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Chapter 36: Uncle Royce
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2024-10-29 19:42:56“Gramps!” The nine-year-old Dio ran towards the store where his grandfather was waiting for him.
“Did you have fun, young one?” Archie smiled as he messed Dio’s hair.
“Yes. Uncle Royce brought me to a weapon shop and he bought me these wooden daggers!” he happily exclaimed as he showed him the daggers.
“Are you into daggers now? Uncle Royce would teach you how to wield those,” Archie said with a smile.
“I don’t think I’m the right person to teach him, my lord. The young master would enjoy his lessons if you were to teach him,” Royce butted in.
“Uncle, I told you not to call me young master.” Dio pouted before he tugged his pants. “Teach me how to use these!”
“I’ll
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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
Clandestine Empire: Return of the Lost Chapter 38: Strong Impression
“Good timing, Dio! Since you are going to the south, travel with us until we reach the west,” Mr. Hearth said with a wide grin when he saw him near the gate of the northwest territory. “You’re planning to use me as a guard, don’t you?” Dio smirked as he put his hand in his pockets. “I’ll cover for your food throughout the journey.” Mr. Hearth grinned. “I would feel safer if I knew that you were around.” “Stop the nonsense flattery. It would be a win-win situation so I wouldn’t refuse.” Dio jumped in the wagon and the Hearth Merchant Guild started on their journey to the west. Dio just sat there at the corner as he tried to ignore the stolen glances and the constant buzzing of the other adventurers. He closed his eyes as he petted Blur that was comfortably asleep on his lap. “Was he the monster rookie that the others were talking about?” “I thought he never left the dungeons unless he was out of supplies?” “What is he doing here
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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
Clandestine Empire: Return of the Lost Chapter 40: A Visit
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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It only took a few hours of planning before they came to an agreement. Mr. Carter had put all of his faith in him and he was determined to exceed his expectations. His head was clear and with the information that Mr. Carter provided about his enemies, he knew that the fight would end up in their victory. As soon as the clock struck midnight, Dio put on the hood of his black cloak and signaled Blur to follow him. “Now, let the hunt begin,” he mumbled as he stealthily walked towards the lord’s estate where Cairo Monde and his supporters were staying. “You are the only intruder who has the guts to enter from the front gates,” Blur sighed when they stopped at the gate. Dio smiled after he sensed the magic barrier at the gates. He was sure that an alarm would notify the residents as soon as the barrier was broken. He held out his hand and used nullification to deactivate the barrier. “Welcome to the lord’s manor,” Dio said as he climbed the gate an
Clandestine Empire: Return of the Lost Chapter 42: I'm Fine Now
Dio woke up in an unfamiliar room as soon as the dazzling sunlight touched his closed eyes. He slowly stood up and people started to crowd his bed. “Are you feeling dizzy?” “Are your hurt somewhere?” “Are you hungry?” “Water! Do you need water?” The people around him started asking questions even before he could open his eyes. The warmth of the people, their gentle voices, and the concern in their tones. Dio finally felt as if he were back home. His eyes started to get teary as he covered his face. Matt and Ryan who were both on his sides sat beside him. Matt touched his forehead while Ryan caressed his back. “How are you feeling?” Ryan’s tone reminded him of his grandfather. “I’m fine now. Did I succeed?” He asked as he tried to hide his sobs. “Dio, I told you not to get your hands dirty, right?” Ryan felt responsible for the young man. Archie kept the peace in the city because he wanted to take Dio away from v
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Dio wasn’t fine. As Blur watched Dio writhe in pain, he wasn’t sure of what to do. Fortunately, an alpha canis helped him and brought them deep into the forest. As soon as Dio was laid under the winter tree, he saw the relief on Dio’s face. But the pain that the young man went through was too much that he fell into an unconscious state. “Will he be alright?” Blur asked the alpha canis as he watched Dio’s stabilized breathing. “Of course he will. He is beside the winter tree so everything would be fine.” The alpha canis answered. “How can you say that? Is the winter tree a healing tree or something?” Blur asked in a worried tone. “The crest on his back…” the alpha canis looked at Dio. “It was something connected on the winter tree. It reacted to the tree because Dio is going to become an adult soon.” “How did you know about that?” Dio opened his eyes and slowly sat and leaned his back on the trunk. “It’s been a while, child.” The canis
Clandestine Empire: Return of the Lost Chapter 44: Grow and Soar!
