"… What?"
Felix had received two shocks at once: the first being Aaron's reveal of his family background as a member of the Walton family, and the second being his claim of the Sage circle having been infiltrated by the underworld—though he wasn't quite sure what that last part meant about the infiltrator being him.
The Walton family was one of the biggest back on Earth, who most likely pulled the strings of the government and public affairs from the shadows. And no, they hadn't gotten to that height through money or connections, but through power and authority—boasting of 12 Sages alone from the family, with Aaron being the twelfth if his claims were true.
That explained a lot and made much sense of Aaron trying to prove himself and secure his position in the family, as there were bound to be competitions amongst relatives in such families, especially if he were from one of the major branches. But at the same time, it made no sense to Felix why he was trying so hard to prove himself to whoever the father he spoke of was.
Wasn't being an SS-Rank in such a big family a big boon?
Now that also explained where Aaron had gotten his smarts from, and hence his manipulative nature.
Aaron laughed in amusement, watching Felix try to piece it together. "You're so oblivious, Felix. And if I hadn't known any better, I would've thought you're just good at acting, too. But you really have no idea."
"What nonsense are you spouting?" Felix frowned. But he couldn't deny the fact that he was curious to know more about what Aaron was saying and insinuating. Which is why he refrained from attacking just yet.
"I'll tell you. For the past ten decades, there have always been a hundred blessings from Goddess Zemira in the form of Class Systems to the selected Sage candidates. No more, no less. Like it should be," Aaron began with a smile that hinted he was enjoying this more than he should. "Except, during our awakening at the temple…" he paused, scrutinizing every face and expression Felix made before continuing, "There was one hundred and 'one' class systems at the awakening pool. One more than there should have been."
It took Felix a moment to understand what Aaron had just said. But he was more confused than anything else and was only left with more questions with no answers.
Aaron had claimed there had been one hundred and one class systems in the awakening pool on that day instead of the usual hundred on the dot that Goddess Zemira had provided over the decades without failure.
First off, there was only one hundred Sage candidates selected every decade. That year's own being no different. So if there was really one more class system in the pool that day after Felix and his peers had all received theirs, did that mean the Goddess had made a mistake? As she should have informed the Sage council that she wanted to add a bonus class system and a plus one Sage candidate could've been selected for that. But no, none of that had happened as far as Felix knew.
So what had happened with the extra class system? Or more importantly, what had it got to do with him being some pawn of the underworld?
And no, Felix was sure he didn't have the extra system making them two, if that was what Aaron was insinuating.
That was when it clicked with Felix: Aaron had initially stated the underworld had infiltrated the Sage circle through a Sage candidate who Aaron claimed Felix was, then that only meant if there had been a plus one class system that Goddess Zemira hadn't informed the Sage council about and neither made a mistake, then the plus one was not from the Goddess but from… the underworld?
Felix couldn't believe it. He was dumbstruck, and his frown only grew deeper from thinking it alone. If Aaron's words were indeed true, how had that gotten past the Sage council's notice and what were they doing about it? How had Aaron known about all this? And more importantly, if his class system, The Witcher Class System, was truly a mimic from the underworld and the Sage council knew it, why was he still walking free without having been locked up and scheduled for deletion.
"This… all of this is not summing up." Felix mused thoughtfully as he looked Aaron in the eyes, searching for even the slightest hint of lies so he could cut him down right where he stood for messing with him.
"And how do you know about this?" Felix asked deliberately.
Aaron laughed and clapped his hands together, impressed at Felix's sharp intellect that didn't need him to say everything before he could piece two and two together to understand the concept.
"I must say, you're smarter than I gave you credit for—"
"I asked a question," Felix cut him off. He was fed up with Aaron beating around the bush and stalling for time whilst Athenae needed him up there.
He knew Aaron had one or two tricks up his sleeve, but looking at his current state, Felix was willing to gamble in exchange to know the truth of the matter. As if the Sage circle had truly been infiltrated, getting every little detail he could of it could save his life.
"You're right, and wrong, Felix. Indeed the extra class system wasn't a blessing from Goddess Zemira but a mimic from the underworld. But the Sage council doesn't know about this. Just me—and you."
Felix's grip tightened around the hilt of his sword. He knew it was about time. He could feel it. His danger senses were starting to tingle.
"You were the first to receive a class system, while I was the last. And after I discovered our ranks had been infiltrated and not even the council knew of it—not even the Priestess—I began my investigation on every single one of the Sage candidates. From their daily routine to their abilities. And my investigation led me to believe that you, Felix, are the oddball. Goddess Zemira is the goddess of light and creation, and every ability stemming from her blessings should either be of light, or neutral. Never darkness, Felix. But your abilities reek of it: darkness.
And getting to the interesting part that sealed your fate… do you know that the Dark Lord was never always king of the underworld? But was rather the second in command to the first and most powerful king of the underworld, The Witch Master.
Remind me of your class name again? Yeah, I think it was: The Witcher." Aaron laughed hysterically at this point.
Felix's heart skipped a beat. But it didn't stop there. His heart spiked up not just at Aaron's shocking revelation which he couldn't deny connected a lot of dots and made much sense than he wanted to admit, but because he could feel it. Danger was coming close. Something far more powerful than anything Felix has faced before.
Felix knew where it was coming from and knew what he had to do to intercept it before it was too late. But he was too stunned to move and wanted nothing more than to hear everything Aaron had to say about his class system.
"You must be thinking how I know about all this and the Sage council don't…" Aaron paused as his smile grew bigger. Right at that moment his twisted limbs and broken bones snapped in place and his injuries long gone with Felix only noticing it at that moment that Aaron had been stalling for time to get to his peak strength.
Aaron straightened his shoulders, cracked his neck and looked Felix dead in the eyes, his arrogant smile no more. "That is because they never knew. They never knew because I was the last candidate to go in the pool. They never knew because I received the last two class systems."