand.


    "Finally I have someone to talk to," she muttered, clearly not in a great state.


    It seemed that the act that she had been putting on when visiting Aiden where Dan was had been all but an act as she was in clear distress over this whole thing.


    However, wanting tofort her, Aiden tried his best to sound as sincere as possible as he mustered, "It''s the same for me really."


    ''Is it really though?'' thought Isolde as she felt absolutely no emotions from that answer, nheless she didn''tment on it as she was happy to have Aiden right beside her once again.


    Maybe he would be able to actually figure out this whole thing.


    "Did you figure out what she meant by that, at the end," questioned Isolde as she had absolutely no idea of what it could remotely mean.


    However, it seemed that being able to talk to Aiden once again would truly help greatly.


    "I did, actually," started Aiden, feeling the joy from Isolde''s touch.


    She had held tightly on his arm when he had said that, so he knew the emotions that she was currently feeling. Well, he could guess pretty well.


    "What is it?" she questioned immediately, realizing that Aiden wasn''t saying anything about what he had figured out.


    "Well, it''s nothing much really. She said that the key to seeing once again isn''t in our eyes, so isn''t obvious where it would be?" asked back Aiden, truly expecting Isolde to figure it out.


    However, when all he got in response he realized that she didn''t have any idea of what he could do.


    "No, it isn''t," replied Isolde who was still in the dark as Aiden had literally repeated what Evelynn had said before leaving.


    Why did he expect her to figure it out without any help?


    She wasn''t some magic being that could read minds.


    ''Well, I guess she isn''t as smart as I thought,'' said Aiden to himself, as he had expected her to figure it out right away.


    It wasn''tplicated at all, after all.


    "Well, I guess I''ll tell you. It''s simple, if the key isn''t our eyes, then it''s the rest of our body," announced Aiden as if it was nothing more than a simple fact.


    Isolde hearing this stayed silent at the start, trying toprehend what Aiden had just said.


    Then, a few secondster, it seemed that she had grasped this whole thing as she responded, "Hm, it actually makes sense, I don''t know why I didn''t think of that before."


    However, the more she thought about what Aiden had just said, the more she seemed to be realizing something.


    ''Isn''t that hint extremely vague? Shouldn''t it be a little bit more precise?'' she thought, unsure if it was all there was to that hint.


    However, no matter how hard she thought about it, she simply couldn''t figure out anything, She would just have to let Aiden figure out this whole thing.


    It would make things simpler for her after all.


    Nheless, she would still try to help him as much as she could, she didn''t want to depend on him that much after all.


    "Alright, so what do you propose we do first?" asked Isolde, waiting for Aiden''s guidance.


    She knew how well his guidance had worked in thest challenge, so she hoped that it would be the same thing once again.


    "Let me think for a bit, I need to actually think things through," answered Aiden, as he decided to walk away from Isolde for a bit as he didn''t want to feel that constant sensation on his arm as he was making him distracted from his real goal.


    If he was right, then he would need his whole concentration to figure this whole thing out and the one thing that he didn''t need was Isolde''s voice always disturbing him which would simply be extremely unhelpful.


    Then, as he waspletely alone without the slightest exterior sensation, he started to concentrate on his own being.


    Feeling everything there was to feel about him, from the feet all the way to his head.


    He started feeling his heartbeat which was beating at the same pace again and again. Then, it was his breathing, he felt every single muscle of his chest moving up and down without rest.


    After that he started feeling his every thought, he felt everything that was happening right into his very brain.


    But, that wasn''t the end of it, as Aiden sat down in a meditative position. He wanted to see what was happening to him inside his body.


    What was happening to those chains which were hiding so many secrets, what was happening to his mana or his qi?


    He needed to know all of those things as he felt that this was the key to this challenge, actually learning about every single fibre of one''s body.


    Aiden felt that something else would be awakening from within him when he learned those things, he was sure of it.


    That''s why he dismissed those useless thoughts as he dived right inside his body, more precisely toward his heart where the chains were closely located.


    Then, as he approached that space where he knew that a lot of unknown things were being restricted, he started hearing various sounds which didn''t seem to make any sense. n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    It seemed to be chains hitting one against the other.


    ''What''s happening here?'' thought Aiden as he started elerating, wondering what was happening to those chains of his which were clearly there to restrict.


    The more he thought about it, maybe those chains had been the ones restricting the old Aiden this entire time.

 Chapter 231 231 - Chains

    <h4>Chapter 231 Chapter 231 - Chains</h4>


    ''Where do they evene from?'' thought Aiden, realizing that he had never analyzed them all that much, simply thinking of them as a part of his body.


    He thought that they had appeared because of him.


    He thought that they had appeared because he was an anomaly.


    But, the more he thought about it, the more he realized that maybe he had beenpletely wrong from start to finish.


    ''What if someone from the Nightshade family had put a curse on the old Aiden was he nothing more than a toddler?'' thought Aiden, starting to think that this hypothesis was somewhat making a lot of sense. n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    It would actually exin a lot of things, for example, the old Aiden''sck of talent.


    However, it wasn''t like Aiden could actually prove any of those thoughts and that was especially true considering the situation that he was currently in.


    That was about it.


    This whole thing was simply an idea that he had that he would once again not be able to prove.


    It was starting to get really annoying, never obtaining answers no matter how much he tried.


    First, there had been that mercenary, but he hadn''te. Then, there was Melinda who seemed to have some answers for him, however, she didn''t seem too keen on revealing them.


    And now... well there was something else that Aiden needed to figure out about the old Aiden.


    What had happened to him in the Nightshade Family?


    What had made them banish him?


    Well, he knew that it was because of how talentless he was, he had seen that in the old Aiden''s memories.


    But... was that really all there was to it?


    What if there was something else which Aiden ignoredpletely?


    ''What if, those are all what ifs. I need actual answers,'' thought Aiden, frustrateding out of the focused state which he had just been into.


    It seemed that those thoughts were a lot more important than the trial that he was currently a part of.


    His past was, after all, a lot more important than some gain toward his strength.


    Nheless, Aiden realized that it didn''t matter the amount that he would spend thinking about those chains and the reason for them being there, he would never be able to figure it out on his own.


    However, he knew one person who might know something about them and that person was without much surprise Melinda.


    Aiden knew that she had a lot of information about a lot of things, so he could hope that she would actually answer some of his questions.


    As he thought of that, Aiden suddenly got a great idea.


    ''What if instead of learning that technique at the end, I actually bargained with her to obtain some answers,'' thought Aiden, knowing that it would be a lot more useful considering that he had already acquired a skill that would help him keep his hidden identity.


    ''Well, I''ll just do that after beating those stupid challenges,'' thought Aiden, as he had now more determination than ever to reach Melinda who was patiently waiting for the two of them.


    In fact, Melinda was currently watching both Isolde and Aiden as she was obviously interested in their growth. That was why she had organized such aplex training.


    She wouldn''t have done such a thing if she didn''t care after all.


    Nheless, she had to admit that she had put in a little more effort because of Aiden''s participation.


    ''I wonder if they''ll actually have the time to reach the fifth challenge?'' thought Melinda knowing that the current challenge and the next ones would be taking a lot of time for sure.


    While Melinda was thinking of all those things, Aiden was back to his focused state from earlier as he once again started feeling every single detail of his body.


    However, he didn''t spend that much time analyzing them as he needed to go back to those damn chains which were within him.


    He needed to feel them just as much as the rest of his body after all.


    Then, as he arrived in front of those chains. Well, in his mind.


    He once again started hearing the constant clinging noise of those chains resisting against all sorts of attacks that wereing from withing.


    It seemed that whatever that was contained behind those chains was in the process of trying to get out.


    However, no matter how much they tried those chains wouldn''t budge staying extremely solid, not letting a single thing pass.


    There was no way that those things of all sorts of colours would go and help Aiden, it seemed.


    ''But, it''s not like I need those things,'' thought Aiden, as he opened his eyes once again, not caring about whatever that was happening his inside his body.


    He had taken enough to analyze this whole thing and he was starting to get tired of thinking of those chains which is why he slowly stood up getting out of that seated position, slowly standing up.


    But, even while standing up, Aiden''s concentration was at its peak making sure to feel every single muscle moving.


    ''I wonder if what I''m doing will actually achieve something?'' thought Aiden, unsure if this whole thing was pointless or actually useful.


    After all, all of his actions were based on what he had figured out from Evelynn''s hint.


    ***


    ''How is this even possible?'' thought Evelynn, seeing Aiden''s standing shortly after being seated seemingly changed.


    It seemed that he had already reached a state of mind that would make many extremely jealous.


    If the enchantment had been as weak as earlier then Aiden would have already gained his sight back and he would have already learned about the skill that he would be earning in this scenario.


    However, it seemed that he still hadn''t reached the state that was needed for this new difficulty.


    ''Just who is that person? How did he figure out everything from that stupid hint that I gave?''


    ''Well, I guess he still needs a little push, but he''s almost there,'' continued thinking Evelynn, clearly impressed by this whole thing.

 Chapter 232 232 - Breaking Down

    <h4>Chapter 232 Chapter 232 - Breaking Down</h4>


    "Argh, why isn''t working?" questioned Aiden out loud as he opened his eyes once again, still in that darkness.


    He thought that he had figured it out and that when opening his eyes once again he would actually be able to see once again but it seemed that wasn''t the case at all.


    He had thought that he had been right all that time, but it seemed that everything he had just done had beenpletely useless.


    Well, not everything as he was happy to have figured out something about those chains.


    Aiden couldn''t be sure obviously, but he had an intense feeling that those chains were a curse that had been put on him when he had been a toddler.


    However, what he ignored the most was the reason.


    Why would anyone even try to do such a thing to a toddler, it simply made no sense at all.


    However, he had already spent enough thinking about those things which is why he dismissed those thoughts forter as he needed to figure out, how to gain his eyesight once again.


    But, before he could do that, it seemed that Isolde who was only a couple of steps away from him had heard what he said earlier.


    "What isn''t working?" she questioned, unsure of what was happening at the moment,


    When she heard his voice once again, she knew that it was time for her to learn about whatever he had figured out.


    But, when she heard about his answer, she had no choice but to be extremely disappointed as it seemed that whatever Aiden had just failed and badly at that.


    "Nothing''s working, that''s the problem, Isolde," answered back Aiden, harshly, clearly mad about this situation.


    He had tried acting nice with Isolde, however, enough was enough.


    Why was she always the one asking for help?


    Why was she the one who was never helping Aiden?


    Why did Aiden even need her in the first ce? n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    ''She doesn''t even help me one bit. The only reason that she reached the second challenge is because of me, why am I even helping her in the first ce?'' thought Aiden, unsure of the actual reasons.


    ''Is it because she''s beautiful?'' thought Aiden after some time.


    However, as he thought that, he disagreed with it as he wasn''t the type to be influenced by beauty.


    ''I guess I really was only trying to be nice to her,'' concluded Aiden, not understanding why he had even done that in the first ce.


    No one was nice to him and he had never had a problem, so why was he suddenly trying to be nice with others?


    It''s not like he needed them, they couldn''t even help with anything.


    They had no answers, no knowledge, nothing.


    So, why was he keeping them around?


    Aiden had no idea.


    He had no idea why he had used his wish at the end for Emma.


    The more he thought back on it, the more he insulted himself.


    ''Fucking hell, just how stupid am I?'' thought Aiden, realizing that he should have never done that in the first ce.


    Then, as he thought of all those things, he felt the touch of Isolde basically hugging him.


    "Are you okay?" she whispered into his ear, unsure why he was sounding so angry.


    ''Just what happened while he was silent,'' thought Isolde, understanding that something had clearly gone terribly wrong as Aiden had never spoken to her with such a tone.


    ''Am I okay... Am I okay? Is she fucking serious, why would I be okay?'' thought Aiden, feeling the anger from within him constantly rising.


    "Why would I even be okay?" answered back Aiden, with the same tone as earlier.


    "Calm down," continued Isolde in her attempt tofort Aiden.


    However, Aiden''s next response made her realize that whatever she tried wouldn''t change anything about whatever was happening to him right now,


    "Calm down? Don''t tell me to calm down. Why are you even speaking to me in the first ce? We don''t even know each other, stop trying to act all friendly with me. You don''t even know a single thing about me apart from my first name," exploded Aiden.


    Those words, "Calm down", had clearly broken him deeply and it seemed that Aiden just had to say everything that was on his chest at the moment.


    It seemed that the things which he had kept for himself ever since he had arrived here were starting to get too much for him to keep inside.


    "Y-you don''t know a single about me," said Aiden, as he started to tear up,pletely changing up from the anger.


    Hearing Aiden breaking down into her arm, Isolde had no idea how to actually react as this was quite a surprising change.


    He had gone from extremely angry to extremely fragile which had caused him to actually break down in her arms.


    Then, tears continued flowing down Aiden''s eyes, making what he was wearing wet because of the amount of tears.


    ''What''s happening to me? W-why am I crying?'' thought Aiden, unsure of what was happening.


    He wasn''t in a state where he was able to actually able to understand his emotions which was why he was having those thoughts.


    But, there was also something which caused those thoughts.


    Aiden had never cried, not once in his past life or in this life, well... until now it seemed.


    In fact, Aiden used to judge those who cried as he didn''t understand the need that those people had to do so.


    In his mind, all people who cried were simply in search of attention andfort from others.


    Never would he have imagined that he would be someone needing thatfort from others.


    "Everything will be fine," finally said Isolde as she patted Aiden''s head carefully, making sure that she wouldn''t hurt him even a little.


    Then, after she said that, Aiden simply dismissed all the thoughts in his mind as he simply broke down, crying.

 Chapter 233 233 - Parkour, Key?

    <h4>Chapter 233 Chapter 233 - Parkour, Key?</h4>


    ''Why do I keep going forward?'' thought Aiden as he could feel tears falling down his eyes onto his clothes.


    ''Why am I doing all of this... Was it strength?'' thought Aiden, as he could feel pats from Isolde.


    It seemed that Isolde was trying her hardest tofort him, but it would all depend on Aiden. It''s not like she could guess what was happening to him right now because just like he had said, she didn''t know anything about him except his first name.


    ''No, wait it wasn''t strength. Wait, when did I be obsessed with strength?'' thought Aiden, not sure why he had be so obsessed with getting stronger.


    It seemed that he was extremely confused at the moment, not remembering what had happened.


    After all, so much had passed, that it was impossible to remember everything.


    Then, as he tried his hardest to remember what had happened to him considering this interest in strength, he remembered when he had first arrived in this new world.


    He remembered when he had gotten the memories of the old Aiden.


    He remembered the faces of all those strong people, he remembered what they all had inmon, they all looked free.


    ''Free... That''s right, that''s what I wanted to achieve when arriving in this world,'' thought Aiden, still hugging Isolde as hard as he could.


    He didn''t know why he hadn''t let go yet, but it just felt good to be hugged at the moment and he didn''t want to let go for nothing in the world.


    It was the first time in his life where someone was trying tofort him and it was honestly quite a weird feeling.


    However, it wasn''t a feeling that he hated, in fact, it was theplete opposite.


    ''But, how can someone be free?'' thought Aiden.


    ''Strength, it alwayses back to that, strength. Why can''t I simply live my life without anyone trying to do anything to me?'' thought Aiden.


    He knew that the reason why he was in so much trouble in his new life was honestly quite simple, it was because of his background.


    If he hadn''t been part of that fucking Nightshade Family then everything would have been much simpler.


    He wouldn''t have to hide his face or his identity, he would be able to get so many benefits since he would be a lot more popr and a lot more outgoing. n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    So, why had he reincarnated in this new body?


    Couldn''t he have just died?


    Wouldn''t that have been simply better for him?


    ''If I had died, then at least I would''ve been at peace,'' thought Aiden, unsure if living this second life had been a good thing.


    If he had died then he wouldn''t have to do all those things to simply survive or keep himself outside of danger, he would simply be dead without a single thought inside his mind.


    However, thinking about what could have possibly happened wasn''t what Aiden wanted as he dismissed those thoughts, slowly lifting his face from Isolde''s shoulder or chest, to be honest, Aiden didn''t even care where he had put his head.


    The only thing that he was able to muster was honestly quite simple, it was two words.


    "Thank you."


    Isolde hearing this was quite confused as she wasn''t sure what had happened, but hearing the tone that Aiden was now using, she could confidently say that Aiden was back to normal.


    However, she was stillpletely ignorant of this whole matter.


    ''Why did he break down like that over a stupid challenge?'' thought Isolde as this was basically the only thing that she could be thinking of at the moment.


    She remembered the scene that he had made when failing to do a weapon''s aura, so it was only logical for her to think that the reason he had just cried was because of the trial, but she couldn''t be further from the truth.


    Realizing that she hadn''t said anything back, she quickly opened her mouth.


    "It was no problem really," uttered Isolde back as she didn''t know what she needed to say.


    However, those words didn''t even reach Aiden as he was thinking about something elsepletely entirely.


    ''Let''s figure out everything after I finish those five challenges,'' thought Aiden, knowing that he clearly wasn''t in a great state of mind.


    However, he also knew that it wasn''t the time to be fixing this whole thing, first, he would go meet Melinda and get those fucking answers.


    But, there would be one important change this time when meeting her again, Aiden wouldn''t take no for an answer.


    This time Melinda would have to answer him, she wouldn''t give her any other option.


    As long as he got those answers he would be ready for everything, even dying.


    Then, as he opened his eyes once again after crying his heart out, it seemed that something had changed as he could see some bits of white light.


    It wasn''tpletely ck like before, it seemed that Aiden was able to nce at some bits of light which was really a good sign since it meant that he was close to gaining his sight back.


    He was literally on the cusp of getting it back.


    ''Think Aiden, think, what can I do?'' said Aiden to himself, unsure of what he could pull off.


    ''The key to gaining my eyesight isn''t my eyes,'' repeated Aiden to himself as his mind was inplete turmoil, thinking of every imaginable solution that could potentially exist.


    Then, based on that hint, he started thinking of many things which could help him.


    After a couple of minutes of deep thinking, it seemed that he had gotten an idea, as he started getting in that focused state just like earlier, however, he had an idea this time.


    He wouldn''t simply concentrate on his body and that stuff, he would push it one step further.


    He would try reaching that parkour that way, the more he thought about it. Aiden realized that there must have been a reason for that parkour to exist or else it would simply be useless and the challenge would have simply been to gain his eyesight back.

 Chapter 234 234 - Instincts?

    <h4>Chapter 234 Chapter 234 - Instincts?</h4>


    As he thought of the parkour, he didn''t think that he had to tell Isolde about it as he simply started moving away from her withplete silence as he was used to doing.


    He had realized that Isolde wouldn''t be able to give him anything, so he had decided against telling her anything.


    He would simply be wasting time if he were to go up and tell her that he thought that going toward the parkour was the key to this challenge.


    Well, he still hadn''t told her about that focused state he had achieved earlier, but she would probably be able to figure it out considering that she ced at the Inter Family Tournament which meant that she wasn''tpletely hopeless for sure.


    And who knows maybe the next challenge would be in her favour.


    Then, Aiden didn''t waste any time as he started moving aroundpletely blind, well it was more partially as he was sometimes able to see glimpses of what was happening around him with that light.


    "Are you still here?" called out Isolde as she didn''t feel Aiden''s presence anymore.


    However, even while hearing that voice, Aiden simply dismissed it instantly as he couldn''t bother listening to it at all.


    He wouldn''t answer that was what he had decided on and her calling him out wouldn''t change anything at all.


    ''Alright, now all I need to do is find that damn concrete b,'' thought Aiden, as he had no idea where he could even be.


    Nheless, he decided that he would trust his instinct or to be more precise his [Sixth Sense] as he had a great feeling that he simply needed to walk forward for a little more time and that he would reach it.


    That''s why, he continued walking forward sometimes hitting his foot against a rock or something like that. n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    While doing that, he was sometimes able to see a meter or two in front of him, however, the time when he could was simply too short and he had to simply trust his instincts which were most of the time right.


    ***


    A couple of minutester, Aiden was still walking forward without any idea if he was close to stepping on that concrete b.


    Then, as he made one step after another, he felt something extremely hard under his foot, Aiden wasn''t sure what it was but it for sure wasn''t grass or dirt.


    ''Am I on that b?'' thought Aiden, unsure if he was.


    Then, as he thought that, he was able to get a quick nce of his surroundings and he remarked that he was indeed at the right spot.


    Now all that was left was to finish this parkour and from Aiden''s expectation, he would be able to gain his sight back.


    However, that was where there was a big problem, why would Aiden even be able to gain his sight back from climbing this parkour?


    Or rather, how could Aiden even go through this parkour, he was literally half-blind.


    ***


    While all this was happening, Evelynn was still watching from far away and she wasn''t looking at Isolde, but at Aiden who was almost about toplete her challenge bypleting the parkour.


    He was already at the base of it, so he only needed to go through it and he would be able to reach the third challenge.


    However, that was a problem in itself as Aiden and Isolde were supposed to spend days on this challenge and it hadn''t been aplete day since the Reaper had started.


    It simply made no sense how fast he was currently learning.


    ''That kid is an anomaly, a pure anomaly,'' thought Evelynn, as she saw the Reaper step on that concrete b.


    ''How did he even make the right decision?'' she thought, confused as to why he hadn''t searched the direction in which the parkour was.


    From her point of view, it was as if Aiden had felt it, he had felt which was to go. However, was that even possible in the first ce?


    Sure, she had told him that the key to this trial wasn''t the eyes, but that didn''t mean that he was supposed to figure out everything in less than a day.


    ''Should I increase the difficulty again?'' thought Evelynn, as she saw Aiden looking around with his eyes closed, probably asking what to do at the moment.


    ''No, I can''t if I raise it any more then both of them won''t be able to beat it.''


    It seemed that this challenge''s difficulty had already reached its limit and that Evelynn wouldn''t be able to raise it higher than it already was.


    Knowing that she couldn''t change anything, she continued watching the Reaper who was currently not moving, seemingly observing everything that was around him even if he couldn''t as he was currently blind.


    However, she was shocked by the actions that he took after doing that.


    Aiden started jumping toward one of his right which was where a tform was situated.


    Evelynn had no idea how such a thing was possible, but it seemed that Aiden was able to see where the tforms that he needed to jump on were.


    ''How is he doing this, is it still his instincts?'' thought Evelynn as the Reaper didn''t seem to be stopping anytime soon as he kept jumping from one tform to the other.


    There was literally no way that someone would be able to do this without seeing anything.


    Did he already figure out, how to get his sight back?


    Evelynn knew that he was close to actually getting it back, but it wasn''t supposed to be this quick.


    He seemed weird that he had already figured everything out, but it seemed that was the case as he was about to reach the top of the parkour, meaning that he hadpleted the second challenge.


    It also meant that he had obtained a skill, and it seemed to be the case that the Reaper was immobile on the tform reading what was in front of him.

 Chapter 235 235 - Eyes of Truth

    Chapter 235  235 - Eyes of Truth


    *BEEP*


    [You have created a skill.]


    That was the message that had just appeared in front of Aiden as he reached the final tformpleting the challenge once and for all.


    As he had climbed those tforms, his sight which had beenpletely absent at the start, slowly but surely started getting back which rendered the whole process ofpleting this second challenge a lot more easier.


    ''I wonder what it could be?'' thought Aiden, as he read that message now that he could see once again.


    He had to admit that it was a great feeling to gain his sight back and now that he looked around him, he realized that this whole ce was in fact not dark at all, it was theplete opposite as a matter of fact.


    Everything waspletely sunny just like the rest of this Emberbane Territory, it seemed that it was the enchantment cast by Evelynn that had caused such darkness to appear in both Aiden''s and Isolde''s eyes.


    Of course, Aiden had somewhat known that it wasn''t a dark ce, however, she thought that there would at least be a shadow or something like that.


    But, that wasn''t even close to being the case as Aiden raised his head still with his mask, being blinded by the sun.


    Then, Aiden dismissed all those thoughts about the environment, as he put his concentration back on the skill that he had just created, or rather learned by training here.


    It was fair to say that he wouldn''t have gotten this skill without the help of Melinda or the Emberbane family for that matter.


    ''Alright, let''s see,'' thought Aiden as he opened his system, wanting to see the details of that skill.


    Then, as he opened it, he got the usual descriptive message about what that skill could actually do.


    [Eyes of Truth]


    [Rank: Blue]


    [Restrictions: To learn or rather create this skill, you must be under a powerful enchantment.]


    [Passive Skill]


    [Description: This skill will make it possible for the user to see through any kind of illusion without the slightest problem. Well, he won''t be able to see through illusions which are created by a grade higher than Blue. However, for the rest of them, it will be like the user can''t even notice the difference between reality and the illusionary world.]


    Aiden who was reading that description couldn''t help but sh a big smile when reading this whole thing, realizing that maybe all those challenges weren''t that useless.


    First, he had learned how to make a weapon''s aura, and now he had learned a skill that basically rendered illusions useless except the truly powerful ones which were, based on the system''s word, extremely rare.


    "Do you like it?" said a voice that was slowly approaching him by simply flying.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    Aiden instantly recognized that feminine voice as he raised his head in response, looking in her direction.


    "What are you talking about? The skill or the view?" replied Aiden, as he made sure to admire the beautiful forest that was right under him.


    As he did so, he had no choice but to glimpse at Isolde who was still as lost as before.


    However, he figured that it would be better for her if she were to figure it out on her own since it would make her understand a lot more things.


    Aiden wouldn''t be able to help her every step of the way after all.


    "What sort of question is that, obviously I''m talking about both," retorqued Evelynn, acting insulted by the sheer stupidity of that question.


    Aiden didn''t take it wrong as he simplyughed for a little bit, certainly about this whole thing.


    He had just gained a skill after all.


    "Then, do you like that skill? Was it worth all this trouble?" said Evelynn, as she quickly realized that Aiden hadn''t even gone through any sort of trouble figuring out everything in a single day.


    Just thinking about that, she had to admit that she was embarrassed.


    "Well it looks great from what I''m seeing," replied Aiden.


    However, it seemed that Aiden hadn''t given Evelynn enough details as she wanted to know more about it.


    "What''s the name of the skill that you got?" she asked right away seeing that the Reaper didn''t seem too keen on telling her.


    But, that information was really important because there were multiple ranks to that skill and she wanted to know the one that he had gotten.


    ''Should I tell her?'' thought Aiden, unsure if telling her would result in a bad way toward him.


    But, after thinking about it for a few seconds, he realized that there was absolutely no danger in telling her since she was part of the Emberbane Family.


    "I got the [Eyes of Truth] skill, was it supposed to be that one?"


    Instantly, when hearing the name of that skill Evelynn became silent seemingly thinking about this whole thing.


    ''I guess the increase in difficulty really helped him get a better one, huh?''


    ''Usually, they would be getting the skill which is one rank lower, but I guess me strengthening the illusion made a positive impact at the end of the day,'' she thought, realizing that it was actually a good thing that she had increased the difficulty.


    Well, it was a good thing for Aiden since he had gotten stronger out of it, however, for the girl who was still participating in the challenge at the moment, it probably wasn''t the best that''s for sure.


    "Yes, it was, don''t worry about it," replied Evelynn, quickly dismissing his question before talking about apletely different subject.


    "Well, now that you finished the second challenge, I won''t waste any more of your time and send you toward the third one. You''ll see that it probably won''t be the easiest for you since you''re an assassin."


    "In fact, you''re friend who''s still in the illusion would have probably been able to help you, but well... maybe you''ll be able to do it by yourself who knows? You''re full of surprises after all," she said, concluding that little speech which made Aiden doubt.

 Chapter 236 236 - Waiting

    Chapter 236  236 - Waiting


    ''What does she mean by that?'' thought Aiden, unsure why she had said that he might need Isolde in the next challenge.


    He hadn''t needed her a single time since arriving here, so why would that start to change?


    It''s not like he would have to learn to cast an illusion in the next challenge, right?


    "Alright, enough about that, follow me. We''re going somewhere else, away from civilization," she said as she went up to Aiden grabbing one of his arms with the intent of picking him up.


    It seemed that she thought that Aiden wasn''t able to fly, but that would be a grave mistake as Aiden was probably even better than her at flying since he had ess to Qi.


    "Let go of me," muttered Aiden, as he removed her hand from his arm before he started flying in the air without even looking back a single time.


    "Wait you can fly?" questioned Evelynn, not expecting it one bit.


    However, Aiden didn''t even bother answering as it seemed pretty obvious that he could since he was in the air without even struggling one bit.


    ''Well, he just keeps showing me more and more interesting stuff,'' thought Evelynn, truly wondering how he had learned how to fly.


    Wasn''t he from the Slums and a Middle-level family, so why was he so good at everything that he was trying to do? It literally made no sense, well from Evelynn''s point of view.


    "Alright, whatever just follow me, we''re going somewhere quite tricky, so make sure that you can''t lose sight of me," uttered Evelynn, as she started flying forward at an average speed, well for her.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    Because from Aiden''s point of view, she was moving at a snail''s pace.


    Then, as Evelynn turned her head, verifying that Aiden was still behind her, she was shocked to see that he was literally right behind her not even a single centimetre away from her.


    It seemed that he was following her advice to the dot, as he was following her from really close not wanting to lose sight of her, even if it would be hard considering the speed at which she was currently going.


    ''I guess, I can go a little bit faster,'' thought Evelynn, seeing that Aiden had no trouble keeping up,


    "Just tell me if I''m going too fast," she added before turning her head once again, going a little bit faster than earlier.


    She still wasn''t going at her top speed, but it was around 75% of the maximum output that she could muster.


    Now that she was going a little bit faster, Aiden was somewhat happy since it meant that it would be wasting less time during that transfer.


    ***


    A couple of minutester, both Aiden and Evelynn were still flying, however, it seemed that they would soon reach their destination as Evelynn had slowed down and was also going through some weird ces in the mountains.


    Aiden wasn''t anywhere close to the mansion or the training grounds, it was literally in the middle of nowhere in the middle of multiple mountains surrounding him from all sides.


    "Are we arriving soon?" asked Aiden, seeing that Evelynn had now stopped looking around herself, looking pretty lost at the moment which wasn''t reassuring in the least from Aiden''s point of view.


    "We already arrived actually, however, it seems that your teacher isn''t ready to pick you up yet. I think he was a little surprised by the speed at which you are through our challenges. Normally, you would have arrived here a couple of days, but well I guess you were too strong for our challenges," admitted Evelynn.


    She had no choice but to admit that the Reaper had truly impressed her as he was able to beat her challenge even faster than the first one which had been supposed to be the easiest.


    Sure, Aiden would have beaten the first challenge in a couple of minutes without mixing his Qi with his Mana, but well Evelynn didn''t know that, so she was even more humiliated.


    Then, after waiting a couple of minutes standing still while flying, Evelynn turned toward Aiden with a smile on her face, however, it didn''t seem to be that great of a smile since there seemed to be a hidden intent behind it.


    "Um, you know that I like you, but well I can''t stay here forever and I need to get back to Isolde and decrease her difficulty since it wouldn''t be fair for her. So... just stay here and someone wille pick you up," she said as she turned her back toward him, and she started to fly away without looking back even once.


    However, Aiden honestly couldn''t care less about her leaving since she was also doing nothing and to bepletely honest, the excuses that she had just used were valid, especially the one considering Isolde.


    Then, Aiden waspletely alone, without anything around him except those two mountains which were separated by a big cliff.


    ''Can I go wait on the ground or do I need to wait here in this exact spot?'' thought Aiden, as he started looking around, thinking that it could fly up the cliff and sit up there since it would be a little bit morefortable for him.


    ''Well, I''ll probably see the third teacher when hees around here,'' thought Aiden as he started to fly up the cliff.


    He knew that he would be able to spot the teacher if he were toe up, so there was no problem with him exploring a little was what around this ce which was far away from the city.


    ''Why did they have to bring us here? Don''t tell me that the teacher is someone who lives in those mountains?'' thought Aiden, kind of expecting that to be the case since there was absolutely no other reason to bring him here for the third challenge.


    So, this meant one thing and one thing only, his third teacher would be special.


    Well, just like the other two, but he might be worse living in this ce.

 Chapter 237 237 - Swoosh

    Chapter 237  237 - Swoosh


    Arriving at the top of one of the two mountains that surrounded him, Aiden started to look around, asking himself why he needed toe here for the third challenge.


    Was there something about this ce which was different?


    ''Does it have monsters?'' thought Aiden, as the atmosphere seemed quite fitting for it.


    However, the more that he started to look around, the more he noticed that there was nothing around him.


    No beasts, no animals, and obviously no monsters since he wasn''t in the Otherworld.


    Then, as Aiden was about to go and explore what was around him, he reminded himself that he needed to wait for the instructor of the third challenge which was runningte.


    ''I guess I really was too fast at clearing those challenges, even if I thought that I was slow,'' thought Aiden, still being critical of his performances, it was one of his habits after all.


    He constantly needed to make sure that he was at his peak and most of the time he wasn''t since he needed to work harder and harder.


    *Swoosh*


    That was the sound of the wind which seemed to have moved because of something that had just moved in high speed.


    Aiden had obviously felt this change as he turned around looking at what it was.


    However, when he turned his head, there was absolutely nothing behind him.


    It seemed that the thing which had just passed behind him at high speed wasn''t anywhere to be seen.


    Nheless, Aiden didn''t lose his focus as he expected something to try and go behind him once again.


    *Swoosh*


    Then, as Aiden thought that something would go behind him once again, it actually happened as the same noise as earlier was heard.


    However, there was a big difference this time as Aiden expected it, he was on the alert making sure to feel every single change to the wind and the environment behind him.


    That''s why he put his hand behind him as soon as he heard that noise, grabbing something as he closed his hand.


    "Oh, you caught me already? Impressive," said the high-speed thing that had been going behind him.


    Hearing a voice, Aiden slowly started to turn toward it wondering if his guess was right.


    He thought that this man was the third challenge instructor since that would make the most sense to bepletely honest.


    "I guess Evelynn and Dan didn''t lie about your potential, I thought that I could y with you the entire day, but it seems that I underestimated you," said the high-moving person.


    ''Well, I guess I was right,'' thought Aiden when he heard him talk about Evelynn and Dan who were those who had taken care of the first and second challenges.


    "Weird I was going really fast, I didn''t think that you would be able to grab me. Young man, how did you achieve this so fast?" questioned the man, who was currently being held by Aiden.


    ''How I did it, huh?'' thought Aiden, unsure of how he thought of grabbing what was behind him without even looking.


    "To be honest, it might sound ridiculous, but I just followed my instinct," uttered Aiden as he had no other possible reason.


    "Your instinct, huh? Well, that''s even more impressive, I guess you weren''t the Inter Family Tournament winner for nothing. You really are the most impressive young man that I have seen yet," said the man, before mumbling something with an extremely low tone.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    "Even if you are the first one that I saw in literal years."


    Then, before Aiden could ask what he had just mumbled, the man in front of him continued to look at him clearly about to say something else.


    "Alright, what do you think this challenge will be?" asked the man, who was able to move really fast.


    To bepletely honest, Aiden had absolutely no idea of what he would have to do.


    However, noticing that the man in front of him had been able to move away from his grasp without even noticing it, Aiden had an idea.


    ''Maybe it''s about movements?'' he thought, knowing that he would make a ton of sense.


    Aiden in his entire life had only practiced one sort of movement technique and it had been [Shadow Steps], but seeing how fast that man had been able to move. Aiden had to admit that maybe he wasn''t using the most effective movement technique.


    However, even if [Shadow Steps] wasn''t the fastest movement technique, it was the most silent one as Aiden literally couldn''t make noise when walking even if he wanted to, his passive skill restricted it.


    But then he had an idea.


    ''What if Ibine both [Shadow Steps] with whatever he''s using?''


    Just thinking about it, Aiden had a big smile on his face since it would make him stronger and on the same asion freer.


    He knew that being free wasn''t the same thing as being the strongest, but he had to admit that being stronger would help him be freer, there was literally no doubt about it.


    "I don''t know, is it rted to that cliff?" asked Aiden, as he pointed to that big ass crevice.


    Aiden knew that the challenge had to be rted to movement since the man had been expecting to y with him for the entire day, so that was probably meant as a hint to figure out the goal of this challenge.


    And looking at this crevice, Aiden had a small idea of what the challenge would be.


    "Hm, you really have a good instinct," muttered the man as he was seemingly about to exin what the third challenge would consist of.


    "You see, the third challenge will be simple, well not really but whatever," said the man as he took a small break.


    After a couple of seconds of silence, he once again continued exining the challenge.


    "You see that big gap that you pointed at earlier, well the challenge is simple, you''ll have to jump over it without flying of course," said the man while winking, making it known that he knew about Aiden''s ability.

 Chapter 238 238 - Shadow Steps

    Chapter 238  238 - Shadow Steps


    ''Jump over that thing?'' thought Aiden, unsure if that was even possible in the first ce.


    He knew that it would be extremely difficult, however, he quickly grasped the goal of that challenge.


    He knew that the key to jumping such a big distance was quite simple, it was speed.


    And from what he had seen earlier, the goal of this challenge was quite simple, it was to get faster.


    From catching his instructor earlier, Aiden had no doubt that if he was able to learn whatever method this man was using, it would make him much stronger.


    In fact, just thinking about it, he couldn''t see anyone being able to hit him if he were tobine both of those techniques.


    "Oh I like that look on your face," said the man, as he noticed that Aiden didn''t seem scared or worried about not being able to do it.


    He noticed that Aiden was instead thinking about ways to reach the other side of that one-kilometre-long crevice.


    "Since you wouldn''t be able to do it without me showing you a thing or two, I will give an example on how such a thing is possible," said the man as he instantly disappeared from Aiden''s view.


    ''Just how fast is this man? He clearly didn''t go at his top speed earlier,'' thought Aiden as he hadn''t even been able to guess which way that man had gone.


    ''I guess that''s the difference between a literal child and an adult,'' thought Aiden as he knew there was clearly a couple of years between them.


    However, Aiden wasn''t the type to judge or base his strength on the age of someone since younger people could more often than not be more powerful than other people.


    But, it was clear that this person was extremely strong, well from his speed alone as Aiden had no idea about his other strengths.


    "I''m over here," shouted the man who was now hundreds of metres away from Aiden.


    He wanted to make sure that Aiden would be able to see him which is why he had shouted from so far away.


    Then, when he saw that the masked Aiden had turned his head toward him, he immediately disappeared from Aiden''s vision once again.


    However, when Aiden made sure to pay attention he noticed that some blur was on his way toward him.


    Well, not toward him but right beside him as his goal wasn''t to hurt the Reaper in any sort of way.


    His goal was to make that jump sessful, or else he would be looking like a real amateur which is why he was extremely serious in his run, making sure to use great speed.


    It wasn''t his top speed since Aiden needed to be able to actually glimpse at some of his movements, but it was a speed which wasfortable for him.


    Then, as the blur started approaching the edge of the mountain where they were standing, it disappeared and reappeared a couple of secondster in the air.


    It seemed that he had jumped, but Aiden hadn''t even been able to see how he had done so since he had simply disappeared from his vision.


    ''Just how does he move so fast, what''s the trick here?'' thought Aiden, as he knew that he would have to figure it out if he wanted to reach the fourth challenge.


    Then, the blur which was obviously the instructor continued moving forward as he was about to reach the other side of the crevice.


    ''I guess it is possible, huh?'' thought Aiden, as he saw that the instructor had, in fact,nded on the other side of the crevice.


    *Swoosh*


    Then, as Aiden saw that he hadnded on the other side, he heard a simr noise as earlier.


    "How did you like that performance?" asked the man who was now once again right beside Aiden in less than a single second.


    Aiden who was a little shocked, had no choice but to make it known.


    "How fast can you even go?" asked Aiden, as this was the thing which he had on his mind since earlier and when he saw the speed at which he hade back, Aiden had on choice but to ask since it was extremely impressive.


    However, when asked that question the man seemed hesitant to answer.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    "Um, well too fast to keep up with me clearly," he replied a little bit arrogantly.


    "We''ll see about that," mumbled Aiden, with a serious look on his face.


    "What did you say?" asked the man, unsure of what Aiden had just mumbled.


    However, seeing that Aiden didn''t want to say, he simply dismissed it as he went on to talk about something else.


    "Do you want a tip to move fast? Never mind, I''ll show you what you need to do to move fast, well I''ll show you the basics," said the man as he knew that it would be really hard for Aiden without a single bit of help.


    The man knew that Aiden waspleting the challenges really fast, but that wasn''t really a problem in itself since it was just proving how strong that young man in front of him was.


    When Aiden heard that the man in front of him would show him the basics of his movement technique, he had to admit that he was really happy as he revealed a smile.


    Then, after doing so, he focused on the man in front of him who was about to start showing him how this movement worked.


    "First of all, it''s all in the footwork, but that doesn''t seem to be a problem with you since I can''t even hear you walking," said the man, realizing that it was quite weird that no matter how much he tried, there was not a single sounding from Aiden''s movement or stepping.


    "Wait, how are you walking like that?" asked the man, who seemed extremely curious about [Shadow Steps].


    Hearing that question, an idea popped inside Aiden''s mind.

 Chapter 239 239 - Trade

    Chapter 239  239 - Trade


    ''What if I made a trade with him?'' thought Aiden, seeing that the man was quite interested in Aiden''s movement technique.


    That situation was literally perfect since Aiden was also incredibly interested in the other person''s movement technique.


    Then, hearing that question about his movement technique, Aiden took a few seconds to think about what to say.


    ''Should I simply ask him to make a trade?'' thought Aiden, as he knew that it would be the simplest thing to do in this scenario.


    Realizing that it was the easiest thing to do, Aiden simply asked that man to make a trade and on the same asion facilitate the challenge which was in front of him.


    Because if Aiden was taught how to use that movement technique then the challenge difficulty would literally drop instantly.


    That was the thing which Aiden was currently worrying about the most, the man refusing because of the challenge and its difficulty.


    However, there was no harm in trying, right?


    "Instead of me telling you how I move that way, tell me how YOU move that way," uttered Aiden, putting emphasis on the word "you".


    ''He''s clever, huh? Not revealing any information without something in return,'' thought the man, realizing that he wouldn''t be able to obtain information that way and that he would actually need to exchange something in return.


    However, thinking about it for a few seconds, he had to admit that it was incredibly worth it because he had never seen something like this.


    He had never seen someone who literally couldn''t make the slightest noise while moving, everyone needed to make a noise while moving at some point.


    Nheless, ever since the Reaper had appeared here and met the instructor. The instructor hadn''t been able to hear even the slightest noiseing out of him.


    "Alright, how do you want to proceed?" asked the man, ready for pretty much everything if it meant obtaining some hint about this technique.


    After all, that man had been asked to create a challenge at thest minute by Melinda and he wasn''t really excited for it as he was simply following orders.


    So, if he could make this challenge shorter and on the same asion obtain something out of it then the man would literally be on cloud nine.


    And it also wouldn''t be a trade where the Reaper wouldn''t be a winner since he would also obtain something really valuable on the same asion.


    ''How I want to proceed, huh?'' thought Aiden, already having a pretty good idea of how he wanted things to go down.


    However, the was a little problem, he wasn''t sure how the instructor would react this his demand, but seeing the smile on the instructor''s face, Aiden doubted that there would be a problem.


    "Then, how about this, you''ll teach me your movement technique and I''ll teach you mine," said Aiden, a little bit anxious, knowing that he wouldn''t be able to argue if that man were to refuse.


    It wasn''t like he could force him to ept, after all.


    However, seeing the growing smile on the instructor''s face, Aiden was now pretty much assured that he would be epting his request.


    "Sure, let''s do this," said the man after a couple of seconds of silence.


    ***


    [Five dayster]


    "Why isn''t this working, did he even teach me the real movement technique," mumbled Aiden, frustrated over his past failed attempts.


    He now realized that if he hadn''t made an exchange with the instructor, then he would have been stuck here for a much longer time as even with the instructor personally teaching him he was having a lot of difficulties.


    "Stop getting all frustrated, I already told you that you need a clear mind for this to work," said Paul, the instructor of the third challenge.


    What he had just said hadn''t been a coincidence since he knew what the Reaper had done in the second challenge to get here.


    The challenges weren''t in a random order, after all, every single one of them would be helping the participants to aplish the next one.


    For example, in thest challenge, Aiden had learned to see through illusions, but was that the only thing that he had done?


    No, he had also learned how to put his entire mind and body in a state of pure concentration.


    A state, where he would be able to feel everything that was happening in his body. From the sounds of chains to his muscles moving, he could feel literally everything.


    "I know, I know, stop repeating it to me," replied the frustrated Aiden.


    "Alright, try again and remember how I told you to manifest your mana, that''s the most important part," continued Paul.


    "Alright," uttered Aiden as he seemed to concentrate back on this movement technique that he had been learning those past five days.


    Aiden also knew that he had to make this whole thing fast since he would also have to teach that instructor after he had learned his technique.


    That''s why Aiden was, at the moment, feeling some amount of pressure regarding learning this technique.


    He didn''t want to spend too much time here after all.


    ''Alright, this time it will work,'' thought Aiden, as he started to manifest his mana in his legs and feet in a particr manner.


    Aiden didn''t exactly know why he needed to circte his mana that way, but he simply did it since Paul had said that he needed to do so and who was Aiden toin when he had no idea how this technique worked in the first ce.


    Then, after manifesting his mana, he ced himself in a running position, preparing himself to run as fast as he physically could.


    "Nice, now all you need to do is start running," eximed Paul, who had noticed that there was absolutely no problem with Aiden''s posture and position.


    Then after hearing that, Aiden didn''t lose any more time as he started to run forward.


    ''Did it work this time?'' thought Aiden as he saw that the environment around him was moving way too fast.


    Then, as he was still wondering if this thing had worked or not, he heard a beeping sound.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

 Chapter 240 240 - Lightning Steps

    Chapter 240  240 - Lightning Steps


    BEEP


    [You have created a new skill.]


    This looked exactly like what happened a few days ago when he had seeded in the second challenge, however, this time he still needed to do a few things before reaching the next one.


    ''Well, looks like I finally got it,'' thought Aiden, as he realized that he was moving way faster than everything around him, he could see everything around him moving at an incredible or incredibly slow pace.


    Paul who had just seen that the Reaper had finally learned it, couldn''t help but be secretly happy about it since this meant that it would finally be his time to learn about the Reaper''s movement technique and he was excited, to say the least.


    However, he still didn''t interrupt Aiden who was currently running around, enjoying himself since it was the first that he had reached such speed.


    ''However, even if I try my hardest, I''m nowhere close to the speed that he was going at earlier,'' thought Aiden, knowing that he would be getting better and better by practicing and actually using this skill.


    He wouldn''t be the best in less than a day, after all. He would need to work on this skill, it simply made sense.


    Then, after a few seconds of watching the Reaper running around, Paul had enough and actually wanted to learn since it was his time to do so.


    In fact, he was even more impatient when he realized that the Reaper still wasn''t making any sort of noise while running at such high speed. This made it even clearer that Aiden''s movement technique was a really good match with what he had.


    ***


    A few hourster,


    "Are you sure this is the best way to learn it? There''s no need to use mana or any of that stuff?" asked Paul, who was starting to doubt if this really was the way to learn that movement technique.


    Aiden who was watching this had no choice but to be confused when hearing that as he was teaching Paul exactly the way that he had been taught in his past life.


    Sure, the training wasn''t the most pleasing as Aiden''s past training was always based on pain and stuff like that.


    "I don''t know if it''s the best way, but this is how I learnt it, so you should be able to do it," replied Aiden, as he had no idea if this was the best method to learn [Shadow Steps].


    However, it wasn''t like he would be able to create a better method on the spot.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    Hearing that answer from Aiden, Paul could only close his mouth and continue practicing just like he had been doing for the past hours.


    "Do I really need to hurt myself like this every single, though," continuedining Paul, a grown-ass man.


    Seeing the look that Aiden just gave, Paul once again closed his mouth as he knew that hisints wouldn''t make him reach his goal faster.


    That goal is learning [Shadow Steps].


    While Paul was practicing, Aiden didn''t need to pay that much attention to him which is why he was currently reading the details of the movement technique which he had just gotten, wondering if all he had gotten from it was speed.


    [Lightning Steps]


    [Rank: Blue]


    [Restrictions: None]


    [Cost: 15 MP for a five-minute activation.]


    [Description: This skill or rather movement technique will make it possible for the user to move at speeds which wouldn''t be possible normally. However, that isn''t the only thing that this skill gives, but to discover its other abilities, the user will need to get more proficient with the skill in itself.]


    ''More abilities?'' thought Aiden, trying to think about what had happened when Paul had used it earlier.


    However, the only memory that he had was seeing a literal blur of light moving, so it wasn''t exactly easy to pinpoint abilities with such images.


    Also, seeing that this wasn''t a passive skill, Aiden was a little disappointed, however, he wasn''t really surprised since he had felt his mana being used earlier when he had activated it.


    But, fifteen Mana Points was a huge cost considering Aiden''s total Mana Points.


    Then, after reading more on the skill, he closed his system once again and looked at Paul who was still struggling just as much as earlier.


    Nheless, Aiden wasn''t going toment on how much he was struggling since he had probably looked even worse earlier.


    ***


    Two dayster,


    Aiden was watching the beautiful smile that had appeared on Paul''s face only a couple of seconds ago.


    "I fucking did it, finally," uttered the man, excitedly.


    After two days of relentless torture, Paul had finally done it, well... somewhat as he clearly wasn''t as proficient as Aiden when using it since he would make some noises when walking at some random moments.


    However, it was clearly better than nothing.


    In fact, Paul was so happy that he said something which surprised Aidenpletely.


    "Since we made this trade, I''ll just guide you to Melinda right away, the fourth challenge is pretty much useless for you either way," said Paul, with a calm expression on his face.


    ''Useless for me?'' thought Aiden, unsure if it would really be since he didn''t have a ss which meant that he could literally learn everything well as long as the system would allow it.


    "Why would it be useless?" asked Aiden, right away.


    "It''s more for people with the enchantress ss, I doubt you will even like the challenge in the first ce," said Paul, seemingly knowing what Aiden liked and disliked.


    However, Aiden couldn''t really disagree with him as it was true that he didn''t really want to learn how to make illusions and all that.


    As long as he could see through them, then there was no problem.


    "Um, alright, but will Melinda be fine with that?"


    "Just let me worry about that part, ahaha," said Paul, as he giggled seemingly not worried about what Melinda might do.


    ***


    Read Author''s Note, Important Notice.

 Chapter 241 241 - Conversation

    Chapter 241  241 - Conversation


    A few minutes after Paul said that both Aiden and Paul were now on their way to the spot where Melinda was waiting for them, or at least, that was what Paul had told Aiden.


    However, Aiden didn''t know why, but he didn''t think that he could trust Paul. He didn''t know why but he simply didn''t seem trustworthy.


    In fact, he seemed to be the type of person to do whatever they wanted, whenever they wanted and this was the best example to showcase this.


    "Are you sure Melinda won''t be mad?" asked Aiden again as he was currently following Paul with [Lightning Steps], his new movement technique.


    They were both moving at an extremely high speed and if anyone were to see them from far away, the only thing that they would be able to nce at would be two blurs following each other.


    Aiden had to admit that this movement technique was impressive, but he also understood why no technique like this had existed back on Earth.


    Well, the reason was actually quite simple, mana didn''t exist back on Earth.


    "I already told you, that I will deal with it just trust me," said Paul as he continued running at an incredible pace.


    Aiden had no choice, but to nod his head and believe in Paul this one time as he couldn''t really do something against what they were doing.


    And even if he could Aiden wouldn''t have wanted to stop this whole thing as it also benefited him.


    The sooner he would be able to meet Melinda once again, the sooner he would be able to have the answers that he so desperately wanted.


    This time, he had thought about it and he didn''t care if Melinda found his true identity.


    So, what if she knew that he was part of the Nightshade, well once part of it?


    What would she do?


    Throw him back to them?


    Aiden had that thought and he honestly didn''t think that Melinda would actually do such a thing since Aiden was so talented.


    On the contrary, Aiden had a good idea of what she would do. She would try her hardest to protect him from the Nightshade Family since he was that valuable.


    Then, as the two of them continued to navigate at a really high speed, Paul who was leading suddenly started to slow down considerably.


    "Alright, we''ll soon arrive just wait here and I''lle to pick you up after I deal with this," said Paul as he suddenly disappeared from Aiden''s sight.


    ''I guess I really am not close at all to his top speed,'' thought Aiden as he knew that there was literally no way that he could move at such a speed.


    In fact, Aiden hadn''t even been able to see the movementing from Paul.


    "Wait, so Melinda is in there?" asked Aiden to himself, as he saw the huge building in front of him.


    It wasn''t the Emberbane Manor, however, it was almost as big as the manor.


    Nheless, there was one huge difference between and it was what was written on that building.


    [Emberbane''s Personal Residence]


    ''Is this really Melinda''s home?'' thought Aiden, unsure whether or not that was actually the case.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    Because from far away, he had to admit that he was impressed by how big this ce was.


    ''I didn''t take her for someone so materialistic,'' said Aiden to himself, not expecting such a huge ce for a single person.


    Well, maybe it wasn''t for a single person, but at the moment that was what Aiden thought as he knew that most people lived in the Emberbane Manor.


    A few minutes passed by, and there was still no sign of Pauling back yet. It seemed that the discussion between him and Melinda was taking quite a long time.


    However, Aiden wasn''t surprised in the least as he knew that Melinda would probably be mad to see him appear here withoutpleting the fourth challenge.


    He could only hope that she wouldn''t direct that rage toward him since that wouldn''t be the most pleasing experience.


    ***


    One hourter, Aiden was still waiting in front of the Emberbane''s Personal Residence and there was still no movement at all.


    However, there had been one massive change and that was the noise that Aiden was currently hearing.


    He could hear some mumbling noises of people shouting in there and Aiden had to admit that it was worrying him as he could sometimes recognize the voices and the words which were being used.


    And without much surprise, the person who had caused this shouting, or rather the person who was the subject of this shouting was the Reaper, Aiden.


    From the words that he had been able to recognize, there had been a few insults which really weren''t nice to one''s ear.


    However, the positive in this situation was that Aiden wasn''t the one receiving them and that it was Paul, who was clearly still stuck arguing with Melinda.


    ''I guess, he''s a man of his word,'' thought Aiden, as he would''ve expected Paul to give up a long time ago.


    Then, the background noise that wasing from the shouting disappeared and was instead reced byplete silence.


    ''Seems like they finally found an agreement,'' thought Aiden, as he still waited patiently not moving.


    Not even a second after the silence had taken over, there was a sound of wind right beside Aiden which resounded.


    *Swoosh*


    "Alright, everything will be fine you can go in. However, I wasn''t given the right to apany you, not that I wanted to in the first ce," said Paul as he disappeared leaving Aiden, alone ready to enter the Emberbane''s Personal Residence.


    Then, after Paul disappeared, Aiden took a few deep breaths preparing himself to enter.


    "I guess, it''s time for me to go and get some answers," mumbled Aiden, as he took a few steps forward toward the door which was at least two times as tall as him.

 Chapter 242 242 - Reveal

    Chapter 242  242 - Reveal


    Aiden was now in front of that massive door as he slowly pushed forward, apprehending the conversation that he was about to have with Melinda.


    He was after all about to reveal his deepest secrets which he hadn''t revealed to Maelis and Emma.


    ''Will this really go down like I want to?'' thought Aiden, starting to doubt himself over this whole thing.


    He was simply scared of what could potentially happen if Melinda were to tell Ss, the Nightshade Family Patriarch.


    He could only hope that she would act like he had nned which meant she would try to protect as best as she possibly could.


    However, there was no way of knowing if she would actually act in such a way. Well, there was, the only way to know was to reveal Aiden''s secret.


    Then, as Aiden finished pushing the gigantic doors that were in front of him, it seemed that Melinda was already waiting for him as he heard her voice.


    "Go upstairs."


    That was what the voice had just said and Aiden didn''t find the guts to try andin or refuse and, at the same time, Aiden honestly didn''t find anything wrong with going upstairs since that was probably where Melinda was.


    Aiden looked up and saw the gloomy set of stairs in front of him, it was surprising but there was absolutely no colour to those stairs which created an interesting contrast with the rest of the ce.


    Then, a few momentster, he was at the top of those stairs as he nced to his right and to his left, wondering where he needed to go next as he still couldn''t see Melinda anywhere.N?v(el)B\\jnn


    "Go to the left," said the feminine voice which belonged to Melinda.


    Aiden simply nodded and didn''t lose any time as he went in that direction.


    "Stop," said the voice a few moments,ter as Aiden was approaching a dark red door which oddly made Aiden think of blood.


    "Enter that room," continued the voice, instructing Aiden on what he needed to do.


    Once again, Aiden listened as he grabbed that doorknob and turned it, entering that room where there were two chairs and a single table.


    On one of the chairs, there was Melinda who was facing the door with a pretty weird smile on her face.


    "You were lucky."


    Those were the first words that she said to Aiden as soon as he entered the room.


    ''Maybe I was,'' said Aiden to himself, as he knew that she wasn''t wrong at the moment.


    He had skipped one of the challenges after all.


    "Um, right you like being silent, here you can sit," she said pointing toward the chair which was right in front of her.


    Aiden thenplied as he reached that chair a few secondster.


    "Paul told me about the deal that you guys made and I''m not surprised that he broke the rules in bringing you, that''s how he acts most of the time after all," she said, basically talking to her as Aiden couldn''t respond to such a monologue.


    However, what was making Aiden the most surprised right now was the gloomy atmosphere in the room which was extremely different from how the Melinda that he had met at the Inter Family Tournament had acted.


    Seeing that she was in a bad mood, Aiden had no choice but to question whether or not it was a good idea to reveal his secret right now.


    ''Should I wait until she''s in a better one?'' thought Aiden, worried that she would act based on her emotions.


    However, as he thought about it a little more, he realized that he needed to ask her right now since he would never be getting such an opportunityter on.


    It was basically now or never.


    "But, who cares about that? Since you''re here, it''s time for you to learn about my technique, right?" she said changing her tone, bing friendly once again as if whatever that had just happened didn''t matter one bit anymore.


    ''I guess it''s time for me, to step in,'' thought Aiden, as he knew that it was time for him to tell her about what he really wanted in exchange.


    But, as he was about to open his mouth, he couldn''t help but have somest-minute thoughts.


    This was a big deal, after all.


    Nheless, after a few seconds, he dismissed all those thoughts as he prepared himself to ask Melinda something that would probably change the rest of his life in Nova.


    "Actually..." muttered Aiden, before taking a small break.


    "Yes?" asked Melinda, wondering what was happening since Aiden had stopped talking.


    "I was wondering if I could ask you something," replied Aiden, still unsure about this whole thing. However, he wouldn''t be backing away right now, he needed to continue and have some courage.


    "Go ahead," replied Melinda right away, with a smile on her face which seemed somewhat fake.


    "Could I ask for something else instead of that technique? What I would want is answers, actually," finally uttered Aiden, waiting for Melinda''s reaction.


    "Answers, huh?" she said, repeating that word, seemingly unsure what this even meant.


    She wasn''t in Aiden''s head after all.


    She knew that he had some secrets, but she didn''t expect to reveal any of them at all as they seemed quite sensitive, especially the ones considering his identity as he always wore that Reaper mask everywhere that he was going.


    "What sort of answers?" continued Melinda, wondering what could be as worth as her technique which would literally make Aiden''s life much easier since he would be able to change his appearance as he wished.


    "Answers about me, and where Ie from. Actually, I need answers about a bunch of things," said Aiden, as he slowly removed the [Everchanging Item] from his face, revealing it.


    "Um, interesting, then go ahead what sort of questions do you want to ask me?" said Melinda before epting or refusing his offers.


    However, it seemed that Aiden wasn''t done.


    "Before that, I need to tell you something about me..."

 Chapter 243 243 - Once

    Chapter 243  243 - Once


    While Aiden was about to reveal hisst name and where he came from, his mind was obviously in constant doubt.


    However, he kept going as he knew that it was the best option at the moment, especially regarding getting some answers, about his past, the system, and everything that he didn''t know about.


    But, even if Aiden was about to reveal his past, well the old Aiden''s past. He wouldn''t be telling Melinda about himing from another world as this would simply make everything extremely confusing and this wasn''t what Aiden wanted.


    He wanted clear and concise answers, even if it would be hard to get some.


    "Um, interesting, then go ahead what sort of questions do you want to ask me?" said Melinda before epting or refusing his offers.


    "Wait, before I ask those questions, I need to tell you something about me," eximed Aiden, his mind still full of doubts.


    He was imagining many scenarios, and all of them were more crazy than thest.


    Melinda hearing that had to admit that she was quite confused as she didn''t expect Aiden to be revealing any of his secrets which he held dear.


    Only revealing his first name and face had taken so much out of him, so Melinda wasn''t expecting any big newsing out of her mouth.


    She didn''t know what he would be telling her, but it probably would be something really small that maybe she knew.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    Then, it was finally time, Aiden would finally reveal that he had once been part of the Nightshade Family, well not him in particr, but right now he needed to act like it had been him.


    "You see..., you noticed that I always wear my mask everywhere I go, right?"


    Seeing that Melinda nodded, Aiden quickly continued.


    "Well, you see the reason why I have been wearing this mask is actually quite simple, it''s be of where Ie from," said Aiden, looking at the now-confused face which Melinda had.


    ''His background? Hees from the Slums, he doesn''t have any background,'' said Melinda to herself.


    However, her thoughts were clearly wed since she ignored so many things about Aiden. So, she shouldn''t have thought that everything about him is the truth, because that is not the case at all.


    "My background is actually quiteplicated and I would like for you to keep it a secret," said Aiden, wanting to see what Melinda would say.


    This time, it seemed that she realized that maybe Aiden didn''te from the Slums or else there would simply be no way that he would be such a big deal out of it. He wasn''t dumb enough to do that.


    "Um, well I''ll see what I can do," replied Melinda, with an evasive answer not knowing what Aiden would reveal next.


    ''Well, I guess that''s good enough,'' thought Aiden, preparing himself.


    ''Alright, let''s do it,'' said Aiden to himself, pumping himself up since no one else could do it for him.


    "You see, I wasn''t part of the Slums like you think. In fact, I was part of a pretty good family. However, remember that word, I ''was'' part of a good family," started off Aiden, making it clear that he didn''t have any rtions with them anymore.


    This statement only allowed to confuse Melinda even more, however, never in a million years was she expecting what Aiden said next.


    "You see, I was once part of the Nightshade Family," said Aiden, finally revealing it.


    Then, as he said that, he immediately started looking at Melinda''s reaction, wondering what she would do or how she would act.


    However, to his surprise, she didn''t do much, in fact, she hadn''t moved a single inch ever since Aiden had said.


    Maybe she was too shocked to have a reaction or maybe that was her reaction, a reaction which contained so much shock that she couldn''t even move.


    A few secondster, it seemed that Melinda was starting to realize what Aiden had just said, however, she was simply in a state of pure confusion.


    "Y-you were in what family now?" she asked once again, making sure that she had really understood correctly what he had just said.


    Aiden who had now revealed it one time, didn''t feel as scared this time as he simply repeated without worry as he knew that he couldn''t control what would happen next.


    "The Nightshades, I was once part of the Nightshade Family," he repeated, with confidence.


    Melinda then started giggling orughing out loud, Aiden wasn''t sure. However, he knew one thing, Melinda didn''t seem to be in her best condition, at least, mentally.


    "You sure know how to make a joke," she eximed afterughing for some moments.


    ''A joke? She thinks I''m joking?'' thought Aiden, unsure if he needed to repeat once again.


    It seemed that Melinda just didn''t want to believe what he had just said or maybe she did but acted as if it wasn''t true.


    "It''s not a joke, I really was born into the Nightshade Family," confirmed Aiden once again, starting to get annoyed over the matter that he needed to repeat it over and over again.


    Hearing that once again, Melinda had no choice but to ept that it was probably the truth, however, she still needed a little bit more information.


    Nheless, even before asking those questions, she had to admit that it was making a lot of sense, the mask, the fact that he didn''t want to reveal his name. A lot of things which had confused her before started to make a lot more sense.


    "But, what happened, why are you talking in the past tense, what happened?" finally asked Melinda, seemingly bing normal once again, notughing out of nowhere.


    ''Well, that''s theplicated part, I don''t know much, but I''ll still tell her what I know of,'' thought Aiden, as he knew that he had been kicked out or rather banished because he was talentless.


    However, he remembered those chains that were inside his body and he wasn''t sure if that was actually the only reason.

 Chapter 244 244 - Curse?

    Chapter 244  244 - Curse?


    "They discarded me," replied Aiden to the question which Melinda had just asked.


    "Discarded you, why would they do that just look at you?" questioned Melinda, not understanding why Ss, someone who was so obsessed with talented people.


    It simply made no sense to get rid of Aiden who was the most talented youth of this era. So, Melinda simply couldn''t help but ask for more details.


    However, not once had she thought about telling Ss about Aiden''s existence, it seemed that it wasn''t even an option for Melinda.


    It was also quite logical, why would she want to get rid of Aiden, who was incredibly talented? She was also not an ally to the Nightshades, so it made no sense in the first ce.


    "Well, it might surprise you, but I wasn''t that talented before. In fact, I was garbage if I''m being honest, I wasn''t even able to awaken before," uttered Aiden.


    While he said that, he had no idea why, but he felt some anger bubbling up inside him. However, it wasn''t near the same intensity as when he had seen Ss or even Lucius.


    "You weren''t able to awaken, you?" said Melinda, clearly not believing a single word that wasing out of Aiden''s mouth.


    Just looking at what he had done at the tournament, there was simply no way that was the case. In fact, he probably awakened before everyone who was part of the Nightshades.


    That would make a lot more sense.


    "I wasn''t no. In fact, I only awakened two or three months ago," revealed Aiden, noticing that Melinda was once again in a state of shock, not moving the slightest muscle.


    ''Is it really that big of a deal to her?'' thought Aiden, unsure why she was reacting so strongly.


    He knew that he had been progressing quite fast, in fact, he was progressing at an insane speed. However, even if he were, from his point of view, it still wasn''t enough and it was also quitecking in his opinion.


    Maybe it wasn''tcking, but from his point of view, it was and that''s all there is to it.


    "Y-you weren''t awakened three months ago? Then how, how are you this strong already, who even are you?" she asked, shocked out of her mind.


    Hearing all those questions which were pointed at him, Aiden had a thought.


    ''Wasn''t I supposed to be the one asking all those questions?''


    It wasn''t that he didn''t want to those questions, but it was more like he didn''t need to answer, especially since he wasn''t sure if he would be able to get the answers that he so desperately wanted.


    "Before I answer your questions, answer one of mine," uttered Aiden, as he knew that he wouldn''t be able to get any sort of answers if it continued the way that it was going right now.


    Melinda hearing this, stopped talking for a few moments seemingly thinking whether to ept this request from Aiden.


    However, she remembered why they had gotten to this point in their conversation and she understood that there was clearly an important why he had revealed such a thing.


    "Alright, go ahead, ask me whatever question you might like," she finally said after a few moments of pure silence.


    Aiden couldn''t help but sh a smile as he heard that, he had finally received the green light and he was finally about to get some answers.


    However, he decided to start slow, not talking about the system or any of that as a matter of fact. Instead, he decided to ask questions about those chains which he had close to his heart.


    He knew that it was a touchy subject, however, he wanted to know if maybe it could be a curse that the Nightshade Family had given him when he had been born.


    The reason as to why he would have gotten such a curse wasn''t going to be easy to find out as the only way to get it would be to ask the person responsible for it after all.


    "Then I would like to ask you something about chains," started off as he wanted to see if it would make Melinda realize something.


    However, seeing that there was absolutely no reactioning out of her. Aiden decided that he needed to give more details about those chains.


    "You see, I have chains located near my heart and they seem to be restricting many things and for your information, I don''t even know what''s behind them as they are things that I have never seen before," said Aiden.


    "Chains around your heart, huh?" she said out loud seemingly thinking about something.


    "I guess you want to know what they are or where theye from, right?" she continued, already having guessed what Aiden desperately wanted.


    Hearing her make such a precise guess, Aiden couldn''t help but think that she knew what those chains were.


    "Exactly, do you have any idea what they are?" asked Aiden, right away.


    Then, Melinda took a small break before starting her answer as she knew that Aiden would probably be mad at what she would say.


    "I don''t, I have no idea what those chains are, b-"


    ''Why am I even asking her questions if she doesn''t know anything,'' thought Aiden, not even listening to what she would say next.


    Well, he only listened with one ear as he didn''t know if it was about to be valuable information.


    "But, if you let me check what they look like, then I might be able to help you a little more because from what you just said, it looks like a curse," continued Melinda, liking the change in expression on Aiden''s face.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    ''I was right, it was a fucking curse,'' celebrated Aiden by himself.


    Maybe he hadn''t understood her sentence correctly, because she said that she thought it was a curse, it wasn''t sure at all.


    Then, Melinda approached Aiden as she started pouring her mana into him.

 Chapter 245 245 - Them?

    Chapter 245  245 - Them?


    As she poured her mana within Aiden, it seemed that her consciousness also followed as her eyes were now filled with darkness. Aiden wasn''t even able to see the colour of her or her pupil, the entirety of her eye was of the colour ck.


    ''This is really creepy,'' thought Aiden as he saw that the rest of her body was also not moving a single inch.


    Then, as he thought that something might have happened to Melinda for unknown reasons, it seemed that she finally moved a part of her body and without much surprise, it was her mouth.


    "I think I''m seeing the chains that you were talking about," she muttered with a pretty strange tone.


    While saying it, Aiden didn''t know why, but he got a feeling that there might be a problem.


    "Yes, and is it a curse?" asked Aiden, right away, as he knew that there were really good chances that it was the case.


    As he said that, the face of Melinda which was devoid of any emotions started nodding, however, it seemed that it wasn''t a simple curse as Melinda once again opened her mouth to talk.


    "It is, but, it''s not a simple one. In fact, I have never seen such a strong curse before in your life," she muttered to herself, letting Aiden know at the same time.


    ''Strong curse?'' thought Aiden, not that surprised with that information as he knew that it wasn''t weak if it was able to restrict all kinds of energies.


    However, hearing that it was the strongest that Melinda had ever seen, Aiden was somewhat worried.


    He wanted to get rid of this curse, now that he knew that it was actually, and he had nned on Melinda to help him do so.


    But, from the tone of her voice, it seemed that it probably wouldn''t be possible.


    "Do you know what it is though," asked Aiden as he didn''t want to miss the opportunity to learn more about it.


    "Well, I have seen simr stuff before. However, it was never that bad," she continued talking still with her eyes fully dark.


    It seemed that she was still observing those chains as they were clearly really interesting for someone who practiced illusions and enchantments.


    In fact, when Aiden had gotten the thought that those chains were a curse, he thought that it was Melinda who had cast it on him.


    However, he had dismissed those thoughts quickly since he knew that the Emberbane Family wasn''t on the best terms with the Nightshade Family.


    There was literally no way that Melinda would be helping, and the conversation that they were currently having only served to consolidate those thoughts.


    "Do you know of any way to solve this curse of mine?" asked Aiden, knowing that there weren''t a lot of chances of that being the case.


    However, he still didn''t give up on this opportunity as he knew that it was probably his only chance to have it removed.


    "I don''t, well I might have an idea, but there''s no way that I can pull it off. I''m simply not strong enough," said Melinda, one of the strongest people in this world.


    If she wasn''t strong then who was?


    That was the thought that instantly appeared in Aiden''s mind, as he couldn''t imagine another person more fit for the job than her.


    ''Well seems like I''ll never be able to get rid of those chains,'' thought Aiden, starting to feel somewhat bad as he knew that he wouldn''t be able to solve his problem this quickly.


    In fact, he wasn''t sure if he would be able to get rid of those chains.


    However, while Aiden was thinking all of this, Melinda''s mind was also somewhere elsepletely.


    ''Maybe I could present Aiden to them? They might be able to fix this thing,'' thought Melinda, having in mind a certain group.


    But the more she thought about it, the more she was unsure as she knew that if she presented to that group then Aiden would be in trouble, well he wouldn''t be as safe as before.


    "Alright, then I guess there''s no choice then, I''ll just try to find a way by myselfter on," finally uttered Aiden after taking in that he wouldn''t be getting rid of those chains today.


    ''Well, whoever cursed me in the Nightshade Family, better get prepared because I will soon be cutting their head,'' thought Aiden, as he gritted his teeth in pure frustration.


    Just who had done such a thing?


    Who could be strong enough to put a curse that even the head of a founding family wasn''t able to remove?


    The more Aiden thought about it, the more he thought about it, the more he found it weird as there was literally no one that appeared in his mind that would be able to do such a thing.


    Well, there was no person, but there was an entity who could potentially be able to curse someone so strongly and that entity was always roaming around with Aiden, well not only him. It was roaming around with all the people who had awakened.


    Yes, he had gotten an idea that maybe it was the system which was behind this whole thing.


    Nheless, even if Aiden wanted to know about it there would be no answering from the system.


    Still, he didn''t take any chances and asked, however, there was absolutely no beeping sound or any mechanical voice to answer him, it seemed that the System would be silent this time which didn''t surprise Aiden one bit.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    "Now, I guess it''s my turn to continue with my questions, right?" asked Melinda, remembering that she still wanted to receive some answers about Aiden''s past.


    Aiden hearing this simply nodded his head as he remembered that he had asked for only one of his questions to be answered at the moment. However, he would soon be asking something else.


    "Then, how did you be this strong, this fast?"

 Chapter 246 246 - Class?

    Chapter 246  246 - ss?


    "Well it wasn''t too hard," responded Aiden simply telling the truth as it really wasn''t that hard.


    He had only participated in three trials and he was already this powerful, only the future would be able to tell how much stronger he would get in the trials that were toe.


    He also had so many things to do after finishing this talk. The first would be to either jump in another trial or use his [Otherwordly Teleportation], his new system function.


    There were other things for him to do, but to do those Aiden would still need strength, there was no other choice.


    However, Melinda who just heard Aiden''s answer didn''t seem to be of the same opinion as she seemed mad almost angry at Aiden.


    "It wasn''t too hard? Do you even know how many people reach your level of strength? Do you know how many people simply give up or lose everything while challenging the trials?" she said her tone getting louder and louder which was starting to put a lot of pressure on Aiden.


    Aiden hearing all of this couldn''t help but be surprised as he had obviously not thought of all those things, however, he had simply said the truth. It really hadn''t been that bad.


    "Well, I don''t know about them, but you asked about me and how I became strong and I''m telling you that it wasn''t that hard, sorry if it upsets you," uttered Aiden, making sure that he wouldn''t be too rough with her.


    He wasn''t sure what led to such a strong reaction out of her, but he wasn''t lying sure he had trained hard, but overall it really hadn''t been that bad.


    Sure, he had quite a big advantage with his past as an assassin, but it was still not that much of a difference except for the three skills that he started with.


    "Then how did it go, what was your second trial like?" asked Melinda as she already knew what he had done in the third one and the first one was basically a tutorial, so Melinda wasn''t that interested in it if she were honest.


    However, hearing that question, a little bit of sweat started to appear on Aiden''s face as he knew that it was a touchy subject and a big one at that since it was rted to one of his other secrets, the fact that he didn''t even hold a ss.


    Aiden had to admit that he hadn''t gotten any news about getting ess to other restricted ss skills in a long time. He wanted to have skills which belonged to other sses, but it seemed that it wasn''t meant to be as the system wasn''t offering anything anymore.


    Well, it wasn''t like he had gotten a lot of opportunities to do so, with the tournament and his training, but still, he remembered how it had first happened, his second trial how he had gotten summoned to it.


    And having all those memories flow back into his mind, Aiden couldn''t help but doubt about telling Melinda.


    Thinking about it, the best option right now was to probably keep things to himself as he didn''t want to reveal another secret to Melinda like that, especially since it was rted to the system.


    Aiden didn''t what sort of knowledge she had which is why he decided to be careful about what he revealed when concerning the system.


    Who knows? Maybe not having a ss wasn''t something that was unique and others before Aiden had such a situation.


    There were so many things that Aiden ignored and he didn''t want to risk it right now.


    Who knew if he said something confidential just likest time with the hidden body potential, he remembered the expression on Melinda''s face and it hadn''t been a nice one.


    "My second trial, it went well. I had to incarnate an assassin and defeat the enemy kingdom," said Aiden, not giving her too much detail.


    "An assassin, huh? You were lucky since that''s pretty much your ss, right?" she asked, actually wondering what ss Aiden was holding.


    She had, after all, never asked him as she truly believed that he was an assassin from how he moved and acted in general, it simply seemed the obvious choice.


    ''Why isn''t he talking? Was that really such aplicated question?'' thought Melinda, unsure why Aiden was silent over such a question.


    All he had to answer was a simple and firm "Yes."n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    However, it seemed that Aiden had somewhat frozen when asked this question as he believed that Melinda was getting closer to another one of his secrets.


    Nheless, his frozen state wasn''t long at all as he only stayed in ce for a second or two before opening his mouth once again.


    "Yes, I really was, ahaha," said Aiden as he startedughing quite awkwardly which was immediately picked up by Melinda.


    "Are you okay? Why are you acting like that?" she asked, seeing that he wasn''t in the best of states.


    Then, not wanting to answer that question, Aiden changed the subject, however, how he had done wasn''t subtle at all and it was quite apparent that he wasn''tfortable with that subject which made Melinda even more curious.


    ''Just what''s his ss?'' thought Melinda, kind of guessing that it wasn''t an assassin from Aiden''s reaction.


    "I think it''s my turn to ask questions, right?" he said, changing the subject instantly.


    He knew that if it continued on that path he would be revealing that he didn''t have a ss, well he wouldn''t reveal it, but from his mannerism, Melinda would have been able to guess.


    ''Well, I guess I won''t press him, I will discover what it is at one point either way,'' thought Melinda as she knew that it would at one point be known information for everyone in the world since Aiden was so talented and known.


    Well, he was known under his nickname but it was still him under that mask.


    Then, it was time for Aiden to ask a question and he decided to ask the same question as he had done previously when he had first met her.

 Chapter 247 247 - Systems Origin

    Chapter 247  247 - System''s Origin


    He was about to ask the same question that he had asked when he had first met her, the question which had been on his mind ever since he arrived.


    A question which he desperately wanted an answer to, however, no matter how much he tried to get it no one was able to give it to him it seemed.


    It seemed to be the biggest secret that everyone held, well for those who knew because it was clear that many ignored the truth.


    Aiden didn''t know why, but from his interactions with the system, he knew that there was something deeply wrong with it.


    He was sure that it wasn''t a machine or an algorithm.


    "Yeah, go ahead and ask me whatever you want," Melinda replied, looking at him, quite annoyed because she had wanted to know about his ss since it seemed to be quite an important subject.


    Aiden hearing that had a little smile appear on the corner of his face. He liked the words that she had used.


    ''Whatever I want, huh?'' Aiden thought, knowing that she could go back on her words, but it was less likely since she had said that.


    "Anything I want, right?" asked Aiden a second time still with a smile on his face.


    Melinda seeing this had a weird feeling as she decided to make things clear.


    "I want to make it clear, so you can''t ask for anything sexual alright," Melinda said while having a big grin on her face.


    Seeing that grin, Aiden instantly understood that she was joking when she said that and that she knew that Aiden would never be the type to ask such a thing.


    But, even if he knew that, he couldn''t but have pink cheeks because of how embarrassing thatment was in the first ce.


    How old was she?


    Maybe twenty, fifty, or even one hundred years old.


    As much as Aiden wanted to find out about her age, he wouldn''t use his question on that since he was about to ask something much more important.


    "Melinda this time you have to answer, alright," Aiden repeated looking at her directly in the eyes.


    He wanted to show her that he was extremely serious about what was happening right now.


    He wasn''t joking at all.


    "The system, where does ite from, who created it?" Aiden asked as he was now sure that the system wasn''t an entity controlled by a machine or something like that.


    If Aiden had been able to make a deal with it, then it had to mean that there was someone or maybe a group that was behind it.


    However, because of how Aidencked strength, even if he desperately wanted information about that group or person, it was simply impossible.


    There was simply no way for him to know, his only chance was right in front of him and her name was Melinda.


    "Again with that question, huh?" she responded jokingly, seemingly not bing serious nor angry.


    She still kept the same face as earlier.


    ''Please tell me the truth and not some bullshit lie,'' Aiden thought, unsure if she was about to tell the truth.


    It would be simple for her to lie since there was literally no way for Aiden to know about it, she was the best enchantress in the world, after all.


    Could Aiden even demand answers from her?


    The answer to that question was quite simple actually, no.


    There was simply no way for him to beat Melinda who had much higher stats than him.


    Maybe he would be able to do it in the future, but as of right now with the strength that he had umted in the past months.


    It wasn''t possible, not possible at all.


    So, Aiden could only do a single thing, hope.


    "If you want me to answer that question, you will need the reason as to why you want to know who created the system or whatever you just said," Melinda said, wanting more information as to why Aiden was so interested in it.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    The system was giving him strength, so why was he so worried about its ownership?


    Aiden hearing her, had no choice but to nod.


    He agreed that he should at least give some details about his request.


    However, there was no chance of him revealing that he came from another world and that was his second chance at life.


    Why would he even do that, when there was a better option, lying? Well... he wasn''t about topletely lie.


    "It''s because I find it weird that such a thing even exists in the first ce, where does ite from? Where do those worlds that we get trials ine from? Are they real worlds or worlds purely created by the system? There are so many questions in my mind that I don''t have answers to, so please answer the one I just said. Please," Aiden uttered, as he got on his knees begging for an answer.


    However, even while doing it, he wondered if it would be enough.


    "So, you only want to know who is behind the system, right?" Melinda asked, impressed that Aiden had figured it out.


    Aiden hearing this, nodded his head up and down repeatedly.


    The other questions that he had just mentioned were also on his mind, but he didn''t think that they were as important as knowing the name of the entity that was controlling the system.


    "I do, I only want to know about that," Aiden answered.


    Then, as he said that, he thought of something.


    ''I''ll just find out about the other answers by myself.''


    Aiden wasn''t stupid, he knew that there was no way that Melinda would answer all of his questions.


    However, if he could only get a small hint on who was behind this system, then it would surely help a lot as he would learn about who to ask those questions.


    "But, I will make it clear that this is thest question that I will be answering," Melinda said as she remembered her first conversation with Aiden.

 Chapter 248 248 - Lumithars

    Chapter 248  248 - Lumithars


    ''Well, it makes sense,'' Aiden thought, as he knew that this was probably a really sensible subject and that she couldn''t say much about it.


