Shorter chapter than usual. Sorry for the wait everyone, I just recently discovered this amazing web-novel called, "Martial God Asura" and re-reading "Coiling Dragon" and I have been immersed in a reading binge. That's my excuse for taking so long to write the next chapter. Thank you for reading and enjoy.
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“B-bu-but…” Allaya glanced back and forth, “You both look nothing alike!” She screamed flustered and confused, thinking that they much be playing a prank on her.
“Priestess Allaya, please get a hold of yourself.” Kayo calmly advised.
“*Kohun*” Allaya coughed and regained her composure, “So can you please explain what’s happening?” She asked Hiro.
“Sure…” Hiro replied. Soon he began to retell what had happened in the past month and a half. Hiro retold both Siberus and Allaya of his ‘Rite of Passage’, of how he met a strange sage that saved him from a Doppler. Instead of telling them about Tenga’s situation, he cautiously retold the same version he told his father, the traveling sage used some strange light magic that obliterated the Doppler.
“D-did you get the man’s name?” Allaya asked, totally absorbed in his storytelling.
‘Should I tell her?’ Hiro was questioning himself, ‘Can’t hurt I guess…’
“His name was Tenga. After that, the sage guided me back out of the mist and left.”
“Where did he say he was going?!” Allaya leaned over across the table, until her face was inches away from Hiro.
Blushing slightly from their distance, Hiro replied, “Why do you want to know about that man so much?” Hiro wanted to know, what her goal was when she sent Lynn to investigate the event. He had to be cautious, since Tenga’s situation doesn’t want to be known to anyone.
Noticing how close they were, Allaya quickly sat back down.
“Answer my question first, peasant.” She threatened.
‘… Have her parents not teach her manners?’
Hiro reluctantly answered, since she was right, he was just a retired adventurer’s son.
“I’m not sure. As soon as I was safely out of the mist, the man went back in.”
“Hah~…” As if all the energy left her, Allaya looked down. She knew how dangerous the Forest of Mist was, once someone passes a certain point, there’s no chance of them ever returning alive.
“Now I think I deserve an explanation. Why are you so interested in that man?”
“Hmph. Although you don’t deserve to know, I’ll humor you.” She sniffed, “Most likely that man was the chosen one.”
Confused Hiro asked, “Chosen one?”
“Yes.” Allaya began to explain the prophecy, “Soon after the Great Demon War, our Goddess Sienna descended from the heavens and spoke to us through the oracles. All across Arcadia, where ever there’s an oracle of Sienna, her prophecy could be heard. She stated that, ‘On a night as bright as day, a person, neither good nor evil shall rise. Branded with the mark of absolute power, the chosen one will soon create a new legend. Where ever he shall walk, great change will follow in his footsteps.’”
After she finished with her explanation she looked at the stunned face across from her.
‘Mark of absolute power?’ Hiro suddenly had a strong urge of look at his right hand, though he suppressed it, barely. What happened to him that night perfectly was perfectly described in the prophecy, although a bit vague, Hiro couldn’t deny the part about the strange mark.
“So? Is there anything else you want to know?” She haughtily asked.
Ignoring her rude gesture, Hiro asked, “Yea. What was your goal? What would you do when you’ve found that man?”
“Make him my sla—*Kohun* Enlist his services for our temple.” She corrected, “With him in our temple, we would be able to expand our influence, and everyone needs to understand that our Godess Sienna is the most benevolent!” She began to fervently preach toward the end.
‘I see… So they want to use me.’ Hiro didn’t like being manipulated. If he were to join the temple, not only would he not be free to do as he wishes, he would be constantly used by that cold woman, which strangely didn’t hate, even with her condescending and cold attitude.
“Is that all?” Allaya asked. Although she asked, anyone could tell from her getting up that she was ready to leave. Not waiting for an answer she concluded with, “Yes? Good. Then I shall be preparing for the tournament, farewell.” Bowing one last time, she left.
Albert hesitantly gave Hiro one last look, as if telling him that he wanted to talk, before turning and following the priestess.
Hiro understood what he meant from the look and nodded.
“Well. Ain’t she a special lady? Hahaha!” Siberus let out a long sigh and relaxed.
