Only Wisdom Awakened - Chapter 53

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Hans took his time before trying to get up, staying there, prone, and recovering for over an hour.

If it weren’t for his growing thirst, he might have remained there for at least another hour.

“In my current state, being able to face off against the boss is out of the question. It’s better to retreat and tackle this tomorrow… But what should I do about these?” he pondered.

On the sand beside him, the corpses of at least a hundred scorpions lay scattered, or rather, more than corpses, it would be more accurate to call them what was now left of their corpses.

One of the reasons why he had sought to raid this gate was also because of his dwindling cash.

With Aiden living together, that small apartment was going to be too cramped, and in the future, if he ever managed to free his parents from the curse, it would be impossible for all five of them to live there.

He needed to buy a new home, one that was large enough to house five people, and possibly safer than the current one.

Each time he meditated when trying to form a new circle, he was left extremely vulnerable, making him an easy target for anyone who would wish to hurt him.

And even if he was able to defend himself successfully, interrupting the advance and failing to create his next circle would result in losing a significant portion of his power and he would need to wait for a long period before reattempting.

For these reasons, he wanted to raid the gate alone, thereby maximizing his gains.

Unfortunately, the monsters proved to be too strong to be handled cleanly, and in the end, he had to prioritize his survival over a bunch of dollars and destroy their bodies completely.

Even if he was certain that his decision was justified, he still couldn’t help but feel some pain thinking how much he could have earned if they remained intact.

Pained by his lost richness, Hans exited the gate.

The only thing waiting for him was the red line which delimited the entrance in the zone and the man tasked with the job of keeping the civilians away from the gate.

As he passed the guard, he told him to keep up with the good work and that he would return the next day to close the gate.

Afterward, he returned to his office and toiled for the entire day before finally earning the right to relax a bit.

A taxi whisked him to the hospital, where he quickly picked up Aiden after signing the necessary discharging papers.

Aiden seemed ecstatic beyond words while exploring the little apartment.

“I know it’s a bit cramped, I’m sorry about that, but this weekend I’ll buy a new one. Do you want to come with me to see it?” Hans offered.

“No, it’s okay. This one is perfectly fine, brother. But where will we sleep? There’s only one bed,” Aiden inquired.

“I have an extra mattress. You can sleep in my bed,” Hans replied, rummaging through a large closet.

When Hans had finally found all the stuff needed to make a makeshift bed for the night, he put the mattress on the ground and stopped for a bit to watch Aiden.

Even if he was happy, the guy wasn’t doing anything and just stared back at him and smiled.

“Catch!” Hans exclaimed, tossing a white pillow at the grinning boy.

“Hey Aiden, what do kids your age do in their free time?”

After catching the pillow, Aiden answered while looking unsure, “Mhh, I don’t know, I heard my classmates talk about playing on their PCs sometimes.”

“Those gaming companies still exist even after the catastrophe?” Hans couldn’t help but ask.

“It seems so,” Aiden nodded.

As they talked, Aiden hugged the pillow while perched on the bed and Hans leaned against the wall with his left shoulder.

Seeing the boy so joyful made Hans feel proud of what he had done.

“But brother, what am I supposed to do with two pillows?” Aiden asked.

“The one on the bed is for me. I can’t sleep without that,” Hans explained.

Though it wasn’t particularly late, the sun had already set, casting Chicago into darkness and chill.

Being on the outskirts, street lamps were sparse, and most of the local bars and restaurants were closed by this time, except for a few handful which acted as a source of light for the streets.

In one of them, two young men sat facing each other, both relishing their meals.

The younger was eagerly biting into a hamburger while having some fries and the other was gulping down his pizza slices like a ferocious wolf.

“So good,” the boy exclaimed while licking the sauce from his fingers.

“Mine is so-so,” the other replied.

Aiden gazed at Hans’s empty plate and couldn’t help but wonder whether his remark was merely a joke or something more serious.

