Rise of the Apex Predator: A LitRPG Adventure

Chapter 28 – Subterfuge

Two weeks flew by with Aenon not returning to the mansion. He had systematically culled the monster population in a 1-kilometer radius around the deserted village. His quest log had a long list of completion notifications that needed to be turned in. His wolf pack had grown significantly stronger in the interim, having cleared a lot more quests than him. Bane’s mate had leveled up enough to finally communicate with him. And so Aenon had christened her with the name Venge.

She loved the name, as was evident from her happy howl when she heard it for the first time. There was no mysterious reaction with the shard this time though. There was one upgrade she received though. Shadow Meld. She had gained the ability to jump into Aenon’s shadow at will. And she could stay there indefinitely as far as they had tested so far. And while in there, she was intangible.

Bane was ecstatic when she learned the skill, since this would safeguard his pups, while also providing Aenon some additional support in an emergency. As Aenon made his way towards the South gate of the village, the 7 wolves broke off and stayed behind while Venge stayed in his shadow. The wolves were not keen on entering the village, even when deserted. They continued their patrol of the surrounding areas.

As Aenon approached the village square, he detected his two ‘hosts’ holed up in the mansion. They were in separate rooms this time, so Aenon walked up to the door and knocked loudly. He sensed the guild leader, Blake if he recalled correctly, fall off his bed in a panic while Vincent stumbled and ran for the door. The door creaked open after 2 minutes, with the village head peeking from a crack before opening it fully.

“Ah. Welcome back sir. We have been expecting you for a while now,” Vincent said with a hurried bow. Aenon sensed Blake spying on them from one floor up but chose to ignore the man.

“It’s been a tiring couple of weeks. I need to wash up before I turn in the quests. I will see you both in your office in an hour,” Aenon said before disregarding the bowing man and walking away towards his room.

“Of course, sir.”

Aenon jumped into a shadow when he was out view and navigated the abundant shadows rather than walking. The mansion was dark enough to cast his Abyssal Reach ability freely. He heard a yelp as Blake ran out to see where he had disappeared to. Aenon merely chuckled and kept travelling through the shadows.

He had had a lot practice these past few weeks. The feeling of moving in the shadows was weird, almost like swimming through a viscous fluid. More importantly, Venge was right by his side when he entered a shadow, and he could see her quite clearly thanks to his dark vision. The outside world though was hazy, like he was looking through a curtain of water. Thankfully it didn’t affect his soul sense.

As he neared his room, he jumped out of the nearest shadow to his door and went in. It was exactly the way he had left it, with one exception. The side door was open now. He quickly looked around and saw that it was a quite large closet, which he was able to open and close at will. It even gave him a prompt to lock it if need be. He dumped a few things from his bursting inventory before locking it and heading for the bathroom.

He had not used the facility last time, but he intended to indulge himself thoroughly this time. Luckily his armor was clean, since no amount of blood or grime could stain it for long. But the same could not be said about his body. He peeled off the armor and put it to the side before hopping into the gigantic tub. He tested the different faucets and was surprised to find that each had a different smelling scent, and the temperature could be adjusted to his liking. And unlike regular tubs, the aromatic bath water stayed the same temperature no matter how long he spent in it.

Best of all, the sweat and dirt from his body just dissolved into the water without any physical effort. As Aenon lay there, floating on the water surface, he heard Venge speak up from his shadow.

“Does the alpha need me to keep an eye on the door?”

Aenon stayed silent for a moment, enjoying the blissful feeling before responding, “No need Venge. I can sense them just fine. They are in the lower levels, and we should be safe.”

There was one other skill he had learned during his training in the forest. The ability to sleep while keeping his soul sense active. It was a surreal experience, being asleep but also aware of all living entities within his soul sensing range. Almost like he was having a lucid dream, and it didn’t affect how rested he was after the nap.

And so Aenon slept peacefully while enjoying the comfort of a hot bath for almost an hour. By the time he got out, he felt cleaner than he ever had before, not to mention well rested and refreshed. He stood before the mirror and raised his hand, gathering some mana into it. And with a casual flick he added some air and heat aspects to it to blow dry his entire body. Within seconds he was bone dry, and ready to put on his armor.

He detected Vincent standing outside his door as he finished putting on his armor. His soul sense had gotten more refined over time, allowing him to pick up subtle emotions from his targets if they were within 10 meters. For some reason he could sense trepidation, nervousness, and…. anger from the man. The first two made sense, but the last…

Vincent knocked on the door just as Aenon stepped out of the bathroom. He calmly walked up to the door and opened it, making the man jump back in alarm.

“Hello, sir. I know you requested we meet in my office, but I thought it might more prudent if we have lunch first. We can discuss the trivial things after, if you so wish,” he said with a bow.

