49 Test 1 (2/2)
Aaron had only been able to name it a 'panther', as it had been a short encounter which ended with them running for their lives. It had been passing through their forest in search of something, and its every footstep had been so stealthy that it had been able to pass within a foot of where they were without them even realizing its existence.
The main reason he remembered that incident…was that when he had looked into its eyes briefly, he had noticed the same extreme callousness, which indicated that it was a being which did not care one whit about any and all existences under the heavens.
Thankfully, that pressure completely disappeared when another voice was heard in the clearing.
”City Lord, please control yourself.”
It was shocking enough that the owner of this voice had somehow crept into this place without alerting either Woof or Aaron.
Yet, the thing which surprised him, even more, was the method in which this man appeared.
It looked like he had…stepped out of thin air.
Wh-what? What the f*ck?!
Even the old man looked extremely surprised, but he actually smiled after that.
As for the City Lord, he frowned and said, ”You? For such a simple thing? Are you so free now, Gildart?”
The man who had appeared looked like he was young, yet his short beard obfuscated his age, not allowing one to accurately guess just how old he was.
He was built powerfully, with broad shoulders and a tall figure.
The thing that pulled Aaron's eyes, though, was a small creature on his shoulder which looked like a tiny version of a bear.
Still unwilling to believe that the A.A was completely useless, he asked it to scan again, and at least, this time, the answer wasn't like before.
”Scanning. One Tera found in host's vision. Scanning TeraTome. Entry unavailable.
Scanning other sources. One entry found.
Tera is similar to a rare species that was found on Earth before the apocalypse: 'Red Panda'.”
A Red Panda?
The name was unfamiliar, but as Aaron watched it, he realized that its most striking feature was its eyes.
In those eyes…it was as if a galaxy was swirling, and as it turned toward him, he felt like he was being pulled in.
At the same moment, though, with a red flash of light, the creature disappeared, which allowed Aaron to return to his senses and sweat, as he had just realized that he might have met his death if the man hadn't recalled his Tera.
Turning to him, he said, ”I'm sorry, that little bugger hasn't controlled his abilities completely, yet. Anyway, to answer the City Lord's question, I was assigned here because the World Government values the individual called 'Aaron', because he is a 'Survivor'.”
With a humph, the City Lord said, ”Ah, I guess I was unlucky that that guy is on duty. He always was sympathetic to these so-called Survivors because he is one.”
The man did not reply, and he simply stood there with his hands behind his back.
A small smile played across his face, and with an expression of irritation on his face, the City Lord spoke up once again.
”All right, let's get this over with quickly. Yes, I played with that family, and it wasn't because I was bored. For anyone who is as old as me, the main priority is to find an heir, and I'm doing these kinds of tests to see the real hearts of Ascenders so that I can find one similar to me. While we were talking, I went through the memories of my 'test subject', and there was an incident where he did take a decision like I would have- he tried to steal and enslave that Lifeblood Tera, and weirdly enough, he wasn't killed. Right now, I will carry out another test to see whether he deserves to be one of my heirs. No lives will be risked, so you can be at ease, Gildart. Let us begin.”