Chapter 53: Silent Acknowledgment
"Rude," she said, then scoffedz
He understood and respected her ambition and all, but there was the fact that she was taking advantage of Kayden’s feelings and the way she even casually admitted to it.
That made him realize the best way to relate with her was on the surface as allies and nothing more, to avoid their friendship itself being taken advantage of.
They hadn’t spoken again for moments, and Aiden was nearly finished with his food.
She noticed he’d be done soon and spoke again. "So what’s your other name? I know Aiden, but not the name after."
Aiden wasn’t going to tell anyone he was a Crowley, but he wasn’t exactly keen on lying either, so he replied simply, "I’m a bastard."
He said that intentionally because it would most likely throw her in a different direction of thought, and then she wouldn’t bother asking any further.
A bastard child in their times was mostly born out of consequences of harlotry or drunkenness, so most bastards did not know their male parent and as such could not be given a second name, save for that which their careless mothers had given them.
It worked the way Aiden thought. Arianna made the assumption he was a child who didn’t know his father and as such did not have any other name than Aiden.
"Oh?" she replied, and without letting awkward silence set in, she followed up with another question. "But you’re from here? The kingdom’s main city?"
"No," Aiden replied again, continuing with his food.
"A town in the kingdom perhaps?" she followed up again.
"No," Aiden replied again, after which he put the last spoonful of food into his mouth and drank water after.
"So where then?" Arianna asked again, and at this point she wasn’t even eating any longer, just throwing out questions.
"Not from here," Aiden replied, not lying but still not giving her a specific answer either. At this point he also stood up.
"But we hadn’t even gotten anywhere with our conversation," Arianna said, sounding rather discontent.
Aiden looked at her for a second, then smiled. "Heh."
He said nothing more to the Greystone before leaving for the training hall. Arianna’s questions were not relevant to their goal, and most importantly, he had to do his daily mission.
...
From some distance before he reached the training halls, Aiden’s enhanced hearing could pick up the crackling sounds of lightning emanating from there.
When he got closer and entered the training halls, he could see lightning coursing through Kayden’s body. His hair also seemed to be floating upward under the effect of the magic technique.
The young lord was currently trying to catch his breath as he had exerted quite a bit using his magic.
Then a screen appeared in front of Aiden at that point:
[Technique Copied → Lightning Magic Body Enhancement (A)]
"Oh?" Aiden whispered to himself with a grin on his face as he had just copied the very spell that was coursing through Kayden’s body.
Kayden quickly turned when he noticed that someone had stepped into the hall, and when he saw it was Aiden, a scowl appeared on his face.
"What are you doing here?!" Kayden yelled. He was content with being alone right now within the training halls.
"What? Can I not use the room as a mage of the academy?" Aiden asked with that taunting smile on his face.
Kayden scoffed and turned his face away, took a few deep breaths, then resumed using his technique.
Kayden started moving from one point to another at incredible speed, as if appearing and disappearing. It looked like teleportation, but it wasn’t.
He was simply moving near-instantaneously at lightning speed and was trying to practice and maintain consistent control of it.
"To be able to assimilate lightning magic into your body like this and force it to enhance you this way is absolutely genius," Aiden muttered to himself as he watched Kayden move from one point to another in a blur.
Of course, there was no way he was going to say that to Kayden’s face. He didn’t want the young lord to relish in the idea of being praised by him.
He then decided to focus on his daily quest. For some reason, the system thought it best that today he practice his sword form and martial arts.
"You know, I think it’s silly that you give me quests like this," Aiden thought to himself, knowing the system would reply.
The System Replied; [It is important that from time to time you remind yourself of the skills you possess. The system thinks that one day the Host may just be in need of those very skills]
Aiden scoffed after what felt like his system rambling, then stretched his hand to the side and whispered, "Flame Sword."
The hilt of flames first formed in his grip, and slowly the flames took the shape of a long broadsword, after which he took a fighting stance.
He took one breath in, placed one leg forward, and then swung the flame blade down in an arc.
Kayden stopped for a second as he watched Aiden move about, swinging a broad blade made of flames and going from one fluid step motion to another.
Not many people could move that well, that much Kayden knew and now he also had a flame technique.
Kayden had this silent acknowledgment for his roommate, which made him grin at that point. There was one thing he knew for sure, he didn’t want to lose in a battle of skill to Aiden.
...
Meanwhile, in the guild wing of Fractured Stars, Ambrose had just opened the door leading to the main guild’s room.
He was here because Guild Captain Cassian had asked him earlier to come by the guild’s wing.
The members of Fractured Stars guild wore black outfits with blue robes that hung from their backs like capes.
Some boys were having a chat between themselves when they spotted the door open. One then nudged the other to check out who just stepped in. "It’s the new boy," he said.
The atmosphere in the room shifted subtly as eyes turned toward Ambrose.