“Very well then,” Aenon responded simply, not seeing any reason to turn down a free meal. He started following the man at a casual pace. This would officially be his first meal on this planet that he had not prepared himself, not counting System rations. And even though his Cooking Skill was at Adept rank, his meals were geared towards efficiency and purpose, rather than enjoyment or taste.

The dining hall was on the first floor of the mansion and could easily seat around 300 people. Aenon was led to the head of the table, where Blake pulled up his chair for him. Internally Aenon cringed at the overtly formal and submissive behavior, but he had no choice but to maintain the charade, for now at least. There were a dozen covered dishes in front of him, which must have completely locked in the scent of the food because the moment the lid came off, Aenon couldn’t help but drool.

The smell was divine, and the myriad variety of food types was something he had never seen before. Thankfully he had his mask on, which saved him from embarrassing himself. He commanded the mask to disappear from the lower half of his face, so he could enjoy his meal. He would probably have been embarrassed at being stared at by two grown men standing at his side while eating, but he was too engrossed in the meal. With humongous effort he managed to keep himself in control as he wolfed down food in the most gentlemanly manner he could. Thankfully his mother had inculcated enough etiquettes in him, so as not to embarrass himself in such situations.

Within 20 minutes, every single dish was wiped clean, before he quickly fixed his mask to hide the loud burp afterwards. Only then did he notice the emotions of jealousy and anger being radiated from Blake. Vincent had those too, but at a much lower levels. He gave a low cough to clear his throat before getting up.

“I shall wait for you in the office, while you finish your meals,” he said before hastily marching out of the room. He stood there for a few minutes, reading the emotional turmoil the two men were going through. Fear was the primary emotion, but anger was the close second thing when he focused on Blake. Vincent was far calmer, but his second strongest emotion was greed. Aenon wasn’t sure what this meant, but he had to be on top of his game if he was to maintain this game of deceit.

He walked to the man’s office and unceremoniously barged in and collapsed on the couch. He pulled up his mana proficiency tab to go over his gains from the previous weeks. He had only gained 5 levels in total though, since most of the XP was locked in towards his quest completions being turned in.

Mana Aspects Proficiency

Physical

Conceptual

Earth (66%)

Heat (46%)

Air (29%)

Gravity (42%)

Fire (36%)

? (2%)

Water (31%)

Mechanical (5%)

Light (37%)

-

Dark (91%)

-

Life (7%)

-

-

-

He had made significant progress in his air, fire, and water aspect proficiencies and had even unlocked another conceptual aspect, Mechanical. But his other aspects showed little to no progress. He had attained the mechanical aspect when he successfully froze a bull like creature mid-charge by removing all its momentum. He learned that the Mechanical aspect governed the potential and kinetic energy of an object, which allowed him to manipulate the speed of his projectiles as well.

He closed his interface and pulled out three spherical stones from his inventory. He had compacted mud into very dense balls and had been using it to practice his aspect proficiencies. He simultaneously controlled gravity, mechanical, and earth aspects to make the ball revolve around him at different speeds. It took all his attention and a ridiculously large amount of mana to sustain. The gains were miniscule for so much effort and resources, but they were gains, nonetheless.

He continued his practice for half an hour, at which point he sensed the two men approaching. He stopped the three balls midair, but didn’t grab them, letting them float above him. The concentration and mana expense were lesser in this state. The two men entered the room but froze when they noticed the floating orbs. Blake even drew his sword and took on a defensive stance, expecting an attack no doubt.

“Calm down. This is not an attack,” Aenon stated simply. He was sitting with one leg crossed over the other, with his elbow on the armrest, while his head rested on his fist. He pointed at the opposite couch with this other hand, beckoning them to sit.

Reluctantly, Blake dismissed his sword, before the two men sat on the edge of their seats, occasionally stealing glances of the three floating balls. The men looked at each other nervously, each daring the other to speak up first. Seeing that neither man was ready to go first, Aenon broke the deathly silence of the room.

“Here are the quest items,” he waved his hand over the table in between them, and deposited the kill trophies like before. He detected a brief spike in disgust and annoyance from Vincent, before the older man suppressed it.

“Your quests are accepted,”, Vincen said in a polite tone. He bumped his elbow into Blake’s ribs, before the other man repeated the same words.

Aenon got a bunch of dings as his quest log updated, earning him a tsunami’s worth of experience points. He dismissed the notifications without checking how many levels he had gained. He observed his two companions in detail. The last time he was here, he did not have the ability to gauge emotions, and what he was learning now was concerning. Both men had showed negative emotions towards him, with Blake being the more egregious one. He had no idea what he had done to earn their ire. But he still needed their services, so he had to smooth out the issues sooner rather than later.

