Mystical Journey

Isaros pinched the object gently and hesitated momentarily.

However, she was not hesitating about this item. Instead, she was thinking about the fact that Dahm was Garen’s subordinate, and the contradicting problems that would arrive if she did not accept Dahm’s apology.

"Please don’t worry. No matter what, Marshall’s apology is truly sincere," replied the blonde man with a smile when he noticed her hesitance.

Isaros nodded faintly and gently stuffed the item into the palm of Vivien who was behind her. The latter was slightly stunned and about to say something but stopped when Isaros shook her head and signaled her to keep her mouth closed.

Ding...

The elevator stopped slowly before the door opened automatically. A young woman in black tights stood guard outside the door.

"Please follow me, all three of you," said the woman respectfully while bowing her head lightly.

Isaros and the other two girls followed the woman out of the elevator and walked towards the right side into a corridor that was covered with a white carpet. There was a study with a faint white light at the end of the corridor. The door to the study was slightly ajar, allowing rays of light to shine outside.

The trio followed the woman and stopped in front of the doorway. She knocked the door three times gently before pushing it open slowly.

The inside of the room was immediately exposed before the eyes of these three people.

Inside the spacious room, nothing was eye-catching except for the magnetic presence who was clearly seated behind the metallic silvery-white desk in the middle of the room. This figure had instantly attracted the gazes and attention of all three people.

A young blonde man sat in the leather chair behind the desk with one hand on the armrest of the chair. His other hand was gently stroking the white jade lion paperweight on his desk. The most eye-catching thing about him was the black metal mask on his face. That mask was unusually hypnotic because it was expressionless but had clusters of little eyes on the forehead area that added mysterious and cold qualities to this man.

"Welcome. I haven’t seen you for such a long time, Isaros, Arisa, and my beloved Little Vivien," said the man while sounding as if he was smiling.

"You are... Garen?!" Isaros could feel a sense of familiarity from his voice suddenly.

"Big brother!!" Little Vivien who stood on the side could sense this familiarity even more. She ran over immediately and threw herself into Garen’s embrace at once. She had been in a state of anxiety throughout her journey and was finally able to release all of her emotions fully now that she had arrived here.

Once she jumped into Garen’s embrace and smelled his familiar scent, Vivien suddenly felt as if she was wrapped in a thick security blanket. She only wished that she could bury herself in her brother’s chest and stay there forever.

Garen hugged Vivien. The little sister whom he had grown up with had already become a sixteen or seventeen year old beauty now. She was wearing a pair of denim shorts and a white T-shirt that she had just changed into while her pale thighs were exposed. Moreover, Little Vivien sat directly on his lap and curled herself up like a little kitten that was crying against his chest.

"You’re so big already. Alright, alright. Don’t cry." Garen held Vivien and attempted to pull her away, but this little fellow rubbed her snot and tear stained face against him instead. She would rather die than let go, forcing him to just let her stay there as she wished.

Both Isaros and Arisa each found a chair to sit on inside the study. Meanwhile, someone else had closed the door behind them.

Once Little Vivien’s emotions had calmed down slightly, Garen brushed against an acupuncture spot on her back and Little Vivien began to doze off suddenly before drifting into deep sleep.

Only then did Garen raise his head to look at the two people in front of him.

"I know that both of you definitely have a lot of questions to ask me. However, I will only answer you selectively."

"Big brother Garen, why do you have so many subordinates?!"

Before Isaros could speak, Arisa who stood beside her asked the first question. After experiencing Dahm and Hochman’s terrifying powers personally, her initial favorable impression and admiration of Garen were suddenly amplified all at once. Although she was still barely able to maintain her image of a virtuous maiden, for now, the bright and watery gaze that she used to stare at Garen made it seem as if the word ’worship’ was written on her face.

"I obviously nurtured them..."

"Then why are you wearing a mask?"

"This was something that I was utterly helpless against. You just need to know that I did not wish to wear it."

"Your mask looks really good. So cool!"

"Thanks..."

"Could I have one too?"

"This mask is not something that can be worn by the average person..."

"Big brother, how did you know that we were in danger?"

"I have my information channels."

"How should we repay you for saving us?"

"Don’t worry about that..."

They continued speaking, but after less than ten minutes, Garen looked on impatiently as Arisa buried herself in his embrace as well. This beautiful little girl with shoulder-length red hair used the excuse that she had been scared silly and needed a warm, strong embrace before burrowing herself against his chest.

It was fortunate that he was tall, muscular, and almost two meters tall. The shape of his entire body had become burly after he entered the fifth star, allowing him to envelop both of these little girls in his arms without any problems.

Arisa curled herself up in Garen’s chest with a satisfied smile on her face before falling into a deep sleep quickly.

Suddenly, only Isaros and Garen were left in the room.

Isaros glanced at Garen who was sitting behind the desk. There were too many questions in her head that she wanted to ask him. She wanted to ask him about his power, strength, and other things such as his true position and character...

But once the words reached the corners of her mouth, she realized that she was completely unable to open it as there were too many related questions and she did not know where to begin.

