Chapter 57: Why Are Big Guys So Emotional?
As Aiden walked through the underground cave he finally saw an opening up front illuminated by blue lights.
The sound of activity at the other side told him that he had reached the base of his attackers, and judging by the number of their comrades he'd killed, a battle was imminent.
Turning towards Mai, Aiden squatted down his gaze meeting her's as he spoke, "I have to leave you here, I don't want any distractions in there, but I'll be back."
"Be careful," Mai said with a nod before darting in, "We've come this far together, I wouldn't want you to die on me."
With a small chuckle Aiden whispered, "If I die, you're pretty much dead for sure."
His small remark earned him a scoff from Mai who supported her body weight with her arms as she said, "Go on then."
With Mai's approval, Aiden stepped towards the opening but as he walked, a voice sounded out in his head, "Why aren't you guys dating yet?"
At the sound of Landon's voice, Aiden felt his eyes twitch but Landon not noticing this continued talking.
"You don't understand Aiden," he said before darting in, "This is your chance to get laid, you're in your twenties and you're still a virgin."
Caressing his temples Aiden responded to Landon, "Why don't you get your mind out of the dumps, I'm about to face a serious challenge."
"Well, you could just run away like you normally do, aren't you afraid?" Landon asked playfully.
"Yeah I'm afraid," Aiden said balling his fists as he darted in, "but even though I'm afraid, I'm not going to run away, if I run away in fear I would be turning my back on one of the reasons I became what I am in the first place, that Jonathan guy is gonna be a massive help on my quest to find a cure to hell shock, I can feel it, besides I want to see were my limit's lay."
Landon was quiet for a bit but after a few seconds he warned, "You could die in the process of testing your limits you know."
But he received no answer from Aiden.
Landon chuckled, observing the change in his companion. "You've evolved since your last breakthrough," he remarked.
"In this fight, here's some advice. Conceal your tail, don't show all your cards. Your advantage lies in your otherworldly recovery ability. Trade blows without hesitation, leveraging your stored souls. You have 97% of your total soul energy left, along with 25 souls in storage. Time is ticking, 53 hours, 14 minutes, and 9 seconds, left to complete your task, Succeed, and live. Fail, and you die."
Landon's words hung in the air, the gravity of the situation sinking in.
As Landon talked, Aiden had already reached the opening, hiding his tail as he came into the light.
The first thing he noticed was that this open space was similar to the one that he had ended up in when he first entered these mines, but unlike that space, this one was filled with tents and canopies that highlighted the presence of humans.
Although the cave was pretty, Aiden didn't have time to focus on it as his attention was drawn to the ten people standing a few meters away from him.
They had been there the entire time, but Aiden was more concerned with assessing his surroundings first, this was because he knew that they wouldn't be attacking immediately.
"A Contractor?" A calm voice suddenly sounded out, drawing Aiden's attention to a man who stood in the middle of the group.
This man had long blonde hair and brown eyes, there was also something about him that made Aiden frown, and that was the fact that he wore an armor exclusive to the Silence.
The other Contractors who stood beside this blonde-haired man also had strange looks on their faces.
"He has no aura, don't tell me he's a human, you have to be kidding me, this was a fucking waste of time," a female voice suddenly sounded out from the side, it came from a woman with a cloak draped over her body, her feathers were obstructed by a frowning mask, further shrouding her persona in a veil of mystery.
"It's not a waste of time, at least we get to watch a show," the blonde-haired man who Aiden had long tagged as the leader spoke.
After talking amongst themselves, the Contractors appeared a little more relaxed and finally turned their attention to Aiden.
"Kid," the blonde-haired man yelled, his voice echoing on the cave's enclosed walls.
At the sound of this man's voice, Aiden's eyes narrowed briefly, out of all the people here Aiden had a bad feeling about this blonde-haired man.
Because of this man Aiden had noticed a change in his perception, it wasn't a tingling sensation at his nape anymore, instead he just knew that this man was dangerous, but that wasn't the only feeling he got, there was something in the open around this area that made him feel threatened as well.
"Are you deaf? I'm speaking to you," the blonde-haired man growled, but Aiden remained silent, his gaze fixed on the brown-haired man emerging from a tent in a rather rushed manner.
"Wait, Blood Pact, don't harm him," the brown-haired man pleaded, addressing the blonde leader. "He's valuable research material."
Blood Pact's expression darkened as he turned to the brown-haired man. "Explain, Jonathan."
Glancing nervously at the cloaked woman, Jonathan hurriedly defended, "If he's really human, how does he survive with no Detritus Marks?"
Blood Pact enlightened by Jonathan's words finally directed his attention to Aiden, a hint of suspicion in his eyes.
Other Contractors voiced their doubts. "Are we certain he's human? Perhaps he's an infected freak like Jonathan?"
"Then how do we explain the miners' deaths? He could be a demon in disguise," one suggested.
The cloaked woman interjected, her tone dripping with certainty. "Unlikely. It defies logic for a human to endure the other entrances, he could only be a Contractor, or like you said a Demon, but which of those two could escape my gaze without being levels higher than me?"
Ignoring Aiden, the Contractors debated, their uncertainty palpable.
Aiden on the other hand didn't mind being ignored, he just watched them speak. Because of their pointless bantering, he had managed to do two things.
The first thing he discovered was who Jonathan was, and the second thing he managed to do was pinpoint the general direction of the hidden threat apart from the blonde-haired man called Blood Pact.
Finally, Blood Pact turned to Aiden, cautious. "How did you arrive here?"
