“Here you go…”

Kalix spoke as he handed the Shadeclaw over after he was done transferring the remaining 1.1 million Enders into Ragnar’s Ethlet.

Ragnar’s gaze carried a bright light as he stared at his new bank balance. His first day in HCR and he was already a millionaire. Although the tint in his eyes soon vanished since he had remembered the amount he was supposed to repay to Aura. But then he wouldn’t be a millionaire anymore. He sighed inwardly. Repaying debts took priority over maintaining his millionaire status.

“Bring out your Ethlet.”

Aura gave him a questioning look but it didn’t take her long to figure out his intentions. In normal situations, she might have feigned unwillingness to take it back, or refused altogether since she ultimately needed his help. But she was still a bit disgruntled from their recent conversation so she didn’t bother with the formalities and simply accepted the Enders that belonged to her.

Ragnar’s eyes twitched as he looked at his once again ‘new’ balance, but quickly recovered. He turned to face Kalix who was observing their antics patiently and said a single word. “So?”

“What do you mean?” Kalix asked with a raised brow, he wasn’t sure what Ragnar meant.

Ragnar narrowed his eyes. “What do you want?”

Kalix was baffled by the question. Although he understood the context behind his question, that didn’t mean he had an answer. Not everyone does things with ulterior motives. However, that being said, he wasn’t one of those pure souls. Yet, he couldn’t just blurt it out, could he?

“I don’t want anything.” He replied with a troubled expression.

Ragnar’s gaze turned odd. “Huh? So, you want something from Aura?”

Even Aura was swept in the flow for a moment as she gave Kalix a questioning look. But she soon recovered as she realized how awkward Ragnar’s questions were even for someone who did want something from him. How was he supposed to bring them up? But she didn’t bother to diffuse the situation, letting it play out.

Kalix let out a curse in his mind but refrained from letting it grace the ears of his audience. He simply extended his hand with a forced look, wanting to end this awkward atmosphere. “’Lord’ Ragnar… I just hope we can be friends in the future.”

“…”

A few seconds passed as his hand was left hanging mid-air. Ragnar simply stared at it, having no intention of shaking it. This guy just wasted the favourable impression he had worked so hard to build. Ragnar was of course thankful to Kalix for streamlining his experience here in the Mystic Arena. But wanting to be his friend with just that was a bit farfetched. Still, since he had been so helpful, Ragnar decided not to say it to his face.

Instead, he left a single line before turning around to leave.

“You can try again the next time we meet.”

Aura gave him a wry smile before following behind Ragnar. She could do nothing in this situation. She had no sway over his opinions... yet.

Kalix was left there standing with an outstretched hand. Although it was a huge blow to his pride, he felt that it was just as big of a missed opportunity. He knew perfectly well the value of a person with such an ability that was able to jump ranks so effortlessly. When this guy grew in ranks, things were only going to get much more extreme.

He sighed dejectedly as he lowered his hand, thinking about what he could have done better. They really needed this; people like him. But he also couldn’t have simply revealed his motives without knowing his background or personality. And with that girl beside him… definitely not.

He sighed again, taking out a golden Ethlet from his pocket. Many people needed to know about this new anomaly that had appeared.

***

Meanwhile in the lobby near the reception of the Arena, a large crowd had gathered there, as they patiently waited for something. Other than the people present to recruit Ragnar, there was another person there that had a slightly different motive.

It was the first Nexarion that Ragnar had fought to achieve his rank in the Arena. He also stood on the side of the main exit, with no hint of his previous haughtiness. He had truly been humbled today. He had thought himself to be the strongest in his rank, and rightfully so, considering his standing in the rankings. But today he had seen what true strength looks like.

Unlike what one might think, he stood here with the sole purpose of following that man on his journey. Since he knew that having such a person beside him to fight and train with would help to sharpen himself and could play a big role in breaking the conventional strength barrier of an Arcane. Like what he did in the arena today.

You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.

Unfortunately, it wasn’t meant to be.

***

Arriving outside the Mystic Arena, they found a guy waiting with their mounts. Aura had already informed Kalix about their mounts when he left to retrieve the winnings. Getting on their respective dinosaurs, they entered the bustling streets of the RIftdale city.

Aura was leading them through the streets of Riftdale with a frown marring her beautiful face. She wanted to take his opinion on where he’d want to go next but she couldn’t bring herself to ask him. She was not happy with his conduct in the slightest. Even if he didn’t like the idea of befriending Kalix, was there any need to be so rude about it? Even if he is strong, does that give him the right to be so arrogant and stuck up all the time. She also couldn’t be bothered to inquire him about the reasons for what he does and how he does since she was sure she wasn’t going to like them.

