Maelis

Aiden could feel the aura of multiple strong awakeners as he was looking at the shop. It seemed this shop wasn't one of the best in the market for no reason.

Many strong awakeners were guarding it.

Sensing all those auras made Aiden alert. He was ready to fight at any moment if one of them would come after him, he wasn't scared of battling out with anybody.

Noticing Aiden's reaction, Maelis questioned herself if he was actually able to feel the strength of some of the people looking at them. If that was actually the case, it meant he had excellent intuition that could only be formed by experience.

But the thing that bugged her was... where did this experience of his come from?

She knew he had only completed the first trial because he had just told her that. Thinking about where he could have grown, she started analyzing what he was wearing, which didn't seem luxurious or anything; it was some plain clothing that didn't indicate anything, and even if it were to point out something... it was that he was a poor young man. 

"Humm... Aiden, sorry it's too personal, but... where do you live? I have never seen you before, and I know most of the names of all up-and-coming young awakeners. It's really weird. I never heard your name, not even once." Maelis said, truly finding it weird that she had never once heard her name before.

Aiden, receiving this sudden question out of nowhere, didn't know how to answer. But quickly calming his mind, he decided to actually tell her where he lives right now since that would probably clear up her confusion while at the same time creating even more confusion.

"I'm actually living in the slums," Aiden said as he patted his back because of the embarrassment he was feeling.

"Y-You're living in the slum, with this talent of yours, and no one has once taken notice of you?" responded Maelis, shocked by this information.

'Does this mean no one knows about his potential? Maybe this could be my chance to take him into my family. He should probably accept, after all, that he lives in the slums,' she thought, wondering about the possibility of recruiting Aiden.

"I mean... it's been almost one day since I have awakened, it's normal no one will notice me that fast. And I'm probably not that special compared to the best of the young awakeners that you speak of," Aiden said nonchalantly.

"Don't be so sure about that; if you killed the boss monster on the first trial, you should be getting praise and admiration. Hell, I wouldn't be surprised if you were to be a Celestial. But that's probably going to be difficult since you live in the slums. By the way, if you don't mind me asking, did you always live there?"

'Should I tell her the truth? Probably not, I don't know much about her, and for all I know she could have connections with my family.' He thought, realizing he didn't know much about Maelis.

"I will answer on one condition: after that question of yours, we will ask each other questions in turn because I don't know much about you except that you are helping me for no reason at all," Aiden replied as he started to doubt Maelis and why she was actually following him.

However contrary to the expectations of Aiden, Maelis didn't even think about whether or not to accept this proposition of his as she quickly accepted.

It was now time for Aiden to answer her question, and he decided to lie because he couldn't tell where he really came from since it would make everything much more complicated.

"I was born in the slums and lived there all my life. I guess you could say I was lucky for awakening recently because, with the money I will make from the trials and the equipment I will sell from the Otherworld, I'll probably be able to leave this hellish place," Aiden said, as he said things he didn't really care about like leaving the slums to find another home.

He only said that to convince Maelis that he was actually telling the truth. He didn't care that much about the room he would be living in because he was always used to the bare minimum in his past life, having a bed and some clothes. He only got a television the last month before his death.

"My turn now." He said with a grin, "What is the reason you are following me around? Are you actually here to help me?"

Maelis contemplated telling him the truth, which was that she wanted to recruit him into his family. But she decided against it, saying only a bit of the truth.

"I'm actually only trying to help you. I can swear that I have no bad intentions toward you," Maelis answered, keeping it short, not wanting to reveal something she didn't mean to.

"Don't take it wrong, it's just I have a problem in trusting people. I guess it's your turn now. What do you want to know about me?"

"How the hell are you able to walk silently all the time? Are you an assassin or something? It's weird not hearing your footsteps. I can never tell when you're right beside me. It's creeping me out."

"Oh, sorry, I'm not doing it on purpose, and it's a habit of mine. You see... living in the slums, I did not want people to hear me walk around," Aiden said, as lies seemed to be the only thing coming out of his mouth, but he didn't have a choice. "My turn. What trial are you currently at? Are you strong?"

'Oh, it seems he can't see through my strength.'

"Well, I'm currently a trial seven, and I'm not really powerful. Most of the time, I get carried by the others in the trials," Maelis said; it was now her time to lie to him, not wanting to reveal to him that she was actually strong.

"Alright, let's say this is the last question we ask. We need to enter the shop after all. So, we shouldn't waste too much time. Did you have the most impact when killing the boss monster on the first trial? Is that why you have its core, or were you given it?"

"Yeah, I was the one with the most impact. Actually, we were only two from our original team of four. Two of the teammates decided to leave the trial without killing the boss monster, not wanting to fail their first trial because that would be bad for their reputation," Aiden answered, not knowing that killing a monster with only one other person was truly a big accomplishment and that not many could do it.

'He killed a boss monster with only one other person. Just what special class does he have?' She thought, wondering if he was one of the special class holders.