《Dagger》


 1 Allen

    The streets of the Crescent Town, particularly in the marketplace was as busy as ever. It was accommodating merchants from the different regions of the kingdom selling wares, food, and sometimes jewelry; buyers from the town, whether poor or rich; and of course, pickpockets.


    For clarification, there aren''t many pickpockets around these parts, though the marketplace indeed had the most record of them that it even beaten the number in the slums.


    A kid particularly at thirteen years old was tailing a merchant who was pushing a cart, the latter was unaware that he was being followed at broad daylight.


    ''Looks like a newcomer, he should probably have some money on his pockets.'', the kid judged in his mind.


    He slowly shortened the distance between him and the merchant; the former inwardly said, ''What big pocket holes... this is a bit weird, no, I must do it, it''s William''s birthday tomorrow.''


    The kid further shortened the distance between them, as the merchant was about to turn to a corner, the kid managed to pickpocket him in time.


    He then immediately ran and hid at the nearest alley.


    When the merchant already turned around the corner, it checked it''s pockets, to feel that it was devoid of money.


    However, he only smiled under his cap that shadowed up the half of his face and took a pouch full of coins from the cart and poured in some of it to his pockets.


    After which the merchant continued pushing his cart while humming a tune.


    ...


    At the alley, Allen panted, it wasn''t the first time he stole something, as life was harsh, rather, he felt that he was being watched earlier.


    "I''m alone now... huff... stop sweating!", Allen told himself. He then checked how much he got from the merchant and was surprised.


    It was 10 bronze coins! It might sound small amount, but in fact for Allen, it was already a month worth of risky stealing!


    Allen kept the coins in a small pouch and hid it under his shirt; he then climbed the wall of the alley towards the opposite alley and walked away.


    He was going towards his family house at the outskirts, luckily, there was no wall around the town; he sneaked out of the town by going to a grassy yet muddy location and went towards their house at the foot of a hill.


    As he doesn''t have any slippers nor even worn out boots to wear, he washed the mud off his feet on a river on the way.


    When he saw a familiar house on the horizon, he finally relaxed, as there were no patrols in this area, but nonetheless it was still peaceful...


    Rather, only outside the house.


    Before he even got to open the door, Marco, his father, opened it first and looked at him.


    "How much did you steal today?", Marco asked slowly, seemingly drunk while giving out his hand.


    Allen gave the pouch of 10 bronze coins.


    Marco inspected it''s contents and his face changed into anger, "Why is it only this few?"


    "This is how much I could steal for a month, father.", Allen replied hastily as he backed off due to fear.


    "So you''re saying you''ve been hiding this for month?", Marco shouted angrily.


    "No I..."


    "You''re sleeping on the outside tonight! If you dare go in, you will sleep with the grass for a week!", Marco closed the door with a loud bang.


    Allen lowered his head and muttered, "This day can''t get any worse, can it?"


    -rumble-


    A large rumbling from the sky could be heard, afterwards rain fell down to the ground.


    "A storm?", Allen immediately hid under the nearest tree in the vicinity.


    The kid shivered as he tightly crouched himself behind the tree where the raindrops were coming from, however, the wind''s direction was unpredictable and kept changing.


    ...


    The storm didn''t stop until it was afternoon, but the sky was still full of black clouds.


    Allen then saw the door of the house opened and a kid who looks like much younger than him ran out and went to him.


    "William?", Allen asked.


    "Big brother, you look so miserable and you might get cold anytime.", William tossed a blanket to Allen. "Use this."


    "Huh, it''ll just get wet too and will be useless to block the rain afterwards.", Allen said.


    William rolled his eyes, "Come on brother, father said you''re not allowed to go in the house, but that doesn''t mean you''re not allowed in the shed."


    "Uhh...", Allen inwardly slapped himself hundreds of times. How could he forgot?!


    "Let''s go before it rains again.", William pulled Allen up while carrying the blanket towards the shed.


    Afterwards, Allen told William to immediately go back to the house as it might start raining again. The latter wanted to accompany the former a bit longer but was persuaded to go back.


    Allen looked at William''s back view and muttered, "After all, this is not the first time I will be sleeping outside."


    -rumble-


    Rain started to pour down again, Allen closed the door of the shed and looked around.


    The roof has some small holes which droplets of water could go through, though the shed doesn''t have any flooring, and only the grassy ground itself, which was absorbing the rainwater.


    Allen climbed up to a higher place where there were no holes on the part of the roof there and even has a tiny hole on the wall for taking a peek outside.


    "When this rain stops, I should find a way to get more money today to give at least a little gift to William.", Allen closed his eyes and took a rest.


    ...


    A few hours later, the heavy rain stopped and the sky cleared up a bit.


    After which, Allen left the shed and sneaked back to the town. As soon as he entered the town from the same path he used, he saw a unit of guards turn around the corner towards the dirty exit and saw him.


    "You... stop there!", one of the guards ran towards Allen.


    ''Oh no.'', Allen immediately ran away to the opposite direction. It was a crime to not use the official road when entering the town, because only people with bad intentions would use other ways to enter.


    "Split up!", the guard running towards Allen commanded to the other ones.


    The four other guards ran towards other directions to block the exit of the kid.


    The townspeople saw what was happening but didn''t interfere, because they know that the kid would be caught sooner or later.


    As Allen was about to reach and turn to a corner the street two guards appeared on his front, almost catching him, before he even got to run to his right side, two guards were already running towards him from that direction.


    Two guards at the front, two guards to the right, and a guard behind him.


    Seeing there was no more choice, Allen ran to a alley to his left, even though he knew it''s a dead end.


    "That kid will reach a dead end, hurry up!", the commanding guard said.


    ...


    Allen immediately reached the dead end, after which, he started climbing as fast as he can on the wall towards the other side.


    Of course, why would he go to dead end alley if he can''t escape by other means, right?


    As soon as Allen reached the other side of the wall, the guards have reached the dead end too.


    "Where''s that kid?", a guard asked.


    "Damn it! Find him, he''ll bring us merit if we catch him, not using the official road is already a grave crime.", the commanding guard said.


    After a pause, he added, "Luckily, I saw his face, I''m going to report this to the regiment, so at least we could get something else."


    "Alright, we''ll keep running after him.", a guard said, afterwards they left the alley.


    Meanwhile, Allen heard their conversation, he then inwardly cursed himself for his bad luck today.


    ''I hope I won''t get posted to the bounty office.'', Allen thought as immediately ran out of the alley towards an another street.


    As soon as he exited the alley, he saw a tavern right in front of him. The name of the establishment was ''Three Heads Tavern''.


    Allen has no intentions but has the urge to enter the tavern, after which, he saw from the corner of his eye that the two of the five guards trying to catch him earlier were on the other side of the street, luckily, they didn''t see him yet.


    Allen thought, ''I''m really unlucky today.'' He followed his urge and entered the tavern.

 2 A Blessing or a Curse

    Allen closed the door of the tavern behind him.


    He was then bombarded by the lively noise of the establishment.


    The tavern was accomodating drunk customers who accidentally spill their drinks, hungry people who were eating like animals, snoring people with their mouths opened, though there are still organized people, which made up the minority of the customers.


    "What are you doing here? If you won''t buy anything then just get out of here.", a young tavern maid probably almost as the same age of Allen looked at him.


    Before Allen got to say anything, somebody called out to them, "Hey, that kid''s with me."


    The both of them turned around and saw a man with long hair wearing a coat.


    "Oh, so you''re with Mr. Sanchez.", the tavern lady then walked away towards another customer.


    Mr. Sanchez signaled Allen to come have a sit, the latter couldn''t disagree more for helping him not to get kicked out.


    Allen immediately took a sit, after which, Mr. Sanchez said, "So, you''re the kid that the guards been chasing earlier for not entering the town through an official road."


    Allen increased his distance a bit from Mr. Sanchez.


    "Haha, don''t worry, I won''t sell you off, but of course my help comes with a price.", Mr. Sanchez wrapped his arm around Allen so that he won''t be able to run.


    "But I don''t have any money in me.", Allen weakly said.


    "Oh, well then, I''m going to make you do something.", Mr. Sanchez paused. "And in fact, I would pay you then instead."


    "Really, what is it?", Allen was tempted.


    Mr. Sanchez approached his mouth a little closer to Allen''s ear and whispered, "Kill somebody."


    "W... what?! No I won''t kill somebody.", Allen immediately replied. He wanted to earn money, but not through killing, because it''s against his will.


    "Come on kid, don''t you need something in life, don''t you want to buy something for your family, don''t you want to make your family member''s life comfortable?", Mr. Sanchez whispered.


    "I... I want to.", Allen answered.


    "Well, this is the fastest way to earn money for you.", Mr. Sanchez paused. "Though if you declined the offer, you''ll be the one receiving the end stick."


    "W... what do you mean?", Allen asked while looking towards the ground.


    "You''ve already seen my face, if you won''t do this job then... I''ll... kill... you... and your family.", Mr. Sanchez emphasized every word of the latter part of the sentence.


    Allen''s body suddenly started shaking due to fear, he wanted to cry silently, but couldn''t do so due to fear too.


    He just wanted to earn a bit more for this day so that he can get a gift for William, but in the end, he got stuck into a predicament...


    That would change his life.


    ...


    Night came and the customers left the tavern, only leaving Mr. Sanchez and Allen.


    The streets of the town are now empty except for guards patrolling due to the curfew. The moon was shining down upon the lands, making the scene more majestic.


    "You see kid, I''m the owner of this tavern.", Mr. Sanchez signaled Allen to follow him to the second floor of the tavern.


    It has only a few rooms, but it is obvious that this is where Mr. Sanchez also lives.


    Mr. Sanchez unlocked the door entered the room with Allen.


    "This is the office room.", Mr. Sanchez sat down to a seat.


    Allen looked around the room, which had a thick luxurious mahogany desk, two seats at each side of the desk, a window behind the seat where Mr. Sanchez was seating.


    "Sit down.", Mr. Sanchez said.


    Allen sat down, opposite of Mr. Sanchez.


    "So kid, listen carefully to what I''m going to say.", Mr. Sanchez took out a map of the town from under the desk and pointed towards a particular house. "You''ll be killing a middle aged man. The house only has one floor, you can sneak easily into it. The man is most likely in his bedroom asleep and alone."


    "Here''s the dagger.", Mr. Sanchez passed a dagger to Allen. "Remember, kill that man... or your family will be the one that will get killed."


    "O... okay.", Allen reluctantly answered.


    "Before you go, wear this mask first, safety first of course.", Mr. Sanchez handed a mask that could cover Allen''s face from his nose down to his mouth.


    After which, Allen left the establishment, carefully looking around if there are guards in the area.


    ...


    As it was risky to use the street during night, Allen cut through the town by going through the alleys and occassionally crossing streets. When he was a pickpocket, he would always use the alleys to escape, now, he knows where each and every alley he would enter could lead him to.


    During this time, the alleys are the darkest parts of the town, luckily, the moon was shining down towards everything for this night.


    ''There, that''s the house.'', Allen inwardly said as he saw a house across the street.


    As he was about to cross the street, a group of guards suddenly entered the vicinity. Allen stopped at the last moment and thought, ''Too close.''


    Allen let the guards pass the street before he crossed it, the house was beside an another alley, so the kid already planned his escape route when he saw it.


    He slowly approached the house, and saw an opened window. He peeked through the window to check where does it lead, and saw that it was an open kitchen.


    Judging from the items in the kitchen, the man must be well-off in his life.


    Seeing that there was nobody in the kitchen, he entered it through the opened window and temporarily hid at the darkest part of the kitchen.


    Allen was sweating and panting quietly, he then continued sneaking inside the house through the spots where it''s too dark to see until he reached a door. He carefully checked if the door was locked, but wasn''t and entered the room while closing back to the door.


    Inside the room, he saw a sleeping man on a bed beside the window. Allen sneaked towards the man until he reached him beside his bed.


    He looked at the man''s neck, he knew that he could kill the man at anytime but was still hesitating.


    ''Kill the man... or your family will be killed'', Mr. Sanchez''s voice echoed in his mind.


    Allen tightened his resolve and lifted the dagger up... and slashed at the man''s neck.


    Blood splurted put from the man''s neck, however, the man didn''t react and died quietly.


    Afterwards, Allen suddenly felt like puking due to the nauseous smell of blood.


    As the kid was about to leave, the man''s hand fell from the bed and a paper flew down afterwards.


    Allen picked up the paper, and saw that there were messy words written onto it, good thing he knows how to at least read.


    [Happy birthday father!


    I hope that your sickness could be cured so that you won''t be lying down anymore on the bed all day long.


    I want you to take me again to eat my favorite food at an inn with mother when she gets back, I could still remember the taste of that chicken leg that you got for me when you came home.


    I hope that you''ll get a long life so you could play with me again and again. Happy birthday!


    Love, Edwin]


    Allen backed off and dropped the paper down to the floor.


    ''W... what did I just do?'', Allen panted as he thought.


    He immediately went back to the kitchen and exited through the window and ran towards the alley.


    As soon as he reached the end of the alley, he sat to the dark corner.


    Allen covered his eyes and quietly sobbed.


    He killled the man on his birthday, and he felt like that he has killed his own brother. He also thought about the man''s family specially to his son that wrote the letter.


    "What have I done... what have I done... what have I done....", Allen weakly muttered the same words repeatedly.

 3 Pay and Repay

    A few hours later, Allen dejectedly returned to the Three Heads Tavern through the door at the back after killing the man.


    As soon as he entered, he saw the back of Mr. Sanchez, who was standing beside the counter.


    Mr. Sanchez turned around and looked at Allen, "Good, you''re back. Have you completed the job?"


    Allen removed his mask, revealing a somewhat pale face; he lowered his head down, "Yes, but... who did I just kill?"


    "The son of the chief of the guards in the town.", Mr. Sanchez answered.


    "W... what?! Then I''d be hunted down endlessly!", Allen bitterly complained.


    Mr. Sanchez ignored Allen''s complaint and told him to just follow.


    Afterwards, Allen saw an old man sitting down beside one of the tables in the tavern. The old man looked at Mr. Sanchez and asked, "Is it done?"


    "Yes.", Mr. Sanchez nodded.


    After which the old man left the tavern while leaving behind a pouch at the top of the table.


    "You don''t know him, kid?", Mr. Sanchez suddenly asked.


    "N... no.", Allen answered.


    "That old man''s the chief of the guards.", Mr. Sanchez said.


    "W... what?!", Allen widened his eyes and looked at Mr. Sanchez.


    "His son got an incurable disease, he knew that his son won''t live much longer, however, he can''t kill his own son but he still wanted him to die in advance so he won''t suffer any longer under the sickness.", Mr. Sanchez explained.


    "Hais, now the man''s son is all alone, his mother have already died long ago but the child doesn''t know about it. Luckily, he still has his grandfather.", Mr. Sanchez paused. "A parent would do anything for their child if they see them suffering, ironically even to the point of killing them."


    Allen lowered his head and thought, ''A parent would do anything for their child? Then what about my father?''


    "Come to think of it, won''t your parents be worried sick about you if you''re not home?", Mr. Sanchez suddenly asked.


    "No, not really.", Allen said and thought, ''After all, I was suppose to sleep outside.''


    "You can go home now, there''s a location devoid of guards down at southeast of the town prepared by the chief guard, don''t worry, that old man won''t have any thoughts of catching you, in fact, he would feel indebted instead.", Mr. Sanchez said as he gave Allen 20 bronze coins from the pouch. "And come back tomorrow night or else..."


    Mr. Sanchez didn''t finish the sentence and just walked up the stairs, because he knew that Allen already knows what words would come next. The latter gave back his dagger and mask and left through the back door again and went to the said location where he could exit the town.


    When he exited the town, Allen immediately walked towards the foot of the hill while looking towards the starry sky.


    ''A parent would do anything for their child...''


    ''A parent would do anything for their child...''


    ''A parent would do anything for their child...''


    The voice of the tavern owner kept echoing in his mind during his walk, he didn''t pay attention whether the path he was walking on was muddy or not due to the heavy rain earlier.


    After a few minutes of walking, he finally saw a familiar house, he didn''t immediately go to the shed but washed his muddy feet from the water in the well first. After washing he looked at an opened window at the second floor of the house, thinking of his little brother William.


    ''Tomorrow, I''d get you a gift.'', Allen thought and added. ''Probably father too so that he won''t be mad anymore, at least.''


    Afterwards, he went to the shed and climbed up to the same spot where his blanket still was and started sleeping.


    ...


    Next morning...


    Allen sneaked in the house through the door of the kitchen at the back of the house.


    He checked the table if there was any food.


    "Big brother.", a voice suddenly came from behind him.


    Allen turned around in fright but heaved a sigh of relief to see that it was only William.


    "Father left a while ago.", William said. "Don''t worry you can eat now."


    "Did you eat already?"


    "Yes."


    "Oh.", Allen continued checking food on the table and saw that there was a leftover porrage. He immediately sat down and started eating the porrage.


    "You look tired big brother.", William said.


    "Uhh... I didn''t sleep well.", Allen scratched the back of his head.


    "Really?"


    "Yes!", Allen said.


    He wasn''t lying, he wasn''t able to sleep well due to getting nightmares about that man he killed last night, it was as if the ghost of the man was haunting him.


    ''Why me?!''


    ''Why me?!''


    ''Why me?!''


    He could still hear the grieving shouts of the man while choking him to death in his dream.


    Allen secretly clenched his fists and thought, ''I had no choice, or else my family would be the one that would get killed.''


    "What are you thinking, big brother?", William curiously asked.


    "Nothing. And why are you so noisy today?", Allen rubbed William''s head.


    "Stop it. Hmph!", William left the kitchen.


    Allen just smiled and thought deeply, ''It''s just for my family.''


    After eating, he called William down from the second floor of the house.


    "What is it, big brother?", William asked.


    "Let''s go get you some new clothes, and boots too as a late birthday present.", Allen said.


    "But didn''t father take the money?", William eyed Allen suspiciously.


    The nine year old kid was always very perceptive to the point that it even scared their father, Marco. If he was enrolled into a school, he would''ve probably been smarter than most of the noble children, but the school fees are really expensive to the point that mostly only nobles could pay it.


    "I got to steal 20 bronze coins yesterday after the storm.", Allen said, it wasn''t a secret in his family that he would be a pickpocket to steal for money.


    William further looked at Allen''s eyes, feeling something''s off.


    "Alright.", William cleared off his own suspicions and asked. "I don''t know why you''re the only one who ''work''? While father only gambles and get drunk with the money you get."


    Allen didn''t answer and just smiled at William.


    "Alright alright, I won''t disturb family matters . Now stop giving me that smile, I feel like you''re going to eat me.", William pushed away Allen and ran out the door.


    "I''m going to eat you... roar!", Allen ran after William.


    "Ahh... no!"


    ...


    On the road, Allen and William were walking side by side while having a conversation on where to buy.


    "You know we could buy in the marketplace.", William suggested.


    Allen shook his head in disagreement, "There are a lot of greedy people there, I''ve seen a lot of them nowadays, even the people from the slums aren''t that greedy."


    William just nodded, he almost doesn''t know anything about the usual happenings in the Crescent Town, as he spend most of his time being in the house.


    "Hey! Aren''t you that kid?", a voice came from behind them.


    Allen and William turned around a saw a guard running towards them. The nine year old kid doesn''t recognize him, but the former does!


    It was that commanding guard that was after him from yesterday!


    ''Oh no.'', before Allen even got to run away, the guard already lunged at the kid, pinning him to the ground.


    "Get off me!", Allen tried to resist but more guards came and pinned him down.


    "Get off my brother!", William tried to push away the guards but was pulled away by one of the them.


    "Carry him to the jail, he has committed a serious crime.", the commanding guard said.


    "Stop this ruckus.", another yet deeper voice said.


    All the guards stopped at once, even the commanding guard.


    Allen sat up and saw an old man in the guard''s uniform riding a horse.


    ''It''s him?'', Allen recognized the old man, it was the chief guard!


    "Sir!", all the guards stood up and made a bow.


    The old man looked at Allen and to the guards, "What''s this all about?"


    "Sir...", the commanding guard made a step forward. "This kid tried to enter the town from a different path and not from the road."


    "Oh...", the old man pondered and said, "Then he''s hereby pardoned."


    "W... what?!", the commanding guard and the other ones were surprised to what the old man just said.


    "You heard me right? Pardoned! I have to authority to pardon a criminal.", the old man said.


    "But sir...", the commanding guard was about to say something when the old man intercepted him.


    "It''s not a grave crime like killing! Do you understand?!", the old man shouted, but it was a bit notable that his voice shook a little when he blurted out the word ''killing''.


    "Yes sir.", the guards didn''t say anymore thing, they knew what happened to the old man''s son and just thought that their chief guard''s feelings were a bit unstable.


    The guards immediately left the area except for the old man.


    "I never get to thank you personally, kid...", the old man paused. "Hais, I think it was against my son''s will that him getting killed, but I have no choice. I''m sorry for all the trouble."


    The old man immediately rode away from the location.


    William overheard everything that the old man said and asked to Allen, "What did he mean, big brother?"


    "No... nothing, come on, let''s go.", Allen lowered his head down, he was still a bit guilty to what he has done last night.


    Seeing that William can''t make Allen speak, the former just tossed the issue at the back of his mind, but he was still wondering about the contents of the old man''s sentence. Due to his lack of wisdom, even with his perceptiveness, he couldn''t decipher the old man''s words.

 4 Problem

    Allen and William walked out of a store, the both of them were now wearing boots.


    "The boots here are so expensive.", Allen complained and looked at William. "Why do you even want to buy me boots? They cost 10 bronze coins per each pair, now we don''t have any money."


    William rolled his eyes, "I''d rather buy these high quality boots that won''t easily get worn out than those made by greedy merchants."


    "But do you even have to buy one pair for me too? You could''ve bought a new shirt and shorts.", Allen asked. Well to be honest, he was actually planning to buy his father a gift too but William was faster than him and bought two pair of boots.


    "Big brother, you''re the one who got the money, even it''s my birthday, I wouldn''t take advantage of you.", William said.


    "Aww... you''re so nice!", Allen spread out his arms to hug William. The latter, however, took a step back and dodged the hug. Passerbys looked at what was happening, making the situation more awkward.


    "Get a bath first on the river before you hug me, you have no hygiene whatsoever.", William said.


    Allen composed himself, "You sound like a noble."


    "And you sound like that you''re going to complain.", William uninterestedly retorted and walked away.


    Allen was stunned and only when William was already far away that he got back to his senses.


    ''Who is even the big brother here, me or him?'', Allen ran after William.


    ...


    "You know, the town could still be improved, the mayor is obviously focusing on the economy that it forgot to strengthen the local military, like for example, you''ve been sneaking in and out of the town while not being caught for a long time, and ironically, the slums are much more peaceful than the marketplace.", William put his hand on his chin and said.


    On the other hand, Allen felt like William transformed into or replaced with a real noble and thought, ''Why won''t you be the mayor instead then?''


    Suddenly, Allen blurted out a question, "How do you even know about these things, do you even know the mayor or the nobles?"


    William stopped walking because of Allen''s question and answered with a long no.


    "Err... alright.", Allen then realized that he was in front of a familiar tavern, which was than other than the Three Heads Tavern.


    He then saw a familiar figure beside the door signaling him to enter, which was none other than Mr. Sanchez.


    "William, you go back home first immediately, don''t stick around for too long in the town.", Allen suddenly said.


    "Don''t worry big brother, I''m not like you.", William sticked out his tongue and ran away as fast as he can.


    Allen was stunned yet again and thought, ''He''s kind of weird today.'' Afterwards, he immediately entered the tavern and walked towards the office room on the second floor with Mr. Sanchez.


    "Have a sit.", Mr. Sanchez said as he sat onto his own chair.


    Allen sat down and after which Mr. Sanchez spoke first.


    "You know your brother is cute."


    Allen suddenly looked worriedly at Mr. Sanchez, fearing something bad would happen.


    "Haha, don''t worry, I keep my promises, I won''t touch your family.", Mr. Sanchez said.


    Allen inwardly heaved a sigh of relief.


    "Kid, I called you in here today because the matter about killing the son of the chief guard became much more serious than I thought it would be.", Mr. Sanchez solemnly said. "The old man doesn''t want to investigate this any further but the mayor on the other hand, wants to and the chief guard can''t influence the mayor, lest he''ll be suspected instead."


    Allen listen attentively to what was Mr. Sanchez was saying.


    "So, the mayor then invited a mage who''s good at divining to find out who killed the chief guard''s son. That mage would arrive by tonight."


    Allen suddenly felt that he was in a big trouble, he knew what mages can do, specially the ones who can divine. They''re practically like they could stalk upon every people in the world.


    If the mage became successful at his divination, then he would be found out and be put to death!


    Allen summoned up his courage and asked, "But why would the mayor insist to investigate this matter?"


    "Well, probably because he and the chief guard are good friends.", Mr. Sanchez said.


    However, Allen felt that there was an another reason why the mayor invited the mage.


    "You feel like there''s something wrong with this, right?", Mr. Sanchez said, as if he could read Allen''s line of thought.


    Allen nodded in response.


    "Apart from your natural talent for assassination, you have a good intuition kid.", Mr. Sanchez commented.


    ''Natural talent, good intuition?'', Allen thought.


    "I got an information that the mage, was in fact a necromancer, and the mayor is an accomplice and has been contacting the organization where the necromancer came from for a long time now.", Mr. Sanchez said. "The mayor inviting the ''mage'' for divination was in fact just a smokescreen."


    After a short paused, he continued, "There''s a treasure in the woods at the west that the mayor and the organization wants. I don''t know what is it but it''s probably something very important."


    "So, tonight, you''re going into the woods to find the treasure and report back it''s location to me.", Mr. Sanchez said.


    "But what about the necromancer?", Allen asked.


    "Oh, don''t worry about that guy.", Mr. Sanchez laughed.


    He continued, "In addition, you''ll be going with somebody. Okay, the talk''s over, come back in the evening."


    ...


    It was already afternoon when Allen came back to the house. He could''ve been back earlier but he took a bath at the riverbank.


    "You''re finally back, big brother.", William shouted from the second floor of the house.


    "Yes.", Allen walked upstairs towards William''s room. He opened the door and saw William lying down on the bed reading a book.


    This is the reason why William was perceptive and smart, it was because he''s been reading books since he was very young. His room was even filled with bookshelves and books, making it look like a small library.


    Allen sat down on William''s bed and peeked on what the nine year old kid was reading. The book was named ''Theories and Ideas for Ruling a City''.


    "You''ve always liked reading.", Allen said.


    "We''re lucky we could read unlike the other people at our age, thanks to mother''s books.", William said without looking at Allen.


    After a pause, he asked, "Big brother, do you know how mother was like?"


    Allen was caught off guard by William''s question, and the former just answered, "I don''t know."


    Allen and William''s mother died when the former was still four years old and the latter was still a few months old. They couldn''t remember anything about their mother, even if they asked their father, Marco, because he would just scold the both of them all day.


    "I can only remember one thing, she said that we should be good to father whatever happens.", Allen said.


    That was the same reason why he could still resist his father''s scolding and rude behavior towards him.


    "Oh."


    ***


    Meanwhile, a seemingly normal carriage just arrived at the entrance of the Crescent Town.


    Inside the carriage...


    "Master, why do we even have to come to this town? It''s so noisy.", a young boy looked out the window of the carriage.


    "Close the window, Warren. It''s so noisy outside.", an old man wearing black robes engraved with patterns said.


    "Okay.", Warren closed the window and enthusiastically read a book abou necromancy.


    ***


    Several hours have passed and night switched with day.


    Allen looked at William, who was sleeping soundly while hugging a book. The former then blew out the candle and went downstairs.


    "Father''s not home yet? I guess he''s drunk again.", Allen muttered as he looked around the living room lit by the moonlight through the window. He walked out of the house and immediately went towards the town.


    ...


    -click-


    He closed the back door of the tavern and saw Mr. Sanchez''s back standing beside the counter, just like last night.


    "You''re finally here kid.", Mr. Sanchez said with looking at Allen.


    "Uh-huh.", Allen just nodded. ''This is it, I feel like we''re going to kill again.''


    The kid could still remember the nauseous smell of blood from the man he killed last night.


    Mr. Sanchez turned around and looked at Allen, "You shouldn''t feel bad about killing now, plus, you and Kate would just get the location of the treasure and be on your way."


    "Kate?", Allen asked.


    "That''s me, what do you want?", a voice came from behind Allen.


    The kid jumped forward in fright and turned around to see a girl at the same age at him dressed in an assassin''s clothes.


    ''It''s the tavern lady?'', Allen was surprised.


    Kate inspected Allen, "How could somebody looking as weak as you could help me?"


    "Erm..."


    "Do you know how to attack head on with a dagger?"


    "No."


    "Can you jump from the top of a toward and land safely?"


    "I don''t know."


    "Can you climb?"


    "Probably... yes?"


    "Can you kill?"


    "Erm..."


    "How could somebody like you help me then?", Kate asked loudly. "I don''t even know why we''re in this town!"


    "That''s why he''ll be joining you to get experience.", Mr. Sanchez''s calm voice echoed.


    Afterwards, he tossed a sack towards Allen, the kid inspected the contents and saw clothes that were color black.


    "Those are an assassin''s clothes. Wear them upstairs.", Mr. Sanchez said.


    Allen followed what Mr. Sanchez said and went upstairs.


    "Master, I don''t know what you saw in him to even let him join us.", Kate complained.


    Mr. Sanchez ignored Kate''s complaint and just sat down on a chair.

 5 The Woods 1

    "...and those are the locations in the woods that you will search.", Mr. Sanchez finished his sentence.


    He was explaining and pinpointing locations on the map of the possible resting place of the treasure.


    "Got it?", Mr. Sanchez asked.


    "Yes.", Kate nodded while Allen answered weakly.


    "Okay go do it."


    Allen and Kate then left the building in a flash.


    ...


    Two figures were jumping on the roofs of the houses in the town. They are none other than Allen and Kate.


    The both of them made an another jump and landed on a roof of an inn.


    Allen almost missed to land on the roof but Kate got his hands on time and managed to pull him up.


    "Damn it, try to jump with more momentum!", Kate scolded under her hood.


    "Sorry, I thought it was enough. I''m afraid that I would put too much force.", Allen who was wearing the assassin''s garb, said under the mask. The mask he was wearing was as the same one he used when he killed the man.


    At first, Allen thought it was impossible to jump over buildings with his physique, but the clothes he was wearing were no ordinary ones, the kid suspected that they were like the magically enhanced ones that he had read from his mother''s books.


    "Hurry up we don''t have much time!", Kate said as she jumped towards another roof.


    ***


    Meanwhile, in a courtyard of a residence...


    "Sir Warren!", a figure made out of smoke called out to a child wearing a robe; the child was also carrying a staff. "I''m sent by master to protect you."


    "Ehh?", Warren turned around and saw the figure. "I already told you I don''t need any help!"


    "But master would then restrict you from coming to the woods.", the figure said.


    "But... alright then! You can come with me!", Warren stopped complaining and exited through the main gate with the figure.


    ***


    On the other hand, Allen and Kate already arrived outside the woods.


    "There are some dangerous beasts in the woods, it''s best that we should stick together. Our clothes could integrate us into the darkness, but some of the monsters could still sense us.", Kate said as he signaled Allen to follow her.


    The beasts in the woods are actually not that dangerous, however, towards assassins like Kate and Allen, it would be a predicament to battle one head on as their strength relies on sure death sneak attacks.


    If they were mages instead, they could just battle their way through the woods while killing all the monsters on the way easily with spells.


    Allen followed her and took out his dagger in case of emergency and the both of them headed for the first location.


    In just a few minutes, the both of them reached the first spot.


    "Wait.", Kate signaled Allen to stop. "See that." Then she pointed towards a red-eyed wolf circling around the area.


    "It''s a bloodthirsty wolf, it has killed a lot of living beings, you can see it from it''s eyes. Watch me how I''ll kill it.", Kate took out her dagger and disappeared in a flash. She''s obviously not an ordinary assassin.


    Allen was caught off guard and just focused looking on the bloodthirsty wolf.


    Afterwards, a figure in black appeared above the bloodthirsty wolf and slashed towards the monster''s neck. The beast didn''t have the time to react and it''s head was already separated from the body!


    The figure landed beside the wolf''s head and waved at Allen, it was none other than Kate.


    All these actions from Kate taking out her dagger until killing the wolf may take time to explain but it happened in less than one second!


    Allen''s jaw dropped under the mask, he was surprised to what just occurred, a second didn''t even pass and the beast was already killed; he approached Kate, afterwards the girl took out some sort of orb and crushed it.


    A few seconds passed and nothing happened.


    Kate frowned and said, "The treasure''s not here, come on, let''s go to the next spot."


    "Alright.", Allen answered and he followed Kate towards the next spot.


    ...


    "Awk...", a sound of a hawk echoed throughout the location where Kate and Allen currently was.


    When Kate heard that, she and Allen hid behind a tree where the hawk''s perspective couldn''t see them.


    Allen was about to take a look when Kate prohibited him from doing so. The latter took out a glass shard from her sleeves and used it to see the hawk.


    "It''s a skeletal hawk. It came from the necromancer. It''s probably the apprentice instead.", Kate then hid the glass shard back in her sleeves. "We should wait for it to get out of this place first before we move."


    Allen nodded and the both of them waited for a few more minutes until the hawk left the area.


    "Let''s go!", Kate said.


    ...


    Afterwards, they finally reached the next spot where the treasure might be hidden.


    Allen this time saw that there were two bigger bloodthirsty wolves fighting each other in this area.


    "I might need your help this time.", Kate looked at Allen and the boy looked back. "Can you distract the other one for a few seconds?"


    "Yes.", Allen nodded and hid his dagger.


    "Alright, I''m going to wait for your signal if you''re ready.", Kate said.


    Allen carefully went into position behind one of the wolves and picked up some rocks; after which, he waved at Kate.


    Kate nodded and disappeared in a flash.


    -sou-


    A dagger slash could then be heard, suddenly one of the wolves neck bled!


    The other bloodthirsty wolf was about to pounce on Kate who was about to land on the other wolf when it felt a rock was thrown on it.


    The beast turned around and saw Allen!


    Allen felt that he was in danger and immediately dodged to the side.


    The wolf then pounced on Allen, however, the kid already dodged and the beast  missed him, afterwards, it hit a tree instead!


    -crack-


    The tree broke in half due to the momentum of the monster! However, the monster only shook it''s head and didn''t bleed!


    When Allen saw what happened to the tree he couldn''t help but yelp, he could''ve become a human meat paste if he didn''t dodge in time!


    ...


    At the same time, Kate, who was on top of the other wolf, looked at the other wolf done to the tree and thought, ''Damn it, the other one is an alpha!''


    Now, she could only pray that Allen won''t die... or else she would be in big trouble.


    ...


    ''What to do, what to do?'', Allen thought as he dodged another pounce of the bloodthirsty alpha wolf.


    ''I know I read something about bloodthirsty wolves, think Allen, think!'', the kid then avoided another lunge of the wolf by a few centimeters.


    Afterwards, Allen remembered something about the said beast, ''That''s it!''


    The boy ran as fast as it can towards the darkness. Seeing that it''s prey was running away, the wolf''s hunter instincts kicked in and chased after Allen.


    The kid entered the darkness and disappeared from the wolf''s sight. If the one who was chasing Allen was a normal wolf, it could''ve still saw the kid even in the darkness, however, because it''s a bloodthirsty wolf, it only focused on one thing, it''s strength for killing! Due to that, it''s senses specially it''s eyesight is much weaker than a normal wolf and couldn''t see through the darkness.


    As for it''s sense of smell? It was needed to fully focus to use it''s keen sense, but would it use that during a battle?


    The answer is obviously no! Even for an alpha.


    Afterwards, the wolf lunged towards the darkness and crack could then be heard.


    "Gah...", it also heard quiet, yet painful shout afterwards. The beast rejoiced thinking that it had caught it''s prey.


    The clouds covering the moon cleared up and moonlight descended. When the light reached the area where Allen and Kate was battling with the two bloodthirsty wolves, the wolf that was fighting Allen saw, that it was pinning down a newly destroyed tree!


    A figure suddenly jumped from a tree beside the wolf and landed on it''s back! The beast felt that there was a something on it''s back and frantically tried to shake it off!


    "Stay still... and give me your forehead!", the figure said as he finally stabilize his position of the wolf''s back; the figure then took out a dagger and stabbed towards the foreheard of the bloodthirsty wolf!


    Of course, the figure was none other than Allen.


    "Awooo...", the wolf howled in pain before it crashed to the ground with a thud.


    "Huff... huff... huff...", Allen panted as he retrieved the dagger from the wolf''s forehead and muttered. "Good thing William forced me to read those books for him everyday. I guess inteligence isn''t useless in a battle after all."


    -thud-


    Allen heard a thud, he then turned around and saw the other bloodthirsty wolf''s head on the ground, separated from it''s body.


    Kate jumped down from the now headless body of the wolf and approached Allen. When she noticed the dead wolf he was standing on, she couldn''t help but be surprised.


    "You killed a bloodthirsty alpha wolf... by yourself?", Kate asked.


    "Yes.", Allen nodded as he jumped off the body of the wolf.


    "How?", Kate asked. She knew that this boy right in front of him doesn''t have any experience when it comes to battling!


    "I''ve read something about these monsters.", Allen answered.


    "But it''s an alpha!", Kate said.


    "Erm... even if it''s an alpha, it''s still a bloodthirsty wolf.", Allen scratched the back of his head; he then wiped the blood off the dagger and hid it in his sleeves.


    Kate didn''t argue anymore and just thought, ''Master is right... knowledge is helpful in battles after all.'' One of the things she hated the most was reading! In the end, she planned to try to read books when they will get back to the tavern.


    The girl took out an orb and crushed it. However, after a few seconds, Kate frowned again and said, "It''s not here either, let''s go to the next location."


    Afterwards, Kate and Allen left the area.

 6 The Woods 2

    "This is the third location.", Kate surveyed the grassy patch.


    Under the moonlight, there were no monsters that could be seen and patch was accomodating rocks and boulders.


    "No enemies? Let''s go check if the treasure is here.", Allen said.


    Kate nodded and the both of them went towards the middle of the grass patch.


    -rumble-


    The ground suddenly quaked, before they even got to the center, a large boar whose tusks were made of sharp stone was charged right at them coming from behind the trees.


    The boar uprooted the trees on the way and even crushed a boulder, it was obvious that it was no ordinary animal.


    Allen narrowed his eyes and checked the boar, he said to Kate, "Don''t attack it! It''s a rock boar, it''s skin is as tough as a boulder, even dagger flashes won''t injure it!"


    Kate believed Allen and the both of them sidestepped to the left and right of the boar respectively.


    "How will we kill it then?", Kate shouted as the boar charged right at her. She dodged in time and backed off.


    "Wait, I''m trying to remember!", Allen said.


    "I''m going to hold it off then!", Kate took out her dagger and sent attacked the stone boar with dagger flashes.


    -clang- -clang-


    The flashes only made sparks on the boar''s skin, nonetheless, it still attracted the beast''s attention. Afterwards, the monster only kept attacking Kate.


    ...


    "Hurry up!", Kate shouted. She knew that she couldn''t hold on much longer, her stamina was decreasing everytime she dodged or attacked the boar.


    "I remember now!", Allen shouted. It was rather hard to remember something about the stone boar, specially that he also read about other monsters too.


    "What''s it''s weakness?!", Kate exasperatedly asked.


    "A pickaxe! It is afraid of pickaxes!", Allen shouted back.


    "..."


    Afraid of a damn pickaxe? What kind of a concept was that?! Those were the thoughts of Kate.


    "Are you kidding me, right?", Kate asked as she closely dodged another charge of the boar.


    "No! It''s true.", Allen said.


    "How about weak spots instead?", Kate was almost hit by another charge of the boar.


    Allen paused and shouted again, "It''s eyes are soft, make him blind!"


    Kate heard what Allen said and she immediately hid her dagger and took out two throwing knives, then she threw one towards an eye.


    -sou-


    The boar didn''t react on the time and it''s right eye was hit by a throwing knife!


    "Roar...", the boar was now blinded on it''s right eye. It roared in anger and now charged at Allen instead. The boar somehow felt that it was this kid''s fault that he''s feeling excrutiating pain.


    -whoosh-


    Even though it''s just a stone boar, it''s speed was still very fast!


    "Oh no.", Allen was caught off guard and was almost hit by the boar, luckily, he dodged right on time.


    He started backing off from the boar at a fast pace, however, the beast closely followed him.


    "Don''t get too far away!", Kate climbed up on a boulder and aimed at the other eye of the stone boar.


    Allen knew what to do and led the the boar right at Kate''s location so the latter could easily aim on the remaining eye.


    On the other hand, Kate smiled knowing what Allen was doing and focused on the other eye of the boar.


    Suddenly for Kate, time seemed to stand still as she started to throw the throwing knife at the eye of the boar.


    -sou-


    The throwing knife was launched and flew towards the remaining eye.


    -pshew-


    The eye was successfully hit!


    "Roar...", this time, the boar roared louder than it even made the nearby birds fly away in fear!


    "Now, it can''t see us.", Kate said.


    Allen immediately sticked his back at the boulder where Kate was standing, "Yeah, but let''s just be quiet for awhile."


    From the name of the stone boar alone made the said beast separated from the normal boars, like earlier it''s difference is that it''s skin is as tough as a stone to the point it could destroy boulders. Just like a bloodthirsty wolf, the stone boar focuses on it''s strength too, however, like the former, the latter also has one shortcoming, and that was it''s instincts were much weaker than the former!


    Suddenly, in a flash, a third eye appeared in between the boar''s two eyes. The eye was in pure color green.


    When Kate saw what, she asked at the boar''s third eye, "Umm... should we be worried about that?"


    Allen then looked at the stone boar''s third eye, he sucked in a cold breath under his mask and nodded.


    He then said...


    "Now we really need a pickaxe."


    ***


    Meanwhile, back at the Crescent Town...


    In the necromancer''s temporary residence...


    The necromancer was still awake in his room, under the candlelight on top of a desk, which was the only serving light in the room, he was writing something on a blank piece of paper.


    He suddenly stopped and muttered, "I hope my apprentice will be alright in the woods."


    "Oh don''t worry, he probably will be.", a deep voice echoed out throughout room.


    The necromancer immediately stood up and grabbed his staff beside him.


    He aimed the staff on the darkness around him, "Who are you?"


    "I think I should be the one asking the questions first. What are you doing in this city?", the voice asked.


    "You''ll never know!", the necromancer said.


    "Let me rephrase that question then... what is the treasure that your organization seeks for?", the voice asked.


    The necromancer was surprised and summoned skeletal guards around him.


    "Hehe... how cute, I''ve killed thousands of those already.", the voice sneered.


    The necromancer however, seemed unfazed and sighed, "Hais, an assassin, I will never win in the dark." Suddenly, the necromancer made a devilish smile. "But I''m already a step ahead of you."


    "Don''t worry... I know I''m just talking to a clone, hahaha...", the deep voice laughed, coupled with the darkness, it seemed like it came from hell.


    The necromancer''s clone showed an ugly expression and grabbed at the paper he was writing, however, before he even got hold of it, his body was cleanly cut in half the middle.


    Afterwards, the clone''s body and the skeletons around it turned into piles of dust.


    A hand stretched out from the darkness and grabbed the paper that the clone was writing on and retrieved it back to the darkness.


    After which, another hand stretched from the darkness and crushed the fire on the candle.


    "Nighty night, necromancer, don''t wake up ever again.", the voice chuckled.


    ***


    Inside an inn...


    An old man suddenly woke up from his sleep, he was sweating all over his body. "Damn it, I must escape this town! I shouldn''t have sent Warren by this time."


    ***


    Back at the woods...


    -crack- -boom-


    "Roar...", the boar roared as it destroyed another boulder. It already destroyed a lot of boulders in this area!


    Behind a particular boulder, Allen was panting in fear while Kate has a solemn face. Both of them had already recovered most of their stamina by now.


    "I remember now, we need to destroy it''s third eye, then it would get killed! Most of it''s life force is focused on that place, it probably opened that eye as a last resort to kill us.", Allen quietly said.


    "I don''t have any throwing knives left.", Kate then looked at Allen, the boy said, "I don''t have any throwing knives at me, but you can use our daggers."


    Kate shook her head and said, "They''re too heavy to throw with my strength."


    Allen relaxed a bit and said, "Then that stone boar has to be killed at a close distance."


    "I could try to flicker near it''s eye and stab it.", Kate suggested.


    "No, that eye gave the boar sixth sense, it could just sense you appearing near it before you even appeared.", Allen disagreed.


    "What should we do then?", Kate asked.


    "I have a plan...", Allen explained his plan to Kate.


    ...


    In a few seconds, the boar was about to crash onto an another boulder when...


    "Hey, I''m here! Come right at me you big chunk of chewy rock meat!", Allen stepped out from behind a boulder and shouted at the stone boar.


    The stone boar looked at Allen, as it was about to charge, it seemed to hesitate at the last moment.


