Under the gazes of Abyss Lord and Abyss Commander, Varian felt his entire body go cold.

The aura wrapped him in an invisible prison. He couldn't move, couldn't speak. The aura of Abyss Lord used aura lock on him!

'I don't want to die.' He gritted his teeth and looked at his only way of life now — the Human in black.

At a closer distance, he realized it was a woman. However, her face was covered by a mask, including her hair.

The Abyssal Lord ignored Varian and spoke to the woman in a hoarse tone "Enigma… How did you deceive the Abyss Will?"

The woman, Enigma said nothing. The silence persisted, and no one moved.

Varian looked at Enigma in disbelief. The name Enigma sounded… familiar but his attention was drawn by the latter words.

Enigma fooled the Abyss will!

Abyss Will had three functions.

First was suppressing non-Abyssals.

Second was increasing the strength of Abyssals.

Third was the most important.

If an enemy entered the area of an Abyssal much weaker than them, the Abyss Will would inform the local ruler.

For instance, if a Level 8 sneaked into a Duchy, where the strongest Abyssal was Abyss Duke, a Level 6, the Abyss Will would inform a Level 8 closest to the Abyss Duke.

This ensured that only equal levels fought against each other in the Abyss. It was also the reason that although it was easy to enter Abyss, Level 9s didn't bloodbath Abysses.

No one was able to escape the perception of Abyss Will. Not even Sovereigns, the known peak of Awakeners.

'Just how did she?' Varian stared at Enigma's back and felt questions pop up. But his body was dedicated to channeling chi and trying to break from the aura lock of Abyss Lord.

Aura lock was a common skill for all Awakeners. All awakeners could control aura to some extent. Using their control of Aura, they'd "wrap" it over their target. If the level difference is huge, the targets won't be able to break free. 𝑏𝑒𝘥𝑛𝘰𝑣𝑒𝑙.𝘤𝑜𝘮

Varian struggled to break free while thinking of possible solutions.

Since Enigma "fooled" Abyss Will to face an Abyss Lord, a Level 4, then she must be a higher level.

'But why didn't she kill him right away?' Varian continued to channel his chi and tried to breakthrough the aura lock.

The aura lock tightened and Varian felt suffocated. It was as if all air was punched out of his lungs. It was as if he was pressed from all sides and was about to burst.

"Hmph!" Enigma snorted and the aura in the air turn swirled around her.

"I informed Abyss Duke. He'd be here soon. You'll die." Abyss Lord spoke in a confident tone. He was nearly 7'7'' and looked like a mini giant.

Enigma was 5'8'' but was petite in front of the Abyssal. Yet, she seemed far more dangerous and oppressive.

She took a step forward and the aura in the air turned chaotic.

Varian felt the aura binding him loosen.

"Click" He broke the aura lock but didn't move. One attack from Abyss Lord and he'd be dead.

He wasn't sure if Enigma would protect him. Because he finally recalled why the name felt familiar.

Enigma was the leader of Shadow Order, a terrorist group.

"We're done, Enigma." a soft mechanical voice sounded and a blue light flashed in front of his eyes.

Another woman in all blacks appeared in front. She too covered her face and hair. Varian guessed they were special star treasures.

"... Blue Flash?!" the Abyss Commander who was silent till now, spoke in shock.

"You're right, but there's no prize." the voice modifier concealed her words and spoke in that soft mechanical voice.

Enigma nodded at Blue Flash and disappeared in the next moment.

Varian saw her "appear" in front of Abyss Lord in the blink of an eye and the next thing he saw was both Abyss Lord and Abyss Commander standing still while she disappeared.

Blue Flash looked at him. She wore goggles and he couldn't see her eyes. This only made him more tense.

"Kek. You're lucky." She said and pointed at the broken castle.

Before Varian could respond, a blue light flashed, and she too disappeared.

"Thud."

"Thud."

Varian was tense and used teleportation instinctively.

He appeared right next to the Abyss Lord and Abyss Commander, or their corpses.

Their bodies just crashed to the ground, and blood spurted out of their necks like a fountain. The thick, viscous green blood flowed on the ground and touched his boots.

Varian sighed in relief and looked around for traces of Enigma and Blue Flash. They disappeared, was as if they were never here.

But the fact that the ruler of this city laid dead at his feet on a broken hill said otherwise.

'I'm really lucky… they didn't kill me.' Varian felt his back drenched in sweat.

'But aren't they supposed to be terrorists?'

Shadow Order was the successor of an extinct extremist state, 'Shadow Nation'. Its leader Enigma was new but made a name for 'herself' orchestrating death of 10,000 awakeners.

It was said that she lured out the Abyss Archduke, a level 9 and slaughtered all awakeners in the vicinity of the Abyss.

Enigma's partner Blue Flash was a criminal who stole lots of valuable technologies and smuggled them, even to Abyssals.

They were insane, and no human survived after seeing them.

Or that was the media narrative.

'Am I special to survive after seeing them or is the media, no, the government lying?' Varian pondered and decided to leave things behind.

He realized he was still weak in the greater scheme of things. He hated every second of being under aura lock. His life was under someone's hands.

'Level 2 is not bad, but it's still at the bottom of the pyramid. If I have to do anything on a large scale, I'll need more strength.'

He recalled Blue Flash pointing to the castle. Despite the event, he didn't trust her and was about to descend the hill.

But a thought struck him, and he stopped for a moment to check his cadet comm.

{Acquired: 10 Points.

You can join the Imperial Defense Academy.

If you wish to be an honorary student, make an outstanding contribution.}

'After I enter the academy, I need to find Sia. I only know she has brown hair and golden eyes. I don't know if she is currently still in the academy or enlisted and joined the army.

My best bet is to search the database of cadets' info of the past few years. But the military wouldn't allow just anyone to access their database. The higher my position, the more chance I have.

Honorary student sounds way better than a normal student.'

He took a deep breath and asked the comm, "What are the benefits of being an honorary student?"

The cadet comm replied, "There are several benefits — a private instructor only for honorary students. Many high leveled awakeners select disciples only if you are an honorary student. Honorary students also receive the best of missions and resources.'

Varian wasn't excited and was about to close when the comm added the final point.

'You can make requests you couldn't otherwise as an honorary student, which of course needs payment in merit points.'

Varian fell silent for a moment and pondered his choice.

To his left was a path leading to bottom of the hill. To his right was the entrance of broken castle.

'I might be able to request searching for Sia as an honorary student.'

Betting his future, Varian dashed to his right.