The Seed Of Envy

(1:46 Am, Jonathan's home)

As Aiden dealt with his attackers, two figures clothed in black could be seen walking down the porch of Jonathan's front door.

Black pants, a big hoodie with the hood up, and a mask for extra concealment, the perfect fit for jogging at night.

From the backyard, emerged a third figure also sporting a black ensemble as he made his way through the garden.

Meeting his companions who walked through the cobblestone path, he shook his head in the negative, and his companions repeated the motion.

Unlike the people who attacked Aiden, these three seemed more organized as they made their way into a white van before driving off.

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"You have used Infect!"

Landon notified grimly, his voice a bit raspy from the surprise of Aiden's decision.

Aiden on the other hand focused on the process, he noted a bright white glow that seeped through his palm.

Much different from Whisper's purple glow during the same process, then again, Whisper's state at the time of her conversion was much worse.

At the same time, white chains visible to Aiden streamed from the bright glow within his palms like long tentacles, they rapped themselves around Rose's arm before diving into his being, entangling themselves with his very soul.

"You have successfully made a connection, would you like to create a seed?" Landon asked.

Without thinking much of it, Aiden responded. "Yes," and as he said this, the other end of the white chains sprung to life moving up his arms like some sort of parasite.

Aiden felt a large amount of his soul energy being consulted, and Landon quickly notified him about it.

"You have 90% of your soul energy left!"

"You have 60% of your soul energy left!"

"You have 20% of your soul energy left!"

In the midst of all this, Aiden failed to notice that the gash on Rose's neck had healed up, his breath steady.

Just when the drain was becoming unbearable, Aiden suddenly felt it stop as the chains separated from his form altogether, burying themselves in Rose's being.

At that moment, Rose's body began emitting a subtle white glow that was evident in the dark alley and before long a shocking transformation occurred.

As though he'd changed genders, his hair turned white and his skin became fairer.

With a pale and pallid face, Aiden leaned against the alley wall as he asked. "Landon, what did I create?"

Landon was quiet for a while before saying. "It seems that you have created the seed of envy."

"Now, that just sounds weak," Aiden thought before saying to Landon. "Can you please show me his abilities?"

As soon as he requested this, a floating book appeared in front of him, it read:

Name:?

Race: Human (Advanced)

Level: First Gate ( 0%) (May be limited by creator)

Strength: 108

Speed: 104

Stamina: 106

Agility: 102

Perception: 101

Envy energy: 1 (0%)

Innate skills: (Envy feeding)

(Reflect: basic)

(Semi immortality)

(more abilities may be gifted by creator)

Skills: electric fists (from contract)

Contracts: (Mixed Blood Demon: Infant)

(Due to subject's connection with the soul sovereign the contract has been forcefully rewritten, the powers of the matured infant demon may be used indefinitely in exchange for the privilege of keeping its life.)

"His numbers are above a hundred," Aiden muttered with his hands on his chin, but upon thinking about it, he figured that it was reasonable.

Rose was already at Threat level twenty so his strength had pretty much passed the limit of the first gate, all he had to do was consume more envy energy to increase his energy levels and advance towards the second gate.

As Aiden thought of this, he noticed that Rose was beginning to steer, his eyes fluttering open.

Seeing Rose's eyes, Aiden raised a brow, his lips curling as he said. "How exotic!"

Rose's Irises had become pure white like a plain canvas, blending completely with his sclera.

At the edge of their forms was a line of thin black that differentiated it from the rest of the eye.

He had no pupils, just eyes of pure white, it almost seemed as though God had chosen to just draw a circle in each of his eyes leaving everything else blank.

"Keep the name Rose, it suits you," Aiden's voice finally sounded out, his tone distant.

Upon hearing Aiden's words, Rose whose eyes were still blurry and filled with sleep, said in a forced tone. "Thank you for the name."

As he said this he got up from, his lying position, his white orbs shaking in defiance as they stared straight into Aiden's eyes.

Staring at Aiden who had a look of curiosity on his face, Rose couldn't help but feel a heavy sense of animosity well up in him, an animosity that was restrained by fear.

This man had killed him and somehow brought him back to life, it was madness.

"Bam!"

The sound of a thud could be heard as Rose fell on a knee, his rising fear forcing him to submit to his fate. "Thank you for the name My Lord," his voice echoed in the alleyway, laced with a mix of hatred and devotion."

Watching Rose kneel, Aiden didn't flinch as he would have in the past, Rose's state invoked a feeling of nostalgia in him, making him remember a person he'd tried to forget, Whisper.

He'd tried to keep her off his mind, even restraining himself from using the Book of Souls to see her current progress.

Shaking his head, Aiden brought his attention back to Rose who was still in a kneeling position, tilting his head, he asked. "What does your organization know about me? What did Binder reveal?"

"Everything we needed," Rose spoke before darting in. "Your name, your appearance, the names of your friends, your ties with the Silence, and details about how you fight."

