A group of people clothed in dark blue attire moved with great speed, along the city streets. If Martin could see their movement, he would be astonished to see that all of them were using the advance wind rune spell meant for the apprentice level, which was two levels higher that his. The name of the wind spell was the famous Wind Walk. It was a wind spell that was developed by an Ascendant, a person who had transcend the limits of normal cultivators, and on their way to Godhood.
The group of persons moved fast, and their eyes scanned the areas, and corners of the street.
"How could you lose it?" One of them said, when they had landed to replenish their mana.
"I didn't know that it would be capable of such powers." They all had masks on their face, which had been broken in half, covering just the left side of their faces.
The one that had spoken first was the only one among them who had a full mask, and a golden label that rested on his shoulder.
"When that man hears about this disaster, I'm sure you all realize that even death would not help us. We have to find the experiment 100 immediately." The man's voice carried a deep sense of fear when he spoke about his boss.
He was the leader of the team because of his mask, and he was very close to his boss so, he had an idea of their awaited fate if they could not find this baby.
These group of people took off again, when they saw no signs of a crawling baby in the venue.
Meanwhile, a small baby had just finished up with masking the identity of his aura. He glanced at the red-haired boy that slept, and decided to get some rest too.
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Martin woke up the next morning, his eyes felt heavy, and he felt like he was caught up in a hangover.
"What a strange dream." Martin said as he rubbed his eyes, he had an awful dream about an ugly baby who talked, and it infuriated him.
"Rise, and shine. Sleepy head." Martin turned his attention to the voice, and realized that it wasn't a dream, and he had actually seen a strange baby in his house the night before.
Martin stood up from the bed, and went to the main room where the baby sat.
He picked up the little child by the shoulders, and looked at him. The baby stared back at him with a lofty smile across its face.
"What are you?" Martin looked at the baby with inquisitive eyes, wondering where this child was pooped out from.
"I don't know," The baby said as it wiggled its two feet, and disappeared from Martin's hold. "The last thing I remembered was seeing a bright white light, and I was surrounded by some people who wore blue clothes. With a thought, I simply escaped." The baby was standing on Martin's bed by the time it had finished its statement.
"So, you are like a fugitive? Aren't you a little young to be a criminal?" Martin arched his brows, as he scanned the baby. The child looked a bit different from last night.
"I'm too young to be doing a lot of things from my observation but here I am." The little baby looked like one of those small toys from his world, the ones with an unstable big head, and a small body. Martin couldn't quite remember the name, but he did recall that he was never a fan of them.
"Won't those people come searching for you? Looking at the obvious fact that you are a valuable power house." Martin walked over to his kitchen to whip up something that could count as his breakfast, he wasn't planning to go to school today, or any time soon unless he was able to figure out how to absorb mana.
The baby stared at Martin's back, contemplating on whether he had done the right thing by not telling this kid the truth. The baby didn't truly vanish from the place he was kept, he had been stolen by some lady, and hidden behind a trash can in some dark alleyway.
He had perceived a delicious scent, by thinking of where the scent was coming from, he had somehow placed himself at the doorstep of this man, and he decided to play along so he could find whatever created that scent.
"Yes, they are looking for me," The baby said, causing Martin to choke on his cereal. "By the way, I'm also hungry." The baby jumped down from the bed, and walked over to Martin while holding out his hands.
"Go find your own food." Martin harrumphed as he walked away from the baby. He wasn't going to take the responsibility of some child that he didn't own.
He only needed to think about his own survival, taking people under his care meant weakness, and this child made him have a really bad foreboding.
Martin was about to take another bite from his food, when he realized that he was no longer holding them.
"You sneaky brat." He turned around to see the baby emptying the bowl before tossing it aside.
"I need more. That is the best thing I have tasted, and the only thing too." The baby said, as he immediately zoomed over to ransack Martin's cupboard where he kept his food.
"Stop! I can't believe some strong people are after you, and the only thing you can think of is eating." Martin rushed with his own speed, but it wasn't enough to catch the baby.
After a few unsuccessful attempts, he finally caught the baby by the feet.
