(Earlier)
"T-THIS WOMAN IS MISS LOTUS!"
Aiden yelled in his mind, his body froze and he didn't dare to move.
"Why is she looking for me? Does she have a connection to the soul sovereign?" Aiden thought frantically in his mind.
"Calm down will you, she isn't hostile," Landon reminded Aiden.
Aiden was deeply startled, last time he checked he had only met his role model once, and on their next meeting she was straddling him, it made no sense.
Feeling Aiden's confusion Landon sighed, "No living human has a connection with the soul sovereign, she's here for another reason," he reassured Aiden.
Hearing this Aiden made a decision, "W-whoa, Miss Lotus, you could have just sent me a text if you missed me that much," he said trying not to act startled.
Lotus didn't seem to mind Aiden's confident act, instead, she smirked as she played with his hair, "Oh, Aiden, I prefer the personal touch, plus, I wanted to make sure you're still as interesting as I remember."
She said leaving a dramatic pause in the air before Continuing, "Judging by your irregularly fast heartbeat the mysteries surrounding you seem to have increased, so tell me Aiden what is it you are hiding from me?"
Trying to sound casual Aiden ignored Lotus's question and asked his own, "I'm Interesting? Well, you know I've been working on my charisma." He said before darting in.
"What's with the sudden visit, I'm just a fanboy, I'm sure you must have met a lot of people like me, do you visit all your fans like this?"
Leaning closer Lotus said, "You know most of my fans don't even get the chance to recognize me, but not you Aiden, you're different, you can see through the power of illusion, that's intriguing mind telling me about this ability of yours?"
"He-he, yeah lucky me I guess," Aiden said avoiding the topic yet again as he said.
"On another note what do you want from me? All I have is a rare ability, last I checked I was just a regular guy," he muttered nervously but inside his head, he was yelling."
"Landon, what the fuck is she talking about?"
Aiden didn't understand what Lotus was talking about, pertaining to the time he met her he didn't have any noteworthy abilities.
Sensing Aiden's confusion Landon replied, "It's not my fault, you were a candidate and my duty at that time was to protect the candidate's soul at all cost, her ability was trying to mess with your soul, so I had no choice but to block it."
Hearing this a look of realization flashed past Aiden's eyes, but Lotus didn't seem to notice, instead she said.
"I've looked into you, and you are quite the boring man, your past was interesting but after a while, you began to get boring again." She said leaving a dramatic pause before muttering.
"Honestly I was about to give up on you, but then you went on and disappeared for almost two years, how did you do it, you almost had me fooled."
"After two years my sources found you in my city of all places, and I must say you've had quite the glow up, your body is much more impressive, you're hair got longer and your face… hmm pleasing to look at, care to explain where you've been?" she asked as she licked her lips.
Avoiding her gaze Aiden said, "Well, you know, I went on a spiritual journey to find myself."
"Puftt," Landon crackled in his mind, but Aiden didn't mind.
Upon hearing Aiden's flimsy excuse Lotus narrowed her eyes, her reaction caused Aiden to chuckle dryly, and his mind raced as he thought of another excuse.
After a thoughtful Aiden said, "Honestly I was kidnapped by a terrorist organization fortunately I managed to escape with my friends while I was there I also met some interesting people... demons, thankfully I managed to escape."
By now Landon was laughing his brains out at the bullshit Aiden was spitting.
Lotus on the other hand just raised a brow, for now, she decided to humor Aiden, "Demon you say? That's an Interesting choice of company."
"Well you know what they say keep your enemies close," Aiden muttered, while letting out a breath, it seemed that Lotus had bought his story.
But he seemed to have rejoiced too soon, leaning even closer Lotus whispered to Aiden her breath brushing against his ear.
"Why don't you stop spouting nonsense, I have a proposition for you Aiden, you should take part in the selections, you seem like you've already made a Contract with a demon judging by the fact that you've healed your arm, what do you think?" She asked.