Hearing Rose's words, Aiden narrowed his eyes. "She didn't say anything about, my tail?"

"No, we didn't expect it at all," Rose responded immediately.

Aiden caressed his temples while thinking to himself. "If she didn't tell the syndicate my full story, then it means that the Order is interested in working with me, that or they don't want to lose a valuable spy."

"It could also be possible that information was withheld from the foot soldiers," Landon's voice sounded out.

His words made Aiden nod his head, and with that information in mind, he turned to Rose. "Rise!" He commanded calmly.

With Aiden's command, Rose got up, his white hair flowing slightly with the wind as he observed.

In a bored tone, Aiden said to the quiet Rose. "I want you to go back, meet your superiors, and sell the idea of working with me."

"That's not possible," Rose replied immediately before darting in. "Even if I tried, your request would be flat-out rejected, the one handling the case is the Echo, Blood Pact's older brother."

"There's animosity," Aiden muttered flatly, before saying. "But even with that, you guys were still hesitant the first time you followed me, why didn't you make a move immediately?"

"Medusa!"

Rose murmured and Aiden instantly understood, it was as he anticipated.

"Then it's very possible to sell the idea of working with me," Aiden smirked at Rose.

Seeing Aiden's expression, Rose asked in a confused tone. "What do you mean?"

"It's simple," Aiden quipped before darting in. "Since you guys fear Medusa, then use her, sell the idea that I'm deeply entangled with her, and suggest working with me instead, if he doesn't listen, risk it and go over Echo's head, you can't tell me a Contractor at Threat level 30 runs the entire Syndicate."

Hearing Aiden's idea, Rose nodded in thought seemingly pondering over it, and the more he thought about it, the more his eyes winded in shock. "It's possible," he said.

Hearing Rose's words, Aiden's voice lingered as he walked away. "You might want to think of an excuse for your change in appearance, it's quite noticeable."

Aiden's words confused Rose, who hurriedly took out a makeup mirror from his pocket, flipping it open his eyes widened. "Shit," he muttered in shock.

Taking in his rapid change in appearance, he snapped his head at the distant Aiden while asking. "What is your goal? What are you after?"

His question made the existing Aiden pause a bit, his voice flowing out soon after. "By the time I'm done, you'll have full control of the syndicate."

His words though said in a gentle way sent a chill down Rose's spine, he couldn't understand it. "This man barely has any knowledge of how the syndicate operates, how does he plan to control it?"

As Rose thought of this, Aiden had already walked away, his feet echoing on the silent streets of Twilight City.

"Beep!"

Beep!

Soon, he got to his car, and with a flick of his wrists unlocked it remotely.

Getting in he glanced at his rearview mirror, gazing at the girl who seemed to be sleeping peacefully in the back seat.

"Vroom!"

The sound of the car engine starting followed suit as they drove through the streets of Twilight City, after a while, Aiden spoke. "You can stop pretending to be asleep now, it's getting annoying."

His voice was met with silence, and upon seeing no reaction from Maya, Aiden spoke again. "Ok, be like that then, I have no problem taking you to my place."

"Wait," Maya stood up immediately, her brown eyes widening slightly as she held onto Aiden's shoulder.

"Haha!"

Seeing the way she stood up, Aiden chuckled, amused by her correctitude. "Sit down and tell me where you live Maya," he said to her while navigating to turn a corner.

Hearing Aiden's words, Maya faked a cough before saying. "456 Pine Street, Evergreen Heights Apartments, it's downtown that way," she pointed.

With that information in mind, Aiden drove, and as he did, Maya stared at him, her eyes laced with curiosity.

She looked at Aiden like some kind of curious kitten searching for answers, and Aiden, noting her persistent gaze asked. "What is it?"

Maya a bit jumpy from the experience of tonight shook slightly at the abrupt nature of Aiden's voice, but after a quick breath, she asked. "What did you do to the other guys, I didn't know that you were a Contractor."

"Haha!"

Her question made Aiden chuckle a bit, his brows raised as he asked. "I thought my involvement with Medusa gave it away."

"I had my suspicions but I wasn't sure," Maya defended herself.

The duo quibbled for a bit, with Maya pointing him in the right direction every once in a while.

Soon, Aiden slowed down in front of an apartment building prompting Maya to get off.

"Kock!"

Quickly, she ran towards Aiden's front door and knocked on the window. Her actions prompted Aiden to roll his windows down and as soon as he did this Maya's voice sounded out. "Thanks for tonight."

Saying this she hurried into her apartment building prompting Aiden to scratch his head in confusion. "How odd," he thought as he started the engine.

"Shiii!"

The sound of tires screeching suddenly sounded out, as Aiden swiftly hit the brakes. "Landon, I smell something," he said.

Hearing Aiden's words, Landon asked in his head. "What is it?"

Aiden closed his eyes focusing on that familiar smell, in the next moment, he opened his eyes and got out of the car locking it remotely.