A complicated light flashed within Arlo's eyes. He wasn't particularly overwhelmed by all he just learned but for some reason, he felt like it was all too much to take in. Many of his doubts were now made clear.
Arlo and Old Bro remained silent for a long time. Each to his own thought.
Suddenly the scene before Arlo moved at a great speed almost as if it was fast-forward.
Many sights flashed before him but Arlo wasn't able to follow them. After some time, the flashing scenes came to a stop. What Arlo saw shook him to the core and made him momentarily forget about the current matters.
"Is that father?" he whispered in disbelief.
Before him was a silver-haired young boy with matching eyes in his mid-teens. The young boy singlehandedly dominated all his mates who entered the secret realm with him and was even able to enter and exit the secret realm after he entered once at his will.
However, what truly shocked Arlo wasn't his father's terrifying talent nor his monstrous combat prowess, but the complete change in his character. There was a qualitative difference in the aura around him.
Arlo could still remember the few scenes Old Bro had shown him before and how he was inwardly disappointed. Arlo could surmise his father in his childhood in one sentence, 'A childish and unruly boy who acted simply on impulse.'
However, his longing for him didn't make him dwell too much on it.
Now, it seemed that after that incident, his father had changed completely.
The air around him was now dignified and it was clear that he thought of his actions before carrying them out. Even though the gap in strength between him and the other contestants was insurmountable, he still dealt them a weak hand.
A wave of emotion suddenly hit Arlo out of nowhere.
The excitement rushing through his veins made him clutch his chest to calm his fast-beating heart. At the same time, a voice rang out around him, seemingly from every direction.
"So, he is your father..."
Arlo's eyes widened, 'That voice...Seraphina?' even though the voice didn't seem to belong to a child, Arlo would never mistake it for someone else.
"I was so happy to find such a talented person here." the sweet and otherworldly voice continued, "Unfortunately he wasn't the one."
Another wave of emotion hit Arlo and before he knew it, his eyes became wet.
'I am crying?' Arlo touched his face. Seeing his hand get wet, he finally knew where all these emotions were coming from. He could feel the deep disappointment and the piercing sadness that soon followed. Most importantly, he could feel the loneliness weighing down on him.
"Are these your emotions?" Arlo voiced out, as he continued to fix his eyes on his hand.
"I am sorry..." the sweet voice sounded soft, and Arlo could feel her sincerity, "I just wanted to share my experience with you."
"Why?" Arlo asked in confusion.
As if replying to his question, Arlo saw the scene around him change once again.
This time he saw two beasts streaking past big trees at great speed.
"That snake..." Arlo identified that snake as the pitch-black snake currently resting around Joe's neck.
Shifting his eyes to the other beast that was chasing the snake, Arlo became surprised once again but he didn't show any great change this time. He was starting to feel numb to the sudden surprises.
The beast chasing the pitch-black snake swung his two-meter axe, which Arlo identified as what saved him and his team, around effortlessly as if it only weighed a branch. With every swing, tens of huge trees were uprooted before being sent flying. At the same time, several ditches hundreds of meters long appeared on the ground. The more surprising thing was that the huge trees moved at the beast's behest as if they were controlled by invisible hands.
The beautiful voice returned, "About two months ago, I suddenly felt my control of Aether shake for a moment. It was almost as if someone was trying to wring the reins out of my hands.
> Old bro sent directly to his mind.
Arlo inwardly nodded his head. He could still remember when he had broken through and summoned Anita. Later that day, he had tried to connect with his law outside Tibu's castle, and while he felt a connection for a moment, it soon disappeared thereafter. Afterward, no matter how he tried to connect to them, he failed woefully.
As his thoughts arrived at this point, Arlo finally remembered one crucial fact.
'My birthday is in less than a week.' His heart beat faster at the thought of his approaching birthday and the greatly announced transformation that he would experience on that day. Now that Arlo had experienced the outside world, or at least a part of it, he realized that the people who had forewarned him of his upcoming awakening were great people with unrivaled talents
His father, Scarlett, the Werewolve's Queen, Old Bro, and his mum. While Arlo didn't know why his mother refused to use her powers and hadn't seen her action, he didn't believe for one second that his mother was any less special than his father.