Narrowing his eyes Aiden replied, "But the first part of the selection has already ended."
Looking into Aiden's eyes Lotus smiled even more as her left hand which was wrapped entirely in a neat light bandage played with his hair, "I like that look in your eyes, it kind of sexy."
It took Aiden a bit of willpower to not yell out rape, after all, he felt as if he was being violated right now.
Smiling at Aiden's reaction Lotus said, "Don't worry about the first part of the selection; let's just say you've already passed it."
"Think about it Aiden even though you're strong you'll never be able to find the demon that ruined your family," Whisper said before Adding.
"Our technology is improving every day, we could find a way to save your mom, and as a bonus, if you reach a high enough level to leave the shelter, I'll give you information about the organization that kidnapped your sister, deal?"
Hearing the offer Lotus brought to the table Aiden shook a bit, he thought about it for a second and a serious look appeared in his eyes.
"Well, when you put it that way, how can I refuse?"
-----------------
(Present)
Whisper stood up gazing at her opponent with fury and killing intent in her eyes.
The man in a cowboy hat didn't seem bothered by this, instead, he muttered, "It seems I have to use a bit more strength."
The atmosphere was tense and for the first time, the man in a cowboy hat gazed at Whisper seriously.
Just as the battle was about to begin, "Stop," two voices sounded out simultaneously making both Whisper and the man freeze.
Looking towards the entrance of the motel you could see two people walking out.
The bystanders noticed that the two Contractors had stopped fighting and some people let out a breath of relief.
Fortunately, no one was killed.
With this the crowd looked towards the people who stopped the fight, a blond woman with blue eyes and a good-looking man with long inky black hair.
"Greetings Miss Lotus," the man in a cowboy hat bowed slightly.
Aiden raised his brow as he stared at the man in a cowboy hat, his keen senses told him that this man was strong, stronger than him.
Looking to the side he noticed a girl, dust-soiled her clothes and her body was covered in bruises, upon noticing Aiden's peering gaze she lowered her gaze not daring to stare into Aiden's eyes.
It took a second but Aiden recognized this person and when he did a heavy frown appeared on his face.
Miss Lotus who was by the side also noticed this and frowned, "I told you to watch her, what happened here?" she asked grimly.
"It's my fault," the man in a cowboy hat said as he lowered his gaze.
With that Miss Lotus walked towards Whisper, and upon reaching her she said, "I apologize on behalf of my subordinate, he took things too far, and I assure you that he will be punished heavily for this."
Whisper didn't answer, instead, she walked passed Lotus and towards Aiden, who had his eyes on the man with a cowboy hat.
With an expressionless face, she said something that made everyone surprised, "The next time we fight I'll kill him."
Hearing this the man chuckled a bit as he walked towards Aiden, clearly, he didn't take Whisper seriously.
Stretching out his hand he said, "I'm Gold, I've heard a lot about you Aiden it's nice to finally meet you in person."
Saying this he took off his hat revealing his blond hair that almost seemed golden, gasps sounded out from the bystanders who had slowly increased.
The people around were tempted to get closer but they knew that such wasn't a good idea.
"I knew he looked familiar."
"That's Gold from the Silence."
"But why was he fighting that girl?"
"Yeah, it was quite violent."
"I used to like Gold; I didn't know he was such a scumbag."
Murmurs sounded out from the crowd echoing everywhere but Gold didn't seem to mind, he kept his hand out waiting for Aiden to receive his handshake, but Aiden just stared at him not moving in the slightest.
"Get behind me," Aiden abruptly said to Whisper in a commanding tone.
By now everyone had noticed Aiden's strange demeanor and Landon couldn't help but remind the fuming Aiden, "You can't beat him, he's stronger than you."
Lotus didn't say anything, she just stared on curiously watching what Aiden was about to do, "maybe he's going to summon his demon," Lotus thought, but she couldn't feel him any hell energy gathering either, so what was Aiden planning?