“Might I ask, what have I done to earn your hatred?” he said coldly while facing Blake.

The man froze, overwhelmed with fear. Vincent had the same reaction but was quick to snap out of it.

“You must be mistaken, sir. He has no such…”

“Silence,” Aenon said while releasing a portion of his soul presence. He was not adept enough to release it fully yet, but the effects were instantaneous and sufficient. Both broke out in a cold sweat and started shivering. Seeing as neither man could speak, he withdrew his presence.

“The first time I walk in, you called me a monster. I overlooked it, since it was our first meeting. But today I felt undercurrents of hatred and jealousy off you. I will not repeat myself. What is the reason? Speak plainly, and you have my word that you shall not be harmed. Attempt to deceive me, and I will end you before you even draw your sword. I will not tolerate someone who could stab me in the back while I am not expecting it,” Aenon said in a low voice while making two of the three orbs float around their heads.

The guild head was in no condition to speak, shaking like a leaf. So, Vincent spoke up, “My liege. Please forgive us. We are from a low background and unfortunately my friend here has some bad experiences when dealing with nobles. I can assure you that he meant nothing by it. The thought of betraying you has never crossed our mind.”

“And what about you? I sensed displeasure and annoyance from you while you were outside my room and when I turned in the kill trophies. What was that about?”

The village head hesitated for a moment. That is till the point when the floating orb approached his head. He quickly burst out explaining, “I am a bit of a germaphobe, sir. It is an issue I have had since I was a kid. It is the reason I chose non-combat classes. And as for the room… Ummm… that was my room earlier.”

Aenon felt bad after hearing their reasoning. He could understand where they were coming from, but he was unsure how to handle this situation. He tried imagining what that dead prince would do in this situation, but it sent a shiver down his spine. He couldn’t stoop that low. While he was pondering on his response, Vincent must have mistaken his silence for taking offense.

“Please forgive my insolence, sir. I will purge all such thoughts. The master room of the mansion should obviously go to an esteemed guest. And I will deal with my issue about the blood,” he blurted out in a hurry. He was extremely nervous, his soul sense clearly showed that.

Aenon was not aware of the multiverse at large, and so was not aware how most nobles would handle this situation. He hoped that there was at least a concept of a good noble.

“I was not aware that was your room, the same way that I did not know of your averseness to blood and gore. And more importantly, I was not aware of your past. I was raised a noble, but my family highly values good etiquette. I was sent out on my own to explore and experience the world and its people. This experience has been enlightening. I shall strive to not cause you discomfort,” Aenon laid it on thick with the formal speak.

Vincent was the first to react, “There is no issue at all, sir. I will make sure nothing like this ever happens again. And please continue using the room. I have already settled in another.”

Although Aenon had not apologized, at least he cleared the air, and hoped he gave a mildly positive impression.

“Very well then. Let’s move on to the main topic on hand. The boy,” Aenon quickly deflected the topic while retrieving the balls back near him. Both men tensed up at the mention of the ‘boy’.

“I have come across a house to the southeast that had some weird clues. The house was numbered 38 and had signs of some really foul-smelling substance. I would assume it is due to a cleansing ritual, but I need you to make sure.”

The men shared a look before Blake spoke up for the first time in his presence, “That was the house assigned to him. But it was locked down since the day he disappeared. Not even the village head was able to bypass the security of the door. Is the door truly open?”

“Yes, it is. Took a very high-level artifact to open it. You may go and check it yourself. I am tired and need to rest. We will continue this discussion tomorrow,” Aenon said while abruptly standing up. He decided to leave them to follow the breadcrumbs he had intentionally left behind. The tracks would lead all over the village before mysteriously disappearing. This would keep them busy all night while he slept.

“Thank you for your help, sir. We will get on it right away,” Vincent said with a bow before the two men dashed out.

Aenon watched them go, before heading back to ‘his’ room. He quickly deposited the rest of the items from his inventory to his closet and locked his room. After removing his armor, he collapsed on his bed.

“Why the subterfuge, Alpha? Just a command from you, and the pack will subdue the two men,” Venge asked with curiosity.

“Because combat skills aren’t the only thing that I need to train in. When up against entities like the Overseer, deception is my only weapon. And I have never been very good at it. This is my training ground for that,” Aenon said while keeping his eyes closed.

“Oh,” Venge exclaimed.

Aenon smiled at her surprised reply. He had been thinking up ways to break away from or avoid the Overseer, but he knew it was just a matter of time before the old man caught up. So, he needed all the skills he could get to ensure his survival.

At least till the day he was strong enough to bring the fight to him.