"Stop!"
Just as the words fell, with a swish, an Ascender leaped down from the treetops.
"You can't leave until you explain everything that happened here," the descending Ascender said. He was dressed in deep blue armor with a silver belt featuring a central iron plate engraved with a large "Ⅱ" character.
This Ascender, an Awakened Tier named Tony, was slender with elongated eyes. He wore armguards on his wrists and sturdy leg bindings, exuding a sense of agility.
"I, a humble village citizen, pay my respects to Lord Tony!" The two young hunters, about to stand up and leave, immediately knelt down again, performing a full-body prostration.
They recognized Tony, who was responsible for patrolling the surrounding area. The castle dispatched Ascenders to patrol the forests, mainly members of the king's faction, as they could manipulate plants and had better detection abilities.
Tony, Isolde's cousin and a member of the royal family, could move more quickly in the forest by using the power of plants.
Ignoring the kneeling hunters, Tony looked at Aidan and asked coldly, "I am Ascender Tony of Mistvale Keep. Who are you?"
Aidan smiled faintly. "I am a new student at Mistvale Keep, named Aidan. It's a simple matter. This old man's son offended me, so I killed his family in anger. These two can testify for me." Aidan spoke confidently, pointing to the two young hunters kneeling on the ground.
Aidan's words were true, and the two hunters nodded eagerly, showing no hesitation.
Tony was momentarily stunned, then burst into laughter. "Well done! A mere serf dared to offend his master and deserved to die!"
However, his tone changed immediately, and he said meaningfully, "But, junior, your actions have put me in a difficult position. Although this old man lived in seclusion and alone, his family was still under my protection. I was sent by the castle to patrol and protect the villagers. Now that you have killed these people, the population in the village has decreased. This will affect my evaluation during the castle's assessment."
Aidan quickly saw through Tony's attempt to extort money from him.
He smiled and said, "There's nothing difficult about it. Senior, you just report the truth. Just say that I killed them all, and you have nothing to do with it."
After hearing this, Tony's eyelids twitched slightly, and he became very serious. "Then I will handle this impartially. If you are not afraid of the castle's investigation, I will report the truth!"
His words carried a strong threat, which might have frightened other youths.
But Aidan saw his weakness and said, "Senior, report the truth as you see it. By the way, my name is Aidan Baron." He introduced himself again.
"Oh, so you're Aidan!" Tony suddenly realized, looking surprised. "My cousin Isolde has been talking about you lately. You beat up all your classmates and extorted them publicly! And you were the first to be promoted to the Intermediate Tier with a talent for 33 Essence Sigils. By the way, my cousin is Isolde. You should know her."
"I see." Aidan nodded, admitting, "Indeed, Isolde is the super beauty of our class, admired by many secretly. I know her well. And before, Isolde was very cooperative with me in collecting Essence Gems."
He changed the subject from robbery to "collecting."
Thinking of his cousin, Tony's eyelids twitched. Her inner self was not as beautiful and kind as she appeared. Others might not know, but he was deeply aware!
"Ha ha ha, since that's the case, we're acquaintances now. Forget it, I'll take care of this matter!" Tony said, patting his chest with his hand, displaying a righteous appearance.
He was just taking advantage of the situation; there was no way he would actually report the incident truthfully. Even if he did, the castle's evaluation of him would still decrease. So, he might as well sell a favor to Aidan. As for the deaths of the old man's family, he could simply report it as a wild animal attack.
Who told this old man to live in seclusion, move out of the village, and build a wooden house here! Tony wasn't afraid of this matter being exposed. It was just a few ordinary serfs, their lives were worthless; if they died, they died. Even if the castle found out, they wouldn't care about such a minor issue.
"However, junior, you haven't graduated from the academy yet, and you don't have the Ascender's attire like mine. Otherwise, if Alex saw this outfit, he would know your Ascender's identity. How could he have offended you?" Tony added.
Aidan's eyes flashed. Tony's implicit meaning was actually a warning to him—don't wander out of the castle for no reason, and it would be best not to cause trouble in the area he was responsible for in the future.
"Well, thank you for your advice, senior." Aidan bowed and bid farewell to Tony, then left the area.
In the pitch-black night sky, the moon hung high like a silver plate, shedding water-like moonlight.
Amidst the summer breeze, the dense wilderness gently stretched its thick green branches and leaves, while the waterfall gurgled loudly, unable to cover up the noisy chirping of crickets.
Aidan controlled the giant wolf, quietly approaching a wild boar. The boar was burying its head, grunting and digging at the carcass of an old weak wolf.
In this world, wild boars were omnivorous animals, eating both grass and meat. Aidan slowly approached the boar from behind.
In the bright moonlight, the boar's gray-black fur was clearly visible. It was muscular, with short, thick limbs, long and hard bristles on its back, and sparse hair on its ears, standing upright like needles.
It walked on all fours, with each foot having four toes, but only the middle two touching the ground. Its tail was thin and short, flicking occasionally to drive away the flying insects around it.
Suddenly, it stopped digging and lifted its head abruptly. At the same time, its upright, sharp little ears trembled rapidly.
Although Aidan had the giant wolf stop in time, the boar still detected him and quickly turned around, emitting snorting warning sounds.
Aidan wasn't surprised. Wild animals were much more alert than domesticated ones, especially wild boars, which had a very keen sense of smell.
Even if this boar didn't hear any movement, when the giant wolf approached within a hundred meters, it could smell the wolf's scent and detect its presence.
The giant wolf continued to approach the boar. The boar's size was about the same as the wolf's and much larger than that of an ordinary wolf.
The boar growled, and a strand of black bristles on its neck stood up visibly, a sign of its anger.
Finally, when the giant wolf took a step closer, breaking the boar's psychological distance, the boar dug the ground three times with its front hooves, then stepped forward with its strong four legs, lowered its head, and charged towards the giant wolf.
Its upper tusks were exposed, turned upward, forming two white fangs. In the moonlight, the fangs gleamed with a cold light, aiming straight for the giant wolf.
If this level-1 giant wolf were pierced by these fangs, its belly would be pierced immediately, its intestines would be punctured, and it would either die or be severely injured.
Aidan concentrated on controlling the wolf through Essence Conduit "Wof Fang" with all his mental strength.
...