"Let me go," The baby dangled for a while, before disappearing, and appearing with a carton of cereals that he chowed down on.
"I have hidden my aura, so they wouldn't find me for a long while." He cocked his head, as he spoke with his mouth full.
"I don't want you here." Martin said with a stern look in his eyes.
The little child realized that he had to find a way to placate his landlord unless he could be kicked out from the house.
"Ok. I'd leave once I get strong enough to fight my enemies, and I assure you that it wouldn't take a long time." The baby placed the cereal box on the table, and looked at Martin with the same intensity.
Martin refused to concede, "What's in it for me? I don't want anyone bringing more expenses in for me, and sucking all my food."
The baby frowned, and threw in a handful of cereals into his mouth, "Ok then. What do you want?"
Martin's lips widened into a smile; this was all he had been waiting for. He had noticed that this little guy had grown a little in the span of one night, so if he could get this guy on his side, he would be able to use his power for anything, and the fulfillment of his goal would be nearer that ever.
"Wipe that smile off your face. It's making my skin crawl"
The baby had suddenly felt like he was a pawn in a crazy mind game, created by this young man.
Martin cleared his throat, and stood straight as he stared down at the munching baby.
"What's your name?" He couldn't do what he had in mind, if he didn't know the child's name.
"I don't have one." The baby couldn't care less about what Martin was cooking up, as he realized that the cereals in his hand was about to run out.
"I'll call you, Ace." Martin said with a smile.
"Ace. That's sounds like the product of a lazy attempt at naming, but I'll take it." Ace licked his fingers, while he stared at Martin wondering what he was going to do next.
"So Ace, I'm Axton. We are going to be preparing a little pact with a blood contract." Martin's eyes held a mysterious glint.
He had read about blood contracts from that dark looking book he took from the library.
He never thought that it would actually come in handy.
"I refuse." Ace said without battling an eyelid.
"I'd announce to the whole world about your existence." Martin said, immediately turning around, as if he wasn't interested in the offer that more.
"I'd kill you." Ace wasn't backing down either.
"We both know that if you could kill someone, you'd have done so to your captors." Martin slightly turned his face to the left, displaying a small smile on his lips.
Ace crunched the carton of cereals in his hand.
This kid was smart. Apparently, he had not awoken all his potential, so he could only use a percent of his power at the moment.
"Ok, what are the details of this blood contract?"
Ace stood up on his stubby legs, and tossed the crunched-up carton in to the trash bin.
Martin held out his hands with a grin appearing on his face as he felt a wonderful sense of victory.
The threat he made was on a gamble, he didn't know that Ace would not be able to kill people, he had just put two-and-two together, and came to the risky conclusion. Who knew if Ace didn't kill them because he only wanted to cover his trail, and not cause a nationwide commotion.
"It's not going to be permanent as you still need to leave. I just want to be able to keep you in check which means that you'd have to answer to me alone, and you aren't to act on your own decision."
Martin walked over to bring out a piece of paper.
He held it out, and muttered a few words causing the paper to burn into ashes.
"Cool." Ace's eyes widened in amazement, he had never seen such type of magic, and he enjoyed the display.
"I spoke the terms into the paper, so now we have to make the incisions." Martin picked a knife from the kitchen, and held it out in front of Ace, but he was surprised to see that the baby didn't flinch.
"Hurry it up." Ace said with an expressionless face, and held out his hand.
Martin cut open the middle of the palm, and he did the same for Ace. Then, they shook hands.
A drop of blood moved out from each of their palms, and mixed together to form a small rune.
The rune separated into two parts, disappeared into both of their palms, and completely vanished signaling the completion of the blood contract.
"Well, that was easy." Martin said as he went back to keep the knife.
Ace was about to steal another carton of cereal when he felt a heavy burden on him, then his eyes widened in realization.
"What did you do to me?" Ace furrowed his brows, when he realized that this Axton was never who he thought he was, and he was a lot smarter than he expected.
Martin turned to face him, "Did you think I was going to let something as valuable as you escape my grip?"
His lips widened into a grin, causing his eyes to narrow, and he rubbed his hands together.
He has gotten himself a treasure.