《The Adventures of Aldric》


 Chapter 1: The Beginning

    <h2 style="text-align: center">The Beginning</h2>


    It''s winter, and the snow is falling heavily. the ground is covered with snow, like an artistic painting expressing purity and tranquility. A black spot spoiled the beauty of the pure white painting.


    A young man dressed in black and covered in heavy snow was walking despite the heavy snowfall. His black hair and blue eyes, set against the white background looked like a work of art.


    Aldric, a 20-year-old young man, was born in the village of fog and raised by his grandfather, or so he thought. A month ago, his grandfather told him that he had found Aldric one day in a grassy field.


    When his grandfather found him, he was holding a letter in his hand with his name on it. his grandfather gave him the letter, and it was from his father.


    When he opened the letter, a golden aura burst forth from it and surrounded him, causing him to lose consciousness.


    Aldric found himself in a grassy field. He walked aimlessly, after a while. He approached a giant tree. There was a man and a woman sitting under a giant tree.


    As if they heard Aldric''s footsteps, they stood up and looked at Aldric. He was looking at them. He had a strange feeling in his heart, as if he had met them somewhere.


    The woman with blond hair and blue eyes slowly approached Aldric. He wanted to move away but couldn''t. The woman hugged him gently and whispered in his ear, "My son, how are you?" It was as if a bolt of lightning had exploded in Aldric''s head. He looked at the woman in disbelief and felt intense emotions overwhelming him. He hugged her tightly, and tears streamed down his eyes.


    "Aldric, I am your mother, Elizabeth. I have loved you since the moment you were born. Unfortunately, I only stayed with you for three months, and that period was the happiest period of my life. I love you, my son. I hope you live in good health. Remember to wash well, sleep well, and live a happy life. I wish you the happiest life, my son." Elizabeth said this with a smile full of motherly tenderness, wiped the tears from Aldric''s face, and kissed his forehead with love.


    A man with black hair and black eyes approached him and patted him on the shoulder with a smile.


    "I am your father, Arthur. Your mother has said everything I intended to say. My son, I love you, and my biggest regret is that your mother and I did not see you grow up. Due to my weakness, that unfortunate incident occurred."


    "Although I hope you live in peace, I know that you will want revenge, and I will not stop you because I do not want you to live a life full of tension and fear. Goodbye, my son."


    The man took a step back. ¡°My dear, time is up. Let¡¯s go.¡± Arthur said as he looked at Elizabeth. Elizabeth looked at him several times as if she wanted to engrave his appearance to memory. She nodded to Aldric and came to Arthur¡¯s side.


    ¡°Goodbye, son, we love you.¡± Elizabeth¡¯s and Arthur¡¯s voices rang simultaneously in Aldric¡¯s mind. He ran towards his mother and father, but he couldn¡¯t reach them; it was like there was an infinite distance between them.


    Aldric shook his head; every time he remembered the letter, he thought about them, filled with a mix of positive and negative emotions.


    Aldric looked at the white field with a headache, looked at the white field. ¡°Damn, I¡¯m starting to hate the snow.¡±


    ***


    A few meters away, a wagon raced fast through the snow. inside, a girl and a woman squawked in fear, while outside, a man on a horse faced the stormy wind, aiming his arrow at the bandits behind.


    Luke and his family were traveling to a nearby village, but unfortunately, they encountered bandits in the middle of the road. "Fuck, why am I so unlucky?" Luke cursed from the back of his horse as he shot the arrow.


    Slowly, the bandit got close and began to surround them. Luke felt hopeless as he saw those bandits surround them, Anna looked out and saw the situation outside; she began to slowly lose hope.


    She turned to her daughter Anya, who was only 11 years old. Meanwhile, the bandits captured Luke and handcuffed him; he tried to fight, but two hands couldn''t overcome four, and the bandits outnumbered him. After several punches he was lying on the cold snow.


    The reality is harsh; he was thought this would be a beautiful time with his wife and his daughter, but no, without power in this world, you are nothing, just an ordinary person who dies unnoticed.


    One of the bandits came over to Luke and spat on his face, ¡°You little piece of shit, because of you I lost two men,¡± and stepped on his face. Luke''s face was red, and his eyes turned towards Jack, the bandit leader. He desperately wished for help; he would sacrifice anything to save his wife and daughter, but no one answered. There was only a little glimmer of hope in his world, a little light in his world, but this is the reality: either you are the prey or you are the hunter.


    ¡°Hey, captain, look what we found.¡± One of the bandits approached Jack; behind him were two men dragging Anna and Anya. Luke''s pupils shrank; he looked at his wife and daughter and noticed his daughter''s right cheek was red from being slapped.


    ¡°Please leave them alone; I will do anything.¡± Luke begged Jack with a teary eye; Jack didn¡¯t respond to Luke but turned to Anna and touched her face; Anna turned her head away.


    Jack slapped Anna¡¯s face. ¡°How dare you turn your face to the side when I am looking at you?¡± Luke¡¯s heart stopped for a second, and his veins popped out, and he screamed, his eyes red, ¡°Don¡¯t dare touch her face.¡±.


    Jack indifferent pointed at Luke¡¯s mouth; one of the bandits come to Luke and covered his mouth with a piece of cloth.


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    ¡°That¡¯s better now,¡± Jack said with a big smile. He came to Anna, grabbed her chin forcefully and kissed her lips . ¡°Mmmmmmm...¡± Anna tried to get away, but she couldn¡¯t. Meanwhile, Luke was watched with bloody eyes and wanted to leap at Jack and eat him alive.


    On the side Anya wanted to rescue her mom but got slapped and lost consciousness, Anna''s face turn into red, from the lack of air her eyes widened red and a hot tears fell from her eyes.


    When Jack noticed Anna''s distress, he stopped and stood up, andlooked at Anna with a smile. He licked the blood from his lips. ¡°Captain, can I...?¡± before the bandit could finish his words, Jack kicked him. ¡°This is my special prey.¡±


    ¡°Quickly, tie them up, and let¡¯s go,¡± Jack instructed the bandit, sneered at Luke, and went to take some air.


    At night


    Aldric found smoke visible in the distance; he ran toward the smoke. Who knows what he felt staying in a white field without any humans or trees?


    After some time, he came to a forest; he jumped from one branch to another as snow fell to the ground. Finally, he saw what that smoke was.


    The bandit were sitting in a circle around the fire, Luke and his family were tied together in nearby tree, Aldric looked at his surrounding for a while and decided what was happening here.


    I think this family has been attacked by those bandits, and obviously the bandits have won. What should I do? I want to help them, but my life will be in danger, however, if I can separate them, there¡¯s a chance I can kill them all.


    Okey, then I will wait.


    ¡°Hey boss, I need to go. Can I go...¡± A fat bandit stood up; he looked like the weakest among them. ¡°You can go; you don¡¯t need to ask me for everything.¡± Jack said furiously; the other bandits laughed at him.


    Aldric saw that fat man entering the forest. Ooh man, I am lucky. Aldric jumped onto the opposite branch and went after the fat man. After some time, the fat man stopped and began to remove his pants. Aldric fell behind him like a ghost and grabbed the fat man''s face and wrapped his neck.


    The fat man fell on the ground in silence, Aldric grabbed his leg and dragged him to nearby bush and hid his body then he went back to the branches and approached the bandit.


    Okey, now I need some distraction, after looking at his surroundings he found a small rock, he took it, did some basic calculation in his head and then he threw the rock at a tree, when the stone hit the tree, it bounced off another tree, then another, and eventually struck one of the bandit eyes.


    ¡°Aaaaahhhhh...¡± The bandit panicked as he rolled on the ground, the blood that was streaming from his eyes turned the snow red.


    ¡°Watch your surroundings¡­¡± Jack yelled and took his big blade in his hand; all of the bandits except the one who was on the ground screaming took their blades and daggers in their hands.


    Good, you are easy prey when you lose your mind and let me make the matters worse. Aldric was on a branch; he watched everything with calm eyes. He was in the dark, but the bandit was in the light. He knew his enemy, but they didn¡¯t know where he was or who he was. His blue eyes were glowing dimly in the dark.


    He took a pouch bag from his black coat; inside the pouch bag was a yellowish unknown powder. Aldric poured some of that powder on his right hand and blew it towards the bandit.


    Jack noticed the yellow substance that was floating in front of him. What is this substance? Isn¡¯t it winter? Why is there yellow snow falling from the sky? Wait, the snow is white. Ooooh sh*t. His face changed immediately. ¡°Don¡¯t inhale; there is some poison in the air. Hold your breath.¡± After Jack said that, he covered his nose and mouth and looked to the other bandit.


    The bandits were looking at the floating thing in wonder, ¡°Idiots, didn¡¯t you hear me?¡± But the bandits were still wondering, then, like a string being cut, they held their heads in pain after some time of screaming, looked at each other with a red eye, and started fighting each other.


    Jack takes a few steps away from the bandit. Aldric was looking from the branch in a nearby tree. Hallucinogenic poison, a yellow flower with a grey point on the stem, is popular for making the user feel positive or negative double more times for 30 seconds.


    Now the time has come to harvest; Aldric takes a grey ball out of his coat, then jumps toward the bandit that was hit by the rock before. Aldric lands near him, then hits the ground with the grey ball, and it explodes. A big grey smoke appears and quickly expands to a 10-meter radius.


    Aldric stepped on the injured bandit on the neck and finished him, then took his blade and started killing one by one. Because of the poison that magnified their negative thoughts, they couldn¡¯t do anything about Aldric.


    Jack was listening to the screams getting smaller and smaller until they disappeared. He was afraid of death, afraid of the unknown things that are inside the smoke. He hates that feeling; he hates remembering those memories.


    In Jack''s childhood, his mother died when he was born, so his father hated his face because he remembered her face. After a month, his dad began to drink to forget his feelings and memories. After 8 years, Jack learned to avoid letting his father see his face, either covering his face with clothes or avoiding meeting his father completely.


    The little child doesn¡¯t know why he is being hated by his father, so the child starts to question why, what did I do wrong, and why does everyone hate me? One day everything changed. When Jack¡¯s father came home, he was having a bad day; he lost his money gambling, and now he is in big debt.


