Chronicles of Forgotten Extra-Chapter 162: Master? You Mean What Now?

Soon a cat stood at the place where Vanyaa had been a few moments ago.

This time something was different. Unlike before, she was wearing a cute dress.

Huh?

How does that even work?

The dress was similar to the one she wore before she transformed.

"How did that dress also change size?" Alden asked curiously.

Vanyaa's expression turned proud.

"This is one of the special clothes my mom bought for me. They can transform and shift accordingly."

This world really was something else.

Alden just stared at her silently before picking her up from the floor. "Let's go then."

He exited his dorm and entered the elevator.

It didn't take long before he was on the ground floor.

Time to face the wrath of a mother.

_

Alden stepped out of the dorm building with Vanyaa hidden carefully under his cloack.

It was as if he was her personal vehicle to travel.

The academy grounds were quiet at this time of day, most students either buried in their training or pretending to study.

He made his way through the west courtyard and passed the academy gate with ease—as always, he logged his departure in the system.

Alden placed his ManaSync against the gate pillar.

A soft beep confirmed his exit.

He couldn't exit the island, except on a mission.

But this time he was too busy with other things to take on a dungeon mission.

So he just chose a Hobgoblin blood collection mission.

He was even provided with the information about where Hobgoblins were commonly found.

But was he going to go there? Nope.

He had already messaged Cipher to buy some Hobgoblin blood.

He was going to cheat on the mission.

Although the blood was expensive, Alden was rich now. Filthy rich.

He didn't need to care about money anymore.

__

It didn't take long before he was in the teleportation hub.

He quickly took care of formalities at the reception desk.

"Proceed to room no. 25." The receptionist spoke in a tired voice.

The poor guy looked like a zombie—huge dark circles under his eyes and a blank, dead stare.

Someone give this man a rest.

Or at least a pay rise.

Alden prayed for the poor fellow in his mind and proceeded to the designated room.

He didn't wait any longer and entered the only glowing portal situated in the room.

The same old process of body distorting and twisting them rearranging happened.

Then—silence.

This time Alden didn't feel any nausea whatsoever.

A smirk was present on his face.

Goodbye, my old nemesis—space distortion nausea. May you haunt someone else's digestive tract.

And no, I will not miss you.

His new title was definitely pulling its weight.

Without hesitation, Alden stepped out of the teleportation hub.

They arrived in the heart of Valloria's Central Plaza—a bustling, chaotic centre that looked as ridiculous as ever.

Hanging between tall skyscrapers were absurdly loud billboards as always. One, in particular, caught Alden's eye:

__

TIRED OF WALKING? TRY THE INVISIBLE CHAIR!

Sit anywhere. Look Insane. Feel amazing.

Zero back support!

100% confusion guaranteed!

Now comes with an optional fart-silencing mode!

LIMITED TIME OFFER: Get a second one FREE if you can prove you're sitting on the first!

__

Alden stared up at the billboard with dumbfounded expressions.

Alden blinked twice. Then once more, just to be sure.

This world... was definitely not okay.

Strangely enough, the product resembled an artifact he'd once seen at the black market auction—only this version lacked any magical value. It wasn't an artifact; it was just pure nonsense.

Vanyaa let out a small "meow" of wonder, probably involuntary.

She hadn't spoken the entire trip. Not that she could.

A talking cat on his shoulder might draw too much attention, right?

"Alright. No more detours," Alden muttered.

He walked through the main streets, slipping into narrower alleys that descended into Valloria's Lower District.

The noise slowly faded as they moved toward the outer edge of the city.

Once they were in a deserted alley, Alden quickly scanned his surroundings.

He even activated his Spirit Domain to sweep the area—just in case. Nothing.

"Go ahead. You can transform back," he whispered.

Vanyaa jumped down from his shoulder.

He could feel a slight disappointment on her face, which he carefully ignored.

I'm not going to carry you all the way, woman.

He thought in his mind.

