I Level Up Dragons with My Evolution System-Chapter 96: Movements in the dark

Edward hugged Aurora tightly, feeling her essence. His beloved’s concerned embrace conveyed the peace and warmth he had lacked the night before.

’What a strange way for everything to be resolved.’ An ominous feeling rose in his heart.

"Have you been through this before?" he asked Arnold.

Arnold shrugged. "Life has taught me not to trust people, much less organizations. They act on whim or for profit, and in either case, they can’t be trusted," he replied. He began to walk away from them and spoke once more. "We’d better get back."

Edward stared at him for several seconds before turning toward the room where he had been tried.

He had been helped by the least expected. He had gained allies... That’s what he would have thought a few days ago.

Now, the ominous feeling that they expected him to do some dirty work for them enveloped him like a dark blanket in his heart.

’Nothing is free in this world... I understand that now.’ He patted Aurora on the back.

"Let’s go back. It’s okay now."

"...I’m sorry," she said.

"Why are you apologizing?"

"I couldn’t help much... I felt helpless when the miners didn’t testify for you."

"You did what you could, Aurora." Edward smiled at her. "Students aren’t allowed in judgment, right? There wasn’t much you could do, they wanted to force me."

"Still..." She protested, but her mouth was sealed by Edward’s lips before she could continue.

"It’s okay, I’m fine now, right?"

She smiled and nodded. "You’re right..." Her heart calmed down and they both left the place.

-

Back in Edward and Arnold’s room, the three of them had a meeting to discuss important issues concerning the group.

They decided not to accept any new members into the group for now, only temporary members. Everyone had their own thoughts on the matter.

They all agreed with Arnold on this point: "A new member isn’t just about getting used to him, it’s a potential for betrayal. Those guys were clearly after Edward, so they’ll use any excuse to get in our way."

Furthermore, with each passing day, the Mid-Year Battles were drawing nearer. These battles open the doors to advancement to 4-Star Students and are indispensable for Edward and Arnold.

After finishing discussing all matters related to the group, Aurora decided to bring up something else.

"A Cursed Land has recently appeared and is in our territories. I may have to go for a while," she said.

"A cursed land in Ashford territory?" Edward raised his eyebrows. "What kind?"

"Undead, but quite special. They’re vampires."

Both immediately frowned. "Vampires..." They spoke simultaneously.

One of the most dangerous types of undead. They are extremely intelligent and have extensive power over other undead. The most dangerous thing about them is that their attribute does not belong to the Four Great Attributes: it is blood, one of the special attributes.

"If there’s anything I can do, don’t hesitate to let me know," Edward reminded him.

"Of course."

Arnold, who hadn’t said anything for a while as he was analyzing the situation, suggested, "We should train magic together. After going through the judgment, they will forbid Edward from training at the Training Center, so it will help us understand our abilities."

"That sounds good," Edward nodded.

"And so you explain to me how you have two evolved creatures when you’ve just awakened." Arnold laughed... but his smile wasn’t the usual lazy one.

Edward trembled slightly when he saw it. "I have no problems," he replied.

"I’m learning new magic recently; I think it will help us to train together. We can do it at one of the Private Training Centers in the city, I have free access to several of them," Aurora suggested. "My father owns them."

Arnold looked at her, his mouth open. "I said that to save a little... As expected of you, Miss Ashford." Clearing his throat, Arnold gladly accepted.

Since they had to recover their beasts, they would have to spend most of their monthly allowance on high-level restorative pills; those things were excessively expensive.

The cheapest ones cost 30,000 Yakins, and even with the three of them working, it would be difficult to restore them in a short time. If Aurora could solve something as expensive as renting a large room at a Private Training Center, then it would be a great relief.

Although Arnold would only be able to learn theory until his body could recover.

The three decided which Training Center to go to and left immediately.

-- 𝘧𝓇𝑒𝑒𝑤ℯ𝑏𝓃𝘰𝑣ℯ𝘭.𝘤ℴ𝘮

Hazzard Mansion is a sacred place for the Hazzard Family, one of the most prestigious families in recent years. They rarely receive visitors during the year, but today it was strangely crowded.

The guards were busy handling certain situations, while the Hazzard Family themselves attended to the visitors.

