You have slain a red-tier Awakened human, Bellum.

  Arden looked at the message but said nothing. This was not his first kill, but he had no doubt that he would remember this one much more.

  This was a far more personal affair than dealing with Frozhe had been. Arden felt a great weight leave his shoulders. One of the agents of his agony was dead.

  But there was still another.

  Arden remembered the dead woman's words.

  “I said that you have to do whatever it takes to survive. What happened was just an extension of that. You wanted to keep me alive so you killed the person who put my life in danger.”

  Last time he killed someone, Vera had said that it was a noble act because he had done so out of trying to protect her. He wondered if those words still rung true after her death.

  Arden shook his head.

  This Vera wasn't his Vera. He refused to believe it. He rejected it.

  He didn't kill Bellum out of his need to escape. He killed him because he hurt someone that Arden cared about.

  ‘Is there anything more human than anger?’

  Arden didn't know. The only thing he did know was that Bellum was now dead, and Arden was pleased. Aside from just satisfaction, what welled up inside of him was intrigue.

  ‘Awakened, huh? As I thought, there's a different system in place in this world that allows people to have the power equivalent to Starborn.’

  His answer about how Bellum was able to wield his aura was answered. Now, he just needed to figure out the next part.

  ‘What is this system, and is there a way to bring it back?’

  Arden didn't know. He had more important things to worry about right now. He turned his gaze back to the old man.

  “So who are you?”

  Red energy rose off the shoulders of the man as he folded his arms with a grin.

  “Someone who wants the prince dead.”

  “That makes the both of us. What is your grievance with him?”

  “He has something we need. Perhaps you've seen it. A relic that can be used to kickstart the ascension process.”

  Arden nodded.

  “The Godstone.”

  The blood master smiled wide.

  “Precisely. You've heard of it?”

  “I've seen it, actually.”

  The aura of the blood master washed over the carriage. Arden felt it and flinched slightly, but otherwise didn't react.

  “Then that means you are a threat. A dangerous element with unknown goals. So long as you live, our mission will be in jeopardy.”

  “I've told you my goal. I want the prince dead, and I want to leave. Nothing else.”

  The aura intensified, causing the air around them to vibrate. Arden’s hair whipped around his head, but he refused to yield. The blood master liked the Aspirant’s spirit. To be able to stand against his power was nothing short of exceptional, especially when the boy didn't seem to have any power whatsoever.

  Honestly, Arden was let down by the power of the blood master's aura, especially after using it to telekinetically give him the sword. It felt like nothing was happening to him. He wondered if there was something special about the circumstances.

  “Feel free to try and kill me if you think you can handle it,” Arden said.

  “Are you threatening me?”

  “Not at all. Now that Bellum is dead, me and the prince are the only ones who know how to get the Godstone. If you kill me, I can guarantee that the prince would rather kill himself than give the Godstone up to you.”

  Arden did his best not to cringe as he said the next part. He wanted to reject it with his whole existence.

  “He is a hero, after all.”

  “You expect me to believe you?”

  “Without question.”

  The blood master's aura felt Arden’s emotions. They weren't fake. Arden had absolute confidence in his words, and was tired and wary, which piqued the blood master's interest even further.

  ‘How long has it been since someone felt so bored in my presence?’

  “Why?”

  “Because I represent an opportunity. It would be foolish not to listen to me. You think the Godstone is the only thing the prince has in storage? Let me escape, and I can give you everything in there. The Godstone, the pile of jewels, the lava anvil. All of it can be yours for the price of sparing one life.”

  Arden saw the master mulling over his proposition, so he drove in the final nail.

  “Of course, as you say, I may be lying. There could be no treasure alongside the Godstone. But even if I am, you have the power to make me instantly regret it. And think of what you'll be missing out on if I'm not lying.”

  Arden and the blood master stared at each other. The latter's overpowering blood aura did little to the pale Arden except from blowing his hair around.