Silence lingered until Aiden spoke, unnerving the Contractors. "Any of you have a book I could borrow?"
His question hung, unsettling, drawing perplexed stares.
Blood Pact on the other hand felt his patience wane, his eyes narrowing as he commanded. "Hawk, Orion, deal with him."
"Finally, some fun," Orion grinned, anticipation tainting the air.
"Whoosh!"
Two of the ten Contractors moved in tandem, dashing at Aiden from both sides.
It took only a few seconds for them to reach him, but as they approached, Aiden's eyes spun for a second, and in that moment time seemed to freeze.
Aiden observed as the two Contractors who were only at arm's reach away from him froze as though time had stopped.
More than anyone, Aiden understood what was happening, so he didn't dare to waste too much time in this state.
"Slash!"
His tail moved leaving a thin line that didn't let out any blood on the throats of these men, and just like that time resumed.
In that moment Aiden suddenly regained the ability to move so he took a step back.
The two Contractors, Hawk and Orion seemed even more excited by Aiden's retreat, but in that moment they realized something was wrong.
Blood Pact on the other hand had already noticed this oddity since he spotted Aiden's tail swaying slowly behind him.
Aiden's attack had revealed his tail to the Contractor's.
"Argh!"
Both men suddenly held onto their necks, blood gushing out like a fountain as they slumped to the ground.
At the same time, Landon's voice sounded out, "You've burnt 95% of your soul energy Aiden, you have 2% left, be careful with this new skill of yours."
Feeling dizzy Aiden rubbed his temples as he walked up to the still trembling bodies of Hawk and Orion on the ground.
Slowly, he picked up their souls, but unlike last time he directly ate one, biting into it as his canines extended.
"A Soul of the Sagittarius Star has been consumed, +1 to Stamina, fully recovered, " Landon notified, his voice accompanying the pleasant feeling that plagued Aiden.
As Aiden feasted, Blood Pact and his team, stared at Aiden as they slowly spread out, "That's a demon all right, be mindful guys, I heard humanoid demons are stronger, and this one can speak."
Upon hearing their remark, Aiden frowned as he picked up the blade formally used by one of the Contractors he'd just killed.
A surprise attack like before may not work against the Contractors again as they were wary of him now, but it wasn't like Aiden planned to use it again, since he wanted to test his limits.
"I'll ask again," Aiden said slowly in an attempt to hide his nervousness, "do you guys have any books I can borrow?"
At the sound of his voice, the Contractor's narrowed their eyes, their grips tightening around their weapons.
"Watch out for his tail," the black-cloaked woman said before adding, "It's the fastest thing I've ever seen."
As the black-cloaked woman's words lingered in the air, the Contractor's slowly spread out, forming a curve before Aiden.
What followed was a brief standoff, fortunately, the black-cloaked woman seemed to get tired of the wait and said to Aiden as she stretched forth her arm.
"You are quite fast demon, but speed isn't all that matters in a battle, especially against someone like me."
"Surge keep him busy!" Blood Pact yelled as the masked woman spoke.
Aiden suddenly had a bad feeling as his senses warned him to retreat, but even with that, he wasn't fast enough for what was about to come next.
"Swoosh!"
Something latched onto his legs, but Aiden didn't have time to look at it as he watched one of the Contractors, a brown-haired man wielding a crazy war hammer close in on him.
There was nothing he could do but deflect.
"Bang!"
A heavy collision caused Aiden's knees to buckle, but he couldn't rest yet, apart from the power struggle he was facing with this man in front of him a few more contractors were closing in on him.
Thinking fast Aiden moved his tail for the large man's leg.
"Clang!"
Another sound could be heard as Aiden's tail collided violently with the brown-haired man's knee guard.
This attack startled the brown-haired man called Surge causing him to jump back, giving Aiden time to take care of whatever was restraining him.
He looked down and noticed what seemed to be black tentacles stemming from his shadow. These tentacles were coiled around his legs in an attempt to restrain him.
Frowning Aiden channeled some soul energy to his legs causing his leg muscles to bulge as he burnt the energy.
"Bam!"
A small thud sounded out as Aiden broke free from the cloaked woman's trap, but as soon as he broke free he leaned to the side.
"Swoosh!"
Aiden dodged an attack from a skinny dark dark-haired Contractor, frowning as he launched an attack of his own.
The skinny Contractor obviously wasn't worried, as he raised his weapon to deflect.
Seeing this Aiden brunt some soul energy in his arm, causing his muscles to bulge unnaturally.
"Clang!"
A collision sounded out as sparks flew sending the Contractor staggering back, leaving him open to a follow-up attack that Aiden wouldn't miss.
"Slash!"
Forcefully stabilizing himself Aiden followed up with a nasty slash that left a deep cut on the skinny Contractor's neck, leaving a crimson trail as his blade sliced through flesh.
"Spectral!"
Surge yelled as he rushed towards Aiden swinging his war hammer at him with rage-filled eyes.
"Why are big guys so emotional," Aiden thought as he raised his hand to deflect, but just before their weapons clashed Aiden jumped back.
At the location where Aiden was standing before, more tentacles had burst out of the ground in an attempt to restrain him.
Seeing this Aiden narrowed his eyes at the black cloaked woman far behind.
"You have 82% of your total soul energy left," Landon said in Aiden's mind.
Blood Pact on the other hand suddenly unsheathed two short sabers from his back as he commanded.
"Everyone with me, watch out for his random bursts of speed, demon or man, I'm taking the head of whatever that thing is."
CREATORS' THOUGHTS 
Wize_king
Wize_king late again.
Gifts
-- Gift
received Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone