The Supreme Level Up System

"Yes, you can repay your debt with some gold coins and go on your way," Aion said.

"Since you are a member of that family, it isn't expected for you to be this rude," Aion heard a woman's voice coming from one of the armored guys, and then she took her helmet, showing the face of a pretty woman in her twenties. "There are a lot of things that you need to know before you return to your home."

Just like Sauros, the woman had long, straight silver and green eyes. She was probably one of the most pretty women that Aion had seen in that world. Aion could also see that she had quite a well-trained body, large hips and chests since she had an aura of a powerful warrior.

"And you are?" Aion asked.

"My little sister, her name is Seris Heradins," Sauros replied. "She is a bit sharp-tongued, but she isn't a bad person. Regardless, while it might not be the best of times and you have reasons to keep your guard up, there are several things that you need to know and that we need to ask."

"I am listening," Aion said.

"First of all, at this point in time, you probably know that you are a descendant of the goddess," Sauros said. "That granted you an uncanny ability to control mana. Another thing that you need to know is that this kind of place was built to protect some relics that once belonged to the goddess. You faced a dragon earlier. Did you get the relic that summoned that?"

"Yes… what about it?" Aion asked.

"That relic is something created by the god and goddess a long time ago because the enemies they faced could use time magic and travel between different periods of time to obtain power or other things that might have helped them," Sauros explained. "I don't know how, but the relic was damaged, and thanks to that, a dragon from another period of time."

That seemed hard to believe but cleared the doubts that Aion had, so the chances of being true were high. Still, it made Aion wonder how the god and goddess managed to defeat enemies that could do that. It was also weird that they conveniently created relics that could do exactly what they needed.

"You are well informed," Aion said.

"Just like your family had the key to access places like this, we also are tasked with the job to prevent that the seals are broken and to prevent that knowledge from spreading," Sauros said.

"Because you are descendants of the followers of the god that made this?" Aion asked.

"... For the time being, you don't need to bear the burden of that knowledge," Sauros said.

"I would rather bear than continue living without knowing the risks that my mother might endure in the future," Aion said. "Speaking of which, it is true that by sacrificing my mother, the goddess will return?"

"We have heard a few things about her, and based on what we know, she isn't the type of person who would accept that kind of thing," Sauros said. "Again, you will learn more about this in the future if you wish for it, but for the time being, we can't reveal more. Regardless, we heard that you made some enemies, so you might want to take a lift with us. We can take you back to the capital of the Zaera kingdom in three weeks."

They probably were going to use boats. While that wasn't a bad idea, Aion couldn't trust those guys yet. Aion himself had too many secrets, so he couldn't complain about others, but he couldn't trust those that had too many of them.

"I will pass on that," Sauros said.

"You are getting carried away just because you defeated a dragon," Seris said. "That thing wasn't supposed to live in this kind of environment, so its strength was decreased."

"I still will pass," Aion said.

"That is fine. After you have accomplished here, I know that you won't do anything to risk your mother's life," Sauros said. "Anyway, we will see each other again in the future, and this time, I will bring your payment for helping me that time."

Aion wasn't expecting much, but he decided to keep quiet about it. Sauros, his sister, and the other dark armored soldiers began to march toward the North, and soon, they disappeared. The ocean was supposed to be two hundred kilometers away, so Aion wondered how they reached this far with their suspicious appearance.

"That girl was quite the beauty, don't you think?" Artemisia asked.

"Mom… you shouldn't be moving now," Aion said after a long sigh.

"What were you talking about? I heard about something like payment about helping him. Was he offering his sister to you?"

"What would a brother offer their sister like a piece of clothing?" Aion asked. "Also, why do you only hear the convenient parts? Anyway, we should camp here since the sun is setting, and this is the safest place that we will find for the next two weeks."

Aion still had a lot of meat in his inventory, so food wasn't a problem. The real problem starts on the next day… considering her power, it won't be weird if Artemisia managers to fly as well. That way, they could cross the whole distance while taking turns.

"Still, to think that time magic is a thing here… to move between eras… I can't even begin to imagine how that works," Aion thought. "That truly seems like the power of a god."

In any case, just as expected, Sauros and his people were the ones who could give him many answers. Due to the war forty years ago, Artemisia didn't have the chance to learn much from her parents. Regardless, Aion soon forgot about that since he considered something else… should they even return to that kingdom? That might be the chance that Aion had been looking for to free his mother of all prejudice…