45 The City Lord 2 (2/2)

At this moment, though…he was a leader, whose words had to be obeyed at any cost.

Aaron had seen such an aura in only a few Teras, and those had been some of the most dangerous that they had ever dealt with.

Even Woof seemed to have had flashbacks, as it bent its legs and exposed its canines, ready to pounce if needed.

Yet, Anissa simply folded her hands and said, ”I hate it when you go all 'Mayor' on me. Fine.”

Shooting one last glare, she marched out of the room and closed the door behind her, leaving Aaron alone with the old man.

The moment they were alone, the old man folded his hands behind his back and sized Aaron and Woof up.

He seemed like a completely different man, and Aaron was actually a bit surprised to see that someone could have such contrasting sides within themselves.

In a calm voice, he asked, ”Do you really wish to kill the City Lord?”

Without hesitating, Aaron answered, ”Yes. But only if I can guarantee my safety if I fail. Otherwise, I would be willing to hide and get stronger before trying when I can guarantee this. I believe that the one who wins…is always the one who lives.”

Clap. Clap. Clap.

The old man began clapping as soon as he heard this, and a broad smile appeared on his face.

”Perfect. This is why those like you are always the ones who rise the highest. Before the apocalypse, humanity had gotten…languid. Lazy. Weak. Most of the population was enslaved in front of their gadgets, and many lives were just spent doing the same thing over and over again, before death arrived to release them from that living nightmare. The apocalypse changed everything. To survive, we had to go back to our roots. We succeeded, and although there is still a lot to be done, we have peace. But…again, this peace is beginning to give rise to useless individuals who care about trivial things like popularity. It is definitely not as bad as then, as there are still many threats, and there is at least a goal to strive toward for aspiring youths which entices them using the singular desire that can only be evoked for power. But we must never get complacent. That is why I like you. So, if you're really willing to do it, I have a way to let you see for yourself what you will face. It is completely safe. Well, there might be a bit of pain, but that's it. And I know that you might not trust me, so your Tera can stay guard over you. All I want you to do…is sleep.”

Aaron's eyes had almost glazed over during the first part of the speech.

But during the second…he focused his eyes, as he couldn't even believe that something like this was possible.

If it was, though…he didn't want to give it up.

He just needed to sleep, right?

And Woof would be right here to protect him.

Without hesitating, Aaron nodded, and just lied down on the ground after touching Woof and telling it to stand guard.

The old man had expected this, and his smile only broadened on seeing it.

Decisiveness was truly a thing to be admired.

To his surprise, Aaron fell asleep in under 20 seconds, and as his breathing evened out, the old man stretched out his hand with his palm facing forward.

As soon as he did, a Core appeared in the middle of his palm and flashed, while Woof began growling as it sensed that something else…was in the room along with them.

…

Aaron had drifted off to sleep so quickly because of the habit he had inculcated as they would often have to rest quickly in the limited amount of time they had.

Feeling Woof tug at him to wake him up, he opened his eyes, yet closed them again as he couldn't believe what he was seeing.

An enormous domed ceiling with glass chandeliers stretched out in his vision, and as he dazedly got up, he looked to the right on hearing a feral growl that made the hairs all over his body rise up.

There…stood a 4 meter(13 feet) tall creature that looked vaguely like a Red-Maned Horse, but wasn't.

Fire could be seen burning beneath its hooves, and as soon as Aaron laid his eyes on it, it shot forth a blast of raging fire that engulfed him and made him scream in agony.