Aeron had no clue that a full-blown fight had happened a small distance away from where he was sitting, he was too absorbed into speeding up his core rotation. And his efforts started to bear fruit, his core spun faster and faster as more aura was produced. When the core truly solidifies, his level up would be complete.
Lina was observing outside, she was still guarded as the woman might just be hiding nearby. But from the way things happened, she might have been serious about giving up. Her current dilemma was finding the piece of fruit and waiting for Aeron was the best thing she could do right now.
“He’s almost done,” Lina spoke.
The mana around them was rapidly swirling towards Aeron and an aura of promotion started to erupt from Aeron’s body. Arthur was watching from afar, he had no clue about the other woman’s whereabouts and why the new woman fought with the other woman, but from Arthur’s perspective, the new woman didn’t have any hostility against his master which made him breath out in relief. Although in terms of intelligence, Arthur was still unable to match a human, his instincts far outstripped those of humanity, and his instincts told him he was no match for both women. His inheritance told him of a larger stage, but it would still take time for him to rise to that level. The aura of promotion erupted again as Aeron took the final steps to breakthrough level 6.
A distance away from Aeron’s location.
Rose who had just fought Lina covered her stomach as she vomited blood, she had been injured further from their exchange.
“Damn that girl!” She said as she wiped off the blood dribbling from her mouth, her face turned unnaturally pale as she endured the pain. She wasn’t overconfident for no reason, even though she was injured, her body was still stronger than that of a normal Earth Stage Human, the amount of aura she could use was that of a peak Earth Grade, but she failed to notice Lina’s hidden weapon.
The weapon was made from the Demon Beast, Crystal Chameleon, they had a glass-like body that they used to camouflage themselves, what was even more bizarre about the Crystal Chameleon was their body’s ability. Their body had two modes, a normal mode, and a hunting mode, when they were in normal mode, their bodies were just like those of a normal chameleon, but when they hunted, their body changes into thin strips of glass. When you look at it on its side, you would still see a thin chameleon shaped outline, but if you stand in front of them, you would only see thin lines and a transparent circular object on the upper part. The circular object was its eye, it only had one eye which resides inside its head when in normal mode, the eye was the only thing the Crystal Chameleon couldn’t change with its body, even so, the eye was a transparent crystal ball, which was still hard to spot.
The Crystal Chameleon then hides in obscure areas, or actively hunts for other High-Grade Beasts, lower to or the same with its level. Their body not only lets them hide, but they also had a skill that diminishes their presence like that of an assassin, but its main weapon hid inside its mouth, a sword whip-like tongue that slices through their opponent in a flash, this was also the body part they integrated their cores in.
Lina’s sword was the Crystal Chameleon’s tongue, she was still too weak to make use of the crystal sword’s ability to change into a sword whip form. If she had been able to utilize the sword’s ability, then the fight might have gone in another direction. Rose suddenly looked back, she felt a strong aura of promotion from where she fled.
“Such a strong soul!” she exclaimed.
She didn’t know how Aeron was able to tame Mid-Grade Beasts when he was still below level 6, but it seemed like she got her answer. It was different for other Professions, the aura of promotion became stronger when a Warrior had a stronger physique, Mages needed to have a larger amount of mana, and only Tamers needed a stronger soul to amplify the aura of promotion. The intensity was another way to judge someone’s potential. Affinity was the best way, but the aura of promotion was another, if one had a naturally stronger body, and had a Grade-3 affinity to the Warrior Profession, then he might be classified into a Grade-2 affinity instead, true he might be slower in growing strong compared to a true Grade-2 affinity person, but his combat ability would be stronger at the same level. The third method to gauge a person’s potential was through the possession of [Unique] skills.
“I’ll have to ask master if we could try and recruit him, though we might have to force some things,” Rose said as her eyes glinted with hidden intentions. Her figure suddenly faded as an almost invisible silhouette disappeared into the darkness of the forest.
