"Hey." Sera said while taking her seat next to Aaron and towered over him when she leaned closer.

"Hey yourself," He leaned backwards to maintain a "healthy" distance between them, "I'm warning you!" Finally Aaron said that when his upper-body was parallel to the floor.

"Hmm. About what exactly?" Sera actually stopped when the distance between her dangling chest and the boy's face was dangerously-close before asking while feeling both amusement and triumph, because this was the first time she felt like winning against this kid ever since they met and began to interact together.

Aaron rolled his eyes towards this beauty when she maintained her pose of almost crushing him beneath her chest or to those unaware of what's going on would instantly think that she's about to hug him!

"It's a bad omen to bully or harm others in their birthday," Feeling like she might not believe him or that it wouldn't be enough for Sera to back off, "I bet you liked the taste of the Apple I gave you earlier today." Aaron decided to remind this woman of what's on stake here if she continued to do what she's doing right now.

Sera squinted her eyes while looking deep into Aaron's eyes from this close distance and thought to herself : 'It doesn't seem like he's bluffing his way out from this situation.' She retreated while thinking : 'Humph. I can always spank his buttocks purple if he's lying, for now let's see what he's on about.'

Afterwards she leaned back on her chair and looked at the kid who straightened his body while releasing a sigh.

The gaze within Sera's eyes had one meaning and Aaron immediately figured out what she meant, "You better prove your point quickly or your ass is mine."

It made him feel both angry and frustration because he's not only going to reveal another of his cards, but also sacrifice one of the consumables that he bought with what's left of his Gold Coins.

Aaron gritted his teeth before retrieving an Orange from his Inventory Space then began to peel it.

*Sniff*

Sera took a deep breath in and inhaled the fragrant smell from the Orange-peel before grapping a piece and bringing it close to her delicate and straight nose and doing it again, she enjoyed this smell because it directly stabilized her Soul power!

The beauty could feel her Soul power recovering a bit faster just by inhaling the smell of that peel.

"Here. Try this." Aaron tore a piece of the Orange and gave it to the woman.

Sera put the piece of Orange in her mouth and felt like melting in her seat when she chewed.

'What kind of fruit is that? The Apple from before was full of extremely pure Vital aura but this one is different, this one is full of extremely pure Soul power!' She thought while taking the seed out and the beauty frowned deeply when she discovered that it's already crushed to bits by her teeth.

Sera received another piece and carefully extracted the seed first before eating it while feeling excitement because she could clearly sense the effects, the amount of Soul power she spent to cast the technique on Rodd to link his Soul to Camila, and the technique of Soul Flare on Pio, and the Soul Thorn technique on Lucas.

The woman could feel her Soul power increase by a huge amount after she ate two pieces of this miraculous fruit and judging by the amount left it would take two or three more pieces to bring her Soul power to maximum force!

'If I manage to plant these seeds then... the rise of our Sisterhood is certain to happen. Our branch might even surpass the other branches or even the main-headquarters if given time, we could also use these Apples to trade for all the resources we want from the people of the Barren Mountain.' Sera already finished the whole Orange while having these thoughts and her excitement kept growing and increasing.

She was unaware that next to her is a kid who kept feeling his intestines twist from pain while thinking : 'That's a Gold Coin! So far I've lost 1 Gold Coin and 50 Silver Coins because of you, you've gone too far with your bullying and I'm not that easy to bully.' Afterwards Aaron took a glass of water and emptied it in his mouth before retrieving another consumable from his Inventory Space, 'Wanna play? I'll play you to death!' Then he cut the item in his hand with a small table knife and used the tip to remove the seeds before squeezing its juice in the empty water cup.

"Drink this." Aaron pushed the glass towards Sera and ordered in a tone of voice that wouldn't take no for an answer.

Then he licked his fingers while watching the beauty sniff the cup before emptying it in her throat!

*Cough*

The acidity of the raw Lemon juice was burning her insides and the woman felt her innards heat up before the effects transferred to her Soul which was already maximized thanks to the Orange that she ate just earlier.

