"I-I can't breathe..."

"M-my lungs are… gasp… gasp… my lungs are freezing."

"Pl-please forgive us for our derogatory remarks… Sir Awakener. There are children in the restaurant as well."

"Tsk!"

I controlled myself and walked out of the restaurant in a pissed mood.

"You made the right decision by stepping back, Mr. Raj," Jasmine said, following closely behind. "We would have faced endless trouble if any of them got injured."

"Jasmine, even when my brother fought for this country, why is his reputation worse than that of a criminal?"

After a brief pause, Jasmine replied, her voice laced with frustration, "It's the doing of Sword King Rudra. He is the guildmaster of the Silver Sword Guild that manages the gates in the north-east part of India. He constantly releases defamatory rumours about the guildmaster to put him down in the public's eyes."

"What the heck does he want to accomplish by doing this?"

"He wants to take over the Black Raven Guild and spread his web towards North India. Since he realised that the guildmaster couldn't break through to S-Rank, he became more arrogant and even offered the guildmaster to become his subordinate. And when the guildmaster refused, he released all those rumours about him being a psychopath and thirsty for blood. The news about your waking from Mana Overload must also be his doing."

"Why hasn't Aryan taken any action against him?" I asked, suppressing my anger.

"Guildmaster doesn't care about the rumours spread about him and stayed silent on the matter."

"Th-that idiotic geezer. Doesn't he know the more he stays silent, the worse these rumours become?" I muttered, clenching my fist. "Jasmine, take me home. I need to talk some sense into my brother's brain."

Jasmine nodded and followed, sweat pouring down her forehead.

"Umm… Mr. Raj, please don't tell the guildmaster that I told you all that or I'll get scolded," she pleaded, her hands joined in request.

"Sure."

---

"Son, h-have you seen the news?" Maa asked worriedly as soon as I reached home.

"Don't worry, Maa. I'm fine," I replied, assuring her before asking, "Has brother returned?"

"Not yet."

Taking a brief pause, she continued, "Aryan might be a bit late tonight. He has gone to the Awakener's Association to take care of this mess."

"So he won't take action when rumours are about him, but made a move when they were about me," I muttered, moving into my room, completely frustrated.

Later that evening, I also got calls from Jay and Leena, making sure I wasn't feeling down due to this news.

I waited for Aryan in the hall, and when he finally returned after midnight, I confronted him as soon as the door opened.

"O little shit, you haven't slept yet?" he asked, removing his shoes.

"Have you seen the news broadcast this afternoon?" I asked, my voice serious.

"Don't feel troubled by it. I've taken care of everything. They won't be broadcasting any news about our family again—that is, if their channel remains by tomorrow."

"And what about the rumours about you?"

"Wh-what are you talking about?" he asked, flustered.

"You know what I mean. The man who always puts the protection of others above himself and risked his life five years ago to save this country is now being mocked as a bloodthirsty psychopath. Why are you staying silent on the matter?" I demanded with a straight, unreadable face.

Sighs… "I don't care what people think about me. If I try to give an explanation, I'll only be feeding these rumours to grow more and get stuck in endless controversy."

"You aren't the only one affected by these rumours. What about Inayat? She is a child now, but when she grows up, do you think there will be kids who want to be friends with the daughter of a psychopath? She will always stay alone and be looked at with gazes filled with fear and hatred."

Aryan couldn't counter me any further. He stayed silent as I lectured him nonstop for the next half an hour.

I only intended to nag at him for a few minutes, but that geezer couldn't stop smiling, which led the scolding session to extend for thirty minutes straight.

---

"Thanks for the lesson, Raj. From now on, I will make sure not to stay silent on the defamatory marks made on me," he replied with a warm smile, tapping my shoulder.

After a moment, Sister Aisha also walked into the house, her face carrying an uncontrollably amused expression.

"S-Sister Aisha!" I stammered.

"Brother Raj, you did the right thing scolding him," she stated. "He really needed that."

"Didn't I tell you that my second son would put him on track once he woke up!" Maa shouted, standing before the railing on the first floor.

"M-Maa, you were also there!" I gasped.

"Shh! Don't speak loudly or Inayat will wake up," Maa said before continuing, "Since everyone is here, let me warm the dinner. Raj also hasn't eaten yet."

After the warm dinner the four of us had together, I returned to my room and fell asleep the instant I reached my bed.

Just as Aryan said, the next day all the articles, videos of that broadcasted news, and posts about me completely vanished. The news anchor also uploaded a video apologising for misleading the people with rumours, revealing that my waking from coma was solely because I was a blessed awakener and that the Black Raven Guild didn't possess any method to cure Mana Overload.

"Power and influence sure are scary!" I gasped, putting down my phone.

The next six days went rather smoothly as I stayed at home for most of the time, completing the daily challenges as they were becoming more and more intense.

On the 14th day since Vivi had given me this challenge, I decided to go outside after completing the challenge.

Reason? I had the speculation that since I got a special challenge on the seventh day, there was a possibility that I might get another special challenge on the fifteenth day as well.

Surely, it would be more difficult than clearing an E-Rank dungeon. So, to properly face this challenge, I needed to prepare myself.

And for this preparation, the most basic thing I needed was a proper weapon.

---

Ring-ring… ring-ring… ring-ring…

Clang!

"Hello."

"Hey, elder brother! I didn't disturb you, right?"

"What do you want, little shit?"

"Agh! So cruel! I called you because I was missing you~"

Beep!

"Huh! Did that geezer just hang up on me?"

Ring-ring… ring-ring… ring-ring…

Clang!

"Hello!"

"Geezer! How dare you hang up on me!? Do you wanna die or something!?"

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