    To be honest, Aiden was starting to get impatient as he wondered who could have the power to organize such aplicated system.


    It hadn''t taken a long time for Aiden to notice that something was wrong with the system as it kept answering him directly as if he was some sort of AI or something of the sort.


    Seeing that Aiden hadn''t said anything, Melinda understood that he had agreed with what she had just said which is why she started exining the origin of the system.


    "The people who created the system can be counted on one hand and no one except us, the founding families heads know about them."


    Instead of being shocked, Aiden stayed focused as she waited for her to continue.


    What she had just said was so interesting which is why Aiden continued listening, not saying anything.


    "I can''t tell you too much about them, but I will tell you one thing. You remember what I said about the hidden body potential, right?" she asked, wanting to see the reaction that he would be having.


    Aiden hearing this, nodded his head, remembering something about reaching a higher ne or reaching a ce beyond this world.


    However, at the time, he hadn''t thought much about it because he hadn''t understood what she meant by that.


    "I do, what about it?" Aiden asked back, wondering where she would go with this.


    "Well, the people who have created this system and the ones who are controlling it behind the scenes are beings who do not belong to this world anymore. They are beings which have reached a higher ne like I mentioned before," she said with a grin on her face.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    She knew that Aiden would be extremely shocked by that information since he was also someone who had that potential.


    He was also someone who had the opportunity to reach a higher ce since he was also a holder of this "hidden body potential".


    Also, now that Melinda had just said that, Aiden realized why having such potential was so important.


    Based on the information that he had just received, it meant that he would be able to leave this world at one point and reach the ce where those who created the system are.


    Then, as Aiden thought that she was finished, Melinda continued talking and Aiden still listened as if his life depended on it.


    "Those people which have made the system which most people in this world has awakened are also not even considered special where theye from, in fact, they are considered weak," Melinda exined, wanting to see how Aiden would react faced with such information.


    She knew that he was obsessed with getting stronger, and she wondered what his reaction would be when he learned such a thing.


    However, instead of saying something out loud, it seemed that Aiden was thinking. He was thinking deeply.


    ''But, is such a thing even possible, are we insects in those people''s eyes,'' he thought, a little offended by that thought.


    Aiden had never thought of himself like that.


    He knew that he wasn''t an insect, or at least, he knew that he wouldn''t be one in the future.


    Then, after a few moments of silence, Aiden asked another question which was rted to the subject.


    He knew that Melinda didn''t have to respond to it, but he hoped that she would do so as it would simply help him in the long run considering the other questions that he had on his mind.


    "Who are those people? Do they have a name?" Aiden asked.


    Then, with great surprise, Melinda didn''t refuse to respond to that question. In fact, she seemed pleased by it.


    It was as if she had wanted Aiden to ask such a thing, it was quite weird if he were to bepletely honest.


    "They do, actually, however maybe I misspoke earlier, but you can''t consider them "people" or rather humans because as I said they are beings who aren''t like us at all. They are beings which have evolved to a stage which is much higher than ours."


    "Because they have evolved from whatever race they were once a part of, they have a name. Well, actually it''s the name of their race, the Lumithars."


    Hearing that name, Aiden couldn''t help but reveal a smile.


    ''What sort of shitty name is this?'' he thought.


    What did it even mean?


    ''If they''re so smart why didn''t theye up with a better name.''


    Then, as he thought of all that, he noticed that Melinda had stopped talking, it seemed that Aiden''s question had been answered as he now knew that there was the system was a creation of some race named the Lumithars.


    A race which wasn''t known to anyone except the founding families'' heads.


    "I guess that responds to your question, right?" Melinda asked, seeing that Aiden was still silent not saying anything.


    Aiden nodded and it was now time for Melinda to ask a question.


    Also, it looked like Melinda had a really good idea of what question to ask as she had a gigantic smile on her face.


    However, before she could ask it, Aiden said something which made a lot of sense.


    "Since I can''t ask you any other questions, you will only be able to ask onest question."


    Melinda hearing that didn''t seem to mind it as she only had a single question on her mind and it was rted to Aiden''s ss.


    "I don''t mind it," she said with a smile on her face, patiently waiting to ask her question.


    Then, seeing that Aiden was ready she decided to warm him a little beforehand.


    "Keep in mind that you better not lie to me while answering or I will know about it," she said while looking at him directly in the eyespletely serious.


    ''Well, it''s not like I can hide stuff from you,'' Aiden thought as he knew that if Melinda wanted she would be able to know everything about him.

 Chapter 249 249 - Class

    Chapter 249  249 - ss


    She was after all one of the strongest people in this world which was based on what she had previously not that impressive if some race named, the Lumithars had been able to create the system that they were currently using.


    "So, Aiden," she said, the tone of her voice bing extremely serious as she looked right into Aiden''s eyes in a threatening manner. "What ss did you get when you awakened two or three months ago?"


    She knew based on his earlier reaction that this must be a big deal as he kept trying his best to dodge this question.


    He knew that he couldn''t really hide anything from Melinda since she could basically do whatever she wanted to him which was why whenever she had brought up the subject, he tried to talk about something else in the hopes that she would forget.


    However, atst, it seemed that it wasn''t the case and that Aiden was essentially doomed to answer her yet another question.


    "My ss..." Aiden said, sounding extremely hesitant.


    However, as much as he wanted to keep that answer for himself, he knew that Melinda wanted to know and that she would be putting pressure on him to respond and it''s not like giving her that answer would change his life, Maelis knew about it too.


    "Actually, a more urate question would be, why is it that I don''t have a ss," Aiden uttered looking at Melinda''s face wanting to see her reaction.


    However, looking at it, it seemed that there were two options. Either she hadn''t understood his response which would be surprising since it was so clear what his response meant or she was too stunned to speak.


    If Aiden had to bet on one of the two, it would be the second option.


    Then, a few secondster, it seemed that she was back as she finally opened her mouth, saying something back.


    "You have no ss?" she mumbled, slowly word by word.


    It seemed that this information was simply too much for her to take in as things were starting to pile up.


    Everything about the young man was remotely normal which was extremely annoying to deal with.


    Everything that she thought she knew about the awakened world started to change every time she learned something new about him.


    "God, can''t you have at least one thing that''s normal," she eximed out of nowhere, clearly frustrated over this matter.


    Hearing her say that out of nowhere, a thought appeared inside Aiden''s mind.


    ''Is she jealous of me and my talent?''


    That was the best hypothesis as to why she would be currently having such a huge reaction to what he had just said.


    It made sense for her to be shocked since it was probably the first time she had seen someone without a ss, however, looking at her overall movement, it was certainly weird.


    "Then, what about the skills which are restricted to some sses for example, Enchantress, how do you deal with it?" asked Melinda, trying to anticipate what he would say.


    However, she quickly gave up doing so as she realized something which actually put a smile on her beautiful face.


    ''Wait not having a ss is actually not that great, actually, it''s probably an inconvenient for him, right,'' she thought with a big smile on her face.


    It seemed that knowing that this wasn''t a good thing made Melinda find joy in herself which is certainly quite weird.


    Shouldn''t she be happy that Aiden was having so many good things happen to him, why did she need to be jealous of him?


    Then, Aiden who heard that question was the one who had a smile on his face.


    "I don''t think I said that you could ask other questions," Aiden responded, as he didn''t want to tell her about his interactions with the system as he wasn''t sure what she would have said.


    Melinda hearing that was somewhat angry as she knew that he was right, however, what made her truly angry was that Aiden was clearly not taking her seriously enough.


    Who did he think he was, acting in such a disrespectful way to Melinda, one of the strongest to exist?


    He should scared right now, not confident like he was currently.


    After all, her presence should be enough to make him extremely scared.


    "Just answer me," she responded, frustrated.


    It had been a long time since anyone had refused something that she had asked and she hadn''t expected the one to do so, to be Aiden someone who had only recentlypleted his third trial.


    If she had to guess who would have refused something that she had asked, her bet would have been on Ss since the two of them basically hated one another.


    However, never in a million years would she have expected such a weak person to act so brazenly in front of her.


    ''Should I answer or not?'' He thought, seeing that she had only said those words, not showing off any of her pressure yet.


    However, thinking about it a little more, he realized that she was the one who was in control of this conversation and she had also revealed more information than necessary earlier.


    So, thinking about those things, he realized that maybe it wouldn''t be so bad to tell her about what happened.


    He knew that she was a lot more knowledgeable than Maelis, so maybe she would be able to give him some tips regarding the system since she even knew of the people who were behind it.


    "I can ess skills that are restricted to some sses, however, that function is, at the moment, limited to Assassin-Rted Skills. I can''t learn skills apart from that."


    ''Then, that''s probably why he looks so much like an assassin,'' Melinda thought, realizing that what he had just made a lot of sense.


    However, there was still something that was bugging her, why was it only Assassin-Rted skills?N?v(el)B\\jnn


    Couldn''t it be other skills, what happened for it to be only Assassin-Rted Skills?

 Chapter 250 250 - System

    Chapter 250  250 - System


    "Why is it that you can only use Assassin-Rted Skills?" Melinda asked, right away.


    She wanted to learn more about the fact that he was ssless since that was the first time that she had heard of such a thing happening.


    In fact, just thinking about it a little bit more, she realized that this young man who was in front of her right now was basically limitless if he was able to learn any sort of skills.


    He would be a jack of all trades, capable of doing everything alone, not needing the help of anyone.


    He would be able to be a tank, an assassin, an enchanter, and much more.


    ''This is crazy, just where did this boye from? Just what sort of monster did you let go of, Ss,'' Melinda thought, still not understanding why Ss someone who valued strength above all else would have let go of such a talent.


    Sure, in his past, he might have been talentless, but what had happened for such a thing to happen right now?


    Thinking about his potential, Melinda had no choice but to look at him up and down, analyzing every single part of his body, not missing a single spot.


    "Why...? Well, it wasn''t my choice per se, let''s just say that the system chose for me," Aiden responded, still trying his best to keep as many things as possible hidden.


    If he could, he would rather not reveal anything as it would simply be much better that way since Melinda would have a lot fewer questions for Aiden.


    The only thing that it would do is that Melinda would be less informed about the connection between Aiden and the system and thinking about it was a good thing that she knew as little as possible about it.


    However, even if Aiden prayed not to get asked another question, it seemed that it was inevitable because Melinda didn''t seem in the mood to stop questioning him about it.


    It seemed that what he had just said had sparked an intense interest in her.


    "How did the system choose? How did such a thing even happen?" Melinda asked.


    Aiden knew that he couldn''t refuse to answer, so he simplyplied and decided that he would be telling her everything regarding that subject, however, he wouldn''t reveal anything else even if there were to be consequences.


    Also, the reason as to why he epted telling her was simple, he didn''t think that it would result in something negative for him.


    "It simply contacted me," Aiden said, waiting to see Melinda''s reaction before continuing.


    He wanted to see if it was a big deal or not and looking at Melinda''s initial it seemed to be a really big deal as her eyes were wide open looking at Aiden.


    "I-it contacted you? Are you sure?" She asked, wondering if Aiden wasn''t lying.


    Because she knew what that meant.


    The fact that the system had contacted him this early could mean a lot of things, however, considering his endless talent only a single thought appeared in her mind.


    ''They want to recruit him, they want to make him evolve,'' she thought, knowing that she was right.


    Sometimes the system could contact people, well the Lumithars who are behind it, however, it had never happened before that they had contacted someone who awakened only a couple of months ago.


    Just thinking about Melinda had a lot of difficulty knowing whether or not it was even possible.


    She knew that the Lumithars would sometimes look into this world and liked to see how the system was operating, however, the only people that they had ever contacted were people like Melinda, those who had reached the apex of this world.


    Those who could potentially evolve and leave this world to join another one.


    However, for most of those people, there was always a problem regarding that and that was the hidden body potential which is extremely rare.


    Only those who possess one can reach such heights, so... in a sense Aiden was extremely lucky since it meant that he would be able to reach apletely new world once he became strong enough.


    Maybe that was why the system had made that deal with him, making Aiden unable to harm the system or rather unable to harm the Luminathors.


    "I''m sure, they really did contact me," Aiden repeated.


    ''Well, they contacted me more than once, but you don''t need to know that,'' he thought with a subtle smile appearing on his face.


    Then, as Melinda was about to continue asking questions it seemed that her attention was suddenly toward something else as she looked in front of her, as if reading something out of thin air.


    ''What''s happening to her? Why is she looking so focused?'' thought Aiden, unsure what Melinda was looking at.


    Because of that intense focus, Aiden thought that something was happening behind him which is why he turned around wondering what was happening.


    However, as he did so, he wasn''t able to spot anything, it really was air behind him.


    Then, he thought a little and realized what she was looking at. It was extremely obvious, after all.


    She was looking at her system messages, and it was obvious, the system was currently contacting her which exined extremely well what was happening with her face.


    That focus, the change in her attention, everything was now extremely obvious.


    "Melinda, what''s happening?" asked Aiden, noticing that she was only moving her eyes, reading.


    She wasn''t smiling or anything like that, in fact, there was not even the faintest emotion on her face. It seemed that this message was an extremely important one.


    "Um, Aiden..." she said, locking eyes with him once again.


    Aiden hated when she did that as he could feel that she wasn''t really excited, in fact, it was theplete opposite, she seemed extremely worried.N?v(el)B\\jnn


    Aiden didn''t know what she wanted to say, but it certainly didn''t look all that fun.


    "The system asked me to tell you something actually, it wants..."

 Chapter 251 251 - Secret

    Chapter 251  251 - Secret


    *BEEP*


    ''What''s happening?'' Melinda thought as she heard the beeping sound of the system in her ears.


    Simply by hearing it, he stopped looking at Aiden and focused on the message which had just appeared in front of her.


    It was clear that the system was much more important than the little discussion that Aiden and she were having.


    Melinda knew that which is why she started reading the message that appeared in front of her with great attention.


    ''You need to keep his secret safe,'' Melinda said to herself reading the message from the system, not sure if she was understanding correctly what was happening.


    Were they asking her to keep the fact that he was without a ss a secret or the fact that he was from the Nightshade Family?


    Then, the system that had, by unknown ways, understood her thoughts made another message in front of her.


    [Keep his existence safe for the future.]


    That was the next message which had appeared in front of her, and this message shocked Melinda greatly.


    ''Why are they putting so much importance on such a young man,'' Melinda thought, not understanding why the Lumithars who were clearly behind this intervention were putting so much importance on Aiden.


    Melinda simply couldn''t grasp why Aiden was so important to them. She knew that he was talented, but was that really the only thing that was making them so interested in the young man?


    There had to be something else because talent wouldn''t make them act this way, she knew about it firsthand.


    Then, another message appeared in front of her, it seemed that the system wasn''t done just yet.


    [If you reveal his existence to anyone then there will be consequences.]


    Reading that threat, Melinda had a shiver run up her spine as she knew that the threats they gave were real since she had seen people receive them and she knew that they weren''t nice at all.


    ''But, please answer me, why are you putting so much importance onto such a young man?'' Melinda asked the system in her mind, wanting an answer.


    However, she couldn''t help but be frustrated when she saw the type of answer that she had gotten.


    It was disappointing, to say the least.


    [You are not qualified to know of this information.]


    [Also, Melinda, please tell the young man in front of you a message whiches from us. "We''ll be waiting for you." Please tell him that.]


    Then, as she read that, she heard the voice of Aiden, calling her back to reality since she seemed to be away, well mentally.


    Hearing her name, she came out of her stupor as she looked at Aiden directly, knowing that she needed to tell Aiden something.


    However, that wasn''t the only thing that she had understood in this conversation with the system. She now understood that she couldn''t hurt that little guy or else there would be great consequences.


    "The system asked me to tell you something, well the Lumithars but you can probably guess that already. It wants to tell you that they will be waiting for you," Melinda said as she showed that she was somewhat nervous while saying that.


    It wasn''t really because of what she needed to say, it was a lot more rted to the threats that she had received from the system, she knew that she needed to be careful of the actions that she took around Aiden because of that.


    She didn''t to lose her awakened powers or something like that because she revealed some of his secrets to her rtives, it simply made no sense.


    Also, the message that they had asked to pass on to him was quite explicit in its underlying meaning.


    It was clear that they were essentially saying that there was no doubt in their minds that he would be evolving sooner orter, it didn''t matter when. They simply knew that he would do so.


    ''They''re waiting for me?'' Aiden thought, somewhat confused, however, he couldn''t but smile hearing it.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    He didn''t know why, but the feeling of being acknowledged by people a lot stronger than him was a feeling that he deeply approved of.


    "Did they say why they were waiting for me?" Aiden asked, wondering about it.


    Hearing that question from Aiden, Melinda simply rolled her eyes as she knew that it was extremely obvious why they were waiting for him.


    They probably wanted to put his talent to good use, that was the only thing that they could potentially be waiting for.


    Melinda hadn''t had many interactions with the Lumithars, but every time that she had done so, there was only a single thought that woulde to her mind when she saw one.


    And that thought was essentially a single-word "Powerful".


    Every time that she had been able to get a nce at them, that was the impression that they would be leaving her.


    They simply looked powerful.


    And she hadn''t even seen them for real, only through a screen, so she couldn''t even begin to imagine the pressure that they were emitting consistently around them.


    Melinda simply couldn''t imagine living around them.


    "They didn''t say, but you can probably guess why," Melinda finally responded to Aiden.


    Aiden hearing her say that made use of his brain and easily came to the same conclusion as Melinda.


    However, that wasn''t the most important part of this interaction with the system.


    The most important part of this interaction is simple, it was that Aiden ignores that Melinda needs to hide his identity, which is more like keeping it a secret.


    Aiden ignored itpletely.


    Then, after a few seconds of pure silence, Melinda started speaking as she didn''t like the awkward atmosphere that was forming at the moment.


    "So, what are you going to do, now that this training is done?" Melinda asked, wondering what would be happening.


    Then, Aiden faced with such a good question didn''t have an immediate answer as he needed to think for a little bit about the options that he had for the moment.


    ***


    Please read the Author''s Note

 Chapter 252 252 - Skills Slots

    Chapter 252  252 - Skills Slots


    ''What can I do next?'' he thought, knowing that he had a lot of different options at the moment.


    He had the possibility of going back to one of the worlds that he had visited in the past for a whole month, he had the possibility of doing the fourth challenge which would potentially be the thing that would make him progress the most in terms of strength.


    However, thinking about it a little, he wasn''t sure if he wanted to enter the fourth trial right away.


    He hade out of one not too long ago and he also knew that Thorin, the cksmith, would soon be sending over the dagger and the equipment that he had requested because he had won the tournament.


    ''Still, I guess doing the fourth trial would be the best choice,'' Aiden thought as he knew that the rest could clearly wait.


    It wasn''t like he wanted to go back and see Mia right away. He knew that she wasn''t even waiting for him since from her point of view, she had no idea that he was from another world.


    In her mind, Aiden was simply the king''s assassin and he hadn''t disappeared at all.


    In fact, Aiden couldn''t help but wonder if something happened between the two of them now that he had given back the body of the king''s assassin.


    He didn''t know how the assassin had reacted and he wasn''t sure he wanted to know since he had done many things with Mia.


    She was his first time, after all.


    Maybe she had done something weird to him, thinking that it was Aiden.


    However, all of those were pure assumptions, Aiden had basically no idea at all about what happened which was one of the reasons why he wanted to go back.


    If he were to be honest, if he came back and saw Mia with another man, he would be really jealous since in his mind she belonged to him even if he hadn''t been in his body at the time.


    And Aiden would have the exact same reaction if such a thing were to happen to Emma or Olivia.


    ''Wait Olivia? Why do I care about her, I don''t even know her that much,'' Aiden thought, realizing that he was slowly but surely giving some importance to the girl that he had met at the Inter Family Tournament.


    He knew that she was outgoing, however, he hadn''t expected her name toe to his mind when thinking about people that he held dear since they were in such small numbers.


    Thinking about all the people that he held dear, a small list appeared in his mind and on it multiple familiar names could be seen.


    However, just like it was previously mentioned, the list was short... extremely short as there were only four names on it.


    At the top of the list, there was the name of Emma, followed by the name of Mia, then there was Maelis, then it was Olivia.


    Sure, Olivia had gotten important for him out of nowhere, however, she was still at the bottom of the list.


    Still, the aplishment of being on the list was incredible.


    Then, realizing that he had gotten away from what he needed to think about, he started to think about his options once again.


    This time, something had changed as he knew that those people who were on the list only wanted the best for him which is why he knew that he could always go see them again in the future and that for the moment, the one thing which mattered was simple.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    He needed to get stronger and the easiest way to do so wasn''t by training, it was by participating in a trial and performing well inside it.


    That was the key to getting stronger and all the awakened in the world knew about it as it was the mostmon method.


    Sure, having little training camps just like the one that Aiden had just gone through was nice.


    However, it simply couldn''t rece a trial.


    Then, after a couple of minutes of silence, he finally opened his mouth and removed the awkward silence that Melinda was feeling.


    She had noticed that he had been thinking deeply, clearly trying to give her the most appropriate answer, however, it was starting to get a little bit long if he were to bepletely honest.


    "I will be doing my fourth trial," Aiden said as he heard a beeping sound in his mind.


    It seemed that it was now the turn of Aiden to get talked to.


    *BEEP*


    [For your fourth trial, the system gives you the opportunity to unlock skills which are rted to the Enchantress ss.]


    [The same conditions as the first time this happened will be applied once again which means that you will need to participate in your trial alone.]


    Then, as Aiden tried reading those messages from the system he heard the voice of Melinda in the back asking him some questions about his fourth trial.


    However, it probably wasn''t anything important as Aiden basically dismissed her voicepletely focusing on whatever was happening in front of him.


    ''I guess it was time for me to learn new skills, huh?'' he thought quite happy that he would now be learning skills rted to enchanting people since his Charm was honestly quite high.


    Then, as he thought that everything was over and that he would soon be leaving for his next trial, he heard another beeping sound in his mind.


    *BEEP*


    [You will now have ten skills slots instead of five.]


    Reading that, a strange expression appeared on Aiden''s face which reflected a lot of confusion.


    ''Is that normal or is it another thing that the system is giving to me,'' thought Aiden, unsure if it was normal that he was receiving other advantages over the others.


    Then, he looked up, thinking that he could maybe ask Melinda if this was a thing.


    However, he quickly decided against it as he had already told her enough about him, so he didn''t want her to know anything else about him since Aiden had no idea if he could trust her yet.


    ***


    Please read the Author''s Note

 Chapter 253 253 - Change

    Chapter 253  253 - Change


    Then as he opened his system, he made sure to verify that he really had gotten more skillslots and he couldn''t but be pleasantly surprised that it actually was the case.


    He knew that the skills which he had either learned or created weren''t counted in those, but it was still nice to see that he would be able to learn a lot more skills which would as a result make him a lot stronger.


    Then, as he closed his system once again, he heard a beeping sound from the system.


    *BEEP*


    Hearing that noise, Aiden was already expecting what he would be receiving and without much surprise he was right, it seemed that the system or rather the Lumithars wanted to see him do his fourth trial right now.


    [You will be summoned to the Waiting Room in two minutes.]


    Reading that message, Aiden had no choice but to inform Melinda that he would be disappearing right about now.


    "It seems that the system contacted me once again," Aiden uttered out of nowhere.


    Melinda who was seemingly distracted heard this and immediately became extremely confused over this whole matter.


    She knew that the system was holding him high, but for them to contact him right after she had delivered their message, she had to admit that it was quite weird even if she knew that Aiden was insanely talented.


    However, if she found the situation weird, she kept her mouth shut as she knew that she had no ce in doubting the system''s choices and that she simply needed to follow them or else there would obviously be consequences.


    "I''ll be summoned for my fourth trial in around one minute, so I guess you''ll need to keep my dagger and the rest of my rewards from the Inter Family Tournament safe for when Ie back," Aiden continued, still thinking about Thorin, the cksmith who was doing who knows what at the moment.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    Then, as he finished that sentence he heard another beeping sound inside his mind.


    *BEEP*


    [You will be summoned in thirty seconds.]


    Seeing this, Aiden made sure that he had everything for the trial ready as he looked at his equipment and all that stuff as he wasn''t sure how this fourth trial would be proceeding.


    Then, as the time started to go down, Melinda seemed to realize something as she looked toward Aiden extremely worried about this whole thing.


    "Wait, did you just say the fourth trial?" she muttered, having a sudden thought.


    The way in which she had just uttered that was quite worrying for Aiden who started seeing the timer in front of him go down second by second.


    There were now only 10 seconds as Melinda started speaking insanely fast, trying to give Aiden all the information that he would need for the trial.


    "The fourth trial isn''t like the rest of the trials that you did before, you won''t be incarnating anyone. You will actually have to build a reputation in the world in which you will be arriving. Try to get the attention from the strongest over there and don''t get in..."


    Then, before she could finish everything that she had to say, she noticed that Aiden had started turning into particles which meant that he wouldn''t be able to hear her either way as he wasn''t even in Nova anymore.


    He was in the waiting room, a room specially created by the system which Aiden had visited a few times.


    However, who knew if that information would be useful as Aiden wasn''t like her, he knew that this trial would be a special one given by the system which would be rted to the ss which is Enchanter.


    He didn''t know how he would perform as one since he had never done something like that in the past, however, he couldn''t help but imagine it and he had to admit that it was going to be quite different, not acting like some person who needs to hide all those secrets.


    ''So, I won''t y a role this time, huh?'' Aiden thought, feeling joy while feeling disappointment as he knew that he would have to be himself this time.


    He remembered thest trial where he had been able to feel what it was like to be the strongest and thest time well he had simply incarnated an assassin which wasn''t that different from his usual self.


    Then, as he looked around in that white room which was without any decorations or anything for that matter except white walls which blinded his eyes.


    "I guess, it won''t be so bad. But, wait if I don''t need to incarnate into someone, couldn''t I simply continue being an assassin and finish the trial this way," Aiden muttered, realizing that maybe it would be an actual option.


    However, as he finished saying that he heard a beeping sound once again.


    *BEEP*


    [You will not be able to do that.]


    Aiden reading this couldn''t help but show a faint smile as he realized that the system was able to know what he was thinking of and he also realized that the Lumithars as Melinda called them were here with him right now watching his every move.


    Then, another message quickly appeared in front of him, showing him that the trial would soon be starting.


    However, that wasn''t the only thing that he was able to understand about this message, it seemed that Melinda hadn''t lied, there would be a change this fourth trial, but it seemed that it wasn''tpletely like she had said.


    [For this trial, you won''t be incarnating something or rather stealing someone else''s body. You will need to prove your skills by yourself, by achieving something called <Reputation> which will be the currency for you to buy rewards at the end of this trial.]


    [This fourth trial won''t be anything like you experienced before as there won''t be an actual enemy that you will need to beat. The only enemy that you will face is yourself.]

 Chapter 254 254 - Conditions

    Chapter 254  254 - Conditions


    ''Myself?'' Aiden thought, unsure about what it meant as the system had stopped that sentence right there not adding anything else.


    Aiden then couldn''t help but remove that thought from his mind, always asking himself what would be happening inside the trial.


    In what way would he be fighting himself, that was the question which Aiden couldn''t get rid of.


    Then, as he thought about it for a few minutes, he realized that the trial didn''t seem to be anywhere close to starting as he couldn''t hear that beeping no matter how hard he was trying to hear it and go inside the trial.


    It seemed that the system wasn''t done with him yet or else why would he still be stuck here, doing absolutely nothing at all?


    After noticing that he couldn''t go inside the trial, he decided to ask the system what was happening, and he got quite a simple answer.


    *BEEP*


    [We are not ready yet.]


    Seeing that message, Aiden couldn''t help but be stunned by the word which they had just used, ''we''.


    The fact that they had used such a word made it painfully obvious that there really was a group behind that system.


    It seemed that Melinda hadn''t lied about him about this whole thing earlier.


    Aiden hadn''t been sure if she had said the truth or not, however, now he seemed to be quite sure about this whole thing.


    Even if it wasn''t one hundred percent sure, Aiden was now almost assured that she had told the truth and thinking about it, Aiden wasn''t able to find a single good reason to lie about it.


    "And what the hell do you mean by ''you''re not ready''," Aiden eximed, not understanding how such a thing was even possible in the first ce.


    Aiden knew that it was the system which had brought them here, so it simply made sense for it to be ready for him to join the trial as soon as he appeared here.


    However, it seemed that there was some sort of dy which Aidenpletely ignored and to be quite frank it was quite funny thinking about it.


    The system was now the one that wasn''t able to keep up with Aiden at the moment.


    Having that thought, Aiden revealed a shortughter, however, it died just as fast as it had appeared.


    Then, as he finished that smallughter, he received a beeping sound without much surprise.


    It seemed that Aiden mocking them had elerated whatever procedure or problem they were going through which wasn''t necessarily a bad thing.


    It simply meant that Aiden would have the chance to learn about the Trial Objective faster, and by knowing about it earlier, he would be able to finally find an answer to the question he had gotten earlier.


    Just why would he have to fight against himself?


    That was the answer that he would soon be getting from the system as he read the message that just appeared in front of him.


    [The world in which you will go is now ready and to give you some help we will describe the situation in which you will be when you arrive. You will not bepletely homeless or something like that, you will be arriving as a vagabond from somewhere really far away.]


    [Also, when arriving in the city, the first thing that you will need to do to gain <Reputation> is simple. You will need to open a shop where you will be selling either services or things rted to the ss which is Enchanting. If you don''t respect this rule, you will fail the trial.]


    [However, do keep in mind, that you should be amassing some money before opening your shop and also you will need to learn some things about enchanting stuff, so make sure that you learn about the city that you will be entering. You will have one full month to prepare for your storeunch.]


    Then, the system took a small break as no other messages appeared in front of him.


    A few secondster, it started once again as Aiden was quite impatient in learning about the <Trial Objective>.


    He knew that it was about to be revealed and he couldn''t help but be excited to learn about it.


    To bepletely honest, when he read that he would need to open a small shop and run some business, a smile appeared on his face as it really seemed like a good idea.


    However, the more that he thought about it, the more he realized that simply running a small shop wouldn''t do as he wouldn''t get stronger while doing so.


    But, then as he had that thought, he heard a beeping sound which announced that the system would once again make multiple messages in front of him.


    [By running your business or shop, you will be getting stronger. However, we won''t be giving you the details.]


    [It is now time to reveal the <Trial Objective>. For this trial, there will be quite a unique condition that hasn''t appeared often in the past, you will have some sort of time limit beforepleting the trial.]


    [Basically, toplete this trial and pass on the next one, you need to amass 100,000 Reputation. However, you will need to do so in a maximum of three months. Nheless, keep in mind that if you reach that objective in less than three months, you will still be continuing your challenge since amassing more Reputation will give you ess to buying more things at the end of the trial.]n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    Then, after Aiden finished reading all those messages, he decided to remind himself of everything that the system had just made appear in front of him.


    "Alright, so I''ll be a vagabond. When I enter I will need to get money and knowledge, then I will need to open a shop and try my best to earn 100,000 Reputation Points."


    ''However, there''s a small problem, how do I gain Reputation Points?'' Aiden thought.

 Chapter 255 255 - Learn Magic

    Chapter 255  255 - Learn Magic


    However, as he asked that question, he got absolutely no answer from the system, it seemed that the system had said everything that it had wanted to, as Aiden heard for onest time a beeping noise in his mind.


    *BEEP*


    [You will be summoned into the trial in thirty seconds.]


    Then as Aiden saw the countdown go down on his right, he made to build a small n in his mind as he had already summarized all of the information previously.


    The most important part of his n was umting knowledge about how enchanting stuff works in that world that was the thing which was making Aiden worried right now.


    He knew that getting money wouldn''t be too hard if he were to offer his service as an assassin, however, that wasn''t the goal of the trial and Aiden had already been notified of it, so he knew that this option was out.


    ''Wait, maybe I could amass money by acting like an assassin at the start. Would that be allowed?'' Aiden asked the system in his mind.


    He wanted to know if he could potentially utilize the strategy that he had juste up with.


    He knew that the chances weren''t that great, however, he still went for it as he wasn''t sure if it counted as not being an enchanter.


    [You can act like an assassin at the start of the trial, however, after you open your shop. You can''t use any of your skills rted to the Assassin ss.]


    It seemed that the system had just added a new rule which made Aiden much weaker from the moment that he would be opening his shop which meant that acquiring knowledge would be even more important now that he knew of this.


    ''How could I get knowledge?'' He thought, as he nced at the timer on his left which was starting to get really low.


    It kept going down, however, it didn''t make Aiden too worried as he knew that he wouldn''t be appearing in some sort of strange situation.


    He was simply a vagabond who came from far away after all.


    Then, there were five seconds left on the timer and Aiden could already feel his body turning into particles.


    After a few moments, his body started reappearing as Aiden once again got used to his sight once again since he had lost it for a short moment while reappearing in this ce.


    Then, as he realized that he really had made it in a new world, Aiden immediately looked down analyzing what he was wearing.


    And as he did so, he confirmed that he really was in his body and not in someone else''s.


    Also, his clothes hadn''t changed at all as he still had the same one as earlier.


    Now, all he needed to do was observe his surroundings and the gigantic city that was just in front of him.


    As he raised his head, he was able to nce at the city which was the one that he would be entering.


    However, it seemed that the city wasn''t without defensive measures as Aiden was able to see gigantic stone ramparts which surrounded it and he could also see some figures roaming on the top of it, going back and forth again and again.


    Nheless, he didn''t worry too much about it as he tried his hardest to nce at what was behind those ramparts, but no matter how much he wanted to see what the interior of the city looked like, he couldn''t.


    This meant that he could only start walking in the city''s direction, he hoped that nothing would go wrong since he was in a trial after all, even if there weren''t any direct enemies, he knew that there would be someplications since he would need to gain a lot of knowledge in theing month.


    Then, he heard a beeping sound and directly focused on what appeared in front of him.


    [3 Months Left until the end of the trial.]


    It seemed that the system hadn''t forgotten to activate the time limit timer, however, it didn''t make Aiden worry at all as he still had so much time to reach 100,000 Reputations Points.


    Then, after giving a quick nce at the countdown on the top right, he continued walking toward the city''s ramparts.


    ''I hope this world is rted to magic or something like that,'' Aiden thought, as he knew that this would be the best-case scenario for him since it would make his task of learning magic a little bit easier.


    Well, the tasks of learning illusions and other things which are rted to that.


    Then, a few minutester, Aiden was right under the ramparts of the city, looking up toward two guards who were on top of them.


    The two guards were at the moment shouting at Aiden.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    "Who are you and why are youing to the Magic City?" One of the guards eximed, seemingly not pleased with Aiden''s arrival.


    ''Why are they talking to me like that?''


    ''And did they just say Magic City, what sort of shitty name is that?'' Aiden thought, unsure as to why someone would name a city that way.


    However, he didn''t think too much about that as he needed to respond to the two guards who were just above him.


    "My name is Aiden, Aiden Nightshade and Ie from far away," Aiden said, feeling somewhat weirded out by actually saying his real name.


    He was so used to hiding it that he had to admit that it was extremely weird for him to reveal it to some random people.


    Well, who cares if it was weird, it felt great to do so.


    "And why are youing to the Magic City?" The guard repeated, seemingly not convinced by what Aiden had just said.


    Right after saying that, Aiden came up with an answer on the spot without thinking for even a moment.


    "To learn magic, isn''t it obvious?"

 Chapter 256 256 - Doubt

    Chapter 256  256 - Doubt


    The guards who just heard what Aiden said simply at each other with clear confusion in their eyes which made a lot of sense since the man who was just in front of the ramparts didn''t look anything like a mage.


    He looked a lot more like a physical fighter as they noticed the dagger that he had in his hands.


    "Are you sure that you areing over to learn magic?" The guard asked clearly unsure if it was actually the case.


    However, as much as Aiden knew how to lie, right now he wasn''t doing that in the least.


    "Yes, I am," Aiden replied, happy that what he hade up with seemed to make sense.


    Thinking back on it, he had to say that he appreciated whoever had named that city that way since that was the reason he had gotten the audacity to say such a thing.


    Also, it made sense that in the Magic City, there was magic.


    "Alright, then wait there for a bit someone wille down and open the gates for you," the guard said as he slowly walked back from the edge of the rampart.


    However, what he had just said confused Aiden a little.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    ''The gates? What is he talking about?'' He questioned to himself.


    All he could see at the moment was a big wall which was made out of stone.


    There was no door or anything that could allow Aiden to enter the Magic City.


    Then, as he waited for a few minutes, he was starting to get quite impatient since he still couldn''t see any signs of that stone wall opening.


    But, as he thought that there was no option at all, the stone wall started to slowly open little by little as if the stone weren''t even real in the first ce.


    As this was happening, Aiden was able to hear a faint voice from the other side of the wall.


    "It won''t be long, you will soon be able to enter."


    That was what Aiden had understood at least, as he couldn''t be sure if that was actually what had been said.


    Then, the stones continued to be removed from the wall as started to form a hole, a quite fancy at that.


    The stones were moving in such a way that an entrance was literally created right in front of Aiden''s eyes.


    ''Yeah no doubt, there''s a lot of people using magic in this city,'' he thought, happy that the system had sent him to the right ce.


    Imagine if he had instead been sent in the middle of nowhere or close to a city where only people using swords existed.


    That would have been literal hell for Aiden and it would have, by the assion, rendered this whole trialpletely impossible.


    Then, the stone stopped moving and there was a full on opening in the ramparts, it seemed that this was the gate that the guard from earlier had talked about.


    Without losing anytime, Aiden started walking forward wanting to enter the city.


    However, before he could do so, one of the guard from earlier appeared in front of him.


    "Where are you going this fast, pay up," the guard said holding one of his hands forward, seemingly waiting for payment.


    This confused Aiden greatly as he couldn''t understand why he needed to pay something right now.


    Normally, he wouldn''t have had any problem paying whatever, but he had no money from this world, so what could he do at the moment except bargaining which was exactly what he had thought of doing.


    "How much is it?" asked Aiden, acting like he was able to the price for the entrance.


    He wanted to learn how much the entrance was before offering something in exchange.


    However, he quickly realized that this n was wed as he had absolutely no idea of the value of this world.


    Nheless, Aiden knew that it probably shouldn''t cost too much money to simply enter a city, that made no sense whatsoever.


    "2 gold coins," the guard replied.


    Aiden simply nodded hearing the price, thinking about something that he could give in exchange.


    ''My clothes? Would that work? No, probably not, then what do I have of value?'' he thought, thinking of all the equipment that he had gotten over the trials.


    And then he remembered the first item that he had gotten from the system, his boots, well they looked more like shoes but the system had called them boots, so they were boots.


    Then, Aiden removed his hands from his pockets as he started bending down reaching for his boots, removing them.


    After doing so, Aiden simply handed them to the guard with a serious look on his face.


    "Here, there you go this should be enough," Aiden said, having no idea if it would actually be enough.


    After all, if the guard refused his arrival then that would be quite annoying since Aiden would basically have to infiltrate the city and by doing so, he might bebeled as a criminal.


    "And what am I supposed to do with those boots?" The guard asked, clearly confused about the item that he had just received as payment.


    It wasn''t the first time that he had received items in exchange, however, they were always weapons, not boots...


    What was he going to do with boots like those, they didn''t even seem in good condition.


    "They can make you go faster," Aiden replied, seeing that the guard didn''t seem quite interested in the boots.


    "And how can you prove that?" The guard replied as he knew that Aiden probably wouldn''t be able to give him an answer that way.


    ''By looking at the information panel given by the system, obviously,'' Aiden said to himself in his mind.


    "Well, don''t you have something around here to verify if I''m telling the truth or not," Aiden asked as he knew that he wasn''t going to talk about the system to the people around him.


    He remembered thest trial after all.

 Chapter 257 257 - Mana

    Chapter 257  257 - Mana


    The guard hearing the tone of confidence in Aiden''s voice was quite confused as he wasn''t sure why he was so confident.


    There was literally no way that those boots were actually useful.


    ''Just look at him, bluffing right until the end,'' the guard thought with a smile on his face.


    He knew that there was no way that these weird-looking boots had any effect.


    "No need to ask you any questions."


    Then, he turned around and shouted to someone not too far from him.


    "Bring the item appraiser."


    After that, he once again turned around and gave a chilling look toward Aiden as a smile appeared on his face.


    "Let''s wait for him to get here, we''ll see if you''re lying or not," the guard said, convinced that Aiden was currently lying.


    In fact, he hoped that would be the case as he would be able to simply turn him around just as fast as he entered the city.


    He just hoped that he could make that nobody pay for making him lose his precious time.


    However, the guard was once more surprised by the confident look that was on Aiden''s face. He seemed extremely confident at the moment.


    And he was rightly so, as he was currently not even lying. So, why should he be feeling stressed even a little?


    "I can wait."


    Then, a few moments,ter the man that the guard had shouted at came back panting.


    It seemed that he had been running to get it ande back as fast as possible which was quite weird since Aiden hadn''t put any pressure on him at the start.


    "Give me that," the guard said as he literally pushed the frail man away, not even caring about his condition.


    ''Why is that guard acting that way, is he some sort of important person?'' Aiden thought, unsure as to why he had permission to be acting this way.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    It simply made no sense at all.


    Aiden, then, started to look around himself, wondering about the reactions of those that were surrounding him and while doing so, he noticed that some of them started to act scared, slowly moving away from that area.


    ''I guess this guy is a bully around here, huh?'' Aiden thought, now understanding why this guard was acting in such a way.


    However, the smile which was on Aiden''s face never left it as he knew that he would be able to prove the man that was in front of him wrong.


    "Alright, now let''s see if you didn''t lie," the guard said convinced that Aiden had lied.


    After all, the story that he had said before simply made no sense.


    He hade here to learn magic?


    Sure, that made sense.


    However, when he said that he hade from far away the guard was confused as he knew that there were so many cities which were close to here.


    So, why didn''t that man simply say that he came from a neighbouring country, it would have made a lot more sense.


    Then, the guard grabbed the boots that Aiden had given him and ced him on the small metallic tform that he had gotten.


    ncing at it, Aiden couldn''t help but be confused as he couldn''t imagine that such a small tform would be able to do anything, however, he still went with it as he wouldn''t be proved wrong.


    ''Wait, what''s happening?'' Aiden thought as he saw that there was some sort of blue aura that was starting to get released from that tform.


    ''Is that mana?''


    Aiden eximed, unsure if that was actually the case.


    "Why are you looking at me like that? Feeling anxious?" The guard continued, trying to put as much as possible onto Aiden.


    However, a few momentster a little bell sound resounded from that metallic tform.


    *DING*


    "Oh seems like it''s done analyzing your item," the guard uttered as a little holographic screen appeared in front of him.


    ''Is that the same thing that the system produces?'' Aiden thought, wondering if that system function came from this world.


    After all, Aiden didn''t believe that the Lumithars had created everything that was rted to the system, they had probably taken some things from the worlds that they were sending to users.


    However, he dismissed those thoughts as he didn''t want to miss the face of the guard.


    And there he saw it, confusion and annoyance, it seemed that this mix of emotions had appeared on that man''s face.


    "So, what''s the result?" Aiden asked, knowing that he would finally be able to enter the Magic City after this whole altercation.


    "You... you were right, those boots can really make you go faster," the guard said clearly unhappy.


    "So, can I go in now?" Aiden asked, wondering if the guard was about to try to pull off something else.


    However, it seemed that it wasn''t the case as the guard simply from Aiden''s way, letting him enter.


    "Yes, you can," the guard replied, clearly unhappy with this whole thing.


    "Oh and before I go, what''s your name," asked Aiden as he took a few steps forward without even looking back.


    He wanted to learn this name by heart so that if Aiden ever crossed his path againpletely alone, he would make him pay.


    However, the method that he would be using to do so was stillpletely unknown.


    "Jack, my name''s Jack," replied the guard as he took a few steps forward.


    ''Jack, huh?'' Aiden thought as he remembered that it was the name of his old mentor.


    Just by hearing this name, Aiden was now a lot more inclined to kill the guard which had just disrespected him deeply.


    How could he not remember the person who had killed him in his past life, just because he had heard that name Aiden startedparing the two in terms of their personality.


    However, he quickly dismissed those thoughts and simply walked right into the Magic City.


    It wasn''t like he was going to kill a guard simply because of a name.

 Chapter 258 258 - Jack

    Chapter 258  258 - Jack


    A few momentster, Aiden was now roaming the streets of the Magic City and he had to admit that most of the things that were surrounding him were incredible.


    Everywhere he looked, he could see something which he had never seen before like how the buildings were made.


    There was no machinery or anything like that, from what Aiden had seen, the materials were simply moving where they were supposed to be, and that was it.


    Seeing that, Aiden was kind of anticipating what he would be able to learn in this world.


    If magic took such an important ce in that world, then Aiden could simply be happy that it was the case since that would make his trial a lot easier.


    ''Alright, so what do I do now?'' Aiden thought as he continued roaming the streets, wondering about where he could go next.


    But then right as he thought of what to do, something appeared in front of him.


    Aiden had no idea what it was since he couldn''t see anything that would closely resemble anything that he had knowledge of.


    Also, the thing which had just appeared in front of him was incredibly small since it didn''t even reach Aiden''s knees.


    ''Is it some sort of creature?'' Wondered Aiden, seeing that the creature wasn''t moving from in front of him.


    That thing was seemingly trying to stop Aiden from advancing in his current direction which was especially annoying.


    Why couldn''t it stop being in Aiden''s way, why did that small creature try to stop Aiden from advancing?


    Then, as all those questions appeared in Aiden''s mind, Aiden heard a feminine voice which wasing from behind him, seemingly talking to him. Well, that was what he had thought at first.


    However, when he heard the name that the girl who was right behind pronounced, he realized that the person was talking to the small beast which was now sitting on Aiden''s feet.


    "What are you doing Sunny?" shouted the girl as she started running in Aiden''s decision.


    Because of that shout which basically came out of nowhere, Aiden turned around seeing the girl advancing toward the small creature at his feet.


    The girl had short ck hair with some weird clothes which were currently hiding her body.


    She had a big white cloth on, which hid any sort of forms from her ass or her melons, so Aiden was only able to look at her face at the moment.


    ''Well, she''s not bad looking,'' Aiden thought seeing her run at him.


    However, he quickly stopped looking at her appearance and instead started focusing on the actions of the small beast on his feet which was acting scared at the moment.


    It was sort of using Aiden as a shield, well his legs as it kept moving in the opposite direction of Aiden.


    "Sunny what are you doing? Come here," the girl said as she kneeled down trying to grab the little monster that was running for her life.


    Then, as the girl understood that she wasn''t going to be able to do anything this way, she looked up right into Aiden''s eyes, pleading for his help.


    Aiden saw that look, but he ignored it instantly as he couldn''t but wonder why a creature would be acting this way toward her master.


    If it was scared of the person currently trying to chase, then Aiden wouldn''t do anything to help that girl as she probably wasn''t a good person.


    After all, animals or any creatures that aren''t that intelligent usually reflect the truth as they do not have a lot of thinking capabilities.


    "Can''t you help me?" asked the girl, this time saying it with her voice and not only looking at Aiden.


    However, Aiden once again said nothing as he continued walking forward without even ncing at the short-haired girl.


    "Sunny!" she shouted, this time the tone in her voice containing deep anger that she had kept hidden before.


    ''Oh, seems like she''s about to reveal her real character,'' Aiden thought as he was sure from the very start that there had been something extremely weird about this whole situation.


    Aiden knew that there was something weird about that creature and that woman, so he simply couldn''t wait to learn that he was actually right.


    Then, right after shouting, the small little which kept trying to dodge away from her master stopped.


    Yes, she stopped right away not moving a single inch which was extremely weird.


    Because the little beast stopped moving, it was now extremely easy for the girl to go and pick it up and as she did so, the short-haired girl couldn''t help but taunt a little Aiden.


    "Well, thanks for nothing," she said as she left from the spot in which Aiden had just been immobile.


    ''Well, that was weird. What''s wrong with the people around here, first the guard, now her, what''s next?''


    Aiden could only hope that not everyone would be acting in such a weird way, there had to be people who were going to be normal, right?


    ''Alright, so NOW, what do I do?'' Aiden thought as he prayed that no one would be getting in his way this time.


    Then, he started observing his surroundings as he knew that he wanted to find a ce where he would be able to learn magic or else he wouldn''t be able to open his shop anytime soon.


    And if he wasn''t able to offer good services when he opened his shop then he would fail the trial which meant that he would die, just like in the rest of all of his trials.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    A few momentster, as he kept roaming the streets ncing at a few people, he noticed that they all seemed to be going in the exact same direction, it seemed that there was something quite interesting happening which is why Aiden also went that way.


    Then, as he followed everyone, he saw a gigantic building which strangely resembled a church, a building which he had seen maybe once in his past life when he roamed the city from far away.

 Chapter 259 259 - Entrance Exam

    Chapter 259  259 - Entrance Exam


    ''What''s a building like that doing in this city?'' Aiden thought as he didn''t take this ce as religious for a single moment.


    Why would they believe in gods or other things like that when they had ess to magic?


    That was also probably the reason why there was no presence of Gods in Nova.


    Well, the founding families'' heads were pretty much treated as gods but that didn''t count at all since they were real people which some lucky people could see daily.


    Then, wondering what this church-looking building was, Aiden decided that he would be going in to check it out.


    "The entrance exam will start in fifteen minutes, make sure to sign up as fast as possible!"


    The one who had just shouted that was a small little madam who was at the top of the stairs, right behind her was the beautiful church.


    ''Entrance exam?'' Aiden thought as he hadn''t expected to hear such a word.


    He had often heard peoplein about school tests and stuff like that watching the television back on Earth, so he had a small idea of what those entrance exams were like.


    However, as he thought a little bit more about it, he realized something which made a lot of sense actually¡ªan entrance exam meant that this was a school of some sort.


    If that were to be the case, then Aiden wouldn''t waste any more time and he would be signing up.


    Since the name of this ce was the Magic City, this "academy" would probably be rted to that subject which was exactly was Aiden was trying to find.


    That was his main goal for the first month of being here.


    He wanted to obtain as much knowledge as he possibly could, that was his final goal before opening his shop.


    He also had his subgoal which was to amass as much money as he could to have the funds necessary to open it, however, that was a lot less important if Aiden was to bepletely honest.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    "Where can I even sign up?"


    As he said that, Aiden started looking around himself, trying to find some sort of desk or area responsible for such a task.


    Then, as he did so, he caught the sight of someone with short hair and at that person''s feet, there was the same little creature as earlier.


    ''There''s no way, right?''


    Aiden seeing that there was a person who looked exactly like the one he had seen earlier started walking toward her, wondering if she were attempting to get into this academy or church or whatever it was.


    It was the girl from earlier who was currently standing at the back of a line.


    "What are you doing here?" the girl said before Aiden could even go up to her.


    It seemed that she had noticed his presence when turning around and she hadn''t lost any time as she simply shouted what she had just said out loud.


    Seeing therge number of people who were right behind her waiting, Aiden deduced that this was the ce that he needed to go to get signed up for the entrance exam.


    Then, as soon as Aiden got to the back of the line, the short-haired girl from earlier continued talking to him as she noticed that Aiden had clearly ignored her just now.


    The little creature which had been at the girl''s feet did the same thing as earlier as it started hiding itself behind Aiden''s legs acting scared once again.


    "Sunny, what are you doing, when did I ever mistreat you?" she uttered clearly offuscated by the actions of that small beast.


    ''Well... earlier it did seem like you weren''t the nicest person, so maybe that''s why he''s clinging onto me,'' Aiden thought as he remembered her shouting at the end which had made the small beast unable to move anymore.


    ''Wait, was her shouting earlier some sort of spell or incantation?''


    However, Aiden quickly dismissed that thought as it simply made no sense as she hadn''t shouted anything that resembled an incantation.


    It didn''t affect Aiden in the least as he hadn''t felt anything.


    Seeing that the man in front of her wasn''t saying anything yet again, she continued to pressure him or rather she continued to throw as many insults as she possibly could toward Aiden.


    "Hey, you little fucker, what''s the rank of your core?"


    However, she once again didn''t get any answer from Aiden, but this time it hadn''t been on purpose since Aiden had no idea what she was talking about.


    ''What''s a core?''


    That was the question which had immediately gone to Aiden''s mind.


    "Then, you little bitch, what about your affinity?"


    Still no answer.


    Seeing that the weird man in front of her wasn''t inclined to answer her, she decided that she would do the same as her and simply ignore her.


    "Hmph, if you don''t want to answer then I''ll stop talking to you," she eximed turning around, still without her beast who was still hiding behind Aiden''s legs.


    Then, as she did so, a voice came from the top of the stairs.


    "There are only 10 minutes left to sign up for the annual entrance exam and also please make a line, anyone who tries to double someone will be banished from the Magic Academy establishment."


    ''So it is a Magic Academy,'' Aiden thought, confirming his earlier doubts.


    Now, that he knew that it actually was a Magic Academy, Aiden mustered a beautiful smile on his face as he got extremely serious.


    He needed to get into this ce to learn about the things that the short-haired girl had just mentioned.


    Then, understanding that there were only ten minutes left to sign up, Aiden took a peek at the amount of people that were in this line and noticed that there were ten people in front of him which meant that he would probably have enough time.


    "Hey, I''m sorry about earlier, could you exin to me, what''s an affinity?"

 Chapter 260 260 - Affinity

    Chapter 260  260 - Affinity


    "Y-you don''t know, what''s an affinity?" She uttered barely containing herugh.


    "Are you joking or not right now?"


    While she said that there was a giant smile on her face which was trying to resist the envy tough.


    However, Aiden was truly serious this time and he didn''t understand why he was currently being judged to such a degree.


    ''Is it really that much of amon information?''


    That had to be the case if Aiden were to look at the short-haired girl''s reaction.


    But, was it really necessary for her to mock him in such a way?


    "You want to join the greatest Magic Academy of this world and you don''t what''s an affinity. No, there''s no way that''s truee on tell me the truth," she continued once again thinking that Aiden was making a joke.


    Aiden sighed quite loudly as he was getting openly mocked, clearly tired of her behaviour.


    ''Can''t she just exin it to me, what''s with her reaction?''


    Then, seeing that the man in front of her didn''t seem too pleased by her actions, she decided to change a little as she put a beautiful smile on her face.


    "Um, seems like you weren''t lying, then I''ll exin it to you."


    "An affinity is simply the element that you are the mostpatible with when using Mana, for example, there could be fire, ice, water, earth. However, there are elements that are much rarer than those that I just mentioned which are the mostmon."


    "You see, my affinity is with beasts, I''m a beast tamer."


    While she said thatst sentence, she seemed extremely proud of herself as she pumped her chest which was still being hidden by the weird robe that she was wearing.


    Aiden didn''t bother understanding why she was wearing such weird clothes which were hiding all of her features as he was a lot more interested in what she had just said.


    ''What about my affinity? Do I even have one or is it only for people of this world?'' He thought.


    "How can someone learn about their affinity?"


    Aiden was curious about his, so that was the next most logical question that he had on his mind at the moment.


    Once again, the short-haired girl was on the verge of mocking him, however, she knew that he was extremely serious at the moment which is why she stopped making fun of him so heavily.


    She decided to answer his questions as best as she could since there was no way that someone who ignored such things could be a threat to her during the entrance academy.


    "There is a test that you need to go through, there is usually a ce like this in all medium-sized cities, so it''s a little surprising that you don''t know of its existence."


    Hearing that, Aiden quickly found an excuse.


    "Oh, Ie from far away that''s probably why I don''t know about it."


    He wanted to make sure that he wouldn''t be suspected by her since it would simply bring more trouble toward him.


    He wanted to be as discreet as possible even if he knew that it probably wouldn''t be possible considering that he knew nothing about the world in which he had been transported in.


    ''He''s so stupid, how did he even get here without that knowledge,'' the girl thought, mocking him without Aiden knowing about it.


    Then, as he was about to ask another question, he heard a beeping noise inside his mind.


    [-10 Reputation Points]n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    [Total (RP): -10]


    Seeing this, Aiden couldn''t help but be extremely shocked as he didn''t understand why he had lost those points.


    He didn''t make sense, hadn''t he simply asked some questions, so why was he being penalized at the moment?


    ''Wait is it because my questions were considered stupid by the people who live in this world?''


    He wasn''t sure if that was actually the case, however, that was what he had imagined as he hadn''t gotten any directives on how the Reputations Points were going to work.


    "Where do youe from?"


    That question instantly removed Aiden''s earlier thoughts as he had no idea how to respond to her question.


    He didn''t know of any ces other than this one since he came from Nova and Earth.


    So, how could he possibly name the ce of a city that was around here, it was simply impossible.


    "You probably don''t know about it, so I won''t even bother naming it."


    That was the only usible answer that Aiden had been able toe up with as he knew that he couldn''t take any chances naming somethingpletely random, there was no way that he would be taking that chance.


    "No, I''m pretty sure I probably heard of it, just name it," she insisted, not letting the subject go.


    However, this time, Aiden decided to utilize his strongest technique which he named [Ignore].


    That was a special that he had developed after many years of practice which had the effect of ignoring the person who was in front of him.


    This meant that while this special skill was activated there was no way that Aiden could potentially answer any of those questions.


    Seeing that he wasn''t going to be replying to her questions, she decided that she would also not reply to any of the questions that he might have.


    Then. as she made that choice a soft voice came from behind the short-haired girl.


    "Pleasee here, it''s time for you to be signed up."


    Hearing this, the girl called Sunny who was still hiding behind Aiden''s legs.


    This time, the little beastplied instantly as it seemed to understand that this was an important time.


    Then, another girl which was behind the counter called for Aiden as it seemed that it was also the time for him to sign up and as he walked toward the Registration desk there was only a single thought on his mind.


    ''Please make it so that they won''t ask about my affinity or the core thingy that she talked about earlier.''


    [A/N: The [Ignore] skill is simply a joke, it''s not to be taken seriously. I repeat, it''s a joke and it''s not a skill.]

 Chapter 261 261 - Gold Ranked Core

    Chapter 261  261 - Gold Ranked Core


    "Alright, so first name,st name, affinity, and core rank."


    Those were the first words that he had been asked by simply approaching the counter and he knew only half the answers to those things.


    ''Alright, so how can I lie my way out of this.''


    That was the only thing that Aiden was trying to figure out as he had no idea about his core rank and he had no idea what his affinity was.


    He didn''t know what a core was as he hadn''t gotten the time to ask the other girl about it.


    "My name is Aiden Nightshade and are you simply going to trust my words about the other things, shouldn''t you be testing me right now," Aiden asked, proud of what he had just said.


    He knew that what he had just mustered made a lot of sense since he was right, why weren''t they testing them and simply asking them?


    Anyone would be able to lie if they proceeded this way.


    "Oh, don''t worry we will test you. We just wanted to know what to expect when testing you," said the person who was on the other side of the counter.


    She had just finished writing Aiden''s name when she got some weird device from the other side of the desk.


    It looked a little bit like the metallic tform from earlier, however, it was clear that there were some changes to it.


    It wasn''t metallic anymore and it was also a little bigger than earlier, nheless, Aiden didn''t ask any questions as she let the person in front of him exin what he would have to do.


    "Here just put your end there and it will tell us all that we need to know about you."


    ''All that you need to know?'' Aiden thought, somewhat worried about this device as he had no idea what sort of information they would be getting.


    Was there a chance that they would be learning about the fact that he wasn''t from this world?


    ''Um, probably, and even if they did. The system would probably interfere just likest time, right?'' He thought as he put down his hand in the middle of the device waiting for it to activate.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    Then, he saw the same blue lighting out of it and once again Aiden had a feeling based on the colour that it was mana since that would make the most sense here.


    Right after he put his hand in the middle of the device, some golden light started emitting from it and as it did so, Aiden noticed that the eyes of the person behind the counter seemed to gain in size as she seemed extremely shocked by what she was seeing.


    "There''s no way."


    "Gold Rank?"


    "Is there really a Gold Core participating in the entrance exam? Why wasn''t he epted beforehand."


    There were many people who were seeing this scene around Aiden and all of them seemed extremely shocked over what was currently happening which made a lot of sense.


    It seemed that everyone who was close to Aiden and the golden light were extremely surprised by it.


    ''Gold Core? Gold Rank? Is that impressive?''


    Those were the questions which entered Aiden''s mind as he couldn''t be sure, however, based on the words and sentences from those around him, he had a pretty good idea of its value.


    "A-alright, you have a Gold Ranked Core, what about your affinity?" the person behind the counter said as she was extremely stressed about everything that she was saying.


    After all, the person who was on the other side of the counter was big shot or at least someone who would be a big shot in the weeks and months or even years that were toe.


    Then, the short-haired girl who had answered some of Aiden''s questions was now going through the same test as him and from the looks of it, there seemed to be a silver colouring out of it.


    "Oh, a silver core, impressive," thedy on the other side of the counter said.


    However, it was clear from theck of reactions that it wasn''t on the same level as a gold one since everyone had reacted heavily when they had seen such a thing.


    Then, the short-haired girl couldn''t help but be extremely frustrated by that man who was right beside her.


    ''How dare he steal the spotlight from me? Sunny, attack!''


    However, as she thought of that in her mind, the small creature which resembled a dog didn''t move from her feet as he didn''t seem to like the idea of attacking Aiden for no reason.


    Well, there was a reason, but from the beast''s perspective it was a stupid one, so he decided against following the order from her master.


    Then, as all of this was happening, it was time for Aiden to be tested once again. But, this time, it was for his affinity.


    The girl on the other side of the counter got another weird little tform from her desk as she handed it toward Aiden, making it clear that he would have to put his hand in the middle of this device once again.


    "Put your hand in the middle, right there."


    Then, right after she said that Aiden listened to her as he put his hand in the middle of the device.


    "Alright, let''s see if you have a rare affinity."


    As she said this, it was clear that she had some hopes about it being a rare affinity as she had just seen the rank of his core.


    However, when she saw the colours that the tform was emitting, she wasn''t sure of the affinity that the person in front of her had.


    There were too many colours to be able to identify the affinity that Aiden had, it was as if he had multiple affinities.


    That was something which had happened in the past, someone getting a dual-affinity or even a triple-affinity, however, it looked as if Aiden had ess to every single affinity that existed which made no sense.

 Chapter 262 262 - Talent

    Chapter 262  262 - Talent


    ''Why is everyone looking at me like that?''


    It seemed that what he had just achieved by putting his hand in the middle of that small tform interested a lot of people as they all had shocked faces.


    ''Is this thing really that big of a deal?''


    Aiden wasn''t sure what was happening as he simply waited for the girl on the other side of the counter to answer her.


    "It seems that there was an error with the device, we will try once again, please remove your hand."


    Aiden didn''t find any problems with what she had just said as he simply removed it from the device waiting for her to allow him to do it once again.


    ''Yeah, there was probably a malfunction with the device,'' thedy thought.


    It had to be since there was no way that the man in front of her had ess to all of the affinities.


    Then, a few momentster, as she had apletely new device from her desk, it seemed that she was ready for Aiden to pass the test once again.


    "Can''t they elerate, there''s only five minutes left."


    Many people who were waiting for Aiden to finish his registration for the entrance exam seemed annoyed that it was taking him so long to have his information sorted out since they were on the brink of not being able to join the Magic Academy.


    "Alright, go ahead and put your hand in the middle of the device."


    Then, the exact same scene as earlier happened once again as there were all sorts of colours being emitted from the small tform.


    Thedy who was on the other side of the counter decided that she would be writing down the word "unknown" considering his affinity since she hadn''t been able to guess what it was.


    However, she was sure of one thing, the man in front of her was extremely special, special enough that maybe some teachers of the academy might be interested in him.


    Actually, there was a big chance of that happening.


    "Alright, you''re all set, please go up the stairs they will show you where you need to go for the first part of the entrance exam."


    Aiden nodded as he quickly went up the stairs he kept hearing a faint voiceing from behind him.


    "Hey, you little son of a bitch, why didn''t you tell me that you were special?"


    However, as Aiden heard that, he didn''t know what to answer her as he had no idea that he had any sort of talent when it came to magic.


    "Well, I didn''t tell you because I didn''t know."


    But, that answer didn''t seem to be enough to convince the short-haired girl that he really knew nothing.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    ''Wait, maybe hees from a renowned family?''


    "What''s your name?" she asked.


    "Aiden Nightshade, you?"


    Aiden didn''t mind knowing the name of a single person inside the academy as maybe it would help him in the long run.


    However, he knew that his time in the academy was counted as he would only be able to spend a single month inside of it or else that would spell trouble for him since he would be failing the trial and as a result die.


    So, actually, it was a little bit more than trouble.


    "I''m Evelynn."


    However, it was clear that there was something else on her mind as she had answered that without even looking at Aiden.


    It seemed that she was in her own world.


    ''Nightshade? Nightshade? Why have I never heard that once in my life?''


    It seemed that Evelynn was confused regarding that she had never heard thisst name, it was weird since she was quite knowledgeable about the world in general.


    Then, as they were about to continue their conversation, the person who had been shouting earlier about the time left before the end of the registration came up to Aiden with a big smile on her face.


    "Please follow, I''ll be guiding you toward the waiting area."


    While saying that, she subtly nced at Evelynn who was right beside him, however, she seemed to ignore her as her eyes instantly shifted back to Aiden''s face.


    Then, both Aiden and Evelynn, followed thedy toward the waiting area while observing what the inside of this academy looked like.


    ''Woah, this ce is old.''


    That was the only thought that came to Aiden''s mind as he roamed the corridors of this ancient building.


    However, as he nced at Evelynn''s face, he noticed that she seemed mesmerized by her surroundings as she made sure to look at every single detail that was around them.


    ''I guess she''s passionate about old stuff, huh.''


    Then, Aiden came out of his thoughts as thedy who was guiding them once again spoke up.


    "We arrived!"


    "Young man, please follow me, I''ll make sure that you have the best seat for this entrance exam."


    As she said this, she nced at Evelynn with a smile.


    It was clear that she didn''t care about Evelynn at all as she always looked at Aiden and made sure to put him in the best conditions.


    Well, she wasn''t stupid, she knew that the young man had a lot more potential than Evelynn since they hadn''t even been able to identify what his affinity was.


    Then, Aiden followed thedy, leaving Evelynn behind.


    "Well, see youter," Aiden said as he quickly turned back toward thedy guiding him, not wanting to lose sight of her.


    A few momentster, Aiden was now in the front row and he noticed that the people who were sitting right beside him all seemed extremely confident over what was about to happen as he couldn''t see any signs of anxiousness from them.


    ''I guess they are all talented, huh?''


    If Aiden had been guided here, it must have meant that those in the same row were as talented as him.


    "From which family are you from?" one of the people sitting beside him asked.

 Chapter 263 263 - Humiliation

    Chapter 263  263 - Humiliation


    ''Family? What are they talking about?''


    Then, Aiden thought for a second or two and realized what was happening.


    The people who were seated next to him were probably wondering why someone they had never seen before had been given the right to be seated there.


    They probably all know each other very well.


    That was what Aiden had deduced from that short interaction, however, he wasn''t sure if he was actually right.


    Maybe they simply wanted to know if he was part of a renowned family.


    Then, as he was about to open his mouth to answer, thedy who had brought him here interrupted him or at least she had cut him short with his answer.


    "He isn''t from any renowned family, his talent was what brought him here next to all of you."


    The manner in which she had said it showed that she was deeply impressed with the results that Aiden had obtained.


    "Then, where does hee from?" one of the people seated asked.


    This time, the woman had no idea what to answer since she didn''t know the response to that question as she had only heard his first andst name earlier.


    So, she paid attention to what Aiden would be saying, clearly interested in knowing more about his background.


    ''Is she going to answer in my ce once again?''


    Thinking that, Aiden waited a few seconds and when he noticed that thedy was keeping her mouth shut, he answered the question.


    "Um, hello my name is Aiden Nightshade and as she said I''m not from any renowned family. In fact, Ie from so far away that there is no way that you will know the name of my vige."


    Aiden had decided to present himself a little as he didn''t like the way in which thedy who had guided him had done so, he wanted to be the one presenting to the others which actually made a lot of sense since that was simple courtesy after all.


    However, the young people who heard that they wouldn''t know the ce that he came from since to take it as an insult as they immediately demanded to know where he was from.


    Hearing them wanting to know more about it, Aiden shed a smile as he had already thought of what to answer in such a scenario.


    He had thought of saying something random and if they said that they never heard of it, he would simply answer ''I told you so''.


    There was literally no counter-y to that answer or at least Aiden hadn''t noticed any.


    "I''m from the Emberbane Vige," Aiden answered not lying.


    Then, seeing the faces of the people around him, Aiden already knew that they had never heard such a name before.


    Well, it made sense, why would they know about the name of a ce from another world, there were after all not a lot of chances of that happening and that was why he had said that.


    "The ember what?" one of those people questioned, seemingly not understanding what they had said.


    Seeing as there were some of them who were skeptical of his answer, he repeated what he had just uttered once more.


    "The Emberbane Vige, that''s where I''m from."n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    As he said that, there was obviously a smile on his face as he realized that he had done it, they had been tricked and there was nothing that they could do about it.


    Seeing as none of the people around him knew about that ce, they stopped asking questions about it as it would only further humiliate them which wasn''t something that he wanted.


    Then, thedy who had guided Aiden started leaving and as that happened, Aiden only heard a bunch of murmurs from those that were seated right beside him.


    ''What could they possibly be talking about?''


    Unknowingly to him, those people were thinking of something to get back at Aiden, well to make him as dumb as them.


    That was their n.


    They wanted to ridicule him just like he had done to them.


    That whole situation where he had mocked them waspletely unknown to Aiden as he didn''t think that he had done anything wrong in that scenario.


    And to bepletely honest, he hadn''t.


    "What is your affinity person whoes from far away," one of the people seated next to him said, in the hopes of mocking Aiden.


    However, Aiden took that question quite seriously not minding what they had just said.


    ''What can I possibly answer to that? That I have too many and that they weren''t able to know?''


    Aiden was analyzing what he could possibly answer and it was clear that it wasn''t the best situation.


    He knew that whatever he would be answering they simply wouldn''t believe and simply mock him.


    ''Where''s thatdy when I need her?'' He thought, knowing that she could have supported him when he had answered.


    However, as he turned to look where she was, he realized that she was nowhere to be seen and that she had probably gone outside once again greeting the other people who had registered.


    ''Well I guess I have no choice, I''ll just lie to them, what were themon affinities again?'' Aiden thought as he tried his best to remember his earlier conversation with Evelynn.


    He knew that she had mentioned them quickly and all that he needed to do was remember about it.


    ''I think she mentioned fire, right?''


    "Fire, I have a fire affinity," Aiden answered as he knew that he couldn''t make them wait much longer or else they would suspect him for hiding something.


    However, he hadn''t expected what happened next.


    "You''re of the fire affinity, ahahaha."


    "Ahahaha."


    All of the people in the front row seemed to startughing as if what Aiden had just revealed was bad.


    ''Wait did I make a mistake? Fire was an affinity, right?'' Aiden thought as he didn''t understand what was happening.

 Chapter 264 264 - First Part

    Chapter 264  264 - First Part


    ''Are theyughing because they think it''s humiliating to have a fire affinity?''


    Aiden started to think that when he heard themughing out loud while mumbling something.


    "He''s of the fire affinity and he''s next to us, just what''s happening to this academy."


    ''Is it really that bad?''


    ''Maybe I should have said something else.''


    Aiden didn''t like beingughed at and this whole situation was quite displeasing in his eyes as they kept mocking.


    ''Maybe I should have told them the truth.''


    However, having that thought, he remembered the problem affiliated with that, they wouldn''t even believe him if he were to say that.


    There was simply no way of that happening.


    There wasn''t a good decision, that was why he had said that.


    Then, all of them stoppedughing at the same time as it seemed that they had another question ready which would be directed at Aiden.


    "What about your core? It must be high-ranked if you''re seated next to us."


    This time, Aiden didn''t hesitate as he remembered the faces of everyone around him outside of the academy.


    He remembered the faces of people who seemed jealous of Aiden, others seemed surprised, however, not a single one of the people outside seemed disappointed with his Core Rank.


    That''s why he didn''t hesitate and answered right away.


    "Gold Rank, my core is Gold Ranked."


    He said it two times to put emphasis on the word "Gold" and it seemed to have worked as they didn''t startughing like earlier.


    Aiden heard some of them gulp and it was clear that not a single person there would beughing at him, there was simply no way of that happening.


    "It''s gold, huh? Impressive," one of the people seated next to him said, knowing that he had gotten beaten in terms of the Core Rank.


    He knew that he wasn''t even close to that rank which is why he simply congratted him without saying anything more.


    ''I guess Lady Sophia didn''t lie earlier, he has some talent.''


    That was the thought that all of the people seated next to Aiden had on their minds.


    It was really impressive, however, even if the rank of his core was high, the rarety of his affinity brought down Aiden''s value by a lot.


    However, the thing that those youngsters ignored was that Aiden wasn''t actually of the fire affinity.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    The most usible scenario was that he had so many affinities that they hadn''t been able to pinpoint his specialty.


    If they knew about the problem regarding his affinity, they wouldn''t have tried to pick a fight with him since he would surely be an important figure in the academy.


    Just based on the rank of his core, he would be able to dominate the majority of the people in the academy. However, with his limitless affinities, it would be even more ented.


    No one would be able to rival him.


    However, that knowledge was stillpletely unknown to Aiden and those who were seated to his right.


    If they knew about Aiden''s potential, they would try to get in his good graces right now, there was no doubt about that.


    Then, as they were about to continue this whole discussion they got interrupted by the red curtains which were right in front of him that started opening revealing an interesting figure on the other side of those curtains.


    The voice of thedy from earlier resounded inside the building as it seemed that there was a really important announcement happening right about now.


    "Please wee, the director of this academy, Misterrrr Harry Weasly!"


    As thedy from earlier shouted the whole room where people were currently seated seemed to be on fire as they all started shouting and pping.


    *CLAP*


    *CLAP*


    "WOOAH!"


    It seemed that the person who was on the stage right now was quite impressive as everyone started apuding him as if he was some sort of literal god.


    "Thank you, thank you, please quiet down," the person with the name Harry Weasly announced.


    Then, right as he said that all the shouts and the pping instantly stopped and was instead reced by pure silence in the academy.


    ''Well, people certainly respect him.''


    Aiden knew that the reason why everyone in this room respected the elderly who was on stage was simple, it was because of his strength.


    There was no doubt about that part, strength clearly yed a huge role in his position.


    The man who was on the stage was probably really important and the reason for that being his strength.


    Once again, it was proof that strength dictated everything.


    Then, the elder man who had long white hair that reached his lower back started announcing the rules concerning the entrance exam.


    "Now, let''s talk about the entrance exam and how it will go down!" The director said as he put some energy into his voice.


    "The entrance exam will be separated into three parts, the first one being an uracy test, the second one being testing people''s innate talent, and the third one being a sparring between two of the people trying to get into the academy."


    "When reaching each part of the entrance exam, you will be given a lot more details than right now."


    "The reason as to why I''m not saying everything right now is honestly quite simple, not everyone will reach the second part or third part of the trial and the other reason is that I don''t want to."


    He finished by saying that and he disappeared from the stage instantly and in his ce thedy from earlier.


    "Hello, students I will now be guiding you all toward the first part of the entrance exam which is an uracy test just like the director just mentioned."


    ''He didn''t want to exin the three parts of the entrance exam, is hezy or something?'' Aiden thought, clearly unhappy with what had just happened.


    Why couldn''t the director simply exin everything right away, wouldn''t that have been a lot simpler?

 Chapter 265 265 - Accuracy

    Chapter 265  265 - uracy


    Then, everyone who had registered for the entrance exam of the Magic Academy started following Lady Sophia, the person who had just been on stage.


    Strangely enough, they were going in the direction in which they hade in, it seemed that they would be going outside for the first part of this entrance exam.


    "Aiden," someone murmured not too far away from him.


    Aiden didn''t know why but he recognized the voice instantly which meant that it could only belong to one person and one person only, Evelynn.


    She was the sole person he had talked to after all.


    So, when he heard her voice he turned in her direction and noticed that she was getting closer to him.


    "So, how was it?"


    That was the first question that she asked, however, the only purpose that it served was to confuse Aiden even more.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    ''How was what? What is she talking about?''


    Aiden wasn''t sure if she was talking about the ceremony with the curtains opening or something, what she had asked was simply way too vague.


    That''s why Aiden got closer to her and whispered something in her ear.


    "What are you talking about?"


    Then, her response truly surprised him this time as he hadn''t expected such a possibility.


    "The people that you were seated with, how were they?"


    "Um, they were weird I guess," Aiden answered as he remembered them mocking him for absolutely no reason.


    They had grasped every opportunity tough at him and it had kind of pissed Aiden off.


    However, he didn''t make a big deal out of it, not wanting to create too many enemies.


    "Huh, they were?" she replied, visibly confused by his response.


    ''I don''t even know who they are, but if she''s asking about it, they are probably impressive.''


    She seemed to be idolizing them which was why when hepared this behaviour with the one that she had earlier when speaking with him alone.


    "Yeah, they were kind of bitchy if I''m being honest."


    "Are you sure? What did they say to you?"


    However, Aiden didn''t want to answer this question as he instead asked her another one which wasn''t even rted to that subject.


    "Who even are they?" he finally asked, wanting to know.


    He knew that they were important, however, he hadn''t been able to guess their identity as he knew nothing about this ce.


    "You don''t know who they are? From what sort of ce are you evening from," mumbled Evelynn as she simply couldn''t believe what she was hearing at the moment.


    It simply made no sense that he ignored the identity of the people that whom he was seated next to.


    Well, it might be possible, but if he heard of theirst name and still ignored who they were then it would create a problem.


    ''Well, I''m not even from this world,'' Aiden thought as he heard her asking where he came from.


    He made sure not to say it out loud, but it was still the truth, he wasn''t even from this world in the first ce.


    Seeing that Aiden wouldn''t answer what she had just said, she continued talking about those people which seemed oh so important in her eyes.


    However, from Aiden''s point of view, they were just like any people that he had seen ever sinceing here.


    Sure, they were kind of bitchy mocking him without even knowing him, however, they didn''t seem too bad.


    "Well, I guess I''ll tell you if you don''t know who they are, this way you won''t try and get in trouble with them while you''re enrolling in the academy."


    ''Well, I''ll only stay here for a month, so I doubt that I''ll be making enemies. All I want to do is learn from the best,'' Aiden thought as he knew that his stay at the Magic Academy would be a short one, a really short one.


    He didn''t know the usual duration, but he knew that it would at least be years just like any normal school.


    "They are all from elite families, so most people will try to get close to them while in the academy. However, seeing how they are currently looking at you, I guess you didn''t make a good impression, huh?" said Evelynn, as she nced at the people who were seated right beside Aiden earlier.


    They were all looking at Aiden, were they interested, were they mad at him?


    Aiden had absolutely no idea, however, he remembered their faces when he had mentioned that he had a Gold Ranked Core.


    They had seemed all shocked and they started acting differently as if respecting him.


    Then, as Evelynn was about to continue talking about those guys, Lady Sophia and the group which was walking in front of Aiden all stopped without giving any signs of it.


    ''Oh, seems like it''s time for the first part of this exam,'' Aiden thought as he knew that he didn''t have a lot of chance of reaching the next part.


    He didn''t even know how to use magic, so how would he be able toplete this trial?


    ''Well, I guess I''ll have no other choice but to look at how the other participants do it.''


    "Alright everyone, pleasee closer," shouted Lady Sophia as everyone followed her order getting closer to her.


    "I will now exin how this uracy challenge will work."


    "Basically, there will be many targets in front of you appearing. The goal will be to hit all of them with the spell of your choice. It can be a fireball, an icicle, or whatever spell you want. Those who miss two targets will fail the entrance exam and won''t enter the academy."


    Thest sentence that she had just pronounced seemed to serve its purpose as everyone suddenly felt the pressure of seeding in the entrance exam.


    They all knew that it wouldn''t be easy to get into the academy, however, now that they were living it, it was different.


    They knew that if they made the slightest mistake, they wouldn''t be getting in.

 Chapter 266 266 - Training, Worth?

    Chapter 266  266 - Training, Worth?


    The real problem was that Aiden was also part of those people, he knew that he didn''t have a lot of chances at entering the academy.


    Sure, he had a good core or whatever that meant, and he also had a lot of affinities, but he had no idea how to utilize them which was why he wanted to enter the academy, to learn.


    However, it seemed that it wasn''t a viable option at all since most people here were clearly acquainted with magic in general.


    If the first thing that they asked to join the academy was to test their uracy whenunching spells then Aiden simply couldn''t understand what would be happening.


    However, Aiden had a n to pass those tests, but there was just a small problem he didn''t know if Sophia would be epting his method.


    Because if he couldn''t figure out how that magic thing worked, he decided that he would clear the challenges without using magic.


    That was his n.


    He would be trying his best to observe and see how others did, however, if that failed he would be resorting to the solution which he had just mentioned.


    Who knows maybe Sophia would be impressed by his performance or something.


    After all, there were probably not a lot of people in the Magic City who could use weapons as skillfully as Aiden, that was simply a fact.


    Maybe he would be able to interest some of the teachers who would be watching the entrance exam, Aiden still wasn''t and honestly, he hoped that this would be the case.


    ''Maybe they will be interested in that rather than magic.''


    Maybe it wouldn''t be the case, Aiden honestly didn''t know.


    "The order in which people will participate is going to be in alphabetical order," said Lady Sophia as she seemed impatient to see everyone participate.


    "The person who will be participating in the chapter will be Allen. Is anyone here named Allen?" she continued observing the crowd in search of someone who had raised his hand.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    Then, as her eyes kept scanning the crowd in front of her, she finally noticed someone who had his hand raised.


    Seeing him, she didn''t lose any time as she teleported him right in front of him.


    "Alright, now that we found him, let''s start this entrance exam!"


    She said that with a smile on her face as she knew that the future students had probably noticed it, they were simply outside and there were no indications of there being a trial which was extremely weird.


    However, Aiden didn''t seem to care one bit as he knew that she would probably make the challenge basically appear out of nowhere. He remembered the scene with the ramparts earlier today, so he knew that everything was possible if she wanted to do so.


    If a guard had been able to do such things, he couldn''t imagine what someone who was part of the Magic Academy would be able to do.


    Just from his instincts, Aiden had known that the guard from earlier who had been named Jack hadn''t been powerful at all.


    However, this person who was called Sophia had some skills he could feel it.


    He knew that there weren''t skills rted to closebat, nheless, he still felt some amount of danger regarding her which clearly indicated that she wasn''t someone random whose purpose was to simply guide the students, there was simply no way that this would be it.


