The Young Master in the Shadows

Chapter 512: Learned from the best!

“Young master?” El asked nervously to knock on the Study’s door, only for Victor to barely open it and pull her inside before shutting the door close behind, totally ignoring Serina, who slipped right behind her in a split second, using some kind of skill.

El, who could completely see her, wanted to scream at the totally ignorant Victor and warn him, but she didn’t dare to do it.

“Was your note real? Is Serina still in the mansion?” He asked immediately after he closed the door as if he was afraid someone would enter. It was as if he had no idea what was going on!

El paled as she secretly cursed at him. “Ah…” she wanted to say no, but Serina, who seemed to have realized El could see her, looked at her with a warning glare. “Ah…Yes… She was in the dining room…” she finally decided not to lie.

“Shit… I almost… WAIT… COULD SHE BE HERE?” Victor asked as he began to look around.

“I… Y…Ah… Probably not…” This time, she lied as Serina, with an angry glare, pulled a dagger and pointed it at poor Victorʼs throat.

“Probably?” he squinted and began to look around, almost making the dagger slit his throat.

“I meant No…” El swallowed nervously.

“Thankfully,” Victor, playing totally ignorant, said after signing in relief.

In fact, he really didn’t want to put El in a bad situation, but knowing Serina, she might interrogate El later using her Erristable command skill and naturally discover that Victor knew about her and acted dumb later. This might make her angry at poor little El, so he decided to make it so that the little girl was just acting Loyal and that he was a real idiot.

“Explain then…” He said. “No need to lie at all… ” he added with a strange voice, his lips closed, making the little girl immediately understand a few things and relax a bit.

“Ah… After she walked out of the mansion before the meal, she walked right back, but completely hidden… I just have an Awareness of the Wise skill that allowed me to see her. Yin also felt something around, but couldn’t tell who and where!” El said, reporting the truth.

“Oh… And what did she do while hidden?”

“She went from room to room checking things up as she stood and heard what we were talking about every once in a while!”

“SHIT… Did she find out about my porn collection?” he asked nervously.

“I… I saw her go into the basement, so most likely yes…” El blushed a bit as she remembered that depraved collection.

“Damn it!” he cursed.

“...”

“Whatever… Don’t say anything to anyone that you told me about this… Keep it between us!” he said. “I will ask my master to tell me more about that woman later…”

“I understand!”

“I get that you will be leaving with Lara and the girls?”

“Yes…” El nodded. “Does the young master have any instructions?” she asked.

“Yeah… Listen up… Serina is going to be able to hear me now, but still hears you, so be careful!” He began to speak, yet for some reason, his words no longer matched with his lips. “What she will hear is me teaching you to not let any guys go around Lara and to make sure to always compare those guys to me…”

“Eh…” El was a little surprised.

“We don’t have much time. First of all, for reasons that I can’t tell you, try not to lie around, Serina…” he said, not going into any details, but the little girl quickly got it. She also understood why he revealed that she had warned him. It was all to protect her in case Serina found out that she had told him later! It also meant Serina really had such capacity, or Victor would not act this decisively!

“I understand…” she said as she understood why Victor said nothing more. Now, if Serina asked her if she knew about her truth skill, she could easily say she figured it out on her own because she really did, with a small hint that was not worth mentioning…

Victor nodded. This girl was really smart and had been growing up pretty nicely. Too bad she was still too young to be incorporated into his harem. Regarding what he made others think, he was not really into younger girls. “Now, after this, make it so that you want to reveal a secret to me and tell me how you leveled up… That woman would find out about you sooner or later!”

“Ah….” El swallowed. She really didn’t expect him to figure this out. He was far more mysterious than she first thought! “I want to tell you something, Young master… But you have to keep it a secret…” she said after some hesitation, following his command.

“What?” he asked with a frown.

“I have a skill called Log Reveal that allows me to see if anything got applied to me… ” she explained, telling the truth and also hinting to Victor that if Serina tried anything funny to make her congress a few things she would know about it.

“Oh… “ Victor frowned. “This is not like the normal log, I presume?” he asked. Usually, the status menu provided a log of effects such as poisoning or leveling up. Of course, he also got a lot of Skill activation errors automatically when people attacked him.

“It seems to record everything, including the power, angle, and effect of every punch I receive and a few things like whether someone is using a disguise skill against me!” she added, secretly informing him that if Serina were to use a skill to interrogate her, she would know it! “It is very overwhelming sometimes, but it comes with a filter function too…”

“Oh… Cool, but pretty useless in my opinion… “

“Not if it could help me level up!” she said with a little smirk. Finally reaching the important point.