Vanyaa's body glowed with soft light before morphing into her usual form.

"Finally, I can talk again," she sighed, stretching like a lazy cat. "That was really exhausting."

Alden controlled his urge to roll his eyes.

According to what Vanyaa had told him, both her human form and her animal form were her natural state. Meaning she could remain as a cat forever without exhausting any mana or energy whatsoever.

So her being tired didn't make sense.

Well, it did have side effects—the more she stayed in that form, the more her mind was influenced by it, and her behaviour could become like a cat's.

Alden didn't say anything and took some items out of his storage ring.

Two cloaks and two masks

One was the Veil of Shadows, his trusted artifact. The other was a plain disguise mask.

The cloaks were just ordinary clothes, just to hide them better.

Especially Vanyaa's cat ears.

He handed the normal mask and cloak to Vanyaa and then put his own on.

"Cover yourself properly," he said evenly.

"Mhm," Vanyaa nodded, pulling the hood over her head, making sure to tug it down so her cat ears were hidden.

After making sure nobody could recognise them, Alden exited the alley with Vanyaa walking beside him.

"Umm, where are we going, Alden?" Vanyaa asked innocently.

"To the black market, obviously." Alden answered.

"But we are going the wrong way." Vanyaa spoke softly.

Alden blinked, stopping in his tracks.

"What do you mean?" Alden asked. "Black Thorn club is in this direction, I'm sure."

Vanyaa smirked, slightly puffing her chest.

"Nu-uh, we don't have to go through there." She turned around, her hand motioning for him to follow. "There's a faster way. Follow me."

Alden looked at her amused. "Alright, alright. Lead the way, then."

Vanyaa grinned and started walking confidently with her steps light.

Alden didn't have any idea about entrances to the black market, but he was sure there ought to be many entrances.

Vanyaa walked through the streets, taking turns through dark alleys.

After one last turn, the duo arrived in front of a rusted gate that looked like it led nowhere.

Vanyaa stood in front of the door, tapping it twice, then three more times in a specific rhythm.

Just then—

A rhythmic sound came from inside, accompanied with a sound.

"An owl or a serpent?"

Vanyaa wasn't surprised, as if she was used to it.

"A little lost kitten."

After her response, no reply came from inside.

Alden's body was tense, ready to fight if anything went awry.

Just then–

A metal screeching sound came from the gate as it slowly opened up.

"Welcome, Young Miss Vanyaa." A rugged man greeted her politely.

"You don't need to be so formal, Uncle James." Vanyaa pouted.

The gate actually led directly to the obsidian exchange, only known to its members and some VVIP customers.

Although her mother never let her exit the outside world alone. She sometimes did take her out.

Vanyaa had actually visited Obsidian Exchange many times, and she already knew most of them.

All of its members treated her like a family, and Vanyaa was no different.

Obsidian Exchange was her second home.

The man called James just smiled softly but didn't respond.

His eyes then wandered towards Alden, who just stood beside Vanyaa cluelessly.

James' eyes sharpened as he looked at Alden.

Well looked would be an understatement; he was literally drilling holes through Alden.

"And who is this young man, Ms Vanyaa?" James asked again; his voice was soft but sharp.

He looked ready to dispose of Alden if Vanyaa said anything wrong.

Alden could feel cold sweat on his back.

This James guy was by no means weak. He was at least at Master Rank or perhaps even higher.

Don't say anything weird.

Don't say anything weird.

Alden prayed in his mind repeatedly.

Vanyaa, unbeknownst to Alden's inner turmoil, looked at Alden once, then again at Uncle James.

Her expressions were serious.

And her mind?

It was short-circuited.

She didn't know how to lie.

Her mouth opened, closed, and opened again.

"I, um... he's... well—he's kind of my... master?"

Silence.

James' soft expression turned ice cold as soon as he heard Vanyaa. An unbelievable amount of aura mixed in with bloodlust erupted out of him.

Alden didn't even blink.

I'm fucked, aren't I?

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