The Author's POV

At the same time.

Aaron calmly walked around the venue with a glass cup in his hand.

His brows were locked into a tight frown as he looked at a small letter in his hand.

The first thing he thought as he stared at the letter was, 'Why would they give this to me?'

He was merely drinking and trying to make as many connections as possible when suddenly one of the elven workers handed him the letter.

It was apparently from one of the higher ups. Dwarven elders to be exact. Their comments were rather vague, but in short, they wanted to arrange a meeting with him.

'What exactly do they want from me?' Aaron wondered, taking a sip of his drink.

"…maybe they've heard about the product my guild is making."

A sudden thought occurred to him.

Lowering his head, he looked at his smartwatch. Tapping onto it, he looked through a series of files on his watch.

[Project - Nolon]

[Project - Convention467]

[Project - β98]

[Project - Rentolv]

On his watch was a list. A list of projects that his guild was working on behind the scenes.

Being the number one guild in Lewington city, one of the four great cities, their guild invested in many side projects. This was just what guilds did.

Staring at the list, Aaron's finger soon paused on a certain file.

[Project α-12]

Project detail : Automated machine.

Time of operation : 12 minutes, 09 seconds.

Capabilities : D rank.

Licking his bottom lip, Aaron had a sudden look of enlightenment.

'They must be curious about this.'

He had been worried over nothing. The reason why the dwarves wanted to meet with him had to do with this. Project α-12, one of their latest projects and something that they had been working on for over a decade.

The project idea was simple, create an automated artifact that would act on its own and kill monsters without the need of sending actual heroes. Sort of like a golem.

It was a project in which they had invested billions and billions of U. It was still in the testing phases but without a doubt, it was something that would revolutionize the world once it got out.

Most likely, one of the elders from his guild leaked the contents of the project to one of the dwarven elders in hope of catching their interest.

'I'm sure it's this.' A smirk appeared on Aaron's lips. Folding the letter neatly, he quietly placed it inside of his pocket before heading for the back exit of the building.

Even if it wasn't because of the project, Aaron wasn't suspicious of the contents of the latter.

After all, he didn't think anyone would have the balls to plan something against him when he was so close to so many elites. His death would definitely be a sign of incompetency from them, as well as a declaration of war on the humans.

'According to the letter, I should have no problem exiting the building.' Aaron lightheartedly thought as he followed the instructions written in the letter.

It wasn't long before he arrived at the back door exit of the building where an elven guard stood.

Standing with his back straight, the elven guard stared up ahead. An imposing presence emanating from his body.

Rummaging through his pocket, Aaron showed the elf the letter.

"Here, I've been told to go out of this place."

at Aaron, the elf wordlessly took the letter in his hands

Ci clank—

his hand, he opened the door for Aaron

didn't seem to care as he also didn't

"Haaa…"

Aaron let out a long breath. He felt

it must mean that the contents of

Wooosh—

fresh nightly breeze brushed past him as his clothes and hair fluttered. Around him were a lot of trees, making it hard for

'What next?'

the place and only seeing

the letter and taking a good look at it, his head

"Go straight?…Okay."

the forest. Not an inkling of worry was displayed on his face as

Rustle—

then that out of nowhere a rustling sound rang from next to him. Snapping his head in the direction

the silhouette, but staring at its outline in the distance, Aaron could tell that it was not a dwarf. It was simply too

still not worried. With a relaxed tone, he called out

you the guy that

narcissism and pride behind

here to meet me

and staring

as to why you want to meet me

Rustle— Rustle—

forward, and Aaron, who was paying close attention

his eyes squinted. Trying to get a better look at the

The more he stared at

"….hm?"

didn't take long for the silhouette to come out from the

eyes, and rounded ears. As he had suspected, he was

you?" Aaron asked, the frown

the figure just stared at him without saying anything. Aarons's muscles tensed, reading

you mute

I'm here to meet

spoke. His calm and collected

Aaron finally calmed down and a

That's good. You

through his sentence, Aaron suddenly stopped

figure suddenly

something off of his face, revealing

serene look appeared on his face. But the serene look did not last for long; what replaced it was a cold and indifferent one. Standing beneath a tree, half of his

on?…he

a couple of times, trying to comprehend what was going on, Aaron tilted

and his face became clearer to

a clear look at the figure, his body

looking at Aaron from the other side, the

"You remember me?"

***

"Fuck, where is he!"

shouted in frustration. His voice was quite loud, gathering the attention

he had done, Kevin

"Huuu."

long breath, he lowered his head and walked

of where he had last seen Ren. He only missed him for a split second, he was bound to

Ren…no,

of everyone present, in hopes of finding Ren. But regardless of

he made it that far, he should still be within my visible range,' Kevin tiptoed to get a better look at what

I have missed

muttered out loud with a voice filled

looking for

he was about to give up, he suddenly heard

"Who?"

came from. Kevin's eyes soon paused on an old man who