    He come to the home drunk doesn¡¯t know the difference between right and left, when jack opens the door and his face was covered with some clothes only his eyes was shown, everything went normal but unfortunately today is different the cloth on jack face dropped showing normal face but to jack father that was different.


    All the negativity, all the bad things that happened to him today, all that was stored in his heart, but Jack''s face was a trigger. Jack¡¯s father slapped him, then took a pocket knife out of his back pocket and scratched Jack''s face.


    The boy didn¡¯t do anything, but that didn¡¯t just destroy his face but his mentality too. After that day, Jack¡¯s life changed. When he turned 16 years old, he joined the local gang and slowly became the monster that he is now. He wanted the other people to taste what he had been through, but he became what he was one day: hate and fear.


    Jack woke up from his shock and looked at Aldric, who was holding the blade. Jack looked at him in fear, then a lot of anger. He remembered that feeling of hate the most. He ran toward Aldric with anger and waved his blade, aiming for Aldric''s head, but Aldric avoided it easily, and then he stabbed Jack''s hand.


    Jack''s blade fell into the ground like his hope fell; he lost, and that obviously meant he was dead. Aldric came over him and cut his neck off.


    Aldric went to Luke family that was watching whole time, Luke look him with a fearful eyes, he cut them free ¡°man you are lucky if I didn¡¯t saw the smoke you will die¡± Aldric say with a smile, ¡°thank you man, I appreciate it you save me and my family,¡± Luke said while he hugging his wife and daughter.


    ¡°Thank you, sir.¡± Anna came with Anya, and they bowed slightly to express their gratitude. ¡°Thank you, uncle...¡± Anya said and copied her mother doing, ¡°Oh, it¡¯s ok; it wasn¡¯t that hard.¡± Aldric said with a smile.


    ¡°Oh, it was easy for you, but for us, it is a big favor...¡± Luke said with tearful eyes.


    ¡°its okey, by the way do you know a city named Grilin" Aldric Asked "Oh, i know " Luke pointed some where at the east the go to the wagon takes out a box inside the box was a different maps, after some search he founded and give it to Aldric.


    "But be careful when you go; the city is full of crime," Luke said with dangerous eyes.


    ¡°Thank you, very much that will save me a lot of time, i will becareful.¡± Aldric said then he walked towards the forest, ¡°What is your name uncle¡± Anya called Aldric, ¡°Aldric, my name is Aldric.¡± Aldric stopped for a heartbeat and then continued walking until his back disappeared in the snowy forest shadows.

 Chapter 2: Grilin City

    Grilin City


    The warm rays of sun fell on passers-by in the street. Aldric was walking among the people and looking at everything in amazement. A few minutes ago, He arrived in Grilin City thanks to that map, he asked a man passing in front of him about a hotel where he could sleep tonight. The man stopped and told him that it was a one in few blocks away and that he had to walk a little to get there.


    Aldric thanked the man and walked towards the hotel, looking right and left curiously. Unfortunately, he does not have any money, but this problem is easy to solve. He looked at every alley that passed in front of him.


    When he was about to approach the hotel, he found an alley in which there was a gang of thieves. He smiled happily as he entered the alley. After a short time, he left the alley carrying in the palm of his hand a bag full of money.


    In this world there are always people who will help you in your time of need. I hope the souls of these thieves¡¯ rest in peace, Aldric was thinking without realizing it. He arrived at the hotel, pushed the door inward and entered. Inside the hotel there were a group of tables, on each table a group of people was talking.


    When they''re heard the door opening, they looked at Aldric, after a few glances, they continued their conversation. Aldric went to one of the tables next to the window. The waiter came to him, ¡°Please tell me about your order, sir.¡± Aldric pointed to several foods containing meat and a glass of high-quality beer.


    The waiter nodded quickly and headed to the kitchen in the back. At the table, Aldric was thinking about something. The sun''s rays fell on his face. His head leaned on the chair and his eyes were closed. He took something out of his coat. It was the letter. He gently wiped the surface of the letter as he looked at his name written on the back of the letter.


    His hand shakes while he looking at the leter, then he put it back in the coat and listened to the conversations of the surrounding people to gather intelligence, ¡°Man, I heard that the old woman is getting married soon,¡± ¡°Yes, I didn''t believe it the first time, but she is getting married.¡± ¡°Isn''t that strange how someone could marry her when she looks like the bark of a tree?¡± Aldric shook his head. Didn''t they say in the stories that in bars people tell some important news, damn it, it''s all just bullshit.


    ¡°Sir, your food is ready.¡± The waiter announced as he began placing different dishes on the table, Aldric started eating and drinking.


    Aldric finished the food and headed towards the counter. At the counter was a woman standing. He came to her and asked her how much it cost for food and one night¡¯s sleep in the most luxurious room. ¡°That will be 40 silver coins.¡± He took out a gold coin and threw it on the counter. ¡°The rest is a tip.¡± The woman quickly took the coin and motioned to the waiter to direct him to his room.


    Aldric arrived with the waiter to the room. It was a spacious room with a bed large enough for two people, a closet and a table between the bed and the closet. On one side there was a bathroom connected to the bedroom.


    Aldric nodded to the waiter and went to the bathroom and showered. He came out of the bathroom with a towel on his waist, the steam rising from his skin and water dripping from his long hair onto his toned muscles. He sat at the table and began to arrange his thoughts.


    His goal is to find a man named Bruce; his grandfather told him he doesn''t know where his parents are, but he knows someone who might know about that person on the letter or that city. As he thinks, he hears a knock on the door, "Come in," Aldric said as he put the letter back in the Drawer. The waiter entered with an apologetic smile, "Sir, I''m sorry to wake you up, I think you not used to sleep alone so I brought a gift from the owner." Aldric looked at him curiously, "Tell me what you brought," the waiter didn''t answer but clapped his hands.


    A cloaked figure pushed open the door. Aldric''s gaze turned to the figure and examined him with his cold eyes. The figure trembled when he met his eyes. "Take off the cloak." The waiter ordered in a cold voice. The figure hesitated but took out his hands and untie the knot of the cloak. Aldric silently watching the cloak slide down, revealing the woman''s naked body. She lowered her eyes, not daring to look into those cold eyes.


    The waiter investigated Aldric''s eyes and saw the slightest bit of interest disappear, "Sir, this is a gift from the owner, please let it at least warm up your bed." He said with complete panic in his voice if he returned to owner with that woman, he would get fired. Aldric didn''t answer and still thinking, and silence fell over the room, the waiter sweating and the woman trembling in fear.


    ¡°Okay.¡± That sentence changed the expressions of the waiter and the woman, the waiter¡¯s face was filled with joy, but the woman¡¯s face was filled with fear. ¡°Thank you, you saved my job, it¡¯s winter and if I don¡¯t get food and supplies, my family will die, thank you a lot sir.¡± The man bowed several times then turned to the woman, ¡°Obey the master¡¯s orders or you will be sold to the brothel.¡± He bowed again to the Aldric and walked out of the room.


    Early in the morning, at the same table, Aldric was sitting with a cup of tea in his hand, his eyes staring into space. He finished the tea in his hand and walked towards the counter, unlike the previous night, a fat man was standing in the place of the woman. ¡°Sir, how was your night?¡± The man asked with a smile, Aldric didn¡¯t answer but nodded with a smile, when the man saw the smile, he was happy and anticipated how much money he would make today.


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    He placed three gold coins on the counter, the man saw the money and smile, Aldric was about to leave but the man stopped him "Sir, I have a thing that you might be interesting in." without any hesitation he go to the back of the hotel, after some minutes of waiting the man showed up with a girl, "this is a slave that come fresh last night and I was to sold it to a friend but I think it will suit you better." Aldric looked to the girl, "how much." he asked the man "only 3 gold coins for you" the man replayed with smile "2 gold coins" Aldric said without hesitation, the man nodded quickly to him 2 gold coins is an enough for that girl. Aldric come to the girl, and he raises her chin "open your eyes." he says with a cold voice, the girl opens her eyes with fear " you have beautiful eyes," he said while he looking to her face, that white-grey hair with those silver eyes make the girl beautiful but that beauty hidden under dusty old clothes.


    "Give her some new clothes and place to take a bath." Aldric said to the man and he replied by nodding then calling out that woman that Aldric slept with last night, the woman take the girl with eyes full of envy and jealousy, she wish she was the one who being sold, "do you know you are lucky." she asked the girl but girl didn''t replay but simply shook her head, "TSK.." the women saw that the girl don''t know "you are lucky because that man are taking you, you don''t know what was waiting you." the girl didn''t answer but continue walking after the woman.


    After some time, they come out, the girl was dressed in a new dress and combed hair, Aldric with a smile nodded his head toward the man. The man took a piece of paper from the drawer and a pen, and he came to Aldric with the paper in his hand then gave it to him.


    Aldric looked at him in confusion, "What is this?" He asked curiously, looking at the paper. The man understood that he did not know, he slowly explained, "This is a slavery contract. It is a contract that the kingdom personally prints with some kind of magical power. When a kingdom invades another kingdom, the winner gets literally everything. Lands, artifacts, even people are turned into slaves. This contract makes the process easier, as when you sign this contract, the slave''s life is in your hands. One thought and they die in eye blink." because of that the war is rare, when a kingdom the people will scape but if you caught you will become slave.


    Aldric was surprised at this kind of thing that he had never held before. the man continued the explanation "When you sign this contract, it will disappear, and the slave''s life will be in your hands." please sign here. The man handed the contract to Aldric. Aldric took it and read it then signed it. The contract disappeared and he felt that there was a visible thread between him and the girl.


    Aldric nodded to the man and walked out of the hotel; on the way he turned to look at the girl. "What''s your name?" The girl shuddered, "Alice, sir." In a low voice she answered, if it weren''t for Aldric''s strong hearing, he wouldn''t have heard her. "How old you are Alice?" He stopped and looked at her. "19 years old."