"Imagine my surprise when I felt the person I had been looking for appear in the world I was in. I had already used my remaining Essence of reality, with my mental world as the foundation, to create this small world. Left with no choice, I had to make a great sacrifice to awaken the bloodline of two beasts to send outside in search of you. I needed them to be strong and capable of overcoming any obstacle to complete the mission I would assign to them. However, my plan didn't go as I thought."
Arlo was pulled out of his thoughts and as he looked at the fierce concentration between the house-sized Torkun and the insect-sized snake, his fast-beating heart slowly calmed down.
The voice continued:
"In the end, I had no choice but to send only the snake outside. Thankfully it didn't disappoint me."
Arlo nodded. He didn't need to be filled on what happened thereafter. And while he wondered how the snake had infiltrated the small world the Darkblood Academy was located in, he didn't give much thought to it.
With a strange light flashing within the silver eyes he inherited from his father, Arlo spoke, "You still haven't told me why you are showing me these things."
There was a brief silence before the voice echoed from everywhere but this time, it sounded more like a whisper:
"It is because I am afraid."
"Afraid?" Arlo brow's furrowed, his eyes flashing with confusion.
There was another short pause. The scene around him had already disappeared so Arlo was back in the space devoid of light. But he wasn't afraid.
The voice finally returned, "Initially, I planned to forcefully wipe off your consciousness and wring control of your body."
Arlo narrowed his eyes, as his face flashed with caution.
"But I can't anymore..." the voice trailed off.
Swallowing his saliva, Arlo asked in a slightly shaky voice, "What changed?"
"I can feel a presence in you...one that I felt the first time I awakened my consciousness."
Arlo's eyes widened, 'Is she referring to Old Bro?'
Without waiting for Arlo to confirm her words, the female voice pleaded:
"Please, help me. You are my only hope."
While Arlo appreciated the fact that she had opened up to him in sincerity and revealed her plan, a part of him now felt wary of her existence.
>
A look of hesitation appeared on Arlo's face. Of course, he wished to connect to his laws, especially after finding out that it was unique among the myriad laws. Alas, his fear won over his desire.
"But..."
Before Arlo could complete his words and as if he read his thoughts, Old Bro interrupted him.
A complicated light flashed within Arlo's eyes. He wasn't particularly overwhelmed by all he just learned but for some reason, he felt like it was all too much to take in. Many of his doubts were now made clear.
Arlo and Old Bro remained silent for a long time. Each to his own thought.
Suddenly the scene before Arlo moved at a great speed almost as if it was fast-forward.
Many sights flashed before him but Arlo wasn't able to follow them. After some time, the flashing scenes came to a stop. What Arlo saw shook him to the core and made him momentarily forget about the current matters.
"Is that father?" he whispered in disbelief.
Before him was a silver-haired young boy with matching eyes in his mid-teens. The young boy singlehandedly dominated all his mates who entered the secret realm with him and was even able to enter and exit the secret realm after he entered once at his will.
However, what truly shocked Arlo wasn't his father's terrifying talent nor his monstrous combat prowess, but the complete change in his character. There was a qualitative difference in the aura around him.
Arlo could still remember the few scenes Old Bro had shown him before and how he was inwardly disappointed. Arlo could surmise his father in his childhood in one sentence, 'A childish and unruly boy who acted simply on impulse.'
However, his longing for him didn't make him dwell too much on it.
Now, it seemed that after that incident, his father had changed completely.
The air around him was now dignified and it was clear that he thought of his actions before carrying them out. Even though the gap in strength between him and the other contestants was insurmountable, he still dealt them a weak hand.
A wave of emotion suddenly hit Arlo out of nowhere.
The excitement rushing through his veins made him clutch his chest to calm his fast-beating heart. At the same time, a voice rang out around him, seemingly from every direction.
"So, he is your father..."
Arlo's eyes widened, 'That voice...Seraphina?' even though the voice didn't seem to belong to a child, Arlo would never mistake it for someone else.
"I was so happy to find such a talented person here." the sweet and otherworldly voice continued, "Unfortunately he wasn't the one."
Another wave of emotion hit Arlo and before he knew it, his eyes became wet.
'I am crying?' Arlo touched his face. Seeing his hand get wet, he finally knew where all these emotions were coming from. He could feel the deep disappointment and the piercing sadness that soon followed. Most importantly, he could feel the loneliness weighing down on him.
