CHAPTER 733: V-501-C

After finding their assigned rooms, the group split up to do their own things. Isolde wanted to refresh her memory on certain skills so that she could better support the group.

Jin wanted to do some solo training. Alice wanted to assist him but he rejected it, saying he needed a moment for himself.

Naturally, as his master, Alice accepted. Knowing that sometimes having a quiet moment solo was what one needed to reach the next level.

As for Alice herself. . .

She simply sat on the second floor lounge. Caelan’s house was strange to say the least. Some rooms were far bigger than what the layout suggested while some doors may even lead to a different place entirely.

She had even stumbled upon a bar on the first floor, dimly lit, filled with hazy smoke and the sound of clinking glass, where scantily clad women served drinks to wandering guests.

Closing her eyes, she focused on the array of sounds echoing through the establishment.

The myriad of conversations merging together and forming a discordant harmony.

By focusing her attention on certain words, she could drown out the other conversations, listening in onto what people were speaking about.

Most of the information she gathered were drama or dealings focused on the east. Information that she didn’t need to focus on.

After a while, Alice let out a sight and slowly opened her eyes.

She crossed her legs and looked at the glass of alcohol in front of her and without turning around, she opened her mouth.

"You’ve been staring for a while. Can I help you?"

Behind her, Caelan smiled. He leaned against the sofa and folded his arms.

"I’m simply making sure that my guests are comfortable. Everyone seems to be occupied for now except for you." Caelan shrugged.

"Just a girl finding some time for herself to calm down. Is there something strange about that?" Alice asked, grabbing the cup and taking a sip.

"Not at all. But that’s only if we consider things usually. But you. . . You are the furthest thing from usual aren’t you? Standard ideals don’t apply to you."

Looking forward, Alice froze for a moment as a strange creature with one eye and tiny wings hovered in front of her.

An extension of Caelan’s power, proven by the strands connecting the two together.

"So dear master of this house, pray tell what do you want with an unusual girl like me then." Alice sighed, pushing the familiar off to the side while Caelan swung himself around to sit next to her.

But before he could plant himself into the sofa properly, a Void portal opened and he was teleported to sit opposite her.

"I don’t believe we are close enough for you to take the place next to me." Alice didn’t even bat an eye while Caelan let out a soft laugh and rested his elbows on his knees.

"I see. . . Then it seems it’s as I guessed. Your mind is empty of the knowledge prior to your. . . bestowal to the body of this girl."

*CLANG!!!!

Pinching the air in front of him, Caelan curved his mouth into a grin as he pushed the blade tip away from his face.

Alice’s eye twitched.

Even though she wasn’t planning on stabbing him and merely going with threaten, the moment he pinched her blade it felt like an unbreakable grip had grabbed her sword.

No matter how much strength she tried to exert, the blade didn’t follow her instructions.

"Tsk tsk, so hasty with your attack. One can see that Allura has clearly influenced your personality." Caelan shook his head. Keeping his grip on the blade, he tapped his finger against the face of the metal.

A shockwave travelled up the blade, forcing Alice to loosen her grip for a slight moment and that moment was enough for him to seize the blade.

Holding it in front of his eyes, Caelan examined the weapon before focusing his gaze down the face of the blade.

"Craftsmanship of the north. A good choice."

Tossing the blade back, he relaxed on the sofa while Alice furrowed her brows.

"What do you want?"

"Pft, you make it sound like I’m the one threatening you when you’re the one who swung first. A little ironic, don’t you think?"

"I’m not the one who casually decides to speak about something 99% of people shouldn’t know about." Alice glared, her aura slowly rising. "So what’s your connection with Nyer?"

Instead of answering her question directly, Caelan pulled out a glass of wine and took a sip.

"Demanding answers is a privilege afforded to the strong. So tell me, are you strong?"

Alice’s smile twitched but she didn’t charge in head first. After all, she could see the energy around this man and the power he holds within his body.

Even if he tried to keep everything bottled up and concealed, Alice could tell. This man wasn’t someone she could beat!

