53 The City Lord's Decision
The last thing that Edmond saw before he blacked out was a grim expression on the City Lord's face, and, for a moment, he had genuinely been scared whether his decision would work.
However, it almost seemed as if the City Lord was looking at someone behind his shoulder, and before Edmond could also turn around to see if there was anyone, the sound of something…breaking was heard, after which he passed out.
Meanwhile, on the scene, Edmond had fainted onto the floor, which made the old man heave a sigh of relief.
This was how Aaron understood that it was good, as he hadn't been able to read anything from the City Lord's expression.
He could read the actions of a Tera just fine, but it looked like he would still need a lot of practice if he wanted to be able to do the same with humans.
Aaron did get the sense that the man was angry, though, and this was confirmed when he folded his hands behind his back and said, "In all my years, this is probably the dumbest person I've ever chosen to test to become my heir. What's worse, is that he believes that he was intelligent in making that choice. The fool doesn't know that an heir is only precious after the initial selection is done. Besides, if it was all real, I would have been able to stop him and beat him to the ground in a thousand ways before he could move even a finger!"
As the City Lord expressed his frustration in this way, both the old man and the official started to chuckle.
"True. But you know that you don't have a choice in that matter. So, what will it be? Will you be choosing him, or not? And if you don't, I don't think I need to remind you that you can never lay a hand on any of those affected in this entire process ever again, which includes this young Survivor."
This made the City Lord glance at Aaron, who immediately bent low as if he was prepared to spring back in response.
Those were the eyes of the type of predator which was used to killing for sport.
This look was enough to let Aaron understand everything he wanted about this man. No matter what he was bound by, Aaron could never discount the possibility that he might attack him, so he had to be careful.
Well, it wasn't like he and Woof hadn't made enemies far beyond their levels multiple times in the jungle.
The look only lasted for a moment, and after that, the City Lord glanced at Edmond.
After taking barely a moment, he spoke.
"I would be foolish to place my precious Teras in his hands. His family will go back to normal, and he will be given the choice to have his memories removed. And I swear not to touch him. He will have enough enemies after today, anyway."
The last two sentences were said after the City Lord nodded in Aaron's direction, and then, the man pointed his palm at Edmond.
A light quickly flashed, and a green, transparent glob of what looked like goo appeared and swallowed Edmond whole, before disappearing once again.
Huh?
As Aaron whirled around to the old man thinking that Edmond had just been swallowed, he said, "Don't worry, it's just a way to transport living things. Those are handy modified Teras that can only be bought from the World Government."
Oh.
With this answered, Aaron was about to ask what the man had meant about him having enemies, but before he could do so, a loud sound interrupted him.
As Aaron turned around, the sight that he saw made him feel more fear, trepidation and dread than anything he had witnessed so far, today.
Out of nowhere, a large Tera, larger than almost any Aaron had ever seen had appeared right in front of him.
It was at least 15 meters long, but this was only its main body. If it stretched its wings, Aaron could tell that they would at least be double that length.
It almost blinded him because of its shiny green scales that glittered in the sunlight while it looked around at those below it as if they were just puny insects in front of its might.
It reminded Aaron a lot of a lizard which seemed to have grown wings, somehow, but that couldn't be true, right?
This time, he was quick in asking the A.A.
"Scanning. One Tera found in host's vision. Scanning TeraTome. Entry not found.
Scanning other sources. One entry found.
Tera is similar to a common species that was found on Earth before the apocalypse: 'Common House Gecko/House Lizard'."
Huh?
Nothing about the being in front of him was 'common'.
As Aaron observed more, he noticed that its legs were small compared to its body, and that it had small hands at the mid-point between its wings. Its tail was 1/4th of its main body, and it looked thick and strong.
"So this is the Elite level Tera that he managed to evolve to the Legendary level. Truly impressive."
As the official said these words almost to himself, the City Lord agilely jumped onto the Tera after making that damn horse vanish.
After he did so, the gigantic thing started to flap its wings, which caused waves of air to buffet the three of them. They managed to stand still, but their hair blew back in response.
Right before he took off, the City Lord shot one last look at Aaron, and this made him understand that for some reason, things between them weren't over.
They watched as he rose to a certain altitude and then began to fly away, with each flap of the Tera's wings managing to take him at least 10 meters forward.
Aaron was concerned about that look, but more than that, he had another pressing question to ask.
"What did he mean by 'other enemies'?"
As the old man and the official heard this, they shared a glance, after which the official said, "I'll explain everything as part of your second orientation. First, let's go somewhere that doesn't stink of lizard."
True, that Tera had left behind a smell that was quite nauseating, but it was nothing to Aaron, who had once had to spend a day hiding in a cave where Teras usually came to excrete.
They had had to kill a Tera, and the best way for that had been to strike when it was fulfilling that all-important need.
As Aaron nodded, the old man began walking toward the Giant Eagle with the palanquin that they had come in.
Aaron followed and entered it, and although he wanted to see the official's disappearing act again, he didn't get the chance as the curtains closed before he did so.
Soon, they were back in the mansion they had left from before, but the moment the curtains opened, Aaron could see that something was wrong.
The tiles on the floor which had been pristine before were cracked, and it looked like it had been in a fit of fury.
The moment he got off, he saw Anissa fuming while in the process of throwing a vase that was in her hand at him.
Thankfully, she stopped when she saw that it was him, but the moment the old man peeked his head out, she sent it flying.
Even while it made its journey through the air, she shouted, "YOU SAID LAST TIME WAS THE LAST TIME! ENOUGH IS ENOUGH! GRANDPA, I CHALLENGE YOU TO AN OFFICIAL BATTLE! IF YOU LOSE, YOU SHOULD PROMISE THAT YOU WILL ALLOW ME TO GO WHERE I WISH!"
