46 The Fallen Foe, the Lost Love III

Dale Loray. Lya remembered him. How could she not?

She remembered the very day Alexei met him as a child, soaked in his own blood on a street. His brown eyes were dim and his brown hair was a dirty mess. His clothes were in tatters and barely covered his malnourished body.

Alexei's green eyes had a strange magnetism to them, a unique charm. When he looked at the child with a curious gaze, fate had already been decided. Alexei extended a clean hand to the boy as he smiled.

"Do you know anything about swords?" Alexei asked in a carefree tone, as if the boy was not in the miserable situation Lya could see. Just like that, Alexei got a disciple. Lya never knew why he chose Dale, nor did she know how he managed to see the abnormal potential that broken kid had.

Under Alexei's guidance, Dale proved to be incredibly talented. He grasped all of the concepts Alexei passed to him with ease, and was incredibly eager to learn. Like a sponge, he absorbed all of the knowledge Alexei poured on him.

He also showed incredible will power, and his strength soared the very moment he started cultivating his soul. Dale's life changed completely in nothing but a few days. He was no longer a nobody left to die on the streets; he was the only disciple of the great Alexei Vine.

His prowess with a sword increased at a crazy speed, and he showed an incredibly cunning mind when needed. His path to brilliance was set, except for one fatal flaw. He was extremely dependent on the man that saved his life.

To Dale, Alexei was a God. An untouchable existence that he could never reach. Dale did not cultivate to himself. He cultivate because he wanted to make Alexei proud. He wanted to prove day after day to Alexei that he had worth. Dale always feared being alone, being left behind.

Lya could not imagine what changes he had gone through after Alexei died. She actually thought that he would have certainly died in the war. There was no way Arthur would leave a threat like him alone, especially after Arthur himself had killed Alexei.

"How… Why…" Lya couldn't properly form the words she wanted to say.

"Even gravely injured, he managed to kill Geralt Borgin and Lara Riven." Nemeus said with an enraged voice. "He slipped through our fingers, and disappeared."

"How did he kill Arthur?" Even if Nemeus was personally telling Lya all of that, she couldn't quite believe it. She knew it was true, but a part of her refused to accept it.

"I am not sure." Nemeus shook his head. "One day, Master received a message."

"He said nothing about it, but I never saw him so pale in my life. Master was scared, Lya." Nemeus had a frustrated expression. He hadn't been able to help Arthur Royce in a situation grave enough to make him scared.

What could make Arthur Royce scared? He didn't even flinch when he faced a war. He didn't run away from a fight to the death with Alexei. Yet, Nemeus had no idea of what Arthur would be afraid of.

"He looked at me and said that he would leave the control of the Abyss Sect to me. He appointed his personal disciple as new Sect Master and left without a word." Nemeus could barely speak, as his voice turned more and more like a growl. "The very next day… I could feel his soul being extinguished."

Nemeus and Arthur Royce shared an unbreakable bond. Nemeus was born from a piece of Arthur's soul, so they could feel each other to a certain extent. It was like a bridge that connected them.

"How do you know it was him?" Lya couldn't help but ask.

"I have no proof at all." Nemeus smiled bitterly. "But I don't think anyone else had the potential to surpass Arthur in strength, neither the cunning to apparently get hold of a weakness of his. And everyone that had a reason to kill Arthur was long dead, except for him."

Lya stood in silence as she heard his words. She had a deep frown in her face as she pondered deeply. If Dale was indeed alive… He would either be seeking vengeance or trying to finish what Alexei started.

Either way, it was an incredible dangerous situation. Lya couldn't help but shudder. She shook her head, trying to clear her thoughts. Such matters would better be left for later.

"I have something else to ask about." She looked at Nemeus with a piercing gaze. "Is Amon a descendant of Grant Skoller?"

Grant Skoller, a legendary cultivator that had sided with Arthur Royce in the War of Falling Leaves. Unfortunately, he had fallen in battle. Alexei himself had finished him off.

"Yes." Nemeus nodded, giving a sneer. "Ironic don't you think?"

Lya ignored his comments and asked another question. "Did his father try to awaken his bloodline?"

Grant Skoller had been nothing but an orphaned vagrant cultivator in his youth. He was untalented and had no prospects for life, but had a good heart. No one knows how or why, but somehow he received the blessing of the Suneater Wolf, Skoll. Grant's eyes turned golden, his hair turned silver and his body became incredibly strong. He also received an almost innate understanding of the Natural Laws of Fire.

From an unknown cultivator, he became a dazzling figure. As a gesture of gratitude to Skoll, Grant adopted the Skoller surname, leaving his old one behind.

"Apparently so." Nemeus nodded, but soon sighed. "However, the effects seen to be no more than aesthetic."

The only explanation for the physical changes Amon had experienced five years ago was that Lloyd Kressler had, through unknown means, managed to partially awaken his son's bloodline. However, his son's talent didn't increase, and the only effects were changes in his hair and eyes.

"No, his body has changed considerably." Lya shook her head as she heard Nemeu''s words. She had an inkling of suspicion when Amon completed his first round of tempering, as time passed, her suspicions grew into certainty.

"Oh?" Nemeus raised a brow, showing some interest.

"That boy is in what could be considered the middle stages of Body Tempering, as his physical strength is five times greater than after his first round of tempering." Lya said with a wry smile on her face. "The problem is, his cells aren't reaching the point of saturation at all."

She refrained from mentioning that his aura was also the reason why so many wolf spirit beasts had been leaving their territory to wander close to the Outer Sect. For them, Amon's aura was like a beacon of light in the dark. It made most of them feel threatened, but the stronger spirit beasts would see him as an opportunity.

His bloodline, that had the blessing of the Suneater Wolf, a Godbeast, would probably help them grow stronger if he was consumed.

"So his limit is above that of a normal human…" Nemeus' interest seemed to fade away as he thought. He eventually shook his massive shoulders. "That will give him a powerful body, but nothing more."

Then, he looked at Lya as his eyes blazed with a savage light. He smiled like a beast again, and his aura turned cold. "I doubt you came to meet me just for that."

Lya could have gotten mad at how he manipulated the lots of the Promotion Competition, and she might have wanted some answers, but Nemeus knew this was far from enough to convince her to finally talk to him. Not only that, she had already brought up that Nemeus owed her.

"I need a favor from you." Lya said as her brows furrowed and her expression hardened.

"What do you want?" Nemeus asked as he squinted his eyes.

"I want Amon Skoller to be allowed into the Hellblaze Secret World."