Even if Kazira was in her peak, Alice doesn’t think she would be able to easily kill this man. In fact, he might even be able to leave with his life unharmed.

The strongest Lord that she’s laid her eyes on.

With the period of silence stretching on, Caelan shrugged and took another sip.

"I suppose this aspect of you was inherited from Kaden. Neither of you like to charge into things blindly once you notice that something was wrong."

*Clink. . .

"!!!"

Right after Caelan placed his glass down, Alice realised her entire body was frozen in place, unable to move a single muscle with him grabbed her right shoulder and pointing his finger at Cayla.

"Eye of the Abyss, a troublesome little thing that shows secrets that even I wish to hide." Caelan was no longer smiling and Alice felt cold sweat down her back.

There was no killing intent, no desire to harm. But just his presence and showcase of pure domination sent chills down her spine!

Gritting her teeth, Alice was about to fight back when the pressure disappeared and he was back in his seat.

"Well that’s enough of that. Any more and my dear sister might take her anger out on me." Caelan laughed, offering Alice a glass of wine but she rejected.

"I hope you don’t hold this over me. Consider it a little. . . warning. That even with the Eye of the Abyss, you can’t simply threaten people the moment they find your secret." He smiled. "This is a web that Nyer has spent centuries weaving and you have only just started to see its frayed edge. This man has collaborated with quite a few people through the ages. Me included."

Taking a deep breath to calm her mind, Alice sat back down with a frown.

"Are you still collaborating with him then?"

"Me? far from it. I’ve stopped my exchanges around 150 years ago. Though I can’t deny that a method of contact still exists between us. If he requires my aid or vice versa, we can get a hold of each other rather easily." Caelan admitted.

"Now I have a little proposition for you dear subject V-501-C. Or do you prefer to be called your current name?"

"Alice Agnelia will be fine."

"Perfect. To begin with, I’m not even sure if you are truly V-501-C. V-501-C was simply the last subject that I saw. Who knows if he has made more versions after you or not. But dear Alice, do you want to play a little game?" He offered, confusing Alice for a moment.

"A game?"

"Indeed. A game where you can get some information from me if you wish. We will take turns asking two questions. You are allowed one lie and one truth. It is up to you to determine what is truth and what is false." Caelan narrowed his gaze. "Of course, you may certainly try to respond with two lies or two truths but I wouldn’t recommend it."

Furrowing her brows at this ominous warning, Alice contemplated on whether or not she should play this game.

Based on how Caelan was acting, he wasn’t going to give her the answers to her questions if she refused to play this game.

One truth one lie. . .

She had to think about her questions carefully so that she can extract the most amount of information with both questions, even if one is a lie.

[I don’t think you should accept. Who knows what he’s after, especially since he was allies with Nyer in the past.] Cayla furrowed her brows.

Caelan was giving her an ominous feeling. Not a dangerous one, simply ominous. A man with far more information than they could expect, knowing secrets that shouldn’t be known.

’I think we should. Family with Rosalyn and information on your past? It’s a good opportunity that would be hard to come across.’ Alyss had a different opinion.

As she mentioned, this was an opportunity that was hard to come across. If he can help her fill the gaps in her knowledge. . .

But then there was the question of what he wanted from her. This was not a one sided exchange. While she gets knowledge, this agreement will also let him find out stuff about her.

The question now was what he could possibly want to know about and what she wanted to hide.

One lie one truth. If she lies about the first answer, the next will have to be the truth.

"Can you ask a question twice and get the answer you want?" Alice clenched her fist.

"Ah~ Is that what you’re worried about? If that’s the case then let’s add this." Caelan chuckled.

"You cannot ask the same question twice nor can you modify the second question to force out an answer that would be the truth for the first question. Two questions have to be unrelated or have different answers. Satisfied?"

Seeing him being this generous, the bad feeling in Alice’s chest grew.

However. . .

"Alright, I accept."

This was too good of an opportunity to pass up.

Thus a game of one lie one truth began.