Skill Activated:

Death Flame Pistol

Skill Activated:

Runic Control Upgrade

A terrifying explosion rippled through the night.

Pseudonym’s Aura promptly blocked the shockwave. The bullet blown by Helial was so powerful it generated not one explosion, but an entire chain of blazes.

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

The bullet flew past a circle of five shining Runes as it blasted three times in a row like a firework. It was then that Pseudonym gazed more closely to the Runes evoked by Helial and furrowed his eyebrows in concern.

Five Runes were gliding through the air. They were just as different as profound and mysterious, as if they came from another era. All around, the air seemed to collapse under the power of the Skill.

The shockwave seemed to be able to pierce a First Phase practitioner alone. What would then happen? If Pseudonym hadn’t been there, how many people would have died? The Champ could not but ask this to himself. His brow was knitted in a distressed frown unrevealed by the armor.

The Mana particles Helial absorbed had helped reinforce his Mana Control, refine his Meridians and open up new channels therein. It looked as though Helial managed to leap forward on his Dao of Mana without him even seeking to.

Helial had never tried to exert Runic Control over a Skill before. His control had never been enough. In fact, his Mana Control seemed to have just reached a completely new level.

He gazed at the five shining Runes gliding before his eyes, then glanced up at the moon, half covered by the trails of smoke of the recent explosions. They could hardly veil its light.

Three explosions, five Runes. I have barely 60% control on the Skill. And it would grow even more unstable if the Runes increased. Now, three Runes is the max I can reach to upgrade my Skill without wasting any Mana, Helial pondered as his fingers examined the full power of the hit he had just delivered.

Runic Control.

It was a brand-new Skill Helial developed once unblocked his Unique Class Runic Overlord. If he hadn’t unblocked that Class and spent entire days in the Royal Library studying the matter, if he hadn’t had Iblis as a master… what would he have done then? He wouldn’t have gotten as far as there.

Despite his lauded unordinary talent, this was never inferior to the amount of effort he paid to his training.

Suddenly, Helial’s mind was cast to realness as the lively crowd chatted all around him. His feat aroused the attention of the plebs living in that neighborhood of Suburra.

Suburrans were staring at him with a strange light flashing in their eyes. It looked as though they had just seen a ghost. They didn’t seem quite enjoying this little show he had just put up. Helial quickly scanned their Auras to make sure there was no one hidden amongst them. When he had the certainty that no Aura was worth worrying about but that of Pseudonym, he focused on the little kid still sitting next to him who was staring at him with teary eyes.

“What’s your name?” asked Helial with the warmest smile, as if nothing had happened.

The kid clutched his rumpled tunic to gather some boldness. “Xiao Xiao,” he said in the feeblest voice.

“It was me who helped you get rid of the kids beating you up, Xiao Xiao,” Helial said.

Xiao Xiao’s expression betrayed a ray of gratefulness. Fear though was still overwhelming his heart.

Xiao Xiao was a little thief whose parents were long dead. He lived at the day through the elemosine che racimolava and the pity he aroused in others. When he didn’t stumble on many pitiful people handing him something to bite, then he would resort to stealing. The other option was starving.

Even though Xiao Xiao was quite familiar with the idea death could take him anytime in any possible way, that was the closest he had gotten to death in his life. The Human standing before him really did save him from a critical situation. If it hadn’t been for him, he wouldn’t have made it this time.

Human?

The eyes of Xiao Xiao immediately became wary. Things were so rowdy he didn’t realize the one who saved him was a Human. Panic seized the Goblin, who hastily crawled half a meter backwards.

Helial seemed to understand his fear and shrugged in response. He pulled a hand inside his Interspace Ring, Call of the Mermaid, and dug out a pot and some food. The crowd was left speechless. Then, through Flame of the Qilin, he began to cook something.

If Kirin, progenitor of one of the wildest races in the universe, a matchless Ancestral Creature, should hear that the flame inherited by one of his Soul fragments were used to cook a meal, then he would have had a heart attack.

Without glancing away from the pot, Helial began to slowly talk: “Those kids will come back, Xiao Xiao. And I can’t simply give you food, or someone will steal it from in in a matter of seconds.”

As Helial’s words died out, the gaze of Xiao Xiao lowered until his eyes laid on the ground.

“Which means,” added Helial, in the same stoical, solemn and deep and calm as Iblis, “you either grow stronger or you’re fucked.”

More like the calm of Snowflake, wasn’t it?

However, Helial just gave Xiao Xiao two choices. If he refused to grow stronger, the kids who had almost killed him would come back to finish what they had started. And if they didn’t, then Xiao Xiao’s weakness would become someone else’s benefit.

Xiao Xiao fell silent under the inquisitory gaze of Helial.

Helial’s face betrayed a slight disappointment. He expected Xiao Xiao to not be able to hold in his will to grow stronger. On the contrary, Xiao Xiao was gazing at the ground with red eyes. He stayed silent.

Helial then though he might have not been clear enough, so he stopped stirring the stew to go on saying: “If you want, I can help you grow stronger.”

These words had no effect on Xiao Xiao, who once again didn’t live up to Helial’s hopes.

Helial furrowed his eyebrows: “You don’t care?”

Xiao Xiao was still silent as if unable to hear him.

It was then that Pseudonym interposed: “Xiao Xiao isn’t even ten yet. What do you expect?” Pseudonym spoke sharp words to Helial. From Pseudonym’s point of view, Helial’s words were a promise of torture instead of a valuable offer.

“Just because he’s ten doesn’t mean he must die on the street. Why wouldn’t he want to grow stronger?” Helial icily replied. He turned towards the Goblin and said: “I ‘m offering you the chance to defend yourself, Xiao Xiao. It will be highly painful, I won’t lie. But if you say yes, we’ll eat and then I’ll go back to the Palace, I’ll give you enough food to survive the night. Too much food would be dangerous. It’s up to you.”

Before concentrating on Xiao Xiao though, Helial shot a glance at Pseudonym. His stern glare warned the Champ not to open that mouth again.