The audience only had enough time to widen their eyes as they watched in shock. By now, they had gotten used to the reverberating booms that accompanied Ragnar each time he moved in inconceivable ways. Even when he became too fast for their eyes to keep up, they could still hear and feel the booms echo throughout the arena.

But this time, the lack of any sound whatsoever when he disappeared had left many scratching their heads. There were very few who could discern that Ragnar’s movement this time was vastly different from what he had been doing until now. And even fewer noticed him entering the arena below.

Vale was of course, already scanning the floor of the arena in all directions with furrowed brows as he stood in alert. He had already activated his ability when Ragnar made a move. In reality, at this point in time, he was more worried about the fact that he might have accidentally killed his opponent. If he was still on the arena then the medical team could have taken action on time to preserve his life, but that stubborn bastard just had to go ahead and kill himself.

As his thoughts wondered, he felt something pressing against his back. His eyes widened to the extreme as he had completely failed to notice when someone had appeared behind him, there were no indications whatsoever.

But he was still a battle-hardened expert, so he came out of his horror within that very instant and tried to move out of the way. But before he could, he heard a boom, much tamer than all the ones he had heard in this battle until now. Followed by a pain in his gut so extreme that he was never going to forget it for as long as he lived. He had a feeling as if all his organs had been pushed out of their designated spots. He bent over, puking out blood alongside several chunks of meat. But before he could discern where those chunks belonged, everything went dark as his mind went unconscious to save him from the horrid pain that was to follow.

The audience was once again silent, it had already become a regular occurrence by now. They had been silenced by this Arcane so many times today that they had lost count. They were forced to doubt their intelligence time and time again. They once again couldn’t fathom what had happened on the arena. The Arcane had disappeared from his spot and appeared behind Vale, with worn out clothes stained in blood and torn flesh visible underneath. Then he casually kept his palm on Vale’s back who failed to notice him until the palm had made contact. Then followed by a boom, Vale bent over to puke blood before falling unconscious.

Were they expected to believe this? Were they supposed to accept this?

***

The man in VIP box stood from his seat, his brows furrowed to the extreme as this was outside of even his expectations. He had extreme doubts about the last method used to travel by the Arcane, it could hardly be attributed with his abilities that he has shown until now. But he didn’t bother making any conjectures for now.

He instead, spoke to the black clothed woman as he started walking out the room. “Run a background check on him… And also, find out who trained him.”

The woman knew that she was not supposed to say what she was about to say but she couldn’t stop herself. “Young lord, I can just bring him in for questioning, we don’t need to go-“

She stopped herself. Her young lord had turned back and was staring at her with a serious expression. The woman felt goosebumps all over her body as she lowered her gaze, not daring to stare back even a second longer.

Then, the young man’s gaze softened, his serious expression giving way to a warm smile. “Aura already seems to have enough troubles on her plate, let’s not antagonize her even further. And if you really are so eager to have a chat with him then you can go ahead, you have my permission. But I have to say, I didn’t think you liked them so young.” His smile turned cheeky by the end of his sentence.

The woman’s body slightly flinched hearing her young lord’s final remark. But apart from that, his words failed to get any further reaction from her. Instead, she simply said, “Understood.” and brought out her platinum ethlet to send her orders down the chain of command.

The Young man didn't continue to tease her. He just turned around with a satisfied smile, walking out of the VIP box. The woman silently followed after him like a shadow.

***

Ragnar stood on the arena, observing the medics carrying an unconscious Vale off the platform. Few had approached him as well trying to treat his injuries but he simply waved them off.

For his final attack on Vale, Ragnar had channelled his ability directly into his body which was why he was able to severely damage him even though the intensity of his waves was not even 20%. He was unable to do it throughout the match since Vale seemed to be actively avoiding any sort of prolonged contact between their bodies. And in order to channel his waves into something, Ragnar still needed to touch them with his palms, which Vale definitely wasn’t going to allow. So, he was forced to use his Tainted perk for the surprise attack.