    ''A stone boar with sixth sense is really good at discerning tricks... but it''s low wisdom is it''s weakness.'', Allen inwardly said as he shouted again, "So are you staying there? You really are a piece of chewy, scared, pile of meat that just got a little bit of wisdom!"


    The stone boar seemed to understand what Allen just said, first it roared in anger because of being insulted by a human and charged like a maniac at the kid.


    The boar''s speed is now faster than before! The third eye has obviously gave it a considerable amount of strength!


    However, Allen just smiled and when the boar was about twenty meters away from him, he said, "Now!"


    The boar sensed something was wrong but it was too late already! It was already ten meters away from Allen and the boulder, and it was already in the range of Kate''s flicker ability.


    Kate''s body disappeared from behind the boulder and reappeared on the air in front of the stone boar!


    Due to the stone boar''s momentum, it couldn''t stop, afterwards, Kate stabbed towards the incoming beast''s third eye.


    -clang-


    However, the boar closed it''s eye on time and let out a snort, Kate then fell on the ground and rolled away.


    The stone boar opened it''s eyes again, however, it forgot one thing ~ rather, it forgot one human, and that was Allen!


    After the monster closed it''s eye, Allen already charged at it and stabbed towards the third eye after Kate rolled away!


    The third eye at the same time was already opening when Allen met it with a cold dagger.


    -pshew-


    The dagger penetrated through the eye and the monster let out an anguished howl! Allen immediately backed away from the beast, there was nothing he can do right now, but one thing''s for sure... and that is the stone boar is already considered dead at this point.


    The boar was about to charged at Allen in fury once again when it lost all of it''s strength and collapsed to the ground!


    -thud-


    A loud thud echoed into the surroundings.


    Allen panted as he smiled under the mask in glory.


    Kate suddenly said, "Catch." She then threw a pill at Allen.


    Allen caught the pill and looked at Kate, hoping to answer his unsaid question.


    Kate on the other hand, seemed to know what was Allen thinking and said, "It''s a pill that can replenish stamina." After which she got one under her sleeves and swallowed it.


    Allen immediately swallowed it too and felt a relaxing sensation all over his body, and once again, he felt that his adrenaline went back to normal and exhaustion was all gone. He then retrieved his dagger.


    The girl then took out another orb and crushed it. After which, the crushed remains of the orb glowed.


    Kate smiled and looked at Allen, "It''s near here. Come on, let''s report it back."


    "Nope, you''re not going to report it back... ", a voice caught the attention of the two assassins.


    Kate was about to charge into the newcomer from far away when a figure made of black smoke rushed to her and the both of them disappeared.


    "Kate?", Allen called out.


    "Don''t worry about her, the both of them were just teleported away.", Warren paused and examined Allen. "A ghost is actually haunting you for killing it?"


    After another pause, he said, "Die!"


    He pointed staff he was holding at Allen and released a series of death energy balls as attacks.

 7 Take

    -boom-


    A boulder was turned into bits after getting hit by a stray death energy ball.


    "Oh no.", Allen sidestepped and dodged a death energy ball on time, however, another one of the said projectiles was already coming to him, but the kid already knew and sidestepped yet again and backed off to try and go out of the range of Warren.


    After getting at a certain distance, Warren stopped shooting death energy balls. If the one Allen was battling was at least a mage apprentice, he could''ve been captured or killed already!


    ''So I was right!'', Allen looked at Warren, almost everything around him was in green fire, including the stone boar. In addition, it made him looked like a true necromancer!


    On top of that, the necromancer apprentice in front him was actually a bit younger than him!


    Allen unconsciously gulped in fear at the sight he was seeing, ''That kid really looks like a hellish being.''


    Allen immediately ran away from the battlefield, he''s just a new assassin, an assassin''s strength mainly relies on his sneak attacks! But could he make a sneak attack at this point? Not just that, he''s just a normal one, unlike Kate!


    Hidden assassins were a bane to magic users like mages and necromancers, but if it''s a head on battle, the magic users could just bombard the assassin with their spells!


    "Thinking of running away?", Warren pointed with his staff at the ground a bit far away from where Allen was running towards to.


    When Allen was about to reach the location where the staff was pointed, a rumble occurred... and a skeleton holding a sword came out from underground and slashed at Allen.


    Allen''s momentum was too high and couldn''t stop, but he reacted on time and took out his dagger and blocked the incoming sword with it.


    -clang-


    The kid felt like his wrist and hand became numb and he almost dropped the dagger on the ground.


    The skeleton horizontally slashed with the sword, intending to cut Allen in two pieces.


    Allen was caught off guard and the weapon hit his sides.


    However, it didn''t go through the clothes, but the sword''s momentum still transfered at a side of Allen''s body, making it feel numb, though, it still gave enough time for him to retreat away from the skeleton.


    Allen held his numbing side and looked at Warren and the skeleton who were coming closer to him.


    ''At least he deployed two spells already, I just have to know what his last spell is.'', Allen thought. He read something in one of his mother''s books about necromancers only having three spells, if he will know what the last spell is, it could give him a chance to be ready for Warren''s future attacks.


    Reality proved to be good to Allen, as Warren chanted out the third spell!


    But it was also harsh, because the last spell was...


    "Rise!", Warren pointed at the corpse of the stone boar. The supposedly dead stone boar''s eyes except for the third eye glowed green, the beast stood up and bowed in front of the necromancer apprentice!


    "Attack him.", Warren pointed at Allen.


    The stone boar howled and charged at Allen.


    ''Inferior Temporary Revival?'', Allen''s mind was suddenly blank due to the surprise which almost made him get hit by an attack of the skeleton when he saw what kind of a spell Warren just used.


    What is Inferior Temporary Revival? It''s a type of necromancer spell that could temporary revive a RECENTLY dead being and retain 50% of it''s original strength in ten seconds. The more powerful the being when it was alive, the longer the spell had to be chanted.


    Fifty percent of the stone boar''s strength? That''s not even what Allen can currently go up against.


    Three seconds passed and the stone boar was already upon Allen and started attacking him, coupled with the skeleton, the kid could only keep backing off until he reached edge of the grassy patch and was near the cover of trees.


    ***


    Meanwhile, at an another location in the woods...


    Kate and the figure which looked like smoke were battling each other. In head on battles, assassins were at disadvantage, however, in their current situation, it was a tie!


    "Hais... you''re strong.", the figure commented with a calm, cool voice.


    Kate didn''t answer and kept slashing and stabbing down with her blades. The figure dodged all of the attacks and counterattacked, however, the girl already backed off before the attack even started.


    Afterwards, the figure threw out daggers made of smoke, but Kate already jumped away from her former location while the smoke daggers only hit the ground and dispersed.


    "Luckily, you could only use flicker thrice a day.", the figure added.


    "You''ve been watching us?", Kate rushed forward and slashed down with her dagger.


    "Of course.", the figure dodged the attack. "Who wouldn''t hear such a loud noise of fighting?"


    "Then... what''s the treasure?", Kate blocked the figure''s attack.


    "I have no idea, I''m only tasked to protect Sir Warren.", the figure said.


    "Hmph.", Kate snorted in dissatisfaction.


    ***


    Back at Allen and Warren...


    The moon hid behind the clouds, only sending out hazy clouds.


    A few seconds have passed, Allen could now feel exhaustion from all the dodging and the blocking he did.


    However, he was also near at the trees, now that the moon is hiding behind the clouds again, if he could at least hide in the darkness of the trees, coupled with the ability of the clothes, he wouldn''t be seen by Warren.


    When Allen finally reached the shrubs on the foot of the trees, he purposely slowed down a bit so the skeleton and revived stone boar, whose duration almost be over, could at least catch up to him.


    Afterwards, he sped up again and went into the darkness with the stone boar and the skeleton.


    A few seconds later just after the stone boar''s duration ended...


    "Gahh...", a painful shout echoed.


    Warren smiled and immediately approached the location of the sound. When he was a few steps away from the trees, a shadow jumped from the top of the trees and aimed it''s dagger on Warren''s head. The shadow is none other than Allen!


    Warren widened his eyes in surprise... but he grinned afterwards.


    When Allen was about a meter away from Warren, a green, clear shield suddenly showed up around the latter and the former''s dagger only hit the shield!


    -clang-


    The attack only produced a clanging sound, after which, Allen flew away due to the force and his dagger broke into pieces!


    -bang-


    Allen''s back hit a tree, after which, blood seeped out from the corner of his mouth and laid flat to the ground on his stomach. His body was only fragile, if he wasn''t wearing the enchanted assassin''s clothes, his bones on his back might have broke.


    He struggled to sit up, he managed to lift his head up at Warren''s location, however, the necromancer apprentice wasn''t there anymore.


    After which, green smoke appeared around him, Allen felt that his energy was being taken away by the smoke.


    "I''m not an assassin, but what you just did is probably one of the oldest tricks in the book.", Warren''s voice came from behind him. "And if you''re wondering why do I have more than three spells, my master gave enchanted my staff."


    Just after the weakening spell ended, Warren aimed the top half of his staff and bashed it at Allen''s back!


    The clothes absorbed the staff''s physical attack, however, an invisible repulsive force came from the staff and launched Allen back towards on the middle of the grassy patch.


    His body landed and afterwards rolled on the ground. He felt that he broke some his bones now, after which, he finally stopped rolling.


    He tried to sit up again, his stomach facing the ground, but failed due to the pain and fatigue. Half a minute later, he could hear Warren''s footsteps getting closer and closer until he could feel the butt of the staff at the back of his head.


    "Killers like you... deserves to die!", Warren lifted up the staff, as he was about to stab it at Allen''s head, he felt an unexplainable pain on his chest.


    Warren backed off from Allen and grasped his chest and panted, "M... master?" He had a worried look on his eyes as he looked at the direction of Crescent Town.


    "No... master no!!! It can''t be!", Warren ignored Allen and ran back towards the direction of the town.


    Afterwards, Allen grasped for breath as he tried to get hold onto something, until he did, he feel that he was holding a small rock. He almost passed out many times due to his injuries, and because he was hold the rock with force, he accidentally made the rock sink underground.


    -bzzt-


    An electrical sound could then be heard in the surroundings, and the rock that Allen just sunk glowed! It was followed by some other ones in the surrounding area, the glow then connected the rocks to reach other, forming an array with the kid on the middle of it.


    ***


    A few minutes later...


    Warren ran out of the woods and ran at the direction of the Crescent Town, however, before he could even see the town, a figure in black smoke appeared behind him and pulled him back slowly.


    It was none other than Warren''s companion.


    "Let go of me! I want to go to master!", Warren said as he resisted the pull of the figure.


    "I felt it too... there''s nothing we can do now.", the figure said. The figure was an independent creation of Warren''s master, if his master died, he could''ve felt it too.


    "But he''s also your master! We need to save him!", Warren griefly shouted.


    "And my task is just to protect you.", the figure calmly said.


    "But..."


    "No, or else you''re the one who will die!"


    Seeing that he can''t do anything, he let himself be carried by the figure.


    "I''m going to kill them! I''m going to kill them! I swear...", tears fell down from the apprentice''s face as he looked at the woods behind the figure with bloodshot eyes. The figure didn''t stop Warren from being too noisy so as to vent the latter''s anger.


    Those were Warren''s last words before he left the vicinity of the town with the figure.

 8 Res

    Several minutes pass midnight.


    Allen and Kate returned to the Three Heads Tavern. The former''s injuries were now all gone, as if he''s been cleansed off it.


    They entered through the back door of the tavern and saw Mr. Sanchez sitting on one of the customer seats of the tavern.


    The tavern owner looked at both Allen and Kate and asked, "Have you found where is the treasure?"


    Kate nodded and went to the table where the map was placed; she pointed at a particular point in the woods.


    Mr. Sanchez looked at where was Kate pointing and nodded.


    "Should we recover the treasure?", Kate asked.


    "No, it''s better that we shouldn''t.", Mr. Sanchez said.


    "Then... what about the necromancer?", Kate asked.


    "He''s dead.", Mr. Sanchez emotionlessly said.


    Kate didn''t seem to be surprised and looked at Mr. Sanchez.


    Mr. Sanchez noticed her gaze and he said, "I''m  not the one who killed him."


    The girl kept quiet afterwards. Mr. Sanchez then looked at Allen, who was bowing his head down. Probably due to fear or something else?


    "Hmm... I didn''t get to ask you your name yet.", Mr. Sanchez asked.


    Allen raised his his head and met Mr. Sanchez''s gaze, "My name''s... Allen."


    After a pause the tavern owner said, "Show me what you''ve learned." Mr. Sanchez then reverted his gaze from Allen then to Kate.


    The girl, as if knowing what the tavern owner was thinking, took out her dagger and attacked Allen.


    "Huh?", Allen retreated as he dodged almost every attack of Kate, those he couldn''t dodge were blocked by his dagger.


    In a few moments, Allen reached the wall of the tavern, now nowhere to go, the boy charged at the incoming Kate.


    Kate suddenly sidestepped out of Allen''s way and tripped the boy with her feet which made him fall flat on the floor.


    She immediately sat on top of Allen and pointed the tip of the dagger at his throat.


    "That''s enough.", Mr. Sanchez concluded. "Surviving Kate''s barrage of attacks in several seconds is already a feat."


    "I wasn''t even trying.", Kate helped Allen to stand back up. After which, Mr. Sanchez handed a pouch of bronze coins to the latter.


    "There are 200 bronze coins inside the pouch as payment for helping.", Mr. Sanchez said.


    Allen took hold of the pouch and felt estatic, he didn''t hold this much wealth before, but then frowned and thought of something.


    "Hmph, what is it, it''s not enough?", Mr. Sanchez snorted.


    The boy realized that Mr. Sanchez thought that he was disappointed with the amount, "No, no! I was frowning because my brother would suspect where did I get so much money in a short time."


    "Oh, just tell him you got a job here in the tavern, and you won''t technically even be lying to him too.", Mr. Sanchez said.


    After a pause, he said, "Alright, pack up your clothes then give them back to me."


    "Okay.", Allen went upstairs to change clothes.


    After the boy was now upstairs, Kate asked, "So, we''re really not going to get the treasure?"


    "No.", Mr. Sanchez shook his and thought, ''After all, that kid took it already.''


    ''Hais, he better not sell anything to it... if he wants to keep his humanity.''


    ***


    Several minutes later, Allen reached the outskirts of the family house.


    He was recalling what happened after the battle in the woods.


    ***


    An hour or so ago...


    After the array was accidentally turned on, it sent some sort of magic towards Allen and healed all of his injuries, even his broken bones were healed back to tip-top shape.


    Afterwards, the kid sat up and looked around his surroundings, he was surprised and at the same time frightened to see that the ground around him was glowing.


    He immediately stood up and tried to escape, however, there was some sort of invisible shield placed around in the middle of the array, forcing him to stay within it.


    As he was trying to find other ways on how to escape, he saw an orb float up from the middle and shot out a beam of light towards his forehead.


    When the beam of light entered his forehead, he felt excrutiating pain on his head, it was as if his head was being split apart. He grasped his head with the both of his hands and kneeled to the ground, however afterwards, he started to roll on the ground while gritting his teeth.


    ''Painful... it''s too!", Allen messily thought. Afterwards, several unknown bits of information appeared within his mind.


    -bzzt-


    An electrical sound could then be heard and the array finally stopped glowing and the orb in the middle was gone, along with the pain that Allen felt.


    "Huff... huff... it''s finally gone.", Allen muttered. He thought that he was going to die! He already escaped the half-death state from a necromancer apprentice''s hands then he felt that he was going to die over the ground that he was standing on for several minutes.


    He then remembered about the bits of information that entered his mind during the painful process.


    Suddenly, he accidentally entered a half-sleep state and he felt that his consciousness was pulled somewhere else.


    Everything around him was white, except for a dagger in front of him.


    "This..."


    ***


    Back at the present...


    Allen was now holding the same dagger he saw in his consciousness. The bits of information that he got were dagger special skills, but there were only a three of them.


    ''Sell me something... come on, if the price is enough, the power is all yours.'', an enticing voice in his head said.


    ''This again...'', Allen thought. He read about this voice in his head on the books. It was none other than a devil.


    He also saw read about the consequences of making a trade with a devil, such as losing your soul or becoming it''s slave, however, those evil beings would still do the end part of their deal.


    In addition, these creatures could grasp right timing like when one was in despair, they would appear in that person''s thoughts. But of course, they would only make a deal with powerful beings. However, why would it appear within his thoughts? Allen speculated that the devil''s consciousness was just connected to the dagger.


    -poof-


    The dagger in Allen''s hands disappeared and returned back to his consciousness; the kid then felt fatigue spreading all over his body, the weapon was only summon on the outside world for almost a second and his energy was almost depleted already.


    ''Come on, sell me something? Anything!?''


    Allen ignored the devil''s enticement, finally it stopped talking after seeing the kid can''t be persuaded... yet again.


    Afterwards, the kid finally arrived at the family house.


    As he was about to go up the stairs, he saw his father holding a candle with a cup looking at him.


    "Where have you been?", Marco looked at Allen''s pouch. "Give me that pouch."


    "But..."


    "Hmph, give me!"


    Allen could only give him the pouch of 200 bronze coins.


    "This is a bit heavy. How much money is in this?", Marco asked.


    "Two hundred bronze coins, father.", Allen answered.


    Marco couldn''t help but smile when he heard the amount of money, "You''re such a good son. Well then, I''m going to my friend tonight to play."


    Obviously, his definition of ''play'' is gamble.


    "Father, can I get some bronze coins to get some food for William?", Allen asked.


    "Oh?", Marco plunged his hand into the pouch. "Here, catch."


    He threw the money at Allen, the latter caught the it and saw that it was only one bronze coin.


    "Father, this... but..."


    "Shut up, learn how to save up your money.", Marco went downstairs and exited the house.


    The kid looked blankly at the 1 bronze coin on his hand. He doesn''t know what kind of emotion would he show. Happiness? Sadness? Or perhaps anger?


    He just dejectedly pocketed the bronze coin and entered William''s room to check on him.


    Under the moonlight, he looked at his little brother who was still holding the same book while asleep.


    Allen smiled and left the room and went towards his bedroom. His room only consisted of a bed, drawer, and a window, compared to William''s bedroom, it was a grade or two below.


    He placed the bronze coin on top of the drawer and lied down on his bed.


    ''What a horrible night.'', Allen closed his eyes and started sleeping.


    ***


    Next morning...


    "Big brother, wake up! Let''s have breakfast together!", Warren shook Allen as he tried to wake him up.


    "Ehh... who? What?", Allen mindlessly asked out.


    "I said... let''s go eat breakfast!", Warren emphasized every words.


    "I don''t want to mi''lady, Sir Nomnom commanded me to go get water first!", Allen blurted out without thinking; after which, he turned his back at Warren.


    "You dare call me a lady?!", Warren angrily asked.


    "Madam, don''t be angry, your voice might crack up.", Allen sleepily blurted out again without opening his eyes.


    "Hmph!", Warren''s eyes, as if, suddenly was on fire, like an angry feudal lord who just judged a convict to die. The nine year old kid backed off, when he reached the walls of the bedroom, he ran straight to Allen''s bed. When he was about to hit the bed, he jumped up and aimed his elbow at his big brother''s stomach.


    "Gahhh...", Allen shouted as he was shocked by the pain. However, before he could continue shouting for more than a second, Warren already used his hands to punch Allen''s face repeatedly.


    Sigh... what a marvelous pair of true siblings.


    ...


    Allen and Warren were walking downstairs to go to eat in the kitchen.


    "Erm... I''m sorry for calling you a lady.", Allen said as he held his stomach and face in pain. Surprisingly, he got a blackeye!


    "Hmph!", Warren snorted in anger and ignored his big brother.


    Allen couldn''t help but inwardly cry, ''I was too tired that time, I returned back pass midnight, and before that, I experienced being beaten half to death.''


    However, he obviously won''t tell what really happened to his little brother or else something bad would happen to him.


    ''Why do big brothers always take the burden of the younger siblings.'', Allen inwardly cried again.

 9 Practice

    "How should I hide my blackeye?", Allen muttered. He was beaten up badly by his own little brother. Now, William won''t even talk to him too. The nine year old kid may be perceptive and smart, but he was still a kid nonetheless who could throw a tantrum.


    Allen then thought of something and walked away from the vicinity of the house.


    ***


    Allen walked out of a shop, he bought a worn out low quality eyepatch with his 1 bronze coin to cover up his blackeye.


    Afterwards, because there was nothing to do, he went towards the Three Heads Tavern.


    As soon as he entered the tavern, he heard the people drinking and eating in the establishment talk about a common issue.


    "The necromancer died right in front of my house! My family could''ve been hurt if that man was still alive.", a man in front of the counter declared throughout the whole tavern.


    "A necromancer? You mean an old man that they said who died last night? Come on, don''t exaggerate his death!", Customer No. 1 said.


    "It''s true, it was really a necromancer! The chief guard himself personally approved that it was among those vile killers!", Customer No. 2 interrupted.


    "Really?", Customer No. 1 asked.


    "Yes.", the man nodded. "I would''ve never said that it was a necromancer out loud, or else everyone would think I''m crazy."


    "Then... how did he die?", Customer No. 3 asked.


    After that question, everyone''s interest was piqued, including Allen''s, and they lended an ear to listen.


    "He.... well, I have no idea. There was nothing released on the board outside the city hall about how did he die.", the man shook his head.


    Everyone was disappointed by the man''s reply and the tavern suddenly became quiet.


    "How did the necromancer enter the city then?", another customer asked.


    Now, the establishment became lively again as they waited for the man to answer the question.


    "Do you remember the news about a mage coming to divine the person who killed the chief guard''s son?", the man said.


    "Huh?"


    "Yeah."


    "So what about it?"


    "The invited mage was in fact the necromancer!", the man said.


    "What?!"


    "How?"


    "That''s impossible, you''re just slandering the mayor.", a customer, who was obviously a supporter of the mayor, said.


    "No I''m not! The mayor himself wrote a note of apology about it, it''s posted on the board too!", the man said.


    "Whoa!"


    "I''m going to check it later."


    "Me too."


    "If it is really a necromancer... then we would''ve died in our sleep last night if that evil being wasn''t killed!", a customer pointed out.


    All the other people felt chill in their hearts, what that customer just said was right, them and their families would''ve been killed if the necromancer didn''t die!


    They''ve heard of stories from travelers and merchants all over the kingdom about villages and towns getting massacred by necromancers! It frightened the populace of the villages, towns and cities to the point that the Retollian Holy Alliance took action with the help of the kingdom.


    In the end, they solved the case of the circulated stories. They didn''t destroy a single one of the scattered groups of necromancers, but caught the person who was the mastermind behind all the stories.


    That person was a merchant who was selling fake bane protections, he started to make up the stories so his products could be bought.


    Of course, there were some people that still believed that there were communities massacred by the necromancers tho.


    "Hey, if you want to eat, sit down or get out of here.", a voice said towards Allen.


    Allen looked at his side and saw Kate, the latter didn''t notice earlier that it was him.


    Kate was caught off guard, "Ehh, it''s you Allen? I didn''t know it was you with that eyepatch, and why are you even wearing one?"


    Allen carefully lifted his eyepatch to show Kate and placed back down on his eye.


    "How did you get a blackeye? I don''t remember you having one last night.", Kate asked.


    "My little brother punched me in the face.", Allen answered quietly, so others won''t be able to hear it.


    "Oh.", Kate paused and asked. "Why are you here?"


    "I don''t know where should I go."


    "You''re not going to eat or drink anything?"


    "No."


    "Get out of here!", Kate pushed Allen outside the tavern and closed the door behind him.


    "So rude.", Allen muttered.


    ''What should I do now then?'', he thought.


    He then suddenly remembered about the three dagger special skills he got within his mind last night.


    ''I should practice, I guess?'', Allen sighed inwardly. He was just a pickpocket, then became a new assassin overnight. He didn''t want to kill, but he had no choice because he felt that the tavern owner wasn''t as simple as one would think, and would really kill his family.


    ***


    Back at the family house...


    Allen quietly entered the house and sneaked upstairs to check if William was in his bedroom. He didn''t see his little brother, so he inspected the whole house except for his father''s bedroom, however, he still couldn''t see the nine year old kid.


    "Did he go somewhere else?", Allen pondered.


    After a while, he still couldn''t find his little brother.


    "Well then, that''s good, I could practice in my bedroom then.", Allen took a blunt knife from the kitchen and went to his bedroom. He sat on the bed and entered a half-sleep state with great difficulty. A familiar force suddenly pulled his consciousness somewhere else.


    Allen could now see the dagger in front of him, at the same time, he could hear the voice of the devil whispering at him.


    "Shut up." Allen said. He slowly approached the dagger, before he could even touch it, a repulsive force came from the weapon which threw him back and forcibly expelled him from his half-sleep state.


    "Ow...", Allen felt like his brain was shaking. He was only trying to hold the dagger in the half-sleep state, however, it was obviously restricted.


    He gave up the idea and just recalled the three dagger special skills. He took out a blank notebook from a drawer and a coal pencil; he wrote the the skills'' method of execution, effect, etc.


    He exactly wrote...


    Dagger Flash; could be executed with any dagger or dagger-like weapons:


    Send out a dagger flash towards your enemy at a short distance. The strength depends on the quality of the weapon and the amount of energy used.


    Firm Fists; hands only:


    Uses low amount of energy to make hands sturdier and deliver heavier punches.


    Erchian Dagger; summon:


    Summon the dagger by using energy (uses energy overtime to maintain physical form). Amplifies effects of dagger skills.


    ...


    Allen finished writing and placed the coal pencil on top of the drawer and read the contents of the notebook.


    "Dagger Flash? Was that the skill that Kate used back at the woods?", Allen pondered.


    He then looked at the Firm Fists and thought, ''Probably when I get unarmed, this will come in handy.''


    As for the third one, Erchian Dagger, he already used summoned it once when he was walking home last night, but only lasted than a second.


    Now, Allen was wondering about what kind of energy that the skills use. Was it just the energy of the body because he felt fatigue after summoning Erchian Dagger? Or maybe something else?


    Allen thought of seeking Mr. Sanchez, who seem to know a lot for help, but he rejected the idea in the end. He feared that he might take advantage on his newly learned skills.


    In the end, Allen threw the issue at the back of his mind and started practicing Dagger Flash.


    -whoosh- -whoosh- -whoosh-


    After making about twenty slashes of different types, a flash didn''t even form even once.


    "What''s wrong with this? It''s not because weapon is too rusty, is it?", Allen pondered and thought of something, ''It''s probably because I can''t direct the energy yet?''


    ''Or could I just use my will to command that energy to go towards my hands and to the dagger? Just like how I could summon the Erchian Dagger'', he tried the newly found idea as he commanded within his mind to direct the energy towards the dagger.


    He then suddenly felt warm current flowing inside his body and went towards his hand which was holding the blunt knife. Afterwards, he felt that the blunt knife in his hands became warmer!


    "It''s working haha! My guess is right after all!", Allen internally commanded to stop the flow of energy and suddenly felt a slight fatigue. However, after doing so, he lost the protection of the energy from the heat that the blunt knife was now emitting.


    "Ow! Hot! Hot! Hot!", Allen accidentally slashed towards the wall.


    -sou-


    A dagger flash was released from the blunt knife, it went towards the wall and pierced through it without any hitch, leaving behind an open, thin, horizontal line.


    -boom-


    The blunt knife in Allen''s hand suddenly exploded into bits! It was made from low quality materials and it wasn''t even that sharp anymore due to using it for many times, now, because of the energy, it exploded into bits.


    Luckily, even though Allen was hit by some of the parts of the blunt knife, he was not hurt because the knife was already not sharp.


    "I think I inserted too much energy.", Allen rubbed his head due to stress, not only the blunt knife was destroyed, even the wall had a very thin open line on it!


    ''I should''ve practiced outside instead!''

 10 Practice 2

    In a nearby tree grove...


    -sou-


    Allen finished releasing all the Dagger Flash he could launch for today. He was now feeling exhausted, he could feel that the energy inside his body was now depleted.


    "Including the one in the bedroom, I could at most release four Dagger Flashes with a range of ten meters with my currenty energy.", he sat down on the grass as he looked at the cutted three trees.


    "Is it me or are my flash stronger than Kate''s?", Allen muttered. Kate''s flash could at most cut the head of a normal bloodthirsty wolf in one release, but his, he could cut off a tree in one go.


    ''Is a tree much sturdier than a bloodthirsty wolf tho?'', Allen wondered; afterwards sighed, because he just realized how small the amount of energy he has.


    Kate could use flicker in a range of twenty meters three times a day, but how big would the amount of energy needed to execute each of them? Probably if Allen knew how to do a flicker, he can''t even do it for once in a range of ten meters due to his small amount of energy.


    "Next time, I should probably train with Firm Fists first.", Allen said to himself; then looked at the knife he was now using, earlier, he stole this knife from the marketplace without the merchant noticing it.


    Allen examined the knife in his hands, "This is a good quality knife, I should return this to the merchant."


    You could already consider him a thief already from being a pickpocket for a long time, however, he can''t use this knife for anything else, so he might aswell just return it then.


    "I should at least pay the merchant for using the knife, but then, I don''t have any money... or maybe...", Allen stood up and walked towards the town.


    ***


    Approximatedly two hours later in the marketplace...


    -whoosh-


    Allen quickly walked away from the street and into an alley. When he was finally at the end of the alley, he looked how much money he got from stealing from people''s pockets.


    He saw that it was one bronze coin, coupled with the money he stole from other people''s pockets earlier, he now has ten bronze coins.


    "I actually became faster when I pickpocket now.", Allen placed the one bronze coin inside the pouch with the other ones he stole earlier. He really did became faster now, and it''s because of his newfound reflex when he battled in the Woods.


    He walked away from the alley and went to the stall of the merchant, whom he stole the knife earlier.


    The merchant was selling utensils, either wooden or made from metal. Taking the chance that the merchant was haggling the price of a spoon, he swiftly returned the knife from where he stole it and placed the pouch of ten bronze coins on top of it without anyone noticing. Afterwards, he left the marketplace.


    Meanwhile, the merchant just finished haggling the price of a medium quality wooden spoon to a buyer for seven bronze coins. He then saw the pouch of bronze coins on top of a knife, he immediately took it and looked in it''s contents.


    The hat of the merchant was shadowing the upper half of his face, however, one could discern a smile as he muttered...


    "Karma... how fated.", he emptied the pouch and put all the coins inside his wide pockets. After which, he hummed a tune.


    ***


    After Allen walked out of the marketplace, he decided to now go towards the Three Heads Tavern for the second time this day as it was near dusk now and so that he doesn''t need to sneak in the town.


    Allen entered the tavern, he saw that there were only few people left drinking and eating. He sat down to wait for the night to come.


    Meanwhile, Kate noticed Allen; she approached him and said, "You''re so early!"


    Allen scratched the back of his head, "Well, I got nothing to do, and you can''t make me leave."


    "Hmph.", Kate snorted and approached a customer.


    After Kate left, Allen took the time left to rest and replenish his energy.


    ...


    Night comes...


    Mr. Sanchez walked down the stairs and saw Allen and Kate waiting for him.


    He noticed Allen''s eyepatch and asked, "Why are you wearing an eyepatch?"


    Before Allen could answer, Kate said while trying to prevent herself from laughing, "He was beaten up by his little brother."


    "Oh.", Mr. Sanchez expressionlessly nodded, but his eyes showed a different light.


    "What are we going to do tonight?", Kate asked.


    "There''s nothing to do tonight, but you will teach Allen how to make a dagger flash.", Mr. Sanchez said.


    "What?! Why me?", Kate complained.


    ''How to make dagger flash? This training just came at the right time.'', Allen thought. He already knew how to make a dagger flash, but his dagger flashes are a bit inefficient.


    Mr. Sanchez didn''t answer her question and just said, "Don''t worry, you won''t be the only one that will train him."


    "You''re going to train him too?"


    "No, I need to do something, Drake would help you instead.", Mr. Sanchez walked up the stairs and left Allen and Kate''s sights


    "Wait? Drake is coming back too?!", Kate''s eyes twitched.


    "Erm... who?", Allen asked.


    Before the girl could answer, the back door of the tavern opened, and a boy wearing acommoner''s clothes near the age of the two entered.


    "Am I late?", the boy closed the door behind him and approached Kate and Allen.


    "You''re just a bit late, Drake.", Kate answered in a grave tone.


    Allen was surprised by Kate''s tone of voice, the former thought, ''What made Kate hate this guy to use that kind of tone?''


    "Hi Kate, you still didn''t get over it, I guess.", Drake then looked over at Allen. "You''re the new guy?"


    Before Allen could answer, Kate interjected and said with the same tone, "He''s Allen." And she looked at Allen and used a lighter tone, "He''s Drake, you can call him d*******."


    "Hey, hey! Not in front of the new guy. It''s embarassing.", Drake said.


    "Hmph! You go train him, I''m going somewhere else.", Kate exited through the back door.


    "Ugh! She''s so unsociable, well, looks like it''s just you and me.", Drake said.


    After a paused, he asked, "So, I''m going to train you on how to make a dagger flash?"


    Allen nodded.


    "Well then, let''s go clear up some space first.", Drake started to push a table towards to the side, followed by Allen who was carrying the chairs.


    ...


    A few minutes later...


    "Alright, this space should be enough... catch.", Drake threw a dagger at Allen''s feet


    Allen picked up the dagger and inspected it, even though he wasn''t a blacksmith or somebody smart who could check a weapon, he knew that this weapon was at least of above good quality.


    "Do you already know how to control the energy inside your body?", Drake asked.


    "Yes.", Allen nodded.


    "Good, now try to control the energy with your will and channel it to the dagger through your hands.", Drake paused and said. "A little trivia, the strength of a dagger flash depends on the quality of the weapon and the amount of energy used."


    Allen pretended to be surprised, he already knew about that, but he felt that he should at least act that he still doesn''t so he won''t be suspected.


    He did what Drake instructed until he felt that that''s all the needed energy to make a dagger slash.


    "Good, you could actually control the amount of energy needed.", Drake nodded in satisfaction. "Now slash towards the tables."


    "Huh, are you sure?", Allen asked. He just used a blunt knife earlier for a Dagger Flash and the flash pierced through the wall easily, then what about a above good quality dagger? What kind of damage would it produce?!


    "Don''t worry, the tables aren''t made of ordinary wood.", Drake reassured.


    "Alright then.", Allen immediately slashed forward.


    -sou-


    A dagger flash emerged from the weapon and flew at a table. When the flash hit the table, it stopped and disappeared, the table wasn''t even affected.


    Afterwards, Allen felt fatigue all over his body, he thought, ''Huh? My energy isn''t fully replenished yet?''


    Well, he could only use Dagger Flash four times a day if he was full of energy. He only rested for a few hours and the energy he replenished was only enough for one Dagger Flash.


    "What a powerful dagger flash, but it''s too excessibly powerful, you don''t need a dagger flash to be this powerful. Can you halve the usage of energy?", Drake asked.


    "I''ll try, but I''m out of energy.", Allen said.


    "Oh? You must''ve been tiring yourself.", Drake took something from his pockets and threw it at Allen, the latter caught it and saw that it was the same pill that Kate used in the Woods.


    ''So that means what I''m using is indeed the energy of my body.'', Allen''s conjecture was proven by Drake''s sentence.


    "Eat that up and try again. I want to see how many dagger flashes you can make.", Drake said.


    Allen swallowed the pill and he immediately felt that his energy was replenished to the max. He halved the energy he was always inserting in the dagger and depleted his energy again by launching eight dagger flashes simultaneously.


    He felt fatigue spreading all over his body again, but Drake gave him another pill and the energy inside his body was replenished again.


    "Again.", Drake said.


    -sou-


    The sound of dagger flashes echoed inside the tavern.

 11 One of Them

    Right after midnight...


    "Take a break.", Drake threw another pill towards Allen, the latter swallowed the pill and his energy was replenished.


    "You can release a maximum of eight dagger flashes with all your energy, and it looks like the energy you can store is still too little.", Drake said.


    "Is the energy in the body is the only one we can use to create like these dagger flashes?", Allen asked.


    In just a span of few hours, he felt close with Drake, if not, he wouldn''t have asked that question. Allen couldn''t help but be surprised and terrified at the same time, Drake''s charisma was on a very high level. But why would Kate hate Drake then?


    "No, we can use external energy sources like amulets that could store mana, but it''s much harder to control because mana is chaotic and is mostly used to power up mages'' spells, however if we use it, our dagger flashes would be much more powerful.", Drake explained.


    "Oh. How can I increase the energy that I could store then?", Allen asked. Trying to find an amulet that could store mana is hard, it was also a valuable object to mages, unless one wants to die, one mustn''t take it. In addition, it''s almost impossible to refill the amulet with mana, because most of the mana springs were under control of either group of mages or powerful individuals.


    "By repeatedly practicing skills that needs the energy of the body.", Drake said.


    "Or getting wounded again and again.", Mr. Sanchez walked down the stairs.


    "Hello master.", Drake greeted.


    Mr. Sanchez ignored Drake''s greetings and just went straight to them.


    "I heard about the both of you talking about how to expand the energy you can store inside the body. Repeatedly practicing skills is much slower, but a safer way to do it, while repeatedly getting wounded is faster yet more painful.", Mr. Sanchez said.


    After a pause, he added, "But it''s not always an assassin could get wounded or injured, because you can''t easily fight head on, plus, you could die if you have too many wounds, because of having frail body."


    "And also, don''t always consume those pills to replenish your energy, as their medicinal strength would have a weaker effect on your body overtime."


    Allen nodded in understanding.


    "Now then, where''s Kate?", Mr. Sanchez asked.


    "She went to who knows where.", Drake answered carefreely.


    "Hais, go find her, tell her I''m looking for her.", Mr. Sanchez said.


    "Alright.", Drake nodded and left the tavern.


    Now, only Mr. Sanchez and Allen were left inside the establishment. The latter was feeling overwhelmed by the former, even though he''s doing nothing.


    "Hey Allen.", Mr. Sanchez said.


    Allen looked up at Mr. Sanchez, "Umm... what is it?"


    "You can go home now, come back tomorrow night here to train again."


    "Erm... alright.", Allen nodded and went towards the door, before he got to open it, he heard Mr. Sanchez''s voice.


    "Don''t sell anything part of you to the devil, alright?", Mr. Sanchez said.


    Allen was stunned and turned around, however, Mr. Sanchez was already closed the door on the stairs.


    ''He actually knew.'', Allen inwardly said. ''But why would he even warn me tho?''


    The kid just shrugged it off and left the tavern.


    ***


    Back at the house...


    "I guess father''s not home yet."


    Allen closed the door and went upstairs to his room.


    As soon as he opened the door of his bedroom, he saw William sitting on his bed.


    William looked at Allen and said, "Where were you?! I''ve been worried about you, did you do something bad?"


    Allen bowed his head in shame, "Erm... sorry for coming late, I was just..." Suddenly he thought of something and glared fiercely at William. "Wait a minute, I was suppose to be the one scolding you! Why are you still awake at this kind of time?"


    "Umm... I was waiting for you big brother. I need to say something.", William said.


    "And why is that? Couldn''t it wait for tomorrow?", Allen asked.


    "I''m sorry.", William looked at Allen''s eyepatch and got to the point. "I''m sorry for beating you up earlier in the morning."


    ''Even though I enjoyed it.'', William thought.


    "I''m sorry for being such a rude little brother.", William guiltily said.


    Allen was caught off guard by William''s apology and immediately said, "I''m sorry for being impulsive too, I guess being too tired is not an excuse... so... everything''s okay between us now?"


    "Yes.", William nodded.


    "Oh, then give your big brother a hug!", Allen ran at William to give a hug.


    However, William immediately ran away from the bed to the other side of the room, now, Allen only hugged thin air.


    "Eww, no thanks! Get a bath first.", William said.


    "How about just one hug?"


    "No!"


    "Come on?"


    "No means no!"


    "Well then... I''ll force you to hug me!"


    "Nooooooooo!"


    ***


    Next morning...


    "Yawn."


    Allen stretched his arms up high as he sat up the bed. As he walked downstairs, he smelled a delicious aroma coming from the kitchen.


    "Hey, son, come eat.", a voice came from the kitchen.


    Allen turned his head to the direction of the kitchen and saw his father, Marco.


    The kid approached the kitchen and also saw William sitted on a chair eating pancakes. Allen couldn''t help but be surprised, ''Did father suddenly change?''


    Suddenly, Marco happily said, "I''ve won big this time around! I''m planning to play in a gambling den next!"


    Allen was about to stop Marco from doing so, but didn''t continue at the end, his father was so stubborn when it comes into gambling. In fact, Allen would be scolded instead if he tried to stop his father.


    "Come on, eat up!"


    Allen started eating the pancakes while Marco immediately left the house.


    "He hasn''t change after all.", Allen sighed.


    "Why does he even enjoy gambling?", William asked.


    "I don''t know.", Allen answered.


    "Doesn''t he know that he won''t profit much in gambling? Specially in gambling dens?", William sighed.


    "You really do know about a lot of things.", Allen commented.


    "Ehh... I just like investigating stuffs.", William happily stuffed a pancake in his mouth.


    "Big brother, I''ve been meaning to ask.", William added.


    "What is it?"


    "Where''s our knife? I couldn''t seem to find it anywhere."


    "Umm..."


    ***


    Allen entered the Three Heads Tavern once again in the morning.


    Kate noticed that Allen came in again early in the morning.


    "Why are you here again?! If you''re not eating, then get out of here.", Kate quietly said.


    "I just want to talk with Mr. Sanchez.", Allen said.


    "Alright then, he''s upstairs inside his office room.", Kate walked away and went to a customer.


    Allen walked upstairs towards the office room and knocked on the door.


    "Come in, the door''s not locked.", Mr. Sanchez said.


    Allen walked in the office room and closed the door behind him.


    "Oh, it''s you.", Mr. Sanchez said while not looking at Allen, he was currently writing about something on a book. "What do you want kid?"


    "Can I... get a job in here?", Allen carefully asked with all his might.


    "But you already have a job.", Mr. Sanchez answered.


    "I meant... having a job in the tavern not in assassination.", Allen said.


    "And why is that?", Mr. Sanchez stopped writing and looked at Allen.


    "It''s because I want to have a stable source of income."


    "Okay, you''re hired.", Mr. Sanchez immediately said.


    Allen was caught off guard by the tavern owner''s fast agreement, he was actually preparing to beg to get the job.


    "Your income would be thirty bronze coins per week. Are you alright with that?", Mr. Sanchez asked. Thirty bronze coins per week? That was thrice the money that Allen could get for one month.


    "Yes, but when do a start... sir?"


    "Now.", Mr. Sanchez handed out an apron to Allen.


    Allen immediately wore the apron, after which, Mr. Sanchez said, "Tell Kate that I''ve hired you, she''ll tell you what to do for today."


    Allen nodded and immediately went downstairs and approached Kate.


    Kate noticed Allen''s apron and asked, "You were hired?"


    "Yep, Mr. Sanchez said you''ll tell me what to do for today.", Allen said.


    "Can you write and read?", Kate asked.


    "Yes.", Allen nodded.


    "Here, take this, write down the orders of the people who will raise their hands to call you.", Kate passed an old fashioned paper pad and a coal pencil. "After writing down the orders, immediately give it to the small window of the kitchen. I''ll be the one who will serve the food then, alright?"


    Allen nodded and immediately went to a customer who was raising his hand.


    "I want two jars of beers, a chicken soup, and fried potatoes.", the customer said.


    Allen wrote at a very fast pace and in just three seconds, he finished writing and gave the paper to the window.


    A hand came out of the window to take the paper, when Allen saw the owner of the hand, he couldn''t help but yelp out.


    "Drake? You''re the chef?!"


    "Oh, it''s you! Yes I am. Looks like you got a job here now, alright keep taking the orders of the people.", Drake stopped talking to Allen and just kept cooking.


    ''No wonder why Kate gave me the easier job of writing down the orders. He really doesn''t want to see Drake''s face.'', Allen thought.


    Afterwards, Allen swiftly wrote down the orders of the other people, while Kate delivered the dishes, and Drake was the one who cooked them. Some sort of synergy could suddenly be noticrd between them, as if a circle of movement was formed.


    [End of Volume 1: One Day, Big Change]

 12 The Nearby Lord

    In the mayor''s manor in the central part of the town...


    The place was guarded by the personal guards of the mayor, which wore armor and has much better weapons that the town guards.


    Alexander, the mayor of the town, was currently in his study, reading a letter that came from the secret organization.


    The mayor sighed in response after reading the letter. The contents of the letter were...


    [Mr. Alexander,


    We have received your message about the necromancer we sent that died, his disciple didn''t come back yet and we sent a party to find him, we will message that party to go to Crescent Town to protect you.


    It is estimated that they would reach your town by a month, and about the treasure, the party will be the one who will find it.]


    There was no signature or name of the sender on the letter, however, there was a seal placed on the top right corner of the letter, indicating that it came from the organization.


    "The treasure that could make one powerful, in exchange for one''s humanity.", the mayor muttered.


    ***


    Three Heads Tavern...


    After the last customer of the day left...


    "Finally, rest...", Allen sat down on a chair.


    "You said it...", Drake walked out of the kitchen while untying his apron.


    "Mhm.", Kate nodded in agreement.


