“I’ll get them no matter the cost.” Marlet couldn’t go against Kian at all. His oppressive strength was just far too overwhelming. Being able to hold on by himself despite having so many enemies wasn’t just a fluke.
“It’s good that we reached an understanding.” Kian then patted Arin on the back. “You should check them out. There are a total of nine Trials, six Maze-level Trials, two Bind-level Trials, and one Seal-level Trial.”
“I’ll take my leave.” Marlet’s elderly physique turned younger as the wooden mask on her face reacted. Her youth returned to what it had once been. She disappeared as soon as her transformation began.
Arin still couldn’t see through Marlet at all. The only thing he understood was that her current strength was well beyond what he could fight against.
“Where are you going?” Arin saw that Kian took his suit and started putting it on. This was a tell-tale sign that Kian was going to go out and do some business.
“Nothing to concern yourself with. Just a little survey around the area.” Kian rubbed Arin’s head, turning his hair into a mess. He left the house and entered his vehicle. The sounds of an engine roaring echoed as he started the car.
Arin was now left alone. Back when he wasn’t enrolled in Seal Academy, he usually frequented the Western District. Gangs and mobsters filled this part of the city which made good prey for him. He took down numerous problematic and violent organizations by himself.
Despite the immense population, only a mere fraction of a fraction actually had any talent to be a decent Solver. This made it easy for him to target weak organizations that barely had any strength but had a lot of influence. Slowly but surely his oppressive deeds grew in notoriety.
Even though he faced some Maze Solvers, they didn’t have any basic training nor a Fragment they could use to have an advantage over him. This lets him easily oppress anyone in his sights. One organization fell after another as he breezed through slaughtering countless lives.
The City of Sin truly did have the lifestyle of sin, as one giant organization was brought down, this created a power vacuum where even more organizations would show up to try and take its place. Like a hydra, after one head was cut, two more would grow in its place.
Although it was only a small section of the city, it was nonetheless still extremely chaotic with how much change there is day to day. Explosions and the stench of iron filled everyone’s daily lives. Those who could survive through this grew strong thus making the conflicts even worse than before to the point that this area had become a proving ground for how strong they were.
It was an unseen consequence of his actions but the increased chaos helped Arin solidify his ideology and battle sense.
Now there was no reason for him to go out and start fights for no reason. He had a better method of gaining power, Trials. With his eyes set on the nine Trials, he would surely become stronger than he was the day before.
Ever since he had enrolled in Seal Academy, he had started seeing more and more of the world. He had been thinking far too naively. Talents littered the city. He had just been playing around with nobodies without any talent this entire time, he needed to work on becoming stronger even faster.
“Barlot’s the first person who I’ve seen have even greater physical strength than me. Sefi’s mad, even more insane than me. Noah is a complete wild card. As for Elliot, he’s smarter than he looks, he reacts better than her at least…” He vividly recalled just how one-sided that battle was.
“And Fiona, the so-called greatest genius of Seal Academy, ripped my limbs apart and was on the verge of killing me.” Arin then viciously smiled.
“They all have flaws that they haven’t addressed yet. That only means that they’ll get stronger from now on. While they’re wasting their time playing along with some stupid bet, I won’t be wasting mine.”
“So many geniuses that sprouted out from nowhere at just the beginning but that’s it, the beginning. We’re just comparing ourselves before we get anything substantial. When we get our own Combat Techniques, everything starts getting more interesting.” Arin couldn’t wait to get an immense boost in his strength, reaching the peak wasn’t a dream.
Arin started walking away, not even bothering to close the door. After all, who would dare to go inside if they knew that this was Kian’s abode? Even still, it didn’t matter as much, they could always replace anything inside it. The really valuable things were hidden away.
His destination was one of the vaults hidden in the mountain. The route he took was extremely complicated doing various motions and even backtracking for no reason after reaching a specific point. This wasn’t done out of concern whether or not he was getting watched but it was because this was the only way to access this vault.
