"Is he the intruder the system is referring to?"

Standing over the unconscious body of Drake at the main entrance, Aiden mumbled. Finished with what he had to do in the altar room, he quickly made his way back to the very first mostly natural-made cavern entrance. That was when thanks to his enhanced eyesight he spotted a familiar body lying on the cold cavern floor at the entrance.

Besides being drained dry of his internal energies, he was fine.

"This guy…" He sighed, grabbing his temple. This human, this prince was such a hassle to deal with. While he was brave and had a good heart, he was just as equally stupid. Without thinking he charged in, despite being warned.

On top of that, he had to feel the strange qualities of the air here, he had to feel his own strength draining. Then why did he push in so recklessly? What was he thinking?

"You idiot, you have your sister to care about and your two brothers to find! How can one man be this stupid?" He shook his head, as he crouched down to take a closer look at him.

He wasn't sure how he would react if he were to inject a sliver of his own [Soul Power] into a human's body. They were different than most of the creatures, they had no Cores, their method of gathering energy and growing stronger was unique.

After all, the very same energy was all around in the air, in fact, that was the very reason for him fainting. Still, despite that, his energy was of a higher tier, it should be capable of enhancing others. When with others it would initiate an evolution meaning it would be the catalyst, then in the case of humans it should help them grow stronger.

Or if used in small quantities, it could be a special healing salve…

'Well… Should I try?' He lamented. He wanted to test his theory, but on the other hand, would it be alright to potentially risk this man's life? Sure, he was annoying as a fly, he was overconfident, didn't understand the difference in strength, but at the same time, he was one of the few in his species that wasn't tainted, he had a pure heart.

In the end, he sighed and pulled his hand back. He couldn't do it, he SHOULDN'T do it. At least not on one of the few pure ones. He had many other chances to test it on the other, regular, darker ones. They were aplenty after all.

In the end, he picked up Drake, throwing him over his right shoulder, like a sack of potato, and stood back up.

He glanced to the side, towards the second route he did not explore yet. Originally he planned to investigate that path once finishing his business with the altar, but with Drake here, and the mission timer rapidly approaching its end, he had to make haste and go back to the surface. He had to abandon the thought.

He frowned, taking one last look at the missed opportunity, and stepped out of the cave, back to the long, arduous journey that he had to cross with haste if he wanted to complete the quest and at least for the time being, be free.

As the source of the pollution in the air, the Golden Egg has vanished, the air was gradually clearing, causing Aiden's passive regeneration to slow down. Glancing over at the system, he was barely over 200 points of [Soul Power]. A sliver of his reserves. Still, it should be enough to enhance his speed by empowering his legs with [Mystic Martial Arts] and make the hour-long journey in a quarter of the required time.

Taking a deep breather, he activated his innate ability, guiding the small, regenerated pool of his precious energy towards his legs causing a faint, colorless hue to shine through his linen trousers.

Flexing his calf, he planted his feet to a more stable position on the ground, only to abruptly bolt forward in the next second, effectively vanishing from sight. His blurry figure whooshed through the straight ascending tunnel towards the distance, the source of light, the exit.

---

"Young Master! You are finally back!" An excited, guttural voice boomed across the ground level of the Tower. Roas, being the closest to Aiden, was the first to feel his presence, and spotted his rushing figure in the distance.

The rest of his group, the evolved trio of ex-goblins were also waving in his direction with excitement shining in their eyes. Gob and Glohn were at the frontline together with the towering Roas whilst Galina stood a step behind them, hiding behind their backs with a shy look and pink-tinted cheeks.

Feeling their magical connection being re-established with him, was a cause of great relief for all of them. Although they had deep, unwavering trust in their Young Master, it was still very hard on their hearts and mind to not be able to ascertain his state of health and location at all.

As his lean, dark green figure emerged from the dark depths and stepped through the wooden door back to the hallway, the four couldn't hold back anymore and threw themselves on him, holding him in a big group hug.

"Guys, okay, relax! I am alright! Let me breathe!" Aiden exclaimed, trying to free himself and his 'package' from his minions' grasp, futilely.

"Young Master! What happened?! Are you okay? Did you…" Roas began his first bombardment of questions but turned silent as his worried expression was replaced with a frown when he spotted the annoying human boy's unconscious body hanging over his master's shoulder.

However, a moment later, he was already reaching for it, to remove the burden from him and threw the sack of problems over his own broad shoulders.

"Young Master, I will carry this… your friend. Don't trouble yourself!" He exclaimed after the deed, causing a slight frown to flash through Glohn's face, seeing that once again, the giant was eager to put a leg ahead of him.

He had to show that he was just as worthy if not even better than that giant loaf of meat! He had to prove that he was also worthy of being the first in the young master's eyes. Their order shouldn't be decided by order of 'arrival', but by their devotion!

He coughed, gaining the young master's and all the other's attention, he asked with a curious gaze.

"Young Master, what is the next step? If we are finished here, we should leave the orc camp!" He clenched his fists as he continued. "Please leave the matter of detailing with this rabble to us! Let us prove us, Young Master!"

His excitement caused a gentle smile to emerge on Aiden's tired face. Without debating much, he nodded, agreeing with Glohn's words.

"Sure. I would like that." He said, with a weary tone. Rushing through the tunnel with an enhanced tempo, drained almost all of his remaining strength. He was tired, he wanted nothing more than to rest. He completed all of the missions he had. He had to report back to the guild and to the Masked Lady in the city, and he also had to seclude himself for a couple of days to complete all the pending updates with his system.

He needed a rest. Badly.

He didn't want to clash with the swarm of orcs at the outside, but he knew that there was no other way out.

'Well, it should be a good training for them the very least…' He muttered inwardly as he followed after his group. He walked up to stand next to the Galina who took on the support role in the group, not just because of the special skillset she had, but also because of her shy, timid nature. She wasn't like his brother, Gob, or their master, Glohn who preferred to be at the front lines. She preferred this self-assigned role.

"How are you doing now, Galina?" The voice of her Young Master suddenly came from her right, causing her to almost jump in fright. She reinforced her grip on the stolen pike she was holding in front of herself, just to try to regain some of her composure as she meekly responded.

"N-n-nothing, Young Master! I-I am f-fine! H-happy to serve!" She stuttered due to her nervousness. She averted her gaze to the side, not daring to meet the young master's piercing, golden gaze and finding solace in the floor tiles and the red carpet and its bright yellow, almost golden embroidery.

With his past life's memory finally returned, Aiden had a bit more understanding of the girl's reaction. A gentle, kind smile dominating his face, he reached out with his left arm, giving a light rub at the girl's back through his leather armor, causing another shiver to run through the girl's body and her face turning a shade darker, from bright pink to a brighter shade of red.

"Do not be afraid, do your best, my dear Galina, okay?"