After finishing their dinner, they returned home, and before going to sleep, Hans let Aiden choose a movie to watch.

They finally ended up watching a documentary about the awakened and the great disaster.

Later on, as the two lay in their beds with the lights off, the young whispered to Hans, “Hey brother Hans, do you think I can become a strong awakened like those guys on TV.”

Hans replied, “Don’t even bother trying. What would you do with all that power? All it brings is responsibilities.”

Curious, Aiden asked, “And you, brother Hans? I heard you are the branch leader, are you as strong as them?”

The documentary they had just watched talked about the beginning of the awakened eight years ago and their development in the past few years, meaning that even some of the strongest in the documentary were only A-Rank, about the same level as Hans.

However, Hans downplayed his ability, hiding much from Aiden, “No, only the luckiest people manage to reach that strong level. I’m barely stronger than an ordinary human. Now go to sleep; you have school tomorrow.”

Hans wanted to shield Aiden from the world of the awakened for as long as possible, after all, he knew well that it would only bring him pain and suffering.

“Can I ask one last question brother?” Aiden asked after a moment.

“You already did,” Hans shook his head.

“How strong was my d-, Logan Harris?”

“Not so strong. He just liked picking on those who couldn’t fight back. Now sleep, goodnight.”

“Night!” Aiden nodded and closed his eyes.

‘Not so strong? Then based on the information given in the documentary, he should be about E-Rank, maybe even F. I wonder how he got so much money then,’ Aiden couldn’t help but think.

Aiden didn’t have access to a phone other than his old Nokia and was never allowed to watch TV as his father was afraid of him discovering his worth and was therefore kept isolated from the whole world.

He would sometimes hear things from his classmates, but whenever he asked at home, he was always scolded by Logan, who even slapped him after learning how he came to know of all that.

He then got his status window and with time got used to it, but during all that long, he genuinely thought that everyone had a window like him. However Logan told him that only people with class skills were considered important and since Aiden didn’t have one, just like the common people, he would have to keep his class and window a secret.

Only after watching the documentary today did he realize how evil Logan’s actions truly were and why he was adopted in the first place.

_____

The next morning.

Hans’s alarm signaled the 6:59:42

43…44…45.46…..58, 59…

“Diii”

The moment the clock was about to reach seven and start ringing, Hans’s hand appeared from above, pressing the bottom to stop it before it could even ring.

He then quickly got ready and went outside, knowing they didn’t have anything in the fridge and the kitchen for breakfast.

From the bar, he bought two cups of hot milk and two croissants for a takeaway and went home.

Meanwhile, Aiden also coincidentally woke up and was quite surprised to find himself alone in the apartment.

Thinking that Hans might have gone to work, just like his dad usually did, the boy started taking out the clothes he still had in a trolley and changed for school.

However, before he could take a step to walk outside, Hans surprised him at the front door.

“Oh, you are going already?” asked the young man with bags full of food in his hands, but before the other could even reply, he took out one paper bag and a cup before handing it over along with a croissant.

“Here, you can eat it while you are on the bus, or share it with your friends at school if you want to.”

“I’ll get to work, see you this evening.”

Hans did everything by himself and didn’t wait for Aiden’s response, both because he was quite late and also because he wanted to encourage the boy to make friends with others instead of just staying with him.

Even if they lived outside the city center, the bus to Aiden’s school arrived at its destination in just twenty minutes.

After walking out, he threw the empty bag and cup into the dustbin and wiped his lips.

When he entered class, his cheerful demeanor surprised the students in the class and attracted gazes from many, this was because he was usually a gloomy boy, but today, he seemed very different.

With his chin resting on his desk, Aiden couldn’t help but wonder, ‘Who knows what brother Hans might be doing right now?’

Meanwhile, on the other side of the city, Hans stood alone in front of a deep blue gate and endured the cold winds around.

“Shall we go for a final round?” he said while stepping inside.