CHAPTER 4

When Daram stepped outside the room, he was welcomed by an unpleasing sight. His knights are in offense formation, surrounding a doctor wearing glasses in the middle. His hand was raised above his head, indicating he didn't mean harm or carry bad intentions. However, the knights still kept their formation and were ready to suppress the doctor.

"What is going on?" Daram asked. His tone was deeper compared to when he was talking to Hirayon, clearly showing his irritation.

"We apologize for the commotion, chief. The doctor here insisted on entering the room. He demanded that the child be checked even though we had already informed him that you were inside and had business with the child," Daram's secretary, Favian, explained while bowing politely.

Daram looked at the doctor with threatening eyes. One of the things he hated the most was people challenging his authority. He slightly released his suppressed basic ability, Aura Pressure, and focused it on the doctor, making him kneel and put his palms on the floor.

"You're not from my clan, are you?" Daram asked, stepping forward as his knights stepped aside and cleared the way. "No one in this clan in their right mind dares challenge me. Who are you? State which clan you came from," he demanded and stopped before the kneeling man.

Seconds went by, and the man kept his mouth shut. "Speak," Daram ordered and increased the pressure making the doctor almost press on the floor. He was grasping for air as he tried to escape insane pressure.

One of the new knights swallowed as he watched the scene. He had been working for the chief for four months, and it was the first time he had witnessed Daram use his Aura Pressure. Oddities typically have a pressure that comes with authority and rank, but Aura Pressure is different. It's a basic ability that oddities gain after reaching Prime status. It basically means that the oddity was qualified to be a leader. Hence, all chiefs are in Prime rank.

As the aura that puts pressure on the doctor increases, his breathing becomes louder, as if he is desperate to catch some breath.

"Vinne. M-mind Clan," he said with so much difficulty.

"Mind, huh?"

It was no surprise to Daram to hear that. Most oddities from that clan are doctors, scientists, inventors, researchers, teachers, and other jobs that usually use intelligence and the brain most. They're also one of the clans that like to venture to different territories to discover and learn new things.

"So what made you think you could get inside while I'm there?" Daram asked and lessened the Aura Pressure to make the doctor talk easier.

"I apologize. It is the time for H-Hirayon's checkup, and we uphold our rules. We can't miss any data we might get," the doctor explained while gasping for air. He never raised his head to look at the chief.

"Typical for Mind oddity," Daram commented. "But still unforgivable," he added.

He was about to punish the doctor for impertinence by making him experience more pressure when another doctor ran to them. He stopped a few steps from the chief and bowed deeply.

"I apologize for suddenly interrupting, chief. I am Dr. Beka, and Hirayon is one of my patients. I know I will be making an excuse, but please hear me out," Dr. Beka politely asked with a shaky voice. His hands clasped together were trembling for so much nervousness. He had seen the chief from afar before, but he never knew there would be a time that he would step up and plead like this.

"Speak."

Dr. Beka swallowed his relief and opened his mouth. "Dr. was worried about Hirayon, Chief."

Daram frowned. Based on the report he received, the child had a speedy recovery and was almost healed completely. That was one of the reasons he had to meet the child in person. He wanted to see if the ridiculous report he had received was correct.

"Worried? That's not what he told me," he said, remembering the reason the brazen doctor gave.

Dr. Beka glanced at Daram before looking at his colleague, still kneeling on the floor. "I think he was only saying that because he didn't want to offend you, chief. Hirayon was clearly not raised in a typical environment. He is wary and always alert. I think Dr. Vinne feared the child would be warier after meeting a powerful oddity as he is not used to meeting people yet."

"Hmm, Is that true?" Daram asked the doctor on the floor.

When the doctor nodded but kept his head bowed, Daram felt irritated but decided to let it go. He felt disturbed about the guy, but he had urgent things to do and had to move fast.

"I don't want this happening again," he said before removing his Aura Pressure and leaving the hallway.

While walking, he telepathically ordered his secretary to dig for information about Dr. Vinne.

