Alex raised an eyebrow, then recalled the name of Aedric's talent — and immediately understood what was wrong with him.
Epitaph Resonance.
From the name alone, Alex could understand bits of Aedric's talent.
If he were to explain it in simple terms, he'd say it was the ability to speak directly with death.
Yes, according to Alex, it was that simple.
Walking closer to Aedric, he said, "If you want, just take its soul, then tame it and become a necromancer."
Aedric turned his head with a deadpan expression and said, "Do you really think it's that simple?"
He wasn't surprised Alex had guessed his talent correctly — it's not like he was being secretive about it.
"Is it tough?"
Veins popped on Aedric's head at that.
"What are you two talking about?" Kael asked, limply walking toward them.
"Nothing that important."
"Aedric here wants to collect the monster's soul, but he's clueless about how to do it," Alex said teasingly.
"Ohhh." Kael looked at the grunting Aedric and blinked.
He couldn't really help in this matter.
"Your talent is related to death?" Liliane spoke in her usual cool and reserved tone.
'This is my chance!' she thought. 'If I help Aedric, who's a close friend of Alex, I can finally succeed in becoming his friend.'
With that, she moved closer and said, "Well, I can help. It's easy for me."
'Okay, the first step is done,' she thought smugly, unaware of just how arrogant she sounded.
Everyone present — even Kael, who knew her well — was stunned.
"Awakeners really are gods," the man thought as he finally succumbed to exhaustion.
Kael closed his eyes and sighed as he fell to the ground, his legs giving out beneath him.
'I'm sure she didn't mean that, but still…'
'So arrogant — as expected of a white-haired, curvy, hot heroine,' Alex thought. In his mind, the image of Liliane was already fully formed, even though she wasn't that curvy; after all, she was only fifteen.
Though she definitely had the potential.
Liliane stood in front of the dead monster, extending her hands over it.
Then, with her smooth, sword-like fingers, she made a cutting gesture over the slimy substance.
'I... d..on...'t... li..ve..... pa...in..'
Aedric's eyes narrowed as he saw a cut — not a physical one, but a spiritual tear — and from it emerged a soul that looked exactly like the variant slime.
He also noticed a faint red liquid floating around it.
'That red liquid… don't tell me it's that thing…' Alex stared at it, sweat forming on his forehead. 'How the fuck is this thing even present in a soul?!'
Among those present, everyone was an ordinary human — at least for now. Only Aedric, Liliane, and Alex could see what was happening through their talents.
Liliane wasn't particularly surprised by the red liquid; she thought it was normal — after all, it was her first time. But Aedric, with his sensitive talent, immediately knew something was off, though he didn't say it aloud.
And as for Alex — well, it was his mess to begin with.
'It seems this thing isn't so normal', he thought. Despite the few "harmless" mishaps, Alex had at least learned some interesting things about his talent.
'Hmm, ok… even if the soul is right in front of me, what do I do?' Aedric calmly looked at the soul as if he already knew what to do.
From the side, Alex and Liliane watched with anticipation while the rest...
"Ok, what the hell is going on here?" Robert said as he scratched his hair.
"Hmm, no idea," Corin said as he looked at his nonexistent watch, pretending to check the time.
"Alex is so cool, ahHAHAhaa," Alina said, her eyes a bit blurry as she looked at Alex.
"I think you should just propose to him at this point," Kael said, earning a nod from Robert and Corin.
'L...i..ve... l..e..t m...ee...'
Aedric ignored the voice in his head and proceeded to grab the soul with his hands.
And to his luck, the moment he touched it, it got absorbed inside his body.
'Wow, I can feel it… but what can I even do with this? I'm not a necromancer, not to mention—don't they deal with corpses?'
Millions of questions ran through his head... ok, that was a bit too much. In reality, only one question ran inside his head: 'Why the fuck does even a monster below Tier 1 have a soul?'
A very technical and important question—also something one should probably think about first in this situation.
At least, normal people would.
"Ok, now summon it! I'll even give you a command—hmm, yes, do this... Arise!" Alex said the last part in a deep voice while raising his hands like a king commanding ants to stop bowing.
"Stop applying your fantasy logic to my talent. It's definitely not going to work like that," Aedric said with a serious face. 'Never in a million years will I do that. It's super cringe.'
"Well, that's your loss then… anyway, it's not like I have the copyright on it," Alex shrugged his shoulders.
Everyone looked at him with a deadpan expression.
"Yo yo, chat! This is the live footage from our school!" The blue-haired, self-proclaimed streamer of the school arrived with his three friends.
"Can you be any more serious, Jimmy?" Robert said with a rude tone.
"What?" Jimmy asked in confusion.
"Get lost. Does it look like the time for your stupid stream with barely any viewers?" Robert taunted him.
Of course, the clown of the school didn't take his words seriously—especially not while he was live.
"Oww, you're so kind, Robert. Don't worry about me," Jimmy said with a flashy smile toward the floating screen in front of him.
Stream Chat:
'Beasty isn't really that bright HAHAHA.' — @I_Am_Gay
'He's funny and stupid.' — @I_Am_Pee
'Newcomers don't know his charm.' — @MilfHunter
'Right.' — @Warlover
---
"I don't think that's what he meant, Jimmy," one of his taller friends said.
"Oh, come on, Carl, you're not in the same class, so you don't understand," Jimmy replied with a grin.
"But I am in your cla—"
"It's ok, Carl, I get that you're worried," Jimmy said, signaling to his other two friends with his eyes.
"No, I—wait, what—waaawww!" Carl was lifted by the two and carried out of frame.
"And Robert, I don't have 'barely' any viewers. There are currently over 9,000 people watching us," Jimmy said with a refined, polite smile.
"Ohh~ cough," Robert straightened his tie, brushed dust off his clothes, and spoke to the screen."As you can see, people, I— the great Robert, the future Flame Emperor—have already defeated the monster that attacked our precious school!"
He even pointed toward the remains of the slime monster.
Jimmy, aka Beasty, filmed him while making exaggerated expressions.
"WHAT—NO WAY, MAN!"
"Haha, I know, but that's just how cool my talen—" Robert bumped into Alex, who looked at him with an expressionless face, then glanced at Jimmy, and finally at the screen where the live chat was still open.
"FUCK YOU, BITCHES!"
---
A/N:
Sorry to those who are actively reading this. I was bit busy in festival.
From now regular Chapters.