Date- 7 April 2321
Time- 05:25
Location- Southern Region, Southern Capital, Southern Royal Palace, Guest Palace
“Master Wyatt, would you refuse medical treatment due to valuing your personal space and privacy over your life? Certainly not. A similar standard applies to bodyguards, as both professions prioritize saving their clients’ lives while also respecting their personal space and privacy,” Aria made a compelling case, demonstrating her unwavering commitment to her role as a bodyguard.
With a tone of sarcasm, I acknowledged, “Well, aren’t you just a genius? You’ve uncovered my silly and irrational behavior,” but Aria’s agreeing nod made my attempt at humor fall flat. It was clear that her astuteness as a bodyguard left no room for such antics.
Exasperated with Aria’s unwavering stance, I concluded that further reasoning would be futile. In a moment of jest, I quipped, “On the topic of safety, wouldn’t it be more advantageous for you to protect me in the shower? Perhaps we should both disrobe and you can join me.”
“Master Wyatt, I did consider that option, but I must admit, I am not well-versed in the art of fighting in the nude. So, for your safety, I believe it would be best if I stick to my areas of expertise,” Aria’s response was candid and genuine, her sincerity was so palpable that I found myself unsure if she was speaking in jest or was truly serious.
In a teasing manner, I remarked, “Have no fear, Aria. I shall instruct you in the art of fighting in the nude. Why don’t you join me in the shower so we can begin our training? As my bodyguard, I trust you understand your duty to ensure my safety and security at all times.” I said this with a hint of amusement, curious to see how long Aria could maintain her guise of a single-minded protector.
Aria politely declined my suggestion, “Master Wyatt, I am currently on duty and it would not be appropriate for me to engage in such activities with you at this time. Perhaps we can schedule a different time for our lesson?” Her smile was friendly enough, but the expression in her eyes was a clear indication of her thoughts, ‘Pervert.’
“Fuck it,” frustrated, I cursed under my breath. Why should I have to sacrifice the simple pleasure of taking an unnerving shower and bath because of Aria’s stubbornness? This was the southern royal family’s guest palace, after all. If an assassination attempt were to occur here, a mere bodyguard from the card lord realm would be powerless to stop it.
In an instant, three floating heads materialized behind Aria. Their sudden appearance alerted her. As she planned to react to them, three pairs of big arms emerged out of thin air aiming at her, one pair covering her eyes while the other two pairs restrained her arms and legs. Despite being bound, Aria remained composed. She was aware of the boy’s strange powers, as she had read about them in his dossier. Remaining calm, she asked, “Master Wyatt, may I ask the reason for this?”
“I tried to reason with you and asked politely, but you refused to compromise. You left me no choice but to resort to force. Now, be patient and endure the vision deprivation until I finish my bath,” I declared with a sense of triumph. With a smug smile on my face, I walked back into the isolation array formation that I had prepared.
Alas, my victory was short-lived as I sensed that my floating arms were struggling to keep Aria restrained. I turned to check on her, only to discover that the unique blend of unparalleled bloodline and soul energy that was surging through Aria’s body was augmenting her physical strength to a point where it was rapidly approaching the level of my gigamite physique.
Having struggled for some time to break free from the spectral arms, Aria eventually ceased her attempts and spoke up, saying, “Master Wyatt, I must admit that I had seriously underestimated you. Your strength is quite impressive, especially for someone in the card soldier realm.”
“Thank you, Aria,” I responded with a slight smile as I deactivated my floating arms and heads, allowing her to be free from their grasp. “Although I must say, if you were to fully utilize the power of your bloodline, you would have easily been able to break free from my restraints.”
I could sense through my soul pupils that Aria had only partially blended her bloodline with soul energy, causing her powers to be diminished. Had she fully merged the two completely, her physical strength would have exploded by a few folds allowing her to easily break free of my restraints. It was unclear why she had not done so, but it was ultimately my loss.
“Master Wyatt,” Aria spoke with a hint of surprise in her voice. “You don’t have to downplay your abilities on my account. I apologize for underestimating you. It appears that you are more than capable of defending yourself. I’ll turn around and give you your privacy in the isolation array.”
Aria couldn’t help but question why Minister Lorenzo had assigned her as the boy’s bodyguard when it seemed like the boy was just as skilled in combat as she was. She made a mental note to review her client’s file more thoroughly in the future.
“I appreciate your compliment, Aria, but don’t sell yourself short. If you had fully blended your bloodline with your soul energy, you could have easily broken free from my restraints,” I spoke with a hint of remorse, realizing that I had to resort to force to achieve my goal.
“Master Wyatt, What do you mean? I had diligently integrated my bloodline with my soul energy, but unfortunately, the resulting physical prowess was inadequate to extricate myself from your constraints without resorting to my cards,” Aria replied. She couldn’t comprehend how the boy was knowledgeable about her bloodline fusion methodology and why he implied that she had not executed it flawlessly, when in fact, she had.
“Aria, give me a moment…” As I heard Aria insistently proclaiming that she had flawlessly fused her bloodline with her soul energy, despite my soul pupils bearing witness to the contrary, I couldn’t help but feel baffled and suspect that something wasn’t quite right. To get to the bottom of things, I instructed the Hive AI to retrieve the footage of Aria utilizing her bloodline to augment her physical prowess, ultimately unraveling the truth of the matter.
ραпdα nᴏνa| сom
So, why did Aria believe that she had reached the pinnacle of merging her bloodline with her soul energy? Simply put, her physical body had imposed a limitation, preventing her from achieving a higher level of fusion. To surpass this barrier and attain a greater degree of integration between her bloodline and soul energy, Aria would need to transcend the constraints of her physical form.
Exceeding the physical limitations of the body was a daunting task, particularly when one was unaware of the existence of such boundaries. This was precisely the predicament that Aria found herself in. Although her bloodline was unmatched in purity compared to even Luna Lorn’s unparalleled bloodline, her body was not on par due to being influenced by external factors such as the genes she inherited from her father were not that compatible with genes she inherited from her mother. In contrast, both Anna and Ann possessed untainted unparalleled bloodlines, and their bodies were robust enough to fully manifest their innate potential.
Comprehending this, I once again experienced a surge of triumph, for I had not been defeated by Aria. It wasn’t a matter of her choosing not to break free from my constraints; rather, her power simply wasn’t sufficient to overcome them. Although she possessed a formidable bloodline and a physique that could rival my own, she lacked the adeptness to fully utilize them. Regardless of the cause, the bottom line was that I emerged victorious.
Nevertheless, it did not absolve me of the responsibility for resorting to the use of force. In an attempt to make amends, I resolved to inform Aria of what I had learned. “Aria, the extent to which you have merged your soul energy with your bloodline is not the maximum level of fusion achievable. When compared to the level of fusion that Anna and Ann can attain between their bloodline and soul energy, your current utilization of your bloodline and soul energy is merely a fraction of what they can do.”
As the boy spoke, Aria’s brows furrowed in confusion. She found it perplexing that a mere card soldier from a third-rate city had such a deep understanding of the royal unparalleled bloodline, when even she, the descendant of the same bloodline, did not possess such knowledge. Nevertheless, she could not deny the truth in the boy’s words, as she, herself, was aware of the vast discrepancy between her utilization of her bloodline and that of the Southern Emperor or any other member of the royal family.
