Jason shook to his bones, fear filtering through every part of his body.
He instantly crashed to his feet, but Jack would not hear a word that proceeded off from his mouth.
“Guards…” he ordered.
He had not just offended anyone but the guest of Prince Edward.
It meant that he was now a fugitive in his own country.
He didn't care about his own ego anymore. He rushed towards where Riley was and crashed to the ground, his eyes filled with pleas.
“Please forgive me, please.” He begged his eyes out but Riley shook him off.
“Does that mean if you never discovered who I was linked to you would have mistreated me and gone scout free?
I'm sorry but someone like you shouldn't work in a place like this. The slum is where you belong!”
All his further applications fell on deaf ears as he was soon tossed off the halls.
Meanwhile, Jack turned towards Riley, apologizing already in his eyes even before they were on his lips.
“I'm very sorry about what happened.” He apologized and Riley nodded.
“Let me take you to your suite…”
“Prince Edward begged you to accept it for curing him!” He added as though he knew Riley was going to refuse already and after a while, he accepted the offer.
The private courtyard was a slap in the face to everything Riley had ever known.
As Jack led him through the winding stone paths of the elite dormitory sector, Riley couldn’t help but notice the sheer waste of essence. The air here was heavy, saturated with a filtered energy that tasted sweet and clean, nothing like the metallic, ash-laden air of the mountains.
Marble pillars rose like white giants, and the sound of artificial waterfalls hummed in a rhythmic, expensive melody.
"This is the S-Rank Hermit Wing," Jack said, his voice dropping to that respectful tone that still made Riley’s skin itch. "Sir Harmon insisted. He believes a man of your caliber shouldn't be subjected to the common noise of the general student body."
Riley didn't respond. He just adjusted the strap of his worn-out bag, his dusty sneakers leaving faint grey prints on the pristine white tiles. His body felt lighter now that the toxin had been mostly refined, but he could still feel the phantom heat in his veins, a reminder that he was barely clinging to fifteen percent vitality.
They stopped before a massive set of double doors carved from dark, ancient wood. Jack pressed a hand against a sensor, and the doors hissed open.
"I will leave you to settle in," Jack said, bowing. "The Academic Dean will be by shortly to finalize the paperwork. If you need anything—anything at all—simply press the gold chime on the desk."
Riley watched him leave, then stepped into the room.
It wasn't a room; it was a palace. The ceilings were vaulted, and the furniture looked like it cost more than a block of houses in his neighborhood. The air inside was cool, carrying the scent of expensive incense and aged wood. It was the kind of place meant for meditation and power—a far cry from the damp, cramped corners he usually called home.
He walked further into the lounge, his eyes surveying the layout. A massive floor-to-ceiling window looked out over the academy’s eastern flank, offering a view of the glowing training spires.
But as he turned the corner toward the inner sanctum, his footsteps stopped.
There, standing by a table covered in essence-cooling herbs and medical scrolls, was a familiar figure.
The blonde lady from the beast zone.
Mia was mid-conversation with two others—Herald, the squad leader who looked like he’d just been stitched back together, and an older man in a white robe who appeared to be a squad doctor. They were huddled over a glowing chart, their faces grim.
The moment Riley’s shadow hit the floor, the room went silent.
Mia turned around, her fair skin flushing a deep, angry red the second her eyes locked onto his face. The fair skin that was covered in mud only hours ago was now clean, but the irritation in her eyes had only grown.
"You?" she shrieked, her voice cracking the peaceful silence of the wing.
She looked at his dusty, faded clothes, then at the fact that he was standing inside the most restricted dormitory on campus. Her stomach churned with a familiar, high-class bile.
"What are you doing here, you filthy scavenger? Did you follow me? Did you honestly think you could crawl your way into this estate to blackmail me?"
She took a shaky step forward, her body trembling with a rage that threatened to boil over. Behind her, Herald’s jaw dropped, his eyes wide with a mixture of confusion and shock.
"I don't know how you got past the gates, you slum pig," Mia hissed, her hand instinctively reaching for a ceremonial dagger on the table. "But I will make sure you are dragged out of here in chains!"
