Corrupt Creations

"How... How did you discover that I was standing there, even though I was hidden from your sight?" 

Seth and Elyra were already inside a particular room, protected by a barrier made with Profound Mana energy. 

When Seth heard her question, he was finally able to sigh in relief. It turns out that she was questioning him about the gazes he gave her, when she was hidden by her Profound Mana in that building earlier. 

"Miss Elyra, are you sure you aren't misunderstanding anything? I don't recall seeing or discovering you anywhere." 

"You can cut the crap. If you weren't a Mana Control cultivator at such a young age, I could even treat that as a coincidence, but when a lightning strikes twice on the same place that is no longer possible. I don't think that a person as talented as you are, would call that, a simple coincidence at all, since you looked towards me twice, right?" 

"So, lady Elyra is very preceptive, huh? I can confirm it to you... That your disguise does not work on me." 

Elyra looked towards him with a serious countenance. 

"How are you able to do it?" 

"Hm, I don't seem to remember how I did it." Seth feigned ignorance. 

Elyra was about to use her strength to "convince" Seth, but she decided to use another strategy. She came from a merchant family and knew how to deal with these kinds of situation. 

"So, you do not remember... I wonder if is there anything that could make you remember." 

Seth's eyes lit up. He was dealing with a very intelligent person. 

"I need two very simple things; you can even call it two simple conditions. First, I want you to let me choose whatever I want from your family treasury." 

Elyra's eyebrows creased, but she didn't say anything.

"Second. I want to know the real reason behind your curiosity, since I don't believe in coincidences just like you." 

"I can bring you to the family treasury, however, I will only allow you to choose a single item. As for your second condition... That is indeed possible, but you will need to join the Secret Security Unit as my assistant." 

"Secret Security Unit? What is it?" 

"I can't explain it to you right now. Do you agree with that? Actually, if you agree, I can give you two more items from my family treasury outside of the one you choose." 

Seth realized that her last proposition was what she really wanted. She was even giving him two more items from her family treasury in order to recruit him. He didn't know what the Secret Security Unit really was or what it really did, but he had an idea. 

'Hm... There are still ten to twelve days until the Wild Games finally begins... It may be better to work at her side than to pass my days doing nothing inside this mansion. Actually, it may not be that bad to work beside such a beauty.' 

"I will join that Secret Security Unit that you talked about." 

"Very well. Since it is like that, you can call me Elyra from now one. I am a captain of the Secret Security Unit and the daughter of the leader of the Allakiir family, Thellor." 

"My name is Seth, but I'm sure you already know about it." 

"Seth, tell me, how did you see through my ability?" 

"It's very simple, you are able to deviate the light and blend your body in the environment, but you can't mask your aura." 

"..." 

"Before you tell me it is a nonsensical talk, and that high level cultivators can hide their aura from weaker ones, I will directly cut that general knowledge of yours apart. What every single person think is not often the truth. What you lack of understanding, is the method." 

"Method? Which method?" 

"What do you do, when you are checking another person's aura or strength?" 

"I use my own aura to scan the person and feel their energy." Elyra answered Seth. It seemed that somehow, she turned into a student of Seth. 

"And, what do you do to hide yourself like you did earlier?" 

"I use my energy to cover me whole body, deviating the light and making it impossible that the scan ability of another practitioner weaker than me, effectively works." 

"That is right. But what I have to tell you is that what you are doing in both of them, is to use your own energy to overpower another. Not a single time you were trying to make your presence vanish, only to mask it with power." 

Elyra realized where Seth wanted to get. It was really impressive of him to notice those things, however in her point of view it would change nothing, since he was weaker than her and it shouldn't be possible for him to discover her. 

"Then why and how are you able to see me?" 

"Ahaha. That is just what I said earlier. The method that I use is not the same as yours. I'm not trying to overpower your energy with mine. I was just trying to sense it." Seth said the partial truth. He would never reveal the secret behind his technique, just like he knew that Elyra would never reveal her real motives for wanting to know about it so easily. 

"Sense it? Which method are you using to sense it?" 

"That is a good question." Seth tone pretty much told her that he wouldn't reveal it at all. 

Elyra didn't try to ask anything further than that, hut it should be known that it was practically impossible to sense her position without being stronger than her. That is why Soul Sense was so overpower. 

"Now it's your time to tell me why are you inviting me to the Secret Security Unity." 

"I need your abilities." 

"You need my abilities?" 

"I am in the middle of an operation, searching for some people. Your ability to sense an individual, even though he is a Profound Mana Realm cultivator will help me a lot." 

"I see. So, who are you searching for?" 

"I can't tell you that, because even I don't know who they are." Elyra was telling a half-truth too. She really didn't know who those people were, but she knew they were humans. However, she chose to not inform him about that. 

"How do you plan to find them?" Seth asked interested. 

"I'm currently following some clues left behind by their members. I plan to investigate a bit more of those clues tomorrow. You will follow me to that place." 

"I see." 

"Sigh... Since we are done here, follow me, I will lead you to the treasury." 

"Alright." 

Elyra guided Seth through the mansion, passing by a lot of different corridors. 

She had invited Seth to the Secret Security Unity since she was suspicious of him. He was a strange person that appeared in a very suspicious time inside the Ereinrith city. Such an oddity could not be left aside, so it would be better to keep an eye on him from up close. 

After passing by many rooms, littered with defensive formations, they finally arrived at a room protected by a very strong formation. Seth felt that using his strength alone, would be impossible to destroy that formation. It was powered by the strength of many Profound Mana Realm cultivators. 

Elyra disabled the formation without too much trouble, entering inside that room together with Seth. 

After entering, Seth was welcomed by many different and powerful auras from the various items stashed inside. 

Elyra sent her Mana towards the deeper parts of the room and made a motion with her hand. Two different items flew from the end of the room towards her, stopping and hovering in front of Seth. 

"Just like I promised you. Those are the two items that I will be giving you." She seemed to be laughing a little bit. 

Seth took the items that were hovering in the air with a very strange expression. The first item was a white mask that covered his whole face and the other one was a pair of fake ears. The mask was strangely familiar for him. He saw a similar one, on the mysterious elf he met on the forest. 

'A scam! This is a scam! Holy shit!' 

Seth thought he would be receiving two good items from Elyra, but it turned out that she baited him with numbers.

"What the heck is this? Heh, are these things even useful?" 

"Heh, don't judge a book for its cover. That mask is a gift we received from the royalty a very long time ago. It is able to hide your face from even Profound Mana peak-stage experts. You are going to need that to do the Secret Security Unit job. As for the fake elf ears, it is just a souvenir, so people won't treat you badly for being a human. I hope you accept it, since they are gifts from my heart." 

Seth was speechless, he didn't dare to believe he was baited with these useless items. 

'Damn it!' 

Elyra looked at Seth and saw that there was a fiery light deep inside his eyes.. She was certain that he would try to get it back at her somehow.