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Chapter 32: Notorious Arkin
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2024-10-29 19:42:56What 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 face as 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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“Blood!” Crystal exclaimed as he watched Dio wipe the blood on his mouth. “We need to take you to theinfirmary!”“I’m fine. Don’t be such a worrywart, Crystal,” Dio said with an annoyed tone. He took a few steps and looked down on the young man, probably around his age, who barely made it safe. “Give me a valid reason for such disturbance.”The man smirked as he stood up. “I am Mikael Armani, the second son of the Armani Merchant Guild’s master and one of the marquis’s retainers.”“Ah! Mr. Kael, what brings you here?” Calyx said with a respectful smile.“Calyx! I told you not to treat me that way! You’re my friend, right?” Kael grinned as he hugged Calyx.Dio stood there as he watched the man with olive-green hair. Did he just say that he was Mikael Armani?Kael turned to him and smiled. “Don’t tell me that you
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Since the market was turned upside down, Dio and the others went back with Kael in tow. On their way back to the inn, Calyx kept Kael entertained but the young mister was distracted as he stole glances at Dio.“Are you sure that you know Arkin?” Calyx asked when he caught him looking in Dio’s direction again.“So he started using his first name again, huh? Arkin Dio von Roman--“Calyx immediately covered his mouth. “Arkin hates it if you connect his name to the House Romanov.”Kael’s brows furrowed as he pushed away Calyx’s hand. “He really is a ball of pride. He should be getting along well with young master Art if he didn’t reject the Romanovs.”Calyx chuckled as he watched Dio listen to Crystal’s blabbering. “He finds it bothersome.”Kael smiled as he walked towards Dio. “I finally found you, young master Dio.”Dio glared at Kael.
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“You said you want to go to the academy, why are you taking it back now?” Albert asked him with a serious face.“The year I spent here made me think about it. Can the academy make me stronger? Do I need to receive that kind of education?” Dio explained in a bored tone. “I doubt that the brats that will study in the academy would be good rivals.”“And here I thought you know the benefits of going to the academy.”“I thought so too. But I’ve grown a lot with just being an adventurer. I don’t need to go to school.” Dio looked away when he heard Albert sigh.“I wouldn’t force you to do things that you don’t want to do, but you better think about it.”Dio sighed when he remembered his conversation with Albert a few months ago. He r
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After he cried his heart out, Royce once again sat across him. Dio somehow felt released after he was comforted yet he felt embarrassed. He looked around to check if there were people watching him and he was relieved that no one paid attention to him.“Are you feeling better now?” Royce asked him.“Yes. Thank you, Uncle.” Dio smiled.Royce smiled when he saw Dio smile sincerely. He was thirteen when he saw Dio and just after a year and a few months, Dio had grown to be a strong man. Not just physically but also emotionally.“So, will you come with me now?”Dio fell silent for a moment. Royce wasn’t sure if he was being too pushy with Dio but he wanted a clear answer. He wouldn’t leave the place without making sure that Dio would come with him.“I’ll come with you, uncle.” Dio hesitantly smiled. “But before that, I want to do something first.”Royce felt like
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Since they were going in the same direction, the nobleman named Caspian von Riva, followed behind the Hearth Merchant Guild’s crew. Since he couldn’t handle his curiosity, he went to the Merchant Guild’s camp and went to search for Dio.“Why are you traveling with merchants?” He asked as soon as he found Dio seated at the corner. He noticed that Dio wasn’t close with the other adventurers so another question was added to his list. Why would he travel with people who didn’t seem to be comfortable around him?“It was a request from the guild master.” Dio took a spoonful of soup and shove it to his mouth.“Based on your looks, you are a noble. Why would you take a request from a mere merchant?” His voice sounded arrogant, but his statement was logical. It only means that he was born and raised as a noble who knew his authority and how to use it to his advantage.“That’s why you sho
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Dio smiled subtly when he saw the gates of the south city. It was a view that he never really noticed before but seeing it in front of him at that moment felt so nostalgic. One of the imperial knights guarding the gates lent his hand and he put two big silver coins on it.“The toll is just 50 shekels,” the guard mumbled as he opened the gates for him.“The other silver coin was for you to buy some snacks after your duty.” Dio entered the gates with Blur rested on his head.His smile faded when he saw the place around him. He had been away for a year and a half but the changes he saw felt like it had been more than that. How did the south city fall that low? The buildings looked like they were abandoned and most walls of the houses were covered in moss. Even the streets weren’t maintained and the alleyways looked worse than the slums.What happened to the south city after he left?He looked for the path leading to their
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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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Almost hundreds of monsters inside that dungeon surrounded Dio. Though he knew they outnumbered him, he let everyone leave him alone so that he could use his power to his heart’s content. “Bree, can I trust you to watch my back?” Dio looked around and created a plan in his head. “Sure, master!” Bree twinkled brighter in excitement. “I wish Blur was here too.” “It’s okay, Bree. Blur would assist the others at school.” Dio put his dagger back into its sheath as Bree took care of the monsters that attacked them. After he put the daggers in his space ring, Dio created an electric dagger with his right hand and an ice dagger with the left one. “Now, let’s do this.” Dio helped Bree with cleaning up the monsters. With a single slash of his dagger, the small monsters were cut in half. And since Dio embedded poisons in his daggers, those who were cut and wounded weren’t able to regenerate or heal their wounds, so they end up dying. “I like your eyes an
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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
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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
