12 A new beginning...

"Maybe she doesn't look like one, but she's a 'Mana King'." Looking at uninterested Aiden, Adi added, "She's a death elemental on top of that. Something very rare in this world, too."

"I'm sorry," said Aiden, surprising Adi. He didn't know how to respond, "Don't be like that. You don't have to make your decision..."

"I don't understand that. The totem, the imprint... " Aiden was curious about the way by which he could cultivate again.

"Totem is a contract for the soul. You, the one with the totem, can use the mana of totem origin. "Adi pointed to the devil," And she is the origin of the totem. The more she imprinted, the more mana she was able to gather. It'll be easier for her to become the 'Mana Emperor'."

"So the others are going to do the work for her? "Although Aiden wanted to use better words, he could find none.

"You can't cultivate mana from your mana heart or mana crystal. Yet, by cultivating her mana, you can make yourself stronger. "Adi pointed out the most important points.

He wanted to get stronger, who doesn't. However, Aiden was confused. The more Aiden thought about it, the more he felt that something was wrong. 'It's better not to accept than to pay the price after accepting it.'

Aiden shook his head, "I am sorry." He didn't even hesitate for a moment. He looked at his eyes and said, "I thank you again for saving me. But, I don't think I could accept her totem."

"It might be wrong for me to reject you after you saved me, but I don't want to get bound, "Aiden said those words loud and clear, without a hint of hesitation. And most of all, he said the truth, "I want to go back to my team. If I survive the mission, I want to go back home."

An angry outburst or more persuasion, nothing like Aiden had expected to happen. Adi was smiling when he looked at him. As if he understood the inner thoughts of Aiden.

"I want to leave this place." Aiden did not dare to hesitate after rejecting him.

"You're free to leave," Adi said, smiling. Soon a little wolf came with something like a green pumpkin-headed tree man on its back.

The wolf was made entirely of green vines, and the pumpkin-headed creature was wearing the armour of some unknown tree bark. He also carried a club made by tying a stone to a stick.

They bowed as soon as they appeared in front of Adi. Adi nodded, "Take this child to the south forest." They nodded, turning to Aiden, and signing him to follow them.

"South forest?" Aiden was not sure how the natives of the land named the place.

Adi's all-knowing smile was still there, "That is the place closer to your destination." He stopped for a moment, before adding, "boy, don't misunderstand me. I don't intend to force you. After all, that's your life."

"Take this."Adi gave Aiden a blade. It was a 40 cm single-edged blade with a handle slightly bent outward.

"It is a simple blade, you can find it in any human settlement." Adi said, "The path you're going to take won't be without blood."

Aiden was surprised by those words, yet again he smiled at Aiden, "The men of this land will recognize you as soon as they see your weapon. This, however, is something that the men of this land use."

"You want me to fight with them, huh?"

Adi smiled and shook his head. He said, "I want you to be prepared. And in that direction, there's someone you might want to save." And he put the blade on the hand of Aiden.

'Someone that I want to save?' Aiden didn't hesitate any longer, 'Compared to my life, how much more costly this blade could be?' But when he stepped forward to leave, someone stopped him from behind.

As soon as Aiden understood that her power could not affect him, Aiden's fear had died. Aiden tried to free his hand from her grip, only then did he realize that even if it had a child's body, it was still an 'A' graded monster.

Aiden turned to Adi for help. He smiled, but he did nothing. "Let me go, please," Aiden said. She shook her head to his surprise.

Aiden was dumbfounded, 'If you are an 'A' graded beast, then act like one. Why are you acting like a kid?'

"Looks like she is very fond of you." Adi acted like he was enjoying the show.

Looking at nonchalant Adi, Aiden turned to her, "Listen to me, you can come to me whenever you want. I will play with you."

'How am I supposed to play with the most dangerous monster with the death count of 300?' But, to his surprise, his words were effective. He could feel it, the grip loosened a little bit.

