Chapter 13: I thought you’d be late

Approaching the mansion downtown after a run through the middle of the city, Alice gave Aurora a look.

“Why did we run all the way to the mansion?” Alice asked, not understanding her friend.

“Hmm... Well...”

Aurora didn’t answer.

What could she say?

That when she went to defeat a monster that appeared in the middle of the city, saved a young man whose eyes she found fascinating and then shamelessly praised him? She was embarrassed enough not to tell the truth.

Aurora averted her gaze in embarrassment and muttered. “I just thought you wanted to have dinner at home... Together.”

Alice severely narrowed her eyes, but Aurora didn’t stay calm, and her eyes darted around randomly.

Without hesitation, Alice moved closer to the point where they could both look at the details of each other’s faces.

Aurora’s cheeks turned red with embarrassment and shyness because Alice was using this tactic to get her to reveal the truth of what happened.

Looking at the serious face of her attractive friend, Aurora coughed and muttered. “I’ll make two pizzas just for you...”

Alice’s expression changed, and a charming smile appeared on her face and, noticing Aurora’s red cheeks, she stated. “I understand... I’ll overlook it this time.”

Her slightly serious and reluctant tone made her sound like a jealous bride.

This time Aurora’s lips quivered with a hint of amusement and embarrassment at her friend’s words, but Alice fled with an amused and victorious smile.

Entering the mansion of her supposed brother that she had never met, even in pictures, Aurora relaxed in the room.

She was exhausted from the training, and subsequent fight, so she just took a bath.

It was usual for monsters to appear in the city because monsters could not only appear in the dungeons, but they could also appear in different cases.

When the magical energy became dense around a point, it gave ‘birth’ to a creature, these creatures were wild and followed their instincts, but they were not all malevolent.

This case was not a magical creature, but a real monster.

Born of the energy of ‘Chaos’ energy that, according to the theorists and sages, existed since the beginning of time and handled ‘corrupting’, ‘consuming’ and ‘disturbing’ everything it touched.

It was common for a monster to be born in a basement that no one used or in an old warehouse where no one checked or cleaned frequently.

It was also typical for the dimensional barrier to weaken, and these monsters would come from the outside to destroy everything they touched.

As it was complicated to secure every place and clean every piece of the city, there was a security system that was in charge of identifying those disturbances, sounding an alarm and warning people so they could take shelter, just as it happened today.

Now that Aurora had calmed down, she could only sigh at her reaction.

She had walked away because of embarrassment instead of waiting for official authorities or other mercenaries, adventurers or heroes to arrive on the scene, which would have been the right thing to do.

At least in her defence, she beat the monster until it couldn’t move.

When Aurora finished her bath, she went down to the living room, drying her wet hair and found Alice eating chips, lying on the couch talking on the phone.

“Mother, are you enjoying your vacation?” Alice asked in a good girl’s tone.

“Yes, it’s all very nice... I like the culinary level of the area. I have to admit, this place is great,” said the person on the other end of the phone.

Aurora’s lips quivered as she heard her mother’s voice on the phone.

“I’m glad, mother... If you want anything, just ask your guides. They will help you with everything you want,” Alice reminded with a worried tone, and then with a slightly serious tone, she stated. “And if something happens, just have them take care of it; that’s what I pay them for.”

“I understand, dear... Well, I should go. Your father wants to go to the spa, and he keeps bothering me,” said the voice on the other end of the phone.

“Honey, don’t lie to them. You’re the one forcing me to go to the spa,” a man’s voice sounded in the background, but the woman’s voice continued.

“Say hi to Aurora for me and take care of yourselves both... Remember, I love you and don’t forget not to overeat.,” warned the voice before cutting off completely.

“Yes, I understand, mother... I will take care of Aurora and eat plenty,” Alice said with no expression on her face, as if the conversation had continued, then quickly cut off as she noticed Aurora watching.

“Mother sends her regards and says I have to eat plenty,” Alice stated in a serious tone, as if those were the words the woman on the other side had said.

Aurora’s lips trembled, and this time she was the one who narrowed her eyes as she moved closer to Alice, pressing their faces together.