    "I never thought you could cook, Drake.", Allen commented.


    "Haha... it''s hard to cook for a whole tavern of people, but I''m fast enough to do so. But Kate have the best job of delivering my masterpieces to the people, she probably smells each of my dishes when she carries it.", Drake said.


    "No, it''s probably covered in your sweat when you cook them.", Kate retorted.


    "Yeah, covered with my sweat and hardwork. Hahaha...", Drake joked.


    ''How shameless.'', Kate thought.


    "I''m going to cook our dinner, be right back.", Drake tied back his apron and entered the kitchen.


    "We get to eat?", Allen asked.


    "Of course.", Kate said.


    ...


    Several minutes later, Drake walked out of the kitchen carrying food. The trio ate happily until night.


    Mr. Sanchez walked down the stairs and saw the three of them cleaning the table they just ate on.


    "Your training tonight is canceled.", Mr. Sanchez said to Allen.


    After a pause, he continued, "We''re going to go to Riverboard City, we will leave tonight. We''ll stay there for a few weeks, but probably won''t exceed a month."


    Allen was surprised by the decision of Mr. Sanchez. They''ll stay at the Riverboard City down at south for many days, he was worried that his little brother would be afraid of being alone in the house when his father was gambling.


    Seeing Allen''s worried look, Mr. Sanchez, as if he can read the kid''s thoughts, said, "You can say goodbye to your little brother tonight, after all, we''ll probably pass by your house. Don''t worry, you will be paid a lot of money, when we return."


    "Okay.", Allen sighed inwardly, the reason why he was here in the first place was because he lacked money, however, being too far from home made him hesitate, even when Mr. Sanchez will pay him a large amount of money.


    ''So much things happened these past days.'', Allen thought. It has only been three to five days since the kid killed the man. The man became a resentful ghost that kept haunting Allen, every time in his sleep, that man would appear in his dreams and try to kill him.


    "We''ll finally leave this place.", Kate rejoiced.


    "Temporarily leave.", Drake reminded.


    "Hmph."


    "Alright, the three of you should get dressed, there is a carriage down south that would take us to the city.", Mr. Sanchez said.


    ***


    Night...


    In the Morgan residence...


    William placed the book he was reading back at the bookshelf and lied down the bed.


    "Where the heck is that smelly brother of mine gone to?", William muttered to himself.


    "Ehem, who are you calling smelly?", a voice said.


    "Eeek...", William shrieked as he saw Allen beside the window. "B... b... big brother, don''t scare me like that! How did you get here without me noticing? Or did you climb up the window?!"


    "Yes, I climbed up the window.", Allen nodded.


    "Have you been stealing people''s objects?!", William suddenly asked and said in his mind, ''No wonder big brother got so much money to give!''


    "What?! No!", Allen immediately said. "Wait a minute... don''t you dare change the subject."


    "I''m not!", William said.


    "William, I''m not going to come back here for probably a month''s time. Be good, alright?", Allen said.


    "I''ll be good, but where are you going, big brother?", William asked.


    "I can''t tell you. Goodbye!", Allen jumped out the window.


    "Wait! Don''t be so stupid to jump out the window!", William looked out the window and saw Allen''s silhouette waving goodbye at him, finally his big brother left towards the darkness.


    "Big brother''s getting weirder and weirder these past few days, first he got twenty bronze coins, second, he returned to the house at midnight, third, he''s going to leave and not come back for some time.", William rubbed his head due to stress.


    "I hope that you''ll just be okay."


    ***


    In a tree grove...


    "Here''s your clothes and a new dagger", Kate passed Allen his assassin''s clothes and the new weapon.


    "Thanks.", Allen wore the black clothes over his current ones and placed the dagger inside his sleeves.


    "Come on, they''re waiting for you.", Kate told Allen to follow her.


    ***


    Night, one day later, inside a carriage at the outskirts of Riverboard City...


    "We''ve arrived at the outskirts, let us set off by foot.", Mr. Sanchez then told the coach to stop the carriage.


    Afterwards, Allen, Drake, and Kate went out the carriage.


    "Finally, I could stretch out my arms.", Drake stretched his joints up high.


    "Thank you for the ride, old friend.", Mr. Sanchez said towards the driver.


    "Don''t mention it.", the carriage driver laughed and continued towards the Riverboard City.


    "We''re not going to go straight to the city?", Kate asked.


    "No, we''re going to a nearby lord first.", Mr. Sanchez said.


    "A lord? Which lord?", Drake asked.


    "Just follow me.", Mr. Sanchez said.


    ***


    The group of four passed by a night market on the road without anyone noticing them, after which, they saw a small castle on the hill. They hid themselves into a group of trees near at the bottom of the hill.


    "What are we going to do now?", Drake asked.


    "There is a group of assassins coming for the lord of that castle, our job is to protect the lord.", Mr. Sanchez explained.


    "Other assassins? Do they have special abilities?", Kate asked.


    "No, but they''re very fast.", Mr. Sanchez said.


    "Fast?", Drake''s eyes shone when he heard the word ''fast''. "Let me see how fast they are."


    "Hey kid.", Mr. Sanchez looked at Allen. "Don''t hesitate to kill, or those assassins would kill you instead."


    Allen nodded. ''What a risky job.''


    After the briefing, the four of them rushed towards the castle walls.


    "And let me remind you three.", Mr. Sanchez said. "There are guards up there, the lord didn''t declare that we are coming, so try to avoid getting hit by friendly fire."


    After a pause, he continued, "Alright, I''ll go straight to the lord''s bedroom to protect him."


    Mr. Sanchez disappeared within a flash.


    -clang- -clang-


    Sounds of battle erupted up the castle walls.


    "Come on, let''s go.", Kate used flicker and immediately got to the top of the walls.


    "Try to catch up, Allen!", Drake swiftly climbed the castle walls with his daggers and got to the top in four seconds.


    One could say that Kate''s specialty were explosive sneak attacks. While Drake''s specialty was his speed and agility.


    Allen took a look at the castle walls, it was more than twice as tall as an alley wall! Nonetheless, Allen successfully climbed it by approximately ten seconds.


    -whoosh-


    As soon as he reached the top of the wall, he was met by a sword slash by one of the assassins. However, Allen''s reaction speed was fast and he quickly dodged the sword slash.


    "A kid?", the assassin saw Allen''s height and got into a conclusion, but the former still unhesitatingly attacked the latter.


    Allen took out his dagger and dodged the attack, with his smaller height compared to the attacker, he swiftly got to the enemy''s side and attacked.


    Due to the fast movements of Allen, the assassin was caught of guard and his side bled profusely.


    "Too fast!", the attacker tried to turn to Allen''s direction, but the kid was already behind him and latched onto his back.


    "Get off me!", the enemy tried to crush Allen between the floor of the wall, but the kid already removed himself from the back of the assassin.


    -crack-


    The assassin cracked his own bones because of his actions, taking the chance, Allen stabbed at the neck of the enemy.


    -pshew-


    The dagger accurately hit the neck, afterwards Allen immediately retrieved the dagger.


    The enemy made gurgling sounds before he died, with his eyes wide open, he can''t believe that he just died by the hands of a kid.


    "You''re much easier to handle compared to that young necromancer.", Allen commented. Of course, the young necromancer he mentioned was none other than Warren.


    Afterwards, Allen charged at an another assassin.

 13 The Fight on the Walls

    ...


    Few minutes later...


    -pshew-


    Allen slashed the neck of an assassin. The enemy grasped his neck while looking at the kid with surprise and horror, a few moments later, the assassin collapsed dead.


    "Fast? They''re not even fast!", Drake shouted in contempt as he swiftly killed an assassin.


    "The leader is probably the one who is fast. Now stop complaining!", Kate shouted.


    "How much did you kill? I killed five of them!", Drake boasted.


    "Six.", Kate answered while killing an another assassin. "Whoops, seven now." The girl smirked at Drake.


    "Hmph!", Drake rushed to an another enemy who was about to go down the wall.


    Allen couldn''t help but ponder, ''Aren''t there too many assassins?''


    However, he wasn''t given more time to think, because another wave of assassins climbed up the wall.


    "Where do all these people come from?", Allen as he dodged a friendly fire from an arrow turret.


    "I don''t know!", Kate shouted back.


    Three black clothed men lunged at Allen at the same time, the kid was caught of guard and a dagger from one of the three slashed at his face.


    -pshew-


    Luckily, Allen dodged in time, but was still lightly wounded. Now, he was being attacked by three people.


    The pressure on his defenses increased time by time until he accidentaly let go of his dagger.


    "Kill him!", one of the three said and all of them rushed at the same time at Allen.


    ''Firm Fists.'', Allen redirected a small yet right amount of energy of the body towards his arms and fists.


    While doing so, he carefully dodged each and every attacks of the three enemies, if his enemies weren''t normal assassins and could use the energy of the body, Allen might''ve probably been wounded.


    -whoosh-


    The kid almost fell from the wall after dodging a sword attack, however, he was met by a two daggers stabbing towards his body.


    "Die!"


    The daggers hit Allen! However, it didn''t go through the clothes.


    "W... what? Enchanted clothes?!", the attacker was surprised, and greed arose from his feelings. Even though he won''t fit in those clothes, he could still sell it for an exorbitant amount of money.


    His other two companions also figured out that what Allen was wearing were enchanted clothes. Their greediness arose too and rushed at the kid.


    "It''s mine!"


    "No!"


    "Stop that''s mine!"


    A fight occurred between the three of them, letting Allen have a single second of breathing space, afterwards he joined the fray by punching one of the three with his fist.


    -crack-


    A cracking sound could be heard as the enemy that Allen punched bled from his nose and mouth, afterwards, he tripped onto something and fell from the wall.


    "W... what?!"


    The two other assassins were surprised, as they were about to get themselves into a defensive position, Allen''s movement was a bit step faster and punched at one of them.


    -crack-


    Another cracking sound could be heard as the enemy that Allen punched also bled from his nose and mouth, after which was knocked out.


    "You bas****!", the last enemy who was holding a sword boldly charged, aiming for Allen''s head.


    Allen was caught off guard, but before the sword has hit him, an arrow came from an arrow turret and pierced the enemy''s neck.


    Due to the momentum of the arrow, the assassin fell from the walls.


    The kid looked at the top of the arrow turret from where the arrow came from, there he saw an armored crossbowman who was looking back at him.


    Suddenly, he saw an assassin who climbed up the arrow turret and lunged from behind the man where there was a small opening on his armor.


    Before Allen got to warn the crossbowman, the latter sidestepped, dodging the assassin''s surprise attack, then he hit the enemy with the butt of the crossbow.


    -bam-


    The assassin was caught off guard, he was about to prepare to escape when the crossbowman switched his weapon with a dagger and slashed at his back.


    -pshew-


    The assassin cried in pain as a large wound appeared.


    However, the crossbowman''s actions didn''t stop, and switched the dagger back with the crossbow, he aimed at the back of the head of the enemy and shot the arrow.


    The arrow pierced through the skull and the assassin fell from the tall arrow turret.


    It may take some time to describe, but only two seconds had passed from the assassin''s sneak attack towards the crossbowman.


    Allen felt a chill at the back of his skull, the crossbowman''s actions were very, very fast in his eyes.


    ''I should thank him later for saving me.'', Allen thought.


    ...


    The crossbowman took out a communication amulet, turned it on and said, "There are three friendly assassins, judging from their height, they must be kids."


    ...


    Allen looked over at Kate''s and Drake''s situation. The both of them were taking on five enemies at the same time while not being at a disadvantage.


    "I have a long way to go before I''ll become like them.", Allen muttered.


    ...


    Several minutes later, the last enemy was killed and peace was regained.


    A lot of corpses were on the castle walls, making the air in the area smell nauseous.


    Allen, Drake and Kate regrouped by the castle gates...


    Not really regrouped but was surrounded by the guards, aiming their spears, crossbows, and swords at them while being tied by ropes.


    "Fun''s over, I guess.", Kate sighed.


    "How many did you kill?", Drake asked to Kate.


    "Fifteen.", Kate answered. "You?"


    "Fifteen too.", Drake said.


    "You, Allen?", Kate asked.


    "About six or seven.", Allen awkwardly answered, and inwardly said. ''Come on, you know I''m new, don''t embarass me in front of these people.''


    The guards couldn''t help but feel something''s weird. These children only talked about how many they killed, wasn''t that unbelievable?!


    Suddenly, the guards made way and an armored figure came towards them, Allen recognized that it was the crossbowman that saved him.


    "Looks like we''re going to get interrogated.", Drake casually said, as if he always experienced this kind of situation.


    "Mhm.", meanwhile, Kate nodded in response.


    The crossbowman took off his helmet, however, rather than seeing a manly, brutish face, the trio only saw a beautiful woman with long, healthy hair. Her fluttering eyelashes could only be defined as perfect! While the composition of her face was extremely intricate, like a perfected sculpture.


    The three kids couldn''t help but drop their jaws, specially Allen. ''Was this the one who killed the assassin that was about to pounce earlier?!''


    Actually, ''killed'' was probably the wrong term to describe what happened, ''mercilessly slaughtered'' would be more accurate.


    Meanwhile, Kate thought, ''How did she wear the helmet while having her hair inside it?''


    On the other hand, Drake thought, ''I thought she was a man!''


    "And where did you three children come from?", the lady asked, breakinng their line of thoughts.


    As Allen was about to say something, he saw Drake''s and Kate''s glare at him. Those eyes only had one obvious meaning. Don''t say anything and keep your composure!!!


    Allen didn''t answer in the end and just looked at the lady.


    "Not going to say anything, are you?", the lady narrowed her eyes.


    The trio didn''t say anything, the silence indicating the answer was yes.


    "Alright then... how about I''ll kill this friend of yours?", the woman aimed her crossbow towards Drake.


    Allen tried to keep his composure, however, Kate suddenly said, "Yes, kill him!"


    Drake couldn''t help but make an angry glare at Kate. Allen, on the other hand, just smiled while looking towards the both of them.


    The lady sighed and thought, ''I guess making fake threats doesn''t work on these kids.''


    "Alright, what''s going on here?", a voice said.


    The guards looked towards the origin of the voice, and they saw that it was from a handsome middle aged man wearing casual clothes.


    "Mi''lord.", all the guards kneeled, while the lady bowed down.


    "Lord Levine, we caught these kids, they helped us when those group of assassins attacked, but I suspect they want something.", the lady said.


    "You can let them go, now, please untie them.", Lord Levine suddenly said.


    The lady felt there was something she doesn''t know, however, the lord''s commands always come first for her, and she untied the trio.


    "What a boring interrogation.", Drake yawned.


    "Follow me. Your master is waiting for the three of you.", Lord Levine signaled the trio.


    After a pause, Lord Levine added, "Alright, all guards back to their posts now!"


    "Melissa, you can come with us.", the feudal lord added.


    The lady bowed and followed from behind Allen, Kate and Drake.

 14 Bountiful Reward

    As soon as they entered the castle, they were met with corpses of assassins and guards lying on the ground, the air inside the castle was not that different from the air outside.


    "The ones with the real ability went straight in the castle.", Lord Levine said, as if knowing their thoughts.


    "Your Lordship, are the assigned guards in the castle were even enough?", Melissa asked.


    "No, but somebody helped us.", Lord Levine took a peek at the three kids behind him. "Hais, Melissa, please prepare the compensation for the families of the fallen guards."


    "Yes mi''lord.", Melissa bowed and walked away.


    The trio and Lord Levine continued walking up to the second floor until they reached what seemed to be like the study room.


    The study room was just like the office room of the tavern owner, however, there were bookshelves and has more chairs.


    "Let''s enter.", Lord Levine entered the room followed by the three kids and saw Mr. Sanchez looking out the window towards the starry sky.


    "Thank you again for helping, old friend.", Lord Levine said to Mr. Sanchez.


    "Don''t mention it, these are the kids that I''m talking about.", Mr. Sanchez looked at the three.


    Allen, Drake, and Kate made confused expressions.


    "Let me introduce to you, Lord Levine, he''s an... independent wizard.", Mr. Sanchez said.


    Kate''s expression became blank, while Drake was trying to remember something.


    "Wizard?! You''re a level higher than mage?!", Allen suddenly lost courtesy and blurted out.


    Kate and Drake made curious expressions at Allen.


    "Whoops.", Allen covered up his mouth.


    "Haha, it''s okay.", Lord Levine waved his hands, signaling that it''s alright. "Though you''re wrong, you skipped adept, kid. Wizard is two levels above mage."


    Seeing the curious gaze of Kate and Drake, Lord Levine further explained, "You see, there are levels that separate us what they call, ''main mana users'', the first is mage apprentice, then mage, then adept, and then wizard."


    "Oh...", the trio nodded in understanding.


    Lord Levine changed the subject, "For helping in the defense earlier, I will reward you three for your efforts."


    The three kids couldn''t help but be excited. What kind of reward would a powerful wizard give them?! It''s most likely not just some simple objects.


    Lord Levine approached his desk and pulled an amulet out of the drawer, after which, he went to a bookshelf and pulled out a book.


    The wizard lord then asked, "Who''s Kate?"


    "Me.", Kate said.


    "Here, I give you this book.", Lord Levine passed the book to Kate.


    Kate was stunned and cursed herself inwardly for her bad luck. She has always disliked reading books, even though she tried to read books again after the battle in the Woods when she saw how Allen used his intelligence against the enemy, she gave up afterwards. Ironically, now, she got a book as a reward!


    Seeing Kate''s reaction, Lord Levine said, "Read the book''s title, and you''ll like it."


    The girl then saw that book''s title, it was ''Flicker Encyclopedia Vol. 1''.


    Kate grinned and said, "Thank you!"


    "Don''t mention it, that book is useless to me.", Lord Levine said. The book was useless to a wizard, however, to an assassin who could use flicker, it was in fact, a treasure!


    "Who''s Drake?", Lord Levine asked.


    "Me."


    "Mr. Sanchez said you like to be fast. So, I''ll give you this major inferior grade Speed Amulet.", Lord Levine gave the amulet to Drake.


    Magical treasures and enchanted equipments were splitted into four categories, which were inferior, medial, superior and supreme, further sub-categorized into minor, major, superb, and peak.


    "Thank you.", Drake bowed in courtesy. The amulet might sound like it''s low leveled, but were they always using magical treasures? No! In fact, mages, doesn''t even have an inferior magical treasure, except for their magic staffs.


    "You two, you can go out now.", Mr. Sanchez said. Kate and Drake happily went out of the room while examining their rewards. Afterwards, Lord Levine casted a sound sealing spell in the room.


    "So, you''re Allen?", Lord Levine examined the kid.


    "Mhm.", Allen nodded in response.


    "You''re the one who got the treasure? Hais, you''re younger than I thought.", the feudal lord sighed.


    "Yes.", Allen said. It was obvious that Mr. Sanchez already told Lord Levine about the treasure.


    Lord Levine walked towards a bookshelf and retrieved a book, after which, he placed it on top of the table.


    "Come, sit down kid.", the wizard lord pointed at the chair.


    Allen sat down the chair and looked the book. The book was named, ''The Kingdom of Hell''.


    Suddenly, the devil inside of him became restless and kept shouting. Until... it frantically tried to take over Allen''s body. In just a flash, the kid''s eyes became red and his thoughts became blank and he lost consciousness, or probably... lost his body.


    ...


    When Allen regained his consciousness, he saw the feudal lord''s index finger touching his forehead. He was sweating all over his body.


    "What just happened?", Allen asked slobbily, he felt that his energy was depleted.


    "Good thing for you kid, being a wizard is just my second job.", Lord Levine said.


    "What?", Allen then saw the index finger that was touching his forehead was glowing. "You''re a Holy Priest?"


    The feudal lord pulled back his hand explained, "The devil incarnate in your consciousness tried to possess your body, but I stopped it in time and damaged it to the point that I sealed it''s power to take over a body. It can''t take over your body ever again."


    "Thank you. I guess that''s my reward.", Allen laughed.


    "No, I got something else for you.", Lord Levine used the both of his hands to conjure a blue sphere. "This is a mana sphere, offer it to the devil to unlock more of the treasure''s abilities.


    Lord Levine gave Allen the mana sphere, the said object floated on the hands of the latter and he could feel some sort of refreshing energy enamating from the object.


    "Won''t the devil recover then?", Allen asked.


    "Yes it would, but it can''t take over your body again, plus, I inserted some holy energy into your body to protect from other forms of soul attacks.", the feudal lord said. "Come on, offer it."


    Allen offered the mana sphere to the devil incarnate through his thoughts. After which, the sphere in his hands suddenly disappeared, and new information entered within his mind, causing him to feel a slight pain in his head.


    When the pain finally subsided, Allen searched for the new information and saw that it was a movement technique! In his thoughts, it was written as...


    Shadow Steps; movement technique:


    Use a small amount of energy to activate the movement technique. Weaker at days, more powerful during the night.


    ...


    "Thank you.", Allen stood up and bowed.


    "Don''t mention it kid, and oh, I almost forgot to tell you, the amount of energy of the body you can store has increased.", Lord Levine said. "And also, don''t say to anyone else about the devil, alright?"


    "Okay, thank you again!", this time, Allen nodded and left the room.


    "I don''t know if that kid''s fortunate or unfortunate with that kind of power.", Lord Levine said.


    "Time will tell.", Mr. Sanchez said.


    Lord Levine then opened up the book ''The Kingdom of Hell'', turned it to a certain page and read it.


    "The Erchian Dagger, the weapon of the ninth Devil King, Erchian.", the feudal lord furrowed his brows.


    Mr. Sanchez just sighed and tried to change the topic, "So, where all did those assassins came from?"


    "They came from that organization that wants the treasure inside the kid.", Lord Levine said.


    "They thought I got it. That lowly organization thinks that I''m only an adept, but if they found out that I''m a wizard and a Holy Priest, they might even cower in fear.", the feudal lord laughed.


    Mr. Sanchez smiled in response.


    "You know, I never got to ask you why you are going to Riverboard City.", Lord Levine gave a curious look to Mr. Sanchez.


    "I recently heard that there was a new criminal organization in the city, so I thought of teaching the kids how to eliminate one.", Mr. Sanchez casually smiled.


    "Haha... just like the old times, I guess.", the feudal lord smiled.


    "Just like the old times.", Mr. Sanchez nodded.

 15 Split Up

    Morning...


    "Almost fully healed.", Allen looked at his blackeye on the mirror at the end of the corridor. Aside from his blackeye, he also got a small wound on the face.


    He was also currently wearing clothes provided by Lord Levine for their temporary stay in the castle.


    "Hey Allen.", Drake called out from the other end of the corridor where the stairs leading to the ground was.


    "What is it?", Allen asked.


    "What reward did you get?"


    "Mr. Levine helped me increase the energy of the body that I could store.", Allen truthfully said.


    "Oh? Well you really needed that.", Drake commented. "Well, see you later, I''m going to enjoy this Speed Amulet!"


    In a flash, Drake already left and went to the first floor.


    "Hais.", the kid sighed. Then he recalled about the woman that saved him earlier.


    "I should thank the lady.", Allen wore back his eyepatch and left the castle.


    ***


    Inside the castle walls...


    The sun has already rose up on the horizon, lighting up the battlefield.


    The guards were cleaning up the battlefield, the corpses of their fellow men were being brought towards a certain spot to isolate them and prevent different kinds of sickness from starting to spread. Meanwhile, the corpses of the assassins were being piled up and burned outside the walls.


    Allen asked the guards on the way on where to find the ''crossbowwoman''. The guards answered that she''s in the training grounds, in addition, he also found out that the name of rhe lady was Melissa.


    ***


    -clang- -clang- -clang-


    As soon as Allen entered the vicinity of the training grounds, he heard the clangs of metal weapons hitting each other.


    The training ground, was just in fact an open area surrounded by wooden fences.


    When Allen finally reached the said location, he saw that there were guards watching the fight, luckily for him, as the night attack has just occurred, the whole place was on full alert and there weren''t many watching.


    There, he saw three guards lying on the ground while Melissa stepping on one of them.


    "I think I probably overdid it.", Melissa helped the three guards to stand up on their feet.


    "I guess in one versus three, the captain still easily wins.", one of the beaten guards laughed, followed by the two others and the guards watching the fight.


    Melissa smiled at the scene, then her eyes landed on Allen.


    "You.", Melissa called out to Allen.


    "Erm..."


    "Yes, you! Aren''t you one of the kids who helped us in the battle?", Melissa asked.


    "Yes...", Allen answered.


    Melissa approached Allen while she tussled her hair to remove sweat.


    "How beautiful", Allen blankly said.


    The guards around him heard what he said and couldn''t help but think, ''This kid has a different kind of taste!''


    "Oh, why thank you.", Melissa slightly blushed, seemingly flattered.


    The guards were stunned, they couldn''t even make that beautiful captain of theirs to blush even for once!


    ''I want to become a kid again!'', most of them thought. After which, all of them left the area, leaving the two behind.


    "So, why are you here?", Melissa asked.


    "Erm... I''m here to say.... thank you, for saving me.", Allen said.


    "Well then, you''re welcome.", Melissa replied.


    Allen recalled something and asked, "How did you know that an assassin was about to attack you from behind?"


    "You saw that? It''s because I used the energy of the body to detect the surroundings.", Melissa said.


    After a pause, she continued, "Do you want to learn how to do that? You''re obviously not an ordinary assassin, could you use the energy of the body?"


    Allen''s eyes shone, the skill could be helpful during where you can''t see anything or to prevent getting sneaked attack by somebody else.


    "Yes, I want to. I already know how to control the energy of the body.", Allen immediately answered.


    "Well then... listen closely..."


    ...


    It was already afternoon when Allen left the training grounds.


    His body felt tired after using up all the energy he had to learn Melissa''s skill. He only got to do it once because the skill consumed a lot of energy of the body! The skill was only available for five seconds and it was canceled due to the few amount of the said energy, though he felt the energy that the detection skill used overtime wasn''t as much as the Erchian Dagger.


    Allen decided to relax for the rest of the day so that he could slowly replenish his energy.


    When he entered the castle, he saw Kate reading the encylopedia she got from last night. Allen approached her and checked on what she was reading.


    Kate noticed Allen was approached and she called out, "Hey, I need your help."


    "Erm...", Allen sped up and stopped beside Kate.


    "What''s cardinal direction?", Kate pointed to the said words.


    "They''re north, east, south, and west.", Allen answered.


    "Uhh... how many centimeters are there in a meter?"


    "One hundred centimeters."


    "There are more figures here, can you tell me their conversation rate into meters?", Kate pointed to other words.


    "Do you have a pencil and a paper?", Allen asked.


    "Yeah, here.", Kate took out a small piece of paper and a pencil.


    Allen then wrote the conversation rate of the other numerical figures on the paper.


    "There.", Allen gave back the paper and the pencil to Kate.


    "Oh, thanks!", Kate said.


    "You''re welcome.", Allen exhaustedly walked back to his room and slept.


    ***


    Several hours later...


    Night...


    The trio including Mr. Sanchez and Lord Levine were in the main hall.


    "You''re really going to leave so soon?", Lord Levine asked.


    "Yes, it''s much better than we enter the city under the cover of night.", Mr. Sanchez said.


    "Alright then, looks like I can''t make you stay. Have a safe trip!", Lord Levine smiled.


    "Thank you for everything, old friend.", Mr. Sanchez hugged the feudal lord.


    "Alright.", Lord Levine accepted the friendly hug.


    After which, he whispered, "And be weary, I have a feeling that there are eyes looking at our location."


    They stopped hugging, and Mr. Sanchez gave a solemn, understanding look.


    ***


    Almost an hour later inside an underground tunnel...


    "Why are we here again?", Drake asked.


    "It''s because there are ambushers waiting for us outside.", Mr. Sanchez, who was holding the torch, said. "Plus, this tunnel leads straight inside the Riverboard City."


    "Why don''t we fight them? It''s not like we can''t handle them.", Kate said.


    "The ambushers came from the Riverboard City, they don''t know our real strength and we''ll alert the big fish inside the city if we fight them head on with our full strength.", Mr. Sanchez said.


    "So, after we arrived in the city we''ll immediately go and catch that big fish?", Allen asked. If this was a few days ago, he wouldn''t join in the conversation, now, he felt some sort of belonging in the team.


    "Yes.", Mr. Sanchez nodded.


    "Then won''t they thought of a possibility that we''ll arrive by an underground tunnel?", Drake asked.


    "No, because they are obviously underestimating us.", Mr. Sanchez said.


    ...


    Several minutes later, they arrived at the end of the tunnel where there was a ladder.


    Mr. Sanchez took out a map of the Riverboard City from his sleeves and spread it on the floor.


    "There are three locations where their leader could be hiding. The first one is at an inn at the city square. The second is at a tavern near the city guards'' barracks. The third is at the hotel near the port.", Mr. Sanchez said.


    "I''ll take the first one.", Drake said.


    "The second''s mind.", Kate said.


    "I guess I''ll check the third location.", Allen said.


    "Here are short distance communication amulets.", Mr. Sanchez gave the said equipment to the trio, and kept one for himself.


    "This is the target. He''s the leader of a new criminal organization in the city.", Mr. Sanchez presented a sketch to the three. "If you find him, don''t engage him head on whether he''s sleeping or not. You must report it first, alright?"


    The three nodded.


    "Alright, get on to it."


    ***


    The trio climbed out of the tunnel and they saw that they were currently in an alley.


    "Good luck.", Allen quietly said.


    "Same to you too.", Drake said.


    "Don''t snatch all the credits.", Kate quietly laughed.


    After which, the three separated and went to the locations that they were going to check.

 16 Trouble?

    On the location of the ambushers down the road...


    There were numerous corpses that had recently died in a battle. Some bodies burning, others were frozen, while some were crushed into gore.


    "I... I can''t believe that you''re a wizard!", a bloodied man was cornered by a tree by a man holding a staff and was wearing a peasant''s clothes.


    The latter was none other than Lord Levine!


    "You have the guts to make an ambush spot that leads to my castle, so tell me, what is your true goal?", Lord Levine eyed the bloodied man.


    "You''ll never know!", the bloodied man maniacly laughed.


    The wizard couldn''t help but frown that there was something wrong happening.


    "Hahaha... you should''ve killed me already! Now die!", the bloodied man''s eyes glowed green and he pointed his index fingers towards the corpses behind Lord Levine.


    Suddenly, the corpses twitched, stood up and surrounded the wizard!


    "Even though you''re a wizard, you''ll never survive this many enemies at once! HAHAHAHAHA...", the bloodied man grinned and laughed maniacly.


    "Yes, you''re right, I''ll never survive a necromancer''s dead army if I''m a wizard.", Lord Levine said.


    "There''s no point of surrendering now! Die!"


    However, the feudal lord''s hands that was carrying that staff suddenly glew in golden color, then golden veins appeared on the staff.


    His eyes became gold and he shouted, "Holy Retribution!"


    He lifted up his staff, and pounded it''s bottom end to the ground.


    -BOOM-


    An instantaneous explosion could be heard as the holy light spread towards the surroundings.


    When the light faded, all the corpses crashed to the ground as greenish smoke came out of their orifices.


    Meanwhile, the smile on the bloodied man froze when he saw what just happened.


    "You''re still right, I will never survive a necromancer''s army if I''m a wizard.", Lord Levine smirked.


    "Y... y... you''re a Holy Priest?!", the bloodied man stuttered between his words.


    Lord Levine then pointed his index finger towards the man, magic power and holy power condensed on the end of the finger and a beam of light shot out from it.


    The beam of light pierced through the forehead of the bloodied man, the man''s eyes were still wide open in horror when he died.


    "How I love face slapping.", Lord Levine grinned and he searched the belongings of the bloodied man.


    There, he saw a coin made of black metal, in addition, there was a shield and a staff engraved on each side.


    "This... it''s that organization!", Lord Levine looked at the direction of the Riverboard City.


    "No good!"


    "Hurry up!", suddenly voices came from the wilderness.


    Lord Levine looked at the direction of the voices, and saw Melissa and some guards walking to his location!


    "Mi''lord?", Melissa and the guards were surprised when they saw their lord standing amidst the bloody corpses!


    ''Our lord, did this?!'', some of the guards thought frantically, they''ve already saw gore as much as this, but this time, it was done by one person, and not just any person, it was done by the seemingly scholarly lord that they were serving!


    Actually, they knew that they were serving a magic user, but could an adept do this by himself?!


    However, Melissa''s countenance came back to normal, it''s obvious that she already knew about Lord Levine''s true power.


    "No time to talk. Clear up these corpses, immediately!", Lord Levine commanded.


    "Yes, mi''lord.", Melissa and the guards bowed and started cleaning up the corpses.


    Lord Levine looked back at the direction of the city.


    "I hope you''ll be safe, I can''t help you this time.", Lord Levine muttered.


    ***


    Riverboard City...


    The city was surrounded by the other fiefdoms of local feudal lords in the area. Long time ago, the city was just a port with a small settlement. However, due to the efforts of the surrounding local lords, they''ve managed to make a permanent community and even outbest the Crescent Town those times.


    Now, the current city was being managed by an earl, but the local lords doesn''t seem to mind about it as long as they get their benefits.


    ***


    Drake was jumping over the buildings while avoiding the sight of the city guards. Those guards weren''t to be underestimated because they were well-trained and even wore light armor during their night patrol.


    The city during the night was under a curfew like the Crescent Town, you could only see the fire on the torches and other forms of lighting such as lanterns, that light up the surroundings, making the city look like a prosperous one.


    Drake landed in an another alley, travelling in a city even when one could jump over the buildings still took a few minutes to reach the location he was checking.


    He took a look out the alley and saw the city square, there was a fountain in it''s middle while two units of guards stationed nearby it.


    "The security of this city is tight.", Drake muttered. There, from his location, he saw the inn that he was suppose to check if the target was in it.


    Drake pushed something on the amulet and said, "I''m at the city square, be careful, looks like the city''s security is much tougher than we thought."


    Afterwards, Allen''s voice could be heard, "Alright."


    However, Kate''s voice couldn''t be heard.


    "Kate, can you hear me? Hello?", Drake said.


    "I can hear you, now shut up!", Kate''s voice came out of the amulet.


    Drake deactivated the amulet and sighed, "She still hates me."


    After which, he slowly approached in by hiding in the darkness when possible, while cautiously checking the two units of guards.


    Finally, he reached the four-storey inn and swiftly climbed up it. He found a dark empty bedroom on the third floor and quietly entered it through the open window.


    He stuck his ear by the door to check if there was somebody outside the door. Hearing nothing, he slowly opened the door and saw a well-lit corridor.


    ''Nowhere to hide'', Drake thought.


    He walked out the door and carefully closed it.


    ''I feel like I saw the man at the fourth floor.'', Drake inwardly said. He noiselessly walked towards the stairs.


    He remembered that the target''s look at the image was a big and muscularly. Same as the man that he saw in a window earlier, however, he couldn''t get a clear look as there were curtains covering the window, while the window itself was also closed.


    Suddenly, he heard footsteps coming from the stairs that lead towards the second floor.


    ''Somebody''s coming!'', Drake immediately activated the Speed Amulet in his pockets and rushed towards the stairs that lead towards the fourth floor.


    -whoosh-


    He ran towards the stairs without making a sound and reached the fourth floor.


    ''That was close.''


    Seeing that the corridor was empty, Drake went to the door of the room where he saw the target''s figure earlier.


    ''Tch, the door is locked.'', Drake brought out his dagger and quietly picked the lock on the door.


    -click-


    The door was swiftly unlocked. Drake opened the door and walked in the room. The room was dark, moonlight can''t even enter because of the curtains on the windows.


    The kid heard sounds of snoring as he entered the room.


    ''Wait, something''s wrong, wasn''t there a candle lit up earlier?''


    -bang-


    The door behind him closed with a bang. The sleeping figure suddenly awoke and looked towards Drake with it''s eyes, glowing green.


    "It''s a trap!", Drake tried to activate his communication amulet to warn the others, but his action was in vain because the communication was blocked.


    "Hehehe...", the muscularly man on the bed chuckled as he pointed his index finger towards the darkness around Drake.


    Suddenly, Drake felt all the hair on his body stood up. As he felt bone chilling coldness sweeping towards him.


    "A ghost necromancer! And this one is just a clone!", Drake gritted his teeth and charged at the clone on the bed.


    However, the coldness swept on him again, as he was pulled down the ground by an invisible force.


    Drake tried to get hold of his Speed Amulet, but he remembered that it was on cooldown!


    ''I wish I had a blessed weapon!'', Drake thought as he tried resist the grasp of the invisible ghosts.


    "Hehehehe...", the clone on the bed just kept chuckling while looking at the kid.

 17 Everyone Fighting

    The cool breeze coming from the river battered Allen''s face. Coupled with the moon giving light, one could feel an eerie aura in this night.


    Allen was currently at a top of a building, looking towards an eight-storey building from far away. The eight-storey building was none other than the hotel.


    The kid continued jumping over the roofs of the buildings while avoiding the sight of the guards, until he was upon the building.


    ''Good thing I''m better at climbing now.'', Allen jumped onto the building as he used the broken gaps to climb and inspect every room through the window.


    He didn''t have the convenience to check from the inside, only stupid people would try to check their targets from the inside of the building.


    After a few minutes later, he suddenly noticed a green light, which instantaneously disappeared.


    "What was that?", Allen checked the room from where it came from, which was at the seventh floor.


    Allen looked towards the closed window and saw that it was covered in curtains, though one could see a light coming from inside the room.


    "This is weird... I better tell this to the others.", Allen turned on his communicator, however, it doesn''t seem to work.


    ''The communication is blocked!'', Allen looked through the window and got into a conclusion.


    ''They are waiting for us!'', the kid immediately retreated away from the window and ran away from the hotel.


    When he was already several buildings away from the hotel, he checked his communication amulet and saw that it could work again.


    He activated it and said, "Hello, can anyone hear me?"


    "I can hear you, what is it, Allen?", Mr. Sanchez''s voice came out of the amulet.


    "I feel like they are waiting for us to go to those three locations!", Allen cut straight to the point.


    "I already figured that out earlier kid, I can''t seem to contact the three of you earlier.", Mr. Sanchez said.


    "How about Drake and Kate then?"


    "You go help them, I''m a bit busy here.", Mr. Sanchez deactivated his communication amulet.


    ***


    Meanwhile, inside the tunnel...


    Mr. Sanchez deactivated the communication amulet and calmly looked towards the vast swarm of giant insects, bandits and brigands approaching onto him from the depths of the tunnel.


    "Hais, that organization was prepared for us, and even helped that newly established criminal group.", Mr. Sanchez sighed. "Or maybe... they''re the ones who established it.


    "There are even giant centipedes in the swarm, whew.", Mr. Sanchez frowned in disgust and unconsciously covered one of his ears.


    After a pause, he added, "But I hope you insects could help me have some fun while you distract me."


    ***


    Meanwhile, in Drake''s location...


    "I can''t believe it, looks like your other companion is smarter than you are.", the ghost necromancer''s clone chuckled. Of course, he was referring to Allen.


    "Damn it!", even though he couldn''t see the ghosts, Drake could feel that there was a lot of them in his surroundings pinning him down on the floor.


    Earlier, he still could hold on to the Speed Amulet, but he couldn''t activate it due to it''s cooldown.


    ''The cooldown''s already over, but I can''t reach it!'', Drake gritted his teeth and tried to resist the invisible force, however, he felt that more ghost pinned down, almost fully rendering his movements.


    He couldn''t understand where did the ghosts came from? Were they brought over here or this place was once a cemetery? If it was the former, then the ghost would rely on the energy of the one who brought them here to keep existing, if it was the latter, then that means they had an unlimited amount of energy supply!


    The ghost necromancer''s clone, who was still chuckling, waved his hands on the air and spikes made from greenish smoke appeared, pointing towards Drake.


    "Looks like I''m going to have an another clone... or should I say... a body!", the ghost necromancer''s clone chuckled even faster.


    ''Am I really going to die in here?'', after Drake''s thoughts, the spikes launched themselves towards the kid at a very fast speed.


    -click-


    Suddenly, the kid heard a click.


    -clang- -clang- -clang-


    As the spikes were already near him they were suddenly repelled by an invisible force.


    Light came out from one of Drake''s pockets and swept the whole room.


    "Eeek...", the ghosts let out a shrill scream. Afterwards, Drake felt that the ghosts'' grip on him loosen.


    "H... H... Holy Light?! W... w... where did you get a blessed weapon that could release that kind of a powerful Holy Light?!", the ghost necromancer''s clone stopped chuckling as bits of greenish smoke came out of his orifices. It was obvious that the Holy Light even affected him, even though at the first place it couldn''t affect beings with bodies.


    Taking the chance that the ghosts'' grip loosen, Drake didn''t talk and rushed towards the clone! He then sliced off the head of the clone in one go.


    The head dropped and the ground while it''s eyes were still open, after which, the eyes stopped glowing, indicating that the clone was killed.


    Then, the feeling of coldness on his body left him, meaning that the ghosts around him either dispersed or left.


    "So they brought the ghosts here.", Drake found a lantern on a table and lit it on. After which, he stuck his ear onto the door to check if the battle attracted people. He then heaved a sigh of relief as there was not a single commotion, ''Looks like there was a sound barrier around this room.''


    He fished out the Speed Amulet from his pockets, he had a guess that this was the object that saved him.


    "The ghost necromancer''s clone said that this was blessed weapon, and could release a powerful Holy Light, but why would Lord Levine even reward me this?", Drake pondered.


    The kid knew that the blessed weapons made by Holy Priests were effective against necromancers'' undead powers, but it was never this powerful! Not just that, blessed weapons were much more expensive, but the one in his hands would be even more expensive than a normal blessed weapon.


    "It almost means one thing... that Lord Levine was once a graverobber and stole from a tomb of a powerful Holy Priest but didn''t know that it was one.", Drake concluded. After which, he felt that he was forgetting something.


    "Wait! I need to tell Allen and Kate that the enemy set up a trap!"


    ***


    Allen was jumping from a roof of a building towards an another and another to go the tavern where Kate was suppose to check for the target.


    Finally, he reached the tavern, but waited for the unit of guards to first pass by the street. When they finally passed by it, Allen entered the tavern through the front door.


    The interior of the tavern was well lit, but the tables, chairs, and even the counter were badly damaged, a serious fight just occurred in here.


    As soon as he entered it, a figure was thrown right at Allen.


    -bang-


    Allen didn''t have enough time to dodge and the figure and it him, luckily, he already closed the door behind him, and was just sandwiched by the two of them.


    "Ehh, Kate?", Allen saw the figure was none other than Kate.


    However, the both of them didn''t got to speak further as a large axe swinged towards them.


    They got out of the way in time, but the floor they were just standing on was broken into pieces!


    "Whew!", Allen looked towards a muscularly figure, his upper body was naked while he was wearing pants on his lower body.


    "A barbarian?"


    "Not just a barbarian, but also a necromancer.", Kate said.


    "So, you already found out that it was a trap?! No matter then, I''ll just kill the both of you!", the barbarian made a gesture with his hands.


    "Look out, he''s going to summon invisible ghosts!", Kate got out of the way. Allen reacted in time and got out of the way too.


    They suddenly felt coldness spreading upon their body, indicating that there were ghosts nearby now.


    "His ghosts will only last for two minutes, but it''s exhausting to avoid all of them!", Kate while continuing to retreat.


    "We need a blessed weapon.", Allen said.


    "Do you think I didn''t get that idea yet?", Kate said. "Are there any other ways to destroy those ghosts? You read a lot of books, any ideas?"


    "Well, we could kill the one that summoned them.", Allen said.


    "I already tried that, but I can''t seem to get him off guard with my flicker!", Kate said.


    "Stop talking and fight!", the barbarian necromancer swung his axe down again, which made Allen and Kate split from each other.


    The barbarian then pointed towards Kate, commanding the ghosts to go and stall her. As the ghost were ethereal dead beings, they can''t hurt a living being, so they could only stall someone.


    After which, the barbarian charged towards Allen, with his axe slashing towards the kid.


    "Die!"

 18 The Power

    ''He''s too fast!.'', Allen knew that couldn''t get out of the way in time, even though the enemy''s build was huge, he was still on fact very fast.


    ''Looks like I have to use that movement technique.'', Allen then initiated (Shadow Steps).


    Allen has already trained the said movement technique in the training grounds before doing Melissa''s skill. There, he found out that the technique wasn''t really for increasing his speed, but for dodging. In addition, as it was currently night, the said movement technique''s strength rose up.


    -whoosh-


    Like a steps of a phantom, the boy dodged the barbarian necromancer''s strike, but it was immediately followed with an another one.


    -whoosh-


    -sou-


    However, Allen dodged it again and he immediately backed away while attacking with (Dagger Flash).


    -clang-


    The barbarian necromancer, however, doesn''t have the plan to dodge and let the(Dagger Flash) hit his body, then it only created a clanging sound while leaving behind an irritating, scratchy red line.


    "That flash could actually affect my body! Hmph!", the barbarian necromancer rushed towards Allen again, but this time, the latter was prepared and kept backing off while making sure he won''t get cornered by the walls.


    He then noticed at the other side of the tavern that Kate was still running away from the invisible ghost. As the said creatures doesn''t have any intelligence, they would only chase the target in one direction, unless the summoner would command them, but he''s currently trying to kill Allen and didn''t pay attention to the girl.