'Investigate him.'

His secretary discretely bowed, showing that he had received the order.

After Daram entered his hover car, he immediately went to a private room he and his secretary could only enter. It has two similar-sized desk tables and large comfortable hovering chairs.

While his secretary was looking for information about Dr. Vinne, Daram concentrated his aura in his eyes and called in his mind, "Oddi." In an instant, a light brown transparent hologram was floating before him.

"Soundproof barrier and call Hanan," he uttered in his mind. A transparent barrier that was only visible to Daram in the same color as his aura surrounded his body. Then the hologram showed Hanan's picture with the basic information saved in Oddilens Database and big, bold words 'Connecting Call' at the top. He then heard a monotonous voice, "Calling Water Clan Chief Hanan."

Daram waited for a few seconds until Hanan answered, and the floating basic information was replaced with an expressionless face and sharp silver-blue eyes.

"What?" Hanan asked in an annoyed tone.

"What a greeting. Do you really not know how to say hello?" Daram asked. The call just got connected, but he is already annoyed at his mannerless friend.

Hanan raised a brow, "It's a waste of time. What do you need?"

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Daram sighed, "It's not me who needs something. It's you."

Hanan looked at Daram with disinterest. He wasn't curious at all about what the chief of the Earth clan could be talking about.

Daram waited for him to speak, but the hologram of Hanan's video suddenly vanished, and Oddi's robotic voice rang in his mind "Call Ended."

"That sick bas-"

Daram contained his anger and held his throbbing temple. He couldn't believe Hanan had dropped the call while he wanted to say something crucial. He understands that his friend is not the type to waste his time, but he wishes that he would learn manners or that the deities could make him more patient.

Daram called Hanan again. Seconds passed until it became a minute, and Oddi announced in his mind that his call had failed.

Daram massaged his temple and removed the barrier. "Call Hanan's secretary. Tell him to make that dumb man answer my call," he said to Favian. He didn't want to call again, but they needed to talk.

After a while, Daram tried to call Hanan again. This time, his friend answered, and he was greeted with the same expressionless face and sharp but uninterested eyes.

"What?"

Daram gritted his teeth in annoyance and calmed himself down. "Marin, we have a lead to where she is."

Hanan's eyes changed. His uninterested eyes became heated with an unexplainable look.

Daram watched his expressions change. He couldn't point out what his friend was feeling. Aside from the fact that Hanan has had an emotionless look since birth, he also doesn't express his thoughts in words.

"Where?" he asked in the same tone.

"At a cave in my territory. We found the information from someone who closely resembled Marin," Daram explained.

"Did you find any of her relatives? But she's an orphan."

Daram stared at Hanan seriously. His eyes were unknowingly looking a little bit worried to his friend. "If my suspicions are correct, what we found is not one of her relatives. It might be her... son."

"Her son?" Hanan trailed. His face slowly turned to a bewildered look.

Daram waited for Hanan to take the information in. It was the first time he saw his friend look speechless and surprised. He would've laughed and taken a picture of his face if they weren't discussing about Marin, his only love.

He didn't know the relationship between the two before Marin had gone missing, but there was a possibility that Hirayon was their child. After all, the child's stubbornness reminded him of his friend.

"You should see for yourself. He is now in one of the health facilities in my territory. I still haven't reported on his case, but I need to report about him soon, so you better go here and check on him. And..."

"And what?" Hanan asked, still slightly lost at the revelation.

Daram is reluctant to inform his friend about Marin's death because nothing has been confirmed yet, but he also wants to prepare him. So it is better to drop it now instead of later.

"There's a huge chance that Marin... is dead."

Hanan clenched his jaw and suppressed all of his emotions. "I'll be there soon."

Before Daram could study his reaction, Hanan ended the call.

Daram sighed. He had just dropped a bomb on Hanan, and he couldn't imagine how he was feeling right now. But he had to do it so Hanan could prepare himself for the worst.