“Is that what she said?” Aurora asked seriously.

Alice fidgeted slightly, finally muttering. “How about we order pizza instead of you making it?”

“Okay,” Aurora replied quickly and calmly asked. “Mother has mentioned nothing to you about the mansion?”

The two of them were not blood sisters, but Aurora’s parents adopted Alice when she was young.

Of course, the reason was that Alice called her mother in the same manner as Aurora in order to get extra food and snacks; her mother got too attached and mentioned that she wanted to adopt her as her daughter to give Aurora a little sister and take care of her.

Months later, Alice ended up being adopted in such a sudden and strange way that no one would notice.

The biggest reason she could be adopted was that Alice was an orphan, the other reason being that those who had been left in charge of her seemed like loyal servants rather than guardians... Though in the latter’s defence, they were Alice’s servants.

Alice shook her head.

“No, she only mentioned that it was your brother’s and nothing more,” Alice replied and, with curiosity, asked. “Do you want me to do some research?”

“No, let... To be honest, I have found nothing that says this mansion belongs to my brother,” Aurora commented nonchalantly.

Alice looked around with a thoughtful expression, but in the end, she sighed and commented. “Me neither.”

This supposed ‘First Manor’ had nothing important, or that would make it stand out from the others.

The place was very well kept, with old magic circles and new ones, but in the end, it was a slightly rustic style mansion.

It also seemed to have been modernized by her parents, as one could find appliances with the latest technology and other things.

“Fine, then take care of ordering the pizzas,” Aurora ordered without giving it too much thought.

Her brother was just someone in name only who at no point in her life had ever made an appearance, and although she had a small attachment because of her family mentioning him at times since they never delved into the subject, Aurora just felt he was a stranger she only knew through hearsay.

Of course, the biggest reason she wasn’t interested was that she had other things to do instead of letting her curiosity get the better of her and going on a quest that would most likely end up being fruitless.

“Are you going to training?” Alice asked, curious.

Aurora nodded and explained. “I’d like to go see my master to see if he can help me.”

Hearing those words, Alice nodded, and after ordering the pizzas, she announced. “They’ll be here in about twenty minutes.”

“I’ll be back in time,” Aurora replied, and headed for the garden.

In the garden, she could notice the walls that divided the street from the greenish courtyard of the mansion and, looking slightly at the surroundings, Aurora ordered. “Let’s go.”

—I understand.

Her system responded quickly, and a white light absorbed her, only for the next moment she found herself in a white place with only an old man dressed in a kimono.

He looked ancient and unperturbed, as if he was meditating, but Aurora’s lips twitched at the sight of her master dressed in the kimono she had purchased online.

“Master.” Aurora greeted respectfully.

The old man wiggled his eyebrows and woke up...

“...” Aurora, all she could do was praise her master’s abilities to look imposing when he was only sleeping.

“Is it time for training already?” The old man asked, looking at Aurora.

Aurora nodded, and after approaching, hesitated for a moment and said. “Master... I would like to manifest my combat aura.”

The old man’s eyebrows twitched, but in the end, he sighed.

“You waste your talent wanting to be a fighter.” The old man said with a sigh, and seeing that his apprentice was not disturbed, he added. “Your talent is in sword art... You’d better go back to training with your sword.”

They both looked at each other for a long time, but Aurora was the first to sigh.

“Master, you know that I... I prefer fists.” Aurora said with a vacant smile, but it was evident that halfway through her sentence, she changed what she meant.

“How stubborn.” Scolded the old man, and with a bitter smile, he asked tragically. “Who would think my apprentice would decide to use her fist instead of her sword?”

Aurora didn’t feel bad for her master since she knew him and...

“Will this be my last disciple? Will all my effort be wasted like this?” the old man asked, shaking his head in sorrow.

Usually, a master specializing in one style would not help her apprentice in another style... It was pretty normal and more so when they only had one heir to their ‘arts’, and these might be lost to the next generation.

It was like an archmage would teach all his personal spells to his apprentice, and this one would end up becoming a fighter who did not use magic...

