Bastards Ascension: A Playground of Gods
Chapter 41: Suspicious

Chapter 41: Suspicious

Kim’s presence added tension to the atmosphere.

And for Kieran, he felt even more tense.

At the moment, he was standing in front of the vice president of the AFO.

The third most powerful personnel known throughout Nebulas.

To cap it up, the way Kim looked at him at his arrival, it wasn’t quite the inviting look.

Kieran swallowed tensely.

He could withstand the pressure from Nellyx, but comparing that to Kim was like comparing heaven to earth.

The aura that followed him alone...

The sharp gaze of his eyes...

All that made Kieran feel nothing short of inferior.

That was a feeling he was meant to get from Alexa, but he didn’t—probably because she was his summon; she couldn’t hurt him.

’Can he sense you?’ Kieran felt a bead of sweat roll down his head.

Alexa watched calmly from Kieran’s domain, her hands crossed over her voluptuous chest.

"Hmph. None of these lowly humans can sense me. The only reason he looked towards you was because of the amount of condensed mana around you," Alexa explained, unperturbed by Kim’s presence.

"How is that possible? You didn’t use mana... or did you?" Kieran asked, confused.

He had yet to learn the use of mana. The only source of energy he had for the time being was Aether.

Which, according to her, couldn’t be sensed or used by beings who held no divinity.

"Aether is creation energy... an energy that births other forms of energy... You are unable to sense it, but using Aether also increases the mana in the atmosphere..."

’That explains why Sir Jacob was also staring at me strangely,’ Kieran turned to look at Jacob, who flashed a smile, oblivious that the young boy caught his gaze.

Just then, one of those who were tending to the recruit who had fainted rushed up to Kim immediately.

"Good day, Sir Kim," he said, giving a respectful bow. "Sir, we honestly don’t know what happened... The recruiter from the Nelkon family..."

The man went on to explain what had happened while Kim only nodded his head from time to time.

He looked at Kieran, his sharp eyes assessing the young boy.

’Aside from the mana that is condensed around him, the boy doesn’t seem to have any control over it at all... And this clearly wasn’t an attack,’ Kim thought to himself, trying to find the loophole in the entire story.

With just a glance, he could tell that Jacob didn’t interfere in the matter as well.

After a long minute of silence, Kim sighed.

"The Nelkon family?"

"Yes, sir!" The man nodded in affirmation.

"What a hassle," Kim mumbled, running his hands through his curly hair. He turned his sharp gaze to Kieran.

"Do you have any idea what happened?"

Kieran locked gazes with Kim, his dark brown eyes so fierce that it seemed as though they were trying to burrow into his very soul... trying to dig out all his secrets.

’Psychology?’

Kieran instantly noticed what Kim was trying to do.

"Sir Kim, the man just narrated everything... I don’t think there’s anything else to add. We all witnessed the same thing," Kieran answered confidently.

He couldn’t budge. If he did, then Kim would definitely know he was lying—or at least be suspicious.

Kim looked at the recruiter on the ground.

’If it were any other family, then it wouldn’t have been much of an issue, but the Nelkon family definitely won’t let this slide.’

Kim was deep in his thoughts.

Drawing a deep breath, he looked through the crowd, all the recruiters.

"You all should leave. I have passed out warnings to all the factions not to recruit anyone in front of the building! Any faction or family that goes against this law again will be charged, and the AFO will deal with them appropriately," Kim’s voice sounded with unquestionable authority.

One that only the vice president of the AFO could wield.

His fierce gaze scanned through the crowd, drilling it into the very core of their souls.

No one wanted to know what the AFO could do.

They were the governors of the awakened.

And Kim was one of the pillars that held the entire association together.

He turned his head to the man who had narrated the entire story to him.

"Get the man a healer before he dies from loss of blood. The Nelkon family would definitely not be happy if that were to happen... The rest of you, scram!" He made his voice audible enough for anyone there to hear.

Quickly, all the recruiters began packing their things to leave.

"That was not very welcoming, but we still have to fulfill the reason we came here," Jacob said, looking at all the recruiters leaving with blinding speed.

As though they were also given the position based on their ability to flee.

Kim was about to move away when he paused, turning back to Kieran and Jacob.

"You came to sign him into your faction?" he asked, looking at Jacob.

"Yes, Sir Kim," Jacob replied.

"Follow me. I might have to talk to the boy for a bit."

Jacob turned his gaze to Kieran.

"Shall we?" he said, gesturing towards the entrance of the building.

Kieran nodded, and quickly they both followed behind Kim.

Seeing him up close, Kim looked to be very young... perhaps even younger than Jacob, probably in his early thirties.

The automated glass door slid open as they came forward.

The interior design of the building was, in one word, breathtaking.

Polished black marble floors stretched across the spacious lobby, reflecting the soft, ambient lights embedded in the ceiling.

Clean silver-accented walls curved smoothly around the space, giving it a modern, futuristic feel.

To the side, a small waterfall trickled behind a glass panel, adding a subtle, calming sound to the air.

Just as they entered, the receptionist who stood by the side of the door immediately welcomed them with a bow.

"Welcome," she said, her voice seasoned with a sweet and appealing tone.

Kim didn’t bother with her, and neither did Kieran or Jacob.

They simply followed behind Kim, whose steps seemed to be quite fast-paced.

"It’ll be hard to get them off your track. But I’ll try my best to convince them to drop the case... which is unlikely to happen. That family can really be a pain in the ass... All in all, we’ll have to give them a good explanation for what happened here, else they would come after you."

Kieran already knew exactly what he was talking about; he didn’t bother to leave any comment.

"Before then, though, I would have to make sure you actually had no hand in what happened..."

"Huh?"