Ash Dorian

Seeing the young man standing unbothered by his Legendary Rank Aura, Maxwell could not help but frown.

As the epitome of power in this current era he could tell how strong someone was from just feeling their mana movements and the aura around them.

Based on what his senses told him, the hooded kid was not higher than a D-Rank with an outstanding mana prowess, based on the way he circulated the mana on his core.

He assumed him to be around 14 years old which proved that his talent was one of the best he had ever came across, if not the best. Hell, he was sure that scouting him for the Kingdome's Magi Unit would be a clever idea as soon as he entered the room but decided to hold back this idea due to their current predicament.

But, regardless of how commendable his talents or bright his future might be, the fact that he could hold his ground against an aura from a magi who's rank was several levels above his own simply blew the old king's mind away.

' This should not be possible.'

Looking down at the monstrosity that seemed no older than 15 the king couldn't help but say.

"Explain."

Any more than that was unneeded, Ash knew what he was referring to.

Holding back his itching, while fighting back the urge to smile from ear to ear, Ash responded in a respectful, yet prideful manner fitting his persona.

" I have quiet the special physique you could say..."

The nervous and curious kid was gone at this point. All that was left was a battle junky who completely disregarded etiquette. Not like he knew it in the first place.

Clarice and Ray at the sides opened their eyes wide in surprise. They were not expecting to see someone capable enough of not only resisting Maxwell's aura but also refuse to call the latter by "his majesty". An act that could be seen as rebellious and offensive towards the crown.

Maxwell on the other side had an amused grin as he felt the firmness behind the youngster's words. A contrast to the meek replies he gets from his grandnephews who are always too busy fighting the urge to pee their pants when in his presence to even look at him straight to the eyes, something Ash was doing with no difficulty whatsoever.

'Hohoho~ If only those brats were half as courageous as this guy.'

Then, erasing the grin from his face, Max adopted a neutral expression, ready to proceed with the itinerary.

"Does your physique also prevent you from showing your face?"

"I would prefer to keep my identity a secret, if you don't mind. I'm already exposing myself enough as it is."

Seeing no problem with this, added to the fact that he liked the way Ash behaved, Max retreated his oppressing aura, allowing Ingrid to stand from the ground.

As soon as the aura's pressure dissipated, Ash came back to his senses as he sighed internally. This urges to fight the strong were very troublesome but he could not really control it, though he was glad things did not escalate, or else his identity might have been exposed.

Turning to Ingrid, he could once again see her looking at the princess with a questioning gaze on her face, as if she was trying to solve a puzzle.

Just as he was about to ask if she was feeling unwell the voice of the king cut him on his track, pulling Ash's attention towards him.

"Now let's get to business, shall we? As it was stated on the bounty this person is to be alive. I shall take hands in the matter if that is not the case."

Maxwell told... or rather, threatened Ash with a domineering glare.

He liked the kid, but he would not hesitate to kill him if he had done something to his grandson, who he is yet to meet.

'Well, I'm not into suicide so we should be good.'

[Pfff… Hahaha ~]

'Aren't you having a little too much fun since we arrived?'

[Well, because of someone I prefer not to mention I am unable to leave this place so you could say this is the most entertaining thing I have watched in the last few years.]

Eve said back on the white, endless dimension, as she leaned her back on a huge couch, one not fitting her petite figure. A bag of chips rested on her thighs as she munched them down, staring at, what seemed to be a cinema size screen displaying Ash's vision field. Her beautiful blue eyes sparkled with excitement.

"Ash is fine, we can affirm this with our lives on the line."

When he said "we" he lightly hit Ingrid with his elbow as he started feeling uncomfortable at how she would not stop looking at the silver haired lady next to the king.

'Is she into girls? Nah… wait, is she?'

Shaking his head Ash decided to push those thoughts aside, he was probably overthinking things.

Their eyes shot wide open when they heard him say that name aloud.

A change that Ash noticed before he continued:

"He is a junior of mine on my guild, I have known him for two years and consider him a little brother. Which is why I have some conditions before I tell you where he is."

"I will hear you out."

He saw no reason to not hear his condition first, he could always incapacitate them and read their memories through an artefact but showing courtesy to their only lead towards finding Ash was the least they could do… as long as they were cooperative that is.