"As long as you don't show up when I am working or you don't hurt my Fri… my teammates. I will play with you." Looking at her, Aiden felt that her already bright eyes were shining. "So, let me go now." And she complied without wasting a moment.

'Somehow I have gotten myself a new sister.' Aiden shook his head and followed the already waiting green wolf rider.

As soon as Aiden had gone far enough, the devil had also vanished, intending to follow him. Adi stood alone, looking at the giant tree in the distance.

The wind rose a moment later. They began to gather the leaves and flowers that were scattered across the earth. It soon took the form of a woman.

"Master, should I kill him?" she asked.

Adi smiled at her, "Why is that?"

"He is the only child of a man who can defy the power of the princess."

"Do you think it was a joke when I said that if he tried to cultivate, he would die?"

"My king. I wouldn't dare," said the woman on her knees.

"Only if he could ingest the essence of... Let's not talk about the impossible. A weak child like him is not going to hinder our revenge. And he does..."

"But the prophecy…"

"Yes, the prophecy of the seer." Adi turned to look at the giant tree, "The man who can defy death will rule the land." Adi laughed for an unknown reason, "No man can defy death. I was the one who denied death for him. And I am the one who will rule the land."

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

Aiden, on the other hand, was following the wolf rider.

'ESS, what is the level of Adi?'

[Unable to identify. Not a mana beast.]

'Not a mana beast? Could it be because it's a tree?'

[System can identify flora.]

'What's the problem, then? What he did to my body is not something to laugh at.'

[There was no sign of life on his body.]

'Can this be some kind of golem? A puppet? 'The more he thought about it, the more curious he was. 'If it wasn't a living body, it would explain how he was able to touch the devil.'

[Does the host want to set up new data?]

'Do it. Put the tag of the species as the golem.'

[Name: Adi

Species: Golem

Grade: S (??)

Element: Unknown

Feature: Red crystal eyes, Human skeleton with vines and moss.

Comment: Golem with consciousness (?)]

[Does the host want to modify it?]

'No.' Aiden wasn't sure if it was a golem of not, but he felt that the system measured the grade correctly.

'If the golem is at the level of 'S', then who made it?' He was curious, however, he had no intention of wasting time on it. He asked, 'How many days have it been?'

[Looking at the position of the sun, it is the 17th day of the mission]

'17 days? So I was sleeping for 11 days. That was a lot.' As Aiden thought, the view in front of him changed again. The grey, colourless forest appeared before his eyes. But in the vicinity, there was no beast.

The bright place wasn't there any more as he turned back. There was a dark forest as long as he could see. 'Where did the forest go?'

[The concentration of Mana is too high. Unable to discern.]

'Can this be some sort of spell?' The more he thought about it, the more fearful he was. At that moment, the wolf rider stopped and pointed his finger to the direction.

"You want me to go in that direction, huh?" It nodded to his question and turned the wolf around to disappear into the darkness.

'What am I supposed to do now?' All of a sudden, Aiden was feeling empty. He never thought he was going to live to see another day.

All the struggles to resist death for one more day, the conflict that was bred by his idiocy and the death... All his past actions seemed to be a joke to him right now.

'Should I kill her as well?' No one was there to see the flash of intense hatred in his eyes as he clenched. But it vanished as soon as it had appeared.

A moment later he shook his head, "How many of them should I kill? Elijah, Asher, huh? Perhaps Lyla also knew about it. Then there's the director back on the planet and the federation..." Aiden sighed.

Aiden was trying to scream his heart out, but he couldn't. "I just want to go home, I just want to be with my..." he couldn't say. The pain, the grief, the guilt, and the happiness turned into tears.

The peace of the forest was destroyed by his painful howl. Aiden, on his knees, was like a little lamb for slaughter, but no one dared to disturb him.

Nobody knew how long it went, but when he stood up, his eyes were calm. As if he had undergone a complete transformation.