Chapter 169: The Trouble Again!
In the bustling city, aggressive shouts could be heard echoing loudly. The panicking people parted their ways as a silver-haired boy ran rapidly past them through the dense crowds. A black handcuff, imbued with the power of anti-magic, was hanging loosely on one of his arms as he kept his breakneck speed.
A large magic spell was cast behind him, and the explosive blast echoed fiercely behind his back breaking the buildings and infrastructures on the way.
Several figures were running right behind him. They were the guards tasked with protecting the city. All of the guards were high-ranking; most of them were Walkers, and they desperately tried to catch him while firing dangerous spells at his back, ready to kill him on the spot as they glared at him.
Alen passed through the crowds, running and jumping from building to building with fast speed. A wry, confident smile tugged on his lips, completely contrasting to the deadly situation he currently faced.
"Well, just as I had expected. Why have I been at leisure with no problems for a while? It seems trouble was already waiting for me right outside the door!"
He suddenly stopped his run as a large-scale spell of Fire shot straight toward him. It missed his body by just an inch. The building behind him was blown to pieces, and the resulting wind swept up his hair.
Several powerful Walkers surrounded him in a tight circle. Maybe dozens, maybe more. All of them were equally as strong as him, or maybe even more than him. All of them glared at him in unison, and the heavy killing intent spiked on him from every direction.
Alen stood there looking back at them, his smile remaining plastered confidently on his face.
"Sigh... It seems my fate is never going to live me peacefully..."
The Crimson Essence started to swirl and dance around him excitedly. A wide grin appeared on his face, which completely contrasted with his intense eyes, which were looking at them crazily, like a madman.
"Let’s battle then!"
So, how did he come to be in this terrible situation? Why did the Walkers follow behind him like madmen? Well, let’s explain it by a quick flashback.
...
Just an hour ago, right before that explosive event.
Outside the grand Dimensional Gate, Alen finally stepped out through the portal. His eyes were still blank, as the lingering effects of losing control during his trial still remained with him. His mind felt heavy with different, chaotic thoughts which were difficult to align properly.
He was still thinking about the puppet family. Not because he felt depressed about killing the happy family, but because he felt like the Ascension Realm really was playing a twisted game with his life. Why would he get a quest which makes him lose his sanity? Did it want him to lose control, succumb to the depressing thoughts, and lose the very will to live?
Whatever the real reason may have been, Alen felt like his head was going to blow away before he could reach a decent place to stay in.
He shook off his thoughts as he started walking anyway, looking forward to seeing the weird scenarios going on in front of him in the real world.
While the outer section of the Dimensional Gate always remained bustling with people’s shouts and cries, today all of the people present around the area remained utterly quiet.
Alen looked to the front. Several large lines of people, who seemed to be the ones who had come out from the Ascension Realm recently, could be seen patiently waiting. They were being checked by people wearing tactical battle suits, who seemed to be official guards.
The guards were no less than the Walker rank. They swept past the lines of people, meticulously scanning their identification.
Alen felt thoroughly confused about what was going on. Just as he prepared to just walk away and avoid the hassle, a loud shout echoed from the front, which was specifically directed to call him.
"Hey, man! Join the line immediately!"
Alen looked at the guard and pursed his lips. His head was already aching badly, and now they were ordering him to stand in such a long, boring line? Not in hell was he going to stand there.
"Nah, I am busy. Sorry, I’m leaving..."
Just as he stepped forward, preparing to use his skill to pass the lines of people, one of the guards walked toward him with glaring eyes. He was angry for not being listened to, and halted Alen’s step forcefully.
"How dare you not listen to me! We are the guards from the Association. You have to listen to us, unless you have a wish to feel the cold air of a prison."
Alen felt his head pound more at his words. He felt like just punching the guy right in the face, but he held back with all the patience he could possibly muster up.
"So, what exactly is going on here then? Tell me before I consider joining it?..."
The guard looked at him sharply with suspicious eyes, as if he tried to see right through his cloak.
"Well, for your information, we have been tasked to check the identification of all Awakeners in order to make sure that any dangerous criminals among them can be caught. Criminals don’t usually hold an Awakener Card, in order to not get tracked by us..."
