Kill The Old Ones!

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Sieg was spent...

His whole body was sore, his chakra network throbbed painfully with exertion, and he could barely keep his eyes open as he made his way home.

Using up his daily quota really exhausted him. The spiders were relentless and aggressive. They attack in waves, have corrosive poison, and are extremely cunning hunters.

Even with his domineering skills and techniques, Sieg often finds himself cornered and suppressed. He’s barely escaping with the skin of his teeth.

Despite this, though, he always made it out alive. The pressure and the threat of death were the crucible he sought to squeeze out more of his potential. This difficult dungeon was tempering his will, his skill, and his strength. He whole-heartedly believed that this was the case.

That’s why even though it’s hard, he kept throwing himself at it. He thinks that it’ll be worth it in the end.

His master, on the other hand, didn’t think so.

As an expert who had seen things beyond this world and had died with a belly full of regrets, the old man knew that a large part of Sieg’s efforts were being wasted.

He’s exerting twice the effort for half the desired effect, which was extremely inefficient and a huge waste of time. He admired his student’s willpower, but honestly, this was just horrible.

Sieg will crash and burn if this continues.

"Sieg!"

An excited and pleased voice called out to him. The tone, the familiarity, and the pleasantness of that voice were akin to a crisp cold water after trekking through a vast desert.

It sobered him up, replenished his energy somehow, and brought an instinctive smile on his face.

The owner of the voice ran up to him. It was Aria—fair, beautiful, elegant, pleasant, and perfect Aria. She wore a purple sleeveless dress. Her hair was thickly braided, and her face was a mixture of worry and relief at the same time.

"Are you okay? You look tired. What happened?" Aria reached out to touch his face.

Her hands were so smooth, gentle, and soft. Sieg instinctively leaned into her touch and sighed in comfort; he even rubbed his cheeks to her palms as if he wanted more.

He then showed her a small and tired smile, saying, "I’m okay, just tired after dungeon clearing."

Sieg reached out to hold her hand, not shying away from her touch. He clasped their fingers together as they walked side-by-side.

"How about you? How was your day?" he asked.

"Oh, same old," she replied, waving it off dismissively. "Just training and dungeon clearing with my party. Would’ve been better if you came with us, though."

Sieg offered him a smile, a placating one, but he didn’t say anything because he didn’t need to.

This wasn’t the first time that Aria made the offer. She practically does it every day. But no matter how many times she offered, Sieg always refused.

He refused her after the first after and the following offers after that.

Because while Aria didn’t mind his presence, her family—and pretty much the rest of the world, for that matter—does.

Sieg wasn’t stupid. When the sky fell down on him during the initiation ceremony, he almost wished that Aria would forget about him. Their dreams, their promises, their goals...all that they shared when they grew up in the same orphanage. He wished that she would forget all of it because he could no longer accompany her.

Aria was lucky to be adopted and loved by the Carmichael family, while Sieg was unlucky and awakened a trash talent. Even he was convinced that he didn’t deserve her, once upon a time. Which is also why he accepted all the bullying that the Carmichael thugs laid on him.

But despite that, Aria refused to stay away. She wholeheartedly went against the wishes of her own family. She prioritized him instead of them. Even if Sieg closed his doors and pretended she didn’t exist, Aria never went away.

How could Sieg bear that? How could he remain stoic after all that?

It’s because Aria offered her everything to him that he’s working hard to become a man that’s worthy of her status. He had his pride, and one day, he wanted to stand tall before her adopted family and ask for her hand in marriage.

Aria, knowing that Sieg still holds on to his pride, just sighed and changed the subject. As they made their way back to Sieg’s home located away from all the noise and clutter of the city, they came across a familiar face.

With long pink hair tied to a ponytail, eyes as shiny as pink diamonds themselves, and a modest cherry blossom-themed dress, they saw Lily Anne Heartveil walking beside an adult scholarly man.