    Suddenly, the barbarian made some sort of gesture with his other hand pointing towards Allen.


    ''Summoning again?'', Allen immediately got out of the way. However, the coldness didn''t appear, but somebody that looks like the barbarian necromancer.


    It was his clone!


    Originally, the enemy has two clones, but the other one was already beheaded by Drake, while the other one was in the hotel. Now, he used some sort of teleportation spell to summon the one at the hotel.


    ''Impossible! Necromancers, specially this one couldn''t possibly have a teleportation spell!'', Allen was startled by the sudden entrance of his clone. The clone was holding a staff, one could see that the staff was charged with some sort of power, however, rather than casting spells, it instead tried to hit Allen with it!


    Due to the kid''s continous momentum, he couldn''t dodge it, so, Allen blocked it with his dagger.


    -bam-


    Just like Warren''s staff, it made a repulsive force which made Allen''s arm go numb, and he was thrown towards the middle of the tavern. Good thing for the kid, the repulsive force that came from the staff wasn''t as powerful as Warren''s staff, or else he might''ve flown to the other side of the building, or even break through the walls!


    Meanwhile, his dagger flew to the other side of the tavern, almost hitting Kate, and his mask fell to the ground.


    -whoosh-


    The barbarian necromancer rushed and slashed down with his axe towards Allen. The latter rolled away in time, however, he was met with the enemy''s punch.


    ''(Firm Fists)'', Allen met the enemy''s fist head on with his own.


    -bam-


    The fists hit each other, the enemy was surprised that Allen''s seemingly fragile hands didn''t break!


    Meanwhile, even though he stopped the barbarian necromancer''s punch, the kid felt pain stabbing through his hand and towards his shoulder. Barbarians had an innate ability for their bodies to be tough and powerful, that''s why they''re almost impervous to any physical damage done by non-sharp objects.


    Allen immediately stood up and increased his distance between him and the barbarian necromancer. Luckily, there were no broken bones on his arm, but his shoulder was dislocated.


    He saw that the enemy''s clone was slowly charging up the staff. He then heaved a sigh of relief, because it would probably take at least a minute to fully charge it up again.


    ''What to do?'', Allen pondered. He was battling the fast and strong barbarian necromancer, and his clone with the annoying staff that could send out repulsive force. While Kate was still busy dodging the ghosts so as not be latched by them.


    It was as if, this battle was hopeless.


    ''Give me something? Anything? For the weapon''s power?'', suddenly, it was as if the whole world stopped moving including himself, and the devil''s voice echoed within his mind.


    "No!", Allen resolutely said.


    ''Do you want to live? Do you want to kill that man? You know yourself that you won''t survive this battle a lot longer.''


    "No!"


    ''Well then, let me show you something...'', suddenly, the frozen scene around him changed, and he saw himself, being lifted up by one hand on his neck and being choked to death. While Kate was unconsciously lying on the ground and the clone was slowly approaching her with the fully charged staff.


    After which, the scene changed back to the way it was.


    ''So, did that change your mind?'', the devil''s voice said.


    This time, there was a trace of hesitation on Allen''s face, he doesn''t know if what the devil showed was real or not, but there was one thing that''s believable, and it was he can''t keep up with the enemy any longer.


    "No! Somebody will come.", Allen said. He knew whatever happens, he couldn''t sell anything part of him to the devil.


    ''You know yourself that you and your companion will die before somebody comes to help you.''


    "No!"


    ''Oh, well then, you can just die.''


    "Wait!", Allen suddenly called out.


    ''What is it?''


    "Can... I sell something that''s not part of me?"


    ''Of course!''


    "Then, what is it that you want?", Allen asked.


    ''That barbarian''s blood, it''s such a rare thing to see that such an undisciplined animal could become a necromancer.'', the devil''s voice chuckled within his mind.


    "But I can''t even wound him!"


    ''Oh, well then... I''m going to let you use the (Erchian Dagger) for five seconds, if you could stab it to any part of the barbarian, then I could suck out his vitality. However, if you fail, I won''t help you anymore.''


    "I guess... that''s enough for me.", Allen said.


    Afterwards, a dagger appeared on his hands, and everything in the surroundings slowly came back to normal.


    "JUST DIE ALREADY!", the barbarian became larger and charged towards Allen at a very fast speed while slashing down with his axe.


    Five seconds...


    However, Allen was calm and met the axe head on with the (Erchian Dagger).


    -clang- -boom-


    When both of the weapons met, a clanging sound could be heard and then the axe exploded into bits, startling the enemy.


    Four seconds...


    "You! DIE ALREADY DIE!!!", then the enemy became enraged and punched Allen. However, the kid only slashed with the (Erchian Dagger) once again.


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    -sou- -pshew-


    The hand of the barbarian was cut into half!


    Three seconds...


    "GAHHH...", the barbarian shouted in pain and furiously punched at Allen yet again! This time, the fast punch in the kid''s eyes was seemingly slow, which was probably due to the weapon he was holding!


    Two seconds...


    He dodged the numerous punches everytime it struck out, after which, he stabbed the dagger towards the heart of the enemy.


    One second...


    -pshew-


    The dagger accurately hit the heart of the enemy, piercing through it, after which, the (Erchian Dagger) disappeared.


    The enemy''s eyes widened in horror, he suddenly felt cold all over his body and his knees fell to the ground.


    "W... w... what did you do?!", the barbarian necromancer fiercely looked at Allen. Even if he''s stabbed in the heart, he knew that he shouldn''t be this weak! There must be something on that weapon then.


    "Killing you.", Allen replied.


    "Hmph! Then I won''t be the only one dying here.", the barbarian pushed his will to the limit and grabbed Allen''s head with his large hand. The kid couldn''t dodge on time now because he lost the support of the (Erchian Dagger).


    After which, he threw Allen towards the walls, knocking him out and making blood trickled down from behind his head.


    Then, the barbarian necromancer collapsed to the ground, his body withering at very fast rate, aswell as his clone.


    A few seconds later, the barbarian necromancer died, and the clone returned back to a middle aged man and collapsed to the ground.


    The feeling of coldness left Kate, which meant that the ghosts had dispersed. The girl rushed towards Allen, checking if he''s alright or not.


    ***


    Meanwhile, in an another location in the southern region of the kingdom...


    There was a caravan of merchants on the road, however, these people weren''t merchants, but were people from ''that'' secret organization.


    Suddenly, one of the people felt pain from his head and a scene played on his mind.


    He blurted out, "Brother died?!"


    The other people heard what he said and they asked what''s the problem.


    "Somebody killed brother!", the man angrily replied, making the people around him not to make any noise. They knew that a barbarian''s temper was not to be taken lightly.


    He recalled back the scene that he saw in his mind, and saw a kid that killed his brother! Of course, the kid was none other than Allen!


    Allen wasn''t wearing any mask when he killed the barbarbian necromancer, so his face was seen by his brother!


    The caravan then continued with their journey, as if nothing ever happened.


    However, the man''s eyes became watery, but he resisted crying, he inwardly promised to himself, ''I''ll kill that kid... NO, I''M GOING TO MAKE HIM SUFFER FIRST!''

 19 Recovery

    "Die already, die...!"


    "S... somebody... h... help me."


    "Die!"


    "No..."


    "DIE!"


    ***


    Morning...


    Sunlight entered through the window...


    "Hey, look he''s waking up.", a voice said.


    Allen slowly opened his eyes, at first his eyesight was blurry, but it immediately got used to the light. There, he saw Drake calling out to him.


    "Allen? Allen? Hey, can you see me clearly?", Drake asked while waving his hands to catch Allen''s attention.


    "Yes.", Allen weakly answered.


    "He''s awake?", Mr. Sanchez entered the room with Kate.


    "Yep.", Drake nodded.


    Allen slowly turned his head, and suddenly felt pain on the back of his head.


    "Hiss...", Allen hissed in pain. He tried to move other parts of his body, but he couldn''t. "Why can''t I move?"


    "It''s because you''re permanently paralyzed.", Kate replied.


    "W... what?"


    "She''s joking, you''re not permanently paralyzed.", Drake reassured.


    Allen heaved a sigh of relief and asked, "What happened?"


    "You don''t know?", Mr. Sanchez asked.


    "No, I don''t."


    "Answer these questions first. What''s your full name? What''s your father''s name? What''s your mother''s name? What''s your brother''s name? What town do you live in?", Mr. Sanchez asked.


    "Allen Morgan, Marco Morgan, I don''t know anything about my mother, William Morgan, Crescent Town.", Allen answered.


    "Well, you didn''t get any partial amnesia.", Mr. Sanchez nodded in satisfaction.


    "When can I move again?", Allen asked.


    "In a few days, or a week.", Mr. Sanchez answered.


    "Oh, can somebody tell me what happened?", Allen asked.


    "After you stabbed that barbarian on the heart, he grabbed you on the head and threw you to the wall, then the barbarian died afterwards.", Kate said.


    After a pause, she continued, "When I reached you, you were bleeding on the back of your head and quickly losing a lot of blood, even a pool of blood formed under you. That''s when Drake arrived, and so we took you away back to the underground tunnel so Mr. Sanchez could take care of your injury."


    Mr. Sanchez then interjected, "To be honest, you should''ve died with that kind of injury, your whole body was already pale at that time, luckily, you didn''t and my healing was a success."


    "Thanks, I remember it now.", Allen said. "But then, where are we now?"


    "In Levine''s private villa."


    "How long have I been sleeping?"


    "Two days, actually Levine visited to check on our condition, without him, you would''ve probably awaken up by next week.", Mr. Sanchez said.


    "Oh.", Allen also noticed that his blackeye wasn''t painful anymore, meaning that it has been fully healed.


    "Kate, Drake, you can go outside, I need to speak with Allen alone.", Mr. Sanchez said.


    "Mhm.", Kate and Drake left the room.


    Mr. Sanchez then closed the curtains on the window, blocking out most of the sunlight, he took a look at Allen and asked, "You made a deal with that devil, didn''t you?"


    "I did.", Allen said.


    "What did you used as a bargaining chip?", Mr. Sanchez asked.


    "The barbarian''s blood. He said that he wanted that blood.", Allen said.


    "Hais, don''t always make a deal with devils, alright?", Mr. Sanchez said.


    "I had to, I had no choice, me and Kate... and probably Drake would''ve died if I didn''t do it.", Allen said.


    "Well then... thank you for saving my apprentices.", Mr. Sanchez softly said.


    Allen was stunned when he heard what Mr. Sanchez said. He was thanked for the first time by the tavern owner, and even heard a different tone of his voice.


    "You''re welcome.", Allen composed himself.


    "So, did you use that dagger?", Mr. Sanchez asked. Of course, the dagger he was referring to was none other than the (Erchian Dagger).


    "Yes."


    "What did you feel when you used it?"


    "I... I felt like... I could do anything... I... that boundless power... it was like I can do everything I want...!", Allen panted faster at each paused he made.


    "Hey! Hey! Snap out of it.", Mr. Sanchez said.


    "Oh... what?!", Allen stopped talking like a maniac and his forehead crazily let out sweat.


    "So it''s that intoxicating.", Mr. Sanchez sighed.


    After which, he continued with a solemn look, "Kid, don''t get lost with all that power, alright?"


    "Alright."


    "Good, get a rest, you deserve it.", Mr. Sanchez walked out of the room.


    ***


    Three days swiftly passed by and Allen could walk again, but slowly.


    During a cloudy day...


    Allen was walking down the stairs with Drake''s support.


    "I can''t believe that the mysterious, famous guy of the town who killed the barbarian, is currently being supported by me.", Drake laughed.


    "What do you mean?", Allen asked.


    "Oh, you''re famous now, the earl personally visited the fight scene in the tavern and concluded that whoever killed that criminal organization boss is a hero.", Drake explained.


    "The earl didn''t tell the public that the organization boss was a barbarian and necromancer?", Allen asked. Just from the statement that Drake said, he only said ''criminal organization boss'' and not a barbarian and a necromancer, making him had suspicions.


    "He did tell that it was a barbarian, as for the necromancer part, he hid it, probably because to make sure that the citizens won''t panic.", Drake said.


    "Oh."


    When they finished speaking, the both of them already reached the ground floor.


    -click-


    The front door of the villa suddenly opened, both of the kids looked at who just arrived.


    "Oh, Allen and Drake?", the man said.


    "Lord Levine?", Allen and Drake said at the same time.


    The newcomer was none other than the owner of the villa, Lord Levine.


    "Hello children.", Lord Levine greeted.


    "Greetings, your lordship.", Drake bowed.


    "Greetings...", Allen tried to bow but couldn''t do so because he can''t stretch out his back yet.


    "No need to bow, I''m just here to see my old friend.", Lord Levine said. After which, he left the main room and went to a door.


    "He''s sure on a hurry.", Allen said.


    "Mhm."


    ...


    After a few minutes, Allen and Drake walked out of the door leading towards the backyard garden. There, they saw Kate reading the book that the feudal lord gave her days ago.


    The girl noticed that the two boys were approaching, and so, she sat on the corner of the bench to make space for them.


    As Drake was about sit beside Kate, the latter suddenly stopped the former.


    "Huh, what are you doing?", Drake asked.


    "You''re not going to sit next to me!", Kate said.


    "Why?"


    "I still could remember what you did a few days ago."


    "But..."


    "Hmph!"


    "Alright alright! Allen will sit next to you instead.", Drake then helped Allen sat in the middle while he sat on the other side.


    "I''m still having problems with the numbers, can you help me with it?", Kate asked.


    "Okay.", Allen nodded and helped Kate understand the more complex measurements shown on the book.


    ...


    Few minutes later...


    "Hais, I would''ve gave up reading this book if it didn''t have something to do with flicker.", Kate said. "Ugh... it''s full of measurements!"


    -rumble-


    The trio looked up the sky, Allen said, "Looks like it''s going to rain. Let''s go back inside."


    "Alright."


    "Okay."


    ...


    Just as they entered the villa, heavy rain started to sweep down. Then, the trio saw Mr. Sanchez and Lord Levine walk out of a room.


    "Oh?", Mr. Sanchez looked at the three kids. "We''re just about to look for the three of you. Let''s go inside the room, we''ll discuss about something."


    ...


    "There''s a mountain at the other side of the river  called Mount Watchtower. Since I moved to my castle a long time ago, I stumbled upon this treasure map when I was cleaning the library.", Lord Levine spreaded out a map on the table.


    "I could''ve explored this place already if I wasn''t that busy in my territorial affairs. There is always a new problem that I have to personally take care of everyday, so I''m entrusting the exploring to you.", Lord Levine added.


    "Well then, let''s say if there''s a treasure, how can we split it up amongst the both of us and the children?", Mr. Sanchez asked.


    Meanwhile, the trio was just listening while whispering to each other about the treasure.


    "So, do you think there is a treasure?", Drake whispered.


    "Probably yes, think of it, why would Lord Levine show this to us if it wasn''t real. As a lord, he would surely care about his reputation. Though, it is weird that somebody would hide it in that kind of place.", Allen quickly analyzed.


    "What a smart, annoying, bookworm.", Kate muttered, but Allen and Drake heard it.


    "..."


    "..."


    "How about I''ll take 20% of the treasure?", Lord Levine suggested.


    "20%? We''re just taking advantage of you then! Take 40% instead.", Mr. Sanchez said.


    "No! How about 25% and I''ll take some weapons or items... if there are, I won''t change this.", Lord Levine said.


    "Then... if you say so, alright.", Mr. Sanchez agreed. They were still taking advantage of Lord Levine, what if the weapons that was recovered were of low quality?


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    "Alright, these three kids will be the one that will explore for the treasure then.", Mr. Sanchez said.


    "Wait, aren''t you going with us, master?", Kate asked.


    "Of course not, I still have to take care the leftovers from that organization.", Mr. Sanchez said.


    "Then, when are we setting out?", Drake asked.


    "Probably after Allen fully recovers.", Mr. Sanchez looked at Allen.

 20 Mount Watchtower

    Almost two weeks passed in a flash, Allen fully recovered from all of his injuries and could fight again.


    Night, in the training room...


    -clang- -clang-


    There were two people inside the said room, sparring each other, which were none other than Allen and Mr. Sanchez.


    "Looks like you''re fully healed.", Mr. Sanchez dodged a slash and counterattacked.


    "Mhm.", Allen blocked the counterattack with his dagger and backed off.


    "You''ve gotten a bit stronger too.", Mr. Sanchez said. The kid got stronger because of some of the effects of the (Erchian Dagger) didn''t disappear from his body.


    ''(Dagger Flash)'', Allen inwardly said as he initiated the said skill.


    -sou- -clang-


    The (Dagger Flash) swiftly flew towards Mr. Sanchez, however, he blocked and destroyed it with his own dagger! Not dodged but blocked and destroyed!


    "That''s a good flash, now I''ll show you mine.", Mr. Sanchez made a small slash in the air, afterwards...


    -sou-


    A dagger flash thrice as fast as Allen''s (Dagger Flash) whooshed through the air. The kid couldn''t dodge on time and just channeled the energy of the body towards his dagger and tried to block the flash.


    -clang- -bzzz-


    A grinding sound could be heard as Allen''s dagger and the dagger flash of Mr. Sanchez collided, sparks flew everywhere from the middle.


    -boom-


    The dagger in Allen''s hands was destroyed along with the dagger flash, however, the kid was stumbled towards the wall on his back.


    -whoosh-


    At the same time Allen hit the wall with his back, a dagger flew towards him, almost hitting him on the head!


    "I concede... What kind of a dagger flash was that?", Allen asked as he dizzily stood up and thought. ''The dagger flash was extremely powerful, not just that, Mr. Sanchez wasn''t even getting serious.''


    "Nothing, it''s just pure strength.", Mr. Sanchez said.


    After a pause, he said, "Alright, the training is over, go to sleep. The exploration will start at tomorrow."


    "Okay.", Allen returned back the dagger to Mr. Sanchez and left the room.


    ...


    In the bedroom...


    Allen lied down on the bed with a new set of clothes. He entered a half-sleep state of consciousness and after which, he saw the (Erchian Dagger) floating right in front of hin.


    "Just how powerful is this thing?", Allen pondered. When he fought the barbarian necromancer, the small dagger easily broke it''s weapon and pierced through the skin of the enemy like cutting through butter.


    He also felt boundless energy from it, but he couldn''t control it.


    "How powerful really is this weapon?", Allen muttered.


    ''Do you want to know?'', the devil''s voice echoed within his mind.


    "I want to... but, it''s not the time.", Allen replied.


    The devil didn''t talk again and just kept itself quiet.


    ...


    Dawn, next morning...


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    Allen walked downstairs to the main hall and saw Kate and Drake at the bottom of the stairs. He walked to them and asked what time they would leave.


    "Lord Levine will give us something first.", Kate said.


    Then, Lord Levine walked out from a room and appraoched them, carrying three satchels.


    "There are three copies of the treasure map, also lists of rare plants, if you see any of them on the mountain, pick them up and store them inside the jars, and if you get in trouble, there are protection amulets that could shield you from physical and magical attacks; the things you need in surviving are inside these satchels.", Lord Levine said.


    The trio took the satchels. They''re obviously not just any ordinary satchels.


    "There''s a boat that will take you at the other side of the river, get there before the sun rises so nobody would notice you three.", Lord Levine said.


    "Thank you.", the trio said at the same time.


    "You''re welcome, now immediately get dressed."


    ***


    Several hours later, the trio crossed the river just after the sunrise and approached the base of the mountain.


    Now, in front of them was Mount Watchtower. In the era of Barbarian Wars, the said mountain was the natural watchtower of Trigurniburg Kingdom that watched over the nomad region of the barbarians.


    Long time ago, when the barbarians launched a unified attack on the south region of Trigurniburg Kingdom, one of the first targets was this very mountain, the troops of the kingdom successfully defended against all of the attacks of the barbarians.


    After which, when the barbarians sought help from the necromancers to use a curse with an unknown price, and then they successfully took over the mountain.


    However, they didn''t get to stay there for long, because the curse that the necromancers used didn''t disappear and in fact spread over the whole mountain!


    The animals on the mountain mutated and became monsters, some barbarians who didn''t get to escape was never heard from them ever again.


    Numerous explorers tried to discover what happened to them when the curse wore off after so many years, however, they either returned empty handed or never to be found again.


    "The treasure is inside the mountain, the entrance is near the peak.", Kate looked at the map she was holding. "We should be careful, we might meet monsters."


    "Is this place really safe? I mean, we''re going near the top of a once cursed mountain!", Drake said.


    "Well, Mr. Sanchez won''t send us if we can''t handle it ourselves.", Allen said.


    "You''re right... I guess.", Drake took out his dagger.


    "You''re scared, Drake?", Kate asked.


    "Me? Scared? No! Why would be I scared of monsters, probably they''re only like giant, hairy... scary... I mean just multi-eyed spiders!", Drake smiled.


    "Oh look... wait, there''s a spider on your shoulder!", Kate pointed out.


    "WHERE? WHAT?!", Drake looked at his shoulder and saw a spider.


    "GET OFF! GET OFF!"


    Kate: "..."


    Allen: "..."


    ...


    A few minutes later, which seemed like forever to Drake, he finally got rid the spider off his shoulder.


    "Let''s go.", Kate said.


    "Alright."


    ***


    Back at Lord Levine''s villa...


    Mr. Sanchez was sitting on the balcony on the second floor.


    "Want some tea?", Lord Levine walked in the balcony while carrying a teapot and two teacups.


    "Yes, thanks.", Mr. Sanchez filled up a teacup and drank it.


    "So, why didn''t you leave with the children? You know it''s dangerous up the mountain.", Lord Levine asked.


    "I already said it, I have to take care of the leftovers of that criminal organization here in the city.", Mr. Sanchez said.


    "Oh really, what are you doing here, relaxing by yourself while looking out at the horizon?", Lord Levine suspiciously eyed Mr. Sanchez.


    "Because I''m not the only one who will take care of them, so I''m just going to let him destroy them first... or just wait for him.", Mr. Sanchez said.


    "Him? You mean...", before Lord Levine finished his sentence, Mr. Sanchez interjected and said, "Yes, it''s him. He also wants to get rid of the small, unnecessary tumor, so might as well let him to do it first."


    After a bit silence, Mr. Sanchez changed the topic, "I don''t know why, but I feel something bad is going to happen to that kid."


    "You mean Allen?", Lord Levine asked.


    Mr. Sanchez nodded, "He won''t die, but I''m feeling itchy about his future."


    "You sound like a worried parent.", Lord Levine laughed.


    Mr. Sanchez smiled in response, after which his eyes suddenly constricted and he looked towards the direction of the city gates.


    Before he could say anything, Lord Levine said, "He''s here."


    "Mhm.", Mr. Sanchez put on a solemn face.


    ***


    Meanwhile, on the city gates...


    There were a lot of people coming and going out of the gates everyday, such as merchants, travelers, explorers, etc.


    "Alright, you may go in.", the armored city guard said after inspecting a merchant''s goods.


    The merchant pushing a cart entered through the city gates, just as he entered, a smile could be seen under the hat that shadowed the upper half of his face. After which, he quietly hummed a tune.


    ***


    The mountain path wasn''t as steep and narrow as the trio thought it was. On the way, they already saw some of the rare plants on the list that Lord Levine gave.


    "Climbing up a mountain is boring.", Drake said.


    "At least it''s not like a forest where we almost couldn''t see anything around us.", Kate retorted.


    "Well, I could just rush up the mountain, but then, I''ll leave the both of you behind.", Drake said.


    "You''re just scared because there are monsters up there, but it''s bound that we''ll meet them sooner or later.", Kate said. "And don''t worry, we got a bookworm who knows a lot of monsters so this would probably be just an easy if we''re careful."


    "ROAR...", a loud roar suddenly came from the higher part of the mountain, almost making a rockslide.


    "Hurry, hide behind the stable boulders.", Allen urged.


    "It''s near us.", Kate said.


    The trio immediately hid behind a stable boulder and tried to check what monster made the roar.

 21 Mount Watchtower 2

    "An undead mountain tiger.", Kate assessed the monster from far away. "It''s blocking our way up."


    "How are you sure that it''s an undead?", Allen asked.


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    "Half of his body parts are missing.", Kate answered. "Any ideas on how to take care of it, Allen?"


    "Well, they''re just like normal tigers, eating meat, lunging on the prey, toying with their prey, etc. But if it''s undead, it might be more ferocious in it''s attacks.", Allen analyzed. "But it''s senses are already dull, because it''s already dead."


    "It''s senses are already dull. Hmm...", Kate muttered and prepared to close in to use flicker.


    "Don''t use your flicker just yet, there might be more dangerous monsters along the way.", Allen stopped her.


    "Okay, do you have a plan then?", Kate asked.


    "Yes.", Allen then looked over at Drake.


    ...


    Time passed...


    The undead mountain tiger was circling around the area, sniffing the air for prey, even though his senses are almost just the same as a human''s.


    -whoosh-


    "Hey! Hey!", a voice suddenly came from the right of the tiger.


    The beast looked at the direction of the voice and saw Drake.


    "Yes, you! Try to catch this piece of meat!", Drake waved over a piece of raw meat.


    The undead mountain tiger''s interest was piqued, it then roared and sprinted towards Drake. Even though it''s already dead, probably due to the curse, it became faster.


    "Whew!", Drake activated his Speed Amulet and ran away. The tiger''s speed might have became faster, but it can''t reach the speed that a major inferior grade Speed Amulet can give!


    When Drake and the undead mountain tiger was gone from the vicinity, Allen and Kate immediately rushed up and passed the location where the beast once was.


    "We''re really not going to kill that monster?", Kate asked. "We might go again by this path when we come back and we''ll meet that beast again."


    "There''s no need to.", Allen shook his head.


    Several minutes later, Drake regrouped back with Allen and Kate and continued their journey.


    ...


    The trio reached a cliff where there weren''t many monsters in the vicinity by night and started to set up their camp.


    As there was a forest at the northeast direction from Mount Watchtower, cool breeze could always be felt around the mountain.


    "There''s really everything we need in these satchels.", Allen took out what seems to be like the skeletons of a tent.


    "There''s even flint and steel and firewood.", Drake took out the said items and placed them on the ground.


    "I have those too.", Kate said while inspecting her satchel.


    In a few minutes, they had already set up their camp.


    "The sky is so beautiful.", Kate looked up the starry sky by the bonfire while eating roasted meat.


    Allen and Drake also looked up, the latter yawned in exhaustion as he finished his meal.


    "How far have we climbed up the mountain?", Allen asked.


    Kate took out her map and looked at it. "Probably seven to thirteen percent of the mountain."


    "So it''s going to take a few more days of climbing. I hope we don''t always meet more monsters, specially undead ones.", Drake said.


    "What kind of treasure do you think there is inside that mountain?", Allen curiously asked.


    "Other than expensive metals and gems, I hope we get something else that suits us.", Kate said.


    "Let''s say, if we''re already splitting up the treasure, what will you go for? I''ll probably take boots.", Drake said.


    "I''d probably take a new weapon or something.", Kate said.


    "I''ll probably just take the expensive metals.", Allen blew his roasted meat to cool it down.


    Kate and Drake looked curiously at Allen, the latter asked, "Why those things? They''re just useless pieces of metal with prices."


    "At the first place, aside from Mr. Sanchez threatening me, I became an assassin because I needed money for my family.", Allen said.


    "What a clich¨¦d story.", Kate said.


    "Ehh, even if it''s clich¨¦, even if I die, it''s for my family, after all.", Allen happily ate the roasted meat.


    After a pause, he asked, "What about you two? Why did you become assassins too?"


    "None of your business.", Kate snorted.


    Allen awkwardly scratched the back of his head.


    "For my family too.", Drake said, but didn''t get too specific.


    Silence then reigned for a moment until Drake broke it, "I already finished my meal, I''m going to sleep now, see you tomorrow." After which, he entered his tent to sleep.


    Kate and Allen stayed by the bonfire until it burnt out, then they entered their own tents and started sleeping.


    ...


    Next morning...


    They continued their journey and picked up some of the rare plants that was on Lord Levine''s list along the way.


    "Hold on, stop!", Kate pulled Allen and Drake down.


    "Ow, what is it?", Drake asked.


    "Look.", Kate pointed.


    The two boys saw a herd of mountain goats with green, glowing eyes.


    "Cursed mountain goats?", Allen figured out why they had to hide.


    As the name said, these mountain goats died due to the curse of the necromancers but resurrected as undead beings, making them dangerous.


    For example, before they were cursed, one could easily pass through the path without any hiccups, however, now they were cursed, one might get attacked by their whole herd.


    Even if Drake used his Speed Amulet to run away, he might not escape because the beasts were much better treckers in this rocky terrain. The reason why Drake could only outrun the mountain tiger earlier because it wasn''t that steep and dangerous.


    Kate took out her map and signalled Allen and Drake to follow her to detour pass the herd.


    Due to them avoiding the herd of undead beasts, they strayed off from their original planned path and stumbled upon a tunnel and could see a light at end of the it.


    "This tunnel would lead us back at our original planned path.", Kate looked at the map that she was holding.


    "Are you sure that we should enter that dark place?", Drake asked.


    "Of course, why would it be on the map then?", Kate retorted.


    Drake looked at the map and pointed out, "But it''s marked as unexplored!"


    "We should still enter it, because we don''t know what lies on the path we''re now taking.", Kate took out a magical burning torch from her satchel and entered the tunnel.


    "Damn it!", Drake had no choice but to take out a magical burning torch from her satchel and looked at Allen, who has a blank look on his face. "Hey, aren''t you going to take out your torch?"


    "Oh.", Allen snapped out from his stupor and took out his torch. Drake nodded and entered the cave.


    Earlier, the reason why Allen had a blank look because he felt some sort of resonance from the (Erchian Dagger) that there was something inside the tunnel that it caused the said weapon inside his consciousness to suddenly shake. However, he doesn''t know if it was due to it''s excitement...


    Or fear.


    As soon as he entered the cave, the cool refreshing air disappeared and was replaced by humid dry air while the resonance of the (Erchian Dagger) became stronger.


    ***


    Yesterday at Riverboard City...


    A merchant that was wearing a hat that shadowed the upper half of his face casually entered the grounds of a villa with his cart. There were guards stationed at the gate, however, it was as if the guards didn''t notice the merchant!


    Of course, the villa was none other than Lord Levine''s.


    The merchant stopped his cart near the door of the villa, after which he entered through the door by his own accord. He inspected the main hall and walked upstairs, going towards the balcony.


    There, at the terrace was Mr. Sanchez and Lord Levine drinking tea while looking at the horizon. When the merchant entered the balcony, the latter said without looking, "Going inside my place without knocking, how rude."


    The merchant just smiled and sat by them, "Well, it''s as if I still need to knock on the door to get noticed by the both of you."


    Mr. Sanchez and Lord Levine just sighed and offered the merchant tea to drink.

 22 The Statue

    Inside the cave...


    "The smell in here is so horrible.", Allen put on his mask to block the scent.


    "I know right.", Drake covered his nose and breathe through his mouth. "Ugh, I think I could taste the air!"


    Even Kate had no choice to cover up her nose. "Where did this kind of smell come from?" However, Allen and Drake didn''t answer.


    A few moments later, Drake suddenly said, "I think I just stepped onto something."


    Meanwhile, Allen directed his torch towards the wall and touched it with his hands, "Look, this wall is made from some sort of sticky substance."


    Kate also touched the wall and said, "It''s sticky here too."


    Drake then used his torch to see what he just stepped on, "I just stepped on a spider web, and it''s a very sticky spider web." He planted his torch on the ground and grabbed his foot stuck on the web to pull it out.


    Kate narrowed her eyes and said, "Then, where are all the spiders?"


    When Drake finally pulled his foot out of the web, he heard Kate''s question and his eyelids twitched, "S... s... spiders? Spider web... then where are the spiders?!"


    "Wait, where''s Allen?", Kate asked.


    Drake turned around but didn''t see Allen either, "Allen?! Allen...?!" He called out to Allen but there was no sign of the kid.


    Kate suddenly lifted up her torch and checked the ceiling, there, she saw... countless eyes looking towards them, those eyes belonged to none other than the spiders! Not just spiders, but giant ones!


    Drake also saw the spiders, his body suddenly cold, due to surprise or fear.


    After which, all the spiders suddenly shot out threads of web towards the two kids. However, Drake and Kate already took out their daggers and sent out dagger flashes to intercept the threads.


    -sou- -whoosh-


    The threads were sliced apart, however, more spiders appeared and shot out more threads of web, adding to their burden.


    "Damn it, my arachnophobia''s kicking in!", Drake shouted in panic.


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    "There''s too many!", Kate retreated back with Drake.


    -swoosh-


    A thread of web sticked at Kate''s boots and pulled her up. However, Drake sliced it off with a dagger flash.


    "Thanks.", Kate said.


    "No problem.", Drake''s legs started to shake due to fear.


    "Hais, where did that Allen gone to?", Kate sighed in desperation.


    "Hey, come here!", the two of them heard a familiar voice from the wall. Afterwards, Drake and Kate looked towards the voice and saw that it was Allen.


    "Where have you been?!", Kate asked angrily.


    "Just come here first! It''s safe in here.", Allen said.


    Seeing that more spiders were appearing and they''re almost out of energy of the body, they followed Allen and entered an entrance covered by spider web and entered another tunnel devoid of any webs and giant spiders.


    "How did you find this place?", Kate looked over to the entrance which they''ve gone through, and saw an almost invisible barrier, which probably prevents the spiders from coming in.


    "When I was touching the wall earlier, I accidentally slipped through in here.", Allen explained.


    "Come on, let''s try to find an another exit. Hais, I''m sorry for getting us all in this mess.", Kate sighed.


    "It''s not your fault tho, we didn''t know that there were monsters inside this place.", Drake said.


    ...


    The trio walked through the torch lit passageway, they didn''t meet any obstraction on the way.


    "Look, there''s light at the end of the tunnel.", Allen pointed out.


    "Let''s hurry, I want to get out of this place.", Drake said.


    "Mhm.", Kate nodded.


    The three walked towards the end of the passageway, after which they entered a chamber.


    The chamber was extremely wide, there was some sort of white stones on the ceiling which lighted up the whole place. There was grass and flowers growing everywhere on the ground, in addition, there were fireflies flying low from the ground, not just that, but also some hopping bunnies, jumping grasshoppers, noisy crickets; making this place look like a paradise.


    "Whoa.", the trio were caught off guard to what they were seeing.


    "Wasn''t this mountain cursed?", Drake asked.


    "It was, but, the curse obviously didn''t affect this place.", Allen said.


    "Then, that barrier that prevents those spiders form entering the tunnel, must be the one that prevented the curse too.", Kate said.


    "But then, what could block a curse of a thousand powerful necromancer?", Allen asked out loud.


    After which, they saw a statue on the middle of the chamber, the statue''s figure looks like a human, it was wearing robes while it''s head was bowing down on the ground, holding a sword with both hands which was planted on the pedestal. However, that wasn''t the most attracting thing from the statue, but the wings on it''s back!


    The (Erchian Dagger) inside Allen''s consciousness shook violently while the devil screeched in horror.


    Suddenly, formless energy came out of the statue and scanned the trio, when it reached Allen, it suddenly made a mental attack, making him kneel to the ground while holding his head in pain.


    "Gahhh...", Allen shouted in pain while grasping his head.


    "Allen!", both Drake and Kate were astonished, they didn''t know that a formless energy suddenly came from the statue due to their ''weak'' senses.


    The devil screeched more violently while trying to defend itself from the energy, which was also the same for the (Erchian Dagger).


    As Allen was about to faint due to the pain, the holy energy which came from Lord Levine reacted and connected itself to the formless energy from the statue.


    The formless energy suddenly stopped attacking him and returned back to the statue, the pain that Allen was feeling subsided, though he was still a bit dizzy, but it was nothing serious.


    "Are you okay.", Kate rubbed Allen''s back to try on soothing him from the pain.


    "Yes.", Allen exhaustedly nodded.


    "Phew.", Drake heaved a sigh of relief and looked at the statue. "I have a feeling that that statue did something, but what kind of a statue is it?"


    "It''s a... huff... statue of an... huff... Warrior Angel.", Allen said.


    "Warrior Angel? Aren''t those only in myths? And even if they''re real, won''t they only attack sinful people?", Kate said.


    After a pause, she continued, "Why did it only attack you? I mean, we killed more people than you did."


    "I... don''t know.", Allen pretended to not know anything and inwardly said, ''They must not find out about it, Mr. Sanchez and Lord Levine warned me already.''


    "Should we leave this place? You might get attacked again.", Drake asked.


    "No, it won''t probably attack me again.", Allen steadily stood up. "Plus, we need to find a new way to exit this place."


    "Then, alright.", Drake supported Allen up. "And this is the second time I''m supporting you. Hahaha..."


    Allen also laughed back and accepted being supported by Drake.


    Kate didn''t say anything else, but she felt that Allen was lying when he said that he doesn''t know why he was attacked.


    ''What is this guy hiding?'', Kate narrowed her eyes in suspicion, however, she placed the issue at the back of her thoughts, because the goal this time was to find a new exit.


    They slowly approached the statue to at least give thanks to it for protecting them in this place, even though it''s probably not a real Warrior Angel.


    When they got to a certain distance, the holy energy inside Allen suddenly reacted and flowed through his eyes, there, the mist shrouded face of the Warrior Angel was revealed.


    When Allen saw the face of the statue, he was shocked that his knees almost fell to the ground, because, the statue resembles that of Lord Levine!


    "Hey, are you really okay?", Drake asked.


    "I am.", Allen calmly answered. He was hiding the shock that he got from the statue.


    Allen inwardly then speculated, ''Is Lord Levine a Warrior Angel?! If he really is, why couldn''t he destroy the Devil Incarnate in my consciousness?''


    Allen knew that Devil Incarnates were either clones of True Devils or were born from the sins of many people in one location. Warrior Angels on the other hand, just either their clones or ''Holy Statue'', would always be more powerful than Devil Incarnates!


    ''If a Holy Statue couldn''t destroy the Devil Incarnate, then what''s in my consciousness isn''t a Devil Incarnate, but probably a False Devil!'', Allen speculated.


    ''But then, why would Lord Levine give us a treasure map for us to explore the mountain? It doesn''t connect, if he wanted for us to find this, couldn''t he just guide us? I''m sure this is more important than the territorial affairs that he''s saying? Or... does he even want us to find this?''

 23 Remnan

    "What a beautiful statue.", Kate remarked.


    "Mhm.", Drake nodded in agreement.


    "I think we should get out of here, this is a Holy Ground, the time flow here might be faster or slower than on the outside.", Allen said.


    "But then, the only way out here is back to that tunnel full of spiders.", Kate said.


    They saw no other way out other than from where they entered.


    "So, we''re going to battle our way through?", Drake asked.


    "Obviously no, even Allen can''t stand properly, we need to find an another way.", Kate said.


    "Where did all these animals came from? Could there be an entrance that they use?", Drake pondered.


    "They''re probably just reproducing in here since the curse took over the whole mountain.", Allen''s answer broke Drake''s hope.


    "I guess it''s battling our way through the tunnel?", Drake said.


    "Or let''s just wait in this place until master finds out that we''re not back for a long time?", Kate suggested.


    "No, what if the time flow in here is faster than on the outside? That means we''ll probably be here for a long time.", Allen said.


    "Hais.", Kate sighed. "Is there really no way to get out of here?"


    "Eeek...", the three suddenly heard a screech, they looked at the direction of the sound, and saw a little girl who was carrying a basket of carrots. After which, the little girl then suddenly ran away.


    "Wait! Wait!", Kate ran over to the woman.


    "Leave me here, you''re the only one who can catch after that girl, Kate will never catch up, even with her flicker, I''ll catch up with the both of you.", Allen said.


    "Alright.", Drake helped Allen to steady himself, afterwards, he activated his Speed Amulet and rushed towards the woman.


    -whoosh-


    Drake ran with all his might, as the little girl was about to reach the wall, the boy overtook her and blocked her way.


    The little girl was startled that Drake overtook her, as the former was about to run into an another direction, she saw Kate blocking her way.


    "Please, don''t kill me!", the little girl dropped her basket on the ground; she then cried and begged for mercy.


    "We won''t hurt you. We just want to ask where did you come from?", Kate said.


    "Really?", the little girl asked.


    "Yes.", Kate answered.


    "But you look like killers with what you''re wearing.", the little girl said.


    ''Oww... she''s so cute.'', Kate inwardly said, after which, she slapped herself, "What was I thinking?!"


    "Are you okay, big sister?", the little girl asked.


    "Yes.", Kate said.


    "Will you really not hurt me then, big sister?", the little girl''s eyes seemingly became bigger while looking at Kate. The latter suddenly felt, as if the whole world was begging to have pity on it.


    "Hey, I''m here so did you catch that little girl?", Allen waved from afar.


    Kate went out of her stupor when she heard Allen''s voice. After which, she nervously gasped for air.


    "Are you fine?", Allen slowly walked towards Kate.


    "Don''t worry, I''m tougher than you are.", Kate said.


    Allen only awkwardly scratched the back of his head, he then saw the little girl and unconsciously blurted out, "Eeek... a lolita?"


    "Lo... lita? You called me a lolita?", the little girl''s eyes moisten, and she started crying out loud, startling the nearby animals.


    "Oh! He didn''t mean it, he didn''t mean it! Stop crying, you''re not a lolita!", Drake tried to comfort the little girl, but it was in vain.


    "You just had to call her like that!", Kate punched Allen in the gut.


    "Ugh.", Allen kneeled on the ground as he held his stomach in pain.


    The little girl stopped crying for a moment when she saw that Allen was punched, however, she started crying again afterwards.


    When Kate saw that, she suddenly got an idea and looked at Allen, "I''m sorry for what I''m going to do."


    "Alright... wait, what are you going to do?", Allen asked. However, Kate didn''t answer and she approached him.


    Hais, I think we all know where this is going.


    ...


    Few minutes later, Allen was now lying flat on the ground, unconscious. On the other hand, the little girl was laughing so hard that her stomach started to hurt.


    Kate patted her hands on each other to wipe off the dust on her gloves.


    "See, we''re not going to hurt you.", Kate said.


    "I believe you now.", the little girl wiped off the tears of her face, it wasn''t tears of sadness, but tears of joy.


    Meanwhile, Drake thought, ''This little girl is a sadist.''


    "Laura, where are you?", a muscular man suddenly aopeared from far away.


    "Ehh... father?", the little girl realized who it was, and ran to her father.


    "Laura! Where have you been?", the man asked.


    "I was feeding the animals, but then I saw these three weird people.", Laura pointed to the trio.


    "Huh?", the man noticed the three kids.


    "Hello mister, we accidentally came in this chamber after we escaped spiders on the tunnel that attacked us and we won''t hurt anyone.", Kate explained to the man.


    "Hmm... alright.", the man immediately believed.


    "Wait, why did you trust us so fast?", Kate asked, she thought that the man was easily to trick.


    The man, as if knowing what was Kate thinking, laughed and said, "You''ll never be able enter this place if you had bad intentions or are evil, and you would die immediately after you enter this chamber."


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    After a pause, the man asked, "So then, what do you kids want?"


    "We want to get out of here.", Kate said.


    "Oh, come with us first, you can leave by tomorrow or the day after.", the man said.


    "But then, we don''t have enough time.", Kate answered.


    "Don''t worry, the time flow in this place is faster than on the outside world.", the man said, then looked over at Allen. "Ehh, is there something wrong with that guy?"


    "He became unconscious due to his injuries.", Kate said.


    "Then carry him up, don''t just leave him lying down there, his injuries might worsen.", after which, the man signalled the kids to follow him.


    Kate and Drake carried Allen on their shoulders and followed the man.


    After following the man, they reached a dead end on a stone wall, however, the man and Laura kept walking until he passed by the wall and disappeared.


    This surprised Kate and Drake, afterwards, the man called out to follow them. The two kids, while carrying Allen, passed through the illusion and they saw that they entered an another passageway lit by torches.


    A few minutes of walking, they finally reached a smaller chamber.


    This time, there was a large village inside this chamber, the villagers were living a normal life under the protection of the Holy Statue in the main chamber.


    "This... I never thought that there''ll be a village inside the mountain.", Drake gasped in surprise as he saw everything.


    The villagers near the entrance of the passageway saw that there were newcomers. Their interests were immediately piqued and they looked over the trio.


    "Laura, go back to the house, I''ll accompany these three to the elders.", the man said.


    "But father, I want to go there too!", Laura said.


    "No, this is an important errand, go back to the house and help your mother prepare our meal.", the man said.


    "Hmph!", Laura snorted in displease, however, she didn''t dare disobey her father and left.


    "Come on, I''m bringing you three to the elders, you can drop your friend by the healer''s home.", the man said.


    ...


    On the way, they dropped Allen by the healer''s house and continued following the man.


    Before bringing them to the elders, the man, who introduced himself as Vitomir, offered them a tour throughout the village.


    Kate and Drake agreed at once, during the small tour, they saw cultivated farmlands, small establishments, an apothecary''s house, etc.


