Chapter 207 I am the only good person among the people
More than half an hour later, Aaron looked at the transparent barrier right in front of him and excitedly shouted, "The finish line."
His excited expression was still fully evident on his face, but the next moment he crashed into the barrier, letting out a scream.
Abel shivered in empathy, covering his eyes with his paws, unable to bear watching.
"Hiss!"
Aaron gasped in pain, raising his head with a look of indignation, "Am I really going to die once today?"
"I wouldn't dare," Gaines respectfully said, "I merely said the finish line is at the foot of the mountain, but not that you needed to pass through this barrier. To leave here, Young Master must find it himself."
Aaron was stunned for a moment, his mind racing.
He needed a precise location; blindly searching was definitely not an option.
Although there were no crimson cracks here, the lava wouldn't stop; it would catch up to him in at most ten minutes.
And trying to find an exit at the foot of the mountain within ten minutes… it was all up to luck, as this volcano was not an ordinary size.
"Abel." A flash of light crossed Aaron's mind, and he immediately summoned the Holy Dragon, "Search along this barrier for a black stone pillar, one you saw in the Chamber of Secrets."
Abel roared, flapping his wings and flying to one side.
After more than half a minute, he returned, pointing Aaron in the right direction.
"About five hundred meters to the left, there's a black pillar there."
"Excellent." Aaron stepped forward, calmly walking to the front of the stone pillar, "Uncle Gaines, this must be it!"
Gaines nodded slightly, "Congratulations, Young Master, on clearing the first dungeon."
Aaron snorted dismissively, then leaned against the stone pillar, appreciating the volcanic eruption with interest.
"Young Master, aren't you coming out?"
"Since I'm already here, I can't just leave empty-handed, can I? Consider it gaining experience."
Gaines:...That makes so much sense, I'm speechless.
The lava's speed was slower than Aaron expected. When the dark red molten rock was less than a meter away from him, he placed his hand on top of the stone pillar.
Crack!
The barrier shattered instantly.
The molten rock, volcano, and thick smoke vanished in an instant, and Aaron returned to the real Chamber of Secrets.
After escaping danger, the first thing Aaron did was walk up to Gaines, raise his wand, and cast a crimson spell.
Gaines's mouth twitched, and a layer of white light flashed around him, deflecting the spell in another direction.
"Young Master, please calm down."
"I can't calm down!" Aaron said angrily, "I tolerated all the previous ones, but you can't go too far!
I nearly fell into the lava pool several times; I've never had such an exciting experience in my life."
"I know," Gaines said helplessly, "Actually, I also feel it's a bit excessive, but this is your father's order."
"Oh, come on, is the family head so great?!
I'll write to my grandfather right now and ask him to come back and preside over justice for me."
"I'm afraid that won't work." Gaines shook his head, looking at Aaron with some sympathy, "Young Master, I'm going to say something you won't like, but it's very realistic.
Your father, grandfather, great-grandfather, great-great-grandfather, and so on, everyone experienced feeling utterly miserable in this Chamber of Secrets. I'm sure you understand what I mean now!"
"You mean..." Aaron pursed his lips, "My grandfather is also waiting to see me make a fool of myself."
Gaines was silent for a moment, "Barring any surprises, that's exactly it."
One sentence shattered Aaron's last shred of hope.
It wasn't that there were bad people among the crowd; it was that he was the only good person among the crowd. The disparity was too great.
"How could this be?"
"If it weren't for that, a mere butler like me wouldn't dare arrange such a dungeon for Young Master.
However, Young Master's performance was truly outstanding. Although he was a bit childish at the finish line, it was harmless."
Aaron gave a bitter laugh, "What was Vico like when he encountered a volcanic eruption?"
"Uh... the family head reached the finish line in the last half minute, but he was much more disheveled, and his clothes were tattered."
Aaron looked at his still relatively clean clothes, and a wave of pride surged in his heart.
At least he was much stronger than his old man; it was a case of the new generation pushing out the old.
"Can we go now? Staying here makes me feel a bit panicked."
Gaines looked at his watch, a hint of hesitation flashing in his eyes, wanting to speak but holding back.
"Yes or no?" Aaron said impatiently, "Give me a straight answer."
"The family head's intention is three hours a day. There's still an hour and forty-five minutes left, so you might have to go through it again."
Upon hearing this, Aaron was so enraged he nearly exploded on the spot.
"Even a tiger doesn't eat its cubs!
Three hours, is he trying to kill me?"
"The family head absolutely has no such intention," Gaines immediately said, "I can guarantee that."
"Uncle Gaines." Aaron showed a fawning smile, "You watched me grow up. How can you bear to see me struggle to survive in various natural disasters every day?"
"Of course I can't bear it, Young Master, you're still young.
I also clearly protested to the family head that this training method is too extreme for a child. Once a week would be more appropriate."
Aaron nodded in deep agreement. That's right, absolutely right.
Vico himself was only brought to this Chamber of Secretswhen he was sixteen. Why should he suffer this torment three years earlier?
However, he soon heard the word "but," and his heart instantly sank to the bottom.
