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Raven’s Changes
“Huh!?” When I entered the Red Skull Gang’s hideout, I saw a shadow charging towards me.
I instinctively extended my hands forward and tensed up my muscles. But when I failed to feel killing intent from the shadow, I relaxed my body.
The next second, I felt a slight weight impacting my chest.
“… You are here.” A soft voice sounded in my chest.
“You are… Raven?” I was slightly surprised.
The one currently hugging me was a petite cat-eared girl. She was wearing an indifferent expression, but her tail was wagging and her ears were twitching in happiness.
How cute.
Today’s Raven was different from yesterday’s Raven. White strands of hair adorned her once completely-black hair. Her cat ears had turned completely white, and her tail was mostly white except for the tip, that was black.
Furthermore, her eyes had acquired a silver tint. If yesterday, Raven was a beautiful black cat, today she seemed like a mystical and holy silvery-black cat.
“… A side-effect of the contract?” I asked.
Raven nodded her head. “Mm. I woke up like this. I think it’s nicer though.”
I smiled. “Yeah, you look nicer this way.”
Raven’s lips curved up slightly.
“How are you feeling?” I asked.
“… Very good. My body feels full of energy.”
“Is it so? Let me see.” I then patted her head and sent a thread of mana inside her body to examine her condition.
Just like I expected, her lifespan problem was resolved. Currently, Raven’s lifespan was as long as mine, after all, we shared life, death, and reincarnation.
Besides that, her cultivation had increased. She had gone from the seventh layer to the eighth layer peak, even higher than Marana. She was just a step away from breaking to the ninth layer.
Moreover, I could feel that her strength was still increasing.
Taking into account that Raven was just 15 years old, then her cultivation speed could be considered as heaven-defying.
Her mana had also become a few times purer, and her body was visibly stronger. The current Raven could be considered as a once-in-a-millennium genius.
I continued examining her body, and when I confirmed that everything was alright, I sighed in relief. “It looks like the contract was useful.”
“Mm… Thanks.”
“It’s nothing. Helping you was also helping myself.”
Raven look into my eyes for an instant and nodded.
At that moment, we heard two sets of footsteps approaching.
“Raven, what happened? Why did you run here suddenly?” A woman’s voice asked from afar, but when she saw the scene of Raven hugging me, her expression changed.
Then, she became furious.
“You bastard! What are you doing to raven!”
Instantly, Akilah unsheathed her rapier and thrust it towards me.
I smiled wryly and prepared myself to parry her attack. But before I could move, someone else moves.
*Clang!* Two daggers blocked the rapier easily.
“R-Raven!?” Akilah was surprised.
“… Stop.” Raven spoke to Akilah indifferently. Her voice, however, was laced with a bit of killing intent.
“W-What?” Akilah shuddered. She then took two steps back and looked at Raven blankly.
But in the next second, her eyes shone in fury and she glared at me.
“Bastard! What have you done to my sister!?”
Powerful mana surged out of her body. Akilah filled her rapier with strength and charged towards me again while avoiding Raven.
Unfortunately for her, Raven was much stronger than yesterday.
Despite Akilah trying to avoid Raven, Raven’s speed was much faster. She faded out into the shadows and reappeared in front of her less than one second later, her daggers ready to attack.
But at the instant when the two were about to clash, someone intervened.
“Stop!” Marana shouted.
Instantly, both Raven and Akilah stopped in their steps.
Marana, who had been too surprised to react, finally realized that the situation was about to turn bad.
Without hesitating, she stepped between Akilah and Raven and stopped them from continuing the fight.
Akilah retracted her rapier and stood behind Marana. Raven, on the other hand, jumped back and stood in front of me with her daggers ready.
Marana frowned. She looked at Raven and then at me and wrinkled her brows.
“Raven, what is happening? Why did you attack Akilah?”
“… She attacked Clark.” Raven replied indifferently.
Marana was taken aback for her answer. Akilah, Raven, and she had been sisters for many years. She could not understand why Raven attacked her sister to protect a stranger.
Moreover, she clearly felt Raven directing killing intent towards Akilah.
Akilah’s expression turned ugly. She looked at me with an expression of hatred and gnashed her teeth. “Tell me, what have you done to Raven? I’ll kill you if something happens to my sister!” She then raised her rapier with the intent of attacking me again.
At the same time, Raven gripped her daggers with even more strength.
I wrinkled my brows. Although I knew why Akilah reacted like this, I was not happy hearing her words.
Marana put on a pondering expression. She stopped Akilah with a hand a looked at me. “Mr. Clark, can you explain what is happening?”
I looked at Marana and smiled. “Are you suspecting me of controlling Raven to attack Akilah?”
Marana did not reply, but her silence was enough of an answer.
I let out a small chuckle and patted Raven’s head. “It’s not like that. Raven and I made a soul contract. As such, our souls are closely interconnected. One of the side-effects of that connection is that we felt very close to the other.
“Of course, such a feeling of closeness is not enough for Raven to attack you. Actually, I’m also curious about the reason she did that.” I said and looked at Raven.
Raven fell silent for a brief instant and looked at me.
“Clark saved my life, so my life is his from now onwards… If someone wants to attack him, that person is my enemy.”
Marana and Akilah were completely stunned. They were not expecting that answer.
Akilah wanted to say something else, but Marana patted her shoulder to calm her down. “We understand, Raven. Sorry about that. Also, Akilah, Mr. Clark is our boss now, so you can’t attack him like that. Apologize.”
Akilah looked at Marana in surprise and opened her mouth to protest. But when she saw Marana’s serious eyes, she retracted her words and bit her lips.
“… I understand. I’m sorry, Mr. Clark.”
I nodded indifferently. “Don’t worry, but I hope this is the last time something like this happens. Next time, I’ll not let it pass so easily.”
Akilah bit her lips unwillingly, but in the end, she nodded.
Seeing that, Raven lowered her daggers and stepped back. Marana twitched her eyes when she saw it, but she was helpless, and a bit suspicious, about Raven’s attitude.
She made sure to not show her suspicion on her face though, and instead put on a business-like expression.
“Mr. Clark, I followed your instructions of yesterday. Do you want to see it now?”
“Wait for a bit. I want to take a bath first. Also, get me something to eat.”
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