Inside one of the private rooms of the Family Mansion, Count Hazzard was receiving a visitor.

Most of his face was covered with bandages, and the parts that were visible were red from some kind of burn.

"I heard the news. It seems the mission went well," said Count Hazzard.

"It went well, sir." The voice of the man with bandages on his face was hoarse and deep.

The count revealed an expression of dissatisfaction. "Although the main target did not die, it is a pity."

The bandaged man remained silent.

Count Hazzard spoke again. "I won’t blame you for that. I’d like to hear your full account. What have you discovered?"

"After looking at him closely and observing his magic, I’m pretty sure Edward Lux should be our main suspect," replied the bandaged man.

Count Hazzard finally became serious and sat up straight in his seat. "That Lich..."

"I don’t know if it’s because the Lich was already weak and controlled by Miss Aurora Ashford, but it was almost completely erased. Its ashes match the information provided."

The Count nodded slowly and leaned back again. "Once again, a Lux is dangerous to us, eh. Those guys are so troublesome."

"They always will be, Mr. Cromwell Hazzard." Suddenly, a female voice filled the room and approached them.

Cromwell Hazzard stood up abruptly. "Miss Lyssandra." He greeted her and welcomed her. "Please, come in and sit down; you’ve arrived just in time."

The bandaged man bowed to the woman who appeared behind him. "Ma’am."

"Your voice is hoarser than usual. I guess being hit with curses is really dangerous." Lyssandra joked, patting him on the shoulder before sitting down.

"I heard you talking about Edward Lux. Can I hear the whole story?" she asked.

Cromwell Hazzard nodded. "Miss Lyssandra, among the suspects, I believe we have found the main suspect in the use of that dangerous magic. We should be able to proceed without any problems."

Lyssandra nodded. "What about the rest of the suspects?"

"They are still under investigation. Some have already been confirmed to have nothing to do with it."

"If some have already been ruled out, you can proceed with the mission and do what you know you have to do. We’ll keep looking," Lyssandra replied.

"About that..." Cromwell smiled sheepishly. "We want to proceed. But... well, some things have gone wrong recently."

Lyssandra nodded. "Can’t you talk about it openly?"

"I’d rather do it in a private place. It’s not something everyone can hear," he replied.

Lyssandra nodded and stood up. "I’m curious, so let’s talk. By the way, don’t let the boy die, he’ll be useful to us." She proceeded to enter another room and Cromwell followed closely behind her.

The man with the bandaged face waited.

--

The days passed quickly...

Rumors of Edward Lux’s judgment for allegedly orchestrating the murder of his own teammate had spread like wildfire, but nothing came of it.

Many students were disappointed that nothing had been confirmed, but Edward was banned from entering the Training Center for a while, again.

Although he didn’t care, his training in private places was always better.

Thus, a month passed quickly.

"Is it going to evolve already?" Edward asked, looking at Aurora’s beast from the side.

She had gathered an amount of resources that Edward considered ridiculous, simply to try to break through the Fourth Evolution.

"Probably." Aurora looked nervous.

What she had gathered before wasn’t enough; she had to get more. During that month, she went on many hunts and, together with Edward, they managed to collect more resources from the dungeons. Thanks to that, the probability of evolution was now overwhelmingly high.

They were currently inside a Private Training Center, and Arnold watched from the side with genuine interest.

"What kind of spider is that?" Arnold asked suddenly. "I don’t recognize the evolution it’s undergoing."

"I don’t recognize this fourth evolution either, but it’s a Poison Skin Spider, the Royal variant," Aurora replied. "It’s not evolving along the normal path."

"Royal?" Arnold stared at the spider in shock. "Could it be a Diamond Skin?" he asked.

"I suspect that’s what it is. But don’t you think it’s strange that its third evolution isn’t the Bronze Skin and its fourth isn’t the Emerald Skin?"

"That..." Arnold nodded. "Perhaps it’s a variant never seen before."

"That would explain why it consumes so many resources."

"Well... you, the ones with royal blood, will always have enough resources to feed them." He laughed.

Aurora shook her head in response. "For a family in decline, such things are not so valid."

"There’s movement." Edward interrupted suddenly. Being the least familiar with the beasts, he had been staring intently to understand this process of evolution he had never seen before.