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Chapter 24: Growth Spurt
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2024-10-29 19:42:56A party of adventurers seemed nervous as they entered the 22nd floor. It was dark inside and nothing could be heard. The silence was more nerve-wracking since they couldn’t tell if there were monsters around the vicinity.
“Flame torch,” the mage of the party whispered and a small round flame came hovering near the mage.
The party’s eyes grew wide when they saw an unexpected sight. There were monster corpses everywhere and a big black panther stood in the middle of it all. Its golden eyes turned to them and they were rooted to the ground as fear kicked in.
“They’re not enemies, Blur.” A cold voice resonated and a shadow of a silhouette of a young man was slowly walking towards them.
Mint-green hair and hazel eyes. He was tall enough to be compared to the men in their party but his face looked young, just around his early teens. Though he seemed young, his presence was already intimidating enough to make
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Clandestine Empire: Return of the Lost Chapter 26: Devil Bunnies
“Forgive me for the late introduction. I am Amery Claire von Flavian, the third daughter of the lord of the southwest territory.” The lady curtsied gracefully. “I am Arkin, my lady.” Dio held out his hand and the lady took it with a smile. “Please allow this humble adventurer to guard you as you roam around the market.” “Thank you for granting my selfish request, Arkin.” Dio’s lips curled to form a subtle smile as he let the young lady lead the way. Amery was just a normal young noble who seemed to be amazed by the world outside their estate. Judging by her age, it seemed like Amery had not debuted in high society just yet. Dio felt conscious when he noticed that the young lady was openly staring at him as they walk towards their fourth destination. They already finished visiting a teashop, a public library, and an armor shop. Their next stop was the last one—the potions store. “Is there something on my face, my lady?” The girl frowned
Clandestine Empire: Return of the Lost Chapter 27: Black Serpent
Dio opened his eyes and he saw himself inside a dark place on top of a flattened stone that served as a bed. Where am I?‘You lost consciousness so I had to drag you here in the safe zone,’ Blur reprimanded.He chuckled but he immediately stopped when he felt the pain near his abdomen. He tried to sit up but Blur’s paw pushed his forehead down to stop him.‘A part of your soul was sucked by the bunny so you need some time to recover. Be a good boy and don’t push yourself too hard.’He sighed as he relaxed his body. He was planning to finish the quest within 6 weeks but it seemed like he needed to spend some time for his recovery. He never thought that his fight with the devil bunny would be that bothersome. If he just knew, he would’ve been more careful.“You’re awake now?”Dio’s forehead wrinkled when he saw Calyx enter the safe zone. “What ar
Clandestine Empire: Return of the Lost Chapter 28: The Search
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Clandestine Empire: Return of the Lost Chapter 29: Monster Rookie
The annoyed expression on Dio’s face didn’t change all throughout his walk towards Albert’s office. It had been 2 months since he left to venture the middle floors and he was welcomed with rumors and gossips about him as soon as he ascended.“Welcome back to the surface, Monster Rookie.”“I’d like to wipe that smirk off your face, Chief.” Dio threw himself on the couch after putting the spatial bag on the center table.“Is this all the soul stone you collected?” Albert jeered.Dio smirked as he sat up and snatched the bag. He turned the bag upside down and a numerous amount of soul stone appeared.“How did you get this much?” Albert’s eyes grew wide as he stared upon the soul stones in front of him.“I worked really really hard,” Dio said nonchalantly as he crossed his arms and leaned on the couch.“That’s pretty obvious, young lad. J
Clandestine Empire: Return of the Lost Chapter 30: Last Ascent
“Blur, watch my back!”“Roger that!” The kitten on Dio’s head leaped and transformed into a large panther. With an intense killing intent, it immediately ran towards the minotaur, a monster with a body of a man and the head of a bull, behind Dio and clawed it.Dio felt secured when he saw how competent his bond was. He turned to face the manticore in front of him and smirked. It opened its wings and its lion-like body moved to a fighting stance.“How dare you go here alone? No adventurer came out of here alive!” The manticore roared and used its venomous scorpion tail to attack him but he jumped and landed behind the monster.“There’s always a first for everything.” Dio tried to provoke the manticore more and in response, the manticore turned to attack him with its claws. “Slow!”Dio lifted his hands and vines sprouted out of the ground. It immediately attacked the manticore bu
Clandestine Empire: Return of the Lost Chapter 31: What's Next
Dio didn’t notice that it was already morning when he woke up. If it wasn’t for his rumbling stomach and the nudges he received from his bond, he wouldn’t even think of standing up.“Are you awake now?”Dio immediately stood up when he heard Mr. Hearth’s voice. “What are you doing here?”“Is this the feeling of watching your son grow up?” Mr. Hearth said with a fake sad and teary voice. “It had been a year and a half but you didn’t contact me even once.”“You never called for me. Besides, I’m too busy clearing the dungeon to visit you for chitchat,” he said in an annoyed tone.“I told you I want to see how your potential will blossom.” Mr. Hearth smirked before he leaned closer to him. “How was it? Did you find another reason to live?” he whispered.Dio gently pushed him back and smirked. “Yes. Thanks to you, I found
