Chapter 9: Lucian The Old Man

"Maeve..."

A few days after Lucian devoured Foreman Yang, he was now once again back in Maeve's room. He was told by the Immortal Police that they cleaned everything, and it truly did seem like nothing happened at all, as everything was back to the way it was.

Malenia was safe and stable. Maeve's condition, however, worsened due to the prolonged exposure to Foreman Yang's lith. Maeve…

…was no longer able to speak.

Lucian could really only stare at his daughter, who was now just a shell of her former self—no. She is still his daughter, no matter what, and he will save her… even if he has to become a monster to do it.

"Maeve…" Lucian leaned closer to Maeve, very gently whispering into her ear. And on his hand, was a syringe — T1A. Everything could end if he just uses this on her and Malenia, they would once again be smiling, and laughing with each other.

But after a few seconds of thought, Lucian then retreated back, retracting the T1A and making sure it was as far away as possible from his family. He could have done this years ago, but he was not willing to turn his family into monsters like him — and this incident with Foreman Yang solidified his decision.

To see her little daughter clawing through someone's guts… that is something he never wants Maeve to experience. He… would rather they just die.

"!!!" Lucian quickly shook his head off of the thoughts he was having and quickly rushed to his living room — and there, the reward he received from killing Foreman Yang was sitting on the table, a bag covered by a large plastic wrap to prevent its lith from leaking out.

Lithums, high-grade ones that Lucian could probably sell for a whole lot of money which could fund his research. Could.

Lucian can't sell it, not as he is now since he needed a permit to do so — and one of those permits is something he was actually already on his way to get — Cultivator Registration.

"Hm…" Lucian grabbed one of the lithums from the bag, and inspected it — half of that lithum, however, was already visibly missing, crushed. Lucian actually already tried devouring the lithum to try and see if he could gain anything from it, calm him down at the very least like what Foreman Yang's lithum was doing for him,

…but it did nothing.

It wasn't that hard for him to deduce that he could only satiate his primal hunger by consuming the lithums inside humans, inside Cultivators. He was stable now, but he knows that if he wants to continue being so…

…he needed to devour another one.

This suppressor was losing its effectiveness by the day, he couldn't keep relying on it.

"Maeve, Malenia…" Lucian then just returned the lithum back into the bag and carefully covered it with the plastic wrap again, 

"...I'll be back."

***

"Uhm… do you need something, Sir?"

"I apologize, I was distracted by something."

Anna has been working at the front desk of the local Cultivator Association of Old York for 3 years now, and she has seen all sorts of Cultivators. And she could honestly say that most of them are pompous assholes that think they are better than everyone else — that was like their default setting.

If they weren't, then they were just outright weird. They can never really be normal.

And the man in front of her right now was not any different — he was probably going for the homeless look, which is quite popular for cultivators. His long black hair was disheveled, his beard was patchy, his oversized glasses covered half his face, and… his eyes were blue. It was almost… mesmerizing.

But of course, he had also been talking to himself; walking back and forth in front of the desk while doing so.

"Are… you here to update your credentials, Sir?" And so, Anna took it upon herself to just initiate conversation with this weird man.

"No. I have an appointment — Lucian Zhang."

"Oh, okay. Let me help you… with that," Anna smiled professionally; her smile, however, almost faltered as he saw Lucian tapping the desk with his finger. He hasn't even once looked at her yet, "Let me see. Ah, here it is! Lucian Zhang, you…

…are here to register as a Cultivator…?"

"Yes," Lucian nodded as he looked away.

"You're… not here to update your level?" Anna squinted her eyes, "How old are you—I mean, please fill out this form."

"I am 31 years old, Ma'am," Lucian casually answered as he grabbed the paper Anna handed to him.

"That… I see," Anna could really only smile as she heard Lucian. She did not really mean to blurt it out, "I… didn't mean any disrespect by that, Mr. Zhang."

"Why would you?"

"Sorry…?" Anna took in a small gulp as Lucian continued to talk to him as he was filling up his form.

"Why would asking my age be disrespectful?" Lucian breathed out, answering the form and leaving all the optional boxes out.

"That… was just an expression, Sir. I'm sorry," Anna forced out a friendly chuckle.

"Oh, I see," Lucian glanced at Anna for a few seconds, "I don't feel disrespected, Ma'am."

"...Thank you, Sir," Anna could really only keep her smile as she carefully grabbed the form back, "And it's a good thing you thought of registering yourself — they are getting more apprehensive with rogue cultivators lately. I heard they were crippling their dantian now."

"I see. Thank you for the information."

"Of… Of course," Anna almost stuttered as Lucian's voice still remained monotonous as she thanked her. Was it some sort of act, or was this the most awkward and introverted Cultivator she had ever met?

"You can head straight to the evaluation area, Mr. Zhang. There are not really many people since it's a weekday — take the elevator down to L4 and give them this stub. Good luck, Mr. Zhang."

"Good luck to you too, Ma'am."

"...Huh?"

***

"You're… Lucian Zhang?"

"Yes."

"...And you're taking your first ever assessment? How old are you?"

"I'm—"

"It doesn't matter, just wait for your turn."

Lucian was now underground inside the testing floor of the Cultivator Association building — and as the receptionist explained, there were only 4 of them there, with one already inside the large hall and fighting some sort of feline monster.

Well, they did not fight for long, as the Cultivator was blown away into the wall.

[Harvey, enough.]

"N…No, I can still fight!" The cultivator, Harvey, quickly tried to get up, but before he could do so, the large cat pounced toward him. And if it wasn't for the man adorning a mask who suddenly blocked the tiger, then he would have definitely died there and then.

[Gary Neuman, Lith Rank: Spirit Infant 2. Combat Skill: D-]

"What the—Why did my Combat Skill downgraded!?" Harvey could not help but just clasped his blonde hair as he heard the announcement, "I was previously at D+!"

[Because you suck. Please get out, other people still need to use the hall.]

"Wh—suck on this D, bitch!"

[Hall master, please kick him out.]

"Fuck, fine! Fine!" Harvey quickly walked away before the man in a mask could turn toward him. Suffice it to say, he was still complaining as he made his way to where Lucian was waiting — and of course, he did not fail to notice Lucian just standing there with a blank expression on his face.

"Woah… are you a master?" Harvey quickly asked as he approached Lucian, completely towering over him.

"No," Lucian answered without looking at Harvey.

"...You are," Harvey smiled before looking at the grumpy old man who welcomed Lucian, and who also happened to be the one talking behind the speakers, "You're hiding it! Boss, can I stay and watch!?"

"Just don't bother the other people," the old man clicked his tongue before looking at the other examinee, "Ms. Emilia, it's your turn to take your re-evaluation."

"I still need more time to meditate." The young lady, Emilia, whose hair was even shorter than Lucian's and only reached to her chin, remained sitting on the floor with her eyes closed. Her arms, filled with bandages, "You can let the old man take his turn first, Boss."

"Okay, Mr. Lucian. You can enter the hall and wait for further instructions," the proctor did not waste any time as he gestured to Lucian.

"...Stop acting cool, Emi," Harvey approached Emilia, "You just want to watch the old man too."

"I am not — and why are you acting familiar with me?" Emilia glanced and glared at Harvey, "I don't think we've even met before."

"We literally met before!"

"And when was that?"

"Earlier."

"Harvey, I told you not to bother the other examinees!" The proctor quickly swatted the back of Harvey's head, "And I don't know what you want to watch, Mr. Lucian here is not here to update his credentials… but to register."

"Huh…?" Harvey's eyes twitched, "Then…

…what am I wasting my time here for then?" He then said…

…not knowing they were all about to witness something insane.