Surroundings of Sinerman Mansion

Aren and Clarisa faced each other. Aren was cautious, while Clarisa remained relaxed.

Miri, on the other hand, was engrossed in her investigation inside the van, oblivious to the proceedings elsewhere.

"I may not have liked our family, but I would never have gone against them. I didn't have a death wish, sister," Aren said seriously, concealing his nervousness. He wasn't sure if Clarisa would actually take action.

"So, what are you doing here?" Clarisa asked, arms folded.

"I just needed to pay off a debt. Nothing more."

"What, to whom? That rake-like girl?" She nodded towards the van. For some reason, Cloud stayed outside, and upon hearing Clarisa call Miri, he growled at her in a hostile manner.

"No. But it doesn't matter. She's already gone, so you don't have to bother," Aren replied, shoving his hands into his pockets and preparing to leave.

"Did I give you permission to leave?" Clarisa asked, raising her hand. The tattoo on her arm began to slide off her skin towards the palm of her hand where the gun appeared.

Aren swallowed, already anticipating Clarisa's actions and genuinely afraid of her weapon. The weapon that appeared was like no other. It was essentially a huge serrated razor blade on a pole wrapped in thorns.

This weapon was not designed to end a fight quickly, but to inflict as much pain as possible. If the weapon struck someone, it was akin to peeling a potato.

"Get your weapon ready," Clarisa ordered with an evil gleam in her eyes.

Aren halted and complied with her command. The tattoo on his arm shifted, and in an instant, he was holding his curved weapon. Meanwhile, Clarisa moved her shoulder slightly, and a light emanated from her back, landing on the ground.

In an instant, a twisting, dark, thorny bush with a few red roses burst into the air. From amidst the twisting thorns emerged a ghostly female bone face with sharp teeth, empty eye sockets, and tousled red hair.

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Aren shuddered as he witnessed the eerie laughter emanating from the face. Many Spirit Beasts were easy on the eyes, and some were even cute or very human-like. However, life wasn't always just about beauty. Some Spirit Beasts were also terrifying or downright repulsive.

Spirit Beast Clarissa definitely fell into the creepy category, he thought, contemplating how they were a good match.

Aren hadn't summoned Sita; there was no reason to bother. He always lost to Clarissa, so there was no point in letting Sita suffer as well. Fortunately, he had managed to fix the flow of his Spirit Energy during the night, so he no longer experienced any fluctuations.

"Is that really necessary, Clarissa?" he groaned, mentally preparing himself for the pain to come.

"I always have a reason for fighting you, stupid brother," Clarissa replied, waving her hand. Her Spirit Beast drove its thorny claws into the ground, easily breaking through the asphalt.

Aren was already familiar with this move and didn't stay still, running towards Clarissa and zigzagging to avoid the slime beasts that suddenly burst out of the ground, attempting to entangle him in the thorns.

Quickly reaching Clarissa, Aren swung his weapon at her, but Clarissa sent her razor weapon his way. Aren's weapon shot forth red tendrils of energy when centered, but Clarissa already knew about Aren's weapon, so she immediately lifted her leg and kicked Aren in the stomach, knocking him away.

Aren rolled instantly, and where he had been before, a thorn whip shot out of the ground and into the air, dodging the thorns and heading towards Clarissa again. However, her Spirit Beast had learned a new trick, and a thorny whip flew out of the ground in front of Clarissa, taking a long sweeping swing and striking the ground in a wide curve.

Aren didn't expect that and tried to jump to avoid it, but the thorn still struck his ankle, tearing through his skin. He fell, and before he could get up, another thorn pierced the ground and struck his body.

"Aggrr!" he grunted in pain as the thorns tightened around his body, digging into his skin and flesh.

"Tsk," Clarissa clicked her tongue and walked closer to him. "Did you really think you could do this without Sita? He's your only Spirit Beast worth anything. Why didn't you use it?" She looked displeased as she watched him writhe in pain.

Aren hissed and ceased fidgeting. "It always ends the same way," he replied.

Clarisa lifted her foot and stomped on him, causing the spines to dig deeper into his flesh. Aren merely grunted and endured it. "So what? You've decided to stop trying? How much more pathetic do you want to be?" she spat, shifting more weight.

"Gah! What the hell do you want from me?! I was fighting, wasn't I!?" Aren snapped.

