Chapter 17

Irene eventually accepted the money, but she insisted that she would repay it in the future. Of course, just like Ruth, Irene dismissed Icarus' earlier comment as a joke and didn't take it seriously. The richest person in Dalsoria? How wealthy would someone have to be to hold that title? Ordinary people couldn't even begin to imagine it. After giving the money to Irene, Icarus left home and headed toward the vegetable garden at the back of the hill. Soon, he saw the luxurious limousine parked at the garden's entrance. "Someone's here again?" Icarus frowned slightly and walked forward. A well-dressed couple stepped out of the car, followed by two bodyguards. "Who are you? What are you doing here? You're not planning to steal my vegetables, are you?" Icarus asked, his frown deepening. "Hello, we're the parents of Melinda Johanson. Are you the one who saved our daughter's life?" Damien asked with a smile. Melinda had told them that her savior was a young man with a somewhat lackadaisical demeanor. The man before them certainly fit that description. "Melinda?" Icarus recalled the events from a few days ago. Leila replied, "We came to express our gratitude. Sir, you saved our daughter's life. Please allow our family to repay you for your great kindness—" Icarus cut her off, "Enough. Your idea of repaying me is probably just giving me some money. Well, I'm not interested in money. You can leave now." Damien and Leila exchanged a glance, finding Icarus' behavior a bit odd. They found it perplexing that there would be someone who wasn't interested in money. "If that's the case... What do you like, then? If it's within the capabilities of our family, we'll do our best to fulfill it," Damien offered. Their family had a long-standing tradition of repaying kindness. They felt obligated to repay the favor since they had found the person who saved Melinda. "What do I like? Inner cores of demon beasts. I doubt you'd even heard of them," Icarus said with a sigh while turning to walk into his vegetable garden. "Inner core… of demon beasts?" Damien frowned, as the term sounded kind of familiar. Leila whispered, "I remember a few years ago during Maxwell's birthday, a mystic arts expert from the North gave him a gift box. The items inside were called inner cores or something—" "Are you sure you're not mistaken?" Before Damien could respond, Icarus suddenly dashed over to Leila. He moved so fast that the two bodyguards behind the couple were so startled that they nearly drew their weapons. "Are you sure they were demon beasts' inner cores?" Icarus asked urgently. "I-I only remember the term 'inner core.' I don't know if it's the same as what you're talking about," Leila replied. "Take me to your house to have a look," Icarus demanded. Damien and Leila were taken aback. Just a moment ago, Icarus had seemed flippant and impatient. Now, he was suddenly eager and excited about the possibility of securing a demon beast's inner core. It was indeed surprising. Nevertheless, they were pleased that Icarus was willing to accept their gratitude. "Alright, sir. We'll take you to our home now," Damien said. As the limousine drove away, a figure emerged from behind a large tree near the garden. The person took out a phone and made a call. "Ms. Young, the Johansons have taken target with them." ... 40 minutes later, Icarus arrived at the Johanson residence. The Johanson's residence was located by the seaside, offering a view far superior to that of the Talbot residence. Nevertheless, it was much smaller in size. But Icarus had no time to admire the scenery. The moment he got out of the car, he urged Damien to bring out the demon beast's inner core. Five minutes later, Icarus sat in the Johanson family's hall, sipping a cup of coffee handed to him by a maid. Damien came downstairs holding a wooden box in his hands. Even before Damien reached, Icarus could already sense its presence. It was indeed a demon beast's inner core! This excited Icarus greatly. It had been nearly ten years since he last consumed one. Damien placed the wooden box in front of Icarus, who immediately opened it. Inside was a deep brown, fist-sized orb. Judging from the energy it gave off, this was the inner core of a second-tier demon beast. From its appearance, it had likely been stored for a long time. "That mystic arts expert told us to grind this inner core into powder and consume it to strengthen our bodies. But we thought that was an odd thing to do, so we never went ahead with his suggestion," Damien explained. "Good thing you didn't grind it into powder. That would've been a terrible waste," Icarus said, picking it up. Though it was the inner core of a mere second-tier demon beast, it was a gift from the heavens to Icarus. He couldn't wait to consume it. "This inner core will be my reward for saving your daughter," Icarus said to Damien. "No problem, Mr. Frye. After all, we wouldn't have..." Damien began, but before he could finish, Icarus had already