Very Well

"He what?"

Serena exclaimed as she sat up, staring straight at Aiden with widened eyes.

Her shout was so loud that it attracted the gaze of the surrounding Contractors who stared at her with annoyance.

Seeing this, Serena quietly sat down and stopped herself from saying any more.

They were currently at the rest area for initiates, the initiate lounge after Medusa had left, Three Face had pardoned Aiden and Bruce, letting them off with a warning.

She had let them know that they had violated several rules, the first offender being Bruce for fighting an unranked.

The second offender being both of them for fighting in the initiate training grounds with the powers of agents, damaging it in the process.

After thanking Three Face, Bruce had led Aiden and the rest of his teammates to the initiate lounge where they sat and exchanged stories, with Ethan filling them up on what happened on Bruce's side, and Mai telling the tale of what happened during their time in the abysmal enclave, of course, she excluded the volcanic cave to avoid problems.

The initiate lounge served as a welcoming space for newcomers to the organization, designed to foster a sense of community and camaraderie among initiates.

The decor was modern and minimalistic, with comfortable seating areas, vibrant artwork depicting the organization's emblem, and interactive displays that showcased the history and values of the Silence.

Looking around one would notice cozy seating arrangements, a communal bulletin board for sharing tips and resources, a small library of introductory literature and training manuals, and a refreshment station offering complimentary beverages and snacks.

Currently, Aiden was reading a book detailing the ranks of the Silence, and the types of Contractors.

He had found it at the mini library, and used this as an opportunity to finish his mandatory mission, he didn't want to know what the next punishment would be.

Seeing Aiden bury himself in the book, Serena scoffed at him and asked. "Common Aiden, are we really that boring to you?"

Upon hearing his name being called, Aiden looked up and noticed that everyone was staring at him like he was some sort of alienc entity.

"What was going through your mind?" Bruce's voice suddenly sounded out as he stared at Aiden, his eyes squinted in confusion.

Seeing Bruce look at him that way, Aiden dropped his book and said, "I don't know about everything, but all I could remember was the urge to survive, I didn't want to end up like Kevin and Evelyn so I did what I could."

"So you're saying you just threw caution to the wind? You didn't have a plan at all?" Thalia asked, her blindfold hindering her expression.

"Come on guys, my boy Aiden clearly knew what he was doing, Haha," Ethan darted in from the side sounding like a proud parent as he stretched his hand out for a high five which Aiden ignored.

As Ethan did this, Felix stared at Aiden with narrowed eyes, and after a moment he let out a sigh and said while lifting his beer can, "I have to give it to you Aiden, you're weird, but you're strong, to survival!"

"To Survival!"

Everyone repeated while lifting their beverages for a toast, but Aiden didn't which made the atmosphere feel weird.

The group discussed for a while, with everyone chatting, while Aiden focused on his book.

As Aiden read, he suddenly felt a small pull on his shirt, drawing his attention to his side.

He noticed a petite girl with black hair and shimmering silver eyes, she looked like a teenager but Aiden knew that she was a twenty-year-old lady named Lila.

"Big brother Aiden, how strong are you?" Lila's voice sounded out, her tone heavily hesitant as she struggled to look Aiden in the eyes.

She had been observing Aiden for a while now, and Aiden despite feeling her gaze chose to ignore her.

At the sound of Lila's voice, the whole table turned quiet as everyone turned to look at Lila, with confused expressions on their faces.

Unable to hold it anymore Ethan was the first to break the silence, his brows raised as he asked, "Lila, why would you ask a question like that? If you're so curious just use your abilities."

Lila asking Aiden such a question when she had the ability to see through strengths was odd.

Sensing everyone's gazes Lila pointed at Aiden, her tone like a child that had been falsely accused, "I-it's not my fault, it's him, he's weird, I can't see his strength at alllllllll." Lila said, dragging the last word before bursting into tears.

Aiden, surprised by the sudden outburst, crossed his legs and picked up his beer can to take a sip.

"You are now immune to the substance," Landon's voice sounded out, prompting Aiden to squeeze his face.

The beer suddenly tasted bland, prompting Aiden to let out a sigh, "I can't enjoy food, and now this?"

"Sucks for you haha," Landon laughed in his head.