"I’m already aware of the incidents between you and the Blood Breeds," Garen spoke first after a few moments of silence, "The Holy Technique of the Scarlet Moon clan was inscribed in the depths of your consciousness. Did they obtain your approval before doing this?"

Isaros nodded faintly after acknowledging what he had said. She was not surprised at all that Garen knew this information already.

Garen looked at the expression on her face and smiled.

"The Secret Party and the Light Party were fighting and it was merely an internal struggle at first. I did not anticipate that they would involve you in this."

"We have been involved in this long ago actually. After we were listed as targets to be hunted by the Secret Party, Pritto decided to inscribe the Holy Technique in the depths of my consciousness. Compared to the Blood Breed’s powerful regenerative abilities, the characteristics of normal humans like myself were much weaker. Therefore, the people from the Secret Party would have their misgivings when they hunted us down and discovered our secret, ensuring our safety," said Isaros quietly.

Garen’s eyelids drooped downwards.

"With your current strength, it’s completely impossible for you to protect Arisa. Do you understand?"

"That’s why I have a request," nodded Arisa with a determined look on her face.

"I can’t promise anything now." Garen knew what she was about to say. He was certain that she was hoping to put Arisa in his care. However, being by his side was actually more dangerous than if she were to be with Isaros.

"All of you should hurry towards the northern areas because the Lion Mother’s territory is there. Moreover, the Light Party’s reinforcements are there so it should be much safer. Meanwhile, here with me..." Garen placed both of his hands on the desk. "The period of time that follows after will be extremely dangerous."

"But compared to us, your powers are..." before Isaros could finish speaking, there was a soft knock on the door.

Knock knock knock.

Isaros stopped speaking suddenly and picked up the coffee cup on the little table in front of her and drank from it.

"Commander, Mr. Rod is here," said the woman who had led the way earlier called in a loud voice while standing before the door.

"Ask him to come here," Garen replied.

"I’ll leave first then?" Isaros stood up because she was worried that Garen would have things that he needed to discuss.

"Your Blood Breed friends are at the base on the outskirts of the area. If you want to see them, you can just ask anyone to take you there," Garen nodded.

Isaros nodded faintly to show that she understood.

Garen continued by saying: "Arisa can stay here with me for a while. It’s still temporarily safe here. When the time is right, I will send her to you."

"Thank you very much."

"You don’t have to be so courteous. I’ve always thought of Arisa as a little sister," Garen smiled.

Once Isaros had left the study, she could hear a set of familiar sounding footsteps approaching and walking up the stairs slowly. Not long after, Rod’s face that was completely devoid of any signs of sternness appeared at the doorway suddenly.

This guy had changed into a checkered shirt and white boxer briefs and flinched just as he entered the room.

"Damn, your place is so hot. Don’t you ever turn on the air conditioning?" he complained.

"I’ve never used that toy," said Garen impatiently. The weather had become slightly unpredictable now as hot sunny days would occur in Berlin during its winter period in December. The temperature would only decrease rapidly in the evening, causing differences in temperature of over twenty degrees sometimes.

Rod pulled a chair over in a familiar manner and sat down. He soon noticed the two beautiful young girls who were curled up in Garen’s lap behind the desk. One was red-haired while the other was blonde.

Suddenly, this man pointed his thumb at Garen rudely.

"Amazing! Two at one time. I had the same demeanor in my previous years!"

"They’re my younger sisters..." Garen was utterly impatient with this man.

"No worries, most of them usually start as younger sisters," laughed Rod.

Garen did not explain any further.

"Any developments over at your place?" he changed the subject.

"The testing grounds have been prepared already. When do you want to test it?" said Rod frankly once his smile had finally disappeared.

The tests that he was talking about were the Rexott Group’s experimental areas. They were going to test every aspect of Garen’s strength and physical abilities. Moreover, Garen was also eager to compare the limits of his powers with the technology of this world.

"I have some matters to attend to now."

"Understood. Both of them are asleep because of you, huh?" Rod spoke crudely again.

But when he noticed traces of anger on Garen’s face, he shut his mouth quickly.

"Alright, alright. I’ll stop joking. Looks like they’re really just your younger sisters. You can visit the testing grounds anytime you want, but we can’t really delay the other thing anymore."

"What?"

"I’m talking about the International Fighting Competition you’re organizing. The prize money is too high. Some special class mercenaries may attend, so you must be mentally prepared," Rod seemed to know some insider information.

"Don’t worry. I’ll take care of it properly." Garen had taken currently taken over the competition that Hochman and Dahm had organized. The prize money had been raised again and was now at ninety million euros. This large sum of money would not be provided by Garen alone as there were many other commercial sponsors who would be present. Since the last competition was a huge success, the current one would be even more influential and dynamic.

"That’s right, how much do you understand about Blood Breeds?" Garen pondered for a moment before asking the question.

"Blood Breeds?" Rod’s pupils shrunk, "Why? Did you provoke them?"

The Rexott Group was an organization that was determined to develop the potential of humans. Actually, they mainly existed because they were extremely unsatisfied with the Blood Breed’s rule and influence over the structure of the world. Therefore, they were trying to find a new path that would strengthen normal humans to achieve their end goal of surpassing the Blood Breeds.

A goal like this would naturally require deep research of the Blood Breeds.