The Unlimited Ascension: Reborn as an Extra

17 August, Year 2502. The Human Empire. Lamiar City, Eastern region.

The bright sun climbed high into the morning sky. The vast city was already bustling with activities, and people were strolling around, going about their daily work routines. Children were running around the city squares, chasing after each other. The morning atmosphere was light, warm, and wonderfully peaceful.

But completely in contrast to this bright atmosphere, beside the busy street, inside a luxurious restaurant on the secluded corner seats—far out of regular people’s radar—two figures sat there completely opposite to each other. They wore regular cloaks to hide their faces, not that it was even required during this private conversation. There were barely any people around them, and the waiter had already excused himself after taking their food orders.

The atmosphere at the table was tense, as both figures remained silent for a long time.

”Will you still be going to remain quiet? Or will you now be planning to open your mouth?”

A boy with striking azure eyes spoke up. His messy silver hair was exposed as he casually pulled back his hood, revealing his handsome face to the dim lighting of the restaurant.

On the other side of the table, the girl with violet eyes sat there stiffly. Her own Raven-black hair was hidden securely behind her hood. She clutched the fabric of her cloak tightly while nervously looking around the room to find any escape route.

But her one hand was held firmly by the silver-haired boy on the table in front of her. Her face warmed up rapidly as a bright redness climbed all the way to the tips of her ears.

So, why was she planning to run away?

And why was he holding her hand in a restaurant, acting exactly like how a romantic couple would do? Did they suddenly get together in a relationship? The answer to that is no.

So what is the exact reason? The answer is quite simple. Just a few short hours ago, when both of them came out from the Ascension Realm, it was already night. They had decided to find a decent hotel room to sleep in. After they got their own rooms, Alen had simply stated that he would be seeking answers from her tomorrow morning.

But when the next day actually came, she had already tried to run away from the city. To her absolute shock, he had already anticipated her antics of doing such a sneaky thing. He had simply used his Supreme Ability right before sleeping, commanding his other manifestations to remain on guard and look out for her in the shadows.

And just as he expected, she had actually attempted to run away. But later in the morning, he already came to the exact place where his other manifestation had marked her location. Right when she was planning to run away, before she could even attempt to step out of the city limits, he had already caught her red-handed.

But Lyris was also not easy to capture. She tried several desperate attempts to slip away again. To her shock, wherever she went, he already found her before she could reach some hidden, safe place. It was exactly as if he had put some kind of tracker on her and kept monitoring her location flawlessly.

As Lyris looked at him sitting calmly in front of her while holding her hand, taking her hostage, she couldn’t help but feel her face warm up again.

”Hey, you can let go of me now. I won’t run away...”

Alen looked at her as he raised a eyebrow.

”Oh, really? But it is the seventh time you said that exact same thing today, and you still ran away...”

The redness on her face spread across her cheeks as she looked away, feeling incredibly embarrassed.

’How was he even able to chase me like that? What kind of terrifying stalking power has he got?...’

Pushing away the curious questions she had in her mind, she glanced back at him and asked softly.

”Why did you want to know that? What will you gain by me exposing why I did that?...”

Alen looked at her and tilted his head. He leaned forward across the table and whispered in slight annoyance.

”Are you kidding me? You are the one who made me curious, and now you are trying to run away. I have a serious problem with knowing half-truths. Either I want to know everything, or I don’t...”

Alen looked at her and caught her gaze. He could see a slight vulnerability in her eyes, a quiet sign that she was not comfortable sharing her secrets with him just yet.

”Look... If you are not ready to tell me, it is okay. But don’t you dare run away like you had done something wrong...”

Lyris blinked at the sudden shift in his behavior. One moment he was demanding the truth from her, while on the other hand, he was giving her the opportunity to tell him whenever she felt comfortable enough to talk.

Was he planning something? Is it some new scheming trick of his? She didn’t know, but she was okay with that outcome, as she was not comfortable sharing such a personal thing with him right now.

She finally raised her head to look at him. Her eyes tracked over his face, searching for any hint of blame or frustration, but she found none.

’Why?... Why is he not angry that I was lying to him from the very start and had fought alongside him with falsehood? What if he is secretly holding a deep grudge against me?...’

