Chapter 52

"Seris, you're right on time."

When Ashborn noticed a presence near him, he turned around. He recognized the mana signature this time; it was unmistakably Seris.

"A few problems appeared, but it shouldn't be too serious." The woman finally stepped out of the shadows and met Ashborn's eyes.

"Mind telling me what's going on? You appear to be a little restless." Seris's anxious expression drew Ashborn's question.

The answer never came out of her mouth. Instead, she was looking at the right side of Ashborn's chest. The auburn-haired understood. She was actually afraid of the Black Heart's leaking mana.

"A minor issue has arisen, which I am attempting to resolve." Ashborn pointed at the Black Heart, indicating it was the issue.

"I see, but why did you summon me?"

For a little while, Ashborn considered his options. He wasn't sure how to tell her to play the taxi driver's role. The real reason, however, was to drop him off in Alacrya.

"I thought it would be obvious. Tell me the brief report of the situation in Alacrya." With certainty in his voice, he replied. The woman deadpanned at him.

"Your soldier is literally always in my shadow..." She narrowed her eyes.

"I'm well aware of this fact."

"*Sigh* Alacrya isn't in a pleasant state right now. Even though people hail Vritras, a lot of them are afraid of the upcoming war. I'm sure you're aware of that as well." The scythe elaborated.

"Hm, it seems that even you are not aware of it..." Ash muttered. Seris heard this and questioned him.

"I'm not aware of what?"

"Recently, one of the Scythes assaulted me while wearing the strange armor. Besides, there is some alliance going with the Asuras and Vritras." The young man explained himself and went on.

"There were two attacks, the second of which had a dubious motive. Maybe it was to put new armor to the test? I'm not sure, but I killed Cadell the Scythe regardless." At the mention of Cadell, Seris widened her eyes.

"The Scythe and Cadell at that?"

"The mystery is as to why? Why attack when you know you're going to lose anyway? Agrona saw my strength firsthand." He pondered as he rested his hand on his chin.

"You have confronted Agrona? Maybe that's why he hasn't shown himself..." Her words piqued Ashborn's interest.

"So the lizard hasn't been in Alacrya. Seris, you might have a chance to move your plans now,"

"No, it's too early. People still have faith in Vritras. I'm not sure if my small move can change their minds." She shook her head in denial.

"If you don't try, you'll never know. However, you may have a legitimate point. The majority of the population has faith in lizards; just wait until it dries out." The vein on the woman's forehead exploded. Unwittingly, the auburn-haired insulted him once more...

"What should we do about it?"

Ashborn entered into a lengthy thought process in response to the woman's query.

He wasn't a political expert and didn't have any prior experience in the field. However, Ash has spent a lot of time observing people and knows what drives them.

Humans are led by their inner impulses and emotions, whether they like it or not. So the easiest way is to implant fear in them.

"I have an idea, but I need to work out a minor snag. It simply won't work out without this." He responded while pointing at his Black Heart.

"How long will it take to fix it?" The woman asked.

"Based on my previous experience in Relictombs, it should take a few months without my army. Also, I'd like to stop utilizing magic because it takes a toll on my Black Heart." Seris was perplexed as to what the Black Heart was, but she didn't pursue the matter further.

"Without using magic? Are you sentencing yourself to death?" Seris was completely confused by Ashborn's statements.

"..." Ashborn fixed his gaze on the woman as if he was asking her, 'Seriously? You are asking this?'

'I said something wrong, didn't I?' The woman couldn't help but feel worried about her safety.

"I'm confident in my capabilities, even without the usage of magic." He answered confidently, his eyes locked on the woman.

Well, not that Seris could refuse him or anything. Even though the pressure he was emitting was greater than those of the Vritras, she herself wasn't weak generally speaking. She was a Vritra blooded Alacryan, one of the Scythes. Yet, she felt powerless.

"So, I should deliver you to one of the Relictombs. Preferably in a safe place, right?" Inquired Seris, Ashborn just nodded.

"Couldn't you teleport?"

"I can, but I don't know where to teleport." Ashborn could open up a rift in space wherever he wants, but this requires quite a lot of mana. He had enough mana for it, just constant regeneration of it harms the Black Heart, which is severed.

"Fine..."

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Caera Denoir, currently just a student at the Central Dominion Academy in Alacrya.

But because of the preparation for the war, the academy was closed. Now she is in her blood's manor. (Instead of calling it a family, the Alacryans called it blood. Technically, it's still FAMILY, so don't get too worked up over it.)

Because of her ancestry, she was adopted by Denoirs. She had Vritra blood, therefore it was a foregone conclusion that she would awaken her abilities. As a result, she was adopted by Denoirs for training.