Clarisa wanted to torture her brother some more, but someone else's presence interrupted her.

"Huhahaha! Look, Karaboshi! The little people are playing!" a roaring laugh rang out.

"Don't mind them, Brack," another man said, sighing softly, appearing tired.

Clarissa straightened up and looked in the direction the voices came from. The thorns that had hugged Aren disappeared, and her Spirit Beast returned to the tattoo on her back.

Aren rolled onto his back and sat up. His body was covered in bloody welts and a few more serious wounds, and his clothes were torn as well. But he was coping well; he had endured worse injuries from his fight with Clarisa. He should be grateful to those men for showing up and stopping this.

Aren looked at them.

The man who was speaking loudly was a big, muscular guy, standing at about six feet tall. His clothes was a linen shirt, jacket, and trousers which didn't fit him well, straining against his muscles as if they might burst at any moment.

The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.

He had bright yellow eyes and wild white hair, along with a short white beard. When he laughed, his wide-open mouth revealed slightly sharper canines.

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The other, calmer man was much more polished.

He was slim, clad in a black tight-fitting shirt topped by a black and white sweatshirt, paired with black pants and white shoes, all perfectly coordinated. His skin was pale, and he wore dark sunglasses over his eyes. His hair, like his attire, was black with white highlights.

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Clarisa frowned at them. "Who are you? Are you part of the Stragos family?" she asked.

Brack looked at her and roared with laughter again. "Huhaha! She said the Stragos family! Huha huha! No, kid. We don't really belong to them."

Clarisa frowned and lifted her chin haughtily. "Kid? Is it just muscle in your brain that prevents you from recognizing who you're speaking to? Take a good look and try to guess twice!"

Aren rolled his eyes upon hearing her and began to tend to his more severe injuries. He wasn't sure if Clarisa would continue or be deterred by the newcomers.

The handsome man glanced at Clarisa, who remained entirely indifferent to his looks, and subtly adjusted his position to gain better exposure.

"A child in the body of a woman. Women should be much more chaste and not expose themselves like meat for sale. You still have much to learn," Karaboshi commented, causing Clarisa to cringe.

"Huhaha! A little person trying to impress Karaboshi! How amusing!" Brack laughed and slapped his muscular thighs.

Karaboshi sighed and turned away. "Let's go, Brack. We have work to do."

"Nah! Why bother? We have everything we need right here," Brack protested, turning to follow the smaller man.

"Too close," Karaboshi replied.

Clarisa was pale with rage and glared at the two as they headed off. But she still had enough sense not to attack random people. Instead, she turned her gaze towards Aren, who flinched.

"W-wait! Guys, can I come with you?" he called quickly to the men.

Brack stopped and looked back at him in surprise, while Karaboshi also glanced back but didn't stop. "Huha! The little guy wants to come with us? Okay!" Brack agreed amusedly, and Karaboshi didn't object.

Aren stood up, walking a little limply after them. "Aren," Clarisa spoke warningly, but he didn't hesitate and hurried after them.

Clarisa frowned and then glanced at the van where Miri was engrossed in her work. She snorted and started to walk away.

In the van, Miri was studying the data on her tablet and biting her thumbnail. "Where did it go? Where? Again, a large presence of spiritual energy in the basement, but then it disappeared. Spooky. Can you go more in-depth?" she asked.

Spirit shook his head at the computer. "No. I've even tried bypassing it, but nothing. Estimating, we'd have to be right in that basement to do anything more."

Miri looked up and blinked when she realized the parking lot was empty again. All that remained was damaged asphalt and a few bloodstains. She glanced towards the mansion and pursed her lips. "We have to get past that barrier somehow."

Spooky turned in his chair and looked at Miri. "It's not safe, boss. As decent as the High Spirit looks, we can't bet on it."

Miri bit her fingernail again. "But we can't wait until the trials are over. We wouldn't know anything anymore. But maybe we could if we ask for help from an expert."

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City - Yunos

Aren followed the two men, who hadn't spoken in a while. Occasionally, he looked back and saw that Clarisa wasn't following them, sighing in relief. Today, he had escaped.

Karaboshi glanced back at him discreetly, then looked reproachfully at Brack. "Was that necessary?" he asked quietly.

