5 I was Forced...

"100,000,000 credits? The federation is going to give that much if they just joined?" Aiden, 12, failed to hide his shock. Although he was only 12 years old, he achieved the highest rank among thirty recruits.

He knew he wasn't supposed to show his opponent his shock during the negotiations. It's like giving them a higher ground, but it was too much of a shock to him.

'Father needs 10,000 credits a month for the family, so 120,000 credits a year. It's going to be 1,200,000 in ten years. Then my elder sister, my brother, and I will have different families, a total of four families. That's...'

Looking at the child who was acting like a child for the first time in six years, the general was happy.

"It's not just that." he struck when it was hot, "Every time you update the characteristics of local flora and fauna with evidence, you'll earn one credit point. And you can trade every credit point for 1,000,000 credits."

The general didn't know whether Aiden had completed his calculation or given up in the midways after listening. Yet Aiden's face had become more serious.

"And?"

Out of all the reactions the general had expected, Aiden had given him the most unexpected one. 'This little shit! Isn't he satisfied with that yet?'

Hiding his initial surprise, he added, "Your name will be inducted into the history books, as one of the pioneers of new-age exploration. And you will contribute to the recovery of the birthplace of humankind."

'What is that? Can I eat it?' The frown became deeper, as Aiden listened to the general. 'So, isn't there any extra money?'

Feeling the inner thought of the child, the general couldn't help but curse, 'Where did this money-grubber come from?'

It wasn't that Aiden was the brightest of all the children, nor was he the highest level mage. But even the primary wind mage candidate can not hold a candle in front of him when it comes to combat. That's why he was preferred more by the army.

The general picked up another document from the folder and placed it in front of Aiden. "As soon as you get back from the mission, the army will appoint you a captain, and you will be paid until the day you die."

"Where do I sign?" the general was a little startled by the straightforward question.

'A captain of the army will earn tens of thousands every month. There's no way I can spend 100 million in this lifetime. But if I do, my salary will be enough for me." And Aiden was satisfied with that.

**************

'Auuu' Aiden moaned in pain as soon as he woke up. His head was throbbing, his hand was still numb, and he felt like crying every time the sweat touched his wound on his back.

His breathing did not return to normal. Every time he tried to move, he felt that all his organs were so painful that he couldn't breathe. Even sighing was painful.

'Can you show me my stats?'

Age:16

Element: Wind

Level: 2 (2)

Grade: D (A)

Strength: 6 (11)

Agility: 8 (17)

Endurance: 5 (21)

Dexterity: 4 (15)

Intelligence: 12 (15)

Health: 07/57 (-/89)

Mana: 23/32 (-/81)

Battle rating: Level 1 (Level 5)

Skill: [Reduce Drag] [Air Punch] [Air spike] [Wind Skin] [Wind Burst] [Wind Scythe] [Wind Gale]

]

'How much time do I have?'

[Time till death: 1 day 15 hours]

Even frowning was too painful, but he couldn't help. 'Didn't you say that, if I use a potion, I could live for six days?'

[To prolong life, the host needs to drink two more liquids. Extended lifetime: 6 days 7 hours. Time till next potion:1 day 11 hours]

'This way, can I continue to take the potion to prolong my life?' Aiden was hopeful. But the cold voice soon put an end to his futile struggle.

[Taking more than three potions will reduce the life of the host.]

'Give up.' Aiden couldn't help but scolded himself, 'It's too late. Just give it up and...' The voice within his mind was silent, the tears were trickling down his face.

'Why am I supposed to die?' No one could answer, even if he wanted to know. It was then that he realized something, 'System, what about Levi?'

[Second officer Levi had died 5 hours ago.]

'So he was the first to leave?' Aiden was sighing in his heart. 'Perhaps someone else had already died. Well, can you let me show me his last fight?'

[The host was chosen to carry the will of Second Officer Levi.]

'Me! Why? Did he know that I was here?'

[Yes.]

'He might have woken up when I was out.' Aiden was silent, 'Death must always be lonely. Well, soon enough, I'm going to know about it. All right, PADS, show me his last memory.'

[The host must use the stasis pod to complete the inheritance of the will.]

'The Stasis Pod? Does he have one of them here? 'Aiden was dumbfounded. And the system has confirmed it, 'Wow! As expected of a rich man.'

Of the eight who came to this mission, four were the primary operators. They were given the rank of officers not because of their level of magic, but because of their background. They're all somehow linked to the Federation.

Elijah was the illegitimate daughter of the director of Desert Base 3. Even then, her situation was hundreds of times better than anyone else's. It was the same with Alex, Lyla and Levi.

On the other hand, Asher, Sara, Owen and Aiden came from ordinary backgrounds. These secondary operatives are only backups for primary operatives.

'Maybe that's also why Alex decided to kill him without hesitation.' Whatever the reason might be, he had no intention of thinking about it. Right now, he had a different thought going through his mind.

'If I have a stasis pod, it won't be a problem to treat my injury.' Somewhere inside Aiden was relieved. 'Can you take me to the pod? Well, if you can, do it.'

The floor moved as soon as he ordered. A large compartment opened on the side, and the mechanical arms took out the pod. Soon, everything was assembled, and the part of the floor was aligned with the side of the pod.

[The host is requested to enter the pod.]

'You want me to move around? 'Aiden cursed. Even when the floor moved, it was too painful for him, and now ...

'Just do it one more time.' Aiden urged his body, held his breath and rolled over. If it wasn't painful for him to scream, he would have broken a few glasses.

The hatch closed on one of them, and the cold liquid wrapped his body. His consciousness faded slowly.

[Inheritance is about to begin ...]

'Wait a minute.' Aiden had yet to recover from the pain but was forced to respond. 'Can you heal my body, please?'