“Yea…” If his father wasn’t there, he would’ve lost his temper a while ago. His father had always told him to respect women, since they were the ones that brought life into the world.
“So, what will you do now?” Siberus asked, though he could guess what Hiro’s about to say.
“I’m going to join—“
*BAM!*
“Grandpa! About Will, do you know who he is?” Hiro was about to answer Siberus when Lynn had suddenly bursted into the office screaming. Seeing that Hiro was still there, Lynn quickly froze and stared.
‘I see she changed.’ Hiro could see that her leather armor was taken off and replaced with comfortable blue summer dress that ran down to her thighs. Hiro could see some of the small scratches on her bare arms from her light dress. ‘I guess she likes the color blue.’ He concluded.
“W-w-w-why is Will still here?!” She frantically pointed at Hiro. She thought that he should’ve left by now, after all it took her some time to bathe and clean her wounds.
“Y-yo!” Hiro awkwardly raised his hand.
“Ah. We’re still discussing some things.” Siberus answered, “Is there something you need Lily?” He teased, he understood that Lynn came to check if Hiro had left already.
“N-no!” She stammered, though she said she had nothing she needed, she still walked in and sat down next to Hiro.
“Err…” Hiro awkwardly let out a sound.
“What? I can visit Grandpa whenever I want to.” She puffed her cheeks in a cute manner. Lynn had decided to drop all formalities.
“It’s not that…” Hiro vaguely wondered why she decided to sit next to him and not across from him like last time.
Now that he could take a closer look, he could see her alluring figure. Though there were some cuts and scratches here and there, he could see her tanned and fit physique under the thin frilly dress. She had her hair tied up in a pony-tail, revealing the nape of her neck. He couldn’t help but be slowly absorbed into staring at her.
“Hmph!” She pouted after Hiro didn’t explain and decided to pour herself a cup of tea.
“Haha, Hiro *Kohun* Will…” Siberus awkwardly caught himself calling Hiro by his first name and quickly changed it, however not before Lynn managed to catch it.
Nearly spilling the tea she was pouring, Lynn set it down.
“Hiro?” She repeated.
‘Fuck…’ Mental droplets of sweat began to form on Hiro.
“Where did I hear that name before…” She brought her hand up to her chin. Meanwhile, both Siberus and Hiro were now actually sweating.
While she kept muttering to herself, Siberus’ and Hiro’s eyes were locked in mental conversation.
They seemed to say:
‘You fucked up, Old Man!’
‘It’s your fault for lying to her in the first place.’
‘What?! You want her to kill me? If she found out it was me, she would’ve killed me for rubbing her breasts!’
‘Well whose fault is it— HEY! YOU RUBBED HER BREASTS?!’
‘*GAK*’ (Choking sound)
By this time Lynn was visibly shaking. She seemed to remember who ‘Hiro’ was. There was only one person, that she had ever met, that had black hair and black eyes. Though the man in front of her right now did had black hair and eyes, he was taller and more manly, sort of a rough type of guy. The Hiro she knew was a girly and weak person, they couldn’t possibly be the same person. In order to solve the fear that was gnawing at her heart, she turned to Hiro.
“Stay right there.” She commanded, in a shaky voice.
Reaching up, she slowly began to part his hair. ‘Will’ had long bangs that partially concealed his eyes, so she wanted to move them in order to see his eyes. Only then, will she be able to fully see his face and see if Will and Hiro were the same person.
Hiro froze up, he wasn’t sure what to do.
‘Should I run? No, no. That would make it obvious that I’m guilty of lying. Maybe she won’t recognize me…’ Hoping for dear life that Lynn doesn’t recognize him, Hiro watched as he soft hands brushed aside his hair.
He watched as the worried hazel eyes stared back. As soon as she parted his hair a flash of shock crossed her face, only for a few moments before rage appeared.
“… Hiro…” Her eyes seemed to darken.
“Y-yes?” He chirped out. It was obvious to him that she recognized him now.
“You bastard…” She growled out, the air temperature dropped down by a few degrees.
“Hiii!”
She acted like she was reaching for something in the air, when finding that the thing she was looking for wasn’t there clenched her hand into a fist. Her other hand was gripping tightly on Hiro’s shirt collar.
