Chapter 354: Another Cult Member

"Hello." Auric waved his hand to Maya. "What’s going on?"

Katarina was standing by his side, while Ellia and Vera were outside, spending their own time.

"Is anyone there right now? It is important that no one should know but you."

"None. There is only Katarina here. She knows a lot about me, so it’s fine for her to hear as well." Auric nodded.

"Okay then. This girl will explain everything to you." Maya pointed to the girl next to her.

Gloria nodded solemnly. "I am Gloria."

"!!!" Auric and Katarina were startled.

"Before you say anything, please allow me to finish my explanation first. Right now, I’ve been bound by the power of a unique element. In a way, I now completely belong to you, Auric. You can think of me as your slave, not your subordinate. If I betray you, I will die."

"What?" Auric was completely confused.

"I know what you’re thinking, but this is actually my choice. I originally intended to commit suicide last night, but your mother visited me."

"My mother?" Auric was astounded. "Wait a minute. What are you talking about? My mother is at home right now."

Maya smiled wryly. "Since she already wants to let you know about this, I guess it’s fine to let you know now. Actually, during the beast wave back then, I encountered two opponents. For your information, I would have won.

"Anyway, your mother came and actually helped me. She even healed me. When your mother was attacked by people from the capital, she was more than capable of handling them herself. All this time, she asked me to take credit for everything."

"What?" Auric didn’t understand what was going on. "My mother is only Rank 3..."

"Actually, that’s wrong. Your mother is definitely a Rank 6 human. Her ability is close to my grandfather’s, in fact." Maya shook her head.

"What’s going on?" Auric knew something was wrong with his family, but he didn’t expect that he had also failed to read his mother. He screamed inwardly, ’Lindwurm!’

"I can’t say anything right now. Depending on the circumstances, I might be able to tell you something at the end of this training program, but not right now."

Auric clenched his fists. It felt like he had been lied to all this time.

However, he still managed to take a few deep breaths, trying his best to calm his heart. Although he felt like showing his anger, he knew it was useless. It was better to remain calm and figure out what to do next.

After a few seconds, his expression returned to normal. "Tell me everything."

"Understood." Gloria nodded. "Anyway, I have been bound by a contract—one that I’m willing to accept. As I said before, I now belong to you. If you want me to die, I won’t hesitate to cut my throat right now.

"In exchange, you will grant me the ability to become a Tier 7 human. Under your protection, I will be able to survive this mess and finally rebuild my family. I will never betray you or reveal your information. That’s the contract."

Auric looked down, contemplating. A unique element was definitely coming from his father. Judging by how he used his ability, his father might be able to create a contract like that.

He still couldn’t understand what kind of power his father possessed, but he was sure that his mother knew everything about it.

He would definitely demand an explanation once he returned this time.

"Okay. So, what’s next?"

"For now, I’ve asked Miss Maya to get my new ID."

"Even though I could definitely win against those two folks in the Underground Mall ruins, I still owed your mother for her help. So, I will take care of her new ID," Maya confirmed.

Gloria continued, "Right now, I’m planning to stay away from the spotlight until the event is over and head to Esfrata through a different route. Then I will come to you. I just don’t know how to proceed from here, since Lady Natalia told me that you are the one who will provide me with the ability to reach Rank 7."

"..." Auric looked up. He wanted to recruit Gloria, but this wasn’t the way.

However, this situation made him want to ask a certain question. "Why would my mom choose to reveal everything now? There might be a better time to do it..."

Gloria hesitated for a moment. "This is something I’ve heard from your mother. Please listen to this as calmly as possible. Your mother told me that she doesn’t have much time left, so she wants me to stay by your side."

"!!!" Auric widened his eyes in disbelief. Not having much time left?

Auric instinctively hung up the call and simply called his mother. He didn’t care about anything else and just wanted to know about his mother.

However, he couldn’t get through to her. He called his dad’s number, but the same thing happened. "What’s going on?"

Katarina was also confused, but she was much calmer than Auric since she wasn’t directly affected by the situation. She suggested, "How about we listen to everything Gloria has to say first?"

"..." Auric took a deep breath. "Fine."

While waiting for the call to reconnect, Auric asked, ’Lindwurm! Are you really not going to tell me anything?’

"I’m sorry, but I really can’t help you with this. The only thing I can tell you is that your father intended to tell you the matter after you evolve all your elements to Rank 3. However, I should be able to tell you a clue or two about it after this tournament. As for the rest, I can’t help you." Lindwurm shook his head helplessly.

