Rise of the Crusader

"Aiden!"

The voice echoed again, but this time around it was colder.

Aiden still didn't react nor search for the person who was calling his name, instead, he continued to toy with the handkerchief in his head.

A few minutes later and the voice rang out again. Each time it sounded in the room, it became colder, and killing intent began to become evident in the voice.

Despite the pressure and killing intent he felt, Aiden still wasn't bothered. The belief was as long as he was here, no harm was going to befall him.

Even if the world were to collapse, so long as he was here, he wouldn't be hurt. He ignored both the pressure and killing intent and continued to place his attention on the handkerchief.

Suddenly, a light shone into the room.

The light was so sharp that Aiden used his hand to shield himself from it. As he managed to block a bit of the light with his right hand, he moved his eyes from the handkerchief and stared at the other side of the room.

"Y-You…"

Aiden stuttered as he saw the figure that was in the room.

He abruptly stood from the floor and turned his back against the blinding light. With his eyes then glued to the person in the room, a perplexed expression was on Aiden's face.

The person who had just walked into the room was a good-looking woman, in her early twenties. She had light-brown hair with shades of red all over it and was well-endowed in all the right places.

The woman stared at Aiden with her cheeks raised, and her lips curved into a smile. Her gaze was filled with love and adoration, almost as though he were the most important piece in her life.

Aiden's mouth opened slightly, "What are you doing here?" He asked.

A second after he spoke, and the woman rushed at him. She stretched her hands out and before Aiden could even react, she hugged him tightly.

If Aiden had the intention of breaking free from the woman's hug, with no doubt, he was incapable of doing so. The hug was so firm that it gave Aiden no room to escape.

"You're going to be alright, Aiden… I'm here." The woman muttered.

She then slowly loosened her grip on Aiden. Her eyes were however still on him, and she said.

"I won't let any harm befall you. I promise you, even if it means destroying the world, I'm willing to do that just to make sure you're safe." She said.

Aiden peered into the woman's eyes as she spoke. He then looked into the room he was in, the light was slowly taking away with the darkness in it, and he took a deep breath.

"Let's go, Aiden."

The woman had reappeared at the door.

Aiden, however, still remained in his position. He didn't move in the slightest from where he was, and even when the woman's voice rang out again, he didn't move.

"I know, it's difficult, but I need you to move on from this place," She said. "I won't allow any harm to befall you, Aiden. I promise you."

"I just need you to trust me." She said with reassurance. "Now, can we go, Aiden?"

"Please…"

This time around, Aiden took one last glance at the room and then took a step forward.

While it was just a single step that he took, its might was like no other. The bit of darkness that existed in the room vanished immediately, and Aiden's shadow which was once visible no longer existed.

A light smile hung on the woman's face when she saw Aiden advancing toward her. And as he got to her, she held his hand and the both of them walked out of the room.

Bang!

The door was slammed shut by the woman.

As the door closed shut, the tube in the psychic domain opened, and Aiden collapsed to the floor.

"That's number eight!" Leilani announced.

Atticus, Lucien, and Leilani hadn't been worried when the first person failed to pass the training, but when the number kept increasing, and it got to eight people, they became horrified quickly.

As former students of the academy, the three of them had their share of experiences in the psychic domain.

And they couldn't help but wonder what the fate of the students in front of them was going to be when they were already failing at this early stage. The psychic domain had a lot of stages, and battling the inner demons was the easiest.

"Let's hope someone can pass the training." Atticus blurted as he stared at the fourth tube.

The fourth tube was the tube Raphael was in, but Atticus and the other's eyes weren't on Raphael, instead, their gaze was on the owl that was beside him.

In an umber brown forest that reeked of ages, Gus stood on one of the trees, with his thought unknown but a dumbfounded expression on its face.

Gus stared at the surrounding, and its ear suddenly moved a little. It then flapped its wing and flew over to the other tree that was a few meters away.

Bang!