Ragnar of course knew that there was no way for him to negate the damage from Vale’s ability, at least without transforming, there wasn’t. But he also knew that the damage wouldn’t be enough to debilitate him, he at least had this much trust in his body. And his trust wasn’t misplaced since although his wounds might look deadly, they were all superficial injuries that should stop bleeding within a few minutes.

The referee had already announced the result of this match and there was nothing else left for him to do here so he started walking back towards the seats. But then he noticed that Aura and Kalix weren’t in the seats anymore, instead they stood at the exit of the Arena waving at him. Walking up to them, he noticed Aura’s worried expression while Kalix was looking at him with respect.

Instead of inquiring about their positions, he simply walked past them, heading towards the exit. Aura was delighted as she caught up to him with zeal. As she did, she couldn’t help but confirm. “You don’t want to fight anymore?”

Ragnar gave her a sidelong glance before answering in a casual tone. “No. I am bored. “

Aura was delighted by his response and couldn’t help smiling. She had been racking her brain on how to convince him to stop here and not fight anymore but it seems like it won’t be necessary. But then her smile vanished since she had several misgivings with him that she needed to address.

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Both Aura and Kalix treated his response as him showing a brave front instead of admitting that he was in no condition to fight once more. But they of course wouldn’t bring out these thoughts.

But in fact, Ragnar was not trying to mislead them in the slightest. He himself was finding it odd but he truly felt that he had had enough of fighting. Although he had been feeling the need to stretch his body ever since he had turned and go all out, now that he had gone all out, he found out that fighting without the intent to kill truly felt pointless. It wasn’t like he hadn’t enjoyed it, but after it was over, it didn’t feel fulfilling. And as far as doing it for the ranking goes, yea fuck that. He had already won more than enough money.

Ragnar also knew that if there was ever the intent to kill, then most fights won’t last more than a few moves. So, he had no intention of getting on that arena again anytime soon. His inner assassin that usually manifests itself in the form of a black panther truly didn’t enjoy it.

As they walked Kalix brought up his injuries and Aura was also in agreement that they should first visit the medics to get him patched up. But Ragnar simply said, “There’s no need.” And refused to entertain any thoughts on this topic.

Aura was currently considering voicing out her misgivings but at this point, Ragnar stopped and turned to Kalix, raising his arm with the tattered sleeve and spoke. “Can you fix this?”

Kalix’s expression turned conflicted on instinct but it disappeared in the next instant as he held Ragnar’s sleeve, pouring his essence into it. He had already been serving as their errand boy this whole time, so what was the point of being prideful right now. And this was a small matter anyways.

The green clothed butler in the Trade Union had done a good job at explaining to Ragnar how these self-cleaning and healing clothes worked. So, Ragnar knew that even if he left them alone, they would automatically revert to being perfect eventually but that would take almost the whole day. Since they will have to naturally absorb his essence which takes a long time. He couldn’t fast track this process since he was still unable to exert his essence outside his body. But why would he wait when he had someone who could exert his essence right beside him. He was also pleased with how quickly Kalix had agreed to do it.

After Kalix was done, he decided to bring up something that he had been considering ever since Ragnar had defeated his first opponent on this arena. “Listen, if you guys go out right now, then there will be a lot of people waiting for you in the lobby to try to recruit you and to find out more about you.”

Aura’s worried expression returned as this was one of her misgivings from this show off. She wasn’t really worried about Ragnar leaving her side at this point since she knew him well enough by now to tell that he will not go back on his word. But what had her worried was those people might anger him leading him to lash out, breeding pointless enmities. This was something that she had no control over since he was really easy to tick off when it came to certain matters.

Ragnar on the other hand didn’t seem bothered as he simply asked Kalix. “What do you suggest?” Since he had brought this up, he must already have an alternative.

Kalix gave him a slight smile. “You can take the staff exit; I’ll get your winnings from the reception.”

Ragnar didn’t say anything and simply nodded while Aura had a thankful look in her eyes. Kalix led them to the staff exit after which he left to retrieve his Dagger and his winnings.