‘Even if it’s inferior to that of a High-Grade Beast, it’s still far superior to that of a Mid-Grade Beast,’ Lina thought.
She was stunned by what she felt, such a strong soul was not that of a Tamer who just broke through level 6, it was at this moment that Akila, Claude, and Richie started to wake up. Lina also noticed their movement and was once again surprised, except for the Black Martial Monkey, she was certain that the other tamed beast were Mid-Grade Beasts.
‘Such a Genius was sent in here?! The Ironbull family shouldn’t be so stupid right? And why would he be searching for me?’ questions filled Lina’s head but she was quickly brought back to reality.
Kiii! Roar! Grrr!
When Aeron’s tamed beasts woke up, the blonde woman who knocked them out was gone and a black-haired woman was there instead. But what was important was defending their master, so they backed off and stood in front of Aeron, they growled threateningly at Lina to warn her from coming closer.
Aeron slowly opened his eyes after the soul sublimation finished, he could feel his soul growing far stronger than normal, but it was still not enough to match that of a High-Grade Beast, but Aeron had no worries about that, he still had Ursa and Agila, if both beasts evolve into a High-Grade Beast, then he would be able to tame High-Grade Beasts directly without fear of death. This was also the reason why taming one High-Grade Beast did not directly mean that you could tame another, at most you’ll be able to match the soul of a High-Grade Beast, so there was still a 50% chance of dying while doing so.
“What happened?” Aeron suddenly asked.
He woke up at the sight of his base with small and big craters here and there, some branches were cut off and others looked like they were hit with explosives. It was then that Aeron noticed a new person in front of him, and the Lina he knew was nowhere to be seen, the new person was even more beautiful than the other Lina.
“Who are you?” Aeron asked warily.
He had just leveled up, and by the look of things, she was injured and had not attacked him when he was in the midst of leveling up. Else, Aeron would’ve directly called Arthur to carry him away, still, he sent Arthur an order to get nearer.
“I am Lina Azrhail, daughter of Governor Arius Azrhail,” Lina promptly answered.
She knew he was an ally so she didn’t want him to be wary of her, but she was still met with a vigilant look instead which confused her.
‘Shouldn’t he be happy to meet me here instead?’ Lina thought in confusion.
Aeron did become guarded when she said her name was Lina Azrhail, after all, the other Lina said she was being chased by beasts and a woman. Lina suddenly remembered that what she saw in the memory stone, Aeron asked about her appearance from the man named Gerard, and there was even a piece of information about Aeron saving an unconscious woman.
‘Then that woman might have pretended to be me!’ Lina realized.
She quickly brought out an obsidian plate, carved within was a cloak and a scythe, behind them was a pair of wings, she also brought out the memory stone she got from the notification bird, the description in the memory stone should be enough to prove her identity.
“Here, this is my family emblem, and the memory stone I got from the notification bird, it should be enough to prove my identity,” Lina said as she placed the obsidian plate and the memory stone in front of her before backing off.
“Richie, go get it,” Aeron said as Richie walked towards the obsidian plate and the memory stone.
Aeron took the items Richie handed them, he already had some certainty that she was telling the truth. But he had been lied to once, he didn’t want to fall for it a second time. Aeron looked at the emblem on his hands, emblems weren’t so easily copied as they held a unique status, if one was caught using a fake emblem, then that person would have to face the whole family’s wrath, as well as the other families who held the importance of emblems seriously. But Aeron knew that the first Lina already lost her weapon and armor, so it was not farfetched for one to suspect the other of picking the emblem up at some point.
‘Arthur, watch her actions, save me if anything happens,’ Aeron ordered through his soul.
Aeron held the memory stone as he placed it on his forehead.
“Little Brother! I want to thank you for the warning you gave us!” Gerard’s figure stood in the memory.
