The voice of a young child came that brought back Baron William, who was in deep pain and almost lost himself in guilt.
"Apollo!"
He shouted and looked around, as he couldn't believe what he heard.
"Am I hallucinating?"
But when he saw a young kid walking out of the ruins, he couldn't help but feel excited, and all those negative feelings disappeared.
"Grandpa!"
He looked at his grandfather, who seemed to have become weaker as he had experienced some devastating blows. But seeing him, he seems to have regained new vigour.
"Haha, haha! Good! Good! You are alright."
"Naturally, how can anything happen to me, Grandpa?" Apollo smiled and said, seeing his vigorous grandfather.
On the other side, Master Aaron and Lady Roseate were also surprised to see him. They didn't expect a twelve-year-old kid to survive, even if he was a genius.
But not only has he survived, he seems to have become stronger; he also seems to have changed.
Roseate only felt that Apollo had become more mysterious, increasing her curiosity, but Master Aaron was different; he felt more when he saw him.
He cannot believe that in a few hours, one person can change this much.
Every step Apollo takes is filled with such a mysterious aura that even he, one of the strongest masters in the kingdom, cannot see the depth of his strength. That was completely different from before, where he could feel his hidden strength, but now it felt like he was not looking at a human but a glacier so cold that even he felt a chill from the depths of his soul.
This feeling appeared for a moment but disappeared as Apollo felt something and looked at Master Aaron with a cute, innocent smile.
Their eyes met for a moment, thinking something, but they didn't say anything, which no one noticed.
Quickly, people surrounded him—all the soldiers of the Fletcher family—and Grandpa William started asking him questions about his health or whether he was injured or had some psychological problems.
They also asked if he saw other soldiers, who were also taken, but Apollo lied and said that he hadn't met anyone.
At that time, Master Aaron interrupted them and urged them to leave this place first, as the devastating aura in the ruins horrified them, and there might still be dangers in the ruins that could come out at any time.
"Let's go and leave this place."
After hearing and understanding the reason, nobody stayed and left the ruins.
After hours of travel, they all returned, but all were not happy as dozens of soldiers of their Fletcher family didn't come back.
Instead, Lady Roseate and their members are in a better mood, as they have found the bloodstone they were looking for, and only three or four elite guards of her didn't make it.
But after seeing the expression of the Fletcher family, she immediately said, "Baron William, don't have to worry; for the help given by Baron, Duke will definitely give sufficient rewards that would make up the loss."
"Thank you for your generosity."
Baron William thanked her, but Baron didn't feel much, as no matter what, it was his soldiers who didn't come back, but at least those rewards could calm him a bit.
After their return, most of them went back to their place to rest, except Apollo and Grandpa William, who took Apollo to the secret room of their Fletcher family.
"Now tell me where you were and what happened after you disappeared."
Grandpa William wore a thoughtful expression as he inquired about what happened after he was swallowed by the shadow.
He didn't ask much before because he didn't want others to know about any secret about Apollo, so after coming back, they came to the secret room that was built by ancestors of the Fletcher family and is covered by magic runes that even Master Aaron wouldn't be able to snoop on.
"After that shadow swallowed us, I appeared in the tomb......"
He told his grandfather about most of his experience, except he didn't tell how the awakened god was swallowed by him and his awakened system.
Instead, he says that when the god awakened, the world trembled, he lost his consciousness, and when he awakened, nobody was there.
He also quickly took out the loot that he dug or took from the dead bodies in the tomb.
Seeing so many armour and weapons of high quality; Grandpa's mood changed.
Feeling better, that at least they didn't return empty-handed. He also collected some broken metal weapon fragments made from rare and expensive metals. These could be melted down to create new weapons or sold for a hefty price.
"Good, every single one of these weapons is of superior quality. If they weren't corroded by the mysterious power, they would be considered semi-transcendent treasures."
Feeling the quality of the weapons, he could not help but feel surprised. The ancient forces were so rich that even semi-transcendent weapons were used by every soldier. Whereas now, in a baron family of kingdoms, there might not be a single semi-transcendent weapon.
Even in the Fletcher family, there are only three semi-transcendent weapons available, and even that took them years to collect.
"Semi-transcendent, what kind of weapon is that?"
Apollo asked, feeling a little confused as he had not heard or read about them in the old books of their family.
"Oh, yes, normal books didn't mention transcendent weapons as they are entirely at a different level, so it's normal you don't know about them." Baron William quickly said this as he understood his grandson's curiosity.
"I was going to tell you about them later; I even prepared one for you, but it looks like you found a better one." He said this as he looked at the extraordinary bow that Apollo had brought.
"But now it doesn't matter; you have grown too quickly, your strength seems to have become stronger, and there seems not much left to teach, so let me tell you about various grades of treasure or weapons."