  All at once, the aura vanished, and Arden inwardly sighed. He didn't dare do it out loud, knowing that his facade of strength and bravery would crumble.

  “Open the storage.”

  Arden grinned and walked out of the tiny room, stepping over Bellum’s body as he did. He made a mental note to loot the pouch that was still hanging from his hip later.

  Arden approached the middle of the room and looked around. He noticed the blood master watching him with interest, but ignored him for the most part. Arden was more focused on the scattered remains of furniture and their positioning.

  This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author's consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.

  ‘I wouldn't have minded taking some of those with me.’

  Arden looked at the blood splattered all over the room with judging eyes. Between the red aura used by the old man, and the blood covering everything in the room, from the walls to Bellum, Arden was able to deduce what the man specialized in. He turned his gaze to the blood master, who happened to be standing next to the bookshelf. Despite everything, it remained standing.

  “There's a pattern on the third shelf,” Arden said. “A star surrounded by a pair of rings. You have to touch it, use magic, and recite the magic words.”

  The master frowned and took a step towards Arden.

  “Why can't you do it?”

  “I'm an outworlder. I've been in this world for around a week. I don't know how to use magic.”

  Red light glowed fiercely in the Blood Master's eyes and veins bulged on his forehead.

  “Seems awfully convenient for you. Don't toy with me, boy.”

  He seemed more upset at how Arden coincidentally couldn't open the sensory vault than he was skeptical about Arden's claims of being from another world.

  Arden glared at the blood master and raised his broken and chewed hand. A red glint shined in his eyes, similar to the master's, but was completely mundane.

  “One of the two people I love was stabbed and bled out on top of me. Her body was hung just above mine as I starved for days. I had to break my own hand and chew off my own goddamn finger to escape. Don't you dare make light of what I've done over the past few days. This was anything but convenient. If I hear you do it again, the prince won't be my only target,” Arden said. “That is a threat. So if you would, touch the shelf, pray, get your loot, and get the hell away from me.”

  The blood master appeared right in front of Arden, standing over him with a domineering presence. Arden looked up at him with rage etched into his face, and refused to back down.

  “Do you want me as your enemy, child? I promise you, it will be the worst mistake of your life.”

  “Not standing up for myself this time would be far worse than whatever you can dish out. You aren't the first person much stronger than me that I've killed. Ask Bellum back there.”

  “Are you going to risk losing to me?”

  Arden deflated with a sigh and looked away, disappointed.

  “I don't make losing bets.”

  The blood master smiled and shoved Arden back, knocking him away from the bookshelf. The blood master’s fingers found the pattern and rubbed it.

  “The only reason you're still alive is because I find you entertaining. You should know that. What are the magic words?”

  Arden stood up still holding Bellum’s sword in his functional hand. He would need it for what came next.

  “You need to close your eyes, And say ‘praise be to the new star.’ The prince may be a hero, but he was also very full of himself.”

  The blood master gave one last look to Arden before closing his eyes and opening his mouth. Magic energy rose from his shoulders like steam as he began to infuse the shelf with magic.

  “Don't even try to attack me. I can detect you perfectly even with my eyes shut, thanks to my blood controlling aura. If you try anything, I'll be read-”

  His words were cut off by Arden's sword slashing through his neck, sending his head flying to the ground. More blood pooled through the magicarriage, but Arden paid no mind to the morbid scene, nor its coppery stench.

  You have slain a red-tier Awakened human, Loris of the Setting Sun.

  The blood master had already said that Arden's existence was a threat and would have killed him if not for Arden's bargaining. Arden was no fool. He knew that the blood master was going to come for him after receiving the prince's stash. Arden wasn't going to sit around and get killed after giving him the loot.

  “You know, that probably wouldn't have worked in any other circumstance. You should've been able to kill me with the blood in my body. But here's the thing.”

  Arden continued monologuing as he wiped his bloody sword off on the red robes of his newest prey.