Daram removed the barrier and looked at his secretary. "Send our knights to search the area where they found the kid. Look for a cave. Make it fast but discreet. We must find Marin as soon as possible. Also, did you find anything about Dr. Vinne?" Daram asked as he remembered the unsettling feeling when he faced that doctor.

"I'm still investigating him. However, we confirmed that he is indeed from the Mind clan. He came from a poor family and became a doctor because of his high rank. He then traveled to different territories and clans to conduct more research and help sick oddities. According to the health facility, he is included in the team of doctors researching the Aura disease. Right now, that is all we have."

"The Aura disease. He is part of a troublesome team. When did he join that team?" Daram asked.

"I am still uncertain, but around five years ago. I haven't found the exact date yet."

Daram nodded, "Alright, keep investigating and report tomorrow."

While the Earth clan's chief was thinking about his friend and the disturbing feeling he had about the doctor, the man responsible for the commotion was silently sitting in one of the control rooms of the health facility. He is now staring at the hologram projecting Hirayon's room and the child sleeping deeply in his bed.

About 30 minutes ago, he was observing the child when the clan chief entered the room. He was planning to watch the two when he suddenly found something odd. The chief of the Earth clan and the child stopped moving. Their mouths were still opening, making it seem like they were talking, but they stood still. Dr. Vinne tried to read Hirayon's lips but couldn't understand.

"...barrier. He made a barrier."

Dr. Vinne clenched his jaw and clutched his hands. I should have considered how cautious high-ranking people are.

At that moment, Dr. Beka entered the control room and approached Dr. Vinne.

"Doctor, what happened? Why did you go to Hirayon's room even though you know the chief is there?" he asked. Although he said earlier that Dr. Vinne was worried about Hirayon, he wasn't entirely sure.

Dr. Vinne ignored his question and asked instead. "Why did the chief come here?"

Dr. Beka shrugged. "Well, it's natural that he would come to check the child as his case was unique. Anyone would be curious and try to figure out why he recovered fast."

"Did they announce it?" Dr. Vinne asked.

Dr. Beka took a seat beside Dr. Vinne. "You mean their visit? No, but do they have to? He's our chief."

"Right, he's a chief," Dr. Vinne muttered, staring at Hirayon's room in the hologram.

Dr. Beka looked at him weirdly. "But why did you try to enter the room when you already saw his knights outside?" He still couldn't understand why a reasonable doctor like him would do that.

"Like you said, I was worried about him."

"Right. But next time, we should wait. We can't make our chief get mad. Do you know how scary he is? I first met him when I was an intern, and one of his knights got injured. I was responsible for healing his knight, and I was shaking the whole time as he watched everything I did. I felt like he would devour me anytime if I made a mistake," Beka said as he shuddered at the memory.

"You are originally from the mind clan, right? Have you met the chief there?"

Dr. Vinne thought for a moment and smiled a little. "Yes, I actually did."

"Is he scary like our chief?"

"I met him as a child, so he was scary. But he gave me money," Dr. Vinne said, chuckling at the memory.

Beka looked at Vinne with wide eyes, "He gave you money? I never knew that the Mind clan's chief was generous. All I received from Chief Daram was groceries."

"He likes to give money to children."

"That's nice. But I don't think I can accept money from our Chief Daram. I felt like I got more scared of him after what happened earlier. Do you think all the chiefs are all scary?" he asked and remembered how the chief used his Aura Pressure on Vinne. The brown aura looked so ominous as it was enveloping the trembling doctor. Good thing that Dr. Vinne seemed like he wasn't traumatized by what happened.

"Probably since they all possess Aura Pressure. But I did meet someone scarier than the Earth clan chief before," Vinne shared, an unforgettable memory replaying in his mind.

"What for real? Who?"

Dr. Vinne closed his eyes and recalled the piercing silver-blue eyes. That time he felt like he wasn't looking at an oddity but a predator. A monster wearing human skin.

"It was Hanan, the chief of the Water Clan."

R E H I L I Y A