Clandestine Empire: Return of the Lost Chapter 32: Notorious Arkin
What should he do next? Those were Dio’s thoughts as he watched people went back and forth through his window.He watched how everyone seemed to be sure of what they were doing and move towards the destination that they intended to reach. How about him? He was done with his training and he reached the lowest floor of the dungeon. He wanted to be the strongest-- to be the best. Deep inside, he knew that he could do it. He could be the best in the empire but he still needed to be covert. He couldn’t catch any more attention than he already caught. “Arkin! Won’t you come with us to the market?” Calyx waved his hand with a grin on his faceas he looked up at Dio’s window. Dio closed his eyes for a second before he nodded his head. “Wait for me.” He wasn’t planning to go outside for that day but he believed that he should also take a breather. His mind wouldn’t clear up if he kept on going in circles. “The door is there
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Clandestine Empire: Return of the Lost Chapter 100: School Attack!
Dio pulled Lewis’ shirt when he tried to step back. He also used his dagger when Lewis tried to slash his hand and smirked. “Let’s finish this.” Lewis, with all his strength, pushed Dio away from him. He kept his distance from him since he was informed that Dio’s strength was his melee fighting, though he also needed to be wary of his casting. However, he didn’t know that the information he received was taken when Dio was still an adventurer. As a student of the academy, Dio honed his casting skills and practiced them by helping the other casters in the elite class. Dio used his vines to capture Lewis who always dodged his attacks and his attempts of getting closer. Since Lewis was naturally fast, it took him a lot of time just to catch him. He set a trap and drove him to the way he planned for him to go and there he created a pit deep enough so he wouldn’t escape. Dio held the mouth of the hole and ice spread from his hand down to where Lewis stood.
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Clandestine Empire: Return of the Lost Chapter 98: Excursion
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Clandestine Empire: Return of the Lost Chapter 96: Comfort
Dio and Kael went back to school after a few days of being on leave. It was so sudden and everyone was surprised to hear the news of the Armani Massacre and Mika’s death. Dio couldn’t even smile out of guilt. He couldn’t forget how he promised to go home early just to end up being late and not being able to save her.It was the afternoon lunch break and Dio chose to hide at the back of the building under the shade of the tree. He still couldn’t get over his sister’s death.How could he? All he did ever since he met her was to make her worried about him! Mika gave him a warm welcome, she made him feel that he belonged in the family and treated him as a precious little brother.He hadn’t done anything for her yet. He still had a lot more things to do with her. There were more memories to be shared, but it was too late. He couldn’t make her happy after all the love he received from her.Dio buried his face on his kne
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“Our master’s prediction was right. He really came.” A girl wearing black revealing clothes giggled as soon as he reached the second floor. “Hey, boy, do you want to play with me?” She even licked her lips after looking at him from head to toe.He smiled seductively and let the girl touch his chest before she wrapped her arms around his neck. “Was it okay to play with a boy like me?”He scoffed internally. How could she act so shameless right after they planned to kill his sister?The girl licked her lips and looked him in the eye. His eyes never left hers and soon enough, her lips touched his and he had no choice but to open his mouth so that her tongue could have her way.They were both panting when they finished the kiss. Dio smiled and whispered, “That’s one down for me.”The girl’s eyes widen as she held her neck. She was gasping and chasing her breath but the more she struggled
Clandestine Empire: Return of the Lost Chapter 94: An Unexpected Visit
Blur entered the slums so Dio just followed him. The people living there eyed him suspiciously because of his bloodied academy uniform, but he chose to ignore them. Nothing was more important to him than the annihilation of the people who massacred his family. As long as those people wouldn’t stop him, he wouldn’t have anything to do with them.Blur entered a dark alley and Dio moved to follow him. However, a voice of an old man was heard before he could enter the alley.“What’s the business of a young man in there?”Dio stopped in his tracks and looked at the old man who was hiding in the shadows. He smiled innocently but there was a hint of danger in his eyes. “Someone indebted to me is in there so I came to collect the payment.”“Take care. That place is dangerous.”Dio nodded and continued to walk inside. He found Blur waiting for him a few meters away and as soon as their eyes met, Blur con