    ¡°Well Alice, from now on your duty is to serve me, physically and mentally.¡± He said, patting her head. Alice nodded "So Alice what is your goal in the life." she looked puzzled when she heard him, he saw her confusion "I remember when I was 6 years old, as usual me and my grandfather was sitting on the side of the river, he was fishing, and I was holding bag with some fish. "Aldric what is your goal in the life" he asked me while focusing on the river and in his hand the fishing rod was, I looked confused at him and answered "I don''t know" he laughed at me then said:


    In the fabric of reality, each person must find his purpose, a beacon in the dark sea, like a torch that lights his way in the shadowy forests, without a purpose, the soul drifts like a leaf in the autumn wind. Ignite the torch within you and carry it to be your source of light and your boat in the river of eternal time.


    from that day make I choose a goal and now I am my way to achieve it, so again what is your goal Alice?" he asked her while he looking at those silver eyes "my goal I think it to know who really I am." she looked at those blue eyes and answer firmly, "good goal Alice, but remember always you need to have main goal and sub goal, if your sub goal become your main goal you lose that fire inside you. your sub goal right now is to find who you are, but your main goal is to serve me." he said while stokes her hair.


    she nodded and they start walking.


    After walking for a while they came to a house, on the side of the house there was a workshop with a sign on the roof that said Blacksmith. Aldric entered the workshop and Alice quickly followed him.


    Inside the workshop, a muscular man was rhythmically hitting a piece of hot iron with his hammer, as if he sensed someone had entered, he turned around and saw Aldric and Alice, he put the hammer aside and with heavy steps came towards them. Aldric''s body was filled with a sense of crisis, and he took a fighting stance, Alice grabbed Aldric hand to not fall, unable to bear his aura. The man approached step by step, he came over Aldric and looked down, with a height of 1.95 meters, he was half a meter taller than him.


    ¡°Boy, what do you want?¡± A deep voice rang out from within the workshop. Aldric¡¯s body trembled but he held on and pulled out a letter from his coat and handed it to the man. The man took the letter and looked at it several times then looked at the letter, when he saw the contents of the letter his eyes shrank. Aldric looked at the man in awe. This man had some kind of invisible aura to him. It was as if he was looking at a higher being, he was like an ant looking at a human, one move and he would die.


    "What is your relationship with that old man." he take the letter and fold him then asks Aldric, "he is my grandfather," he answered nervously. "Hahaha...." them man start laughing "come in boy, I am happy today," while he was laughing, he invites the two of them into his house, the house was spacious with a normal looking. "Come on, sit down."


    when they sat down, he tell them that when he was young he visited the forest a lot but one day the sky was raining, he was late from home and lost his way to the house, he searched but can''t find his way, it was like that night he was destined to die, out of nowhere a lot of skeleton come out of the ground and start attacking me, I was young and didn''t know how defend myself and the time is late to scape. the skeletons attacked me, but I can''t do anything I barely kill one of them, but he back as he was in less than minute.


    when I closed my eyes and start to regret why I become to this cursed place, when I remembered my daughter will become orphan, I regret it, but there''s no way back, I accepted my death. but nothing happened that pain that darkness, I opened my eyes and saw all the skeletons has been destroyed and they can''t come back as they doing before, I found a letter in front of me.


    I opened it, it was from an old man saying he is becoming old, and he ask him to do Favor 15-20 years after tonight there will be child named Aldric that will come to you I need you tell him about some information in this letter. "I accept to do him that Favor and waited for 20 years to meet you Aldric." he continued while facing him.


    "So, you are saying that my grandfather told you that I will come to you after 20 years, that was before I born, before he found me." Aldric was confused and looked at Bruce with questioning face. "Basically, yeah." Aldric wanted to ask more, but a sound cut his thought chain "dad, why you didn''t tell me we have guests," it was a girl in her 20, the three people looked at her.


    "they just sat down, I was like you I didn''t expect them," Bruce answered, then but his big hand on Aldric shoulder "can you guess who is this boy" the girl looked at him "no, who is." with a voice full of enthusiasm "he is the grandchild of that man who saved me, do you remember" "oh, is that true," she came to Aldric side and bowed little bit "thank you, and your grandfather, without him my father was going to die." Aldric stood up quickly and helped here "it''s okey."


    "Okey, Cara can you give our guest''s some thing''s to drink." Bruce said to Cara, she nodded then headed to the kitchen and brought some drinks with some sweet and put them on the table.

 Chapter 3: Sea of nothingness

    Sea of Nothingness


    A layer of accumulated snow covered the ground. in the city of Grilin, the snowflakes on the rooftops reflected the sun rays. inside a house, warmth was spreading as the sound of wood burning rang out. around a thick wooden table, the four held steaming cups of clove-scented tea. After feeling the warmth of the cup, Aldric eyes crinkled into a silent smile as he took a sip of the tea. he then turned to Bruce who was lost in his own thoughts.


    Aldric took another sip before asking "Hey, Bruce, what was on that letter?" Bruce was stared off into the distance, lost in thoughts and didn''t answer.


    Cara on the side sighed while looking at the steam raising, "He became like this after my mother''s death,"


    Bruce woke from the sea of memories and handed the letter to Aldric, "I am sorry you two saw me like that." Aldric took the letter. "It okey, man. sometimes, we can''t prevent bad things from happening, that''s why I want to become stronger." he said with calm deeply voice while he looked at the letter.


    "Hahaha boy there are things that you can''t protect." Bruce replied with sad voice while staring at the space. Aldric didn''t reply but opened the letter.


    Hi, Aldric,


    I didn''t tell you about what happened to your parents but to be honest, you are too weak to change the reality. if you reading this message, that mean you are alive and you arrived to Grilin, Bruce will tell you how to absorb the Aether and enter the sea of nothingness, after you will successfully revenge and find your parents, come back to the fog village I have a gift for you, until that time arrive you will forget my appearance and the way to the home.


    Aldric hands shook as he read the letter, when he finished reading, his eyes widened and clutched the letter tightly, overwhelmed, he fell out of the chair and the hot tears felt from those cold eyes, he tried desperately remembering his appearance but there was just white space. he stood up and ran toward the door. As he grabbed it, he froze in place; he forgotten the way to the home but there was nothing just black void, he fell in despair and leaned against the wall in frustration.


    Bruce and the others were surprised as they watched chain of incomprehensible actions, Alice tried to do something but froze she didn''t know what to do, she came to Aldric side and simply leaned to his hand. on the side Bruce and his daughter watched in silent, they didn''t know what to do and what to say either.


    he felt that he is lonely, he hated being weak. if he was stronger, he would find his parent faster, his grandfather wouldn''t leave him. he squeezes the letter in his hand, and his eyes start getting red. suddenly he felt warmth from his left hand and saw she was Alice, like the rain that return to the sea, all the hate, anger and sadness disappear. his eyes returned to those normal cold eyes.


    after some time, he stood up, looked at Alice and tapped her forehead "it''s okey, Alice, you did very good job" he sat on the table "Bruce, please tell me how to absorb the Aether." Bruce froze "Who tell you that word?" he asked confused and seriously face.


    "My grandfather told me, that you will teach me how to absorb it."


    "Do you know about the sea of nothingness?" he asked.


    "Yeah, but I don''t know what it means." when Bruce heard him, he stroked his hair in annoyance.


    "Are you sure, there is no back when you enter that place." he asked Aldric with serios face, "yeah, it''s the key to return everything that I lost." Aldric nodded his head, and He clenched his fist tightly and the veins in his fist appeared, he felt that the world hate him, he lost his parent and that wasn''t enough, so he lost his last and only house.


    Bruce saw Aldric situation can''t resist anymore said " I will teach you because of that Favor"


    and start explaining.


    "Ok, first what is Aether, the energy that we called Aether is energy that is every place when a person absorbs Aether and reach certain level, he will enter a place that are simply empty no space, time or anything else. so, they called him the sea of nothingness. when you enter that place you have 7 days to get out."


    "What will happen if the person didn''t get out the sea of nothingness." Cara leaned toward Bruce asked curiously, this is the first time she hear about something like this from her father, "he will die." with a flat tone he answered.


    "When you enter the sea of nothingness, and you woke up successfully you will be in a path of three paths. they are [warrior, contractor, sorcerer]. when I woke up, I become warrior and I can convert the Aether into life energy, anyway you will learn more of it later..." he raises his hand and fire come out of nowhere and surrounded his hand. Aldric jumped back and start swatting, Alice and Cara fell from their chairs.


    This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.


    "So, after understanding the danger do you want to learn." when Aldric heard that he nodded quickly, "okey fallow me." he sighed and said while going outside "Cara, take care out of that girl...".


    "it''s okey she can go with us." Aldric said but Bruce rejected. and headed toward the forest.


    Aldric nodded his head and followed Bruce quickly.


    "So," Cara began, while taking a sip, "what is your relationship with Aldric, Alice?" She said with a friendly smile, but there was curiosity in her eyes. Alice hesitated, her gaze dropping to her own cup of tea. She traced the rim of the cup with her fingers. "I. I am his maid," Cara eyes widened then She wiped her hair in embarrassment. "I am sorry I didn''t mean it,".


    "it''s okey..." she said with a weak smile.


    Deep in the forest Bruce voice break the cold silence, "sit on that rock." Bruce said to Aldric, he nodded and sat on a nearby rock that covered with snow. then Bruce told him to close his eyes, "hold your breath and sense that you are inside a lot of water, feel the pressure of the water, the exitances of that water, that is the Aether,"


    after he saw Aldric felt the Aether, he continued "now slowly absorb a little of that water, Aldric absorb the water a little bit," Aldric felt that a little water going inside his body and moves around his body like a fish in the water. "Continue absorbing and increase the amount gradually," Bruce watched Aldric absorbed his first amount of Aether in 10 minutes, he can''t believe what happening, the fastest person to absorb Aether take 5 whole days. what a monster.


    Aldric increase his absorbing enough to cover his upper body, when Bruce saw that he was speechless "WTF... that takes usually months. take from him 30 minutes," Bruce finally know what kind of storm is coming to the kingdom. Aldric Increased the Aether to certain level that was a thin layer of white aura surrounding his body. Bruce face changed "Aldric do you hear me, stop... I say stop," he tried to stop him, but the time is out.


