Chapter 281: Test him!

"[Orc] Young Master… w-what is that?" Roas asked, pushing his mind to its limits trying to find out more about the puzzling sight in front of them.

With the same calm demeanor he always had, he responded as he slowly approached the thin, invisible barrier.

"[Orc] It's a barrier, obviously. I'm guessing this is the last thing we need to cross before we could finally get to the staircase and walk up to the last level of this tower."

As he spoke, he reached towards the invisible energy. Just like before, Roas tried to call out to the young master, but unlike at the door, this time, Aiden didn't give him any chance to speak before his hands made contact with the barrier.

Immediately he felt stronger resistance where his hand felt the surface. It was as if he touched a gelatinous surface, his palm was rebounded, as a smaller circular wave spread out from the point of contact. 

"Interesting…" Aiden muttered, mostly to himself, a thin smile donning his expression as he continued to investigate the magical contraption.

Roas was stunned when he suddenly saw a stream of energy ripple across the previously invisible surface, reaching all four walls it was spread out. After a moment, however, as he came back to his senses, he scurried forward, looking at the young master with a worried expression.

"[Orc] Young master! Are you okay?!" He called out feeling perturbed. 

His concern, however, wasn't needed, as in the next moment, Roas saw the usual nonchalant, easy-going smile and relaxed expression on his young master's face. He was clearly unhurt, and from the looks of it, he probably has realized something as well.

"[Orc] Don't worry, it's not harmful. Actually, it's not even that strong… It's just… The energy feels familiar somehow… As if I have seen this before…" Aiden mused for a bit, before shaking his head slightly, turning back towards the barrier once more. "Anyway… Let me test out something."

He placed his palm on the gelatinous surface, pushing ever-so-gently against it. Feeling the resistance slowly build up and push back against his palm, Aiden's smile only increased. He began to gradually increase the pressure, watching carefully how the energy reacted. 

The reason he didn't use his full force right from the start, was that he wanted to find out more about the origin of the energy that built up this protective shield. There was a certain sense of familiarity that he just couldn't recognize where he felt it before.

His hand bent the invisible layer, causing a visible distortion as the transparent layer folded into itself.

Roas was watching the event, focused to jump in and pull his young master away with all his power in case of anything unfortunate would happen. If needed he wouldn't hesitate to throw away the baggage he was ordered to carry. Although he didn't show it, he didn't have a good impression of this silver-haired human so far…

Seeing how his palm was pushing inside the barrier yet he was still unable to pierce it, Aiden decided it was time to end this experiment. 

His eyes suddenly lit up from one blink to another as his [Draconic Heritage] innate was activated. At the same time, he also activated his [Mystic Martial Arts] and guided his already boiling [Soul Power] towards his right hand. 

In the next moment, his hands began to glow, radiating the same golden shine that was brimming from his eyes. Immediately, as his energy came in contact with the blockage, a thin, spiderweb crack appeared and began to spread out rapidly reaching all four ends of the barrier.

Aiden continued to exert even greater pressure, not giving any chance to the shield to recuperate. The cracks continued to spread, and growing larger, wider until finally the sound of cracking as if a piece of glass was being broken, rang out. Instantly, the resistance Aiden felt vanished, he no longer felt the energy that was there previously.

The same, calm and gentle smile not easing from his face, he deactivated both of his skills, causing the shining luster to fade from his eyes and hands. He had to spend another, a small portion of his power, but it wasn't anything meaningful. 

He lowered his arm, as he stepped forward, crossing the previously uncrossable hurdle in front of the wide-eyed and astonished Roas.

Turning around, he met his servant's gaze, as he called out to him in a cheeky tone.

"[Orc] What are you doing standing there? Come, we have to meet the bosses of this place! They have wasted more than enough of our time already!"

Pulled back from his daze, Roas stepped forward, following his young master. He did, however, remain careful as he stepped over the area where the barrier stood just a moment ago…

---

At an unknown place, in the dark room the thin-looking figure chuckled with amazement at the sight he just witnessed. In front of him, floating just above a wooden desk, an opaque image was showing, closely following the figures of Aiden and Roas as they began their final ascent to the top of the tower.

"He is indeed special. To be able to break Dominus' barrier with such ease! Hahaha! Interesting! Marvelous!" The figure was quite elated, not really worried about the fact that one of his servant's spells was broken just like that. He didn't really care about the Puppetmaster. 

No, his interest was gradually increased, reaching higher and higher altitudes towards this long, black-haired boy. 

As he was enjoying the moment, the air suddenly began to buzz. The dark essences, particles in the air began to activate, as the black gate appeared. His most faithful servant, the robust, bulky creature stepped out of it. He stepped forward, stopping in front of his Master's desk. As he stepped into the thin, obscure light that managed to sneak in a faint pillar of scarlet-light in the room, it became apparent that unlike when he left, he was now covered in bloodstains all over his body. 

However, there were no wounds anywhere on his chest, the dark leather armor that somehow managed to contain his thick muscles, had no scratches. The silver medallion hanging on his neck however was brimming with an eerie red light. 

Arriving in front of the master's desk, he bowed deeply and spoke with a neutral but respectful tone, whilst keeping his gaze plastered on the ground.

"Master, I have completed the task you gave me."

The thin man did not even raise his gaze, he kept it on the screen, showing the image of Aiden and Roas stepping on the staircase and slowly, carefully approaching the top floor.

"Hmm. That's fine, we don't need these pigs anymore." He spoke not bothered by the gruesome task his servant had just completed. 

Feeling that the time that passed since his servant's departure and arrival was too short to accomplish everything without alerting the ones, he wished to keep unaware, he raised his head, averting his eyes from the screen.

"Did you clean up the camp as well?"

Hearing the question, the bulky figure flinched for a moment, before responding with an apologetic tone.

"No Master. I… forgot." 

Saying that he stood up and turned around to walk back cross through the portal.

Before he could do so, the portal suddenly vanished. His Master's words came the next moment.

"Don't bother. It's fine actually. It's fine. This way, we can check what the boy will do, how will he react… That's good in itself as well."

The creature faced his master once again and bowed respectfully.

"Master, would you like me to test the boy?"

"No-... Wait…" The thin figure wanted to dismiss his servant's proposal, but, as he thought about it more, it would indeed provide him with the most data, while the risks would be kept relatively low. The only problem would be if that decrepit old monster would be watching, but even if that's the case, he could still bring him back. After all, the tower was his domain, even with that monster's power he was fairly certain everything would be okay in the end.

Thinking about it for a brief moment, he convinced himself that the idea was sound. He nodded, as he changed his wording.

"You know what? Go, and test him. Make sure to not overdo it, we both know how heated you can get when an interesting opponent comes, and the boy… Well, if my hunch is right, he will be very, very special…"

Taking a quick glance at the screen to check where the group was currently, the thin, shadowy figure flicked his right hand. In the next moment, another dark portal emerged from thin air, behind the dark brown creature. 

"Do not kill him, but make sure he has to go all out. I will be watching you, so don't disappoint me!" 

The figure's face flinched for the first time, showing a tinge of fear upon his master's words. In the next moment, however, the emotion quickly vanished as his look returned to his usual emotionless, stoic state.

"Rest assured I will not fail your expectations, Master!" He spoke, before turning around and stepping through the portal.