Maxwell was also afraid that Clarice would jump out from her throne and beg the kid for Ash's location. She was too emotional at the moment, so he wanted to get this over with as smoothly as possible.

"Tell me why you are looking for him."

Max visibly winced at this. The "world" was telling him to believe the kid had no bad intentions, but he could not simply trust something as random and unpredictable.

(N/A: This "world" thingy was briefly "mentioned" on chapter 17, but at the time it was simply described as a gut feeling by Max since Ray is way too far below the ranks to know about it.)

"The reason being?"

He could not trust them, not just yet.

"As I've said before, Ash is like a little brother to me, if he committed a crime or offended someone he shouldn't in the past, and you are trying to capture him, I will leave this place in this instant, and you will never get his location. Beware, my friend can detect lies." Ash said, pointing at Ingrid by the end.

Ignoring the fact that he was being disrespectful to a freaking king and claiming he could "leave" whenever he felt like it, Max asked a question that intrigued him even more.

"And why should we trust you? As far as I have seen you are very suspicious, your friend who's been staring at my daughter this whole time included."

It was becoming extremely uncomfortable at this point, and the person in question didn't even seem to pay attention to what was happening in front of her.

"The only reason why you are still alive is that you might be useful for us, though, you could consider it courtesy, as even dying wouldn't make you completely useless."

Ash nodded; he knew it would not be that easy.

"Which is why I am willing to make a temporary soul contract. One in which I will swear on Ash's wellbeing and will tell you where he is as soon as you tell me the reason why you are looking for him. If, and only if it does not affect him negatively. This implies imprisonment, murder or any other form of physical or non-physical punishment that you might expose him to. These conditions are not negotiable."

Max went into deep thinking. In the worst-case scenario, if the contract had any loops and he managed to fool his way out of suspicion, he could just immobilize the boy at any moment and still get this information. He also did not include any type of immunity request during the contract period, which meant he could be dealt with at any point and Max wouldn't be getting any drawback by the soul contract.

All Max was asked to do was to tell the truth.

No matter how strong the contract is it wouldn't really affect him if he were to lie.

His soul would get some damage at most, but a Legendary Rank could heal their soul from an attack of such magnitude within a few months.

While others would just die instantly. Others in this case included Ash, was he not to adhere to these terms.

Then there was his companion, who could allegedly detect lies.

"Why are you going so far? Is he that dear to you that you would risk your very soul?"

'No shit geezer! Is my life we are talking about ya know!?'

"He is."

[ Your words and thoughts are differing greatly, Master…]

'Shut it.'

Looking at his daughter, who nodded with a hint of anticipation Max could only sigh in defeat.

'When was the last time someone bested me like this?'

He swore to the god of creation that he would bring this boy under his wing after this if they truly found Ash via his help, safe and sound.

"Good then."

Swinging his hand, space seemed to fluctuate as a golden sheet appeared out of thin air. After writing on it with a mana coat around his finger for a few seconds, Max passed it to Ray, who handed it over to Ash.

Ingrid, who looked out of it, was listening to the conversation this whole time. Her thought process had halted for a while and her attention diverted but not a moment of the meeting was missed by her.

The reason for this?

To protect Ash if necessary.

Why was she distracted?

Well, she believes she might have figured something about Ash's identity.

The chances of what she believes to have had happened to actually happen were so slim that she short circuited the moment realization hit her.

To confirm this wild hypothesis that seemed to be more of a fact at this point, she waited.

Maybe it was denial, maybe it was curiosity, she did not know, but she needed a confirmation to be sure. So, she waited.

Noticing Ingrid's gaze on him Ash smiled. From his perspective it looked like she was back from her trance. Ignorant to the enlightenment his master went through.

As soon as he held the contract Ash imbued some mana into it, with his index finger as a medium, which resulted in the contract disappearing in a mini explosion of golden light that, once dissipated, divided into two orbs of light and entered both Ash and Maxwell's chest.

"After you."

Ash said with a stoic expression, readying himself to [Warp] himself and Ingrid out of there if Maxwell's response was something that might inconvenience him.

(A/N: All the new spells will be shown in the future. Maybe on the next chapter.)

He had a hunch that his family was somewhere in the human Kingdome, if the king targeted him, he knew it would become extremely hard to get where they were.