    Aiden knew that there was something more about her, however, he couldn''t quite pinpoint what it was yet. To be able to know about her skills, he would need to see her fight that was what he had in mind.


    He knew that from simply looking at her, he wouldn''t be able to deduce anything since her body wasn''t revealing any information contrary to what he had been used to on Earth.


    Then, as Aiden thought of all those things, he saw that there was something happening around him, he felt some kind of energy which started to influence everything that was around him.


    The environment was slowly starting to change as Aiden saw what seemed to be small targets slowly getting ced in the air.


    ''I guess this will be the challenge, huh. I wonder why no one is able to see all those things?'' Aiden thought as no one seemed able to see any of the targets which were appearing in their field of view.


    But, then he remembered the challenge that he had gone through to get ess to those eyes of his, the eyes which were basically able to see through illusions.


    ''Wait, maybe those eyes can analyze the magic of people here since it''s not considered skills,'' he thought as it seemed to make sense.


    Maybe his eyes would be able to give him information about the spells that people would be using and honestly, if that happened then Aiden''s job in this world would be a lot more easier.


    ''Still, my eyes didn''t show anything earlier with the wall opening right in front of my eyes.''


    However, he dismissed thatst thought as he wanted what would happen in the future, he would be able to have a definitive answer soon enough.


    Then, the targets which had probably been hidden by some sort of hidden energy slowly but surely started appearing for everyone to see as Aiden heard some gasps of pure surprise.


    ''I guess most of them, couldn''t see through the illusion that they set up,'' Aiden thought as he noticed that the people he had been seated next to earlier didn''t seem to have any reaction as if all of this waspletely normal for them.


    ''I guess they noticed it just like I did, huh.''


    He wasn''t that surprising but still, it made Aiden realize that maybe he wasn''t that special.


    If people were able to achieve this skill without the training that he had gone through, maybe he could have gained it in this world either way.


    This made him doubt about the training that he had went through because of Melinda.


    Had it really been worth it?

 Chapter 267 267 - Skill Level-Up

    Chapter 267  267 - Skill Level-Up


    However, realizing that he was starting to question his past actions, Aiden dismissed those thoughts as he knew that the training that he had gone through had been useful.


    He knew that it was, for example, it was currently helping him as he might be able to analyze how people are using magic in this world which would facilitate his task of opening a shop and getting a lot of Reputation a lot easier.


    Then, as all the small white and red targets appeared in front of everyone, it was time for Allen to aim at those targets with the spells of his choice.


    ''I wonder what affinity he has?''


    Then as soon as Aiden thought that, Allen cast a fireball spell.


    The fireball moved at an average as it seemed that he had put a lot of effort into being as precise as possible which was, after all, the goal of the first part of this entrance exam.


    However, as the fireball hit the target, something unexpected happened.


    The target remained as if saying to Allen that it hadn''t received enough damage to count.


    This was further confirmed by Lady Sophia who said something with a smile on her face.


    "You guys didn''t think that it would be that easy, right? This test isn''t solely aimed to judge you''re uracy with spells. Well, it is but we want to know how urate you can be when throwing your spells as strong as possible."


    Then, as all this was happening, Aiden seemed disappointed as his eyes didn''t indicate anything.


    ''Well, seems like I''ll have to observe as best as I can,'' Aiden thought, as he realized that he wouldn''t have some help in this trial.


    He would have to ovee this trial by himself. That was what he would need to do, there wouldn''t be some crazy cheat to help him.


    As he was starting to get all those thoughts, he heard a beeping sound in his mind.


    ''Oh, actually maybe I will have a cheat in this trial,'' He thought with a smile as he read the message which had just appeared in front of him.


    [Your skill, <Eyes of Truth>, has levelled up.]


    Aiden didn''t know how this skill had levelled up, but when he opened his system to see what had been upgraded, he instantly understood the change and the impact that it would have in this trial.


    ''This is great!'' He eximed to himself.


    ''I''ll actually be able to analyze how they use their magic or whatever it''s called.''n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    It seemed that the Lumithars had been listening to him from far away as he had gotten the skills that he wanted.


    He would now be able to analyze which much more depth how people cast their magic spells.


    Then, as he looked back up, analyzing every single movement that Allen was currently doing, he noticed every single detail with a lot more ease.


    The reason for that was his eyes which had levelled up, however, the level up helped him a lot more than he would have thought as the system highlighted every part of the movement.


    For example, when Allen started summoning his mana, Aiden was able to see inside his body and see what was happening inside of it.


    Then, when he started summoning the fireball, he could see how the affinity was mixing with the mana.


    Overall, this new ability of his was simply incredible and just like he had guessed it would make his job here a lot easier.


    As Allen finished casting his second fireball, it went at full speed toward one of the targets and without much surprise it hit the target blowing it up instantly.


    However, once again, it seemed that it was an illusion since Aiden was able to see that the target hadn''t moved and had simply disappeared.


    ''Well, one thing''s sure, those illusions are well made,'' Aiden thought, as he knew that he wouldn''t be able to see through them without his eyes.


    ''I guess the training wasn''t useless even if I could have learned that ability here.''


    Then, as the target blew up, Allen didn''t stop as he once again summoned his mana, mixing it with his affinity which was of fire.


    However, this time the fireballpletely missed the target as he heard the voice of Sophia right beside him.


    "And that''s two misses, you are eliminated," she announced as she turned toward the crowd of young apprentices who hoped to get into the academy.


    ''I guess pressure is something that they like here, huh?''


    However, it seemed that Allen was deeply confused as he started shouting on stage,ining about the decision that Lady Sophia had just made.


    "I only missed one, what are you even talking about?!"


    "One? But you shot three fireballs and only destroyed a single target out of the fifteen that are up there," Sophia said with a little giggle at the end.


    Then, she made a small p with her hand which made Allenpletely disappear as if he had never been here.


    ''Wait what did she just do?'' Aiden thought as everything happened too fast for him to see what she had done.


    It seemed that his eyes didn''t help this time around as he didn''t get enough time to actually understand what had just happened.


    In a fraction of a second, she had teleported someone away from the scene, however, that was the thing which was pissing Aiden off.


    How had she teleported him away?


    He wanted to know.


    Teleportation would be incredibly useful on Nova, to travel or even while fighting other people to reposition and stuff like that.


    "Alright, it''s now time for the next participant, Albert, please raise your hand," she asked as Aiden made sure to pay a lot of attention to all of her movements.


    ''Wait, teleportation, do I need spatial affinity to use that stuff?''


    Aiden got this small thought as he continued to observe Sophia, worried that he might not possess this affinity since he had no idea about his affinities.

 Chapter 268 268 - Close Call

    Chapter 268  268 - Close Call


    Then, Aiden made sure to pay the utmost attention to all of her movements, however, once again, even while paying attention he hadn''t been able to see anything.


    There were two things which could make this possible, one of them would be that she manipted her mana way too fast for Aiden to even have a glimpse and the other one was that his skill wasn''t high-levelled enough for Aiden to see through it.


    However, those were questions that he would be asking himself at another time as the new participant appeared on the tform, shaking.


    It seemed that he was so stressed that he started to shake because of the pressure that he was feeling.


    Seeing that scene, Aiden had no choice but to be somewhat confused as to what was happening.


    He knew that Sophia had made it obvious that every participant needed to feel pressure, but this was simply too much.


    Were Sophia''s actions really that bad?


    Aiden didn''t think so as he was used to a lot worse from his past life.


    However, even Aiden as a human puts a lot of pressure on himself as he wants to be the best at everything, well the strongest. That''s his goal even if he''s far from reaching it.


    Then, the person who was on stage started aiming at the target, Aiden noticed that this time it was an icicle which was formed.


    He had noticed that change before the icicle had fully formed since Aiden had noticed that it wasn''t the same affinity as the change of colour was honestly extremely obvious.


    The fire affinity had the colour orange and this one was white as snow, it was quite the change and Aiden couldn''t have missed it even if he had wanted to.


    Then, the man on the tform continued forming icicles one after another, hitting the targets with perfect precision.


    While he did so, Aiden continued to observe his every movement again and again as he knew that this would help him for his turn.


    *BEEP*


    Hearing that sound, Aiden was quite surprised.


    ''Are they going to level up my skill again?'' Aiden thought as he knew that he had used it a lot in the past minutes.


    However, when he read the message that had just appeared, Aiden was even more confused than earlier as he would have never expected such a message.


    It was truly a surprise for him.


    [You have learned how to use icicles.]


    Seeing that small message confused Aiden, however, he realized that if he was able to learn spells this way it would make this whole thing a lot easier.


    He knew what this message meant. It meant that if he continued looking at everyone using their spells, then he would be able to use a lot of different spells which would require a lot of practice usually.


    He didn''t know to which degree of proficiency he had learned the spell, but that didn''t matter as he would be able to practice those spells a lot in the month that was toe and one thing was sure, Aiden wouldn''t take a break during that month as this was a trial.


    Then, a few other participants went on stage as Nightshade was quite far down in the order.


    So, he waited as he learned all kinds of different spells which would help him.


    However, he soon realized that he should maybe try using one of those spells at least a single time before being teleported on stage which is why he slowly started getting away from the crowd of people.


    As he got a few meters away from them, he slowly concentrated on himself as he called the spell in his mind.


    ''Icicle''


    Then, as he thought of that name, a little icicle appeared in his hands.


    ''Alright, now what do I do?'' Aiden thought as he observed the icicle which was floating in his hands.


    As he did so, he slowly remembered how the others aimed when using their skills which is why he did the exact same.


    He did the exact same movement as those who had used the icicles earlier, making sure that everything that he was currently doing was right.


    He didn''t want to do something useless since that would be a waste of time and Aiden didn''t want those.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    Then, after dismissing those useless thoughts, his icicle which was in his hands slowly started to rotate giving it pration and after doing that, he simply pushed his hand forward hoping that it would go where it aimed.


    However, it seemed that it didn''t as he couldn''t see the icicle anymore, it was literally gone from in front of him.


    ''Where did it go?'' Aiden thought as he started looking around himself, trying to find the projectile as fast as he could.


    Then as he kept looking around him, he saw that the icicle was currently going in the direction of Lady Sophia, in fact, it was going in the direction of her head.


    If she didn''t move her head in about five seconds then she would get hit and on the same asion, she would be badly hurt.


    But, as it was about to hit her, she disappeared as Aiden heard a whisper from his left.


    "Watch what you''re doing young man," she whispered as she reappeared on the scene as if nothing at happened.


    Also, it seemed that no one had noticed her disappearance as no one said anything as they kept watching whoever was participating.


    ''Well, I guess she didn''t like that, huh?'' Aiden thought as he realized that he would to practice a little bit more.


    He didn''t know why no one had noticed that he had sent an icicle in the direction of Sophia''s head, however, he didn''t mind it as it would make his practice a lot simpler.


    ''Alright, let''s try this again. Icicle,'' Aiden thought as a new icicle appeared in one of his hands.


    ''Well, magic here doesn''t seem too hard.''

 Chapter 269 269 - Gaining RP

    Chapter 269  269 - Gaining RP


    While Aiden continued to train his uracy with his icicles, the first part of the entrance exam was still ongoing as some people advanced to the next part and some were eliminated.


    However, for the majority of people, there hadn''t been any problem regarding seeding in the trial.


    Aiden didn''t seem too worried about reaching the next trial as he knew that he would be able to destroy all these targets with the training that he was going through.


    He had made a lot of icicles since he had started practicing and all of his attempts at getting more precise seemed to be working since the icicles would go where he had nned 90% of the time.


    ''Will this be enough?'' Aiden thought as he knew that there were fifteen targets and he would sometimes be missing.


    ''Yeah, I''ll make it work.''


    Then, as he had this thought, he heard his name being called by Sophia and without even needing to raise his hand, he felt a simr sensation to when he had teleported into this world in the first ce.


    ''Did the Lumithars take this magic from them for the system?'' Aiden thought.


    He had noticed that there were a lot of simr things between the system and this world that he had thrown into.


    Thinking about it, Aiden had to admit that it was very interesting and it honestly gave him a little idea of how this "superior" race had created this system and all of its functionalities.


    However, he wouldn''t do any good thinking about it right now as he needed to pass this little challenge first which is why he looked up as he nced at all of the targets.


    ''Alright, let''s do this. Icicle,'' Aiden thought.


    Then, as the little ice thingy appeared in his hand, he made it spin for it to gain speed as he didn''t want the target to resist the attack from his spell.


    After doing that, he immediatelyunched it by using the entirety of his body just like the others had shown previously.


    He first moved his palm back with the icicle floating inside it and then while his body apanied his movement he instantly pushed his hand in a uni-directional way, making sure that it would go where he had aimed.


    Then, the icicle moved forward and hit the target which was situated as close as possible from Aiden.


    After seeding in hitting the first target, Aiden got some confidence as he decided to elerate this whole thing, summoning another icicle in his hand.


    As he did so, he had to admit that he was surprised that he wasn''t running out of mana since he knew that his reserves were quite limited.


    ''Maybe this doesn''t use mana? But what else could it be using, the system didn''t tell me that I awakened anything new?''


    ''Maybe it''s rted to that core that they had talked about earlier, however, I have no idea of where it could even be,'' Aiden thought as he continued tounch his icicles forward without taking a single break.


    Sophia who was right beside had to admit that she was quite impressed by the performance that he was showing.


    She had noticed him practicing on the side since she had almost received an icicle in the head, so she had obviously noticed that he had gotten a lot better than earlier.


    While this challenge had been going on, she had given him multiple nces to see his progress and she was extremely impressed by the rate at which he was learning stuff.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    It was obvious to her that Aiden had never used magic before, however, it seemed that his talent wouldpensate for it.


    Even if he failed one of the challenges, she would still make sure that he would be joining the academy because his talent was simply incredible.


    ''To be able to improve this much in a matter of minutes, I wonder if anyone can evenpare to him,'' she thought as she knew that there weren''t a lot of people who had ess to such talent.


    Having that thought in mind, she continued to look at the speed that he would be clearing this trial and she wasn''t sure how such a thing was possible.


    She had seen him earlier and it didn''t look anything like what was happening right now.


    Just what had he changed, Sophia didn''t know, but as she had said earlier this person in front of her would be very important in the following years, she was sure of it.


    *BEEP*


    [You have gained 10 Reputations Points.]


    [Total Reputation Points: 0]


    Aiden heard that beeping sound, however, he didn''t have the time to nce at those messages as he needed all of his concentration on the challenge which was right in front of him.


    ''I''ll just look at itter, Icicle.''


    Then, a few minutester, Aiden had finished destroying all of the targets and it seemed that he had reached the second challenge of this entrance exam.


    He remembered that the director had said that it would be about testing people''s innate, so Aiden wasn''t too worried about that part.


    The only thing that was making him worried was that he would have to spar against someone from this crowd.


    He knew that not all of them were impressive, however, a lot of them would be eliminated in the second part of the entrance exam leaving only the strongest candidates.


    However, he knew that if it came to it, he would be using his dagger and his assassination skills.


    He knew that all the knowledge that he needed would be inside of the academy which is why he would need to make that he would win the sparring at the end.


    Maybe his thinking would be different if he had known about what Sophia had thought earlier.


    But, atst, he hadn''t, so he had no choice but to feel a little bit of pressure.


    Then, thest participants were teleported on stage one after another, seeding and failing.

 Chapter 270 270 - Too Talented

    Chapter 270  270 - Too Talented


    "Alright, now that the first part of this entrance exam is finished, please all follow me," Lady Sophia said, as she slowly started heading back inside of the academy.


    Aiden followed without a care in the world as he knew that this next part wouldn''t change anything to him.


    He knew that he had a lot of innate talent, however, he still wondered how they were going to test innate talent.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    Would it be done by looking at someone''s core rank?


    ''Um, probably not or else they would have refused people. It''s probably based on something else,'' Aiden thought as he remembered that he hadn''t seen anyone get refused the opportunity to participate in the entrance exam.


    This meant that it wouldn''t be based on someone''s affinity nor on the rank of his core.


    ''Maybe they''ll ask us to learn something.''


    However, all of Aiden''s guesses literally didn''t matter one bit as he continued walking forward toward the next part of the exam.


    ''I guess, I''ll see what the challenge would be soon.''


    ***


    A few minutester, Aiden and the rest of the group which hadn''t been eliminated seemed to be somewhat confused by the ce which Sophia had guided them to.


    ''A library? How are we going to test our talent here?'' Aiden thought as he truly hadn''t expected something like this.


    ''Will Sophia test how fast we can read?'' Aiden thought as he giggled at his own joke.


    He knew that such a thing wouldn''t happen, but still, he couldn''t grasp why he was stuck in this ce.


    "Alright, so all of you must be wondering about what we''re doing here, right?" Lady Sophia asked as she nced around.


    Aiden and most of the others nodded their head showing that they had no idea, however, Aiden noticed that those whom he had been seated next to earlier seemed to know about this whole situation.


    It was as if they had gotten information beforehand.


    To be honest, Aiden wouldn''t be surprised if that were to happen since their families can probably influence the academy a little since they are so powerful.


    But those were simply Aiden''s assumptions as he didn''t know if that was actually the case or not.


    Maybe the Magic Academy was strong enough that no one would be able to rival them.


    Aiden knew that there were probably strong individuals in this ce, however, he couldn''t imagine an institution rivalled with powers from people who had a lot of money and from people who were really strong.


    He simply didn''t see that happening.


    "Well, I will exin what is happening."


    "Basically, I will all give you the same book and those who learn how to use the spell that''s inside of it will reach the next part of the entrance exam. So, do your best," she said as multiple books started appearing out of nowhere in the hands of everyone in the room.


    However, there was one thing which was confusing Aiden deeply.


    ''How can we all learn the same spell, don''t we all have different affinities?''


    He thought a little more about it, extremely confused.


    However, he soon realized that it didn''t matter as the person giving this trial had probably thought about such a thing beforehand.


    Then, as he took the book in his hands, he started looking at it with great care, remembering every single detail.


    ''The Universal Spell? Weird name,'' Aiden thought.


    If it was universal why did no one have heard of it yet, or rather why had no one learnt it yet?


    It didn''t seem very universal from Aiden''s point of view.


    ''Well, who cares let''s see what''s inside,'' Aiden thought as he opened the book making sure that he wouldn''t be ripping any pages while doing so.


    Seeing the size of that book, Aiden expected that it would take him a really long time to read this whole thing.


    ''Alright, it''s universal because any affinity can use it, makes sense.''


    ''But I don''t care about that, what''s the point of learning this spell, what does it do?'' Aiden thought as he wanted to figure out what this spell would do.


    ''It lets us create whatever we want, what sort of vague description is this?''


    What did the word create even mean in that sentence, like create full-on objects, Aiden''s confusion simply kept rising as he noticed that those around him continued their reading seemingly immersed in it.


    Then, as he turned the 10th page, talking about some of the skill uses, he heard a beeping sound inside his mind.


    *BEEP*


    ''Wait don''t tell me that I''ve already learnt it, haha,'' Aiden thought as heughed when he saw that it actually was the case.


    He had only read ten pages about some spells which he hadn''t learned before and he had already acquired the abilities to use it.


    ''Man, this <Eye of Truth> skill is simply crazy, how overpowered can this thing even get?'' Aiden thought with a smile.


    He was happy that he had this skill with him for this trial since it would simplify a lot of things for the month that was toe.


    ''Well, I guess I''ll tell Lady Sophia that Iprehended it,'' Aiden thought as he slowly stood up with the bookpletely closed in his hands.


    Lady Sophia who wasn''t too far from him, raised her eyebrows a little confused as to why Aiden would be standing up when literally every second counted.


    ''Does he need to take a break? No, there''s no way,'' Sophia thought, having no idea of what was currently happening.


    Seeing that he wasing in her direction, she simply teleported him with a small movement of her hand.


    "What do you need?" She asked with an authoritative tone, making it known that she was quite displeased with Aiden''s actions.


    She knew that he was talented but if continued acting this way, giving up halfway through the challenge then she wouldn''t be epting him into the academy.


    "Well, I finished learning it already," Aiden whispered as he didn''t want others to hear him.


    "You did what!" Sophia shouted out of pure surprise.

 Chapter 271 271 - Proof

    Chapter 271  271 - Proof


    This shout resounded throughout the entirety of the library and it was really loud.


    Also, since everyone had been so concentrated, literally no one had been making the slightest noise, which meant that when Sophia shouted everyone was surprised, asking themselves what could have happened ten minutes after the challenge had started.


    No one in the room could have expected Aiden to have already learned the Universal Spell, no one had gotten this thought.


    They all wondered about what the man beside Lady Sophia had done to make her so angry.


    She wouldn''t have shouted otherwise which meant that something must have happened.


    The ones who had been seated next to Aiden at the start of the entrance exam were all seated next to each other as they spoke in a low voice.


    "What do you think happened for Lady Sophia to shout like that?" One of them asked.


    The ones around had no idea as they had never seen Lady Sophia angry, she was always so understanding.


    Well, that was from their point of view as privileged people, but it still counted that was for sure.


    "He probably asked something that he shouldn''t have, maybe he asked for some cheating method."


    Many of them were shooting off different ideas seemingly not feeling the pressure that was roaming the atmosphere of everyone around.


    In fact, they mocked the others who were still reading as fast as they could, wanting to grasp the spell as fast as they could.


    "Look at this pile of trash, thinking that they will pull it off. They should have given some money to the academy like our family did," one of them said as they knew that their eptance was assured.


    Truth be told, all of them already knew what the spell to prove innate talent was going to be which is why they hd already read that book and grasped the spell.


    That was the advantage ofing from a good background and there was nothing that the others could do.


    Well, there was one thing which was that they had to be so talented that their advantages wouldn''t even matter.


    However, would someone like that even exist, well all of those entitled brats didn''t seem to think so, that''s for sure.


    ***


    "You already learned? Are you sure?" Lady Sophia said, this time, which a quieter tone, making sure that no one would be able to hear her.


    But, even if she had understood what Aiden had said, she didn''t believe him.


    There was no way that this was true.


    Even if he was the most talented person to ever exist, there was no way that he was able to learn the Universal Skill in less than 10 minutes.


    There was also another reason why she didn''t believe him, she had been watching him since the challenge had started and she had seen that he hadn''t finished the book.


    So, in what world would he be able to use it?


    It made no sense once more, it seemed that everything that was rted to that young man made absolutely no sense.


    ''First, there was the core''s rank, then the affinity, and now there''s his talent. Just where did he evene from and why have we never heard of such a person before,'' Lady Sophia thought.


    She knew that the Magic Academy put a lot of resources in finding the best talents in the world, so it was weird that such a talent had never been spotted before.


    "Show me," she asked as she still didn''t believe him.


    She knew that he was talented since she had seen his improvements in the uracy of his spells, however, this right here was on a whole other level.


    If what he had just said was true, then she might consider giving a position which most students would dream of.


    If his talent was as incredible as she was currently saying, then she wouldn''t hesitate and she would be giving him the status of disciple.


    However, that status would only be applied if Aiden hadn''t lied.


    Saying that she seemed doubtful as to whether or not he had really learnt the spell, Aiden shed a little smile.


    ''Alright, so how does this thing work?'' He thought as he knew that it was the system which hadprehended everything about it.


    "Wait," she muttered out of nowhere as she grabbed one of his arms, teleporting him outside of the library.


    They were now outside with absolutely nothing around them.


    "This will be a little morefortable for you and for me to talk," she said as she tapped her fingers on her wrist showing that she was waiting for him to show the skill that he had presumably learned.


    ''Well here goes nothing, Universal Spell,'' Aiden thought as he called the name of the spell in his mind just like he had done with the icicles.


    Then, out of nowhere, he heard a beeping sound inside his mind which was apanied by a message as usual.


    [Please imagine the object that you want to create.]


    Seeing that message appear in front of him, Aiden remembered what he had read about the spell.


    He remembered that this spell would be able to create whatever the person using it wanted.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    ''Um, then a wand, can you create a want?'' Aiden thought to himself as he received another beeping sound interrupting him.


    Lady Sophia who was seeing that nothing was happening thought that Aiden was currently as he had stopped moving seemingly thinking about something.


    Then as she was about to get closer to Aiden and ask him what was happening, she noticed that there was a little bit of mana which was being summoned toward the palm of his hand.


    ''Wait, don''t tell me that he really did learn it?'' She thought as she had truly been convinced that this whole thing had been a joke.


    ''Wait, what did he create?'' She thought as she looked at the thing which was slowly getting formed in his hand.


    ''Oh, a wand, really original,'' she thought as she rolled her eyes.

 Chapter 272 272 - Disciple

    Chapter 272  272 - Disciple


    Even if she didn''t like what he had created, she couldn''t help but be amazed by what he had just pulled off.


    He had done it, he hadn''t lied at all, he really had learned how to use this spell by not evenpleting the book.


    However, there was still something that made her doubt.


    ''Maybe he learned it beforehand like those cheaters?'' She thought, clearly talking about those who had learned the skill beforehand.


    Those who had gotten such an advantage.


    However, that didn''t seem to be the case as Aiden seemed as equally surprised as her while holding the wand that was in his hand.


    ''Wait, how long can this creation evenst?'' Aiden thought as he kept moving it around as he had some difficulty believing that it had truly been him who had done such a thing.


    "Sophia, how long does our creation?"


    He wanted to know that detail as he knew that this skill which he had just learned could potentially be really interesting when opening his shop.


    Imagine if he were to create as many items as he wanted, he would basically be making crazy amounts of money without the slightest problem.


    "It depends, there''s no set duration," she responded quite vaguely.


    However, that was the truth, it really varied depending on the person.


    Maybe it was obvious but it depended on the proficiency that someone reached with the skill.


    So, maybe at the start, they wouldst for five minutes, but in the future, they mightst hours.


    Aiden hearing her respond like that simply nodded as he had deducted that he would be able to see by himself how much time this wand would be stay.


    ''Well, I guess that confirms that he hadn''t learned it before,'' Lady Sophia thought as she knew that someone who had learned this skill before wouldn''t have asked such an obvious question.


    It seemed that this wand had truly been his first creation.


    This meant that the person who was in front of her truly had the talent needed to be a disciple.


    However, she decided to wait until the end of the entrance exam to offer him such a status as she knew that most of the teachers in the academy liked seeing the most promising fight against one another.


    "Alright let''s go back to the library, make sure to act as if you still haven''t learned that skill or else many people with notice you and your talent."


    It seemed that Sophia was going out of her way to help Aiden as she didn''t want him to be picked on by those brats who think they are better than the rest of the world.


    She knew that those brats were garbage simply taking advantage of their family, there was a reason that they hadn''t been epted in the academy before the entrance exam, there was a reason why they were all participating.


    They simply didn''tpare to the most talented ones and that was simply a fact.


    ''Well, I''ll follow her advice, it''s not like I want to make enemies right away,'' Aiden thought as he felt that Sophia had just grabbed his arm, probably preparing for the two of them to teleport back to the library.


    This time since he was closer to her, he decided that he would be observing all of her movements with as much focus as he could muster.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    But, once again, there was nothing. It was as if she hadn''t used any mana or energy to make the two of them teleport which simply couldn''t be true.


    There had to be something that he was missing, there just had to be.


    "Alright, make sure that you won''t do such a thing again," Sophia said without any hesitation acting as if she had just been mad at him.


    Aiden hearing that at first was somewhat confused, however, he quickly caught on to what she was doing as he replied, "I won''t, sorry."


    After saying that, Aiden simply sat back down to his earlier spot and he opened the book containing information about the skill.


    Those entitled brats who weren''t too far from him started giggling at this scene.


    "See, what did I tell you? There was no way that he had learned it in fifteen minutes when we took hours," one of them said as if proud that they had learned at such a speed.


    However, imagine their faces when they learned the truth about this whole thing, just imagine the look on their faces.


    They probably won''t believe it like Sophia, however, would that even matter?


    The answer to that question was simple, it was a big fat no.


    Then, Aiden continued reading this gigantic book which contained all the necessary information to learn the Universal Skill.


    Also, he wasn''t acting, he was truly reading every single sentence with attention as he knew that it would be useful for when he would be using it.


    If he were to grasp more things about the spell, then his proficiency would increase at the same time.


    There was no doubt about that part.


    Sometimeter, it seemed that most people around Aiden had finished reading the book and the information rted to it.


    However, not everyone was like Aiden grasping it right away, they needed to test some things out.


    It was obvious that Aiden was a special case and that not many people could attain such rapidity when learning new stuff.


    Sure, the system had helped greatly, however, he still had some merit rted to him learning the spell in less than 10 minutes.


    He had probably been the only person who had done so.


    "Alright, you have two hours left to learn the spell or you will have failed to enter the Magic Academy," announced Sophia, seemingly wanting to put even more pressure on everyone who was present in the room.


    She knew that some would crumble under that pressure which was exactly why she was acting this way.


    She wanted to see who could reach great highs and those who simply couldn''t, that was the aim of the entrance exam.

 Chapter 273 273 - Bet

    Chapter 273  273 - Bet


    Pressure was the thing which separated the greats and the ones who were average.


    Those who can handle it will be great and those who can''t will always be inferior to those who can.


    Learning that pressure is a good thing when improving is also extremely important to reach the apex of strength.


    Pressure is something that can bring you up, but it can also bring just as fast, there''s simply no doubt about that which is why you need to find a way to harness it.


    That''s the final goal, harnessing the pressure, and using it for yourself to be the best version of yourself and that''s why Lady Sophia was always making sure that they would be feeling as much pressure as possible.


    As minutes passed by, Aiden noticed that people were starting to crumble and others were starting to rise, creating a clear contrast between the two, which was extremely nice to watch from an outside perspective.


    Aiden obviously didn''t feel any pressure as he had already learned the skill and had qualified for the final part of the entrance exam which was the sparring between two students.


    And, truth be told, Aiden was hoping that he would be fighting one of those entitled brats as he would be able to make them understand that they aren''t that special at all.


    ''Well someone else that I would like to fight right now would be that guard who was named Jack, that way I could kill him without much problem,'' Aiden thought with a smile.


    And he knew that killing people would now be useful for him as his gloves would be able to evolve if he killed a certain number of people which was honestly great, well... from Aiden''s point of view.


    The people who will be getting murdered probably wouldn''t agree with that statement.


    "Alright, it''s now time for you to show me if you have learned the spell or not, get in a horizontal line facing me," Lady Sophia demanded as she noticed that everyone listened to her without the slightestint.


    it seemed that everyone remembered when she had shouted out of nowhere at the start of this part of the entrance exam.


    Then, people who were on Aiden''s right, slowly started to concentrate as they knew that if they failed it would be the end for them.


    All of them didn''t have a system like Aiden after all.


    Aiden noticed that some of the participants were sweating a lot as it was showing on their foreheads.


    Then, Lady Sophia started heading to those who were on the extremities of that line which contained at least 50 people who were all extremely nervous except a few.


    As she arrived at the extremities, she simply stared at the person waiting for her to show the skill just like she had done with Aiden when the two of them had been alone.


    ''I guess, it''s another tactic to apply pressure,'' Aiden said to himself, not surprised at all.


    Then, the first person seemed to struggle to create something as everyone noticed that his legs were starting to get out, it seemed that this whole thing was too much for him to handle.


    However, Lady Sophia didn''t care at all as she stopped looking at him waving her hand which made that person disappear.


    "Alright, your turn," she said, once again, looking into that person''s eyes without saying another word.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    Then, a few seconds passed by, and it seemed that there was some energy that was being summoned around his palm.


    ''Oh, this one seeded in the first part of the spell, now what will he do now?'' Sophia thought.


    She expected people to seed in the first part of the spell since it wasn''t too hard to figure out, however, what came next was the tricky part of this spell.


    She knew that not many here would be able to reach the sparring round and that was made on purpose as they only wanted the elites of the elite, this academy wasn''t for everyone to join.


    Then, after a few seconds, it seemed that this person also didn''t seed in creating anything which meant that he was eliminated as he was teleported out.


    ***


    Lady Sophia was now right in front of Aiden simply looking at him, waiting for him to show the spell.


    However, what no one knew was that she already knew that he had learned the spell.


    She already knew that he had learned it in under 10 minutes which had impressed her like crazy.


    ''Alright, I won''t waste time, Universal Spell.''


    Then, mana started to gather in the palm of his hand and before he heard the beeping sound to ask him what he wanted to create, he had already decided.


    ''A wand, I''ll make a wand again.''


    Then, the small object appeared in Aiden''s hands.


    "Alright, it seems that you are the tenth person to have seeded," Lady Sophia announced as she continued her testing walking to the next person who was in line.


    It seemed that she didn''t want to give Aiden too much attention, acting like he was like all the other people who had seeded in learning the spell in a couple of hours.


    ***


    Everyone had been tested and out of the 50 people who had participated, only 16 of them had seeded in learning the spell.


    However, Lady Sophia didn''t seem to mind one bit as she had probably expected such a result.


    "Alright, it''s now time to do the sparring between you guys," she announced.


    Aiden and the others nodded as they already knew that such a thing would being their way.


    "However, the director didn''t exin how the sparring would be working, so I will do it right now."


    "The sparring is very important since there will be a lot of eyes on you while doing it. Also, those who lose in the sparring will probably be kicked out of the academy, but there are some rare cases," Lady Sophia exined as she was about to reveal the information which everyone had wanted to know.

 Chapter 274 274 - Sparring

    Chapter 274  274 - Sparring


    "The ones which will impress the people that will be watching you, might or might not get some interesting offersing from all sorts of teachers," Sophia said, clearly indicating that it was primordial for everyone to act to the best of their capabilities.


    "Who knows maybe someone will get an offer to be a disciple."


    Then, as she said that, she gave a subtle nce to Aiden, not wanting him to notice.


    She knew that the person who was more than likely to receive would be him since Sophia would be telling everything that had happened during the entrance exam.


    "Alright, we wasted enough time, let''s leave for the arena."


    Then, as she said thatst word "arena", those who were around Aiden seemed to be extremely surprised about it.


    He started hearing people whisper as if excited that they would be fighting in such an area.


    "The Arena? Are we really going to be sparring in such a legendary ce?"


    It seemed like no one could believe it at all when it was really the truth.


    ***


    A few moments, they were all going toward the Arena which was probably really impressive from what Aiden had heard.


    It seemed that many legendary battles had been fought there over the years, in fact, the director of the academy had fought the old one there.


    Aiden hadn''t been there and he didn''t have any idea of their strength, but from what he had sensed from the director. It must have been an incredible fight, there was not a single doubt in his mind.


    "Who do you think has the most chances at obtaining that disciple status," one of the people close to Aiden asked.


    It was clear that this person wasn''t part of the brats who thought they were the strongest in the world.


    That person was probably the same type as Aiden, the only difference being that he was a lot less talented than him.


    "Who do you think?" Another one replied as if it was extremely obvious.


    Then, that same pointed to the group of six people who were walking right behind Lady Sophia.


    "Right, yeah makes sense, theye from powerful families after all."


    ***


    Arriving in the Arena, Aiden made sure to look at everything that was around him and he had to admit that he was quite impressed by how different this ce lookedpared to that church.


    If he had only a brief moment to describe it, he would say that it was not as old as the church.


    The interior seemed new as if this ce had just been built, when it clearly hadn''t been the case.


    "Alright, so I already made the match-ups and the first one is between you and you," Sophia said as she pointed at two different people.


    It was clear that she had no idea what their names were as she had only pointed at those people.


    Those two people clearly didn''te from any impressive background, so this fight was only important for those who would be fighting one against another.


    The two who had been chosen were probably feeling a lot of pressure right now, even more than before, since they had to win to join the Magic Academy which would basically assure their future.


    Those people weren''t like those who came from great backgrounds and who were assured to have a good future even if they failed here.


    Their families were so powerful that they would be able to live withfort their whole lives.


    Then, after all this happened, Aiden nced up toward the screen which was currently showing the two of them looking at one another.


    Even through that screen, Aiden was able to feel the tension, however, a group of peoplepletely ruined that tension.


    "Let''s bet on who will win, the one who loses has to... um listen to what everyone says for a whole day," announced one of those entitled brats which were named James.


    "Listening and doing everything that someone says for a whole day, are you crazy? This is cruel, James," answered a girl who was part of that group, her name was Anna.


    "Whatever are we going to bet or not, I''m picking the one on the right."


    "Sure, whatever."


    Then, James and Anna who were currently in what seemed to be a strange conversation both turned toward Aiden.


    "Do you want to y with us Gold Core?" asked Anna, naming Aiden Gold Core as this was the only thing that she remembered about him.


    ''Gold Core, is that my new nickname? A bit from Reaper, huh?'' Aiden thought.


    It was clear that they weren''t taking Aiden seriously at all since they were not even calling him by his name, however, Aiden didn''t want to create a big deal out of this.


    "No, I''m good, but you guys can, it''s no problem."


    Anna who heard this shed a subtle smile toward James as she looked Aiden in the eyes.


    "Why? Are you scared of losing?" She asked thinking that it would be enough to rile up Aiden.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    However, contrary to her expectations, Aiden simply smiled as he replied, "Yes actually I am, I don''t want to listen to some stupid person for a whole day."


    Anna who heard this gritted her teeth.


    "Do you know who I am? Who do you think you are calling me stupid?"


    Not knowing what to say, she stopped talking thinking a little.


    Then, a few secondster, she continued as she said, "If I wanted to, I could make that you never enter this academy. Your Gold Core won''t even save you."


    Aiden who heard this didn''t care, however, there was still something which he didn''t understand.


    ''What the hell is a core and why is it so important?'' Aiden thought as he had always guessed that the Core that they were talking about was rted to the mana which was situated close to his heart.


    However, he dismissed those thoughts as he continued taunting the person who was right in front of him.

 Chapter 275 275 - Taunting

    Chapter 275  275 - Taunting


    "Well you can try, maybe your daddy will help you," Aiden replied with a big smile as he knew that this girl was clearly dependent on her family and that she had probably never worked for anything in her life.


    Those types of people were the ones which Aiden despised the most, those who were spoon-fed literally everything in their life, he had deep hatred toward them.


    Was it jealousy?


    He wasn''t sure because to bepletely honest, sometimes he did feel somewhat of those who were privileged.


    Because when hepared their lives with his, the difference was so apparent that it made him a little depressed.


    He imagined how his life could have been if he hadn''t gone through anything and been given anything.


    When he reached that point of imagining what his life would have been like he realized that he wouldn''t be the same person, he wouldn''t even resemble himself.


    After all, his training and his past had dictated the person that he was today and it waspletely normal.


    All of his actions were dependent on his past because they made him the man that he is today.


    A cruel man who cares about those close to him and despises those who oppose him, that was how his past life had forged Aiden.


    Anna, who heard Aiden mock her so openly, got all red as she replied on the moment, "I got an idea why don''t we spar against one another, we will see who''s the best that way."


    She had said it out of spite, not thinking it through, however, even when she processed what she had just said there was not a single doubt in her mind that she would be losing.


    "Lady Sophia, can we?" Anna asked as she turned toward Sophia who was obviously paying attention to the conversation between Anna and Aiden, interested in how Aiden would be acting under pressure.


    And from what she had heard, this young man had a lot of potentials, there was no doubt about that part.


    ''Well, it would be a good fight and it''s not like the losing party won''t join the Magic Academy,'' Sophia thought.


    She knew that there was no problem with having a fight like this, in fact, it would be a much better fight than what she had originally nned.


    The teachers and the director who will be watching would be pleased that two talented would be fighting against one another.


    "Sure, why not? But let''s keep that fight as thest one, you know ending this entrance exam in a big way."


    Anna who heard this smiled as her idea got approved.


    "You will see that I don''t need any support to get rid of a weakling like you," she said, having no idea about the strength that Aiden had.


    If he were to use his skills as an assassin, then she would have absolutely no chance, however, that wouldn''t be fun which is why Aiden would be challenging himself to only use magic spells.


    Imagine if he beat her, how humiliating it would be for her if he was to reveal that he had only started learning magic a couple of hours ago.


    Imagine if she learned that her years of practice wouldn''t be enough to beat the young man who was right in front of her.


    One thing was certain, it would be one hell of a funny sight.


    ***


    Some timeter, the first sparring had finished and the tension which had been at an all-time high while watching the fight suddenly decreased in a few instances.


    However, there was one person who didn''t seem extremely happy about the result of this match and it was James who had lost the bet that he had made with Anna.


    Anna on the other hand didn''t even seem to care that she had won as it literally had no importance for her which was logical.


    She had something which was a lot more important on her mind.


    She needed to prove to Gold Core that she was better than him.


    She didn''t have a lot of options, either she would be ridiculed or she would prove that she was stronger than Aiden, however, thetter was impossible.


    Aiden would destroy her and if it came to it, he would use his dagger.


    Then, a few fights continued with one side losing and one side winning.


    After an hour or so, it was finally almost time for Aiden and Anna to face one another, and it seemed that Anna was quite stressed as Aiden could easily through her current state.


    She was currently bragging about how easy this fight would be, however, based on her micromovements and her overall behaviour was easily able to see through that.


    She was nervous that she would lose and be humiliated.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    After all, why would Aiden even feel the slightest amount of pressure?


    Even if he lost, people would say that it''s normal since hees from a normal background.


    Then, as their fight was about tomence in a few minutes, Lady Sophia had left the room in which every participant was.


    When she left, she simply said that she had some things to do and that she would being back in a few minutes.


    Aiden didn''t think too much of it as it probably wasn''t anything which was rted to him.


    However, he was deeply wrong, Lady Sophia''s sudden departure was solely because of him, he had been the reason for such a thing.


    ***


    In the observation room of the Arena were multiple individuals all more proud than the other as they all had their chests pumped.


    Those people were obviously the teachers of the Magic Academy which were currently waiting for the next sparring tomence.


    They were currently discussing the sparrings that they preferred and to be honest, at the moment, there hadn''t been anyone who had impressed them.


    However, the director of the Academy still hadn''t spoken his mind, observing this whole.


    ''When is that young man going to appear, there''s no way that he got eliminated,'' The director of the Magic Academy thought.

 Chapter 276 276 - Its Time

    Chapter 276  276 - It''s Time


    The director saw a young man in the front row when he had made an appearance earlier.


    From a quick nce, he had already noticed that he wasn''t like the rest of the people that he was seated next to.


    From a quick nce, the director had been able to see an immense amount of potential in that young man.


    From a quick nce, the director knew that this young man would be entering the Magic Academy which was why he was extremely confused when he saw that he wasn''t appearing in any of the sparrings that he just saw.


    Then, as he wondered what happened to him, it seemed that someone had heard as Lady Sophia appeared in the observation room and she would be answering all of Aiden''s interrogations.


    "Oh, Sophia what are you doing, quickly end this entrance exam we don''t have all day," one of the teachers named Marcusined.


    Sophia hearing this simply smiled as she was used to suchments from those arrogant teachers.


    Nheless, she acted as politely as she could.


    "Marcus, please don''t be so impatient, thisst fight will be one that you will all want to watch," Sophia announced out of nowhere, surprising in the room except for the director who had a clear idea of who would be fighting.


    "You see during this entrance exam, I discovered a talent among talent. Well, I won''t say too much about him, you will all see. But, all I will say is that some of you will probably consider giving him a disciple status within the academy."


    Then, after saying that, she waited to see some of their reactions and it was clear that everyone who was present at the moment in the room was extremely confused about everything that she had just said.


    "Disciple status? Someone in the entrance exam is worth of such a title?" Marcus questioned, clearly not buying this whole thing.


    Sophia was probably exaggerating as there was simply no way that such a title would. be given to those who participated in the entrance exam.


    In fact, multiple disciple status had been given to those who had been recruited by the Magic Academy in advance.


    "Marcus, look you can say that to me after watching him fight, oh and also he only started learning how to use magic today. So, keep that in mind," Sophia said as she left everyone in the room bbergasted.


    She knew that Aiden was only a beginner in magic from how he practiced during the precision test. The fact that he had no control over his spells clearly indicated that he had used magic in a scarce manner during his life.


    However, that fact wasn''t a bad thing at all, actually, it was a good thing since it only served to increase his worth in the eyes of many.


    ''I knew it, that young man was different. I don''t know what it was but I could almost feel a threat from him and none of the teachers in this room have achieved that yet,'' the director of the Magic Academy thought.


    ***


    Back in the waiting room, Anna was trying to rile Aiden up as much as she could before the fight, however, it seemed that all of her attempts were failing miserably as Aiden hadn''t responded even once, keeping a stone-cold face.


    "Don''t act like you don''t care, I''ll destroy you when we enter the arena," Anna continued, acting as if she was better than Aiden.


    Aiden on the other hand didn''t even pay attention to her as his mind was in some cepletely different.


    ''I wonder when she''s going toe back, this is getting long. I wonder what happened that she had to go.''


    He was obviously thinking about Sophia since it had been almost five minutes since she had been gone, dying the fight between him and Sophia.


    Also, Aiden didn''t want to be stuck here any longer as he hated the people who were currently around him.


    Well, at least, there was a single person who wasn''t bothering him at the moment and that was Evelynn who was sitting in a corner with her small beast with her seeminglyforting her because of her defeat.


    Because Evelynn had seeded in the innate talent challenge and she had reached the sparrings where she had suffered a defeat against one of those privileged brats.


    However, the reason why she had lost that match hadn''t been because of her skills as they were clearly superiorpared to the person which she had fought.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    The reason that she had lost was because of her equipment and weapons.


    Well, actually weapon probably wasn''t the best word to describe the little beast which was currently her.


    The reason that she had lost was because of her beast which hadn''t been strong enough, it was that simple.


    It was clear that the beast that she currently had wasn''t the best on the market and Aiden truly wondered why she had such a small beast to fight for her.


    He had also watched the fight and he had to admit that he had been quite disappointed as he had expected the small creature to transform and be so strong that no one would be able to rival with him, but sadly such a thing didn''t happen.


    If she had gotten a stronger beast to help her against her opponent then she would have won without much problem as Aiden had to admit that her talents at guiding the creature were quite impressive.


    However, it hadn''t been enough.


    Then, Aiden dismissed those thoughts about her as he noticed that there was a fluctuation of mana in the middle of the room.


    ''Is it what happens when we teleport?'' Aiden thought as this was the first time that he had been able to see anything rted to the teleportation that Sophia had used.


    "Alright, enough time wasted, it''s time for the two of you to fight against one another."

 Chapter 277 277 - Shield

    Chapter 277  277 - Shield


    Then, both Anna and Aiden started walking toward the entrance of the Arena.


    While they did so, Anna kept looking at Aiden wondering why he was never ncing her way.


    He didn''t know why he was acting after all the insults that she had thrown at him, was he really not affected at all?


    Because she knew that if she had been in his ce, she would have been mad and would have probably thrown a tantrum, however, maybe that was the difference between the two of them.


    Truth be told, Aiden wasn''t the type to let his emotions get the better of him except when he was seeing people from the Nightshade Family which for some reason would rile him up in an instant.


    Then, as they reached the end of the hallway, Aiden finally realized that it was time for him to be fighting.


    His mind had been solely focused on the fluctuation of mana which he had noticed earlier.


    So, when he saw that there was Anna next to him who was getting ready to fight him, he kind of felt bad that she was taking this whole thing so seriously when, he, on the other hand, didn''t care about this fight at all.


    He knew that there was no chance of her beating him which is why he wasn''t nervous one bit.


    "Well, good luck."


    That was the first time that Aiden had uttered something in the past hour.


    Anna was shocked to hear him speak up now which caused her to mumble something which didn''t make any sense.


    ''Good fight? Does he not care about what I said previously?'' She thought, wondering why this man looked so easygoing as if nothing could make him mad.


    Seeing like he wasn''t saying anything else she wanted toward her corner of the Arena and she looked at him directly in the eyes without any restraint.


    While all this was happening, Sophia had once again left the waiting room and went back to the observation room as she wanted to have a better look at how Aiden would fight.


    ''I knew it, that''s the young man I saw earlier,'' the director thought excitedly, happy that his intuition had been right all along.


    However, he was nheless very confused because based on what Sophia had said earlier he had started learning magic today, so why was it that he was feeling a small threat from such a young man?


    It didn''t make any sense.


    ''Well, I guess I''ll see why when they start fighting.''


    Then, the director was thinking about all those things, Aiden had finally reached his side of the arena which was gigantic.


    There had to be at least, 200 meters between the two of them and thinking about it, Aiden found that a little weird since they needed to cast spells to deal damage to one another.


    However, if they were so far away then Aiden and Anna would have all the time in the world to dodge each of the spells thrown at them.


    "Well, who cares, let''s start this thing," Aiden murmured to himself as he got ready.


    He made sure to remember all of the spells that he had learned during the precision test.N?v(el)B\\jnn


    ''There was, an icicle, fireball, mudball, and I can''t remember thest one,'' Aiden thought as he couldn''t be bothered to open his system to look up what was thest one.


    With three spells he would probably have enough to deal with the person who was against him.


    Well, actually he had four spells as he had nned to use the Universal Spell right away when this fight would be starting.


    Then, as if reading his mind, a countdown resounded in the Arena.


    [3... 2... 1... Fight!]


    ''Universal Spell,'' Aiden thought to himself as he had the image of his dagger in his mind.


    He didn''t want to show everyone here that he had a real dagger as they would probably be asking a lot of questions, so he thought that this would be a better option since this dagger was technically magic.


    So, after creating the dagger, he looked up and saw that there was some red fiery ball that was currently aimed right at his head.


    Seeing it, Aiden quickly dodged it as he jumped to his right using all of his capabilities.


    He didn''t want to be burned alive after all.


    ''Alright, I guess it''s my turn now. Fireball!''


    Then, as he called the name of the spell the same red ball as she had used appeared in his hand and he threw it with pinpoint precision toward Anna.


    While the fireball started advancing toward Anna, Aiden used that time to get as close as he could to her as he made sure to run at an average not wanting to show to everyone that his body was well trained.


    He had noticed that not many in this world had well-built bodies which is why he decided that he would be only showing average capabilities.


    But, if it came to it, he would use them.


    Then, Aiden was now around 100 metres away from Anna when he saw that she had thrown apletely different spell this time around, it sort of looked like a firewall.


    While Aiden wanted to learn what it was, it currently wasn''t the moment as he had difficulty paying attention to all of her opponent''s movements when casting that spell which is why he didn''t acquire it.


    ''Icicle!''


    As he called that, he immediately started spinning the icicle which had formed in his hand as he wanted this little bit of ice to do as much as possible.


    Then, after a few seconds, he released it at full speed and directly aimed at Anna''s head.


    However, contrary to Aiden''s expectation, she didn''t try to dodge it at all as she stopped moving.


    Then, he noticed that there was a weird mana fluctuation around her, but he wasn''t able to see what it had been.


    So, when the icicle was about to hit her, it bounced off as if there was something protecting her.

 Chapter 278 278 - Infinite Number of Affinities?

    Chapter 278  278 - Infinite Number of Affinities?


    ''Is that some sort of shield?'' Aiden thought as he saw the icicle bounce off as if it was nothing more than a simple rock that you would be able to find on the side of the road.


    Aiden hadn''t been able to see what happened or how she had done such a thing, however, from the quick nce that he had given he was almost sure that the thing that had blocked his spell wasn''t magic.


    He was almost sure that it was some sort of item that she currently had on, however, Aiden didn''t mind it as he looked down and saw the dagger that he currently had in his hands.


    ''Well, before using that, let''s see if that shield will resist another icicle,'' Aiden thought as he summoned the icicle in his hand ready to fire another one right away.


    Then, without much surprise, Anna didn''t move at all, as the icicle once again bounced off.


    ***


    While all this was happening many people were shocked out of their minds inside of the observation room.


    "Sophia, that boy does he have a dual-affinity?" Marcus questioned as he was starting to get somewhat interested in that young man because of that reason.


    It was quite rare after all and he wouldn''t mind having a disciple who could use multiple elements.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    However, when Sophia answered him, he was even more shocked than at the start.


    "He might have more, I have no idea, the test failed to identify his affinities."


    While this conversation was happening, the director who wasn''t too far away from them was caressing his beard, thinking.


    ''Why is it that I feel more danger from that dagger that he created than from his spells.''


    He found that really weird since he knew that not a lot of people used weapons in the Magic City.


    "Um, Sophia where does this young mane from?"


    He wanted to know that information since it would give him a better idea of what that young man experienced in his life.


    However, the answer that he got wascklustre.


    "No idea, he only said that he came from far away."


    ''From far away, huh? Maybe he came from there?'' The director thought as it was extremely clear that he had an idea in mind.


    However, there was pretty much zero chance that he was right since Aiden came from another world.


    "Sophia, when are going to do your fucking job? Find information about got dammit!" Marcus shouted clearly frustrated by the fact that they knew nothing about such a boy who had such talent.


    But, that shout from Marcus was ignored quickly as everyone was shocked to have heard the director of the Magic Academy ask something about a student.


    It had never happened before which meant that there had to be something about this boy.


    If even the director was paying attention to him then there was no doubt, they would have to make a disciple.


    ***


    ''Well, I guess magic won''t work because of that weird protection that she has all around herself,'' Aiden thought as he decided to go to n B.


    ''No big deal, I''ll have to crush in a different manner,'' Aiden said to himself as he shed a beautiful smile toward Anna.


    The smile was not only beautiful but a cruel one.


    "Can''t hit me?" Anna taunted seeing that Aiden had stopped firing spells at her.


    ''I got lucky that dad had bought me this beforeing here,'' she thought as she looked at what she was currently winning.


    If she hadn''t worn this then she would have been defeated instantly, so it was a huge relief for her to see that nothing could get through that protective gear yet.


    Seeing that Aiden had gone back to beingpletely deaf, she didn''t try to continue her taunts as she stopped them immediately.


    She knew that there was no point in continuing those taunts if he didn''t care about them.


    Still, she was extremely confident about winning this spar now that there was no spell that could hurt her.


    However, while she thought of this, she started getting extremely confused over Aiden''s behaviour as he wasn''t trying to gain any distance between the two of them, in fact, he was getting closer and closer.


    ''Who cares that will only make him lose faster, Fire Wall!'' Anna thought as she summoned a firewall to appear in front of her.


    The Fire Wall seemed alive as it was following Aiden''s movement perfectly.


    ''Just what the hell is that spell?'' Aiden thought as he kept dodging it over and over without a single break.


    Everywhere that he would go that spell simply kept following him which was extremely disturbing as he wanted to get as fast as possible toward Anna.


    ''Do I need to show what I''m really able to do?'' Aiden thought as he had been limiting his physical capabilities since earlier.


    He knew that by doing so he would be gaining a lot more attention to himself, but he also knew that if this situation kept going he wouldn''t be able to reach Anna at all.


    ''Ah fuck it, I''ll just go ahead and do it,'' Aiden thought as he suddenly elerated like a madman reaching Anna in less than a single second.


    Then, as he got close enough to her, he grasped his dagger tightly making sure that it would be enough topletely dominate her.


    As he was about to go for the head, he suddenly remembered a really important detail and that was this girl''s background.


    He didn''t want a problem with her family which is why decided that he wouldn''t be hurting her, he would simply make her give up the fight altogether.


    That''s why instead of decapitating her with a single strike, he decided to stop just before doing so as he held his dagger right next to her neck, clearly threatening her that if she made a single wrong move, she would die.


    Then, as he held his dagger right next to her neck, he looked up toward the observation room.

 Chapter 279 279 - Martial Arts

    Chapter 279  279 - Martial Arts


    He knew that they were all looking at him, probably wondering what he would do now that he had a dagger right next to her neck.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    ''It''s weird why aren''t they trying to stop me? Is there some sort of protective device around her that can protect her from dying?'' Aiden thought as he had noticed that no one had been supervising the sparrings which was honestly quite weird now that he thought about it.


    However, Aiden dismissed those thoughts as he felt a presence right behind him, but that presence didn''t seem to be a malicious one as she simply observed what Aiden was currently doing.


    ''Is it Sophia?'' Aiden thought.


    But, he quickly realized that it wasn''t as she would have probably said something by now.


    Then, as Aiden kept wondering who was the person that was behind him, he heard his voice which he immediately connected to the director of the Magic Academy.


    "Where did you learn to use a dagger so skillfully?"


    The director was obviously extremely curious about it since he had felt danger from it.


    "My hometown," Aiden replied as he knew that there was no way that the director knew about where he came from.


    "What''s it called? I probably know of it."


    ''Um, no, there''s no way that you do''


    "Emberbane Vige, that''s where I learned to fight in close range."


    The director who heard that didn''t seem to mind that he had never heard of such a ce, instead, he asked yet another question.


    "Um, never heard of it, ah whatever it''s not like it matters either way. What is it that you are most confident in, you''re magic skills or your skills at close-rangebat?"


    Aiden who received this question didn''t even need to think about it he already had an answer ready for him.


    "Close-range, obviously. I only learned how to use magic today, after all."


    Aiden had said thatst part on purpose as he knew that he would raise his value in the eyes of the director.


    Who knows, the director might take him under his wing if he had enough talent.


    Nheless, what Aiden had said at the end of his sentence hadn''t been only for the director, but also for those who were watching him from far away.


    He had also made sure to speak loud enough so that they would hear him.


    But, what he ignored was that they already knew that he had only recently started learning how to use magic.


    "Um, makes sense," the old man in front of Aiden said.


    "Oh, and can you release the girl that you are still threatening with your dagger?" The director asked as he noticed that Aiden was still holding his dagger right beside her neck, basically ready to kill her at any time.


    ''This young man must have been through a lot, it seems that death doesn''t even phase him,'' the director thought as he noticed that there was no hesitation in his eyes as he held his dagger so close to someone''s throat.


    ''Oh right, she''s still there,'' Aiden thought as he removed the dagger from her neck and dropped her to the ground.


    Then as she slowly started to get up, she started shouting after the director of the Magic Academy as if reprimanding him.


    "Why didn''t you ask that as soon as you got here, do you know who my father is?"


    Aiden who was hearing this tantrum had a smile on his face as he wasn''t surprised in the least by what was currently happening.


    ''She really doesn''t learn, does she?''


    Aiden had to admit that he was quite disappointed that she was still depending on her background even when she was in such a situation.


    Regardless, Aiden was quite interested in how the director would be replying to such a threat.


    Aiden wanted to know if the academy had a strong backing as he didn''t to ally with an institution that could be controlled from the outside.


    "Call him here, you''ll see how powerless he is."


    ''Oh this is my type of answer, tell her how it really is,'' Aiden thought as he really liked how the director wasn''t faced in the least by that message.


    Anna who heard the director''s answer knew that he was right as she simply gritted her teeth in response.


    "Hmph, whatever just get me back to the waiting room, I don''t want to be next to someone as stupid as this man," Anna continued as she pointed at Aiden.


    Then, the director did a simr movement to Sophia as Anna was teleported away.


    "Alright, now that the nuisance is gone, what do you say that we continue talking just you and I, oh I don''t worry I know a spot," the director said as he held his arm forward waiting for Aiden to grab it.


    Aiden saw this smile as he knew that this was a very good opportunity, but then just as he was about to grab his arm, a group of people appeared behind him.


    "Wait, don''t let him take you, have a conversation with all of us before," the group of teachers said.


    They knew that if the director were to talk to himpletely alone then there would be basically no chance that he would be epted to be their disciples.


    However, when Aiden saw that Sophia made a sign with her head to refuse he continued his earlier movement as he grabbed the arm of the old man behind him, teleporting to who knows where.


    They seemed to be in some sort of forest and in front of them, there was a small wooden cabin which seemed big enough for only two people.


    "Right, follow me we can talk inside," the director said as he took his sweet time to enter the cabin.


    Then, after entering it, he asked Aiden to sit in one of the chairs which were right in front of him.


    "Here, you can sit."


    Right after Aiden sat down, the old man immediately asked a question, "Alright, so do you want to teach me martial arts?"

 Chapter 280 280 - +200RP

    Chapter 280  280 - +200RP


    "Wait what did you just say?" Aiden replied as he was extremely confused by what he had just heard.


    ''Teach him martial arts? Why would he want to learn that and why would he want me to teach him that?''


    It literally made no sense that he would be asking Aiden who could probably be his literal son.


    However, that wasn''t the most confusing part.


    The most confusing part was that Aiden had no reason to teach some old man. Why would he do so without anything in exchange, it didn''t make any sense at all.


    "You heard me right, can you teach me martial arts," the director asked once again, making sure that Aiden knew that he was dead serious about the request that he had just made.


    "Well, I could, but why would I do that?" Aiden asked back as he really didn''t have any incentive to ept his requests.


    The director seemed to have already thought this through as he gave an answer which seemed to have been prepared in advance.


    "Well in exchange I''ll teach you magic what do you say?"


    The director was sure that there was no way that Aiden would refuse such a golden offer since the director was the best teacher that he would be able to get at the moment.


    Aiden who heard his response was in deep thought as he didn''t want to make the wrong choice since his life depended on it.


    He didn''t want to fail a trial and die, after all.


    ''Well, he''s probably the one who can teach me the most, but there''s still the academy,'' Aiden thought as he wasn''t sure that he was the wisest to join the academy if he could have the director teaching him directly.


    "Would I still need the academy lessons?" Aiden asked as he wanted to know what this training would look like.


    The director, once again, didn''t seem surprised at all as he immediately responded.


    "Of course, we would only meet up after the academy''s lessons, so you don''t need to worry about that."


    Aiden nodded back, hearing that response.


    ''Then how would we be splitting the time? Would his learning take priority over mine?'' Aiden thought as he knew that he couldn''t ept such a thing happening.


    As if reading Aiden''s mind, the director continued talking further exining what their training would be looking like.


    "You see, we will do one week where you learn about magic, then it will be my turn the week after and we will be repeating this process for however long that need."


    ''Well, it will onlyst one month, which means I''ll have two weeks with the director of the academy to help me.''


    But then as he had this thought, he had to admit that this certainly wasn''t a bad deal, especially with the system helping him learn all of those spells.


    "Then, let''s do it. I ept," Aiden finally answered as he knew that it was probably the best option for him since it would make him acquire as much knowledge as possible.


    However, even if that part of the problem had been solved, there were still many things which were on Aiden''s mind.


    He knew that he would have to open a shop soon rted to magic and he had to think about what he would be offering there.


    Nheless, he didn''t want to think about those things right now as he saw that the director extended his arm toward him, indicating for Aiden to grab it.


    Aiden seeing this, didn''t hesitate as he felt that there was a slight fluctuation of mana and then as he blinked, he was in some cepletely different.


    Then, as soon as he reappeared in the middle of the Arena, it seemed that everyone had been waiting for him as he was attacked by relentless questions.


    "What happened?"


    "Are you his disciple, now?"


    "Are you sure that you don''t want to listen to what I have to say?"


    It seemed that all of the teachers of the academy were extremely interested in everything that was happening between Aiden and the director since it was truly a first.


    Then, Lady Sophia who hadn''t said anything since they had reappeared teleported herself right beside the director as she gave a subtle smile toward Aiden.


    "Did you take him as your disciple?" She whispered in the director''s ear.


    The director who heard that question decided that he would announce it out loud as he didn''t want people to constantly follow him around wanting the answer.


    "I made him my disciple, however, our rtionship won''t be a normal one," the director said as he didn''t want to tell everyone that he was also the disciple of the young man who was just in front of him.


    Then, as soon as he announced it, the teachers all started to murmur to one another as they all seemed extremely surprised.N?v(el)B\\jnn


    ''Well seems like everyone will know of me now,'' Aiden thought as he heard a beeping sound in his mind.


    *BEEP*


    [You have obtained 200 Reputations Points.]


    [Total RP: 210]


    ''I won 200 Reputations Points?'' Aiden thought somewhat shocked over it.


    He knew that it wasn''t much, but it was still he appreciated that he had already umted over 200 points in a single day.


    He knew that it was probably rted to the achievements that he had gotten today and he hoped that he would be umting a lot of those RPs while staying in the academy.


    He knew that it would be getting a lot of them as soon as he would be leaving the academy his shop, however, if he could have a head start, he certainly wouldn''tin at all.


    In fact, he would appreciate it.


    "Wait what do you mean by your rtionship isn''t normal?" One of the teachers asked seemingly confused.


    "It''s nothing that you need to be concerned about," the director replied seemingly deadset on not revealing any other detail which wasn''t a bad thing all things considered.

 Chapter 281 281 - Orientation Test

    Chapter 281  281 - Orientation Test


    A few hourster, Aiden was officially a student of the Magic Academy of the Magic City, however, he wasn''t a simple student like almost all the others.


    He was a disciple, but not just any disciple, he was the disciple of the director of the Magic Academy. He was the disciple of David Weasley, the best magician of this generation.


    Aiden''s status had obviously been spread all around the school and everyone who heard about it seemed to be extremely shocked about it as they clearly hadn''t expected such a thing to happen.


    For most of the students of the academy, the director was a legend, an entity that they would never be able to reach even if they worked their whole life trying to surpass him.


    But, now they were hearing that such a person was taking interest in such a young person.


    That''s why many who heard about Aiden being Walter''s disciple simply didn''t believe it.


    "Aiden, what do you want to study in the academy?" Evelynn asked as she had been following Aiden around recently.


    It was now apletely new day and it was the first day of the Magic Academy.


    ''What do I want to study?'' Aiden thought as he didn''t quite grasp the question as it seemed as it seemed extremely easy to figure out.


    He wanted to study magic just like everyone who had entered this establishment, what else would he want to learn?


    "Well, magic. Why? What do you want to learn?" Aiden asked back.


    Evelynn who heard his response rolled her eyes as she remembered that he really didn''t know anything about this academy.


    "What do you want to specialize in? What are you best at?" She questioned.


    However, as she said that she realized that it would be a problem since Aiden had no idea what he was good and bad at.


    "Not sure, because like I told you before the first time that I used magic was yesterday."


    "Yes, sorry sorry, then are you going to pass the orientation test to guide you?" Evelynn asked as she noticed that Aiden seemed even more confused than before.


    ''What is she even talking about? Orientation test, no one told me about that stuff.''n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    From the name that it had been given, Aiden was able to deduce some things, however, he had no idea what it would be.


    Like what would he have to do that such a test would actually be able to help him decide what to choose as courses?


    "Well, I guess I could if it will make things easier," Aiden replied.


    Then, as soon as he said that, Evelynn grabbed his arm basically dragging him in some random direction.


    Aiden seeing that Evelynn basically knew where everything was situated had to admit that she was quite shocked.


    ''What''s happening? How does she know so well the Magic Academy?'' Aiden thought as he had noticed that she was the only person who knew everything about this ce.


    The others all more or less resemble Aiden as they were all clearly lost trying to find themselves.


    However, with the help of Evelynn, everything was a lot simpler as she simply guided him to all of the ces which were interesting.


    For example, she showed him the Quests Board which showed many tasks that students could do in exchange for Magic Coins.


    Aiden wasn''t too sure what were Magic Coins, but he didn''t ask any questions as he would probably be able to figure it outter when opening his shop.


    ***


    A few momentster, as Evelynn was still holding Aiden by the hand, they finally arrived in from of a big wooden counter.


    "Here go up there and just say that you want to do the Orientation test," Evelynn said as she pushed him forward.


    While Aiden moved toward the counter, he still couldn''t but question why he needed to do such a thing.


    ''Couldn''t I just take all the same sses as everyone else, why is it that I need to join only the sses that fit me the most?'' Aiden thought as he wasn''t able to grasp the concept.


    ''Doesn''t everyone have the same sses?''


    ''Ah, whatever I''ll just do it and be done with this whole thing,'' Aiden thought as he continued to walk in front of him, reaching the wooden counter.


    "Hello, young man what can I do for you?" the girl on the other side of the counter asked.


    "Hello, I would like to do the Orientation test," Aiden replied as he noticed that the girl didn''t even bother looking up.


    Then, the girl simply pointed to her right and Aiden saw that there were many people currently waiting to enter the Orientation test.


    "Well, looks like you weren''t the only one who had no idea of what courses you wanted to take," Evelynn said.


    Then, Aiden who was slowly getting closer to the group of people that was in front of him noticed that there was someone which he knew very well in that line.


    It was Anna, it seemed that she was also waiting to enter the Orientation Test.


    While Aiden was looking at her, it seemed that Anna felt it as she turned toward him before quickly looking away as it seemed that she was embarrassed.


    ''Did I do something wrong, why isn''t she looking at me?'' Aiden thought as he knew that he had beaten her in the sparring.


    However was that really that big of a deal that she couldn''t even look at him in the eyes?


    ''Well, maybe I humiliate her in front of everyone? But, is that really a reason for her to act that way with me?'' Aiden thought as he slowly started walking toward her since she was currently thest in the line.


    ''Maybe I should apologize?''


    He didn''t want to make enemies this early into this new world, especially enemies who had important backing.


    It wasn''t something that she wanted at all.


    That''s why as soon as he arrived right beside her, he got closer to her as he whispered something to her ear.

 Chapter 282 282 - Zombies, Wolves, Orcs

    Chapter 282  282 - Zombies, Wolves, Orcs


    "I''m sorry about earlier," Aiden whispered to Anna''s ear.


    This caused her face which was already red from embarrassment to entuate even more.


    Anna seemed surprised that Aiden was now right beside her as she hadn''t heard him at all.


    This was obviously normal since Aiden had his passive skill which made such things possible.


    Anna who just heard what she said had to admit that she was feeling bad as she knew that the way that she currently acting wasn''t the nicest at all.


    "T-There''s no need to be, I don''t know why I reacted so strongly earlier."


    She seemed embarrassed by how she was acting since she remembered what she had said when Aiden had let her go and decided to let her live.


    She remembered how she hadined to the director and had been ridiculed even more.


    So, when she learned that Aiden was now the disciple of the director of the academy she got scared that he would use this opportunity to be banished from the academy.


    However, there was one thing that she ignored, Aiden didn''t even care about her.


    She wasn''t even worth mentioning in his eyes.


    "So, um, about your rtionship with the director... you won''t say anything mean about me to him, right?" She asked as she was really worried about what he would be doing.


    Aiden who heard that was somewhat confused as he hadn''t even thought about what had happened with the two of them.


    "Yeah, don''t worry about it, I won''t."n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    Anna was relieved as she bowed toward Aiden thanking him. The reason that she was now acting in a respectful manner with him was because of his position within the academy.


    She knew that her father wouldn''t be able to deal with the director of the academy which is why she acted as politely as she possibly could.


    "So, are you trying to figure out what you''re best at?" Aiden asked since Anna was in the file to do the Orientation Test.


    "Yeah I am, I already did it in the past, but I just want to be sure."


    Then, she murmured right after saying that, "It''s probably the same for you."


    However, thatst part didn''t reach Aiden''s ears or else he would have had a goodugh out of that one.


    ***


    After that little interaction between Aiden and Anna, the two of them only looked at one another as they advanced toward the ce where they would be taking the test.


    Aiden had to admit that the situation was a little awkward, however, there was one element which made the atmosphere a little lighter and that was... Evelynn''s beast which was glued to Aiden''s feet, following his every step.


    ''Is she really able to control it?'' Aiden thought as he couldn''t help but find this behaviour quite funny.


    ***


    A few minutester, it was finally time for Aiden to enter the Orientation trial as he left behind Evelynn and entered almost at the same time as Anna who had already gone in.


    ''I wonder what this test will look like,'' Aiden thought as he stepped through what seemed to be a dark portal.


    The portal that he just went through looked a lot like the ones that were on Nova for the tournament. However, the colours this time were clearly darker.


    ''I wonder how this thing will work?''


    Aiden had the same questions appearing in his mind over and over again because he found it extremely weird that a test would be able to determine what he was the best at.


    It simply didn''t make much sense.


    Then, as Aiden was entering into the dark portal, he heard a beeping noise.


    *BEEP*


    However, no matter how much he wanted to look at the message that had appeared, he hadn''t been able to since everything was dark inside there.


    He hoped that it wasn''t too important as he slowly started advancing in this darkness wondering when he was going to be able to see again.


    Then, as he continued taking a few steps forward, he gained his sight back as he noticed that there were an insane amount of monsters which weren''t too far from him.


    It looked like he would have to defeat a horde of monsters in this test and even if Aiden had wanted to, he wasn''t able to count the amount of monsters that were in there.


    There were simply too many to count.


    Even if he had wanted to, he wouldn''t have been able to.


    ''Do I need to defeat them?'' Aiden thought as he had gotten literally zero information on how this thing worked.


    ''Well, I guess I don''t have much of a choice.''


    As he thought that, he dashed forward toward the monsters with his dagger in hand not even worried about failing.


    The thought of losing to those monsters didn''t even cross his mind as he continued to run forward.


    He didn''t even feel the need to assassinate them as he summoned a fireball in his hand firing it right away.


    *BOOM*


    Then he summoned another one and another one as he kept advancing.


    A few explosions resounded in the realm of that ck portal.


    Right after firing those fireballs, Aiden finally close to all those monsters as he shed the throat of the zombie that was right in front of him, before killing the wolf which was on his right.


    Then, he saw that there was another zombie with a few orcs close to one another and he also dashed toward them not even hesitating for a single moment.


    Right after killing them and raising his head, he noticed that there was something which was extremely weird about this whole thing as he saw a creature that he remembered from the very first trial that he had gone through.


    He also remembered the zombies, the animals and the orcs, however, there was a monster which had truly marked him and that was the Boss Monster from the first trial, the Cyclops.

 Chapter 283 283 - Old Teammates

    Chapter 283  283 - Old Teammates


    ''Why are there only monsters from my first trial?'' Aiden thought as everywhere he looked he saw that there were all either zombies, animals or orcs.


    He didn''t understand how such a thing was possible since he was in apletely different which shouldn''t be rted to the first trial.


    ''Maybe it''s rted to that beeping sound from earlier?'' Aiden thought as he remembered not being able to look at the message that hade from it.


    He had to admit that he was pretty curious as to what the system could have sent him, however, he didn''t have time to think too much about it as he was soon surrounded by a bunch of different monsters.


    On his right there were two zombies, on his left there was a bear, and in front of him, there was a group of orcs.


    Looking at all of those monsters, Aiden only smiled as he remembered how scared he had been of them at the start as he had needed to ambush to kill them.


    ''I guess I really have gotten much stronger,'' he thought as he knew that he wasn''t the slightest bit of fear looking at them.


    He had to admit that it was niceparing himself to the one he was before, it made it easier to see how much he had grown during that time.


    The weak and naive Aiden had nowpletely changed as he went through many hardships.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    However, even if he would have wanted to reminisce about the past, he couldn''t as the monsters which had surrounded him were getting too close to him.


    ''Time to get rid of all of you,'' Aiden thought as he decided to eliminate the bear which was on his left to start off since it was alone.


    By eliminating the bear, he would be able to move freely a little bit more which would make this whole fight a lot earlier.


    That''s why he immediately dashed toward his left using [Lightning Steps] the skill that he had learned before going into this trial.


    By using this skill, his speed became incredible as the bear didn''t even react as Aiden shed his neck decapitating him in a single strike.


    ''This is way easier than I thought.''


    Seeing how easily he had gotten rid of the bear, he immediately went toward the two zombies.


    Then, as he got in range to sh their neck he did so as they still hadn''t noticed his approach because of the speed at which he was currently going.


    It was honestly an incredible feeling for Aiden as he currently felt unstoppable, he knew that none of the monsters which were around him could hurt him.


    If he really wanted to, he would simply run around all of them and quickly finish all of them, however, he wanted to take this opportunity as much as he possibly could as he knew that he would be going back to Nova.


    And in Nova, Aiden wasn''t anything impressive at all.


    He knew that a lot of people were able to oppress him extremely easily, however, this situation was making him forget about all those problems as he continued to y every monster that appeared in his past.


    ''Did I really struggle against such creatures before?'' Aiden thought as he simply couldn''t believe how weak he had been before.


    ''I guess my growth was impressive, huh? How much time has it been? Three months?''


    Aiden wasn''t even sure how much time had gone by since he had arrived in this world, however, his guess was between three months and two months.


    Then, as he thought about the past, he raised his head and noticed that there was a monster which had once needed help beating.


    ''I wonder how easy killing the boss monster will be now?'' Aiden thought as he anticipated that moment.


    He remembered that he had needed help from Ava who he still hadn''t seen again.


    He had to admit that it was weird that he hadn''t seen her at the Inter Family Tournament, his guess was that she had been eliminated at the start of it since she really hadn''t been anything truly impressive.


    ''Ah, whatever, I don''t know why I''m thinking of her now of all times.''


    Dismissing his thoughts, he dashed toward the Cyclops while using [Lightning Steps], he wanted to make sure that he would be killing the boss monster as fast as possible.


    Then, as he got close to the feet of the Cyclops who was twice as tall as him, Aiden jumped up so that he could reach the neck area.


    After doing so, he grabbed his dagger as tightly as he good putting as much strength as he possibly could before shing the neck of that monster.


    ''I guess that''s all I needed to do, huh? No much of a differencepared to the other monsters,'' Aiden thought as he saw the head of the Cyclops fall onto the ground making a big shockwave.


    Then, the body of the Cyclops disappeared into particles just like all the monsters that he had killed before.


    ''This ce really is weird, I feel like it''s been created by the system,'' Aiden thought as he started to see a lot of resemnces.


    However, he still had a problem he had no way to prove it.


    As he was thinking about those things, the particles of the Cyclops finally left Aiden''s sight and then Aiden saw something which shocked him even more.


    There were two dead bodies which were in front of him.


    ''Wait are those the bodies of those two guys that I killed at the start?'' Aiden thought as he didn''t seem to remember their names.


    ''Wait, the dwarf was named... I think it was Gus, right? And that one was the assassin and his name was... Jackson, no James. I think it was James,'' Aiden thought unsure if those were the actual names.


    But then, he saw that the two of them were slowly walking toward him.


    ''Do I need to kill them?'' Aiden thought as he truly didn''t mind such a thing.

 Chapter 284 284 - Real or Fake

    Chapter 284  284 - Real or Fake


    Seeing the two of them slowly walk toward him without saying anything, Aiden wasn''t sure if it was normal as he remembered that he had killed them in the past so why were they here once again?


    ''Maybe that amount of monsters were all the monsters that I killed during the first trial?'' Aiden thought as it made a lot of sense.


    The reason why he came to that conclusion was that he couldn''t see Ava anywhere.


    "Oh, whatever, it''s not like those two are real either way, and even if they were I would still kill them. It''s not like I care about them."


    Then, Aiden dashed forward just like he had done previously and decapitated the two of them as they didn''t even try to defend themselves.


    ''What even is the point of this ce? Is it really a test to tell what I will be the best at?'' Aiden thought as he heard a beeping sound inside his mind.


    *BEEP*


    [You have reached the second level in the System''s Evaluation.]


    Aiden who saw this was really confused this time as he had no idea what that message was rted to.


    Well, actually, he had a little idea, it was probably rted to the beeping sound that he had heard when he had first entered the dark portal.


    ''Did the system transport me somewhere else to test me?'' Aiden thought as he realized that it would make a lot of sense.


    However, it was confusing since he was already in a trial so why was it that the system or the Lumithars wanted to test him again?


    Weren''t they already doing such a thing, why were they feeling the need to do it once again?


    The point of the trials that Aiden was going through was to be tested by the system, so the "System''s Evaluation" really didn''t make any sense in his mind.


    However, what could Aiden even do in the face of the system, an entity which came from higher beings?


    The answer to that was quite simple actually and Aiden knew it very well as he had gone through the struggle of epting that answer many times.


    The only thing that he could was... nothing, actually the only thing that he could was get strong enough to reach those higher beings.N?v(el)B\\jnn


    However, he had all those thoughts, he remembered that he could actually ask questions to the system and that he would answer most of the time.


    "System what is this thing?" Aiden asked as he noticed that there weren''t any monsters or anything for that matter, it was a simple space with nothing inside it.


    If the colour of the walls were white, then Aiden could have called this ce the Waiting Room, but atst, it wasn''t.


    *BEEP*


    [An evaluation.]


    Aiden reading this was honestly disappointed as he understood that the system wouldn''t be answering any of his questions regarding this ordeal.


    He knew that he would dodge any questions which asked for more details which is why he decided that he wouldn''t be asking any as it would simply be a waste of time.


    Then, as he thought of that, he heard another beeping sound in his mind.


    *BEEP*


    [The second level of the System''s Evaluation will now start.]


    Then, as Aiden read that, all of his surroundings changed as he was now in a forest with someone whom he knew very well.


    ''Mia?'' Aiden thought as he looked at the person who was sleeping right beside him.


    ''Wait is this when we got attacked when we were sleeping?'' Aiden thought as he slowly stood up getting out of the small tent.


    ''I wonder if this Mia is a real one since I didn''t kill her or anything like that.''


    Aiden wanted to talk to her a little which is why he hoped that she wasn''t fake like those two people that he had just killed.


    However, that could wait since as Aiden got out of the tent, he saw that there were a lot of monsters attacking him.


    But, he noticed that there was a monster which he had never seen before.


    ''Actually, maybe I''ve seen it before?'' Aiden thought.


    Then, it hit him.


    He had seen it before, in fact, he remembered extremely well where he had seen that monster.


    It was the monster who had caused an explosion to happen, the Minotaur.


    A monster which he hadn''t fought even a single time yet, however, there was something weird about it as it wasn''t acting like the others mindlessly advancing toward him.


    It seemed to be observing Aiden, analyzing him wanting to see his weaknesses.


    However, Aiden couldn''t keep watching that monster as there were monsters which were currently approaching him, trying to attack the tent in which Mia was sleeping.


    ''Oh, so you sacrifice them to see my abilities, huh? Pretty smart,'' Aiden thought as he decided to give no information at all to that monster.


    He would be annihting all the monsters that were currently moving toward him so that the minotaur would obtain a total of zero information about him, he would make sure of that.


    Then, the annihtion started as the heads of all the monsters that were in front of Aiden all dropped on the ground practically at the same time since he still had [Lightning Steps] activated.


    After killing all those monsters, Aiden looked up directly into the eyes of the Minotaur which was still acting all high and mighty looking down on Aiden.


    However, just as he did that, he heard a voice from behind. A voice that he hadn''t heard in a really long time.


    "Who are you? Where are we?" asked Mia as she didn''t seem to understand where she was at the moment.


    ''Huh? Is that really who I think it is?'' Aiden thought as he couldn''t believe that the Mia he had seen inside the tent could speak.


    However, there was still something that Aiden needed to figure out and that was if she was the real Mia or some clone that the system had created.

 Chapter 285 285 - Saving Her

    Chapter 285  285 - Saving Her


    "Yeah, I''m talking to you, did you kidnap me? What''s going on here?" Mia questioned.


    Her reaction right now indicated that she might be the real Mia as she had never seen Aiden''s real face in the trial since he had been the king''s assassin at the time.


