Chapter 102

The suited man continued leaning against the wall and slowly took a deep drag from his cigarette, making the end glow brightly before he puffed out a thick cloud of smoke into the air. Only then did he finally lift his hazel brown eyes toward Alex and reveal a small smile.

Call him crazy, but for some strange reason, even though the man currently looked as harmless as a fly, Alex was still able to feel the dangerous aura emanating from this man.

Alex’s fingers subtly twitched at his side as a tiny trace of Deathfrost Bloom quietly began gathering beneath his sleeve, ready to materialize and shoot out instantly if things somehow manage to go wrong.

The suited man noticed his subtle movement that he thought he had hidden well, almost immediately and widened his smile in amusement.

"Relax kid," he said calmly while removing the cigarette from his mouth. "I mean no harm. I’m only here for a small chat."

Even after hearing the man’s friendly tone, Alex didn’t dare let his guard down. Who knew what this man could be planning? And if years of watching action movies had taught him anything, it was to never let your guard down against a man dressed in a suit, standing outside your place with a cigarette in his mouth.

So his forest green eyes continued to remain cold and vigilant as he stared directly at the stranger.

"And what if I decide I don’t want to chat?"

The man shrugged lightly.

"Then nothing really changes," he took another drag from the cigarette. "Even if you attack me right now, you aren’t strong enough to seriously injure someone like me, yet."

Alex’s eyes sharpened instantly. But the man just continued calmly as though he was discussing something as ordinary as the weather.

"At best, you’re probably an Early Realm Awakened, or maybe even a vanguard Realm Awakened if I’m being generous. Since I reckon you Awakened not too long ago."

The man’s words almost made Alex’s heart stop for half a second. Awakened? How the hell did this man know that he might be an Awakened, even if he wasn’t truly? Could he be from Marcus! Or Renzo! ... No, from what he knew the underworld rulers didn’t have someone as strong as this man. But he could still be mistaken. There might be a big chance that Marcus did indeed have someone this powerful, but he has been hiding it... And there was still a big possibility that the man could be from the Kade’s family.

His outside expression might not have visibly changed much, but internally his mind had already become alert to the extreme.

"How do you know that I’m..." Alex paused slightly before finishing carefully. "Special?"

The suited man chuckled softly before responding.

"Well, for starters, it’s because you weren’t exactly subtle yesterday?"

The man calmly flicked the ash from his cigarette before speaking again.

"You might not have noticed it but a nurse saw you enter Mr Andre’s daughter’s hospital room earlier yesterday. And shortly after you entered, a young girl who was supposedly dying from something as deadly as terminal cancer with no known effective cure, suddenly recovered with no trace of cancer cells in her body."

Alex remained silent and watched as the man’s gaze sharpened slightly.

"That same nurse later came running after you, hoping to find the miracle worker but instead, she found something much more interesting in the parking lot."

He pushed himself off the wall, taking a slow step forward.

"She saw a young man with green eyes send a two hundred+ pound man crashing into the side of an SUV with enough force to dent the frame. And then, in her words, she saw him shoot a shard of black, frost like crystal to end a man who attempted to shoot him. So when the police eventually arrived after someone reported about a dead man, and three others severely injured in the hospital parking lot.

"The nurse tried to explain what she had just seen, but they dismissed her rambling, insisting that it might have been a gang fight since the men there were members of the Black Mambas gang. No one even believed her. They all thought she must have gone crazy... Well, all except for one cop."

The man paused, watching Alex’s reaction with amusement.

"That officer’s older brother happened to work in a very specific, very secret government special force unit dedicated to monitoring and recruiting newly Awakened individuals. So when he heard the nurse talking about sci-fi abilities like healing or elemental projection he knew that she might not necessarily be lying."

Then Alex suddenly sneered lightly as he connected the dots.

"And let me guess, you’re the so-called brother, right?"

The man didn’t deny it, instead he simply smiled again and casually tossed the cigarette onto the ground before crushing it beneath his shoes.

"Sharp kid."

Alex studied him carefully now. The more he observed this man, the stranger the feeling became. The man didn’t appear muscular, if anything he looked a bit on the slender side, and nor did he radiate any form of killing intent like most Awakened he had encountered. Yet standing before him made Alex instinctively tense. It was almost as if his body was warning him of danger.