It's common knowledge that if a sentence contains "but," everything before it is just empty talk.
"But, my suggestion was rejected.
The reason is simple: people are different.
Genius has a genius's training method. If you train a genius with the method of cultivating ordinary talents, it is undoubtedly a waste of talent, and Young Master, you happen to be the most outstanding member of the Gaius family in a hundred years."
Aaron rolled his eyes speechlessly, making up his mind to hide the existence of his thought form until the time was ripe.
The genius's training method was already terrifying enough; if it went up another level, his fragile mind might not be able to handle it.
"In fact, I don't quite agree with that statement.
Because no matter how good the talent, it still needs time to grow. A thirteen-year-old child is not suitable for these things," Gaines said, "The family head also seemed to feel he was a bit rash, so he decided based on your first performance.
If Young Master had failed just now, it would have been once every three days, and the time would not exceed one hour.
But Young Master persevered and completed a task that ordinary people couldn't, especially the half-finished ultimate magic array, which truly amazed me.
According to the family head, after your success, you must experience at least three hours… or more… every day."
Rumble!
Aaron was struck by lightning, burnt to a crisp on the outside and tender on the inside. So, being too outstanding was really a sin!
"Uncle Gaines, it's just the two of us here.
How about this, you turn a blind eye, and I'll be free."
"Young Master, I really wanted to help you, and I even hinted that you could give up just now," Gaines said helplessly, "But as soon as you touched that black stone pillar, the family head received the news. I can't even favor you if I wanted to."
Hearing this, Aaron was devoid of any desire to live, his face etched with bitterness.
Indeed, your father is always your father. Vico actually thought of even this.
"But if I waste three hours every day in this class, won't the other teachers be unhappy?"
"Don't worry about that." Gaines had long anticipated this and calmly took out a timetable.
Aaron's eye twitched slightly, "You even prepared this?"
"Of course.
As Young Master's butler and temporary guardian, I prepared two timetables early on: one for an hour of extreme training daily, and another for three hours of extreme training daily.
This one is the latter. For this, I specifically discussed it with over twenty adults in the Chamber of Secrets for a long time."
"How thoughtful of you," Aaron said through gritted teeth.
"Thank you for the compliment," Gaines said modestly, "This is all for Young Master's growth; my hardship is nothing."
Aaron:...How does this look like I'm complimenting you at all?
"Time is limited, you should proceed to the next extreme challenge." Gaines tried his best to smile kindly and encouraged, "I believe Young Master, you can do it."
After he finished speaking, the floor beneath his feet lifted him into the air again, and the environment in the room changed once more.
Before, it was an erupting volcano; now, it was a white snow-capped mountain. The biting cold wind whistled and burrowed into Aaron's clothes, making him shiver involuntarily.
Fortunately, his physical fitness was high enough; otherwise, this low-temperature environment would have been enough to make him suffer.
"Wait a moment."
Aaron shouted at Gaines, but as soon as the words left his mouth, a distant mountain peak began to collapse, and the white snow plunged into a bottomless abyss.
Gulp!
Aaron couldn't help but swallow. He already guessed what he was about to face.
An avalanche, and not just any avalanche.
His current location showed almost no color other than white. If this snow came down, it would definitely be much faster than lava.
"What's wrong, Young Master?" Gaines asked.
Aaron lowered his voice, "Can I rest for a bit?"
Gaines pretended to check his watch, "There's only an hour and a half left, and circumstances are unpredictable. Enemies will only take advantage of your weakness and won't give you any rest time."
"Alright! I can't refute that reason." Aaron's face was grim, "Then I have one more question."
"Please speak."
"At least tell me where the exit is!"
"Unfortunately, this dungeon has no exit.
What Young Master needs to do is ensure you don't die within an hour and a half.
Of course, if you fail, it doesn't matter, but trust me, the feeling of being engulfed by ice and snow is definitely not pleasant."
"Is that so?" Aaron mused, looking at the swirling snowflakes, a playful smile on his lips, "I don't want to experience the feeling of freezing to death."
Seeing Aaron's confident demeanor, Gaines said no more. With a flick of his wand, the snow mountain began to shake violently.
White demons, carrying immense impact, swept down with extreme speed and great force.
"Tch!"
Aaron curled his lips, appearing incredibly calm in the face of such a terrifying natural disaster.
"Young Master," Gaines couldn't help but remind him, "You only have less than thirty seconds."
"Calm down, calm down." Aaron waved his hand, "I can't outrun an avalanche, nor can I draw an ultimate magic array in half a minute, and this scale of ultimate magic array probably can't stop it either!"
"Then you can't just stand there and wait to die!" Gaines shouted urgently, looking at his young master with a hint of exasperation, "You should at least struggle a bit!"
"Don't worry, I have my own ideas."
Aaron raised his wand and drew an ice-blue magic array, summoning a huge block of ice.
"I still know some rudimentary Transfiguration."
As his words fell, the shape of the ice block changed.
But as the specific shape appeared, Gaines was dumbfounded, his face filled with shock.