Vile Evil Hides Under The Veil

Eren was a bit taken aback when he realized Nira had started taking an extra interest in him.

He was more aware of his abilities than anyone. There was no doubt that he had come far and there were not many in his generation who could match his current progress.

Still, he didn't think that someone like Nira Nightshade would take notice of him. After all, he wasn't just a ranger or an archer, to begin with. It technically made him less qualified to receive Sage's legacy than someone with a ranger class or archery skills.

At least that's what Eren hoped Nira would read from his surface-level thoughts.

It was clear that Nira's apparition could read Eren's surface-level thoughts well.

Nira was just a vestige of the soul of her former self. However, her authority as a Sage couldn't be questioned. At least not in her own castle. She also had access to her soul sense which allowed her to judge the participants on a deeper level.

She looked at Eren emotionlessly before commenting on his thoughts.

"Not having a ranger class doesn't make you less qualified to receive my legacy, Eren."

Eren breathed a sigh of relief deep in his psyche. After all, he knew that he would be able to incorporate any path and any specialty into his ranking journey.

Nira disappeared from her place and appeared right in front of me. "You don't need to hide things from me. I can sense that you are trying to incorporate multiple specialties into your path. As a result, your mana signature reeks completely different from any other ranker."

t in front of the kneeling Eren. She asked him to get up before observing him closely. She narrowed her eyes at him before speaking up.

Just like Eren's soul sense had a unique property to trap his opponents into grim illusions, Nira's soul sense also had a special quality attached to it. She was able to smell and almost taste the live and residual mana signatures of rankers.

As a ranger, Nira depended on her sense of smell to find her way about and track her opponents. She got so professional at using that skill set that when she awakened her soul sense, this was the peculiar power she unlocked with it.

Nira could feel that Eren was different from the rest of the rankers the moment all the participants entered through the spatial tunnels from various locations inside the Lama Ruins. Eren's uniqueness led her to take a closer look at him.

Nira started walking around Eren as he stood motionless. The butcher was feeling tense at the apparition of a Sage taking an interest in him. She had summoned only him out of all the participants.

Nira's speculative gaze and soul sense told Eren that Nira didn't care about the qualifications of the participants who would eventually end up getting her legacy. She must have created the preliminary rounds on the spur of the moment to get some alone time to observe a unique specimen like Eren Idril.

Nira's eyes shone as if she had figured something out. She flashed a knowing smile before commenting.

"No… it's not just your mana signature. This bloodline energy I'm smelling… you are half-blood."

Eren narrowed his eyes when he heard Nira speak. Nira seemed to have special attributes related to her soul sense that helped her discover his true identity. He didn't want to turn hostile against a Sage even if she was nothing but an apparition. However, it looked like things were bound to go that way.

Eren's aura started to change. There was no respect in his demeanor anymore. He was ready to locate the array that kept the vestige of Nira's soul and destroy it for good. He had Alephee on standby to locate the array for him as well.

From being fearful of the Sages and completely helpless in their presence to being fearful of Sages and still being able to face them head-on, One had to say that Eren had come a long way. He had already started to plan multiple strategies to completely destroy the vestige of Nira's soul along with the entire castle.

Nira started chuckling when she sensed Eren's bloodlust. She decided to clear a few things before Eren started taking some drastic measures against her.

"Relax, Eren. I don't plan to hurt you in any way. Your half-blood status doesn't bother me. I had faced many half-bloods in my past when I was in the land of Anfang.

I faced some of them as "rivals" and others as… let's say… "lovers"… by the rudimentary definitions of those worlds, that is."

Eren didn't let his guard down even after hearing Nira's non-threatening response. However, he stopped himself from taking extreme measures against her.

Nira could feel that the assurance she had offered to Eren wasn't enough. So she added further.

"Listen here, boy. I am my former self's apparition forever locked inside this castle. I have no reason to lie to you. I gain nothing from abiding by the land of Anfang's rules anymore.

What's more? My real self is not in the land of Anfang. So I am no longer bound by this world's restrictions either."

Eren had to say that he was surprised by what Nira was telling him. The way she said those things made it seem like she was still alive somewhere outside the land of Anfang.

He had often wondered how the Sages of Anfang kept themselves busy after reaching the pinnacle of power in this world. It looked like some of them would leave this behind to seek greater heights.

It seemed like Nira was in a mood to share things with Eren. She wasn't bound by Anfang's rules either. Plus, her castle was a safe place to talk about these things.

The ghost of the Sage-ranked ranger stood in front of Eren after circling him. She looked him in the eyes before continuing with a playful tone.