    Aldric body floated for a few seconds then fell onto the snow, Bruce rushed towards him "Aldric, wake up.." He checked his breath and found that he wasn''t breathing, Aldric pulse stopped, Bruce shook his head helplessly and took him to the city.


    Bruce walked back home in silence, both Cara and Alice looked at Bruce''s face and knew something was up, Alice approached Aldric body and checked his pulse and fell to the ground with a pale face and gradually her face returned to normal. Cara came to Bruce with a pale face "Is he dead?" She asked while she looked at Aldric body.


    ¡°No, he¡¯s fine,¡± Alice replied, ¡°Because if he dies, I¡¯ll die because of the contract.¡± She looked at Cara and Bruce. Bruce was surprised that the girl was a slave and the girl was so bold and experienced in checking the pulse expertly, ¡°Were you a doctor or something?¡±


    Alice¡¯s eyes twitched slightly, ¡°I know a little medicine, uncle,¡± she smiled faintly. When Bruce saw her face, he knew that it must have reminded the girl of some bad memories, ¡°Sorry, I was a little curious, as for Aldric, he entered the Sea of ??Nothingness and will be out soon,¡± Bruce apologized and took Aldric to the guest room.


    "Alice, we only have one guest room, so we''ll be sleeping together tonight," Cara came to Alice''s side and patted her shoulder with a smile. Alice shook her head, "Sorry Cara, I have to stay with him," Alice shook her head and politely declined Cara''s request....


    Cara shrugged and nodded helplessly, "Hey, do you need some clothes?" Alice waved her hand and told Cara that Aldric had just bought her these clothes.


    "All we have to do is wait a while." Bruce walked in to the girls, "Alice, you''ll be sleeping with Cara, right?" Bruce asked Alice. "She said she''d stay with Aldric." Cara told Bruce, Bruce was surprised but didn''t say anything.


    Sea of ??nothingness, that was the first thing Aldric thought of, no time, no space and even existence itself was not there, sea of ??nothingness. Aldric had been floating naked in this nothingness for an unknown amount of time. As he floated without direction he saw a speck of light, and tried with all his power to float towards that light.


    Finally, he reached the spot of light and touched it, the spot exploded with endless light, Aldric couldn''t resist the light and closed his eyes. After an unknown period of time, the light disappeared gradually, when the light finally disappeared, in front of Aldric there was a piece of paper.


    Aldric touched the paper in curiosity, when his body and the paper come to contact, the paper turned into light and entered directly into Aldric chest, Aldric was startled but the paper disappeared. While he was in a state of confusion, he heard a voice that seemed to come from the depths of his soul.


    Contract between *@^@&%@?!$!#!$ and Aldric Ashthorn.


    *@^@&%@?!$!#! will grant the contractor three skills in exchange for reaching the place called the beginning and the end within 10 years, if the contractor does not reach that place he will die and Serves *@^@&%@?!$!#!$ for ever.


    The countdown has begun 9:11:29:23:59:59.


    The moonlight illuminated the darkness of the night and reflected on the accumulated snow. The city of Grilin was silent like a pet that hugged itself in fear of the dark. People hid in their homes, some burning wood to protect themselves from the darkness and others taking shelter under the wide moonlight.


    Inside Bruce''s house, in the guest room.


    Aldric were laying in the bed, He was in this state for six days, tomorrow is the seven day if he didn''t come out before noon he would die. To the bed side, Alice sat on the table sleeping.


    Aldric''s eyes opened and he lightly jumped off the bed and examined his body, he didn''t understand what happened but he understood that he had entered the sea of ??nothingness and the contract''s path had chosen him. He closed his eyes and examined his memory and found that there were additional two things in his memory, one of which seemed to be the contract, he looked at the contract and found that the countdown was continuing to decrease second by second.


    Examining the other memory, he found that the so-called three skills were, branching out into one skill called.


    The Emperor.


    The three skills are:


    Eyes of the Emperor: You see through reality and imagination, with your gaze you know the enemy''s strength and skill.


    Emperor''s judgment: When you defeat an enemy, you have two choices: cruelty or mercy. If you choose cruelty and kill him, you will steal all his skills and power. If you choose to have mercy on your enemy, you can turn him into your eternal slave.


    Emperor''s Wisdom: You will gain unparalleled wisdom and be immune to all types of mental powers.


    When Aldric finished reading his eyes widened, this is simply invincible, after some excitement his eyes returned to their usual coldness, is this the effect of the Emperor''s wisdom keeping him sane at all times, he looked at the sleeping Alice and walked towards her, he lifted the strands of hair from her face then hugged her and laid her on the bed.


    "Are you done pretending to sleep.." He said in a cold voice as he looked at her face, silence filled the room after a while she couldn''t take it anymore and opened her eyes. "Sorry sir I just." She spoke with a red face and her eyes wandered.


    He didn''t answer but he grabbed her chin and took a bite, her eyes widened as she looked into those blue eyes, she tried to move away but she couldn''t, those eyes didn''t blink and were as cold as usual, her body finally relaxed she couldn''t do anything.


    Aldric broke the kiss, his eyes still on Alice, Alice turned her head, Aldric didn''t say anything but lay on the bed and hugged her body. Alice shivered and her face turned pale, she heard a whisper in her ear, "I won''t eat you tonight, go to sleep." Alice''s face turned red as she felt the heat from her ear and her body relaxed, she looked at Aldric''s sleeping face, she turned her face, those silver eyes shone with a little coldness, and she closed her eyes.

 Chapter 4: Emperor鈥檚 Abilities

    <h2 style="text-align: center">Emperor¡¯s Abilities</h2>


    A cold wind passed through the silent forest, causing the snow on the trees to fall on the ground. Bruce held a round shield in his left hand, his right hand in a fist, his left knee bent slightly forward, his other leg supporting his stance.


    Opposite Bruce stood Aldric, a long sword in his right hand and his left hand behind his back, his waist slightly tucked to the left, his right leg bent forward, and his left leg bent down with just the toes on the ground ready to take off.


    Bruce looked at Aldric''s posture. "Boy, if you want to beat me, you''re far from reaching the required level." He prepared his shield and quickly jumped towards Aldric.


    Aldric looked at Bruce who was quickly approaching above him, he took a deep breath and a faint light appeared in Aldric''s eyes, in his view the world slowed down and a ghost resembling Bruce appeared on his right side, this is one of the Emperor''s wisdom abilities, the movement of the opposite person can be predicted, the closer the power level is, the easier it is to predict his next move.


    Aldric jumped to the right and slammed his right foot into Bruce''s shield. He pulled his left hand out from behind his back and threw something at Bruce''s face.


    Bruce was surprised by Aldric''s surprise kick before he balanced his body and fell backwards. He looked at Aldric, then saw something that looked like a ball hitting his face; he reacted and blocked it with his right hand. The moment he touched the ball, it exploded and a gray smoke came out quickly, spreading in a circle with a diameter of 10 meters.


    Bruce stood in the middle of the smoke. No normal human would see through this smoke. He prepared his armor and looked around. "Boy, you really surprise me."


    Aldric was lurking in the smoke, ready to pounce. He pulled a dagger from behind his back and threw it at Bruce''s face as he jumped to Bruce''s right side, ready to deliver a killing blow.


    Bruce saw something shining through the fog and blocked it with his right hand as he swung his shield to the right, blocking Aldric''s attack, "Boy, there''s a big gap between us." He took a deep breath, raised his right leg and flames appeared wrapped around him, he hit the ground hard, the flames exploded in a circle, dispersing the smoke and revealing Aldric''s location.


    Aldric jumped back, avoiding the flames, and for a moment there was a slight hint of greed as he looked at Bruce, but he shook his head and dropped his sword to the ground. ¡°I surrender.¡±


    ¡°You gave up so quickly, kid,¡± Bruce looked at Aldric with a smile, put his shield behind his back and walked towards Aldric, ¡°It¡¯s okay kid if your skill is weak, it will get stronger as your Aether level increases,¡±


    ¡°Okay, let¡¯s go anyway.¡± Aldric headed to the exit of the forest, turning his back to Bruce.


    After coming out of the forest, Bruce and Aldric entered the city and headed towards Bruce''s house. Aldric looked at the passersby and tried using the Emperor''s eyes. In his eyes, most of the surrounding people had a gray aura. He turned to Bruce and found a brown aura around him. "Bruce, how strong are you compared to ordinary people?¡±


    Bruce looked at the bystanders, ¡°If we compare, you will need 100 strong men to defeat me without using the Aether.¡± He looked at his right hand, ¡°If I use the Aether, I can kill the 100 of them in 5 seconds.¡±


    Aldric nodded, ¡°So what level are you at now? I mean, does each path have its own levels, or do we have similar levels?¡± In Aldric¡¯s eyes, when he uses the Emperor¡¯s eyes, the levels are divided into 9 colors.


    Grey-Brown-Green-Yellow-Orange-Red-Purple-Blue-White.


    The more concentrated the color, the closer the person is to the next level. Currently, Bruce''s level is a concentrated brown with some green streaks, which means he is close to the next level.


    "The warrior level is divided into 3 levels:


    Beginner, Intermediate, Advanced.


    I think this applies to contractors and sorcerers." By the time Bruce finished explaining, they had reached the house.


    Aldric nodded as he entered the house, now he understood the levels of strength very well, now his level is Light brown, all he must do is meditate to absorb more Aether and increase his strength, he closed his eyes and looked at the necklace deep in his soul, time continued to decrease.


    9:11:29: 16:30:05


    Bruce, Aldric, Alice and Cara sat at the wood table in front of them. There was a toast with eggs on the side and a cup of hot tea.


    Bruce took a bite of toast, then a sip of tea. He looked at Aldric. ¡°When are you going?¡± In his short vision, Aldric had a great talent, especially since he had awakened a powerful ability that enabled him to predict his opponent¡¯s movements. Although the attack power was small, it had many applications on the battlefield.


    Aldric breathed a sigh of relief as he swallowed the last mouthful. ¡°I¡¯ll probably set off tomorrow. I want to go to the capital to look for that person in my father¡¯s letter.¡± he was planning to set off tomorrow and buy two horses and a carriage to travel today. There¡¯s a long distance between Grilin City and the capital.