    During the tour, they also found out that the people in this village were remnants of the barbarians who didn''t get to escape from the curse on Mount Watchtower. When the curse was about to reach them at that time, they accidentally entered the passageway which led towards the chamber where the Holy Statue was.


    "The elders are people who joined the attack on Mount Watchtower, they could''ve left already a long time ago through an another tunnel, but they didn''t, they said that the resources in here are enough to live for a whole town.", the man explained.


    After a pause, he added, "They said to us that the main reason why they didn''t leave is because that the nomadic region had scarcity in food, water, and even other basic necessities. My grandfather and grandmother, who were also elders said that they had no choice but to attack the southern region of the Trigurniburg Kingdom, and they already begged to live in the southern region those times, however, the king at that time didn''t give them a chance and they were even driven away."


    The two kids were attentively listening to Vitomir''s story, when they were being taught about the history of the southern region, they only knew that the barbarians were attacking the said region because they wanted to kill.


    ''Now, it makes sense.'', both of them had the same thought.

 24 The Mission

    The smell of medicinal plants permeated Allen''s nostrils, which caused him to slowly open his eyelids.


    He saw that he was inside of a room, where there were many plants, and liquids with different colors on top of a table. Allen also saw an old man on a chair beside the table, mixing another liquid.


    The old man noticed Allen''s gaze and he looked over the kid, "You''re already awake."


    "What happened?", Allen asked, suddenly he held his abdominal area and head in pain.


    "I healed your injuries, they''re just bruises, nothing serious. You should lay down and rest so you''ll recover faster.", the old man said.


    Allen did what the old man said, afterwards, he remembered everything why he got these injuries.


    He shivered as he inwardly said, ''Lolitas are terrifying.''


    The kid lied down on the bed for a long time and almost slept, until somebody knocked on the door.


    "Hold on.", the old man stood up and opened the door, Allen sat up and saw that it was Kate and Drake.


    "Have you finally recovered? If not, then I''m going to support you while you walk again?", Drake jokingly asked.


    "It''s just some bruises, I could probably walk again by tomorrow.", Allen answered.


    "Hey... Allen, so... are you alright now?", Kate asked.


    However, it was as if Allen didn''t hear anything, he asked to Drake, "Where are we now?"


    "Inside a village built by the remnants of barbarians, who didn''t get to escape when the mountain was cursed.", Drake answered.


    "Really? Is there something we can eat here? I''m getting hungry.", Allen asked. Continuing to ignore Kate.


    "I think so, we''ll just carry you some food here later.", Drake said.


    "Oh... then... what kind of things did you see in this place?", Allen kept asking questions.


    Suddenly, Kate pulled the pillow on the bed over; then forced Allen to lay down on the bed while covering his face with the pillow.


    "You annoying bookworm, don''t blame me for beating you up earlier, you were the one who made the girl cry, and if you dare ignore me any longer, I''m going to make you suffocate over and over again!", Kate angrily said as he pushed down the pillow on Allen''s face with more force. If the latter wasn''t injured, he still might probably have resisted the former''s strength... only probably.


    Meanwhile, Drake silently watched what was happening and didn''t interfere, he inwardly said, ''Good thing she didn''t beat me up like this when I did that ''thing'' to her.''


    On the other hand, the old man just sighed and thought, ''Kids.''


    ...


    Few minutes later, Allen was lying down on the bed, unconscious again. Kate looked at him with a satisfied expression.


    "We''ll come back for him tomorrow. Thank you for healing him.", Kate said to the old man.


    "Hey, aren''t we going to give Allen some...", before Drake finished his sentence, Kate glared at him which stopped him from talking.


    "Alright.", the old man escorted the two outside the house. After which, he continued mixing the liquids.


    ...


    Next morning...


    The light from the white stones on the ceiling of the chamber gave the area had a 24-hour day and night cycle.


    Drake fetched Allen from the healer''s house early in the morning and went to the house where they were staying.


    On the way, the attracted some curious gazes of the children, but were immediately called back by their parents. These actions alone could already show that most people here in the village doesn''t always see, or perhaps had never seen any outsiders for their whole lives.


    When they finally reached the house, the both of them saw Kate outside the door, looking at them. Drake ignored the girl''s gaze while Allen bowed his head down.


    As soon as they entered the house, they closed the door, Allen then muttered, "I didn''t even do anything wrong."


    "The world''s unjust, so expect this.", Drake consulted Allen, as if the former experienced these kind of things for a lot of times already.


    Allen ate his breakfast in the small dining room while Drake was explaning what would happen later on.


    "Me and Kate already visited the elders yesterday, but those old fogeys wanted the three of us to present ourselves.", Drake said.


    After a pause, Drake added, "I feel like that those old fogeys want something to be done."


    "Probably, probably not.", Allen said.


    "But we came for the...", before Drake finished his sentence, Allen suddenly covered his mouth.


    "Shh, there might be others listening.", Allen whispered.


    "Oh."


    "Don''t worry, if those elders want us to do something for them, I''m sure it won''t take that too long.", Allen said.


    Drake just agreed and didn''t anything else.


    ...


    After Allen finished eating his breakfast, he was toured around the village by Drake. They visited the farmlands, which was full of growing wheat, making the former remember the Crescent City.


    ''Is William doing okay? Does father need more money?'', Allen wondered. It''s almost been a month and he''s been worrying about his family back at the town.


    "Hey Allen, let''s check the apothecary''s store next.", Drake broke Allen''s line of thought.


    "Alright.", Allen nodded in agreement.


    They visited the apothecary''s store and saw different varieties of herbs that could be picked up in the seperate chambers, there were even plants in the store that was on Lord Levine''s list.


    "Oh? You''re the newcomers I heard?", an old woman looked over at Drake and Allen. "So do you want to buy something?"


    "We''re not buying anything, we''re just checking the store.", Allen politely answered.


    "Oh, well then, if you have any questions, you can ask them to me.", the old woman said.


    "Then, can I ask what do you need to pay to buy herbs in here?", Allen asked. He''s sure that coins and other kinds of currencies would be useless in this place.


    "You can trade with food, or some herbs that I need.", the old woman answered.


    "Thank you.", Allen said.


    "You''re welcome."


    ...


    Time passed...


    The trio regrouped and traveled towards the place where all the elders were residing. It was a large traditional barbarian tent, different from the other buildings around it which were normal houses built from stone while roofs created from wood.


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    If this tent was seen on the outside world, it would be tightly guarded by many barbarian guards, because this kind of tent would be where the family of a barbarian chieftain would live.


    The said structure was originally colorful and came from the time of the war, however, due to the passage of time, the colors slowly faded away.


    When they entered the tent, they saw the eleven elders sitting in a row behind a long desk, making the aura of the interior of tent look like a scene from a verdict court. The old timers all had big yet healthy bodies, indicating that they were once fighters. An old man with long white beard in the middle of the elders was sitting on an elevated chair, who was obviously the leader.


    "So, that''s the other child that came with you?", the old man in the middle asked.


    "Yes.", Kate casually answered.


    "I''m going to be straight with you three. You said that you three want to leave this place right?", the old man asked.


    "Yes."


    "Mhm.", the old man nodded in satisfaction. "We just want you to deliver a letter to a tribe in the nomadic region. However, it is your choice if you want to send it or not, we won''t force you, even if you refused, we will still show you the way out."


    The trio was surprised by what the old man just said. As Kate was about to disagree on delivering the letter, Allen suddenly said, "Alright, we''ll deliver the letter."


    "Huh?", Kate was caught off guard and blurted out. "Wait! We have to discuss first."


    "Take your time."


    The trio huddled up, Kate angrily looked at Allen, "What are you doing? They already said that we don''t even have to do it!"


    "Well, it would be much better if we repay them for letting us stay here.", Allen said.


    "Don''t be so righteous, it''s not helpful.", Kate said.


    Allen just shrugged and asked to the elders, "Is there a time limit?"


    "None, we''ve already lived for a long time, we can be patient.", the old man said.


    Allen then looked back and said, "There''s no time limit."


    "When will you do the mission then? You said that you''re working so that your family will get a better life, but then you''ll send a letter in the nomadic region!", Kate retorted.


    "I''ll do it... when I grow up?", Allen answered.


    Kate just sighed and looked over at Drake, however, the latter stayed out of the arguement.


    "You can take it, but you''re the only one who will take that letter to where it will be sent, alright?", Kate said.


    "Okay.", after which, the trio looked over at the elders.


    "We accept the mission.", Allen said.


    "Good, there''s a map that''s sticked to this envelope that would lead you to the location of the tribe.", the old man handed over the envelope which Allen immediately took hold of.


    After a pause, the old man added, "And please, don''t spread to the outside world that we''re inside the mountain."


    "Mhm.", Allen nodded.

 25 Entrance

    Inside a torch lit passageway...


    "We''re almost outside.", Vitomir said.


    After taking the letter, the trio was escorted by Vitomir towards the exit.


    "Thank you for everything.", Allen said.


    "Don''t mention it, we don''t always get visitors.", Vitomir replied.


    "Wait... you mean there were other people that have also discovered this place?", Allen asked.


    "Yes, but they could only be counted on two hands.", Vitomir said.


    After a few minutes of conversation, they saw a light at the end of the tunnel. The trio rushed towards it, and exited the tunnel.


    When they finally exited, their eyes adjusted for a moment, and saw that they were near the peak of the mountain!


    "Hey, wait!", Vitomir came out of the tunnel, panting. "You kids really have a lot of stamina." He took out three coins made from stone, engraved with some sort of symbol and handed it over to the trio.


    "Put it in your pockets, there are some parts of the mountain that didn''t recover from the curse yet. Those coin rocks are blessed by the statue''s power. It will protect you from the curse.", Vitomir explained.


    "Thank you.", the three took hold of the coins and pocketed them.


    Actually, blessed weapons that they were bringing could also protect somebody from the necromancers'' curse, however, they only knew that a ''normal'' wizard only ''accidentally stumbled'' upon the said weapons, making them think that the holy energy inside them were weak.


    "I''ll be going back, I wish you three safe travels.", as Vitomir was about walk back inside, he saw Laura sneaking out by the entrance.


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    "Hello father.", Laura innocently smiled.


    Before Laura could say anything else, Vitomir said, "No, you''re not going to with them!" Then the latter carried the former up on his shoulder and ran inside the tunnel.


    The last sound that the trio heard was Laura crying in anger.


    "Let''s not waste anymore time. It''s getting dark, we need to set up camp.", Kate said.


    ...


    As the sun was about to set...


    When they were inside the chamber under the power of the Holy Statue, twenty-four hours have passed, however, on the outside world, only several hours have passed.


    Inside a cave that was formerly occupied by an undead bear...


    Allen was slicing off the thick fur of the undead bear that they took down, Drake was preparing to light up the firewood, while Kate was sitting near the entrance reading the encyclopedia about flicker.


    Kate looked over at Allen, "What are you doing? Won''t you also get affected by the undead energy that that bear releases?"


    "Don''t worry, we got the coins, it would also protect us from undead energy.", Allen assured her.


    "Are you sure about that?"


    "Of course, I read in a book that anything that emanates holy energy would protect the holder of that object from curses and undead energy.", Allen proudly stated.


    "Alright bookworm.", Kate didn''t bother anymore.


    ''Plus, holy energy of Lord Levine is flowing inside me.'', Allen inwardly said.


    Several minutes later, the sun finally disappeared on the horizon, replaced by the moon and the starry sky. At the same time, fire was lit up inside the cave.


    "There might be monsters in the area. We''ll take shifts on night watch. I''ll take the last shift.", Kate said.


    "I''ll take the first one.", Drake said.


    "I guess the second one is mine.", Allen said.


    ...


    The night passed quietly, during the night watch, they didn''t meet a single monster.


    The trio set out during dawn, they met many undead beast on the way, those who could be distracted, they distracted them, those who were needed to be killed, they were killed, those who were far too strong, they avoided them.


    "We''re here.", the trio looked at the cavern, which was the entrance to where the treasure was.


    "The map said that the treasure would be at the deepest part of the cave.", Kate said. "Follow me."


    Just walking for a few minutes, they saw that the pathway was separated into three tunnels. Kate then lead them to the right tunnel and disappeared from the outer chamber.


    After they entered the tunnel, they didn''t know that the cavern slowly closed up.


    ***


    Meanwhile, in the basement of a tavern at the Riverboard City.


    There were a lot of bloodied corpses on the ground. Lord Levine, Mr. Sanchez, and the merchant wearing a hat that was shadowing the upper half of his face, were surrounding a frightened man.


    "Y... y... you''re monsters!", the man shouted in horror.


    "We''re just cleaning up the true monsters.", Mr. Sanchez calmly retorted.


    "Just tell us where is your base of operations, and we''ll let you free.", Lord Levine said.


    "You''ll never know!", the man made a gesture with his hands and pointed at the corpses of his fellows. Suddenly, the corpses'' eyes glowed green and rose up from the dead.


    Lord Levine calmly smiled and said, "Such a clich¨¦ move." He released holy light from his hands and focused it on the corpses. When the light reached the bodies of the zombies, the said creatures wailed and crashed back to the ground with green smoke coming out of their orifices.


    The man was stunned, "Y... you''re a Holy Priest?!"


    "I don''t know.", Lord Levine casually answered.


    "But still...! You''ll never know! You''ll never know where it is!", suddenly, the body of the of man glowed red, and his body inflated. He was going to self-destruct!


    "You''ll never leave out of this place alive! Hahahaha...", the man crazily laughed.


    However, the merchant made a flick with his fingers, and the man''s state went back to normal in a flash!


    "W... what?", the man was stupefied. The self-destruction that he was doing upon himself, was stopped with a flick of that merchant''s finger!?


    "W... wh... who are you people?!", the man asked. A Holy Priest that could defeat a necromancer''s spell with a wave of his hands, which was impossible, Holy Priests couldn''t do that by themselves, they needed a staff first so they could at least release holy energy, however, what this priest used was Holy Light, a very powerful and hard to learn spell!


    Then there''s the merchant, he stopped his self-destruct sequence with a flick of his fingers, even powerful wizards can''t do that! In addition, the self-destruct spell that he used couldn''t be stopped, even by the caster himself!


    And finally was the man, who didn''t yet do anything, even during the fight!


    "You''re just wasting our time, talk now or...", Mr. Sanchez didn''t finish his sentence and just looked over to the direction of Mount Watchtower.


    The merchant and Lord Levine also looked to the direction of the mountain.


    Making use of this chance, the man was about to desperately cast another spell when the merchant flicked his finger once again, dispersing the spell.


    The merchant sighed and looked at the man, "My spells have denegrated to this point at the hands of you useless living beings."


    The man was surprised by the merchant''s sentence, "Your spells?! Who are you!?"


    After a pause, the merchant asked, "Levine, aren''t we going to kill this man? He isn''t even that cooperative to us."


    "No... not yet. We''re going to search for his memories when we get back.", Lord Levine said.


    "Alright then, after you search for his memories, I''m going to take his soul.", the merchant said.


    "Okay.", Lord Levine replied.


    "Take my soul!? Answer me first, who are you?!", the man asked.


    "You''re in no position to ask you annoying c***.", the merchant calmly said. He then looked at Mr. Sanchez, "So, you sent three kids at that mountain? You know that they can''t handle the danger in ''that'' place."


    "I know it''s dangerous, but then, why would I send them if they can''t handle it?", Mr. Sanchez said.


    "You''re just referring to that kid with that dagger, aren''t you?", the merchant asked.


    Mr. Sanchez ignored the merchant''s questions. The latter didn''t seem to mind it and kept looking at the terrified man.


    "I''m worried for them.", Lord Levine said.


    "As I am. However, we can''t enter that restricted place with our bodies. It''s better that they would be the ones who will kill that thing sooner and later and get those treasures.", Mr. Sanchez said.


    "Hais.", Lord Levine sighed.

 26 Reached!

    After entering the right tunnel, the trio immediately took out of their magical burning torches to light the way.


    Luckily, the ground wasn''t ruggy nor too dangerous, unlike other caves.


    "How long will this walk take?", Drake asked.


    "About a few hours.", Kate answered.


    "I guess the next few hours would be uneventful.", Drake sighed in disappointment.


    "We should still be careful, there might be monsters in here.", Allen said.


    "Yes... but do you think there would be any giant spiders in here?", Drake asked.


    "Most likely.", Kate and Allen answered at the same time.


    "Oh.", Drake took out his dagger from his sleeves while holding the torch with his other hand.


    Allen: "..."


    Kate: "..."


    ''At least he''s always prepared.'', Allen inwardly sighed.


    Suddenly, the ground below them shook, almost making them fall of their balance. After which, the stalactites fell from the ceiling, raining down towards trio.


    However, the three of them already prepared for the stalactites to fall, they took out their daggers and sent dagger flashes towards the falling stalactites.


    -sou-


    The stalactites that were heading for the trio were sliced apart by their dagger flashes, though the ones heading for Allen almost turned into dust.


    The other stalactites, on the other hand, either broke when it made contact with the ground or impaled itself to it.


    "Did you use too much energy to your dagger flash?", Kate asked.


    "No, I just used the normal amount of energy.", Allen replied.


    "You''re almost catching up to our level!", Drake commented.


    Actually, earlier, Kate and Drake only used below average amount of energy to release a dagger flash that was strong enough to slice apart the stalactites that were heading to them. On the other hand, Allen used the normal amount of energy to release his (Dagger Flash).


    Now that most of the stalactites had fallen to the floor of the cave, the ground became more dangerous than before.


    "Be careful on where you''ll step on.", Kate reminded.


    "Mhm.", Allen and Drake nodded.


    Several minutes of arduous walking passed, and the trio reached a large chamber with many more tunnels stretching out to seven different directions.


    "The right path is at the middle.", Kate looked at the map. They continued walking, however, when they were already near the tunnel, Drake stepped on a rock which sunk into the ground.


    "Oh no.", Drake noticed what just happened.


    "What is it?", Kate asked, while Allen made a curious gaze, but before Drake could say amything, the ground rumbled again, luckily, this time, there were only a few stalactites on the ceiling, which didn''t hit the trio even once.


    The boulders scattered around the chamber shook, and rolled towards the largest boulder beside the entrance. In a few seconds, they stacked up on each other, and two glowing eyes appeared on the highest rock.


    Recognizing what was it, the three couldn''t help but suck in a cold breath as they thought at the same time.


    ''A golem.''


    When the golem stabilized it''s footing, it blocked the passageway using a boulder beside it. After which, it howled and slowly walked towards them.


    Each of it''s steps could shake the whole chamber, making the monster more intimidating.


    As the distance between the golem and the trio wasn''t that far to begin with, it started to attack with it''s fist. However, the trio already backed away from their previous location.


    -whoosh- -bam-


    When the golem''s fist hit the ground, it created an another tremor, after which, it lifted it''s fist back up, there, the kids saw that the ground that they were standing before caved in!


    "Good thing the golem is slow, or else we''re already blood pastes by now!", Kate remarked.


    "Is there any way to defeat the golem?", Drake looked at Allen. The latter was the most intelligent in the group to begin with.


    Kate also looked at Allen, "It better not be a pickaxe... right?"


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    "Don''t worry, it''s not!", Allen assured as he tried to remember the weakness of the golem.


    "Could the golem also be under the curse?", Drake asked.


    "No, elemental beings won''t be affected by almost any kind of curses, specially bane ones.", Allen said.


    -bam- -bam-


    The golem''s steps were heavy as ever as it slowly approached the trio, however, the kids had already increased their distance once again.


    "I got it, we need to destroy the the golem''s core inside it''s chest.", Allen pointed at the golem''s chest, which was also where the largest boulder was located.


    "We need a weapon that could pierce through stone, but we don''t have that kind of a weapon.", Kate said.


    Allen thought of the (Erchian Dagger), but dismissed the idea. The said weapon was too risky to use, and most likely won''t even last a second in Allen''s hands due to his small amount of energy, even after Lord Levine helped him increase the energy of the body that he could store.


    "How about we continously damage the chest?", Drake suggested.


    "We could, but the golem could probably heal the cracks.", Allen said.


    "Are there any other ways to destroy that monster?", Kate asked.


    "I''m sure there are, but I don''t know them.", Allen shook his head.


    After a brief pause, he said, "But we should try probing it with dagger flashes first."


    "Alright, I use the average amount of energy needed.", Drake said.


    "Me too.", Kate said. "Release it at my count, one, two, three, now!"


    Each of them made a dagger flash which flew towards the chest of the golem.


    -bam-


    Smoke and dust rose up from the golem''s chest, however, when it settled down, there wasn''t even a scratch!


    "It''s tougher than I thought, but I suddenly got an idea.", Allen said


    "Kate can you make it blind with throwing knives that have energy? If we can''t kill it, let''s just leave it here.", the kid continued.


    "Alright.", Kate took out two throwing knives, and this time, she even inserted energy it in!


    -whoosh-


    After which, she threw them, and accurately hit the eyes of the golem!


    -boom-


    In addition, due to the energy that was inside the throwing knives, it exploded and the golem held it''s eyes in pain. Even though the golem could heal cracks on it''s body, it''s a different story when it came to it''s eyes, because the said part of their body was special and almost irreplaceable.


    "Drake could you make it attack the boulder blocking the center passageway?", Allen asked.


    "Of course.", Drake activated his Speed Amulet and rushed in front of the boulder.


    "Hey, I''m here!", Drake sent out a dagger slash towards the golem. Just like what happened earlier, it didn''t create a scratch, but it was enough to enrage the golem.


    It howled angrily and charged towards Drake''s location while punching out with a hand. The speed of the golem''s charge was much faster than earlier, it was as if it''s disregarding the possibility that the chamber might collapse, however, the kid''s reaction was fast and got out of the way in time.


    -bang-


    The golem punched the boulder blocking the way, and cracked into pieces! As it was about to punch again, Kate sent out a dagger flash from behind the golem, making it go towards the girl''s and Allen''s location.


    But it was all under Allen''s plan, the two already ran away and regrouped in front of the center passageway with Drake.


    "Let''s go."


    ...


    This time, the walk through the passageway almost took an hour, but they finally entered an another chamber.


    When the trio entered the chamber they couldn''t see the walls or the ends of the said location, even with the magical fire of the torches they were holding, the whole chamber was pitch black!


    "This is the final chamber, the treasure is suppose to be here, but where is it?", Kate pondered.


    "It''s probably at the far end of the chamber.", Drake said.


    However, in an instant, the ground shook violently, alerting the trio. However, it immediately stopped after a few seconds.


    "Did somebody just stepped onto something?", Drake asked.


    "No.", Kate said.


    "I didn''t.", Allen added.


    "Let''s go...", before Kate could finish her sentence, they all suddenly felt hot air battering their bodies.


    "Kate, did you just fart?", Drake joked.


    "What?! No!", Kate snorted.


    Meanwhile, Allen had a surprised expression with changed to a pale one. The other two then noticed his complexion.


    Kate asked, "What is it, Allen?"


    "I think I have a guess why the barbarians couldn''t take over this mountain without the help of necromancer during the war.", Allen said.


    "Oh? What is it then?", Drake asked.


    "I read something in a book about the Mount Watchtower, it was said that long ago, even during the war... a dragon was living in this place.", Allen gulped in his saliva.


    "Hahaha... that''s impossible, right? Tell me it is! You''re just joking... right?", Drake laughed to ease the nervousness. He already met the giant spiders in the mountain that he feared the most, now they''re going to meet a dragon... how crazy was that?!


    If somebody else heard what was happening, they would''ve become crazy by now!


    Suddenly, they felt hot air battering them again, but this time, they felt that it came from where their backs were facing! Earlier, it came from above them!


    After which, two giant eyes opened behind them.

 27 Hopeless?

    Estimatedly three hours later after the man in the basement of the tavern was captured...


    In Lord Levine''s villa at Riverboard City...


    Mr. Sanchez was on the balcony preparing tea for Lord Levine and the merchant.


    Suddenly, he felt a sense of urgency which accidentally made him drop the teacup he was holding!


    "Ehh... what''s wrong, my friend?", Lord Levine walked in and asked.


    "I''m felt that something really bad has happened.", Mr. Sanchez said.


    ***


    Several minutes earlier in Mount Watchtower...


    The trio instinctively turned around and saw a pair of giant, green eyes, coldly watching them.


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    Even with the magical torch''s flame, it didn''t even reach the face of the owner of the eyes... or rather, the dragon doesn''t want to be seen, it was as if it could control the light that the torch emitted.


    "We''re doomed. It''s blocking our exit.", Drake said.


    "So then... what should we do now?", Kate asked to Allen.


    "I... don''t know. I never read something about dragons having a weakness before.", Allen said.


    In addition, at their current strength, even if they knew an information on how to kill a dragon, they would easily die.


    "It''s obvious that the dragon became an undead, just look at those green eyes.", Allen remarked.


    "But why isn''t it attacking yet? It''s only been staring at us that it gives me the chills.", Drake said. He felt that he was forming a new type of phobia towards reptiles.


    Allen noticed it and suddenly thought of something, "It''s an illusion! Why didn''t I notice it!?"


    He has read that when dragons were born, they would automatically know how to use minor illusion spells.


    "Illusion?", Kate and Drake were baffled. Seeing the questioning looks of the two, Allen explained it to them.


    "Ohh... so we''re still safe?", Drake asked.


    "Nope, because it doesn''t erase the fact that a dragon is still here.", Allen bitterly smiled and broke Drake''s hopes once again. "Probably even this space is an illusion because we can''t see the ends of the chamber."


    "What a smart kid...", the giant green eyes disappeared as they heard a deep, bone-chilling voice.


    They looked around the darkness to search for the voice, by it''s owner didn''t show itself.


    "What cute little torches you have, let me extinguish them for you.", the voice said. After which, the trio felt hot air blowing towards them, and the fire on the torches snuffed out.


    The magical torches that Lord Levine gave them was suppose to be inextinguishable, however, the dragon only blew lightly and they were snuffed out! This showed how powerful the dragon was!


    "Huddle up.", Kate said. After which, the trio huddled up in the darkness.


    "He''s playing with us like we''re it''s preys.", Drake said.


    "Aww... you humans look cute when you huddle up in fear. Let me split you from each other then.", the sinister voice said. The trio then felt invisible forces touching them, afterwards, they were thrown far away from each other.


    Allen rolled around on the hard floor for a few seconds until the momentum was gone. Afterwards, he struggled to stand up because of the pain that he was now feeling.


    If he wasn''t wearing the enchanted black clothes that Mr. Sanchez gave him, some of his bones would''ve broke already. Plus, the clothes could help the one wearing it to blend into the darkness, but could it work in the dragon''s own domain?


    "You''re still trying to run away? Your speed might be too fast for a normal human, but not for me.", the dragon''s voice echoed from the darkness.


    "Gahhh...!", Drake''s voice then echoed from the darkness.


    "Drake!", Allen worriedly shouted. Sounds of wings flapping could be heard and he was thrn bombarded by strong air flow which caused him to fly away again. When he crashed to the ground, he felt that one of his shoulders was dislocated once again.


    "As for you, you''re the smartest one in the group, and I couldn''t believe that a little human like you would know something about us dragons... even though in the time of the war there was almost no knowledge about our race.", the dragon''s voice echoed.


    Allen stood up and pointed his dagger towards the darkness and sent out multiple (Dagger Flash)es all around him.


    "You''re not even hitting me once! Hahaha...", the dragon laughed as it lightly flicked Allen with his claws. For the third time, the kid flew again, and when he crashed to the ground, some of his bones broke.


    "Gahhh...!", Allen shouted in pain as blood flowed on the corner of his mouth, but he still tried to stand up, however, he was suddenly restricted down by the dragon''s claw.


    He kept resisting, but the claw''s weight became heavier and heavier each time, he only stopped resisting when the claw was almost going to crush his body.


    In a few moments, he tried to move again, but couldn''t do so, even his fingers were ummovable. Actually, he can''t feel any part of his body!


    "Am I already dead?", Allen asked himself.


    ''Sell me anything or everything... if you want to live.'', the familiar voice of the devil echoed within Allen''s mind, also meaning that the time in the area was frozen.


    Even so, Allen didn''t reply and kept quiet, he ignored the devil''s voice.


    ''Don''t be so stupid, do you want to live, don''t you? Make a deal!'', the devil''s voice kept urging him inside his mind. Nevertheless, Allen still didn''t respond.


    ''Do I even have to show you how you and your friends will die miserably?!'', the devil angrily asked.


    "No need.", Allen finally replied.


    ''So, you''ll finally sell something?'', the devil asked.


    "Can I sell something not part of me, again?", Allen asked.


    ''No can do, you already asked for that option! Hahaha...'', the devil laughed joyfully.


    However, Allen''s face was still calm and asked, "How about I''ll do something that you want?"


    The devil''s laughter stopped and frantically asked, ''How do you even know about those choices?!''


    In making deals with any kinds of devils, there would always be choices to choose upon, but they won''t always be available.


    "I read books.", Allen smirked. He got to read about those choices in making deals with the devils in his mother''s books.


    ''Then... kill your little brother as a payment.'', the devil said.


    "Do you even think I would agree to that?", Allen replied. Even if he would die, he''d never use the life of his little brother for his own sake.


    ''How about... you steal crops from a farm?'', the devil asked.


    "I want to freely use the (Erchian Dagger) for at least a minute! Not less than two seconds!", Allen snorted.


    ''You...'', the devil became speechless and was enraged, if he could only go out of Allen''s consciousness, he would''ve strangled the kid to death by now due to his requests.


    ''Well then... how about you help your father escape his incoming trouble? And you can use the (Erchian Dagger) without using your energy for a minute.'', the devil suggested.


    "Ehh, really?", Allen asked, because the request was easier than he thought it would be.


    Though, he was unsure why would trouble befall on his father.


    ''Yes.'', the devil answered.


    The kid felt that there was something amiss, the request was just too easy! However, he had no choice but to accept it, or else they would die by the claws of the dragon.


    In an instant, he saw that he was in front of the dagger amidst the never ending color white around him.


    A sheepskin scroll appeared in front of him, it was none other than a contract! Due to the deal was almost as the same as loaning money out of the bank, some sort measure was needed so that the ''loaner'' wouldn''t go back on the deal.


    One should never underestimate the power of contracts. For the mortals, the contract was just some sort of a normal written paper. However, for those magic users, necromancers, and other factions that has relation to any kind of magic, a contract must be fulfilled, or a backlash written on the contract would occur, though there were some instances that the ''loaners'' would exploit the loopholes and making the contract devoid or taking advantage of something... but then again, Allen wasn''t making a deal with a mortal nor a magic user, but a devil, who were good at making contracts!


    The contents of the contract were:


    [Help Marco Morgan avoid his incoming trouble.


    Fulfill within two months when you get back to Crescent Town. Punishment would be ten years of lifespan taken away.


    P.S. It''s unknown when the trouble would befall on him.](1)


    It was only simple and brief, but in Allen''s eyes, it was as if it''s full of boundless power. The kid knew to himself that there were loopholes in this contract, but didn''t know what they were. A quill already soaked in ink appeared in his hand, and he then signed on the contract.


    Suddenly, he saw a black karma thread connected onto his body.


    Even though he could try to find the loophole, it was much better to help his father instead.


    Everything went dark, nonetheless, Allen knew that he was back under the dragon''s claws.


    ''And oh yes, don''t get lost to the power. Hahahaha...'', the devil sinisterly laughed, afterwards, it inwardly sneered, ''Do you think my deals are just as simple as that, kid?''

 28 Using the Again

    "Looks like I''ll have human meat paste as dinner.", the dragon slowly lifted up its claws and sent it back down at a very fast speed in a bid to squash Allen.


    -sou-


    "ROAR...", the dragon suddenly howled in pain as a (Dagger Flash) pierced through it''s claws. The (Dagger Flash continued to fly towards the ceiling.


    -bang-


    The (Dagger Flash) exploded and the rocks on the ceiling fell, exposing a glowing white rock! It was the same white rock that illuminated the chamber where the Holy Statue was.


    The light coming from the white rock spread out in the chamber, reaching the ends of the said location.


    Allen saw Drake with the help of the (Erchian Dagger), who was lying down on the ground, blood flowing out of his mouth. The former heaved a sigh of relief as he noticed that the latter was still breathing.


    As for Kate, she could be seen knocked out near the end of the chamber.


    After which, Allen looked at the dragon, which was really an undead one! Some of it''s body parts were missing, and even though it turned into an undead one, it still retained it''s intelligence! This alone showed how powerful could dragons be.


    "H... how did you even recover from your injuries?!", the dragon asked with a baffled tone as it saw Allen slowly stand up, wiping off the blood from the corner of his mouth.


    ''I only got one minute.'', Allen inwardly said. The kid didn''t answer and only sent out more (Dagger Flash)es with the (Erchian Dagger).


    Due to the amplification boost of the (Erchian Dagger), Allen''s (Dagger Flash), which wasn''t even suppose to pierce through the dragon''s skin, became many times stronger and injured the beast!


    The dragon dodged to the side, however, he wasn''t that fast enough and some of the (Dagger Flash)es scrapped off a few of it''s scales and wounded it.


    "What a strong dagger flash!", the dragon was surprised. Even though it wasn''t that strong compared to the other dragons that had existed, it was still a dragon with a very high resistance to physical damage!


    "Damn it! You forced me to do this.", the dragon flew up into the air, but Allen was still sending out (Dagger Flash)es, the beast might already be an undead and perhaps unkillable, however, it would be bad if he was shredded into pieces! Unkillable? If you''re shredded into pieces, you can be considered as dead by then!


    The flashes were piercing the wings and the body of the dragon, nevertheless, the beast was ignoring it. After which, the dragon suddenly took in a deep breath as light suddenly came out from the pathway to it''s neck.


    It was going to breathe out fire!


    Allen knew what the dragon would do, and he immediately moved away from his original position.


    In just an instant, the dragon released green fire towards Allen. The kid immediately executed (Shadow Steps). The movement technique might not get amplified by the (Erchian Dagger), but Allen was using the energy from the weapon to boost the said technique!


    -whoosh-


    Allen''s speed became faster than Drake and swiftly dodged the fire. The dragon''s fire followed behind every movement of the kid, but the latter was a bit faster and sent out (Dagger Flash)es from time to time.


    When the dragon stopped breathing out fire, it started coughing. Dragons had a limit to them when they breathe out fire, or else, if they didn''t have one, they might have ruled all the lands in an era!


    The location where Allen and the dragon were battling was scorched black. Luckily, both Drake and Kate were far away from their current position or else the kid would have to worry about them too.


    The dragon let out an enraged roar and rushed down towards the ground, intending to glide itself towards Allen at a very fast speed.


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    Allen, on the other hand, got out of the dragon''s way, even though he was already battling with the (Erchian Dagger), if he was even touched once by the claws of the beast at that kind of speed, he would most likely get a severe injury or die instantly.


    -bam- -rumble-


    The ground rumbled as the dragon landed, disregarding it''s own injuries, it kept pouncing on Allen, creating quakes.


    As Allen was about to go to the dragon''s side, the latter''s tail shot out towards the former. The kid was caught of guard and was almost hit by the tail!


    Now, even the dragon was using it''s tail! If it wasn''t trying to hide it''s wings from Allen''s (Dagger Flash), it would''ve used it to create strong winds to disrupt the kid''s movements.


    "Annoying lizard.", Allen commented and charged forward so the dragon can''t use it''s tail. However, the beast smiled malevolently as it though the kid was sending it self to his own demise.


    "Die!!!", dozens of spears appeared beside the dragon and shot out at a very fast rate towards Allen.


    ''This dragon can use magic?'', Allen started to back off and dodged the incoming spears while launching (Dagger Flash)es as a counterattack.


    When the fire spears hit the ground, the area around where it landed started to be engulfed in fire. Logically, this would be impossible, however, the fire spears were in fact a very powerful magic spell!


    ''The strength of this dragon''s magic is probably half of a new wizard''s.'', Allen inwardly speculated. He only read on the books on how powerful mages, adepts, and wizards could be. However, he didn''t experienced it beforehand so he could only make some estimates for now about it.


    New fire spears were made after another one plunged down to the ground. This has been the cycle for five seconds.


    The fire spear''s range could only cover the place near the dragon and not so far away. Allen inwardly rejoiced as he was about to get out of the fire spears'' range, however, he forgot about the tail of the dragon!


    The tail of the dragon plunged itself into the ground near Allen, the beast the lifted it''s tail up, along the ground where the kid was located and threw from far away!


    Allen was also thrown away, in a few seconds, he and the land where he was standing crashed heavily to the ground.


    The kid got severe injury and internal bleeding in an instant, and blood flowed from the scalp towards his face. Allen panted heavily, as he struggled to stand up.


    "This power is not enough! Not enough! I need more... I need more... I need more...!", Allen crazily muttered, he didn''t know that his eyes were slowly turning red. Suddenly, the kid felt more energy flowing through him from the (Erchian Dagger) and his injuries rapidly healed... but at what cost?


    "More... more... more...!", Allen shouted repeatedly. He stood up and pointed the weapon towards the dragon, who was approaching.


    The dragon heard Allen''s shout and it commented, "Getting consumed by the power of your own weapon... your willpower is weak!"


    "I''ll show you who''s weak! Hahahaha...", Allen maniacly laughed.


    Meanwhile, in the kid''s consciousness, the devil was also laughing in a similar tone, "Kill him, kill him!"


    The dragon noticed the formidable aura coming from the weapon, it narrowed it''s eyes and stopped approaching. Suddenly, it roared violently as it''s body enlarged.


    "Well then... I''m going to take it from you!", the dragon roared at a deeper voice. It''s tail became longer and could even be mistaken to be made as a giant spear, two extra wings appeared on it''s back, it''s scales became much more shiny, indicating that they had become tougher, and even it''s previous injuries were healed!


    "Then come and get it, you big reptile! Hehehe...", Allen chucked.


    The dragon''s wings started to be engulfed in green fire, his claws suddenly glew green, making it look like much sharper than before! After which, it flew forward, creating gales on it''s way.


    "Come, come, come, come...!", Allen started to launch out a dozen of (Dagger Flash)es and executed (Shadow Steps).

 29 Block

    The dragon didn''t even dodge the incoming (Dagger Flash)es and when it was finally near Allen, it pounced on the kid''s location.


    However, Allen already predicted it beforehand and moved away from his current location by initiating (Shadow Steps).


    In the first place, the said movement technique was for dodging, but coupled with the energy coming from the (Erchian Dagger), it broke through it''s limitations and now also became a movement technique for continuous motion.


    -rumble-


    When the huge body of the dragon landed, craters formed under it''s claws while dust and rocks flew around the surroundings.


    -whoosh-


    The tail rushed forward towards Allen, this time, it was much faster than before after the dragon transformed itself earlier. However, was also different now than his earlier self. The kid dodged the tail, and the said body part was plunged to the ground, taking this chance, he slashed with his weapon, cutting off the end of the tail!


    The tail was twice, if not, thrice as tough as steel, but the (Erchian Dagger) pierced through it like it was non-existent!


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    The beast recalled it''s tail back, suddenly, flesh regenerated back on the end of the said body part.


    "Die...!", the dragon roared as it flew back to the air, it took in a deep breath, created light winds that were going towards it''s mouth.


    It was going to breathe fire again!


    Taking this chance, Allen sent out multiple (Dagger Flash)es towards the dragon, wounding the beast. However, the wounds just instantly regenerated!


    "Damn regeneration ability!", Allen cursed as he immediately moved much farther away from the beast.


    The dragon finally stopped breathing in air, and breathe out green fire towards Allen. The range of the fire increased and the flames became even more dangerous after the dragon transformed! Coupled with it''s wings fanning towards the kid''s direction, it increased the flame''s speed.


    "Dragons are a cheat in this world.", Allen angrily commented as he ran much faster than before. He wasn''t wrong, since their only predators in this world, the titans, had gone extinct a long time ago, the dragons prospered and even became arrogant to the point that they provoked the last living Celestial in the world, which was also the cause of the near extinction of their kind.


    Allen knew that he couldn''t outrun the fire any longer, luckily, he already roughly thought of a plan.


    ''(Firm Fists).'', Allen initiated the said skill. With the boost of the energy coming from the (Erchian Dagger), not only the kid''s fists became tougher, but also his whole arms!


    The skill might''ve been initiated throughout his whole two arms, however, one wouldn''t even see a difference between his current arm to a normal one!


    As the fire was about to hit him, Allen stopped running away and quickly turned around; after which, he punched out with his arm!


    -boom-


    A sonic boom could be heard as the fire was sent back a distance away from the kid. It might just be a distance away, nevertheless, it was enough that the fire won''t hit him anymore even if he kept standing on his current position, because the dragon already stopped breathing out fire.


    "Hehehe...", Allen chuckled like a crazy man as his surroundings shook, if this chamber wasn''t probably wide or wasn''t probably a dragon''s lair, it would''ve already collapsed on them due to the magnitude of their battle.


    The dragon was caught off guard by what Allen just did.


    ''This kid also knows skills on temporarily strengthening one''s body?'', the dragon inwardly said. Probably if Allen didn''t know about (Firm Fists), he would have become a fried meal by the dragon.


    The beast knew that it was also running out of skills that could take Allen off guard and kill him. Initially, it thought that even with the kid''s weapon boosting him, it wouldn''t even take that long for it to kill him.


    The dragon roared again and almost a hundred of green fire spears appeared on the air around it, and simultaneously shot out towards Allen at a very fast rate.


    "An increase in the spears'' range too? This should be fun, hehehe...", Allen chuckled.


    Meanwhile, from far away, Kate slowly regained her consciousness. The first thing she saw was Drake''s body lying on the ground, as she was about to check on him, she heard the dragon''s roar.


    She was startled and thought she was about to get eaten, she looked towards where the roar came from, and saw a humongous dragon fighting against a familiar silhouette.


    "Allen?", Kate narrowed her eyes to check if she was being deceived, but she found out wasn''t. There, from far away, she saw that Allen kept dodging the green fire spears that were launching towards him in at a very fast rate in just a second. Every time the spears hit the ground, the area around it was engulfed in green fire!


    Suddenly, Allen charged towards the dragon. The latter was also charged forward and engaged in close combat!


    Allen dodged every single claw and tail of attacks the dragon while sending out (Dagger Flash)es!


    The dragon''s humongous, and intimidating body was now it''s own weakness against Allen!


    "Die! Die! Die! Die...!", Allen repeatedly shouted as he made a large cut with the (Erchian Dagger) under the dragon''s body!


    The (Erchian Dagger) easily sliced through the dragon''s body. After which, Allen got out from under the beast''s body.


    "Huh? The wound can''t heal?", the dragon noticed that the large wound on it''s body can''t heal, then it looked towards the dagger that Allen was holding. Not just that, it could also feel that his suppose to be bountiful undead life force was being drained at a very fast pace!


    Earlier, when Allen has cut off the end of the dragon''s tail, the undead life force on the tail was being sucked out, however, the wound was just too little for the suction of the undead life force, and so, the regeneration overpowered the suction and fully healed the tail.


    Seeing that the wound can''t heal, Allen took the initiative and sliced through the dragon''s claws! In a few seconds, two of the dragon''s claws were already cut off from the main body!


    Allen then aimed his sights towards the body of the dragon where it''s undead core was suppose to be resting. He had read from one of his mother''s books that the undead has what they call ''undead core'' where all the undead life force was being stored.


    The dragon seemed to had weaken from the continuous draining of it''s undead life force, and so, Allen immediately went towards the location where he saw something glowing green inside the beast''s body.


    "Die... hahahaha...!", Allen stabbed the (Erchian Dagger) through it.


    However, Allen''s smile became stiff as the dragon slowly disappeared.


    "An illusion?!", Allen shouted in anger.


    "Eeek...", a screech could be heard from far away.


    Allen turned around towards the source of the screech, and saw the dragon flying towards Kate, the large wound on the beast''s body was still there, but his claws were all intact. It then launched it''s tail towards Kate!


    Allen ran towards Kate with everything he could, but he knew inside him, that he won''t make it in time.


    Kate still couldn''t move her body due to the injury she got from the dragon when the whole chamber was still pitch black. She could only close her eyes and wait for the tail to stab her.


    However, the said scenario never happened.


    Kate opened her eyes again, and saw, Allen in front of her looking towards her, while the end of the dragon''s tail was piercing through his chest.


    ''See kid, I could be reasonable at times. Trading the remaining time to freely use the (Erchian Dagger) for a short burst of incredible speed. Hahaha...'', the devil''s voice echoed inside Allen''s thoughts.


    The kid''s red eyes and the (Erchian Dagger) he was holding slowly disappeared. Allen smiled bitterly towards Kate as the upper half of his head was being covered by his hair.


    The boy then felt that he couldn''t move his body anymore, and so, the tail pulled him back towards the dragon.


    "Allen!", Kate shouted as she watched the boy being pulled back.

 30 Death Ray Array

    Allen didn''t resist, or rather, couldn''t resist the the pull of the tail anymore.


    -pshew-


    The dragon dropped the kid right in front of it, and examined him carefully. The beast didn''t take Allen as a threat to it anymore.


    It retracted the tail from Allen''s body, now, there was a bloody hole on the kid. The tail of the dragon was always mucg tougher and sharper than steel, so it wasn''t a surprise.


    It noticed that the aura of the weapon was now unlocatable from his body.


    "Where''s that weapon?", the dragon asked. However, Allen didn''t answer, or probably couldn''t answer.