As Arin finished activating the secret mechanism, he was at the very bottom of the mountain. He was standing before a cave, he casually walked inside and disappeared into the darkness.
A watchful eye looked at Arin entering the dark cave and quickly followed right behind him. He carefully tried to sense anything amiss but when he saw Arin’s presence still inside, he quietly entered the cave.
He moved along the shadows, sticking to the side of the wall to ensure that he would limit his own presence. Going in even deeper by following Arin’s trail, the once dark and dry cave started to get extremely moist. His hands that were lining the wall started to feel sticky as his senses were telling him that there was something wrong.
Feeling that this was extremely eerie, he decided to play it safe and report back for now. Letting his superiors know about this cave was more than enough to receive an immense reward.
Thinking about how wealthy he would be after getting that much money, he grinned. He quickly backtracked to leave the premises. Since Arin didn’t use any light, he didn’t either so he was enshrouded in darkness.
He wasn’t proficient enough to use Malum to sense his surroundings so he was going about it blindly. The marks he had left behind as he traveled were still there, this at least let him know that he was going in the right direction.
After a while, he could finally see a dim light before him. He was glad that he had made the correct call, and he ran towards the entrance of the cave. As he came closer, he ran and ran yet for some reason he couldn’t escape at all. He started running faster and faster yet the distance from the mouth of the cave had remained the same.
His heart started racing as he didn’t understand what was happening. His eyes were glued on the exit yet it was only at that point did he realized one thing. The rocks on the cave seemed to have sharp rocks from the top and below of the cave. It wasn’t there before.
What was worse was that these ‘teeth’ were slowly growing, or rather, these teeth were closing in. As if there was a creature closing its mouth after eating. The man started hyperventilating as he realized that he had already been trapped.
“No! Let me go!” His screams fell on deaf ears. He wanted to run back to Arin to try and use him yet an even more terrifying realization made him tear up. He turned back to see that there was a wall of flesh.
The spy couldn’t believe his eyes, it wasn’t made out of numerous bodies nor was it made from the accumulated flesh of other creatures. It was as if it was the flesh of some giant monster. He was frozen in fear. It turned out that the sticky sensation he had felt was this monster’s mouth.
The mouth of the cave quickly closed in. The man inside didn’t scream out nor was he seen after this ever again.
Arin looked back, “So there was a spy. Hahaha, if you don’t do it right then you’ll just get eaten by this Pravum.”
This cave monster was a Pravum, a monster made out of Malum and flesh. These monsters had some odd gimmick to them that made them extremely dangerous to interact with without any prior information.
Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.
Kian had used his own methods to procure such a devastating monster to use as shelter. This cave monster was a gigantic creature, larger than even the very mountain that they living in. As for how terrifying it was, even Arin didn’t know. Whatever the case was, it was a good way to stay safe.
Numerous vaults hidden in the mountain, and even a few points on the outskirts of the city had this particular Pravum’s involvement. Whoever was unauthorized would be consumed unquestionably.
This made it really safe for Arin as even Labyrinth Solvers would have difficulty getting in without a fight that would cause massive loss of life to the city. As for how Kian managed to procure such a creature, he still hasn’t told Arin the specifics.
Even with such a protective measure in place, it still wasn’t enough to handle the enemies lurking in the dark. Once those Labyrinth Solvers made their move, everything would fall apart.
Arin continuously kept walking in the dark as he finally saw a white door. It had an elegant frame to it, even giving off an ominous misty glow. Arin took his finger out and bit it, pouring a few droplets on it. The elegant white good turned blood red and opened up to him automatically.
He was slightly blinded by the light for a little bit when he opened his eyes to welcome the ever-familiar sight of their backing.
To put it into perspective, it was a completely open area filled with a completely functioning city. Numerous people were working their very best as they lived day to day. Countless people with a certain brand on their forehead kept the city working. From managers to even lower-class residents, they were all just cogs to the machine for Kian to exploit.
As soon as the white door turned blood red, the very skies mimicked it, alerting everyone of Arin’s arrival. It wasn’t hard to figure it out at all, if the sky turned black then Kian was here, if it turned red then Arin was here.