    ¡°Good luck, so what are you going to do after you find your parents,¡± Bruce was a little curious, sometimes when he looked into Aldric¡¯s eyes it felt like he was looking into an abyss, full of darkness, he originally wanted Cara to accompany them but he felt like something bad would happen to her so he gave up on that idea.


    Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.


    ¡°After finding them and taking revenge my goal is to become stronger,¡± Aldric looked at Bruce, he knew he doubted him so he hastened to leave, unfortunately he wanted to kill Bruce and steal his power but unfortunately, he is stronger than him, who knows what will happen if he risks fighting him.


    Aldric nodded, stood up, and walked out the door with the training sword in his hand. ¡°I¡¯m going out to buy the carriage, Alice. Follow me,¡±


    Alice nodded towards Bruce and Cara, grabbed the hem of her skirt, and ran to Aldric.


    Aldric looked at Alice behind him, then continued walking towards the city exit. After some time, he walked out of the city. ¡°Follow me quickly,¡± he ignored Alice¡¯s confused look and urged her to hurry.


    In the snowy forest, Aldric stood in front of Alice. ¡°Take this sword and try to attack me,¡± ignoring the complete bewilderment on Alice¡¯s face, he handed her his training sword.


    Alice had a look of confusion on her face. She looked at Aldric''s face and saw those empty eyes looking back at her. She took a deep breath and stabbed Aldric in the stomach.


    Aldric''s waist bent slightly to the left, dodging the sword. He took a step back, avoiding Alice''s wave. This continued until Alice finally fell to the ground from exhaustion. Aldric approached her and took the sword that had fallen to the ground.


    Alice looked at the approaching Aldric in fear and helplessness, she realized how far apart they were, her eyes widened when she saw Aldric coming with the sword above her, the sound of the air being cut rang out, Alice closed her eyes and did not expect to die..., she opened her eyes in confusion and her face turned pale; the sword was above the pupil of her right eye, 0.5 inch above her eye.


    Aldric raised the sword and put it back in its sheath, he looked at Alice who was breathing heavily, and tried out the Emperor''s Judgment skill, deep in Alice''s soul a wisp of light appeared and disappeared, it was so fast that it seemed like an illusion.


    Aldric felt he had some kind of connection with Alice, if compared to that contract, it seemed like a thread connecting him and Alice, but the Emperor''s Judgment was different, he felt as if Alice was in the palm of his hand, he could kill her with a thought, read and wipe out her memory, and if he ordered something, she will do it against her will.


    ¡°Let''s go,¡± Aldric ordered as he walked towards the city.


    The series of actions confused Alice. She thought he was going to kill her, but nothing happened. She looked deeply at Aldric''s back and quickly followed him.


    Inside the city, Aldric was walking with Alice, he looked at the people around him wondering, if the power of the Emperor''s Judgment can plunder a person''s strength and power if he kills him, can it plunder ordinary people? Aldric no longer wondered but headed to a dark alley, inside the alley two men were talking.


    ¡°Man, I can''t wait to fight the Wolf Gang tonight,¡± said the man on the left.


    ¡°Me too. Imagine how much money we would get,¡± the other smiled wickedly as he played with the dagger in his hand.


    ¡°Can you tell me about this battle?¡± Aldric entered with a smile, his eyes fell on the two men. In his view, there was a grey aura around them.


    Alice followed behind him and looked at the two men curiously.


    The two men stood in surprise. The man on the left looked at the other man. ¡°Was it easy to find treasure these days?¡±


    ¡°Especially that girl behind him. What a toned body. You know I''ll be the first, right?¡± He looked at his friend and explained with a serious face.


    ¡°Damn, who do you think you are, anyway we will decide later. Now don¡¯t let them escape,¡± he slapped the other¡¯s head.


    Aldric watched with a faint smile. ¡°Good luck. I wanted to see if the Aether had any effect on ordinary people.¡± He waved his hand towards the two thieves and an invisible aura came out. If someone hadn¡¯t entered the Sea of nothingness, they wouldn¡¯t have seen the Aether. The white aura wrapped around the two thieves and they suddenly stopped talking. The Aether restricted their bodies so they couldn¡¯t speak or move.


    ¡°Mmmmm¡­¡± The two thieves wanted to speak but failed, their faces filled with despair, and the sound of Aldric¡¯s steps struck their hearts like a hammer.


    Aldric walked up to the man on the left and slowly grabbed his head, gradually increasing his strength. The man''s head exploded, brain and bone fragments scattered all over the ground, but Aldric''s hands and clothes were not soiled. Another use of this Aether would make things a lot easier, he thought as he walked towards the other man. "Alice, get out of the alley for a bit," then he continued walking


    The man''s eyes widened in fear, tears welled up in his eyes. He remembered every inch of his life and was filled with regret. Who will take care of my grandmother when I die? Why am I unlucky? Why am I weak? Regretting all the bad choices, he looked at the monster. In his eyes, Aldric had turned into a black shadow dressed in black. Only those blue eyes stared at him with a flat gaze.


    Alice stood with a pale face outside the alley listening to the screams inside the alley, she trembled in fear, suddenly she felt that her life was dark, being a slave to a cold, unpredictable, brutal and bloodthirsty person, this did not seem like a good thing.


    In the alley, the man''s body was on the ground with a hole in the middle. Aldric looked at the corpse with a flat expression, Emperor Judgement whispered lightly. A small grey aura emerged from the two bodies and entered Aldric''s body, he closed his eyes in enjoyment, the feeling of gaining power is intoxicating, ever since he was young, Aldric loved the feeling of getting stronger and this forced him to train madly since he was young to where sometimes his body would collapse from training but thanks to his grandfather''s medicine, he would survive every time.


    He knew from this man''s mouth that tonight two gangs would fight, the Tiger Gang and the Wolf Gang, but he was his prey, he would be well beaten tonight. He looked at his body and saw that the brown color had become a little more concentrated, but not close.


    About 200 men would come tonight. When he thought of all these people he couldn''t think about how much his strength had increased, a hint of madness appeared in his eyes but it disappeared as if it had drowned in a dark sea, this was the effect of the emperor''s wisdom, at all times he would remain sensible and make the most logical choices.


    In fact, he didn''t need this effect, because since he was young he found he differed from other children, he found that the so-called emotions did not affect him, if he felt angry he would get angry but this did not affect his decisions, if he felt happy he would feel happy but it did not affect his actions.


    He walked out of the alley and headed towards the store. He had to buy the cart before the sun went down.


    Alice followed him quickly, occasionally glancing into the alley behind her with a hint of curiosity.


    ¡°Do you want to see what¡¯s over there?¡± Aldric¡¯s cold voice rang in Alice¡¯s ears. She shivered and hurried to Aldric.


    Aldric bought a carriage and two horses for 10 gold coins, and they returned to Bruce''s house.


    Bruce opened the door with a smile and strangely, he didn''t smell blood on Aldric. Aldric nodded when he saw Bruce''s reaction. He used the Aether to block the blood smell and other things.


    In the northern forest of Grilin City, a group of skeletons were walking aimlessly, in the middle of the forest, in an underground cave, there was a black coffin, inside the coffin was a 3-meter-tall skeleton lying, suddenly a blue fire appeared in the hollows of the skeleton''s eyes.

 Chapter 5: The Massacre

    <h2 style="text-align: center">The Massacre</h2>


    At night.


    In Bruce''s house, in the guest room, Aldric was sitting in a chair, watching the moon out the window. Alice was lying on the bed, breathing steadily.


    Aldric stood up from his chair and walked out of the room, after going down the stairs, in the dark room Aldric''s eyes faced a huge dark figure with glowing orange eyes, silence... Aldric knew Bruce was in the room, but he didn''t talk to him but kept walking until he walked out the door.


    Bruce''s eyes followed Aldric''s movements, he thought he had bad intentions towards him and his daughter so he wanted to know if this boy had bad intentions after all this favor from him, in his right hand he was holding a heavy sword that was two meters in size, but when he saw Aldric''s eyes he felt afraid, he didn''t know why he was afraid of a little boy who had entered the Sea of ??Nothingness two days ago.


    After leaving the house, Aldric stared at Bruce''s house for a while, then jumped towards the roof of a nearby house, looked down and saw a place with several lights on, started running and jumping towards that area.


    Near the city walls were two groups of people facing each other. In front of the two groups stood two men, one with a tiger emblem on his face and the other with a wolf emblem on his face. On a nearby pillar, Aldric stood straight with his hands behind his back and looked at the two gangs.


    ¡°Tonight, we will kill the Wolf Gang, and take their money, wives and homes. Do you agree with me, you scum?¡± The Tiger Gang leader spoke with a red face and pulsating veins, the Tiger Gang members answered excitedly.


    ¡°You are dreaming. Do you think we will lose? Look, he thinks we will lose,¡± the Wolf Gang leader and his followers laughed and looked at the Tiger Gang in mockery.


    Aldric didn''t want to listen to any more of their nonsense, he jumped and somersaulted in the air, landing on the face of a man close to the leader of the Tiger Gang, when Aldric''s boots landed on the face of the man his face was smashed, He fell to the ground and parts of his head were scattered.


    The eyes of both gangs turned towards Aldric, standing over the corpse. The leader of the Tiger Gang reacted, ¡°Kill him, he¡¯s the wolf Gang¡¯s assistant¡­¡± Suddenly, his voice stopped. Aldric¡¯s hand had pierced his heart. The place was deaf, and then the Wolf Gang attacked Aldric.


    Aldric avoided the arrows and swords, he looked back and saw a huge man with a strong build with a very concentrated grey aura with some brown streaks, Aldric''s eyes lit up slightly, he slapped the man''s stomach with his knee and then hit him with a strong slap before he fell.


    Aldric came over the man and slowly dug his fingers into his back, the man screamed in pain and his eyes were red, Aldric grabbed his spine and slowly pulled it out, the man''s painful screams rang out leaving the two gangs in fear looking at this horrific scene, Aldric''s hand holding the spine appeared connected to his head with two eyes and the brain could be seen inside the skull.