She didn’t know. Silence maintained its hold around them for a while. After a few quiet minutes passed, Lyris finally managed to open her lips to speak.

”Do you hate me?...”

Alen, who was silently watching the water ripple in his glass, looked up at her. He felt bewildered by her sudden question.

”Why do you think I should hate you? Is there any need to be?...”

Lyris’s eyes widened at his calm tone.

”Well.... I lied to you and hid my true identity, my gender, while we were together...”

Alen leaned back on the chair and folded his arms while tilting his head thoughtfully.

”So what? It is not like everyone doesn’t have their own secrets to keep. You had your own reasons to do that, and besides, you didn’t have any bad intentions toward me. You also helped me with my training and many other things. Why would I ever blame you for that? Tell me, did you have any other dark intentions behind my back? Or are you really the weird pervert which I had guessed?...”

Warmth spread completely across her face as her cheeks became tomato red. She quickly buried her face on the table while cursing to herself in embarrassment.

”I am not a pervert! I never had any bad intentions...”

As she buried her face on the table, Alen couldn’t help but feel satisfied that he was finally able to see right through her facade.

’Damn, she looks cute while blushing. Now I am starting to miss that previous guy L, who remained calm and collected as if nothing could ever affect him. His expression remained so firm, which annoyed me to death. But seeing her hiding herself like this...’

He couldn’t help but feel satisfied at the sudden change in scenarios.

”Now, now, are you going to bury yourself in there forever? Look, the food has finally arrived...”

Just as he said it, the waiter immediately walked over to their corner. It was as if he was deliberately waiting in the wings for them to finish their conversation. He gracefully placed the hot food down, served their plates, bowed politely, and walked away.

Finally, after the steaming food was already settled neatly in front of her, Lyris pulled back. She quickly wiped the moisture from her eyes, as she had almost cried because of losing control over her normally guarded emotions.

Seeing her act like that, Alen couldn’t help but want to tease her more, but he held it back, at least for now.

”Okay, okay, young lady. If you are done with your emotional drama, start eating your dinner...”

Her expression hardened as she looked at him blankly. This time, her protective facade had already settled thin, as she felt genuinely annoyed by his behavior.

”Stop doing that, or do you really want me to punch you?”

Alen pulled back the hand which he was using to grab hers, replying smoothly.

”No, no, I don’t want my handsome face to become smeared with blood....”

Lyris narrowed her eyes as she wasn’t able to retort to his teasing words.

’Damn, how shameless is he... Though he is not entirely wrong, but... Ughh!!! What am I thinking.’

She shook her head, throwing away any nonessential thoughts. She picked up her spoon and launched her hand straight toward the sweets first, specifically targeting a pastry. She cut the pieces quickly and started eating them.

Alen couldn’t help but notice her weird behavior of starting a lunch with sweets.

”Hey, do you really like sweets that much? Especially pastry? You also picked that up the last time during the ball...”

Lyris looked up while eating. She felt slightly embarrassed that he had noticed her liking.

”Well.... I do like them... I didn’t get to eat them when I was at home... Since I had to maintain a strict diet back then, I am eating them now...”

Alen nodded. He noticed her lost, distant expression for a second as she ate it. It seemed he had accidentally touched a sensitive topic that he shouldn’t have. But since he had already spoken it, he couldn’t take the words back.

”Well, if you hadn’t eaten it at home, then you can have it now....”

He looked back over his shoulder and called the waiter over.

”Can you bring ten more plates of the pastry...”

The waiter nodded professionally and backed away after taking the order.

”Wait, wait—I can’t eat that much!”

Lyris looked thoroughly surprised. She stared at him with a bewildered expression; she didn’t expect him to be kind enough to order more of the pastries just for her.

”Cool down. I am sure you also wanted to eat more. Just eat to your heart’s content, don’t mind me...”

Lyris pursed her lips as a small, imperceptible smile tugged on her face.

”Thank you...”

Alen nodded calmly as he started eating his own hot lunch.

”Yeah, yeah. It’s not like I am the one who is paying...”

Her small smile froze in shock as she finally realized what he was saying. She looked at him with wide eyes.

”Wait—what?!”