However, all this wasn’t enough for her to give up on him since if she were to one day achieve her ambitions, she needed to make the most of every situation. And in this situation, she knew that he was probably the only person who could help her.

Finally, after much deliberation and pointless travel, she opened her mouth to ask. Despite being upset, she still mellowed out her tone since she knew that this topic was quite sensitive for him. She wasn’t going to forget her etiquette unlike a certain stuck-up idiot.

“Do you want to go back to inform your friends and family that you are alright? If you don’t want to expose yourself, you can also establish contact through some secret channels. If you want, I can introduce you to someone.”

Ragnar had been calmly following after Aura without saying a word. He was contemplating his ability and how he could improve its uses. Today’s battles had revealed a lot of things to him regarding the points that needed improvement. He was also thinking about how he could improve his fighting style in general. Since he had decided to completely embrace his ability, his fighting style should naturally be something that complemented it. It wasn’t that he didn’t entertain the idea of being strong even without his ability, he would really like that as well and would strive for it in his fighting style, but with his ability, he had to be the strongest. As he was further considering how he was to go about creating his own fighting style or should it even be called fighting style? Battle technique? Whatever, he heard Aura’s words.

They did manage to bring him out of his contemplation, catching his full attention. But it wasn’t because it had resurfaced some painful memories or anything of the sort, instead he was considering how to answer her. But that too ended fast as he replied in a casual tone. “It’s fine.”

After that he refused to elaborate any further. He was sure that if he said something like there was no one to contact, it would only make her pity him. And he was not the least bit interested in her pity or sympathy.

Although he had tried, Aura wasn’t dumb enough to believe that he was simply irresponsible. No matter how careless or apathetic a person is, a human always needs someone or something to confide in.

It was especially true in this day and age where strength reins supreme. No matter what semblance of order the government might want the common citizens to think exists, ultimately the truth is that their lives rely on the whims of the truly strong. So having someone to share your sorrows with, to celebrate your victories with, to rely on and be relied on is, an ardent desire of every sane human. Some achieve it before departing, some don’t. And regardless of how much a person might appreciate change, having at least one constant in life allows people to hold on to their sanity. Sanity that acts as a barrier for one’s inner bloodlust from taking over.

A wise man once said, Human is a social animal. So, knowing his past, it wasn’t hard for Aura to deduce his situation.

He had been enslaved for the better half of his life and forced to work as an assassin. Hence it wouldn’t be odd for him to not have any family. Since most of the times the people who are enslaved are orphans. And it was just as normal for him to not have any friends left , or to have no friends in general, considering his line of work. So, when a person such as that gets to spread his wings, it was understandable if he decides not to place his trust in others so easily.

This also shed some light for her on his behaviour ever since she encountered him. She had attributed his rudeness and arrogance with his strength but conveniently forgotten to link them with his experiences until now. That could just be his method of keeping everyone at bay and avoid any strong relationships. Of course, it would be hard for anyone to recover from what he had been through.

Aura felt ashamed of not having realised it sooner. She decided to be more understanding of him in the future, since that was the best she could do. She wasn’t about to try and push through the hypothetical wall that he had created for himself, she wasn’t a saint. So, she simply nodded after a while and informed him that they will be going to a hotel owned by her family to rest for the night.

Ragnar had no idea that his words had sent Aura on such an odd tangent, and so neither did he know that she wasn’t completely off the mark.

As they travelled towards the hotel, Ragnar observed the purple sky taking a pinkish hue as the white sun neared the horizon. The city took the opportunity to light up as if putting on make-up, making it look many times prettier. The street lights were actually orbs that flowed with essence as Ragnar watched with his ethereal vision active.

The streets started getting more crowded as the shops starting glowing in all their glory. This seemed to be the posh area of the city as all the shops had massive signs and glass panels showcasing their wares. From garments to weapons, everything was available. And everything was powered by essence, all the lights, the automatic doors, the glowing signs and what not. Ragnar was forced to deactivate his ethereal vision, since essence was literally flowing through the whole city.

By the time they stopped in front of a building, the sky had already turned dark. They hadn’t shared a single word ever since Aura informed him of their destination. Only after dismounting from her mount did Aura look back, giving him a small smile. Although she wasn’t showing it, Aura was quite exhausted since her mind had been constantly churning with the things that happened, and the things that were going to happen.

She turned around and her smile turned wry as she thought. What are the chances that she gets to go in and bury her head into a pillow, calling it a day? She couldn’t help but chuckle as she chided herself. ‘Yea, good luck with that.’