    Aldric swung the spine in his hand and pieces of flesh and brain scattered over the crowd, some even falling into the mouths of some.


    Some of them vomited, and some wiped their bodies in panic. They looked in fear at Aldric, but they found he had disappeared. In the back, the leader of the Wolf Gang and some of the other members tried to escape, their faces were filled with joy, thinking they survived, but they found Aldric standing in front of them with a spine in his hand swinging.


    Aldric jumped towards them, starting with the leader, killing them one by one, either crushing their heads or the skull piercing their bodies. Then the massacre began. Whenever one of them tried to escape, he was crushed. Gradually, the number decreased: 200-150-100-50-10-5-3-2-1.


    Aldric stood in the middle of the sea of ??corpses expressionless, his clothes were clean and not stained with blood, in his hand was the spine and skull red from blood, ¡°The Emperor¡¯s rule,¡± he whispered lightly, and gray auras appeared from the bodies of 200 men and then like a small storm it surrounded Aldric.


    After a few seconds, Aldric was standing with a powerful aura around his body. He looked at his body. The brown color was much more concentrated than before. I had reached the peak of the second rank. If I wanted to reach the same level as Bruce, I think I would need to meditate for a month. If I used the Emperor¡¯s Rule skill, I would need about 2,000 people at the peak of the gray color.


    I guess I should focus on people with brown auras and above; he thought as he walked towards the house; he jumped to the guest room window and entered without the slightest sound; he got into the bed and hugged Alice from behind. His face was facing Alice''s head. He pushed the hair away from her neck and took a deep breath, then closed his eyes and fell asleep.


    Alice opened her silver eyes and felt something hugging her, she understood it was Aldric, her face turned red, she wanted to get away, but she couldn''t, after trying everything she could do she gave up and tried to sleep but unfortunately, she couldn''t do that either.


    Aldric was watching Alice''s actions when he saw she couldn''t sleep. He smiled a little, then closed his eyes and went to sleep.


    The sun shone on the snow, and people came out of their homes. Suddenly, they heard the screams of several people on one of the city walls. The guards rushed towards them and when they saw what it was, they all vomited without exception.


    The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.


    The whole city panicked, and the guards prepared to fight but nothing happened, Aldric woke up to the noise and looked out the window, people were talking, and some women and children were crying, Aldric looked at all this but didn''t care and went downstairs.


    Cara greeted him wearing an apron, "Good morning, Aldric..." She placed the food on the table with a smile.


    ¡°Good morning, Cara, why is the city noisy today...¡± He waved his hand with a smile as he looked outside curiously.


    ¡°There was a gang war last night and about 200 people died¡­¡± she replied with sadness in her voice.


    ¡°Damn, 200 people. All these people died in one night.¡± Aldric¡¯s face looked sad and surprised. He heard footsteps and looked back. Alice had just come down, and she looked tired.


    Cara looked at Alice''s face. "Didn''t you sleep well last night?" She came to Alice''s side and helped her sit up, then gave her a glass of water.


    ¡°Yes, I had a nightmare last night...¡± she replied in a lazy voice, then looked at Aldric.


    Aldric was sitting at the table looking at Alice, Aldric saw Alice''s eyes and leaned down to her ear "You have to get used to it, because this is one of your duties..." He returned to his chair and then patted Alice''s head.


    Alice''s face flushed, and she lowered her head, then nodded towards Aldric.


    "Good morning?" Bruce entered with a smile as he looked at Cara then looked at Aldric and their eyes met, Bruce suspected Aldric was the one who killed those two gangs, but he did not find any smell of blood or anything suspicions, but it is possible that Aldric is behind this.


    Aldric looked at Bruce''s scrutinizing eyes and ignored them. He knew Bruce suspected him, but he didn''t care. Last night, he had used Aether to block out the smell of blood. As for increasing strength, after the experiment he had done last night, he knew that if he wanted to, he could lower his aura by two levels. But if the difference in strength was too great, he could see it. But Bruce''s strength was close to his own, so it was easy to deceive him.


    Bruce sat at the table. They started eating breakfast. Boss looked at Aldric. "Are you going now?" Deep in his heart, he wanted Aldric to quickly get away from him and his daughter.


    ¡°Yes, I will go this morning,¡± he replied, looking at Bruce. After finishing breakfast, Aldric stood up and opened the door. The moment he opened the door, a giant stone exploded in front of him.


    Aldric was surprised and quickly went out the door. And was surprised that the northern wall had been destroyed. Outside the wall, a group of skeletons were standing in an organized manner, and in the middle of the skeletons, a tall skeleton was standing and casting his gaze towards the city.


    Aldric used the Emperor''s eyes and saw that all the skeletons had a brown aura, and the tall skeleton had a faint green aura. Aldric looked to his left at one point. Bruce was beside him with dangerous eyes.


    ¡°What level of strength is that skeleton?¡± Aldric asked with an indifferent expression.


    Bruce glanced at Aldric''s face. "He''s as strong as me, a rank 3 rookie..." He quickly returned home, put on his armor, and took his heavy sword in his right hand with his armor behind his back.


    ¡°Oh,¡± Aldric was silent for a while, then walked over to Alice, took her hand, and came to the carriage. ¡°Get the carriage ready quickly¡­¡± ordered, then looked back at the skeletons.


    Bruce came to Aldric''s side with a tangled face. He knew he couldn''t escape because the eyes of that skeleton were on him. He looked at his daughter sadly, unfortunately he had to sacrifice today. He came to Cara and hugged her tightly.


    Cara felt the weight of the situation and tears streamed down her eyes. She hugged her father tightly, and the situation continued like that until Bruce left her.


    Bruce took Cara and came to Aldric''s side, "Please can you take my daughter with you," Bruce knew Aldric was not a good person but at least he wanted his daughter to survive, he took a deep breath and entered the workshop after leaving the workshop he had a sheathed sword in his hand and a letter, "Please take her with you to the capital, I have a brother there who will take care of her," and this sword is your reward for this service.


    Aldric didn''t answer, but took the sword from Bruce. It was a one-handed sword embroidered with red lines. This sword suited him now. If he had it yesterday, he would have killed them quickly.


    Bruce saw Aldric was impressed with the sword. "This sword was a gift from a friend of mine, but unfortunately it doesn''t fit me and also this sword can conduct Aether," he explained as he prepared his shield.


    ¡°Oh,¡± Aldric nodded in satisfaction and put the sword back into its sheath. He looked at Bruce. ¡°I promise I will get your daughter to the capital safely,¡± he promised, his eyes looking serious.


    ¡°I trust you,¡± Bruce said with a sad smile on his face as he looked at Cara, ¡°I¡¯m sorry, my daughter, for not fulfilling my responsibility to stay with you and protect you. Farewell.¡± He turned his back and hot tears fell from his eyes as he jumped into the air and landed in front of the skeletons.


    Cara, with red eyes, wanted to go to her father and die with him, but Aldric knocked her out, then took her to the carriage.


    Bruce stood in front of a crowd of skeletons, he took a deep breath and fire enveloped his body, Armor and giant sword, he bent down a little and jumped towards the skeletons, every move he made killed several skeletons until finally he and the big skeleton were left, the skeleton took out a bone axe and jumped towards Bruce and they started fighting.


    At this time, Aldric and the two girls escaped in the carriage with a horse driver they found on the road.


    Inside the carriage, Cara was sleeping on a chair, and on the opposite side, Alice was sitting. Aldric entered the carriage and sat next to Alice, and silence filled the place.


    Alice looked at Aldric. "Sir, will Bruce be okay..." she asked with a little sadness in her eyes.


    "No one knows..." Aldric replied as he watched from the window. He turned to look at her, then lay down on the chair and put his head in her lap. After finding a comfortable position, he looked at Alice''s red face. "I''m going to sleep for a while. Don''t move." And he closed his eyes.


    Alice looked at Aldric''s face in confusion but did not speak and remained still, so as not to wake him up.


    In the city of Grilin the walls were destroyed, and corpses were everywhere, in the middle of the city the leader of the skeletons was sitting on a throne of bones and on top of his axe was Bruce''s head with horrific and sad eyes placed on it.

 Chapter 6: The forest ghost

    The forest ghost


    On a road blocked by a field of heavy snow, a man wearing heavy clothing was holding the rope tightly, urging the two horses to speed up. He looked at the wagon behind him with some envy, then turned forward and focused on the road.


    Inside the carriage, Aldric stared blankly at the window, lost in thought. In his right hand, he gently wiped the surface of a white letter. He looked at Cara sitting in front of him. His eyes didn''t change when he saw her red, desperate eyes.


    Cara looked at Aldric with anger. Why did he save her? She wanted to die with her father. Why did this happen? Why didn''t they attack the other cities? Why was she weak? Cara was like a lonely person in a boat on a stormy night, helpless and desperate. She couldn''t save her father from drowning in that dark abyss, she was left alone in a lonely boat, staring into the darkness of life.


    Aldric watched Cara experience a thousand negative emotions, but he didn''t move, didn''t comfort her, didn''t calm her down. The weak will always remain like this. He looked down. On his lap, Alice was resting her head in his lap, her eyes closed and breathing heavily. He gently brushed away the strands of hair that had fallen over her face.


    He looked out the window. The snowstorm seemed to be over. "Steve, stop," Aldric called in a low voice, using the Aether to transmit the sound to the driver''s ear. This was one of the many uses he had learned himself over the past few days.


    The man heard Aldric''s voice and whistled to stop the two horses. The two horses stopped slowly. The man jumped out of the chair and came to the carriage door.


    Aldric patted Alice''s head and woke her up. Aldric got out of the carriage, with Alice and Cara behind him.


    Aldric took out his sword and cut off several branches, then gathered them together and lit a fire. The four of them sat around the fire. Aldric turned to Steve. "Is it the weather like this all the year?" Aldric was curious why the weather outside was so different from his village. It had been almost a month and a half since he''d been out and everything he''d seen was white.


    Steve''s hands moved closer to the fire with a relieved expression. When he heard Aldric''s question, he looked at Aldric in surprise. "That''s normal. Doesn''t it snow all the year? Why do you ask such a question?"