"Huh!" Sera gawked while feeling disbelief at the unexpected surprise before looking towards Aaron and pushing him away while struggling to say : "M-move further away. Quickly!"

Aaron could sense urgency in her voice and immediately ran towards the stairs while thinking : 'This crazy Witch. Wait until I'm gone before you do anything stupid.' He activated both Mana Armor and Magic Guard while using the Skill of Lucid Nightmare to Stun Sera and buy himself 9 precious seconds to escape the restaurant.

"Pio. Get your ass outside the restaurant! Camila. Get your boy-toy and run. Betty, save yourself. Old geezer Todd, you don't need to worry about a thing and stay put. I'll make sure to take care of the restaurant in your place." Aaron shouted these words at the top of his lungs.

'He can also use illusion techniques?' Sera thought while feeling a layer of Soul power coating her body and suppressing her Soul, it didn't harm her Body or Soul but it helped her prevent and condense all the additional Soul power for a while and delay her advancement.

Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

Sera felt grateful towards Aaron because when her Soul power surges forcefully during her advancement it could harm mortals or put an end to their journey to life instantly!

"Young master Ron. Wait for us!" Pio dragged Betty by the arm and escaped Todd's restaurant two seconds after Aaron.

"What's going on?" Camila appeared at the gate a few seconds later with Rodd and Todd flanking her.

The old man seemed especially hurt when he looked at Aaron because the boy clearly had no intention of seeing him again.

Pio and the rest of the group looked towards Aaron curiously and Camila rubbed her eyes because she was just about to take her nap.

"It's Sera," Aaron said before pointing towards the top floor of the restaurant, "I believe she's going to-"

*Om*

Before he got to finish his sentence, everyone could feel a wave of intense pressure wash over their Bodies and Souls!

*Crash*

Afterwards the restaurant building began to crumble towards the ground starting with the top floor.

"Do that." Aaron muttered while moving backwards to escape getting swallowed by the cloud of dust, but deep within the chaotic layer of dust he could vaguely see the silhouette of a person floating in the air!

Somehow Aaron could feel a pair of familiar eyes staring back at him and his discomfort would've been more than double if he didn't know the source to that feeling.

The villagers of the neighborhood gathered around Todd and began to discuss among them the strange reason why their village is so rowdy this morning, first was Mr Smith's smithy getting destroyed then old man Todd's restaurant.

Soon afterwards Chief Peter and his two sons Roger and Sen arrived with a team of guards led by Manji who approached Betty and began to ask her what happened.

Both women looked towards Aaron and he dusted his butt and left once he felt more eyes looking towards him.

Aaron smiled while thinking : 'How do you like me now Honorable Sister Sera? I hope that lesson was enough for you to learn to back the fuck off when I tell you to do so and pay the fuck well when I say so. Dealing with the aftermath and handling things with old geezer Todd and Chief Peter should give me some valuable time to enjoy my birthday in peace.'

Pio quickly gave Betty an apologetic expression and waved goodbye before following his young master Ron.

Sera appeared in the middle of the site of utter destruction once the dust settled, sitting cross-legged with her eyes closed but her dress kept fluttering around her despite the lack of air which gave the beauty an ethereal-like image of divinity and purity.

The villagers didn't dare approach the woman or make any noise to disturb her peace.

Camila left the scene with Rodd in her tail and Chief Peter sighed before ordering the men to stay with Todd and help him after Sera is finished doing "whatever" she's doing.

Sen excused himself before going after Aaron and Pio.

Roger ordered the villagers to go back and mind their business before going back to the smithy, he was more interested in watching Mr Smith finish the latest masterpieces.

The Sword especially made this man practically drool while imagining getting his hands on a Weapon of similar standards someday.

Chief Peter sat on a stone stool under a tree in Todd's garden and waited for Sera because he felt the need to talk with her and discuss the matters of the kid who's been the center of everything lately.

Todd kept staring at his restaurant which is no more while feeling like someone just punched his guts and left an empty void inside him.

Betty shrugged and went back home after saying goodbye to Manji who's going to be very busy soon in leading her men to handle this utter mess.

