Chapter 282: Strong Protective Barrier
Chapter 282
Alex lay on his bed, staring blankly at the ceiling.
For what must have felt like several minutes, he did nothing but watch the boring shadows cast by the curtains move across the room. On the surface he seemed perfectly relaxed, but his mind was occupied with several things he needed to take care of. Reaching Master Realm had solved one problem, but it had also brought a few new ones to his attention.
The first was finding a proper place to live.
His previous house had been destroyed thanks to that bloody bastard, George. The entire building had been reduced to absolutely nothing, so there was nothing really left for him to return to. As a result, he and Celine had been staying in one of Nyx’s mansions, the same place where Doris had been staying at, all this while.
It was a comfortable place, and since it was one of Nyx’s properties there was certainly more than enough room for everyone. However, Alex still wanted a house of his own. He had already planned to buy another property, but finding a suitable one had proven more difficult than expected.
Most of the available houses were either too small, or located in places where the privacy there was practically nonexistent. God knows he did not want curious neighbors watching his every movement, especially considering the kind of people he associated with. He also needed enough space for the women who would eventually be staying with him in the future.
Rather than rush into buying a property he would regret later, he decided to wait until he found something that suited his needs. For now, Nyx’s mansion would have to do.
Since moving there, things have been relatively peaceful. A few high-ranking Bureau personnel had visited, hoping to recruit Doris and Celine into their organization. But in the end all their attempts had gone nowhere.
Doris was someone who was fiercely loyal to Nyx, and so that loyalty was not something she was willing to trade for a position or a collection of benefits. She had served the woman for years, and Alex doubted that even the Bureau could offer her anything worth changing sides for.
Celine was even simpler. She just did not want to work under anyone.
It did not matter how attractive the offer was or how many resources the Bureau promised to provide. She preferred making her own decisions, and joining an organization would only give someone else the authority to interfere with her life.
As for Alex, nobody in the Bureau knew that he had already reached Master Realm. If not, the entire bureau would be shocked greatly.
Only Doris knew the truth. Nyx and Jade should also most likely know about it already, since Jade should have also broken through to Master Realm. Everyone else still believed he was an Ascendant, including Celine.
Strangely enough, that woman had not caused him any trouble despite believing he was still at the same level as before. If anything, their time together had been rather pleasant than before. He had even managed to gain a few pitiful Desire Points and Desire Energy from her.
Alex’s lips curved slightly.
’Not that I’m complaining.’
He was not in a hurry to announce his breakthrough. There was no reason to reveal every card he possessed, especially when he still had quite a bit of enemies. It was better to catch the enemy off guard while they still believed you were the same as before.
Besides, if the bureau catches wind that he was now in Master Realm, they could pull him out of the squad and put him in a much higher position. Not that he was against that, but he still needed to be in the Squad to make people like... Cough... Sylph and Mia his women.
He also needed to decide what to do about George. The man had escaped, and Alex had no intention of allowing him to disappear forever. He was more than confident that with his new strength dealing with that man shouldn’t be hard any more. After all, in the face of absolutely power all schemes and skills were useless.
For now, however, he had other priorities. Nyx and Jade came first, and he wanted to bring them home before dealing with George again. He would not make the same mistake of letting revenge distract him from the people he cared about.
Alex turned his head slightly and looked toward the bedroom door. The mansion was quiet at this hour, though he could hear faint movements from elsewhere in the building. Doris was probably still dealing with her work, while Celine might be resting or doing something on her own.
He had not spent much time talking with either of them since returning from the Training Realm. There had been no urgent reason to disturb them, and he had needed a little time to settle his thoughts after the breakthrough.
He was also curious about how much longer they could keep the Bureau from asking questions. The organization had already shown interest in Doris and Celine, and sooner or later someone would begin wondering why two powerful Awakened staying in the same place were able to break through at the same time to Master Realm.
That was another matter he would deal with when it became necessary.
Alex exhaled and shifted his head against the pillow. He had planned to visit Doris room and ask her about the Von Aurelian family, but other matters had kept pushing the question out of his mind. He also knew she had been busy handling the responsibilities that came with managing Nyx’s affairs while the woman was away.
He was just considering whether to get up and look for her when the door opened unexpectedly.
Startled, Alex turned his eyes, wondering who it was. Only then did he relax after seeing Doris walk inside without bothering to knock again. She closed the door behind her and crossed the room before dropping onto the edge of his bed unceremoniously like she owned the place.
"Sigh. My back is killing me."
Alex raised an eyebrow. "Good afternoon to you too."
"Don’t start." Doris leaned back and placed both hands against the mattress. "I’ve been sitting in that office for hours, going through all those damned reports, calls, and a mountain of paperwork. I swear, if I have to read one more document today, I’m going to throw the entire computer into the sea"
"Yikes, that sounds very... productive."
"Ha-ha, Very funny."
She rolled her shoulders, trying to ease the stiffness in her back. Although she was now a powerful Master Realm Awakened, being powerful did not mean she enjoyed sitting in one position all day. There were limits to how much paperwork even someone like her could tolerate. Aside from that, someone like her would much rather prefer fighting and training to office works that gave her terrible migraines.
"If you’re so stressed out, why don’t you take a little day off to free up your mind and relax?"
"That’s because if I leave everything unattended to even for a day, someone will end up make a mess of it. And then I’ll have twice as much workload tomorrow." She shook her head. "Anyway, that’s not why I came here."
"Then I’m listening."
Doris’s expression gradually became serious. She turned toward him, studying his face for a moment before speaking.
"Now that you’ve officially entered the Master Realm, when are we planning to bring the Boss and her sister back?"
Alex’s relaxed expression softened. He had expected the question sooner or later, and it was not as though he had forgotten about Nyx and Jade.
"I plan to go there soon," he answered. "In fact I’ve even been meaning to ask you something, but it’s always slipped my mind. By any chance do you know where the Von Aurelian family grounds are located?"
"That’s what you wanted to ask me?"
"Yes. as I said It kinda slipped my mind earlier, and you’ve been pretty busy since we arrived here. So I didn’t want to bother you with it."
She gave him a look.
"You do realize you could have just asked, right? I can handle a question while doing paperwork."
"I’ll keep that in mind."
"The Boss actually told me where the Von Aurelian family is located. She mentioned it some time ago, and I remembered because she specifically wanted me to know, because she had long since assumed that it wouldn’t take you long to break through to Master Realm with your ridiculous talent, so she made sure I knew where to find them. She already expected you to come looking for her and Jade once you were strong enough."
Alex’s eyes narrowed slightly as he considered that. Of course she did, after all her brain was second to none.
"So where exactly are they?" he asked.
"The Von Aurelian family stay on a private island that is quite far away. For us to get there We’d have to use the Boss’s private jet."
"That’s not a problem. We can arrange that."
"I figured you’d say that. But getting there isn’t actually the difficult part."
"What do you mean by, isn’t actually the difficult part?"
"Okay so, the Von Aurelian family grounds are on an island, which is kind of a private territory, so it’s reasonable that the family has taken extensive measures to keep outsiders away. Even if we arrive nearby, we can’t simply land the jet and walk into their home, because the entire island is protected by a powerful barrier which prevents unauthorized people from entering. It isn’t something you can just waltz right through."