Chapter 354: Ancients

As the light slowly dissipated the figure of Aiden was revealed to everyone in the room. He jumped between the two ladies, and let the full power of his aura be released in the room. 

An incredibly heavy, mighty pressure descended following the golden light show, putting pressure on everyone in the room. The air crackled as golden sparks appeared for a fraction of a second before fading almost instantly. 

The pressure was so heavy that even the walls, despite their sturdiness, began to crack under it. The window was long gone, blasted away to pieces at the moment Aiden released his own power, and let his aura unfold completely. 

Strangely, even though he put the pressure on both the Mistress and Number 3, none of them showed any signs of the weight, they simply stood still, looking at the boy with a keen interest in their eyes. None of them seemed offended, but simply interested.

At the side, Granny was smiling warmly at the boy, feeling delighted and almost emotional as he looked at his mighty figure. 

Although it may have looked more, barely a couple of seconds had passed, before Aiden's thunderous, deep voice rumbled in the room.

"Enough! Stop it you two! We have much more important things to discuss!" 

He then turned to look at his Master first with his brightly glowing golden eyes.

"Master, I don't know what happened, and what hurts you so much, but this is not the time to act like this. I need your help, please help me."

Then before she could react in any way, Aiden turned to look at the Mistress.

"And you, Masked Mistress, Sara's mother, Lady Roxx… please try to stay focused. You were asked here to assist us with an issue. If you can help us… no, if you can help me, I will definitely owe you one favor."

With that, he lowered his hands and sighed. At the same time, the pressure in the room magically vanished, the strange, ancient aura that everyone could feel was gone just as abruptly as it appeared. The glow in Aiden's eyes also faded, returning to their 'normal' state.

A few seconds have passed once again in silence before Number 3 and the Mistress sighed almost at the same time. 

"Yes… I… You are right Aiden, I got carried away, I apologize." Number 3 was the first to react and break the silence. She walked over to Aiden, placing her hand over his shoulder. "I should have acted with a bit more… grace. It's just…" She turned to look at her twin sister once again, this time without any hostility, shaking his head. "…not easy. She is… No... We-"

"We share a difficult history together, that is all." Finishing her sister's words, the Mistress stepped closer to the two, lightly touching the boy's only free shoulder as well. "Let's just say, we made some mistakes in the past, that we are still trying to get over with."

From the suddenly tightened grip, Aiden could feel the rising anger in his Master. Although he was very interested in their shared history, he quickly changed the topic, leaving their weird embrace and walking closer to Lily and Sara at the table.

"Anyway, we call came here to talk about something else." He looked at Master, waiting for him to continue.

"Yes." Number 3 coughed, also stepping closer to Sara's desk. "I did ask all of you here. However, before we get into anything… Aiden, I will need you to explain to us everything in full honesty. Start from the mission that this one here gave you and her daughter."

Her words, caused Sara to look with wide eyes and an aghast expression once more at the strange lady that keenly resembled her mother. Just who was she? Her Aunt? Just what was her family history?

"Miss…" She wanted to ask but was turned silent a moment later as her own mother turned to look at her and began to speak.

"I will tell you about her some other time, Sara. For now, let's leave it be, okay? For now, let's listen to Aiden's report once again."

Taking a moment to calm himself, Aiden coughed, before giving a quick look at Sara as he began to recount the same story he gave to the Mistress just a day ago.

Just like then, he went through everything besides the moments related to his own origin and his followers. The only one that he mentioned was Galina, who was still deep in her own mediation back at the inn.

In the end, several hours have passed by once again as he recounted his tale, eventually reaching the point where they got back to the city.

As he finally finished talking, another session of silence ensued in the room. Number 3 was deep in thought, thinking about everything he told so far before he turned towards the calm and relaxed-looking Granny at the corner.

"What do you think?" She asked suddenly, looking at her with thoughtful eyes.

Granny smiled at the question, before shaking her head.

"Not yet." Then she turned towards Aiden and asked with the usual gentle smile donning her wrinkled face.

"Dearie, please continue. What happened after then? I can tell that you met some misfortune. Let us know, so we can help."

For the first time, Aiden flinched at Granny's question.

He took a few moments before he nodded and resumed telling his experience from the last day all the way to this morning when he learned about his first friend's sudden disappearance and the Academy's involvement. He also explained the connection between Drake and Scarlet's missing brother that should also be held somewhere inside. 

All the way, neither of the three adults, Granny, Mistress, or Number 3 have shown any expression on their faces. 

Once he finally finished recounting everything and bringing them up to speed, Granny nodded and smiled.

"I see. So now, you want to find a way to get your friend and the missing brother back?"

"Yes, Granny. Even if it means attacking that place, I would be willing to do it. Cole had suffered enough already, this fate that he suffers now… I can't stand it." 

Thinking about all that he might be going through as they were speaking, Aiden once again felt the need to charge out. He felt that every minute spent here was wasted and could have been used to save his poor friend.

Granny didn't speak anymore, but turned towards the Mistress and nodded at her as if allowing her to speak.

Sure enough, although it looked weird, the Mistress gave a slight nod back to her before turning towards Aiden and spoke with a much more sterner expression on her face.

"Aiden, do you know the powers behind the Academy?" She asked, not waiting for him to answer, and continued on. "The academy is somewhat similar to the Guild, at least in terms of how they operate."

"The Academy is an organization similar to them, having many branches in many countries, not just in this small kingdom. Also, while the Royal Academy in the capital is the main one, it has its tendrils spread all throughout the other cities. However, the main concern isn't their widespreadedness." Number 3 added, continuing her sister's words.

"What you need to understand is that their power is incomparable to the Adventurer's, the Mercenaries', or even any other guild in this continent." The Mistress added, going further. "Not even the countries can compare to their might. They are after all the collection of the mightiest spellcasters of this world."

"I don't care. They will still die the same way as any other…" Aiden frowned, as he was about to blurt out 'human' but in the end, stopped himself. "…anyone else. I will go and save my friend no matter what you say. Even if you shun me, Master, I will not leave my friend behind."

"Hehe…" Suddenly a chuckle brought everyone's attention behind them. Granny stood up from her seat, slowly walked over, and joined their conversation. "Dearie, I can feel the pride of your Draconic Self."

"Wha-" Seeing the boy's flabbergasted reaction, Granny chuckled once again, waving her hand dismissively. "You don't need to be that scared, Dearie, everyone here is already aware that you are not an average little boy."

She said looking at Sara and the Mistress for a moment before giving a warm smile to the boy. 

"Believe me, I know your plight. I can understand your need to rush there." 

She patted the boy's shoulders, as her face returned to the previous calmness. 

"However, before you charge in, you should listen to those two. They are warning you, knowing your limits. The Academy is an organization that far surpasses what you know about this world."

Seeing the boy's conflicted look, Number 3 took the moment to resume and speak up once again. 

"Aiden, I'm sure you think that you are stronger than any human, and you might not be wrong about that…"

"However, those that sit at the top, those that have use of these boys and turn them into their puppets… are monsters…" The Mistress added, finishing the thought.

Before the boy could ask, Granny smiled at him once again, before speaking up and causing him to freeze up as she voiced her question.

"Dearie, do you know anything about the 'Forbidden History of the Ancients?'"