It was already night when they arrived back at the adventurer’s base. After leaving Blur to rest, he went to visit his grandfather’s grave.Dio just stood there in front of the lump of soil with a rock where his grandfather’s name was written on. The place was surrounded by trimmed grass and their burnt house still seemed like it was on the verge of collapsing. The night was dark and only the glow of the crescent moon served as his light as he stared at the grave that he made for his grandfather almost two years ago. The only sound heard was the chirping of the birds hiding in the trees a few meters away.“It’s been a while, Gramps.” Dio’s voice sounded sad and bitter. It was filled with reproach and longing as his heart still sought for his old man’s warmth and gentleness.The dark night reminded him of the sleepless night they spent together as they grounded herbs in times that he was haunted by his nightmares. T
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“You finally decided to show yourself,” Absalom chuckled when Amir, Joe, and Vince went towards him. The stars and their masters’ were confused about what was happening between the captain and him. The crackling sound from Dio’s lightning dagger was heard by the others. Though some couldn’t accept the truth that Dio was a multi-element mage, there were people who genuinely wished to see him not holding back. Dio’s vines grew around the area to attack Absalom but the other three captains moved to protect him. “You need to go through us if you want to hurt him.” Dio couldn’t stop himself from laughing. “So there are also people you wanted to protect?” It was a sarcastic laugh filled with bitterness. There were people whom he failed to protect: his mother and grandfather. Those were his family who loved and cherished him, but he lost them because of the midnight serpents. He continued to live on for the sake of revenge and because of that, he fou
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Cassiel merged with her phoenix guardian while Andriel merged with his thunderbird. With fire and lightning, they merged their powers and created attacks that were supposed to be hard to dodge. However, Captain Joe and Captain Vince were veteran fighters so fighting them was hard for the two.Cassiel cast a fireball and Andriel merged it with his lightning bolt. The ball made of fire and high-voltage electricity crackled as it went on a straight path towards Joe. The speed of the attack was too fast that Joe didn’t fully dodge it and left a small cut on his shoulder.“Not bad, you two. However, I’m not your only opponent,” Joe smirked when the two realized that Vincent was nowhere to be seen.Suddenly, a black whip covered with high-voltage electricity came to attack the two and they barely dodged it. They looked around and saw Vince a few meters away from them, holding the base of the whip. He laughed evilly when he saw the anxious expre
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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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After their introduction and a few exchanges, the groups went inside the dungeon led by Caspian and Arthur. The other group was silent for it was their first time to enter a dungeon so the elite class tried to reassure them by having conversations as if nothing wrong could happen. Yet, deep within them, they were also afraid because they had a bad experience from a dungeon before. “Don’t you dare act on your own again, Dio.” Keila reminded him. Cassandra walked beside Dio to make sure that he wouldn’t let himself get behind. If they wanted him to behave, they needed to monitor him closely. Dio wouldn’t hesitate to jump ahead if it meant to protect them so someone had to be beside him to stop him if ever. “Are you also worried about me?” Dio chuckled when he realized that almost all the elites were watching over him. He turned to Cassandra with an assuring smile. “I told you not to worry. I won’t do something dangerous again.” Though Dio seemed believa
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“Dio and Kael, though I know that you already know him, let me introduce Carter von Claude.” Professor Croix gestured his hand towards Carter. “He was promoted to the elite class last week and he will join you in today’s excursion.” Dio bowed his head to Carter. Though he was sad that Mika had been replaced, he knew it was no one’s fault and that the world would continue moving, even after her death. That thought hurt him a bit, but he had to accept it. Those who were left needed to continue leaving. Just like how he did it after his grandfather’s death, he would live his life to honor those whose lives were lost because of him. He had decided. He would talk with Andriel if they meet again. The group went into the carriage large enough to fit fifteen people and settled down. The atmosphere wasn’t as comfortable because of the new member but they lifted the mood. Dio was seated beside Keila and just like their midterms exams, he snuggled close to her and close
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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
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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