    "I said, where is that weapon!?", the dragon roared that it shook the chamber. Nevertheless, Allen still didn''t answer.


    "Still not going to answer?", the dragon asked, this time, trying to hold back it''s fury.


    "Nope.", Allen suddenly answered in a ridiculing tone. It made the dragon furious and started to breathe in air.


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    "Die!", the dragon roared.


    -boom-


    As the dragon was about to breathe out fire, a beam suddenly attacked it''s mouth, canceling the fire breathing process!


    "Who, what?!", the beast looked towards where the beam came from, which was none other from Allen!


    There was some sort of a floating small rock coin with glowing patterns engraved on it. Allen weakly looked at the floating coin in front of him, and recognized that it was the small coin that Vitomir gave them for protection from curses when they left the village!


    "Puny object!", the dragon swiped it''s claws towards the coin, also intending to kill Allen. However, an invisible shield appeared around the coin and the kid, protecting them from the claws of the dragon.


    The dragon widened it''s eyes in surprise and summon the green fire spears around it, and attacked the shield with them while using it''s claws and tail.


    -boom- -bam- -boom-


    Explosions could be heard as dust rose in the area, when everything settled down, the dragon saw that the shield was still standing, with Allen and the coin inside it!


    "How could it...?!", before the dragon finished it''s sentence, the coin flew out of the shield and attacked the beast again with the same beam of light from earlier!


    -boom-


    "Arrgh...", the dragon took several steps back as it''s face almost exploded into bits, but regenerated imat a very fast rate.


    Meanwhile, the coin vibrated, while it''s glow became a bit brighter. The same vibration could be felt from Kate''s and Drake''s pockets.


    -whoosh-


    The coins went out of their pockets and joined Allen''s coin. Suddenly, the coins surrounded the dragon, making a triangular array with a pyramid cage shield!


    The shield encased the dragon from within. The beast tried to attack the shield, but it was all in vain.


    -phew-


    Hundreds of beams of light came from the shield and attacked the dragon all around it''s body! The dragon couldn''t do anything but helplessly resist all the attacks.


    A projection of an old man appeared below Allen''s coin, and that old man was none other than the presiding leader of the village of the remnant barbarians that the trio visited earlier.


    The old man looked around and saw the weak Allen with a bloody hole on it''s chest, it turned it''s gaze onto the knocked out Drake, and finally onto Kate.


    "The dragon played with you kids before trying to kill you, hmph!", the old man snorted.


    "Kate, isn''t it?", the projection of the old man approached Kate and asked.


    "Yes?", Kate responded.


    "Can you move now?", the old man asked.


    "Kind of.", Kate answered.


    "Alright, bring that kid over there, his name is Drake, isn''t it? Towards Allen''s location. Don''t worry about the dragon, the array will take care of that filthy beast.", the old man said.


    "Okay.", Kate nodded in response, slowly stood up, and went towards Drake.


    Meanwhile, the projection of the old man walked back to Allen''s location and sighed, "Looks like Vitomir forgot to tell about the coins'' function." Afterwards, the old man went back under Allen''s coin and looked towards the pitiful dragon, who was being attacked from all sides.


    "Hmph, banes like you shouldn''t exist in this world any longer.", the old man snorted again.


    "I''ll kill all of you! I''ll kill all of you!", the dragon roared in fury.


    "Creatures who will soon turn into dust won''t be able to kill.", the old man calmly said. He then waited for a few minutes for the dragon to suffer more of the array''s attacks.


    "Looks like you''ve suffered enough.", the old man said.


    After a pause, he commanded, "Change to Death Ray array!"


    The attacks ceased, and the array below the dragon changed in an instant. A powerful, dangerous aura then emanated from it.


    The energy that the array gathered rapidly increase per second, until the projection of the old man said, "Initiate... build up sequence!"


    Kate''s and Drake''s coins vibrated in response and a clone suddenly appeared beside each of them, after which, the clones went into formation and created an array shaped like a star.


    -bzzt-


    A buzzing sound could be heard as the clones of the coins slowly went towards each other. When the coin clones will combine, that''s where the Death Ray array would be fully operational.


    The dragon did all it''s best to break through the shield, but was all for a nought. The clones combined and the aura of the array reached it''s peak.


    "Activate... Death Ray array!", the old man shouted.


    -bzzt- -bzzt- -bzzt-


    From the topmost point of the pyramid shield cage, a beam of light pierced down towards the dragon with a whoosh.


    "ROAR...!"


    When the beam of light penetrated the dragon, it created a burning hole through it, then the burn slowly spread out towards it''s whole body, after which, the beast turned into ashes.


    A dragon, not just a dragon, but an undead dragon, died just like that under the array! This alone showed how powerful the array could be, in fact the array wasn''t even fully activated yet!


    When the dragon turned into ashes, the stone coins still maintained their original positions. At the same time, Kate alreadg brought the unconscious Drake beside Allen, who was under the protection of a shield around it''s body.


    Allen''s face became paler and paler at each second passes by, which made Kate worry. The former wasn''t even moving from his position, nor even moving his hands, it was as if he''s a corpse.


    "Mu guess was right, you three were going here, but why?", the projection of the old man approached them.


    "We were trying to get the treasures in here.", Kate answered.


    The old man kept quiet and didn''t show any intentions to probe through the issue. After awhile, Kate broke the silence, "Can you save them?"


    The projection looked towards Allen and Drake then nodded, "They''re still savable. Bring them a little closer to each other and stay there."


    Kate did what the old man instructed, then the old man commanded the three stone coins to go and surround the three of them.


    After which, an another array was set up and was activated.


    ***


    Meanwhile, back at Lord Levine''s villa.


    Mr. Sanchez was running downstairs in a hurry and went towards his room, he opened the door and saw the merchant opening a box full of crackers!


    "I knew it! Somebody was tampering my box of crackers without my permission!", Mr. Sanchez angrily eyed the merchant.


    "It''s just a box of crackers, nothing valuable.", the merchant put in a whole cracker in his mouth and chewed it.


    After swallowing, the merchant gave a satisfied smile and commented, "What a nice cracker, where did you get these?"


    "Oh, well... probably from a cheap source like King Santos III!", Mr. Sanchez sarcastically said.


    "Oh.", the merchant didn''t seem to mind it and put an another cracker in his mouth.


    "Why did you rush all the way down to your room?", Lord Levine approached Mr. Sanchez, then the former saw the box of crackers that the merchant was eating.


    "Want some, Levine?", the merchant asked.


    "Sure.", Lord Levine nodded. The merchant then threw a cracker to the feudal lord, after which, the latter ate the cracker.


    "Mmm... what a tasty cracker! Give me an another one.", Lord Levine said and ignored Mr. Sanchez who was beside him.


    Mr. Sanchez face became gloomy, but then it suddenly changed from anger to seriousness as he looked towards the direction of Mount Watchtower.


    Lord Levine and the merchant also sensed what happened.


    "They did it.", Lord Levine said.


    "Well then, that''s one baneful creature gone.", the merchant said.


    "It''s a good thing nobody died.", Mr. Sanchez said.

 31 Care

    "There, your injuries are healed.", the projection of the old man said.


    After the array finished up healing the trio, Allen lied down to the ground and slept, now, there was a hole on the clothes that he was wearing, but no injuries.


    "Hold on, don''t move yet.", the old man added.


    Kate didn''t move out of her original position and sat down. Each of the stone coins floated in front of the trio, making the girl curious.


    Beams of light then came out of the coins and hit the forehead of each of the trio. Kate touched her forehead to check if there was something wrong.


    "You three now own and can control those coins.", the old man said.


    "Thank you!", Kate immediately replied. The arrays that the coins formed were extremely powerful, even the dragon earlier couldn''t break through it''s shield cage, and only took a thin beam of light from the Death Ray to kill the beast.


    "Don''t mention it, just take it as a gift.", the old man said.


    After a pause, he reminded, "Your bodies are still too weak to handle the strength of those arrays, so it''s best not to use it until you three grow up."


    "We won''t.", Kate said.


    "Then go and find the treasure you seek of, I''m sure the dragon''s treasure wouldn''t be that few.", the old man said. The dragons were innately greedy even before the titans went extinct, just after the latter was gone that they exploded out. There should be a lot of items that this particular dragon collected for the past years.


    "Search for some secret mechanism or button on the walls.", the old man added.


    "Okay.", Kate went to work and searched for the mechanism, though it would probably take a but long because the cave was just too wide.


    After which, the old man looked at Allen and inwardly sighed, ''The kid''s both lucky and unlucky at the same time to have that weapon.''


    Finally, the projection faded away.


    ...


    Almost an hour later, Drake slowly woke up and sat down. He then saw Allen sleeping beside him, and noticed a hole on his clothes.


    Drake then held his head and tried to remember what happened, "Cave... golem... darkness... dragon!"


    As soon as he said the last word, he looked around him, and saw Kate from afar touching a wall.


    "Kate!", Drake called out.


    Kate heard Drake''s call, the former immediately approached the latter and checked if there''s anything wrong on his body.


    "Nothing, but where''s the dragon?", Drake asked.


    "It''s dead.", Kate said.


    "How did it die?"


    After which, Kate explained everything what happened from the appearance of the array, to the dragon''s disintegration.


    "Oh... then why is there a large hole on Allen''s clothes?", Drake asked.


    Kate hesitated at first, but in the end also explained everything what she has saw.


    Drake was caught off guard what he has just heard, and even asked Kate if she was hallucinating at that time or not, however, the girl said she wasn''t. In addition, she also told about the time that the array healed the three of them.


    The boy looked at the sleeping Allen and expressed his thanks.


    "Help me find the secret mechanism on the walls.", Kate said.


    Drake didn''t need anymore explaination and just nodded in response. After which, he and Kate splitted up.


    ***


    The familiar ceiling, the familiar walls, and even the familiar softness of the bed. Those what Allen saw and felt as he woke up in his bedroom.


    "Wait, I was in the dragon''s lair!", realizing where he was, Allen sat up and held his head in distress.


    "I''m back?", Allen asked himself.


    -bam-


    "Eeek...!", Allen screeched in surprise as he looked towards the door.


    "Big brother! Get up and let''s eat breakfast!", William shouted towards Allen. The latter only looked at the former for a long time and didn''t respond.


    "What are you looking at? Let''s go eat breakfast!", Drake pulled Allen''s hands to make him stand up.


    Allen snapped out of his stupor and said, "You go on first, I''ll just catch up."


    "Alright.", William ran out of the room and went downstairs.


    "What just happened?", Allen grasped his head.


    "I think I should care about it later."


    ...


    Allen walked downstairs, went to the kitchen and saw William eating porrage.


    Allen looked at his hands and saw that he was holding a knife.


    ''Why am I holding a knife?'', Allen thought.


    Suddenly, his body moved on it''s own accord, out of his control!


    Allen felt that he knew where this was going and tried to resist.


    ''No... NO...! NO! STOP!'' Allen shouted in panic, however, he could only shout within his inner thoughts. During those thoughts, Allen''s body has already stopped in front of William.


    "Oh? Big brother, what''s the matter?", William asked.


    Everything that happened next wasn''t needed to be explained.


    Finally, Allen got control of his body, however, his knees immediately fell to the ground and hugged his little brother.


    There was blood splattered everywhere in the kitchen, making one feel a chill on their back.


    "Damn it, why?! Why?!", Allen shouted as blood also sticked on his clothes. He could still hear the pitiful wails of his little brother on his ears.


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    Suddenly, he heard the laughs of the devils echoing through his ears.


    This nightmare was worse than getting killed in his dreams by the vengeful soul of the man.


    ***


    Allen panted heavily as his eyelids opened in an instant. Sweat trickled down from every parts of his body.


    "Whew, you''re awake! You were shouting like a lady!", Drake who was sitting beside Allen, joked.


    "Another nightmare?", Kate asked. She and Drake knew that Allen has been getting nightmares since he killed that man. Every night when they start sleeping in the camp, or even back at Lord Levine''s villa, they could hear the boy''s begs of mercy at his sleep.


    And even though the vengeful soul of the man was attacking Allen in his sleep, it was only in his dreams and not in reality, that''s why the holy power that Lord Levine inserted in the kid''s body didn''t act.


    Allen didn''t say anything and just closed his eyes to relax. Drake and Kate didn''t do anything and waited for Allen to open his eyes again.


    When Allen opened his eyes again, he didn''t say anything and just sat up, Drake and Kate also didn''t ask anything, as the issue was probably a bit personal for Allen.


    "What are the two of you doing now?", Allen asked.


    "Trying to find a mechanism, the treasure might be in a hidden compartment somewhere in this chamber.", Kate replied.


    "But we already carefully searched for the mechanism on all the walls, but there was still nothing.", Drake added.


    "Well then, the mechanism might either be on the floor or on the ceiling.", Allen quickly said.


    "Why didn''t we think of that!?", Drake was enlightened.


    "Come on, let''s go search for it on the floor first.", as Allen placed down his hand on the floor to support his body to stand up, the ground where his hand was on sunk a bit to the ground, after which, a click could be heard.


    The nearest wall to them slowly opened up, and revealed a lot of treasures! Valuable minerals, gems, weapons, pearls, etc.


    "What luck you have.", Drake and Kate made a thumbs up.


    Allen: "..."


    "Take out the extra bags from the satchels.", Kate said.


    Drake and Allen took out the extra bags, they were also some sort of spatial treasures like the satchels, but it''s storage capacity was a bit shorter than the satchels.


    After taking all the treasures in, they placed back the bags inside the satchels and exited through the tunnel where they entered earlier on.


    Drake and Kate saw Allen''s dejected mood, the former suddenly said, "Don''t worry, we won''t tell anyone what you just did."


    Allen nodded in response and thought, ''Looks like it''s not a secret anymore.''


    "Why... did you block the dragon''s tail earlier? You almost died doing so!", Kate suddenly brought up the topic. They didn''t know about the matter about the stone coins at that time, so they could''ve really died.


    "You''re the one who will die if I didn''t.", Allen replied. Kate was startled by Allen''s reply that her eyes widened a little.


    "I care for the both of you.", Allen added.


    Drake and Kate didn''t say anything and kept quiet.

 32 The Party

    A day later...


    The trio managed to return to the villa by morning.


    Lord Levine and Mr. Sanchez met them at the main gate.


    "So, you got the treasure?", Mr. Sanchez asked.


    The trio handed out their satchels, however Lord Levine suddenly said, "The satchels are all yours, just take out the plants and the bags where you stored in the treasures."


    The trio was delighted and did what Lord Levine said.


    "Let''s split up the treasures later, the three of you should go rest first.", Lord Levine said.


    ...


    Inside the guest bedroom...


    Allen wore his new clothes and put away his assassin''s garbs, which now has a hole on it.


    The kid touched his chest where the tail of the dragon pierced through, truth be told, he didn''t know why he suddenly rushed in front of Kate to protect her from the tail.


    He sat on his bed, trying to forget the dream when he killed his little brother, but the more he tried to forget, the more he remembered it.


    "That won''t come true, right?", Allen asked himself. He''d rather want to kill himself than kill his little brother. The kid then heard somebody knocking on the door.


    "Come in, the door''s not locked.", Allen said.


    Mr. Sanchez walked in the room, and sat beside Allen.


    "Good job on killing the dragon.", Mr. Sanchez said.


    "You knew all along that there was a dragon in there.", Allen said. Afterwards, he inwardly said, ''Good thing that Mr. Sanchez doesn''t know I''m not the one who killed the dragon.''


    He, Kate, and Drake has already promised to the elders of the remnant barbarian village that they won''t spread the news of their existence on the outside world.


    "Do you think the three of you would agree that you would be sent to go kill the dragon?", Mr. Sanchez asked a question with a very obvious answer. The answer would obviously be... no.


    It was a plan made by Mr. Sanchez and Lord Levine so that the trio would go towards the mountain in search for the so-called treasure, which was in fact, under the care of the dragon.


    "And do you think that I''m just some sort of commodity?", Allen suddenly asked.


    Mr. Sanchez was caught off guard by the tone on Allen''s question, he composed himself and answered, "No! Of course not! I care for the three of you!"


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    "You only care for Kate and Drake. I''m just some usable item, am I right? That''s how you saw me when you found out that I got the dagger.", Allen retorted.


    "I...", Mr. Sanchez wanted to speak, but he felt that there were no words to say.


    "So I am right.", Allen said. "All those warnings and those ''take cares'' were in fact just a farce."


    After a pause, the kid added, "But you should''ve just sent me alone instead of letting Kate and Drake go along, they could''ve died."


    ''In fact, all of us should have died already if it weren''t for that old man from that remnant village.'', Allen''s inner thoughts echoed within his own mind.


    "No...", before Mr. Sanchez could continue his sentencr, Allen intercepted him and said, "You know, because of that, I risked my sanity again. Even though I didn''t sell anything part of me, it still takes a toll on my sanity. I might even kill my little brother anytime after we return!"


    A faint squeak could be heard at Allen''s last sentence. He knew within himself, that he was getting more hungry for the power of the (Erchian Dagger) after each uses.


    Mr. Sanchez stood up and walked to the door, before he left the room, he said, "Go get dressed up, there are clothes inside the cabinets, we''ll go the earl''s manor later today."


    Allen lied down on his bed and breathe out a mouthful of air in stress. He felt that his body became lighter when he let out his feelings earlier.


    ''I think Mr. Sanchez is mad right now at me.'', Allen thought.


    ...


    Later that day, Allen walked out of the villa, wearing formal clothes. He saw a carriage inside the villa grounds, Kate and Drake talking to each other with Mr. Sanchez, who were also wearing formal clothes, and Lord Levine who was talking with the carriage driver.


    "Oh, Allen!", Drake waved from far away. After Allen approached them, Mr. Sanchez suddenly left the area, which made Kate and Drake look towards the former.


    "We... had a fight, sort of.", Allen didn''t say a lot about what happened.


    "Oh.", Kate and Drake just nodded in understanding.


    "Anyone knows why are we going to the earl''s manor?", Allen shifted the topic.


    "I don''t know.", Drake shook his head.


    "I guess there''s going to be a party?", Kate guessed.


    "Hmm, probably.", Allen agreed.


    "Will the three of you just keep standing there all day?", Lord Levine called out to them. The trio approached the feudal lord and the latter said, "Go inside the carriage. You''re leaving now."


    The trio walked in the carriage and took their seats. Allen was seating beside Mr. Sanchez while Drake and Kate sat beside each other.


    As the door of the carriage closed, Mr. Sanchez suddenly said, "Drake, let''s switch places."


    "Huh?", Drake was baffled.


    "You shouldn''t be sitting beside Kate, specially if the both of you are wearing formal clothes, others might think of something else.", Mr. Sanchez said.


    "Erm... alright.", Drake could only agree, this was his master, after all. The both of the switched places, after which Mr. Sanchez looked out the window.


    Allen bowed his head down in shame, he knew that there was an another reason why Mr. Sanchez switched places.


    Meanwhile, Drake and Kate looked at each other, as if knowing what was happening between the other two.


    ...


    It was already passed afternoon when the carriage stopped by outside the gates of the manor.


    The security was quite strict. Carriages weren''t allowed to enter. Under the scorching hot rays of the sun, the armored guards were maintaining their posts and patrol routine inside and outside the manor.


    The carriage stopped by a grassland, along with the other carriages of the other nobles. As soon as the trio and Mr. Sanchez step out of the carriage, they were saw the other nobles under the shade of the umbrellas that their servants were carrying.


    "I hate these kinds of fancy meetings.", Kate murmured.


    "Well, we can''t do anything, can we?", Drake said.


    The last one to exit was Allen, he shadowed his eyes from the sunlight.


    "Hear ye, hear ye. The gates are now opened for all the visitors in the earl''s daughter''s birthday party!", an old man who was about to go bald called out towards the nobles.


    The gates of the manor was slowly opened by the guards on duty.


    "Looks like the long wait is over.", a noble said.


    "Finally, I''m sweating all over my body already!"


    "Prepare the gifts."


    ...


    The trio overheard everything what the nobles said, specially about the gifts.


    "Wait, do we have gifts?", Drake anxiously asked.


    "Of course! Why would we even go into a birthday party without bringing a gift?", Kate looked at Mr. Sanchez.


    Mr. Sanchez noticed Kate''s gaze and the former answered, "Don''t worry, we have a gift."


    ...


    The party wasn''t really being done at the manor, but at a newly renovated castle inside the manor grounds.


    This particular castle had a long history, but we''ll just go into the specifics. During the time of the Barbarian Wars, the said structure has served as the commanding outpost that looked over the river after the Mount Watchtower was supposedly taken over by the barbarians.


    After the war, this served as the main camp of the Southern Royal Garrison of the Trigurniburg Kingdom, though after a few years, the troops moved to an another location, abandoning the castle.


    Inside the main hall...


    There was a long table which stretched from near the entrance, up to the end of the hall. There were serving plates, plates for eating, bowls at any kind of sizes, which all were decorated with gold linings; candles engraved with gems; silver utensils. Even the cover of the table has gold as it''s decoration.


    "This looks more like a noble''s banquet than a birthday party.", Allen commented.


    "Aren''t they just the same?", Kate asked.


    "Well, if we compare this to a true birthday party, this is more formal and mature. I heard that the earl''s daughter only turned ten this year, so it would be weird if she enjoys this kind of atmosphere.", Allen explained.


    "So, you mean that they treated tha party like some sort of a meeting between adult nobles?", Drake asked.


    "Yes.", Allen nodded.


    Mr. Sanchez ignored the trio and approached a group of nobles.


    "So, what should we do?", Allen asked.


    "Are we allowed to go to the other locations in the castle?", Kate pondered.


    "Probably, because some of the children of the nobles were checking around the castle.", Drake said.


    "Let''s go?", Allen asked.


    "Alright."


    "Mhm."

 33 Who?

    "What a beautiful garden!", Drake remarked.


    The trio has now entered the vicinity of the castle botanical garden. They marveled at the sight of the trimmed bushes, different kinds of flowers, and breathe in fresh, cool air.


    "It''s even more beautiful than Lord Levine''s garden.", Kate commented.


    "It''s the earl''s garden, so it would surely be much more beautiful.", Allen said.


    "But I''d rather go to the castle''s armory.", Kate added.


    "You''re always about weapons.", Drake said.


    "What can I do? I like them.", Kate answered.


    After a pause, she asked, "Are the flowers allowed to be picked, tho?"


    "Yes, but probably for the common ones only.", Allen said.


    "I never thought you''re interested in flowers!", Drake exclaimed.


    "Hmph! Before I became an assassin, I liked flowers.", Kate snorted.


    "Not too loud, others might hear what you just said.", Allen warned.


    "Oh.", Kate realized what she just said and covered her mouth.


    "Oh don''t worry, Allen meant that others might hear you and woo you with flowers, then Allen wouldn''t be able to contend with them because they''re nobles!", Drake laughed.


    "Courting death!", Kate and Allen angrily said at the same time.


    Half a minute later...


    Drake was holding his face while the way he walked was weird, he was beaten up to the point that he couldn''t defend himself whatever he would do.


    "Hahaha, such barbaric people they are.", a noble boy commented.


    "Well, looks like they''re not really invited, but was just joining the party for the food.", another one said.


    "I don''t even know how did they get through the gates.", another one said.


    The trio overheard everything what the noble children said, suddenly Kate angrily shouted, "How about I break your teeth!?"


    Allen and Drake widened their eyes, the former immediately pulled Kate back, "Don''t be too rash, that''s not like you!"


    "Well... at least this outlander knows some basic etiquette.", the young men approached the trio.


    "As a respect to the lady. We won''t do anything to her.", one of them said.


    "But of course, she still offended us, so you have to take the brunt.", one of them pointed at Allen.


    "You... these people are so arrogant.", Kate commented.


    "You can call us whatever you want.", another one said, after which he signaled the other young men to surround Allen.


    Allen only backed off until he reached the wall.


    "Aren''t you going to fight back?!", Kate shouted.


    "You shouldn''t fight back against people with these kinds of statuses... or else there would be consequences.", Allen shamelessly shouted back.


    "If you wouldn''t fight then... hmph!"


    "So then, what''s the gentleman''s name?", a young man asked, most likely the leader.


    "Allen...", the kid truthfully answered.


    "Surname?", the younger man approached Allen, getting ready to punch.


    "Morgan...", Allen was getting ready to dodge every of the young men''s attacks, even though he couldn''t fight back, he could still dodge their punches.


    "Allen Morgan... hahaha... what a funny name... hahahaha...", suddenly the young men''s laugh stopped and all of them widened their eyes, realizing something.


    They started to back off fron Allen, which made the trio confused.


    The leader of they young nobles shouted, "Please, forget everything that we said, don''t tell anything to the Supreme Scholar!" After which, all of them scrambled away from the trio.


    The trio was stunned to what just happened, specially Allen.


    "Weren''t they just about to beat me up? Hais, I thought I was going to have some fun in dodging their attacks.", Allen sighed in disappointment.


    "They were frightened when you mentioned your surname, are you a noble?", Kate asked. Drake also gave a curious look to Allen.


    "No! Why would I be a pickpocket then?", Allen retorted. The other two already knew that Allen was a pickpocket before he became an assassin.


    "They''ve probably just mistaken me for somebody else.", Allen added.


    "Well then, do you know about that Supreme Scholar that they said?", Drake asked. Allen was the smartest in their group of three, so he might know something.


    "I only know about scholars and Royal Scholars, but never a Supreme Scholar, I never read such a thing about them!", Allen said. Scholars were the title of the once poor citizens of the kingdom who were extremely smart and/or talented that the government took notice of them, as for Royal Scholars, they''re the personal students of the Royal Advisers of the king.


    "I think we should go back to the castle. We might meet more of those arrogant people if we keep checking around.", Kate suggested.


    "Alright.", Allen and Drake nodded in agreement.


    ...


    On the way back to the castle, the trio suddenly stumbled upon a girl wearing a beautiful dress that looks like a bit younger than them.


    Drake accidentally bumped onto the girl which made her knees fall onto the ground.


    "She''s obviously a noble.", Kate disappointedly shook her head and glared fiercely at Drake. This guy got them into a trouble again! On the other hand, Drake only shrugged in response.


    Allen immediately helped the girl up and said, "We''re so sorry, our friend here was a bit sick today, he didn''t take care of himself."


    Drake angrily looked at Allen afterwards, while Kate''s mouth twitched due to trying to hold back her smile.


    "It''s okay.", the girl stood up but felt a pain on her knees, and saw that there was a scratch on it.


    "Should we heal it for you?", Allen asked. She was worried if the word got out, they might get jailed for injuring a noble''s daughter!


    "It''s alright, I could do it myself.", the girl replied and looked at Allen.


    ''What a brave girl... for a noble.'', Allen inwardly said.


    "What is sir''s name?", the girl asked.


    "Allen Morgan.", Allen introduced himself.


    "Oh... wait, do you know somebody by the name of William?", the girl suddenly asked.


    "Yes... wait, how did you know my younger brother!?", Allen eyed the girl suspiciously. ''She looks older than Laura, but younger than Kate, so she''s probably at William''s age?''


    "Oops... I forgot something, bye!", the girl covered her mouth and ran away as fast as she can.


    The trio was stunned yet again. The girl was wearing those kind of delicate, expensive shoes, yet, she ran with them as if she''s in a marathon!


    Allen felt that there was something that he didn''t know about.


    ...


    When the trio finally reached the castle, they were bombarded with the lively noise of the conversations of the nobles.


    "Hey, I heard that Duke Damien is planning to run for the position of regional governor in the next term."


    "Duke Damien? Are you sure? It''s been years since the last time he meddled within the politics circle."


    "Well, he is a talented man, I think there would be a lot that would vote for him."


    "I think Lord Horrenz is also joining in the next term elections."


    "What?! That merchant? I bet he''ll only focus on the economy of the region that he''ll let the barbarians attack our borders again!"


    "Don''t say it like that, the barbarians won''t do such a brutal war again."


    "But we don''t know for sure."


    "You have a point tho."


    "I also heard that somebody named Baron Thomas is also joining."


    "Who''s that?"


    "I don''t know too! I think he''s a new guy."


    "He better be prepared to have a persuasion battle with two giants."


    "Hais, that''s why I''m already comfortable in managing my own lands than join these complicated politics!"


    "Well it''s worth it if you want to be known."


    "Yeah, it''s worth it with a risk of offending those giants!"


    "I wonder how those nobles could only enjoy talking!", Kate said.


    "I think they like joining in the politics of the kingdom.", Drake added.


    "Hey Allen, what do you think we should... wait a minute, are you also listening to their boring gossips?!", Kate saw Allen attentively listening to a gossip about the eastern region of the kingdom.


    Allen heard Kate and said, "It''s fun listening, if my brother was here, he would''ve felt that he was in heaven already!"


    Allen and William always liked gossips about politics, specially the latter! About two years ago, when they both snuck in the banquet of the Crescent Town mayor, the younger Morgan even analyzed what would happen to the southern region just by listening!


    And not just that... all of the things that he analyzed about came true, which frightened Allen! In addition, William was still eight years old that time!


    The trio waited for night to take over, Drake and Kate felt that they''ve been there for almost a day already, however, for Allen, who was listening to the nobles'' conversation, felt that minutes only had passed.


    -clang- -clang- -clang-


    The old man from the gate earlier repeatedly hit a glass cup with a fork and caught the attention of everybody in the castle main hall.


    "The banquet will start in a few minutes, we will add extra tables and chairs in a short a while.", the man said.


    In a few seconds, more tables and chairs were added, along with the fancy tablecloths, silver utensils, and many more.


    After which, the nobles seated on the allocated location for them. The trio saw Mr. Sanchez waving to them from a table near the front.


    The trio sat down with Mr. Sanchez, with him and Allen directly opposite each other, with their eyes not meeting each other.


    Suddenly, all the people in the main hall became quiet, because the earl and his daughter was about to arrive! When the said people arrived, everybody else in the main hall stood up.


    Meanwhile, the trio was shocked, because the earl''s daughter, was none other than the girl that Drake accidentally bumped onto earlier.


    "We''re so sorry for being late, my daughter got some scratches on her knees.", the earl''s voice echoed throughout the quiet hall.


    Drake involuntarily swallowed his saliva. If somebody found out that he injured the earl''s daughter, would he be jailed? Or be whipped?


    On the other hand, Kate and Allen couldn''t help but pity Drake. In fact, in their minds, they were already saying goodbye to him! If Drake found out what they were thinking, he would''ve collapsed to the ground and think if they were really his friends.


    When the earl sat on the seat of honor with her daughter, the latter saw Drake and vice-versa. Drake''s heartbeat became faster, because he''s not in love, it''s because there might be an impending doom coming next onto him!


    However, the earl''s daughter ignored him and sat on the chair. Drake heaved a sigh of relief, while Kate and Allen heaved a sigh of disappointment.


    Afterwards, numerous delicacies and food were served by the servants. There was roasted turkey with it''s thick, oily, juicy, soft and tender body; smoked ham covered in gravy sauce; the mashed potatoes with spring onions on it''s top; hot chicken soup with it''s aroma spreading onto the air, and many more.


    All the guests ate at their fill and commented on how delicious all the food served was.


    Several minutes later...


    Some people had already stood up and delivered the gifts to the earl''s daughter, which she joyfully accepted.


    "Hey kid, meet me outside after yoi eat.", Mr. Sanchez said to Allen after giving the gift, the latter was surprised and took this seriously, meanwhile, the former already left the main haill and went outside.


    Drake and Kate also noticed what just happened and gave out supporting words to Allen.


    Allen sighed inwardly, ''I guess, I should apologize.''


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    Outside...


    Mr. Sanchez was smoking a tobacco pipe as Allen approached him.


    Before Allen could say anything, Mr. Sanchez sighed as smoke came out of his nose, "I''m sorry about using you."


    Allen widened his eyes, but composed himself immediately, "I...". However, before he could continue, Mr. Sanchez intercepted him.


    "No need to apologize.", after which, Mr. Sanchez took out a pouch and handed it Allen.


    Allen then inspected the contents of the pouch, and saw that it was full of silver coins! The kid was dumbstruck, each silver coin was equivalent to one-thousand bronze coins. He counted the amount of coins and determined there''s one-hundred silver coins in the pouch.


    The kid''s hands shook from all the money that he was holding. He had never hold onto so much money before!


    "In fact, that''s not your whole pay, when we get back to Crescent Town, I''ll give the share that you''ll get from the treasure.", Mr. Sanchez said.


    Allen was shocked yet again, he was stupefied for a lot of time in just one day! He imagined his share, it would even exceed the value of one gold coin, in fact, it would probably be in thousands!


    Moreover, one gold coin was equal to one-thousand silver coins. The kid couldn''t help but mutter, "I''m... rich?"


    "Yes, you''re rich.", Mr. Sanchez nodded.


    Allen then felt a sense of achievement, but at the same time, fear, a lot of people would then eye him in envy, and might lead to unnecessary fighting!


    He handed back the pouch full of silver coins and said, "Can you keep this and my share for the time being? I think... I couldn''t hold on and protect this much money."


    Mr. Sanchez replied, "Alright kid, if that''s what you want."


    Silence reigned for awhile until Allen broke it, "So... no grudges?"


    "No grudges.", Mr. Sanchez nodded.


    Allen smiled as he looked under the starry sky. Mr. Sanchez snuck a look towards the kid, and made the faintest of smiles, however, the tavern owner''s heart felt a chill and thought, ''I wish... I could stop it from happening, but I can''t. I''m sorry, kid. Even I''m powerless in front of fate.''


    If somebody who knew Mr. Sanchez and the latter would say that he''s powerless, they wouldn''t had believed him.


    ***


    Meanwhile, in Mount Watchtower where the Holy Statue was...


    A black robed man walked in the chamber where the said statue was residing, and walked all the way in front of the statue.


    There, the man saw a sleeping creature, which looked none other like a baby dragon!


    The man picked up the sleeping creature and cradled it within his arms, and muttered, "I can''t believe that they killed you, but at least, I think I could draw a graph on how powerful that dagger is."


    The man smiled, and looked to the direction where the remnant village was. Within himself, he wanted to slaughter everyone in the village for interfering. However, he couldn''t, because there''s somebody powerful in that particular village and because of an another reason too.


    A light wind brushed onto the man''s face, removing his hood.


    "Now, even the holy energy I injected inside the kid is gone.", of course, the man was none other than Lord Levine!


    [End of Volume 2: A Month at Riverboard City]

 34 Tug

    Midnight at the outskirts of Crescent Town, estimatedly a day later...


    After the banquet party, the trio and Mr. Sanchez went straight back home with their share of treasure and the satchels.


    Only twenty-four to twenty-five days had passed since Allen left the town. The carriage stopped near the Morgan Residence.


    Allen stepped out of the carriage and waved goodbye to the other two kids and Mr. Sanchez, after which, the carriage left the vicinity.


    The kid was now carrying the satchel that Lord Levine gave them. The feudal lord already removed his mark from the satchel, so that the trio could fully own them. Inside the satchel was a dagger, the magical burning torch, the fur of the undead bear, his repaired assassin clothes, and other things.


    When the kid finally reached the front door of the house, Allen breathe in air as to relieve his stress.


    "I''m back.", Allen muttered. However, the kid didn''t enter through the front door, but climbed onto his bedroon window. When he entered his bedroom, he saw the familiar slash that was left when he practiced the (Dagger Flash) for the first time.


    Allen yawned and placed his bag under his bed and lied down on it. He could now rest peacefully.


    ...


    Next morning...


    Allen stretched his joints, scratched his eyes, and sat on the bed. He walked out of his room and took a peek in William''s room. There, he saw a book on the bed, but his little brother was nowhere to be seen.


    "Eh? Where is he?", Allen wondered. Suddenly, the door fully opened which made him trip into the room. In an instant, he saw a bat making way to his face.


    -bam-


    The bat hit his face straight and was destroyed. Actually, with his strength and agility, he could''ve avoided all of these separately. However, it was as if the one doing all of these calculated what would happen next.


    When Allen''s face hit the floor, he felt an another bat hit on the back of his head which made him dizzy.


    "Haha... you thief could think about twice when you steal inside my.... wait... BIG BROTHER?!", of course, the one behind this was none other than William.


    The younger Morgan saw that Allen was still lying down onto the floor, making the former more worried.


    ''What should I do? I hit big brother... twice!'', William tried to think of a new plan. However, he didn''t get to when Allen got to look at him.


    "What was that for?", Allen angrily asked.


    Seeing that it was too late, William explained, "Well, I thought there was somebody else inside the house when I heard footsteps!"


    "If it wasn''t me, you could''ve probably killed whoever that was.", Allen said. He was right, it''s because that his body became tougher from using the (Erchian Dagger) twice, if not, his head would''ve bled already.


    "I''m sorry.", William immediately said.


    "It''s okay, just don''t do it ever again!", Allen stood up and stabilized his footing.


    "You''ve become taller, big brother.", William said in a bid to change the subject.


    "I did?", Allen asked.


    "Yes."


    "Oh.", Allen then thought that it was probably due to the effects of the (Erchian Dagger) after using it.


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    "Should we eat breakfast?", Allen asked.


    "No thanks, I''ve already ate, but shouldn''t you go to work by now?", William lied down on his bed and continued reading a book.


    "Work...? Oh wait! I''m late!", realizing something, Allen rushed down the house and ate the porrage in hurry. After which, he left after saying goodbye to William.


    ***


    Three Heads Tavern...


    As soon as Allen entered the tavern, the establishment was already full of people.


    "Why are you late?!", Kate angrily asked. They''ve opened for several hours already, yet, Allen only went in now.


    "I woke up a bit late.", Allen said.


    "Just get your apron and start taking the people''s orders!", Kate snorted as she delivered a customer''s food.


    Allen did what Kate said and the former started to write down the orders of the people. Afterwards, he delivered it to Drake.


    "So... why are you late?", Drake asked.


    "I woke up late today!", Allen said. He went to the house at midnight, it''s hard for him to wake up early if one slept at the said time.


    "Alright.", Drake nodded.


    Meanwhile, Allen inwardly cried, ''It''s not my fault that I''m late, it was my body''s!''


    Afterwards, Mr. Sanchez walked down the stairs and said, "Kate, get me a whole chicken breast!"


    "Alright!", Kate answered.


    Mr. Sanchez then saw Allen and angrily asked, "Hey, why did you only come here at this time?"


    "I woke up a bit late today!", Allen answered. He wanted to cry but there was no tears to shed. ''I''m a human too you know! Even though you people can wake up early because of your discipline, it''s different for me in my body''s condition!''


    The tavern owner only kept quiet and walked back upstairs.


    Afterwards, the trio attended the needs of the customers until near dusk. When the last customer left, the three of them exhaustedly sat down on the chairs.


    "There were many people this day.", Kate remarked.


    "Yeah.", Drake agreed.


    Even though their energy was much more than a normal person, it still took a toll due to the repeated entrance of new customers.


    "I guess the people missed the food in here.", Allen laughed.


    "Of course, it''s made by none other than yours truly!", Drake boasted.


    Kate only rolled her eyes and said, "Cook us some food!"


    "Alright, what do you want?", Drake asked.


    "Chicken soup would do.", Kate said.


    "You, Allen?", Drake asked.


    As Allen was about to answer, he remembered something and only said, "No thanks, I need to do something, see you two tomorrow!"


    Before the other two could say anything, Allen already left the apron on the table and exited the building.


    "Well, he''s on a hurry.", Kate said.


    "Mhm.", Drake nodded.


    ***


    When Allen went out of the tavern, his face became solemn and looked towards a direction. The black karma thread suddenly became visible on his eyes and it was tugging his body.


    ''Wasn''t it suppose to be unknown when will father get in trouble?'', Allen thought. Nevertheless, he stopped thinking about it and rushed back to the house to get something first.


    When he got back to the house, he saw William in the living room.


    "Hey big brother, you''re in such a hurry.", William said.


    "I''m going to come home late again, sleep at the right time, alright?", Allen said.


    "Alright.", William nodded.


    After which, he rushed at his bedroom and carried the satchel on his body, then he left the house with it.


    The tug on the karma thread was getting stronger and stronger by minutes, which made Allen worry greatly.


    "I hope father''s alright.", Allen muttered.


    ***


    At the same time, in the mayor''s manor.


    Alexander, the mayor of Crescent Town, personally greeted a caravan of merchants, alone. However, the people weren''t merchants, but were from the secret organization!


    As soon as they reached the mayor, they all changed their clothes into black robes.


    "Hello, Mr. Alexander.", one of the men approached the mayor.


    "Hello, sir.", the mayor humbly said. He might be a powerful politician in the area, but in front of these people, he was just a weaker ant among the weak ants.


    "We got news that the criminal organization that we were supporting at Riverboard City was completely destroyed. We are sure that the people who destroyed it is in your town.", the man said.


    "And we must immediately find him!", a man with a large body angrily said.


    "Calm down, Lazar. You will get that you want.", the man said.


    After which, the man said to the mayor, "Forgive him for interfering, his brother, who was the leader of the criminal organization was killed at Riverboard City."


    "It''s alright, it''s alright.", Alexander waved his hands in dismissal. "So then, great sirs. Are you going to investigate every people in my town?"


    "No.", the man shook his head. "Those people might get alarmed by us. We will do something else, if you allow it."


    "By all means, great sir.", Alexander said. "If may you please allow me to invite you all inside my humble abode to eat after an exhausting day."


    "Then lead the way.", the man said. Alexander then lead the way of the other black robed men.

 35 Finding Ou

    Several minutes earlier, in a gambling den at Crescent Town.


    "Damn it! Lost again!", Marco Morgan angrily said after his cards lost. In addition, it was obvious that he was drunk. After which, he stood up and left the table.


    He already lost all the money that he had to gamble with, so might as well leave. However, before he could leave, two muscular men blocked his way.


    "The boss wants to talk to you.", one of the men said.


    "I want to go home, can''t it be tomorrow instead?", Marco asked.


    "You''ve already said that a lot of times.", one of the men answered.


    "Alright alright, I''ll go with the both of you!", Marco angrily said.


    The two men didn''t seem to bother his angry tone and just escorted Marco to a door if a private room.


    One of the men knocked on a door and said, "Sir, we brought Mr. Marco with us."


    "Good... good. You can let him in.", a voice said from behind the door.


    The men opened the door and made Marco go in, while they guard on the outside.


    -click-


    The door closed behind Marco, and he saw a beautiful room lit with candles. The atmosphere of the room was relaxing, with the color harmony of the paint of the walls and the furnitures, one could start sleeping in a short time.


    "So then, Mr. Morgan, do you know how large of a debt do you have to our group?", a man sitting on the sofa asked.


    "I don''t know... but I''ll pay.", Marco answered.


    The man couldn''t help but laugh, "You don''t know but you''ll pay?! Hahaha..."


    After laughing for a while, the man said, "But you lost, yet again. Plus, you''ve already said that you''ll pay two times. Now, this is the third time you said it!"


    "I will definitely pay when my son comes back home.", Marco immediately said.


    "Hmph! Get out!", the man angrily said.


    Marco didn''t dare stay too long and got out as soon as he can and left the gambling den in a haste.


    The man on the sofa sighed and said to the two men outside, "Bring the ''Punisher Group'' with you and kill him."


    "Yes sir.", the two muscular men then left the area.


    The man lit up his tobacco pipe and muttered, "Useless people must be eliminated."


    ***


    Night covered the sky...


    Unsually, the mayor suddenly canceled the curfew on the town, so there were a lot of people on the streets that night.


    Of course, there were still some units of town guards patrolling, which prevented chaos from taking place during the night.


    Marco turned at a street, unknown to him, there was a pair of eyes watching him.


    "Father, what kind trouble have you gotten into?", the figure wearing dark clothes was none other than Allen. He kept an eye on his father, after which, he noticed a group of people approaching Marco from different directions from atop the building he was on.


    In fact, he even saw one of them hiding a dagger under his sleeves.


    "They want to kill him?", Allen was surprised. "Did father offend somebody?" However, there was no time to ask that question, because Marco has already noticed that somebody was following him and started to run away.


    Unluckily for Marco, he entered a street where there was no other people nor guards nearby, and was hit by a dart, though the dart was only for making one sleep.


    Still, Marco got to run away as fast as he can.


    "You''re not getting away!", before a muscular man was about to hit Marco with his short sword. A black silhouette went to his front and blocked the slash with a dagger.


    The man was surprised and backed off. However, from the distance, he saw Marco getting away and into the wilderness.


    "Damn it! He got away.", the muscular man then angrily looked at Allen. "It''s all your fault."


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    He couldn''t see Allen''s face as the latter was wearing a mask.


    Afterwards, some of the members of the group entered the street and saw the big man looking at somebody smaller than him


    Allen noticed that there were other people who entered the street and immediately ran away, however, his way back was also blocked by the rest of the group.


    He also wanted to escape through the roofs, but there were two people guarding the roofs too. Without the (Erchian Dagger) and just relying onto his skills and his improved body, he could easily beat all of them, but not at the same time!


    The group was about to get to him when Allen ran towards the dark alley. Meanwhile, those people even followed him towards it!


    "He''s not getting away, he won''t be able to find all of us!"


    "Damn it, whoever that guy is, he''s in big trouble!"


