Chapter 363: Trust (1/2)

As he was conversing with Enya, Lily kept hugging him from behind, her hold not easing at all. It seemed that she wasn't ready to let him go any time soon.

Meanwhile, as the cloud had almost completely dissipated, the rest of his team, Drake and Scarlet have also joined the duo and the dogs.

”Aiden…” Drake sighed with a bitter smile, as he gazed at him. ”You sure know how to keep things interesting.”

Drake had a small smile donning on his face, he seemed genuinely relieved that his friend survived this ordeal. Still, after this, questions began to arise one after another.

Ever since the orc tower, he was pondering about the boy's origins. Who could he truly be? Even though he was out of commission for most of the time, that underground tunnel they descended into was more than enough to raise a few concerns, not to mention that those demi-human beings seemed to be so devoted to following him.

Although he couldn't confirm it yet, Drake was now fairly certain that his friend was either not a human at all, or someone with a very special, hidden bloodline. Either way, his existence was definitely special.

Anyway, Drake didn't want to ruin their budding friendship by asking such private questions. Aiden was the first person to not care about his origins, and treat him as an equal. He was the first person he could really look at without worrying about any underlying thoughts and schemes.

Hearing his tone, Aiden looked up, returning his smile as he sighed.

”It's not like I was planning for that. Anyway… are you all okay?” He asked, trying to stand up, only to be pushed back down by the girl latched onto him from behind.

He gently touched her arms, turning his head sideways so he could whisper into her ear.

”Sis… Why are you crying? You said you are a big girl now. Should big girls act like this?”

His words seemed to do the trick, Lily slowly eased on her hold. Lifting her gaze, she looked at his brother. Her eyes are still teary from venting all her emotions, her nose still snotty. A pout formed on her lips as she responded with a slightly hurtful tone.

”Stupid Brother! Bully! I will tell on you to Master and Granny!” She spoke, as she let go of her brother and instead hugged Sam and Biggy who were sitting calmly at her sides.

”Come here, guys. That stupid brother of mine is being mean, we don't need him, right?” She spoke, shifting her attention to her partners.

Seeing that, Aiden sighed with a wry expression, before slowly turning his attention towards the river and the torn body of the shark-headed sahuagin champion.

'Well… At least, I can do what Enya was suggesting… Still, how am I gonna 'DO' it? Eat the dead flesh? That would seriously scare them away…' He lamented inwardly, as he slowly got up from the ground.

As he stood up, he just noticed that most of his clothes were ripped to shreds. His shirt was turned into a shriveled, burnt shawl, barely covering the upper half of his chest, leaving almost his entire torso barren, naked for everyone to see. His chiseled muscles, abs were displayed for the others to gawk at, causing Scarlet to freeze for a while, before coming back to her senses, and averting her gaze hurriedly. A slight pinkish hue could be seen over her supple cheeks even though she tried her best to hide it.

She didn't speak, and took a step back, hiding behind her brother, Drake.

Luckily for her, and for Aiden as well, his pants were mostly intact. Whilst it was also burnt and had huge tears in it, it still managed to retain its functionality where it actually mattered.

Still, what really caught Drake's attention was the fact that besides a bit of burnt and torn clothes, the boy was completely unharmed. There were no blemishes, burn marks, or wounds of any kind on his body. Even his long black hair didn't even turn messy, it was clean, flowing behind his back like it usually used to.

'Just what happened? How is he this fine? He was the closest to the explosion…' He wondered in his mind as he checked his friend. A slight frown appeared over his face, crumbing his forehead into thin wrinkles for a brief moment, before he forced a smile once more, walked closer to him, and patted his back.

”Aiden… I just can't understand you.” He smiled. ”What's your plan now?”

”First, we should make sure we complete the quest.”  Aiden calmly answered, stepping forward, walking towards the dead sahuagin champion's corpse.