    ''So she doesn''t have any idea of who I am?'' Aiden thought as he knew that he couldn''t really go up and introduce himself as he still felt that the Minotaur was looking at him.


    Aiden knew that this would be the case, but he had to admit that it really hurt him as he remembered that pretty much all of his first experiences with girls had been with her, so when he saw the look of distrust in her eyes, he felt hurt.


    "Just stay there, I need to deal with this first," Aiden said as he turned his back toward the Minotaur.


    After turning around, he noticed that there was something that was weird about the Minotaur as Aiden was almost sure that he had a little smirk on his face.


    ''What is he smirking at?'' Aiden thought as he was frustrated that this monster was wasting his precious time away from Mia.


    He didn''t want to be dealing with this right now since he had the opportunity to go up to Mia and talk to her about what happened after he went away from her world.


    To bepletely honest, Aiden always wondered what happened to the world that he joined.


    What happened after he left?


    He wanted to know if she had continued to have a rtionship with the king''s assassin.


    However, he dismissed those thoughts as he lost sight of the Minotaur, Aiden who had been distracted by his thoughts had lost sight of him.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    ''Just where is that gigantic monster, it''s not like he can hide behind the trees,'' Aiden thought as he knew that the Minotaur was a lot too big to be hiding being anything for that matter.


    ''Wait don''t tell me...''


    As he thought of that, Aiden turned around and saw that Mia was still outside of the tent looking at Aiden probably wondering what was happening right now.


    But, then as Aiden looked behind her, he got shivers running down his back as he saw that the Minotaur was now right behind her with a big smirk on his face.


    Without losing any second, Aiden dashed forward as he wanted to save Mia at all costs, he still didn''t know if she was the real one and he didn''t want to take any chances.


    He pushed himself as much as he could which almost caused him to fall forward by trying too hard.


    However, such a thing didn''t happen as he was able to take control of his body before falling down.


    Aiden was moving so fast that he had never expected a monster to be faster than him, but what he saw contradicted what he had just thought.


    The Minotaur wasn''t even looking at Aiden anymore as he probably couldn''t see him, he was looking at Mia with a big smirk on his face as he had figured out that this girl was Aiden''s weak point.


    He had seen the look in Aiden''s eyes when she had gotten out of the tent which is why it decided that it would be attacking Mia and not him as the Minotaur didn''t seem to keen on fighting Aiden head-on.


    It probably wasn''t confident enough.


    Then, seeing that Minotaur was about to strike as Aiden was still a couple of steps away from her, Aiden needed to do something.


    "Mia, run toward me!" Aiden shouted as he saw that the Minotaur''s strike was about to reach her as his arm was slowlying down.


    ''Why is he saying that and how does he know my name?'' She thought, not understanding how such a thing was even possible in the first ce.


    She hadn''t said her name to someone who looked like him, in fact, she had never had someone who resembled him in her life.


    ''The fuck is she doing?'' Aiden cursed in his mind, frustrated that she wasn''t listening to him.


    ''I don''t have the time to exin everything,'' Aiden thought as he continued running in her direction, wanting to save her.


    He needed to know if she was the real one.


    Then, it seemed that he found more of his energy reserves as Aiden elerated even more, moving twice as fast as before.


    The distance between him and Mia was now only a couple of metres, however, the hand of the Minotaur was also a couple of metres away from Mia.


    Actually, it was a lot closer than that, probably only a metre away from the top of her head.


    Aiden knew that she would be squashed like a bug if the Minotaur''s attack ever reached her which is why he decided to shout something else that would make him gain some time.


    "Kneel down or something, I don''t know but fucking MOVE!"


    This time the tone in the voice of Aiden seemed to wake her up as she started getting closer to him, however, it seemed that it was toote as the hand of the Minotaur grazed her hair.


    ''What was that?'' She thought as she looked behind her and saw the monster which was over 10 feet tall.


    ''Was he trying to save me from that?'' Mia thought as she gave a soft nce at Aiden wondering why he was going to such lengths to save her.


    Seeing that the Minotaur hadn''t seeded in killing Mia, he was relieved as he finally reached her grabbing her in his arms.


    "Just sit back and watch, I''ll deal with this," whispered Aiden as he slowly put Mia on the ground.


    Then, he nced up toward the Minotaur who didn''t seem as confident as earlier as Aiden wasn''t able to see any smirks on his face.


    ''I''ll make you suffer for what you tried to do,'' Aiden thought as there were lightning parks that were starting toe from his feet.

 Chapter 286 286 - Suffer

    Chapter 286  286 - Suffer


    As the lightning sparks bounced off Aiden''s boots, he was already at the bottom of the Minotaur''s feet.


    Aiden had predicted that the monster would react somewhat to his movements but it seemed that the recent gain in speed that Aiden had gotten was too much for it to handle.


    After all, Aiden was currently moving faster than a train working a full speed.


    If anyone on Earth were to see him right now, they would be shocked there was no doubt about that part since Aiden would probably be able to cover a one-hundred-metre distance in less than 3 seconds.


    "I''ll take my time with you, I won''t end your life right away like I did with the others," Aiden mumbled as he shed both feet of the Minotaur.


    This caused the Minotaur to lose a little bit of bnce almost falling down, however, it seemed that this monster had found the will to stay up as he clearly refused to fall down even when both feet were about to let go.N?v(el)B\\jnn


    "ARGHH!" The Minotaur roared in pain.


    ''That''s what you get from trying to kill her.''


    Then, as he thought that Aiden jumped in the air reaching one of the Minotaur''s hands, cutting off all of his fingers.


    As hended back on the ground, he jumped toward his other hand where he did the exact same thing.


    All of his ten fingers were now falling onto the ground which created a shockwave because of how heavy all of them were.


    Aiden knew that this creature was heavy, but he still hadn''t expected such a thing from his fingers falling down.


    ''I wonder what will happen if it''s his entire body that falls onto the ground?'' Aiden thought, knowing that he would soon be getting that answer.


    Now, as Aiden looked up, he was a little more satisfied as he saw that the Minotaur didn''t have fingers.


    But, it still wasn''t enough. It needed to suffer a lot more for what it had tried to do.


    Even if the Mia which was not too far behind him a fake one, Aiden didn''t care he would have still acted in the exact same way.


    He wasn''t the type of person to have pity regarding others, especially when those that he was trying to hurt tried to kill those that he cared about.


    This was definitely crossing the line and Aiden wouldn''t let it go, no matter what.


    Then, as he dismissed those thoughts, he looked back up toward the butchered Minotaur as he jumped into the air once again aiming for, yet another, part of his body.


    This time it would be one of his shoulders, which was surrounded by some ck fur or hair, Aiden wasn''t sure.


    All that he knew was that this creature was extremely ugly and Aiden had a single goal in his mind, which was to make him even uglier.


    Just thinking about it put a smile on Aiden''s face.


    ''What if Ind on one of his shoulders?'' Aiden thought as he knew that there was enough space for at least five people on those massive shoulders.


    He also knew that there weren''t a lot of chances that the Minotaur could defend ordingly since Aiden had just hurt the Minotaur so badly that it was probably trying to still be conscious.


    There was so much blood leaving his body that Aiden wouldn''t be surprised if that monster didn''t fall face-first onto the ground.


    Still, he wanted it to hold on, as it would make the Minotaur suffer for a longer time.


    Then, as Aidennded on the monster''s shoulder, he took his dagger and activated his weapon''s aura, making sure that he would be able to sh it in a single strike.


    ''Let''s see if your shoulder is more durable than that boulder,'' Aiden thought as he was quite impatient in seeing how his weapon''s aura would work on a real body.


    Then, he grabbed his dagger and coated it with that blue energy, making sure that it would be enough.


    The only thing that was making this process a little bit harder thanst time was how unstable the Minotaur was.


    It seemed that from the slightest cut, he would be falling down.


    The dagger now coated with mana was immediately brought down close to the Minotaur''s shoulder as Aiden went all in putting all of his strength into that sh.


    He would make sure that the Minotaur would be losing one of his arms before losing his life.


    *THUD*


    The arm which had been part of the monster''s body wasn''t anymore as a massive sound resounded across the environment in which Aiden was.


    After he lost that arm, Aiden, who was still on the Minotaur''s shoulder felt that something had changed as he saw that the Minotaur was about to fall forward face-first.


    ''Alright time to get off,'' Aiden thought as he jumped down wanting to get a good view of that falling body.


    He made sure that there was no chance for Mia to be hurt, then he enjoyed the view.


    *BOOM*


    As the body of the Minotaur fell on the ground, Aiden went right beside it as he would be making sure that this thing was really dead as he didn''t want to take any chances.


    Thus, he arrived around the area of his neck which was at least one meter long and Aiden cut it.


    The head of the Minotaur was now on the ground unable to roll because of his horns which made the rotation impossible.


    Making sure that there was no chance for it toe back alive, Aiden finally turned around as he knew that he still wasn''t done.


    He needed to have a conversation with Mia, after all.


    ''Let''s see how this thing will go,'' Aiden thought as he noticed that Mia seemed somewhat scared of Aiden.


    However, all hope wasn''t lost as he had saved her previously which had probably made her opinion of him much better.

 Chapter 287 287 - Calming her down

    Chapter 287  287 - Calming her down


    "So, um, who are you and why am I here with you?" Mia asked as she looked around herself.


    She knew that they were in a forest in the middle of nowhere and the most worrying part about all this was that she had no recollection of getting here and sleeping in the same tent as the man that was in front of him.


    ''Alright, first things first, I need to figure out if she''s real or fake,'' Aiden thought as he ignored her questions.


    He knew that her knowing those answers wouldn''t change anything about the problem that he was in and it wouldn''t help him figure out an answer for it either.


    Seeing that Aiden didn''t seem to be paying any attention to her, Mia uttered, "Hello? Are you okay?"


    She seemed quite impatient in knowing more about the person who had just saved her since this was the first time that she had seen him.


    "Um, sorry about that," Aiden muttered realizing that he had been ignoring her for a couple of seconds already.N?v(el)B\\jnn


    Then, as he was about to ask a question of his own, Aiden suddenly got a horrible thought.


    ''Why didn''t I receive a message saying that I finished this level of the System''s Evaluation?''


    He knew that he should have gotten a message about it, however, he didn''t have any at the moment which was worrying since there were no other enemies or monsters that he needed to beat.


    ''Wait... don''t tell me that I''ll have to kill her?'' Aiden thought, unsure if that would actually be the case.


    If it was, he would need to determine if she was the real Mia or the fake Mia as it would greatly influence his decision which is why he came to the question that he had in his mind earlier.


    "Yeah, um, sorry I''m Aiden."


    He wanted to at least tell her his name so that they wouldn''t be strangers anymore.


    "Oh, and to answer your other question I have no idea why I''m here with you. Where were you before waking up here?"


    Aiden thought that this question would give him a good idea over his problem, however, it seemed that it wouldn''t be the case seemed Mia''s answer was useless.


    "I-I... don''t know. Wait, why can''t I remember what I did before waking up here."


    After realizing that there was something wrong with her she looked directly into Aiden''s eyes as there was clear anger in her eyes.


    "Is it your fault... Were you the one who did this to me?" She shouted as she got closer to Aiden grabbing him by the cor.


    Seeing how Mia was being aggressive Aiden had to admit that he was quite surprised as he had never expected her to be acting in such a way.


    Based on his memories, she had been really gentle with him no matter how much of a jerk he had been.


    "I wasn''t, I really don''t know what happened," Aiden said as he saw that Mia slowly started releasing him from her grasp.


    If he had wanted to, he could have dodged out of the way when she had gotten close to him, however, he hadn''t wanted to as he wanted her to pass all of her anger onto him and him alone.


    "Do you remember anything about the past then?" Aiden asked as he needed to figure this out.


    He knew that the second level still wasn''t finished which meant that there was still something that he needed to do, he could only hope that it wasn''t killing her.


    He knew that it was rted to her, but he just hoped that he wouldn''t need to kill her because that would be cruel.


    "I-I don''t, why can''t I remember anything, what''s happening to me?"


    It seemed that Mia was currently in the process of having a mental breakdown and Aiden who was watching her do so couldn''t take it anymore as he slowly got closer to her putting his head on her head.


    He was able to easily reach her head since she was now crouched on the ground panicking.


    Then, Aiden heard a beeping sound confirming that he had activated the skill [Gentle Touch].


    As soon as he saw that message he noticed that Mia was slowly starting to get in control of her emotions, it seemed that this skill really could work wonders


    However, it could also cause a lot of problems since people, most of the time, realized that Aiden was manipting their emotions.


    ''Why aren''t I sad anymore?'' Mia thought as no tears wereing out of her eyes anymore.


    Then, she looked up and saw that Aiden had his hand on her head and she didn''t know why but it felt really good.


    It was as if his touch wasforting her on a whole other level that she had never felt before.


    ''This is so nice,'' she thought as she made sure that he wouldn''t be removing his hand anytime soon.


    At least, until she got control of her emotions.


    While Mia was thinking of all those things, Aiden''s mind was inplete turmoil thinking about a lot of different things.


    ''What can I ask her next that could give me a hint? Maybe I could ask her about the time she spent with the king''s assassin.''


    But as soon as he got that idea, he discarded it as she had just said that she had zero memories of her life.


    ''It''s as if she was created solely for this trial, but how can I be sure of that?''


    Aiden knew that there were good chances that she had been created from the ground up, but he still didn''t want to take any risks as who knew what could happen.


    "Are you alright now?" Aiden asked as he didn''t want to force her into answering any of his questions.


    He wanted to make sure that she was doing alright before continuing their discussion.


    ''Maybe I can tell her some things that could make her remember me?''

 Chapter 288 288 - Killing Her?

    Chapter 288  288 - Killing Her?


    However, just by having this thought, Aiden knew that it would be very difficult to figure out the situation regarding Mia.


    ''Just what can I fucking do? She has no memories,'' Aiden thought as he realized that there was basically no way for him to know if she was real unless he asked the system.


    But, for some reason, he was almost sure that the system wouldn''t be telling him anything at all.


    He just knew that asking about it to the system wouldn''t do anything.


    But... he still did it, hoping that he would be right this time.


    ''Is she real?''


    *BEEP*


    [Maybe]


    ''Argh, why the hell is that shit, just tell me what I need to do to reach the next level of this evaluation or whatever it really is,'' Aiden said to himself, frustrated.


    Why couldn''t the system help when he needed it the most?


    ''Alright, let''s go to n B, figure out what I need to do to reach the third level,'' Aiden thought as he knew that there was no way that he would be able to figure out if Mia was real or not.


    She seemed real from a physical aspect, however, there was no way to figure out the mental one.


    Then, Aiden came out of his thoughts as he heard the voice of the person whom he had his hand on.


    "I''m okay, thank you," Mia said, thanking him for using [Gentle Touch] which was quite a rare asion to bepletely honest.


    He remembered how most people reacted after he had used it on them, so this was quite refreshing.


    "It was no problem."


    "Alright, so any ideas of where we are?" Mia asked as it seemed that she didn''t even remember this forest which was from her own world.


    But, that was normal if Aiden took into ount that she had forgotten about every single thing in her life, except her name.


    ''Should I tell her about the system? After all, it was that thing that brought her here or made her appear,'' Aiden thought.


    He wondered if the system would once again intervene if he were to tell Mia.


    ''Wait, I got an idea!''


    Aiden seemed to realize something about the system.


    The system or the Lumithars didn''t like information about them being shared which was why they had intervened in his third trial regarding that.


    ''What if I tell her, wouldn''t I be able to figure out if she''s real or not?''


    Based on what he knew, if Mia was a real person, then if Aiden were to tell her about the system then it would intervene and in case it was the other scenario then the system wouldn''t interfere.


    ''Yes, I really am a genius.''


    It seemed that Aiden had forgotten that the system or rather the Lumithars could hear his every thought but that was only a small detail or maybe a big one, but oh well... he forgot.


    "I do actually have an idea of where we are," Aiden said out of nowhere.


    "You do?" Mia replied surprised that Aiden knew something about this ce.


    "Actually I have a good idea of where we are right now, however, it''s a littleplicated to exin."


    He waited for Mia to concentrate before continuing what he was about to say.


    "You see, this forest and this tent with the monster is already a moment that I lived in the past. In fact, I lived it with you."


    As Aiden was about to continue he was quickly interrupted by Mia who seemed confused about what he had just said.


    "So... we know each other?''


    ''Maybe that''s why he was so desperate trying to save me as if his life depended on it. Who am I to him?''


    There were a bunch of questions that were popping into Mia''s mind, but she stayed silent letting him answer the first question that we asked.


    "Um, actually, that''splicated... We do know each other, in fact, we spend some time together, but you probably still don''t know who I am."


    Mia hearing this was even more confused.


    "What do you mean?"


    What Aiden had just said literally made no sense, if they had spent time together then why wouldn''t she remember it?


    "You see, I wasn''t really... the real me when we spent time together I was under another name, but that doesn''t really matter just listen to what I''m about to say," Aiden continued, cutting off short the exnation as he realized that it wouldn''t even matter if she knew about the trials and all that stuff.


    ''Why am I even talking about all that stuff, let''s just tell her about the system and be done with it,'' Aiden thought, a little mad at himself for wasting time.


    "You see the people that brought us here are a group of people named the Lumithars. We are probably not even in a real forest and the monsters that I just killed probably weren''t even real."


    "Truth be told, right now, I''m doing an evaluation that they gave me. However, don''t ask me why, even though I don''t why I need to do such an evaluation."


    ''Looks like the system won''t intervene, huh?'' Aiden thought as he realized that this probably meant that the Mia which was in front of him was fake.


    "You don''t know why you were brought here?" Mia asked a little confused.


    Didn''t he just say why he was here?


    "It''s a little bit moreplicated than how I exined it," Aiden continued exining to the fake Mia.


    While he said that, his mind was obviously somewhere elsepletely as he was now almost certain that she wasn''t a real person.


    ''The dwarf and that assassin weren''t real, so why would she be?'' Aiden thought, trying to convince himself that she wasn''t real.


    ''Do I really need to kill her to reach the next level of this evaluation?''


    Aiden hesitated as he looked down toward the weapon that he was holding in his hand.


    ''Should I?''


    ***


    Read Author''s Note, Important Notice.N?v(el)B\\jnn

 Chapter 289 289 - Magical Path

    Chapter 289  289 - Magical Path


    Aiden was now in a dilemma wondering if he should kill Mia or not, if he didn''t kill her then he honestly had no idea how to progress with the System Evaluation.


    "Hey, um, Aiden why are looking at me like that?" Mia asked as she noticed that Aiden had abruptly stopped talking and started fixing her.


    ''Did I do something wrong?'' She thought, unsure what was happening.


    ''Man, this is hard, why can''t I know if she''s real or not.''


    He didn''t want to take any risk regarding killing as this was the first person that he had cared about ever since


    Seeing that Aiden was still not answering her, she slowly started walking back as she didn''t want him to try anything weird with her.


    "L-look whatever I did, I didn''t mean to... I swear," Mia shouted as she was once again starting to get affected by her emotions.


    Aiden seeing her being so scared finally made his choice as he needed to go forward.


    ''I''ll just have to go to that world when I get out of this trial and check on her,'' Aiden thought as he would only knowter if she was a real person or not.


    He hoped that she wasn''t but that was only a prayer that might not be realized.


    Then, he slowly started walking toward Mia who was trying to get away from him.


    ''I''m sorry, if I ever see you in the real world, I''ll apologize,'' Aiden thought as he could only pray that she would still be alive when he visited her world.


    *SLASH*


    Then, Aiden didn''t make suffer as he quickly shed her head off her body as quickly as possible, then Mia''s body disappeared into particles just like the monsters that he had killed.


    ''Alright, now what?''


    Aiden was waiting for that beeping noise that said that he had seeded in the second level of the System''s Evaluation, however, he was shocked when he saw the message that was written.


    [You have failed the second level of the System''s Evaluation.]


    [Going back to the trial''s world.]


    [3...2...1 Teleporting...]


    Then as Aiden saw all those messages he couldn''t help but be extremely confused over what had just happened.


    ''Why did I fail? Didn''t I need to kill her? Fuck, this doesn''t make any sense,'' Aiden thought as he realized that he was now out of the dark portal.


    Realizing that he was out of it, Aiden got even more mad than before as he knew that he hadn''t taken part in the Orientation test which meant that he wouldn''t know what courses to take.


    However, as he thought that he would have to go back inside that portal, he heard a beeping noise.


    *BEEP*


    [You have obtained <Optimal Magical Path>.]


    ''Optimal Magical Path? Is this a reward for that stupid evaluation?'' Aiden thought as he was very mad about it


    Then, he started hearing a lot of people murmuring around him.


    "What Magical Path grade did you get?" One of the people close to him asked someone else.


    "Intermediate, you?"


    "Basic"


    Aiden hearing peoplepare their magical path was truly confused.


    ''Doesn''t this test show the best path that someone needs to follow? Is that why Anna was trying to do it again?'' Aiden thought as he realized that this Orientation Test gave rewards based on the performance that you pulled off inside.


    ''Wait... so this <Optimal Magical Path> is it the highest grade?''


    If it was then Aiden wouldn''t be cursing out the system for their evaluation and instead thanking them.


    ''Let''s see the description of that item,'' Aiden thought as he opened the item''s information panel.


    *BEEP*


    [Magical Path]


    [Rank: Optimal]


    [Description: A path that will show you your greatest strengths and greatest weaknesses regarding magic.]


    ''Oh, was I right? Is this really the best grade that someone can get?'' Aiden thought as he perceived Evelynn not too far away from him, going toward her with a smile on his face.


    ''Let''s just ask her, she''ll probably know.''


    "So, what Magical Path did you get?" she asked, quite interested in what someone so talented would get.


    She was sort of expecting him to get the highest rank, but she still waited for him to tell more about it.


    "Optimal"


    "I knew it, there''s was no way that you would be getting something else. So, what does it say?" Evelynn asked right away.


    It seemed that she was quite interested in the path that Aiden would have to take.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    ''Actually, there''s a small problem, where is that Magical Path?''


    Aiden tried searching himself, but it was nowhere to be seen.


    ''Is it even a physical item or is it something like the system?''


    "Um, small problem where do I find that Magical Path?" asked Aiden.


    "You don''t even know that and you got an optimal one, urgh, I don''t know if I should feel insulted right now."


    "Whatever, just think of it, it should appear in your mind. It kind of resembles a map connecting to all sorts of different elements."


    If anyone from Earth were to see what was about to appear inside Aiden''s mind, they would know that it was something called a Star Map which indicated what he knew and where he needed to go


    Then, Aiden thought of it and he saw that there were an infinities of stars that were all shining as bright as possible.


    However, it seemed that those stars were all surrounding what seemed to be a or at least one massive star in the middle.


    "I see it, what does this stuff mean?" Aiden asked as he was really confused as to how this whole thing worked since he had never yed a single video game in his life.


    "Well, do you see that massive lump of light in the middle of your mind?" Evelynn asked.


    "Yes, yes, I do, what about it?"


    "That''s you and the stars that are around that are all the paths that you can take. All the paths are usually connected to an affinity in particr, so, um, how many stars do you see?"

 Chapter 290 290 - Space and Death

    Chapter 290  290 - Space and Death


    "An infinity," Aiden replied right away as he noticed that there wasn''t a single star that wasn''t shining.


    It seems like Aiden really had potential in all of the affinities that existed, this was simply the proof.


    "Infinity... wait what did you just say?" Evelynn asked againpletely shocked by what she had just heard.


    There was simply no way that such a thing would be true.


    How could he have ess to all affinities, it didn''t make any sense.


    "All of them are shining."


    Evelynn hearing this tried her best to calm down as she prepared her follow-up question.


    "Which one is shining the brightest excluding the main one?"


    Aiden hearing that tried focusing as hard as he possibly could, however, he noticed that he couldn''t see any difference in brightness between all of them, they all seemed to be equal to one another.


    ''Is that supposed to be good?'' Aiden thought as he realized that it would make things difficult.


    It would make things difficult since he would be able to do everything, however, he wouldn''t be able to excel in a single affinity and Aiden didn''t want to be average in everything, he preferred being the best in a single one.


    That was his ideology.


    "There''s none, but how can I know which star belongs to what affinity?" Aiden asked as there were simply too many for him to identify them.


    Evelynn rolled her eyes hearing that question since it was reallymon information but still didn''tment on it as she knew the reasons as to why she was receiving those questions.


    "There''s usually a colour assigned with each star, if you want to know what colour to which affinity then visit the Magic Academy''s Library, you will be able to find all of that information there."


    It was clear that she didn''t want to spend hours telling him about all of the affinities which existed in magic.


    ''The library, yeah I should go there at one point,'' Aiden thought.


    However, there was a small problem which was quite simple, he didn''t have enough time to do so.


    He had to go visit the director pretty much every day where he would continue to learn about magic.


    Still, he knew that doing that would be worth it since the director was extremely skilled in everything that he did.


    "Which affinity should I start with?" Aiden asked as he knew that she knew a lot more about them than he did.


    ''I''ll see what she says and then I''ll ask the director his opinion on that matter,'' Aiden thought as he knew that the director would probably give a better response than a student of the academy.


    "Well, it''s as you wish, but since you don''t even know the basics then I would suggest that you start with an affinity which ismon to many like fire or ice since you already know some spells from those affinities."


    "In fact, you should that those stars are linked to another small star."


    Aiden hearing her say that zoomed onto the star which looked orange since that was the colour of fire and noticed that she was right.


    It really was linked to another orange star which was a lot smaller.


    Then, he did the same with the ice one and came to the same conclusion.


    "You''re right, I do see them linked to another star of their corresponding colour."


    Seeing that Aiden was slowly starting to understand how his Magical Paths worked, Evelynn thought that it was time for him to sign up for his courses.


    However, Aiden wasn''t in agreement as he still hadn''t heard the opinion of the director of the academy.


    ***


    "You want to learn those weak affinities when you have ess to all of them? Why the hell would you do that?"


    The director was truly confused as to why he would want to go down such a simple road when he could learn spells rted to space magic, death, or even life.


    In his mind, it didn''t make sense for such potential to be wasted by learning fire and ice spells which most people knew about already.


    "It''s just what one of the students that I know suggested, that''s why I came to ask for your opinion," Aiden said as he noticed that the frown that was on the director''s face slowly disappeared.


    ''Seems like he really was angry that I had chosen an easy path, huh?''


    "So, what affinity should I try to learn?" Aiden asked as he was wondering which affinity he should be prioritizing.


    The director hearing that question smirked as he had the perfect choice in his mind already.N?v(el)B\\jnn


    "Space and Death affinities, those are the hardest, but also the best affinities when fully mastered," the director said without an ounce of hesitation.


    "However, the reason why it''s hard to learn them is because of theck of teachers, but lucky for you, there''s one for the Death affinity right in front of you," the director said as he pointed toward himself, clearly proud to have such a rare affinity.


    ''I guess he isn''t the director for nothing, huh? I wonder what one of his spells looks like?''


    "What about the Space Affinity?" Aiden asked as he wondered if he had a teacher ready for him.


    "You can just attend the sses which are offered in the academy, in fact, you will have the best possible teacher there and you know her quite well," the director said as he winked in Aiden''s direction.


    "Alright, so space and death affinities, huh? Alright, that should be possible, especially with the system and the Magical Path which will be able to help me guide myself," Aiden muttered as he decided that he would follow the advice of the director since it made a lot of sense.


    "Then,e back tomorrow, I''ll start teaching you then."


    Aiden, then, turned his back and left the wooden cabin going back toward the Magic Academy as he would need to sign up for his ss for tomorrow.

 Chapter 291 291 - Signing up

    Chapter 291  291 - Signing up


    The next day, Aiden was going toward the registration counter as he would be signing up for his courses.


    He had decided that he would be joining the Space Affinity Course, however, he wouldn''t be only joining one course as he needed at least three since he would be here for a month.


    He also wanted to gain as much general knowledge as possible so he decided to sign up for a history ss which would talk about the history of this world and many other rted things.


    He would also be signing up for a ss which was called Magic General Knowledge, he thought that those three courses would be the best for him since they would respond to his most urgent problems.


    That''s why he went up to the counter and asked for those three courses, at first it went well with the two theoretical ones, but then when he asked to join the Space Affinity Course, there seemed to be a little problem.


    "You want to join the Space Affinity Course? Your name?" the person on the other side of the counter asked as she seemed to be pulling out a list of names.


    "Aiden Nightshade?" Aiden responded with a little bit of hesitation as he wasn''t understanding what was happening right now.


    Then, the girl who was on the other side of the counter analyzed the list of names that she had pulled out and without much surprise, Aiden''s name wasn''t on it.


    "Sorry, but your registration for that course won''t be possible since you do not have an affinity rted to Space," the girl said keeping a straight face as she knew that she was in the right at the moment.


    ''Why isn''t my name on there? Fuck, it''s probably because they couldn''t figure out that I possessed all affinities,'' Aiden thought as he remembered the scene which happened when he had gone to register for the entrance exam.


    "I guess I have no choice then," Aiden mumbled as he resorted to something which he wasn''t really proud of.


    He would be depending on the reputation of someone else to get what he wanted.


    However, it wasn''t his fault that the person on the other side of the counter was so ignorant.


    "I wonder what will happen if I call the director here?" Aiden said out loud mindlessly.N?v(el)B\\jnn


    The girl on the other side of the counter couldn''t help but giggle when she heard this as she knew that there were literally zero chances of that happening.


    ''Who does he think he is, it''s not like the directores for such small matters.''


    It seemed that she ignored Aiden''s status which as a resultplicated some things as Aiden thought that she would have epted right away if he were to be pulling off that card.


    But, it seemed that the news of Aiden Nightshade being the disciple of the director hadn''t spread around yet.


    It was only a matter of time though.


    "Can''t you test me? I''m telling you there must be a mistake I really do have a Space Affinity," Aiden uttered as he knew that he wasn''t lying, he had seen it in his Magical Path.


    "I''m even the director''s disciple, so are you sure that you want to do this to me?" Aiden said, threatening the girl as he knew that he had no other options.


    He knew that he couldn''t kill her, but he would try his best to threaten her with his words and he hoped that it would do the trick.


    "Hpmh as if I''ll believe if you really insist I''ll put your name in, but you''ll be kicked really fast and then you''lle begging for me to change to another ss," the girl said as it seemed to be a scenario which happened quite frequently from how she was speaking about it.


    Aiden hearing that smiled as he knew that such a thing would never happen.


    "Perfect just do that."


    "Whatever, don''t tell me that I didn''t warn you. Good luck convincing Lady Sophia that you have a space affinity haha," the girl said as she giggled just thinking of such a situation happening.


    She knew that there was absolutely no way that such a thing would happen which is why she found this whole thing quite funny.


    ***


    It was now time for Aiden to attend his first course and it was History, he wondered if he would be learning some interesting stuff about this world which would help him when he created that shopter on.


    To be honest, he didn''t have much hope in this course, but it was better than nothing which is why he picked it.


    He knew that he needed to other courses and simply picked those which seemed to make the most amount of sense.


    ''Alright, so who''s in my ss?'' Aiden thought as he analyzed every single person who was seated.


    He noticed that there were many people whom he had never seen before, those were probably the people who had been epted into the academy without going through the entrance exam.


    Aiden knew that those were really talented, however, they still wouldn''t be on his level which was honestly quite funny considering that he had never done any sort of magic in his life.


    ''This girl looks interesting,'' Aiden thought as he noticed that there was a girl who didn''t seem human.


    The reason as to why he thought that was because she had what seemed to be cat ears on her head.


    ''Is she some sort of half-beast, half-human?''


    Aiden wasn''t sure but he hoped that he would learn more about the different races that existed in this world in this ss since it was literally called History.


    ''We''ll, it''s about to start let''s listen to it even if it''s probably going to be boring.''


    Then, thedy who was in front of the ss started her ss as she moved from left to right talking about many random things which didn''t summon Aiden''s attention.

 Chapter 292 292 - Duel

    Chapter 292  292 - Duel


    ''That was one hell of a boring ss,'' Aiden thought as he was currently walking out of History ss.


    He had to admit that it hadn''t been anything like he had expected.


    The teacher didn''t even talk about things that were interesting, the teacher simply rambled about all sorts of random stuff which no one cared about.


    He kept naming different dates for different events that had happened in the past.


    ''Fuck, I thought that they would be speaking a little bit of the present, well it''s called History for a reason I guess,'' Aiden thought realizing that maybe he had been a little bit optimistic considering the name of this course.


    ''I hope the one about Magic General Knowledge will be a little better.''


    Then, as he was about to head for his next ss, the people stopped him from doing so as they were in his path.


    "Are you the one that''s the director''s disciple?"


    Aiden seeing who had just spoken couldn''t help but be surprised as it was the only person that he had taken note of in the entire ss.


    The rest of the ss all seemed quite average.


    It wasn''t that she looked really strong or anything like that, it was just that her appearance demarked from the others.


    She was simply the only one who didn''t have a human appearance with those cat ears of hers.


    "I am, what can I do for you?" Aiden asked, wondering why they were asking such a thing to him.


    If they were going up to him, then there were really good chances that the people in front of him already about him.


    ''I guess that sort of news spread quite fast, huh?''n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    "Isn''t it obvious?" the beast girl said as she looked at her friend, "I want to duel you and if I win then it will be that''s going to be the disciple of the director."


    Aiden hearing her say that was somewhat confused as he couldn''t find a single reason in his mind to ept such a fight.


    There was also another thing that made no sense, why would the director even ept her as a disciple if she were to win?


    He had chosen Aiden for reasons that even Aiden himself ignored, but he had still chosen him.


    The main reason was probably his talent in martial arts, but that was probably not the only reason.


    "And why the hell would I ept?"


    The beast girl once again gave a quick look at her friend as if highlighting the fact that the person in front of them was really stupid.


    "For your reputation and the director''s reputation, isn''t it obvious?"


    Aiden truly didn''t care at the start, but then he heard a word which immediately made him realize something.


    ''I''m here to gain reputation and knowledge, so isn''t that just a good opportunity to do just that?''


    Thinking about it for a few seconds, Aiden realized that there wasn''t a lot of risk to this fight since the director would still keep him as a disciple even if he lost, he was sure that he wouldn''t about him.


    "Um, so how does this duel thing work?"


    Then, the beast girl proceeded to exin everything to Aiden.


    "It''s simple, we set up a date for it, for example, two days from now then we show up, we fight and the winner gets whatever they asked from the opposing party."


    ''Right, what do I want from her?'' Aiden thought as he wasn''t sure that he needed anything from a student.


    "What are you the most proud of?"


    At first, this question seemed extremely random, however, from Aiden''s perspective it was quite easy to determine why he asked such a thing.


    He would simply ask for whatever she would be answering, she didn''t want anything from her as it probably wouldn''t have any value in his eyes.


    "What I''m most proud of? My magic?"


    "Don''t you have something else?"


    Then, the beast girl seemed to be thinking deeply as she wondered about what she held dear, not suspecting why Aiden such questions.


    She found it weird, but still, she decided to answer him.


    "Then, I would guess, I''m proud of getting into the Magic Academy," she answered mindlessly.


    ''Ahaha, that''s perfect then,'' Aiden thought as he really liked what she had just said.


    "Alright, then I''ll ept your duel, but if I win you will leave the Magic Academy on your own ord."


    The beast girl hearing this understood that she had been tricked, however, she didn''t care about what he asked because she was sure that she would be the one that win this fight.


    That''s why there was no hesitation in the response that she gave.


    "Sure, so when will the fight take ce?" She asked right away as she felt an arm nudging at her.


    It seemed that her friend wanted her to think about it, but the beast girl seemed dead set on beating the fraud that was in front of her.


    She knew that she was more talented than him, she had been epted without evenpleting the entrance exam.


    She was different from those that had done so.


    "You decide the date, I really can''t bother, now if you''ll excuse me," Aiden said as he sidestepped to his right walking forward without looking back even once.


    The beast girl was a little confused as to why Aiden was so impatient to lose which made her have some difficulty finding her words.


    "Uh, sure I''ll contact you. It''s Aiden right?" She asked loudly as Aiden was getting further and further away by the second.


    "It is."


    Then, Aiden continued his walk as he was about to bete for his next ss which regarded Magic and its general knowledge.


    ''Please be more interesting than thest one,'' Aiden thought as he really hoped that at least one of his courses would be interesting.


    He knew that he had a Space Affinity Course, but he still hoped that the others would also be better.


    ***


    Check Author''s note, mass release tomorrow.

 Chapter 293 293 - Spar

    Chapter 293  293 - Spar


    "Well, this one was a little better, at least," Aiden mumbled to himself as he walked out of the ssroom.


    He learned a few things regarding affinities and their rarity and it seemed like the director of the Magic Academy hadn''t lied about those things.


    It seemed like both Space and Death affinities were part of the rarest affinities that exist.


    In that ss, the teacher also talked about an affinity that was on the same level of rarity as Death and Space, and without much surprise, it was theplete opposite of Death... Life.


    Those three affinities were the rarest that there was in this new world in which Aiden had been thrown into and he was lucky enough to have the possibility to learn all three.


    However, for the time being, he would only concentrate on two affinities just like the Director of the Academy rmended.


    ''It''s not like I know better than someone like him who has so much experience with magic,'' Aiden thought as he continued to walk through the hallways of the academy.


    He noticed that some people were giving him some weird looks, those people who were looking at him weirdly had probably learned some rumors about him.


    ''The Space Affinity course is tomorrow, so I can go see the Director now.''


    Right as he thought that, Aiden quickly guided himself toward the exit of the Magic Academy and started heading toward the mountains.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    He was heading toward his training camp, however, as much as it was a weird thing to say, it wasn''t ''his'' training camp.


    Aiden had to train the director academy, after all.


    Then, as he spotted the small cabin where he had discussed with the director yesterday, somebody came out of the building.


    "I heard some rumors, you have a fight nned tomorrow?" The director of the Magic Academy asked, not surprised in the least that Aiden had gotten in trouble.


    He knew that all talented people would attract the hate of others and this was only the start of a long and harsh path.


    But, if Aiden wasn''t able to deal with it then he didn''t even deserve to be the director''s student or apprentice/teacher.


    "I guess I do, huh?" Aiden replied, truly not caring about it.


    He wasn''t worried in the least about the fight tomorrow, in fact, he had just learned from the director that it would be happening tomorrow since that beast girl hadn''t told him yet.


    "Do you want some help?" The director asked as he didn''t want to lose face.


    He had just gotten Aiden as his disciple, so he didn''t want him to lose. It still wouldn''t change anything about the director teaching him, however, many would start talking about his decisions regarding his apprentice.


    "No, I will win without any problem," Aiden replied with a lot of confidence in his voice.


    It was clear that the beast girl that he had seen earlier today didn''t seem to be a threat to Aiden''s mind, because if it came to it he would simply start using his assassination skills.


    "Are you sure? Can you win only with your spells, are you sure of that?" The director asked already knowing the answer to that question.


    There was no way that someone who had just learned how to use magic would be able to be someone with a lot of experience.


    Sure, Aiden was really talented, but that didn''t mean much, especially against a student who had been admitted to the Magic Academy before the entrance exam.


    Being admitted without entering the entrance was proof that the student who had demanded a duel against Aiden was talented, really talented.


    "Well, with only magic¡­ there''s a chance that I will lose but if I can use my other skills, then there''s no way that I will lose," Aiden replied still full of confidence.


    He had never thought once in his mind that he would be losing against someone else. The only person that he would ept losing against would be the founding families or the Lumithars, those who controlled the precious system that Aiden had ess to.


    ''Should I take a chance and not teach him anything for that fight tomorrow?'' The director thought, unsure of what he needed to do.


    However, he quickly decided against it as he knew that it wasn''t in his best interest. But, the way in which he was going to teach Aiden would be different from how most teachers would approach the task.


    "Then, what do you say that we spar? You can use both your skills with that dagger of yours and the spells that you learned. As for myself, well I''ll only use magic and try to defend against you¡­ what do you say?" The director asked as he knew that Aiden would be interested right away in what he was proposing.


    Aiden, hearing that, was currently thinking if it was a good idea to fight against him. For the moment, he couldn''t see any negatives, however, he still decided to be careful thinking about all the possible things that could happen.


    ''If I fight against him, should I use [Mind of an Assassin] or not?'' Aiden thought as he knew that the skill he had just named was his strongest and could potentially turn a fight around.


    Aiden knew that the director was strong as he could feel some danger from him just like he felt when looking at the Nightshade''s family Patriarch.


    The feeling of danger was a lot smaller when looking at the director, however, Aiden thought that it would certainly be good practice for the future.


    ''Well, I''ll see how it goes, I might use it,'' Aiden thought.


    "Sure, let''s spar. How do you want to proceed?" Aiden asked, wondering why the director was making such a surprised face.


    ''Well, that young man is confident. I''ll tell you that much, he didn''t even hesitate that much to spar me,'' the director thought, sort of shocked by this behavior.

 Chapter 294 294 - Start of the fight

    Chapter 294  294 - Start of the fight


    The director thought that it would have taken a few minutes for Aiden to make his choice. However, that wasn''t the case at all, as Aiden had probably noticed that this whole sparring idea was a really good idea for him to get stronger.


    "Are you sure about your choice, I can just teach you normally if you''re not confident."


    "No, no, it''s fine. In fact, this is a very good idea, I hope that I will be able to learn a lot from you, mister," Aiden replied with a little bit of politeness.


    He knew that this fight would make him gain a lot of experience about what it''s like to fight against stronger opponents, and Aiden wouldn''t miss the opportunity to get stronger for nothing in the world.


    "Then, take my arm, I will guide you toward the fighting area," the director said as he held his arm forward.


    While doing so, he prepared himself to teleport and as soon as he felt Aiden holding him, he activated his spell, teleporting both Aiden and himself.


    As soon as Aiden opened his eyes again, he had to admit that he had no idea where he was at the moment.


    He observed his surroundings and couldn''t help but be extremely confused everywhere he looked. It seemed that the director had teleported him into what seemed to be one giant Colosseum.


    The stands were grand and big, there seemed to be enough ce for at least 10,000 people to look down in the arena in which Aiden currently was.


    It was quite an interesting feeling, all things considered.


    "This is where you''ll be fighting tomorrow, this is where most duels take ce and since yours will be an important one, it will take ce in this ce.


    "Do you like it? Impressed?" The director asked as he remembered that Aiden had seen an even bigger ce during the entrance exam.


    Nheless, he had to feel impressed by the sheer size of this ce.


    "Yeah, it''s certainly nice, but won''t people see us in this ce, it seems to be in the open," Aiden asked, unsure if fighting was the director''s best idea.


    "Meh, even if they see us, nothing will happen, don''t worry about such things."


    Then, the director put a big smile on his face as he knew that the fight between him and that mysterious young man would soon be starting.


    He had to admit that he was still wondering about Aiden''s dagger skills and if he had hidden anything worth noting during the entrance exam.


    "Ready?" The director asked as he looked directly into Aiden''s eyes, who was currently a few meters away from him.


    "Are you sure that you don''t want to take some distance from me?" Aiden asked, as he didn''t think that this was going to be fair at all if they were sitting so close to one another.


    However, it seemed the director was incredibly confident in his victory from what he responded.


    "Don''t worry about those things, there''s no way that you will win this fight either way. This is simply to make you better at fighting and general. I, also, want to see your true power," the director added at the end, as he knew that the strength that Aiden had shown in the entrance exam wasn''t all there was to him.


    Hearing him being so sure of his victory made Aiden grit his teeth as he knew that there was a chance that he would be winning this fight. There was literally not a single doubt in his mind that he could win.


    ''You''ll see what happens when you act so arrogantly against me,'' Aiden thought as a beeping sound resounded in his mind.


    [Mind of an Assassin activated.]


    Seeing that message appear in front of him, Aiden only shed a smile toward the director.


    ''Let''s see what he will do now,'' Aiden thought as he started releasing that red aura from around him.


    Right in front of him, there was a shadow that was currently analyzing all possible scenarios and deciding the best one out of all of them.


    In most scenarios, Aiden lost quickly because he was surprised by the spells used by the director. However, as time passed, the shadow of himself was starting to get better and better at analyzing the moves made by the director.


    It was sort of acting like an artificial intelligence, learning from all its mistakes, getting feedback from when he lost. Aiden had to admit that he loved watching this sort of thing, it was truly mesmerizing.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    "I''m ready!" Aiden shouted as the shadow kept losing again and again, trying to figure out the best way to win this fight.


    ''Whatever, I''ll just lose some time before the skill finds how I can beat him,'' Aiden thought as he slowly moved away from the director instead of getting closer.


    ''While I can, let''s practice some of the spells that I learned,'' he thought, not wanting to lose a single moment rted to this opportunity.


    Right after having that thought, Aiden startedunching all sorts of different spells like the icicle, the fireball, or even the mud ball.


    He didn''t care what it was as long as it would make the director lose some time.


    ''What is he shooting me all those weak skills? All this talk for this?'' The director thought actually disappointed by everything that he was witnessing at the moment.


    ''I guess I''ll have to force him in actually using some good skills,'' the director, clearly not satisfied with Aiden''s performance at the moment.


    He knew that there was a lot of strength hidden in that boy in front of him and from what he could feel from that red aura around him, he was dangerous.


    In fact, he was a lot more dangerous than what he had expected.


    He could feel a lot of danger from Aiden, however, it wasn''t the same danger that he felt with other people. It was more rted to the fact that if he lost his focus for a single second, then he would lose.


    Aiden certainly wasn''t stronger than him, however, if the director made even the slightest mistake then he would die right away without having a single chance to fight back.


    That was the type of opponent Aiden was, he was an assassin ready to strike at any moment.


    ''Whatever enough thinking, let''s pressure him a little,'' the director thought as he startedunching multiple spells toward Aiden.

 Chapter 295 295 - Combination of Skills

    Chapter 295  295 - Combination of Skills


    However, it wasn''t anything that Aiden had seen before, he couldn''t see the skills at all. The only way for Aiden to know that such spells had beenunched in his direction was to look with the [Eyes of Truth] at the director''s body.


    But, even if Aiden did that, he had no idea how to react to those skills as he couldn''t even a single one of them.


    Out of nowhere, an explosion resounded to his right, followed by the director telling him something.


    "Are you sure that you want to keep your distance from me?"


    Hearing that, Aiden knew that he had no choice if he kept firing those spells, which would result in absolutely no damage to the director.


    He had seen how easily he had blocked his icicles and his fireballs.


    ''Can''t you find how to beat faster stupid skill,'' Aidenined as [Mind of an Assassin] was still not showing any positive results.


    In every single scenario, Aiden''s shadow had lost miserably.


    ''Is there really no way for me to win?'' Aiden thought as he still dashed forward activating [Lightning Steps].


    This action caused some mana from Aiden''s reserve to leave his body quickly. However, he still continued to push through, not losing a single opportunity.


    He moved at a much faster pace than he ever did as decided to get in close range.


    "Not so fast," the director muttered as a portal appeared right in front of Aiden''s face.


    When he entered that portal, he was sent back to his original position before having activated this skill of his.


    ''Is this the power of the space affinity?'' Aiden thought as he had never thought that such a thing would be possible at all.


    That person in front of him had just created a portal that was connected to another one.


    And he had done it to a person who was moving so fast that no one should be able to keep up with him. Just how strong was the person in front of him?


    If he was that strong, Aiden couldn''t even imagine how strong the heads of the founding families were.


    Aiden had never seen them fight, but he knew from the aura surrounding them that they were all stronger than that man.


    ''Fuck, am I really that far away from their strength,'' Aiden thought, frustrated.


    He thought that his strength had doubled or even tripled from the training with the Emberbane family, however, he couldn''t be further away from the truth. That was simply a fact.


    "Want to try something else?" The director said with arrogance contained in the tone of his voice.


    ''I need to gain time... what can I do?'' Aiden thought trying to find a solution to his problem.


    He first tried to do the exact same thing once again, however, another portal appeared in front of him. Aiden tried dodging it, but he wasn''t able to do so at all.


    He was back to his original point.


    ''Spells don''t work, I can''t get into close-range, just what can I do?'' Aiden thought, thinking about all the skills that he had at his disposition.


    ''Let''s try to use [Veil of Darkness] I might be able to go through his portal with that skill,'' Aiden thought as he remembered reading the effects of that skill.


    He didn''t know if he was going to be able to pull it off, however, he didn''t lose anything trying.


    That''s why he once again used [Lightning Steps]bined with the skill that he had won in the auction [Veil of Darkness].


    ''Let''s see what happens now,'' the director thought as he observed Aiden not attacking him.


    He wanted to see what he could pull out of his hat next. At the moment, he had to admit that he was quite unimpressed with the current performance of Aiden.


    ''He''s still doing the same thing? Does it think something will change now,'' the director thought getting less and less impressed with the performance of his new disciple.


    He thought that he would shock him with his skills, however, it seemed that the director had overestimated all of his abilities.


    Then, as the portal appeared right in front of Aiden, the director almost stopped looking as he knew that the same thing would happen once again.


    However, contrary to all of his expectations, Aiden went through the portal without any problem.


    It was as if the portal hadn''t interacted with him at all, as if Aiden wasn''t part of this world at all.


    ''Just what did he do? Is that something he learned in his country?'' The director thought as he knew that Aiden wasn''t from here at all.


    ''I''ve never seen anyone go through that spell without being affected, just how did he do such a thing?'' The director thought.


    He needed to know what sort of skill that Aiden had used to get through it because when he would do so. He would be able to make his spell stronger, as it seemed that there was a way to get past it that hepletely ignored.


    ''Fuck, I need to get away, now,'' the director thought as he teleported back from Aiden.


    He knew that he needed to keep quite a safe distance from his opponent or else he would suffer the consequences.


    The director wasn''t stupid, he knew that the moment that Aiden got close, he would be on the losing side of this fight. Sure, he had been quite arrogant at the start of the fight, but that was because he knew that he had those two skills, portal creation and teleportation.


    Basically, the only way for Aiden to reach him would be for him to move faster than the time it took him to cast teleportation.


    While all this was happening inside the director''s mind, Aiden was currently celebrating over what he had just pulled off, it was honestly quite an impressive achievement as he really hadn''t gotten such an idea before.


    "I did it! It really worked," Aiden celebrated out loud as he looked behind him, noticing that he really had gone through that stupid portal.


    However, that was only the first step as he looked back toward the director, and he noticed that he was still far away from him.


    ''Did he teleport away? Just what is this stupid spell? I''ll never get even close to him,'' Aiden thought as his skill, [Mind of an Assassin] was still activated trying to find a way to beat the director.


    However, it was the first time since Aiden had started using it that it was taking so long to find a single solution, normally it would take less than a few seconds. But, it had now been a few minutes, and he still had no news regarding that skill.


    ''Fuck, whatever, let''s keep going,'' Aiden thought as he started running once again toward the director, this time deactivating his skill [Veil of Darkness] as his mana was running quite low.


    This time he didn''t waste a single second as he flew up in the air,pletely surprising the old man who didn''t think that such a thing was possible without magic.N?v(el)B\\jnn


    ''Let''s see what you''ll do now,'' Aiden thought.

 Chapter 296 296 - Explosion

    Chapter 296  296 - Explosion


    Now floating in the air, the director was shocked that such a thing even happened in the first ce as hepletely copied Aiden.


    ''How can he fly, he doesn''t know magic at that well,'' David, the director, thought as he literally couldn''t make sense of such a thing happening.


    It made no sense for Aiden to be able to do such a thing when it required a deep understanding of mana and magic in general and from what David, the director, had seen Aiden didn''t possess those at all.


    However, what the director ignored was that Aiden wasn''t like him, he had ess to Qi, an energy that the old man probably didn''t even know of since all there was in this world was magic.


    "How are you flying?" David asked, not caring about the sparring anymore.


    There were simply too many things that were shocking him at the moment and he needed to know every single one of them, he just had to.


    When asked that question, Aiden simply ignored David as he couldn''t bother answering when he was in such a tense fight.


    If that man wanted to know something he would know after the fight, not in-between. Aiden had to focus after all.


    ''He''s not answering me? Um, should I make him understand who''s the boss here?'' David thought as he summoned arge quantity of mana from his core inside his body.


    He wasn''t sure how much he needed but he would make sure that the person in front of him would have some difficulty dodging that attack.


    He wouldn''t make the same mistake as earlier, giving him a little warning by missing on purpose his spell.


    This time, David was serious, he wanted to end this fight as soon as possible because too many questions were currently popping into his mind one after another.


    ''What''s this?'' Aiden thought as he could see the amount of mana that the director was summoning inside his body.


    That was one of the benefits of the Eyes of Truth that Aiden had gotten before taking on this trial.


    And from what he had seen this skill waspletely ridiculous because he helped him learn many different skills that he had honestly never heard about before.


    ''Whatever, who cares?'' Aiden thought as he flew at full speed with his dagger in his hands.


    He would make sure that this fight would end right now.


    The only problem with his approach was that [Veil of Darkness] had deactivated because of Aiden''sck of mana, however, that wouldn''t have much of an impact if David didn''t form a portal.


    ''Let''s just hope that he doesn''t... let''s just hope that he thinks I have figured out how to bypass his skill,'' Aiden thought, praying to himself that this attack would work.


    Then, as Aiden flew at full speed toward David, a huge explosion appeared right on him.


    ''How did this thing get here?'' Aiden thought panicked as he tried flying to the right, hoping that the little ck sphere wouldn''t touch him.


    However, as soon as he moved out of the way of that sphere, it started following him around as if it were a guided missile from Earth.


    ''Just what is that little thing? Does he really have a spell like that?'' Aiden thought, confused as to how such a thing was even possible in the first ce.


    "Do you like it? Don''t worry it will keep following you around until it reaches you!" David shouted as he knew that Aiden would have difficulty hearing him with how fast he was going.


    ''Well, this fight is pretty much over, huh?'' David thought as he knew that there was no way that Aiden would resist that ck sphere which contained a lot of mana.


    If it were to explode, then he would probably injure Aiden quite intensively.


    "Do you want to give up? I can dismiss that spell if you want, that way you won''t get hurt!"


    Aiden, however, didn''t say a single word as he kept flying around trying to find a n to get out of this situation which was literal hell at the moment.


    ''Fuck you, like hell I''ll give up... wait I got an idea what if I make this whole thing a draw?'' Aiden thought as hepletely changed the trajectory.


    He wasn''t trying to run away anymore, he would be going for him. He didn''t care if that ball were to explode and injure, he wouldn''t care for as long as it blew up with him still in its radius.


    ''Yes, that''s going to work,'' Aiden thought in his mind, convinced.


    He would have liked toe up with something better, but it seemed that it wasn''t possible at all because of the situation he was in.


    David who was watching Aiden flying around without any purpose, flew back down as he sat down, wondering when his disciple was going to give up.


    Because in his mind, there was simply no way that Aiden would find a way out of this situation.


    He also didn''t want to attack him with another spell since it would risk injuring Aiden greatly.


    That''s why he decided to sit down and wait patiently for this whole thing to end.


    However, contrary to his expectations, he stopped paying attention. Aiden had found a way to change things around.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    It seemed that the director had forgotten about what he had said at the very start of this fight.


    If he stopped paying attention for even a second to Aiden, then he would be the one in danger.


    This was something that the director was going to remember his whole life.


    When facing an assassin, you can''t look away or you will lose your life.


    ''Come on,e on, a little bit more,'' Aiden thought as he was about to crash into the director, condemning him to the same fate.


    *BOOM*


    ''I did it!'' Aiden celebrated in his mind, as he felt the wave of Space Mana, injuring him on many levels.


    However, he didn''t release the slightest noise, like all good assassins, he decided to endure.

 Chapter 297 297 - Healing

    Chapter 297  297 - Healing


    Aiden''s action was devastating as everywhere he looked he saw the damage that he had caused by ramming into David, the director.


    However, the damage to the environment of the Coliseum wasn''t important at all, the damage that was important was the one that Aiden and the director had received.


    "Aiden, are you okay?" A voice shouted close to Aiden''s ears.


    Aiden wasn''t sure about the owner of that voice at all, as he could only hear a ringing noise in both of his ears.


    ''Did I do it? Was it a draw?'' Aiden thought as he felt his consciousness slowly fading from his body.


    "Why did you do that, are you stupid!" the same voice as earlier shouted in one of his ears.


    However, Aiden wasn''t able toprehend any of that as he could barely even see or walk.


    The damage from David''s spell truly had been massive.


    Aiden feeling how weak he currently was, looked toward his feet and the rest of his body wondering if he had taken a lot of damage.


    And from what he could see at the moment. It had been an absolute massacre, his body was close to being thorned to pieces because everywhere that Aiden looked he could see blooding out of his body.


    "Why didn''t he just give up, is that boy stupid," David muttered as he looked at the state of Aiden''s body.


    Fortunately for him, he wasn''t in the same situation at all as he had gotten just enough time to teleport away, dodging Aiden''s suicide attempt.


    David didn''t get enough time to deactivate that spell of him, which resulted in one massive explosion of Space Mana.


    However, he dismissed those thoughts as he lifted Aiden from the ground taking him into his arms.


    ''I''ll go see June, she''s the best healer in the academy,'' the director thought as he had no idea how to use light mana.


    Without wasting any more time, he teleported away leaving only a destroyed Coliseum for tomorrow.


    ''Let''s just hope that he makes it out of this alive, who cares about that fight tomorrow?'' David thought as he couldn''t help but me himself in the back of his mind.


    After all, this was his fault, he only hadn''t cast such a dangerous spell. Sure, Aiden had been extremely reckless, but both parties were to me.


    David had a lot of other methods to take down Aiden, he had simply taken one of them without thinking too much about it.


    Now, looking back at it, it had been a huge mistake on his part and he promised that he would never use such a spell on one of his disciples ever again.


    Next time, he would make sure to be a lot more careful.


    *Swoosh*


    That was the sound of the teleportation spell that he just used as he was now in the infirmary of the academy with a half-dead student in his arms.


    "Where is June?" The director asked right away as he looked at the young girl who was behind the counter, wondering what the director of the academy was doing there right in front of her.


    Had he beaten up a student? Just what the hell happened for such a kid to arrive in that state?


    The girl behind the counter had no idea, however, she pitied the young man as only time would tell if he would be able to walk again.


    ''Let''s pray that Miss June will pull it off,'' the girl thought, as she called June to the counter by pushing a single button under her desk.


    A few secondster, the one who would be healing Aiden arrived.


    "David? What are you doing here at such an hour?" June asked as she was more shocked by the director visiting than the student who was about to bleed out in his arms.


    "Just take care of him, make sure that he lives," the director said with a serious tone in his voice.


    June immediately knew that this student was really important as she had never seen the director ask someone to save a student.


    ''But how did that student hurt himself that much, it''s like he tried enduring an attack from one of the strongest mages that exist,'' she thought, knowing that there was absolutely no way that such a thing happened.


    It wasn''t like Aiden was so reckless that he would actually try to draw against the director of the Magic Academy.


    "Follow me, I''ll heal him," she said as she immediately turned around with the director following her without wasting those precious seconds.


    Aiden who was currently being held by David was still conscious as he could see a little bit where he was at the moment. However, he hadn''t been able to hear anything yet as that ringing was still in his head.


    It didn''t want to go away by the looks of it.


    ''Where are they taking me? Am I going to die? Why did I even try to do such a stupid thing...'' Aiden thought as he was starting to realize the situation that he was in.


    He could feel the blood leaving his body little by little and his head felt even more light-headed as time went by.


    It was quite an interesting feeling, being so close to dying.


    Aiden had already experienced it once or twice if he counted the duel against Emma, however, he had died right away. This time was truly different as he could feel that death was close.


    However, Aiden had to admit that it wasn''t a problem at all as he knew what he had done.


    He knew that it hadn''t been the smartest thing, but that didn''t matter to him as long as he tried his best.


    While those thoughts were entering Aiden''s fading mind, June was getting the situation explicated through David.


    "So, you''re telling me that this student is hurt this badly because of you?" She asked, unsure how she should react to learning this news.


    "Well... it''s a little bit his fault too," the director tried to say before June interrupted him right away.


    "I don''t care about whose fault it is, just why did you use such a powerful spell, it seems obvious that you were going to defeat him anyway. God, just how stupid are you?" June asked, truly exasperated with how the director of the Magic Academy was acting.


    Right as she finished that, they had finally reached the table on which Aiden would be getting healed as she was getting ready as fast as she could.


    She knew that if she waited to long before healing him, then there were chances that Aiden wouldn''t walk again. That''s why she had walked so fast on the way, only asking the most important question like what type of mana Aiden had been injured with.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    And from what the director had told her, it was Space Mana. Basically, the worst type of mana that Aiden could have gotten hurt with.


    "Do you think he''s going to make it? He has a duel tomorrow and I''m sure he wouldn''t want to miss it," the director said as he slowly backed away from June, knowing that she wouldn''t find thisment funny at all.

 Chapter 298 298 - Was it a Draw?

    Chapter 298  298 - Was it a Draw?


    "Just shut up and leave this room, I need concentration. If I make even the slightest mistake, he might die," she said with a serious expression on her face.


    She knew that when hearing such a thing, the director would actually stop talking because it was clear that he cared about the student who was close to dying.


    ''I might die?'' Aiden thought as he finally caught on to some of the words from the person who was over him right now, touching some parts of his body carefully.


    The ringing noise that had been restricting his hearing was now gone as he could hear some noises around him.


    ''I wonder if the director is as hurt as me,'' Aiden thought as all he could see at the moment were two big melons and some bright white energy that seemed to try to enter his body.


    ''Is this healing magic?'' Aiden thought as he turned his head to the left, trying to nce at how she was circting the mana inside her body, all the way from her core to that bright energy.


    However, when he tried looking at what was happening, Aidenpletely lost consciousness his head falling onto the table. Luckily for him, there had been a small cushion that absorbed most of the damage that he would have taken if he had been falling his head on the table.


    "He finally fell asleep, what strong willpower," Junemented as she couldn''t believe that he had stayed awake, feeling that pain.


    The thing that impressed her even more was simple, it was the fact that Aiden hadn''t uttered the slightest noise even while being awake.


    He had been enduring all that pain for at least a couple of minutes which was really remarkable all things considered.


    Nevertheless, she quickly dismissed those thoughts as she needed to focus on healing Aiden. That was the most pressing matter at the moment, and from the looks of it, the healing process wouldn''t be too bad as the injuries inside Aiden''s body seemed to have healed a little for some reason.


    June had to admit that it was quite a weird phenomenon, however, she didn''t think too deeply about it since it would make this whole process easier than previously.


    ''Alright, now let''s try to remove the space mana,'' she thought as she slowly tried to remove all the little purple dots that were scattered all around Aiden''s body.


    June had healed all exterior injuries, however, it was now time for the hardest part... the injuries that had been caused by mana.


    Those injuries were most of the time called hidden injuries as they are literally invisible with our eyes.


    The only way to see them was with a special skill that only the most talented healers had, luckily for Aiden, June was the only one in the whole infirmary who had the skill.


    To bepletely honest, if she hadn''t been there then Aiden would have lost his life, or at least he would have been injured for his whole life without any way of getting healed.


    It would have been terrible news for such a promising young man.


    The director who was right on the other side of the room where June was currently treating Aiden was worried over the things that were happening in there.


    For some reason, he felt that it was extremely silent as he hadn''t heard the slightest noise ever since he had left that room.


    ''Should I have stayed? Maybe I could have helped her?'' David thought as he was starting to me himself for what happened to Aiden.


    However, it seemed that he didn''t have to worry as he heard the door that was right next to him open.


    Without wasting a single second, he went toward that door as he saw that it was indeed June who wasing out of the room.


    "So... how is he?" The director asked worried.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    June was surprised to see the expression being shown on David''s face as it was the first time that she had seen him worried about something in particr.


    In fact, she didn''t think that she had seen him sad or worried even once in his entire life. The director was a simple man always finding solutions when he could, however, healing people was out of his reach which is why he had to trust someone else.


    It was hard, but he still did it as he knew that it had been the best choice to make.


    "He''s going to make a full recovery, I don''t know about fighting tomorrow though, we''ll see what happens," she said without caring much about the director''s reaction.


    She knew that it was going to be the usual, thanking her for saving someone he cared about and all that, but the director wouldn''t be that different in that regard.


    "Can I go see him? As he woken up?" The director asked as he was about to enter the room, however, before he could do so it seemed that June wanted some explications of what happened.


    "Why did you even fight your disciple, you moron. At least give him some chances, I don''t want to be dealing with this every night," sheined.


    She knew that there was no way that this incident had been caused on purpose, however, the fact that it was an ident didn''t matter at all.


    "I know, I know, I''ll make sure that such a thing never happens again, now can I go in and see him?"


    June looked at how impatient the director was, that''s why she let him go in as she had finished healing him either way.


    ''She really is the best,'' the director thought as he entered the healing room, noticing that there was absolutely no blood in the room. It seemed that it had all been cleaned up without a single problem.


    ''Well, he''s still sleeping, let''s hope that he will fight tomorrow. I''m sure that the beast girl has no chance,'' he thought as he knew that the skills he had used in the fight against him were one of a kind.


    If he was to use them, then everyone would be extremely impressed by his performance and that person who asked for a duel would try her best to hold on to his attacks.


    The only reason that Aiden had lost this fight was because he had fought an opponent much stronger than him, however, if he were to fight someone on the same level or even worse, weaker than him. Then, he would win without struggling even once.


    "Well, I guess I''ll let him rest," the director muttered as he went toward one of the chairs that were in this room, sitting on it.


    Right after he said, that he heard a short gasping from Aiden''s mouth, it seemed that he was waking up.


    ''But how? Was June really that good?'' The director thought as he wasn''t sure that it was the case.


    He knew that the girl was gifted, but from the state in which Aiden had been when David had brought him in, there was no way that Aiden was actually waking up right now.


    However, that wasn''t what shocked him the most, it was the words that Aiden pronounced when waking up.


    "So, was it a draw?" Aiden asked as if nothing just happened.

 Chapter 299 299 - Late?

    Chapter 299  299 - Late?


    "Is that really the first thing that you''re asking me, after everything that happened?" The director asked as simply couldn''t understand the mindset of the person that was right in front of him.


    It was actually crazy how it held no importance toward his body.


    David remembered seeing that Aiden had been a literal half-body, however, even when he had been in such a state, Aiden had still been on his own two feet barely standing up.


    Just thinking about that, he had been extremely impressed by his disciple.


    ''Is that how he got so strong at such an age? By acting so recklessly,'' he thought, unsure if it was a viable way to get stronger.


    Honestly, learning more about the young man in front of him, the more he felt unsure about the training that he would have to go through to learn closebat.


    He just hoped that he wouldn''t die when going through those.


    "Yes, was it a draw? Did I seed or not?" Aiden repeated, which made Davide out of his thoughts.


    David simply couldn''t believe what he was hearing anymore, why was he insisting?


    Just what sort of person had he taken as a disciple?


    Well, one thing was sure, Aiden was hard-working and would do everything that he was asked to do, the director of the Magic Academy was sure about that part.


    "It wasn''t, I teleported away when you tried ramming into me, but you almost got me," the director said as he had to congratte him somewhat for his suicide mission.


    "However, if you do such a thing ever again, then I will have no choice but to abandon this whole disciple thing, I don''t want you to die because of me, is that clear?" He asked.


    Aiden reading this, slowly nodded as he knew that what he had tried at the end was a dumb move.


    "Sorry, I''ll make sure that it never happens again," Aiden replied, still a little frustrated that what he had tried at the end hadn''t worked out.


    The director nodded, not putting too much pressure on it.


    "So, um, can you stand up? Are you in shape for tomorrow?" The director asked as he wanted to know if Aiden would be able to participate in the duel tomorrow.


    "Well, I seem fine," Aiden muttered as he slowly stood up and walked around a little.


    He wasn''t sure if his body would hold up in such tense situations, but from what he had seen, it would be fine.


    "Alright, then for tomorrow, I have a small request," the director started off, waiting for Aiden to either say something or nod.


    Seeing him do one of the two, he continued his sentence.


    "Tomorrow, don''t use magic, use that dagger of yours... That way, it will be even more humiliating to the person that you will face," the director said with a cruel smile.


    "Are you sure? Shouldn''t I use this opportunity to train my magic spells?" Aiden replied, unsure if this was the best idea for his growth.


    However, the director had the perfect answer for him.


    "Don''t worry about that, you will have enough practice and training with me, don''t you even worry about that part," David said.


    ''Um, that''s true, I guess. It would also be quite funny seeing the face of that beast girl when I defeat her without using any magic...''


    Aiden was currently debating in his mind, wondering what choice would be better at the end of the day.


    A few momentster, he had made his choice, he would be ridiculing that girl. By doing so, he would make sure that everyone who would ask for a duel would be a lot more careful.


    He would make her an example for the others, he would show them what happens when you mess with Aiden Nightshade!


    "Alright,e here, I''ll bring you back to your dorms," the director said as he held his arm forward toward Aiden who really seemed in good shape.


    Even now, David was surprised about Aiden''s condition as it should have taken at least a couple of days to heal all those injuries, however, David had an idea as to what had caused such a thing.


    It was his body and the training that he had gone through to get stronger physically, he was sure that it was rted to that.


    After all, having a stronger body couldn''t be something negative.


    However, all those thoughts left the magic academy director as he felt Aiden''s touch on his arm, teleporting him to his dorm.


    *Swoosh*


    The next moment, they were in the dark as they couldn''t see around themselves.


    "Are you alone in here?" The director asked as he remembered the room number that Aiden had given him a while ago.


    However, he had no idea if Aiden had roommates or not. He hoped that he didn''t or else that person had for sure woken up by now since they hadn''t been the most discreet.


    Teleportation made a lot of noise, after all.


    "Who''s making all that fucking noise?" someone with one hell of a foul mouth uttered, clearly mad over the noise that the director and Aiden had caused.


    "Sorry," Aiden whispered back as he waved toward David as if telling him to leave.


    "Next time, just don''t make any noise," that person said as she seemed to have been sleeping on one of the beds that were on Aiden''s right.


    ''Just where is my room?'' Aiden thought as he had never been here yet, he hadn''t had the chance to do so.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    He looked to his right and his left as he seemed to spot a wooden door.


    Aiden stopped wasting any more time as he simply went through that door without any hesitation, he nced at the bed and simply fell on it, sleeping right away.


    It had been a long time since Aiden had been so exhausted, so this night of sleep would certainly do a lot of good before a duel.


    ***


    The next morning, Aiden slowly woke up as he had never gotten such a good night of sleep before.


    He had to admit that it was an extremely nice feeling.


    He took his time as slowly stood up from his bed as he looked outside, wondering why there was so much noise.


    Then, he opened the window to his room, wondering why so many people were currently walking toward the Coliseum.


    And as soon as he heard what the announcer, he realized that he was in trouble.


    "The duel between Garetsa and Aiden would begin in five minutes, please make your way toward the Coliseum."


    Aiden, hearing this, cursed out loud, extremely frustrated over everything that just happened.


    "Why is this shitty duel so early in the morning?"


    Aiden, then, nced at a clock that was in his room and realized that it wasn''t morning anymore.


    "Twelve... fifty-five."


    "Wait, why am I even looking at the time, I need to get there before this fight starts," Aiden shouted as he jumped out of his window in the clothes that he had worn yesterday.


    His hair was messy, his clothes were dirty. If anyone were to see him right now, they would actually ask themselves why an itinerant was in the territory of the Magic Academy.

 Chapter 300 300 - Sudden Speed

    Chapter 300  300 - Sudden Speed


    "There are only three minutes until the fight between Garestsa and Aiden starts, quickly take your seats!" The announcer said through his microphone.


    Aiden hearing this picked up the pace without using his [Lightning Steps] as he didn''t want to run out of mana during the fight. If he did then he would be at a disadvantage.


    "Just why did I sleep for so long?" Aiden muttered as he kept running like a madman toward the Coliseum that he could see from the distance.


    He knew that the reason he had slept for so long was quite simple, it was because he had been recuperating energy because of the fight between him and the director.


    While Aiden was running not caring about his surroundings, the others who were also in the process of going toward the Coliseum started asking themselves, who the person running was.


    "Is that Aiden? Why is he here?" Someone asked his friend, unsure if it was Aiden or not running.


    However, his friend wasn''t of the same opinion at all.


    "No, there''s no way, it''s him. Don''t you remember what that person can lose... he can lose his discipleship to the director of the Magic Academy if he were to lose. There''s no way that Aiden or whatever his name wouldn''t take this seriously."


    ''Of course, I''m taking this seriously, you fucker, I just overslept,'' Aiden thought as he heard what those guys had been saying about him.


    Nheless, Aiden stopped looking at them as he started running even faster, making sure that he would be there in time.


    ***


    Two minutester, Aiden was at the entrance of the Coliseum, all dirty with his hair in horrible condition.


    "What the hell are you doing arriving sote!" The director nagged Aiden.


    However, he kept himself from going to hard as he knew that it was already a miracle for Aiden to be able to participate, in fact, David couldn''t help but worry about what was going to happen in there.


    He could only hope that Aiden was in top shape and that he wouldn''t crumble from over-exercising, even if that seemed unlikely considering that he had ran all the way from the dorms to the Coliseum.


    "Sorry, sorry, where do I need to go?" Aiden asked as he could barely talk because he had used so much energying here.


    ''Ahh, maybe I should have used [Lightning Steps],'' Aiden thought.


    That way, he would have been in much better shape, but it seemed that he wouldn''t be able to do such a thing this month.


    "Just follow me, I''ll show you the way," the director said as he knew that there were only a couple of seconds left before the fight started.


    Then, as soon as the director said that, the announcer said that there was only a minute left before the start of the fight.


    That meant there was no way that Aiden would have any time to get ready whatsoever, as soon as he entered the arena, the fight would be starting.


    Garesta, the beast girl, was surely stressed at the moment as she knew that a lot depended on this victory.


    However, what she didn''t expect was that her opponent wouldn''t even use magic to defeat her.


    A few momentster, both David and Aiden were running at full speed toward the entrance of the arena, making sure that he would arrive on time.


    "Just a few more meters," David told Aiden, as they continued to run.


    Those who were seeing such a scene simply couldn''t believe their eyes at all. The director of the Magic Academy, one of the strongest mages, that ever existed was currently running in a hallway without even looking to his left or his right.


    "Is that really the director? Why is he running toward the entrance for fighters... wait who''s that behind him?" Someone questioned out loud.


    Both Aiden and David heard that but couldn''t bother to exin why they were in such a situation because it was too hard to exin.


    "I think that''s Aiden, his disciple, seems like he waste to this duel and that director had to go get him."


    "Just how did that guy be the director''s disciple, why was he chosen... he doesn''t even look all that strong," another onemented.


    The director knew that Aiden would most likely not care about all thosements, but he still thought that he should at least tell him something tofort him.


    "Just make sure that you destroy that girl, they will stop yapping after," the director said as he quickly looked back in Aiden''s direction, making sure that he was all right.


    Aiden nodded, knowing that the director was right. All he would need to do waspletely demolish that beast girl.


    A few meterster, Aiden was finally about to enter the arena as he could hear the announcer''s final countdown.


    "If Aiden isn''t here in five seconds, the fight winner will be Garestsa''s and Aiden Nightshade will lose his discipleship with the director of the academy.


    Aiden hearing this wasn''t too worried about it since he knew that a duel wouldn''t determine whether he would keep learning from the director.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    "Five"


    "Four..."


    "Three..."


    "Two..."


    "One..."


    The announcer made sure that thest second wouldst as much time as needed, waiting to see if Aiden wouldn''t magically appear on the other side of the Arena.


    Aiden hearing the countdown, made a quick wave toward the director as he entered the arena with a huge smile on his face as he knew that this right here would be quite the easy win.


    "And he''s here, he didn''t run. It seems like he was justte to the fight, everyone apud him, Aiiiden Niiightshadeee!"


    However, all he got in return weren''t cheers but booing as it seemed that not many in the Arena liked him at all.


    Such a scene made Aiden remember what happened back in the Inter Family Tournament, where everyone in the stands had been hating on them.


    However, we all know how the tournament ended, right? He had won, destroying every single opponent that was in his way.


    ''You will all see what happens when you decide to fight against me,'' Aiden thought as he looked around at the crowd who were all cheering against him, calling him a fraud.


    "We can''t waste anymore, and it''s now time for this fight to start once and for all!" The announcer continued, trying his best to animate the crowd.


    While he was saying all those things, Aiden and Garestsa were talking to each other, well it was like they were shouting against one another because they were so far away from each other.


    "So, you didn''t run, huh?" She shouted.


    Aiden didn''t answer keeping his mouth shut for the moment, he preferred letting his actions speak for himself.


    "That''s what I thought, you''re too scared to even open your mouth," Garestsa continued, trying to mock him to the best of her abilities.


    Aiden, this time, decided to answer her.


    "Try not to die," he muttered, not saying it loud enough for Garestsa to hear it.


    However, she could see the smile on his face, and it was cruel. She didn''t know what he had just muttered, but it hadn''t been nice at all.


    "Everyone, let''s do a countdown once again! When it reaches zero, the two of you will be able to do whatever you want to one another. Also, don''t worry about going for strikes that may kill the opposing side, we have people who will stop you."


    Then, he started the countdown as everyone in the public participated.


    "3"


    "2"


    "1"


    "May the best win!" The announcer shouted as Aiden immediately dashed toward Garestsa without losing a single second.


    Everyone in the arena was absolutely shocked by this sight as this wasn''t amon way of fighting at all.


    "Does he want this to end faster? Why is he running up at her?" A person in the crowd shouted.


    "He''s not even casting any spells, man that guy really was one hell of a fraud," another onemented.


    Garestsa, on the other hand, had no idea how to react to this sudden increase in speed. She had never seen anyone run so fast in her entire life, so just what was happening right now.


    ''Just how is he moving so fast,'' she thought as she started casting several spells in her direction.

 Chapter 301 301 - Can I Kill Her?

    Chapter 301  301 - Can I Kill Her?


    Before Aiden had arrived in the Coliseum, many teachers of the academy were in an observation room, looking at both Aiden and Garestsa fighting against one another.


    Almost everyone in the room thought that Garestsa would be winning this fight, sure, they had seen how strong Aiden was in the entrance exam. But, this was a whole other level, he would be fighting one of the most talented students in the academy.


    And from what they had seen, Aiden only knew the most basic spells. However, the only thing that made him truly unique were all the affinities that he possessed.


    "Do you think he''s going to win David? He''s your disciple, after all. You probably know best," one of the teachers around him asked, wondering what he would say.


    "Of course I do, there''s no doubt in my mind that he willpletely destroy his opponent. In fact, I wonder if he''s even going to get hit by a single spell," he asked with a lot of confidence.


    His confidence was after all quite normal when you knew about Aiden''s background in close-range fights.


    "Also, I''ll give you a little preview of what''s going to happen, but he will defeat that girl without using the slightest amount of magic spells. He would do so only with physical abilities."


    Everyone in the room couldn''t believe what he had just said as they all knew that such a thing was impossible in the first ce.


    It wasmon knowledge, after all, that magic was superior to physical weapons, there was no doubt about that.


    ***


    Garestsa was starting to panic, she didn''t know what was happening.


    Why would someone get closer to her?


    It simply made no sense considering that the two of them were mages.


    Shouldn''t Aiden be keeping his positionunching spells from far away?


    ''What are those small lightning sparks that areing off his shoes?'' She thought, wondering if this was a magic spell.


    She wasn''t sure if that was the case, and it wasn''t like she could analyze what he was doing since, with his current pace, he would soon be reaching her.N?v(el)B\\jnn


    ''I need to do something, but what spells can I even use for someone moving that fast? None of them will even hit him,'' she thought,pletely destabilized over what Aiden had just done.


    The ones who were watching from far away probably had a lot of difficulty gauging the speed at which Aiden was currently moving.


    From their point of view, he probably wasn''t moving as fast as Garestsa could see, being right in front of him.


    That''s why many were mocking him for their actions, however, even the director knew that Aiden''s speed couldn''t be taken lightly, he had to use his portal spell to counter it after all.


    Nheless, Garestsa waspletely lost as she decided tounch multiple spells of ice affinity, unsure if they would hit.


    However, she had no other choices, it wasn''t like she could teleport away from Aiden to gain distance, she didn''t have the space affinity which meant that she was pretty much assured of losing as many icicles started leaving her hands.


    Aiden saw them and simply scoffed as he couldn''t believe that was the spell that she had gone for. Even he could cast those spells.


    ''Wasn''t she supposed to be extremely talented? So why is it that she''s trying to hit with those spells,'' Aiden thought as he made sure to dodge every single icicle.


    However, that wasn''t the end of those spells as there was now a giant ice wall that separated both Garestsa and Aiden.


    It seemed like she had understood the current situation, or rather, Aiden''s n.


    That''s why she decided that she would make it a lot harder for Aiden to reach her by putting walls around her.


    ''Does she really think that this will stop me?'' Aiden thought as he deactivated [Lightning Steps], slowly but surely flying up in the air.


    ***


    Everyone in the crowd who saw that Aiden had just started to fly out of nowhere was now inplete awe over the young man.


    "How can he use the flight spell already? Just who is that young man?"


    Everyone in the arena seemed to have different questions on their mind as they couldn''t believe that Aiden could already fly at such a young age.


    However, they didn''t know that he wasn''t using mana to fly, but that was a detail that those people would never know.


    ***


    Now flying, Aiden quickly looked at what was happening inside those walls and it seemed that the beast girl was simply panicking at the moment, wondering what she could do to win.


    She was currently seated on the ground, crying. She knew that this was the end for her.


    "Why did I do that? Why did I do that?"


    She kept repeating that sentence over and over again, knowing that there was no way that she would be winning this fight.


    She saw that look in Aiden''s eyes before the fight. She knew that once he started moving at that speed there was literally nothing that she could do.


    All of her spells worked on people who couldn''t move at great speeds, what was she supposed to do if none of her spells could hit Aiden?


    The only reason she had decided to use icicles was quite simple, that was the only spell that she had in her arsenal that could rival Aiden''s speed. The rest of them were designed in a way that they could hit mages.


    ''What''s happening to her?'' Aiden thought as he didn''t even remember what would happen to her if she lost.


    Nheless, he couldn''t care less as he remembered how confident she had been yesterday.


    That''s why Aiden needed to make that to pass on a message.


    He needed to make sure that no one would be stupid enough to ask him to a duel once again.


    He stopped asking himself any questions as he knew very well that she hadn''t paying attention to her surroundings, murmuring something to herself over and over again.


    Without wasting any more time, Aiden dived down just like he had done a thousand times back in that Cultivation World.


    ''Let''s see if this is all but an act,'' Aiden thought as he held his dagger firmly.