    When all of them reached a dead end, the moon hid behind the clouds, making the location even darker.


    Suddenly, they all noticed that two silhouettes fell from atop a building and towards their location. They saw that it was two of their members who was suppose to shoot the dart from the roof.


    They all noticed that blood flowed out of their neck, and the face that he was showing was still calm, meaning, this man died without knowing how he did so!


    -whoosh-


    "Gahh...!", then they heard a painful shout, and noticed one of their men was slashed through his throat, but flowed out of his neck.


    -whoosh-


    "Gahh...!", another one was slashed on his throat.


    -whoosh-


    "Gahh...!"


    -whoosh-


    The men died one by one, each survivor felt despair looming on himself, when there was only one person left.


    That person''s knees felt onto the ground and even tried to kill himself with his short sword. However, a shadow appeared right in front of him and disarmed him in an instant. Moreover, it rushed behind him and pointed a dagger on his neck.


    "P... please don''t kill me!", the man begged.


    "Don''t worry I won''t, if you tell me who was the one who commanded to kill that man earlier!", Allen said, the tone of his voice on the latter part of the sentence was a bit angry. They tried to kill his father! What would happen if he didn''t return last night? His father would''ve been killed already.


    "Y... you won''t kill me?", the man asked.


    "Stop asking and start talking!", Allen angrily said and let the tip of the dagger bleed the man''s neck.


    "Stop! I will talk!", the man was frightened and said everything he knew, including about the location of the gambling den.


    "There, I already told you everything I know, please, don''t kill me!", the man begged again.


    Allen didn''t answer, and just used the handle of the dagger to knock the man out. Even though he was angry, he still didn''t want to kill, he only killed the people earlier to scare the man onto cooperating with him.


    "That gambling den... is in big trouble!", fury seeped into the kid''s eyes as he said those words.


    ***


    Meanwhile, at the Three Heads Tavern...


    -clang- -clang-


    Sounds of metal hitting each other as Kate and Drake were sparring on the first floor with their daggers.


    -sou-


    "Come here you big arachnophobic coward!", Kate sent out a dagger flash with the normal needed amount of energy.


    -sou-


    "You come here flower girl!", Drake blocked Kate''s dagger flash with his own, and the former charged forward towards the latter.


    -whoosh-


    Seeing Drake charged, Kate wasn''t surprised and charged forward too.


    -clang- -clang-


    -tap- -tap- -tap-


    Mr. Sanchez went downstairs and saw the two kids sparring each other.


    When Kate and Drake noticed the tavern owner, the both of the immediately stopped sparring and greeted, "Master."


    Mr. Sanchez nodded and said, "Where''s Allen? I have to talk to him."


    "He left early today, he looked like he was on a hurry.", Kate said.


    "Hais, he didn''t even get to eat, so I ate his share of meal.", Drake shamelessly sighed.


    "He was on a hurry?", Mr. Sanchez asked.


    "Yes.", Drake and Kate both nodded.


    "Continue your sparring.", Mr. Sanchez walked back upstairs towards his office room.


    "It''s happening faster than I thought it was.", Mr. Sanchez sat down on his chair and muttered.

 36 Raid

    Inside the private room in the gambling den...


    The owner of this gambling den was somebody named Louis. He was the leader of the local criminal organization. As for why there were no raids going onto his establishments, it''s not because he''s influencial or powerful, but because he knew how to hide his tracks from the authority.


    He was also the same man that Marco talked with earlier before he left.


    The gambling den was one of his many establishments, but this was where he was frequently staying.


    Inside the private room...


    Louis was enjoying drinking a wine beside a beautiful lady. Of course, the lady was a prostitute.


    Louis suddenly called out towards the door, "Francisco, is the Punisher Squad back yet?"


    Somebody replied back from outside the door, "Not yet, sir."


    After which, he sunk into contemplation and muttered, "Not back yet?"


    After a pause, he said to the lady beside him, "Well then... make me happy."


    "Sir!", Francisco called out from behind the door.


    "What is it?!", Louis angrily asked.


    "Somebody''s attacking the gambling den!", Francisco said.


    "What?! Is it the town guards?", Louis asked and inwardly said. ''Have they already found out about me?''


    "No sir!"


    "Then who is attacking?"


    "I got a report that it''s just one person. He has already bypassed Front Zone 2!"


    The gambling den was split into five sections. The first one was the lounge. The second was the Three Front Zones. The third was the Gambling Hall. The fourth was the Private Front Zone. The fifth was the Private Room where Louis was.


    "Tell the guards to get ready!", Louis was a cautious man. That''s also the reason why his activity was still not noticed by the local government. Even though it''s just one person, he''ll still be alarmed.


    ***


    Meanwhile at the Front Zone 3...


    Allen was behind a pillar, hiding himself from the crossbow shots of the enemies.


    "So much for sneaking.", Allen sighed. He was trying to sneak by taking advantage of the dim lights. He easily passed the lounge, however, after he passed the door of Front Zone 1 towards the Front Zone 2, an alarm was activated and the guards of the Three Front Zones rushed towards him.


    He easily bypassed the Front Zone 2, but got stuck at Front Zone 3.


    A lot of crossbows where pointed at his location. Even though he was wearing the enchanted assassin clothes, he wasn''t rash to directly attack the crossbowmen, as they might hit his head, which wasn''t fully protected by the clothes.


    However, that doesn''t mean he can''t do something.


    "Look came out! Fire!", the command was given, and they all shot towards Allen, but they didn''t know that the kid has special abilities!


    Seeing the arrow rain, Allen wasn''t flustered but was calm. He already fought a dragon with the help of the (Erchian Dagger), he wasn''t using the said weapon right now, but he got enough experience when it comes to these kinds of situation.


    Executing the (Shadow Steps), he swiftly avoided the arrow rain by running up the nearby wall.


    Yes, running up the nearby wall. He only got to do it in an instant, but it was enough, because he sent out (Dagger Flash)es towards the enemies.


    The (Dagger Flash)''s former range was at ten meters, but after battling for many times and with the small permanent boost of the (Erchian Dagger), it almost doubled.


    -sou- -sou- -sou-


    The crossbowmen were stupefied by what they saw, and they only got to recompose themselves when the (Dagger Flash)es were upon them.


    -pshew- -pshew- -pshew-


    The (Dagger Flash)es penetrated the body of the crossbowmen and went to the their other comrades behind them.


    The (Dagger Flash)es didn''t stop until more than half of them were killed. Corpses were now lying down the ground with puddles of blood appearing under them.


    The other people who were still alive were frightened by the scene and ran away. In their eyes, it was as if Allen was the grim reaper.


    When all the survivors left, Allen saw the mess he had made and was even disgusted of it. He had to do it, or else his father would be in big trouble and he himself would lose ten years of lifespan.


    The kid continued forward and saw the open door towards the Gambling Hall. However, he didn''t enter it, because he knew that there would be a lot of guards pointing their crossbows at the entrance.


    Even if he executed (Shadow Steps) ran towards the walls of the Gambling Hall, he would only have a 15% to 20% chance of living. However, he suddenly got an idea.


    ***


    In the Gambling Hall...


    Numerous crossbowmen were in position aiming at the entrance, there were even some guards wielding spears.


    Surprisingly, they''re much more well-equipped than the town guards! After which, they saw a silhouette coming out the entrance.


    "Fire!"


    As soon as the order was given out, all the crossbowmen started to shoot and a arrow rain more than twice the size of the one in the Front Zone 3 rained down.


    When they clearly saw the silhouette, they saw that it was carrying the severed upper part of two of their comrades. Blood was still dripping down their torso.


    "Fire when you''re ready!"


    ***


    Allen rushed towards a stone piller and went behind it to cover himself from the incoming arrows. Afterwards, he discared the upper bodies of the two dead people he was carrying. He only used them to cover his head, some arrows did hit the kid''s feet and legs, but didn''t pierce through his clothes.


    He took an instant peek towards the enemies, and determined the distance was beyond the range of the (Dagger Flash). In addition, there were spearmen in front of the crossbowmen, their formation might seem neat, but in truth, it was disorganized.


    Some crossbowmen aren''t in line, while spearmen weren''t that vigilant and even talked to the people beside them.


    "What to do?", Allen pondered. Time was running out, he can''t afford to stay here for too long. The town guards might notice that there was chaos in this place, or the enemy leader might escape, or there might be reinforcements coming from outside that would force him in a corner.


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    There were many uncertain factors, but he didn''t come in here unprepared. Before he went towards the gambling den, he went back to the house and took some things from the satchel.


    He took out a small orb from his sleeves and activated (Firm Fists). After using the said skill under the influence of the (Erchian Dagger), Allen saw it''s potential and concluded it wasn''t just for last resort.


    The kid then threw the orb towards the enemies. With the boost of (Firm Fists), it reached the guards at a fast speed. All the guards then saw the orb and sticked their eyes on it to check if it was a threat. However, what they just did was stupid.


    -boom-


    The orb exploded and blinding light came out from it.


    "Ahhh... my eyes!"


    "Help, I can''t see!"


    "It hurts, it hurts!"


    The orb was given by Lord Levine, if it was activated, one would get permanent blindness if one sticked their eyes onto it at a close distance. He was planning to use it later on, but he has no choice but to use it now.


    Allen wondered at that time why would the Holy Priest even gave that dangerous object to him.


    Luckily there were no guests this night because they all left after the mayor temporarily lifted the curfew, which made them worry that there was something fishy going on.


    The kid easily passed the shouting blind guards, and couldn''t help but feel pity. However, he tightened his resolve and closed the large steel door behind them.


    Allen then walked in the corridor towards the next room. As soon as the kid entered the Private Front Zone. He saw a man wearing a tail coat while holding a staff, who was blocking the way towards the next corridor.


    The man was surprised when he saw Allen''s height and inwardly said, ''It''s only a kid?'' Actually, the kid could already be considered a bit taller than other children a year older his current age.


    When Allen saw a blue gem on the man''s wooden staff, he immediately thought, ''A mage?'' He was caught off guard, why would there be a mage in a small, local criminal organization?


    Afterwards, he grasped his dagger even harder. He knew he had met a difficult enemy.

 37 Raid 2

    A magic user, such as a mage, if put in front of a dragon, was like comparing an ant with a human! The latter could easily squash the former in seconds.


    However, Allen wasn''t using the (Erchian Dagger) this time. He eyed the mage, and the mage also checked every of his movements.


    Nobody dared to attack first. The mage didn''t dare to as Allen could easily find an opening from his spells. Allen didn''t dare to, as the mage might rain down his spells on him.


    Everything was on a standstill...


    -fwoom-


    They magic user made his move in a flash. The mage sent out fire energy balls, it was his basic attack! Meanwhile, Allen backed off and sent out (Dagger Flash)es to intercept the energy balls.


    -boom-


    The energy balls exploded in contact with Allen''s (Dagger Flash), but the latter kept going towards the mage!


    The mage noticed the incoming (Dagger Flash)es and dodged them one by one. It could already be seen that this mage knew how to battle.


    On the other hand, Allen was inwardly joyful, because he now knew that this mage focused on fire type spells.


    How did he know? It was because the basic attack of the mage has something to do with fire. For example, if a magic user, focused learning on fire spells, the essence of fire would seep into his staff and his basic attack, which was a normal energy ball, would get the fire attribute.


    The fire element was known for being great at inflicting damage while potentially hurting an enemy for a small period of time.


    However, the next thing that occurred made Allen''s eyelids twitch. The room noticeably got hotter and hotter, which made the kid sweat profusely.


    Meanwhile, the mage grinned and sent out more fire energy balls. This time, they were bigger and faster. The athmospheric condition of the area strengthened the power of the fire energy balls.


    The kid immediately dodged and backed off until his back touched the walls.


    -hss-


    "Ack...", Allen felt a stinging heat from the walls which made him distance a bit far from it. If the kid wasn''t wearing the enchanted clothes right now, he would''ve collapsed due to the excessive heat.


    -fwoosh-


    The way back to the previous room was suddenly sealed by a metal door. Making Allen''s last path of retreat unavailable.


    The mage chanted out a spell and waved his staff towards Allen.


    -fwoom- -whoosh-


    A wave of fire formed and rushed towards the kid! With the boost of the hot temperature in the surroundings, the flames got brighter and brighter the farther from the mage.


    Allen sensed an impending doom, when saw the fire wave, he knew even if every part of his body was covered with the enchanted clothes, he would still be burned to death.


    The kid wasted no time and got out of the way of the wave, but as soon as he got out of the way, another wave was coming towards him, which prompted him to dodge it too. However, he didn''t notice that the mage has already finished charging his staff and sent out his third spell.


    -fwoosh-


    The mage sent out a charged fire energy ball, it was his third spell, it might sound simple, but it was more powerful than one could imagine.


    Allen didn''t have enough time to act and only got to use his arms to block the charged fire energy ball.


    -bang-


    -hss-


    The kid was thrown back towards the wall and felt the wrenching heat of the wall at his back again.


    "Hiss..."


    Afterwards, Allen fell onto the ground and left a crack on the wall, while his arms felt like it was burning. He thought, ''Why do I always encounter powerful enemies?''


    The first time, he encountered Warren and suffered a defeat. The second time, he battled with the barbarian and almost died because of being caught off guard. The third time, was when he encounted the dragon, but survived due to the help of the people from the remnant village.


    If one would see in one''s own eyes, he won most of them. However, in Allen''s perspective, he really didn''t win any of them by his own power.


    ''No... it''s because I''m still too weak!'', the kid realized. The reason why he won most of them and was still alive was because there were other people or things to help him, but now, he was alone! He knew he has made a mistake.


    -fwoosh-


    The mage sent out three more normal fire energy ball with his staff towards Allen. The kid got to dodge it by rolling on the side and tried to stand up, but at the same time he finished dodging all of them, the mage finished casting his last spell.


    Remember, mages could only learn four spells, now this was his last spell.


    Allen was about to prepare to dodge it while trying to stand up, but then he saw that it wasn''t a fire spell, but a lightning spell!


    Lightning crackled and launched out of the staff towards Allen. Even if he was prepared to dodge it, he couldn''t, because lightning spells were typically faster than humans!


    "GAHHH...!", Allen shouted due to the pain of being electrocuted. When the spell was finally over, the kid collapsed to the ground with a thud.


    ***


    Meanwhile, at Three Heads Tavern...


    Kate and Drake were resting after sparring for so long, at the same time, Mr. Sanchez walked down the stairs while wearing a jacket.


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    "Master, where are you going?", Drake asked while handing out a mug of beer. "Do you want some?"


    "I''m going to take a walk ouside. No thanks.", Mr. Sanchez refused to drink.


    "Alright."


    "Why do you think Allen was on a hurry earlier?", Kate suddenly asked.


    "Probably because of family problems?", Drake wasn''t the one who answered the question, but was Mr. Sanchez!


    "I hope he''ll be alright then.", Kate said.


    "Oh? You''re worried about him? Is there something that I don''t know?", Drake shamelessly asked.


    "What?! No! There''s nothing you don''t know, but, it''s just that, I have a bad feeling, do you think he''ll be alright?", Kate asked.


    "He''ll be alright.", Mr. Sanchez suddenly said.


    Kate only nodded while Drake starting to drink the beer.


    ''He''ll be alright...'', Mr. Sanchez repeated within his mind and left the building.


    ***


    -tap- -tap- -tap-


    The noise of the end of the staff tapping on the ground.


    The mage slowly approached Allen, who was lying down with his stomach flat on the floor.


    The mage lifted up his staff, and was about to smash Allen''s head with it... when the latter suddenly grasped the former''s legs.


    The mage fell onto the ground when Allen pulled him down, the latter then didn''t waste any time and jumped on the former and kept punching him on the face while (Firm Fists) was activated.


    One could imagine how powerful Allen''s fists were right now after getting a bit of permanent increase in his constitution from summoning the (Erchian Dagger) twice while the (Firm Fists) was activated.


    Allen mercilessly kept punching on the mage''s face, the latter tried to get hold of his staff but the former kicked it away. The magic user tried to grasped the kid''s hands, however, each time the mage tried to do that, he was punched on his chest. One had to take a note that a magic user''s body was one of the weakest.


    -bam- -bam- -bam-


    The kid didn''t stop until the mage was knocked out! One could see that most of the magic user''s teeth were missing, he was also bleeding out of his mouth, while his nose was crooked at bit out of position.


    Allen stood up and kicked the mage''s body away and said, "Curiousity kills." Earlier, the mage only planned to smash the back of the kid''s head so he could still see who the kid was, however, the said action "backfired" on him instead.


    Don''t worry, the mage''s still not dead... probably half-dead tho.


    Actually, he was really knocked out, it''s just that his consciousness immediately woke up afterwards.


    Their location was still heating up, which forced Allen to go to the corridor leading to the last room of the gambling den.


    The kid took out a pill from his pockets and swallowed it. Afterwards, he felt that he was energized to the full once again.


    "Now, I need to have a ''talk'' with their leader."

 38 Extermination

    "The door''s locked.", Allen repeatedly tried to turn the door knob to open the door but failed.


    He was now in front of the door of the Private Room. On the way, he encountered many traps but successfully overcame all of them.


    The kid backed off from the door, and sent out a (Dagger Flash) towards it.


    Rather than piercing through the door, it created a loud noise as dust and pieces of wood flew from it. When it settled down, Allen saw that he only made a slice on the door. He was surprised but later thought it was rational because the organization had a mage.


    Nonetheless, it could still be destroyed. Allen repeatedly sent out several dozens (Dagger Flash)es until the door was thoroughly annihilated.


    -boom-


    The kid stepped out of the way of the explosion and swallowed another pill. Sending out so many (Dagger Flash)es in a short period of time took a toll in his energy.


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    When the dust settled again, he took a peek inside the room, and saw that there was nobody inside it.


    He didn''t dare enter the room yet, as there might be traps waiting for him. Allen picked up a considerably large piece of wood from the destroyed door and threw it inside the room.


    The piece of wood reached the end of the room and tumbled back near the door.


    "No traps.", Allen stepped inside the room. However, he maintained constant vigilance as there might be really a trap in here.


    Finally, after circling around the room, he concluded that there really wasn''t any trap.


    "Now then, where did their boss gone to?", Allen muttered. There was a sofa, table, bookshelves, pot of plants, and a carpet.


    The kid was not in a hurry, as the deal with the devil only needed to help his father, Marco, escape from the trouble. Which he already did so, however, technically, the trouble was still present as he still could feel the karma thread, which meant that the leader was needed to be taken care of.


    On the other hand, if the leader already got to run away from the town through a secret passageway. The deal could already considered done because the leader would then be gone.


    Inspecting the room, Allen then got of an idea to turn the roon upside down, but dismissed it because the search would become much harder.


    Fearing that there would be incoming reinforcements, the kid got into action and searched for some kind of secret mechanism of the bookshelves, until all the books were checked.


    Suddenly, Allen got an idea and looked at the sofa. The kid pushed the sofa and the table out of the way and lifted up the carpet. After which, he smiled, because there, he saw a hole that would lead underground.


    There was a ladder sticked onto the wall of the hole, which he used to climb down. After a few seconds of climbing down, he reached the bottom and saw an underground tunnel lit by magical rocks.


    He cautiously walked towards the end of the tunnel and saw an another door, this time, there was an array on the door. It was a protective array that could send a backlash against the attacker. However, the kid was prepared and took out a small piece of metal with some sort of engravings and threw it towards the array.


    The array slowly disappeared and the piece of metal fell onto the ground, he picked it up and pocketed it again. Afterwards, he easily opened the door, the array was it''s only protection. It would''ve work on someone else, but it unluckily met Allen with his small piece of Anti-array metal, given by Lord Levine.


    There, inside the secret room, Allen saw a bed in the middle of the room, where there was a naked man over a naked woman.


    Louis noticed that dim light came from behind him, and saw Allen standing by the door. The former can''t see the latter''s face because the kid was wearing a mask.


    "H... how did you get through the array?!", Louis was surprised. He knew that the array could even withstand the attack of a new adept.


    ''Those people from the Centerpoint City tricked me!'', Louis was also inwardly angry.


    Allen''s eyes constricted when he saw the scene. However, he couldn''t show any weakness in front of the man. The kid also checked the woman, and saw that there was blood flowing out of her neck, indicating that she was murdered.


    "P... please don''t kill me! I''ll give you anything that you want!", Louis shrinked back in fear as he saw Allen slowly approaching him.


    As Allen was about to step onto a floor tile, he suddenly stopped his feet and skipped over it.


    "So... do you think that I''m too stupid to not know there is still a trap in this room?", Allen said.


    Louis was now inwardly panicking, as he was about to say something. Allen suddenly sent out a (Dagger Flash), and ended the man''s life.


    "People like you, shouldn''t keep living any longer.", Allen kept approaching the bed. There, he saw the woman, with her eyes still wide open, it was obvious that she didn''t want to die yet.


    The kid closed her eyes and let her "sleep" alone on the bed, while he moved the man''s corpse out of the bed.


    Finally, he felt that the karma thread from the agreement snapped. He has finally fulfilled his part of agreement.


    He immediately left the gambling den and secretly sent a letter to the nearest unit of guards.


    ***


    Near midnight at the Morgan Residence...


    Allen immediately went back home after the matter about the gambling den.


    As soon as he came back home, he checked if Marco was in the bedroom, but wasn''t. The kid then checked the younger Morgan if he was already asleep.


    Allen quietly entered William''s bedroom, and the former saw that there was a book on the latter''s face while sleeping.


    He sat beside the bed, removed the book from his little brother''s face and placed it on top of the small drawers beside the bed. In addition, Allen also placed a blanket on William.


    "Goodnight... William.", Allen smiled.


    ***


    Meanwhile, at the mayor''s manor...


    Inside a building near the farmlands...


    The people from the secret organization was having a meeting on a round table.


    "What''s the status about the exploration for the treasure?", the leader asked.


    "Sir.", somebidy stood up and reported. "The treasure was nowhere to be found. We think of that the treasure was already taken away." After which, the man sat back down.


    The leader held his chin and said, "Already taken? How sure are you that the treasure is already taken away?"


    "65% to 80%, sir.", the man answered.


    "What about the matter of that criminal organization in the Riverboard City?", the leader asked once again.


    Another man stood up and reported, "Sir, we found out that all our men were killed except one, who is now missing. We didn''t get any traces of the enemies other than the corpses themselves, I think that they hid their tracks from us." Afterwards, the man sat down.


    "You''re saying that they are absolutely no tracks seen?", the leader asked.


    "Yes sir.", the man who was reporting the issue nodded.


    "100% no tracks? I mean like it''s blank?", the leader asked again.


    "Yes sir."


    The leader couldn''t help but feel a headache. ''Who is our enemy this time? I must report this back.''


    "Sir! Sir!", a man ran inside the room, panting.


    "What is it?!", their leader angrily asked.


    "We got a news that a local criminal organization in this town was exterminated this night.", the man said.


    "Huh? Tell the mayor that we''ll personally investigate it.", the leader said.


    "Yes sir.", the man left the room at once.


    ''I have a feeling about this extermination.'', the leader inwardly said.


    ***


    At the same time, outside the gambling den...


    Town guards were blocking the street where the establishment was from the people. However, they didn''t notice that a man easily passed by their blockade.


    The man was none other than Mr. Sanchez!


    The tavern owner went in front of the establishment and frowned. After which, he immediately left after a moment, without looking at it''s interior.

 39 Fate?

    Next morning...


    "Big brother, wake up! BIG BROTHER!", William slapped Allen so hard that the latter shouted in fright as a hand mark was left on his face.


    Several seconds later...


    William was sitting in the bed while Allen was standing up in front of the younger Morgan, reprimanding his earlier actions.


    "I am your big brother! Even though I might be late for work, you should never, ever slap me on the face, got it?", Allen furiously asked.


    "I got it.", William weakly nodded and suddenly said, "But big brother, you''re not late for work, I woke you up early in the morning."


    "Oh?", Allen then noticed the position of the sun. Afterwards, he rubbed William''s head and said, "What a good little brother you are. Waking me up early in the morning!"


    There was a shiny glint on William''s eyes as he said, "Thank you!"


    "Now then, for doing that, I''m going to reward you something.", Allen approached the drawer and pulled it out to take something.


    Meanwhile, William was giving a weird face as he thought, ''Giving me... a reward?'' With his intelligence, he knew that there was something fishy going on.


    -whoosh-


    Allen took out a long and considerably thick wooden stick from the drawer and said, "I''m going to give you a reward... of three forces punishment!"


    The younger Morgan widened his eyes and frantically tried to run away outside the bedroom. However, before he could do so, Allen already grabbed hold onto the former''s shirt and closed the door of the room.


    -pak- -pak- -pak- -pak- -pak- -pak-


    ...


    William''s hands were now red after Allen gave him three whacks per hand. The former was angrily looking at the latter, while the older Morgan didn''t seem to mind it.


    Suddenly, William suddenly said, "I''m really sorry, big brother."


    On the other hand, Allen nodded and said, "Now... don''t do that ever again."


    "I really won''t..."


    ...


    The two brothers ate breakfast together. After eating, Allen immediately left the house while William was left behind again.


    As soon as Allen left the house, William ran to the living room and checked through the window if his older brother really left.


    After which, William grinned and immediately ran up to his bedroom and searched for a book.


    "No, not this..."


    "Nope..."


    "''Tree Branch in Disguise?''", William saw a thin, green book, which looked like a short novel of some sort. ''I''ll probably read this later.'', he thought as he placed the book on top of his bed.


    "Ehh... ''The Secrets of 69''? What is this? Nope.", William placed back the book.


    "Hmm... here it is!", William looked at a thick book named ''King Daniel Santos II''s Laws of Trigurniburg Kingdom''. He carried it up and immediately exited the house and walked towards the top of the hill.


    ...


    The top of the hill was just like a grassy patch with different kinds of colorful flowers scattered everywhere. There was a dry well under an apple tree in a particular location on the hill, which was William''s destination.


    When William reached the well, he picked up an apple that recently fell from the tree and threw it down the well.


    After a few moments of waiting for something, he jumped on the well without any trace of hesitation.


    -whoosh-


    Before he fell to the bottom of the well, an invisible force made him float into the air and he then safely landed on the ground.


    He saw the apple that he just threw on the well earlier beside him, he picked it up and tossed it on the air, and never came back.


    He touched the walls of the well, trying to feel for something, when he felt a rather smooth stone from the rough stones of the well, he pushed it with force until it made a clicking sound.


    Suddenly, some parts of the rough stone wall behind him opened up and revealed a passageway lit by torches.


    William unhesitatingly entered and the entrance behind him closed up. He continued walking through the lit corridor until he walked to a very wide room.


    The wide room was full of children whispering to each other, the boys and girls were separated neatly and sat on the two groups of benches. The room also had many passageways connected to it, most likely where the other children came from.


    William entered on the side of the room, when the other children saw him enter, they stood up and greeted him.


    William just waved hello and immediately went to the front of the children where the was a desk and a high chair on top of a pedestal.


    On top of of the desk, there was gavel and a sound block, making the place all the more look like an Imperial Court session.


    William placed the book on top of the desk, he then sat up on the high chair with difficulty, and finally hit the sound blocked with the gavel twice. After which, the children sat down again.


    If commoners saw this, they''d be so stunned and at the same time be intoxicated by the cuteness and imagination of the children.


    However, if a noble sees this, they''d be scared stiff, because the children participating were sons and daughters of high ranking officials!


    "Let the council meeting begin.", William smiled while playfully swinging his feet.


    "And oh... belated happy birthday, Alexa.", William added as he looked towards a girl. The girl, who was Alexa, just nodded and kept quiet.


    "Before we really start, does everyone still remember the oath?", William asked.


    "Never let our relatives and of others to find out about this."


    "Never ask help from each other until we reach the proper age."


    ***


    Meanwhile, back at the Crescent Town...


    As it was not yet time for the opening of the Three Heads Tavern. Allen was travelling around the town, right now, he reached the marketplace.


    Even if it was early in the morning, there were already a lot of people in the said place.


    The kid felt a nostalgic feeling from the noise that was coming from this place. This was where he frequently steal money from other people''s pockets.


    It''s just been more or less a month since he became an assassin. However, he felt like it was forever like because of almost dying four or five times, in just the said time period!


    Nonetheless, it has paid off. Now, he was technically rich. He would try to find a chance in the future to get his brother study at a school and something with his father.


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    Suddenly, he felt there was something wrong and checked his pockets. There he saw someone''s hand taking something from inside his pockets!


    Ironically, the pickpocket, was the one getting his pockets picked!


    The owner of the hand immediately retracted his hands back and ran away, while getting a few bronze coins from Allen!


    ''Damn it, I may not be poor anymore, but I won''t let my dignity be washed away!'', Allen angrily chased after what seemed to be like a young boy.


    At the same time, at the other end of the street.


    There was a muscular man walking with a thin looking frail looking yet handsome man.


    "Lazar, you should calm down.", the frail looking man said.


    "Robert, the only reason why I''m here is because I want to find my brother''s killer!", Lazar said, trying to hold back his fury within himself.


    "So a kid killed your older brother. Hey, don''t get too rash with your actions, alright?", Robert said and took out a coin from his pockets and repeatedly tossed it into the air, which prompted Lazar to look at it.


    "Well then... let''s say that kid who killed your brother suddenly bumped on you... would you kill him on sight?", Robert asked.


    "No I won''t... I will make him suffer first!", Lazar gritted his teeth.


    At the same time, Allen was heading towards the direction of the two.


    As Lazar was looking towards the coin that Robert was tossing, he didn''t notice that the kid was heading on his way, while Allen didn''t notice that he was about to hit Lazar!


    The two suddenly hit each other with their legs, Allen stumbled on the ground so as Lazar on opposite directions.


    "I''m so sorry about that mister.", Allen apologized as he looked at Lazar''s back.


    "It''s alright.", Lazar said with an outlandish accent without looking back.


    Seeing the muscular man didn''t mind it, Allen immediately stood up and tried to catch up with the pickpocket.


    Meanwhile, Robert helped Lazar up, the latter didn''t get angry but sighed as he remembered something, "Kids... makes me remember when me and brother playing with each other."


    "So a kid really did bump to you just as I said.", Robert laughed.


    "Hmph, shut your big mouth, it always gets us into trouble. Plus, he won''t even be the one who killed my brother... the chances are too nil.", Lazar said.


    "Alright, alright!"


    Meanwhile, Lazar made a faint smile and joked, "You know, since we were young, you always gets us into trouble. To be honest, your nickname "White" suits you those times... so please, don''t talk too much and don''t make prophecies."


    Robert felt speechless at first but immediately said: "You have no authority to command me!"


    Lazar: "..."


    Lazar thought: ''Actually, I do have the authority.''

 40 Different Fathers, Different Worlds

    Allen was still trying to catch up the pickpocket kid. Sometimes, the latter made used of the objects on the way to hinder the former. With Allen''s speed, he could actually slowly catch up to the kid. However, the obstacles prevented him from doing so and maintained the same distance between them.


    Seeing that Allen was still on his tail, the kid panicked and entered an alley, followed by the former.


    As soon as Allen entered the end of the alley, the kid was already on the top of the alley wall and slowly went to the other side.


    When the kid saw Allen, he was greatly frightened and hastily crossed the wall. Meanwhile, Allen immediately climbed up the wall at a shocking speed. With the boost of his bodily strength and experience of climbing walls for many years, he quickly reached the other side.


    The pickpocket widened his eyes and started to run away again, but before he got away, Allen grabbed hold of the former''s shirt and forced him to sit down on the dusty ground in front of the alley wall.


    "Take back your money, please don''t take me to the guards!", the kid threw the measly two bronze coins to Allen and backed off to the alley wall.


    Allen inwardly sighed. This was one of the situations that would perfectly show what poor people would do in times of hardship. He has been doing the same thing for many years. Now that he was technically rich, he stopped being a pickpocket.


    "Here...", Allen took out eight more bronze coins. Including the two bronze coins, Allen was now holding ten of them.


    "W... what?", the kid was surprised.


    "Here, take it.", Allen crouched down beside the kid and handed him the bronze coins.


    On the other hand, the kid slowly took it with his dirty hands while looking cautiously at Allen.


    When the kid got hold of the ten bronze coins on Allen''s hands, the former immediately took it and put it in his own pockets. Seeing that Allen wasn''t really joking, he relaxed his guard down.


    Ten bronze coins was already worth a lot for Allen when he was still a pickpocket. It could already buy a loaf of good bread which could be rationed for several weeks per one person.


    "What are you planning to buy with that money?", Allen asked.


    "Food.", the kid shyly answered.


    "Alright, be good to your family.", Allen stood up and was about to leave when he saw that the kid''s body shook and started crying.


    ''Huh, did I say something wrong?'', Allen crouched back down and asked. "What''s wrong?"


    "Nothing... it''s just that I remember them.", the kid swiped off the tears of his face.


    "You mean...", Allen stopped his words and didn''t continue talking about the subject.


    "Yes, I''m alone now. My father and grandfather recently died, and my mother hasn''t come back yet.", the kid answered the unsaid question. After which, the kid stood up and passed by Allen.


    "Hey kid, wait!", Allen called out.


    "What is it?", the kid asked.


    Allen opened his hands, and showed ten bronze coins to the kid.


    The kid widened his eyes and checked his pockets, but didn''t find the coins that Allen gave him earlier.


    "Take it... sorry about that, it''s an occupational disease, hehe...", Allen said. The kid took the money again.


    "Hmm, how about I teach you the key principles of how to steal on other people''s pockets?", Allen suggested.


    "Ehh... alright.", the kid didn''t refuse.


    Afterwards, Allen taught the kid the rules of how to pick on other people''s pockets. The kid sometimes even gasped in surprise as he realized that he just tried to pick a true pickpocket''s pocket. After the talk, it was as if, the kid was enlightened.


    "Thank you mister!", the kid said.


    Allen''s mouth twitched and immediately said, "I''m probably just a bit older than you, so don''t call me mister."


    "Oh, alright.", the kid excitedly ran away to try the new things he learned, but stopped and turned around. "I forgot to ask your name."


    "My name''s Allen, what''s your''s?", Allen asked.


    "My name''s Edwin. Thank you again for everything.", Edwin exited the alleyway.


    On the other hand, Allen''s look was blank, he was trying to remember something.


    "H... he''s the son of that man?", Allen remembered the letter that the man he killed when he just became an assassin.


    "No... but then, the chief guard, has died already?", Allen pondered.


    After a few moments, he walked out of the alley and went to the Three Heads Tavern.


    ***


    Inside the Three Heads Tavern...


    Allen arrived in the tavern, and saw Drake and Kate preparing for a new day.


    "It''s only a few minutes before opening. You woke up early today.", Kate remarked.


    "Hey, what''s with that face?", Drake saw Allen''s depressed face.


    "It''s nothing, I just woke up on the wrong side of the bed.", Allen said.


    "Alright, get prepared then, the day''s about to start.", Drake said.


    "Uh-huh.", Allen nodded.


    ...


    As soon as they opened for business, some customers had already arrived on the front door and entered at once.


    "I''ll have fish soup and a bread.", a customer said.


    "Alright.", Allen wrote the order down and approached an another customer to take his order.


    After getting three orders, he passed them to Drake and the latter immediately cooked the food. When the food was cooked, Kate delivered it to the customers.


    ***


    Near afternoon, at the Morgan Residence...


    William was climbing up the stair with a book after he was back from a temporary excursion.


    Marco entered the door and saw William walking up the stairs, the former asked, "Is Allen in here?


    "No, he''s working somewhere called Three Heads Tavern.", William answered. He has been doing his own investigations about Allen''s condition these days. However, he really couldn''t understand why he would return back at midnight or leave for at least a month.


    Marco didn''t waste anymore time and left.


    ***


    Afternoon at Three Heads Tavern...


    The trio was as busy as ever doing what they''re doing to attend to the needs of the customers. There were a lot of customers by this time. It could be seen that the dishes in the establishment was liked by the locals.


    "What would you like to eat, sir?", Allen asked to an old man with a cane.


    "You''re new here?", the old man asked. It was obvious that he was one of the loyal customers of the tavern.


    "Yes.", Allen nodded in agreement.


    "Alright then, I want a salad.", the old man said.


    The kid wrote down the order and delivered the paper to Drake.


    The door of the tavern opened, and Marco walked inside the tavern.


    Allen noticed his father walking in the tavern, and so the former greeted the latter.


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    "Father, what do you want?", Allen asked. He also noticed that his father was a bit drunk.


    "Oh?", Marco noticed Allen and immediately said, "I need money... so I could play again."


    "Huh, but father I already gave you 200 bronze coins.", Allen said.


    "It doesn''t matter! Just give me more!", Marco''s tone rose up a bit, which attracted the attention of the nearby customers.


    Allen immediately gave 5 bronze coins, which was the only money left in his pockets.


    "Are you kidding me? Give me more!", Marco angrily shouted. His shout attracted everybody in the tavern.


    "Is that Allen''s father? What''s he doing?", Kate muttered.


    "But I don''t have more money!", Allen said.


    "What did you work for this past month then?", Marco angrily asked.


    "I... I still have money, but...", before Allen could finish his words, Marco intercepted him and said, "So you''re actually hiding money from me... your father?!"


    "No! I didn''t mean it like that!", Allen said.


    Suddenly, Marco took hold of the cane of the old man beside him and bashed Allen''s head with it. The cane hit the kid, but he wasn''t moved from his position.


    Marco kept hitting Allen''s skull, until the latter''s head bled. The kid didn''t even dodge or move from his orginal position. On the other hand, Marco has no intentions to stop!


    "Useless!"


    "Unscrupulous!"


    "Immoral!"


    Each words that Marco said, he also hit Allen with the cane."


    The customers were astonished by the sight. Those who brought their children covered their eyes and ears, some tried to ignore it but couldn''t do so, some were even angry within themselves.


    "Young man! Stop what you''re doing!", the old man who was the owner of the cane reprimanded Marco.


    "You have no rights to stop me from punishing my son!", Marco shouted angrily.


    "Punishing? Is what your doing even punishing?!", the old man angrily berated. He was also a father, in fact, he also has punished his sons and daughters for their misbehavior. However, it wasn''t to the point of making them bleed, specially in a public place!


    As the bystanders were about to jump in to stop Marco, Allen suddenly grasped the cane which was coming right at him again.


    When he took hold of it, Marco tried to get it out of the kid''s grasp but couldn''t so.


    "I have been the one getting us money for the past years, yet you only go gamble and get drunk with that money I earn.", Allen suddenly spoke out with a shaky voice.


    "For many years, I have been... no, me and William have been tolerating what you''ve been doing, specially me!", tears trickled down from the kid''s hair covered upper face.


    "I''ve suffered just to uplift our life! You don''t even know how much did I do. I... I... last night...", Allen didn''t continue the last sentence. His grip on the came became shakier and shakier, until the cane broke in half!


    As they saw that Allen was about to throw the cane towards Marco, they''ve all prepared for the outcome. However, the kid only threw the cane on the ground and said, "I regret what I did last night... I hope you could''ve died instead!"


    Allen turned around and walked out of the backdoor of the tavern and closed it loudly.


    Everybody in the tavern was stunned, specially by Allen''s last sentence. They didn''t know what it meant, but just hearing the latter part of the last sentence, they only thought that the kid was extremely angry at his father.


    "Why... that kid had already learn to speak like that!", the fury in Marco''s eyes became brighter and brighter. As he was about to go after Allen, a voice could suddenly be heard by everyone in the tavern.


    "Get out.", a calm voice came from a man on the stairs. It was none other than Mr. Sanchez!


    "You can''t force me to get out because I''m...", before Marco finished his sentence, Mr. Sanchez intercepted him and ridiculed, "You''re his father? I thought you''re a scumbag. Now get out, you''re stepping on my land... or else we''ll force you out of here!"


    One may think that the tavern owner''s voice was angry right now, but in fact, he was still calm! Contradicting the words he just said!


    Marco looked around him and saw the grim faces of the customers of the tavern. Finally he gave up, "Alright, I''ll get out of your sh**** tavern!" He then immediately went out of the tavern.


    After he got out, the people in the tavern started to whisper to each other about what happened.


    "What kind of a father that man is?"


    "I know right, he deserves to be beaten up!"


    "Hais, what an unlucky son that boy is."


    "My walking cane. I guess I better get a new one."


    Kate was about to go to Allen but was stopped by Mr. Sanchez.


    "You still have work to do.", the tavern owner said.


    Kate couldn''t do anything and obeyed Mr. Sanchez.


    On the other hand, Mr. Sanchez walked out of the backdoor and saw Allen crouching down beside the walls of the tavern while sobbing. The former approached the latter and said, "Kid, we should get your injury healed."


    However, Allen didn''t respond and kept sobbing.


    Mr. Sanchez took out a handkerchief and wiped the blood and tears off from Allen''s face.


    "It''s alright kid... it''s alright."


    Meanwhile, Allen felt, that some sort of burden was lifted up from him.

 41 Sunse

    Inside an another tavern...


    "What an unfillial son he is.", Marco drank a whole jug of beer. He still bore a grudge to Allen''s actions earlier in the Three Heads Tavern.


    At the same time, a new customer entered the tavern while looking around, and saw Marco on the corner of the establishment.


    Seeing him, the man approached Marco and sat down across him on the same table.


    "What do you want?", Marco angrily asked.


    The man whispered something on Marco''s ear.


    Marco''s countenance became ugly as ever as he said, "Do you think I won''t know what would you do?! No, thanks."


    Seeing Marco''s refusal, the man grinned and said, "Well then..."


    ***


    After the last customer of the tavern left, the trio exhaustedly sat down to rest.


    "Finally, another day over, right Allen?", Kate tried to start a conversation with Allen. However, the boy didn''t answer nor even showed intentions to do so.


    "So then, what does the both of you want to eat?", Drake asked as he sat down beside them.


    "Chicken soup.", Kate answered.


    "Anything tasty.", Allen said.


    "Anything tasty? So what you''re saying is that my dishes aren''t tasty?", Drake narrowed his eyes.


    "What? No! I didn''t mean it by that. It''s just that... I don''t have any appetite to eat.", Allen explained.


    "I''m just joking! Don''t take it too seriously.", Drake clarified. However, there was no tinge of emotion on Allen''s face afterwards.


    "Alright! I can''t take it anymore! Allen, you don''t have to spoil other people''s mood with your own.", Kate frustratedly gave up.


    "Wait a minute, is that what you call a comforting talk?", Drake sternly asked.


    "I''m just telling the truth. But what I really mean is that he shouldn''t let himself be down, it''s also affecting our own moods!", Kate said.


    "When did you learn how to comfort for somebody?", Drake asked.


    "Didn''t you say I should comfort him?!", Kate angrily asked.


    "I did, but I never really thought that you can do it.", Drake said.


    "Why you...", Kate was holding back her anger. She really wanted to punch Drake a hundred... no, a thousand times!


    Meanwhile, a faint smile appeared on Allen''s face, "Alright, the two of you should stop pretending to be mad at each other."


    "But we''re really...", before Drake could continue his sentence, he was elbowed by Kate in the gut.


    "Stop being depressed already, because... you got us.", Kate immediately said. On the other hand, Drake, who was holding his stomach area in pain, nodded in response to Kate''s sentence.


    "Thanks, guys.", Allen said.


    "Now then... Drake, go cook our food.", Kate said.


    "Alright.", Drake walked into the kitchen. However, he walked out again and said, "We''ve ran out of salt and pepper."


    "Don''t we have a stock of them?", Kate asked. It was a tavern after all, so they should have a stock of ingredients in case of emergency. In addition, they''re technically rich now because of the treasure they got from Mount Watchtower.


    "Well, we''ve ran out of stocks too. Now, go buy two bags of salt and pepper so that there''ll also be enough of them for tomorrow''s business.", Drake said.


    "Alright then, you''re helping me, Allen.", Kate said.


    "Okay.", Allen nodded.


    At the same time, Mr. Sanchez walked down the stairs and overheard the plan of the trio.


    "Here''s the money.", Mr. Sanchez handed out two pouches of silver coins. Spices were rare in this area, and would naturally cost a fortune.


    "Thanks.", Kate said. They were going to ask Mr. Sanchez for some money to buy the said spices, but the tavern owner came to them instead.


    After which, the two kids walked out of the tavern and went to the marketplace.


    ***


    Several streets away from the marketplace...


    As the lower part of the sun was disappearing on the horizon, the buyers and sellers at the said location were hurrying up on their businesses before the sun completely sets, because the mayor would implement the curfew once again this night.


    Kate and Allen were carrying two bags of spices each.


    -rumble-


    "Looks like I''m hungry.", Allen said.


    "We should hurry up then, let''s count our change.", Kate said.


    "Mhm.", Allen searched for the pouch of silver coins on his body, but couldn''t find it anywhere on his body.


    "I think I forgot it!", Allen said.


    "You forgot the pouch full of silver coins?!", Kate inwardly slapped herself. Losing the pouch of silver coins might not really affect them, but if a commoner suddenly picked it up then another one notices it, it would cause a riot in the marketplace!


    "I''ll go get it, go back to the tavern, I''ll try to catch up.", Allen gave Kate the two bags that he was carrying and ran away.


    "Damn it! Making me carry four bags!", Kate angrily said, but was helpless and continued walking towards the Three Heads Tavern.