“DIE!!!” She swung as hard as she could, putting behind the swing, the power of a B-Rank adventurer.
‘I’m gonna die!’ Hiro felt the bloodlust emitting from the girl in front of him. He tightly shut his eyes waiting for the blow to connect.
However, it didn’t happen.
“Now now Lily.” He heard Siberus say, “Is this how you treat the person who saved your life?”
“B-but Grandpa! He…” Lynn began to argue.
‘I’m not dead?’ Hiro opened his eyes to see that Siberus had somehow gotten out from behind his desk and had grabbed Lynn’s arm, preventing her from throwing her punch.
“I thought I taught you better than that?” Siberus sternly reprimanded.
At that, Lynn suddenly lost all her energy and let go of Hiro.
“I’m sorry…” She turned to Hiro and gave him a look of disgust before turning around and storming out of the office.
“I lived…” Hiro fell down on to the sofa.
“Now Hiro.” Siberus returned back to behind his desk, “Think of that as returning the favor for saving Lily.”
“Thank you very much.” He wiped a sweat that had formed on his brow.
“Now to return the favor for helping with the investigation.” Siberus went on.
“It was nothing, I just wanted to—“ Shocked by this Hiro was about to turn down his offer but was cut short.
“Do you want to win the tournament?” Siberus quickly asked, showing a mischievous smile.
“Yes!” Hiro firmly said, he wanted to learn from Romulus and to do that, he needed to win.
“Then follow me.” Siberus suddenly walked out from behind the desk and was heading out of his office.
With no other choice, Hiro quickly decided to follow the eccentric old man.
“Where are we going?” Hiro finally asked after Siberus had led them both through a series of hallways and doors.
“Here we are.” Siberus finally said. What stood before them was a strange door, unlike the many doors before that one, this one had a strange aura surrounding it, so strong that even Hiro who had just recently became attuned to magic could feel.
Suddenly, Siberus held up his palm and placed it against the doorway, mumbling some strange incantation, that wasn’t audible to Hiro, the door flashed.
“Let’s go in Hiro.”
“Wait!” Hiro reached out to grab the man’s shoulder, “First tell me what this is all about! I know I said that I wanted to win the tournament, but where are you taking me?!” Hiro yelled violently, he didn’t like how he was being kept in the dark.
This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.
In a serious tone, Siberus said, “Hiro, do you trust me?”
“No.”
“Eh~?”
“I barely know you. You are in charge of the AA here in Adetia, and related to Lynn, that’s all I know.” Hiro crossed his arms.
“That’s it?” Siberus looked depressed, all the seriousness had left his face.
“Yep.” Hiro answered.
“Well…” Siberus seemed to ponder something before saying, “What if I told you that many adventurers would kill just to study under me?”
“What?” Hiro gasped out.
Seeing the young man’s expression of shock, Siberus began to explain himself.
“You see…” He pointed to the door, “This room is a special place, within it I can manipulate the space however I want. Originally, only those with special permission are allowed to enter and right now, I’m granting you access to this room.”
Bewildered, Hiro could only stand and stare in amazement.
‘Is it like the ethereal world?’ Hiro wondered, thinking back to the world that Tenga currently resides in and his consciousness.
Seeing that Hiro hadn’t said anything, Siberus went on, “Right now I’ll let you use his room for 1 week. Within that time you are free to do whatever you wish. Be it engrossing yourself in a lust-filled world or becoming a king amongst your people, this room would be able to create it.”
Hiro’s mouth could only remain open from the absurd possibilities that could happen inside the room.
“Now why don’t we go inside and I’ll explain a bit more about the room.” He gestured for Hiro to enter first.
Without another word, Hiro quickly walked inside the foggy room. Though it looked normal at first, as soon as he stepped through the doorway, the normal room disappeared into the mist.
“What happened?” Hiro turned around.
“This is the idle form of the room. When not in use, the room reverts back into this state.” Siberus explained, “Now, let’s go into the center of the room.” He quickly walked past Hiro and went forward.
Once they walked a bit, a strange pedestal appeared, it was as black as obsidian.