“Level up?” he squinted at her. “You leveled up?”

“I am already level 11!” she said.

“WHAT… You went to some dungeon secretly or…”

“No, it is my other skill, Master’s will. Whenever I guide someone to enhance their skill usage or get a new skill, I get experience points… Also, the skills I help with don’t need to wait for a level up to register or update their level!”

“Hssssssssss…..” Victor involuntarily gasped. So did Serina. “Really?” he asked.

“I have been using it to help not only Miss Lara and the other girls, but also your esteemed brothers and sisters enhance their martial arts skills and managed to reach level 11 after helping 30 of them get Sword arts, Spear arts, and Hand Arts…. Sadly, the experience requirements to level up are beginning to blow up exponentially!” she sighed.

“It is called ‘grow up exponentially’… And since when are you good at spear arts?” he frowned. She had no such skill.

“I am not… in fact, due to my F level in sword arts, I shouldn’t be able to help them learn anything of value, but thanks to my log skill, I could monitor their strikes, correcting them for maximum damage. The system seemed to consider this a success!”

“Hssssssssssss….” Victor gasped again. This girl is an absolute powerhouse! Serina felt the same as she wanted to grab the little girl and run away, lest someone else got to discover her talents.

“Can you promise not to tell anyone…” El asked. “I am only telling you because I consider you my big brother…” she said, looking down shyly. The little girl has learned to be as scammy as the young master! She learned from the best!

“I understand…” he sighed.“Now tell me it is rude to ask a girl that, then changes the subject to tell me about your new Show me one more time skill…” he said, making Serina hear him ask El about her current three sizes.

El gasped, not expecting Victor to know about that. “It is rude to ask a girl that!” she said, acting a bit angry. “I have something else to report, I have a skill called Show me one more time… It allows me to make a target to redo his skill that I have seen him perform one more time…”

“Oh…This…”

“ It has some restrictions like the target has to afford the skill and all its activation conditions should be met!” she interrupted him.

If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.

“Still, it is very powerful!” he nodded. “You might grow up to be a real powerhouse in the future!” he said, “Now ask for permission to leave…”

“Thank you, young master… If that is all you wanted to ask me about…” El complied

“There is one more thing!” Victor said, taking out 4 storage rings and giving them to El. “I wanted to give you those before leaving, but I think you should take them now, lest Serina get greedy and steal them…” he said, making Serina, who came to take a look at him with disdain.

“Those are?” El asked.

“My gifts for you and the others from the other world… Those storage rings have your names already engraved on them, so make sure each of you gets hers when you are back!”

“OH!” forgetting about Serina, El quickly held the rings with twinkling eyes. She heard from George that storage rings were very, very rare! She didn’t expect Victor to get each of them one!

“Inside of them there are some souvenirs that I thought you girls would like,” he said, scratching his cheek as El closed her eyes to check her ring.

“THIS IS….” She peered inside the ring and saw something that made her almost gasp.

“Yeah, it is a flight skill book!” he smirked. “Now you will be able to fly!”

“THANK YOU!” El jumped and hugged him hard, planting a kiss on his cheek. This was the thing she wished for the most,

“I did promise you to make you fly in the past…” he chuckled as he carried her and put her down. “Now.. our new guests should be already here, so youʼd better go meet with the others…” he said, roughing her hair up.

El nodded, blushing a bit as she looked down at her feet. Earlier… She couldn’t help but jump and kiss him. But now that she thought about what she did, she wanted to drill into some hole and bury herself! She was no longer the naive girl she was a few months ago!

“Tell George to come see me! And send a maid to warn me if Serina follows him!” he asked as she bowed slightly, then turned to leave.

“I understand…” she said in a very low voice, still feeling shy. Her ears were still bright red!

“WAIT FOR ME TO OPEN THE DOOR FOR YOU!” he suddenly said as she reached for the door, jumping to open it for her as if afraid someone would slip in. “As you leave, make sure to leave a note to tell me that Serina was with us in the room and that she threatened to kill me if you said anything…Tell her to deliver it after you guys leave…” he whispered only to her as she walked out.

The latter acted as if she didn’t hear him as she left the room. Victor, as if worried someone would sneak past her, closed the door immediately behind her.

“Serina… I WILL MAKE SURE TO TELL MY MASTER ABOUT YOU!” he couldn’t help but say as the door was closed shut!

