Upon hearing Lorthew calling out for them to stay behind, both Adam and Valerie froze on their feet. Their hearts skip a beat. Especially Valerie looked a shade or two paler than normal, but neither could gather enough muster to disobey the lofty being that called out for them.

Lorthew spoke, but for some inexplicable reason, the duo both heard different things. That being could talk with two of them at the same time, but neither Adam nor Valeria could understand what the other party was talking about with Lorthew.

“Adam, you exceeded my expectations of you. Creating Dual Elemental Orbs without using Elemental Minerals… Truly brilliant.” He praised softly.

“I am unworthy of your praise, Lorthew. I just copied your teachings.” Adam humbly answered.

“Also your sister’s, right?” Asked Lorthew. For a second his eyes shone. “Resonance, truly marvelous!”

“As expected, Lorthew is wise.” Adam was shocked but hid away quickly. “I stood on your shoulder, and this achievement is not mine.”

“It is still yours.” Lorthew nodded wisely, “After all, both I and your sister had this information for a long time, yet failed to produce it. It only shows your brilliance.”

“Thank you, Lorthew.” Adam awkwardly answered. Lorthew was praising too much, and it was getting on Adam’s nerves. He always felt nervous in this godly being’s presence, be it when he admonished or when he praised.

“I came upon something interesting, Adam. Can you clarify my doubts?” Lorthew asked sometimes.

“If it is something I can do, I would be happy to, Lorthew.” Adam earnestly answered.

“Good, take a look at this.” In the next second, a curtain appeared in the endless void and a scene played out. Surprisingly, it was Miles battling against other academies. In the scene, Miles displayed many of his abilities including his ultimate, but his energy was pure and attributeless throughout.

As Adam saw the scene he took a deep breath. His eyes narrowed, and his pupils almost vanished. Anyone who knew him would know that Adam instinctively took a battle pose. ‘Just how?’ He thought. The competition between academies was isolated, and not even Mother AI could spy on it. There was no technology Adam could think of that would allow this being to steal the footage of the competition, but there it was. ‘Is this a superpower? Or Ultimate?’

“No need to tense up, Adam. I am just curious.” Lorthew chuckled, “This is your relative right?”

“Yes, Lorthew, he is my nephew,” Adam answered, but his fists were clenched.

“It reminds me, years ago you came to me for something.” Lorthew’s eyes shone as he looked at Adam. “A relative of yours who failed to awaken. You wanted to allow him to become a hunter. But no matter how you tried, you couldn’t create a medicine that can allow him to awaken his superpower. His superpower was really, really marvelous. I wanted to help you because that person’s superpower would be the game changer in our battle against monsters. Thus, I created something special, just for that person.

I remember at the time, I gave you a medicine, and you told me that the relative of yours had perished while using that medicine. How pitiful, how unfair. Now that I remember, it is really sad to hear that a young person with great prospects died. Shame really.”

“Lorthew you?” Adam looked at the creature in front of him with a squint, “Do you think I lied to you?”

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“I didn’t say that, Adam,” Lorthew answered in an earnest manner. “Are you perhaps guilty? You are unusually defensive today.”

“I am not.” Adam gathered his wits, and his pupils changed back. His clenched fist relaxed and his face turned natural. “That relative of mine had great potential, but he failed under the medicine you presented at the time.”

“Hmm, really pitiful.” Lorthew nodded. “This relative of yours, on the other hand—

—failed to awaken too, right?”

“Yes.” Adam nodded.

“Even his ancient genes had been demolished. It is truly a wonder. What can cause this?” Lorthew asked curiously.

“He used Strengthening Serums from a young age, and when he used the fourth serum of G-Tier, his ancient genes had exploded,” Adam said.

“Interesting.” Lorthew looked at the scene. At this exact time, Miles was using Virtual Room, “I have some understanding when it comes to Serums. But I didn’t know they can cause ancient genes to explode.”

“Ancient Genes are ever-changing.” Adam said with a smile, “Who knows how will they react to medicines.”

“Yes, who knows indeed.” Lorthew nodded but then his voice changed to cold, “Even a master botanist and potion maker such as yourself cannot predict how ancient genes will react when medicines are mixed, right?”

“What are you trying to say?” Adam asked, taking a defensive posture again.

“You caused this, haven’t you?” Lorthew smiled, but as Adam saw this smile, he froze where he was standing. This entity, could he really smile? “You saw I was interested in him, thus you didn’t use the medicine I gave you. Instead, you did something to him so when he used the fourth serum, his ancient genes exploded.

I bet even the fourth serum he used came from you”

————

At the same time, on Valerie's side,

"Valerie, you found the item I tasked you to?" Lorthew asked.

Val shivered as she heard the question. The item Lorthew mentioned was indeed found by her and Miles, but how did Lorthew know it? She was sure at the time there was no one near them.

"Yes, Lorthew, I managed to find it with a friend of mine, but sadly item is not in my hands," Val answered honestly. That being was dreading her in her core, but there was nothing she could do. She wanted to lie, but every cell in her body told her Lorthew knew that she found the item.

"I understand, that is unfortunate." Lorthew nodded as he added, "There are things out of control, like how your relatives betrayed and stole your inheritance from you.

Luckily, at the time, you found my relic that took your consciousness here, and I was able to aid you."

"Lorthew..." Val looked uneasily, "He is a good friend of mine. I cannot steal from him."

"Of course my child, of course." Lorthew chuckled, "I don't ask you to steal from your friend. Although that item is vital for me, I cannot have you do something against your conscience. When I gave you the location of the portal that would take you to that item, I thought you could take that item by yourself, but I guess it was too much for you."

"Thank you, Lorthew. Thank you." Val sighed in relief.

"But, it only means I have to find an item of similar quality in some other place. But it is impossible for you to get it for me." Lorthew's tone changed as he squinted his eyes. With it, the dawning sun in his eyes took a macabre tone. "Since it is so, I have to take your privileges and give them to someone else. I hope you understand, Valerie. My hands are tied too."

"Lorthew, please," Val said but inside, she was rejoicing. Although she profited greatly from their exchange, she, in truth, wanted to free herself from this but she couldn't. Lorthew's summons was imperious.

"Sadly, you gave me no other choice." Lorthew shook his head pitifully, "That includes your memories of this place and your knowledge about our exchanges. Those have to be removed as well."

Val froze as she heard this. She didn't think he was bluffing, she knew he was capable of this. Although she never witnessed him using energy, just the theory he explained in his lectures was above anything she had seen in the Academy.

She wasn't a regular student and lived there for years now, and attended many lectures and debated with many masters, but nothing she ever heard in the Academy was as profound as Lorthew’s lectures.

“I—” Val started but couldn’t finish her sentence. She wanted to free herself from this place, but removing all the knowledge from her mind meant allowing Lorthew in. She wasn’t gullible enough to think he would leave so easily. At best, all her secrets would be learned by that dreadful creature, at worst, she would lose herself and become a minion for him. Neither option was something she could accept.

“Then, what do you choose?” Lorthew asked.

“I will get the item for you.” Val gritted her teeth as she hissed.

“Good.” Lorthew smiled.