Unfortunately, the old man did not enter these cases because he was clearly playing the victim with a bitter expression.

“I will order a katana as a consolation for you,” Aurora said sincerely.

“Oh, child, you are too special. I knew you would become a great disciple,” declared the old man in a tone full of enthusiasm.

His attitude had come full circle just because of a weapon... He was blatantly accepting a bribe from her.

That was the reason why Aurora found her master untrustworthy, that and...

“I’ll agree to help you, but I want you to retrain your sword arts,” the old man said, and Aurora nodded.

That wasn’t a hard task, though she usually had a hard time picking up a sword...

“It pleases me that you are obedient,” said the old man with a proud tone and looking off into the distance, as if to speak profound words full of wisdom, he stated. “I’m not a fighter, so I can’t teach you anything.”

“...” That was another reason why her teacher was not to be trusted at all.

Aurora’s eyebrows twitched at the blatant response, and her mood only worsened because of her elderly master declaring that he was not a fighter with pride.

Seeing that his apprentice was getting irritated, the elder smiled amusedly and added. “That’s why I will invite an acquaintance to teach you what she knows and solve your doubts.”

“Really?” Aurora asked, genuinely surprised, and looking with a trace of doubt, asked. “Master, didn’t you claim to be locked away in a small dimension in the middle of Africa, withdrawn from the world?”

“Of course... Of course... I am a hermit,” confessed the old man, but his eyes moved everywhere and, seeing that doubt rose in Aurora, he asked. “Do you want to improve as a fighter or not?”

Don’t ask too many questions...

That was the truth her question concealed.

Aurora wisely kept quiet in front of her unreliable master.

“Good... Now train, I want to see your condition.”

******

Aurora fell to the ground, breathing heavily.

Her teacher had trained her for over five hours and had now entered a meditation-sleep state after telling her that her performance had plummeted due to her lack of training.

Aurora could only take the complaints and train harder than she had thought at first.

Although her hand trembled every time she picked up the sword, she gritted her teeth and continued to train with the sole goal of having the old man do his part and help her with the combat aura.

She knew it was absurd to want to become a fighter when she was actually a swordsman, but that was the only thing she could do.

After all, she had a mental block every time she raised her sword, and the only thing left for her to use were her fists.

“I’m exhausted,” Aurora muttered, terribly exhausted.

—It’s normal... The training was intense.

At the same time, as the words of her system appeared in her mind, a warm glow covered her, and her body felt less sore and more comfortable.

This was a benefit of this place where her master was; it was focused on training and had natural effects to recover the body.

“In stories where people have a system, they receive powerful abilities out of thin air or by buying it with imaginary coins, but here I am... Training hard to get better while feeling my muscles tear.” Aurora suddenly muttered, and with a smile, she joked. “I feel like I’ve been ripped off.”

In most system stories, those protagonists with systems could buy skills and all sorts of powers, allowing them to become masters of different arts and professions.

But when she wished to train, her system only took her to a place where everything was white and invited a strange old man who made her train day and night for long periods.

The difference was frightening.

“Some systems give abilities to their ‘hosts’, but I have to train hard to get them,” Aurora joked with an amusing touch.

She wasn’t annoyed, and her complaints were just from the exhaustion of the moment, and mainly from...

—Skills that you get by an external means will never belong to you... And you can always lose it the same way you got it, suddenly.

The words of her system filled Aurora’s mind; those words that seemed without life or emotion today had a serious tinge.

—This is the only way to gain abilities without depending on anyone.

Aurora laughed in amusement at the words of her system.

Her system only blazed a trail by bringing her to her unreliable master, but it was Aurora who won her master over with her gifts and, in the process, became what she was now.

“I know,” Aurora said, hiding her gratitude deep in the recesses of her mind where only she could enter.

With a more cheerful smile, she got up, and the next moment she found herself back in the mansion’s courtyard.

Aurora looked at her holographic clock and only sighed as she saw that five hours of training had turned into twenty-five minutes in the real world... Revealing another benefit of that place.

When she entered the dining room, she found Alice with a slice of pizza inches from her mouth.

“I thought you’d be late,” Alice said with a sincere tone.