***

“HUMAN HOW DARE YOU…. AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH….” Mona dodged the demon’s sharp claw and immediately decapitated it.

“YOU WILL PAY………… AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHh…………….” Zoe ducked beneath the demon’s halberd-like tail and also cut it in half in one swoop!

“Do they really have to deliver that last line before they die?” Zoe asked as she and Mona finished taking out two more grotesque demons. If one needed to describe them, he would say that they looked like some very thin hyenas that walked on two legs.

After entering this ‘Stronghold’ that just looked like some kind of underground base, it had been fighting non-stop for the next two hours.

“Demons have a way to escape using their souls… They just need some time to activate that skill, so they usually try to deliver great speeches when they feel cornered to buy some time!” Mona explained as Kuu finished bashing two other demons’ heads together, not giving them a chance to speak!

“How far into the boss’s room?” Zoe asked. Until now, she had already leveled up 10 times, but she was getting a little tired.

“In Strongholds, we call those rooms control rooms… It is just up ahead!” Mona said. Do you want to take a minute or two to catch your breath?

“Nah… How about you, Kuu?” Zoe turned to the girl behind her.

“I am fine!” Kuu said.

“Let’s go!” Mona said, bringing the girl toward a large gate that she blew open using a strike from her sword

Inside it was a huge domed hall that seemed to be completely empty, but Mona didn’t rush in; she just knelt down and put her hand on the floor. “ACTIVATE SYSTEM SKILL: EMERGENCY DUNGEON ZONE CREATE… BOSS, ZENITH DEMON! AKA MR.X!” she said.

Immediately, the world around them shimmered, and behind them, some kind of mirror-like membrane formed.

“This is…” Zoe gasped.

“A temporary dungeon!” Mona said. “Thanks to the authority Master gave us, we can create it anywhere inside this world! Even inside a ruin!” she said. “Its ability is very limited, but with this, our little demon will not be escaping, right?” she turned and asked as she threw a dagger toward the center of the room.

BAAM!

The dagger was immediately deflected as a middle-aged man with a kind face appeared where it struck. His face was smiling, but his eyes were burning with anger.

Mr. X!

“YOU…YOU ARE NOT FROM THIS TIMELINE!” he spat. At first, he was pretty amazed how she managed to follow him here, but now, watching her activate that System Skill, he could tell immediately! “YOU ARE ONE OF THE BITCH’S DECIPLES, AREN’T YOU…”

Mona squinted her eyes as she walked inside, then paused right before stepping on a trap that she knew was there. “From the sound of it, you are not from this timeline, too…” she asked with a frown, fearing that her worst fears had become a reality. Like her, some demon also managed to retain his memory of the other timeline… This was one of the things her master was guarding against the most; that’s why she locked the world as soon as she went back!

“LET’S MAKE A DEAL!” Mr. X said as he noticed her frown, taking a step back as she approached. He was not her opponent!

“Oh… If my master were to know that I am making deals with demons, she would skin me alive!” Mona spat. “No matter what, stay where you are… If he tries to exit the room, attack him!” she whispered to Zoe and Kuu without turning.

“DON’T ACT ALL HIGH AND MIGHTY BITCH… IF I WERE TO COME HERE WITH MY REAL BODY, YOU WOULDNʼT BE ABLE TO STOP ME FOR EVEN A SECOND…” he hissed.

“Know that you are not in your original body… Or why else would I come rushing here alone?” she smirked. “And stop trying to use that Soul Migration skill, this place is already locked up. The System rules were tailor-made by my master to stop you demons from escaping!”

“YOU…”

“Do you have any last words?” she asked as she pushed her sword into a space between two tiles.

BOOM! The entire trap mechanism around the hall was immediately broken.

“WAIT… WAIT… I CAN TELL YOU ABOUT THE OTHERS WHO ALSO CAME HERE…” he took one more step back, starting to panic.

“The others?” Mona was tempted.

“I AM NOT THE ONLY DEMON WHO MANAGED TO CROSS YOU KNOW…”

“You are going to betray your friends?” She tilted her head, allowing a swinging ax that came falling from the ceiling to miss her by an inch.

“YOU…” he hissed. “THOSE IDIOTS DON’T MEAN ANYTHING TO ME…”

“Really?” she asked as she continued to walk toward him, dodging a few arrows that came shooting at her from various angles. “Then why not give me some freebies… To make sure you are not lying…”

“THERE IS THIS DEMON… HE CALLS HIMSELF THE DUSK DEMON. HE IS ALREADY HERE, BUILDING AN ARMY AND WAITING FOR THE SYSTEM’S INTEGRATION TO INVADE… I CAN TELL YOU ALL ABOUT HIM!”