*Rustle*

Caera was awakened by the sound of papers dropping in her chamber. When she looked over to her desk, she noticed that the wind was blowing papers all over the place.

She was puzzled as to why there was suddenly wind when all of the windows were shut. It didn't take long to learn the reason behind it.

"Perhaps summoning you was a poor idea." The deep voice resounded in her ears.

Turning around, she saw a tall, auburn-haired boy with purple-glowing eyes, maybe the same age as her. Next to him was her mentor, Seris Vritra.

She immediately sank to her knees as a result of the great pressure exerted by the two. She wasn't a powerful mage for now, and her heritage didn't help much either.

"Creating portals is not an easy job, especially with just mana." She then heard the voice of her mentor, who was panting lightly.

"I still had to give you some of my mana." The auburn-haired boy responded.

"Excuse me..." Caera decided to interrupt their chatter.

Her tutor, like the boy, gave her a sidelong glance. Seris was confronted by a young girl kneeling in front of her with ruby eyes and midnight, navy blue hair.

The auburn-haired was perplexed at first, but he soon understood what had happened.

"Caera, I see you have progressed," Seris spoke up.

The boy next to him gave her a deadpan look. Seriously, you just barged into someone's home and that's how you announce yourself?

"Scythe Seris, I have completed the training you have planned for me." However, it seemed that Caera didn't mind it.

"That's great." Seris nodded and looked at the boy next to her.

"I presume, this is the safe place you talked about."

"That's exactly it. The Highblood Denoirs owe me some favors, besides my status gives me a lot of privileges." Seris explained.

Caera wondered who the auburn-haired boy was in the meantime. How could he be so casual with one of the Scythes?

"What about the girl?"

"She is trustworthy." declared the woman, assuring the auburn-haired. After some time of observing the girl, he spoke up again.

"Like you, she has the mana of a lizard. I assume, she is an acquaintance of yours, maybe even your relative. Be it then, I'll trust you for now." Seris again ignored the insult, which this time affected not just him.

Caera's face flinched visibly after hearing his statement.

'Did he find out about my awakening?' She had been concealing her Vritra blood awakening for quite some time.

So it was surprising how he discovered it while she was wearing an artifact.

"She is Vritra blooded, just like me, but as I said, she is trustworthy."

"It doesn't matter, since we are already here, then I'm going." The boy just waved her off.

Caera could only look at them, unable to speak. She was baffled as to what was going on, but even though she was in her own room, she felt out of place.

"Just like that?" Seris rummaged through the boy's belongings and found nothing. Who would conceive of going inside the Relictombs without first making preparations?

"I know you're powerful, but jumping into the relictombs without magic or preparation is perilous." She continued.

"I'll fetch something before I dive. Besides, I always have my equipment with me." Out of nowhere, the black sword appeared in his hands.

'Huh, he doesn't have a storage ring...' Caera's eyes widened, unsure if it was a hallucination.

"Alright, you might still take some supplies. After all, you are still human." Seris gave up on the idea of instructing the boy.

"Caera, perhaps you could help him out a little."

"Ah... Yes, please follow me." Caera, still a little shaken, reacted abruptly and motioned the auburn-haired to follow him.

In response, the boy simply shrugged and followed Caera's lead, under Seris's watchful eye.

He grew suspicious of the look on the woman's face, he couldn't detect the hostility earlier... so what was she planning.

Anyway, they exited the room with Caera, leaving the older woman alone. They strolled side by side through Denoir's manor's enormous corridor, passing several different doors along the way.

Caera's curiosity was killing her; she was escorting someone she didn't know. Furthermore, the pressure that is firing every feeling in her is exacerbating the situation.

Her trembling posture didn't go unnoticed by the boy. He closed his eyes and sighed before the pressure evaporated, as if it had never existed before.

'I forgot she is still young.'

"Eh?" When the startled girl looked up at the boy, who was only looking forward.

"It's only natural that your lizard senses are heightened. This should ease them, at least for now." The boy commented without looking at her. The girl could finally breathe freely.

They made their way in silence. Caera was still uneasy about being so close to this person, while the second had simply followed the first.

"May I know your name?" Gathering all her courage, Caera asked the boy.

"It's Ashborn." Briefly responded the auburn-haired boy. Still, the girl wasn't done, as she wanted to learn more about his relationship with her mentor.

"Do you have a good relationship with Scythe Seris?"

"Perhaps." For Ashborn, she was more of an acquaintance or colleague than a friend.

"I see..." Caera nodded, still clueless though.