"Are these your emotions?" Arlo voiced out, as he continued to fix his eyes on his hand.
"I am sorry..." the sweet voice sounded soft, and Arlo could feel her sincerity, "I just wanted to share my experience with you."
"Why?" Arlo asked in confusion.
As if replying to his question, Arlo saw the scene around him change once again.
This time he saw two beasts streaking past big trees at great speed.
"That snake..." Arlo identified that snake as the pitch-black snake currently resting around Joe's neck.
Shifting his eyes to the other beast that was chasing the snake, Arlo became surprised once again but he didn't show any great change this time. He was starting to feel numb to the sudden surprises.
The beast chasing the pitch-black snake swung his two-meter axe, which Arlo identified as what saved him and his team, around effortlessly as if it only weighed a branch. With every swing, tens of huge trees were uprooted before being sent flying. At the same time, several ditches hundreds of meters long appeared on the ground. The more surprising thing was that the huge trees moved at the beast's behest as if they were controlled by invisible hands.
The beautiful voice returned, "About two months ago, I suddenly felt my control of Aether shake for a moment. It was almost as if someone was trying to wring the reins out of my hands.
> Old bro sent directly to his mind.
Arlo inwardly nodded his head. He could still remember when he had broken through and summoned Anita. Later that day, he had tried to connect with his law outside Tibu's castle, and while he felt a connection for a moment, it soon disappeared thereafter. Afterward, no matter how he tried to connect to them, he failed woefully.
As his thoughts arrived at this point, Arlo finally remembered one crucial fact.
'My birthday is in less than a week.' His heart beat faster at the thought of his approaching birthday and the greatly announced transformation that he would experience on that day. Now that Arlo had experienced the outside world, or at least a part of it, he realized that the people who had forewarned him of his upcoming awakening were great people with unrivaled talents
His father, Scarlett, the Werewolve's Queen, Old Bro, and his mum. While Arlo didn't know why his mother refused to use her powers and hadn't seen her action, he didn't believe for one second that his mother was any less special than his father.
"Imagine my surprise when I felt the person I had been looking for appear in the world I was in. I had already used my remaining Essence of reality, with my mental world as the foundation, to create this small world. Left with no choice, I had to make a great sacrifice to awaken the bloodline of two beasts to send outside in search of you. I needed them to be strong and capable of overcoming any obstacle to complete the mission I would assign to them. However, my plan didn't go as I thought."
Arlo was pulled out of his thoughts and as he looked at the fierce concentration between the house-sized Torkun and the insect-sized snake, his fast-beating heart slowly calmed down.
The voice continued:
"In the end, I had no choice but to send only the snake outside. Thankfully it didn't disappoint me."
Arlo nodded. He didn't need to be filled on what happened thereafter. And while he wondered how the snake had infiltrated the small world the Darkblood Academy was located in, he didn't give much thought to it.
With a strange light flashing within the silver eyes he inherited from his father, Arlo spoke, "You still haven't told me why you are showing me these things."
There was a brief silence before the voice echoed from everywhere but this time, it sounded more like a whisper:
"It is because I am afraid."
"Afraid?" Arlo brow's furrowed, his eyes flashing with confusion.
There was another short pause. The scene around him had already disappeared so Arlo was back in the space devoid of light. But he wasn't afraid.
The voice finally returned, "Initially, I planned to forcefully wipe off your consciousness and wring control of your body."
Arlo narrowed his eyes, as his face flashed with caution.
"But I can't anymore..." the voice trailed off.
Swallowing his saliva, Arlo asked in a slightly shaky voice, "What changed?"
"I can feel a presence in you...one that I felt the first time I awakened my consciousness."
Arlo's eyes widened, 'Is she referring to Old Bro?'
Without waiting for Arlo to confirm her words, the female voice pleaded:
"Please, help me. You are my only hope."
While Arlo appreciated the fact that she had opened up to him in sincerity and revealed her plan, a part of him now felt wary of her existence.
>
A look of hesitation appeared on Arlo's face. Of course, he wished to connect to his laws, especially after finding out that it was unique among the myriad laws. Alas, his fear won over his desire.
"But..."
Before Arlo could complete his words and as if he read his thoughts, Old Bro interrupted him.