“This is the control panel of the room, by simply hovering your hand over the pedestal and imagining the world you want to create, it will create it for you.”
“Wait… This seems too good to be true. What is the catch?” Hiro finally asked. In truth, it was too good to be true, if one were to simply imagine something and have it become truth, wouldn’t the person abuse this ability?
Smirking at the youth’s question, Siberus answered, “Aye. In order to do this, the room requires a huge amount of energy and cannot be used more than once per month. The more energy injected into the room, the longer it will function. Right now, I have barely enough energy crystals to last 1 week and I’m willing you let you use it.”
‘Why? Just because I saved his granddaughter he’s willing to do all this for me? I don’t think there would be anyone this kind.’ The whole time while in Adetia, he had almost no interaction with the people. He only knew that those in Adetia accepted slavery. Basing off that, he thought that humans were cruel and unkind.
“Why are you doing all this?” Hiro asked warily, not wanting to offend the old man in front of him, yet scared of the man’s motives.
“Heh.” Siberus’ eyes began to narrow, a malicious grin began to spread across his face, “Let me tell you something Hiro.”
As soon as Hiro saw the dangerous grin, he immediately decided to run. However, as soon as that thought crossed his mind, a strong, almost suffocating pressure forced him to freeze.
“Kuh!” Hiro fell down to one knee.
“Kukuku.” Siberus walked up to him, leaning down, he whispered into Hiro’s ear, “Do you know what I did to the last man that messed with my Lily?” He asked threateningly.
Gasping for air, Hiro barely managed to cry out, “W..ha..t…?”
“He and his family disappeared, I heard that a strange mound of corpse recently appeared within the forest north of here.”
A chill ran down Hiro’s spine, combined with the already unbearable pressure, Hiro nearly leaked himself.
“What…will you do…to me?” He asked out of fear.
“Something even more terrible. Hehehehe…” Siberus moved back a bit and brought his hands up to cover his face. Hiro could only stare helplessly as the pressure forced his eyes open.
‘Fuck. I was saved by this man from Lynn only to be killed by him.’
Suddenly…
“Boo!” Siberus opened his hands.
“Eh?...”
The pressure suddenly lifted and left Hiro kneeling there with a weird old man making a silly face.
“I don’t…get it…” Hiro commented, while still watching the old man continue to make stupid faces.
“What? It didn’t scare you? Hahaha!” He finally stopped and said.
“A-a bit.” Hiro replied.
“Hahaha, I was just playing with you!” Siberus patted Hiro’s slightly shaking shoulders.
“Why did you do that?” Hiro asked while trying to control his heavy breathing.
“Just a warning.”
“A w-warning? Is it about Lynn?” Hiro asked.
“Huh? No. That was a joke haha. No it’s about—“ His face suddenly darkens, “Don’t lie to me.”
Remembering the significant pressure attack from earlier Hiro gulped and said, “What do you mean lie? I’ve never lied, aside from that thing with Lynn…” He reddened a little.
“Oh really? About this sage that saved you…”
Hiro immediately stiffens up.
‘Did he find out?’
“What about the sage?” Hiro carefully asked.
“If I remember correctly, there was a hidden ruin within the Forest of Mist. It just so happens that the roof collapsed during the strange phenomenon and that I happened to look inside afterwards.”
‘What?!’ Hiro was shocked, ‘How does he know about that?!’
“Do you want to know who I found lying down unconscious on the bed?” He grinned.
“No, you don’t have to say anymore.” Hiro held up a hand, “If you knew all this, why didn’t you tell that priestess when she asked?”
Siberus smiled, “Because I was bored.” He shrugged, “Plus it’s way more interesting to see the ‘Chosen One’ not tied down by factions. I’m honoring the prophecy by letting you do as you want, I hope you won’t let me down.” The old eccentric chuckled.
“I see…”
‘He does seem like he’s telling the truth. If he wanted, he could’ve killed me whenever he wanted. Even right after I finished the ritual.’ With no other choice, Hiro decided to trust the old man.
“Now, are you going to use this room or not?” Siberus asked, while walking back to the pedestal.
“Ah, I’ll use it!” Hiro ran after him.
“Since this will be your first time, I’ll do it for you. So what will it be?” He grinned, “Want me to create a lust-filled heaven?” He winked.