It wasn't even up to a minute after Gus left that tree, and it was set ablaze. And within seconds the previous massive tree was reduced to nothing.

Gus instantly became alarmed, it began to scan the surroundings, and this time around it was even more thorough. Gus left no area untouched and a brief moment later, its face lit up.

Gus then quickly left the tree it was on.

Now hovering in the air, it opened its mouth wide, and a ball of flame emerged out of it. The flame was brimming with destructive power and as it appeared, it headed towards the left corner of the forest quickly.

Suddenly, another ball of flame appeared, intercepting the one that had just been created by Gus.

As the two balls of flames collided with one another, they caused a dreadful effect on the surrounding. Both the trees and grasses in the area were severely damaged.

A sharp sound like that of the letter s prolonged rang out afterward.

Killing intent flashed within Gus's eyes when it heard that voice. It then looked into one of the trees, seeing a large, round head and forward-facing bird, the killing intent grew.

The bird that was a few meters away from Gus had a very similar resemblance to Gus. Whether it was the size, color, and even tone, they were all very similar.

Even Raphael might not be able to differentiate them, as they looked very alike.

[That body is mine… Mine!!!!!!]

[I won't spare you for taking over my body!]

While it was a long hiss that escaped the other owl's mouth, Gus got the message loud and clear. It glared at the owl with hatred evident in his eyes.

As the owl saw the look on Gus's face, it began even more furious. Its entire body was soon wrapped in flame, and a second after, it launched at Gus.

Gus, of course, didn't seat around, and it made a move as well. With flames roaming around its body, Gus flapped its wing as it crushed towards the owl in front.

Taking a good look at Gus's body, apart from the flames that were moving about, there was also another element moving about its body.

[Die!!!!!!]

The loud hiss of the owl rang out as it got to Gus.

As the scorching flames that were around the two owls clashed with one another, their beaks moved as well.

Gus was the first to take a step backward, it flew down and stared at the owl. With rage then written all over its face, Gus rushed towards the owl and this time around it wasn't just flames, there was lightning around him as well.

A fearful expression immediately appeared on the other owl's face when it saw the lightning around Gus.

In the first clash that occurred between the both of them, it had won against Gus, but with the lightning involved, the owl wasn't confident in winning this collision, or any other one in fact.

Without delay, it ran quickly.

However, never in it, the wildest dream did it expect Gus to possess the speed that surpassed its own. Gus instantly appeared in its front, and as it flapped its wings out, both lightning and flames rushed towards the other owl.

[Argghhhhhgh!!!]

A loud scream of agony escaped the owl's mouth as the lightning wreaked its body apart.

The owl had already sensed the threat from the lightning, and when struck by it, it realized that it had even underestimated what the lightning was capable of.

The lightning-caused severe damage to the owl, and within seconds, it lost its balance in the air. As the owl went down and was just about to hit the ground, Gus appeared before it.

Gus opened its mouth wide and a ball of flame that was ten times bigger than what it threw out earlier appeared.

Boom!

The flame struck the body of the owl, engulfing its body completely. The cries of anguish of the owl sounded in the surrounding, but after a few seconds it quietened down and once the fire set off, a battered owl emerged.

Meanwhile, after defeating the owl, Gus's eyes that were previously shut closed sprang open.

It stared at the tube, it was in and then moved its gaze to Raphael, who was sitting cross-legged.

For some reason, an expression of worry appeared on Gus as he stared at Raphael. Gus didn't have a problem with his inner demon, to begin with, so the training was rather very easy for Gus.

But, Gus couldn't say it was going to be easy with Raphael.

Unbeknownst to Gus, when Atticus, Lucien, and Leilani saw it open its eyes, their face lit up. The three of them stared at one another with shock and at the same disbelief.

"You have got to be kidding me!" Lucien exclaimed.

Regardless of how they wanted to put it, the three of them found it insulting that Gus was able to overcome its challenges and the students in the division couldn't.

...

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