Chapter 116.Goal
A week went by in a flash.
Aiden was still at the Creed Estate. After spending a gruesome 11 months away, he needed a small break, so he decided to rest for a while.
During this period, he received a lot of offers from organizations, guilds, and families from all across the empire. Naturally, Aiden rejected them. The benefits they were offering were off the charts, but Aiden didn’t need them for anything. Those resources would have been useful to traditional cultivators; however, for someone who cultivated by absorbing the blood essence of the dead, they meant nothing to him. Most importantly, their conditions didn’t align with his principles. They wanted him to be bound to their organizations forever after his two-year military service.
Aiden was someone who pursued eternal autonomy through power. There was no way he would sell his freedom—the very goal of his cultivation—to anyone. So, he firmly rejected all their offers.
He knew what would follow: assassinations.
This was how the world worked. They knew he was affiliated with the Creeds, the Vincents, the Moores, the Bryans, and the Marcuses. If he becomes influential in the future, the powers affiliated with him will become more influential captains of industry and overshadow the ones whose offers he rejected. To avoid that, they’d want him dead.
Had Aiden been unable to even make this prediction, he would have still known they wanted to kill him. Because when the offers were sent to him, there were subtle threats and words of intimidation laced behind them, indicating that rejecting their terms won’t look good for him. It was all an attempt to force him to accept. But Aiden was not your usual young man; he was wired differently, and he didn’t budge.
He made mental notes of all of them. When the time was right, he would finish what they wanted to start.
Currently, he was in the living room with his friends and their parents.
A week ago, when they watched the video, no one knew what to say to Aiden. His friends especially were proud of him for what he had accomplished, but to be honest, they were also very shocked about what they had just watched. Aiden had always been someone to pull off surprises and crazy feats, but this was on an entirely different level.
However, the adults were more experienced and hardened people. As influential captains of industry, maintaining their composure even in ridiculous situations had become second nature to them. So, they had broken the silence. They congratulated Aiden for his feat, which he smiled and thanked them politely for. But they figured he was just being polite to them; what he had accomplished did not really mean anything to him after all, nor did he feel any pride for it.
This made them realize that Aiden was a very unusual young man. He was always looking at the next destination instead of dwelling on an accomplishment. What he had already achieved was the past to him; as a matter of fact, he didn’t even count it an achievement.
As for his friends, they knew Aiden was not someone who could be competed with, but they were motivated to become stronger. They vowed that after the National Warriors Universities Competition, they would use the resources they would obtain from winning to push themselves to their limits too.
At the moment, in the living room...
"Aiden, what is your goal?" Desmonda said, relaxing on his chest.
Everyone, including the parents, looked at him. What did this young man really want to accomplish that a feat every young person would have bragged about seemed so trivial to him?
Aiden smiled.
"I grew up in a home where freedom was an impossible thing for 19 years. This shaped my worldview of the world. I came to realize how precious and important autonomy—and the ability to decide your own path, to choose what to do and what not to do with your own life—is," Aiden replied.
Realization flashed through everyone’s eyes. So this was why he rejected the offers of those organizations. Some of them were owned by legendary and expert rank 3 warriors—powers even the powerhouses in the room could not contend with. Yet, Aiden rejected their offers outrightly without hesitation; their conditions did not align with his goal.
"In a world where power is everything, and even those considered strong have to yield their decisions to others if stronger powers force them to yield, my goal is to have eternal autonomy. And I can only have that if I’m powerful," Aiden added.
"You want to be in a place where absolutely nothing can influence and force you to make decisions or do anything against your will?" Chromium asked.
"Yes, senior," Aiden replied.
The captains of industry and guilds breathed in deeply. This young man’s journey won’t be an easy one.
"You will need power, not connections, for that," Ronan said. "Individual power to be at a place where nothing or no one can subdue you or compel you to yield your future or your decisions to anyone."
Aiden smiled and nodded. "I know, senior."
"Please, don’t call us seniors. Just our names will be fine," Angela chimed in.
All of them nodded. The respect they had for this young man had increased. In fact, subconsciously, they had started treating him as a future powerhouse because of his mindset.
"Alright. Then I won’t be too civil from now on," Aiden chuckled warmly.
"Mmm," they nodded.
"As Ronan was saying, Aiden, everyone at some point will have to yield to someone. Some powerful people will not necessarily want to kill you, but they would expect you to yield to them. The rank 4 warriors of Endra will not have time for nonsense as they are burdened by the responsibility of protecting the world from chaotic beasts and The Paranormal Liberation Order. But some legendary rank 3 warriors across the four continents of Endra will find it insulting if they ask someone to be their disciple and the person says no, regardless of the conditions they attach to such an offer. If you want to be at a place where no one can impose their will and decisions on you, you need individual power," Brandy said.
"That’s right. You are starting your two-year military training soon. With the potential you’ve demonstrated, it’s only a matter of time before some legendary rank 3 warriors in the military try to use discipleship as a mask to monopolize you for themselves," Paula added. "Such offers will come with their benefits and influence. But, at the end of the day, you’ll be serving the person for the rest of your life. You’ll have your freedom, but you’ll be at their beck and call whenever they need you. Even if you need to be put in life-and-death situations against your will, you’ll have to oblige because the person is your master."
A glint flashed through Aiden’s eyes. That is not the kind of future he wanted to have.
For others, becoming the disciple of someone was not necessarily a bad thing; he was not one to judge the decisions of others. But for him, it went against everything he stood for—his autonomy. There was no way he would accept an offer to be someone’s disciple. And from what the seniors had just told him, this meant that doing so will bruise the pride of anyone whose offer he rejected. Some of them may politely back away, but others with fragile egos would want him dead.
"I see," he nodded.
"As you already know, I am from a family of military descent," Chromium said. "So I will make some calls if you want me to. One of my grand-uncles is an admiral, a legendary rank 3 warrior. He can become a public shield against some threats in the military for you. But he does not have eyes everywhere. So, you will still have to endure assassinations. I also suspect that you will receive missions that are programmed to kill you when you start rejecting the discipleship offers of some higher-ups. Note that the assassination attempts from the industries whose offers you rejected will also extend into the military. Some of them have connections there too, so you’ll have to be on guard all the time."
"I would appreciate that, uncle Chromium," Aiden nodded.
"Alright," Chromium replied.
Everyone was worried about Aiden, especially his friends. The future ahead of him was filled with assassinations and traps of death. Desmonda especially held his hand firmly.
’I need to become strong enough to help him carry this burden. I’m also someone who does not want to be controlled by anyone. We are destined to walk the same path anyway,’ she thought. A desire for strength she had never felt before bloomed in her heart.
Candice, Luke, Asmodeus, and Seraphina were also worried about him. They were very intentional when they decided to be Aiden’s friends; they were not going to back out of his life now. They had their own desires and goals for pursuing strength, and their lives did not revolve around him. But if they were stronger, and they had been able to graduate and enter the military with him soon, he would not have to tread this path alone. They needed to become stronger quickly.
"Why is the mood so damp all of a sudden?" Aiden smiled warmly.
"We are all worried about you, doofus," Desmonda pinched him on the cheek.
"Ouch," Aiden feigned pain and chuckled.
Everyone laughed.
’This is not so bad,’ Aiden thought. He had made the right decision to be friends with Desmonda, Luke, Asmodeus, Candice, and Seraphina. They were loyal people. He felt very warm inside.
After spending some time with his loved ones, Aiden stood up after whispering something into Desmonda’s ears.
"Guys... I need to take care of something." A glint flashed through Aiden’s eyes. He had not forgotten about Vermin Guild and the others.