If this did not work, he was planning on visiting the holy land or the merchant city, hoping to find some other clue.

By no means was this his only option, but it was the most efficient.

Dangerous?

Surely.

But the most efficient regardless.

He wanted to get over this bounty thing before it came back to bite him in the ass later.

Having a bounty on him meant being a target to the Kingdome. Making attending to Typhon Academy impossible. Which meant he would not obtain the benefits or contacts the school could provide him to make finding his family more efficient and quicker.

Ash was not afraid of this plan failing, he knew he was taking a huge risk the moment he set foot on Ashia. But, if for some heavenly chance this thing actually worked and he gained the favor of a King, someone with full access to Ashia's territory, he knew it wouldn't take long for everything to fall into place.

*Sigh*

Max had lost count of how many times he had sighed, as it was proving to be an exhausting day.

Then, he began with his part of the contract, readying to impale the boy with a thunder bolt if he tried anything funny.

"You are a smart kid; I will give you that."

Once he looked at the hooded elf and saw that the lie detector spell was activated, he proceeded.

"To answer your question, Ash is a very important person of interest to this Kingdome"

The old man said with a cheeky smile, showing Ash how words could be your greatest ally or your doom. If he wanted to, he could have left it there, and the contract wouldn't have been breached.

Before Ash could express his discontent at the ambiguity of his response Max continued, a sad smile with tinges of anger replacing the cheeky one.

"Ash is … no, Ash Dorian, that's my grandson's full name. The rightful heir to the crown and the future leader of Ashia."

[…]

"…"

"So, my assumptions were right."

Ignoring the unresponsiveness of the boy for now, understanding the revelation might have come as a shock to him, the king's attention was redirected towards Ingrid.

"Excuse me?"

The king was taken back by this statement. Not because of the statement itself, but due to the woman's voice who spoke it.

'This voice!'

Clarice opened her eyes wide.

How could she not recognize her voice.

The voice of her one and only friend along with Allan.

Someone she loved and treated like a sister.

"Ingrid?"

Instead of answering, Ingrid pulled her hood down, revealing her appearance which looked a bit different.

Her crimson wavy hair was now golden and smooth. The depredatory green eyes were changed to be sky blue. She looked just like any other elf woman now, though extremely beautiful even for elves' standards.

Then, like a mirage, this new look disappeared as it came and the usual Ingrid could be seen, standing with a cold demeanor, a hint of confusion still presents in her face as she looked at Clarice.

"W-What is the meaning of this!?"

Clarice was on the verge of crying.

Ingrid went MIA on a mission to the demon Empire shortly before Clarice got pregnant. The fact that her best friend managed to survive whatever she encountered over the Empire's side should be a motive of celebration, but currently, Ash's whereabouts were being discussed.

The thought of her friend having something to do with her son's disappearance shortly flashed her mind and a despairing gasp left her lips.

"You haven't change, thinking outrageous shit like always… *sigh* … guess showing you is better than explaining."

Ingrid said with a small, almost imperceptible smile.

Before Ash could process anything, his hood was pulled down by Ingrid, showing a boy that looked to be in his early teens, resembling the appearance of the disguised Ingrid. Then, with a simple wave of her hand, Ash's true looks were displayed

Max, Clarice and Ray opened their eyes in bewilderment as the former two stood from their throne.

A sense of confusion permeated the royal hall.

It wasn't until Clarice started sobbing while sprinting towards Ash that Max and Ray reacted.

"BABYYYYYYYY!!!!!"

Ash felt like mocking himself at his lack of reaction time, as before he could even react to the voice coming his way a silver missile crashed against him, causing him to fall on his back.

Clarice hugged the boy to the point where Ash felt like he was having trouble breathing.

"WAAAAAAAH~!!"

At this point, seeing the crying princess hugging him while crying, remembering the words from the King, seeing the helpless smile and tears on the face of the old commander… everything came down to him.

[Master…]

'…'

[What a plot twist!!]

'Eve, not now.'

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N/A: I'm not sure if I did a good job delivering this chapter, feel free to give your opinion and your views, it might help me a lot in improving my writing.

There won't be time skips for a while. After some encounters here and there the school Arc will begin, more characters will be added and some more info about the lore might be introduced.

Updates will be hella inconsistent, but I'll try my best to make it every weekend at least.

Good day, and thanks for reading.