The Roamer

Chapter 29: Mysteries afoot

Aeolus had finally reached his next destination, a city he had been planning to visit for a while now. It was the city of Leotosis, a city where the nobles sat on top while everyone else, excluding the army and guards, lived in poverty and no food. It resembled the ghost town, except it was on a much wider scale.

‘Guess I’ll be staying here for a while.’ Aeolus whispered in his mind, and went on to walk through the city. As usual, he was searching through alleyways or bars, just to find some ruthless bastard who wanted to fight. He only found two, both not worth his time.

“This city doesn’t have money or strong people, what am I to do?” Aeolus asked the world, while chuckling a little. He then pulled out the only undead comrade that had the illusion affinity. Aeolus pointed at a guard who was guarding an inn.

“I want you to replicate him.” Aeolus said, strategizing within his head. He knew what he wanted to do with this undead.

The undead followed orders, and replicated the man to look exactly the same. Aeolus then used some string, and pulled in the man the undead replicated to the alley.

“Who are y-!” the man began to scream, before his head got cut off. Aeolus then absorbed his soul, and sent his body flying out of the city.

“I want you to go to the army, and fit in. Find out all their operations, and try to somehow get close to the nobles of this city.” Aeolus said, calmness apparent throughout his whole face. He had never done such a thing before, but he trusted in his undead, considering they had all his knowledge and experience, along with power

“Yes, master” the undead said, and went to the area where the dead guard was previously standing. It then began to blend in, and after watching it for ten minutes, Aeolus left it.

‘It will sooner or later blend into the army.’ Aeolus said in his mind, and was going to his next destination in this city. He had heard of an underground arena, where every single match was a deathmatch.

It’d be good for him to absorb some souls, and he could power up. Besides, he might even experience a battle worth his time! Though, he had to put on his mask in that place. In an arena where everyone came for fighting, who wouldn’t know of a fighter who fought a battle so powerful that it destroyed a region?

For that reason, he had bought himself a mask, which was pretty good looking in his opinion. It fit in with the nobles and royalty, who would wear such extravagant masks, and though it didn’t fit in much with the poverty in this world, it would still cover up his face.

There were two layers to the mask. The outside layer was smiling, which could also be seen as a laugh. The inside layer was crying, with bloody tears pouring out.

After strolling through the city, he had finally found what he was looking for. He saw a man jump into some hole in the ground, and realized that it might lead to his destination. He immediately followed, and just as expected, there was a long, long drop.

‘This is to make sure that only powerful people enter.’ Aeolus said in his mind. If it were a normal person jumping down this hole, they would die from the fall. If it was a strong person, they’d survive the fall, by either landing and being fine, or floating down. It was a strict entrance test, and failing meant death.

Aeolus didn’t bother floating down, as it would take too much time, and just dropped until he landed on his legs. They shaked a bit, but he was mostly fine. He stood up, and looked around. He was in the middle of an arena, where there were people surrounding it, watching the battle.

“Seems we have two competitors who dropped down the hole of strength! Put your hands up for these two people, who will fight to the death!” some damned geezer yelled in the stands, while Aeolus was a bit pissed.

‘So, right after I pass the test, I have to fight? Who do these people think they are?’ Aeolus said in his mind, his stare piercing the old man who announced such a thing.

“Tell me what the reward is, and then I’ll decide whether or not I want to fight.” Aeolus said, but in reality, no matter what was said, he would fight. Besides, even with no rewards, he could still get the soul of his opponent, and if they had a special affinity, he could make them into an undead comrade.

“Easy, the reward is to rank up higher within this underground arena, and fight the people at the top! The person at the very top has reached his thirtieth layer, do you dare to challenge him?!” the announcer replied back, with a hint of hate in his eyes. How dare this rotten cockroach ask for rewards?

“Don’t even think of challenging the people higher up for now!” Aeolus’ supposed opponent yelled, but Aeolus immediately held him in place with string. He could sense from the aura of his opponent that he was planning on rushing him.

“Don’t try me, you’re just an ant when standing next to me.” Aeolus said calmly, his deep stare penetrating the announcer flicking to his supposed opponent. The person who was held back using the string immediately calmed down, and began to sweat.

‘How does a child like this get so strong?’ he genuinely wondered. Where did he go wrong in life, that even a child could challenge him like this? He must’ve messed up terribly for even brats to be able to beat him.

“No, it’s not me. It’s you, who the hell are you? Remove that mask!” Aeolus’ opponent screamed, but of course, Aeolus would not work with him.

“You’re on the losing end, yet you still demand things of me?” Aeolus said, his hateful glare penetrating into the cocky bastards soul. He sent some spirit towards him, and dismantled his spirit beginning from the outer layer.

“You little brat, stop what you’re doing!” the person who was trapped in the string was struggling to escape, and was even breaking his arms. Yet, he still couldn’t escape, and tears were beginning to flow down his face.

“I’ll kill you, I’ll kill you, I’ll kill you, I’ll kill you…” he kept repeating, until his soul was completely dismantled. Aeolus removed the string that was holding him back, and his body dropped to the ground. He then looked back towards the self pronounced announcer, and glared at him.

“Bring out your best fighter, or I’ll leave for now.” Aeolus said calmly, not wanting to waste his time. If he had to stay here for days, weeks, or even months just to fight the number one, he’d leave right now. It wasn’t worth his time, as he could use all that time to create better undead comrades, power himself up more, maybe even save a villager!

“I’m right here brat.” some man with a sharp face stood up, and Aeolus eyes were full of shock when they saw him. This was the exact same person who was at the very first tournament he had entered, and also left because he didn’t want to reveal his powers!