    "Really? So you''re saying it snows all the year?" At first, he thought he was lying, but when he saw Steve''s surprised expression and Alice''s and Cara''s surprised faces, he knew he was saying the truth.


    ¡°Yes, I see you''re strange about such a thing. Where were you born?¡± Steve looked strangely at Aldric.


    When Aldric heard Steve''s question, he looked up into the air in reminiscence and gently wiped the letter''s place on his coat. "I was born in a village far away in the mountains called the Village of the Mists. There we had four seasons: winter, summer, autumn, and spring."


    ¡°What nonsense are you talking about spring and autumn? Did you make up these names for yourself?¡± Steve couldn¡¯t believe Aldric¡¯s words.


    Aldric saw Steve''s expression and knew there was a new mystery about his grandfather. First, his grandfather could erase his memories just by reading a letter from him. Now there was the question of how there was a 3 more seasons than the outside world.


    ¡°Well, believe it or not, tell me more about where we are.¡± Aldric didn¡¯t care if Steve believed himself or not, but he was interested in the new information.


    Steve shrugged. "I don''t really know much, but I know that Grilin City and the city we''re heading to are under a kingdom called the Ice Kingdom. I don''t know more than that."


    Aldric nodded, "I''ll go find some food," and jumped off toward the forest.


    Steve shook his head and looked at the two girls in front of him. "Hey girl, what happened to your friend?"


    Alice looked at Steve. "Are you talking to me?" She pointed to herself and asked.


    "Yeah, what happened to your friend? She seems lost,"


    Alice looked at the lost Cara with some pity. "She lost her father in the skeleton attack,"


    "Oh, I''m sorry," Steve shook his head, feeling sorry for the girl. He stood up and sat beside Cara. "I''m sorry for your loss," he looked at Cara''s orange hair that had faded and her eyes that were black from lack of sleep.


    Cara turned to look at Steve. "Why are you trying to comfort me? I don''t deserve it. I couldn''t protect my father." Cara was surprised that this man took pity on her.


    Steve heard Cara''s questions and felt pity, he looked into her eyes "If your father saw the way you are, would he be sad or happy, would he be happy to see you like this?" In Steve''s eyes, Cara was a beautiful lost girl, he felt pity for the sad beauty and felt sympathy because he went through a similar feeling.


    ¡°But he died because I didn¡¯t help him,¡± Cara argued, refusing to accept the truth.


    "Yes, but he sacrificed himself to save you. How would he feel if he knew his daughter regretted loving him?" Steve looked at Cara and encouraged her.


    "Really? Are you telling the truth?"


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    ¡°Yes, Cara, your father sacrificed himself to save you, so you need to be stronger and live a beautiful life to make him happy,¡± Steve felt elated when he felt Cara regain her feelings.


    ¡°Thanks Steve, now I know what I want to do,¡± Cara''s brown eyes filled with light, and she thanked Steve gratefully.


    ¡°Really? What do you want to do?¡± Steve looked at an emotionless Cara and felt his heart pound.


    "I will take revenge," Cara said firmly, tightening her grip.


    ¡°What?¡± Steve had a questioning look on his face. What happened to the beautiful, peaceful life I just told you about?


    ¡°I will take revenge on those skeletons.¡± Her face was firm, and the fire blazed in her eyes.


    Steve looked at Cara''s face and her burning eyes. The sunlight reflected off her face and her hair fell down her back, complementing the orange dress. Steve''s heart gradually beat faster. "I will help you."


    ¡°What?¡± Cara looked at Steve¡¯s excited face. ¡°What do you mean, I¡¯ll help you?¡±


    "I mean... I mean, I''ll help you fight those skeletons." Steve caught his tongue and smiled awkwardly, trying to quickly explain.


    ¡°But why do you want to help me?¡± Cara looked at Steve suspiciously.


    Steve was startled when he saw Cara''s expression filled with doubt. "Because... because I''ve felt this way before. I want to help you," Steve explained, stuttering, sweat dripping down his face. He looked nervously at Cara''s expression, waiting for her to agree.


    "Okay I guess," Cara looked at Steve with a strange expression but accepted, anyway, he would give up after some time.


    Aldric leaped through the trees, searching for prey. After some searching, he stopped on a tree branch, closed his eyes, and drew the Aether into his eyes. When he opened them, his vision was sharp, and he could see the details of a tree barks details from 100 meters away.


    He started searching and found a pack of wolves 300 meters away. He returned his normal eyes and urged the Aether back to his feet. He started running and gradually increased his speed to where the ordinary eye was. It seemed like an illusion. Within a 1 minute, he reached a tree branch above the wolves.


    On the ground, a pack of 13 wolves was following a giant wolf that was 1.5 meters tall. The wolves behind him with snow-white fur were obediently following him. Suddenly, as if the wolf sensed something, he looked up. Two blue eyes were staring at him in the tree''s shade.


    Aldric looked at the wolves in front of him, especially the giant wolf. In the Emperor''s eyes, he had a light brown aura around him. He had entered the Sea of ??Nothingness recently.


    The giant wolf looked at Aldric warily and prepared to attack.


    He took out the sword from his waist and slowly unsheathed it. He spread out his palms and the sword slowly flew out and spun. He waved his hand towards the weak wolf pack.


    The sound of the sword rang out in the air as it spun, in the blink of an eye it reached the wolf in front and cut off his head, then it turned and came back, cutting off one head after another until finally it fell to the ground.


    The giant wolf jumped away and watched all his followers die. He looked at Aldric with a face full of fear and killing intent.


    Aldric ignored the wolf''s expression and jumped from the trees to in front of the killed wolf pack.


    In his eyes, concentrated grey auras emerged from the wolf pack and slowly entered Aldric''s body. His strength level was slowly accumulating but as if he had encountered a hurdle to stop.


    The wolf watched Aldric''s actions carefully, and after some watching, attacked. The wolf started walking slowly in a circle, looking for a suitable place to attack. After walking a little, he faced Aldric''s back. He lowered his body and tensed his leg muscles, ready to pounce. He gritted his teeth, his oval eyes narrowed and leaped forcefully towards Aldric.


    Aldric still had his eyes closed, like a tree doesn¡¯t move.


    The wolf gradually approached. His eyes widened, his mouth opened wide, his claws protruding, and his muscles tensed.


    Whoosh... The wolf heard something sharp passing through the air and then felt a tickle on his neck, the wolf''s eyes widened as he looked at Aldric''s back and then he fell to the ground and a streak of blood appeared on his neck slowly turning the white furred into red color.


    Aldric turned to look at the dead wolf with blank eyes. He extended his hand and the sword in his hand floated peacefully with drops of red blood dripping from it.


    From the start, he planned to win at the lowest cost. He used all his Aether reserves in the sword, leaving himself without Aether. This would be dangerous if someone else did the same, but he had the Emperor''s judgment skill, so even if he was without Aether, he only had to kill one wolf, and he would regain enough Aether to fight the large wolf.


    When he threw the sword, it made it look like he had lost energy when he killed the 13 wolves, but the sword only consumed 13% of the energy, the rest was used to land a powerful blow, using 60% of the energy for the wolf, even if the wolf somehow survived, the remaining energy was enough to land a critical blow.


    Aldric put the sword back in its sheath, slung the wolf over his shoulder, and started walking towards Alice and the others.


    Around the fire, Cara and Alice were sitting together. Opposite them, Steve was sitting, bringing his hands close to the fire. Suddenly, a step of voices rang out from the forest. Steve immediately turned to the source, pulling out a dagger from behind him. Alice and Cara stepped back.


    Gradually, Aldric appeared, carrying the giant wolf out of the shadows of the forest.


    The size of the wolf surprised Alice and Cara and on the side. Steve''s facial expression changed, and he looked at Aldric in disbelief.


    He came to Aldric''s side and looked at the wolf behind him, "Man I can''t believe you killed the forest ghost, and killed him with one clean hit," Steve''s face was pale when he saw the wolf neck, and he looked at Aldric like he was looking at a monster.


    ¡°Actually, it¡¯s not that big of a deal. I used one sword strike, and he died.¡± Aldric shrugged and threw the wolf into the snow, then began skinning and cutting it up.


    Steve shook his head, speechless, came over to Alice and Cara with a curious face. "Did you two known that your friend is so strong?¡±


    Cara shrugged and watched Aldric in obvious surprise, a little fire of excitement burning in her eyes.


    ¡°I¡¯ve never seen him fight seriously so I don¡¯t know his strength level,¡± Alice was looking at Aldric but there was hidden fear in her eyes, she knew Aldric killed humans like the someone who harvesting plants, if one day he tired of her what would happen, he would kill her or he do even more horrifying thing to her.


    After Aldric skinned the wolf, he placed the meat over the fire and the wolf''s fur on the wagon to dry. After the meat was ready, they eat it.


    After they finished eating and preparing the horses, they quickly set off towards the city.


    Aldric looked out the window at the blue sky with some anticipation, then laid his head on Alice''s lap, closing his eyes.

 Chapter 7: The White Mammoth Herd

    <h2 style="font-weight: 600; text-align: center">The White Mammoth Herd</h2>


    Gray clouds covered the sky, creating a canopy over the snowy ground. Two black horses pulled an ordinary wooden wagon. On top of the wagon sat a man wearing a white coat made of white animal hide. His eyes were closed, and his black hair was swept back.


    9y:11m:19d: 23:59:58¡­


    9y:11m:19d: 23:42:38¡­


    9y:11m:19d: 23:35:15¡­


    Aldric silently watched the countdown in the contract. Every second, every minute, time continued to tick down. When the countdown ended, his life was no longer in his hands. He didn''t care if he died first. He cared about that mysterious place called the beginning and the end. He cared if the emperor¡¯s judgment skill could work on the being he had signed the contract with. Aldric sat on the carriage, his legs crossed, contemplating. Snow fell on his white wolf''s fur coat.


    Aldric had been meditating for several days, absorbing and gathering the Aether to break through to the 3rd rank. When he plundered the power of the giant wolf, his level reached the peak of the 3rd rank. He only needed some meditation and absorbing and balancing the Aether in the air. After five days of hard work, he finally reached the 3rd rank.