Meanwhile, everyone was staring at Aiden expecting some kind of explanation, but when they saw that he didn't even show any reaction, or attempt to calm the crying Lila, they frowned.

Dropping his beer, Ethan laughed, his lips curling up as he said in an attempt to elevate the atmosphere, "This beer is shit, I can't wait for barrier day, do you guys have any plans?"

"Yeah you're right, barrier day is tomorrow," Aiden said calmly as he dropped his beer can while losing himself to his thoughts.

Wardember, the twelfth month of the rupture era calendar, named in remembrance of the barrier, this month had a holiday on the 29 day of its month called Barrier Day celebrated in all ten shelters.

On the twenty-ninth day of Wardember, a strange multicolored flower used to make highly intoxicating wine for Contractors bloomed everywhere, even though it was filled with hell energy, its life circle was extremely short as the plants would die in twenty-four hours.

This day was equivalent to Christmas for the shelters, promoting a joyful atmosphere for everyone involved.

"Cough!"

"Cough!"

Serena coughed, in an attempt to let out some steam. Due to their Mutated metabolism caused by adapting to hell energy, normal beer couldn't quite do it for Contractors, as a result, everyone was sober as hell.

The atmosphere felt forced, and it looked as though everyone was running out of things to say.

Feeling this, Ethan cleared his throat as he looked toward Aiden, "So Aiden don't you have anything to do on barrier day?" He asked again.

"Why make plans, it's not like you guys can leave," Aiden suddenly said as he closed the book, shutting his eyes as he listened to the sweet symphony that was Landon's voice.

"Mandatory Mission completed!"

Upon hearing this Aiden smiled a bit, he was finally free to focus on more important things.

Seeing Aiden's expression, Bruce's group exchanged glances before Arlet spoke, "We might not be able to leave the Silence but the same goes for you Aiden, we all can't leave until the initiation is complete, so why don't we plan something here in the Silence?"

Upon hearing this, Aiden didn't look interested, neither did he seem bothered by the fact that he wouldn't be able to celebrate barrier day, instead, he seemed more focused on the book, going through it again to see if there was anything he'd missed.

"Is the book that interesting?" Mai's voice suddenly sounded out from the side.

"It's actually quite informative," Aiden responded, turning to face her as he spoke up. "Let me break it down for you."

He continued with a somewhat serious expression, "The organization's hierarchy is pretty intricate. It all starts with us, the Initiates. We do the grunt work, handling low-risk tasks during our training. Then, as we prove ourselves, we move up to become Agents like Bruce, tackling more serious missions. There's a whole range of roles within the Agent category, from Operatives to Inquisitors. And then there are the Veterans, seasoned members who oversee operations and branches. I wish there was more about the Elders, Vice Captain, and Captain in the book though."

Saying this, Aiden shifted his focus to Bruce, picking up the thread of the conversation, "Now, onto the Scholars. They're a special bunch within the Silence, all infected humans with unique abilities. You've got your Mechanical Scholars, tech wizards, Blacksmith Scholars who craft weapons, and the Detritus Incribers, who can inscribe special marks due to their sensitivity to hell energy. They're crucial to our success. Moving up in the ranks is all about merit. You've got to complete missions, reach the right threat levels, and then hope your promotion request gets approved by the higher-ups. Building a solid reputation with them is key."

Upon hearing Aiden's words, everyone except Mai looked a bit confused, "what's an infected human?" Lila asked curiously.

"Yeah, are there something like infected beasts?" Finley asked, his brows furrowed in confusion.

Seeing everyone's confusion, Aiden was forced to explain what infected humans were, and after his explanation, everyone looked both shocked and surprised at the same time.

As Aiden discusses with the group, he suddenly spotted something that caught his attention.

"Isn't that Jonathan?" Aiden thought as he stared at a man in a black science cloak leaning by the entrance of the lounge.

The more Aiden stared at this person the more Aiden was sure that it was Jonathan.

Giving Mai a long stare which she quickly noticed, Aiden said, "It seems like I have to excuse myself."

Upon hearing what Aiden said, Bruce asked curiously, "Where are you going?"

"I'll have to excuse myself as well," Mai suddenly said before darting in, "we'll meet up tomorrow for the initiation."