Sieg was momentarily stunned. Even at dusk, Lily radiated with a soft, elegant, and lady-like glow that attracted the attention of people around her like moths to a flame.

There was something strange about her, something new—a quiet but certain elegance in the way she carried herself, one that was most certainly not there before.

Sieg recognized the clan head of the Heartveil family—Lily’s father. And more importantly, he recognized the people following them.

Two men and three dudes of the same age as him. He would not forget their faces because it was them who left him bruised, pained, and humiliated whenever they learned that he dared to breathe around Lily again.

Sieg winced as he felt Aria’s grip tightening. But before he could apologize, Lily and her father saw them.

"Oh, good evening to you, Young Miss Aria." Richard Heartveil inclined his head towards her, then shifted his gaze to Sieg. "You too, young man."

They also saw Lily performing a curt bow to them, lifting the edges of her dress as she greeted them in a noble-like manner. Her face remained pleasant, but it’s hard to figure out what she’s truly thinking.

"Good evening to you, too, Clan Head Heartveil. And to you as well, Heiress Lily."

Aria returned the same gesture to them. Her actions were smooth, impeccable, and natural. It’s as if nobility were truly in her blood.

Sieg, if it weren’t for his master’s reminder, clumsily returned the greeting. He pressed a hand on his chest and bowed just low enough to show respect. He kept his gaze on the man, not on the girl, because he felt conflict deep within him.

"My daughter and I are on our way to the blacksmith. She needs her gear upgraded for her dungeon exploration and the upcoming tournament. Would you like to join us?" Richard invited them.

He sounded genuinely friendly; even the old man in the ring confirmed this to Sieg, which made him feel more complicated.

It’s either this man was the best actor to ever exist or he’s just genuinely a decent man.

Sieg wanted to believe that it’s the former because it’ll make him feel better. Because if that were the case, then he could just say that everybody in the Heartveil Clan were bad people, and that includes Lily. She might even be the worst, because she pretended that she cared, that she was different from the rest, and Sieg actually believed that.

But the actions of her family were contradictory to what he once believed.

However, even his master said it. The Clan Head’s eyes and words held no malice. He was a decent man. And Sieg felt complicated. Especially after remembering that he had been putting distance between him and Lily because she thought that she was just like the rest of them.

And he saw how that affected her. It made him feel awful.

’Boy, those bullies behind them are barely breathing. They won’t even dare to raise their head and look at you.’

’I can sense that they’re afraid and terrified, for some reason.’

’What’s weird is that it’s aimed towards that girl. They’re terrified of her. So much so that they refuse to even think about anything bad towards her. How strange.’

That tiny revelation made Sieg look at Lily differently. He thought and guessed many things, but no matter how close or how far it was from the truth, he could never confirm without asking Lily—and now’s simply not the time for that.

"We appreciate your invitation, Clan Head. But we just returned from dungeon clearing. Both of us are exhausted, and I’m afraid we’ll spoil the atmosphere around you, so I think it’s best that we return and rest instead."

Aria elegantly rejected the invitation. She never even thought about accepting it in the first place. She did pause for a dramatic event, making it look like she was thinking about it, but in truth, she never did. And she decided for the both of them.

"I understand. I hope the two of you have a restful night. And please, stay healthy until the day of the tournament comes. We’ll excuse ourselves then. I wish the both of you a good and peaceful night."

"Thank you. And I wish the same for you all as well."

They watched as Lily and her entourage continued on their way to the blacksmith shop.

Once they were out of sight, Aria turned around and glared at Sieg.

He knew that look and what would follow after that.

"Aria, no—let me explain!"

"Hmph! You already have a violet standing beside you and holding your hand, but you’re still looking for a pink? Hmph!"

Aria began stomp-marching away from him.

"Aria, it’s not what you think! Wait for me!"

Inside the ring, the old man just chuckled and said, ’Ah, youth. How nostalgic.’

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