Brack, not one to speak softly, sounded at a normal volume when he tried to do so. "Don't be jealous. The General took a liking to him, so what if we help the little kid out?"

Aren heard Brack but didn't understand what he was saying. "Where are we going?" he asked instead.

"Huha! You still want to come with us? I thought you just wanted a way out!" Brack laughed.

Karaboshi let out a short disdainful snort. "Can you still call yourself a man if you let yourself be beaten by a woman?"

Aren sensed that Karaboshi wasn't happy with him for some reason, but they were helping him, so Aren didn't take his words to heart. "Woman or not. If she's stronger, nothing can be done," he shrugged.

Brack slowed down and walked beside Aren, then grabbed his arm, lifting it and squeezing the muscles. "No wonder you lost! Where did you leave the muscles? Huha! You're as fragile as a maiden!"

Aren snatched his arm away and frowned. "Not everyone can be built like you."

"Maybe if you ate a whole pig like him every day, you'd make it," Karaboshi commented from the front.

Brack giggled again at the people on the street looking back at them. Then he suddenly fell silent and poked Aren in the arm. "Your biggest problem is that you have a weak Spirit Beast. Why did you even make contracts with such losers?"

Aren groaned. "This really is the best I could get! Only Spirit Beasts of a similar type have answered my calls."

Karaboshi stopped now and turned to look at them. "Impossible," he said seriously.

They all stopped, and Brack looked Aren over before grinning. "I forget you still know so little."

Aren looked from one to the other. "What, what are you talking about?"

"Someone did it on purpose," Karaboshi said.

"Huh?" Aren didn't understand.

"Little kid," Brack said, grinning in amusement. "A weak bloodline may only attract weak Spirit Beasts, but someone with a strong bloodline is guaranteed to have better and stronger seedlings. Your blood, not bad at all." Brack poked Aren hard in the chest until he took a step back.

"It's unlikely it's just these weak wimps trying to get to you," Brack continued.

Aren hesitated. "Okay? But what does that mean?"

Karaboshi sighed. "I don't understand what she sees in you. It means someone blocked the access of the stronger Spirit Beasts to make a deal with you."

Aren bulged his eyes in surprise. "Is that possible?"

Brack laughed roughly and slapped Aren merrily on the back, nearly sending him to the ground. "Why couldn't it? You think Spirit Beasts don't have access back to the Spirit World after the contract? For a Spiritualist to send his powerful Spirit Beast to block you isn't impossible!"

Aren's chin dropped as he heard that and began to think. Why would someone do that? If that was the case, it had to be someone who knew that the academy was in the process of making contracts. So it could have been anyone from the Academy.

The Stragos family? It was possible. But actually, Aren was more suspicious of his eldest brother, Hellio. He was someone who would be capable of this. As Aren thought about it, it became more and more likely! All men Aren's age and younger had bad potential. And Hellio was a sneaky man who guarded his position as the firstborn and future leader of the family. Did he restrict all his competition like that?

Aren looked up and was a little startled as Karaboshi and Brack stared at him from close range, their faces suddenly appearing rather frightening. Brack looked wild and excited, while Karaboshi looked rather cold and interested.

"You want revenge?" Brack asked eagerly.

"We can help you with that," Karaboshi added before exchanging a look with Brack and nodding in agreement.

Whoever did this to Aren was certainly capable. And for Karaboshi and Brack, he was perfect.

Aren clenched his fists, grappling with the notion of revenge. Of course, he wanted it. He wanted retribution against every member of his family. But realistically, could he? He knew his limits.

He glanced at the two men before him and sighed, waving his hand dismissively. "Forget it. There's no way to get revenge."

Brack straightened, clicking his tongue in displeasure. "You think we can't do it?"

"It... no... only my family has the power and status. It would be unpleasant if you were targeted," Aren explained.

"Huha! Are you worried about us? Adorable!" Brack roared with laughter again.

Karaboshi remained composed. "You don't have to worry about that. As long as you don't mind that person disappearing, everything's fine."

Aren hesitated, his gaze shifting between them. "Ehm. Who are you guys? Some kind of assassins?"

Brack, still struggling to contain his laughter, deferred to Karaboshi. "Not exactly. But you can think of it that way. So?"

Aren hesitated, contemplating how much simpler his life would be if Hellio disappeared. "Okay," he agreed.