"So what exactly do you intend to do then?" Alex said as his gaze turned colder. "Everything I did yesterday was self defense. Those men were sent to kill me."

The suited man nodded immediately.

"I know. After my brother told me, I had one of my friends pull in a favour and hack into the security camera around the vicinity and saw the whole thing, before I had the entire footage erased."

That answer surprised Alex slightly.

"Look, I don’t want to do anything to you, if not I wouldn’t have helped you erase that footage," the man said honestly. "In fact, I’m here because I want to invite you."

"Invite me?"

"To join our organization."

Alex’s eyes narrowed suspiciously at the man, but he just calmly folded his arms and continued speaking.

"As you probably already know by now, Awakeneds are extremely rare. Rare enough that various countries, corporations, wealthy elites and even underworld organizations are desperately seeking them out."

Alex couldn’t help agreeing with him. From what he had seen and heard so far, Awakeneds were even more valuable than gold. And families or organizations that seemed to have more quality Awakened had more power than others.

The suited man continued.

"Someone like you who recently Awakened probably doesn’t fully understand how to use your abilities effectively yet. But our organization can train you." His gaze became more serious. "Not only that, but we can provide protection, resources, information and benefits that normal people could never even dream of in a million years."

Alex just remained silent, allowing the man to continue speaking.

"And your case is especially special."

That made Alex finally frown. Did they discover something about him? No it shouldn’t be possible, right? After all, only he could see the system. So he decided to ask cautiously.

"What do you mean?"

The man’s eye’s sharpened with genuine interest.

"One. You have an healing ability."

He raised one finger.

"Second. You have Cryokinesis, or ice type of ability for short."

Then a second finger.

"Making you have two abilities. You know most Awakened only posses one ability throughout their entire lives like fire, beast transformation, phasing, physical enhancement, wind attacks. You know, something singular."

"But people like you who have dual ability before breaking through to master realm are incredibly rare. They possess significantly higher growth potential than ordinary Awakeneds, except those with a single unique ability that feels like a cheat from the heavens." The man’s tone became heavier. "In fact, many dual- ability users historically have eventually reached the highest realm possible.... The Transcendent Realm."

Just the way he said the words made Alex feel the reverence in his voice.

"A level where a single Awakened powerhouse becomes a national level weapon, with the ability to destroy a single country with ease, and casually tank weapons of mass destruction like nuclear and hydrogen bombs like they are nothing. Besides, nothing in this world can kill a Transcendent realm Awakened except another Transcendent Realm Awakened. And currently, there are only ten countries worldwide including ours that have a Transcendent Realm Awakened."

Alex’s heartbeat slowed, but the man still kept on going.

"People at that level are just so powerful that they are basically seen as gods. I might not know much about them, since the only one in the country which is in our organization is kind of detached, but the government doesn’t dare ignore people like them."

Alex quietly absorbed the entire information he had gotten about Awakened so far. Their realms, and those monsters in the transcendent Realm. This world was clearly far deeper than he had initially believed.

Still... He already possessed the system. So as long as he continued growing stronger, there was no need to tie himself to a government organization simply for benefits or training. Besides, he was already partially tied to Nyx, so he most definitely didn’t need another leash around his neck.

Though Alex knew one thing clearly. That is the moment he officially reached B Rank... Or what these people called Ascendant Realm. He would possess enough power to stand above underworld rulers like Nyx, Marcus and Tiger Lord entirely.

After a few seconds of silence, Alex finally shook his head.

"No."

The man’s eyebrow rose slightly, clearly confused by Alex’s blatant rejection.

"I appreciate the offer, but I don’t want to be bound under anyone. I value my freedom more."

The suited man observed him quietly for several seconds before the atmosphere suddenly changed, causing Alex’s body to stiffen like a block of ice.

An invisible pressure exploded outward from the man like a tidal wave, pressing against Alex, and forcing sweat to immediately form across his forehead.

It felt as though a massive prehistoric beast had just suddenly opened its eyes directly in front of him. The suited man’s calm voice echoed softly.

"And what if I insist you join at all cost?"

...

A/N

Thank you guys for the golden tickets and powerstones so far. thank you