Nobody seemed to notice that under Aiden's sleeves, black veins had appeared wiggling under his skin as they pulsated with pure energy increasing with Aiden's rage.
"You should apologize," Aiden spoke calmly, not heeding Landon's advice.
Gold who was on the receiving end of Aiden's rage just chuckled, he didn't take Aiden seriously either, instead, he said.
"I'm sorry you're mad, but I'm not sorry for doing my job, say Mr. Aiden, what gives you the right to question how I do my job? Do I work for you?" He asked forcefully.
Although Aiden had potential that was all he had, on a normal day Gold wouldn't even glance twice at such a low-level Contractor.
In response to Gold's question Aiden responded, "No you don't work for me," but in the next moment.
"Whoosh!"
The sound of the wind tearing filled the air sounding much louder than it was supposed to, Aiden had swung his fist.
"Bang!"
A muffled bang sounded out as Aiden hit Gold on the face, Gold's body bent backward but his feet didn't leave the ground, he seemed like a mountain, unmovable.
It was important to note that Aiden had the strength to send a fully grown man flying but Gold remained still.
Most of the bystanders didn't even see how Aiden's fist moved but Lotus had seen everything as if played in slow motion.
Even though she saw the whole thing she was heavily confused, "how did he do that without hell energy?" She asked herself in shock.
The people around gasped at such a heavy blow, but no one was as shocked as Gold, he touched his face stunned at how heavy that hit was, but the biggest shock factor of this situation was the fact that his nose was bleeding.
Because of how close he and Aiden were Gold didn't dodge, he could have but he hesitated.
Who could blame him, he never expected a weakling like Aiden to attack him, and not only that.
He felt a hot burning sensation on the spot where he was hit, it was almost like someone had sprinkled hot pepper on it.
But Gold wasn't foolish enough to believe it was hot pepper.
It seemed to be some kind of strange energy, Gold tried to use his hell energy to repeal it, but his hell energy had no effect, it just circulated his body like normal avoiding the spot where he was hit almost like it was scared of this new energy.
Thankfully this strange energy seemed to be premature and was reducing on its own.
Gold squeezed his fist but ultimately chose not to attack, he would have, but he was weary of the five people who were walking towards them.
"Everyone clear up," a few voices sounded out simultaneously dismissing the crowd of people.
"The local authorities," Gold thought as he turned his head towards Miss Lotus, but to his surprise, she was nowhere to be found, she had vanished.
"That traitor," Gold thought as he turned towards Aiden, who had also lost all intention of fighting.
Though the local authorities were normal people they had the backing of the law, it was illegal for Contractors to get involved in the lives of normal people.
They couldn't even catch thieves or criminals as they couldn't use their powers on normal people.
Contractors were allowed to fight each other but not in a public way like this, the rules were quite simple Contractors could not interfere with the lives of normal people, and in exchange, normal people would not interfere with the work of Contractors.
This was one of the reasons why it was difficult for normal people to know much about the world of Contractors.
Aiden had always wondered why the Contractors would follow such a rule, they didn't have to and they had more than enough power to resist, but he didn't want to find out.
There were many conspiracies surrounding this situation, some said that a powerful organization in the shadows backed the local authorities or that it was an order from the first Contractor.
Aiden might not have been a Contractor but he had strength similar to one, as a result, this rule also applied to him.
"Mr. Gold, it's been a while," a male voice sounded out, it was a police officer with dark brown hair and hazel orbs.
He spoke to Gold with a smile but by the look in his eyes, you would know that he wasn't in a good moon.
By the officer's side was a woman who had black hair and brown eyes, she had a frown on her face as her gaze brushed past Gold, Aiden, and Whisper.
"Hello officers," Aiden said with a smile as he bottled up his anger, a wave of nervousness washed over him as he realized that he didn't have a Contractor's license.