  “I don't have any blood. Not anymore. I was run through with a sword a week ago, and have had no medical work done on it. I've bled out. The only blood I have left is frozen on my face.”

  He walked back to Bellum's body and grabbed two things: the scabbard and the pouch of holding. The latter was something that he wanted and the former was a necessity to follow through on his promise to Nux Valtorin.

  He looked at Vera’s body and lost all of his vigor. Cautiously, he approached the otherworldly hanging body of his savior, and held the pouch open wide.

  “You don't deserve to be left like this, Vera. I'll find you a good spot, then I can give you a proper place to rest. Hopefully, the afterlife is better to you than your original life.”

  Arden’s voice trembled as her body turned into purple sparks and was absorbed by the pouch.

  ‘Don't cry,’ he thought. ‘It doesn't matter if she wasn't my Vera. She still deserves action, not sadness.’

  He took a calming breath and turned around. Vera’s body was now inside the pouch, and would soon be followed by some other important items. He came to the bookshelf and touched the star symbol.

  His lack of magic had been solved with the blood master’s infusion. Now Arden just needed to finish the job.

  “Praise be to the new star.”

  The pillar emerged, and when it reached the ceiling, a translucent veil appeared, as did the treasure hidden within. Despite everything, Arden found himself smiling ear to ear. The prospect of stealing from the prince was just too appealing.

  The nondescript stone altar with the glowing Godstone atop it was the first to be absorbed by Arden's new inventory system. As it disappeared into purple sparks, Arden couldn't help but laugh.

  “Oh this feels good.”

  The chest full of gems was next. Each of them looked like they would yield incredible amounts of money in the real world, and now Arden had an entire stockpile on his hands.

  “I wonder if this much will ruin the economy,” he mused.

  ‘That would be a story,’ he thought. ‘To go from poverty to crashing the economy.’

  As Arden approached the anvil made of cooling lava, he briefly paused and looked up at the servant attire that he wore several days prior. After only a moment, he sliced it to pieces with Bellum’s sword.

  He continued to the anvil and stared at it. Steam continuously rose off the slab of igneous rock shaped to form a piece of blacksmithing equipment. Strangely, Arden didn't feel any heat coming off of it.

  “What are you?” He asked aloud.

  He cautiously extended his broken hand to the anvil for a brief touch. If he was going to get severely burnt, he was going to do it with his already damaged hand. When his skin made contact, he quickly pulled it back in case it was hot, but much like how it felt to be nearby, it wasn't hot at all. His eyes focused on the steam and squinted.

  “Status interference?” He guessed.

  He placed his full hand on the anvil, and this time it reacted. The orange lines of magma glowed brightly before the anvil dissipated into sparks of white light and rushed into Arden.

  You have obtained a white-tier Protostar Satellite, Forge of the Imaginarium.

  The message left Arden shocked.

  “White-tier…” he muttered with wide eyes.

  The second highest tier in the Status, With only the mythical blue-tier being higher. According to everything Arden knew, blue-tier anything was in the realm of the gods. A single blue-tier Celestial was enough to destroy the world without effort, and a blue-tier Satellite had the power that matched the Celestial's might.

  And Arden now had a Satellite just one step below that.

  “Huh.”

  Just imagining what his new toy was capable of was enough to cause Arden to burst out laughing. His laughter died and determination burned in his eyes, hotter than before.

  “I can only use it after becoming a Protostar and gaining a Soul Cluster,” he reminded himself.

  Arden stepped out of the veil and it disappeared. His pouch was filled with quite a few treasures, and thankfully it seemed that it didn't weigh anything, despite being full. Arden didn't even want to speculate about how the physics of it worked. Magic made things tricky.

  He cast one last look at the corpses of Bellum the crownguard and Loris the blood master.

  “I told you. I don't make losing bets.”

  With those final words, Arden exited the magicarriage for the last time, and departed into the snowy woods in search of an escape.