47 The City Lord 4 (1/2)

”The call is yours. What do you want to do?”

As Aaron was asked this question, he first took a few deep breaths while looking down in order to calm his heart that felt like it would beat out of his chest at any moment.

”Owowow?”

Unable to understand why its friend was so agitated, Woof made a questioning sound, but Aaron just touched it to tell it that everything was all right.

What he had just been through…was just a bit difficult to explain using thoughts and images. He could tackle that later, but the man in front of him needed an answer first.

Of course, he had already shaken his head in response to the first question he had been asked right after waking up, as everything he had been through had been so fresh on his mind.

It was like asking him whether he would engage in another confrontation with a Razor-winged Vulture for the remains of a Tera right after he and Woof had just escaped one's pursuit with great difficulty.

True, while they were nursing their wounds caused by the sharp feathers of the vulture while cursing it, they would say 'no', but a little bit of time later, they might be ready for another go, especially if the Tera which was dead was a high-level one.

Stronger Teras did taste better, after all.

Of course, this case was different.

Aaron sank into deep thought, seeing which the old man smiled and pulled up a chair before sitting down.

He had always admired youths who could calm down and make rational decisions instead of emotional ones.

Besides, he had heard about people like these who survived in the jungle for years in the company of Teras. Unlike those who managed to do so alone, who were usually cold, emotionless individuals driven purely by instinct, these people were supposed to be more equipped to think logically to choose the best option in any situation, because that was partly how they managed to survive for so long.

Researchers said that the bond with a Tera made it so that these people would not completely devolve into beasts, themselves, as was expected typically from those who went through such an experience. They would be able to retain their sanity and some parts of what they had learned when they were still in society, as it was usually the case that such people had gotten lost after living for a bit among humans during events that could have broken up their settlements.

The old man wondered what the past of the one in front of him was, as it was clear from the way he was that he definitely fell in this category. If he hadn't been in a society before, there was no way that he could have retained so many things which made him human.

Meanwhile, Aaron started to carefully go through each experience, taking his time with each one.

He broke down and analyzed all 46 of them, as if he was approaching a scenario in the jungle where he and Woof had to decide whether to fight a stronger Tera for food or not.

His character had developed to become one that emphasized on the result over all else, even choosing to resort to underhanded ways even though he didn't like them if it meant that he could survive.

And that…shone through again now, making the old man gawk at him as he gave his answer.