    He remembered what the announcer had said at the start of the fight, they could try to kill one another as there would be people ready to stop their attacks if it came to that point.


    That''s why he didn''t waste any time, aiming right for that girl''s throat. He didn''t care if they couldn''t stop him, he was going to kill her. The only way that he wouldn''t was if those around were to stop like they had said at the start of the fight.


    Then, as Aiden continued to get closer and closer to that crying girl, he couldn''t feel anything wrong or any pressure put on him. It seemed that the ones who needed to stop him still weren''t reacting at all.


    ''Whatever, it''s not my problem, either way,'' Aiden thought as he was in arm''s reach of Garestsa.


    Aiden''s dagger slowly started getting closer to that neck, only an inch away from it.


    ''Are they really going to let me do this?''

 Chapter 302 302 - An Exchange?

    Chapter 302  302 - An Exchange?


    Then, as soon as the dagger grazed Garestsa''s skin, Aiden couldn''t move a single inch anymore. He was stuck in ce and she seemed to be in the exact same situation.


    Since he was the same person, thementator or even the announcer was shocked by what he had just witnessed.


    "Did you just see that, he almost killed him, but it seemed that someone just barely stopped Aiden from doing it," thementator eximed, unsure about what had just happened.


    Why had the two participantspletely stopped moving?


    ''Just what is that energy? I can''t fucking move,'' Aiden thought frustrated as he could see some blood starting to leave Garestsa''s neck.


    Being so close to one another, Aiden took his chances as he looked at her with the smile that he had made at the start of the fight, looking at her as if he was about to kill her.


    Garestsa, who had already been crying because of all this, seemed to have some sort of panic attack as her tail seemed to hide itself.


    She truly looked like an animal who was scared of dying.


    However, Aiden didn''t care, she had gotten what she had deserved, she was the one who had started all this, after all.


    It wasn''t Aiden''s fault that she was in such a situation at the moment.


    "So, got anything to say, now?" Aiden asked.


    He knew that this fight was done, he had won and she had lost. However, there was still a minor problem, Aiden had no idea what he had asked her to do if he won the fight, he hadn''t cared about it, after all.


    As if reading Aiden''s mind, the announcer started talking, revealing who won and who had lost.


    Everyone who had eyes already knew the winner of this fight, but he still needed to announce for everyone to know.


    He had to make it official.


    "The winner of this fight is Aiden Nightshade which means that Garestsa will be leaving the Magic Academy as of today."


    ''Leaving the academy? Did I really ask such a thing?'' Aiden thought, admitting that it was sort of a cruel thing to ask.


    However, he couldn''t really pity her since she had asked something that was also cruel.


    If Aiden lost, he would have been forced to lose his discipleship which would have, at the same time, made this whole trial a lot more difficult.


    Because as of right now, Aiden was still in his learning phase, he hadn''t started to amass a lot of Reputation Points which was the only thing that mattered in this trial.


    He was currently trying to learn as much as he could since he wouldn''t be able to use his assassin skills after those months of preparation.


    "Do you regret it, now?" Aiden asked as he could clearly see that the Magic Academy was something that she held dear.


    It made him feel somewhat bad as he knew that this ce really had no importance as he wasn''t even from this world.


    Nheless, it wasn''t like he could change the result of this fight, maybe he could politely ask to remove that consequence, but then people would think that he was weak.


    They would think that he would remove all the consequences from the fights that he wins, and as a result, he would be getting all sorts of offers to partake in a duel against all sorts of people.


    That was thest thing that Aiden wanted as he simply wanted to acquire as much knowledge about magic as he could since it would be extremely useful to him in the future when opening that shop.


    "I-I do, please don''t make leave the academy," Garestsa cried as she was still in the same position as earlier, not able to move a single muscle.


    Aiden noticed this and was starting to get honestly pissed off as he could only move his eyes or his mouth, the rest of his body waspletely frozen.


    ''It really is cruel, huh? Does she deserve it?'' Aiden thought as he started remembering the conversation that he had gotten when she tried asking for a duel.


    Aiden hadn''t really cared about whatever she had demanded as he had asked what she cherished the most.


    To be honest, that had been quite a dickhead move from Aiden.


    ''Should I ask to remove that consequence? But then¡­'' Aiden thought as he knew that this was a huge debate.


    He knew what the director of the Magic Academy would be telling him as Aiden had slowly but surely started to understand what he was like.


    However, all those thoughts left his body as fell to the ground as that energy which had been holding him uppletely disappeared and stopped supporting him and Garestsa.


    It caused quite an awkward situation between Aiden and Garestsa as theynded one on top of the other.


    Aiden because of the position that they were currently in was able to feel all sorts of different things on her body. He had to admit that since she was an animal, there were a lot of things that werepletely different from a human.


    However, there was still one thing that was the same, and that was the red face. Every single time that such a situation had happened to Aiden, the girl always had one hell of a red face as if truly embarrassed of what she had done.


    Thementator who saw such a thing happen between the beast girl and Aiden didn''t lose a single moment as he knew that it was the perfect time to ask some embarrassing questions to the two of them.


    "Let''s see what our winner of today has to say," he eximed as he slowly approached Aiden, who had managed to get off the beast girl albeit slowly.N?v(el)B\\jnn


    "What did you think about your opponent today, did you think that she was strong or was she weaker than you thought?" Thementator asked.


    That first question of his was clearly warm up as the rest of them would be a lot more interesting. He would be asking about the fighting style that Aiden had used since that was probably the only thing that the crowd and the teachers were currently thinking about.


    "Well, she was alright, she was definitely not stronger than what I anticipated."


    "What about her leaving the academy? Do you have something to add about that?" The announcer continued.


    "Well, actually I was debating whether she should leave the academy, what does the public think?" Aiden said as he made the public shout without any single problem.


    "Let her leave, she was the one who asked this in the first ce, you just demolished her!" someone in the public said.


    However, that wasn''t the only opinion as a lot of different people continued shouting all sorts of different things.


    "She deserves her ce, change that decision of yours!"


    Thementator hearing all this, thought of a new opportunity.


    "Is there something that she could give you that would make you change that decision of yours?" Thementator asked with a big smile on his face.


    He knew that there must be something that Aiden wanted, and since that beast girl seemed absolutely desperate, she would probably ept.

 Chapter 303 303 - Red

    Chapter 303  303 - Red


    ''Something that I want?'' Aiden thought.N?v(el)B\\jnn


    He had absolutely no idea of what he could ask in exchange for her staying in the Magic Academy.


    The reason why it was so hard for Aiden to ask her something was actually quite simple, he didn''t live in this world. He had no idea what was of value.


    Normally, he would have asked for some help learning magic, but there was literally no reason to do so since he had such a great teacher at the moment.


    In fact, he had the greatest teacher ever.


    ''Maybe I could ask for her helpter?'' Aiden thought as he knew that he would be leaving the Magic Academy, in the next month or two.


    "Are you there, Aiden?" Thementator wondered as he noticed that there was absolutely no movementing from Aiden''s person, stayingpletely immobile at the moment.


    "Oh, yes, sorry... I was thinking about it."


    "So? What did you decide?" He asked, wondering if he would be nice or cruel.


    It was also an important moment for all the students in the arena who had been thinking about dueling Aiden.


    "Well, I guess I could make an exception. However, I will say it right here, but it will never happen again. Everyone else who thinks that they will be able to duel me and get no consequences in return is wrong."


    "In fact, I won''t tell her my demand right now, but just know that there is still one. However, it doesn''t have anything rted to you leaving the Magic Academy," Aiden exined as he knew that this was probably the only thing that she was worried about.


    Garestsa, hearing that, was confused wondering what was happening.


    She was sure that she would soon by gone from the academy, but it seemed that there had been some sort of deal happening right now.


    She hadn''t been listening to Aiden''s conversation with thementator as she was worried about what would happen to her when she went back home and announced what happened to her parents.


    Garestsa knew that she would be in deep trouble if she came home and told her parents what had transpired that day.


    "I ept!" She shouted as she started to understand that Aiden hadpletely changed his opinion about her needing to leave.


    "Oh, it seems that you have made someone''s day over there," thementator said as he pointed toward the beast girl who hadn''t said a single word since earlier.


    ''Well, I wonder if I really did,'' Aiden thought as he knew what would be happening to her in the next couple of weeks.


    "Are you going to tell your request or will you announce it to her in private?" thementator continued, being as obnoxious as possible.


    "In private."


    Aiden was starting to get annoyed by all the questions that he was currently receiving as he could only pray that this interview would soon be finished as he remembered that his ss about Space Affinity was quite soon.


    "Alright, I just have onest question," the announcer said as if reading Aiden''s mind. "Just what was that?"


    ''What was what? Who the hell is that interviewer?'' Aiden thought.


    That question was simply so bad, that Aiden had no answer for it.


    "I''m talking about the fight, what was that? What was that fighting style?"


    The interviewer had noticed that Aiden had trouble understanding the question which is why he added some precisions on it.


    "Well, I don''t think I''ll reveal it right now, I''ll let you guys think about it a little."


    After saying that, Aiden couldn''t be bothered anymore but all of this as he took the microphone from the interviewer''s hands.


    "Now, if you will excuse us, I need to talk with Garestsa," Aiden said as he dropped the mic, walking toward the beast girl picking her up in his arm as he flew up.


    "WAIT! Put me down!" The beast girl shouted, surprised by the actions that Aiden had just taken.


    "Where are you even taking me!"


    She seemed to be panicking to be so high up in the air as she kept looking below, seeing this, Aiden thought of a way to reassure her and he found one without thinking too much about it.


    "Just look at me, stop looking below, I won''t drop you."


    Garestsa, hearing that, blushed as she kept eye contact with him which slowly but surely reassured Aiden.


    "So, what is it that you''re going to ask me for?" She asked, wondering if it was going to be even worse than her leaving the academy.


    "Um, wait let''s talk about thister when we get down," Aiden reapplied as he didn''t want to drop her this high in the air.


    She nodded as she was stillpletely red...what was happening right now was unbelievable.


    "Sure..." She said as she lost herself in those red eyes of his.


    ''He doesn''t seem too bad from up close,'' she thought, sumbing to his charms just like all the rest of the girls that had met her in the past.


    However, like always, Aiden didn''t pay her any attention as he was trying to find a spot where they would be able to talk without any distractions from people.


    "Do you know any spots where we could talk one on one?"


    "Um, well there''s always the woods," She said as she pointed to her right toward one big and dark forest.


    ''Meh, I guess it will do,'' Aiden thought as he elerated toward the forest, diving down without even slowing one.


    While doing so, he made sure that he wouldn''t drop her out of his arms, that''s why he held her tightly bringing her really close to her body.


    Aiden felt all of her body for that simple reason.


    "There, we arrived, finally," Aiden said as he released her from his arms.


    Garestsa waspletely red as Aiden told her that, she had just felt all his body since they were so close to one another.


    "Thanks for the ride," she said with a little smile on her face.


    "Just keep your thanks forter, you still need to agree to what I''m about to say," Aiden added.


    "I already agreed, I won''t change my mind, there''s no way that my parents will ept meing back home. So shortly after I entered the Academy, they will kick me out of the house," Garestsa said as she held back her tears.


    Well, seems like I was right, she really cares about this whole academy thing. Well, she did say that it was the most important thing in her life at the moment.


    "Stop talking to me about all your families and just listen to what I''m going to say," Aiden said, as he truly couldn''t believe that he had wasted so much talking to her and fighting her.


    It was all the fault of that stupid interview, thinking about how he left, Aiden had to admit that he was really happy.


    "Alright, so what''s going to happen is quite simple, you will need to help for two weeks. Do keep in mind that the help might not be rted to the Magic Academy, also during those two weeks, you won''t be able to refuse anything that I say," Aiden exined.


    While saying this, his mind couldn''t help but think about Ava, who had made the exact same promise.


    ''I do wonder when I''ll see her again, she had told me that there were good chances that we would meet at the Inter Family Tournament,'' Aiden as his mindpletely diverted from the current conversation.

 Chapter 304 304 - Distant Memories

    Chapter 304  304 - Distant Memories


    Ava, the person that he had first met whening to this new world. It had been quite a long time since he had thought about her, however, there was one single thing that he remembered extremely well and that was the promise that she had made to Aiden.


    The one where she would be doing everything that she wanted for the rest of her life if they ever met again.


    He remembered that she had talked about the Inter Family Tournament, however, Aiden hadn''t caught sight of her anywhere there.


    ''Maybe I could try finding her when I go back to Nova,'' Aiden thought as he knew that she would be a somewhat good ally for him.


    Aiden remembered that she hadn''t been the strongest in the past, but she could progressively get stronger. That was certainly one option, that''s why Aiden wanted to find her when getting back.


    There was also the fact that she knew that he was a Nightshade since he had told her at the start.


    ''I hope she didn''t tell anyone,'' Aiden thought as he knew that it could be a problem in the future.


    While Aiden was clearly lost in his thoughts, Garestsa was wondering what was happening to him as he hadn''t done the slightest thing in a few minutes.


    He seemed to be thinking deeply about something which is why she hadn''t said anything only watching him.


    However, she was starting to get impatient, especially since she had a lot of questions over what he had just said.


    That request of his had surprised me greatly since it was pretty much bing his ve for two weeks.


    "Aiden, are you there?" She asked wondering what was happening to him.


    Not talking for a couple of minutes in a row was really the weirdest thing.


    However, there was still no response at all.


    ''What''s going on with him, it''s like he''s in a whole different world from mine¡­ I have so many questions for him, from how he fought to that damn request.''


    Garestsa hadn''t been different from the rest of the public, she was also wondering how he had pulled that off during the fight, from the running to how he held that weapon in his hands. Everything had been spectacr from start to finish, she was slowly but surely realizing why.


    That man simply wasn''t like the rest of them, just by looking at his body, she knew that he was special.


    Usually, mages were slim and had no muscles whatsoever since they had no use for them. However, it was clear that Aiden had trained for a long time.


    "Aiden? Hello?" She repeated wondering what was happening to him, it made no sense that he couldn''t hear.


    However, that really was the case as Aiden was slowly remembering everything that he had gone through ever since arriving to Nova, and doing all those different trials.


    Right after leaving Ava, he met Maelis who had shown him how this new world of his worked.


    Then, he met Mia in the trial where he started discovering what life was all about.


    ''Man, those were great times,'' he thought as he knew that he would need at some point to go back to all the worlds that he had visited.


    Realizing how he had just acted, Aiden finally came out of his thoughts and what he saw was¡­ weird.


    "Um, are you okay?" Aiden asked as he saw Garestsa currently right in front of his face, making many different faces, probably trying to bring him back.N?v(el)B\\jnn


    Seeing that he was now back, she became all red.


    "Oh, you finally came out of that little world of yours, huh?" She said with a little smile on his, clearly shy over what she had just done.


    However, she had tried to grab his attention by shouting, jumping, moving around, she had done everything and there had still been no option and that''s when she started doing all sorts of weird faces to him.


    "Yeah, um, sorry about that, just old memories that I just remembered, so right¡­ where was I?"


    "You were talking about how I would need to listen to everything you say for a month¡­"


    "Oh, right? Any questions about that, want to refuse and leave the magic academy?"


    Garestsa, hearing this, shook her head instantly as she knew that this wasn''t possible at all.


    "Actually, I do¡­ what did that mean about needing help outside of the Academy, I won''t need to quit right?" She asked, wanting to make sure that this wasn''t a trap.


    Aiden, however, quickly reassured her telling that there would be no problem with the Magic Academy, even if it was possible that there might be some.


    "Also, do you have any idea how to craft potions?" Aiden asked, as he had been thinking about the shop that he would be opening for a while. The only idea that he had in his mind at the moment was an alchemy shop, where he would be selling all different types of potions.


    That''s why he would need to ask the director about potion-making, it''s not like he really wanted to learn how to fight with magic.


    He was already a lot better with a dagger, even if he had noticed that it was quitecking against a stronger opponent.


    He knew that he would need to learn better fighting techniques in the future, however, for the moment it would do.


    "I do, actually, I dabble¡­ so don''t expect me to be really good," she said, not wanting Aiden to have any expectations of her.


    She thought that she had been extremely talented but she had been proven wrong by Aiden in quite the rude manner.


    Nheless, it wasn''t like she could me her since it was her fault in the first ce.


    "Well, that''s all I need," Aiden replied, not minding if she were to be the absolute worst at making potions, there were many potential roles that someone needed to upy in a shop.


    "So, everything is alright, right? Want me to bring you back to the academy?" Aiden asked, clearly implying that he would be flying her all the way there.


    However, Aiden seemed to have been finished, but she wasn''t as she still had a lot of questions.


    "Hmm¡­ actually would it be possible for you to teach me, those moves that you used against me?" She asked as he knew that there were a lot of chances that Aiden would straight up refuse.


    "My skills¡­ what are you going to give me if I ept?"


    She didn''t think as she gave him whatever answer he wanted.


    "Anything you want, I don''t care."


    Aiden hearing this once again thought of Ava as there were simply too many simrities between those two situations, it was honestly quite interesting to see.


    "Anything?" Aiden repeated with a smile on his face.


    He wasn''t sure if she was stupid or not, but he would take it.


    "Then, instead of two weeks, you will help me until I leave this ce," Aiden said, not revealing how much time that would take.


    He knew that she would at least need to do this much, since he would be greatly upied with the director and everything that came with it.

 Chapter 305 305 - Change of Plans

    Chapter 305  305 - Change of ns


    Garestsa, hearing this, didn''t say anything as she wasn''t sure if learning his skills was a good or a bad idea at the moment.


    She had to admit that the skills shown were extremely impressive, but were they worth it?


    That''s what she was currently asking herself, she wasn''t sure if it would be worth it.


    "When are you going to leave?" She asked.


    She knew that there was no way that she would be his literal ve for months. She didn''t want such a thing to happen as it would ruin her whole experience here at the Magic Academy.


    Aiden smiled hearing that question, he knew that she would be asking something like that since it was extremely logical.


    However, he had decided against revealing it.


    "All I can say is... that it won''t be long, not more than a year," Aiden said as he knew that it would only be a month or two.


    ''A year, huh?''


    Garestsa had a pensive expression on her face, probably wondering if it was a good idea to ept.


    "Then, can you at least give me some sort of ideas of what your skills are? It would help me understand if it''s worth it or not."


    Aiden sighed as he didn''t want to, but he stillplied.


    "I guess I can show you some of my skills, what do you want to learn first?" Aiden asked as he would only be showing one single skill, he didn''t want to waste too much time here with her, after all.


    "The one where you were moving so fast that I couldn''t even see you..."


    ***


    Aiden was now in his Space Affinity ss as he had finished showing Garestsa everything that he had needed.


    He had also brought her back to the academy by flying.


    Garestsa had been extremely flustered the whole way as her face had been extremely red.


    Still, that really wasn''t important at allpared to the decision she had taken regarding whether she wanted to learn Aiden''s skills or not.


    Nheless, she agreed to listen to everything he would be saying until he would live. In fact, she had be his roommate as Aiden had requested it to David.


    Right now, he had to admit that the choice of sses that he had made was clearly wed as he couldn''t see how any of this would be able to help him get a sessful business.


    ''I need a sessful business, I need to learn how to make potions,'' Aiden thought as he suddenly stood up while the teacher was exining many things.


    He didn''t want to see the teacher''s reaction he simply left the ss as he needed to go and meet the Director. Aiden had made a decision and he could only hope that the Director of the academy was knowledgeable in that area.


    Everyone in the ss saw that the director''s disciple was leaving without saying anything which caused some reactions from all of them.


    "Does he think that he''s better than the rest of us? And why isn''t she saying anything about it?" A studentined with a big frown on his face.


    All around him, many agreed as they nodded heavily.


    Aiden heard some of thements, but simply couldn''t bother as he kept walking in a straight line, not even looking behind him.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    ***


    He was now flying toward that hill where the director was residing as he wanted to exin to him, what he would need.


    Aiden had made a mistake when first entering this trial, he had focused on strength like he had always done. However, in this scenario, it wasn''t the best way to approach the trial.


    He needed useful skills that he would be able to sell in the future.


    Sure, he could be extremely strong protecting many people, however, that would be really difficulty, considering hisck of talent in magic.


    As he walked up the hill, it seemed that David had spotted him from far away has he immediately went out of his small cabin.


    "Shouldn''t you be in your Space Affinity ss? What are you even doing here?" He asked, confused.


    "Change of ns, I don''t have any need to learn all those affinities at the moment, what I need is a way to money. I need to learn how to make potions¡­ I need to learn alchemy!"


    Aiden knew that he would be able toe back to this world in the future where he would be able to learn more about affinities to be stronger, however, right now he needed to focus on preparing his shop for next month since it was getting closer and closer.


    David looked at Aiden wondering how he came to that conclusion.


    ''Why does he even need money either way?'' David thought, not finding any good reason.


    "Alchemy? Are you sure?"


    David slowly asked, waiting for Aiden to calm down from his current state.


    He knew that something must have happened to be changing his mind in such a way.


    "Are you sure that everything is okay?"


    Aiden sighed as it made sense for him to receive it, however, it wasn''t like he could exin the whole situation to David as the system would probably intervene when he would do so.


    ''But, maybe I can tell him some details about what I need to do, he could probably help me,''


    Aiden thought as he knew that it would be even better having two helpers instead of a single one.


    "Everything is fine, can you teach me or not?" Aiden asked as he wouldn''t be revealing any information until he knew that the director could be useful.


    There were good chances that he would be, but Aiden still didn''t act to fast.


    "I can, I have some knowledge in alchemy, but can you at least tell me why you want to learn out of nowhere?"


    Aiden smiled hearing the great news as he decided to release a big boom on the director of the academy.


    "The reason is simple, I want to leave the academy next month and open a potion shop."

 Chapter 306 306 - A New Disciple?

    Chapter 306  306 - A New Disciple?


    "What did you just say?!"


    The director shouted as he simply couldn''t believe what he had just hearding out of Aiden''s mouth.N?v(el)B\\jnn


    "I want to leave the academy next month and open a potion shop."


    Aiden repeated slowly as he knew that such a reaction was to be expected.


    "You''re not joking, right?" The director asked, still doubtful.


    He simply couldn''t grasp how Aiden had changed ns so quickly, he had nned to learn two affinities and now he wanted to learn potions.


    Just what was it that changed absolutely everything?


    Aiden didn''t know yet, but he could only hope that he would figure it out soon.


    "I''m not, I can''t tell you the reason as to why I need to do such a thing, however, I have no choice. I need to open that shop next month, or else, well¡­"


    ''Well¡­ I''d die,'' Aiden thought, admitting that it really was a sad moment.


    The director of the magic academy took deep breaths as he heard that, calming himself down. He didn''t want to have some sort of crazy reaction in front of Aiden.


    "I see¡­ so, you have no choice, huh?" The director muttered as he knew that was the case.


    He saw how hesitant Aiden was acting which is why he didn''t press on the answer.


    "I guess I could help you, but remember that you will also have to help me."


    The director made sure to remind Aiden that he also needed to teach him some things regarding his closebat abilities.


    "Look, here''s what we can do, you will be learning alchemy here all day without any breaks for the whole month. Half the day will be me teaching you, and the rest of it will be you,


    Aiden, teaching me, is that a good deal?" The director asked as he locked eyes with Aiden who seemed to be thinking.


    ''So, I would be living here, for a whole month. Actually, maybe there''s someone else who coulde here to learn from him. Wouldn''t that be perfect?'' Aiden thought thinking of


    Garestsa who will be another student of his and at the same time the director.


    "Would you be open to receiving another student in your house? I''m sure she would want to learn from someone like you," Aiden said as he knew that Garestsa wouldn''t be refusing such an opportunity.


    And, even if she wanted to refuse, she couldn''t since it would break their whole agreement.


    "Which student?" The director asked, intrigued.


    ***


    "Are you serious? Are we really going to see the director of the magic academy? You''re not lying to me, right?" Garestsa uttered as she looked directly into Aiden''s eyes.


    She wanted to make sure that this whole thing wouldn''t be a trick because from what Aiden had told her, she would need to stop going to her lessons.


    ''He told me that I was going to learn with him and the director, but is that really possible? Would that man even ept?'' Aiden thought, unsure.


    "Stop worrying about every single thing and just let me take you there," Aiden said as he sighed.


    Garestsa simply refused for Aiden to fly her up there, she remembered how she had reacted in the past, which was why she had decided that the two of them would be walking up the hill, instead of flying up there.


    It wasn''t anything bad, but still, it would have been a lot more efficient for her to agree for Aiden to take her up there.


    They would have been moving at her much faster pace, however, it seemed that Garestsa was dead set on wasting time for the two of them.


    ***


    A couple of minutester, they had finally reached the top of the hill where the director had been patiently waiting for them.


    "What took you so long?" The director asked, his question directed at Aiden.


    He knew that he could fly so why was it that he had walked on the way here, just what had been the problem?


    "It''s because of her," he said as he pointed to Garestsa who was starting to realize that she should have epted.


    "Hm, alright, whatever I prepared everything for us to start learning alchemy while you were gone, both of you guys can follow me," he said as he started walking toward the forest.


    ''Why aren''t we going inside his cabin?''


    Aiden couldn''t make sense of that, however, he didn''t mind it that much as he continued walking behind the director.


    A few momentster, they had arrived at the spot that the director had talked about earlier.


    It wasn''t too far away from the cabin as Aiden could still see it from here, albeit barely.


    Right in front of them, there were too big cauldrons with many different ingredients on both sides of it.


    "That''s where both of you will be practicing," the director said as he pointed toward the two cauldrons that he had borrowed from the academy''s grounds.


    Aiden nodded as it seemed to make a lot of sense, however, it seemed that Garestsa wasn''t of the same opinion as she raised her hand up high.


    "Yes?" The director asked, wondering why she was putting her hand up.


    "Why is it that we are practicing here and not in the academy?"


    "It''s because I don''t want to deal with everyone seeing us. I want this to be private, that way it will be a lot more efficient.


    "Also, you don''t need to raise your hand every time that you need to tell me something. Just speak, I won''t eat you alive," the director said in a joking manner.


    Garestsa became all red hearing that.


    "Oh, sorry I won''t do it again, sir."


    The director sighed as he continued his exnation, guiding both of them behind their respective cauldrons.


    "Alright, I will now be teaching you the basics of making potions. Even if you know some of them already, make sure to listen to every single thing that I''m about to exin as it might help you tremendously."

 Chapter 307 307 - First Potion Attempt

    Chapter 307  307 - First Potion Attempt


    Both of them nodded in understanding directing all their attention toward David and the instructions that he was about to utter.


    "First of all, I must mention that the quality of the potions that both of you will be able to create will depend on the quality of your cores, so can you both tell me the grade of your cores?" The director asked, already knowing Aiden''s.


    However, he still wanted to know about the core of the beast girl as it would be really helpful for the rest of his teachings.


    "Mine''s Gold," Aiden replied.


    "Mine is also Gold."


    The director nodded not that surprised by the grade of their cores. Garestsa had been invited to join the Magic Academy, so it made sense for her to at least have this level of talent.


    "Alright, great that means that you can pretty much do every single potion that exists, there might be one or two that aren''t avable because of your cores'' grades, but that really isn''t that important."


    The director was sort of relieved when he learned that they both had the same grade as it made his task a lot more easier for the future.


    "Alright, enough about that, I will now show you how to create the most basic potions that exist, make sure to watch attentively," David said as he made appear a cauldron out of nowhere.


    In his hands, he had a single ingredient.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    It seemed that he hadn''t lied when saying that it was the easiest recipe that existed.


    "This is called the mana potion, it is used when you are low on mana¡­ to replenish yourself," the director exined as he started heating up the cauldron.


    Aiden wasn''t able to see how he had done such a thing, but he kept watching in interest.


    He knew that would be the first step into bing much greater at potion-making.


    "So, as you can see, you start by heating up the cauldron. Now that this is done, you take this blue herb called Manatrum and throw it into the cauldron."


    "While you are doing that, you also need to put water inside of it, so that the Manatrum gets dissolved into, just look¡­ I''ll show you," the director said as he finished heating up the cauldron, preparing himself for the next step.


    He took the blue herb in his hands and threw it with a lot of caution, not wanting to miss the huge cauldron in front of him.


    He then watched as the herb inside the cauldron for about a minute or two, and while he was getting an eye on it. He made a bucket of water right in front of him as he prepared himself for the final move of the potion.


    A few secondster, he dropped all the water that he had prepared into the cauldron and started mixing it using magic.


    "There now, both of youe closer, this is the most important step in the making of this potion," the director said as both Aiden and Garestsa got closer wondering what he was talking about.


    As both of them approached, the director continued swirling everything that was inside the cauldron without the slightest difficulty.


    "Even if you can''t see it right now, what I''m doing at the moment requires a lot of precision, I am mixing all the ingredients in a certain manner."


    "If I were to make even the slightest mistake then this blue color that we can all see at the moment would turn ck."


    A few momentster, David stopped all movements as the color stayed blue even we he stopped the mixing motion.


    "And¡­ done!"


    The director eximed quite happy with the performance that he had just shown to everyone to see.


    He knew that what he had just done was extremely basic and that anyone with a little bit of knowledge, everyone could do it.


    However, he didn''t want his students to see him fail. It would be quite an embarrassment to bepletely honest.


    "It''s now your guys'' turn."


    The director said as he looked at each of them.


    Garestsa didn''t seem to be too nervous since she had some previous knowledge. She had also told Aiden about it.


    However, Aiden could feel himself bing somewhat nervous as he had never done such a thing before and he didn''t want to fail.


    "Go to your cauldrons!" The director said as both Garestsa and Aiden quickly turned around and went to their respective working spot, or rather, potion-making spots.


    "Alright, so both of you will be attempting to do the exact same thing as me. So, make sure that you get that blue color at the end, or else, it means that you have failed," David said as he tried to add some pressure on both of the participants.


    Aiden hearing that made sure to use all of concentration as he looked at the cauldron, wondering how he could heat it.


    He knew that he had ess to fire since he had all affinities, but David hadn''t done it that way, so he was trying to find the way that the director had done it as he made sure to analyze the entirety of it.


    Then, as he continued and continued to search, he finally found it.


    There was a button hidden on it that activated the heating.


    ''Alright, so now what do I need to do?'' Aiden thought as he looked at all the ingredients that he had to his right.


    He was currently in the process of finding the right herb which was bright blue.


    ''Not this one¡­ not this one either,'' Aiden thought as he continued to look at every single one of them.


    ''Just where is it, goddammit¡­''


    It seemed that no matter how much he had tried going through the ingredients, he hadn''t been able to find it.


    That''s when he heard the voice of David, adding a little something to this whole potion-making session.


    "Oh, I think I forgot to mention it, but you guys have to find your own Manatrum."


    [Author''s Note: Official Update Rate of this Month = 3 chapters every day with 1.2k words daily. I''ll try posting two at 9AM PST then the third will be during the day when I finish writing it.]

 Chapter 308 308 - A Stronger Cyclops

    Chapter 308  308 - A Stronger Cyclops


    "What do you mean?" Aiden asked right away.


    He wasn''t sure if he had understood that correctly, they needed to find their own ingredient for the potion.


    But... why?


    "Exactly what I said, you told me that you wanted to open a potion shop. To do that, you will need to buy and find your own ingredients, so I decided to help you in that area," the director said with a serious expression on his face.


    Aiden nodded hearing his reasons as it made a lot of sense, if he was to bepletely honest.


    He knew that when he would have to leave the academy, he would be on his own from the start all the way to the end of the trial which is why Aiden didn''tin simply nodding.


    "And where do we find it?" Aiden asked as he, at least, wanted an idea of where to find Manatrum.


    "In those woods, it''s usually in trees, just make sure to look up and you''ll probably find it at one point."


    Aiden once again nodded in understanding as he asked onest question.


    "Can we have some sort of example of what it looks like, just to make sure that we have the right thing?"


    Aiden knew that the herb was somewhat blue, but that was it. He wasn''t sure if he was going to be able to recognize it from far away, he would need a closer look for sure.


    "Hmm, I guess I can. Oh, and... onest thing, just be careful there are some monsters in those woods," the director said as he disappeared instantly.


    Just after disappearing, both Aiden and Garestsa received a piece of paper with the image of the nt on it.


    David would have given them the real thing, however, he knew that there would be good chances for them to decide to cheat, and he didn''t want such a thing to happen obviously.


    "Alright, so what should we do now?" Garestsa asked as she got closer to Aiden.


    It seemed that she was scared of the forest as she kept looking at it her eyes bing rounder and rounder.


    However, Aiden didn''t even notice that as he started walking forward not even looking back.


    "Well, we go explore the forest obviously."


    Aiden had heard David telling them about the monsters, but that didn''t worry him in the least as he knew that there weren''t many monsters who he wouldn''t be able to kill.


    Also, Aiden knew that if this was considered the easiest potion to make, then the ingredient had to be easy to find. That was simply a fact.


    The potion wouldn''t be simple if the ingredient was impossible to find.


    Sure, as time passed it might get dicier finding all the ingredients that are needed, but at the moment Aiden didn''t think it would be one.


    "Youing?" Aiden asked as he couldn''t the slightest noise behind.


    Garestsa then came out of her trance as she caught up to Aiden by running behind him.


    ***


    While all this was happening, the director of the Magic Academy hadn''t disappeared to a random ce.


    He was currently keeping an eye on the two of them as he knew that there was some chance that they could get injured or hurt by the monsters inside the forest.


    "Well, Manatrum isn''t that hard to find, so they shouldn''t have any problems. However, for the next recipes, there will probably be times when I will have to intervene if they go too deep inside the forest."


    "I hope it won''t happen, I know that Aiden is strong, however, there are some monsters in that forest that even I struggle against, so... I can''t imagine him."


    It seemed that even David wasn''t confident in defeating every monster that was in there, so he could only pray that they wouldn''t be meeting those at ater time.


    Aiden, also, hadn''t been wrong, Manatrum was quite easy to find as it was really close to the director''s cabin.


    They could find a lot of trees close to the cabin, so from David''s estimation... it should take them ten minutes to find it.


    However, the problem was that finding it was only the first step, they needed to seed in making the potion.


    And, to bepletely honest, David had made it look extremely easypared to how it really was.


    ***


    Aiden and Garestsa were still walking forward while looking in every single tree that was around them, in search of that little flower that had blue ends.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    From what Aiden had seen, Manatrum wasn''t a herb at all, it was a little flower that had blue ends.


    ''I got to admit that we''re lucky to have that image,'' Aiden thought as he knew that it would have been a lot more difficult to find anything rted to that.


    "How much time do you think finding Manatrum is going to take?" Garestsa asked Aiden as she kept being really close to him, probably scared.


    "Not long as I said before," Aiden replied with a sigh as he had answered that question too many times in thest five minutes.


    ''Wasn''t she supposed to be extremely talented, just why is she so scared of everything around her?''


    Aiden rolled his eyes just thinking about it.


    "Can''t you get a little further away from me?" Aiden asked as her presence was starting to annoy him.


    Sure, he could be used as someone tofort her or whatever, but did she need to be in constant contact with her?


    Garestsa became a little red because of what Aiden had asked her to do.


    However, sheplied still looking around them, wanting to spend as little time as possible.


    But, not even a single secondter, Aiden once again felt her touch.


    "What do you want?" He asked, this time, really annoyed by her behavior.


    "S-Sorry... but um, what''s that?" She asked as she pointed forward.


    And exactly where she pointed there was what seemed to be a monster, it was all green and had one eye.


    Aiden had no difficulty remembering the name of that monster as he had fought such a monster in the past.


    It was a Cyclops, the same monster that he had fought in the first trial. However, this Cyclops wasn''t like the one he had seen in the past, from the looks of it... this one was much taller and much bigger.


    ''Yeah, I''m sure of it, this one is a lot stronger,'' Aiden thought as he grasped his dagger tightly.


    "Well this is gonna be fun," Aiden muttered next to the frozen Garestsa who kept shaking right beside him.


    "Have you seen those before?" She asked, her voice trembling.


    Aiden nced at her with a lot of confidence engrained in his eyes as he said, "Only once, but it was much smaller. Don''t worry, I''ll take care of it."


    Right as his sentence ended, Aiden dashed forward preparing himself to do as much damage as he possibly could.


    He would make sure that he would be the winner of this fight.


    He knew that there shouldn''t be any problems considering how much stronger he had gotten since the very first trial that he had gone through.

 Chapter 309 309 - Finding the Manatrum

    Chapter 309  309 - Finding the Manatrum


    ''I''ll try to end this one fast, I don''t want to waste too much time on the first potion, after all,'' Aiden thought as he knew that there would be a lot more things that he would need to learn in the future.


    He needed to learn as much as possible in the month that was toe, that was the only that his shop would actually seed.


    He still didn''t know how he would be able to gain Reputation Points, however, he had several ideas and the one that made the most sense was quite simple.


    He would gain more and more points as his shop would be getting more popr around this new world.


    Who knows, he might be able to use this knowledge in potions to learn the one that Alex, the scientist who was in the first trial had made to make people stronger.


    "Take this!" Aiden shouted as he appeared behind the Cyclops cutting both of his angles, wanting that monster to go down.


    And the Cyclops exactly did so as it slowly but surely started falling down, now on its knees.


    Aiden''s goal was now achieved, he could actually reach the Cyclops''s neck and that was exactly what he had aimed to do as he ran forward, making sure that there was an aura coating his dagger.


    *SLASH*


    Without wasting any more time, he shed the neck of the Cyclops.


    Its head was now on the ground rolling away from its body.


    Garestsa who was a couple of steps away had her mouth wide open, shocked by what she had seen.


    Seeing how he had killed the monster with zero hesitation, she realized that she had been extremely lucky that she was still alive.


    She remembered the look in his eyes from the duel that happened between the two of them. She remembered how ruthless he was, diving from the sky and going in for the kill.


    Garestsa still had no idea who it was that saved her, but she thanked him whoever it was.


    "Just where did he learn those skills, though?" She whispered to herself as she hadn''t seen anyone fight like that in her life.


    He wasn''t using any mana, simply running toward the monster mindlessly ughtering it as if the monster was only a simple insect that had been waiting patiently to be trampled on.


    She knew that he came from far away, but why hadn''t she heard where that ce was?


    Why hadn''t she heard anything about that ce?


    Was it kept secret by someone or had Aiden simply lied about his background?


    Both options were possible and Garestsa had no idea how to decide the true one.


    "See that? I told you that those monsters are nothing to be worried about," Aiden eximed as he slowly walked back toward her,pletely ignoring the monster that was on the ground.


    Hearing how confident he was, Garestsa had no choice but to appreciate having him protecting her, it was quite a nice feeling to have.


    "Good job!" Garestsa answered, removing all the previous thoughts in her mind as it was time to continue exploring the surroundings.


    Aiden had a feeling that the Manatrum shouldn''t be too far away from them as he continued to look up at all the trees that were surrounding them.


    A couple of momentster, they were only a few meters away from the Cyclops''s dead body, it seemed that Aiden had finally spotted the Manatrum.


    "Look up there! I think that''s the nt," Aiden shouted to Garestsa as he flew up with the piece of paper in his hands.


    He wanted to make sure that he wouldn''t be making any mistakes which is why he startedparing every single thing to the picture he had received from David.


    "I think that''s it," Aiden eximed as he took as many as he possibly could.


    He wanted to make sure that even if he failed to make his potions he wouldn''t need toe back here as it would make him lose a lot of time.


    He took a handful for both him and Garestsa as he went down the tree.


    "Alright, pretty sure we got everything that we needed, so let''s head back," Aiden as he walked back toward their working spot which was situated around ten minutes from here.


    "I''ll just make a little sign over here, that way I''ll know where I can find Manatrum in the future," Aiden said as he took his dagger and made many slices in the trees surrounding the area.


    That way it would be quite easy for him to find the spot in the future.


    ***


    A few minutester, they were both in front of their cauldrons which had finished heating for a long time.


    They were now waiting for David to appear in front of them, however, it didn''t seem that it would happen as it had been at least a minute and he still wasn''t there, in front of them.


    "I guess he went somewhere else in the meantime, well he told us what to do either way," Aiden said out loud.


    Garestsa obviously agreed as she couldn''t think of any other reason for such a thing to even happen in the first ce.


    ***


    The director was currently watching them from far away with a spell which made that possible, he could also hear every single thing that they would be saying.


    He had to admit that it was quite funny hearing them, wondering about where he had left.


    But, he was quite happy with how rational-minded Aiden was, not panicking at all, keeping his mind focused on the task that was ahead of him.


    It also made sense for Aiden to be acting that way since he only had a single month to practice every single thing that he would need to do.


    ***


    ''Alright, so the first step is to add the Manatrum,'' Aiden thought as he did exactly that, slowly but surely dropping it inside the cauldron.


    He made sure that all of the nts went in without any exceptions.


    ''Now I need to prepare my water,'' Aiden thought as he looked around, realizing yet another problem.


    He couldn''t make water magically appear before him.


    "Oh, fuck we need water," Aiden eximed as he looked around.


    He was currently doing his utmost best, however, there were still no signs of a river.


    ''I need to fly up, get a better view of everything that''s around us,'' Aiden thought as he flew as high as he possibly could.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    Then, as he was in the air, he made a 360 making sure that he didn''t miss anything.


    "There''s one over there, I''ll go get some," Aiden eximed as he went back down and took both of their buckets.


    ''Why didn''t we think of that before?'' Aiden thought.


    Well, the director hadn''t told them to do so, but still, they should have thought about it.


    ***


    A few momentster, Aiden was back with both water buckets and both Garestsa and Aiden were now finally ready to start making their first potion.


    Well, it wasn''t Garestsa''s first time, but she didn''t seem confident one bit, so it might as well be her first time.

 Chapter 310 310 - Failing Over and Over Again

    Chapter 310  310 - Failing Over and Over Again


    Aiden was now in front of the cauldron, currently asking himself what he needed to do next.


    ''Alright, I put the Manatrum then I wait a little for it to burn,'' Aiden thought as he was currently trying to remember everything that David had shown them one hour ago.


    It was a little blurry in his mind, however, he tried his hardest and he was able to remember every single step of what he had done.


    That''s why Aiden took the water bucket in his hands when he noticed that the Manatrum hadpletely burned inside the cauldron, revealing what seemed to be blue paste at the bottom of it.


    ''Ok, now the water,'' Aiden thought as he dumped all the water inside it without a single moment of hesitation.


    As he did so, all the blue paste at the bottom started to mix in with the water which became dark blue.


    Without wasting another second, he started to mix it all together, slowly but surely.


    "I need to keep that exact color," Aiden muttered as he didn''t know how to mix the concoction that he was making at the moment.


    It was all random, in fact, not a single movement out of him was calcted. Everything was done by intuition remembering how the director of the Magic Academy had acted.


    He remembered the movements vaguely and Aiden was in the process of copying them to the best of his abilities.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    "Are you okay, Aiden?" Garestsa asked as she found the time to talk to Aiden.


    It seemed that most of her earlier stress had disappeared if she was able to do something like that at the moment.


    Aiden had to admit that she had an advantage as she had the basics down contrary to him, so all of this would obviously be extremely simple.


    ''Does she really think that I can answer her right now,'' Aiden thought as he was arriving at the most important part of this potion-making process.


    The ending¡­ the moment where Aiden would need to stoppletely. If he went over the exact mixing time, then the potion wouldn''t be sessful.


    Sure, this potion was extremely fast to make, but that also meant that it was the best time to practice this skill.


    Aiden needed to figure out a way to get that timing right 100% of the time.


    There was no way to tell at the moment, or at least, Aiden had no idea of the method since he hadn''t been told any tricks.


    At the moment, everything revolved around luck and that wasn''t something that he appreciated at all.


    He needed consistency, he needed something that would make sure that he would never fail.


    Would he be able to get such a thing?


    Aiden wasn''t sure, however, he sure hoped so.


    "Do you need help?" Garestsa continued asking as she noticed that he wasn''t answering at all.


    Aiden hearing her offering realized what was happening.


    She had already seeded and she was currently wondering if Aiden needed her help toplete his potions because it was taking too long.


    ''If she finished, doesn''t that mean that I need to stop mixing it?'' Aiden thought as he knew that they had basically started around the same time.


    That''s why Aiden stopped all his movements, looking at the color of his potion, praying that it wouldn''t change color.


    He wanted it to stay that same dark blue color, he hoped with all of his heart that it would.


    However, as a few seconds passed the color slowly started getting darker. It started from the sides of it, and it slowly made its way toward the middle of the cauldron, before it turnedpletely ck.


    "Oh, you failed!" Garestsa said, feeling somewhat bad.


    However, she had to admit that it felt kind of good to beat Aiden in one single thing.


    He was always so much better than her, so she had to admit that it was a great sensation that she hoped she would be able to feel again.


    Nheless, she wouldn''t straight up ridicule him, she would help to the best of her abilities that was what she was trying to do.


    "Do you need help?" She asked as Aiden was able to see that her potion was perfect.


    He could see that glimmer of a blue color and from that, he was able to tell that it was good enough.


    "Of course, I don''t. Just let me try again," Aiden shouted, stubbornly.


    It was already a known fact that Aiden wasn''t extremely happy about that sort of stuff.


    He couldn''t ept that feeling of failing something and asking for help, he hadn''t done it and the past, and he would try his best so that it wouldn''t happen now.


    Garestsa hearing how angry Aiden was, slowly walked back giving him enough space.


    ''Just how do I figure this out? What is the trick at the end, how was she able to get it on her first try? There has to be something that I''m seeing here,'' Aiden thought as he knew that potion-making simply couldn''t rely on luck, that wouldn''t make any sense at all.


    Aiden thought for a bit and decided to try again as he flew up in the air to go and get another water bucket ready.


    A few secondster, he was back in front of the cauldron with a determined look in his eyes.


    He would try his absolute best to seed this time even if he still had zero idea of how to find that perfect timing.


    ***


    A few momentster, after his second attempt, there was a big pool of ck water right in front of Aiden''s face.


    There was no doubt about it, he had failed again.


    This time, Garestsa once again got closer to him with the same idea in mind. She wanted to help him.


    However, before she could even say a single word, Aiden interrupted her.


    "No, I don''t want your help!"


    Then, he flew back up in the air toward the usualke where he would be getting his water.


    He came back in front of the cauldrons and repeated the process.


    ''I don''t care how many times I need, I will figure it out,'' Aiden thought as he threw another nt of Manatrum in there followed by the water.


    He waited for a little bit before mixing, and¡­ mixed.


    But, the end result was the same, the color was still purely ck.


    "Are you sure you don''t want any help?" Garestsa asked, as she had already spotted Aiden''s problem, and she knew the way that he could fix it.


    It wasn''t anything that would be hard to correct, which was why Garestsa couldn''t understand why Aiden was so stubborn about doing those things by himself.


    ''Should I?'' Aiden thought, as he did the same things every single time, not able to spot even the slightest mistake.


    He knew that his problem was at the end when he needed to stop mixing at a precise moment.


    However, he never knew when to stop, which was a big problem.


    "Sure, you can help me. Just a sec, I''ll go get water again," Aiden said as he flew up before shortlying back.

 Chapter 311 311 - Succeeding

    Chapter 311  311 - Seeding


    Back with his water bucket, Aiden made sure that everything would work this time as Garestsa was looking at him.


    She was going to help him many one potion to start and then Aiden would try on his own, after.


    That''s what the two of them had decided on.


    Aiden thought that it was a good idea since he wouldn''t be relying on her the whole through as he would need to prove that he had learned something from her.


    "Alright, so put the Manatrum inside," Garestsa said as she knew that Aiden had no problems with the first two steps.


    Then, she looked at him putting the water inside as he knew that he was also quite good at this step since it required absolutely zero skills from his persona.


    "Ok, now do the movements that you would usually do and I will try my best to correct them," Garestsa said as she got behind Aiden putting her hands behind his back.


    Because of how short her arms were, she had no choice but to be extremely close to him as all of her body was squeezing against him.


    Aiden didn''t seem to care as he started making his usual moves without the slightest problems.


    However, many times Aiden felt some strength from Garestsa''s arms who were trying to guide him in the right direction.


    ''Why is she making me mix it in such a weird way?'' Aiden thought as it wasn''t anything like he had previously done.


    She was mixing it in a random manner.


    "Why are you mixing like that, what are the indications?" Aiden asked as he truly couldn''t see any usable pattern at the moment.


    "You just need to fill it. Feel the mana that ising off from the cauldron, it will show how to properly mix it."


    "Remember that the mixing pattern will always change that''s why you need to feel the mana with extreme ease. It should be easy for you, considering the grade of your core and your talent," Garestsa exined, making sure that Aiden knew the opinion that she had on him.


    Aiden nodded as he closed his eyes still being guided by Garestsa who had her facepletely red from doing so.


    She knew that the current position in which the two of them were in was quite ufortable. All her forms and curves were currently touching Aiden''s body.


    She was surprised that he hadn''t gotten any reaction since her body was quite voluptuous.


    She was sure that he would at least have a little reaction down there, there was nothing. It wasn''t moving at all.


    "Are you okay, Aiden?" She asked as she was now the only one moving around the stick inside the cauldron.


    She wondered what was happening as Aiden still had his eyespletely closed.


    However, there was no answer as Aiden made sure that he could feel the mana that was in the ambient environment.


    He wanted to feel it so that he would be able to do the rest of the recipe.


    Right now, all he could feel was a good load of nothing as everything was ck. But, Aiden had managed to block all the sounds in his surroundings.


    He was fully concentrated. He wanted to see what she had talked about previously.


    ''Wait... why do I have my eyes closed? Couldn''t my [Eyes of Truth] help me figure this out?'' Aiden thought as he hadn''t noticed anything previously, however, who knows there might be a change to it.


    As he thought of that, he didn''t wait for a single more second as he opened them trying to see if he hadn''t missed any details.


    He was trying to look at the slightest possible detail on that dark blue concoction.


    He looked and looked for a couple of seconds, getting closer to the cauldron, not caring about getting burnt.


    As long as he figured this out, he wouldn''t care at all.


    "Aiden, what are you doing?" Garestsa said as she was struggling to follow him since her arms were all around him, basically hugging him even if it was a weird form of it.


    "Shush, let me concentrate," Aiden replied as he once again had ess to the sound of his surroundings.


    ''Just what is that?'' Aiden asked himself as he saw what seemed to be a little thread in the water that was mixed with the Manatrum.


    It was a little blue thread that was extremely well hidden inside of the potion.


    Aiden looked at it and looked at Garestsa''s movements of the stick and he understood that they were the exact same.


    ''I need to follow that thread and I will learn how to craft potions,'' Aiden thought as he finally realized how to seed.


    "Give me some space, I don''t need your help anymore," Aiden said as he pushed her off his back, not caring at all about what would happen to her.


    Because of the push, Garestsa was now on the ground as she looked up to Aiden who was still looking at his potion as if that was the only thing that mattered in this world.


    ''I hope you fail,'' she thought as she was nowpletely dirty from the push that she had given him.


    However, that didn''t seem the case as she took a closer look at what Aiden was currently doing.


    Everything seemed to make sense, he was mixing it perfectly without the slightest doubt in his movements.


    It was like he could see where he needed to move next as if he already had a step ahead.


    ''Hmpf, that''s impossible thought,'' Garestsa thought as she had never heard of such a skill in her entire life.


    Alchemy always revolved around one single thing and that was to feel the flow of the mana, if you couldn''t do that, then you had no hope of using it and making all sorts of potions.


    It was the basic of the basics.


    "Are you seeing?! I think I''m doing it," Aiden said with excitement realizing that he was finally going to make it.


    ''He can smile?'' She thought as she had honestly never seen the slightest bit of emotion from Aiden, always moving aroundpletely emotionless no matter what would happen.


    She was really surprised to see that beautiful white smilee from him as she had thought that he was a really serious person in life, not liking anything.


    However, she was clearly proven wrong, there was a single thing that Aiden liked over anything in the world and that was... seeding.


    As long as he seeded in everything that he did, he would be happy.


    As long as he was stronger than his peers, he would be happy.


    Sure, most of the time he wouldn''t show it physically, however, he would still be extremely happy.


    He remembered how it was to be the strongest in his third trial. He had to admit that it was one hell of an experience that he truly liked, as everyone respected him for the slightest decisions that he would make.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    ''I just need to be the strongest in the real world now. I need to seed in bing the strongest,''Aiden thought with a smile as a system message appeared in front of him.


    [You have made your first potion.]

 Chapter 312 312 - Emotions

    <h4>Chapter 312 Chapter 312 - Emotions</h4>


    A smile appeared on Aiden''s face as he saw the system message.


    It had been a while since he had gotten any news about it and Aiden had to admit that it was quite a nice feeling.


    ''Wait is that it? There''s nothing else?'' Aiden thought as he was waiting to get some sort of reward.


    However, from the looks of it, it seemed that it wouldn''t be the case this time.


    He wouldn''t be getting any reward but simply a congrattion on what he had achieved. It wasn''t anything bad, however, he had just hoped for the usual.


    But, the system probably wasn''t in a good mood for some reason. n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    Well, at least that''s what Aiden thought when he didn''t receive any reward.


    "Are you okay, Aiden? You lost your smile instantly," Garestsamented unsure why he was having those emotional swings out of nowhere.


    He had never shown any emotions and now he was having problems controlling them.


    However, when he heard Garestsa talk about his smile, Aiden immediately lost it.


    ''Did I smile? Why did I even do that?'' Aiden thought as he hadn''t noticed that detail at all.


    It had been purely subconscious that''s why Aiden was so oblivious about it. He didn''t mind the fact that he had smiled, he disliked the fact that he hadn''t noticed at all.


    "Yeah, I am, sorry got distracted a little," Aiden responded not even mentioning the system message at all.


    It was logical of him not to do so since he didn''t want the reaction from the system would be.


    Aiden hoped that there wouldn''t be any problem with the Lumithars since he aspired to meet some of those people in the future. He wanted to know so many things about the system and he hoped by meeting them that they would be telling him.


    As Garestsa was about to say something else, David finally appeared in front of the two of them since they had seeded.


    "Impressive, both of you. Aiden I don''t know what happened there at the end but it was really incredible, it was as if you had practiced potion-making your whole life," The director of the Magic Academy said as he truly every single one of the words that he had just pronounced.


    Aiden simply nodded, not even smiling at the suddenpliments thrown his way.


    However, that wasn''t the case for Garestsa who was currently panicking.


    ''D-Did he just call me impressive? No... there has to be something wrong with my body, am I dreaming?''


    She knew very well who the person teaching them was, so being praised by him was an honor, to say the least.


    "T-Thank you, sir."


    "I told you already, but I really don''t care about honorifics, just call me David. I won''t mind."


    In fact, David didn''t like being treated with too much respect and it was one of the things that he liked from Aiden. He wasn''t treated differently even when he had such an important status.


    "Now, I think it''s gettingte, what do you say, Aiden?" David asked as he had a smile on his face.


    It was the first time that Aiden was seeing it as he had always seen the director of the Magic Academy quite serious if he were to bepletely honest.


    Aiden looked around and didn''t think that it was all that bad. It wasn''t dark out, so why was David asking such a random thing out of nowhere?


    "Uh, it seems fine, why?" Aiden replied, confused.


    David thought that Aiden was doing it on purpose.


    "Don''t you remember what we agreed on earlier?"


    Then, Aiden finally understood what this whole thing was about, it was now time for Aiden to be teaching the two of them.


    "Right," Aiden eximed. "Sorry, about that Ipletely forgot."


    David giggled hearing that answer, "Don''t worry about it, you were probably too engrossed in your potion-crafting."


    "About that, where were you even watching us from?" Aiden asked as he remembered that David had given the two of them congrattions while pointing out things that he shouldn''t have been able to see at all.


    David looked up as if he hadn''t heard anything.


    "Nowhere, I wasn''t looking at the two of you. Enough about that, let''s start our training," the director of the Magic Academy said as he didn''t want such a thing to happen.


    Aiden didn''t care that much about getting that information, so he didn''t apply too much pressure at all, dismissing it as nothing important.


    "Sure, I guess we can," he said as he knew that night wouldn''t being too soon.


    He knew that David must be impatient in learning everything since Aiden hadn''t taught him anything since the very start of their conversation.


    "Alright, what do you want to learn about first?" Aiden asked to both David and Garestsa.


    He knew that the two of them were quite excited to learn something that wasn''t rted to magic at all. In fact, Aiden was able to see the happiness on their faces.


    ''Is learning closebat really that awesome?'' Aiden thought as he never remembered being truly excited about learning something.


    For him, it was simply a way of getting stronger, he didn''t feel great during its process.


    The only time that he would feel great was when he seeded in getting stronger. That was it, there was no other moment where Aiden was happy about learning all sorts of things.


    To bepletely honest, Aiden was still an assassin at his core. He remembered his past training and his past ideology.


    ''I guess my past is still affecting me greatly, huh?'' Aiden thought as he was slowly realizing that maybe some of his reactions weren''t normal at all.


    A loud voice made hime out of his thoughts.


    "I want to learn how to use a dagger," the director said as he knew that it was the basics of closebat.


    Getting good at any weapon would be a good way to get stronger.


    "Well, do you guys have a dagger?" Aiden asked as he knew that the chances of that being the case would be ridiculously low.


    However, contrary to his expectations, the director eximed, "I do!"


    "I asked for one of my friends to make one since I knew that I would be training with you," David replied, seemingly proud that he had thought of such a thing.


    "Alright, as for Garestsa since you don''t seem to have any, you will be able to use mine when you train, but try to get one made as soon as possible it could help you greatly."


    Garestsa nodded, truly grateful about the lengths to which Aiden was currently going to help her.


    "Thank you!" She said as she bowed¡ªher head almost reaching the ground.


    "Don''t worry about it, alright before I give it to you, I will show you some techniques to get better at using one."


    Aiden closed his eyes as he tightly grabbed his dagger about to demonstrate to his students, what they could achieve if they were to work hard enough.


    ''Who would have thought that I would be showing someone other than Emma how to use a dagger?'' Aiden thought,ughing by himself as he started moving his dagger around.

 Chapter 313 313 - Old Friends

    <h4>Chapter 313 Chapter 313 - Old Friends</h4>


    Aiden dismissed those thoughts as he reopened his eyes.


    ''What should I show them?'' Aiden thought as he wasn''t sure what would be the best move to start with.


    After a few seconds, it seemed that he had figured out what he wanted to do as he started moving around his dagger in a certain manner.


    "Okay, I will show you how to slice, or sh someone''s neck if you would prefer," Aiden said with a very calm voice.


    Garestsa had shivers down her spine hearing someone talk about death so easily.


    ''Just what did he go through to speak about such things without the slightest hesitation?''


    David was also surprised about how cold and rational-minded Aiden was.


    He was never perturbed, always focusing on the task ahead of him with a lot of concentration. It was the first time that David had noticed such a desire to get stronger from a student of the academy.


    Many thought that they were like Aiden, but none of them had this strong desire to get stronger. It seemed like Aiden would lose his life if he didn''t get strong, it really was interesting from David''s point of view.


    He knew that he ignored a lot of things about Aiden''s past, however, he could clearly imagine that a lot of killing was involved since he talked about those subjects without the slightest problem.


    "I would need someone to demonstrate," Aiden said as he pointed toward Garestsa. "Come here, I will use you."


    Garestsa wanted to refuse but she remembered her agreement with Aiden which is why she slowly advanced, scared out of her mind.


    ''Am I going to die?'' She thought as she started trembling while walking forward.


    Aiden frowned when he saw such a thing, not understanding what was happening to her.


    "Are you okay?"


    "Y-Yeah, of course," she replied still trembling because of what Aiden was about to do to her.


    She remembered their duel and how he had almost killed her, even if it wasn''t anything personal. It was still taking a huge toll on her mind, knowing that at any possible moment, she could die at his hands.


    And she also knew that she wouldn''t be able to do anything if Aiden were to attack her. She remembered how hopeless she had been as he dived down from the sky.


    ''I really was pathetic, crying in the fight,'' she thought, hoping that people hadn''t seen her crying.


    A few momentster, she was right in front of Aiden, looking at him directly in those red eyes of his.


    "Ready? Make sure that both of you pay attention," Aiden said as he was about to perform one of his signature moves.


    He had thought about it and this was the move that he was the mostfortable showing, and it was also extremely when killing all his opponents.


    There was honestly no better feeling but to silently kill someone with one single strike.


    Then, Aiden grabbed his dagger as he slowly made the move at first making sure that they could everything rted to it.


    From the trajectory, the pressure that he was putting on the dagger... it didn''t matter what it was, they would be able every single trick regarding it.


    ''I don''t think I should make them practice like I did in the past, most people don''t seem to appreciate my ways,'' Aiden thought as he knew that most didn''t like to suffer too much during training.


    The dagger then stopped right before touching Garestsa''s neck.


    "Alright, you all saw what happened and how I did it, right?" Aiden asked.


    Both of them nodded heavily as it was quite simple from their point of view.


    "Now, I''ll do at my speed, so try to aim for that level of proficiency in the future," Aiden muttered as he knew that it would take them many years to reach his level, especially since they knew nothing about closebat.


    Aiden once again walked back a little, taking a little bit more distance from Garestsa this time.


    He wanted to show them how it would look like when he would do the strike while moving forward.


    "Ready?"


    None of them answered, however, it was quite obvious that they were both waiting for him to show them the move.


    Garestsa was not that excited since she was the one who was receiving such a move. However, she did her best to try and shake as little as possible.


    n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    Aiden then dashed forward as he elongated his arm forward, his dagger reaching Garestsa''s neck in less than a single second.


    Seeing that the dagger was already right beside her neck, panicked as she hadn''t seen Aiden move at all.


    However, David who had been watching from the exterior was extremely impressed by the technique that Aiden had just used.


    ''Just where did he learn such a thing?'' He thought.


    Just what would be his answer if Aiden were to reply "I learned this in another world".


    "Can you do it again?" David eximed. "But do it on me, this time. I want to see what it looks like when we''re in front of you."


    Garestsa hearing the director''s demand celebrated in her mind as she knew that Aiden would stop attacking her a little.


    It would be a small moment where she would be able to get a good look at the full movement since she hadn''t been able to before as she would close her eyes when Aiden was getting too close.


    Well, at least, she tried to when she could actually see Aiden.


    "Sure," Aiden said as he started walking toward David, not minding it at all.


    They were the ones being trained, so he would listen to their every demand if he could do them.


    Aiden then did the exact same thing to the director who made sure to look at the movement the whole way.


    Right after Aiden had finished, he couldn''t help but ask where he had learned such a strong technique.


    It was so deadly, that David wondered how a kid, who had at most 18 years of age, would be able to learn such a technique.


    "Where did I learn this? In my vige, a long time ago when I was nothing more than a little kid," Aiden said as he continued talking about that stupid story that he had made up out of nowhere.


    That was the best excuse that he had thought of.


    David nodded as he had already known about such a thing, however, it seemed that Aiden didn''t want to give any more details about it.


    However, it wasn''t only the director who was curious about his background, Garestsa was also quite curious.


    "What was this vige like? Did you all practice things like that?"


    Aiden hearing that question had no choice but to remember everything that had happened when he was young and training.


    ''It really was hard,'' Aiden thought as he was able to get an outside point of view now.


    Before he had only known that sort of training, so it was something extremely normal to suffer so much, but now as he explored all sorts of worlds, he was starting to realize that it wasn''t the case at all.


    ''I wonder what happened to them?'' Aiden thought as he remembered all the other assassins who were part of the organization.

 Chapter 314 314 - Thoughts

    Chapter 314  314 - Thoughts


    Aiden remembered all the people that he had trained with in his past life, they had all been like him. Lost, without a family, emotionless.


    Actually, at the start, everyone had a lot of emotions, every single one of them loved tough together and have fun. However... that changed quite fast when Aiden and the others saw what would happen to him if he were to smile.


    ''We would get beaten up, over and over again, until we showed no emotions. Until we were robots...'' Aiden thought as he still had shivers from getting hit over and over again.


    "Aiden?" Garestsa asked seeing that Aiden was yet again in another trance.


    And as usual, there was no answer that came from him.


    "Um, sorry," Aiden muttered slowly as he looked around. "Just thinking of old memories."


    Garestsa was confused as what he had just said didn''t answer her question at all, in fact, it only made her more confused about where he came from. Nheless, she didn''t try getting an answer since she had seen how much of an effect it had on Aiden.


    "Oh, no worries, it''s fine."


    "Just keep practicing that, I need to be alone for a while," Aiden said as he flew up getting further away from the cabin as he needed some time alone to think of everything.


    As he was getting away both David and Garestsa looked at each other as they were clearly confused as to why Aiden was reacting so strongly to her question.


    ''I knew that he didn''t want to talk about it. But, I didn''t think that it was that bad,'' David thought as he knew that Aiden had a rough past, however, never in a million did he think that it was this hard.


    "That was quite weird, no?" Garestsa asked as she ignored why Aiden would have so much difficulty answering such a simple question.


    He even had an answer ready, however, for some reason, some of his past memories had entered his mind which made him think deeply.N?v(el)B\\jnn


    "No need to worry about it, I''m sure he will be fine, let''s practice that move instead," David said as he spoke to Garestsa as if she was on the same level as her.


    Well, to be honest, they were on the same level in terms of closebat techniques. So, it was a good thing for David not to have any ego regarding what was toe.


    Garestsa was surprised by the tone in his voice. She even found it quite weird that someone so powerful would be talking to her so casually, were they slowly bing friends or something?


    "Sure, let''s do that!" Garestsa replied, excited, putting her worries about Aiden in the back of her mind.


    ***


    While all this was happening, in a dark cave, there was someone sitting down thinking about a lot of things.


    That person was without much surprise Aiden who was currently going over everything that had happened in his past life before his death.


    He had never taken the time to remember what happened in his past life since most of it was extremely negative, however, even through all those negative moments, there had been some good ones.


    Those moments were when he would explore the cities, and everything surrounding them. Aiden would have liked doing it with friends, however, he didn''t have any as every single assassin in the organization took their distance from each other soon after being beaten up like dogs.


    Aiden could still remember Jack, the one who had killed him, he remembered how ruthless he had been at the beginning.


    "Well, it''s not like he changed much as time passed, he was always threatening us. That son of a bitch..." Aiden muttered as he still remembered his final moments in front of him.


    His death was one of the good things that had happened to him. A death that at first didn''t seem all that great, however, Aiden soon realized how much of a blessing it had been.


    The leash that had been on him his whole life was now gone. He was now free, able to do whatever he wanted whenever he wanted, and Aiden now knew that freedom had no price.


    ''The more I think about it, I have to admit that it was a good thing for me to die, I met so many people and discovered so many things that I never would have seen in my life. So, I guess I can thank you now, Jack."


    Aiden then slowly stood up as he looked around him, he saw the dark in which he had sat and flew up going back toward the training ce that David had organized for them.


    ''Well, I wasn''t long for too long at least,'' Aiden thought as he was pretty sure that this thinking hadn''t taken more than 10 minutes.


    Aiden honestly doubted that anyone would be good at the skill that he had shown when he was going to get back.


    There was a little bit of chance for the Director since he was so strong and probably talented on the same asion.


    However, Garestsa had been so scared throughout all of her life that there was no doubt that she would once again be scared of trying new things.


    At least, that''s what Aiden thought when he had observed her.


    He knew that she was somewhat talented, not as much as him, but she was still great. However, considering the things that she had never experienced, she always doubted herself so much even if she would be more than enough to realize those things.


    ''I thought that she would have been over-confident when she had asked a duel against me. But, it seems that she grew wings for that one single moment because, after the fight, I understood that she really is scared of trying new things.''


    ''I wonder though who''s going to be better between the two of them,'' Aiden thought as he had a good idea of who it would be, however, there were always exceptions.


    So, who knew what could happen?


    ***


    .c¦Ïm As Aiden was flying back, David and Garestsa were currently trying to replicate Aiden''s strike but doing it on one another.


    What that meant, was that David was trying to do the same strike as Aiden, then Garestsa would as David patiently waited for her to finish her attack.


    They would do this over and over again until one of them got the same feeling that they had felt when Aiden had done it to them.


    The two of them remembered that feeling of fear that Aiden had been able to create with a single strike and step.


    It really was impressive, both Garestsa and David admitted that they thought that it would be extremely simple at the start since it didn''t require any incantations.


    It only needed a single strike. However, the problem was that the strike had to be perfect every single time or else it would fail every time.


    As Aiden was getting closer and closer, he decided to stay in the air a little, observing the two of them practice.


    Aiden was currently judging their level and from what he could see... it seemed that Garestsa was much better.

 Chapter 315 315 - Past Training Suggestions

    Chapter 315  315 - Past Training Suggestions


    "Um, surprising, I really didn''t think that she would be more gifted with daggers than the director," Aiden muttered as he stayed above them, thinking that it might be luck that she did a better strike than David.


    He watched it again and it was once again the same thing, Garestsa was better.


    ''Maybe it''s because she''s younger and it''s easier for her to assimte things,'' Aiden thought a little.


    Aiden wasn''t sure, however, for some reason, she seemed to be having fun trying to kill David as she had a smile on her face.


    Obviously, she wasn''t actually killing him, she was acting like she would and while doing so, she seemed extremely happy.


    ''I guess, I should show them a more efficient way to practice,'' Aiden thought as he remembered the training methods that he had used with Emma, a while ago.


    Aiden then dived down as fast as he could, slowing down as he got closer to the ground not wanting to get badly hurt by doing so.


    "Sorry about that, I guess I could help you guys a little," Aiden said as he knew that they must have been somewhat disappointed for him like this for no apparent reason.


    They had probably guessed that it was rted to his past, however, he had given no details regarding it since he simply couldn''t which meant that they werepletely in the dark at the moment.


    The two of them didn''t say anything as they looked his way, wondering what he would be saying next.


    "What is it?" The two asked when Aiden didn''t follow up on his sentence.


    ''Is he still thinking about his past or something like that?'' Both of them thought as they looked at him.


    However, from a quick nce, they could tell that he was alright at the moment, he wasn''t as affected as before since he had gotten some time by himself to think about those things.


    ''I know I said that I wouldn''t be training the way that they did in the past, but... that''s the only way that I know of,'' Aiden thought as he also knew that the way that he was about to show had great results.


    "I think I made a mistake earlier, don''t try this advanced move too soon, instead we will perfect your basics first, and the one thing that is really important is the sh of your dagger," Aiden said as he noticed the confused faces of both Garestsa and David in front of him.


    "I know that you are technically doing that right now, but it''s a little bit moreplicated than that. Instead, I will be suggesting to all of you the method that I learned how to swing a dagger."


    The two of them seemed quite excited to learn about it, however, they then heard what Aiden had to say about that method and they lost their smiles instantly.


    "I must say that the method is quite brutal and that you might not want to do it because of that. If that''s the case then I can give you some alternatives, but I won''t have any idea of their efficiency."


    "What''s the method?" David asked, truly impatient to learn more about it.


    As of right now, he was having a lot of difficulty, so he could only hope that the method that he was talking about would be able to help him a lot.


    The director also gave no fucks, if it hurt as he had probably been through worse in the past. However, the same couldn''t be said about Garestsa who once again didn''t seem too sure about using that method.


    ''Well, I guess David is dedicated to getting stronger, it''s probably one of the reasons that he''s at the top too,'' Aiden thought as he started to realize what sort of mindset the director of the magic academy has.


    "Alright, the method is actually quite simple," Aiden said as he remembered when Emma had used that method withoutining all that much. "Basically, all that you will need to do is swing your arms without stopping. You need to do that until you can''t feel both of your arms."


    "It doesn''t matter if it takes hours, you need to do that over and over again until you feel like both of your arms are going to fall off," Aiden said as he noticed the frown on both their faces. "Also, I don''t want anyoneining."


    Still, Garestsa raised her hand instantly, not wanting to interrupt Aiden.


    "Yes?" Aiden said as he noticed that raised hand.N?v(el)B\\jnn


    "I''m not sure, how swinging a dagger without any purpose is going to help us be better?"


    To be quite frank, it was a valid question that was normal. However, did she need to know?


    The answer to that was quite simple, it was no. Garestsa didn''t need to know how it would help her, all she needed to know was that it would help her get stronger.


    "No, you have a choice. You either do it or you don''t, I don''t care either way, I''m just saying that it''s the method that I learned my skills with."


    The director nodded as he was slowly starting to realize what had happened in Aiden''s past.


    From what he had just said and his reaction, he was almost sure that Aiden had been tortured in the past.


    Everything made sense... from theck of emotion, theck of care toward others, the desire for strength. Everything seemed to fit.


    However, hearing Aiden''s response, the two of them thought deeply about what would be the best choice for them. Should they take his advice and go forward with this training of his?


    The two of them weren''t sure, especially Garestsa who seemed worried that it would hurt a lot and one thing was sure... she didn''t like to suffer one bit.


    "I''ll do it," the director said after thinking about it a little.


    .c¦Ïm He knew that it was the right decision to trust Aiden since he was the one who had the actual experience here.


    If he said that it would be useful in the future, then it would be. It''s not that hard to understand to bepletely honest.


    Garestsa hearing the director being so confident stopped thinking as she eximed, "I''ll also do it!"


    Aiden nodded as this made things a lot easier for him since he wouldn''t have to be there checking up on them every single minute.


    "Do you have something for me to do in alchemy while you guys are doing this?" Aiden asked as he knew that his presence wouldn''t be necessary.


    He hoped that David would be able to give him a nice task for him to practice.


    "Well, the only thing that I would suggest is to practice feeling the mana as it will get more and more difficult as we do harder potions in the future," David said as he understood why Aiden wanted to practice.


    Aiden nodded in understanding.


    "Any potion suggestions?"


    "Uhh... you can go see Anna, she''s the alchemist teacher, tell her youe from me. She will help you find some good potions to practice. However, make sure that you go and get your ingredients by yourself."

 Chapter 316 316 - Evelynns Creature

    Chapter 316  316 - Evelynn''s Creature


    ''Anna? Did I meet her before?'' Aiden thought as he was currently toward the academy as fast as he could.


    He didn''t know exactly where the alchemy teacher was situated, but he would probably figure out when he arrived.


    However, the same thought as earlier was on his mind, he had no idea if he had met her or not during the entrance examination.


    ''Well, I don''t think I did, she probably wasn''t present back then. Meh, whatever.''


    Aiden thought as he nced down toward the gigantic Magic Academy that was renowned throughout this world.


    "Alright, so I will find her in this ce. I could probably ask someone, no?" Aiden said as he tried thinking if he knew anyone who could guide him toward Anna or the Alchemy department.


    It would make things a lot easier.


    Then, he remembered the person he had first met when arriving in this world.


    ''What was her name again?'' Aiden thought as he had truly no idea at the moment.


    It took him a few moments, but then he finally remembered, it was... Evelynn, the girl who had that weird monster near her every step of the way.


    The monster who would always stay close to Aiden for some reason.


    "Yeah, she''s perfect she knew everything about this ce when we first enrolled," Aiden muttered as he remembered that her knowledge was honestly quite impressive all things considered.


    ''Alright, let''s try to either find her or the alchemist ss,'' Aiden thought as he dived from the sky toward the entrance of the Magic Academy.


    ***


    A few minutester, Aiden was roaming the halls of the Magic Academy and he noticed a lot of people around him watching him with a lot of attention, trying to figure out what he was doing here or something.


    "Wasn''t he the one who left the Space Affinity ss out of nowhere?" Someone muttered, not too far from Aiden''s position.


    "I think you''re right, he''s also the one who fought against Garestsa," someone else said in response.


    Aiden ignored them as he continued to walk forward.


    But, then he got an idea.


    "Hey, you two, do you know where someone named Evelynn or Anna would be?" Aiden asked as he knew that his best bet was to ask people who were students in the academy.


    They would most likely know of Anna, the teacher, however, the same couldn''t be said about Evelynn since she was only a student at the moment.


    "Anna? Evelynn? No idea who they are," the two of them said at the exact same time.


    Aiden was a little surprised that they hadn''t heard of Anna since she was a teacher, but maybe she wasn''t that known.


    "Are you sure? One of them is a little creature around her feet when she walks around," Aiden asked once again, wanting to make sure that the two people in front of him had a good idea.


    The two of them were once again extremely confused.


    "The other one is the alchemy teacher, do you know where the alchemy staff is situated?" Aiden asked this time kind of losing patience.


    "Alchemy staff? Is there something like that in the Magic Academy?" The two of them said.


    Aiden, this time, was the one who was confused as he knew that it existed since David had said so.


    There was also no reason for him to lie to Aiden, so there must be an alchemy section in the academy.


    "Whatever, I''ll go ask someone else," Aiden said as he realized that random people wouldn''t do the trick, the only thing that he needed to do was find Evelynn and she would be able to tell him about it.


    She had known about the Orientation Test, so there was no doubt that she would be able to help him once again.


    ''Well, I hope, she will be more help than those two dumbasses,'' he thought.


    ''Alright, where would she most likely be?'' Aiden thought as he tried thinking about all the things that she liked.


    ''Huh? What''s that?'' Aiden thought as he felt a little nudge on one of his legs.


    He looked down and immediately recognized what this small creature was.


    ''Why is Evelynn''s monster here?'' Aiden thought as he looked around trying to spot her.


    Aiden had to admit that it was quite weird for the monster to always find him, it was as if it wasn''t a coincidence at all.


    It was always grabbing one of his legs with his little ws.


    Aiden kneeled down as he looked the monster right in the eyes.


    "Do you think you could guide me toward your master?"


    Aiden was extremely serious as he said that. He knew that this little monster was different from the rest of them.


    Aiden was almost sure that it could understand him.


    Seeing the confused face that was on the little monster''s face, Aiden knew that he was right as the little monster immediately turned around and started running toward who knows where.


    Aiden didn''t ask himself any questions and simply ran behind it, ignoring all the looks that he was getting from everyone that was around him, judging what he was currently doing.


    They didn''t know how important what he was doing was, so they could judge all they wanted, but they would stay weak and useless if that was to be the case.


    Aiden ran for a couple of seconds when the small monster took a turn on his left, entering a room that waspletely empty.


    Aiden looked around trying to figure out why it had guided him here, he wasn''t too sure at the moment.


    "Where is she?" Aiden asked the small creature with a serious look in his eyes.


    The room waspletely empty, so it was quite obvious that she wasn''t there at the moment.


    lights¦­¦Ïvel However, the creature seemed to be insisting as he pointed behind Aiden with his head, making some movements with it.


    Aiden was starting to get annoyed as he had already looked behind, however, he still checked once again. Wondering if something different would be happening.


    But, no, there was nothing once again. There wasn''t a single person or anything like that.


    "What do you want to show me?" Aiden asked again.


    The creature was insisting over and over again, this meant that there had to be something there.


    Well, either that or that small little creature waspletely insane in his head.


    Aiden started to get closer and closer to the wall, making sure that he was analyzing everything in his surroundings while doing so.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    But no matter how much he tried to, the wall was in there was nothing on it or behind it.


    ''Maybe I should touch it?'' Aiden thought as he brought his hand close to the wall.


    The creature stayed right behind Aiden while this happened, looking at him. Aiden couldn''t see it right now, but there was a little smile slowly forming on the corner of that monster.


    Then, Aiden touched it, and... nothing happened.


    "I guess you really were crazy," Aiden eximed as he looked at the monster who was once again making a sign with his head telling Aiden to turn around.


    "What now? I told you already, nothing happened," Aiden said as he refused to turn around at the moment.


    However, Aiden still gave onest look behind him.


    Surprise took over him as he couldn''t imagine how such a thing had appeared.

 Chapter 317 317 - The White Box

    Chapter 317  317 - The White Box


    In front of him, there was a portal that had just appeared.


    ''Where did this thing evene?'' Aiden thought as he couldn''t make sense of what he was seeing.


    However, the question that was the most important was how Evelynn''s little creature knew that a portal would appear if he were to put his hand on the wall.


    "Hey, little man, how did you know that there was a portal right here?" Aiden asked as he kneeled down directly looking into that creature''s eyes.


    However, the little creature just raised his shoulders as if saying that he had no idea how he knew that.


    Aiden tried to insist as he repeated the same question over and over again, but the little creature wasn''t intimidated as it kept raising his shoulders over and over again.


    "Whatever... if you don''t want to tell me, I''ll go check by myself what''s on the other side of this portal," Aiden uttered.


    He then slowly started moving toward the portal, looking behind him, wondering about what the little creature was doing.


    But, he was in fact doing absolutely nothing, simply looking at Aiden slowly advancing toward the portal with a little smile on his face.


    "Ah! Whatever, let''s go in," Aiden finally eximed as he wouldn''t be able to guess what was on the other side that way.


    Then, Aiden turned around for onest time as he slowly advanced toward the portal.


    He first put his hand on the other side of it, wondering what would happen.


    However... nothing happened.


    Aiden then decided to put one of his feet on the other side of the portal, but once again nothing happened.


    ''I''ll guess, I''ll take a peek instead,'' Aiden mused.


    He put his face closer as it finally reached the portal, giving him a vision of what was on the other side of it.


    And what he saw was truly weird.


    As Aiden kept looking around with only his face on the side of the portal, he suddenly felt a push from behind him,pletely pushing him onto the other side portal.


    "Wait! Wait!"


    Aiden had no idea as to who pushed him on the other side, however, he had a good idea who it was.


    There was no other choice but that little monster who had a little smile on his face.


    "That son of a bitch!" Aiden shouted as he slowly stood up looking at his surroundings.


    He looked to his left and his left, and once again he was mindblown.


    ''Just what is this ce?'' Aiden thought.


    There wereputers all around him with different people in front of each and every single one of them.


    However, all those people weren''t human at all, some were vampires, some were dwarves, some were demons... it didn''t matter they were all races.


    Aiden tried to guess how big this ce was, but he couldn''t even do so as he couldn''t even see the end of both sides.


    ''Just where did I end up?'' Aiden kept thinking.


    He knew that there was no way for him to know which is why he started to move forward toward one of the people who were sat in front of theirputers, patiently waiting.


    As he got close to one of them, he made his presence known by coughing a little. However, the person in front of theputer had no reaction at all as he didn''t even turn around.


    "Hello!"


    Still no reaction whatsoever.


    ''Are they ignoring me or something?'' Aiden thought as he put his hands in front of theputer wanting at least a reaction from anyone in this room.


    Still, there was no reaction, even when Aiden was making it extremely obvious that he was trying to distract the person in front of him.


    "Aiden Nightshade."


    Aiden turned around hearing that deep voice that was reverbed through the walls.


    No matter where he looked he couldn''t see the person who had pronounced his name.


    "Yes?" Aiden asked, his voice tinged with a hint of curiosity and fear.


    It was rare for Aiden to be feeling those emotions, but right now he could feel himself being scared over this situation.


