Chapter 289: Answers

"Greetings, kid. It's a pleasure to finally meet you face to face. I have to say… I didn't expect you to not just defeat my servant, but also absorb him. Pardon my abruptness, but I have to ask… Tell me, boy, are you an Ancient?"

The shadowy figure's voice carried no hint of malice at all, all emotions he or (maybe she?) may have had been perfectly masked.

No matter how hard he tried, Aiden couldn't make anything out from this being, this enigmatic existence in front of him. Not to mention that there seemed to be quite eerier to see him covered in constant darkness as if his mere presence would force the light to retreat, shrouding him in an aura of an eternal void. This caused him to not be completely sure how to handle the situation. He had no time to process the memories of Murus, but from their brief discussion, he was fairly certain that this was the 'Master' he was talking about.

"Ancient? What is that?" After a brief deliberation, Aiden responded to the thin figure's question with his own. He had a forced calmness in his tone, his posture was rigid. He was ready to jump into action at the first sign of trouble.

"Hehehe how interesting…" The thin figure chuckled at the boy's response. "Judging from just looking at you, I am not certain if you are just pretending or you really are so ignorant. Regardless…" He flicked his right hand. 

Upon this simplistic movement, two wooden chairs materialized from thin air, one behind him and another one behind Aiden. He sat down on his own, crossed his legs with a blithe disposition. 

"Sit. It will take quite a while if I would need to give you a lecture about the history of this world." He signaled for the boy to follow suit, waiting in silence until he acquiesced.

Aiden struggled with what to do for a while. He felt no malice, no harmful intent coming from this figure, however, he couldn't feel anything positive either. In terms of his sensing capabilities, the figure in front of him was a complete mystery. His system couldn't even correctly categorize it, giving him the neutral yellow color in the end. 

Still, even without any sort of presence, any aura, there was an eerie, ominous feel that caused Aiden to uncontrollably shiver, his heart palpitated at a faster pace whenever he looked at him. He didn't know why, but all his senses warned him to be extremely wary of this unnatural being.

In the end, he decided to follow along. He had a feeling that if he wanted to, he could snuff the life out of Aiden with a snap of his fingers. He had to be so incredibly, monstrously powerful for the system to be unable to analyze him even the slightest, after all…

"Just, who are you?" He muttered a question as he took his seat in front of this being.

Hearing the question, the shadowy, thin figure gave a hearty chuckle before calming down and responding in a cheerful manner.

"Well, that is the question of the moment, is it?" He spoke, letting out another light-hearted chuckle, before continuing. "Let's keep that a secret for now. Since you already have my servant's memories, you will get a few glimpses sooner or later, especially as you mature… if you are truly what I think you are, that is. But if you are, you will know and understand more in time." He answered, waving with his right hand, shrugging the matter entirely. 

"Anyway, when the time comes that you can unlock and comprehend the memories you gained we will talk in more detail about those matters. For now, let's talk about the history of this world."

He leaned back on his chair, with the flick of his fingers, a window appeared, floating steadily between the two of them. It showed the still image of strange pearl-skinned figures tending to everyday life in what seemed to be a village. Judging by the linen cloth attire they seemed to be average villagers. From a first glance, you could even mistake them as humans, which would then beg the question: Why would this shadowy figure show this still image? What would be the point?

Knowing this Aiden focused on the figures, only to yelp in surprise a moment later. They were too perfect for the average farmer or villager! Their pearl-white unblemished skin was too clean, too bright too beautiful to be with. However, what stunned him the most, that he didn't notice at first glance was their slightly different shaped, oval, reptilian eyes. 

As he continued to focus on the figures on the image, he suddenly felt his heart thump violently as it ached. As if the image caused some memories etched deep inside him, slowly resurface. He didn't know why, but he felt some strange familiarity with these figures, with this image. He felt a tumultuous mixture of emotions rising inside him… Most he couldn't even explain, but he was very familiar with one of the most obvious, most powerful: Pain. Loss.

Unbeknownst to him, tears began to swell in his eyes, threatening to escape through the far corners.

"W-what is this?! Who are these people!" 

The figure was carefully observing Aiden's reactions. Seeing how emotional he got from this still image, he hummed before he responded a moment later with a much warmer, kinder tone.

"No definite name has been left about them. Many, many years, millennia ago, there was once a now-extinct race of strange and incredibly powerful creatures walking these lands. They were relatively peaceful, mostly living by themselves in their hidden territories. Despite their potential they didn't strive to dominate and control the other just emerging intelligent life forms, similar to the elves of nowadays, they preferred secluding themselves... " His thoughts seemed to trail off as if reminiscing about something. His voice turned slightly melancholic, eventually fading.

A few seconds later, however, he shook his head, coming back to reality. He continued after a forced cough.

"Khm! Anyway, what I wanted to talk about was their special racial traits. Similar to you, they had a very special power. Just like you, they could also absorb other life forms and merge their traits into their own, enriching themselves in the process." 

His words shocked Aiden to his very core. He could barely keep himself still, his eyes were already wide-open as he intently focused on the figure's tale. What were these figures on the image he was shown? Were they true primals of an old, almost forgotten age? Are they his ancestors, his family? However, if that is the case, how is he here, in this time and age, if his last known brethren had supposedly died thousands of years ago?

"What happened to them?" With slightly trembling lips, Aiden formed a question, he was already afraid of hearing the answer to. Still, he knew he had to hear it, he had to confirm his suspicion.

The figure sighed before he responded with a nod.

"Just as you think, boy. They have all vanished with no trace left behind them. There are no definite records of what happened, but the theories are that they probably died. Not sure what sort of a disaster had befallen on them, but the fact is that they have completely vanished, without any trace, anything to leave to the world."

Died. They have died? How?! If they were that powerful, what could have caused such a disaster to them? No… that was not possible, there had to be something else, something more to this mystery.

Aiden clenched his fists as his mind raced on trying to process the turbulent information he was given. His emotion started to spiral out of control, his eyes began to flare up, glow in a golden luster. A new, previously unknown aura erupted from within him, vaguely similar in terms to the one he received with his Primal Goblin Dragonlord form, but it was also slightly different. Other than the traits of that one, it also carried the thickness and power of his draconic one. It was as if this new, previously unseen energy was a mixture of both.

The air around his sitting figured trembled, slightly distorting the space itself, causing visual distortions. 

"No…" He growled with an unknown, deep, seething anger behind his tone. "They are not dead. They can't be dead. That…." He couldn't continue as suddenly the air around him froze and began to calm down. The visual distortions dissipated, his own aura seemed to vanish. As if it was forcibly removed, he felt his mind and his emotions cool down.

As he looked at the shadowy figure again, he saw his extended right palm. A thin layer of golden energy wrapped around his dark, shadowy tendrils, as it was pointed at him.

What shocked Aiden was not the familiar-looking golden shine or the fact that the shadow that hid him seemed to be a sentient, separate entity. No. What shocked him once again, was the feeling, that he felt when he was bombarded with the figure's energy.

It was familiar… it was too familiar!