*****

Aaron just went back home with Pio and planned to rest for the day.

Once he took a seat outside his house and was about to dig in on some of the hot dishes that he retrieved from his Inventory Space, Sen arrived.

"Good morning." Sen greeted.

"Morning teacher Sen." Pio answered and Aaron just expressionlessly watched in silence.

"Young master Ron. I hope that I'm not interrupting your meal." Sen didn't seem to mind the lack of response from the kid but he could feel the boy's gaze studying every single one of his actions.

"You're welcome at young master Ron's table." Pio said once he saw Aaron nod his head towards him, then he offered Sen his chair and stood behind his young master.

"Thanks." Sen sat in front of Aaron after giving his thanks then began to eat once he saw his host starting to have his meal.

"Now that we've broken bread, what's the reason of this unexpected visit? You don't strike me as a busybody so let's cut to the chase here and save each other from the trouble of having to do so. Time is a precious thing after all." Aaron said while looking Sen directly in the eyes.

'This kid. He really doesn't mess around, here goes small talk out the window.' Sen thought before letting go of his spoon and looking at Aaron who waited for him to speak.

"Earlier today I talked with merchant Arturo and he told me about the partnership between Mr Smith, Arturo, and yourself."

"And?" Aaron asked in a disinterested tone of voice as if to say : "What has that got to do with you?"

Sen could sense the sharpness increase from Aaron's words, "As much as it interests me to somehow find a way to become included in that promising partnership, that's not the reason why I'm here." Afterwards Sen took a fleeting glance behind Aaron towards Pio before asking in a probing tone of voice : "Is it alright for us to discuss sensitive information in here?"

Aaron leaned back in his chair before replying : "I have nothing to hide and Pio knows when to keep things to himself."

Pio raised his head high as if to say : "See! I'm the keeper of young master Ron's secrets."

Meanwhile Sen just shook his head while thinking : 'This boy doesn't seem to know that his guard spills everything to Betty while milking him at night and Manji receives all that information from her gossipy-friend comes daylight!' Still he kept his thoughts to himself and didn't show anything on his expression before saying : "The situation of our Pine-Breeze Village isn't good and our location in the map makes it difficult for us to change it for the better."

Aaron sneered and retorted almost immediately : "What does that has got to do with me? Didn't I say to cut to the chase already?"

'My oh my! This kid is so impatient and his attitude towards his seniors is nasty.' Sen thought while gesturing for Aaron to calm down, "I'm here simply to ask if it's possible for us to strike a deal of partnership with hopes to improve the situation of our village and the livelihood of our fellow villagers."

"I'm listening." Aaron said.

Sen released and inward sigh before saying : "The next Beast-Wave is one or two months away and our village lacks the men and the resources to push it back this time, the defenses of our village are-"

"Shit." Aaron finished the man's sentence for him while smiling widely once Sen gawked slightly, "The village-walls aren't tall enough and what makes it worse is that they're made from wood not stone, once they're breached... then these poor villagers are fucked because we lack enough manpower to defend ourselves." He stared at the intelligent-looking man and waited for him to "really" say what he has in mind.

*Sigh*

"Indeed. I'm here to ask if you can request Honorable Sister Sera's assistance when the Beast-Wave arrives, we just received a report from our team of Scouts and things doesn't look good for our village." Sen said while feeling down.

"Teacher Sen. What's the scale of this Beast-Wave?" Pio asked while feeling both fear and worry spread within his chest.

Sen fell silent for a few seconds as if to remember the details of the few reports from the Scout-Team before saying : "In the beginning we thought it was nothing to worry about and that this Beast-Wave is heading towards the villages north and north-west, but the scouts reported a shift in the direction this Beast-Wave is taking and our village is at risk of having to deal with a higher number of Beasts." He took a deep breath before adding : "This time it's not a Beast-Wave of Minor-Scale but a Beast-Wave of Small-Scale! It might even become a Beast-Wave of Medium-scale of the direction shifted a little bit more towards the east."

*Hiss*

Pio's face became pale white and his legs were shaking from fear!