"A-Are you also the Scythe?" She asked again, stuttering because she was afraid of touching the private topic.

"I'm not." She sighed at this, thankfully he wasn't...

Anyway, Caera was left with further questions about the person named Ashborn, after another quick response.

.

"What should I choose?"

Ashborn wondered aloud. Denoirs' storage area had an excessive amount of diversity, particularly in terms of meal ingredients. The King of the Dead was not particularly good at cooking and had no idea what he had to choose.

So he chose random things.

'It'd be better if I just grabbed something on the way...' Ashborn wished he hadn't taken the Scythe's advice.

Caera meanwhile, wasn't sure if she should laugh. It was fun to see how the auburn-haired boy embarrassed himself.

"I'll help you if you don't mind." She made the decision to assist him. If not, they would probably spend eternity there.

Ash didn't say no, and simply let her pick the stuff.

"Do you even know how to cook them?" Caera questioned Obviously, Ashborn didn't know how to cook any of these ingredients.

"...No...?"

"The men are so helpless, haha." Caera attempted to joke.

"..."

"Right..."

"..."

"However, it can be solved." Caera swiftly remedied her predicament. The confused boy just raised an eyebrow. What does she mean by that?

"F-Follow me!" She squealed and ran out of the storage room.

'?' Ash looked at the girl, puzzled.

____________________________________________________________________________

He had to later track down the girl by her mana signature, which wasn't a hard task to do. She was the only one aside from Seris who had similar to Vritras mana, so Ashborn found her quickly.

The funny thing is, in this large mansion, he hasn't seen many people. How do they even tidy up this enormous manor?

*Sniff*

Ashborn's senses were sharpened. He could smell some fresh, light, and energetic scent reaching for him.

"It's coming from that girl's location." He stepped into one of the closest doors.

Caera was, of course, there, preparing something. Well, judging from the scent, she was definitely cooking something.

"You are finally here; come, it's almost done." Caera noticed him standing in the doorway and called out.

'Done already?' Ashborn couldn't help, but be impressed with her speed. Her previously nervous expression was nowhere to be seen.

As he was told, he quickly took a seat and waited for the meal to arrive. From time to time, Ashborn glanced at the meal, checking if it was prepared. This earned a chuckle from Caera, who somehow noticed this.

"This is delicious cooking, Caera, I'm even jealous." Seris announced her presence and stepped into the kitchen.

"Maybe because you can't cook?"

"And how would you know?"

"Cylrit told me many things." Nonchalantly said Ashborn, but he only later realized the weight of his words. Seris was embarrassed.

"How could you, Cylrit..." She was stalked and the most embarrassing part was, Cylrit always remained in her shadow.

"It's done!" Caera exclaimed, bringing a few plates with fluffy and soft buns on them.

The buns jiggled like jello as she placed them on the desk. There was more to those buns; they had a peculiar smell. That was exactly the scent Ashborn could smell before.

"Please, taste it." Caera gave the two forks to eat.

"I might give it a try." Not wasting time, Seris dug into her portion of food.

Her fork slid effortlessly through the buns as if they were butter. Soon after, another bunch of aromas flowed out.

"I can already tell, it's sweet." Seris remarked, as she finally tasted it.

Ashborn sat back and waited for the woman to take a bite. Caera herself also took a bite from his portion.

"Well, that's too sweet." The horned woman spoke out and slid the fork onto the plate. Not intending to finish the meal.

Both females were now looking at Ashborn, who had already taken a bite of the sweet. Ash's lips twitched upward, it was indeed sweet.

"It's good." He stated and took another bite.

They had not anticipated this outcome. Seris, in particular, had no idea that the emotionless monster she had encountered before liked sweets.

"But it's too sweet." Seris added again. Ashborn didn't refuse her. Buns were literally soaked in sweetness.

'This reminds me... I've always wanted to try ice cream.' After all those countless fights, even Ashborn wanted to taste something sweet. And there was one particular treat he wanted to try: ice cream.

"Shame, good times don't last forever." He muttered and shoved another piece of bun into his mouth.

He must bring the Black Heart back to its former glory.

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Solo Leveling is finished and I don't like the ending. There was much more in the novel :C

Anyway,

Webnovel Second FF: https://www.webnovel.com/book/tbate-%7C-destroyed-beginning_21385481106342305

Wattpad Second FF: https://www.wattpad.com/story/287446607-tbate-destroyed-beginning

Collab FF with (Erebus512, SocioPhobia, Psema): https://www.wattpad.com/story/284711075-tbate-severing-fate

Cyaa. (Happy new year guys, it's soon to come. Love ya all!)