“Err…” Hiro felt curious, he thought back to how wonderful it felt to kiss Lena and how soft Lynn was. “No. I only have at most a day to prepare for the tournament, I still haven’t registered or anything. If anything, I’ll only be able to use this room for 24 hours.”
“No need.” Siberus shook his head, “I’ll register you. While I’m at it, let me tell you this: The tournament lasts for seven days. Within those seven days, adventurers of all ranks and skill will compete. Since this tournament’s motive is to pass on Romulus’ skills, I’m sure there would be more people than usual. On the sixth day, D-Rank adventurers are finally competing. Until that day, you can use this room.”
Throughout his explanation, Hiro finally understood how large this event is. To be able to host a tournament spanning one whole week isn’t an easy task, the old man must’ve spent a lot of time getting everything together.
“I see… I guess I’ll use this room for the whole 7 days then.” Hiro hesitantly concluded.
‘Since the tournament starts the day after tomorrow, I’ll finish training within this room and be ready for the D-Rank Division.’
“Alright!” Siberus chuckled, “Now I’ll only show you this once, what do you want me to create?”
“Just a simple room, like those in the AA building for now.” Hiro lightly said. He wanted to start practicing and getting familiar with weapons.
“Are you sure?” Siberus questioned, “It’s not easy utilizing this pedestal, if I create such a normal space and you aren’t able to use it, then it’ll be stuck like that until you get out.”
“It’s fine. If I can’t change the room, then I’ll just stay like that. Now about food and water…”
“You won’t need those. While within this room, the magical energy stored within these crystals will nurture and supplement your body. This is already calculated by the room.”
“I see…” Hiro thought, “Alright, then just create a normal training room and leave me to train.”
“Hm…” Siberus thought hard before placing his palm on the obsidian pedestal.
Soon the fog began to shift and spin. The ground beneath Hiro began to shake, as if there was an earthquake happening. Hiro panicked a little, but seeing how Siberus acted as if it was natural, he calmed down. After a few more seconds of the spinning, the fog dissipated to reveal the usual training room that he was so familiar with.
“Huh? Why is there a door over there saying do not enter?” Hiro asked, he had never seen a door on that specific wall before.
“I added a little extra.” Siberus smiled, “Don’t enter that door until you’ve mastered step 2.”
“Step 2? Step 2 of what?” Hiro looked up at the eccentric’s face.
“Of this. Hahaha.” He chuckled and handed over a thin manual.
On the cover it read:
“Siberus Luxia’s special movement skill.” Hiro read. On the cover was a cartoon-like drawing of the old man running around in circles. “Err… Is this a joke?” Hiro looked up for confirmation, except the man’s face was serious.
“Nope. I really want you to learn from this. If you managed to learn up to step 3, you’ll be able to at least get to the semi-finals. So…”
*Clap*
“Happy learning haha!” He slapped Hiro’s back and started walking towards the open doorway leading out of the room. “Oh also…” He turned around, “Once this door closes, it won’t open until all the magic crystal’s power is used up. Hehe, happy training ‘Chosen One’.”
“Ah! Wait! I still—“
*Boom*
“Need to tell my father… something…” Hiro stared at the now disappearing doorway.
“Hah~…” Hiro dropped down onto the floor, “I guess there’s no rest for me… Well I might as well see what this manual’s all about.” He said and opened to the first page.
[Hello. Welcome to Siberus Luxia’s manual for his special movement skill. In this manual, you will be learning the art of moving.]
Hiro read the first few lines.
‘Moving? What’s so hard about that? Isn’t it just dodging attacks?’ Hiro criticized.
[Now you might be criticizing this manual and saying such things like: “What’s so hard about moving? And, isn’t movement skills just about dodging? Well let me tell you, they are not. So get off your high-horse.]
“Gak!”
‘Can he see the future or something?’
[Now turn the page to see the first step to learning this special movement skill.]
After those lines, the same cartoon-like drawing of Siberus pointed to the right to tell him to turn to the page.
‘Who does the drawings? They are pretty cute, haha.’ Hiro thought as he turned the page.
[Step 1: Run around in a circle.]
“Eh?”