Silence ensued until the man chuckled. “There’s no need to be so panicked. My book and I have lingered in your body for some time. I’m only revealing myself now because my wounds have finally recovered. Darius Reid, I believe you should address me respectfully as your mentor.”Darius was still frozen in shock upon getting stared at by the man. It almost felt like his father was gazing at him just then, so he needed time to snap to his senses. After hesitantly nodding, he was about to do as told when the man’s calm voice spoke once more.“Call me ‘sir,’ like you’d address a father figure,” the man said.Darius’ lips fell wide open again. Yet, the man did not seem upset by Darius’ delayed greeting. Instead, he smiled even more and added, “I’m an Easterner. The martial arts skills you’re currently learning also originated from the East. That’s why I’d like you to call me your mentor.”The man did not waste his breath on unnecessary pleasantries or beat around the bush.Thus, Darius imme
Only then did Darius realize Teivel had been lying to him; the book was nowhere near satisfied with Darius’ supply of energy. However, things had already gotten this far. Therefore, Darius had no reason to give up. He gritted his teeth and continued forcing out every last drop of life force in him. It was not long before sweat drenched him from head to toe. When he ran out of strength and wanted to give in, he felt a powerful life force gushing out from his sides—it was his life force.It burst out of him, pouring into the book that then trembled fervently. Then, everything died down.A frown marred Darius’ face as he finally understood what was happening. Gratitude swarmed his chest at that moment while he thought, “If not for Teivel, I wouldn’t have realized that I have such great potential.”Teivel stood aside with a proud grin, his voice sounding lighter than before. “Good. That’s the end of our introductory lesson. As for the other eight life forces, you can obtain them from oth
Darius stared emotionlessly at his phone. No one could have known what he was thinking, not even Alicia, who had eavesdropped on the call from the beginning.Moments of silence went by before Alicia gathered the courage to approach his side. She kept two steps away from him while speaking. “Sir, shouldn’t we go and save Kate? She hasn’t done anything wrong all this while, after all.”Although Darius turned to meet her gaze, it took a while before he sighed and responded, “Indeed, she’s innocent. However, the best person to deal with this isn’t us.”Darius spoke emotionlessly, just like how he looked at Alicia. It lacked warmth to the point where Alicia’s body instinctively quivered. She no longer dared meet his eyes at that moment.Sighing, Darius asked, “Are you aware what you’re doing now is the same as what Erin did before?”Alicia paled at once, her head shooting upward with determination at Darius. “Then, I’ll go to Kate alone.”Eyes sharpening like blades, Darius scrutinized Al
Alicia nodded grimly, which was a method she picked up from Darius; it seemed everyone would fear her when she displayed this expression. She then turned to leave without so much as another word. Erin froze on the spot for a long time. At some point, she snorted, feeling a mix of amused speechlessness and anger at the former’s actions. Regardless, Erin turned and strolled away immediately, her every step growing heavy. When she arrived at the second floor’s stairway and walked past Bridget’s room, she heard a voice say, “Erin? Is that you?”Screeching to a halt, Erin thinned her lips in guilt. She had forgotten one crucial thing; like Bridget, Darius was an enlightened martial artist. Hence, he could hear everything inside the hotel. “Yes, it’s me. Is something the matter?” Erin took lighter steps and spoke gentler than before while walking into Bridget’s room. “No.” Bridget shook her head. “I just heard your footsteps and the conversation between you and Alicia downstairs. I figu
Despite how impossible that was, Erin did it.Darius’ gaze hardened at Erin. He knew his carelessness had put Erin in her current injured state, and he blamed himself for it. Eyes narrowing with determination, he shot a bolt of life force forward. At that moment, Erin’s grey gaseous life force was already halfway out of her body but struggled with all its might to stay inside her.Darius had never seen such a situation before, so he looked down at his arm and called out, “S—.”Like clockwork, Teivel appeared before Darius could finish saying “sir.” He glanced at the gas with a smile. His figure then projected behind Darius to say, “It’s merely a plume of regular life force. The only reason it’s resisting your attacks is that its owner fused her blood into it.”Simultaneously, he waved his arm at the desk ahead, causing Darius’ cup on the desk to float into mid-air. The glass cup seemed to come alive as it emptied its contents onto the gas. Almost instantly, the grey gas no longer res
Shelvin’s gaze swept past Erin before settling on Darius as he said, “It’s just that I sensed an abnormality in the lady when she arrived earlier. Thus, I backtracked on all Yarlyn and my collective memories to compare—”Erin’s eyebrows gathered into a deep frown, but she refrained from commenting as she could tell Darius was solely focused on the conversation.Despite seeing the two’s different behaviors, Shelvin continued, “I found out those horrible people from the East—the rotten ones that attacked Yarlyn—had already been developing this drug many years ago.”Darius nodded. “Yeah, I’m aware.”Features warping into a complicated yet slightly pleased expression, Shelvin replied, “Yes, but what I wanted to tell you was those people have not succeeded.” “That’s possible,” Darius said and nodded after a long pause. He figured that although the group of horrid figures had tested the drugs on many people, no one understood their ultimate goal. As he pondered the situation, Shelvin abrup
Shelvin candidly revealed, “I found Yarlyn’s memory about a training ground with cruel practices. The Eastern countries’ forces have banned the group that started the training ground. The group wanted to achieve immortality, so they tried absorbing the lives of others to extend their own. All their immense efforts in developing the drug? That’s all for this sole but grotesque reason. They did many unethical and illegal things, but at some point, they got exposed. Many were furious at them, despite their many superior social standings and power. The group couldn’t fend against the righteous backlash, so their experiments failed. The group got given death sentences, but they were sly and sweet-talked the countries’ forces to spare them. In the end, they merely got deported. Because this happened long ago when people didn’t keep written records, the Eastern forces weren’t aware that other human beings existed on the other continents. Thus, the forces assumed deporting the group would ens
Darius leaned back against the couch while tapping his knuckle against the table. He was deep in thought, wondering if there was anything else he needed to deal with after returning to Ashweir City. Yet, that thought soon paused when Erin returned to the room with two figures behind her. Darius could tell from the two’s footsteps that the first was a calmly approaching male while the other was someone hesitant. Frowning, Darius shot to his feet at once.Like the former, Shelvin’s features immediately took on a frostiness as he looked toward the door and asked in a low voice, “What happened, sir?”Darius placed both hands in his pockets. He then strolled toward the door, his face turning murderously cold as he spoke. “During your absence, I gained a new subordinate named Donald. However, he did many vile things on behalf of the Brezinski family in the past. He got taken under police custody, but a policeman named Uriah once assured me no harm would come to him. However, judging by tho