    Why had a little monster guided him here and pushed him into a portal?


    So many questions were appearing in Aiden''s mind, but he tried his best to keep his calm.


    "Come."


    The deep voice said, sending shivers down Aiden''s spine for the very first time in Aiden''s life.


    An unknown energy seemed to take control over Aiden''s body as he felt pulled in a random direction.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    "W-Where are you taking me!" Aiden eximed as the only thing he could was void.


    There were no walls, there was nothing in front of him but he kept being pulled in that direction without any moment to think this whole thing through.


    Aiden tried shouting multiple things, wanting answers. However, no matter what he did the voice wouldn''t speak to him once again.


    It had been a few minutes since the energy had taken control over him, and he still couldn''t get rid of it as he kept going higher and higher toward who knows where.


    "Let me go!"


    Aiden knew that he wouldn''t be getting any response, but he simply hoped that nothing bad would happen to him.


    "You have almost arrived."


    "Arrived where!" Aiden shouted back at the mysterious voice as everywhere he looked there was nothing.


    All he could see was the darkness that was surrounding him, submerging him from the bottom of his feet to the very top of his end.


    There was still no answer as he still felt himself being pulled upwards.


    As he looked upwards, Aiden finally seemed to see something. It was a white little box that illuminated all of his surroundings.


    ''What a bright light,'' Aiden thought as he tried to hide his eyes with his hands, however, he couldn''t as his body wasn''t listening to him at the moment.


    He had no choice but to close them instantly, or else, there would be good chances of him bing blind.


    The brightness could easily bepared to the sun, and Aiden hoped that the temperature wouldn''t be resembling the one of the sun.


    Feeling his body being pulled in that direction, Aiden had no choice but to trust that the energy wouldn''t be doing anything weird to him.


    He knew that his situation was dangerous, but there was nothing he could do to prevent it. He had no choice but to get closer and closer to that sky.


    *Creak*


    A small creaking was heard as if a door was being opened.


    Aiden tried opening his eyes for a millisecond, but he closed them just as fast because of the brightness and intensity of the light.


    However, even in that millisecond, he had caught sight of a small white door, being wide open.


    *Creak*


    The same noise was heard which meant that there was a high chance that the door had just been closed.


    "You can open your eyes, no need to be scared," a pleasant voice said,pletely different from the tone that it had used earlier.


    It didn''t even seem to be a male voice, it was so high-pitched, that Aiden was almost sure that the person who was talking was a female.

 Chapter 318 318 - The Perfect Being

    Chapter 318  318 - The Perfect Being


    "I''m not scared," Aiden said as he slowly opened his eyes, making sure that the blinding light was nowhere to be seen anymore.


    As he opened his eyes, he didn''t feel the need to close them right away. In fact, he felt the need for them to be opened for the rest of his life.


    "Wow..."


    As soon as he said that he put a hand on his mouth as it hadn''t meant to be saying that, but... he had no choice seeing the beauty of the person in front of him.


    She wasn''t human and to bepletely honest, had no idea what races she was from as he had never seen such a creature in his past life.


    The person, or whatever she was, that was in front of Aiden had purple skin with long white hair that was almost brightening the room. But that was simply the start of it as what she was wearing made sure to put everything that she had forward.


    Her curves, her forms, her skin... everything was simply perfect about this person. It was as if she had been created to be perfect.


    "Young human, control yourself," the perfect creature said as she pointed toward Aiden''s private area.


    For some reason, he had gotten so excited from a subtle that even his lower parts had reacted in such a way.


    Aiden seeing this, made sure to apologize as many times as he could since this really wasn''tmon.


    He even bowed on the ground, praying that she wouldn''t do anything to him.


    "I''m sorry, I-I didn''t mean to," Aiden said, his voice once again containing a tinge of fear.


    "Ahaha, you''re funny, you know that!" The purple creature said revealing a cuteugh.


    Aiden was almost hypnotized by her stature and beauty, not able to look away for a single moment.


    ''Just what is happening to me? Is she really having such an effect on me?'' Aiden thought as he knew that such a thing had never happened to him in all of life.


    He was always the one who would be ignoring the others. But, she was able to control Aiden''s emotions in a few seconds.


    "I''m funny?"


    Aiden seemed unsure why she had just said as he truly didn''t think that he had said anything worthughing.


    Sure, his sense of humor wasn''t the most developed, but he hadn''t said any jokes that he was sure about.


    "Of course, you just contradicted yourself. You told me that you weren''t scared, but you''re struggling to talk to me. If that''s not funny, I don''t know what is," she said as she continued giggling in a ridiculously cute manner.


    Aiden frowned a little unhappy with the remark, however, he didn''t say anything in fear of a reaction out of her.


    He knew that she could control his whole body if she wanted to which is why Aiden was calm, not saying anything disrespectful at the moment.


    "Can you tell me why I''m here?" Aiden asked, really wanting to know the reason he would be pushed into such a portal wondering where he had ended up.


    "Do you even know where you are?" She asked, knowing that the answer was clearly "no".


    "I don''t, can you tell me?"


    "Why do you want to know?" The girl replied with a smile on her face.


    Aiden frowned as he thought that it was quite obvious why he wanted to know where he was.


    He had just been pushed into a random portal that appeared when he touched the wall.


    Not even the system had said anything as he did that, he had just been sent in here without the slightest information at all.


    "Well, isn''t it obvious, I have no idea what this ce even is," Aiden said, only wanting more context as to why he had been sent to this ce.


    The girlughed, making her curves bounce at the same time because of that.


    "It''s simple, you are in one of the territories of the Lumithars. Everyone that you saw down there in front of aputer is responsible for a user of the system."


    Aiden opened his mouth extremely wide as he couldn''t even begin to understand what she had just said.


    "The Lumithars? Those who created the system, you''re telling me that I''m in one of their territories..." Aiden muttered, unsure if she was actually telling the truth. "Who are you?"


    Aiden realized that the person in front of him must be really special if she knew such information which is why he asked the following question.


    "Hmm, it''s not time yet for you to know about me. However, I''m telling the truth about where you ended up," she said with an extremely serious tone in her voice. "But, the reason why we sent you here is simple I needed to talk to you about something."


    Aiden frowned hearing this as he knew that he was special for the system, however, hadn''t they already made a deal with him?


    Why would they feel the need to meet up with him, it simply made no sense at all.


    "I know, I know, we already made a deal with you. But it''s not what you think, I''m here to talk about the trial that you are currently in," the girl said with a smile on her face.N?v(el)B\\jnn


    Aiden was confused, but he continued to listen to her since he knew what she would be saying would be extremely important for the future.


    "Do you like the trial that you''re going through... learning how to make potions, learning magic? Is that what you want?" She asked, wondering what was on Aiden''s mind.


    ''Is this what I want?'' Aiden thought, his brows furrowed. ''I don''t even know what I want, in the first ce, so why is she asking me deep questions?''


    Well, Aiden had actually lied just now, he knew exactly and that was to get stronger. So, if he had to go through such a trial to get stronger, then he would do it.


    It didn''t matter what it was, but if he could get stronger through it, then he would do so.


    He finally came to a consensus and had an answer ready, as he raised his head, his eyes locking with hers.


    This time, there was no fear circting through his body.


    "As long as I get stronger, I don''t care what I have to do."


    The purple-colored girl nodded as if expecting that response from Aiden.


    "You know, I''m not that surprised by that answer. To be quite frank with you, it''s been a while since I''ve started analyzing your movements," she said, admitting that she had some interest in Aiden.


    "After all... it was the first time that the system was having problems with a user. So, of course, I had to pay attention to someone like you."


    Aiden nodded as he kept hearing all sorts of important information.


    He knew that the Lumithars had paid attention to him, but having the confirmation of such a fact was quite different.


    "But, enough about that, I''m here under orders of other people much stronger than me, and they asked me to tell you something, want to hear what it is?"

 Chapter 319 319 - Trial Objective Change

    Chapter 319  319 - Trial Objective Change


    Aiden looked at her, his eyes showing how shocked he was at the moment.


    She was here under orders, but... how did she know that he would be crossing that portal?


    "Can you actually one of my questions before that?" Aiden asked, knowing that he could get his request refused without him being able to do anything about it.


    But, he still wanted to know.


    The purple-skinned girl didn''t seem to mind as she uttered. "Sure, go ahead."


    Aiden smiled upon hearing that response, truly happy.


    "Then, can you tell me how you knew that I would be crossing that portal anding here?"


    The girl nodded acknowledging that it was a good question. She was unsure if she could tell him as she seemed to be pondering about it, her hand on her chin.


    "Sure, I''ll tell you," she said with a smile. "It''s actually quite simple, in fact, I''m surprised that you didn''t even notice yet."


    Aiden frowned upon hearing that as he obviously had some ideas about what had happened, however, he simply wanted to make sure that they were right.


    "That little creature that kept following you around, well, it was created by us. So, we simply ordered it to guide you here and it was also the creature that opened that portal."


    Aiden seemed to have a little revtion as he remembered the smile that was on the creature''s face.


    "But, was it even a monster? Did a monster take over his mind or something?" Aiden asked as he truly believed that a monster couldn''t be that smart.


    However, the Lumithar that was in front of Aiden, clicked her tone when hearing Aiden say that. She seemed either frustrated or annoyed, Aiden wasn''t sure at the moment.


    "You''re simply ignorant, some monsters are much more intelligent than you, humans."


    Aiden now realized that she had clicked her tongue out of spite of what he had said. But, to bepletely honest, Aiden couldn''t care less... at least he had his response.


    "Oh, um, alright sorry then... and thank you for your response! I don''t have any other questions, sorry if that made you mad once again" Aiden uttered with a polite tone.


    He made sure that he wouldn''t anger a Lumithar since he didn''t know what would happen if he did.


    ''I wonder what her higher-ups want from me,'' Aiden pondered, unable to find an answer at the moment.


    He waspletely in the dark and it was something that he hated deeply. He loved being in control, knowing everything about his surroundings. That was something that he wanted to have, even if it was really hard considering everything that had happened to him.


    "Don''t worry, you''re just an ignorant little human. Alright, I''ll tell you why I was sent here," she said, wanting to see the reaction that he would be having.


    Aiden didn''t seem scared at the moment. In fact, he was smiling, almost excited about what she would be saying.


    The purple-skinned girl found it quite weird, however, she didn''tment on it as she continued talking, not even mentioning it.


    "It''s quite simple actually, they want to know if you want this trial objective to change, making this whole trial a lot shorter. It would also be a lot lessplicate, well... that depends actually," she said, leaving Aiden to ponder about what would be the trial objective.


    ''Changing the trial objective? They can do that?!'' Aiden thought, realizing that it would make sense for them to have ess to the trial objectives and bosses.


    "And what would be the new trial objective? Would it still require me to open a shop?" Aiden asked.


    There was still the smile on the Lumithar''s face, as she replied. "No, you won''t need to, and as I said the whole trial could finish in a few minutes if you were to ept."


    Aiden furrowed his brows as he still ignored what would be the new Trial Objective.


    "Can''t you tell me what would be the new Trial Objective?" Aiden asked, hoping that she could since it would make his decision a lot easier.


    However, this time the Lumithar even giggled, seeing how Aiden was struggling to make a decision about what he needed to do.


    "No, I can''t. Because... well, it wouldn''t be fun anymore if I told you," she said as she continued tough loudly.


    Even whileughing, Aiden had no choice but to have his eyes drawn to her whole body.


    But, he quickly dismissed those useless thoughts as he was in the middle of making a really important decision.


    ''But, what would be the new objective?'' Aiden pondered deeply.


    He literally had no ideas at the moment.


    Would he need to kill monsters or maybe kill someone?


    There were so many possibilities that it would be impossible to figure out. However, from how she hadughed, Aiden had understood that it was the whole point, he was supposed to agree if he had the balls to do so.


    In fact, the higher-ups who had asked that girl toe and say that to him must have thought that he would ept instantly since it would make him stronger in a shorter time.


    "Can''t you give me a hint?" Aiden asked, hoping for some sort of help onest time.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    If she didn''t say anything, then Aiden would be epted for the sole reason that he would take less time. Also, she had said that it might be easier, but she didn''t seem very confident about that.


    Nheless, Aiden wasn''t someone who was scared of difficulty. It didn''t matter if it was the hardest thing in the world... as long as he was getting stronger by the end of it, he would do it... every single time.


    "I guess I can give you a small one, it would require you to fight against someone much stronger than you," she said as she kept that beautiful smile on her face.


    ''Fight someone? So, it''s not a monster, huh?'' Aiden thought as it gave him a little idea of what the Trial Objective would be about.


    ''The person, I''ll need to fight will also be much stronger than me...'' Aiden pondered as suddenly he was almost sure of what he would need to do.


    He would need to fight against the director of the Magic Academy and win.


    "Seems like you figured a part of the new Trial, ahaha!" She eximed. "So... do you ept or do you refuse because you''re too scared."


    "I told you earlier, I''m not scared. Change my Trial Objective, I don''t mind... I''ll win against anybody," Aiden muttered as he knew that it would require him to actually be stronger in magic.


    "Also, I can use my assassin skills, right?" Aiden asked as he knew that normally he wouldn''t have been able to as the trial progressed.


    "Yes, you can, or else... it wouldn''t be a Trial that you would be able to achieve."


    Aiden nodded in understanding, already preparing what he would be doing next.


    ''I''ll need to tell him that we''re changing nspletely once again. I wonder how he''s going to react,'' Aiden thought, already scheming the assassination of David in his mind.


    He would make sure that it would be perfect.

 Chapter 320 320 - Preparing the Assassination

    Chapter 320  320 - Preparing the Assassination


    As Aiden exited the portal to one of the Lumithar''s Territories, multiple system messages appeared in front of him, and as usual they were apanied by the usual beeping noise.


    *BEEP*


    [Your Trial Objective has changed.]


    [There is no Boss Monster in this Trial.]


    [Trial Objective: Kill the director of the Magic Academy.]


    [The Rewards of this trial have also changed because of this.]


    Aiden reading that message nodded as it made a lot of sense.


    He knew that with the old Trial Objective, he would have been able to buy rewards in exchange for the Reputation Points that he would have umted. However, such a thing wouldn''t be possible anymore since he had no use for those Reputations Points.


    The only thing that he would need to do is... n an assassination of the strongest person in the Magic Academy.


    Simple, right?


    [At the end of the Trial, you will get a catalog of rewards and you will be able to choose any reward that you want, three times.]


    ''Any rewards that I want?'' Aiden thought as he wasn''t sure if he would have been able to do that with the old Trial Objective since it would depend on his performance.


    At least, this time, the only thing that mattered was killing someone, Aiden was used to doing this, and he had never failed before, so... he wouldn''t fail this time either.


    ''I even have an advantage this time... he thinks, he''s my disciple,'' Aiden thought as a couple of different ideas popped inside his mind.


    At first, he had thought of killing him in his sleep, just like all good assassins would do. However, he had an even better idea.


    After dismissing all the system messages, there was still the little monster sitting in front of the portal, patiently. And it still didn''t say the slightest, simply finding this whole thing funny as he had the same little smile on his face as earlier.


    "Thank you," Aiden said.


    To be quite frank, Aiden really liked this change since he would be doing something that he knew very well and that was a lot more simple than building a shop and selling stuff.


    ''Maybe I could make use of Garestsa?'' Aiden thought, however, he wasn''t sure that she would keep her word because it involved killing.


    There were good chances that she wouldn''t agree to doing something so barbaric. She was scared of being hurt, so Aiden truly couldn''t imagine her helping him in killing someone.


    It would be a better idea to let her watch from the sidelines without telling her anything. After all... she would be there when the execution would be taking ce.


    ***


    Aiden was flying back toward the small cabin of the Director of the Magic Academy, he was already thinking about what he would be saying to David... because it was going to be the second time that he changed his mind.


    ''He is going to ept just like that?'' Aiden thought, unsure.


    However, Aiden truly didn''t care if he refused since his whole assassination n didn''t depend on that at all. His answer wouldn''t change anything.


    ''I wonder how she''s going to react when he dies in front of her?'' Aiden thought.


    Aiden was obviously not going to be murdering David as soon as he came back because he needed to make sure of some things.


    There was a lot of nning involved, and it was clearly possible that Aiden would change his mind and do somethingpletely different than what he currently has in mind.


    Sure, it would be quite annoying since it would take a lot more time.


    After thinking of all those things, Aiden was now getting closer to the training camp where he could both of his disciples currently training as hard as they possibly could.


    He didn''t waste any time as he dived down, making both Garestsa and David look his way... wondering why he wasing back empty-handed.


    "You didn''t find her?" David asked right away as he knew that Aiden was supposed to being back with a lot of different pages or books.


    Alchemy wasn''t simple, after all.


    "I didn''t," Aiden said as if it wasn''t anything important. "Actually I have a change of heart, I won''t be learning potion-making right now, I don''t think it would be useful for my growth one bit."


    The director seemed a little taken aback.N?v(el)B\\jnn


    "Why didn''t you want to open a shop at the end of the month? What changed?"


    Aiden wasn''t sure what to reply to that, but he decided to tell the truth, well... somewhat.


    "I want to focus on gaining strength, I''ll open the shop when I''m powerful enough," Aiden said, knowing that there was never enough power in life.


    Someone could always be stronger, mentally, physically... it didn''t matter, there would always be something where you could be better, that''s just how life is.


    "I see," David nodded. "Are you sure? I mean, I don''t mind, but you might need to go back to ss."


    However, right as he said that Aiden shook his head as he knew that this wasn''t an option. He needed to gain David''s trust and the first step in doing that was spending as much time as possible close to him.


    "No, I want to learn here, I won''t be going inside the academy. We''ll keep the same schedule, but you''ll be the one teaching me everything," Aiden said.


    ''Seems like he truly figured out what he wanted, huh? I wonder what happened for him to have this change of heart again?'' David thought, unsure why Aiden was doing yet another 360 out of nowhere.


    "Alright, then I''ll go get a couple of books for you to read while I keep doing that," David said as he teleported right away, before reappearing one momentter with a mountain of books.


    "This should be enough to upy you for a bit," he said as immediately started swinging his arms around like one crazy person.


    He really was listening to Aiden''s advice not stopping at all, going as fast as possible. The same thing couldn''t be said for Garestsa who currently taking slowly and taking breaks when it seemed to hurt too much.


    However, Aiden couldn''t bother as he had no use for her anymore, she was as good as thrash in his eyes.


    ''It''s not like she''s going to help me,'' Aiden thought for the exact same reasons as earlier.


    "Alright, thanks," Aiden said as he got a little bit further with one of the books in his hands.


    ''Actually, those books might be useful if I can bring them back to Nova,'' Aiden thought as he knew that it would make this whole thing a lot easier for him to learn all he needed about magic.


    There was also the option ofing back, but if he seeded in killing the director and people suddenly started pointing fingers at him, then it would be a lot of work to get back.


    Aiden picked up the book in his hands and started to read it, or rather, he pretended to do so as his mind was currently imagining all sorts of different assassination ns.


    ''It''s been a while since I''ve done this,'' Aiden thought as most of his fights until had been direct fights, without him being able to prepare anything.

 Chapter 321 321 - Observing Phase

    Chapter 321  321 - Observing Phase


    The night had fallen, and Aiden was still pretending to read his book about magic. Garestsa had stopped training a long time ago, she was probably sleeping by now.


    However, David was still going at it, clearly not minding the pain that he was currently feeling.


    ''Well, this is just perfect,'' Aiden thought as he knew that it would make things a lot easier for him.


    If the director were to be extremely weak for a couple of minutes or even hours, Aiden would be able to act and there would be a lot fewer chances of him failing.


    If Aiden were to try tomit an assassination than he was done, then David would learn of his intentions and it would be basically impossible.


    That''s why Aiden truly needed to make sure that it was the right decision and that he wouldn''t miss his shot at killing the director.


    ''Let''s just observe for now,'' Aiden thought.


    He knew that he wouldn''t act this time as he was still in the observation stage. Aiden would be noting every single movement from David.


    Also, his job was extremely simple since he was so close to the director. He didn''t need to be hidden or infiltrated as someone, the director already had enough trust that they were thiste at night with one another.


    Sure, none of them talked, engrossed in their tasks. But it was still a show of David''s trust for Aiden.


    One hourter, David suddenly stopped swinging the dagger instantly.


    "Ugh, I''m done," he eximed as both his arms fell on both sides of his body.


    It was clear that he couldn''t raise any of them. There was not an ounce of energy left in each of them just like Aiden had asked.


    ''Seems like he listens well,'' Aiden thought, even happier by that fact.


    After all, why would the director be scared or fearful of Aiden?


    He was much stronger, Aiden had a lot more experience than him in close-rangebat, and... he was also getting something out of this. It was basically a win-win at this point.


    "Good job," Aiden said, acting exhausted as he slowly stood up. "I''ll stop here tonight too. Good night, I''ll head back toward the academy."


    Aiden''s n with thatst sentence was quite simple, he wanted to see what David would be saying about that.


    Would he propose that Aiden could stay here and sleep in his house?


    That''s what Aiden wanted to see by saying that.


    "Actually," David uttered, hesitating. "You could stay here since you''ll be training from this ce every day from now on."


    Aiden didn''t show the slightest outside emotion, however, he was celebrating in his mind. His n had worked, he would be able to enter David''s house and observe every single movementing out of him.


    It didn''t matter what it would be, he would be remembering what it would be.


    "I can? Are you sure?" Aiden asked, acting extremely surprised by the offer that he had just received.


    "Yeah, no worries. You can also tell Garestsa toe sleep here next time, I truly don''t mind it at all," David said as he turned around heading toward his small wooden cabin. "Come, I''ll show you around."


    Aiden didn''t waste any time as he followed the director without wasting a single moment.


    ''This is going much better way than what I had expected,'' Aiden thought.


    Aiden had made multiple scenarios in his mind, but David had chosen the best one which was that he could enter the wooden cabin.


    By giving him ess to his house, all the other steps would be a lot easier overall as he would be able to have eyes on David every second of the day.


    ''I''ll observe him for a few days and I''ll decide how to proceed afterward,'' Aiden pondered.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    He had a good idea of how he would kill the director, however, he would be taking as many precautions as possible. He wasn''t stupid, he knew that he had only one shot at this, or else, his best option would probably be to use that [Return Stone] of his.


    That''s why he would make sure that he wouldn''t fail here. He would be seeding without the slightest problem.


    "Coming!" Aiden said as he swiftly followed the director inside the wooden cabin.


    A couple of minutester, David showed Aiden around and they were now both heading to sleep.


    David had made sure that they wouldn''t be in the same room since that could possibly result in quite awkward situations. They didn''t want to see each other naked, after all.


    As for Garestsa, David still hadn''t chosen where she would be sleeping since the space inside his wooden cabin was quite restrained, so that would mean that she would have to sleep with either Aiden or David.


    They decided that they would let her choose since it wasn''t even sure that she would agree to leave there.


    To be quite frank, Aiden hoped that she refused because if she noticed him leaving during the night, then it would create a lot of problems. However, it wasn''t like Aiden could tell the director of the Magic Academy those problems. It simply wouldn''t make any sense to do such a thing.


    "Good night, Aiden," David said as he closed the door to his room, letting Aiden all alone in his room.


    However, Aiden¡­ wasn''t going to sleep right away, he needed to observe some things that he had noticed while visiting this ce with David.


    There were a lot of interesting things in that house. For starters, there was some sort of rm next to the director''s door.


    David had tried hiding it from Aiden, but he didn''t who he was dealing with. It was situated on the upper right of his door and it was quite well hidden. But from a simple nce, Aiden had figured out that it was an rm.


    ''Well, that just means that I can''t enter from his door, not a big deal,'' Aiden thought as the assassination method that he had chosen wouldn''t even require him to sleep. Right now, he was simply gathering as much information as he could.


    Aiden didn''t waste any more time inside the cabin as he opened the window to his room, and went through it, leaving the cabin.


    He wanted to see how much time the director would be sleeping. He wanted to learn the timings of David, so that way he would be able to prepare many things while he was sleeping.


    ''I should start preparing the trap,'' Aiden thought as he went toward the forest as he would need a couple of different things for his n.


    He knew that his opponent could teleport in an instant, so Aiden needed to make sure that he wouldn''t be able to use mana. That was the n, restraining the use of mana and killing him while he waspletely defenseless.


    However, there was a little problem, Aiden had no idea how to restrict the use of mana to the director.


    ''There must be a potion about it. I guess I can go back to the Magic Academy and find the Alchemist Section, for real this time.''


    And that''s how Aiden would be spending his night, searching for a potion recipe.


    ***


    Check Author Notes

 Chapter 322 322 - Finding Evelynn

    Chapter 322  322 - Finding Evelynn


    Aiden was now flying back toward the Magic Academy with a single goal in his mind, which was to find a potion that would make it impossible for the director to use any mana.


    That way there would be no chance of Aiden losing since he was much stronger in closebat.


    ''Now, all I need to do is either find Anna or Evelynn. Actually, Evelynn would be a better choice here for sure.''


    He knew that meeting another teacher would be quite risky, especially considering that he had told David that he would only focus on getting stronger.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    This meant that he would need to either buy or craft this potion behind the teacher''s back.


    Aiden could already tell that making such a potion would be extremely hard, which is why he hoped that he would be able to buy some that were already done.


    ''The thing is though... I have no money. Well, I guess I can ask around if ites to it.''


    Aiden didn''t think too much about hisck of money because the goal in his mind was extremely clear, he wanted to assassinate David.


    ''I would have assassinated him in his sleep, but the thing is... it''s really risky,'' Aiden thought.


    He knew that if the director was to notice that something was wrong, he would be able to get away in a few seconds, and then everything would turn to shit.


    ''Ah whatever, enough about that, I need to find if such a potion exists.''


    After dismissing all his previous useless thoughts, Aiden entered the academy with a single goal in mind: finding that potion name and recipe.


    The first thing that he decided to do was find Evelynn.


    This whole thing sort of became deja vu, because Aiden had tried to do the same thing earlier. The only difference was that the whole Academy was sleeping which meant that Aiden would need to find her dorm.


    He had a couple of different ideas on how to find her, the first being, searching each door room one by one.


    But he quickly realized that this would take way too long.


    The second idea he had was to depend on that little monster that had been sent by the Lumithars. Aiden needed to find it and then it would be guiding him toward her master which was Evelynn.


    ''But how will I even find that little creature, it''s not like I have a way of contacting him,'' Aiden thought, worried about what he would need to do next. ''Actually, maybe I do...''


    Aiden had an idea, however, the only way to know if it would work or not was simple... he needed to try it.


    ''System, can you send that little monster toward my position, I need his help,'' Aiden asked the system who was supposed to be listening to him 24h/7.


    *BEEP*


    Seems like he got an answer immediately.


    lights¦­¦Ïvel [The monster ising your way.]


    It was a simple statement, but it would make Aiden''s task of finding Evelynn a lot easier.


    A couple of minutester, Aiden started hearing a couple of footsteps near him. It was quite easy to figure out who those footsteps came from since the Magic Academy waspletely silent with not a single person awake.


    Aiden was probably the only one walking around at such a time and... that was exactly what he wanted.


    He needed to be discreet for this whole n to work. There would only be another person who would be informed about his research.


    However, by the time that Evelynn was going to realize that he was the one who had killed the director of the academy, Aiden would be long gone and there wouldn''t be a lot of chances that he would being back to this world anytime that soon.


    Aiden then saw the small little monstering toward him through the dark that was surrounding him at the moment.


    The monster waited a couple of seconds for Aiden to get ready, and then he immediately turned around without wasting a single moment.


    Aiden didn''t even say a single word as he simply started walking behind it while being as silent as earlier.


    ***


    Aiden was now in front of a door room, and without further ado, Aiden slowly opened it, trying to make as little noise as possible.


    Aiden saw two doors, one on his right and one on his left. He waited for the little monster to choose the correct one before opening either of them.


    ''Seems like the correct one is this one,'' Aiden said as he was currently going toward the door situated on his left.


    As he entered, surprise took over Aiden because he truly hadn''t expected such a thing.


    ''Why is she simply without anything on, there''s just nothing on there, anyone can see...'' Aiden thought, as he immediately covered his eyes, not wanting to see anything more.


    However, he couldn''t really leave as he needed her help which is why, he slowly got closer to her as he tapped on one of her shoulders. He did it with a lot of carefulness as he knew that it would be one hell of a scene when she would be waking up.


    *Tap*


    *Tap*


    As Aiden lightly tapped on her shoulder, Evelynn didn''t immediately wake up. Instead, she rolled on the bed away from Aiden causing him to start chasing her pretty much.


    "Evelynn," Aiden whispered instead.


    This time, there was another reactioning out of her as she immediately opened her eyes.


    She seemed confused, probably not seeing at the moment since Aiden was currently wearing a ck uniform that even covered his hair.


    "Who''s there?" She whispered, probably scared because she had just heard her name.


    "It''s me, Aiden."


    This time, she seemed even more confused as she really hadn''t expected such an answer.


    "Aiden? Where are you?"


    As she said that, she raised her hands upwards putting them in front of her body, trying to find where he was.


    But as she did that, she realized something quite important. She wasn''t wearing the slightest clothes which meant...


    "You fucking pervert!" She shouted, realizing that he was currently looking at her when she waspletely naked.


    Aiden needed to act immediately as he didn''t want her roommate to wake up, and see him.


    "Calm down, calm down, my eyes are closed. Just put something on and tell me when you''re done, I have something to ask you."


    Furious, she stood up and put on some clothes.


    "Just what is it that you need to ask me, sote at night... couldn''t you just wait until tomorrow," She said almost forgetting to tell him that he could open his eyes again. "Oh, and I''m all dressed up, you can look.


    Hearing that, Aiden immediately opened his eyes and asked his question.


    "I couldn''t... let''s say that I can only do it at night or else I would be having some problems," Aiden said, hesitating, trying to find a good excuse.


    "So what is it that you need help right away?" She asked, clearly annoyed with Aiden showing up at night when she was sleeping.


    "I need you to help me find a potion that makes people unable to use mana."

 Chapter 323 323 - Owing one

    Chapter 323  323 - Owing one


    "A potion that makes people unable to use mana? Why would you need that sote at night?" She asked, not understanding why he couldn''t wait like any normal person.


    Why was he feeling the need to have it right now when it was probably around 2 or 3 in the morning, it made no sense.


    "I just need its name, I don''t need it right now."


    Evelynn seemed to be breathing heavily when she heard his answer, furious over the matter just like any normal person would.


    "So, you don''t need it right now, and you went to see me in my dorm while I was sleeping wearing absolutely nothing?"


    She simply did not understand why he hadn''te during normal hours and asked her then. She would have been more than happy to help him, but... because of what he had just done, it changed things.


    "Exactly," Aiden replied mindlessly, notprehending or noticing the reaction that she was currently going under.


    Evelynn pulled her hair, hearing his stupid answer. Why couldn''t understand that what he was currently doing was impolite?


    However, he didn''t even care about such a thing as long as he knew where he could find such a potion.


    "And you think I''m going to help you because you''re asking me?" She asked, her tone clearly indicating that she wouldn''t.


    However, Aiden didn''t pick up that cue still in the dark about her being mad.


    "Yes, I am."


    This answer was the one that made Evelynn truly mad as she raised her hand, preparing herself to p him.


    "Are you really that fucking stupid!" She shouted as her hand quickly started going toward Aiden''s face.


    Aiden was somewhat confused, but he grabbed her hand and asked, "Why are you trying to hit me? What did I even do?"


    "What did you even do!" Evelynn continued shouting not caring about his other roommate anymore, she couldn''t bother with Aiden.


    He was so ignorant about so many things, it was as if she was talking to a kid that hadn''t experienced anything in his life, or rather, it was the first time that he was experimenting with such things.


    "You came in at two or three in the morning at night, asking me about something that''s not even remotely important and you''re expecting me to help you with nothing in return, that''s what you did, you fucking moron!"


    This time Evelynn was truly tired as she let everything out, she couldn''t endure the stupidity that wasing from Aiden''s mouth anymore, she needed to say something about it.


    Aiden took everything in as he didn''t mind being shouted at, and all that she had just said honestly made sense. He just hadn''t noticed it, in the first ce.


    "So, what do you want in exchange?" Aiden asked, thinking that he had found the problem with his suggestion.


    "I want you to leave me alone and let me sleep for the night! Come see me in the morning like every normal person," sheined.


    Aiden, however, shook his head in response. He knew that such a thing wouldn''t happen. He needed to observe the director tomorrow and act like he was studying those books that he had received.


    ''In fact, I could probably do the breathing technique while observing him tomorrow,'' Aiden thought as he remembered that he hadn''t used it since the third trial.


    He just had so many things on his mind that he hadpletely forgotten about practicing and developing his Qi.


    He knew that this new power of his could be extremely strong, which is why from now on he would be practicing diligently whether it be at night or during any free time that he could find.


    "I can''t leave, I told you. I need to learn about that potion tonight, at least its name. Do you know what it is?" Aiden said, finally understanding that maybe his request didn''t make that much sense.


    Evelynn didn''t say anything at first, waiting for Aiden to make an actual proposition that could be interesting for both her and him.


    "Can I get something from you?" She asked still speaking with a tone that was quite loud.


    His roommate seemed to be quite the heavy sleeper since he hadn''t gone up to her room yet, in fact, Aiden still hadn''t heard the slightesting from that room.


    "Wait, before we continue talking about that, can''t we leave this ce and actually go toward the Alchemy section of the Magic Academy," Aiden asked as he really didn''t want anyone to know about his presence here at night when he was supposed to be sleeping inside the wooden cabin of David.


    He knew that his move was risky, but for his n to work perfectly, he needed to take some risks. And even if the director was to notice that he had disappeared Aiden would only need toe up with a ridiculous excuse and everything would be fine, well... he hoped.


    "Just tell me what you''re going to give me if I help you," she asked, implying that she wouldn''t be leaving this room if she didn''t know what she would be getting in return.


    Aiden grabbed his head as he had no idea what he could be giving her, he wasn''t sure what she was interested in.


    "What do you want?" Aiden asked instead, making this whole thing a lot easier from his point of view.


    Then, it was Evelynn''s time to be thinking about it deeply. She also had no idea what she wanted, in the first ce, she had said that because she couldn''t care less about helping him.


    "Let''s say that you owe me one, is that fine?" She asked as she knew that the person in front of her had a lot of potential in the future.


    There were good chances that he would be reaching heights greater than the next.


    "Sure, I don''t mind. Now, let''s leave before your roommate wakes up andes in here," Aiden uttered as he already started heading for the door, looking behind him¡ªmaking sure that she was following.


    A few momentster, they were now out of her dorm which made things a lot easier when it came to talking to one another.


    "Alright, follow me," Evelynn said as she would be the one guiding him toward the Alchemy Section of the Magic Academy.


    She wasn''t like those two idiots that Aiden had seen this morning, she seemed to know exactly where it was as she had probably done some already in her life.


    She wasn''t like Aiden, she was born in this world which meant that she had gotten a lot more time to try as many things as she liked. Evelynn also had gotten the time to learn about so many things which exined her vast knowledge.


    "Alright, we will soon arrive," she said whispering wondering if there would be anyone still inside it, practicing potion-making.


    Evelynn knew that Anna, the professor of this ss, was qualified as crazy by many students which is why she was extremely careful, pondering about whether or not she was up yet.


    As they turned into the Alchemy corridor, they could a little lighting from one of the rooms.


    ''Just who could be here sote at night?'' Aiden thought, unsure who that person would be.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

 Chapter 324 324 - Anna

    Chapter 324  324 - Anna


    Aiden stopped wondering about it and made a sign toward Evelynn to stay where she was as he knew there was no chance she would be as discreet as him.


    She didn''t have his skills, after all.


    Aiden wanted to ensure that there was no way for the person awake that he was there.


    ''I need to either, make that person fall asleep, kill her, or I can try my best to stay out of her way while researching for the anti-mana potion,'' Aiden thought.


    He knew the better option out of those three, and it was also the one that required as little risk as possible, trying to stay out of that person''s way.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    Either way, Aiden wanted to see what the person who was still up looked like. Was it a teacher, a student, something else entirely?


    ''Let''s see,'' Aiden mused, getting closer to the door that was right in front of him.


    Luckily for him, there was a small window on the door. Because of it, the only thing that Aiden needed to do was raise his head a little, peeking inside the lighted-up room.


    As he raised his head, he first took a really quick peek wanting to see if there was even someone in that room. However, that seemed pretty obvious from all the noise that wasing from it.


    After making sure, that there was indeed someone and that the person wasn''t looking in the door''s way, he took his time as he nced at everything that was happening in the room.


    He had to admit that he was a little shocked by what he was seeing but it wasn''t that bad, he had clearly seen worse.


    Everything in that room was incredibly messy, Aiden could see shards of ss on the ground with all sorts of colored liquid. It didn''t matter what color he would think of, it was on the ground. But that was only the state of the room, the person inside it seemed even crazier at first nce.


    It was a girl, a beautiful one at that. Her hair was long and green, but instead of going down her back... it was all up in the air as if some chemical reaction had caused her hair to go up in such a weird fashion. There was also what she was wearing, it was a long white coat that was sttered by all sorts of different chemicals from the looks of it. Aiden had to admit that it was quite fitting to the state of the room.


    Analyzing her even more, Aiden tried to guess if she was a student or a teacher, but it didn''t matter how much time he''d spent looking at her... he wouldn''t know. However, that was only a detail as Aiden now knew that he probably wouldn''t have any problem with her being here while he would be roaming around.


    She was way too engrossed in her task to even notice him.


    ''Well, I certainly admire that focus and hard work,'' Aiden thought.


    He knew that it was quite rare for people to work and practice every minute of the day, but it seemed this person was actually doing it which was quite admirable in Aiden''s eyes.


    Having looked at her for enough time, Aiden slowly moved out of the little window and headed back toward Evelynn, who was still waiting patiently.


    Arriving close to her, Aiden got closer to one of her ears as he whispered, "I don''t think we''re going to have any problem with her being here, she won''t even notice us, I''m sure. Now, where do we need to go?"


    Evelynn hearing that question raised her shoulders as she had no idea where to go next, she hadn''t stepped a single foot in here since the start of the Academy. She only knew about this ce because she had studied everything there was to know about the Magic Academy since she was only a kid.


    "You don''t know," Aiden whispered seeing her raised shoulders.


    He thought that everything would be smooth sailing since he had brought her here with him. But it seemed that it wouldn''t be the case from this reaction.


    "I don''t, but um, out of curiosity what did this person look like?" Evelynn asked, making sure to be as quiet as possible, not uttering the slightest noise.


    ''Why is she even asking that right now?'' Aiden thought as he couldn''t find the corrtion to the situation.


    However, even if he didn''t understand Aiden quickly described her to the best of his abilities.


    Evelynn instantly nodded, when hearing all the information that wasing out of Aiden''s mouth.


    It seemed like she had been right all along, the person who was currently in the lighted-up room was Anna, the Alchemy teacher.


    "I have a better idea, we should ask that person in there about your anti-mana potion, I''m sure she knows something about it," Evelynn whispered, not having a single idea that this whole thing needed to be between them only.


    Aiden hadn''t mentioned it to her, so how was she supposed to guess that they couldn''t talk about this thing to others?


    "Who is that person?"


    Aiden didn''t outright refuse as he also wanted to learn more about the person who was on the other side of that door. It was clear that she had a lot of experience, so asking her for some help couldn''t be the end of the world, all things considered.


    "It''s the Alchemy teacher, Anna. She''s probably the best in the whole universe regarding potion-making."


    ''Whole universe, huh? I have my doubts,'' Aiden thought in his mind as he knew a lot more things than her when it came to the universe. ''But, that person is Anna?''


    Aiden had to admit that he had expected someonepletely different than that. He had expected someone who was extremely clean and organized, but it seemed that it was theplete opposite.


    "I see, but we can''t ask her, no way..."


    This time, Evelynn was even more confused, getting a little frustrated with how Aiden was acting.


    "Why can''t we ask her, she''s literally the best option. You know sometimes I really don''t get you at all..."


    ''Wait... actually, maybe we could ask her,'' Aiden thought as he still had his [Everchanging Item] which meant that he could potentially put a mask on.


    He also had his skill which made it possible for Aiden to change his facepletely, making him unrecognizable.


    ''Do I put on a mask or do I change my face?'' Aiden thought.


    Aiden quickly debated about it in his mind, before choosing to change his facepletely.


    "Actually, forget about what I just said, we''re going to ask her," Aiden muttered as his face changedpletely.


    "Y-Your face... what''s happening? Was your previous appearance fake?"


    Aiden only smiled as he raised his shoulders. It would make things for him a lot easier if Evelynn had no idea about his true appearance.


    "Ah... whatever, let''s just go and ask her now," Evelynn muttered as she stood up and headed toward the lighted-up room without wasting any time.


    Aiden followed her with his new face. He now had ck hair and blue eyes, and some features on his face had also changed. There was no way that anyone would be able to recognize him.

 Chapter 325 325 - Gerald? Yes, Gerald.

    Chapter 325  325 - Gerald? Yes, Gerald.


    They were now both in front of the door which Anna was currently in. Aiden was pondering if this was the best choice that he could make at the moment.


    He knew that he was risking a lot since Anna could find out about him based on his body and all those sorts of things.


    The manner of his speech, the overall shape of his body, if Anna was someone who was quite attentive, it wouldn''t be too hard to figure out who Aiden was.


    ''I guess I could also change the way I speak, that way there''s no chance that she thinks it''s me,'' Aiden thought.


    He knew that changing his voice shouldn''t be too hard, he would just make it lower than usual.


    "Also, Evelynn make sure that you call me by another name while in there."


    Evelynn was starting to get annoyed by all those requests, however, she still listened wondering about what his new name would be.


    She waited a couple of seconds, but there was no answer.


    "What name do you want me to call you?"


    Aiden looked at her with his brows frowned, "You choose."


    As soon as he said that he swung the door wide open with his hair, now,pletely ck and his eyes blue.


    Anna didn''t even seem to have heard them as she continued what she was doing at the moment which was making a potion that Aiden nor Evelynn had ever seen in their life.


    From the looks of it, this potion required a lot of skill as she was currently sweating a lot.


    Evelynn gave a small hit in Aiden''s ribs as she whispered to him, "Hey, what do we do now?"


    Aiden looked at her without saying anything as if it was very obvious, in fact, he started walking toward her without any hesitation which mindblown Evelynn who thought that they would be waiting for her to be finished.


    But it seemed that Aiden really hadn''t lied, he needed to find that potion as soon as possible. Well, the potion''s name... at the very least.


    Because if he didn''t find anything tonight then he would need toe back tomorrow which would make him unable to spy at all of David''s mannerisms.


    As he walked up, he gave a subtle look behind him as if telling her to watch him attentively.


    However, that was simply a show of confidence, Aiden had absolutely no idea how to approach her. He simply knew that he needed to do so before wasting even more time.


    He didn''t want David to be waking and noticing that he was gone. Aiden didn''t know how much time the director liked sleeping that''s why he made sure that he would be going out of the academy as fast as possible.


    He knew that it could potentiallynd him in some problems with the director and that wasn''t exactly what he wanted to bepletely honest.


    Aiden made tworge coughs as he was quite close to Anna, around 3 meters from her.


    There was no doubt that she should have heard it, however, she didn''t even turn her head.


    ''What is happening? Am I invisible or something?'' Aiden thought because the same thing happened with Evelynn.


    But in her case, she had been sleeping, so it was fine. However, that wasn''t the case for Anna who was seemingly deaf from the looks of it.


    ''Ah whatever, I''ll do the same as earlier,'' Aiden mused.


    He saw her slowly moving an object in her hands toward her big cauldron, however, Aiden honestly couldn''t care less.


    "Anna!" Aiden shouted, not caring about anything anymore.


    *Ssh*


    She saw everything inside the vial of ss spread onto the ground. She then looked toward the person who had shouted her name with a deep frown.


    One thing was clear, she was furious with Aiden.


    "Do you understand what you just did, you dumbass!"


    She didn''t care one bit about keeping her reputation as a teacher as she had just insulted Aiden.


    It wasn''t like Aiden had respected her either.


    ''This whole thing is going to turn to shit,'' Evelynn thought as she kept her distance not wanting Anna, the alchemy teacher, to notice her. She wasn''t like Aiden, she was using her actual face.


    She needed to be careful about her actions which wasn''t the case for Aiden, at the moment.


    "What are you looking at me for? Say something, apologize!"


    Aiden, however, kept silent simply watching her cool down. He didn''t want to deal with someone who was furious.


    "Hmpf, who even are you?" Anna said as she finally started to calm down a little.


    Aiden, this time, opened his mouth since it wasn''t an insult and she seemed to have calmed down her mind over what just happened.


    He knew that it had been his fault that she had dropped that vial which contained who knows what, but to be quite honest, Aiden was happy that such a thing happened since it made things somewhat easier because she wouldn''t be able to continue her potion for some time.


    ''Oh wait, I need to find a name...'' Aiden thought as he was about to say his real name.


    He looked back in panic toward Evelynn with panic in his eyes.


    She immediately understood as she swiftly appeared right beside him.N?v(el)B\\jnn


    "Gerald! His name is Gerald."


    Anna who hadn''t seen Evelynn before was surprised to see someone else be here sote at night. However, she didn''t really care about that part since it was only details.


    "I see, so... Gerald, what is it that you''re doing here thiste at night?" Anna asked, calmly.


    She tried her best to be as respectful as possible, however, she had to admit that shouting at her while she was so concentrated on something had frustrated her greatly.


    Nheless, she was a teacher, she needed to be mindful of her answers.


    "I need to find a potion''s recipe and name, actually," Aiden said, wanting to see her reaction.


    From what he could see, she seemed pretty interested in the potion that he needed to find.


    "Well, you came to the right ce! What sort of potion do you need?" She asked with a big smile on her face.


    It seemed that the word "potion" worked quite well on her since she hadpletely forgotten what he had just done from the looks of it.


    "A potion that makes it impossible to use mana, does such a potion exist?" Aiden asked, wondering in his mind if it was possible.


    However, Aiden was sure that such a thing existed, someone must have needed something like that in the past.


    "A potion that restricts the use of manapletely... Interesting," Anna muttered.


    "Does it exist?" Aiden asked, hoping that she would say yes. However, from her previous answer, the chances of that being the case were low.


    "Well... not yet, it doesn''t exist yet. However, it''s a great idea... a really good idea," she eximed as if talking to herself.


    Aiden shook his head disappointed.


    "Is there a way to make one, do you have any idea?" Aiden asked as he knew that if there was no possibility of having one then he would need to find another n yet again.


    Well, he had one in mind, but it was too risky at the moment.

 Chapter 326 326 - One Week

    Chapter 326  326 - One Week


    "A way to make one..." Anna repeated slowly.


    She had some ideas about how to make that potion, however, there was no way for her to bepletely sure.


    "Well, I need to try some stuff first. I can''t be sure at the moment."


    Aiden nodded back as he understood why she was saying such a thing, however, he needed to know how long it would take her.


    "How much time will it take you to make that potion?" Aiden asked, wanting to know if he needed to find another assassination n.


    He knew this one wouldn''t work if it took more than a few days. Aiden had found a way to go back to Nova and end this trial, and he wanted to do so as fast as possible.


    "Who knows, it could take me days or months... It will depend on the idea that I have because nothing like this has been made before," Anna said with stars in her eyes.


    She was truly excited to work on apletely new concept that had never been done before.


    Aiden, on the other hand, didn''t seem to be the happiest man in the world for some reason. He kept ring at her with a dead-pan look in his eyes, he had just heard bad news which meant that he needed to find another n.


    ''Fuck, what can I even do... if that man has his teleportation avable, then I have no way of killing him at all,'' Aiden thought, frustrated over this whole situation.


    "I see, then no need to bother with it. I have no use for it anymore."


    As he finished saying that, he turned around instantly and started leaving the room without looking back even once.


    He had no use for it anymore, he couldn''t wait months for a potion. He would simply find another way to kill the director of the Magic Academy.


    It didn''t matter what it would be, but he would be able to pull it off. He had so much experience that there was no way that he would fail.


    "Where are you going, Aid-... Gerald?" Evelynn asked, not understanding why he had chosen to abandon this whole thing. He was the one who had mentioned that he needed it, so why was he leaving after obtaining the information that he needed?


    Did he really need it in such a short dy?


    The answer to that was actually quite simple, it was no. However, from Aiden''s point of view, he wanted to be done with this trial in less than a week and from what he could see, he would take a lot more than that since such a potion had never existed before.


    He didn''t know about the process of creating a new potion, but he was sure that it had to be a long and painful one.


    That''s why he was currently leaving this room.


    Hearing the voice of Evelynn who was right behind him, Aiden didn''t even respond as he had no use for her too. He knew that he had epted to a favor from him, but it didn''t matter anymore Aiden would soon be leaving this world and nevering back.


    Well, he wouldn''t being back under the same identity, that''s for sure.


    "Did I say something insulting?" Anna questioned herself, also not understanding the reactioning from the person in front of her.


    For some reason, he was leaving after asking for her help. But, Anna honestly didn''t seem too bothered about it as she had just received a really good idea which meant that she needed to try many things in making that potion.


    "It''s fine, it''s just that if it takes too long. It doesn''t have any use for me," Aiden said as he continued walking forward.


    Anna hearing that frowned as if that had been an insult toward her.


    "You think that I won''t be able to do that potion of yours in less than a few days?" She asked, having found a new motivation for this task.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    Beforehand, she had been pumped because she was passionate about everything that was rted to potion-making. However, if she was been told that she wasn''t good enough for him, then she would make sure that Aiden would never be able to say anything like that ever again.


    Aiden, this time, turned around as he was quite intrigued by her answer.


    He had just heard that it could take months, so what was she rambling on about?


    "You said it could take months, I can''t wait for months. I have a week at most," Aiden said as he waited to see what she would be answering back.


    "A week? Consider it done,e see me every night this week as I might need some help to gather some ingredients," she said as she would be doing a lot of testing in the uing days.


    She would need to find the perfectbination that would make this potion perfectly. It wasn''t the first time that she would be doing such a thing, however, it would be the first time that she would have a deadline.


    ''I guess, I needed to tell to hurry the fuck up, huh?'' Aiden thought as her answers made aplete turnaround for some reason.


    It started out as months and it was now a week.


    ''Putting pressure on people really is useful,'' Aiden mused, happy with the result that he had achieved.


    "Alright, then are we starting tonight?"


    Anna shook her head, "No, I need to prepare some things. But make sure to be here tomorrow night, I''ll make sure to find some use out of you."


    ''Well, that makes things easier, I won''t need to being here during the day.''


    But then Anna pointed out of nowhere toward Evelynn, "Make sure that youe too, I''ll need your help too. In fact, I need all the help that I can get, one week to figure out how to make a potion is insanely short."

 Chapter 327 327 - When Will Night Come?

    Chapter 327  327 - When Will Night Come?


    The next morning, Aiden had managed to get back before David woke up, well five minutes before he woke up.


    The timing had been really close, but now Aiden knew that the director didn''t sleep much since it had been three or four hours tops.


    ''That was close,'' Aiden thought as he was currently lying down in his bed rxing for a couple of minutes.


    He didn''t need to sleep because he was an awakened, he felt a little bit of tiredness, but it was nothing major at all.


    He could go on like this for many days if he needed to, and that''s exactly what he would do for the uing days. He wouldn''t sleep at all, preparing for the best assassination that he could possibly do with the resources that he had at the moment.


    Aiden slowly stood up after lying down for a few minutes, looking out the window because he heard some noisesing from that direction.


    There he saw David swinging his dagger, not even doing anything before. He went straight to his training.


    Aiden had to admit that he admired David for his hard work, it was clear that he hadn''t reached the top by pure coincidence. One that man had an objective, he would do everything in his power to reach it. At least, that was what Aiden had noticed as he watched him.


    As long as it would make him stronger, he wouldn''t stop. In a sense, both him and Aiden had that inmon.


    They were both obsessed with strength. However, one of them would die and the other would be going back to his original world.


    Seeing him train made Aiden think about the way in which he would make the director drink the mana-restricting potion. It was quite a simple idea, but it was often those that worked the best.


    He would simply tell the director that he would be improving faster if all of his mana was restricted.


    ''I''ll just say that his body will improve faster this way or something like that,'' Aiden mused.


    He hadn''t spent too much time thinking about it, but he knew that it should be quite a simple thing to do all things considered.


    ''Well, I guess it''s time for me to wake, it''s time for me to act as if I''m reading those books,'' Aiden thought as he had decided that instead of learning about those books, he would be practicing the breathing technique that he had gotten from his third trial.


    It was time for him to find all the hidden strengths of Qi, and from what he had heard... There were a lot of them.


    He remembered Melinda talking about it and he had to admit that he was truly lucky to have acquired such an energy since it was so rare.


    Without wasting any more time thinking about those things, Aiden headed toward the door of the wooden cabin, greeting the director.


    Both of them greeted each other as they both went toward their respective tasks. It was still dark outside as it was around five in the morning.


    Aiden actually wondered at what time Garestsa would be arriving.


    Aiden knew that she wasn''t as hardworking as the director, but he had seen some of her talents with a dagger and it was clear that it was superior to the one of David.N?v(el)B\\jnn


    ''If only those with talents would be working hard, instead of doing nothing that can hurt them,'' Aiden thought as he knew that if everyone who was talented actually worked as hard as him or the director, then there were good chances that they would be better than them.


    In his past life, Aiden had been somewhat talented, however, the reason why he had gotten so strong was simple... it was hard work.


    Sure, the reasons why he was working hard weren''t the best, but it still amounted to the exact same thing, he got stronger because of it.


    That''s how he developed his mentality regarding strength, Aiden didn''t know if it was a good one or not. But he couldn''t care less about what others thought, in his mind, he was the best and that was the end of it.


    ***


    A few hourster, Garestsa and David were doing the exact same training as yesterday. Aiden was starting to get impatient as he couldn''t wait for the night to fall since he would be meeting with Anna when it would happen.


    ''This whole thing really is boring,'' Aiden pondered as he saw the pile of books in front of him.


    He was currently meditating because of the breathing technique, but from his point of view, the time was moving at a snail''s pace. However, he still didn''tin as he continued to practice.


    ''Either way, the key is that potion... as soon as I get it. I''ll get rid of him,'' Aiden thought as he knew that there was no way he would lose in closebat against David.


    Aiden had done this for his entire life, so there was no reason for him to be losing now.


    ***


    It was now two in the morning and David was about to stop his training out of exhaustion which meant that it was soon the time for Aiden to go see Anna about his potion.


    Garestsa had already left around two or three hours ago, refusing to stay in the cabin with either David or Aiden.


    Aiden could remember that red face of hers quite well, too.


    But none of that mattered, as Aiden would soon be leaving for his potion-making session, he knew that he would have to go gather ingredients, but he couldn''t care less as long as the making of this potion would be a sess.


    "I''ll stop here tonight as well, Aiden," David said as he headed toward the cabin.


    Aiden didn''t say anything as he stayed in his meditative position. It would be simpler for him to leave if he didn''t enter the cabin.


    As soon as the door closed and Aiden saw David lying in his bed, Aiden flew up in the air and started going toward the Magic Academy.


    ***


    Hello, please make sure to vote for Emma on the character page that I created. You can also create personalities for both Emma and Aiden on the character page, but just make sure to like those that fit the characters the most.

 Chapter 328 328 - Help

    Chapter 328  328 - Help


    "Why are youte!" Anna shouted as she saw that Aiden, with his face changed, had just arrived.


    She thought that he would be arriving around midnight, but it was two in the morning already. Evelynn had already arrived from what he had understood and she had been tasked to find all different sorts of ingredients.


    "Take this list, and go find her. She should be close to the director''s cabin, she probably didn''t get too far because of how scared she looked,'' Anna said as she handed him a list of multiple ingredients.


    "About that list, do you know if those ingredients will work or will we need to do this gathering often?" Aiden asked as he knew that it would most likely be the case.


    He didn''t know how this whole process would work, but from the face Anna was currently making... there was no doubt in Aiden''s mind that he would have to.


    "Of course, you''ll have to, you really think that I can figure out a recipe for apletely new potion on my first try?" Anna said as if Aiden was the stupidest person on Earth.


    Then, she took a small break before answering once again, seemingly thinking about what she had just said.


    She seemed to realize that there was something untrue in all of this.


    "Well... actually I am quite talented, so I wouldn''t say that it''s impossible for me to be right on my first try," she said, her voice tinged with a hint of confidence.


    It seemed that she knew very well how talented she was which is why she changed her answer.


    Aiden didn''t waste any more time looking at her as he slowly made his way toward the exit of the academy, he knew that Evelynn was currently waiting for him somewhere, so he had to hurry.


    ''I wonder why I didn''t see her at all if she was supposed to be close to the forest which is next to the cabin... weird,'' Aiden thought, finding it weird.


    However, he didn''t think too much about it as he knew that the mountain was extremely massive, so there were pretty good chances that something must have happened.


    ***


    Aiden was now flying toward the mountain''s direction as he would be searching for Evelynn and then the two of them would try to find all the ingredients written on that sheet of paper that Anna had given him.


    Aiden also had a maximum of five hours before having toe out, and that was cutting it extremely close. He had seen itst night, David didn''t sleep much, like at all.


    As he arrived at the forest, he tried to get a bird''s eye view from above... However, because of how dark it was, there was no point in doing so.


    That''s why he dived toward the ground without wasting any more time, it was now time for him to find Evelynn.


    He started slowly advancing toward the forest which reverberated darkness. Aiden didn''t care too much about the darkness since he was so used to living in an environment that was just like that.


    He was used to roaming in the dark, that was what he liked the most. Recently, he had discovered quite the liking to bing the center of attention, but he still preferred to be someone that you could qualify as a hidden threat... the person that you would call when everything else would fail.


    "Alright, let''s see where she went," Aiden whispered to himself as he looked at the list of ingredients wondering if Manatrum was on it.


    If it was, then he knew exactly where to find some.


    And as he looked down and read some ingredients from the list, he found out that it was the first ingredient on it.


    Aiden had to admit that it was quite weird to find it on there since it was a mana-restricting potion. However, he wasn''t remotely close to being an expert, so he would keep his mouth and provide the ingredients that were written on this piece of paper.


    Luckily for him, there were pictures of all the ingredients that they would need to gather which made Aiden''s task a lot more efficient.


    ''Still, I don''t understand why we need to do this, doesn''t she have her own ingredients ready?'' Aiden thought that since Anna was a teacher at the Magic Academy which meant that she had to have some sort of resources.


    But, it seemed that wasn''t the case since he was about to enter the forest.


    "Oh, right! I wonder if I''ll meet other types of monsters in there," Aiden muttered as he crossed the very first tree.


    He was currently heading toward the spot where he had found Manatrumst time. He wasn''t sure if he was going to be able to find Evelynn there, but even if he didn''t, it would be an ingredient that they would have gathered.


    ''Still, let''s hope that she''s close by, it will make things a lot easier to have someone searching for all those things with me.''


    After thinking that, Aiden decided to move a little faster as he activated [Lightning Steps] which caused some lightning sparks to appear on the bottom of both his feet.


    He was now moving so fast that no monster would be able to catch up to him. At least, no monster that he had met yet.


    Who knows what sort of dangerous things that he could find in this forest?n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    There was probably a reason that the director of the Magic Academy had made his little house up here.


    Maybe it was for rxation, but Aiden was sure that there had to be another reason, a reason much more important than the one that he had just stated.


    A couple of minutester, Aiden was right below the tree where he had found Manatrumst time and luckily for him, it was still there high up. One thing that had changed fromst time was that the Manatrum was fluorescent which added a nice touch to that ingredient.


    ''Still, nothing for me to worry about,'' Aiden thought as he still hadn''t crossed any monster.


    Aiden wasn''t disappointed since it made his job easier, but still, he hoped that he would get to fight a monster that he had never seen before, he always liked killing beasts and getting stronger that way.


    It was the easiest way that he had found to get stronger, so why wouldn''t he try to use it to the best of his abilities?


    "It seems like she already found the Manatrum," Aiden said to himself as he could see some footprints on the ground.


    He decided that he would be following them since there was a good chance that it would lead directly to her. In fact, it was almost sure that such a thing would happen, so Aiden started doing that as he couldn''t wait to see how many ingredients she had gathered.


    ***


    A few minutester, Aiden was running as fast as possible while following all the footsteps on the ground, and he heard a lot of noises in front of him, he even heard shouts.


    "ARGH!"


    "PLEASE SOMEONE... HELP ME!"

 Chapter 329 329 - Tentacles

    Chapter 329  329 - Tentacles


    Aiden, hearing the panicked voice of Evelynn, started running even faster than he currently was as he knew what was happening.


    She was fighting a monster that was the only possibility at the moment. Aiden was also sure that it was her since no one except would be in those woods, at least the chances of her being the only human in those woods were extremely high.


    "I''ming! Try to stay alive," Aiden shouted as loudly as he could. He wanted to make sure that Evelynn would know that he was nearby, ready to help her.


    As Aiden moved faster than ever before, he swiftly arrived around the area where Evelynn was fighting and there he saw the massive monster in front of her.


    It was a monster that Aiden had honestly never seen before. He had some experience with weird monsters but this one seemedpletely different from those he had seen before.


    Its skin was dark green, however, Aiden wasn''t sure if he could call it skin because of the texture that it had. If Aiden were topare it with something he knew about, it would be a giant octopus.


    It had too many tentacles to even count, it had two big eyes and three others which were quite smaller on its forehead. Aiden who was looking at it was interested in battling against such a monster.


    He had never seen anything like it before which is why he was so interested in fighting it.


    After observing the monster, Aiden took a small nce at Evelynn who was clearly struggling based on her appearance only, she was bleeding from both her arms and one of her legs. She had a few bruises on many parts of her body.


    "HELP ME!" She continued shouting.


    It seemed that she hadn''t heard about Aiden''s arrival, which is why she was still panicking so much.


    ''I''m gonna die, I''m gonna die,'' she thought.


    The gigantic octopus in front of her was a lot stronger than her and her pet monster. There was nothing she could do, she was outssed in everything that was rted to that octopus.


    Aiden didn''t let her panic overwhelm her as he started running in her position, covering the ground that was between them in less than a second.


    He arrived like a hero, saving her from a certain death.


    *Swoosh*


    Aiden stopped right in front of her, looking at her with a worried look in his eyes.


    "Are you looking okay?" Aiden asked as he looked toward Evelynn who had fallen because of the wind that came with Aiden''s appearance.


    Aiden''s white hair was flowing into the air, his red eyes piercing through the darkness that was surrounding them. He looked deeply into Evelynn''s eyes, captivating her attentionpletely.


    She didn''t seem to realize what was happening at first, as she seemed to have her head in the clouds at the moment, unaware of everything that was happening.


    "C-Careful, behind you!" She said softly, pointing toward the giant octopus that was right behind Aiden.


    While saying that, she had bepletely red, she was extremely shy because of everything that happened.


    Aiden looked at the ground and he could see a big giant shadow on it. Without even turning around, Aiden knew what was happening... the octopus was attacking him with one of those giant tentacles.


    He didn''t seem panicked at all as he looked into Evelynn''s eyes for onest time and he whispered something to her, "Just sit pretty, I''ll take care of the rest."


    ''I''m pretty?'' Evelynn thought, surprised that Aiden would say something like that to her.


    She didn''t know why but what Aiden had just said made her blush.


    ''Why do I care about what he says, I''m sure I have no feelings for him at all,'' Evelynn thought as she clearly hadn''t spent enough time with him to be developing feelings.


    That''s why she felt as if her whole body''s reaction was extremely weird.


    Aiden had no idea what was Evelynn''s thoughts as he had just said that spontaneously, not even caring about the words that he had chosen... There was a giant tentacle over his head, so he hadn''t had the time to think about a good answer.


    He knew that he couldn''t let the octopus attack him when he was right over Evelynn which is why he instantly moved to theplete opposite of her position.


    "Over here!" Aiden shouted, trying to take the monster''s attention away from Evelynn.


    It wasn''t that Aiden cared about her, but he knew that it would be faster if she was here with him when searching for all the ingredients that they would need for the potion.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    Aiden was able to grab the monster''s attention as it turned around in his direction.


    ''Alright, perfect. Now it''s just you and me,'' Aiden mused.


    Aiden had a big smile on his face as he was excited to be fighting against someone again. It had been a couple of days since he hadn''t done so, and he missed it.


    The adrenaline, the feeling of being powerful.


    He didn''t waste any more time admiring the monster that he was about topletely destroy as he dashed toward the octopus, still with a big smile on his face¡ªa dangerous one.


    Aiden obviously had his dagger in his hands as he tightly grabbed it.


    He didn''t run in without thinking about a n, he knew that this was a type of monster that he had never seen before, so he was careful.


    ''It''s going to be extremely hard reaching that head,'' Aiden mused as the octopus had all sorts of protective measures.


    The most important of them were his tentacles, however, there were many others... Aiden was sure of it.


    ''Alright, let''s try cutting some of those tentacles. It might give me some space.''


    Right after thinking that, he executed as he dashed and sliced the gluey tentacles of the octopus over and over again.


    He saw many of them fall to the ground.


    ''Isn''t this too easy?'' He thought as he couldn''t imagine that Evelynn had lost against a monster like this.


    The monster had tried to defend itself when Aiden had attacked, but it didn''t even manage to it Aiden once.


    But then he heard a shouting from Evelynn, "Don''t cut his tentacles, they multiply!"


    And then he saw it, every single tentacle that he had cut wasing back, but they wereing back with another tentacle.


    So, for each tentacle that Aiden had cut, there were now two that had taken its ce.


    ''Fuck, I think I get it now.''


    He now understood why Evelynn had struggled. That monster was probably extremely weak in the beginning but as you damage his tentacles more and more, his strength will keep growing and growing.


    Aiden looking at the monster knew the solution to this problem.


    He needed to cut that monster''s head with one swift motion just like he was used to doing.


    But, the problem with that was quite simple, he needed to reach that head without getting caught by all the tentacles that were surrounding the octopus.


    Aiden looked at the monster and he knew that this fight couldn''t go any further.


    "I''ll end it right here and now," Aiden whispered to himself as his red eyes locked onto the head of the Octopus''s head.

 Chapter 330 330 - Making Use of Everything at Hand

    Chapter 330  330 - Making Use of Everything at Hand


    After muttering that, Aiden looked up with a serious look in his eyes. He would be killing this octopus in a few seconds.


    He jumped while swiftly dodging the first tentacle that arrived in his trajectory, he couldn''t cut it after all. Then, there was another in his way, and another, and another, Aiden had some momentum but each dodge made him lose some of it.


    Those dodges were two sides of a coin, on one side he lived because of his dodging and on the other, he couldn''t kill the octopus in front of him. He was stuck as he backed off quickly realizing that his n wouldn''t work.


    He had tried flying after the jump, but it still didn''t work... it made it even easier for the monster to attain him since he wasn''t as used to flying as jumping.


    Aiden and the octopus were at a standpoint, looking at each other, not a single movement from either of them¡ªanalyzing the slightest movement that they would be performing.


    ''What can I do?'' Aiden thought, realizing that brute force wouldn''t be the right choice in this situation.


    It was the first time in his life that a monster was giving him so many problems.


    The only other time that could maybe count was the the Cyclops that he had fought in the very first trial where he had demanded help from Ava, but apart from that he hadn''t really struggled against any type of monster.


    Minutes passed, and Aiden was still walking looking at that beast that was right in front of him, only a couple of steps away from him.


    They were in the same situation as earlier and it seemed that this whole fight wouldn''t be progressing any time soon, the person who would make the first move would probably lose after all.


    ''I could maybe use that pet of hers since it''s from the Lumithars, it should be strong, right?'' Aiden thought as he was slowly starting to find a solution to his problem.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    "Evelynn, can I get some help?" Aiden asked.


    He remembered that he had told her to stay there and act pretty, but times had changed. He had learned a lot more about that creature that he would be needing help for this fight.


    As he asked for some help, he activated the strongest skill in his arsenal, [Mind of an Assassin].


    He started seeing a shadow of himself starting to die over and over again, and as usual, it would stop when he found a way to win.


    And if it didn''t then... the odds of Aiden winning this fight would be terribly low. They would need a miracle to help.


    Evelynn who heard him ask for her help was confused since that wasn''t anything like he had just said, like at all.


    "S-Sure!" She replied, unsure if she was going to have an input in this fight even if she wanted to.


    ''This is my fault, after all,'' she thought.


    She was the one who had made this monster much stronger by destroying those tentacles all around him. At first, there had only been eight or nine, but now... there were too many to count.


    The thing is that she hadn''t understood right away what was happening which is why she kept cutting them over and over again. That''s why the current was so difficult, she was the reason why all this was happening.


    However, as she looked at Aiden''s face she seemed somewhat reassured as he still hadn''t lost his smile at all. He seemed to enjoy the adversity which was something that most wouldn''t want to face.


    "What do I need to do?" She asked as she slowly stood up, realizing that she would be ying a part in this fight.


    She needed to be focused and stop thinking about all those useless thoughts. If she made even the slightest mistake then she would be in some trouble and that wasn''t what she wanted at all.


    Aiden wasn''t going to shout the whole time as he swiftly started advancing toward her. He knew that she was badly hurt, but the truth was that he didn''t really need help from her directly.


    He needed help from that little monster which was currently hugging one of her legs. Aiden knew that this little guy had some strength hidden... he remembered that smile that he had received when he had when through the portal.


    That little creature certainly wasn''t normal.


    "Stay sit, I need help from your little monster," Aiden said as he pointed directly toward the little thing.


    The monster seemed confused, however, such a reaction couldn''t trick Aiden anymore. He knew that this monster was currently acting.


    "You want his help and not mine?" She asked, somewhat hurt by those words.


    She knew that most of her strength came from that beast, but for him to say that he wouldn''t be needing her help at all was very rude altogether.


    "Yes, you''re too hurt to help me," Aiden said without any remorse, but then as he looked at her face a little he realized that she was hurt by what he had just said, and that''s why he managed to release another word from his mouth.


    It was a word that he didn''t say often, in fact, he couldn''t remember thest time that he had said it to someone.


    "Sorry, nothing against you."


    Evelynn nodded as she knew that his reason was actually valid which is why she handed him the little monster that was grabbing onto her leg as if its life depended on it.


    He was trying to make Evelynn take pity on it, but that was a strategy that wouldn''t work at all.


    She didn''t care anymore, she knew that there were good chances that she would die here if Aiden couldn''t beat that giant octopus.


    She was so hurt that she struggled to stand up, so she couldn''t imagine what would happen if she had to actually walk.


    Still, she dismissed those thoughts as she looked into those piercing red eyes.


    "Thanks, I''ll make good use of him," he said to Evelynn before looking at the small monster. "You''ll be useful, huh?"

 Chapter 331 331 - Evelynns Monster

    Chapter 331  331 - Evelynn''s Monster


    The monster didn''t look like he appreciated what had just happened as he literally tried to jump off and run toward Evelynn who was on the ground.


    However, Aiden wouldn''t let such a thing happen as he caught it in his hands.


    "You won''t get away, stupid creature," Aiden said as he looked into the little monster''s eyes.


    It was clear that the monster was currently acting scared and it was also clear that it didn''t want to take part in this fight at all. However, from what [Mind of an Assassin] was currently showing Aiden, that monster would be incredibly useful.


    Since that monster had been taken into ount, they were getting closer and closer to finding a way to kill the Octopus.


    Still, Aiden took his time as he was still dodging the iing attacks from the Octopus as he had decided to trust his skill [Mind of an Assassin] once again.


    He knew that it had failed a lot in recent times, but Aiden knew about its potential and there was no doubt in his mind that it was about to get stronger and stronger over time.


    Aiden slowly but surely started releasing some of the pressure that he was putting on Evelynn''s monster, wondering what it would try to do. However, this time there was no reaction whatsoever, it stayedpletely still which was exactly what Aiden wanted.


    Then, Aiden''s shadow seemed to have found a way as it wasn''t dead this time.


    ''Alright, time to execute,'' Aiden thought, as the shadow started to advance in a certain manner.


    Aiden didn''t think too much about how he needed to fight as he would only be following that shadow of his, he would be following every single momenting from it.


    He saw the shadow advancing slowly toward the Octopus, he wasn''t using [Lightning Steps] or anything like that for that matter. He was slowly running toward it.


    Aiden couldn''t help but think that this would fail, however, he knew that his skill knew a lot better than him.


    Every single time that he had trusted it, he had won. Except when he had fought against Emma... but that wasn''t really because of the skill''s fault since he was forcefully deactivated because of one of her arrows.


    For some reason, the small monster that Aiden had dropped on the ground was following everything that he needed to do.


    ''Can he see the effect of my skill?'' Aiden thought as he knew that this monster was from the Lumithars, so there were indeed chances that it would be the case.


    Aiden couldn''t think too much about it as he needed to concentrate on the shadow of himself. However, that thought was in his mind.


    Tentacles came Aiden''s way, but every time that was the case, his shadow would perform the tightest dodge possible, sometimes Aiden could feel the Octopus skin texture on his arms and legs. It really wasn''t the nicest feeling all things considered.


    Nheless, everything that was happening right now was in the scope of what the skill had anticipated which was exactly what he wanted.


    "Careful!" Evelynn shouted from far away seeing as how every single attack was so close to hitting Aiden.


    It was truly scary from her point of view, it seemed like Aiden would be hit by the tentacle every time, but, he somehow managed to dodge them.


    "Don''t worry, it''ll soon be over," Aiden shouted back as he knew that this was only a question of time.


    He didn''t know when he would be reaching the head of the monster, but he knew that it was only a question of time with this skill that was currently activated.


    Aiden then saw his shadow activate [Lightning Steps], and elerate without wasting one single second.


    Aiden obviously did the same.


    The little monster of Evelynn was still running in a random direction, however, it was following everything that the shadow was showing Aiden.


    The monster was doing everything right at the moment, even if it seemed extremely useless.


    ''Let''s do this, for real this time,'' Aiden thought as he saw that his shadow was taking an impulsion to make a big jump toward the Octopus.N?v(el)B\\jnn


    Evelynn''s monster was now behind the octopus and had been able to get there without the Octopus even noticing him since from what Aiden had seen the octopus was focused on Aiden and Aiden only.


    Aiden was now in the air, and instead of using momentum, the shadow had decided that flying would be a better idea.


    However, the shadow was using flight in apletely different way than Aiden had thought of. The shadow was only using the flight ability to make sure that he wouldn''t lose height, however, Aiden was still able to keep the momentum without the slightest problem.


    ''Interesting,'' Aiden thought as he tightly grabbed the dagger in his hands while dodging every tentacle that wasing his way.


    As he was getting closer and closer to the head of the octopus, Aiden couldn''t help but think that this solution was almost the same that he had used at the start of this fight.


    So, he wondered what would be different this time.


    Sure, there was the flight and how he used it, but there had to be something else.


    Why did he need help from that monster if all he needed to do was jump toward the octopus''s head, it made no sense whatsoever.


    Then, he noticed that the octopus had something around its neck, it seemed to be some sort of protective device.


    However, Aiden didn''t seem worried about it as he used his weapon''s aura which could cut through literally everything that was in his way.


    His dagger was slowly getting closer to the monster''s neck, and...


    *SLASH*


    The head of the octopus fell on the ground. The octopus was dead¡ªwell from the looks of it as Aiden didn''t receive any message from the system and there was also no use of Evelynn''s monster just yet.


    But it seemed that it was time to see Evelynn''s monster use.

 Chapter 332 332 - Particles

    Chapter 332  332 - Particles


    Aiden was looking at the octopus that was supposed to be dead on the ground, wondering what would be happening. It was supposed to be dead, so why wasn''t he receiving the usual messages from the system?


    ''Wait¡­ don''t tell me,'' Aiden thought as he suddenly had a scary thought.


    If what he had just thought of was to be realized, they would have even more problems than before.


    However, before he could see what would happen next, Aiden observed Evelynn''s monster as he knew that he wouldn''t be approaching the monster''s severed head without a reason in mind.


    It had tried so hard to stay away from the fight, there was no way that it would be approaching for the fun of it, there must be something happening in the back of his mind.


    Aiden was sure that something was about to go down, however, Evelynn''s monster needed to hurry as Aiden noticed some movementsing from the severed head.


    It seemed that his earlier thoughts were about to be realized. The head of the octopus was currently in the process of regenerating its body, seeing this happen¡­ Aiden briefly looked to his right where the body was headless, he was wondering what would be happening to it.


    ''Don''t tell me that there''s going to be two of them, now?''


    It was already hard enough to be fighting against a single one that there was no need to add a second one. If that were to happen then there were good chances that Aiden would lose this fight.


    "Fuck, it''s like I can cut his head again, it would just regenerate over and over again. Fuck, fuck, fuck, what can I do?" Aiden muttered as he grabbed his hand, wondering if there was a way to kill that monster that seemed pretty much immortal at the moment.


    He knew that Evelynn''s Monster was taking its sweet time slowly walking toward both of the corpses, so Aiden decided to bring that monster closer a little faster as he dragged it close to both of the bodies.


    "Do something, you little bitch!" Aiden said, not caring about the words that he was using.


    He knew that the Lumithars''s monster was pretty much the only hope that he had at the moment.


    The more he thought about a way to kill the octopus, the more he realized that he had no idea what to do. No matter what he would be cutting that fucking monster would being back to life over and over again.


    It was a never-ending cycle from what Aiden had noticed. He didn''t know if that was actually the case, but he simply couldn''t take the risk or else there would be too many octopuses to fight against. A single one of them was already enough.


    As Aiden was looking at Evelynn''s monster, he noticed that it gave him a slight smirk as it approached both bodies and touched them.


    Then right as he did that, both the octopus''s bodies disappeared into particles just like all monsters that he defeated in other worlds would.


    ''Did he send that monster to the Lumithars, isn''t thatpletely overpowered?'' Aiden thought as he realized that as long as that little monster was here and touched monsters no one would be able to touch them.


    He realized that this little monster that was now looking at him with cute eyes, was much more important than he had thought beforehand.


    ''Let''s use that little guy in the future,'' Aiden mused as he knew that there would be a lot of opportunities to use him in the future.


    *BEEP*


    [You have killed a Regenerative Octopus.]


    [You have obtained Experience Points.]N?v(el)B\\jnn


    Aiden saw those messages and smiled, it had been a while since he had seen them and it still procured him the exact same feeling as before.


    The feeling of gaining strength. He hadn''t leveled up this time but he knew that it was only a question of time where he would be able to be stronger and stronger as time passed.


    He honestly couldn''t wait to go back to Nova as he wanted to see how things had progressed. He knew that his strength was still far away from the ones of Melinda or even Ss. But he hoped that he would be able to catch up soon.


    He knew that he would have to train even harder, but that was only a detail from Aiden''s point of view.


    ''It doesn''t matter what I have to do as long as I get stronger.''


    That was Aiden''s motto, the sentence that he lived by.


    "Is it finally over?!" Evelynn shouted which made Aidene out of his thoughts and look at her.


    He revealed a smile when he saw that she was struggling to stand up.


    "It is, it is. We killed it."


    Not even a secondter, he appeared right beside Evelynn giving her some support.


    "I don''t think it would be a good idea to search for other ingredients in this forest," Aiden said as he realized that the monsters in this forest were much stronger than he had thought.


    He now realized why the director of the Magic Academy was living on this mountain.


    This forest that he was currently in was probably his training grounds, where he would go and fight against every one of them.


    "You''re right¡­" She said, blushing as Aiden''s red eyes were still looking at her with the same intensity as earlier.


    "Ah, what are you doing?!"


    She sounded panicked as she was now in Aiden''s arms, who was quite surprised by the reaction from Evelynn.


    It wasn''t the first time that they were doing this after all, and she still had the same overreaction. It was quite a special feeling.


    "You clearly can''t walk, so we will fly back toward the academy and we will go tell Anna that we won''t be able to gather all those ingredients by ourselves," Aiden said as he knew that there was a much more efficient way of gathering ingredients, buying them.

 Chapter 333 333 - Failure or Success?

    Chapter 333  333 - Failure or Sess?


    It had been a couple of days since that night, and things were going well from what Anna had told Aiden.


    She was making a lot of advancements on the mana-restricting potion. However, none of the tests showed that the potion was perfect.


    It reduced the amount of mana that was avable to the person using it. But¡­ it never had the effect that was researched.


    Nheless, it was still very good news for Aiden since it meant that he would soon be able to leave this ce and go back to Nova.


    Aiden knew that when he came back, the only thing that would be waiting for him would be more and more training¡­ At least, that''s what he thought.


    He didn''t think that the Nightshade Family would be trying to fight another founding family.


    He, personally, didn''t think that such a thing was possible because if such a thing truly happened then the other families would join and try to take one of the founding families.


    It was obvious that none of the Patriarch or Matriarch wanted to lose their position as the strongest. They knew that everyone was gunning for it, but they weren''t strong enough, and more importantly, none of the high-level families had the connection to be a founding family.


    There was a reason that they were called a founding family.


    "This is thest ingredient on the list, right?" Evelynn asked, looking at Aiden who was on her right.


    They were currently shopping for the ingredients that Anna had asked for. They were close to being finished. Aiden hoped that tonight would be the right one, or else he would need to wait for anotherplete day, and he was starting to get tired of it.


    "Yeah, that''s right. Let''s see if that shop is open," Aiden said as he pointed toward one of the shops that was closest to them.


    It was still around two in the morning, so Aiden knew that there weren''t many shops that were open at such a time. However, there were still some that opened and they were now regrs in those shops.


    ''I have to admit that we were lucky that Anna decided to fund us for the potion,'' Aiden thought as he knew that if that wasn''t a possibility, they would have been obligated to go into that fucking forest and search the ingredients.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    Such a process would have taken way longer than a week, they would have been stuck in that mountain for ours without finding any time. Both Evelynn and Aiden didn''t know much about the ingredients that Anna was suggesting.


    Seeing that the light of the shop was open, Aiden and Evelynn pushed the doors wide open and started looking everywhere around them trying to find that ingredient.


    "Oh, it''s right there!" Aiden eximed.


    ***


    A few momentster, they were back to Anna''sb with a multitude of ingredients.


    "You''re finally here!" She eximed seeing the two casually enter herboratory.


    She had been patiently waiting here after preparing everything, she almost couldn''t contain herself because of the excitement that she was currently feeling.


    "Are you two excited to witness history with your very own eyes!" She continued, hyping both of them up.


    "Well, let''s hope that we can see it, tonight," Aiden replied as he had heard that exact sentence at least five times in the past three days.