Whisper on the other hand didn't seem to be bothered in the slightest, she just stood behind Aiden patting the dust off her body she paid no mind to the officers.
"Sorry for the disturbance Rex I got carried away," Gold said as he chuckled, he seemed to know this man.
"What do you mean you got carried away, look at the mess you made," the brown-eyed officer shouted.
Chuckling nervously Gold gave the officers a look, "My friend and I were just having a friendly exchange," he said as he put his hands on Aiden's shoulder.
"Pat!"
Aiden spanked Gold's hand prompting him to remove it as his eyes twitched, this little display made Rex raise his brows as he said, "You sure don't look like friends,"
"Nonsense, he's my buddy, we do this all the time," Gold boldly said.
"We're not friends," Aiden cut Gold short before he could fool himself further.
"Hmm," Rex mused before saying, "Since it's the first time, I'm going to let you three go off with a warning, but you'll both have to pay for the damages you caused."
"What! You're letting them go," the brown-eyed officer yelled with surprise evident on her face.
"Gold is a high-level Contractor, he could have triggered the alarm if he used powers beyond threat level ten," she said.
But Rex didn't answer her, instead, he gave her a stern look making her quiet down.
"My friend end will pay," Aiden said with a sudden smile, his change in expression surprising everyone.
Gold felt his eyes twitch he wanted to hit this man beside him so badly, normally he wouldn't dare to pay for Aiden but in the distance, he spotted a certain blue-eyed woman who was watching him with keen eyes.
Because of this, he didn't say anything and just smiled back.
Besides that little amount of money didn't mean much to him anyway.
Upon thinking about what Lotus said Gold couldn't help but shudder, he was sure to receive some punishment at the base, "I'll pay you back for this," Gold thought grimly.
*****
Morning came fast and Aiden had gotten a neutral amount of sleep, with heavy eyes he noticed that the sun wasn't up yet so Aiden just laid his head back on the table for a while.
Yes, last night Aiden did sleep on the table.
As Aiden laid his head he couldn't help but lament at how uncomfortable he felt.
And after a few minutes of not being able to go back to sleep, he stood up, his gaze briefly stopping at Whisper who was curled up like a cat on the bed.
Smiling a bit Aiden briefly looked out the window, and he let out a sigh, for some reason, he felt blank.
And he didn't feel motivated to do anything, back in that strange world he was fueled by the desire to survive and escape, but here he just had an overwhelming desire to rest.
But upon thinking about all the things he hoped to achieve a fire ignited in the pit of his stomach.
Standing up Aiden did some light stretches as a warm-up, first, he lay prone on the ground with his arms supporting his body.
He kept his body straight while lifting his body with his arms, Aiden had performed a standard pushup, he did it once, and it felt easy, he could support his body weight with ease.
After performing a grueling set of push-ups Aiden's fatigue seemed nonexistent, instead, he felt a scorching sensation course through his arm, and the feeling intrigued him.
The next challenge was the sit-ups exactly a hundred, and the squats followed suit, Aiden did this repeating this process over and over again push-ups, sit-ups, squats, push-ups, sit-ups, and squats.
Unbeknownst to Aiden this ritual consumed him from 3 am till the clock struck 6; the feeling was just too addictive.
Meanwhile, as the morning sun tenderly kissed Whisper's face, "Yawn," she stirred awake with a languid yawn.
Whisper stretched as her eyes fluttered open, but what she saw next made her eyes widen in astonishment.
Not too far from her was a man, his physique lean and sculpted.
He was immersed in the rhythmic repetition of sit-ups, each action seemed to stain his muscles as they were more visible than usual.
Yet it wasn't his chiseled physique that left Whisper intrigued.
What truly captured her attention was the ethereal cloud-like vapor that wafted from Aiden's taut muscles, resembling the steam rising from boiling water.
As the sun's rays embraced him they illuminated this captivating spectacle, casting a mesmerizing glow upon him.