    He patted the roof of the cart, signalling Steve to stop the cart. Steve stopped the cart and Cara and Alice got out. Aldric looked at them and told them to wait for him for half an hour, then he headed off in a random direction.


    Cara, Alice, and Steve sat in a circle, staring at Aldric''s back before je disappeared into the distance. "Cara, do you know how Aldric got so powerful?" Steve investigated Cara''s face with a strong curiosity.


    Cara heard Steve''s question, "My father taught him, it''s some kind of energy or something." Cara shook her head at Steve. Unfortunately, her father hadn''t told her anything about the Sea of ??Nothingness or that mysterious energy.


    ¡°Oh, unfortunately, it would be nice if you knew,¡± Steve shook his head sadly if he had that kind of power, he wouldn''t have been a horse driver, ¡°How about asking Aldric to teach us,¡± Steve¡¯s eyes lit up When an idea came to his mind, and he asked Alice and Cara.


    ¡°I don¡¯t think he¡¯ll teach us,¡± Alice quickly dismissed the idea. Who knows what would happen if someone as unreliable as Aldric taught them?


    "That''s a great idea. Why are you refusing, Alice? I thought you would be the one who would say yes so strongly because at least you''ve been with him longer than the two of us." Cara looked at Alice curiously, wondering why Alice was so reluctant. Their relationship seemed close.


    "Uh... I just think it''s better if someone with experience, like Bruce, teaches us." Alice lowered her head to hide her scared eyes. Who knows what he''ll do with them? Someone like that could do anything.


    ¡°Well, anyway, Cara and I will ask him to teach us,¡± Steve shrugged at Alice¡¯s odd explanation.


    On the side, the Aldric was standing on an ice cliff, facing the wind with his eyes closed. He was listening and seeing from Alice''s perspective and listening to their conversation. He opened his eyes and stopped Emperor¡¯s judgment. He discovered this use first time. When he used it on Alice for the first time, you can listen to the defeated person''s thoughts and share their vision and hearing.


    He activated the emperor¡¯s eye''s ability and looked at the ice field searching for prey; he wanted to reach the green color before he reached the city. After 10 minutes of searching, he found several mixed auras, from green to brown. Aldric was surprised by the green color again and stronger than that skeleton.


    He took a deep breath and cautiously approached slowly, keeping a distance between himself and those unknown creatures. After about ten minutes, he finally reached 300 meters away from those creatures. He used the Aether in his eyes and saw a group of giant animals in front of him.


    They were creatures covered in white fur with two giant fangs sticking out from the side of their giant noses, every step sounded like a small earthquake, with the tallest being 50 meters tall and the smallest being 5 meters tall, the strongest being the tallest being a green rank 2 to the smallest being a brown rank 1.


    Aldric''s hearts beat with every step the mammoth took. He took a deep breath and turned his attention to the young. If he wanted to kill them, he would have to start with the weakest ones, but they walked alongside the adults so he couldn''t do anything. As he thought, he heard a sharp scream.


    He looked up, and there were 12 creatures flying. They had a long beak, two wings on their backs, and two front legs with three sharp claws. Their body color was white with a scale pattern on the surface of their body.


    Aldric lay down on the snow and covered his body with white wolf fur, blending himself into the white environment. He used the Emperor''s Wisdom skill to lower his Halo presence to the maximum and slowly stopped his breathing and used Aether in its place.


    The giant mammoth''s voice rang out. It seemed he had an enmity with those creatures. He raised his trunk and blew hard at the bird in front. Icy air with small sharp ice needles toward the birds.


    The bird dodged the ice attacks and flapped its wings towards the giant mammoth. sharp crystals formed from the air and flew towards the giant mammoth.


    the mammoth lowered its head, using its back as a defence against the attack of the flaying creature.


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    Aldric watched the fight through a gap in the wolf''s fur and noticed that the creatures under the green didn''t attack like the giant mammoth and the giant bird, but they used their body as a tool to attack.


    Aldric slowly backed away from the cliff to reduce the chances of being noticed by an accidental attack. After descending the cliff, he looked at the various battles ahead of him. After some searching, He found a slightly weaker mammoth fighting a bird of equal strength.


    The two creatures were a little farther from their herd, a quick target to kill and increase his power. He slowly dug into the icy ground, relying on the emperor¡¯s eyes to dig towards the creature while doing his best to minimize its presence.


    After some deep digging, he finally reached the bottom of the creature, took a deep breath and pulled his sword out of its sheath, charging it to 90% of its Aether. After waiting for a while, he pointed the sword upwards. "Swish. " The sword cut through the ground like butter and stabbed into the mammoth''s belly, piercing its body until it reached its heart. The sword stopped and then spun quickly, slicing the mammoth''s heart into tiny pieces.


    The mammoth''s eyes narrowed as he felt his life slowly disappearing. His knees gradually buckled, and he fell into the snow with a sound that caught everyone''s attention on the battlefield.


    The bird he was fighting was delighted and landed over the carcass and flapped its wings to express its happiness. After taking the first bite, it flapped its wings and headed to its companion to help it fight the mammoth.


    Aldric sensed the mammoth''s death and the bird''s departure and retrieved the sword from the slain mammoth''s body. He activated his emperor''s judgment skill, absorbing the mammoth''s Aether. His concentrated brown aura enveloped Aldric''s body, causing him to regain 90% of his Aether supply and raise his strength by 10%. Aldric nodded and headed towards the mammoth that was fighting two giant birds.


    Using the same trick to kill a 20-meter-tall mammoth, the Green-Levelled Giant Bird was delighted to see that two of the 10 mammoths in the herd had killed. The two birds happily went to help another bird.


    And so, it went. It was easy for Aldric to kill one mammoth after another first because of the large number of attacking birds and the increase in his strength from 10% to 99.9%. When Aldric felt that his strength had reached its maximum and he was close to breaking through the green color, he had two options. The first was to kill the last mammoth and loot it, but breaking through might attract attention and there was a risk in fighting 12 birds and three of them were in the green color. The second was to ignore the last mammoth and go on his way back.


    Aldric thought a little and headed towards Alice and the others, and took off, making no sound. After digging 50 meters away from the battlefield without the Aether, he jumped out of the ground. He didn''t use the Aether immediately for fear of attracting the attention of the giant bird, but he used his physical ability. After half an hour, he reached a safe area, I think, and used the Aether and took off towards the cart.


    After running for several minutes, he finally reached the cart. On the side of the cart, Alice and Cara were leaning their backs against the cart, looking at Steve in front of them.


    To the side, Steve was standing on the ice with an excited voice, telling Cara and Alice a story. He wanted to make Cara forget about her father''s death.


    Aldric reached the top of the carriage and looked at Steve with flat eyes. He didn''t speak. He just lay down on the carriage, looking up at the gray clouds. His blue eyes seemed to shine a little. Then he took something out of his coat. It was a white letter. He placed it on his chest and gently wiped the surface of the letter, lost in a sea of ??memories.


    After some time, Steve finished telling the story with a tired red face. He looked at Cara''s happy smile and the small tears of joy on the corners of her eyes; he felt his heart beating; he wanted this moment to last forever; he wished he could only see this face forever.


    Alice smiled happily. It had been a long time since she had felt such feelings. She looked up at the sky and felt that Aldric should have come a long time ago.


    Aldric stood up slowly. "Let''s go now," he lightly jumped off the roof of the carriage and opened the door. He turned to the three of them, "Hurry," and entered the carriage.


    "Was he here the whole time?" Steve asked with a sceptical face. He looked at Cara and saw that she didn''t know either. He turned to Alice and saw that she had already entered the carriage.


    "Do you feel Alice is different when Aldric is around? She seems to be terrified of Aldric," Steve approached Cara and asked suspiciously.


    ¡°Oh, I never told you before, Alice is Aldric¡¯s slave,¡± Cara told him in a low voice, afraid that Aldric would hear her. From the beginning, Aldric seemed like an undetectable, misty figure. She was afraid of him because she couldn¡¯t even expect his next move.


    Inside the carriage, the air was still and cool. Alice sat upright without moving. She didn''t even have time to push a lock of hair out of her face.


    She felt a sudden hand on her right shoulder. She turned to look at her shoulder, but suddenly her vision spun. She looked into the blue eyes above her.


    Aldric looked into those silver eyes and pushed the lock of hair away from her face. He looked at her. "I just heard someone saying something bad behind my back. How do you want me to punish you?" Aldric wiped his hand on Alice''s cheek and looked into her eyes.


    Alice felt a chill on her cheek and her body tensed. She wanted to get up but couldn''t. She averted her eyes, avoiding looking directly into Aldric''s eyes.


    Aldric looked into Alice''s shifty eyes. He didn''t speak but lowered his hand from Alice''s cheek to her chin, then lifted her face slightly. He lowered his head and kissed Alice''s lips.


    Alice felt a cold on her lips and closed her eyes, unable to look into those empty blue eyes. Slowly, she lost her breath. She tried to struggle but couldn''t. She hit Aldric with her two hands, but found it was not any benefit. Her face turned red, and she felt she was about to die. She opened her eyes and met the same empty eyes looking at her. Her eyes turned red and two hot tears fell from her eyes.


    Aldric looked into Alice''s red eyes; her face flushed from lack of breath and finally broke the kiss. He watched Alice breathing heavily as if she was about to drown. He put his left hand on her hair, gently stroking it. "This is your punishment for what you said when you thought I was gone. Now close your eyes and go to sleep," he told her flatly, then turned his gaze to the window, watching the snow fall.


    Alice breathed deeply and felt alive again. She heard Aldric''s voice. Who can sleep when he just nearly died? She thought to herself as she closed her eyes, afraid that Aldric would find another ridiculous reason to punish or kill her. Suddenly she felt a warmth coming from her body as if she were in warm water, and with every stroke of Aldric''s palm on her head and she slowly fell asleep.


    Cara opened the door and entered gently. She looked at Alice''s face, which was still a little red. She didn''t speak, just sat silently.


    The carriage started moving towards the next destination. Aldric looked out the window at the sky, looking forward a little to the next city and to how much his power might increase.