    Each night that he wasing he was supposed to witness history, but every single time¡­ the potion wasn''t a sess.


    "Don''t worry, I''m telling you¡­ tonight is the night!" She said excitedly.


    Seeing how crazy she was acting, Aiden remembered the first scientist that he had met in his second trial. If Aiden remembered correctly his name was Alex and he was the one who had created the potions that could give Aiden stat points.


    It was also because of his potion that he discovered that he had a hidden potential rted to his body. A potential that would be possible for Aiden to ascend isn''t a possibility for any of the founding families'' heads.


    That was something that Aiden was proud of. He was proud that he had an advantage over the heads of all the founding families for some reason it held great meaning for Aiden.


    "Alright, hand me those what are you waiting for!" Anna said as she took the ingredients from both Evelynn and Aiden''s hands.


    She went back toward her cauldron as she dropped everything without the slightest caution. It seemed that she truly believed that she had found a way to make this potion work.


    *BOOM*


    A small explosion came out of the cauldron, which surprised Aiden and Evelynn greatly.


    However, looking at the smile that had appeared on Anna''s face, it looked like it was all part of her n.


    That''s why Aiden didn''t immediately give up as he got closer to the cauldron slowly. He didn''t want to get caught in yet another explosion, however, he wanted to see what was happening inside that cauldron.


    He wanted to try and feel the mana, just like he had done when creating his first potion.


    ''Well, I didn''t really feel it. It was sort of cheating, but whatever¡­ it''s not like it matters,'' Aiden mused.


    As he got closer, he was able to see the content of the massive cauldron and he tried spotting that thin line. However, no matter how much time he spent looking at it, he noticed that there was nothing that meant one of two things.


    Either his skill wasn''t high-leveled enough or the potion was a fail yet again.


    Aiden prayed that it would be the first option as he looked at the confidence that was in Anna''s eyes.


    She kept swirling and mixing the potion in a variety of motions, there was never a single hesitation when she did so.


    To be honest, it was mesmerizing to look at her craft potions. However, Aiden had learned to stop looking at her movements a long time ago, he now only cared about the result¡­ the process didn''t matter at all.


    A few momentster, shepletely stopped mixing the potion as she looked Aiden right in the eyes.


    "Come look..."

 Chapter 334 334 - Time

    <h4>Chapter 334 Chapter 334 - Time</h4>


    Aiden hearing the tone of her voice wasn''t sure anymore if the potion had seeded.


    He slowly approached and moved his head right over the cauldron, wondering what was happening for her to make such a face.


    Her face seemed to be a mix of confidence and anxiousness. However, Aiden wasn''t able to determine which of them was more dominant.


    He moved his head over and Aiden was somewhat confused as he couldn''t determine anything from what he was currently seeing. Aiden had no knowledge of potions, well he had a little but he wasn''t able to understand if the effect of the potion was in this mix.


    "What? Did it work?" Aiden said as he kept staring at the mixture.


    This time, Anna showed a big smile on her face which gave a lot of confidence to Aiden. It seemed that it was going in the right direction.


    There were good chances that it was a good one, he would finally be able to assassinate the director and leave this ce. He had missed out on some things like teleportation and other spells which could have been extremely useful, however, that didn''t matter since he coulde back to this world at any time.


    "There''s only one way to find out," she uttered, her tone containing a lot of confidence.


    Aiden had noticed that she seemed very happy with the results, however, he didn''t get his hopes up since the exact same scene had happened yesterday and the day before that.


    "Then, what are we waiting for?" Aiden asked, wondering if it would be the one.


    Hearing Aiden say that, she took a small vial and filled it to the brim with the mixture that was inside the cauldron.


    It was bright blue, the exact color of mana which confused Aiden somewhat since the previous potions had been a dark color, so he knew that there was something that had clearly changed in the recipe.


    Aiden wasn''t sure what it was since he hadn''t really paid attention to the ingredients, he wasn''t the expert in that field, after all.


    He would only bother buying the ingredients, he wasn''t the one making the potion. He only cared about its effect, as long as it worked, Aiden would be a happy man.


    "Here, drink it," she said handing it to Evelynn who was surprised to be asked to do something. n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    Usually, it was Aiden who was testing the content, but it seemed that she was asking Evelynn for some reason.


    "Me?" Evelynn said pointing at herself, confused as to why she was asked to do something now.


    "Yeah, don''t worry, there''s no reason just try it," Anna said with a smile on her face.


    ''Well, there is a small risk that''s why I''m giving it to you,'' Anna thought,ughing in her mind.


    That potion that she had just made had a little chance ofpletely removing the ess of someone''s mana¡­ forever.


    It wouldn''t be temporary, it would be for someone''s whole life. So, Anna decided to sacrifice the less talented one between the two of them. There was also a chance that it would only be temporary.


    "Thanks," Evelynn said as she grabbed the vial, still doubting the reasons why she was the one trying the potion.


    Aiden was also finding it weird, however, he didn''tment on it as he had some trust in Anna in that department. He knew that there must be a reason why she was doing such a thing right now.


    Evelynn observed the potion for a few seconds before drinking it. She knew that she didn''t have any other choice. If she refused to drink, they might have agreed for someone else to drink it. However, she knew that Aiden had taken the risk over and over again, so it made sense for her to be trying out the potion.


    Both Aiden and Evelynn knew that there were a lot of risks involved in trying potions that way since even Anna had warned them about the dangers. But, Anna had also said that it would take much longer to find the recipe for the potion if they needed people to test it every day.


    Without further ado, she started drinking the potion, and the vial was nowpletely empty without the slightest amount of blue liquid inside it.


    Aiden and Anna were looking at her with eyes filled with hope, wondering if the potion worked.


    "So?" Anna said with a lot of impatience.


    She needed to know if it had worked. Had she really managed to create a potion in under a week?


    Had she done something impossible?


    ''Did I really do it?'' Anna thought.


    She knew that she had told Aiden that she would be able to do it, however, that was simply a bluff there were a lot of chances that she wouldn''t have been able to do it at all. However, there were many things that had helped her.


    First off, both Aiden and Evelynn going to gather all the ingredients that she needed was a big help. There was also the fact that Aiden and Evelynn were open to testing the potions which made this whole process much faster.


    "I can''t feel anything¡­" Evelynn said slowly, pronouncing each and every single word.


    "We did it! No, I did it!" Anna shouted out of pure joy.


    She had done it, she had done the impossible¡­ she had created a new potion from the ground up.


    ''Now, the only problem is knowing the duration of that potion,'' Anna thought as she knew that there were chances that its effects would stay forever.


    "Start the chronometer," Anna shouted at Aiden who pressed on the little device in his hands.


    Seconds started to go up and Evelynn was starting to get stressed. Just how long would she be without ess to any mana?


    She wasn''t like Aiden, she wasn''t able to fight close-range¡­ she needed her mana. Her life literally depended on it.


    It had been ten minutes and there were still no changes.

 Chapter 335 335 - Im Aiden

    Chapter 335  335 - I''m Aiden


    "Do you feel anything yet?" Anna asked, knowing that it was still the same answer as earlier.


    There was no doubt in her mind, that Evelynn had lost ess to her mana forever. Maybe that was something that she would be able to work onter, a way to control the duration.


    The more she thought about it, the more she thought about it. But, that was only details¡­ she had done it, her potion was usable and Aiden would be able to use it the way he wanted.


    Anna had no idea what he wanted to do with it, but she didn''t care nor would she ask questions. That potion had given her so many ideas for future projects. In fact, she sort of felt indebted for the ideas that she had given him.


    That was also one of the reasons why she hadn''t given him the potion because she knew the risks that were involved with that version.


    "I don''t¡­ I don''t feel anything, help me," Evelynn said as she started to cry in front of both Aiden and Anna.


    It had been one hour since she had drank the potion and there were still no changes, there was no way for her to use her mana. It was a weird feeling but that was life, it seemed that she would be ending her life unable to cast the slightest spell.


    "Aiden, do something. Fix this and I''ll forget about the deal that we made beforehand, but please¡­ just fix this," Evelynn muttered with some difficulty as even more tears started toe out of her eyes.


    She seemedpletely desperate, this was her whole life. There needed to be something that she would be able to do.


    However, Aiden couldn''t care less about what was happening to Evelynn, her job was done and Aiden would now be able to go and kill the director without the slightest problem.


    The fact that there was no time limit attached to the potion was even better all things considered.


    It would give Aiden more time and more opportunities if his first try were to fail. Even if that would be something quite surprising since there was no way that Aiden would be losing close range against a mage that had practiced holding a dagger for a few days.


    There was no way that such a thing would be happening and if it did¡­ Aiden would be depressed.


    "How do you want me to fix this, just wait a little more and the effects will disappear, right?" Aiden said trying tofort her.


    While saying that, he gave a look toward Evelynn, wanting her tofort her and confirm what he was saying that way Evelynn would stop panicking.


    Aiden knew that it was a valid reason to be stressed, however, he didn''t want to deal with this right now. He appreciated the fact that she was the one who had taken the potion and he would try to do something to pay her back in the future.


    However, when Aiden looked into Anna''s eyes, he noticed that there was somethingpletely different in the look that he was receiving.


    "Did I hear that correctly?" She said, wondering what Aiden would be saying, however, the only thing that she received was confusion.


    "Hear what correctly?" Aiden asked.


    "The name that she uttered, wasn''t it Aiden¡­ wasn''t your name Gerald?" Anna asked as she knew the identity of a person named Aiden.


    Aiden tried acting like he didn''t know what she was talking about, however, his attempts didn''t seem to be working well at all.N?v(el)B\\jnn


    "Um, she just made a mistake¡­ there''s no need to worry about it."


    Anna frowned and got a little closer to Aiden''s face who was currently changed, "Are you the director''s disciple?"


    However, the more Anna spent time looking at Aiden''s face, the more she realized that he looked nothing like the disciple of the director.


    But, she remembered that David had told her that she might get a visit from her disciple soon, however, that meeting had never appeared.


    Evelynn who was on the ground hearing this, didn''t care one bit. In fact, she was wondering why Aiden had be the focus of the conversation¡­ she was the one who needed help at the moment. So, why were they ignoring her?


    "Who cares about him? Look at me!" Evelynn shouted with a lot of frustration. "Yes, his name is Aiden and he''s trying to trick you into thinking that he is someonepletely different."


    "Is that true?" Anna asked as she realized that what she was hearing made a little bit of sense.


    There were a lot of things that suddenly made sense. First of all, there was the fact that Aiden was only avable at night, there was also the fact that the director had told her that she would be meeting her disciple soon.


    A lot of things suddenly started clicking in her mind. The person in front of her was in fact the disciple of David, and he came to see her under a new identity. However, she had no idea why he would be doing such a thing.


    ''Probably a request from the director, trying to take over a new identity for some reason,'' Anna thought, not thinking too much about it.


    ''Should I tell her the truth?'' Aiden thought, unsure if this was the good decision in that scenario.


    However, the more he thought about it, the more he realized that maybe it wasn''t that bad of an idea. Even if she were to tell the director, he wouldn''t have any problem since it would be able to tell him that he was trying to create a potion that would be helping his training.


    In fact, if the director knew about it, it would be a positive thing as he might feel even more indebted toward Aiden.


    "Uh¡­" Aiden muttered, acting like he wasn''t sure if he could tell her. "Yeah, I am¡­ I''m the director''s disciple, Aiden Nightshade."


    As he said that, his ck hair and the color of his eyes changed to the usual white and red.

 Chapter 336 336 - Preparations

    <h4>Chapter 336 Chapter 336 - Preparations</h4>


    "You are?" She asked, her tone containing a clear hint of surprise. N?v(el)B\\jnn


    During this whole creation process, she had never once thought that the person in front of him was the disciple of the director. There was no reason to, after all.


    She was only helping someone, so why would he try to hide his identity?


    That''s why Anna had never focused on his appearance or his identity within the academy. He had given her a great idea, so Anna had decided to help him to the utmost of her abilities.


    She was truly grateful for the new path that Aiden had created for her, and she hoped that this potion would be able to help Aiden in whatever task he needed it for.


    ''Still, I do wonder if it''s for the director or not,'' Anna thought as she couldn''t see any use for this potion.


    Maybe it could be used to train your body since Mana does make your body a lot stronger in a lot of aspects. However, there was simply no way for her to make sure of it.


    "But, why did youe here under another identity?" Anna asked.


    "Ah! Uh... that''s because... the director asked me," Aiden said as he seemed to be scrambling his mind to find a usible reason.


    Anna wasn''t dumb and noticed that there was something that wasn''t usual about Aiden. However, she didn''tment on it, she knew that he was the disciple of the director... so the reason why he asked for such a potion was probably a good one, there was no doubt in her mind about that.


    But, even then there was honestly no reason that wasing to her mind about hiding his identity.


    "Uh, alright I guess, no need to act so panicked. It was only a simple question," she answered.


    Then, a high-pitched voice distracted them from the current topic as Evelynn was still watching both of them talking about everything and nothing at the same time.


    "Fucking fix what''s happening stop talking about that stupid subject. I want my mana back!" Evelynn shouted as time was running and running and there were still no changes, so of course she was extremely panicked about this whole thing.


    This time, Anna took a good look at her as if analyzing everything about her, trying to find a solution. From the very beginning, she didn''t really care about what would be happening to her, but she still decided that she would help her since it was kind of cruel to be fair.


    "Sure, I''ll help you," Anna said out of nowhere after a few seconds of watching her. Then, she took out something from one of her pockets that looked like the same potion that she had just drank.


    This color was somewhat traumatizing for her since she didn''t know if her state would be even worse by drinking this.


    "Is that the same potion as earlier, the mana-restricting one?" Evelynn asked, scared, as she was getting a little closer.


    "No, just drink it. You''ll see what will happen," Anna said with extreme confidence.


    For some reason, it seemed that she had found a way for her to get her mana back.


    Aiden had to admit that he truly didn''t care as he interrupted the discussion, "Can I have a vial of that potion?"


    Evelynn was furious when she heard him say that as she had almost lost all of her hard work because of that stupid n of his. He was lucky that Anna had found a way or else she might have done something that she would have regretted in the future.


    *Glup*


    *Glup*


    Still, she didn''t say a single word as she started drinking the entire potion extremely fast. Not even a secondter and the vial was empty.


    Anna decided to ignore Aiden for the moment as she wanted to see the effects of the potion that she had just given.


    Her solution was only a guess, there were two options... The first one was that Evelynn got her mana back and the other was that there was no effect and no change at all.


    Anna had decided to use her for her test since she had already drunk the potion. However, she wouldn''t be telling that to Evelynn as she didn''t want to scare her away. She would be herb rat, so Anna needed to make sure that nothing happened to her.


    "So, what happened? Feeling any different?" Anna asked as she looked to her right, seeing that Aiden was grabbing one of her vials and getting the potion.


    "Are you that impatient? Can''t you wait a little, we need to do more tests," Anna said as she had no idea as to who he would be making drink the potion.


    She truly hoped that it wasn''t the director since that would mean that he would be losing all of her mana. It would be catastrophic for the whole Magic Academy Ecosystem.


    Aiden gave her a side nce, which clearly showed that he couldn''t give a shit about what she would be saying next.


    This potion was his way to getting out of there alive, the fact that Evelynn was having problems wasn''t rted to him at all. He wanted to leave this fucking world and go back to Nova where he would be able to try many things.


    He didn''t know in what state the Emberbane Family was currently since he had left while nothing special was happening.


    However, there was a chance that the Nightshade family had tried some things since she had clearly disrespected them by taking in Aiden.


    The Nightshades didn''t know yet the true identity of Aiden, but it was only a question of time... who knew what would be reaction of Ss when they would find out about the true identity of the Reaper?


    "No, actually, I''ll leave right now. I need to prepare some things for this morning, or rather, early in the night."

 Chapter 337 337 - Crazy?

    Chapter 337  337 - Crazy?


    Aiden was now flying toward the wooden cabin,pletely forgetting about what could happen to Evelynn. He knew that Anna would be able to fix it and he honestly didn''t want to spend days on the potion since it worked right now.


    He would try to go back to Anna''sboratory when he finished all of his preparations as he wanted to know if she was going to be okay.


    ''Well, I did make a deal with her. I''ll try to fulfill it before leaving,'' Aiden thought as he knew that it was kind of a dick move to disappear without saying anything to her.


    He had decided that he would try to give her something before leaving.


    In fact, he had a little idea of what he would be giving her, he wanted to test something with her. However, that was for another time as he had arrived just in front of the wooden cabin where the director was peacefully sleeping.


    ''Let''s n this out in my head for tomorrow,'' Aiden thought as he started moving some things around.


    While doing so, he went over what he would doing tomorrow, from the words that he would be using to his every movement.


    He wanted to make sure that everything would be perfect.


    ***


    It was a few hourster, and Aiden had made sure that everything would be ready for tomorrow. However, he realized that he had forgotten one thing... he needed two vials, one for Garestsa and one for David.


    However, Aiden had obviously decided that he wouldn''t be giving one to Garestsa as he wasn''t that cruel, he would just start by giving one to David.


    But, he needed to make sure that he had one for the two of them or else it would be quite weird.


    ''I wonder what happened in the meantime,'' Aiden pondered as there were two options over what had happened in theb.


    One of them was that everything about Evelynn''s problem was fixed, but that wasn''t very usible. The other one was that Evelynn would be panicking and shouting for everything.


    As Aiden was getting closer, he heard two high-pitched voices talking to one another.


    "You knew! You knew that such a thing would happen, and you still give me that potion to me. What the fuck is your problem?!"


    Aiden easily knew that this voice was the one of Evelynn. However, he wasn''t sure that he had understood what she had just said.


    Did Anna know that the effect of the potion would be like that?


    But how was such a thing even possible?


    "Just fucking stay there and wait, I''ll make you drink another potion!" Anna shouted with a devious voice.


    Aiden wasn''t even seeing the two of them and it was clear that Anna was currently abusing Evelynn into drinking multiple potions.


    ''Fuck, I need to intervene,'' Aiden thought as he knew that this was all his fault.


    He shouldn''t have left without making sure that Evelynn would be able to leave this ce. Aiden had noticed in the past days that Anna was somewhat special when it came to Alchemy.


    Aiden immediately started elerating as there were multiple lightning sparksing off from his shoes which indicated that he had activated one of his favorite skills.


    While doing so, he was wondering what was happening inside theboratory.


    As he was about to enter he heard onest thing.


    "You''re quite unlucky... if Aiden had stayed a little longer you might have been able to get away from here. However, not that is simply impossible since you don''t even have mana to defend yourself."


    Aiden frowned at all those things as he quickly opened the door to the only room that was lightened up in the surroundings.


    It was currently 3 in the morning and Aiden knew that there were good chances that the director would be waking up in either 30 minutes or an hour. So, he needed to leave this ce soon.


    As he entered he was shocked by what he was seeing, Evelynn was currently tied up to a wall as she didn''t have any clothes on her anymore, except some that covered her chest and lower half.


    However, apart from that, she was fully nude.


    ''Is she torturing her?'' Aiden thought as this was the only thought that came up in his mind.


    He honestly couldn''t imagine how something like that happened while he was gone. Wasn''t Anna supposed to be a teacher?


    Why was she tying up a student against a wall?


    Just what was happening here?


    "What are you doing to her!" Aiden shouted as he noticed that Anna was currently making her drink a potion that waspletely dark. It was the same one as earlier.N?v(el)B\\jnn


    There were also a couple of other empty vials on her desk that were right behind her.


    It seemed that this wasn''t the first potion that she had forcefully given to Evelynn.


    ''Fuck, why did I leave...'' Aiden thought as he had never imagined that something like this would be happening.


    She knew that Anna could be weird when it came to Alchemy, but never in a million years as he expected such a thing to happen.


    Anna who heard him shout turned her head toward him, "Oh you''re here,e give her that potion too!"


    She said that with a big smile while giggling.


    ''Is she losing her mind? What happened?'' Aiden thought as he had only been gone for a maximum of one hour, so what happened during his absence?


    "Help me, Aiden! She''s crazy... s-she''s giving me one potion after another."


    Aiden started looking left and right and this was simply a crazy situation. Evelynn''s pet or rather monster was also nowhere to be seen which was another thing that was quite weird.


    However, Aiden didn''t have time to think any longer as he dashed toward Anna grabbing both of her wrists instantly,pletely immobilizing her.


    "What''s happening to you? What are you trying to do?"

 Chapter 338 338 - Realizing

    Chapter 338  338 - Realizing


    "Let go of me!" She shouted with her eyes wide-opened. For some reason, she seemed to be crazy at the moment, not understanding what her actions were. "Don''t you understand? This is the perfect opportunity for me."


    She shed a huge smile. Aiden had to admit that she was speaking with an extremely cruel voice, it was scary all things considered.


    Aiden held her wrists even tighter as she looked at her, judging her. "What perfect opportunity are you even talking about? Don''t you get it, you''re torturing her... Hell, just look at her!"


    Aiden nced at Evelynn while saying that and she was still in the same position as earlier, tied up to the wall¡ªhalf-naked.


    He made to only get a peek at her since he didn''t want to be called a pervert or anything rted to that. He knew that there wasn''t a lot of chance of such a thing happening, however, he didn''t want to take any risk.


    He didn''t want to make anyone ufortable, his goal was simple: helping Evelynn to the best of his ability.


    Anna turned her head. "What''s the problem, she looks fine to me."n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    It seemed that she didn''t understand the gravity of the situation at all, not even noticing the slightest problem.


    ''Just what happened for her to undergo such a huge change in her personality?'' Aiden pondered. ''Did she drink a potion?''


    "Just fucking open your eyes!" Aiden shouted as he didn''t know what to do. He didn''t know how to make here back to her normal behavior.


    He had tried hurting her somewhat by grabbing her wrists tightly, however, it hadn''t worked at all.


    ''Should I injure her?'' Aiden thought as he honestly couldn''t think of anything else at the moment.


    He wasn''t sure of what he would do if such a thing didn''t work.


    Aiden decided that he would injure her this time as he released one of her wrists grabbing the dagger that was currently around his waist.


    He made a small cut to one of her arms, thinking that she might have a reaction from it. But, unfortunately, there was no change as she didn''t even notice that she had gotten hurt.


    It was quite weird all things considered that she didn''t feel her skin being cut. Aiden was also sure that she had cut her since there was blood currently leaving her injury.


    ''Fuck, hurting her won''t work. Then what can I do next?'' Aiden pondered.


    He thought and thought, but there were no ideasing to his mind. He didn''t know how to deal with a crazy person, especially seeing how mentally affected she was at the moment.


    "Fuck! What can I do?" Aiden shouted as he remembered that he wasn''t alone in this room. "Evelynn, help me for fuck sake she''s gone crazy."


    Evelynn who had been silent for a while seemed to remember that she was alive as her eyes opened wide, realizing the situation that she was in once again. It was like she had forgotten about it because of the potion that she had forcefully drunk.


    "I don''t know, she became like this ever since you left. I have no idea what happened, it''s like a demon took over her. Maybe it''s her emotions, I don''t know," Evelynn answered, panicked out of her mind.


    She had no idea what had happened, but she was still trying her absolute best to give Aiden some ideas on how to fix this whole thing.


    ''Emotions?'' Aiden thought as if giving him a small idea. ''Maybe I could use that skill? Would that work?''


    There was no way for Aiden to make sure that such a thing would work. However, he still decided to try it as he was currently in contact with the person that he would be using it which facilitated the skill use.


    [Gentle Touch has been activated.]


    A small message appeared in front of Aiden as he could feel some energy currently going into the body that was right in front of him.


    Aiden still had no idea how this skill worked, however, he knew one thing... Every single time that he had used it, the person had calmed down instantly, so if any of his skills could be useful right now. It had to be this one.


    "What''s happening to me!" Anna reacted instantly as she could feel that something was happening with her body.


    She felt like there was someone who trying to control her, or rather, limit her emotions to the strict minimum.


    It was quite a weird scene for Aiden as her reaction seemed to be quite strong, slowly losing strength in her arms and legs.


    The only reason that she was still standing was because Aiden was holding her by her wrists.


    "Are you okay?" Aiden asked with a worried tone.


    Such a thing had never happened when using that skill, most of the time, the person would just realize that all of her emotions were leaving her body.


    Sometimes people would be thankful to Aiden or furious there was no in-between. In fact, Aiden could still remember the time that Emma had liked it a lot.


    She had liked it so much that there had been some "actions" happening between her and him, he had to admit that he had quite liked it even if nothing had happened regarding their rtionship ever since.


    As he was about to continue thinking about her, a feeble voice made him realize that there was still quite a weird ongoing situation.


    "I-I am," Anna said as she slowly opened her eyes once again. "What just happened here?"


    She asked that as if she had no memories of everything that had just transpired.


    "Why are you tied up? Who did this to you?"


    Aiden looked at her carefully as he wanted to make sure that Anna wasn''t putting an act. However, as much as he wanted to figure it out, it was impossible.


    "It was you. You did this to me," Evelynn replied, containing all of her anger.

 Chapter 339 339 - Hiding Things

    <h4>Chapter 339 Chapter 339 - Hiding Things</h4>


    "I-It was me?" Anna said as she slowly started walking away from the tied-up Evelynn.


    For some reason, she seemed to be undergoing shock, unsure of how such a thing was even possible in the first ce.


    "Of course, it was you! Don''t you remember fucking making me drink all those potions!" Evelynn furiously replied.


    She was having some probably containing all of her emotions inside herself as she was on the cusp of exploding, and for good reasons.


    She had just been tortured and possibly scarred for life, who knows what was inside all of those potions. She had probably gotten few other problems from it. Those potions were also all ck which didn''t give any confidence to Evelynn that they were good potions with positive effects.


    Still, there was no way for her to find out, so she kept her mouth shut.


    "I made you drink potions? When... How?" She mumbled as she started to walk back even more.


    "D-Don''t tell me that again?" Anna whispered in a quiet tone.


    No one had been able to hear her, however, they could see that she was in shock.


    "Who made me normal again?" She asked as she looked at both Aiden and Evelynn wondering who had managed to bring her back to her normal self.


    Evelynn was still tied up on the wall as she pointed toward Aiden with one of her hands, only moving her fingers.


    Anna immediately locked eyes with Aiden. She seemed incredibly interested in him, even more than before.


    "Uh... yeah it was me, is there a problem?" Aiden asked, slowly moving away from her. This whole thing was getting scarier by the minute.


    "How!" She shouted instantly. "How did you make me go back, how did you make him disappear?"


    Aiden frowned as he couldn''t understand a single word that wasing out of her mouth at the moment.


    "What are you talking about, who''s ''him''?"


    Anna put her hand on her mouth as she couldn''t believe that she had really said that.


    It seemed that something quite important had slipped out of her mouth and Aiden wouldn''t let it go no matter what.


    He wanted to know about it.


    "Just forget about what I said," She muttered a few secondster after gathering her calm. "The important is that I''m alive, who cares about anything else, ahaha."


    Herugh was extremely forced as if wanting to change the subject, however, Aiden wasn''t duped by it.


    Aiden immediately noticed that she was acting extremely weird and this time, he wouldn''t let it go. He had ignored a lot of things ever since he had arrived in this world, but he wanted to know, he was quite curious at the moment.


    "What person were you talking about, who''s ''him''?" Aiden repeated, making it obvious that changing the subject wouldn''t work.


    However, before he could even hear the answering from her mouth, there was still someone who was tied up to a wall.


    "I also want to know, but can''t someone just detach me?" Evelynn asked with a polite tone.


    She wasn''t that impatient as she knew that the whole situation was now back to normal.


    However, when she saw that it was Anna who was about to detach her, she felt deep fear install in her heart.


    It seemed that the events that had just urred had shocked her deeply, right to her core.


    "N-Not you, don''t even get close to me. Aiden, I want Aiden to do it," she muttered as it was clear that there was a lot of fear in her eyes.


    Aiden had noticed and immediately went toward her, detaching her and picking her up in his arms not wanting Evelynn to get hurt by falling on the ground.


    A little blush appeared on Evelynn''s face, but it soon disappeared as Aiden let her go. She wasn''t hurt to the point that she couldn''t walk anymore, so there was no point for Aiden to keep her in his arms even if she had wished to.


    Anna watched this whole scene from a small distance, understanding that what she had done hadn''t been quite appreciated by Evelynn.


    "I-I''m sorry, I didn''t mean to. It wasn''t me who did this, I can promise you... I would have never done this," Anna said, clearly feeling bad about the actions that she had just executed.


    Still, her answers were quite weird as she made it extremely clear that it wasn''t her fault, or rather, that it wasn''t her who had done any of those things.


    "Then who was it?!" Evelynn shouted. "Stupid bitch, you think this is going to change anything."


    Evelynn''s reaction was normal since she could have died if such a thing continued. Imagine what would have happened if she had been fed those potions for aplete week.


    There were good chances that she would have died.


    "I can''t tell you who it is," Anna said, seemingly not wanting to reveal who was the person that she had called ''him''. n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    "Why can''t you tell us? I''m sure we will be able to help you if something like this happens again."


    Anna shook her head as she couldn''t even bother talking about that right now, she had something else on her mind.


    "Tell me how you fixed what happened, I need to know," she said grabbing one of Aiden''s hands.


    Aiden looked at her grabbing his hand and suddenly got an idea. He had noticed how desperate she was, so why wouldn''t she just exploit that as much as he could?


    "Sure, I''ll tell you, but you need to exin to me... no to us, what just happened."


    Anna backed off instantly hearing that condition.


    "You really don''t want to tell us, huh? Well whatever it''s your choice, you''ll never what happened for you to get yourself under control once again," Aiden said as he turned around grabbing Evelynn''s arm. "Come, we don''t to be here anymore."


    This was obviously a bluff as Aiden still needed another vial of the mana-restricting potion. However, he still wanted to see the reaction that would being from Anna.


    "W-Wait! I... I''ll tell you guys, so please don''t leave just yet."

 Chapter 340 340 - Gentle Touch

    <h4>Chapter 340 Chapter 340 - Gentle Touch</h4>


    Aiden shed a big smile. ''Too easy.''


    He knew that she would be the one asking them. He had noticed how desperate she had been wanting an answer from him.


    Aiden slowly turned around, hiding his smile while doing so. Evelynn, however, still had the same expression as earlier, she was extremely frustrated about everything that was currently happening.


    She was even wondering why Aiden wanted to know what was happening to her, couldn''t they just leave and nevereback?


    They had achieved his goal which was to create that mana-restricting potion, so why was he trying to learn things about Anna, a person that was clearly having some mental problems.


    "Can''t we leave?" Evelynn whispered to Aiden''s ear as she was still scared of the person in front of her.


    It seemed that what she had endured had been quite rough on her, and Aiden couldn''t even begin to understand what had happened in the hour that he had been gone.


    Aiden nced at Evelynn who was currently pulling on his clothes for him to leave this ce, however, he didn''t want to listen to her. He wanted to know what had just happened, who the hell was the ''he''.


    Aiden didn''t respond to Evelynn as he made sure that she would feel more protected by pulling her closer to him, right under his arm.


    Evelynn blushed instantly, but she didn''t say anything as she really liked what she was feeling right now.


    "So, what was it that you wanted to tell us?" Aiden asked out loud, not noticing the redness of Evelynn''s face.


    He was so concentrated on the answers he wanted, that he didn''t notice anything happening around him.


    "Uh¡­" Anna said as she started looking down, ying with her fingers.


    For some reason, it seemed to be one hell of a problem that she was having as she was still hesitating.


    Aiden noticed this behavior and was starting to get annoyed. "Look, if you don''t want to tell us we can just leave, we aren''t the ones who need those answers."


    Aiden knew that he was the one currently driving the conversation and he made sure that she knew about it by putting as much pressure as possible on her. n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    "No! Don''t leave! I''ll tell you!" Anna shouted as loudly as possible. It seemed that she was starting to get stressed as time passed.


    "Look, I''ll tell you, I just need some time," Anna muttered.


    Aiden rolled his eyes in annoyance.


    "Just tell me right now or I will never tell you about what happened between us."


    *Gulp*


    There was a big gulping from Anna''s mouth, that was heard by everyone in the room.


    She was getting ready to answer as she tightly closed both her fists.


    Aiden waited patiently this time as he made sure to give Evelynn some nces, making sure that she was alright. But, surprisingly, she seemed to be smiling at him every time that he looked down which was a weird reaction, however, Aiden didn''t bother with it.


    He was happy as long as she was happy, he didn''t care about the reason as to why she was acting this way.


    Aiden had also noticed the blush on her face, but it was so faint that he thought it was something else.


    "Alright, I''m ready," Anna announced as she made sure to look into Aiden''s eyes. "Uh¡­ where can I start? Basically, that person wasn''t me, it was someone else."


    ''Well, I already knew that,'' Aiden thought, unhappy with the current response.


    However, he decided to stay quiet, not saying another word.


    "Actually, the thing is¡­ I have no way who that person is or what that thing is. All I know is that once in a while I be a different person, attacking every single thing that''s in front of me."


    "I don''t know why but it feels like I can do everything to everyone and nothing will happen to me. Usually, when I run rampant it''s the director thates to wake me up or make me go back to normal. That''s why I was so interested in you since you managed to bring me back without using his spell, so tell me¡­ how did you do it?"


    Aiden listened to every single word and he couldn''t help but be extremely frustrated over the matter.


    "That''s it? You don''t know what is taking over you?" Aiden asked as he that was exactly what he wanted to know.


    He was expecting something big like a Demon King or something that would soundpletely impossible, however, she was just as much in the dark as Aiden.


    ''But why was it that she wanted to hide this information? It doesn''t seem bad at all,'' Aiden pondered, not understanding why she would be hiding those things.


    There was literally nothing weird or extremely bad in what she had said. In fact, it was sort of what Aiden had guessed.


    ''Well, I guess she did tell me, so I''ll tell her.''


    Aiden knew that he couldn''t straight up tell her that it was a skill from another world. He would just make sure to change the truth enough that she wouldn''t be able to figure it out.


    "Your turn," she said, gathering her emotions once again. It seemed that this revtion had taken a huge toll on her for some reason.


    "Well, what I used isn''t magic at all. It''s just a technique from where Ie from, it makes me able to remove all the emotions that someone is feeling."


    Anna seemed interested as she put her hand on her chin. "Removing emotions? That''s possible?"


    For some reason, she didn''t seem to believe him.


    "Can you do it on her?" Anna said as she pointed toward Evelynn who was clearly having a lot of emotions jumbled up.


    "Uh¡­ sure I guess," Aiden said as he put his hand on top of Evelynn''s head, activating [Gentle Touch] while doing that.


    As soon as he did that, all redness from her face disappeared, but that wasn''t the end of it as even her smile disappeared from her face.

 Chapter 341 341 - Goodbye Kiss

    Chapter 341  341 - Goodbye Kiss


    "What did you do to me?" Evelynn asked in an extremely in voice.


    There was not an ounce of emotion contained in her voice which surprised both Aiden and Anna.


    The reason it surprised Aiden was simple, usually the effects of that skill were temporary as people would most of the time be extremely angry at him only a few seconds after he had used it.


    But for some reason, that wasn''t the case here as Evelynn was getting her emotions back, keeping a in face.


    Anna seemed extremely impressed as her eyes were wide open. "How are you doing this? Can you teach me?"


    Those questions came out of her mouth without her even meaning to say them out loud. It was just so important.


    "Uh¡­ I can''t teach you, this is a secret technique, but still, it should give you an idea as to why your personality changes once in a while," Aiden said as he slowly removed his hand from Evelynn''s head as he didn''t like seeing her being like that.


    She had looked¡­ lifeless.


    "Right, yeah it''s clearly rted to emotions¡­ Maybe I could create a potion to remove all emotions from my body for a period of time?" Anna uttered out loud.


    She seemed to have found a great idea as she immediately started going through her notes.


    She had a big smile on her face while doing that.


    Anna was clearly happy that she had figured out a way to fix herself.


    "Thank you!" Anna said as she started advancing toward the cauldron. "Here, take this!"


    As she shouted that she handed him ten vials containing the potion''s content.


    Aiden was happy seeing that as he would be able to bring some back to Nova, and he knew that it would be useful since most of the system skills used Mana, this meant that Aiden would have a big advantage over others.


    He would be able to give this potion to Ss and it would increase his chances of winning against him. Aiden was truly happy, this whole thing wouldn''t only be useful for the assassination.


    "Alright, we''ll be going now," Aiden said as he kept Evelynn close to him. She was now hugging Aiden over his shoulders with his legs around his waist.


    Aiden didn''t mind it as he had decided that he would be bringing her back to her dorm.


    "Are you okay?" Aiden asked as Evelynn regained some color on her face.


    "Hmm," she answered not even opening her mouth. Her head was currently on Aiden''s shoulder and she made sure to be looking at Aiden''s face which was extremely focused on something for some reason.


    She took her head off his shoulder and she grabbed his head with both hands. "Thank you foring back."


    She made sure that he was looking back into her eyes as she slowly got closer to his face, closing her eyes.


    Evelynn had just tried kissing him for some reason. Maybe it was her way of thanking Aiden. However, Aiden wasn''t a mannequin, he was able to move his head backward.


    "What are you doing?" Evelynn asked as she felt tension from Aiden''s neck.


    She had also moved her head forward, not meeting anything back.


    "The question is what are you doing?" Aiden asked as he had to admit that he was surprised that Evelynn had tried to kiss him out of nowhere.


    Ever since he had met her she hadn''t shown any appreciation toward him. So, he had to admit that he was quite surprised by the attempt at kissing him.


    He had never seen iting at all, she didn''t seem the type to be doing such things either way.


    "Uh¡­" Evelynn made a sound as she became extremely red. "I wasn''t doing anything¡­"


    Aiden grabbed her face by the chin as he wanted to make sure that she would be looking his way.


    "Look, I don''t mind it but at least ask me about it," Aiden said, showing no anger whatsoever.


    After all, a girl had just tried to kiss him, so why would he feel mad about it? It was a great feeling.


    A few minutester, both Aiden and Evelynn werepletely silent as Evelynn was still in


    Aiden''s arms looking in those red eyes of his.


    ''So beautiful,'' she thought liking how special those eyes were looking. It was truly nice to look at.


    "We arrived," Aiden eximed as he tried to push her off his body since he wouldn''t be going inside with her.


    Today was the day that he would be killing the director of the academy, so he couldn''t get his mind off it.


    Aiden struggled to push her off as she was tightly grabbing onto him, but he managed to do it after a minute or so.


    "Oh and Evelynn before you leave, thank you for everything," Aiden admitted as he knew that the creation of the potion would have been much longer without her.


    Evelynn turned around from the door as she looked at him for onest time. "Why are you talking like we will never see each other again?"


    She was wondering why he was being so dramatic out of nowhere, why was he telling her final goodbyes as if he would be dying?


    "Oh, don''t worry about it. See you soon," Aiden said as he turned around. He knew that he couldn''t tell her about his trial or the system, so he didn''t even bother exining it to her.


    "Aiden, wait!" Evelynn shouted, probably waking up a couple of people in the dorms nearby. However, that thought didn''t even enter Evelynn''s mind.


    "What is it?" Aiden replied as he looked back for onest time, seeing that Evelynn was currently running in his direction jumping in his arms.


    She breathed heavily as she was now in Aiden''s arms. "Can I kiss you now?"n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    Aiden didn''t say anything only looking at her, wondering what she would be doing next. And that''s when it happened, she closed her eyes slowly moving her head toward his.


    They had finally done it, they had kissed. It was a nice goodbye kiss.


    The two moved back from one another as Aiden looked at her in the eyes as he wanted to warn her about something.


    "Whatever you hear about me tomorrow¡­ don''t believe it no matter what, there''s always a reason for everything, okay?"


    Evelynn was confused but she nodded, trusting Aiden.

 Chapter 342 342 - Potion

    Chapter 342  342 - Potion


    Aiden was now on his way back toward the wooden cabin, his mind currently going through his n onest time.


    He wanted to make sure that there was no way that he would fail the assassination, and it all depended on one thing and one thing only, those vials that he had in his hands.


    He could only hope that everything would work. He knew that it had worked on Evelynn, in fact, a little too well so he wasn''t too worried about that part at all.


    ''Wait, I forgot to find a solution to her mana problem!'' Aiden realized as he was still flying away. ''Well, it''ste now.''


    Aiden knew that there was no other choice, he knew that David would probably be waking up soon, or maybe he had already woken up. As for Garestsa, she would soon be arriving at the wooden cabin to continue her training.


    ''Let''s just make all of this work!'' Aiden prayed in his mind,pletely forgetting about Evelynn for the moment.


    He would focus on her problem after he had finished his Trial Objective, that was his n. He knew that he would probably gone before being able to meet her again which would mean that he would have toe back to this world.


    "Let''s just hope that she doesn''t believe everything that she hears about me," Aiden told himself as he knew that she would probably be wondering why many people would talk about the director''s death.


    And since Aiden and Garestsa were the only ones with direct contact with him¡­ well¡­ the suspect would be extremely obvious since Aiden wouldn''t be in that world anymore.


    As Aiden was about to arrive at the top of the mountain, he saw the figures of two people swinging their daggers mindlessly. They both looked at Aiden with a strange look in their eyes.


    "Where were you?" David asked right away as this was the first time that Aiden hadn''t been in the wooden cabin when he had woken up. He had found it quite weird, however, he knew that there could be many reasons as to why something like that happened.


    "I just went to pick up something for your training, a little potion that would make this whole training a lot more efficient," Aiden replied as he knew that the two of them would be interested immediately.


    A potion that would elerate their growth, that was basically what Aiden had just said, right? There was no way that they would be refusing such a thing, in fact, they seemed excited to see what it would be like.


    Aiden quicklynded on the ground as he slowly got closer to them with two blue vials in his hands.


    "Are those the potions?" David asked as he had an idea as to what those potions might be.


    They strangely looked like the potion that they had first crafted when Aiden had tried to learn Alchemy.


    "They are." Aiden smiled.


    David was intrigued as he was almost sure that those potions would be increasing their mana output. However, what would be his reaction when learning that it was actuallypletely the opposite?


    "And how are those two little things supposed to help our growth? What are the effects of those potions?" David asked as Garestsa got closer wanting to hear what it would be too.


    Aiden had already prepared every single answer to all the possible questions, so it was quite easy to answer them. In fact, it was extremely simple.


    "They will restrict your ess to your mana for one hour," Aiden said,pletely lying while keeping a straight face.


    He knew that for his n to work he would have to lie, a lot for that matter. There were many things that depended on that ability.


    "Restrict our ess to mana!" The two of them shouted at the same time as they had never heard anything like this in the past.


    It was mindblowing, they had never thought that something like that could even exist in the first ce.


    "Is that really possible?" David asked a question before asking another right behind. "How will that help us?"


    ''Just as I had nned,'' Aiden mused as those were all the questions that he had expected to receive, so it was quite nice for him to have all the answers prepared.


    "It is, I made this potion with Anna a couple of days ago. At least, I gave the idea a couple of days ago, and we made it work. It really is possible!" Aiden eximed with a huge smile on his face.


    This smile wasn''t fake as he was extremely happy with the sess of his coboration with Anna.


    "You worked with Anna on this? When? How?" David was dumbfounded, not understanding that such a thing was even possible.


    There was simply no way that he could have found time to do this, Aiden was always with David. They trained and slept together, so how couldn''t he have known about this?


    "Oh, I told her earlier this week when you to sleep before me."


    David nodded still perplexed, however, he remembered that he was the one who would be going to sleep first most of the time.


    "Hmm¡­ alright, but you didn''t reply to my question from earlier, how is this going to help us get stronger faster?"n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    That was the only thing that David truly wanted to know, the rest of it was only details that he would be able to confirmter today.


    He would just go ask Anna when they had created this whole thing.


    "The reason as to why it will make you stronger is simple. By restricting your ess to mana, you will need to actually use your body without any exterior help which will, as a result, elerate the growth of your muscles. However, keep in mind that you can refuse to take it."


    Aiden said with a smile. "However, I rmend it, I even used a simr potion when I was young."


    Aiden had just lied at the end, but it seemed to have worked as David was even more interested when he heard that.

 Chapter 343 343 - Shade

    <h4>Chapter 343 Chapter 343 - Shade</h4>


    ?"That potion in your hands, are you sure about the effects that it can have on you?" David asked as he truly didn''t want to take any risk regarding such a thing.


    He knew that the potion was probably safe since Anna had worked on it, however, he wanted proof. He wouldn''t be drinking a potion that would have negative effects on him. That was something that he would never do, especially since it was rted to mana.


    "I can assure you that it''s safe if you don''t believe I can drink one of them in front of you guys," Aiden said as he took out one of the vials from his pocket.


    David smiled when he saw this. It reassured him greatly that Aiden was willing to take one before them.


    "No, don''t worry it''s good enough that you''re ready to take it before us. I believe you," David said as he was now convinced that it wasn''t dangerous.


    Aiden had been sweating, but hearing that he came to his normal attitude. What he had just heard was truly great.


    This had all just been a bluff, there was nothing he could have done if they were to ask him to drink it.


    He had prepared a decoy, but who knew if the director would get close and try to see if it truly had worked? Aiden would have been an in fuck ton of problems, so it was nice that the director was trusting.


    To be quite frank, that was another advantage of being close to your victim, you can make them believe everything as long as they trust you. That''s why the easiest assassinations are those of your friends.


    Aiden had no experiment in that department, but he had studied and he knew that was the case. It was even easier killing your "friend" than killing someone random in his sleep.


    "Give it to me too," Garestsa said as she handed her hand forward with the one of David.


    Aiden frowned when seeing that, however, the change on his face wasn''t noticed by David or Garestsa.


    ''I had hoped that she would have refused, well it''s fine. I prepared for such a situation, after all,'' Aiden thought as he knew that this would be a little bit moreplicated.


    There were two options that were opening up to him at the moment. One of them was that Aiden wouldn''t do anything about her drinking it, and the second one would be that he would need to intervene.


    Aiden was a nice person, so he decided to go with the second option as he didn''t want to ruin the life of yet another person. He had already done it with Evelynn, and he would be doing it with the director, so he thought that it was enough.


    It was one of the first times in his life where he actually felt pity for someone, he felt pity for Evelynn and what he had done to her.


    Even if it hadn''t been him who had made her drink, he still felt incredibly bad as he knew that they could have done things differently, but because of the pressure that he had put on Anna, she had drunk it.


    "Here, both of you," Aiden said as he handed both vials to them. He had decided to give the decoy that he had created to Garestsa.


    It made things a lot simpler that Aiden didn''t have to drink the potion. Basically, the decoy was the potion that he had made when he arrived.


    He had thought about using it when he saw the color of the mana-restricting potion. It made things extremely simple since they were the same color, maybe the shade of blue was different but it wasn''t that apparent.


    Someone would only notice if he held the two potions side by side, and Aiden knew that the chance of that happening was ridiculously low.


    "Thanks," the two of them said as they removed the small ck cap from both of the vials, taking a closer look at the potions.


    David wanted to make sure for onest time as he grabbed the potion, analyzing it for a few seconds. "Are you sure that this will remove our mana from our body for one hour?"


    Aiden sighed, but he made sure to correct him. "It won''t remove it, your mana will simply be unessible for you to use. That''s basically what will happen." N?v(el)B\\jnn


    David nodded as it made sense, however, he didn''t drink it right away still perplexed from the looks of it. It seemed that everything that Aiden had said, still hadn''t convinced him.


    "Hey, um, Garestsa do you mind giving your vial for a second," David asked as Garestsa didn''t see any reason to refuse.


    She gave it right away, blushing because the director remembered her name.


    ''He knows who I am?!'' She thought in her mind since it was one of the first times that she had been asked something from him.


    She felt palpitations in her heart because of it.


    ''Oh shit,'' Aiden thought as he knew that there was a good chance that he would be able to distinguish the difference. However, luckily for Aiden the sun still hadn''te out.


    It was still dark outside which would make things harder for him, however, Aiden knew that it was possible that the director of the magic academy would be able to distinguish them.


    ''Let''s just hope that he doesn''t think it''s weird,'' Aiden thought as he had prepared anything for such a situation, that''s why he was currently silent letting David do whatever he wanted without saying the slightest thing.


    He was only stressing from the inside.


    "So, how does it look?" Aiden asked with a smile on his face, showing that he wasn''t worried in the least.


    Once again that was a lie.


    "It looks¡­ weird, it''s like there''s a difference between those two potions. But I just can''t put my finger on it, do you have any other?" David asked as it seemed that he had spotted the shade difference.

 Chapter 344 344 - Light

    Chapter 344  344 - Light


    ??''Fuck don''t tell me he really noticed the difference?'' Aiden thought as he was asked for another potion.


    "Uh¡­ I might have another one."


    Aiden was currently checking his pockets, or at least, acting like he was trying to find one because there was no way in hell that he would be giving another one to them.


    A few secondster, Aiden looked back toward David with a sad expression on his face as he knew that David wouldn''t like what he would be saying.


    "No, there''s only two of them at the moment, but I can go see Anna and ask her to craft another one," Aiden said as he prayed that David wouldn''t do anything else.


    He knew that if David were to go and see Anna then this whole n would bepletely useless which was something that she wanted to avoid by all means.


    "Oh, is it long to craft them?" David asked with a pensive expression. "Maybe I could go see her craft one?"


    Aiden immediately saw through what he wanted to do and he reacted instantly.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    "No, no need¡­ there''s no need to go see her. Also, it takes a few hours for her to craft them it''s reallyplex."


    That was yet again another lie that wasing out of Aiden''s mouth without the slightest problem. He was getting better and better as the seconds passed, and he understood how to show to the director that he was sincere.


    "Uh, alright then I won''t go see her. But didn''t you say that you could drink one earlier, so shouldn''t there be three of them?" David asked as he suddenly picked up on something that was quite strange.


    Aiden frowned when he heard that as he hadn''t even thought of that.


    ''Shit, what can I say now?


    "Right, well I was just going to take one of those for myself," Aiden replied as this was the first thing that came to his mind on the spot.


    David nodded as he was finding this whole thing quite weird.


    ''Why is so attentive to details today?'' Aiden thought as he had noticed in the past days that the director was easy-going not caring about anything.


    Well, apart from his training. As long as it wasn''t rted to his training then everything would be alright and he wouldn''t even ask questions. But Aiden knew that he must be quite worried about the effect of the potion since it didn''t even exist previously.


    "Just wait here, I''ll go see what Anna has to say about this," David said as he opened a small portal right in front of him.


    ''This is over, there''s no way this will work, fuck!'' Aiden shouted in his mind. He knew that Anna would say that he was the one that had sent him.


    Everything will turn to shit and the director would learn that he wouldn''t be able to use mana for the rest of his lifepletely breaking his trust in Aiden.


    Who knew what would be his reaction when finding out about that part?


    Aiden knew that there were good chances that he would be the one who would die by his hands, and if it came to that then Aiden would have no choice but to use that [Return Stone] that he had acquired in his second trial.


    ''I need to try something else,'' Aiden thought as he knew that if David crossed that portal then he would be done.


    There was nothing he would be able to do, his whole n would fail.


    "Wait! I think I have one more potion," Aiden shouted as he put his hands in his back pockets, showing up high that he had another vial.


    He knew that this was way better than David leaving to go and meet with Anna. If such a thing were to happen, then¡­ it would be the end for Aiden.


    There was no way that he could beat the director in a one versus one. He had tried once and he had beenpletely demolished by him, and David had even given him multiple chances to try and survive against him.


    However, Aiden had been the one who got badly hurt in that fight, even putting his life on the line which was something that he was used to doing, but still, it was at another level this time.


    If the director had been absent then there would have good chances for Aiden to die as Space Mana entered his system, killing him off slowly but surely.


    "You found one?" David questioned as he turned his head, surprised to hear Aiden once again.


    This time, David noticed that there was definitely something weird about this whole situation.


    There was something that Aiden wasn''t revealing and David wanted to know what it was.


    Still, he decided to act as if nothing was wrong closing the portal that he had just created.


    Aiden seeing this sighed, celebrating in his mind. ''Oh¡­ that was a close one.''


    However, he ignored what had just happened inside the director''s mind.


    Aiden didn''t wait any longer as he quickly handed the vial containing the potion to David, wondering what he would say.


    He hoped that he wouldn''t notice anything that was wrong with the potions.


    ''Alright, let''s see,'' David thought as he grabbed the three potions in his hands looking at them closely, analyzing if there was something different about all of them.


    Aiden was currently praying that the sun wouldn''t being out as this would make this whole thing much more obvious. However, he had forgotten one important detail and that was Garestsa, the most stupid person in the world.


    "Do you want me to illuminate them?" She asked.


    Aiden shook his head as he couldn''t believe what she had just asked, she had just made this whole thing a lot easier for the director.


    It was now almost sure that he would be figuring out if there was something wrong with those potions.


    "Yes, please that would help me a lot." The director smiled, wondering if he was about to discover something or not.

 Chapter 345 - No

    Garestsa then started emitting light toward the potions, trying to help David figure it out since those potions would also be affecting, or so she thought.


    ''Couldn''t she have just watched and not done anything? Why did I even try to save that bitch?'' Aiden thought as he was starting to get frustrated by everything that was currently happening.


    His n which was supposed to have been quite simple was starting to turn to actual shit as everything that he had nned deviated from what he had prepared.


    He had thought that the director would have agreed to drink that potion right away since it would be helping him right away, but it seemed that the effect had been too much for the director to feel.


    "Thanks, Garestsa, this really makes things easier for me!"


    Garestsa just blushed when she heard thatment as she turned her head toward Aiden who was currently looking at her in somewhat of a strange manner.


    ''I''m gonna kill her, I''m gonna kill her, I''m gonna kill her.''


    That was the only thought that was currently entering Aiden''s mind as he wanted to make sure that Garestsa wouldn''t be able to lift a single arm after killing the director. At first, he had tried to save her, but she just had to ruin everything that he had prepared.


    She would simply have to get ready for the repercussions. Aiden knew that she had no idea as to what he was trying to do, but he couldn''t help but me her at the moment. That would simply make things a lot easier overall.


    "Are you okay Aiden?" Garestsa asked as she felt those red eyes looking at her, and when she looked her way, there was this strange feeling that she was currently in danger for some reason.


    Garestsa didn''t know why she was feeling this way as she had simply tried to help everyone around her.


    "Yes, yes, I''m fine," Aiden said putting on a normal face once again. "So, what about those potions, do you still think something is weird?"


    David shook his head from left to right slowly, "I''m not sure, to be honest, but it seems that only one of them is different."


    Aiden acted interested as he knew that this could possibly blow his cover, "Oh, really! Can I see?"


    David quickly nced at Aiden, unsure as to what he was going to do next, however, he still epted as he started exining the differences that he had noticed between the vials.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    "Sure,e I''ll show you," David said as he indicated Aiden to get closer to him with his hands. "Do you see how they aren''t of the same colors? Also, do you see that thing at the bottom there, it''s not there in those two."


    The director didn''t lose any time as he started saying everything that he had on his mind.


    "Um, weird maybe this one is defective," Aiden said as he tried to grab the decoy potion that he had given Garestsa.


    However, just as he was about to do so, David avoided Aiden''s hands as he knew that there was something wrong there.


    ''Fuck, this isn''t going to work,'' Aiden thought as he grabbed his dagger that he had hidden in his back.


    "Look, let me keep I just want to ask one or two questions to Anna and I''lle back here right after. Is that alright?" David asked.


    Aiden gritted his teeth and kept a smile on his face. "Of course! That''s fine, do whatever you want."


    ''Should I try killing him right now?'' Aiden pondered as he was ready to strike at any moment.


    He knew that right now was probably the best time to try something as he was really close to David. However, Aiden had learned from the fight that they had between the two that David was able to react even if Aiden was a single inch away from him.


    He remembered the explosion and how the director had reacted at thest moment. For some reason, Aiden had no choice but to believe that David could see the world in slow motion. In fact, the more he thought about it the more it made a lot of sense.


    Still, there was no way for Aiden to prove this.


    ''I guess I''ll have to trust Anna with this, let''s hope that she doesn''t say anything weird,'' Aiden thought as he knew that there were good chances that the director would being back releasing a lot of killing intent.


    If such a thing were to happen then Aiden would have to be ready, and there would be multiple options opening up to him.


    One of them was running away and trying to kill him in his sleep, however, the chances of that working were so small that it couldn''t even be considered an option. David was, after all, one of the strongest people in this world.


    He would obviously be able to find Aiden without much difficulty.


    The other one was to use the [Return Stone] which wasn''t something that Aiden wanted to do since everything that he would have done would be thrown into the trash as if nothing had happened.


    Taking the [Return Stone] was honestly thest thing that Aiden would do as he didn''t want such a thing to happen. He wanted to have the rewards at the end of the trial, no he needed them.


    He needed to get stronger and failing a trial given by a system wasn''t the way to go.


    Thinking about all this, Aiden couldn''t help but think about his old Trial Objective which would have been a lot less risky than this.


    ''Just why did I fucking ept, it would have been so much easier if I had just opened a shop.


    Couldn''t there be a way for me to open a shop instead of doing this?'' Aiden pondered, indirectly asking the system.


    However, he only heard a single word in response.


    [No.]

 Chapter 346 - Strength

    Aiden then looked up once again as he had to find something to tell David who was about to cross the portal that he had just created.


    For some reason, he had decided against teleporting directly which was something that Aiden found quite weird, however, there was no way that he would bementing on it right now since that gave him some time to think about what he would be saying next.


    "Don''t you trust me? Why do you need to go see Anna?" Aiden said as he knew that there was a big chance that David wouldn''t be turning around toward him,pletely ignoring him.


    However, there was still hope in Aiden''s mind as he knew that their rtionship might be able to help him now.


    But something unexpected happened as the only thing that Aiden heard was a calm tone, making himpletely panic.


    "Look, I don''t know what''s happening to you, but¡­ something''s not right. You seem to be hiding my stuff and I know that Anna will tell me what''s that potion, you have nothing to worry about if you haven''t been lying to me, alright?" David said in the most peaceful voice.


    He knew that he needed to make sure that Aiden wouldn''t be feeling stressed about what he would be doing which is why he was currently acting as nice as possible.


    Aiden simply grabbed his dagger tightly as he seriously considered trying to kill him right here and now as it would soon be her only option. He needed to decide, or else, the director would being back knowing everything that he had done in the past days.


    ''Why didn''t I tell Anna to keep everything I told her to herself, fuck, fuck, fuck.''


    Aiden knew that she would have still said them to David, however, there would have been a chance where she would have kept them for herself, but now that was actually impossible as she seemed to be quite close with the director from what Aiden had heard.


    After all, David was the one who fixed her personality problems when she needed it.


    "I see, so you don''t trust me, huh?" Aiden said trying to sound like a victim.


    However, the director didn''t even flinch or turn around as he kept looking straight in front of him. He knew what he needed to do at the moment, and it was simple too. He needed information on when and how Aiden had made those potions.


    "Do you want to hear the truth, Aiden?" David asked as he could see that Aiden was getting stressed by the minute.


    "Yes, I want the truth."


    David smiled upon hearing this. "Well, there''s something off about you, something is wrong and I can feel it. Youe here all smiling for the first time since I ever met you, but on top of that, you have potions that have never existed before which can help us in our training. For some reason, I found this very hard to believe, wouldn''t you agree if you were in my position?"


    Aiden was stumped as he didn''t know what to answer next, he hadn''t prepared any answers for such a situation¡­ his whole n had gone off-track for the simple reason that he had tried to save Garestsa, someone who probably didn''t even care about Aiden in the first ce.


    ''Why didn''t I give her the same potion, everything would have worked out. I don''t even know her for fuck sake, why would I even try to help or save her future?'' Aiden said as he tightly grabbed the dagger in his hands, clenching his entire body.


    ''I should have just let her drink that potion, why am I so fucking stupid? Did I think she was my friend or something like that?'' Aiden pondered. ''She tried to get rid of my discipleship¡­ From the very first moment that I met her, she tried to make things harder for me, and here I am trying to save her from something that would benefit ME!''


    Aiden started to slowly shake as he knew that this was his fault and his fault only.


    "Sure, go ask her, I need to do something here," Aiden uttered in an extremely dark tone.


    He needed to do something, or else, he would explode. He could feel the emotions that were surging from within his body, feeding onto the rage that he was currently feeling.


    For some reason, he needed to hurt someone, something, it didn''t matter what it was¡­ he needed someone to let off all the emotions that he had just umted.


    David noticed that Aiden didn''t seem to be in the greatest ce mentally as he slowly got closer to him, "Are you okay? Why are you shaking?"


    Aiden didn''t say anything as he kept looking at the ground.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    "Aiden?" Garestsa asked from a couple of steps away from him.


    Once again, not a single movement was seen from Aiden''s body.


    David was starting to get worried as he was about to touch Aiden, however, before he could do so¡­ Aiden''s head slowly lifted itself as he locked eyes with David.


    "Leave and go ask your questions, I need to do something here," Aiden said with a cruel voice. ''I need to get rid of something, I need to get rid of that fucking annoyance.''


    ''Why did I even try to help her when she never did anything for me?''


    David saw that Aiden was slowly losing himself, however, he decided to keep his distance a little slowly backing away from him.


    "And what is it that you need to do?" David asked, ready to react to the slightest movement that would being from Aiden.


    However, there was nothing, only the sound of his voice slowly pronouncing every single word.


    "I need to get stronger."


    The director giggled, trying to calm the atmosphere. "Strength? What do you need strength for?"


    However, how could have the director known that this would be a question that he would regret the answer for?

 Chapter 347 - Sir

    "You want to know why?" Aiden said as he startedughing by himself, lost in the emotions that he was feeling.


    "Yes, why do you want strength so much? Do you really need it?" David asked, not backing down at all.


    He wanted to hear the answer that would being out of his mouth. It was the first time that he had been able to talk with Aiden like this as he had always been emotionless before.


    Not showing once how he truly felt about the things that surrounded him.


    So, this was the perfect opportunity to do such a thing.


    "Why do I need strength?" Aiden slowly said, still with the same voice as earlier.


    Garestsa who was only a couple of steps away from him could feel shivers run down her spine hearing his voice.


    "Are you blind, sir?"


    David hearing the tone that Aiden had used when saying "sir" was confused as to what was happening to Aiden.


    "Is it because of your past?" David asked, not caring if Aiden were to be violent, this was the best asion to make use of that aggression.


    It was a time to learn more about his disciple and he would be using every single moment.


    "My past?" Aiden said out loud, repeating the word for seemingly no reason. "What do you know about my past, sir?"


    David didn''t say anything as he knew that Aiden was right, he knew nothing about it. There was no doubt about that.


    "I don''t anything about it, can''t you tell me about it?"


    Aiden simply smiled when he heard that as he couldn''t even be bothered to answer what he had just hearding out of the director''s mouth.


    "You want to know about how I was abused, and tortured to get stronger?" Aiden asked as he kept a straight face.


    He knew that the director had already figured out that Aiden had lived aplicated life, however, he was still asking about it. Why would he be doing that?


    "Yes, I want to know," David said as he would finally be receiving the answers that he had always wanted ever since he had met that young man.


    He had already noticed that the rhythm at which Aiden was training wasn''t normal, but that was only the start of it as David had also noticed the pressure that Aiden had been putting on himself. He had noticed how failure was never an option.


    "Hehe, so you finally have the balls to ask me after all this time, huh?"


    Aiden was clearly not well mentally right now as he knew that everything that he had worked toward this week had just failed.


    The moment that the director would be leaving to see Anna, everything that he had worked for in this trial would amount to nothing, and the only thing that he would receive was a big failure.


    In a sense, Aiden was simr to Ss''s son, the one that Aiden had beaten up during the Inter Family Tournament. He remembered how the son looked when he was on the verge of losing, and in a way it closely resembled how Aiden was currently acting.


    However, it hadn''t been as extreme as right now.


    A ck aura slowly started toe off Aiden''s body as he clenched his entire body, not trying to do something that he would forever regret.


    "Just tell me, alright? I just want to know what happened to you. I''m just trying to help you."n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    Aiden couldn''t help but find this extremely ironic as Aiden was trying to do the exact opposite. The only thing that Aiden wanted to do right now was stick his dagger into someone''s heart. It didn''t matter the person as to who the heart would belong to. He needed to calm down and this was the only way that he had.


    "I don''t need your fucking help, go see Anna. Alright¡­ just go see Anna if you can''t trust me, I don''t care."


    The director could feel how broken Aiden was currently sounding, however, David had no idea on how to act with someone this troubled. He had never experienced something like this in his entire life, however, he knew one thing¡­ he wouldn''t be leaving Aiden''s side until he became normal again.


    "So, what happened when you were young, how did they torture you?"


    Aiden smiled, ignoring what David had just said. "Are you really trying to help me?"


    "Of course, I am," David replied with a smile.


    There was not a single doubt in his mind that Aiden was simply having trouble having someone doubt his intentions. David had already noticed that Aiden seemed to be someone deeply scared of being betrayed by everyone around him.


    So, when David decided to act like he didn''t trust him, he exploded. However, that wasn''t the only reason, but that was something that David couldn''t know.


    "Then, leave to see Anna ande back in at least five minutes. I need to calm down."


    If anyone was able to see inside Aiden''s mind, they would have understood that by ming down, the thing that he needed to do was kill someone. That was currently thing that was on Aiden''s mind.


    ''I just can''t kill you because you''re too powerful,'' Aiden thought as he looked straight into the eyes of David, who was also looking his way.


    "Don''t you find me crazy?"


    "Don''t you think that I''m a crazy person?"


    "Of course not, you''re not crazy."


    Aiden then turned his head suddenly locking eyes with Garestsa, his red eyes piercing into hers.


    "What about you? Do you think I''m crazy?"


    Garestsa gulped as she felt even more shivers down her spine.


    "Don''t tell me that you''re scared again?" Aiden said as he slowly took a step forward in her direction. "You can tell me, I won''t hurt you."


    However, that was a lie, the moment that David would leave¡­ Garestsa would die. But, it wouldn''t be a quick death, Aiden wanted to take his time.

 Chapter 348 - Smiling

    "N-No, you''re not crazy, obviously," Garestsa said as she had difficulty talking.


    She was simply under so much stress that it was hard for her to formte sentences.


    "You heard her, Aiden. You''re not crazy, now slowly move away from her," David said in a calm voice as he noticed that Aiden was slowly starting to get closer to Garestsa.


    Aiden looked back, "Make me."


    Right as he said that, there was a portal that appeared right in front of Aiden with a single personing out of it, David.


    "Stay away from her."


    This time, Aiden couldn''t walk further any longer as he could feel an energy locking down all his movements.


    "So, it was you, huh?" Aiden uttered out of nowhere as he felt that energy being applied to his body. "It was you who stopped me from killing her¡­"


    Aiden didn''t have a single problem pronouncing those words while ring at Garestsa who was currently hiding being the director, scared to look Aiden in the eyes.


    "That''s enough Aiden, stop threatening everyone around you."


    Aiden heard that and simply scuffed, and stuck in ce. "And what if I don''t?"


    David this time took it a step further, he had noticed that Aiden wasn''t well mentally for thest few minutes, but this was simply too much. The way that he was currently acting, was¡­ inhuman. There was no other word to describe it, it was inhuman.


    It was as if someone had taken over him, and tried to do all those things.


    "If you keep threatening Garestsa and me, then I will have no choice but to keep a special eye on you," David said with a smile. "You know, I didn''t show you all the room in the wooden cabin, there''s one that''s hidden from the public eye because of what''s inside of it. Do you want to go there?"


    Aiden didn''t say anything as he knew that the only words that he would be saying would simply make things even worse than they already were.


    Aiden gave up trying to move as he could feel that the strength of the mana that was immobilizing him was much stronger than his own which meant that he had no choice but to bepletely immobile at the mercy of everyone.


    "That''s what I thought, you don''t want to go there, right?"


    Once again, there was no answer as Aiden was still trying to calm himself to the best of his abilities.


    "Right?" The director repeated as he wanted to hear Aiden agree to what he had just said.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    "You''re bluffing, that ce doesn''t exist," Aiden muttered in a low tone, seemingly calming himself down.


    Aiden knew that such a room didn''t exist because he had already searched for any sort of secret room in the wooden cabin and he hadn''t found anything like that which meant that the director had to be bluffing.


    "Am I? How would you know?"


    Aiden scoffed hearing that as it seemed quite obvious as to why he would know such a thing.


    "Whatever that doesn''t matter, are you going to stop your act or not?" David asked onest time as he had seen that Aiden had some mental problems.


    He just hoped that he would stop his current act that way he would be able to go see Anna.


    "I am, so you can leave now," Aiden said as he only moved his mouth, unable to move anything else. "Are you going to release me, now? I told you, I''m fine!"


    Aiden showed a big smile when saying that as if nothing had happened before that.


    ''Just leave and let me kill her, that''s all I want to do, you stupid moron,'' Aiden thought as he couldn''t wait to be one on one with Garestsa.


    He couldn''t wait to see her suffer, Aiden would make sure that he would release all of the rage that he was currently feeling inside. She was the one who would be feeling pain, this time.


    She was the reason that Aiden had failed this trial and Aiden would make sure that she would pay, he didn''t care if she were to argue that she wasn''t Aiden would kill her.


    "Are you really?" David asked as he wasn''t sure if that change in attitude was an act or not.


    Aiden noticed that David kept testing him as he kept a smile on his face.


    ''Let''s just act like that for now, and I''ll take care of her after, either way, if he learns everything from Anna, there''s no way that I willplete the Trial Objective.''


    Aiden had just gotten confirmation that there was no way for him to defeat the director in a one versus one, he was literally his ything if the director wished as such.


    "Yeah, I''m fine. I don''t know what just took over me¡­ I think I was just affected by what you said to me, it''s like you broke my trust¡­"


    David nodded when hearing that as this was exactly what he had guessed, he was sure that it was because he had shown that he didn''t fully trust Aiden, and then it entuated even more because he thought of his past.


    "Don''t worry, I don''t mind it. If anything''s wrong in the future juste and talk to me, so that such a thing doesn''t happen again."


    Aiden smiled when hearing that, nodding.


    "Alright, just make me a sign when something like that happens again, I''ll try to help you," David continued supporting her as much as he possibly could.


    If only David knew what Aiden really wanted to do at the moment. If he knew, then he wouldn''t be acting this way at all.


    "Hm, alright I''ll go see Anna now."


    David opened the portal and as he was about to cross, finally, there was a small voice that stopped him.


    "P-Please take me with you," Garestsa said as she staggered trying to talk.


    David looked back confused, "Just stay here with him, he won''t do anything to you, don''t worry."


    "Yeah, Garestsa, I won''t do anything¡­ you can trust me," Aiden said with a huge smile on his face.

 Chapter 349 - Failure

    Right as David crossed the portal Aiden''s eyes locked onto those of Garestsa who was barely standing up from the pressure that she was currently under.


    She felt so scared regarding everything that had just happened, she remembered that ck aura that had beening off Aiden''s body influencing the surroundings.


    "S-So, are you really going to let me live?" Garestsa asked as she fell down on her ass without doing it on purpose.


    Aiden looked at her and smiled not saying a single word, "What do you think?"


    Those words sent shivers down Garestsa''s spine as she knew that Aiden was dangerous at the moment. There was only one thought in her mind and it was to survive.


    She wanted to find a way to survive. That''s why she needed to assess the situation first.


    "Why are you so angry against me? I didn''t do anything and I followed all of your orders," Garestsained as Aiden slowly got closer to her, taking one step after another.


    Aiden scoffed when he heard that as he already knew those things, however, that wasn''t the reason why he was mad. It''s because she ruined fucking everything that he had prepared.


    Sure Aiden had made some mistakes, but the real person to me was Garestsa who simply had to help the director.


    ''If only I hadn''t tried to help her, if only¡­'' Aiden thought for onest time as he knew that the one who had started all this was himself by giving a decoy of a potion.


    "You know Garestsa, I''m not angry at you. Well¡­ maybe I am, but it''s not because of you, it''s more rted to the problems that you caused by simply existing. That''s why I was pissed off at you, it''s because of your fucking existence."


    Aiden was slowly starting to get closer to her as he started to shout louder and louder.


    "If only you had left the Magic Academy when you lost the fight against me. Hell, I don''t even know why I took pity on you, I should have just killed you back then."n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    The truth could hurt someone and that was currently the case as Garestsa was having a lot of difficulties keeping a straight face as tears were forming on the corners of her eyes.


    "What did I ever do to you, I only tried to help. How did I ruin everything?" Garestsa asked as she simply couldn''t understand how she had done any of those things, everything that she had ever done was to help Aiden recently.


    So why was it that Aiden was insanely mad at her?


    "Is it because of the potions? Is that why you''re mad?" Garestsa asked as she knew that this whole situation had started with the appearance of those potions.


    They were the ones who had made this whole thing go toplete shit. However, she had no idea why Aiden had gotten such a strong reaction from it.


    If there was a problem with the potions and the director had found it, wouldn''t that be a good thing all things considered?


    "You know, I''m sure the director just wanted to make sure that everything was alright with them that''s why he went to see Anna, you don''t need to be so angry about it you know," Garestsa continued trying to calm down Aiden to the best of her abilities.


    However, there was one thing that she ignored. Aiden knew that the potions had a problem, he was the one who had brought them here, so of course he knew about it.


    "You don''t fucking understand, I knew that there was a problem with the potions. Hell, I even tried saving you from it by giving you that potion that we made a week ago. But no you just had to ruin everything, I should have just given you the mana-restricting potion."


    Garestsa was hearing all that and an extremely confused expression appeared on her face as she wasn''t sure if she was understanding everything that wasing out of Aiden''s mouth at the moment.


    ''He knew that there was a problem? Then, why didn''t he tell us and what the hell does he mean by saving me?''


    All sorts of questions were popping up in Garestsa''s mind. However, she didn''t have the guts to ask them as Aiden was now right over her body with his dagger in his hands.


    He looked so threatening that she closed her eyes, not wanting to see those red eyes any longer.


    "Just kill me, if that''s what you want to do."


    Garestsa closed her eyes wanting Aiden to finish her off, however, surprisingly she didn''t feel the slightest thing. Instead, she heard the same voice as earlier, which confirmed her doubts.


    Everything that Aiden had done was for the director to leave.


    He wanted to be alone with her, he wanted to make her suffer. That had been his n all along.


    "Well, that''s no fun. I thought that you would have been begging to stay alive, barely hanging onto it just like everyone that I killed in the past. But no you''re giving up, don''t you want to live?" Aiden asked as his hand slowly got closer to Garestsa''s face opening her eyes by force.


    "Don''t you want to live?" He repeated making sure that she could see him now.


    Garestsa started shaking from fear, not saying a single word. However, Aiden could clearly see it, she didn''t want to die.


    After all, no sane human would want to die. Every single person just wants to keep living longer.


    "COME ON, SPEAK!" Aiden shouted as he was getting tired of Garestsa who had her mouthpletely shut.


    "J-Just leave me alone," she cried as she felt Aiden''s dagger on her neck weighing down on it.


    She knew that if Aiden wished, she would be dead in the next seconds that would being her way.


    "Oh, I won''t leave you alone, I''ll make sure that you remember me even in your death because you''re the one who made me fail this trial¡­ you''re the one who made me a failure," Aiden slowly said as he pronounced every single word.

 Chapter 350 - Pressure

    Garestsa kept shaking as she heard those things, however, in her mind she still had hope. She knew that Aiden was taking a long time trying to kill her, so she was hoping that the director woulde back before she died.


    ''I-I need to gain time,'' she thought with her closed, barely hanging onto life. ''Is there something I can do?''


    Garestsa thought for a few seconds as she could still feel the cold metallic de against her neck.


    As she opened her mouth, she was careful, not wanting the dagger to cut her neck even a little. However, Aiden made sure that it would as he applied some pressure at the same time which caused some blood to trickle down her neck.


    "I-Is there something I can do, so that you won''t kill me?" Garestsa asked as this was the only idea that she had gotten in the short time that she had thought.


    She was under so much pressure that it was incredibly hard for her to use her brain to the fullest of its capacities.


    Aiden smiled. "So now you beg, huh?"


    That was what he had wanted all along, he wanted to hear her will to live. He wanted to know that she wanted to live before finishing her off. That was the only thought that was on Aiden''s mind.


    He didn''t care how long this whole thing would take, he just wanted to her suffer just like he would suffer once the director returned from his talk with Anna.


    ''Still, I can''t take too much time, I need to leave this world before hees back,'' Aiden thought as he knew that if the director came back and froze him in ce then he wouldn''t be able to do the slightest thing.


    If he waited and the director immediately restricted his movements, then there was a good chance that Aiden would either die or be imprisoned somewhere.


    ''Should I just kill her and run away?'' Aiden thought as he knew that this wasn''t a good option.


    He had already thought about it a few minutes ago and with the connections that the director had, there was no way that Aiden would be able to hide. Or at least, that''s what Aiden thought until he remembered his talk with Evelynn the night before.


    ''Maybe she could help me?'' Aiden thought as he knew that this would be a big gamble.


    Aiden knew that there were some good chances that Evelynn would just tell on that he was with her which didn''t make this choice easier one bit.


    Still, he kept that thought to the back of his mind as he knew that failing the trial by using the [Return Stone] was thest thing he wanted to do.


    ''System will I get any rewards if I have used the [Return Stone]?'' Aiden asked as this was the only thing that he cared about, the rewards.


    If he could still receive them then there would be no problem at all as he would simply use the [Return Stone] right after torturing Garestsa who was still on the ground looking at Aiden with a confused expression since it had been one minute since he hadst talked


    *BEEP*


    [You will maybe receive some rewards, however, they won''t be on the same level as if you were to seed in your trial. We suggest that you try andplete the Trial Objective as the rewards that you will be able to get by doing so will be much better.]


    Aiden nodded as heprehended the information that he had just been told, however, he knew thatpleting the Trial Objective would make this whole thing trulyplicated.


    ''Is there a chance that I can get more rewards bypleting the Trial Objective?'' Aiden asked the system in his mind.


    He knew that the rewards that he would obtain right now would be great, however, Aiden simply wanted more. He was a greedy being, if he could get stronger that way then that''s how he would do it. Strength was the only thing that mattered to him, after all.


    *BEEP*


    [There is a chance, but if you ept you won''t be able to use your <Return Stone>.]


    ''Do I ept? Is that a good idea?'' Aiden thought as he was slowly forgetting about Garestsa which was right under him.


    Aiden needed to prepare for his future moves if he was to ept.


    He knew that he would be taking a lot of risks by epting because that would mean that if he were to fail¡­ then he would die for real this time.


    ''Let me think about it,'' Aiden said as he dismissed all that information to the back of his head as he wanted to deal with the person that was right in front of him.


    "Sorry about that, now where were we?" Aiden asked as ifing out of a trance, forgetting where he had been.


    "You were going to kill me," Garestsa said with a calm tone.N?v(el)B\\jnn


    It seemed that this minute or two of thinking had made her a lot more calm. However, the reason as to why she had gathered her calm was simple, the more time Aiden wasted trying to torture her, the more time that it gave to the director to save her.


    So, she couldn''t be more happy that Aiden was thinking about such things right now.


    ''Actually, maybe I can threaten him?'' She thought.


    Putting even more pressure on him seemed to be quite a good idea in her mind as it would make him think even more about his actions. However, she knew that killing wasn''t a problem for him, she remembered the look in his eyes when they had a duel against one another.


    She remembered how cruel he had been¡­ killing was thest thing that would weight on Aiden''s mind right now and she knew about it. Garestsa wanted to do something else, she wanted to put pressure on Aiden''s death, what if he were the one that would be dying here?

 Chapter 351 - A Pressured Choice

    "Oh right, I was going to kill you. Well, enough time wasted, I''ll kill you right now," Aiden said, not caring about this whole situation anymore.


    "Wait, don''t kill me just yet!" Garestsa shouted as she knew that Aiden wasn''t bluffing anymore, his voice was extremely serious.


    It was as if he had realized something that made him speed up this whole torture process that he was currently doing.


    "Don''t you know what''s going to happen if you kill me?" Garestsa shouted panicked as she knew that the consequences would be absolutely terrible. "The director, h-he wille to kill you. He''lle to you and kill you."


    Garetsa seemed to have trouble believing her own words as she was staggering while saying them. Maybe it was stress, however, Aiden couldn''t care less as he looked into her eyes onest time.


    "You think I don''t know that?" Aiden said, taking a small break. "Of course, I know that I''ll be in a lot of trouble, but I''ll be in trouble either way. You don''t understand what I did¡­ that potion, it was going to remove the director''s ess to mana forever! Not one hour, forever!


    Once he learns that, I''m done, so that''s why I don''t care anymore, he''s going to kill me either way."


    Garestsa''s eyes opened wide. "It was going to remove our mana forever?"


    Aiden this time, was getting extremely annoyed. "Not for you, fucking bimbo. I tried to save you by giving you a fake potion, but you helped him. Didn''t I tell you this already? I literally tried to save you and that''s how you pay me back, that''s why I''m so mad at you and want to kill you. You fucking ruined everything."


    Aiden took a deep breath, calming his heart rate. "Enough about that, let''s just end this whole thing right here."


    As he said that Aiden grabbed his dagger and decapitated her as he knew that the more time he wasted the more time it gave the director toe back to this spot.


    The only sound that was around him, was the one of her head which fell onto the ground. Aiden briefly looked at it as he instantly flew away from the wooden cabin.


    [You have killed a Mage.]


    [You have gained Experience Points.]


    [You have leveled up.]


    His next destitanation? The sky.


    By flying in the air, it would give Aiden some time to think about what he would want to do next.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    Aiden knew that the proposition from the system was quite risky, however, he couldn''t help but think about the "what if".


    ''But what if I was able to kill him?'' Aiden thought.


    He knew that it would be much more advantageous for him.


    Also, the time was ticking and ticking, he knew that in a couple of seconds¡­ he would be done. The director woulde back with all the knowledge about what Aiden had transpired behind his back.


    Thinking back on it, Aiden had made quite the stupid move revealing his real identity at the end of the potion making. If he hadn''t done that and kept his mind focused on the n that was ahead of him, then everything would have been fine.


    Everything would have been great even since Anna wouldn''t have been able to tell the director anything about him because¡­ it wouldn''t have been Aiden in the first ce, it would have been Gerald the guy who had ck hair, not white.


    A beeping sound was heard in his mind.


    [You have until arriving at Evelynn''s dorm to decide.]


    It seemed that the system was trying to apply pressure on Aiden, making him rush into choosing the wrong decision or the right one.


    However, Aiden truly didn''t know what to do. He knew that the only way to beat the director was with those blue vials that he had in his pockets.


    But¡­ the thing is, how was he going to make the director drink them now that he knew the truth and that he knew that Aiden was a killer?