“Your fighting techniques, your weapon, and your talk… you are the person who brought destruction to the land of the vapor nation?” the man said, while jumping down from the stands. He began grinning like crazy, and Aeolus was getting goosebumps.

“Y-you… how did you survive?!”

However, Aeolus wasn’t getting goosebumps from his strength, but just for the fact that this man identified him so easily, and even escaped the horrendous massacre back at the land of the vapor nation.

“That explosion destroyed a whole region, but I was already out of it by then. What I want to know is why a brat like you came here. However, this is my home land, and you won’t do as you like with me.” the man explained, while also threatening Aeolus with a subtle sentence.

Aeolus immediately calmed down, and began looking at the situation more calmly. He was definitely weaker than the man standing in front of him, and would have to use his brain to win this battle, not his power. He transcended into a state beyond calm, one that didn’t even have a name in this world.

“Come at me then, fool.” Aeolus taunted, and the man stood there with shocked eyes. He then began laughing like a hearty old man.

“Brat, you’re going to be an entertaining battle that I haven’t had in a long time!” the number one man in this arena declared, yet Aeolus seemed unfazed. It was as if his shock and goosebumps from before never existed.

“My name is Klaus, and you won’t leave here without beating me.” Klaus said calmly, while beginning to walk towards Aeolus. He easily saw through all the string, and actually walked through it. Aeolus tried to pull of the same move of sending in a string to puncture him after he passed another, but the man easily slapped it away, literally.

“String is just a toy in your hands. Want to see how to actually handle it?” Klaus said, while extending his hand to a string in front of him. Aeolus puncutered him in the back using this opportunity, but the next scene surprised him.

Klaus just exerted some spirit, and the string shot out of his body, without Aeolus doing anything. He then grabbed the string in front of him that he was extending to before, and yanked on it. Aeolus came flying towards him.

“This is where the real battle begins.” Klaus said, with a smile that resembled a demonic smile.

--- sequence 2 ---

Klaus grabbed Aeolus by the neck, and smashed him into the ground. However, Aeolus was prepared for such a move, and he took an undead out and put it below him, just to smoothen the power of Klaus, even by a little.

As expected, his back smashed into the undead’s front, and Aeolus was in extreme pain. Just how much pain would he be in if there wasn’t an undead below him as a cushion? Aeolus set up even more string, and used it to pull himself out of the situation.

“It’s not going to be that easy to escape me.” Klaus said calmly, and got into a kneeling position, or so it seemed. He then boosted himself forward at an extreme speed, which had no spirit infused into it.

‘He’s doing all of this with just his physical body?!’ Aeolus screamed within his mind, while blinking extremely. He didn’t want to believe what he was looking at, but Klaus was exerting a power that Aeolus didn’t think possible without spirit.

Klaus appeared in front of Aeolus, but Aeolus maneuvered around his body, and put his foot on the back of Klaus. He then boosted himself with a push, and went to the other side of the arena.

“I finally have time to take out my elites!” Aeolus said, while reaching into his mid-layer to pull out three healers. He also took out his first soldier, Kline, as back-up, since he also wielded string.

‘All of you healers, support me with healing magic, and Kline, you set up string that will work with mine!’ Aeolus said. Even though his command seemed extreme, in reality, it was easy. After fighting with Kline and these supporters for a long time, they had aligned and worked together easily, and this applied especially for Kline, who had been with him since the beginning.

“You won’t be taking out anymore!” Klaus yelled, with a little fear coming out of his face, and his pants. He didn’t expect the brat in front of him to have a god realm affinity, much less one of the duos of humanity, death! However, he was still stronger then Aeolus, so he should be fine.

He began to rush towards Aeolus once again, but he failed this time, but for a different reason. By the time he began rushing, Aeolus had set up a string arena, one that contained his string and Kline’s.

Klaus was held down by Kline’s string, and began to struggle. However, before he could free himself, he was punctured by Aeolus’ string, through the head and heart. His blood began to slow down, while his vision was, for some reason, extremely bright.

“So this is the end for me huh…” Klaus’ words, no, final words came out, and he was falling to the ground.

“Don’t drop dead before I absorb your soul!” Aeolus said, not wanting Klaus to drop dead before his soul was absorbed. If he was dead, he would gain less from his soul, but if he was alive, he would gain much more from it!

However, it didn’t turn out well, as he didn’t plan ahead. He only got about forty percent of Klaus’ soul before he died. He continued trying to absorb it, but since he was dead, he ended up with only forty five percent of his soul.

Aeolus sighed, and took in all the undead he had out. He then began walking towards Klaus, while the crowd was silent. Of course, why wouldn’t they be silent? They just witnessed a brat wield one of the affinities that crossed into the god realm, and beat their number one without much issues.

However, in this city, and all of Pangaea as well, wielding the power of a god realm affinity was allowed, so nobody had issues with it. It was the fact that it was a brat that wielded the affinity, which surprised them. However, the prince from the royal family of Pangaea, Lexor, also wielded god realm affinities, so this wasn’t their first time witnessing or hearing of a child wielding god realm affinities.

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ABOUT ME

Name: Abdul Kareem

Age: 13 (Almost 14)

Occupation: Middle school

Goal: Idk, I’m just making a novel for now

Location: Why would I say that?

Relations: I’m not married (duh)

Favorite food: da asian stuf!

Anyway, on a more serious tone, this is my first novel I’ve ever tried writing. Thanks for being with me on this first experience! If you could also somehow get others to read this novel too, I would be pretty grateful!