Chapter 44 – An Encounter in the Night

Aiden wandered around after leaving the house.

He didn’t walk to any place in specific. Instead, he went around the town without thinking about his destination; only searching for a place to vent the frustrations hidden inside him.

The current town was engulfed in darkness. A group of clouds stopped the light coming from the moon and stars, leaving behind only a cold breeze and the instinctual of fear present in every human when facing the night.

But it didn’t affect Aiden in any way. Even the cold feeling of the wind against his face or the sporadic laugh coming from some place of the town did not help to eliminate the negative emotions currently inside him.

Perhaps, Aiden himself didn’t want for such feeling to disappear.

When was the last time he felt in such way? The day after losing his spirit?

Aiden wasn’t sure, but he thought that his current mood was even heavier that back then.

After all, though that time he felt used and betrayed for his most loved ones, some part of him understood that he was a “necessary sacrifice”.

Of course, he hated it, but he knew that he was too weak to change something.

But now, now was different.

This time, though he knew that the probabilities were not in his favor, he made his best to be successful.

Aiden knew that even if he goes back in time, it would have been almost impossible for him to do better.

But even with it, he failed.

Of course, Aiden was already prepared to fail. He knew that the possibility of failing was bigger than succeeding.

But he expected that even after failing, at least he would gain a lead useful for a future success.

However, the result was crueler than he thought.

At the end, he didn’t only fail, he was unable of even knowing what was the reason of the failure.

What was the reason of the beast soul behavior? Why was it so powerful?

Aiden estimated that even breaking through saber manifestation and using it to empower his soul would not be enough to change anything.

Reduce the strength of the soul? That sabretooth tiger was only at the initial core-fusing stage. It was impossible to find demonic beast weaker than it.

After all, beasts formed their demonic core at the core-fusing stage, and the initial requirement for a sealed soul to be born is for a beast to possess a demonic core.

Augment his mental strength? Aiden estimated that without the ability to control his mental word, that was only gotten at the spirit mutating/spirit sage realm, gaining more mental strength only would make his soul able of receiving a few more hits.

Then, what was the solution? Where was the problem? Aiden knew that Lia’s beast soul was much stronger, at the demonic king realm, but she was able of successfully fusing with it despite it.

Is there truly not hope for him to create a spirit?

For a time, Aiden was unable of avoid having such thoughts invade his mind.

Wandering around the streets, Aiden didn’t notice when he reached at a boisterous place.

Despite the cold nightly wind, he was able of seeing many people walking around. Many men were walking while looking around, only to be called for scantly dressed women and disappear inside alleys or dimly illuminated stores.

From his surroundings, Aiden heard the sound of cries, laughs, fights and even moans of questionable origin.

Looking around, he saw the entrance of a bar. Attracted towards the place, he walked towards it.

The bar had a very ordinary appearance, with a dozen of tables reparted around the place. Drunk men were shouting and laughing while the waiters made all in their power to not be distracted due the many clients molesting them.

At a glance, it was clear that this place was used mainly for the common people of the town.

Aiden was unaccustomed to this kind of place, this being the second time he entered one (the first time was by mistake).

But even with it, he had a rough idea about how such places work. Searching for an empty table, he sat while waiting for someone to come to him.

It not took too much for a waiter to come towards him. The woman, in his early twenties going for her appearance, asked for his order with a seductive smile.

Aiden asked for a bottle of beer, the best alcoholic drink he could get in this place. He was not a fan of drinking, but now he was needing something to forget about all his troubles.

Waiting for the drink, Aiden looked around the bar to pass the time. He noticed that most people were completely drunk, and the few that not, were close to it.

For a moment, he envied how they were able of simply laugh their troubles off. For most of them, their lives were simply awakening in the morning, going to work in the farms and then return in the night to sleep and wait for the next day to come.

Perhaps it’s not bad living like it. Thought him, but such thought disappeared immediately. He knew that it was impossible for him to do so.

For him, perhaps death was better that such life.

After a few minutes, the waiter returned with the beer. Unexpectedly, Aiden noticed some inviting glances coming from her, as if asking him about something.

Though he was inexperienced in such matters, it wasn’t necessary to have too much experience to know exactly what the girl’s intentions were. For a moment, he even thought about agreeing and using it to vent his depressed mood, but the imagen of Lia in his head was too great to allow something like it.

Smiling wryly, he thought about how Lia was able of affecting him even when he was in such state. Shaking his head, he proceeded to ignore the woman’s gestures.

Seeing her advances being unsuccessful, the woman pouted before walking away, a smile forming again in her face. Apparently, she was accustomed to being rejected.

Aiden kept his wry smile even after the woman left. Taking a sip of the beer, he began to look around, trying to use the atmosphere of the place to alleviate a bit his mood. He was the only one in his table, but despite it, the atmosphere coming from him was enough to keep away any normal customer.

Because of it, nobody came close to him for a time.

For a long time, Aiden continued in such state. He didn’t even remember the number of times he called the waiter again, but after a few hours, it was clear that he was about to get drunk.

In that moment, a strange man came to the table where Aiden was seated.

Almost drunk, Aiden was unable of distinguishing the features of the man. But if he was awake, he would have noticed the many irregularities with him.

The man was wearing a pitch black coat above his body. His pants were equally black, and combined with his black hair and crimson eyes, gave an overwhelming impression of elegance and majesty.

Strangely, despite his elegant appearance contrasting completely with this kind of place, nobody else seemed to react at his presence. It was as if every person in the bar was avoiding looking at the place where the man was standing unconsciously.

But even it wasn’t the most striking aspect of his. It was the two swords resting in the left side of his waist.

The swords had a beautiful crimson hue in them, as if bathed in blood. But instead of fear, you could only feel peace and tranquility coming from them.

Without even looking to Aiden, the man sat in the table. Then, taking a bottle and a pair of cups from who knows where, he spoke.

“Tell me boy, will you accompany me to a cup?”