45 The City Lord(2)

"Manners, Anissa."

Aaron hadn't known how to react on seeing Anissa act that way, so he had simply looked at her, waiting for her to explain herself more.

That was when the old man spoke up, making Anissa turn and glare at him.

"What manners, dad? He's crazy! He's not even a 1-star Ascender, and he wants to kill a City Lord! A CITY LORD! He's mad! If we let him go and try something so absurd, no one will know the kind of tortures he will be subjected to before dying!"

As Aaron heard this, his brows narrowed.

It looked like that City Lord was even more powerful than he had imagined.

Although Anissa didn't say anything of that sort directly, he could tell that she might just be a bit scared of him.

If not scared, she was at least very wary, which let Aaron get a closer estimate of his power, as he had seen what Anissa could do.

He had clearly seen her Eagle's power, and he had reason to believe that that was her strongest Tera based on what she had said at the scene of the sight.

So…if she was acting in this way, then that City Lord must surely be even more unfathomable.

However, Aaron wasn't really dissuaded, as he still felt that this was the best option.

The only way he would be willing to back off from doing this…was if there was no way that he could guarantee his own safety.

In the jungle, whenever Aaron and Woof had to carry out such assassination missions, this was always their first priority.

After all, if they died, then nothing would matter anymore.

Typically, they would seriously stake out the territory to use it to their advantage. Even if a Tera might have lived in a place for a long, long time, all the nooks and crannies that they could exploit using their relatively small bodies would typically not be known to their enemy. So, over a long time, they would first map out a perfect escape route and then get into action.

The result of that was evident.

They were still alive, while many other Teras that had threatened their lives had been killed and eaten by them.

However, in this case, Aaron wasn't sure whether the same could even be done.

Already, the human world had made him run away once due to all those dazzling lights which he didn't understand at all.

Knowledge was always paramount. Here, he lacked that, so he wasn't confident that he would be able to guarantee his safety even if he somehow managed to map some sort of route in the City Lord's territory.

There would be too man variables, and he hated that.

Seeing Aaron pondering so deeply, the old man got a shine in his eyes that even Anissa didn't notice, as she was too busy glowering while looking down.

"Anissa…leave us."

This shocked both Aaron and Anissa, but the former just took it in stride. His escape route in this room was still sound, so he wasn't too afraid.

Anissa, though, sputtered, "B-but…"

"I'll explain later."

As soon as the old man said this, the entire atmosphere in the room changed.

Until now, he had been a jovial father who loved his daughter, yet chided her even if he didn't want to as he wanted her to be better.

At this moment, though…he was a leader, whose words had to be obeyed at any cost.

Aaron had seen such an aura in only a few Teras, and those had been some of the most dangerous that they had ever dealt with.

Even Woof seemed to have had flashbacks, as it bent its legs and exposed its canines, ready to pounce if needed.

Yet, Anissa simply folded her hands and said, "I hate it when you go all 'Mayor' on me. Fine."

Shooting one last glare, she marched out of the room and closed the door behind her, leaving Aaron alone with the old man.

The moment they were alone, the old man folded his hands behind his back and sized Aaron and Woof up.

He seemed like a completely different man, and Aaron was actually a bit surprised to see that someone could have such contrasting sides within themselves.

In a calm voice, he asked, "Do you really wish to kill the City Lord?"

Without hesitating, Aaron answered, "Yes. But only if I can guarantee my safety if I fail. Otherwise, I would be willing to hide and get stronger before trying when I can guarantee this. I believe that the one who wins…is always the one who lives."

Clap. Clap. Clap.

The old man began clapping as soon as he heard this, and a broad smile appeared on his face.

"Perfect. This is why those like you are always the ones who rise the highest. Before the apocalypse, humanity had gotten…languid. Lazy. Weak. Most of the population was enslaved in front of their gadgets, and many lives were just spent doing the same thing over and over again, before death arrived to release them from that living nightmare. The apocalypse changed everything. To survive, we had to go back to our roots. We succeeded, and although there is still a lot to be done, we have peace. But…again, this peace is beginning to give rise to useless individuals who care about trivial things like popularity. It is definitely not as bad as then, as there are still many threats, and there is at least a goal to strive toward for aspiring youths which entices them using the singular desire that can only be evoked for power. But we must never get complacent. That is why I like you. So, if you're really willing to do it, I have a way to let you see for yourself what you will face. It is completely safe. Well, there might be a bit of pain, but that's it. And I know that you might not trust me, so your Tera can stay guard over you. All I want you to do…is sleep."

Aaron's eyes had almost glazed over during the first part of the speech.

But during the second…he focused his eyes, as he couldn't even believe that something like this was possible.

If it was, though…he didn't want to give it up.

He just needed to sleep, right?

And Woof would be right here to protect him.

Without hesitating, Aaron nodded, and just lied down on the ground after touching Woof and telling it to stand guard.

The old man had expected this, and his smile only broadened on seeing it.

Decisiveness was truly a thing to be admired.

To his surprise, Aaron fell asleep in under 20 seconds, and as his breathing evened out, the old man stretched out his hand with his palm facing forward.

As soon as he did, a Core appeared in the middle of his palm and flashed, while Woof began growling as it sensed that something else…was in the room along with them.

…

Aaron had drifted off to sleep so quickly because of the habit he had inculcated as they would often have to rest quickly in the limited amount of time they had.

Feeling Woof tug at him to wake him up, he opened his eyes, yet closed them again as he couldn't believe what he was seeing.

An enormous domed ceiling with glass chandeliers stretched out in his vision, and as he dazedly got up, he looked to the right on hearing a feral growl that made the hairs all over his body rise up.

There…stood a 4 meter(13 feet) tall creature that looked vaguely like a Red-Maned Horse, but wasn't.

Fire could be seen burning beneath its hooves, and as soon as Aaron laid his eyes on it, it shot forth a blast of raging fire that engulfed him and made him scream in agony.