“Dusk demon? Never heard of him… Are you perhaps lying?”

“WHAT… IMPOSIBLE… THEN WHAT ABOUT THE MIDNIGHT… HE IS ALSO HERE ACTING AS A HUMAN!” he said quickly, taking one more step back.

Mona didn’t stop but started to move faster, now already in the middle of the hall.

BAM!

The ceiling broke down, and more than 30 huge demons that looked like huge creatures with spider bodies and cat heads fell from above.

SWISHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH…….

With a swirling sound and 20 consecutive moves of her sword, Mona sliced all of them, dodging 7 spears that were sprung from below her at the same time!

Zoe almost gaped watching her. Kuu didn’t hold it in. “AMAZING…”

“Yeah…” They couldnʼt even make out the new enemiesʼ shapes or weak points before they were defeated!

“KEEP YOUR FOCUS!” Mona warned them as she continued to step forward, this time using the spiderʼs bodies as stepping mats.

It took Mr. X a moment to realize that the corpses were not thrown around randomly, but formed a bridge across the hall to reach his place.

“DAMN IT!” he yelled, activating all the traps that he was holding back on.

In a moment, the entire hall turned into a sea of flying needles! Only the spot he stood in was safe…

Mona was safe, too. The way she arranged those corpses was in a way that she needed minimal effort to dodge this!

“WAIT… YOU…. YOU HAD BEEN HERE BEFORE…” Mr.X, who realized why he failed, said in shock as Mona approached him fast.

“And not knowing the face of the one who killed you in your past life is proof that you had been lying all along!“ she said with a smirk as she cornered him.

“YOU WILL PAY! I WILL BE BACK!”

BAM!

His body exploded all of a sudden.

Mona had to use her sword and activate a defensive skill to take the blow, but was still flung away.

SWOOOOOSH!

In the middle of her flight, she grabbed a dagger from her boot and sliced at a random angle.

“AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHhhh…………………”

A horrifying shriek sounded as a shadowy figure that looked like a bat that had itʼs brain blown out of itʼs skull began to evaporate. Monaʼs dagger hit him spot on!

ZENITH DEMON AVATAR ANNIHILATED

CONGRATULATIONS

EMERGENCY DUNGEON CONQUERED!

EXPERIENCE POINTS WILL BE DISTRIBUTED!

“Wow… That was tiring…” Mona said as she fell and collapsed on the ground, her entire existence ached! Although she had the skills, her body was not trained enough to use them, so for a while she would have to pay the price!

“..” Zoe looked at Kuu, then the two walked toward her. “That was amazing…”

“Not at all! This fight was one of the hardest Iʼve had in my past life, sacrificing 88 of my sisters to kill this guy! My master made me study it and come up with a perfect plan back then as a punishment… Who would have thought that she expected this day to come… well… ” Mona sighed, not continuing.

“Is he really dead?” Kuu asked nervously.

“No, this one was only an avatar… But you don’t have to worry, in the past timeline, I traced him back into the abyss to take my revenge, and if he dares to do anything funny, I don’t mind doing it again!” she hissed. ”He is not that strong compared to other demons...”

“Oh…” Zoe nodded. “About what he said about the other timeline…”

“He was bluffing… But he knew a few things, which meant some of the demons might have really managed to return too! He might have gotten some info from them, but he would never share those!”

“Demons have loyalty?” Zoe asked with surprise.

“No way, but such info wouldn’t be shared without making him take an oath on his demon soul, so he wouldn’t dare share anything even if I were to boil him alive!” Mona shrugged. “Still, I can tell that it was definitely not the dusk demon or the midnight demon who tipped him, that leaves the Dawn demon and the Twilight demon…” she frowned. “Unlike the Zenith demon who worked between humans and his danger vanished the moment we discovered his identity, those guys are very tricky, until the end they strayed completely undefeated…” she sighed.

“Then...What shall we do now?” Kuu asked with a frown..

“Oh… Don’t care about those things for now… “ she chuckled. “You girls go search this place, collect back all the drops we left, and find the treasurerʼs chest in a hidden room behind that wall!” she said, pointing to a wall to the side.

“What about you?” Kuu asked.

“I will not be able to move for a while…” she complained as she grabbed a few healing pills and threw them in her mouth. “Once you finish, we shall head back home!”

[author] Ahead of scheduled... Never mind, will try to finish the next one by tomorrow![/author]