"What's up with you two," Felix suddenly said, unable to take the shielded atmosphere any longer as he spoke his mind.

"The both of you have been acting strange, why don't you say you don't trust us instead of holding back and giving meaningless excuses," Felix said.

At the sound of Felix's voice, Aiden was surprised, he didn't know that his intentions were this obvious, and he thought he was being subtle about it, turning to Bruce, Aiden noticed that he also had his brows furrowed a look of worry in his eyes.

Seeing Bruce's expression, Aiden finally couldn't bear to hide his thoughts anymore, his voice grim as he spoke, "We should lessen the duration of our interactions, in fact, it'll be for the best if we can avoid meeting all together."

Saying this Aiden stood up but was stopped by Bruce who stood up as well, "Aiden, are you in trouble? Tell me!"

Bruce asked in a loud voice, attracting the gazes of a few Contractors around. By now everyone knew that the group was a noisy bunch, so after looking for a bit, they resumed what they were doing.

There was a long stillness after Bruce's words, but Aiden was the first to break this silence as he said, while walking away, "your not strong enough."

"How dare you!"

"Apologize!"

Arlet and Serena yelled at Aiden as they stood up from their seats, blocking his path with irritated expressions on their faces.

Arlet looked to be the maddest, her blue eyes focused on Aiden with a fire in its depth as her blonde hair swayed slightly with each movement.

Turning to Serena, all Aiden could see were narrowed eyes and furrowed brows, everyone except Mai was also wearing similar expressions.

Watching Aiden's reaction, Arlet noticed that he didn't seem to have the intention to speak, so she said something first, breaking him out of his thoughts, "I don't care what you're going through Aiden, but the fact remains that you're an ungrateful bastard. Do you know what Bruce did for you? Although we didn't know you everyone here had to endure longer periods of hardships in an attempt to save your sorry ass, and now upon meeting you for the first time, you give us this attitude?"

As Arlet spoke, Aiden just watched without replying, his eyes narrowed in annoyance.

Upon seeing the look in Aiden's eyes, Mai used her fingers to block her ears as if anticipating something.

Seeing these people block his path, Aiden said with furrowed brows, "Get out of my way."

Upon hearing this, more of Bruce's teammates stood up, Felix, his face scrubbed up said in a calm tone, "You've gotten bold Aiden, is this how you've become just because of your little str--"

[Calm!]

Aiden suddenly interrupted in an abysmal tone, and at that moment, everyone in the room froze, with some even falling to the floor, leaving only three people standing, Mai, Jonathan, and Aiden.

Everyone including Bruce was shocked by the inability to move their bodies, but Aiden, with an expressionless face ignored them and moved forward with Mai following behind him.

As Aiden walked towards Jonathan, Landon's voice sounded out in his head, "You've used soul command, -30% soul energy."

Upon hearing this, Aiden let out a sigh, swallowing the feeling of remorse that gnawed at his chest.

"You guys cleaned up quite nicely," Jonathan's voice sounded out as they approached, his form finally moving from his leaning position.

He had a small smile on his face, his gaze briefly scanning the room, observing all the initiates who were only just recovering from Aiden's Soul Command.

Giving Jonathan a once over, Aiden's voice sounded out as he asked, "When did you get back?"

"A few hours ago, but I had to rent a workshop, so I couldn't look for you," Jonathan replied before adding. "You're quite decisive, but are you ok with this? Turning your back on your friends?" He asked prompting Aiden to answer in a cold voice.

"The path I'm walking doesn't need friends, I'll only end up hurting them," he muttered, remembering Kevin and the look in his eyes before he died.

Hearing what Aiden said, Mai couldn't help but ask, her voice sounding amused, "Then what are we if we're not friends?"

Turning towards Mai, Aiden responded as they walked through the halls of the Silence, "Mai, are you sure about this whole thing? It could get brutal with the syndicate being involved."

"We're already in the same boat, what choice do we have," Jonathan interrupted before darting in, "plus, I want to learn more about whatever you are."

Mai on the other hand just laughed at Jonathan's statement, "As long as you make enough profit I'm in as well," she added from the side.

Hearing this Aiden smirked a bit, his voice coming out like a chilling growl, "Very well."