Chapter 232: (Edited)Chapter 232. Motivations

"I definitely have to. It will be nice to have a talk with her. She was honestly someone I looked up to. I heard a lot of rumors about how talented she was in alchemy at the time," Cosmo said.

"She’s engaged to Wembley," Aiden said.

"Oh, then that explains why Aiden can request legendary Rank 3 poisons from her," Eleanor said.

"Yeah," Aiden replied.

"You guys can reveal yourselves."

The moment Aiden spoke, some of the expert Rank 3 warriors who were supposed to guard Aiden from the shadows revealed themselves to the group.

Everyone looked at them.

They nodded to them. The guards nodded back and disappeared.

After that, the group talked about some mundane things.

After that, the parents of Aiden’s friends, and Cosmo and Pamela, left the house and headed towards their respective villas.

Meanwhile, in Aiden’s villa...

Currently, the six friends were seated on the ground in the living room.

They were currently watching the anime Aiden was watching earlier.

"I have to admit, I now understand why you nerds watch these things," Luke said. He was finding the anime interesting.

The current scene was very emotional. The main character’s mentor, called All Strength, was fighting a super villain on his last legs, and the whole world was watching on TV. It was a very emotional scene.

"Dude, this anime is peak," Asmodeus said.

"I decided to actually recommend it to you," Aiden replied.

"Heh, if he doesn’t love these things, who will?" Seraphina said.

"What’s your problem with anime?" Desmonda said. "The lessons you learn from these shows are more than the sensual movies you, Seraphina, are always watching."

"Thank you, my good lady," Asmodeus and Aiden said at the same time.

Luke couldn’t help but roll his eyes. These bastards were really far gone.

"Do they teach you how to satisfy our Lodgekeeper over there?" Seraphina said.

"Wow... that was too much, Seraphina," Candice said from the side. She paused typing on her phone and shook her head.

"Yeah, that was too much," Luke said.

"Totally. You went too far," Asmodeus said.

"No offense... no offense," Desmonda said.

"Empty barrels make the most noise, babe, don’t mind her," Aiden said with a sly grin.

Since Seraphina wanted to trash talk his woman, he wouldn’t spare her.

Everyone had an oh expression on their face.

"Dude, you were supposed to be the gentleman of the group," Asmodeus said.

"Yeah, what the hell happened to being polite?" Seraphina said. "Calling me an empty barrel. Ask Asmodeus here if I’m not good..."

"Hehe... looks like I need to tread carefully," Candice said. "Aiden is around now. We can’t bully Desmonda like we used to."

"Indeed we can’t," Luke said.

Aiden had a sly smile on his face.

"What are they talking about?" Aiden whispered into the ear of Desmonda, who was currently lying on his chest.

"These guys, because they are all older than me, they always bully me..." Desmonda said.

Everyone looked at her with shocked expressions. What sort of lies was she cooking up now?

A playful, sly, cold expression flashed through Aiden’s eyes.

"Guys, I think it’s been a while since we sparred. How about we all head to the training hall in my building for a quick sparring session?" Aiden said.

Everyone, excluding Desmonda, felt shivers crawl up their spines.

This bastard... he wanted to use training as an opportunity to beat them up...

They all looked at Desmonda, who had a smug smile on her face.

"Babe, how about you start with Asmodeus, since he’s the strongest among us?" Desmonda said.

"No, I’m okay... thank you..." He looked at Desmonda with a what the fuck are you trying to do expression on his face.

"Is she trying to get me beaten up? This guy is a Rank 3 warrior. Even if he doesn’t use his affinity, I will be cooked. Also, he’s a combat genius. It will be a one-sided beat down," Asmodeus thought.

"This is for shoving me aside earlier." Desmonda stuck out her tongue.

Asmodeus gave her a screw you sign.

"I insist. We never had the opportunity to spar in the past." Aiden stood up. "It will be beneficial for all of us."

The expression in his eyes proved that he was not willing to back down.

"No... we are good, Aiden," Seraphina said.

"Yeah, you are our combat instructor anyway. Classroom lessons will be enough." Luke nodded.

"I think I need to check into my room now... Babe, you coming...?" Asmodeus said.

"Yeah, you are right... we need to deal with that thing..." Seraphina stood up.

"Now that you mentioned it, Luke and I also have some business to deal with..." Candice stood up, beads of sweat trickling down her face. No one wanted to spar with Aiden. They knew sparring with a monster like him would be beneficial, but under these circumstances, he clearly wanted to beat them up because Desmonda said they had been bullying her...

Was this how pampered siblings made the other siblings feel?

"Heheh." Aiden shook his head. He looked at Desmonda.

"Babe, it’s alright. Let them off," Desmonda said.

"Alright..." Aiden said and sat down.

This witch...

Everyone thought. She was explicitly making it clear that she wanted Aiden to beat them up.

Well, they had bullied her a bit... but was she not going too far...?

The place was quiet for a moment.

Then, everyone erupted into hearty laughter.

"Did you see the look on your faces?" Aiden’s hands were shaking.

"Hehehe. Dude, that was not fair. You didn’t even listen to our side of the story. What happened to bros before..." Candice stopped talking.

Everyone was looking at her. She realized that she was a lady, and what she was saying didn’t make sense in context...

"Pfft... hahaha... what the hell was that, Candice?" Desmonda laughed.

"Seriously, a lady saying bros before hoes?" Luke said. "Wow, there’s a first for everything."

"Babe, you are supposed to defend me." Candice pinched him.

"Ouch..." Luke screamed.

"But seriously, guys, what do you all want to do in the future if, let’s say, you have reached the pinnacle of your strength?" Asmodeus asked.

"Hmmm... I don’t know if there will come a time where I’m strong enough to a point where I won’t care about anything happening because nothing can harm me or those I care about..." Luke said. "But if I ever get to such a place and I can laze around with nothing to do, I will start a restaurant..."

"Well, I will open an animation studio if I ever get to such a realm of strength," Asmodeus said.

"I plan on becoming a dance teacher. It’s just so fascinating. When I dance, I feel so joyful," Seraphina said.

"I will become a professional gamer, and write novels" Desmonda said.

"Wow... I have always wanted to start a clothing line..." Candice said.

Everyone looked at Aiden.

What was this guy gonna do... after he got all the power he wanted...?

"I will start a family with Desmonda, and focus on raising our children. I will give them the best life they deserve and I will allow them to pursue their own paths and desires," Aiden said.

Everyone was quite taken aback by his response.

Obviously, they would all settle down one day. It was a given. Candice would settle with Luke, Asmodeus with Seraphina, and Aiden with Desmonda. After all, none of them were in their relationships just for fun. They were all cultivating something meaningful.

It was just that they had deemed that a phase of life that was bound to happen.

But Aiden had given strong priority to that aspect of his life. They were already aware that his primary goal of cultivation was to have eternal autonomy through power, so that himself, and those he cared about, would not be compelled by force into a path they didn’t want to walk.

But to think that when he stood at the peak, what he wanted was to focus on just being a father, a husband, and raising his kids with love.

Warmth flashed through their eyes, especially Desmonda’s.

"Why are you all looking at me like that?" Aiden asked.