Alen’s eyes widened in panic as he stared at him blankly. He didn’t even understand a single meaning of what he was talking about. Identification? Awakener Card? It was a term he had heard for the very first time in his whole life!
Well, it was obvious. He was not like a protagonist of some novels who reincarnated with full knowledge of the world, or at least gained the memories of the body they possessed.
But nah, he didn’t possess someone else’s body; he had got a brand new body remade from his previous one. He didn’t know about the deep history behind what had happened, but he pushed that thought to the corner of his mind. It was not nearly as important as the current, tense situation he was facing in front of him.
"I-I don’t have an Awakener Card with me..."
The guard looked him up and down. Alen was wearing a cloak with a hood securely hiding his face.
"Don’t worry about that. Even if you forgot bringing the Awakener Card, we already have a device to scan you. If you are among the registered ones, there are no worries. Go stand in the line, before I have to force you..."
Alen felt stunned as he maintained his calm expression outwardly. But internally? He was screaming. He didn’t have any such identification, which meant he was definitely going to end up in a prison cell today. Just a second ago, he had faced a heartbreaking Trial in the Spire, and now he was forced to deal with another trial in the real world. What a troublesome fate he had.
Leaving no other choice but to join the line, Alen walked toward the back of the queue, waiting anxiously for his turn to come.
While standing in the back, his body was incredibly tense as he thought internally.
’What should I do now? How can I run away safely under their strict watch? I am stuck here if I don’t do anything soon...’
As the line was moving forward quickly, all of the scanning was passed in just a second. Since everyone among them was a registered Awakener, Alen was the only anomaly hiding among them.
As the last person in front of him walked toward the guards, the guard immediately scanned his retina to check his identity. As his registered ID was confirmed with a beep, he walked away freely.
Now, Alen remained alone in the line. As his turn came, Alen felt a weird, heavy sense of nervousness which he hadn’t felt for a long time.
As he walked toward the scanning guard and stood there, the guard stepped closer to him. Behind him were also the other guards; among them, the one who had confronted him earlier was also looking at him with sharp, analyzing eyes.
"Pull the hood down."
Alen raised his hand up to his head and casually pulled back the hood. His bright, charming face was revealed. The guards stared at him, speechless to see his handsome face. It was a well-known fact among the Awakeners that the more handsome or beautiful the awakened person was, the more powerful their talent and bloodline would be. That was exactly the reason why most of the powerful people were extremely handsome, and most among them had appeared from prestigious families or popular guilds.
The crowds of people among the different lines stared openly at his face, mostly girls and women, as they couldn’t take their eyes off him. Many of their faces flushed a bright red.
Alen ignored everyone’s gazes. The guard standing before him became more cautious than before. He straightened his back and treated him with a much more respectful tone, misunderstanding him for some rich young master.
"Hello, the process won’t take much longer. I will just scan your registration..."
Alen nodded with a blank face. He genuinely felt like smirking. His face had finally gotten some good use in this world; at least it made it easier to intimidate the people in charge.
The guard finally took his scanning device and scanned Alen’s retina. The guards waited as the scanning took place for a few seconds. It kept processing, and only processing. The buffering was going on much longer than it normally should have.
"It seems the device is malfunctioning... Wait a little longer, it will show the result soon..."
Alen looked at the glitching device. He felt like this was the perfect opportunity to escape this place. He couldn’t stay here any longer, as he had to run away soon; he already knew what the result was going to come back as.
"Sorry, but I don’t have the time to wait any longer. I have important work to do."
Alen walked past the guards, stepping forward to leave the area.
"Hey, wait! You cannot leave! It is out of protocol to leave without waiting to see the final result."
Alen didn’t look back as he kept walking briskly, casually waving his hand from behind.
"Nah, any other time soon."
As he began to leave, suddenly a loud alert was issued from inside the scanning device. The bright red symbol appeared on the screen, detecting that the person could not be identified in the system.
Alen stopped walking. He turned back, noticing the guard’s gaze at him suddenly shift from a respectful gaze to a deeply enraged one.
"Guards! Seize the Criminal!"
Alen looked at the heavily armed guards who were already moving to surround him.
’Alas, new trouble befalls me, yet again. Let’s see how it goes.’