[Assessing the condition…]

[Status: Severely Wounded]

[Checking the serum…]

[Checking for solution…]

[Full recovery: 13 hours.]

'13 hours, Huh! "Aiden hesitated. He was in a situation where he couldn't dare to waste his time. 'Can't you do something faster than that?'

[Mana induced recovery: Estimated time: 5:32:13]

'That's a lot faster,' but looking at the name he frowned, 'What's the problem with it?'

[The host's lifetime will be reduced by 3 hours.]

'Do it. Start the recovery first.' Even if it takes 6 hours and with 3 hours of life lost, it's still better than 13 hours to recover.' The next moment his consciousness has been diluted again.

*Creee*

Even before Aiden opened his eyes, a bone-chilling, yet similar shriek greeted him. He stood in the dark forest, and the smallmouth at the end of the tongue of the vampire deer sent out piercing cries to him.

"Come on, if you want to kill me, then come on." Aiden felt he was screaming at the vampire deer. Just to make sure he turned around and there wasn't anybody behind him.

[The host will witness second-officer Levi's last memories. The host will feel no pain.]

Just as the notification came to an end, the deer charged him with another piercing cry.

"[Earth wall]."

The wall was not large, but the height was perfect. It was trying to move away, but it was moving too fast, and the beast was not expecting it. His thin leg crashed into the wall.

The wall had disappeared as soon as it had stumbled. And Levi cried out, "[Stone]."

'His combat perception is nothing to laugh at.' Aiden could not help but praise Levi with a heavy heart.

The last spell Levi had cast, made a stone out of thin air and crashed down on Deer's leg. It's a sharp cry that has confirmed its disability.

But Levi did not spare a glance at it, nor did he have a chance at it. A moment ago, he saw a black tiger or something that was charging him, but he had lost track of it.

'Shadow jaguar and fire spitter tapir!?' Aiden could also read the notification that Levi had received from his PADS-X.

[Stone Crush]. As soon as he shouted, Levi jumped back and swung his Conmet blade.

It passed through the thin air, but it gave rise to a fountain of blood. The slash wounded the shadow jaguar, which was only a few inches away. Even then, in a puff of black smoke, it vanished again.

'If that thing had chased me, I would have died a long time ago.' Aiden felt lucky for the first time. He turned to see that the tapir had been crushed under a giant boulder just as he had seen it before.

'To think that he was able to carry out his attack in such a precise way,' Aiden's mind was linked to Levi, so he was certain that Levi did not receive any assistance from the combat aid programme.

'And this Levi was beaten so easily by Alex.' He knew it was going to be tough, but…

While Aiden was thinking about the challenges he would face, a couple of thunderstorm badgers and a four-legged beast with multiple snake heads came to attack him.

"[Earth Needle]"

"[Quick sand]"

"A shadow on your right." Aiden couldn't help but shout. While Levi concentrated on attacking the beast at the front, a shadow rushed to him from the right.

It was only a shadow that moved towards Levi, a shadow without a body. It was only when it came close enough to attack, a jaguar emerged from the shadows.

Levi jumped back and slashed his blade. Halfway through the slash, Aiden felt that the form of Levi was wrong. Before he could understand why a good piece of meat had been bitten off his left side of the belly.

'There were two jaguars in here! 'There were a lot of things he wanted to ask, but then he heard that sound for the second time.

*Dong* Dong*

The entire forest plunged into suffocating darkness. For the second time, the pair of jaguars did not attack. The snake-heads that were struggling to get themselves out of the quicksand were now trying to hide their many heads.

The handicapped Vampire deer, who was dragging his useless body into the forest, slumped on the ground and pretended to be dead.

Levi felt that someone had touched his right hand. But even before his head could feel that something was wrong with his hand, it had gone numb.

Levi turned to be welcomed by a charred black hand with a black line trying to invade his chest. There was no burning sensation, no pain, but the connection to the hand was lost.

"Ahhhhhh!" Only when Levi screamed, Aiden turned to see what was in front of him. But there was nothing. Everything in front him was black and a pair of red rings stared at him.

'Is that the eyes of that thing?' Aiden wasn't sure about that. And Levi didn't have the strength to move his body as that thing stretched out its hand to touch his left cheek.

Everything in front of him had vanished, and Levi had lost consciousness. Only then did Aiden dare to breathe again. Even if it happened a long time ago, Aiden couldn't help but be scared.

Unlike Aiden, Levi was a mage of Western faith. Instead of creating a mana vessel in his abdomen, they used their hearts as a vessel to create what they call the 'Arcana heart.'

Although it is more difficult to cultivate the arcana heart, if the mage can cultivate it successfully, the mage will be able to use long-distance magic and may also be good at close combat at the same time.

Unlike Levi, Aiden was a mage of the Eastern faith, he can only use close-range attacks. And if it comes close to him, he's sure he's going to die.

'That thing is at the top of the food chain.' While Aiden was trying to find a way to counter it, the darkness evaporated.

"Don't think about it. No matter what you do, it was useless." Aiden was surprised to find Levi standing in a green meadow, a few meters away from him.

"As much as I know you, you're trying to find a way to counter it." Levi shook his head, "I can't activate or circulate the mana when I'm close to it. My [Earth Skin] was torn like a paper"

"And it's faster than the sound. So, as soon as you hear that damn bell, it's already too late."

'I've heard it once.' Aiden didn't believe his words, "How can you be so sure of that?"

Levi smiled but chose not to reply. "You're here, that means I'm dead and you're alive, so you're going to have my inheritance."

"Why me?" Aiden was curious. Two years ago, he met Levi when the final training for the mission had begun. However, he chose him as the inheritor.

Aiden felt that Levi's eyes were sad when he said, "Please forgive me, Aiden. I was forced."