Latest Chapter
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CHAPTER FIFTYHe waited patiently for the call to go through, and when he heard the double sound of ringing, he was elated and waited anxiously to hear someone’s voice from the other end of the line.“Hello? Who is this?”“It’s me! It’s me, Riley . Mira, I needed your help!”Riley held onto the phone to his ear, while he waited anxiously to hear from his girlfriend who went silent for a while. When he had waited for a few seconds, and he didn’t hear anything from her, he was forced to call out to her.“Babe? Are you there? Hello?”“I am here,” Mira responded with a soft tone, but Riley could feel the tension in the call, even though he was forced to overlook it.“Please baby, I need your help, I need a place to keep my family.”“Your family? Have you found them?”“Ye, babe! I found them, even though it wasn’t easy.”“That’s good,” Mira said after a few seconds, with her tone as soft as she could keep her voice.“Yes! I need your help! I need to keep them somewhere safe for the next
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CHAPTER FORTY-NINELooking around, Riley could only imagine what could be waiting for him inside the building which looked really strange. He looked around the surroundings, but the house stood alone, surrounded by bushes, and some tall trees that looked like they didn’t need water to survive, even though they weren’t as green as a tree was supposed to be.“I hope I am doing the right thing.” Riley thought to himself. He took in enough air, and let it out gradually, before he took the first bold step, and started to walk toward the building, holding onto his courage and hope.He climbed the stairs that led to the door and could feel them shaking as though their foundation was no longer suitable for them.As soon as he got a few inches to the door, he stopped and turned around to look at the Van, still struggling with the heavy pounding of his heartbeat.He sighed heavily and extended his hand to knock at the door. He withdrew his hand on the first attempt, and following the way he f
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Riley continued driving the van as fast as he could without knowing where he was headed. It appeared that the road after the long garden path was as lonely as a desert, with no one else driving through.It was already dawn, and the touchdown of the sun was already upon the earth, even though it wasn’t as radiate as when it was in its full splendor.Riley continued driving through the narrow road, even though his mind had been bestowed by so many uncertainties, but the strong determination to get away from the men who could he after him kept on responding in his mind.“Mum? Are you okay back there?” He asked as he tried to take a look at his mother through the rearview mirror, but all he could see was her hair, and nothing else, as the partition glass between them blocked his view.Mrs. Ederson was still shocked to even give her son a response to his question, but she managed to nod in affirmation, even though she was really worried about the safety of herself and her two sons.While
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CHAPTER FORTY-SEVENKnowing that they were a major obstacle to his escape with his family, Riley glided toward the back of the Van where the men were taking cover and caused them to run out of their hiding place, shooting more blasts at them with full force.“Yeah! Get away from that Van! Get away from it!”To retaliate, one of the men who ran away from the back of the Van pulled out a loaded pistol from his pants, and pointed it at Riley , causing him to gasp.“No! No! Don’t shoot him! You fool! He is an asset! You shoot him and we lose everything!” Seth screamed at the guards who hesitated with so much struggling, before he lowered the gun slowly, grunting in intense frustration, while Riley felt a little relief, as he had thought the guard was going to pull the trigger of the pistol he pointed at him.Seth continued his tiptoeing toward the Van, trying to be as quiet as he could, but it was too late, as he had already given himself up, and ruined his plans.Riley sighted him thr
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CHAPTER FORTY-SIX“Don’t just stand there! Do your fucking job! Grab his legs!” Seth cried out to the men, pointing his right index finger at Riley who continued to glide through the air, looking down at the four men below him.The men looked at Seth, and all they could do was wonder if he was seeing the sight of Riley who was suspended in the air.“What are you still waiting for? Jump up and grab him! Is that so hard?”Seeing that the four men standing below Riley were so confused, and not eager to do anything, Seth growled, and then he started walking toward Riley , paying no attention to the pain he felt in his thighs.“Hooger will kill me if I don’t do as he has asked. But I will make sure that I kill these bunch of useless men before I face him!’With nothing but a strong and desperate determination to accomplish his mission, Seth limped as soon as he got close to Riley , attempting to grab his legs.“Come here! I am not done with you yet! Get back here!”His efforts to grab R
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Satisfied that his Mum was safe, he returned his gaze to the men in front of him, looking for a way to escape from them. “Please, I beg you, lady. Just come out!” Suddenly, he felt balls of sweat running down his body at different parts, as he stood at a spot with nowhere to run to, trying so hard to catch his breath which was moving farther and farther away. With nothing but a little borrowed courage left inside him, he discarded every form of thought in his mind, and ran to his left, in an attempt to get past the guard there, but he found himself on the floor, as the guard put his leg on the way, causing him to trip on it. Riley grunted loudly, as he hit the ground with his chaste, causing him to feel so much pain. He tried to get up almost immediately to escape from the men, but he felt a tight grip on his neck as soon as he tried to get up. “Come here, boy! Enough of the games, it’s all over.” “No! Let me go! We can talk about this.” Riley said loudly, but that wasn’t enough
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