Between them, they all liked Arin’s presence more since it was much less oppressive. He usually kept to himself and didn’t interfere with their work at all. Other than taking what he needed, there wasn’t any problem at all.
As such, a specified delegate showed up to cater to his needs. A girl with frilly red clothing came to quickly greet Arin. Her mannerisms were elegant and her tone was respectful, if one didn’t see the blatant brand on her forehead then they might’ve thought that she was nobility.
“Greetings, Sir Arin. We have your Trials, ready for your convenience.” She looked down and didn’t dare look Arin in his eyes. She did not overstep anything and only said what needed to be said.
“You’re new. I haven’t seen someone be this early before.” Arin just spoke out his observations.
“It is my duty to cater to your needs while you are here. As such, I stand here all day and night ensuring that you get the best experience.” Her voice turned a little shaky at the end but she still sounded refined.
“One of you’s finally smart enough to notice how lucky you are.” Arin snickered and walked off. “Where are the Trials?”
“Please follow me.” She turned around and walked walking off. She brought him to the outskirts of the city where he wouldn’t have to bother seeing anything unsightly ruining his mood.
Arin followed her mindlessly as he observed the surroundings. “Everything’s trimmed and even has a few decorations along the way. You’re trying really hard, aren’t you? ”
The trees were a special shade of red, surrounded by yellow and orange flowers to blend well with the colors. There were a few custom-made pathways that had pebbles meticulously lined up in such a way that was pleasing to the eye. There were even a few ethereal-looking lamps floating in the air to add that mystical feel.
Compared to the steam-filled workshops of the city, this felt like it was a whole new world.
“I was thinking of… I’m trying to regain my freedom after all…” She initially wanted to lie to Arin but thinking of the severe consequences, she decided to tell the truth. She clenched her fists, crumpling her well-maintained outfit, “I want to go home.”
“Some slaves were the spoils of war, some were coerced into doing it, some gave their selves up for their family, some were even sold to us. We own you, what makes you think you’ll go back home so easily?”
“They didn’t have a choice… my sister was going to... I had nowhere else to go to. My parents should’ve paid the bail already but I don’t know what happened. It’s already been years.” She trailed off to her own thoughts unprompted.
“What does that have to do with me? Keep your ramblings to yourself.” Arin just wanted to get to those Trials earlier. He wanted to get his hands on those Trials and start exponentially increasing his strength.
“You’re here for a reason.”
She turned back and started walking forward, her effort of bringing all of this together for three entire months had been wasted. “Sir Arin, with all due respect, my parents love me. I still remember their tears as they had no other choice but to send me off. They wouldn’t just leave me like this alone for no reason.”
“Then they died. As simple as that.” Seeing that his guide was still moving forward, there was no harm in having a conversation with her.
An exasperated sound escaped her. She immediately used both her hands to cover her mouth. Seeing that she had made a mistake, she fearfully looked back only to see that Arin didn’t care at all.
“What are you looking at?” Arin narrowed his eyes.
“N-Nothing…” She looked ahead and retained the distance between them. Calming herself down, she tried to appeal to Arin’s emotions. “Is there a way you could… verify it?”
It was only at this point that Arin’s vicious and cruel nature showed itself bare, “Order me again and I’ll rip you apart. Know your place.”
She knew that she was pushing it too far but even so, being kept in this prison was a fate worse than death. “So, if you do it then you’ll kill me? At least, let me know whether my parents are dead first.”
“You have a lot of guts. It’s been a while since someone as powerless as you fought back.” Arin mercilessly grabbed her neck with one hand and rose her up. She kept her hands on his arm holding her up, trying to escape his clutches but couldn’t.
She was gasping for air as the light in her eyes was slowly losing its shine. Her life was fading away with each moment. There was nothing someone as powerless as her could do against someone like Arin. Her death was certain.
As Arin was emotionlessly choking her, an annoying memory showed up in his mind. A peculiar white-haired girl gleefully helping people to her heart’s content. Trying her best to make the world a better place at the expense of her everything.
This is… unnatural. Memories that shouldn’t show up for no reason are coming up. There’s something wrong with me! What could have… her Malum! That little… Her disgusting Malum’s corrupting me. I need to counteract this poison as soon as possible!
Arin’s grip tightened for a brief moment before unintentionally opening. He couldn’t believe his eyes as his body moved on its own. As soon as the thoughts and memories started to stop, his body moved against his will.
Fiona’s Malum which was still within his system was forcing her influence on them. This wasn’t intentional on Fiona’s part at all, merely a consequence of having her Malum corrupting others' bodies. Her ideology was being forcefully ingrained within her victims.
Although Arin’s mind was impenetrable to influence, his body wasn’t as resistant to it. After Fiona’s Malum had failed to corrupt his mind, it had decided to just corrupt his body instead.
The guide fell to the ground, weakly feeling her neck. It was badly bruised as her voice was roughed up. The only thing she could do was suffer in silence.
“Get up.” Arin’s attention was placed back on Fiona. From his father’s lessons, the only thing he could do at this point was to ask for a stronger person than Fiona to expel it or to have his own Malum to counteract the corruption.
Dad told me he won’t interfere with matters relating to Fiona… Did he see through this? Dammit! This is going to make things extremely difficult for me. I need to get another Fragment as soon as possible!
The only way for a person to control Malum was to use their Fragments as a proxy. Other than Fiona’s extremely odd constitution which could let her use Malum despite not having a Fragment, everyone else had to use a Fragment.
Of course, people wanted to find out how Fiona could do it but since she was backed by Seal Academy, no one dared to even dare attempt it unless they didn’t value their lives.
She grabbed the soil beneath her and clamped her fingers, digging deep into the ground. Her voice was raspy yet it didn’t deter her from speaking out. “I just… want to know…” She begged wholeheartedly.
Arin was too agitated with his current state that he didn’t even notice her words. “Never mind, I’ll find it myself.” He ruthlessly stepped on her head, pushing it down on the ground, and walked over her. Staining her perfect face and dress with dirt.
Seeing that he could still act out, he tried slamming his foot down her head yet his body once again moved against his will and stopped him. It seems as if he could do anything except for murder. This was extremely troublesome.
The guide heard Arin walking away so she came to grab ahold of his leg, “Please, Arin. I just want closure. I don’t care what happens to me anymore I just want to know the truth.”
Arin ignored her ramblings and kept walking ahead while she was hanging onto him. As much as he wanted to break every bone in her body, Fiona’s Malum kept preventing him from pushing through with it. Attempt after attempt, he couldn’t act out and put her in her place.
With such an annoying scenario, Arin wanted her to stop being such a nuisance. He decided to give in to her, “Get off me! I’ll find out what happened to your family if you stop bothering me.”
Even though Arin wasn’t opposed to lying, his pride just wouldn’t let him act weak in front of someone like this weakling.
She started tearing up as she couldn’t believe that someone as heartless as Arin would actually give her her wish. She was sure that she would die without a corpse that she only acted out to satisfy her own consciousness.
“Thank you… Arin…” She stopped hugging Arin’s leg and wiped the tears on her face. “I didn’t think that you would… you actually would…”
“I didn’t either.” Arin’s voice was extremely grim. “Let’s get it over with, what’s your name so I can get this over with.”
“Daine Moile…” Daine sniffled as her red cheeks contrasted with her dirty appearance.
Arin was initially going to just half-heartedly research her family yet this was a sudden turn of events. Who knew that Daine was much more interesting of a person than he would’ve thought? Being his classmate’s sister no less.
Daine Moile. That’s Sefi’s last name. This isn’t a coincidence.
“I’ll… lead you to-” Daine immediately started coughing as her vocal cords had been bruised up. After a bout of coughs, she started moving faster than before. Even though her throat and back were hurting, she still pushed through.
Arin knew what she was trying to say, “Go. Do something stupid again and I’ll have your head.”