A few minutes later, Lex arrived at the market. The place bustled with noise and activities. Even at this time of the night, it was densely packed with people. Stalls lined side by side; sellers shouted over each other, advertising their goods. The air was thick with the smell of spice and sweat. Meat sizzled in oily pans, and fried chicken brought a satisfying aroma.
Lex joyfully walked into the market, merging with the dense crowd. His shoulders brushed the pedestrians as he walked by. A few minutes later, he arrived at a food stall, tucked tightly between two closed boutique shops. A bunch of tables were laid around the stall. Seating at a particular table was a bunch of high school students, chattering endlessly. A high school was not too far from the market, so it was usually filled with final year students who were allowed to roam free at night. "Lex!" "Long time no see," a woman who was around her mid fifties spoke, a warm smile crossing her face. The warmth matched that of the soup pot behind her. "Mama Rina!" Exclaimed Lex. "It hasn't been that long; it's only just been two weeks." "Two weeks, two years – when you're at my age, it's all the same," said Mama Rina, her shoulders shrugging. "That's not true," replied Lex. "I bet when people see you and Elle walk side by side, they usually see you both as sisters." "Stop with the flattering," said Mama Rina. "I'm not young; you're only exaggerating." Though she seemed annoyed as she replied, the joy in her eyes couldn't be hidden. "Alright, enough talk. What would you like to have? The usuals, right?" "Yes, that," replied Lex as he walked towards a chair, slumping onto it. Both of his elbows rested on the table in front of him. His jaw was tucked on his right hand as he gazed towards the high school students who weren't too far; he listened closely. They chattered excitedly about the system virus that had just been released into the web, arguing if it was helpful or dangerous. Mama Rina placed the food along with a bottle of water on the table. "I added a bit of carbohydrates. Eat more, Lex," she grinned, "so you can get some muscles, or else you will die a virgin." "I better eat then," Lex spoke, digging into the food. It was nothing extraordinary just a bowl of rice and a couple of crayfish sprinkled on top, adorning it. This was what Lex cherished: something simple, average, that he could afford. After a couple of food chugs, Lex resorted to drinking water and ending the meal. Satisfied, he reached out to his wallet, dropping a couple of bills on the table. He stood up and waved goodbye to Mama Rina. "Mama Rina, I'll be on my way now. I'll come back tomorrow." "Ok, be careful on the way, alright? It's no more safe out there," Mama Rina waved back while giving him a warning. "I will..." Lex echoed, disappearing into the crowd. Lex alighted from the taxi, standing directly in front of a fluorescent sign that flickered weakly. He then proceeded into the supermarket; the place was quiet except for the low hum of the air conditioner and refrigerator. Inside was a man who stood behind the counter, wiping some fruits with a white cloth. Old Charlie called Lex as he approached the counter with a smile. Old Charlie raised his head up, smiling brightly as his gaze fell on Lex. "Let me guess," spoke Old Charlie, "you're out of groceries again, aren't you?" "You know me, Old Charlie. I don't like doing these things anyway, but since tomorrow's a weekend, I don't want to be out at all," he shrugged, picking up a basket and going ahead to pick up a few things. He didn't need anything much just groceries enough to last him for one week. He paced back and forth and, having grabbed what he needed, walked back to the counter. "I see; it's still the regulars, isn't it?" "Yes, it is," answered Lex. "What can I say? I like to live a simple life, one where you could live according to your own free will. After all, we only live once." A sparkle of emotion appeared in Lex's eye as he spoke. "Hmmmm. That's a wonderful perspective on life," spoke Old Charlie. "You're different from most of the youngsters out there. I wish my children were like you." Lex sighed; he knew what Old Charlie was going through how troublesome his children were, here and there. "Don't worry, Old Charlie," replied Lex. "When they reach the right age, I'm sure they'll come back to their senses." "Thank you, Lex," answered Old Charlie. "Anytime." Removing his card from his wallet, he swiped it towards the machine; it beeped, then confirmed the payment. "Alright then, old man. I'll see you later. Close early; it's not safe for you to be here alone." "You brat," you're meant to worry about yourself instead, said Old Charlie as he watched Lex's back fade into the night. He shook his head, smiling heartily, as he resumed cleaning the fruits. It was quite late in the night now; the bright moon hung in the sky, clouds hovering around it. Lex checked the time on his phone, exhaling, mists trailing out from his mouth. He was walking in the dark alley path that led directly to his residential building. Halfway, the lights in the whole city went out. Lex felt strange, like someone was watching him. He looked back to ensure he wasn't being followed. There was no one behind him. He then turned his gaze forward; his temperature suddenly went cold as just a few meters away was a black, strange gun, pointed directly at him. He couldn't make out the face of the figure that stood behind the gun, except for the tall hat the figure wore. He stammered, "I-I have money if that's what you want. Please don't k-kill me." BANG! A loud sound resounded throughout the alley. Lex fell back heavily towards the ground, his groceries spilling on the floor. He felt his life and thoughts seep out of him at a rapid rate. The clouds that covered the moon dispersed, giving way. Slowly, the figure disappeared from the alley along with the mist that covered it. "So this is how I die, huh?" Spoke Lex. "I wish I was at least not a virgin. Guess my boring life is over." That was the thought that echoed in his head before he completely lost consciousness.Latest Chapter
