"What exactly do you want?"
Alan stared coldly at the trainer.
He dared not let his guard down against this woman, whose moods were so volatile that it was hard to tell friend from foe.
"I want to talk to you. I want to discuss a deal," the trainer replied calmly.
As if to prove her sincerity, the trainer sheathed her whip and approached Alan barehanded.
She didn't stop until their breaths brushed against each other's faces.
Under Alan's watchful gaze, she removed her makeup.
She first wiped off the thick powder with a handkerchief.
Then she removed the first level of "Disguise."
Her figure was as hot and sexy as ever.
But, revealing a face even more delicate than the one she wore for her performance.
Although he had expected it, Alan couldn't help but shudder.
The trainer had a crescent-shaped birthmark on his left cheek, stretching from his forehead to his cheekbone.
It looked as if a narrow strip of skin had been peeled off, revealing glaring blood-red muscle fibers...
The stark contrast with the surrounding pale skin marred what should have been a perfect face.
Memories long dead were assaulting Allen.
The trainer...was actually a grown-up Sonia!
"Sonia!"
"Yes! Brother Allen!"
The trainer nodded happily, appearing incredibly well-behaved.
"How did you recognize me?" A chill ran down Allen's spine. "I'm also a disfigured person..."
Sonia smiled.
There was a hint of pride in her smile.
"I've awakened my demonic bloodline, and my eyes can see through low-level illusions, including, of course, first-level 'Disguise'!"
"I see..." Allen tried to sort out his confused thoughts. "We haven't seen each other for two years, Sonia. I don't know what you've been through in those two years, how you became a sorcerer."
"In fact, it's been seven years since I last saw you." Sonia smiled bitterly.
"Seven years..." Allen fell into deep thought.
Sonia was less than twelve years old when she disappeared.
She had only been missing for two years, so technically she was only thirteen.
And now, she looked like a young girl of eighteen or nineteen.
There was only one reason that could explain it...
The Secret Realm of Time!
Sonia's subsequent narration confirmed his suspicions.
Two years ago, Sonia, who disappeared in Quint Harbor, wandered with the circus for a year.
Eventually, she and the other abducted children arrived at this dark region, thousands of meters beneath the earth.
They entered a secret time realm and cultivated for six years.
Six years in the secret realm was equivalent to only one year in the outside world.
When they met again, Allen was not yet fifteen.
Sonia was already nineteen.
"Brother Allen, my wandering life and my cultivation in the secret realm are a long story."
Sonia sighed softly.
"This isn't a good place for a long conversation. Let's save these topics for later."
"If you have any questions that particularly interest you, feel free to ask me now. I'll be honest."
"I have three questions," Allen took over. "First, I was almost kidnapped. Sonia, you gave me the lollipop. I need an explanation."
"Brother Allen... I'm sorry." Sonia looked guilty. "There was a drug in the lollipop. I knew it, but I didn't dare say it."
Alan nodded, motioning for her to continue.
"I don't want you to be kidnapped, so... well, I won't say anymore."
Sonia shook her head slightly.
"If you hate me, then hate me! I'm sorry!"
"There's no need to blame yourself," Allen continued. "The lollipop you gave me was drugged, but it was less than normal."
Sonia was stunned and stammered, "You knew? But... how did you know I'd secretly tampered with it?"
"I'm more discerning than you think," Allen sighed. "Sonia, I owe you a favor. I saved your life."
Sonia bit her plump red lips and remained silent for a few seconds.
"Brother Allen, I'm touched that you still remember this, but you don't have to feel like you owe me anything. Otherwise, if we become enemies in the future, I'm afraid you'll feel guilty and won't be able to kill me."
"You're kind by nature. Why bother hanging out with traffickers? Leave the circus, and we can become friends," Allen tried to persuade her.
"Kindness is too expensive, I don't deserve it," Sonia said indifferently. "Being bad is much easier."
Alan was speechless.
"You're so extreme, I don't know whether to consider you a friend or an adversary."
"It doesn't matter. Just be nice to me," Sonia said seriously. "Brother Alan! You have to be nice to me, but not too nice!"
"Why is that?"
"If you're nice to me, I feel comfortable and enjoy being with you."
"But if you're too nice to me, I feel pressured, even guilty, afraid I can't repay your efforts... I can't help but want to run away from you."
Alan was speechless again.
Sonia's twisted logic... he didn't know how to react.
For someone like her, it was actually easier to be an enemy.
"Okay, Sonia, my second question is... what level of cultivation have you reached now?" Alan changed the subject.
"Late Second Stage!" Sonia said without hesitation.
"Six years of cultivation in the Secret Realm, from having no foundation at all to late Second Stage... Sonia, if you had entered the Warlock Academy, you would have been a genius!" Allen sighed.
"Brother Allen! Please praise me more from now on. I love it!" Sonia smiled with a smile.
"Not too much praise," Allen glared at her coldly. "If you praise me too much, I'm afraid you'll feel stressed. I'll also give you a little scolding."
"Yes, yes! Brother Allen is right! I'll be obedient!" Sonia nodded repeatedly, like a chick pecking at rice.
"One last question. Tell me the details of the circus," Allen asked in a deep voice.
Sonia also put away her smile and lowered her voice.
"I have to start from the beginning..."
"Brother Allen, you know that the atavistic meditation practiced by sorcerers is actually very dangerous."
"Once possessed, their minds lose control, and they lose the ability to distinguish between their true selves and illusions. They become addicted to the illusions and lose their true nature."
"Over time, they can even transform into the ancestral monsters in the illusions."
"The Amazing Circus is actually a subordinate organization of a cult that specializes in atavistic possession."
"This cult is the devil-worshipping 'Human Demon Cult.'"
"The Human Demon Cult has created a special meditation method that deliberately tricks practitioners into walking a tightrope on the edge of possession."
"As a sorcerer's possession deepens, their souls are gradually contaminated by the memories of their ancestors, often leaving them with sequelae such as split personality and mental disorder."
"The good thing is, this meditation method is incredibly fast!"
"Amazing Circus..."
"The troupe, under orders from higher-ups, tours the world, recruiting children with sorcerer bloodlines through kidnapping or abduction."
"These poor children are used by the cult as experimental subjects to test and refine their meditative methods, sent to a secret realm for training."
"In the Human-Demon Cult's secret realm, time flows six times faster than in the outside world."
"Ten-year-olds are sent there, and only two years of real time pass. By the time they emerge, they're already adults in their twenties."
"In the secret realm, aside from training and combat, little else is taught, and there are no complex life experiences."
"These mass-produced, quick-made sorcerers have adult bodies but immature minds. Furthermore, their possession leads them to lose their true nature, becoming irritable and extreme, unable to lead normal lives, and serving only as tools for combat."
Sonia sighed at this point, as if recalling the many tragedies she had witnessed in the secret realm.
"That's still considered the worst. There are even worse test subjects, those who aren't even human, completely possessed by demons, transformed into so-called 'human demons.'"
"That's where the name 'Human Demon Cult' comes from."
Hearing this, Allen suddenly remembered something.
Back then, two talented boys were kidnapped by the circus along with Sonia.
"What happened to Marlowe and Hugo?" Allen asked.
"They've been with me all this time, but they're no longer the same creatures you once knew."
Sonia turned and pointed to the two demonic beasts behind her, introducing them to Allen with a cold expression:
"Hellhound, Marlowe."
"Winter Wolf, Hugo."