"So, if you are ready, should I call Khole out, or would you rather prefer to step into his space? But before you do, I must tell you to be careful and…why do I even bother at this
point when I know that you are going to ignore me?"
Yohan could hear it in Sid's voice that he had given up on anything related to Yohan. And there was a pretty good reason for this.
After all, how could you think to reason with a guy who was ready to touch acid with his bare hand to know its potency? Yohan was mad and that was the truth of the matter. There was no other way to categorize his thinking pattern as rational.
Not that Yohan was paying attention to Sid to take offense to anything he thought. He had other matters to think about. And first of all, was the rancid smell that was starting to envelop him as he went deeper and deeper into the base.
It was urgent enough to even make Yohan, who had smelled the foulest smells there were out there, take a step back.
"Hey man, are you alright? Why did you suddenly take a step back all of a sudden?"
Sid, who had caught up to him, looked at him all confused. He seemed not to be able to smell anything when he walked into the hallway. It convinced Yohan that he might be the only one who was able to smell this repulsive smell.
'Is this because of my demon anatomy? Does that even make sense when there are no demons in this world?'
The deeper Yohan walked into the base, the more curious he found himself to be. There was no doubt in his mind that Khole was a genius. If had managed to create something that even Yohan was impressed by.
"So, this is the door. I would advise you to brace yourself for what you are about to see and-"
"Yohan, you are here. KHOLE, HE IS HERE."
All the suspense Sid had been trying to build up evaporated all of a sudden as soon as Trisha opened the door. The foul smell just increased in potency and Yohan had to hold his nose to not smell it anymore.
That small action did not go unnoticed by Sid but he chose not to involve himself any further.
"I'll leave you be from here on out. Call me when you have decided what to do with professor Khole."
It was only now that Sid was in front of this door did he show the barest of respect for Khole. And it was all to let Khole know that he was not badmouthing him.
But even Trisha could see through Sid's intentions and that caused the man to turn red and quickly flee from the scene.
"So, are you going to show me the way in, Trisha? Are you enjoying spending time with your new teacher?"
Yohan asked as he forgot all about Sid. He was more interested in what kind of man Khole was. He was someone that Liza had been obsessed with for so long so it should be worth checking out.
"Ah, the professor? He's a great man and he also gives me a lot of sweets. He can be a little weird at times when he mumbles to himself about his goals of creating another 'chaos core' or whatever it is. But he's super chill most of the time and also-"
Trisha was in the middle of her rambling when she was picked up by a strong hand. Even Yohan had to look up to see that unfriendly face that likely belonged to Khole.
Green hair and green eyes framed an impressive dark face that bordered on a chocolate complexion. Khole looked like a professional body-builder who was still active and he also looked capable of tearing Yohan into shreds if he wanted to.
"Trisha, stop babbling around like this and sit down. We still need to observe since you took the medicine. And this person is?"
From the way this man talked, there was no doubt in Yohan's mind that this was Khole, Liza's brother. They both looked nothing alike and Yohan would have doubted that they were even related if not for his system.
But this man was different from everyone else Yohan had met in the past. His aura reminded Yohan of one person in the past who had been diligent. This person had the same aura as Zane.
'Looks like a worthy investment to me.'
Yohan often listened to his instincts since they hardly ever led him astray. And currently, they were telling him that this person would be his best ally in this world. He would the knight who would lead Yohan to victory.
"It's nice to meet you, Khole. I have a feeling that we both would be able to benefit each other a lot."
Khole looked at Yohan's hand and gears shifted inside his mind. Unlike Zane who had approached him with clear intentions at the start, Khole looked a little uninterested in Yohan and everything he stood for.
Still, the spark of interest in his eyes was the same as before and that was what solidified Yohan's intention of dragging Khole into his world.
"It's nice to meet you as well. But you are kind of disturbing my experiment here so I would like you to stay away."
Khole's uninterested voice spoke slowly but Yohan could feel that his worth was being measured right now.
"Oh, and does this have anything to do with the weird smell in this place? It reeks so badly and- woahh, calm down soldier."
Yohan had expected to be attacked right now. That was why he was able to dodge the attack rather gracefully and also stare Khole back in the eye with a spark.
Khole's eyes were hidden by his hair but he was glaring right back. The spark of curiosity was finally being ignited in his eyes and Yohan was sure that this man was finally ready to listen to him now.
"You can smell this odor? Even though it is meant to be hidden and non-detectable by human senses? Who are you and what do you want from me?"
Khole was finally starting to catch on to Yohan's words. This, more than anything, assured Yohan that he was a capable person. A little hint had been enough to get him to not only take action but also break down Yohan's words.
The more Yohan saw this man, the more he was convinced that he wanted this man on his side.
"So you were able to avoid my attack? Impressive for a non-human. Tell me, are you a specie of monster that evolved to gain human intelligence? Or, are you an alien who is here to learn more about humanity? Well, whatever the reason you are here, it doesn't matter. In the end, I will tear you down and find out the truth for myself."
Yohan found it difficult to fight against the flow of magic since everything was working against him now. But he was not as worried as he should have been for some reason.
He had a feeling that Khole was not trying too hard right now. He was trying to preserve Yohan for some other thing and it was what Yohan would take advantage of.
"You know, it is rude to call me an alien or another life form. I am a devil but I'm also part human. What, are you interested all of a sudden?"
As soon as Yohan had let his origins be known, he had seen Khole take a pause. A devil was not something people of this world knew well. And that was what Yohan was taking advantage of.
He would make Khole interested in studying him and they would both make use of each other this way.
"Huh, the devil? I have to say that this is the first time I heard about something like that. But I do believe that you are not lying. In that case, I want to see more of you."
Khole was interested in him, alright? But before he could attack Yohan for real, someone bravely decided that she intended to interfere. Trisha stood in front of Khole with her arms out to defend Yohan.
"Brother Khole, stop it. Hurting other people will never have a nice outcome. I-If you want someone to help you out, then you gotta use your words."
It was really brave if Trisha intervened in their small match like this. And Yohan would have said that she was really brave as well, if not for a small fact. Trisha would not be able to survive for long if she continued to trigger Khole like this.
Just because this man had not killed her yet did not mean that he was not capable of doing just that in a matter of seconds.
"Oi, test subject. I told you not to get in my way if you want to live, right? Do you want to die?"
Trisha gulped her nervousness down as she faced Khole down. This man was scary for sure but Trisha did not fear death by his hand. Not when she knew she was useful to him. So she stood her ground.