Ruins (4)
Over the past few hours, lex slowly recovered from the black flash of fatigue and mana drain. Although the system had emphasized on 5 hours for recovery, it took lex seven hours to pull himself together.“The Eternal Flame.” Lex muttered to himself as he sat up on the slightly dusty palace floors. “I must find out if she’s a legend and actually existed, or the stories are mere fables.”His eyes darted towards the position of the first orb, the glow it emanated initially had dissipated, its vibrant form becoming shaded. Lex approached the second orb, wondering who the second master was going to be and what sort of power they’ll manifest.Lex’s heart began beating in anticipation as he began pouring Mana into the orb. The orb immediately glimmered in unmistakable ethereal glow, one second and lex was focused on the mana transmission, the next?His consciousness was absorbed and then lex was dragged into another scenario, entirely different from the previous one.Lex’s consciousness emer
Ruins(3)
A blind woman who looked like she was in her early twenties walked out of the hut then smiled. She raised her right palm and a small vine materialized.Lex was shocked.She had just summoned a vine from nothing.Her outfit was made of well woven green vines. The vine she summoned in her hand was eight meters long, which she began tying across her eyes, holding it firm at the back of her head.After tying the vines, her head abruptly tilted to the side and immediately a dagger whizzed past her ear, barely missing her by a hair’s breadth.She stretched her hands forward and immediately a man covered in black from head to toe appeared in view from amidst the trees, floating and held together with vines.She smiled subtly."Too weak, as even in the golden realm, you cannot defeat me."Immediately she muttered those words, Lex felt pulled away from the scene as he appeared somewhere else entirely.In the scene stood the blind woman once again. The woven vines held firm across her body. The
Ruins (2)
The crystalline orb pulses with a rhythmic, ethereal glow, channeling the echoes of ancient masters directly into your mind to reveal the divergent path toward total martial transcendence.Lex's gaze fell on the two crystal orbs on the far left side of a distant shelf.“Channeling the echoes of ancient masters.”Lex muttered as he tried to understand the message with his perception.'Which means it shows me how to fight or use my skills better, just like the ancient masters did, and probably master it to the extent of its full capacity.'Lex thought to himself as since his perception had increased to 67, he could decode sentences like this quite easily.However the skills and wisdom the orb should give would probably be related to the demons, lex figured as he stood from his crouched position beside Naomi, found his way through the shelves, and went ahead to lift the two orbs.The orbs were oddly large, and there was no ethereal glow the golden scroll had mentioned, nor any pulse.So
Ruins (1)
Lex brows furrowed as he stared intently at the golden letters, each joined together in words to form a few sentences, however lex didn't understand what the golden scroll was trying to portray at all.He had gone through other scrolls before and the reason he wasn't too bothered in understanding them was because along with the sentences were often images, paintings showcasing what the sentences meant or what it should mean."Is this really necessary?"Lex asked himself, however he realized a golden scroll whose sentences materialized when opened was not something to be ignored. After all there were no other scrolls that captivated him such as it. And so lex decided to learn the demon language. The only way he could pull that off was to gather all the other scrolls and slowly itemize all the images, filtering out similar words and sentences and their corresponding meanings, as that way he would finally be able to understand what the scroll was portraying.Lex proceeded to tidy the li
Ruins
(Demonic Realm, Lex's POV)*Splat**Splat*Slowly, blood dripped from Lex's body as he ran at top speed. He had plastered his wounds with vines, and although they had no healing abilities, they had done a great job stopping the blood flow.He held Naomi tightly on his left shoulder with one hand as he gazed at the tall building ahead.He had found the demon king's palace.And not only that, he had a head start on the magic beasts, which were currently trailing him at full speed.Naomi, slumped over Lex's shoulder, was not aware of her surroundings at all. Having hit the ground head first, it was going to take a long while before she fully recovered from the internal bleeding.A vine erupted from behind Lex, parrying a long range shot from a magic beast, with Lex completely unaware of what had happened.A few minutes passed, and Lex edged closer to the demon king's palace.His plan was to hide from the magic beasts inside the building, if luckily, they did not destroy the whole place.
Defiance
Lex stared blankly, mouth agape. He had not noticed it before, but this, this was the true strength of a hybrid adventurer. “Nice one, Naomi!” Lex screamed from below as he felt elated seeing that Naomi had not fallen prey to the diving wyvern. Before Lex could focus on another move, he was hit squarely in the chest. Lex felt as though life had been knocked out of his body. He flew backward, crashing down on the ground several meters away. He had been struck by a large salamander, a fire based elemental creature. The dozens of magic beasts had begun joining the fray. This was no longer going to be a task where Lex needed to defend himself. It was now a task where he needed to defend his life. Different sounds rang in Lex's head as he lay flat on the dark soil of the demonic realm. Lex sighed internally. He knew that if Naomi had not been here, he would not have crossed paths with the magic beasts in the first place. However, he also knew he could not bear seeing her get i
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