After he had disappeared past the corner, Ragnar suddenly asked something that Aura wasn’t expecting. “Why do you think he is being so helpful?”

Aura gave him a weird look, her mind started considering why he would ask her such a question. Did he really not know what he did today? Is it that hard to fathom why someone would be nice to an Arcane who defeated a true spectral? Is he testing her? But despite all her thoughts, she gave him a straightforward answer. “Probably because he wants you to have a favourable impression of him.”

Ragnar’s lips formed a slight smile. “Well… then he succeeded.” Following which he met her eyes that looked troubled ever since he had found her at the exit and decided to finally inquire what it was about. “If you have something to say, then go ahead.”

Hearing him speak so casually, Aura’s calm finally broke. She asked with a serious look on her pretty face. “Do you really not understand the implications of what you have done today? Even if you were so strong, what was the point in shouting it out for the world to see. Wouldn’t it have been smarter to keep some things hidden so you would have some cards up your sleeve if someone decided to target you. And you even went as far as using your tainted perk. Even if it was only for a moment, there are always several Mystics observing the arena. So it won’t be long before they figure out that you have a tainted perk. And once they do figure it out and the news spreads, all the families will try to recruit you and if they can’t, then kill you. In case you still don’t understand even after my explanation yesterday, Tainted Perks are the second most valuable things that exist. They are priceless.”

Aura finally took a break after speaking out everything that had been troubling her for quite some time. She was taking long breaths trying to control her emotions but Ragnar’s reply didn’t allow her.

“Do I look like I care?” He said with a smile still lingering at the corner of his lips.

Aura’s temper flared once again as she glared daggers at this man who didn’t seem to appreciate her worry and kindness in the slightest. So she spoke the part that she knew he would care about.

“Is that so? Then let me tell you that right now, all the families should already be investigating your background. So it wouldn’t take the news very long to reach the person who ensla-….” She paused herself, not willing to use the words that were about to slip out. Instead, she changed them to something less harsh. “-who you worked for. And from the things you have told me so far, it is clear that you have escaped from him, isn’t that also why you got the new ID. So once he finds out that you are alive and well and also so strong, do you think he will let you live for long. Even if he isn’t afraid of your revenge, he will at least try to silent you about everything you had been through.”

Aura stopped herself there, she was sure she had given him enough to think about. Now that it was all out of her system, she felt much better and calmed her breaths.

Just as Aura had expected, Ragnar’s smile had finally left his face, to a place long forgotten. He couldn’t help but give her another serious look. Although her reason for him getting the new ID was completely off the mark, rest of her words still made him rethink a few things. He really hadn’t thought that far. It was true that he couldn’t be bothered to conceal his strength since he didn’t care about people coming after him with ulterior motives. He was strong enough to escape almost any unfavourable situation. And it wasn’t like he didn’t have any cards left up his sleeve. He couldn’t help chuckle to himself as he thought about it.

However, her words at the end were really something he had completely failed to consider. If Vorlock found out about him right now, then he was sure to come for him. Knowing him, he definitely wouldn’t let him grow only to get killed at his hands in the future. He wasn’t such a stupid man.

All that being said, Ragnar gave Aura another smile. “Thanks. And next time, tell me these things beforehand.”

Although Aura was somewhat irritated by his words, she was still finding it hard to stop a small smile from emerging on her face. She felt victorious for some reason, having made him think through his wrongs to ultimately having to thank her. So in her slight excitement for this victory that only existed in her head, she inquired.

“So what are you going to do about it?”

“Nothing.” He said.

Aura’s smile faltered. “Wh-what do you mean by that?”

Ragnar broke eye contact with her as he noticed Kalix appearing at the corner of the corridor. Then he spoke with a sigh to Aura who was bafflingly staring at his side profile.

“Like I said… I don’t care.”

So what if he found out about his existence. If he wishes to serve himself on a silver platter for Ragnar then why would he bother stopping him.