popped the fist-sized inner core into his mouth and swallowed it whole. Damien and Leila exchanged shocked glances. "Ah, that feels good," Icarus said contentedly as the inner core dissolved within him, releasing a surge of spiritual energy that was quickly absorbed by the Elixir Field in his body. As Icarus looked at the astonished Damien and Leila, he suddenly realized something he hadn't considered before. While demon beasts were scarce in the world today, their inner cores might not be that hard to come by. It was possible that many demon beasts' inner cores had ended up in the hands of families like the Johanson family. Most people nowadays didn't recognize the true value of these inner cores, so collecting them shouldn't be too difficult. If he could gather 100 or so, it would greatly enhance his cultivation. The thought of this possibility filled Icarus with excitement. "Mr. Johanson, I have a favor to ask of you." ... After leaving the Johanson residence, Icarus returned to the underdeveloped neighborhood. When he was two alleys away from home, he noticed a girl standing still in front of a wall with a backpack on her back. From the girl's figure and backpack, Icarus could tell it was Luna. He checked the time—it was already 7:10 pm. Hadn't Irene said that Luna would be home by 6:30 pm? Why was she still wandering around at this hour? Icarus walked over and tapped Luna on the shoulder. This startled Luna, who visibly jolted and quickly turned around. When she saw that it was Icarus, she sighed in relief. Under the streetlight, Icarus noticed a red handprint on Luna's left cheek, which was slightly swollen. Her eyes were also red and puffy. She had clearly been crying. "Icarus, what are you doing here?" Luna asked softly, quickly lowering her head to hide the handprint on her face. "I just got back after taking care of something. What about you? Why aren't you home yet when it's so late? Didn't the rehearsal end a long time ago?" Icarus asked. "I-I went out with some classmates after the rehearsal, so I got home late," Luna replied. "Okay. Then why are you standing here? Ms. Webb thought you would be home by 6:30 pm. She's probably worried sick about you now," Icarus said. "I… I…" Luna fidgeted nervously, unsure of what to do. Icarus patted her on the shoulder and said, "Come on. Tell me who slapped you." Luna trembled and looked up with teary eyes, but she shook her head. "N-No one slapped me..." "If you tell me, I promise I won't tell Ms. Webb. On top of that, I can even make the handprint on your face disappear," Icarus persuaded. Luna looked at Icarus, and more tears welled up in her eyes. Finally, she couldn't hold it in any longer and hugged Icarus, sobbing and letting out all her grievances. Through her choppy recounting that was occasionally punctured by sobs, Icarus pieced together what had happened. Luna had been chosen to participate in a performance involving students from three different grades. Each grade selected five girls, and Luna was one of the five from the freshman grade. During the first rehearsal that afternoon, a senior who stood in front of Luna kept making mistakes and causing delays. However, she didn't seem to care. She carried on laughing and chatting with her friends. In short, she didn't take the rehearsal seriously. It was getting late. Luna wanted to finish the rehearsal and go home, so she politely asked the senior to focus. "Are you saying I'm wasting everyone's time?" The senior glared at Luna with an annoyed expression. Luna shook her head and explained, "No, I just wanted to finish the rehearsal since it's getting late..." "If you want to finish so badly, why don't you just leave? You don't have to come to the rehearsals anymore!" the senior snapped. Luna was scared but still mustered the courage to say, "That's not what I meant. I just hoped you could take the rehearsal more seriously..." Before Luna could finish, the senior slapped her, knocking her to the ground. "Get out of here! I don't want to see you again!" the senior shouted, pointing at Luna. Then, she started scolding Luna harshly. "Who do you think you are to lecture me? I've been in a bad mood these few days. Now, a freshman thinks she can tell me what to do. You really need to be taught a lesson!" Eventually, some other seniors pulled that angry senior away and told Luna to leave. "Did you do anything to upset that senior before?" Icarus asked. Luna shook her head. "She's in Class 2 of the senior grade. I hadn't even met her before today." Icarus was stunned for a moment—that was his class! "Do you know her name?" Icarus asked with a frown. "I-I think I heard some of the other seniors call her 'Emmy' just now," Luna recalled. "Emmy? What's her last name?" Icarus pressed on. Luna thought for a moment then remembered the name she had heard when the instructor was doing a roll call. "I think her last name is Jackman," Luna said. Jackman? So, it was Emily Jackman. Icarus' eyes turned cold upon hearing that.