Right before Ivan killed the two.
What if I leave and they kill my family? What if they destroy the house? They could kill Koji, Livy, and Mei...
Ivan may have seemed calm on the outside, but he was sweating in anxiety on the inside. His mind kept projecting tons and tons of horrible possibilities into his mind; in truth Ivan was slightly insane.
The thoughts wouldn't stop until he came to the conclusion that they both had to be killed, while yes he could just injure them, what if they come back? What if they want to take revenge? What if they target Mei?
These questions and many more popped into his mind as he was deciding on whether to kill or spare them.
His fingers twitched with killing intent now, although he was usually very reserved and quiet, on the inside he was more insane than anyone in the house.
Just the possibility of any of his previous questions becoming true was enough to drive him mad; it filled him with utter hatred for the two Midstreamers that he still knew relatively nothing about.
Not only that, but Ivan enjoyed killing. Yes, he enjoyed it. He may refuse to admit it to himself at times, but it was undeniable; the thrill of cutting down someone of his own level, proving his superiority to them; making them into trash on the side of the road.
After the slaughter.
He breathed heavily, trying to calm his mind but was now assaulted by many new worries.
I can't let them find out, not Mei, not Koji, no one... What if they hate me? What if they discover my thirst for killing? What if they don't understand? What if they abandon me? No, no, no!
Ivan grabbed his face with both of his hands, wanting to pull his skin out at the thoughts invading his mind.
"It's all your fault!"
He slammed his foot down on both of the dead heads that rolled to his feet; if not for them fighting here and causing his mind to run wild, then he would not have been in this situation.
Of course, deep down he knew that only he himself was to blame.
He sent out a Zelit, this Zelit was for storing things. It would absorb them into it and then to take the items out you could use your own Velsit and transfer the energy to a Relic.
The Zelit popped out, sent out rays of light and asborbed the two dead bodies, along with any blood spilt or parts cut off. This Zelit was specially made for covering up scenes of crime, of course the kingdom used it to clean the area when there was a murder. So as a castle guard, naturally Ivan had one.
But now he was using it to clean up his own murder. Of course, anyone who had Relics that had effects of investigating would be able to tell what happened here. So Ivan sent out a Relic, this Relic was a time Relic. It was extremely rare and could revert the essence of an area back to it's original state, which he did to wipe away any essence of violence that could be discovered.
That's right, there was another type of essence other than Xin. This essence was essentially the state of an environment, like an aura. If the environment was in a peaceful state, you could tell by observing the essence. Certain Relics can observe past states of essence, but Ivan didn't have to worry about this because these Relics were extremely rare and the kingdom would only hire Transcendents who used these to solve extremely important crimes.
The killing of two Midstreamers was not nearly enough for this to be called for, so Ivan was safe.
He tried to calm down now. Because he had to make up an excuse for what happened here, which may not be easy. His best option was to say that a beast came by and he destroyed the area trying to kill it, but eventually it escaped.
So he did that.
'When is Ivan gonna be back? What even happened out there?'
Koji was still sat at the dinner table, now extremely curious about what was happening outside.
The aura of the house was now serious, with hints of worry and curiosity spread throughout all of their minds.
"It should be okay, whatever it is your father can handle it."
Mei lightly smiled, concealing her own worry and comforting Koji and his sister.
"Are you sure mom?"
Livy had an extremely worried expression; she really loved her father and would not be able to handle him getting hurt.
"Yes, your father is more than capa-"
But she was cut off, because everyone saw Ivan walk back in. His white hair was roughed up, his uniform was covered in scratches and dirt.
"It was a beast, I wasn't able to kill it. But I was able to make it run off, we'll be okay."
He was breathing heavily, as if he was extremely exhausted. Of course, all this was an act.
"Ivan, are you okay!?"
Mei instantly got up from her seat to check on her husband; he looked like absolute shit!
She put her soft hand on his cheek and rubbed it gently; she was extremely concerned.
"I'm okay, I'm not injured."
He gently took her hand off of his cheek, kissing it then letting it down.
"Still, you should at least get some rest..."
Mei's worries were not yet resolved, she would not just stand there to see her husband in such a pitiful state of being.
"Okay, okay. I'll go rest."
Ivan reluctantly agreed, of course this was also part of his act. He limped over to the bedroom, his demeanor giving off a pitiful and exhausted vibe.
'A beast attacked our house, and he barely chased it away?'
Koji's thoughts started to run wild after hearing this; he had not yet felt any suspicion towards his fathers explanation.
'At least he came back alive; that could have been horrible. But, I do wonder what type of beast it was and how strong it was, so I should ask him later about that.'
He was very curious, after all he had never seen a beast with his own eyes before; he had only heard some stories about them. So naturally they interested him a good bit.
'It must have been very strong to escape him.'
Koji knew his father was somewhat powerful, although he didn't know the full scope of his abilities he still could make some inferences.