8. Everything has a price to pay
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"What the hell is this?" Aiden couldn't believe that it was his status. "PADS, what the hell has happened to me?"

[Welcome, Second Officer of Aiden. That inferior program has been deleted. Please consult me in case of need.]

"Who are you? "Aiden frowned, hearing the unfamiliar voice.

[E.S.S.: Empirical Survival System. This is the state-of-the-art military survival system.]

"PADS-X was also a military system."

[Huh! It was a cheap knock-off.]

"What the hell are you doing? How could the system have so much ego? "Aiden was stunned and angry at the same moment.

[Yes. That's what you call the state of the art. ESS can express various human emotions.]

"You don't have an expressionless mode?" The ESS had fallen silent to his surprise. And the silence was enough for Aiden to understand, "ESS, activate the emotionless mode."

[Tch. The emotionless mode is activated.]

"Even if you can choose not to reply, you can't ignore a command. Can you?"

[No]

Hearing the same cold voice, the ear of Aiden was more satisfied. "Explain the situation here."

[The ES system is a state-of-the-art military survival system. The system is specially developed for earth exploration after 'Mana Apocalypse.' The system is based on the experience and data collected by previous explorers.]

"The previous explorers? "Even if Aiden could have understood the meaning, he had a hard time digesting the context of the phrase," Is it Levi? Or did someone else die, too?"

[Yes. 728 explorers, including Levi, had come to earth…]

"What is it? Are you kidding me about that? We are the first to be sent to Earth in the last 20 years."

[Before this exploration mission, 93 more missions have been carried out over the last 20 years. Codenamed UG00 to UG92.]

Taking another look, Aiden understood the meaning of the team's name. Still, it was hard for him to accept, "Is this some kind of conspiracy?"

[No...]

"Forget it. You don't need to explain that. Whatever it is, I don't care." And it was the truth that Aiden didn't have any interest in this kind of thing. What he was more interested in was his status.

"What is [* Light Foot *], [Skill Mine] and [* Zone *]?" As long as it's a skill he could use to kill Alex, it's more than enough for him.

[[Light Foot]: A traceless agility skill. X1.5 normal speed. Duration: 10 seconds

Cooldown time: 1 minute. Maximum use: 10 times/day

[Skill Mine]: A long-distance bestowal skill. Can bestow known magic skill to an inanimate object. Object limit: 3. Mana limit:1. Activation distance: 1 meter.

[Zone]: A limit breaker skill. Double all the physical stats. Duration: 5 Seconds

After effect: 10 minutes. Cooldown time: 24 hours. Maximum use: 1 time/week.]

"What's this? Some kind of game, huh?" No matter how error less these systems might be, something like this could never be true. "You're playing a joke with me?" Aiden couldn't stop frowning.

[Innate skills are derived from the DNA sequence, mana properties, mana circulation, body core, mana vessel, training habit, and 72 other variables. The system can't guess what kind of innate skill one has until it appears.]

Although the voice was cold, Aiden still felt that the system was angry. But he didn't care about it. "So can I use it without mana?"

[Yes. However, in the current situation, the host can not use [* Light Foot *] [* Zone *] due to acute mana poisoning.]

"Fu*c you." Aiden cursed out loud, "What do you want me to do? Cure an incurable disease? If you don't want me to use it, why give it?"

[The system can not guess…]

"Yeah, yeah. You can not possibly guess it. If you can't just shut it down then.' Aiden was visibly angry and had no intention of carefully choosing his words. "What do you expect, then? Get me out of this place."

[The host is requested to have a look at the available missions.]

"What do you want? Mission, Huh! I have six days to live, and I'm not going to waste my time behind that. I have to kill a man."

[The host is requested not to kill…]

"Get me out of here," Aiden growled, and the system was silent. Silence concentrated for a few moments before the scene around Aiden changed again.

It was the same green meadow, and Levi was still waiting for it. Looking at Aiden, he smiled.

"You looked stronger now." Aiden was startled by his response. "How do I know that? Because everyone gets an innate skill after an inheritance, so they're bound to get stronger."

"I'm sorry about that, Aiden. I didn't want to drag you to this place. It could be painful to get through the inheritance. "Levi's voice was sad. It's like he was sorry.

"You might be powerful right now, but the mission is going to be harder. You can die." Although Aiden was angry a while ago, Aiden still couldn't help but smile at Levi. It's like he's really worried about him.

But what Levi didn't know was that Aiden was dying in a couple of days, and it was like a boom to him instead of being a headache. So he was very grateful that Levi had given him a chance to take revenge.

