Town

Cyril alighted from the bus after stopping at a familiar Martial Arts Hall.

He took a quick glance at Xagan confirming that he's just looking around and following him silently.

However, Cyril noticed that the sunlight is actually somehow reflecting on the demon's projection. It was an interesting sight since he shouldn't be existing there in the first place.

"Is there something wrong, Contractor? Don't be shy and just tell me your wish~"

"No. Nothing… I'm just curious. Do you have any weaknesses? If I'm not mistaken, Demons should be weak under the sunlight, right?"

"Kukuku… Your question has a certain price, Contractor."

"Fine. Nevermind then. I'll be visiting my aunt so I won't be talking to you for now."

He's currently in a small town away from the bustling city to meet his Aunt Bonnie. At this date, she should be 31 years old and widowed.

Aside from that, she's currently working as a florist within this town.

She has a small floral shop and earns money for her daily expenses. Of course, she's also receiving assistance from the government since her husband died in a mission inside the Arcane World. It happened about 5 years ago when they've just married. They weren't even blessed with a child yet when the accident occurred.

Cyril tried recalling the incident that took the life of her husband…

He was a D-Rank Awakened with a couple of decent Artifacts. There are even 10 of them inside the low-class Arcane World which gave them a sense of safety.

However, the Arcanist Association misjudged the difficulty of the Arcane World as they didn't realize that the air inside is actually quite toxic to the body. It will only be discernable once you've stayed there for more than an hour.

It was a disaster.

If they brought a piece of equipment to filter the air, they wouldn't have such a problem at all.

It was a terrible mistake made by the scouts hired by the government.

Ha! Ha! Ha!

Cyril's thought was interrupted as he walks past the Martial Arts Hall. He heard some people practicing their combat art.

"Hmm… It didn't change that much, huh…"

He muttered after seeing the people training the unique martial art called Pencak Silat. Apparently, being Awakened was not enough to become a strong Arcane Explorer, the title given to any Awakened that explores the Arcane World.

One still has to have basic combat skills since the Artifact that they can wield, especially at the lower rank, would not provide a boost to their battle sense or physical prowess.

Needless to say, Cyril learned several martial arts through the years that allowed him to fight goblins, imps, spriggans, and other weaker magical beasts even without having to use an Artifact in his hands.

Of course, it would be different news if he faced the kobolds with quick movement and orcs with their sturdy bodies. He would have to use his Artifacts at that time in order to buy him some time for his escape or wait for his teammates to save him.

Cyril had a nostalgic look on his face seeing the young ones practicing the martial art.

Anyway, he continued going inside the town before he finally found the floral shop owned by his Aunt.

"Art of Bloom"

He read the sign displayed at the door of the shop before looking inside.

There, he found his Aunt Bonnie talking to her flowers…

She's wearing a lab coat that extends all the way to her knees while wearing a simple blue dress underneath. She has chestnut hair tied in a bun that reveals her gentle and charming face.

Cyril smiled after seeing her. It has been such a long time since he saw her.

His aunt would be one of the victims of the vampires once those creatures were able to escape from their Arcane World.

He didn't even know about this after a few weeks of the incident since he was also busy saving his life and Karen's family.

'I won't let that happen again…' The man promised to himself. His return here is no longer just to satisfy his desire. He wanted to at least provide some help to other innocent people like her as much as he can.

Of course, he would have to do this without sacrificing his life since Xagan will be able to cause more havoc if that happened.

Clang! Clang! Clang!

Cyril opened the shop's door as the chimes of the small bells took his aunt's attention.

"Welcome to my---"

His aunt was about to greet the customer that just went in when she realized that it's a familiar figure standing in front of her.

"Cy! You're here! Ah! Don't you need to attend your school? Why are you here? Wait—Come in and have a seat, you must be tired."

Her aunt was surprised at first but seeing that her nephew thought of visiting her, then he must be in a trouble, or perhaps, he realized that it's alright to borrow money from her.

Apparently, she's been offering financial assistance so he can stop working at his part-time job but he insisted on shouldering all his expenses alone.

"How can I be tired, Aunt Bonnie? The trip wasn't even that long." Cyril replied as he even chuckled a little.

For now, he planned to stay within this town before his Awakening. His main reason was to help her aunt here since he couldn't do so in his previous life.

Aside from that, it was because of the purple crystal that would appear in this town. He needed to get it for himself.

That crystal would be discovered in the next few months but as far as he knows, it should've been existing before that and it was only discovered late because they lack a decent Crystal Hunter.

"By the way, Contractor… You can also wish to have your life transferred to another person. There will be no interest in that as long as you spend half of your remaining life. Kekeke!"

Xagan suddenly spoke behind him which confused him for a moment.