My Skills Can Evolve Infinitely in a Game-Like World

Chapter 14: Selene Novaltis

Aurelius was utterly speechless.

He hadn’t expected that he would stumble upon such an event upon his return to Blood Sun City.

Watching the bloodshot gaze of the fallen man and noticing the despair in his eyes, his intuition instantly warned him of danger.

Subconsciously, he couldn’t help but take a few steps back, his figure blending into the alleyway’s darkness.

His reaction soon proved to be correct.

Only a split second later, the wall next to him broke down.

A palm made of dripping red liquid slammed at the spot where he had just stood, carving a giant handprint deep into the ground.

Had Aurelius not moved in time, that blow alone would have been enough to turn him into minced meat.

Still, as he looked at the palm, which swiftly regenerated and "turned" to face him, Aurelius understood he was far from escaping the danger just yet.

Under his stunned gaze, the palm dissolved into blood and fused with the ground. A chill ran down Aurelius’ spine.

The next instant, blood formed on the wall behind him once more and aimed at his back.

Aurelius’ reaction speed, boosted by several upgrades and the Relic he was holding, was superb.

Before the palm could land on him, he lunged forward, dropping to the ground and rolling out of the alleyway.

Ignoring the impact of the shattered chunks of stone behind him, Aurelius regained his balance and lifted his head, coming face to face with the culprit behind everything.

The man’s condition had worsened considerably compared to just moments before.

Yet his eyelids remained wide open, looking at Aurelius with bloodshot, greedy eyes.

Aurelius immediately understood everything.

The palm behind him was a Relic, and the fallen man was controlling it to try and kill him.

He naturally knew neither the reason nor his purpose.

All Aurelius knew was that if he wished to survive, he had to deal with the enemy in front of him before they could deal with him.

Despite the situation, his actions were decisive. A burst of orange flames took form around his hand and gathered into a sphere.

Then, he hurled it at the man.

Level 2 Fireball!

Although it was an ordinary skill, it was still not something a Rank 1 Awakener could possibly take head-on.

Even higher-ranked Awakeners would choose to dodge it.

But the man couldn’t. Given his current state, he could only watch as the fireball drew closer and engulfed him completely.

An agonizing wail echoed from within the erupting flames, though it ended as quickly as it had appeared.

"Killed Level 13 Barbarian. EXP +300"

The chime of a bell rang out.

The bloody palm dissolved before condensing into a crimson gem, allowing Aurelius to breathe a sigh of relief.

At the same time, a wave of emotions washed over him.

This was the first time he had killed another human.

When he was slaying Red Hare Rabbits before, he had done so with peace of mind, knowing that they were bloodthirsty monsters.

Killing them was different from killing another person.

Fortunately, perhaps because he had already prepared himself for this moment, or perhaps because this man had attempted to kill him, Aurelius soon recovered.

The sense of guilt that had just arisen was quickly wiped out.

Moments later, he rose to his feet and carefully approached the crimson gem on the floor.

After ensuring that it hid no danger, he picked it up and stored it within the storage space.

Then, he walked toward what little remained of the man, hoping to find anything of value.

Just as he prepared to lean down, however, a weak voice suddenly reached his ears.

"Sa...save me."

Raising his head, Aurelius was surprised to discover that it came from the second masked party.

The other party had not died even after enduring several punches and kicks.

Aurelius couldn’t help but raise his eyebrows.

Not only because of that, but also because the voice sounded feminine. And, for some unknown reason, he always felt it was quite familiar...

--

Selene’s memories were foggy.

All she could remember was the battle inside the alleyway and her eventual defeat.

As she struggled to open her eyes and found herself in a dimly lit room, standing upright against a wall and bound by metal chains, her worst fears were confirmed.

She had been captured.

More importantly, her mission to bring back the much-needed information to the Blood Temple had resulted in a failure.

Just as she was feeling sorrowful and weighing her next options, the door in the room slowly opened.

Seeing the blurry silhouette of a person stepping through it, despair filled Selene’s heart.

She knew the fate of the cultists’ captives very well.

In a sense, her future fate would be far worse than simply dying.

Yet just as she was hatching a plan to end her life before it was too late, her eyes suddenly widened.

The figure of the other person did not match that in her memories.

Although they both donned a mask and were covered in black clothes, the man before her was slightly leaner and taller.

"I brought you some food." Just as she was analyzing the situation, the man’s hoarse voice rang out, and a plate with food was placed on the nearby table.

The man didn’t bring it any closer. Under Selene’s puzzled gaze, he continued staring at her, his eyes wandering over her body.

What she did not know was that the man—or rather, Aurelius—was even more surprised than she was.

He had never expected that behind the shadowy figure fighting the Barbarian was a person he was all too familiar with: Selene.

As he focused on her silhouette, a prompt emerged above her head.

[Selene Novaltis—Level 11 Assassin]

Perhaps because he already knew her, Selene’s name also appeared clearly along with her Level.

This also confirmed what Aurelius was suspecting.

The girl he had pursued before he awakened his past-life memories was actually a powerful Awakener!

Immediately, Aurelius couldn’t help but curse at himself.

How much trouble had he caused in the past?

Amanda, Selene...

Was there any other female Awakener this useless playboy had provoked?

It took several seconds for him to regain his composure.

He chose not to expose his identity or greet her as a familiar face, but instead maintained a cold persona.

Hiding his face behind the mask, he opened his mouth and spoke...