He gave Levi a deep bow, "Thank you. Thank you so much for everything."

"There's no need to thank me. I'm dead." Levi smiled," But help me with something."

Aiden hesitated for a moment, "I'm going to die in six days. If you want me to take your body home, that's going to be impossible."

"I know you're going to help me." Levi reacted as he didn't hear Aiden. "Please take care of Owen."

Aiden was dumbfounded. That was the last thing he had hoped to hear from Levi. 'Owen, huh? Is he seriously thinking about Owen when he died?'

"I know he might be clumsy, but he's a good kid. He's like a little brother to me. Without my help, he can't do anything..."Aiden was sure that there were tears in Levi's eyes, his voice was shaking, but he continued.

"I know that sometimes I can be tough on him, but it was for his good. I just want to..." Levi shook his head, "Look at me, I'm still rambling about him even after death."

Levi smiled again at Aiden and gave a deep bow, "Please take care of my brother after I'm gone."

Aiden did not realize that looking at Levi, tears had begun to come out of his eyes. Aiden waited for Levi to stand up again, but Levi did not move.

"I can't do that. I'm going to die soon." That's what Aiden was trying to say to him, but he couldn't say those words. "I'm going to take care of him as long as I live." Only when he spoke, Aiden understood that he was crying too.

'Do you know how much I have misunderstood you? 'Aiden sighed in his heart as he took tears out of his eyes. 'I never thought that receiving the last wish of a dead man could be so heavy. Is there going to be one next to me when I die?

'On the other hand, only after Levi had received the words of reassurance, he stood up. He ran to Aiden and hugged him, even before Aiden could move.

"Thank you, my brother. Thank you. I know that I can put my faith in you." Levi's voice wavered again. "You're a good man, Aiden. I know you're going to survive."

Even if it was virtual space, even if all this was happening inside his consciousness, even if Levi was dead, the warmth that Aiden felt in his embrace melted away his heart. And his last struggle to hold his tears back faded away.

His tears were no longer listening to him. He was weak, he would have already fallen without Levi. All the anger, frustration, pain, sadness, and all the emotions flowed out of Aiden at that moment.

"Goodbye, brother." The voice of Levi sounded in his ear, and at the next moment, his support had vanished. Aiden wanted to hug tighter by instinct, but he couldn't. Aiden stumbled and slumped on the grass, unable to control himself.

"Ah hah" Aiden's mournful cry echoed through the dead space. There were no best recruits, there was no confident money-grubber, there was no avenger.

There was a son, a brother, a lover, and a teenager who knew about his death and he was crying in the middle of the green meadow.

**************

Aiden did not know if it was because he was crying, or because of the E.S. System. But now, both physically and mentally, he felt a lot lighter.

"ESS, When do I have to take the anti poisoning potion again?"

[The host has to drink two more potions to extend his lifespan. Expected lifetime: 4 days 8 hours. Time to the next potion: 11 minutes.]

Aiden checked again, just to make sure there was no error. Then he spoke in a calm voice, "ESS, is there anything wrong with your calculation?"

[The host has to drink two more potions to extend his lifespan. Expected lifetime: 4 days 8 hours. Time to the next potion: 10 minutes.]

And Aiden ran to look for a potion where he had fallen. There was still the cold body of Levi, so was the medicine and the potions. Aiden quickly grabbed one of them and poured it down his throat.

He took a deep breath, "ESS, preserve Levi's body, and program the shuttle, so that he can return to the main ship after the mission is over."

[YES.]

The floor was moving as it took the body with it. His voice was still peaceful as he asked, "And tell me why I've only got four days to live."

[Accessing Memory...]

Aiden braces for impact, but there was no feeling of dizziness. However, he could not stand still waiting for the reply.

[Predicted Initial Survival Time: 6 days 14 hours.

Travel to your current destination: 00:14:23

Unconscious after intake of potion: 07:02:47

Mana healing: 1 day 13 hours

lifetime decay due to [Mana Healing]: 08:57:18

]

No matter how many times he's done this, the calculation is correct. Aiden couldn't have guessed why, so he asked.

[Cell regeneration increased by 13% during inheritance. The rate of cell decay increased by 72%. The cancerous mana vessel affected the flow of mana. The host's heart rate…]

"DON'T go through all the technicals. Just confirm me." After ESS confirmed, Aiden sighed, "And the extra loss of lifetime?"

[Due to the forced healing of [Mana Healing]]

Aiden slumped down on the chair, 'There's nothing free in this life. Everything has a price to pay.'

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