Auric felt annoyed. Everyone was hiding things from him. He didn’t even understand why they were doing this. ’You can’t even trust me with that kind of information? I’m really going to beat you up if you tell me it’s protecting me. That’s the worst excuse to make sure a person stays away from their curiosity.’

Lindwurm paused for a moment. "All I can say is that your father is a coward. He wants to tell you everything and wants the best for you, but he is too scared of what will happen afterward. As a result, he arranges everything like this."

’...’ Auric took a deep breath. He really couldn’t continue after Lindwurm said that. His father was a coward.

"If you evolve all your elements, you will understand the circumstances." Lindwurm nodded. This goal was quite high, but not too high. At the very least, Auric just needed to be patient for a few months before getting what he wanted.

His father didn’t give him a goal that was too high to achieve. It wouldn’t take years or even decades. If it took too long, it would be better for Auric to just find an alternative way to know about it.

But with only a few months to go, searching for another method would just make him owe someone too much, and he might get it only one or two months faster.

One or two months might be quite long, but not too long for Auric.

Katarina was worried about Auric. She wanted to help him, but she had already received a warning from his father.

The call had been reconnected, so Auric apologized. "Sorry for hanging up the call earlier."

"No problem. We understand." Maya waved her hand, treating it as if it weren’t a big deal. "More importantly, what are you going to do now?"

"I will just play by the rules for now." Auric nodded. He decided to hasten his progress to evolve all his elements. Of course, he reminded himself to definitely punch his father in the face at least once for all this trouble.

The touching reunion could wait until later, but he wanted to make sure he had blown off steam before that.

As for his mother, he didn’t even know what to do with her. For the time being, he intended to demand an explanation after he returned.

Auric glanced at Katarina. "By the way, do you mind showing your status to her? I have to prove that I have the ability to let her reach Rank 7, right? That’s probably the best proof for that."

"Do you trust her?" Katarina asked. "She might be lying about your parents."

"I have my own way to tell whether she is lying or not. So, yeah, I trust her this time."

"Okay." Katarina then opened her status. "This is my information."

Name: Katarina Vasilyevna

Avatar: Adamantine Golem

Grade: Error

Affinity: Earth

Element: Adamantine (34%)

Gloria squinted as if she was seeing it wrong. However, even if she rubbed her eyes, the words didn’t change. "Why is the grade ’Error’? Isn’t it supposed to be ’S’?"

Katarina smiled. "That’s his ability. Thanks to him, I have managed to improve my talent. My absorption rate has increased to beyond S. You can say that I have SS grade affinity right now. Well, I’m the third, right?"

"The third?" Gloria was startled.

"The second." Katarina pointed at the camera.

Maya just smiled while looking away.

"Ellia is the first." Katarina explained. "You should know the difference in grade. Not only does it improve your absorption rate, but it also improves your sense and control. This is one of the methods to reach Rank 7."

"One of the methods? This is... already shocking enough. How do you even improve your affinity grade? If the people in the world know about this, they will go crazy." Gloria gasped.

"Anyway, that’s just one of the methods. The second method is... well, do you know the Sun Store?"

"I do." Gloria nodded. "It’s the store for gathering techniques. Even Dermania is going crazy because of it. They’re trying to see if they can acquire it. Wait... Don’t tell me."

Gloria covered her mouth in shock.

"Praise the sun!" Katarina extended her hands to Auric.

Gloria sucked in a cold breath. They were crazy because they couldn’t find the Sunlight. It turned out the Sunlight was already so close to her.

"You..." Gloria didn’t know how to react. In fact, she was already speechless from the fact that Auric could actually improve someone’s talent.

With the improved talent and the gathering technique exclusively for her, her chance to become Rank 7 increased drastically. With Auric’s assistance, if she truly failed to become Rank 7, she would be the biggest disappointment in this world.

Auric could definitely give her the access to reach Rank 7 and achieve all her goals.

Auric said, "Since you are now one of my people, I will provide you with the Artificial Heart Method and increase your affinity grade first. You’re going to hide for a while, so it’s better to spend your time improving yourself."

Gloria looked at Auric with a dumbfounded expression.

"I don’t know what to say. Right now, I have the urge to call you, my lord, my master, or do you have any title that you like to hear?" Gloria raised one finger. "Wait. Don’t answer that. I actually know what to say right now."

Gloria joined her hands as if she was praying. "Praise the SUN!"

"..."