    Chances are that there would be an insane amount of protection and security around the director which would make Aiden''s task a lot harder as a result and that wasn''t exactly what Aiden wanted.


    If the director knew that Aiden wasing for him, then there was almost no chance for Aiden to seed.


    *BEEP*


    [Your rewards willpensate for the difficulty of the Trial Objective.]


    "Trying to convince me, you sneaky bastards!" Aiden muttered in the sky as if he was a madman.


    ''What if Anna talk about Evelynn, wouldn''t that blow my cover entirely though?'' Aiden thought as he knew that Anna had seen Evelynn with him through this whole process.


    However, he remembered that Anna hadn''t paid attention to her at all, well¡­ except at the end when she had literally tortured her.


    "Uh¡­ let me think, is this even a good idea?" Aiden asked himself as he was slowly getting closer to Evelynn''s dorm room.


    Aiden knew that if he epted there would be two possible oues, either he would survive and get a lot stronger or he would die and his entire journey would end right here and now.


    ''If only I had a n¡­ I have nothing prepared anymore, will I even be able to kill him?'' Aiden thought for onest time as he could feel himself getting scared by the second.


    As Aiden was diving looking through all the dorm''s window in search of Evelynn, he knew that he needed to make a choice. He was cutting it close and he knew that the system wouldn''t like such a thing.


    Who knew what would happen if he simply didn''t give an answer?


    ''Ah fuck, fuck, fuck, can I really do this? Even when I had his trust it didn''t work, there''s just no way that I''ll kill him now. Still, the rewards, the strength that I would get by seeding¡­''


    The rewards were bing more enticing by the minute.

 Chapter 352 - Copycat

    Aiden''s mind was in turmoil as he couldn''t help doubting himself and for good reasons at that. He knew his chances of seeding in the trial were extremely slim.


    ''Well, the safe decision would be to use my [Return Stone] but then I would get bad rewards¡­ And if I stay, well¡­ they''ll be much better right?''


    Aiden wasn''t sure of what he needed to do. He knew that epting the offer from the system would be extremely dangerous.


    Aiden knew that he needed somewhat of a n before epting, or else, he would be condemning himself in this world. He would either be stuck in this world until he became strong enough to rival the director or he would die in it.


    Both options were really bad looking at them from an exterior and Aiden knew that very well. If he was to ept then he would make sure that it wouldn''t take him a long time to act and kill the director.


    He didn''t want to spend another week here, after all. He wanted to see what had happened in Nova with the Nightshade Family, and he knew that by being here, he wouldn''t be able to get any information.


    The fact that he was here away from Emma and Olivia was putting some pressure on his decision if only he knew the situation in which they were.


    It would help him to know that everything in Nova was going well. However, the chances of that happening were extremely slim, it wasn''t like the system would help him every time that he requested it.


    The Lumithars were nice to Aiden, but not to that point.


    ''Could I change my identity and enter the Magic Academy under a new name?'' Aiden thought as he knew that he would need to rece a student if he were to do that.


    ''Wait, actually maybe going to Evelynn right now isn''t the best option? Why don''t I go to my dorm room and kill my roommate?'' Aiden thought as if he just had a genius idea.


    He would gain a little bit of time by going to his dorm.


    [You need to answer before entering the dorms.]


    The system thought that Aiden might use this loophole, so it made sure that it wouldn''t be possible to use it at all.


    ''Whatever, I ept. I need to get stronger and I think I can pull it off, well¡­ maybe, actually I''m not sure at all.''


    The system seemed confused by that answer as it wanted to make sure of the answer that Aiden had given.


    [Do you ept or refuse?]


    "I ept, wasn''t it clear?" Aiden said to himself as he thought that he had been quite clear with his other answer.


    However, it seemed that the system wasn''t of the same opinion and it made sure to let Aiden know.


    [No, it wasn''t¡­ like at all.]


    Aiden sighed as he didn''t understand why that was a thing, however, he couldn''t spend too much time thinking about such things as he needed to find his dorm and quickly change his identity.


    [Updating the Trial Objective: The use of [Return Stone] isn''t possible anymore.]


    ''Well, I guess it''s for real now. It''s literally do or die,'' Aiden thought as he knew that if he failed he would die once again for a second time. ''Let''s just hope that the director isn''t that strong.''


    However, that was a stupid thought as Aiden knew how strong the director was, but Aiden had something that could make him win, the potion in his hands.


    If he were to find a way to use it without getting close to the director, then it would be game over. Aiden would be able to kill him without any problem.


    Still, those thoughts had to be dyed as he was currently in search of his dorm, escaping the director who still hadn''t sounded the rm by the looks of it.


    ''Now, where was my dorm?'' Aiden thought as he knew that it was facing the Coliseum that he had fought against Garestsa.


    He quickly went in that direction and looked through all the windows, trying to find a room in terrible condition because it would most likely be his.


    However, as he was about to do that, Aiden realized that he wasplicating this whole thing by trying to find another room. He could just enter a random room and take over that person''s identity.


    "Ah, let''s pick this one as Aiden noticed that the physical frame of that guy was quite simr to his. Aiden barged into the window, breaking it in the process.


    He knew that by breaking it, he had made things moreplicated for him, however, he knew that time was of the essence¡­ from his estimate the director should be teleporting back to the wooden cabin with Anna¡­ right now.


    As he thought that, a huge rm resounded in the building which made Aiden panic somewhat.


    "Who are you? What are you doing in my room?" The person who Aiden would be recing said.


    Aiden didn''t have time to waste as he immediately brought his dagger close to that person''s neck.


    "Tell me your name and your affinity!" Aiden shouted putting pressure on the person in front of him. He knew that he needed to scare him for him to say everything that he wanted.


    "A-Alek Hayes, fire¡­"


    Right as Aiden heard those words, he shed the dagger without losing a single second, killing the man in front of him.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    ''Shit, now where do I hide him?'' Aiden thought as he now had a corpse to get rid of. ''If only that little monster was here¡­''


    Aiden remembered the effect that the Lumithar''s monster had on the monster that they had found in the forest. He knew that he could make this body disappear into particles. However, before such a thing were to happen, Aiden needed to copy that face perfectly, that was the next thing on his agenda.

 Chapter 353 - Murderer

    Aiden took a good look at the face of the corpse and used his skill to change it perfectly, he knew that every single detail would count.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    Aiden had been able to learn about the affinity and name of the man but that was it, he didn''t know anything else. He had no idea about his schedule that he had or his personality, so he knew that he needed to find information about this person, and the best source of information was literally in the same room as him - his roommate.


    ''Let''s find him,'' Aiden thought as he knew that his roommate must have heard them. ''Oh, actually maybe he didn''t hear me with that rm that''s sounding.''


    As the rm sounded, a voice came with it, giving instructions to every student.


    "There is a murderer in the academy. Everyone, please evacuate the academy as we are now in search of him!"


    Aiden smiled as he knew that they were talking about him. ''Well, seems like they found her body¡­''


    He knew that it had only been a matter of time which is why Aiden wasn''t panicking at all, keeping a stoic face for everything that would being his way.


    Aiden immediately prepared himself to open the door in front of him after hiding the body of the person he had reced in the closet that was close to this room.


    He knew that it wouldn''t be good enough in the long run, but he would leave it there until he found more time. Right now, he needed to evacuate the dorms with his roommate, if he was there.


    "Alek, open the door we need to leave right now, didn''t you hear the rm sounding?!" A voice on the other side of the door said, panicking out of her mind.


    Aiden was confused when he heard that voice as he thought that he would be the one going up to him first.


    "Sure, just a moment," Aiden shouted as he made sure that Alek''s body couldn''t be seen by anyone in this room.


    After making sure that there would be no problem when opening that door, Aiden swung it wide open with a stressed expression on his face.


    Aiden had decided to take a gamble, he would be acting as scared as possible hoping that it would correspond to that person''s personality. And¡­ even if he was wrong about it, it wouldn''t even matter since they wouldn''t have any sort of proof of his identity.


    Only someone who was extremely close to Alek would be able to notice that his body frame had changed, however, the differences were so small that Aiden would be incredibly surprised if someone could spot such things.


    He knew that he had thought the same thing with the potions, but it was even harder this time.


    "Alek, fucking hell. Open that door faster! We need to go," the person on the other side of the door shouted putting pressure on Aiden.


    "Yeah, I know I know, give me a s-second," Aiden said, his voice febril.


    His roommate looked at him shortly and immediately started dragging him by the arm which surprised Aidenpletely because he had thought that Alek''s roommate was weak from how he looked, however, he was able to drag Aiden as if he was a doll which was honestly impressive.


    A few minutester, Aiden who was under someone''s else appearance wasing out of the Magic Academy as if was quite impressed with what he was seeing.


    There were rows of students on his right and on his left, patiently waiting for someone to arrive.


    ''I have to admit that they are well prepared for such situations,'' Aiden thought as he made sure to look for David right away.


    Aiden wanted to make sure that he wasn''t here at the moment because he was the only one who could potentially blow his cover.


    And¡­ unfortunately for him, the director was here and he was currently going past every student one by one, looking at them carefully while moving his arms a lot as if casting a spell.


    Before Aiden could wonder about what that spell was, both he and his roommate arrived face to face with a teacher who directed them toward the big line that was on the left.


    "Go there and wait, the director wille see you in a couple of seconds," the teacher said not even ncing at them. It seemed that she was way too focused on her task at the moment, to do such a thing.


    Aiden celebrated in his mind for a short moment, however, he instantly realized that the director was currently going toward him, and for some reason, he could feel that something was going wrong.


    ''The spell is probably to reveal any type of spell used for morphing into another person,'' Aiden thought as he knew that he was currently using something rted to that. ''Anna probably told him about that.''


    After all, Anna had seen him take another physical appearance which is why the director wasn''t taking any chances looking at every single one of them.


    ''Let''s just hope that mine isn''t considered a spell,'' Aiden thought as he knew that he couldn''t run away right now, he could only hope that everything would be fine.


    As he looked at everyone around him, he started hearing voices from students who were a couple of steps away from him.


    "Do you know what''s happening? Who do you think the murderer is?"


    "Shush, don''t say anything who knows they might use you or something¡­ The only thing I know is that it''s extremely serious, just look at the director even he''s here, looking at all the students."


    The student heard this and closed his mouth for a short second before opening it once again.


    "Do you think it''s his disciple who''s the murderer, that person was weird after all. Don''t you remember their fighting style, it was so weird."


    However, before their conversation could continue even further there was the feminine voice that replied,pletely denying whatever they were saying.


    And that person was¡­ Evelynn.

 Chapter 354 - Blocking Mana

    "Who do you think you are? Assuming things like this!" Evelynn shouted as she went out of the line toward the two guys who had been talking.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    "You don''t know anything about him, so stop saying things that are untrue," she continued, still as angry as before.


    Aiden had to admit that he liked the fact that she was currently defending him, however, well¡­ they were right, he was the one who was the murderer right now.


    ''Seems like she really believed me that night, before everything went to the bin,'' Aiden thought as he could still remember their kiss which probably helped in convincing her.


    Evelynn was unfortunately without any ess to mana because of the potion. However, that didn''t remove the fact that she had learned a lot about Aiden in the week that she had spent with him, and she knew that he wasn''t the type of person to do that. He had saved her, so why would he try to kill another student¡­


    There was literally no reason that came to her mind, she was almost sure that she was right and that this was simply a big misunderstanding.


    However, she could still remember what had happenedst night when he left, he remembered the words that he had told her when leaving.


    ''Don''t believe everything that you''ll hear.''


    Evelynn remembered those words and she trusted them, she knew that there was no way that Aiden was the one who had killed someone. He was too pure for such a thing.


    "And who are you?" The two boys questioned as Evelynn was now right up their faces.


    "Someone who knows him a lot better than you two, hmpf!"


    After saying that, she was about to confront them even more. However, a teacher interrupted the conversation, restricting her and bringing her back to her original spot.


    "Be quiet and wait for the director to speak!" The teacher said as he spoke even louder addressing the whole public. "Did everyone hear that? I don''t want to hear the slightest noise, am I clear?"


    Everyone immediately shut their mouths as the director was getting closer and closer to them. To most, this was a huge opportunity to witness one of the strongest mages to cast a spell on them, however, some couldn''t help but be extremely nervous.


    Because every one of them knew that if something were to go wrong, then there would be heavy consequences. But they also knew that they had done nothing, so they were safe.


    They could only imagine how the murderer was feeling right now, well¡­ if he was there with them.


    A few minutester, it wasplete silence outside of the Magic Academy, there would asionally be the sound of a voice. However, it was the voice of the director. There was only one word that would being out of their mouths, "Clear!".


    Everyone that he had gone through had been safe, the director was sure that they weren''t Aiden.


    ''Just where are you, you sneaky bastard¡­'' David thought as he turned around and looked at all the students that were in line.


    He knew that there were good chances that he wasn''t here right now, but he had no choice but to verify that thought as he learned from Anna that he could change his hair and face.


    ''To think that he was someone like that, he tried to remove my mana. That fucking bastard!


    And here I was, trying to help him,'' David thought as he clenched his fists in front of yet another student.


    "Clear!"


    "Everyone who has been cleared can go back inside the academy," David said as he couldn''t bother feeling all those looks on him.


    It was getting annoying that everyone was judging or observing him to the highest of degrees. He knew that he had fucked up, his disciple was the one who had killed Garestsa after all.


    ''If only, I had brought her with me!'' He thought clenching his fists even harder.


    There was so much pressure in the palms of his hands that there was blood slowlying out of them.


    Aiden was honestly quite surprised that such a thing happened.


    "Alright, now let''s do the second line," David muttered as he turned around toward the line in which Aiden was inside.


    He did the same thing once again, casting a spell on every single student in front of him, wondering if something weird would happen.


    It was getting repetitive as time passed.


    He was spending less and less time casting his spells as he was getting convinced that there was no way that Aiden was inside those people.


    He wasn''t so stupid as to stay inside the academy. Still, David knew that he couldn''t take any chances as he kept going.


    David ignored one thing and it was the fact that Aiden was getting stressed by the minute because he had no idea if his skill would hold on to the spell that he would be casting on him.


    There were now only a few people in front of Aiden and it wouldn''t take a long time for David to reach his position.


    ''Let''s hope that everything works fine,'' Aiden thought as he knew that this was only the first step to everything that he would have to aplish.


    A few momentster, the director was right in front of Aiden, or rather Alek, looking into his eyes.


    David started casting the spell without saying another word as he couldn''t find anything wrong with that person''s appearance, that person didn''t look like Aiden at all, well in terms of his face. The body was quite simr all things considered, but many bodies looked the same, so it didn''t mean anything to be quite frank.


    As David cast the spell, some sort of energy came in contact with Aiden as a beeping sound resounded in Aiden''s mind.


    [Blocking the Space Mana that is trying to disable your active skill.]


    Aiden looked at that message and celebrated in his mind as he knew that he would have done otherwise, however, it seemed that he had celebrated early as the director had more words to say this time, he wouldn''t only be saying "Yes".

 Chapter 355 - Potential

    "You..." The director started off as he seemed to be detecting something that wasing from Aiden.


    It was the first time since Aiden had gotten here that he had stopped to analyze someone, every single time before there wouldn''t have been the slightest word exchanged.


    However, it seemed that right now, David had found something worth noting about Aiden.


    "Where is my mana going?" David asked as he simply couldn''t understand what was happening.


    No matter how much mana he was trying to summon, all of it would disappear inside of Aiden''s body. It seemed that the system was truly doing wonders yet again.


    In fact, Aiden couldn''t help but thank the system. He knew that it was because of it that he hadn''t been revealed by David''s spell.


    He also knew that if he were to get revealed then he would have been either captured or dead and it would have been the end of this trial with no hope for Aiden.


    Being right in front of the director, Aiden had to admit that he was emitting even more pressure than when they had been training.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    "Answer me!" The director said as he looked into the eyes of the young man that was right in front of him.


    Aiden acted like he was scared, showing that he had some difficulty answering or talking in general. David noticed that and smiled as he was happy that his pressure was still useful.


    "I-I don''t know where it''s going, sir."


    With all the time that he had spent with Aiden at the top of the mountain, he thought that his senses had dulled over time. Hell, he hadn''t noticed anything of what Aiden had tried to do.


    David knew that Aiden was skilled, way more skilled than normal people his age. However, he had to admit that it was quite scary that such a young man was able to be so strong without using the slightest magic in his life.


    ''I do wonder, where he came from...'' The director thought as he was forgetting that he was still in the middle of all those students.


    Still, his mind couldn''t help but wander back to Aiden and what he had done. The director could still remember it, the head on the ground slowly rolling down the slope.


    David med himself for it, he knew that Aiden wasn''t in the right mind when he had left him, and the more he thought about it, the more he knew that it was a mistake to have left Garestsa with him.


    ''However, still, I understand why he killed her... he knew that the moment I came back everything would be over. That''s why he had such a reaction when I asked to go see Anna. He knew what would happen if such a thing were to open,'' the director thought.


    Nheless, there was still one thing that was on Aiden''s mind... the reason why he would do such a thing.


    It didn''t matter how much time David spent thinking about it, he simply couldn''t think of anything that would cause Aiden to go ahead and try to remove ess to his mana.


    ''Whatever, let''s stop thinking about this. This boy is special,'' the director thought as he had never someone able to absorb mana or discard it.


    It was really impressive.


    "What''s your name?" The director asked as he noticed he wouldn''t get many answers from that young man.


    He had noticed how scared he was which is why David would be the one leading the conversation from now on.


    "A-Alek Hayes, sir."


    "Stop calling me sir, I don''t like it," David answered as he made him remember Aiden. That was what Aiden had called him when he had started losing his mind, it wasn''t memories that he wanted to remember.


    "Alek, you have talent. You''re special, I''ve never seen someone able to absorb mana... follow me. I''ll talk to you after this."


    Aiden who heard that was shocked as his eyes opened as wide as physically possible.


    "F-Follow you? Why... did I do something wrong?"


    Aiden was panicking, he thought that there was a chance that the director had noticed that he wasn''t the real Alek Hayes. However, from what he had said, that didn''t seem to be the case.


    It just looked like the director was truly impressed with him.


    ''Don''t tell me that I''ll be his disciple for a second time...'' Aiden thought as he truly didn''t mind it since it would give him opportunities to kill the director.


    Still, he knew that the chances of bing a disciple again were extremely slim as David would probably scared of taking another one.


    "You did nothing wrong, don''t worry about it. Just follow me, I''ll talk to youter."


    There was one thing that Aiden was worried about and it was the fact that he didn''t know if the system might stop blocking the mana that the director would be sending in his body.


    Because if it did, then Aiden would be fucked, especially since he would be in a room alone with the director. Still, Aiden didn''t have much of a choice as he closed his mouth swiftly and started looking in front of him, following the director.


    ''Let''s hope that nothing bad happens.''


    As Aiden followed the director around for the rest of the test, some students started talking because of how surprising his whole situation was.


    It was the second time in a couple of weeks that the director had taken some interest in a student when it had never happened in the past.


    Just what was happening right now?


    "Do you guys think he''s trying to find a recement?" A student muttered as he noticed that Aiden''s real body was nowhere to be seen.


    "Right, his disciple isn''t even here right now."


    Evelynn who heard this immediately came to the defense of Aiden, "The director probably asked him to stay away from here. He''s not like the rest of you guys... he''s special."


    Thatst sentence was said in such a quiet tone that no one had been able toprehend it. Evelynn''s face was also slowly bing red.

 Chapter 356 - One on One

    "Why are you defending him so much, are you his girlfriend or something?" One of the students said whileughing as they couldn''t believe that such a thing would even be true in the first ce.


    Evelynn blushed even more when she heard that because she had no idea what they were¡­ still they had kissed it had to mean something, right?


    "Girlfriend? Uh¡­ I don''t know, I don''t think I am," she finally replied after some time.


    David who was walking around heard her and shook his head as he couldn''t believe what he was hearing. Did that murderer really seduce someone in such a short time?


    As he was getting tired of going after all the students one by one, David asked the teachers to go through the rest of them as he was almost sure that there was no way that any of the students was Aiden.


    It was obvious, he had fled the city and he was probably long gone. ''He wouldn''t be stupid enough to stay and try to kill me.''


    However, the director wouldn''t believe how wrong his assumptions were, in fact, he had found Aiden and he had even been impressed by him for¡­ a second time.


    It seemed that they were destined to stay together, was it because of the system that David was so interested in Aiden?


    Well, that''s something that would never be revealed.


    "Hey, you!" David shouted as he pointed in Evelynn''s general direction.


    Evelynn was confused, unsure if David was talking to her. "Are you talking to me?"


    "Of course, I am," David replied sighing at the thought of it.


    Evelynn wasn''t sure why the director would be interested in her, but she didn''t say anything as she waited for him to exin himself. She knew of all his achievements, so there was no way in hell that she would be disrespecting him.


    "Follow me, I want to talk to you too."


    Evelynn was even more confused when she heard that as she couldn''t believe her ears. ''Did he really say what I think he said?''


    Evelynn was simply unable to believe what was happening. It was simply incredible, one of the people that she had looked up to in all of her life was currently asking to follow him.


    "Sure! Where do I need to go?" She responded with a lot of excitement contained in her voice.


    She desperately wanted to know what the director had to tell her, so she made sure to follow him right in his tracks which was quite different from Aiden who was keeping his distance at all times, with a stoic face.


    "Just follow me, we''ll go talk¡­"


    "Alright, will do!"


    Evelynn smiled as she turned around looking at Alek who was also looking at her. Seeing as how they were in the same situation, she got closer to him while making sure that she wasn''t losing sight of the director.


    She didn''t want to lose him and lose this opportunity as a whole obviously.


    "Any idea, why he wants to talk to us?" Evelynn asked as she whispered that to Aiden''s ear.


    Aiden had to admit that he was quite confused by her actions. He remembered seeing her being quite mean with a lot of people around her. Hell, he remembered the first time they had met and it certainly hadn''t been the nicest moments that Aiden had experienced.


    There was probably a reason as to why her personality had made aplete turnaround, however, there was no way for Aiden to know of such things.


    ''Is it because of what happened yesterday?'' Aiden thought, unsure if it could have that much of an impact on someone. He knew that some people could be influenced by such things as romantic rtionships, but it was only a kiss. Aiden truly didn''t think that it would have much impact.


    "No idea, do you have some?" Aiden asked as he couldn''t help but ask what was on his mind.


    "Oh, and I''m actually wondering¡­ why are you smiling so much?"


    As he said that, Evelynn hid her smile as if it hadn''t been on her face in the first ce.


    "Smile? I wasn''t smiling."


    Aiden rolled his eyes as he truly didn''t care that much, he had just noticed such a thing, that was it. There was nothing more to it.


    As he was about to continue talking with her, the director noticed that the two people behind him were quite talkative and couldn''t help but let them remember that this wasn''t ytime for them to flirt with one another.


    "I know, you''re happy and all but this isn''t any time to flirt with one another," David said as they were entering the academy.


    David knew that the rest of the teachers were more than capable of taking care of the testing which is why David had decided to have a small conversation with Evelynn as he had a vague idea that she might have some information about where Aiden had left.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    As for Alek, David simply thought that he was quite an interesting person since he had a skill that he had never seen used before. That''s why he had asked him to follow him. Now, that he didn''t have a disciple anymore, he might as well take another one in.


    "I''ll start with you miss, follow me," David said as he opened the door to his office.


    It was rare that he would being to such a ce in the academy, however, he had no choice¡­ this was an extremely serious situation that required all of his attention.


    "Me?!" Evelynn almost shouted out of surprise. She was so excited that she had to have a one on one discussion with one of her idols.


    ''Still, I wonder what he wants to ask me¡­ It''s probably about Aiden, right?'' She thought as she had also noticed that he had been nowhere to be seen outside the academy.


    ''The fact that I defended him, probably pleased him¡­ right?''

 Chapter 357 - Crying

    "You can sit," David started off as he indicated Evelynn to sit on the chair that was right in front of him.


    Evelynn sat in the chair and patiently waited for David to exin to her why she was there at the moment. However, it seemed that he had nothing to say as he kept looking into Evelynn''s eyes.


    "D-Did I do something wrong?" She asked, worried because of the look that she was currently receiving from the director.


    He seemed troubled, unsure of what he had to say next. "No, you didn''t do anything wrong, well at least¡­ I don''t think so. Did you do something wrong?"


    Evelynn was a little confused by the question as she had no idea what was happening, "Uh¡­ am I supposed to say yes?"


    She didn''t know why but she could feel that there was some judgmenting from the director, and that was something that she had never wanted to experience. She thought that it would have been a great conversation that would make them closer, but that didn''t seem to be the case at all.


    "No, it''s fine just considering your rtionship with Aiden, I thought that you might have something to tell me, but it seems like I''m wrong."


    Evelynn was even more confused when she heard that, "Aiden? What does he have to do with all this?"


    David smiled because of how naive the girl in front of him was. However, David decided that he wouldn''t reveal right away what he did, letting her think for a while.


    "What''s your opinion about him?"


    That was a good question from David which made it possible for him to observe such a thing.


    He knew that there was a good chance that she appreciated him, so all he would have to do was destroy her view of Aiden.


    "My opinion about him? Well, I don''t know¡­ I don''t think he''s a bad person. Personally, I think most misunderstand him at least that''s what I did at the start," Evelynn said as some memories of her first meeting with Aiden appeared in her mind.


    "Right, he''s not a bad person¡­" David repeated, letting it sink into her mind. "Are you sure that he''s not a bad person?"


    Evelynn was getting worried as the conversation continued to progress because she felt that the director was trying to trick her into saying something, however, she had no idea what that was.


    "I just told you, he''s not a bad person in my opinion."


    Evelynn was starting to get annoyed by those questions as this was the exact opposite of how she thought this conversation would go. She had her doubts that the conversation would be about Aiden, but it went in apletely different direction than she thought.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    Hearing her response the director slowly nodded. "I see, and another question, is it true that it''s his fault that you lost ess to your mana?"


    That was a question that had been on David''s mind since earlier and he couldn''t wait to see what she would have to say about that. Would she me Anna, Aiden, or both?


    David had already heard most of the story, but he just wanted to hear it from somebody else''s point of view.


    "No, it wasn''t his fault. Actually, it was probably the fault of Anna that I became like this."


    As she replied, she suddenly had a question popping up in her mind.


    "Who told you this? Was it Aiden or was it Anna?"


    The director smiled because of how quickly she understood what was happening, "Anna, it was her that told me as for Aiden¡­ well, I have no idea where he is right now."


    "Right, it was Anna I knew it. Wait what did you just say?! Aiden''s gone? Where did he go?"


    All sorts of questions popped up in Evelynn''s mind as worry slowly entered her thoughts. She wasn''t sure what was happening at all.


    "He left, that''s what he did."


    Right outside the door, there was Aiden who had his ear as close as possible to the door, wanting to hear what was happening inside there. He could only hear some words and most of the time it was his real name that would always pop up in their conversation.


    ''So, he really did bring her to question her,'' Aiden thought as he had already anticipated such a thing to happen multiple times in the past.


    He knew that he would most likely be the subject of discussion and he couldn''t wait to see how Evelynn would react when receiving all that information.


    It had already been a few minutes since they had gone inside and nothing had happened just yet, they were still talking peacefully never raising the tone of their voice. Well, except for one time when Anna seemed to panic a little.


    ''Well, no need to panic because he clearly didn''t recognize me at all,'' Aiden thought as he startedughing in his mind.


    He didn''t show any emotions on his face, but anyone could tell that he was extremely happy at the moment.


    Minutes passed and that door finally opened, Aiden not wanting to get caught had backed off from it a couple of seconds ago, acting like nothing happened. However, what he saw when the door opened shocked him.


    Evelynn was balling her eyes out. It seemed that something major had happened in there and Aiden had no idea.


    He had heard some words through the door, but nothing major that would make someone cry. So, he had no idea what had happened in there like at all.


    "Your turn."


    The director used an extremely low tone when he said that as he didn''t seem to be in the best of moods.


    Aiden couldn''t but wonder about what had just happened between the two of them, in fact, he was so focused on such a thing that he didn''t even hear the director.


    "Are youing or what!" The director shouted, his patience running thin.

 Chapter 358 - LEAVE ME ALONE!

    Aiden knew that the reason he had just shouted so loudly was probably because of the conversation he just had, however, it wasn''t like he was about to mention it to the person that was right in front of him.


    "Y-Yes, I''ming," Aiden replied with his voice as febrile as possible.


    He wanted to seem like a naive kid to the director as he thought it would have the greatest effects.


    "Faster!"


    Aiden immediately started walking faster when he heard such a thing. He knew that waiting around for no reason wouldn''t help him, after all.


    A few secondster, it was Aiden''s turn to be having a discussion with the director of the Magic Academy.


    Aiden couldn''t help but feel a little stressed even if he knew that there was nothing wrong that would be happening to him. David hadn''t been able to see through his skill, so Aiden was safe. At least, he hoped he was.


    "So, young man, what is that power of yours? How are you able to absorb mana?" David asked without losing a single moment.


    He knew that he couldn''t waste too much time with a student.


    "Also, I was surprised that none of the teachers picked you to be their disciple, you would have been a great choice without a doubt."


    ''A great choice? Well, I guess,'' Aiden thought as he couldn''t help but find this conversation extremely ironic.


    He knew where this conversation was going as this was almost the second time that he was experimenting it.


    ''Though I have to admit that it''s weird¡­ choosing me for a second time when there are so many students. I guess I really am that special, huh?''


    Aiden smiled thinking about such a thing which confused the director immediately.


    "Why are you smiling?" The director asked as he thought that the student in front of him was currently making fun of him which wasn''t something that he would ept under any conditions.


    Aiden realized that it wasn''t really polite which is why he made that smile disappear instantly, looking back into the director''s eyes.


    "Oh, hm, sorry about that. I didn''t mean to." Aiden bowed his head. "Still, to answer your question, I have no idea how I got this power of mine¡­"


    David slowly nodded his head in a pensive way. ''Should I pressure him a little?''


    David knew that time was of the essence because Aiden was currently trying to flee the country, however, the student in front of him was incredibly interesting.


    "You have no idea at all?" David asked onest time as he knew that he would have to cut this conversation short.


    Aiden, or rather, Alek shook his head from left to right clearly indicating that he had no idea whatsoever.


    "Uh, alright then I''ll talk to youter, I''m currently busy with everything that''s happening in the Magic Academy. Still, I''ll try to keep an eye on you, young man."


    As David said that he stood up indicating to Aiden that he could leave the room without him as David would need to think about his next moves.


    He knew that he had some ideas about finding Aiden, but he needed to find the best one before actually acting.


    As Aiden was about to leave the room he gave onest nce at the director and bowed, excusing himself.


    ''He really looked lost, haha. This is fucking perfect!'' Aiden thought as he knew that there was literally no way for the director to find out who he was now.


    The only thing that Aiden had to do now was n how to kill him once again. This time, he wouldn''t be close to him and he would have to actually infiltrate his ce to the best of his abilities.


    He knew that it would be risky but it''s not like he would find any other opportunities.


    Still, he had no choice but to dismiss his thoughts when he saw the young girl in front of him sitting on the floor, balling her eyes out.


    ''She''s still here, didn''t she leave already?'' Aiden thought as he slowly got closer to her, sitting right beside her.


    As he did that, Evelynn slowly raised her head, wanting to know the person who was getting so close to her. When she saw that it was Alek she put her head back down as if not caring.


    ''Weird¡­''


    "Hey, uh, are you okay?" Aiden asked with a worried tone.


    He knew that he needed to act with a lot of carefulness as he didn''t want to say the wrong thing at the moment.


    However, even trying to sound like he was genuine, he didn''t get any answers from Evelynn which hurt him quite a bit. He knew that he was under someone''s else identity and that she had no idea who he was, but it still hurt.


    Aiden didn''t know what to do next as no matter how hard he tried to make her speak, she kept looking at the ground as if Aiden didn''t even exist in the first ce.


    "Hey, what happened in there?" Aiden asked onest time in hopes that she would respond to him.


    However, what happened next shocked him deeply.


    "WHY DO YOU CARE SO MUCH?! FUCKING LEAVE ME ALONE!"


    Evelynn had just imploded from the inside, she didn''t know why she was acting in such a way but in her mind. It just felt like the right thing to do, maybe it wasn''t but it was what she had decided to do.


    Aiden was a little scared as this shouting truly came out of nowhere, and he even wondered if the director wouldn''te out of his office because of it. However, it seemed that he wouldn''t as Aiden couldn''t hear anything from that room.


    ''He probably left already, he''s probably gone to search for me¡­''


    Aiden dismissed his thoughts about the director as he knew that he couldn''t leave Evelynn here without any help. She had defended him after all, and he would try to help her because of that.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    He put his arm around her shoulders bringing her closer to him.

 Chapter 359 - Why Aiden?

    "W-What are you doing?!" Evelynn said, reacting strongly to what Aiden had just done.


    Multiple scenarios popped up in her mind as she couldn''t help but have many thoughts about what would be happening next.


    "Can we leave, I need to tell you something¡­" Aiden said to Evelynn looking at her directly in her eyes.


    For some reason, as Evelynn looked back into Aiden''s gaze, she felt something withing her. It was like she knew that there was no reason to be scared of the man in front of her. She was convinced that he was here to help her, and she had guessed that from a simple gaze.


    Anyone who had ess to her thoughts would think that she was truly crazy, there was no doubt about that part.


    ''Why does his gaze look so much like one Aiden usually gave me?'' She thought as she couldn''t help but see many simrities. ''Maybe that''s why I feel like I can trust this man.''


    "Where do you want to go?" She asked as tried to wipe the tears off her face.


    Aiden hadn''t thought of where he wanted to go exactly, he just wanted to talk to her alone.


    "Can we go to your dorm? I just want to talk to you alone, is that alright?" Aiden asked as he didn''t want her to feel scared at all. He wanted her to feel secure and reassured over everything that Aiden was currently doing.


    Evelynn seemed to be thinking a little if it was a good idea and after a few seconds, she finally budged agreeing to his proposition.


    She had to admit that she was extremely curious about what Alek would be telling her, she had never met him in her entire life, so she was interested in seeing why he was insisting so much to talk to her.


    "Sure, we can go to my dorm though I don''t know if my roommate will be there. Well, whatever, let''s just go see if he is and we''ll figure it out from there," she said without any hesitation.


    For some reason, all the sadness that she had felt a couple of moments ago was getting reced by a little joy as she seemed to gain confidence in herself.


    ''Who cares about what that stupid director said¡­ there''s no way that Aiden would have done such a thing, he''s a good guy,'' Evelynn thought as she was currently leading Alek, or rather, Aiden to her dorm room.


    The reason why she had gotten such a strong reaction from the conversation with the director was in simple. She was told some things that she strongly believed were untrue.


    However, the fact that they were said by the director of the academy added some credit to his usations.


    Still, Evelynn believed in Aiden, he remembered what he had told her and she trusted him with all of her heart.


    ''There''s just no way that he killed that girl, I know he didn''t¡­ there''s no way that''s possible. He''s the one who saved me, after all.''


    Evelynn knew how much of a nice guy Aiden could be and she was convinced that he wouldn''t kill a girl for no reason whatsoever. He wasn''t the type to be doing such a thing.


    While Evelynn was having all those thoughts, Aiden was currently thinking about the situation and the fact that he had killed someone in quite some time.


    He had to admit that it felt great doing so after such a long time. He had killed a few monsters recently, but the adrenaline he felt when killing real people wouldn''t disappear anytime soon and he knew that it could considered somewhat of a bad thing.


    ''Wait, I did kill someone, right?'' Aiden thought as he realized something.


    His gloves, the ones that would get stronger as he killed people did something happen to them?


    Aiden wanted to check if there was something that changed, however, he couldn''t because he knew that showing that equipment to Evelynn would reveal his real identity. Even if he might be nning on revealing the fact that he wasn''t this Alek, but the real Aiden the one who had supposedly disappeared.


    ''Though I have to admit, I can''t wait to see the power that they awakened. It must be a great one, no doubt¡­'' Aiden thought as he remembered when he had received them.


    "We''re here!" Evelynn eximed as she opened the door of her room.


    It seemed like there was no sadness contained in her voice, as if all of her worries hadpletely disappeared for no reason.


    Aiden didn''tment on it, but he still found it extremely weird all things considered.


    The two of them entered shortly after the dorm room without much problem. They sat down facing one another and Evelynn was now waiting patiently for Aiden, or rather, Alek to tell her what he wanted to say.


    "So?" Evelynn asked as Aiden was stillpletely silent, probably thinking about some things that have no corrtion at all.


    "Right, sorry," Aiden muttered as his mind was currently using its full power.


    Aiden was currently having a debate on whether he should reveal his true appearance or not.


    The one thing, he needed to know was what she thought about Aiden now that she had a discussion with the director who had probably told her some things about him.


    "Actually before I tell you, can you tell me a little about your opinion regarding Aiden Nightshade?"


    ''Wow, it really feels weird talking about me from a third point of view¡­''


    Evelynn frowned when she heard that as it was the second time that she had been asked such a question which was honestly quite weird all things considered.


    "That question, again? Seriously¡­ why does everyone care about my opinion about him? Is it because I told everyone that I was almost his girlfriend or something?"n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    Evelynn was getting tired of hearing about Aiden over and over again as she had no idea where he even was. Sure, she cared about him but what would it change if she were to tell everyone that.

 Chapter 360 - Tell Me

    "Look I''ll tell you only one time, I don''t know anything about where he is or who he truly is. I''m sure that the director told you all about him and the problems that he was currently under, but if you were here to find answers then you came to the wrong ce."


    Evelynn thought that she had seen right through everything that was happening at the moment. She was sure that Alek had been sent by the director.


    Everything pointed toward it, after all, there was literally no other reason for Alek to ask the exact same question that the director had asked.


    ''Maybe that weirdo thought that I would tell him everything because he''s younger or whatever...'' Evelynn thought.


    It was clear that her opinion of the director had decreased at an extremely fast pace. He had told her so many things that made no sense that she had no choice but to doubt the director greatly.


    Aiden noticed that behavior which is why he decided to act on it right away.


    "And what about the director of the Magic Academy, is he a good person?"


    Aiden knew that she would be a lot more inclined to answer a question like this since it didn''t concern him at all, and he had also noticed that the admiration that she had for the director had been falling.


    "That fucker, of course, he''s not a good person," Evelynn said out of spite without realizing the extent of her words. "I''m sorry, it''s just that he said some things about me, and he''s just not the person that I thought he was..."


    "What things?" Aiden asked as he was still wondering about what happened between her and the director.


    He knew that it must have been rough for her since she came out crying like Aiden had never seen someone do. The tears just kept falling from her eyes again and again.


    In fact, because of how much she had cried earlier, there were marks of her tears all over her clothes and even her pants. If someone were to look at her, they would most likely think that she had pissed her pants.


    Still, Aiden would never mention that as there was way more important stuff to discuss.


    "You don''t need to know," Evelynn asked as it was clear that she didn''t want to say those things out loud once again.


    It was enough to have heard them once, she didn''t want to live that moment again as she knew that it would be extremely hard on her and her well-being.


    She had a smile on her face right now and she didn''t want to lose again.


    ''Well, I would like to know,'' Aiden thought as he couldn''t really say that out loud.


    He knew that there was an easy way to gain her confidence and that was to show his true face, but Aiden knew of the risks and he knew that trusting someone was double-edged since there were chances for that person to betray him even if that person wouldn''t mean too.


    After all, the fact that she would see him and know about his location would be extremely dangerous considering that Aiden had no idea of what she thought of him.


    Aiden knew that she trusted him somewhat, especially since they had shared a kiss. But that was it, they had simply kissed and spent a week together. It wasn''t like they had been destined to live their whole life with one another.


    "Hm, alright then... if I can''t know, then you can''t know too," Aiden mumbled as he made sure that Evelynn could barely hear him.


    He wanted to spike her curiosity and Aiden knew that this was one of the best methods that he could use at the moment.


    "What did you say?"


    ''And sheeee took the bait!'' Aiden celebrated in his mind.


    "Nothing, don''t worry about it."


    Evelynn insisted as she knew that there was something that she didn''t know about. "Tell me, if you tell me I''ll tell you what the director told me..."


    Aiden noticed how her eyes had gone to the left at the end of that sentence which was probably a sign of her lying.


    "Tell me first, I''ll tell you after don''t worry," Aiden replied as he knew that the content of his reveal would depend on what she would say.


    Evelynn was getting more and more frustrated as time passed.


    "Why do you want to know so much, it doesn''t even concern you dumbfuck. It concerns Aiden Nightshade, you know the guy that you''re trying to find information about."


    Aiden furrowed his brows as he was even more curious. He wanted to know what the director said about him, so Aiden wouldn''t be dropping this subject until he knew.


    "Tell me, what did he say about me, uh, about Aiden."n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    ''Fuck, let''s hope that she didn''t notice,'' Aiden thought as he had made a pretty big mistake.


    However, who could me him, he had been called Aiden his whole life, so it was quite hard to take over apletely new persona in a couple of hours, or rather, minutes. It was still a trial that Aiden would be trying to fulfill.


    Aiden noticed that there was no answer from Evelynn which is why he decided that he would be the one saying things at first.


    "Do you want to know why he called me in his office?" He asked.


    Evelynn looked at him, unsure of what to do next, ''Should I say yes, no... is it a trap, what''s happening?''


    "Sure, tell me. I can already guess that it was to stalk me..."


    Evelynn quickly decided as she was able to notice that it was the right choice in all of this there was no doubt about that part.


    "Actually, you''re wrong. It wasn''t to stalk you or get information from you, he was impressed by me, but wanna know the craziest thing?"


    Aiden smiled as he said that, he knew that Evelynn would be shocked.

 Chapter 361 - Information

    "What is it?" Evelynn asked as she noticed that Aiden was teasing her.


    Aiden kept the same smile on his face as he slowly opened his mouth, pronouncing every single word with great importance.


    "The crazy thing was that it wasn''t the first time that such a thing happened, it wasn''t the first time that he had called me strong or talented¡­"


    Aiden wanted to see the face that Evelynn would be making, however, for some reason she had no reaction as if notprehending what Aiden had just said.


    "W-What do you mean?" Evelynn finally asked as her brows furrowed.


    For some reason, she had been thinking deeply about what Aiden, or rather, Alek from her point of view was saying.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    "Well, I meant what I said, it wasn''t the first time that he called me strong or talented. In fact, it wasn''t even the first time that we met, well under this identity," Aiden said as he knew that this would tip her off.


    With this new information, she was pretty much assured of understanding everything that he had just said, and if she didn''t¡­ well, Aiden would have to real his identity and he couldn''t take that risk.


    He had already shown her some hints but it was hers to pick up you know.


    "Under this identity? What do you mean?" She asked, wondering what that meant.


    "You figure it out¡­" Aiden dismissed as he changed the subject right away. "What about you? What did the director tell you?"


    However, Evelynn didn''t respond right away as she seemed to be thinking heavily about all those things that Aiden had just told her.


    ''Identity? Does this mean he goes around with new faces and such?'' She thought, knowing that it didn''t make any sense that such a thing would happen.


    ''The only person that could do such a thing was Aiden, but I mean Aiden left the city I''m pretty sure. At least, that''s what the director had told her.''


    Evelynn tried to make as much sense as possible but it was really hard. Still, she knew that she could ask some questions and she wouldn''t miss such a thing.


    ''He also said that he wasplimented by the director in the past, and the only person who wasplimented by the director was Aiden. There were no others like ever¡­'' Aiden thought, unsure how this was even a thing.


    Evelynn was slowly realizing that some things were pointing in the same direction and that person in front of her whoever that was had done it on purpose.


    As she was about to say something, Aiden cut her off, "Hello? Are you here?"


    Evelynn jumped up because of how scared she got, looking right in front of her, "Right, sorry about that. Just thinking¡­"


    Aiden nodded in understanding as he knew that he had revealed some pretty interesting things.


    "Still, I got a question," Evelynn said.


    Aiden looked at her with a smile as he could already guess what she would say next, but even if her guess was right, he wouldn''t validate it or deny it.


    "A-Are you Aiden? The one who made that potion with me thisst week."


    Aiden looked at her and raised his shoulders as if saying that he had no idea, "Who knows? Maybe, maybe not, you decide¡­"


    Right as Evelynn was about to say something else, Aiden cut her off once again.


    "So, what are the things that the director told you, can you finally answer me instead of changing the subject over and over again¡­"


    Aiden was starting to get annoyed by the fact that he was the only one revealing any sort of information and he wanted her to say something to say something too that was the whole point of this conversation, after all.


    Aiden wanted some information about what the director was saying about him and that wasn''t the case at the moment, she was the one having all the information and Aiden was having nothing in return.


    ''Should I tell him¡­ after all there''s a good chance that he''s Aiden,'' Evelynn thought as she had to admit that she was reassured that Aiden was in front of her instead of running away from the director.


    "I guess I can tell you since you did say those things to me," Evelynn muttered as she knew that if it really was Aiden in front of her then he would be getting truly mad over this whole matter there was not a single doubt in her mind about that part.


    "You see he told me many things which caused me to cry, he called me a whore¡­ someone who was dating a killer, he told me that I didn''t have the slightest brain¡­"


    Find adventures on empire


    Aiden frowned when he heard this, "He told you that you were a whore? How? Why? What the hell is his problem?!"


    Aiden started to get furious over the matter as he knew that those things were also aimed at him by the same asion.


    "Well, you know dating someone like Aiden who is now supposedly a killer, he told me that anyone could charm me or whatever. He didn''t say it like that exactly, but you get my point, he insulted my rtionship with Aiden heavily¡­"


    "I see, I see¡­" Aiden uttered, furious, clearly thinking of some things.


    Still, he knew that the fact that he had called her those things could wait, as what Aiden really wanted to know was the knowledge that David had on Aiden on his disappearance.


    "What about Aiden¡­ does he know where he left?"


    Evelynn picked up on that and little by little she was sure that the person in front of her was Aiden after all.


    It simply made sense from everything that she had heard from him since the beginning of the conversation.


    "He doesn''t, he told me that he had probably left the city after killing Garestsa. Though, I have to admit that I can''t be sure as to why he would kill that girl, or even if he really killed her in the first ce."

 Chapter 362 - A Memorable Kiss

    Aiden nodded hearing that answer from Evelynn, it made sense for David to have close to no idea where he was. And it was normal that he didn''t have any information about him since Aiden had never told him any like ever¡­


    "So, he doesn''t know anything, right?" Aiden asked Evelynn onest time to make sure.


    "Well, he isn''t sure about anything that''s why he asked to see me, wondering if I had any information to give him, though when I told him I didn''t that''s when he started to insult me over and over again."


    Aiden nodded as it was time to end this discussion, he needed to n the rest of his n considering the assassination of the director.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    "Alright, well thanks for telling me, I guess I don''t have anything else to tell you¡­" Aiden said as he slowly turned away from her and started walking to the door.


    As he was about to cross the door Aiden felt a hand grabbing one of his shoulders, forcing him to turn back and look at Evelynn onest time.


    She looked at him with puppy eyes as she said, "So, you''re really not going to admit it, huh?"


    Aiden looked at her confused as he noticed that she was getting closer and closer to the base of his neck, it seemed that she slowly getting closer trying to get a kiss once again.


    ''It seems she''s convinced it''s me, huh?'' Aiden thought as he knew that there was no way that he could confirm it.


    Though looking at her from above, Aiden had to admit that she was really cute at the moment which was somethingpletely different from when Aiden had first met her.


    He remembered her personality and how mean she had been with him, treating him as less than nothing. But looking back at it now, she really had changed a lot at least toward him.


    Aiden had no idea if her personality overall had changed but between the two of them, it did.


    After all, so many things happened between the two of them, Aiden saved her so many times, and then she was tortured by Anna who gave her a potion that restricted her mana forever.


    ''Still, there''s no way for me to make sure that she won''t betray me, what if this is all but an act?'' Aiden thought as he knew that she could potentially tell her findings to the director.


    However, he had seen how angry she had been when talking about him so he knew that the odds of such a thing happening were extremely low, so low that it was practically impossible for such a thing to happen.


    "Look, I don''t know what you''re talking about," Aiden said as he turned his head, not wanting to be looked at in such a way anymore.


    Even if Aiden was known to be quite indifferent to women, being looked at with such eyes was difficult even for him.


    But then as he was about to leave, he felt more strength on one of his shoulders. It seemed like she really didn''t want him to leave this ce, she wanted him to stay and spend time with her.


    Your journey continues on empire


    "I know it''s you, Aiden. Stop acting like it''s not," Evelynn added when she noticed that Aiden was deadset on not admitting it and hiding the truth.


    This time, Evelynn was getting tired of chasing his attention which is why she brought her face right in front of him and forced a kiss out of him. She wanted to know if it would feel the same.


    She knew the feeling of his lips and how they felt like, from the way he moved his tongue to the way he grabbed her ass. Everything about the person in front of her needed to reflect what she had once experienced.


    Both Aiden and Evelynn were now locking lips and Aiden was at first extremely surprised as he didn''t do anything back, he didn''t want to kiss her back, he didn''t want to prove her point.


    He wanted to keep a shroud of mystery around him, but as he felt Evelynn''s voluptuous body against his he had no choice but to concede defeat.


    Feeling all of her body, from her tits all the way to her ass. Aiden was extremely happy, he had to admit that it was a really nice feeling, to have a girl in his arms. It was a feeling that he wanted to experience over and over again.


    The two of them stopped for one moment as they looked into each other''s eyes.


    "What are you doing?" Aiden asked as if unhappy with everything that had just happened.


    Evelynn looked into those beautiful red eyes of his, and she didn''t say anything simply staring.


    "Why did you do this?" Aiden asked as he noticed that he hadn''t gotten any answer.


    Evelynn smiled when she heard this, "Why are still holding me? Don''t want to let me go?"


    She had no choice but to giggle when she said that as Aiden immediately dropped her and let her go.


    "You see, I wanted to verify something and I just did, so I''m happy¡­"


    Evelynn was now sure that the person in front of her was Aiden as he had acted the exact same way when they hadst kissed. She wouldn''t be confusing those lips with anyone else.


    Aiden nodded as he didn''t want her to say it out loud, but he saw it in her eyes¡­ She knew that it was him, she had probably felt it from within her.


    "Now, if you''ll excuse me, I have things to do¡­" Aiden muttered as he suddenly had a lot of things to prepare.


    However, once again as he was about to leave he heard the voice of Evelynn from right behind him.


    "Was it true?" She asked.


    "What was true?" Aiden replied.


    "What the director said about you, were you really the one who killed that girl?"


    Aiden wasn''t sure of what answer he would be giving her as he started thinking, he knew that by telling the truth he would as a result use her as an ally and tell her some of his ns.

 Chapter 363 - Trust

    Aiden looked back oncest time as he sighed, he wasn''t sure what to respond at the moment.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    On one hand, by telling her that he was the one who had killed her and was the murderer, she could have two sorts of reaction: The first one being that she doesn''t mind and isn''t that shocked, and the second being that she would run into the director''s arms to tell him all about it.


    Aiden obviously didn''t want the second situation to happen as it would be quite a bad thing since it would ruin his attempt at killing the director and on the same asion finishing this trial once and for all.


    ''It''s not like I can go back to the Nova now after everything that happened¡­ They restricted the use of the [Return Stone] after all.''


    Aiden wasn''t sure, he thought and he thought about a way to make this question go away from her mind. However, even if he were to ignore her then the answer would also be given.


    It would be clear that it was true and that he had truly killed someone.


    Instead of lying or acting like it wasn''t true which could result in Aiden being caught, he decided to do something else entirely. He would be ying with her emotions. Aiden would be pulling on certain emotions to make sure that she wouldn''t reveal what he did to anyone.


    He had never done something like this in the past as he usually wouldn''t care about emotions in general. But there was a first for everything, right?


    "Do you remember what I said thest time we kissed?" Aiden asked.


    He knew that this would blow his cover and reveal that he really was Aiden, but he had no choice if he wanted this to work.


    ''Also she already knows, or she wouldn''t have asked that question in the first ce,'' Aiden thought as he knew that it was no use to hide his identity after everything that had been said and done between the two.


    "I do remember, you told me that I shouldn''t believe everything that I heard," Evelynn with a smile as she was now 100% sure that the person in front of her was Aiden.


    He had tried to deny it but it was finally confirmed and she was happy as a result. Discover exclusive tales on empire


    "So, what do you think? Should you trust what the director said?" Aiden asked.


    Evelynn frowned, but still she knew what he meant; he didn''t do it and that''s what he was trying to tell her. However, even from her point of view she had to admit that it was hard to believe, especially after she had seen some of the anger in the eyes of the director when talking about him.


    "You really do it? Can you promise?"


    Aiden looked at her and sighed, he knew that it wasn''t a good thing to lie to her at the moment which is why he decided to keep his answers as vague as possible he wanted her to be the one judging.


    "Well, I can''t tell you, but you shouldn''t trust what everyone says, there''s always another side to a story¡­ Maybe I killed that girl, maybe I didn''t, but remember that there must have been a reason for the actions that I took."


    Aiden was trying to make her understand that it wasn''t his choice that he had killed her, it wasn''t he who had decided to kill her.


    ''Actually, maybe it was, but at the beginning it wasn''t, it was just because of what she did after all. So, can it really even be put on me?''


    Aiden dismissed those useless thoughts out of his mind as he concentrated back on the conversation at hand. He heard Evelynn''s voice and he wanted to hear what she had to say to him.


    "I see, so you won''t tell me, huh? Why? Is it because you don''t trust me?"


    Aiden preferred to keep his mouth shut this time as he knew that only problems would arise from such a situation and he didn''t want such a thing to happen.


    "You know sometimes silence is an answer," she replied as she was now convinced that Aiden didn''t trust her.


    Aiden noticed the change of look in her eyes as she was hurt that Aiden didn''t trust her after everything that happened between the two of them recently.


    "It''s not like that¡­ It''s not that I don''t believe you or something remotely close to that. It''s just that¡­ I don''t know if things could go wrong if I told you and I don''t want to take that risk, it could put you in danger," Aiden said as he was trying to convince her that it wasn''t a good idea to tell her.


    However, contrary to his expectations, she didn''t back down as she kept looking at him straight in the eyes.


    "Just tell me, I don''t care if it''s dangerous, I just want to know the truth."


    Aiden looked at her and he knew about the risks of telling her, but he wasn''t sure if it was a good idea. What if she started hating him out of nowhere?


    "Why do you want to know so much?" Aiden asked as he needed help to figure out what decision he would need to take.


    Evelynn smiled when she heard that question as she had a good answer in mind, "It''s simple, I just want to stay with you and help you, especially if that son of a bitch of a director is trying to kill you or whatever."


    Evelynn knew that was the main reason why Aiden was hesitant. Aiden knew that the director might go after her and she had to admit that she was touched.


    However, what Evelynn didn''t know was how wrong she was. Sure, Aiden cared about her and all but that wasn''t the reason why he didn''t want to tell her. The real reason was that she was a liability to his assassination.


    "Hm, right still I don''t think it''s a good idea, sorry," Aiden said.


    He looked into the eyes of Evelynn and he knew that it was hurting her.


    "I just can''t, sorry¡­"


    Evelynn didn''t want this to end there. She knew that she had to do something to change his mind whatever that was.


    And her next option was simple, threaten him¡­


    The Novel will be updated first on this website. Come back and


    continue reading tomorrow, everyone!

 Chapter 364 - Slave Contract

    "If you can''t then I''ll just go and tell the director everything that you just told me, he''ll know where to find you," she said looking at him without the slightest remorse in her eyes. "Is that what you want?"


    She was acting cruel or stupid, it wasn''t clear, but Aiden knew that she was acting this way because she wanted attention in some way.


    ''I don''t think she''s going to do it, but still, I can''t take any chances,'' Aiden thought as he was currently thinking about how he could be dealing with her.


    "Well, if you do that¡­" Aiden muttered as he got closer to her, finally bringing out that dagger. "I''ll have to kill you just like I killed Garestsa."


    Those words sent shivers down Garestsa''s spine because she had never thought that Aiden would be talking to her like this.


    "I-I''m joking, just tell me¡­ please," Evelynn said as she started begging. "I just want to help, believe me!"


    She was starting to lose hope as Aiden was making it clearer by the minute that such a thing wouldn''t be possible, it was simply impossible for him to trust her to the fullest of her abilities.


    Sure, he had told her that it wasn''t because of trust but both Aiden and Evelynn knew deep down that it was rted to it.


    Aiden knew that she was sincere, but there was still this chance of her betraying him and he knew that he couldn''t go through another scene like this where someone close to him would betray him. It had happened to him a couple of times already and it really was hard to go through such a thing.


    "What can I do to prove it to you!" She shouted as she kneeled down. She was telling the truth but it seemed that it wasn''t enough for Aiden as he kept ignoring her, not even saying a single word to her.


    It hurt.


    Being ignored is something that could hurt someone deeply and that was the exact thing that was happening.


    "If you can find a spell that would make it impossible for you to betray then I would ept to tell you about what I will do next, if you can''t then there''s no way of that happening¡­" Aiden said as he slowly looked down, knowing his words hurt. "I''m sorry."


    Evelynn looked at him and those red eyes of his, and started thinking as fast as she could about a solution.


    ''Something that can make it impossible for me to betray him, was there an artifact that can make such a thing possible?'' She thought.


    She knew that it wasn''t amon thing, however, she immediately thought of something. However, there was one small problem she wasn''t sure if she wanted to use the solution that she had found.


    It was quite the cruel one all things considered.


    "T-There is something that we could use¡­" She muttered clearly showing how hesitant she was over revealing it.


    Aiden didn''t want to pressure her, but he knew that he needed to move on with his assassination, "What is it?"


    He noticed that she was dragging this whole thing on and on, so he would be getting answers at a much faster rate from now on.


    "A ve Contract, that would be the only thing that could make me unable to betray you¡­" She muttered as she knew that it would be a big deal to sign such a thing.


    However, Aiden was interested when he heard those words as the name of it was kind of telling, she would be his ve.


    It wasn''t something that he particrly appreciated, but if it would make him reassured. He would do it, there was not a single doubt in his mind.


    "What does it do?" Aiden asked, right away, clearly intrigued by this artifact that she had mentioned.


    Evelynn looked away from him unsure if she wanted to tell him, the item that she had just suggested would have some pretty big effects after all.


    Still, she knew that it was the only way for her to continue working with him on something which is why she epted in taking the risk.


    "It binds me to you, making me unable to refuse an ordering from you. As a result, it makes me unable to betray. Those contracts are usually used on ves which is where this namees from."


    Aiden nodded at this information as he had to admit that it made a lot of sense. Hearing the exnation of the item, Aiden had no problem in using it and he knew that she was probably worried about certain things regarding it.


    "Look, you don''t need to worry about me telling you stuff that you don''t to do. I will never force anyone in such a way, if you don''t want to do something or stay just tell me."


    Evelynn nodded as it was reassuring to hear Aiden speak in such a manner. Still, words were just words, there was no way to tell how he would act in the future.


    "Is there a way for this contract to be canceled?" Aiden asked as he didn''t want to keep her as a ve for his entire life, just for the time that he would take care of the director.


    "There is, both parties need to agree though. I won''t be able to break if that''s what you''re worried about."


    "And where can I find them?" Aiden asked as this was the most important question.


    Evelynn quickly answered as she knew that Aiden wouldn''t back down from this, he would be using this on her. Still, she couldn''t help but ask onest time.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    "Are you sure that you can''t trust without it? Wouldn''t it be fine either way?"


    Aiden sighed, he knew that it was something that was hard on her, but he didn''t see any other solutions at the moment.


    "I can''t, so just tell me where I can find one and I''ll go get it," Aiden asked.


    "Just follow me, I''ll show you, it''s in the city nearby."


    Aiden nodded and started following her as he couldn''t help but wonder where that little pet of hers had gone off to.

 Chapter 365 - Monocle

    Aiden and Evelynn were now walking out of the academy, and they noticed that there wasn''t the slightest student outside anymore. It seemed like the area from earlier had been cleaned up and Aiden appreciated such a thing.


    "So where is that shop that you talked about earlier?" Aiden asked as he kept following her, wondering where she was bringing him, at the moment.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    There were obviously some ideas entering his mind about where he could find such contracts, however, he would simply wait and see.


    "Well, it''s not really a shop, but you''ll understand soon enough," Evelynn said as she kept forward at a slow pace, it seemed that she was walking slowly on purpose for some reason.


    Aiden knew that she was probably scared of using such a contract on herself. However, Aiden wouldn''t abuse it, he wouldn''t ask anything out of her, he simply wasn''t that type of person.


    "Don''t worry, I already told you. This is just to reassure myself, there''s no need to feel so stressed about it, trust me."


    Evelynn couldn''t help but find this whole sentence quite ironic. She was supposed to trust him, but he couldn''t trust her¡­ double standards.


    "Whatever, I''m not worried, continue walking."


    Aiden rolled his eyes as he could clearly see that she was affected. However, it was clear that she really wanted to know about what he would be doing next.


    She knew that there were good chances that it would be dangerous, and she had decided that she would be helping him to the fullest of her abilities. That''s what girlfriends did, after all, support their boyfriends.


    ''I have no idea if we are one boyfriend and girlfriend, though,'' she thought, knowing that she wouldn''t get the answer to that question any time soon.


    A few momentster, both Evelynn and Aiden kept walking toward who knows where. Evelynn stopped in the middle of the street before taking a sharp turn to her left.


    "It''s right there," she pointed in front of her.


    She had just pointed at what seemed to be an abandoned building. However, Aiden still trusted that she wouldn''t be lying to her about the ve Contracts since she was the one who had proposed them in the first ce.


    "Are you sure that you need me to take one of those contracts¡­ Can''t you see that I''m really trying to help you?"


    Aiden, however, didn''t budge as he knew that it was safer this way. He knew that he couldn''t ept something going wrong this time. He would be even more prepared, that was the solution that he had found.


    "Yes, now let''s go," Aiden muttered as he was the one taking the reigns this time.


    Evelynn looked at him as being so motivated and frowned. She knew that it would help him tell her the truth, but there was no reason for him to be so motivated about this whole thing.


    ''Though, maybe I should warn him about what he''ll find inside,'' Evelynn thought as she knew that he wasn''t from around here and that he had never seen the inside of a ve''s shop. At least, she thought that he had never seen such a thing before, she could be wrong.


    However, she decided against it as she wanted to see the face that he would make when entering that shop.


    Contrary to her expectations, Aiden wasn''t focused on the shop at the moment as he kept thinking about that item, the ve Contract.


    The more Aiden thought about it, there more he thought that it would be the perfect item for Ava to use with him. That way there would be no way of Ava breaking the deal that she had made with Aiden a couple of months ago.


    ''It would be perfect actually, there''s no doubt about that,'' Aiden thought. ''I''ll take two that way it''ll be simpler for me. I won''t need toe back here.''


    Aiden knew that he couldn''t trust the words of someone so easily and this item literally solved this whole thing for him. It was perfect!


    Still, he had no choice but to push those thoughts to the back of his mind because he was about to enter the building that was right in front of him.


    It looked abandoned, but Aiden could still see some lights inside it which is why he didn''t hesitate to enter inside that building.


    Before entering, he made sure to nce behind him, making sure that Evelynn was still following him. And there was one thing that made him a little worried and it was the fact that she had a little cheeky smile on her face.


    For some reason, it seemed like she was preparing herself to make fun of him. Aiden didn''t understand and didn''t bother to understand as he pushed the door in front of him, entering the building where he would supposedly find a ve contract.


    Shortly after, Evelynn followed him as she made sure to look at his facial expression as she knew that she would be in for a wild ride.


    Right as Aiden crossed the door, he looked at his surroundings and he was shocked.


    ''Just what the hell is this ce?'' Aiden thought as everywhere he looked he could see cages with actual human beings caged inside them.


    Under the shock of this view, Aiden looked behind him and whispered to Evelynn''s ear, "Just where did you bring me, is this really the only ce where they sell ve Contracts?"


    Usually, Aiden wouldn''t be acting shocked as he had, most of the time, seen worse in his past life. However, this time it was different, he had never seen so many humans in the same room barely hanging onto life.


    Also, the thing was that there weren''t only adults in that room, there were kids¡­ really young kids.


    Then, as Aiden was about to walk a little bit further, someone appeared in front of him. A short man with what seemed to be a monocle.


    Aiden only looked briefly at him and he knew... He knew that this short person was crazy.

 Chapter 366 - Goblin

    "What can I do for you, young sir?" The short person asked.


    Aiden looked at him and tried to guess if he was a dwarf or not, but the more he looked at that man, the more he had to admit that he had no idea.


    ''Well, he has the height of a dwarf, but he doesn''t have the other characteristics,'' Aiden thought as hepared the person in front of him to the dwarf he had met in the past.


    He just wasn''t sure, but if he had to give an answer, he''d say that the person in front of him wasn''t a dwarf, that would be his final guess after taking into ount everything.


    "Oh, I see that you came with merchandise," the weird-looking person said as he started approaching Evelynn who wasn''t too far from him.


    Aiden frowned instantly and got in the middle of the two, "She ain''t merchandise, she''s here to apany me."


    Aiden had to admit that he couldn''t help but feel a little bit of pity for all those who were in cages. For some reason, he felt bad about them which wasn''t something that would have happened in the past like¡­ ever.


    ''I don''t know, but my emotions just make me take weird decisions, it''s annoying,'' Aiden thought.


    He was getting tired of making mistakes because of those as he knew that it was most likely their fault that he was performing in such a way.


    "Oh, she isn''t¡­ well, I''m sorry though she would have been a great addition, keke."


    Aiden couldn''t help but be disgusted by thatugh, just what type of person was in front of him. Aiden couldn''t contain his questions as he decided to ask them.


    "Hey, uh¡­ what are you? Are you a dwarf? A monster? A human? Like what is it," Aiden asked as he wanted to know.


    He had to admit that theugh that this person had just made was close to those that monsters would do which is why he asked if he was a monster, or a type of a monster.


    "Oh, you don''t know? Just where are you from, haha?" The person answered, seemingly surprised that Aiden had never seen someone that looked like him.


    Though, the merchant didn''t seem to care as he answered him without thinking.


    "Well, I thought it was obvious but I guess it isn''t. It''s simple really, I''m a goblin."


    The goblin made sure to look at the face of Aiden before continuing as he wanted to see if he was going to get weirded out or something simr to that.


    However, none of that urred, as Aiden kept a straight face seemingly having no reaction to the news, at least, physically.


    "Oh, disappointing, I thought that you would have been all shocked," the goblin said.


    ''A goblin? That''s a goblin?'' Aiden thought as he looked at the short person in front of him.


    Aiden was confused for many reasons, the first one was that the goblin in front of her didn''t look ugly or even close to what he had imagined.


    ''Always thought they would be green, seems like it was all a lie,'' Aiden thought, a little disappointed about all of this.


    He thought that he would have recognized a goblin in the blink of an eye but it seemed that it wasn''t the case at all.


    "Well, I am, I''m just not showing it." Aiden smiled.


    The goblin dismissed his worries as he decided to finally ask the same question as earlier once again, "So what can I do for you, young sir?"


    They had been distracted by Evelynn who was now hiding behind Aiden, scared of that goblin. She was scared that it would be doing something to her which wasn''t something that would ept at all.


    Aiden had noticed how creepy and how degenerate the person in front of him was, and he would make sure that nothing would be happening to her.


    "We''re here to get two ve Contracts," Aiden said, nonchntly.


    ''Two?'' She thought, unsure why he would need two of them when she was alone.


    The goblin seemed to understand what would be happening as he had quite a creepy smile on his face, looking at Aiden as if he was proud of his actions.


    "I see, what''s happening, she''s going to be yours¡­ Sorry about earlier, I didn''t know."


    Aiden was surprised that the goblin was apologizing, but the reason why he had done so was quite weird. It seemed that the goblin right there in front of them was weird, really weird.


    "Well, no matter, I''ll go get that for you," the goblin said as he slowly walked into the darkness that was surrounding them.


    Aiden couldn''t help but wonder how he was able to navigate inside this darkness. He had to admit that he was impressed that a dwarf could see through. Aiden could also see through the darkness but that was only because of his skill.


    He didn''t know what sort of skill the dwarf had developed, but it must have been a good one.


    "Here''s the ve contract, how are you going to pay for it?" The goblin asked as he smiled.


    That was the part that he liked the most, receiving money.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    Aiden looked toward Evelynn who was right behind him as she approached and paid for it. Aiden would have paid for it but he had no money whatsoever.


    A momentter, Evelynn had the ve Contract in her hands and she exited the shop with Aiden. She had a worried look on her face as she knew that it really was going to happen.


    She was going to be the ve of someone, and the only way for her to be free again was for Aiden to be nice enough to let her go.


    "Hey, don''t look so sad. Don''t worry, I will never do anything to you, and if at any given time you want this to stop, then just tell me. I will cancel everything, that is after I''m done with my task¡­"


    "Ah! Enough about that, so how does it work?" Aiden said as Evelynn handed him one of the small piece of paper that they had received.

 Chapter 367 - It Worked, huh?

    Evelynn shortly looked at him and she was about to open her mouth and ask him if this was really necessary, but she already knew the answer to that.


    She had heard his answer many times, it was impossible for him to trust her for some reason. Aiden had no idea why, but that was simply how it was working at the moment.


    ''Let''s just hope that he doesn''t do anything weird to me,'' she thought a little worried that he would use this opportunity to use her as he saw fit.


    "Wait give it to me, I''ll exin it better that way," Evelynn asked as Aiden handed the ve Contract to her.


    He had no idea how to activate such a weird-looking piece of paper, but Aiden knew one thing, it was a special one, and he could tell from its appearance.


    It was sort of glowing as if some energy was contained inside it. Aiden had its guesses and he was sure that mana was giving this effect to that paper.


    As Evelynn grabbed the ve Contract, she looked at Aiden with a worried look, showing that she wasn''tfortable in the least. However, she understood that he didn''t care when he didn''t say anything to her¡­ It was now time for her to exin what it was.


    "Basically, it''s simple, to activate it you simply ce your hand on it and infuse your mana into it. You''ll need to hand the piece of paper to the ve after doing that and it will activate."


    Aiden listened and couldn''t help but be confused. From what she had exined this small piece of paper could do much more than simply be used on a ve.


    ''Couldn''t you just force anyone to be your ve?'' Aiden thought that the owner would simply have to hand it over to the ve and nothing would happen, basically he was forced to be one.


    But couldn''t he do that to anyone that he wanted, the director could even be a possibility.


    "I''m not sure, I''m understanding this correctly. I just infused my mana in this and I hand it to you?"


    Evelynn looked at him with a confused look in her eyes as if he had understood everything correctly from start to finish.


    "Well, actually that''s what I heard, I never used one before, so I might be wrong about all this," Evelynn admitted as she knew that the method seemed a little simple.


    ''There has to be a mistake here because this simply makes no sense whatsoever,'' Aiden thought as he decided that he would be going back inside the ve Shop.


    He wanted to know the method since there were good chances that he would be using it on Ava in the future. That''s why he wanted to make sure that everything would be working well.


    "We can try your way and if it fails, let''s just go see that goblin again," Aiden replied as he really didn''t want to see him again. However, if there were no choices then he would go see him.


    Evelynn nodded as she gave him the contract back. She knew that it would mean that she would lose her freedom, but it wasn''t like she could do much at the moment, she was manaless and the only person that was currently cared about was in front of her.


    Aiden was the only person that tried to care for and she would try to do the same by helping him.


    ''Still, to help him. I''ll need to find a way to get my mana back, I''ll try to go and see Anna when he''s busy,'' Evelynn thought as she knew that Aiden would try to be as far away as possible from Anna.


    She would be making a lot of effort since she had been traumatized by Anna, she remembered being tied to a wall, and it wasn''t something that Aiden particrly liked as he had exploded grabbing Anna''s wrists and questioning her about it.


    As she was thinking about all this, Aiden took hold of the contract and guided his mana inside it.


    Right as he did that, a blue light started emitting from the contract as it lit up the surroundings at an incredible pace.


    "Uh¡­ is that normal?" Aiden asked as he didn''t think that it would cause such a thing to happen.


    As the deep blue light covered the surroundings, Evelynn was worried not knowing what would happen. She had never used something like this in the past and she was simply believing what others had told her.


    Aiden handed her the contract shortly after, not knowing what would happen.


    As soon as Evelynn touched the contract, the light disappeared and the glow that came from the paper disappeared.


    "Did it work?" Aiden questioned, having no idea if it failed or seeded.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    From the looks of it, there were good chances that it had seeded since the contract''s effect seemed to be gone for good.


    "I don''t know, maybe¡­ let''s test it," Evelynn said as she waited for Aiden to give her an order.


    ''I should give her an order that she would never do,'' Aiden thought as he had no idea what to say.


    "Uh¡­ I don''t know what to ask you, isn''t there another way to do those things?" Aiden asked as there were no ideas that wereing to his mind at the moment.


    He thought about it a little, and there was still nothing. However, that''s when Evelynn intervened and told him that giving her orders wasn''t necessary as there was a much better method.


    Evelynn walked up to Aiden and she clenched her fist as she tried to hit his right cheek. Her fist was approaching its target at a fast pace and it seemed that nothing would be able to stop it. But, as it got a few centimeters away from Aiden''s face, some sort of blue forcefield appearedpletely stopping the strike in its tracks.


    Evelynn looked at Aiden and told him, "I guess we can say that it worked, huh?"

 Chapter 368 - A New Plan

    Aiden and Evelynn were now going back toward her dorm room. As they started walking, Evelynn started asking Aiden some questions about the situation that he was in.


    "So, what was it that you didn''t want to tell me?" Evelynn asked as she knew that she would be able to get the answer now.


    Sure, she hadn''t appreciated using that contract, but she sure as hell hoped that it would be worth it. It better be something that Aiden couldn''t tell anyone. If it wasn''t, she didn''t know what she would do¡­ She had just epted in taking a fucking ve Contract, if that didn''t prove how much importance she was giving him, she didn''t know what to do.


    Aiden heard her question and got closer to her as he was about to reveal his goal.


    "It''s to kill the director¡­"


    Aiden then slowly backed away from her as he was quite interested in seeing the reactions that she would make. However, there was nothing, she was frozen, and she didn''t walk forward anymore.


    ''Seems like it wasn''t what she expected,'' Aiden thought as he knew that it must be quite surprising that he wanted to kill one of the strongest people in this world.


    "W-What did you say?" She whispered back to him as she simply couldn''t believe what she had just heard.


    "I want, no¡­ I need to kill the director, my life depends on it."


    Evelynn''s eyes widened as she had truly thought that what she had heard at first had been a huge mistake, but it seemed that it wasn''t the case at all.


    "Y-You''re serious, right? You''re not lying to me?"


    Aiden looked at her and he made sure to look as serious as possible.


    "I am."


    "I''m sure you understand why I didn''t tell you before, right?" Aiden said as he expected


    Evelynn to agree with him, and that was exactly what happened.


    Evelynn agreed wholeheartedly with him. Everything that he had just said made a lot of sense and she agreed with him.


    "Right¡­ I get it, it''s a huge thing. But why? Why do you need to kill him? He''s the strongest mage there is, for fuck sake," Evelynn said as she couldn''t help but raise her voice.


    Aiden tried to put his hand on her mouth before she continued talking, but, atst, it was toote. Many people started looking at them wondering what was happening between the two of them, who were they even talking about?


    Still, they were strangers which is why they didn''t approach them, keeping their distance.


    "So, uh¡­ the potion was it for the director. Did you prepare it to use on the director, so that you could kill him?" Evelynn asked in a quiet tone, her mouth close to one of Aiden''s ears.


    She had understood that no one could hear their conversation which is why she acted that way.


    "It was. Though, someplications happened because of that," Aiden said as he looked at her from top to bottom, indicating that he was talking about her.


    Evelynn didn''t say anything because she knew that she had suffered because of his actions. However, there was something else that was in Evelynn''s thoughts. How did his n fail if he had a potion that could restrict mana forever?


    Couldn''t he just slide it in one of his drinks and then David would have been done, unable to do anything?


    Aiden nodded and started exining it to her, however, he didn''t spend too much time doing that. He had something that he really wanted to know and it was about her pet, or rather, the monster that would follow her around every step of the way.


    Just where did it go?


    It certainly wasn''t next to her anymore, so just where did it go?


    Aiden knew that the monster was special and he thought that it would be a great ally for the fight against the director. He knew that there were some abilities that were hidden from him that could potentially turn the tide in an uing battle.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    "Oh, and before I forget, just what happened to your pet? Did it leave or what?"


    Evelynn seemed sad when she heard Aiden speak about this subject.


    "It happened the day the rm resounded¡­ I woke up and he was gone,pletely leaving me alone and abandoning me," Evelynn said as Aiden could slowly see tears forming in the corners of her eyes.


    It was clear that this pet or monster truly meant something in her heart, it was a monster that meant a lot to her at a fundamental level.


    "So, you have no idea what happened or where he left to, right?" Aiden asked, annoyed by the fact that there would probably be absolutely no way of finding that monster.


    ''They probably sent him back to that world when they noticed that I was going to ept their fucking offer,'' Aiden thought as he was getting frustrated over the matter.


    It was really annoying as they were trying to remove some of the resources that he would have ess to.


    "Well, if he isn''t here anymore, can you do something?" Aiden asked as he remembered that pretty much all of her strength came from that monster.


    Maybe it was a question that could be interpreted as rude and mean, but Aiden meant it. He didn''t want to be stuck with someone who wouldn''t be able to do anything at all. That wasn''t what he was aiming for at the moment.


    "O-Of course, I can. I just need to get my mana back," Evelynn said as she felt that Aiden would probably ask her to sit this one out as it would be way too dangerous for her.


    ''I guess I can ask her to do some tasks to help me, but nothing more nothing less.''


    But then remembered something, the director thought that Aiden was in a rtionship which meant that Aiden would be able to make use of such a thing.


    ''Wait, this is actually perfect¡­''


    A new n appeared in Aiden''s head and this time he would make sure that everything would work, he would leave nothing to chance or someone else. It would solely depend on him, and he would make sure that it worked.

 Chapter 369 - Conversation

    Hours went by and Aiden made sure to exin everything to Evelynn because she was the key to this n of his. He had thought of a role for her and it would make sure that everything would be perfect.


    Aiden was currently in a dark area with nothing around him, well except darkness, waiting patiently while Evelynn was gone. As for where Evelynn was?


    Well, that was simple. She was with the director telling him some things. The whole n would depend on this, Evelynn needed to make sure that her lies would be great and believable.


    The n wasplex, however, if everything went ording to the n. Then, there was no way that this assassination wouldn''t work.


    There was a good chance that Aiden would seed and then he would finally go back to Nova where he would be able to see what happened while he was gone.


    He didn''t know what happened but he could only hope that everything had been fine while he had been gone. He hoped that nothing happened to either Maelis or Emma, if one of them had gotten hurt while he was gone, he would be honestly devasted and truly angry at the person who would have done that.


    "I hope it works, though the most important thing in this n is this right here," Aiden muttered as he looked at the small blue vial in his hands.


    ''Let''s hope that she convinced him to get here,'' Aiden thought as he was still under the appearance of Alek.


    The n would truly start the moment that David entered this darkness. That''s when everything would happen, and that''s when the most tense moment would happen. That''s when David would have no choice but to drink that potion.


    Aiden had made sure that there was no other way but for David to drink that potion.


    ''Well, time to stand up¡­'' Aiden thought as he slowly stood up heading toward a small light that was a little away from him.


    He needed to make sure that everything would be perfect since the director should be arriving in a maximum of ten minutes.


    While Aiden was currently making sure that everything would be going ording to n, there were two people currently talking with one another.


    Those two people were Melinda and Ss, two heads of the founding families. They were currently a subject that seemed extremely tense.


    "Where the fuck are you hiding him, Melinda?" Ss Nightshade shouted as he hit the desk.


    Melinda simply smiled at him looking at him, "Who are you talking about?"


    "Who do you think, that fucking Reaper? Just where are you hiding him?"


    Melinda continued smiling, not caring about such a thing.


    "Do you really think that I will answer you when you literally sent assassins inside my territory, you''re lucky that I don''t kill you right now," Melinda answered losing her smile and looking at her directly in his eyes.


    Ss knew that he couldn''t admit such a thing, "What do you mean? I never did anything, do you even have proof?"


    There had been some tension since the Inter Family Tournament had ended and it was the first time that they had met.


    Ss had obviously been extremely mad that the Reaper had been recruited by Melinda and her family, and he had tried to make her pay by sending an assassin to kill the Reaper.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    However, it never worked, not even once.


    "I don''t need proof, I know you did it," Melinda said, dismissing what he did.


    She knew that nothing would change even if she tried to make him pay. It wasn''t a good idea to make such a big enemy out of Ss. Melinda knew how much of a hothead he was, and she didn''t want to deal with someone like this. She wanted to find peace once again, that''s why she had invited him here.


    "Whatever I didn''t do it, I can tell you that much. However, what the hell did you invite me over here?" Ss asked as he didn''t expect such a thing to happen in the first ce.


    "I came here to discuss the Reaper and what happened with your son," Melinda said as she would attempt to calm the situation down.


    Hearing that name, Ss became agitated once again, "You''re going to make me see him? Are you going to tell me who he really is?"


    Melinda didn''t say anything to that as she knew that there was no way of such a thing happening.


    "I can''t show him to you because he''s not even here right now, he''s inside his trial which has been going on for almost a month," Melinda said.


    Ss seemed surprised by such a thing, "A month? Are you sure?"


    Melinda looked at him and knew why he was worried. Trials that were this long would most


    of the time have a great corrtion to having great rewards and it was clear that it would make the Reaper progress even more.


    "Yes, a month."


    Ss nodded as he calmed down a little, he understood that there was no way that he would be able to meet him. However, what about his real name? Couldn''t he know about it?


    "What''s his name?" Ss asked as this was the thing that was on his mind the most.


    Ever since the Inter Family Tournament, Ss had been worried about this, just who had been the one beating his son, the one who was known as the strongest ever since he had been born.


    Ss had never heard anything about the Reaper and that''s what made him extremely mad.


    "I already told you, I can''t tell you."


    There was no way that Melinda would be telling Aiden''s name since it would create a lot of problems, a fuck ton of them.


    Ss nodded, "Then what do you propose?"


    Ss had calmed down since earlier and he was now patiently waiting for Melinda''s answer.


    "What about a little meeting between the two families when hees back from his trial?"


    Ss smiled when he heard this as he knew that it would be a great asion for him to learn more about the mysterious "Reaper".


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