“If not for your words, then we wouldn’t have had more time to prepare, as for the information about the Governor’s daughter, well, I could only find some information about her, an image of her was last seen but she was carrying a sword and wearing a grey cloak, so her appearance is a mystery, there is a chance that the woman you saved was her,” Gerard suddenly stopped mid-speech.
“Fortunately, I found someone who has seen her before she went inside, but he refused to show a memory of her, so I can only describe her, she has a long black hair, icy blue eyes, and a snow-white skin, and she is apparently very beautiful, so you shouldn’t be able to mistake her for someone else,” Gerard added as he winked.
“Also, little brother, I don’t know what your purpose is in going inside the Endless Forest, but you need to return now, the forest will become a much more dangerous place, return with haste little brother, I don’t know when the war begins, but there’s no doubt that it will happen soon, we haven’t seen the wolf king yet, but the wolves have started to gather,” Gerard ended the memory.
Aeron opened his eyes and stared at Lina, long black hair fell behind her, her icy blue eyes looked back at him, and her snow-white skin seemed to glow under the green hue of Aeron’s secret base.
“Beautiful!” Aeron said unconsciously.
Anyone who saw her would’ve blurted it out too, her beauty was ethereal, but her icy blue eyes made Aeron snap out of his stupor.
“Enough staring!” Lina she didn’t mind other people staring at her as she had been accustomed by it since young, many of her relatives pinched her chubby white cheeks when she was but a child, and many of the young men she met with in the past would turn awkward when talking to her, but this man in front of her, a bit younger than her made her feel something inexplicable instead, his amber glazed eyes seemed to penetrate her very being.
“I apologize for my rudeness,” Aeron said when he heard Lina’s words.
“It’s fine, I just want to know if you saw whether that woman brought my grey cloak with her,” Lina asked.
This was her main concern, she didn’t know why he was looking for her and asking about her from someone else, but he was an Ironbull, and that was enough for her to judge that he could be trusted.
“Richie, go get the cloak,” Aeron ordered.
The air turned silent as they waited for Richie’s return, Aeron didn’t know what to say, and neither did Lina, Aeron stood in place, and Lina sat down with her eyes closed, it wasn’t known whether they both were aware, but a sense of harmony appeared as the silence ensued. The graceful cloud leopard relaxed as it climbed on a branch and the silver furred wolf laid down as it closed its eyes.
Arthur looked from afar as he felt a sense of peace from watching the scene. The picturesque view was akin to a mortal man meeting a fairy in the forest, the green hue made from the sun’s rays passing through the verdant leaves made it even more harmonious, but the scenery didn’t last as Richie returned with the grey cloak. Aeron looked towards Richie as Lina opened her eyes to the familiar item.
“Here,” Aeron said as he gave the cloak with the piece of fruit bundled inside.
Lina received the cloak as their hands briefly touched, Aeron felt the touch but made nothing of it, Lina was too excited as she held the object, she risked her life for.
“Thank you!” Lina said as she bowed gratefully towards Aeron.
“Your welcome,” Aeron replied.
Her happy appearance stunned Aeron as he looked away, oftentimes, small events sparked complex emotions, Aeron knew and remembered. Memories of another came gushing out from deep within, her smile, her laughter, he never had much so he worked harder and harder, he barely slept, but that was how he coped, he wanted to give her the best life could offer, her and his family was his reason for being, that was how he saw things, but he failed to see something else, life was a burrowed time, one could never know when it would end, but when it was time, it was time, and it was time to forget.
Aeron closed his eyes, he might have died before his time really started, but it might have been a good thing, there was a reason why he became vulnerable and weak, all those sleepless nights took a toll on his body, even without the epidemic, he might have died an early death.
Both were different, but somehow he saw, the woman in front of him was so similar, so alike, but he knew, it was impossible. Aeron quickly shook the thoughts in his head.
‘How stupid can I be if I believed that?’ Aeron thought as he sighed internally.
“Right, I’m sorry I looked into the memory stone your friend sent, but, why were you asking about me?” Lina suddenly asked.