    ...


    Due to Allen being in a hurry, he used shortcuts on the way, even utilizing the alleys, until he reached a particular street.


    There was no single person in the street, making the said location have a different vibe than the other ones that Allen has crossed.


    Suddenly, the kid felt that there was something wrong. As he was about to go back to the alley where he came from, he saw a black robed man blocking the way.


    Allen was surprised, and immediately tried to run towards the end of the street. However, there were two black robed men blocking the way. Seeing them, the kid turned around to run towards the other end, but there were two black robed men blocking the way there too!


    Feeling a sense of urgency, he tried to climb a building, but the black robed man from the alley suddenly casted a necromancer''s spell!


    Allen didn''t get to dodge it, because of the fast speed of the spell! The spell hit him, and made him fall to the ground. He was still conscious, however, he couldn''t move any part of his body!


    ''A numbing spell?'', Allen inwardly panicked. He couldn''t even move, less likely resist.


    After which, the five black robed men surrounded him.


    And at the same time, the sun has set.


    ***


    Three Heads Tavern...


    An hour passed since Kate returned. However, Allen hasn''t come back yet.


    "Where is Allen? He''s suppose to be back by now!", Kate said.


    "He might have returned home because he reached the curfew time?", Drake carried over the chicken soup to Kate''s table.


    "Probably.", Kate didn''t agree nor disagreed.


    On the second floor of the tavern, Mr. Sanchez was looking at a random direction and muttered, "Fate... is so cruel. I won''t be able to help you..."


    ***


    Meanwhile at the mayor''s manor...


    The black robed men from the secret organization was gathering outside.


    "What do you think is happening, Robert?", Lazar whispered to Robert, who was beside him.


    "I heard earlier than they''ve tracked down somebody who probably knows where the treasure is.", Robert whispered back.


    The leader of the black robed men and the mayor were also present, the latter was actually a bit curious on what was happening and inquired to the former.


    "The capturing team already sent a message earlier that they got the target.", the leader said to the mayor, and the former''s voice could also be heard by the other men present.


    -whoosh-


    Five black robed men arrived, one of them was carrying Allen, whose mouth was covered by a tied cloth.


    The man carrying Allen brought the latter to the ground with his stomach facing the earth and everybody saw that it was only a kid.


    At the same time, the spell on Allen wore off and he tried to run away as fast as he can.


    "Knock him out.", the leader commanded.


    Before the man that carried the kid got to act, Lazar suddenly ran over at a very fast speed and blocked the way of the kid. The barbarian then grasped Allen''s head with his hand and lifted him up onto the air.


    ''Lazar?'', Robert was inwardly surprised.


    "Y... you''re the one who killed my brother!", Lazar angrily shouted. Lazar''s remark made the people around him be surprised.


    Allen was holding Lazar''s thick arm with both of his hands in a bid to get off of his grasp. However, it was a futile action.


    Lazar went over to an empty cart... and bashed Allen''s head on it!


    -bang-


    Blood flowed out of the back of Allen''s head. While his hands were obviously got weaker!


    -bang-


    The kid''s head was bashed again and some parts of the cart broke! Now, only one hand was holding Lazar''s arm.


    "St...", Alexander was about to stop what was happening but before he could say anything, his mouth was covered by the leader.


    "Never talk to a barbarian when he''s angry.", the leader warned. Hearing the man''s remark, Alexander could only inwardly grit his teeth and pray that the kid won''t die.


    -bang-


    At the same time, Allen''s head was bashed again towards the cart. Now, his hands were hanging and not moving. He was completely unconscious!


    As Lazar was about to bash Allen again, the leader suddenly stopped the former from doing so. Lazar obeyed it and dropped Allen to the ground.


    "Get the kid''s injuries healed. We need him to find the treasure.", the leader commanded. At the same he looked towards the blood-smeared cart.


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    "And also clean the cart. We better get moving towards Loraint Town tonight!", the leader said.


    "I have already prepared a way of the town for you sirs.", Alexander added.


    "Mhm.", the leader nodded in response.


    Robert approached Lazar, the latter''s face was still twisted in anger. It was obvious that he wasn''t that happy just repeatedly smashing Allen''s head to the cart.


    Robert didn''t say anything and just sticked close to Lazar, the former knew how messy it could get if you anger a barbarian.

 42 The End of the Beginning

    Two days later...


    The Three Heads Tavern was going to open for business in a few minutes. However, it was as if the initial mood of the establishment today wasn''t that happy.


    "Where''s Allen? He didn''t get to work yesterday.", Kate was going back and forth in the tavern.


    "Hey, hey! Sit down first. Maybe he''s just late?", Drake speculated.


    "Maybe? I don''t know either.", Kate didn''t stop going back and forth.


    "Just sit down first, and calm down. You''re making me dizzy!", Drake guided Kate to sit down.


    "I feel like something has happened to him.", Kate slowly calmed down and drank a glass of water which was provided by Drake.


    "We''ll go visit his house later after working, alright?", Drake said.


    "Okay.", Kate nodded.


    "I don''t know why you get concerned about Allen these past few days.", Drake wondered out loud. However, Kate didn''t pay attention to what Drake just said.


    "Go to the kitchen, it''s opening time.", Kate said. While Drake immediately went to the kitchen.


    ...


    The business time passed by and it was already dusk. For Kate, it was as if the time has moved very slowly, torturing her into waiting.


    When the last customer left, Kate placed her apron beside Allen''s and called out to Drake.


    "I''m coming! Wait for me.", Drake went out of the kitchen and placed the apron beside Allen''s.


    "Okay, let''s go now.", Drake said.


    However, before they could exit the building, they saw a boy who looked like a bit younger compared to the two of them.


    "Erm... excuse me, are you my big brother''s... I mean Allen''s workmate?", of course, it was none other than William.


    "Uh-huh, aren''t you Allen''s little brother?", Kate asked.


    "Looks like we don''t have to go to his house after all.", Drake added.


    "Yes, I am his little brother.", William nodded in agreement.


    After a pause, the younger Morgan asked, "Have you seen big brother? He didn''t come back home yesterday and didn''t tell me anything that he won''t be able to come back soon."


    Hearing what William has just said, Kate and Drake suddenly felt that there was really something wrong going on.


    "No we didn''t, but can you inform us if he came back to your house?", Kate asked.


    "Of course, but can you also please inform me if he came here? I think he might have been staying here until midnight, sneaking in and out of the town for some time.", William asked.


    "Alright.", Kate nodded.


    "Thank you big sister.", William didn''t waste anymore time and exited the establishment.


    "Something serious really happened on Allen.", Kate said.


    "Looks like I can''t doubt your intuition anymore.", Drake said.


    "We better look for him, but where do we start?", Kate pondered.


    "Err... excuse me, is this Three Heads Tavern?", a man carrying a sack walked in and asked.


    "Didn''t you read the sign above the door on the outside?", Drake asked.


    "Umm... I did, I was just checking.", the man was embarrassed.


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    After a pause, the man said, "There''s a mail for your establishment." After which, the man took out a small box from the sack and handed it to Kate. The girl, on the other hand, accepted it.


    "Do we need to pay for the delivering fee?", Kate asked.


    "No, it''s already paid by the sender. Have a nice day.", the mailman left the establishment.


    "This must be for master.", Kate said.


    "Let''s take it to him.", Drake said.


    The two of them walked upstairs towards Mr. Sanchez office room and knocked on the door.


    "Come in.", Mr. Sanchez said.


    The two kids entered the room and presented Mr. Sanchez the mail.


    "Oh?", Mr. Sanchez gave a curious look. He looked up to Kate and Drake who were about to leave the room.


    "Hold on, don''t leave yet.", Mr. Sanchez called out.


    The two kids obeyed Mr. Sanchez and stayed to his side.


    "Is there a name of the sender?", Mr. Sanchez asked.


    "No.", Drake and Kate shook their heads.


    The tavern owner didn''t waste anymore time and opened the box. There, they saw a small gem resting inside the box.


    "What is that?", Drake asked.


    "A recording gem.", Mr. Sanchez answered. Afterwards, the tavern owner activated it.


    -whoosh-


    A holographic video appeared in front of them.


    On the other hand, Kate''s and Drake''s eyes widened as they saw who was in the video.


    "Allen?!", they unconsciously blurted out in surprise.


    ***


    A day ago, at the outskirts of Loraint Town...


    Loraint Town was located at far West-southwest of Crescent Town. It was built near the river, but it wasn''t that well-developed unlike Riverboard City.


    On the east of the town was the Rigel Farmlands, the biggest farmlands in the entire southern region.


    On it''s north was the Victorian Lake, where the river in the southern region ends.


    On the outskirts of the said town. Atop of a hill, there was an old castle which was long abandoned. However, a group of people arrived and occupied it last night, but the townsfolks didn''t notice their presence.


    Of course, that group of people was none other than from that secret organization.


    "Why have you called me, sir?", Lazar asked to the leader.


    "Just follow me.", the leader guided Lazar down to the deepest part of the castle, where there was a steel door.


    The leader took out a key and opened the door. There, they saw Allen, whose head was bowing down. In addition, his body was magically tied up on the steel chair, his arms down to his hands were magically tied on the armrests, lastly, his feet and legs were tied to each other and to the legs of the chair too.


    Allen was shivering and panting. He looked up and saw the two men. He was already familiar with one of them, who was the leader. However, he didn''t know the other one, but he could see his fury on his face.


    "Didn''t you say that he killed your brother?", the leader asked towards Lazar.


    "Yes.", Lazar nodded. He could still remember Allen''s face when he killed his brother due to his'' and his brother''s innate connection.


    "Well then, I''m tasking you to force him to spit out where''s the treasure and who''s possessing it.", the leader said and pointed towards a large table full of... ''equipments'', "You can use any of those things, but remember, don''t let him get killed. There are healing vials on the drawers of the table, use it to prevent him from dying due to getting succumbed to his injuries or bloodloss."


    After a pause, the leader exited the room and closed the door, with the small hole on the door, he peeked inside and chuckled, "Have fun avenging your brother." After which, the window was closed tightly.


    "W... what are you going to do?", Allen asked in fear.


    Lazar approached the table and calmly said, "Avenging my brother."


    The barbarian picked up a large scissor and approached Allen.


    "No... no! Stay away!", Allen frantically shouted.


    ...


    "GAHHHH..."


    The painful shout could be heard from outside the room. However, it never got out of the deepest level of the castle.


    ***


    Back at the present time in the Three Heads Tavern...


    "Allen?!", Kate and Drake blurted out as they saw Allen, whose head was bowing down while tied to a steel chair, with a blood puddle on the floor below him.


    The kid on the projection was shivering, panting and sobbing non-stop, making the two kids'' and Mr. Sanchez''s hearts go cold.


    After which, Lazar appeared on the video while carrying a dagger.


    "What did you do to Allen?", Kate angrily asked.


    "They won''t hear you, it''s just recorded.", Mr. Sanchez said.


    At the same time, Lazar spoke, "We just want the treasure. I won''t talk too much, because I know that you know what I''m talking about."


    "Treasure? What treasure?", Drake was baffled.


    "Is it the treasures we got from Mount Watchtower?", Kate pondered.


    "No.", Mr. Sanchez shook his head.


    "But of course, first we''ll give you a warning for meddling with the affairs of the organization.", Lazar lifted Allen''s head up with his big hand, and the latter''s frightened face was seen by the two kids and Mr. Sanchez.


    "What the heck did they do to him?", Drake asked.


    "They... tortured him.", Mr. Sanchez slowly answered.


    Hearing the tavern owner''s answer, Kate and Drake became angry while feeling a chill on their spine.


    "Have you ever heard of the Reptile''s Condemnation?", Lazar suddenly asked.


    Kate and Drake curiously looked towards the tavern owner for the answer, "Reptile''s Condemnation is a kind of liquid which was mixed from a minor dragon''s saliva and an ancient viper''s poison. Mixing it with it water would create a clear liquid. If you smeared on a weapon, then if you injure somebody with that weapon, their injuries would never heal."


    Hearing Mr. Sanchez explaination, Kate and Drake was enlightened, but at the same time felt that something very bad was about to happen... or rather, it has already happened.


    "If you say that it would make an injury never be able to heal, then you are correct.", Lazar said.


    "The tip of this dagger is smeared with that liquid. This kid would be able to heal his wound from that injury... but I can''t say about his eyesight on his right eye.", Lazar stabbed the dagger on Allen''s right eye. The kid''s body shook on the chair and shouted in pain.


    "GAHHHHHHHHH..."


    -pshew-


    The dagger was stabbed even deeper.


    Seeing what was happening, Kate''s and Drake''s faces became pale while Mr. Sanchez''s face became gloomy.


    "Tomorrow night, go towards into the middle of the Rigel Farmlands and hand over the treasure, or else this kid would be blind forever.", Lazar said and after which, the projection ended.


    When Kate and Drake snapped out on what just happened, the former immediately said, "We need to rescue Allen!"


    In addition, Drake said, "Damn it, they might do something even worse to him later on, we need to rescue him, master!"


    Hearing the complaints of the two, Mr. Sanchez said, "We still don''t know where they are, but by tomorrow I could probably obtain the information where they are hiding."


    "But..."


    "No buts... go get a rest, now!", Mr. Sanchez angrily said.


    Seeing the rare anger of the tavern owner, the two kids left the room at once.


    After they left, Mr. Sanchez quietly sighed and muttered, "It''s not that I don''t know his location... but it''s not yet the right time to do so."


    The tavern owner rubbed his forehead in distress as he muttered, "I''m so sorry kid, I''m powerless in front of fate."

 43 The End of the Beginning 2

    Time passed...


    "Please stop... no... no... GAHHHHHHH.... G... G.... GAHHH..."


    "This is what you get for killing my brother.", Lazar poured a drop of liquid from the healing vial towards Allen''s wound, and the wound immediately healed. However, it was the start of an another torment.


    "GAHHHHH..."


    "Suffer more! I will make brother rest in peace... SUFFER HAHAHA..."


    "GAHHHH..."


    The process of injuring, healing, and repeat has been going on for several minutes, and stopped after half an hour has passed since it started.


    This was the 43rd time that Allen was tortured for the day. He was subjected into different kinds of torment, such as his ribs getting pulled out of his body numerous time, crushing the bones on his thighs to powder, and even removing some of his organs, but they were all healed by the vial, though, it was like he was in hell.


    "We''ll start a bit later again.", Lazar walked out of the room and locked the door.


    Tears flowed down from Allen''s eyes, his right eye has already healed with the help of the healing vial. However, it''s pupil faded in color and became grayish-white.


    On the other hand, Allen could hear the laughing voices around him.


    The laugh of the people he blinded in the gambling den.


    The joyful sound of the people he killed.


    The chuckle of the barbarian-necromancer he killed.


    The deafing shout of happiness of the man he first killed.


    He didn''t know if he was getting crazier or were they were really their laughs from the afterlife.


    "Is this retribution?", Allen sobbed.


    "I just wanted for my family to have a good life... w... why did this happen?"


    ''Sell me something, I''ll help you out and break you free from here.'', suddenly, the devil''s voice echoed within Allen''s mind.


    "Shut up, this is your fault. If it weren''t for you... I wouldn''t be here.", Allen retorted.


    ''Hehehe... you know that there''s only one choice for you kid. Come on, do it!'', the devil chuckled.


    "Shut up.... shut up.... SHUT UP!", Allen shouted like a madman. Which prompted the voice to stop talking.


    ''But...''


    "SHUT UP!"


    ***


    Deep in the night...


    A few hours passed, inside the castle''s main hall.


    Lazar was carrying a handle whilst carrying a recording gem. The barbarian suddenly saw beside the way towards the underground part of the castle.


    "Robert, what is it?", Lazar asked.


    "What were you doing down there?", Robert asked.


    "I was teaching the kid a lesson.", Lazar answered.


    "You mean by torturing him?", Robert calmly retorted.


    "Yes, because it was the leader''s command.", Lazar said.


    "The leader''s command is to just force him to tell where the treasure is, but didn''t he conclude that the kid didn''t actually know?", Robert retorted.


    "Then you want to side with the kid?! He killed my brother! What if he killed your brother or any member of your family?!", Lazar angrily asked.


    "You know... I wish that I could see my family again. You''re not the only one who lost somebody.", Robert said.


    "Your family died because of a natural disaster, but my brother was killed!", Lazar angrily retorted.


    "You''re changing... you know that?", Robert got straight to the point.


    "Hmph, everybody needs to change.", Lazar snorted.


    "But you''re negatively changing. Did you even remember that your older brother told you once to not let your anger prevail upon you!", Robert calmly said.


    After a pause, he added, "Even though he''s bloodthirsty, he has morality."


    "But he''s already dead. So what?! I will make that kid feel the pain! I will avenge my brother.", Lazar said.


    "If I can''t do anything to stop you, then let me just say to you. The law of karma is cruel.", Robert stepped out of the way. After which, Lazar entered the passageway.


    Seeing the fading back of Lazar, Robert sighed and muttered to himself, "We probably are the same age, but I experienced much more than you did. I hope you considered even just a tiny bit of what I said... my friend."


    Afterwards, Robert checked onto his communication amulet and learned that reinforcements from the headquarters would come to their location.


    "Oh?", Robert was surprised when he saw the message. He then shook his head and left the area.


    ***


    Earlier, at the Three Heads Tavern...


    Kate and Drake were sparring each other to their full capacity so that could be prepared to battle. Assassins power wouldn''t be the much if they battled head on, but these two weren''t ordinary assassins.


    -tap- -tap- -tap-


    Mr. Sanchez walked down from the stairs and said, "We''re moving out, tonight!"


    "Huh? You already know their location, master?", Drake asked.


    "Yes.", Mr. Sanchez nodded in agreement.


    "Let''s get some rest first.", Kate said, and Drake nodded in response.


    After informing the two, the tavern owner went back to his room and muttered, "Why did everything move forward in advance again so suddenly?"


    "It was as if there''s somebody manipulating..."


    ***


    Electricity flowed through the steel chair.


    "G... G.... GAH... GAH... G... GAHHH...", Allen''s chair shook as he repeatedly moved due to the shocks he got from it.


    "Please stop... p... p... please s... stop!", Allen shouted.


    It didn''t stop until five minutes had passed since it started.


    "Please... no more... please... just kill me instead...", Allen sobbed. He couldn''t take the pain anymore.


    "Kill you? You didn''t suffer enough yet... and I heard that you have a little brother, am I right?", Lazar suddenly said while placing down a button on the table.


    Allen''s eyes widened as he immediately said, "W... what did you do to him!? Please don''t do anything to William! What did you do to my family?!"


    "William? So that''s his name? Don''t worry, we didn''t touch any members of your family.", Lazar approached Allen and whispered, "But not for long."


    "No... don''t do anything to them please! No... no!", Allen begged.


    "You care so much for them.", Lazar remarked.


    After a pause, he asked, "Have you ever thought of the idea on how did we know where were you?"


    "W... what do you mean?", Allen looked up, panting.


    "I borrowed this from somebody else.", Lazar grinned and showed him a recording gem, which Allen recognized. Afterwards, he activated it.


    There, he saw that the a person was carrying the gem was heading out of the mayor''s manor. After which, Allen wondered what would happen.


    When the projection reached a tavern, and entered it. There, the kid saw a lot of people inside the tavern, but the most noticeable one was his father, Marco. After which, the man who was wearing the recording gem that time approached him.


    The kid widened his eyes and shouted angrily, "What did you do to my father? I''ll kill all of you!"


    However, Lazar didn''t respond and his grin became even wider.


    The man who was the owner of the recording gem sat across Marco, and the latter asked the former what does he want, then the man whispered something to Marco.


    Marco''s countenance became ugly as he said, "Do you think I won''t know what would you do?! No, thanks."


    "Well then...", the man paused and continued, "How about we talk with a price?"


    "Hmph.", Marco snorted.


    "Ten gold coins, and you''ll tell us where is your son. You better do it, because we''re in a hurry, I''ll only offer now. Plus, I''ll know sooner or later where you son is.", the man said.


    After a pause, Marco unhesitatingly said, "Deal."


    "Here''s the ten gold coins.", the man handed over a pouch of ten gold coins. "Now, tell us where he is, if you''re lying..."


    Before the man finished his sentence, Marco said, "He''s at the Three Heads Tavern."


    "Alright, thank you for your cooperation."


    Lazar deactivated the recording gem and looked at Allen.


    The kid''s eyes were wide open as tears flowed down his face, "T... that''s impossible!"


    "We can''t fake anything recording within the gem.", Lazar said.


    Allen also inwardly knew from reading books that one can''t fake anything recorded within the recording gem.


    "You said earlier that you''ll kill us if we did anything to you father, but your father was the one who sold you out! Hahaha...", Lazar laughed.


    "No, no, no... GAHHHH...", electricity flowed through the chair was again.


    ...


    "Get some rest, you''ll be taken out tomorrow morning. We also found out that the people from the tavern you worked from weren''t simple as they seem. Probably they''ll join you too if they take the bait. Hahaha...", When the torment stopped, Lazar walked out of the door while having a satisfied expression.


    This time, Allen was quiet, he wasn''t panting, sobbing nor making any noise.


    ''Sell something, sell, sell, sell, sell...!'', the devil''s voice echoed within his mind once again.


    "What do you want?", Allen asked while his voice was bit hoarse.


    ''You know that I want something part of you! Hahaha...'', the devil within his consciousness laughed.


    "Then... then... I''ll sell you my emotions!", Allen while starting to sob.


    ''Are you sure about it?'', the devil''s voice asked.


    "I''m sure... I''M SURE! I DON''T NEED IT ANYMORE, JUST TAKE IT AWAY! DO IT! I DON''T NEED IT ANYMORE!", Allen shouted frantically as he cried even harder.


    "Well then, it''s a deal! Hahahaha...!", the devil laughed heartily.


    After which, it was as if Allen felt that something was taken away from him. He suddenly stopped crying and became quiet... or rather, he can''t cry anymore.


    ''Finally, I''m free! Hahaha!'', the devil within the consciousness laughed.


    ''You''ll unlock all the skills overtime, but you''ll gain a large boost in your strength and five skills right now.'', the (Erchian Dagger) glowed red, and that red glow evaporated into mist and it disappeared.


    The mist that disappeared, was none other than the devil.


    ***


    In the Three Heads Tavern...


    Mr. Sanchez was wearing his black robe when he suddenly looked over towards the southwest direction.


    "It has happened.", he slowly said, with a tinge of sadness.


    ***


    Near the Riverboard City...


    Lord Levine was busy handling the paperworks inside his office room, when he suddenly looked over to a particular direction.


    "Kid...", he muttered.


    ***


    In the nomadic lands where one could see vast stretches of the desert...


    There was an old abandoned ruins on a mountain where there was a giant statue with it''s eyes closed. In an instant, the statue''s eyes opened and looked towards a particular direction.


    "Hais...", a sad sigh echoed out.


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    ***


    In the central region of the Trigurniburg Kingdom...


    The capital of the whole kingdom, Almighty City was in the center of the said region. It was surrounded by mountains, while a wide river was surrounding the mountains. Making it look like a sanctuary.


    There was a large castle on the mountains, inside the lands of the castle was a large palace. Inside a bedroom on the highest floor of the palace.


    An old man was peacefully sleeping alone, but he suddenly woke up and sat up to look towards a particular direction.


    "Will it repeat?", the man muttered towards himself.


    ***


    Beyond the northern region of the Trigurniburg Kingdom.


    There was a forest that stretched out from the north towards to the republic of the east.


    In the depths of the forest.


    There was a treehouse where a lady druid was eating a salad. The druid suddenly looked over towards the Trigurniburg Kingdom in surprise.


    ***


    On the western mountains far away from the Trigurniburg Kingdom...


    A man was sleeping inside a cave, when he suddenly woke up.


    "It has appeared again!? Hahaha... I''ll finally be able to get that treasure for myself.", the man then tried to find the where that faint aura was from, then looked over to the direction of the Trigurniburg Kingdom.


    The man''s face became unsightly as he said, "Damn it, it''s in that old man''s lands."


    ***


    There were similar cases like what was mentioned above all over the lands of the continent.


    The powerful existences sensed it, however, most of them ignored it for the time being. There were others who had evil intentions, but didn''t dare be reckless and didn''t do anything.


    They were also shaken, but couldn''t do anything about it... for now.

 44 The End of the Beginning 3

    Dawn...


    There were three figures running across the farmlands in a haste towards the southwest direction.


    They were none other than Mr. Sanchez, Drake and Kate.


    "Halt.", Mr. Sanchez and the two kids stopped.


    -sou-


    Suddenly, an arrow rain came for them.


    "Damn it, they knew we were going to rescue Allen!", Kate gritted her teeth in anger.


    "This must be their main force. That means there''s going to be an another team that will take Allen away! Go on, I''ll take care of these bunch.", Mr. Sanchez said.


    Drake and Kate nodded and didn''t waste more time and sprinted away while protecting themselves from the rain of arrows.


    "These people probably already knew that Allen has the dagger. Damn it! I''m going to slaughter all of them for doing something like that to a kid.", Mr. Sanchez didn''t hide his fury and disappeared from his location in an instant.


    At the same time, blood flowed in the farmlands.


    However, Mr. Sanchez''s conclusion was wrong, the people from that secret organization still didn''t know that the treasure was inside Allen. As the treasure''s aura couldn''t be sensed by them due to their weak power.


    Though, they still treat the kid as a bargaining chip in case the tavern owner and his disciples could escape their ambush.


    ***


    The two kids dashed through the farmlands. They were currently using a treasure provided by Mr. Sanchez so that their running speed would be extremely fast or else if would''ve taken them half a day or whole to arrive on the farmlands.


    -whoosh-


    They exited out of the farmlands and saw hills from afar. In addition, they also saw about a hundred of armored barbarians from afar.


    "Did they really bring a whole army just to block us?!", Drake remarked.


    "They think too highly of us.", Kate added.


    "I''ll get them busy. With your flicker you can bypass them easily.", Drake said.


    "But shouldn''t we rescue Allen together?", Kate asked.


    "No. You heard what master said, there might be an another team of enemies that would take Allen away. Go, rescue him, I''ll try to catch up.", Drake said.


    "Alright.", Kate didn''t hesistate anymore and escaped the battlefield while Drake was taking care of the enemies.


    ***


    -click-


    The steel door of the underground room opened up and several black robed men entered the room and looked at the pitiful Allen.


    Seeing the kid was still conscious, all them approached Allen and one of them asked, "Where''s the treasure?"


    The one who asked was none other than the leader of the group who caught the kid.


    Allen didn''t answer and kept quiet.


    The leader punched Allen in the face and asked again, "Where''s the treasure?"


    Nevertheless, the kid still didn''t answer.


    "Knock this nuisance out and let''s take him back to headquarters.", the leader commanded.


    "Aye.", the black robed men responded.


    "Nuisance? You''re the nuisance.", suddenly, Allen stated with a deep voice.


    -whoosh-


    The kid swiftly got out of the magical ropes that were binding him to the chair.


    "Get him!"


    -whoosh-


    The black robed men charged towards Allen.


    The enemies struck out with their weapons, but Allen swiftly dodge all of them.


    The kid suddenly disarmed one of the men who was holding the dagger and used his own weapon against him.


    -sou-


    A head flew in a flash.


    The other people were surprised, including the leader.


    On the other hand, there was no trace of emotion on the face of the kid.


    "Damn it, get him!", the leader didn''t hesitate to join the fray and they charged together towards Allen at the same time.


    "How cute.", Allen backed off until he was already near the wall. After getting a certain distance between the wall, the kid did a backflip and his bare feet was planted on the walls, then using the wall as a jumping board, he charged towards one of the black robed men.


    -pshew-


    The man''s head flew off and the kid rolled away from the men and sent out a new skill.


    -sou-


    A dagger flash was sent out, and flew towards to the men, but on the way, it suddenly split into many smaller flashes.


    The skill was called (Multi-Flash)! Imagine launching this skill while being in a tight space, it would spell doom for your enemies!


    -pshew-


    They were caught off guard, and raised their weapon to protect them. However, five of them died before they even got to raise their weapons!


    At first, ten people entered the room, plus the leader. Now, there were only three people left with the leader.


    Seeing what just happened. They inwardly panicked and tried to retreat towards the door. However, as soon as they turned around, they saw Allen by the door!


    "What?!"


    "Wasn''t he just back there?"


    Of course, they didn''t know that Allen initiated (Flicker)!


    They were frightened to what was happening, afterwards they felt despair loomed over them. Even the leader has beads of sweat running down his forehead.


    As they were about to do a last struggle, the kid suddenly appeared right in front of them! This time, Allen didn''t use (Flicker) but initiated (Burst Steps). A movement skill that would allow one to have a burst of speed in a short distance.


    -pshew- -pshew- -pshew-


    Three heads flew from their bodies and to the ground. Only the leader was left behind. He felt that his scalp went numbed and he accidentally stumbled on the floor while retreating backwards.


    "I retract my statement earlier. You''re not a nuisance. You''re just pathetic.", Allen sent out (Dagger Flash) and the leader''s head was cut off.


    The kid turned around and walked towards the door. As he was about walk out. He felt that there was something wrong and he turned around again.


    There, he saw the leader''s head was reattaching to his body.


    "Damn it... you kid! DIE...!", in an instant, the leader''s body suddenly turned red and his body expanded.


    Seeing what was happening, Allen didn''t hesitate to run away.


    ***


    Kate could now see a castle on the hills from afar.


    As she was about to stop to wait for Drake or Mr. Sanchez, a death energy ball was coming towards her.


    Luckily, because of her quick reaction skills, she dodged the energy ball just in time. She then looked towards the woods where the attack came from, and saw a man holding a staff, who walked out of the said location.


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    "I knew that there was somebody who escaped that wall of meat.", the man remarked.


    Kate inwardly cursed her bad luck. The treasure she was using to increase her speed was actually only for continuous usage for a long period of time, if she stopped, then she would have to wait for 30 minutes for the treasure to be available for use once again.


    Suddenly, a blackish translucent dome surrounded the area where the man and Kate was!


    ''A great necromancer?'', Kate thought. Great necromancers were as powerful as adepts. However, one shouldn''t still underestimate their capabilities, like the adepts, they have 5 spells, but their overall strength were much more powerful than adepts!


    She recognized the man as a great necromancer because of the dome that suddenly appeared, which was one of the skills that a great necromancer could learn,


    Kate noticed that she couldn''t use her flicker inside this area. In addition, she felt that her speed was reduced by 20%!


    After which, she looked seriously towards the great necromancer and payed attention to him.


    "Why so serious? It''s not like I will kill you immediately. Hehehe...", the great necromancer chuckled.


    Suddenly, the great necromancer chanted a spell and pointed at Kate. The latter couldn''t dodge on time and felt that her speed became even slower! She felt that her current speed was only 40% of her original speed, not just that, she could also feel that her energy was slowly being eaten away.


    Including the dome and the death energy ball, the great necromancer already used three of his skills.


    Even though Kate could only utilize 40% of her original speed, she wasn''t flustered and sent out dagger flashes towards the man.


    The man chanted out a spell. Afterwards, smoke formed on the ceiling of the dome and went towards in front of the man which blocked the dagger flashes, then the smoke turned into a giant undead wolf with green eyes.


    "Get her.", the man pointed towards Kate.


    "Awoooo...", the giant undead wolf howled and charged forward.

 45 The End of the Beginning 4

    As soon as Allen ran out of the passageway that leads towards the exit. He saw that he was in the main hall, where there were many black robed men resting.


    The black robed men saw Allen and they were surprised, because that kid was the one that they have to escort to the headquarters. After which, they charged towards him.


    "Isn''t that that kid...?", Lazar, who was among the black robed men saw Allen. He was caught off guard at first, and after which his blood boiled out of anger.


    As he was about to go after Allen with his comrades, he felt that there was somebody holding his arm, rendering him from doing so.


    The barbarian turned around and saw that it was his friend, Robert!


    "What are you doing?", Lazar angrily asked.


    "I have a feeling that something bad would happen.", Robert said as pulled Lazar away. The former was skinny and a bit malnourished, yet, he got to pull the latter away!


    Lazar didn''t get to say anything else and he just let himself get pulled by his friend.


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    -rumble-


    The ground shook which made all the black robed men going after Allen stop in their tracks.


    -bang-


    Suddenly, the ground cracked upward and a red monster who has four limbs for moving and six limbs on it''s back with a mouth on his stomach area appeared. Some black robed men were squashed into crimson paste by the rocks that flew everywhere and by the monster.


    "Roar...!", the giant monster roared. Afterwards, when he saw the black robed men. The monster''s mouth on the stomach, which was closed, opened up and a suction force started to appear on it.


    -whoosh-


    The wind blew fiercely and the suction force sucked up the black robed men. Some of them tried to fight back, but due to the toughness of the scales of the monster, it was all in vain. Some of them tried to escape, but it was too late.


    The monster ate all the black robed men, except for Lazar and Robert, who already escaped earlier on. The two latters saw what just happened and their eyes widened. On the other hand, Allen was holding onto a pillar until the suction forced stopped.


    Allen, Lazar and Robert all had one thoughts when they saw that monster, ''A demon.''


    The kid knew that it was a demon, because he had read a book where it fully described a demon''s form. Actually, the demon that he was now facing was just one of the many kinds.


    Meanwhile, Lazar and Robert knew that it was a demon because of the story of their parents, which they got from their grandparents and to their ancestors.


    "Hahaha... thank you for cutting my head off kid, because of you I unlocked the bloodline of my ancestors... HAHAHAHA...", the demon laughed with a menacing tone.


    Lazar and Robert were surprised when they heard the demon''s voice, they recognized that it was their group leader''s voice!


    "Our leader... is a demon?!", Robert and Lazar were dumbfounded. Meanwhile, they suddenly felt a chill on their backs. A demon was always beside them! Demons were relatively known to be bloodthirsty, fear provoking enemy of mankind! The barbarians had a history with them, so as the necromancers, but that history was bitterful.


    The demon didn''t say anything else and lunged itself towards Allen. The kid rolled away and sent a (Dagger Flash) towards to the side of the demon.


    -clang-


    The attack only created sparks on the demon''s scales, there wasn''t even a scratch on it! Allen''s eyes constricted as he saw what happened, that was the strongest (Dagger Flash) he could send out, which was on the power equivalent to a peak adept! That means that the demon''s potential attack power would be as powerful as a wizard!


    Noticing that the kid was on his side, the demon sent out three limbs on his back to attack Allen.


    The kid unhesitatingly initiated (Shadow Steps) to boost his dodging ability while sending out some (Dagger Flash)es towards the limbs to check how tough they were.


    -clang-


    Just like the body of the demon, the limbs on the back were also tough.


    Seeing what was happening, Lazar and Robert went to the side hall and watched the battle from it''s entrance.


    The demon turned to the side and jumped towards the kid. The latter immediately backed off while avoiding an another attack from it''s back limbs.


    Afterwards, the demon swiped it''s claws towards Allen. When the kid saw it, he rolled backwards to dodge it and reached the wall.


    -bang-


    The action of the monster destroyed a nearby pillar, which shook the whole building. It didn''t stop and made use of all the limbs on it''s back to attack Allen.


    The limbs were quick, but Allen was quicker. The kid continuously dodged all of the attacks, after getting an opportunity, he initiated (Burst Steps) and appeared right before the part where the demon''s scales were flat, then he used (Firm Fists) and punched on the monster.


    -bam-


    The punch caused a loud noise, and the monster''s scales were damaged. However, in an instant...


    The crack suddenly opened up and sucked in Allen''s hand. The kid felt pain, but there was no trace of emotion on his face. He tried to remove his hand from being stuck, but one of the back limbs of the demon stabbed towards the kid''s back!


    -pshew-


    The limb pierced through Allen''s body and threw him towards a pillar.


    -bang-


    The pillar was destroyed and the kid continued to fly to an another pillar.


    -bam-


    During those explanations, dust and smoke flew around the surroundings.


    "You called me pathetic? Look who''s pathetic now...", before the demon got to laugh, it''s face became stiff as he saw Allen walk out of the smoke.


    "I thought I wouldn''t even use the dagger against you.", Allen emotionlessly commented as he discarded the dagger he was currently holding.


    The demon was surprised that there were no wounds on Allen''s hand and chest, only a hole on his shirt!


    It was an another skill of Allen, which was (Regeneration), and it was a passive skill!


    In a flash, a new dagger appeared on Allen''s hands from nowhere, it was none other than the (Erchian Dagger)!


    Allen didn''t waste anymore time and used (Flicker), and appeared above the air behind the large body demon!


    But the demon noticed where the kid was and launched all the six limbs on it''s back to Allen!


    On the other hand, the (Erchian Dagger) suddenly became bigger... no... rather, it became a sword! It was Allen''s last new skill, which was (Weapon Shapeshift).


    -whoosh-


    As the first incoming limb was about to hit him, the kid blocked it with the sword and used the force of the attack to dodge the second limb. After which, Allen grabbed onto the second limb and propelled himself on top of it to dodge the other more incoming limbs, then he slid down it towards the back of the monster and slashed down the sword.


    -pshew-


    The demon roared in pain, because the kid cut off one of the limbs directly from it''s body!


    The tough scale of the demon was nothing in front of the (Erchian Sword), it was as if it was only slashing through thin air.


    The demon shook his body to get Allen of it. The demon was successful in his action, but it was too late, because the kid has already cut off all of the limbs on the back!


    The kid landed safely on the ground and looked towards the demon.


    "You... I''ll kill you!", the demon was thoroughly enraged. Inwardly, he was also stunned, because he recognized that dagger. It was the treasure that the organization was seeking! Actually, he was the only one in the mission group who knew that was the treasure they were after for, because of the seriousness of the mission.


    "I already heard that many times.", Allen charged forward the demon. The latter didn''t dare to attack head on and backed off. However, the kid initiated (Burst Steps) again and appeared right in front of the demon in an instant.


    The demon was caught off guard, but it immediately tried to stand up, albeit a bit stiff. After which, suction force suddenly appeared from the mouth on it''s chest.


    -whoosh-


    The suction force caught Allen and forced him to get closer on the demon''s mouth. However, the kid didn''t resist the suction force and he let himself get dragged towards the mouth. After getting at an enough distance, he plunged the sword inside the mouth and slashed upward.


    "Roar...", the mouth on the demon''s head let out a roar of pain. As it was about to retreat, Allen slashed off his legs which stopped the former from doing so; then the kid slashed towards the other leg and he cut it off.


    The demon''s body collapsed to the ground. Making use of this chance, the kid used (Flicker) and arrived by the demon''s neck and slashed down.


    "No...!", the demon indignantly roared. He has just awakened his bloodline, yet, he would die after doing so!


    The roar was cut off, because Allen has sliced off the demon''s head already. At the same time, the sword on his hand disappeared.


    Even though Allen got a huge boost on his power, including to the energy of the body he could store, it wasn''t enough to sustain (Erchian Dagger) for almost 20 seconds. The said time limit might sound short, but comparing to the kid''s former time limit, which was less than a second, it was an obvious great improvement.


    Allen got his knees then to his hands on the ground due to exhaustion, he also started to pant heavily.


    Meanwhile, after the battle was over, Robert and Lazar emerged from the side hall and saw the kid.

 46 A Different Sky

    Allen heard the steps of Lazar and Robert, who were approaching him. The kid couldn''t move from his position due to fatigue.


    When the steps stopped, he knew that were already near him. Allen prepared for the worst and closed his eyes. However, it never happened.


    As Lazar was about to charge towards the kid with his battle axe, he was stopped by Robert. Before the former could say anything, the latter shook his head and spoke, "He saved us, not just us, but the people of Loraint too. If the demon got out of here, those townsfolk would be the first to be massacred."


    The barbarian hesitated at first, but when he saw the resolute gaze of his friend, he lowered his weapon down and gritted his teeth.


    Hearing their conversation, the kid lied down on the ground with his stomach facing it and turned his body around afterwards and saw the two people.


    One was a handsome man, the other... was none other the man who tortured him and deprived of his eyesight on his right eye.


    Meanwhile, Lazar and Robert were inwardly surprised when they saw that the kid didn''t show anger on his face when he saw the barbarian. In fact, there wasn''t even any kind of emotion.


    Robert crouched beside the kid and opened his hands. Green smoke appeared on his palms and conjured into a green pill.


    "Here, eat this pill and it''ll restore your energy.", Robert handed over the pill onto Allen''s hand. The kid then scrutinized the pill.


    Seeing Allen''s action, Robert couldn''t help but laugh and said, "Don''t worry kid, it''s not poison, if we wanted to kill you, we would''ve done it earlier."


    Hearing Robert''s statement, Allen didn''t hesitate to swallow down the pill. After all, he didn''t have any choice either.


    Warmth flowed throughout his body and the kid felt that 30% of his full energy was restored, nonetheless, it was enough.


    "You''re a necromancer, aren''t you?", Allen questioned to Robert. When he saw the green smoke appearing on the latter''s palms, he already knew that he was a necromancer.


    "Yes, I am.", Robert confirmed.


    "Why did you help me recover?", the kid asked.


    "It''s because I just want to.", Robert answered.


    "I thought necromancers are evil.", Allen didn''t beat around the bush.


    "Not all necromancers are evil, it''s just that some were fascinated by our ways and some didn''t have any choice, like me.", Robert said.


    "Didn''t have any choice?"


    "You see kid, I came from the nomadic lands with my friend Lazar. The condition of the lands were harsh, it was mostly boundless desert, there were some oasis, but most of them were taken over by powerful clans, and there are many more dangers too.", Robert didn''t explain everything and only said what was needed.


    The kid kept quiet and didn''t reply anymore. Afterwards, he sat down and surveyed his surroundings. He saw that the main hall''s floor was almost thoroughly destroyed, the pillars that were still left after the battle already had cracks due to the relentless suction of the demon''s mouth.


    The main hall might collapse anytime, or maybe even the castle as a whole!


    Allen''s gaze then sticked towards Lazar, who was looking back at him. The barbarian couldn''t help but wonder why was the kid still emotionless when their eyes met.


    "I''m sorry for killing your brother.", Allen suddenly said, which made Lazar and Robert stunned, they didn''t expect the kid to say that.


    After a short silence, Lazar took the initiative to talk, "I... I''m also sorry for torturing and threatening you." The sentence was a bit forced, yet, it came from Lazar''s own will.


    "Uh-huh.", Allen only nodded, he then stood up and walked towards the exit.


    "Hey wait!", Lazar called out to Allen. The latter stopped walking.


    "Aren''t you mad against me?! Don''t you want to kill me?", Lazar asked. When he saw how the kid battled the demon earlier, he knew that he was no match for the kid anymore.


    Allen turned around and said, "I''m not mad... I just... don''t even feel anything anymore." After which, he started to walk towards the entrance once again.


    When Lazar saw the kid''s gaze for the last time, he felt suddenly felt guilty until to the deepest part of his body.


    ''Why am I feeling guilty?! He killed my brother, why should I pity him?'', Lazar inwardly angrily said.


    "You''re feeling guilty, right?", Robert asked.


    "Huh?"


    "We''ve been friends since childhood. I know the face that you make when you''re guilty.", Robert said.


    "I...", Lazar tried to say something, in the end, he couldn''t say anything.


    ''Karma works in mysterious ways.'' Robert inwardly sighed.


    "Come on, let''s get out of here. This place might collapse anytime.", Robert said.


    "Where should we go? Back to the headquarters?", Lazar asked.


    "No. Think of it, if our group leader is a demon, won''t the chief have found out already that he was a demon... or probably the chief is a demon too? Now that we have found out that our group leader was a demon, we might get executed for knowing it. After all, not just barbarians and necromancers, but most of mankind hates them, if this news gets out, it''ll probably cause a commotion.", Robert quickly analyzed the situation.


    "Then, where do we go?", Lazar asked.


    "We should go to the western region of this kingdom. I''ve always wanted to go there.", Robert suggested.


    "Well then, I have no choice but to follow you too.", Lazar smiled.


    ***


    "Huff... huff...", Kate panted as she looked at the wolf she killed. The beast was now lying on the ground, then it suddenly turned into smoke and evaporated into the air.


    The grass and plants inside the dome were withering, their vitality was being drained out by the dome to keep itself up.


    There was a scratch on Kate''s face, probably due to the wolf. On the other hand, the great necromancer was as free as ever and looked towards the girl.


    Realizing the situation, Kate didn''t hesitate to distance herself from the man as to prevent getting caught off guard by a death energy ball from him.


    However, seeing what Kate was doing, the man only sneered and chanted out his last spell.


    Green smoke formed again at the ceiling of the dome which Kate noticed, but she thought it was an another wolf, but it wasn''t.


    The green smoke rushed towards Kate at a shocking speed. Now that she was almost exhausted and she could only access 30% of her full speed, she couldn''t dodge it. The smoke pinned her hands and feet onto the ground.


    "Hehehe...", the man approached the girl while chuckling. When he reached Kate, he dropped his staff onto the ground and went over her body.


    "What are you going to do?", Kate frantically asked.


    "I told you, you won''t die that easily... hehehehe...", the man kept chuckling his face slowly closed in on Kate''s. The latter tried to resist, but it was futile.


    "As I soon as I got out, I would actually meet a pedophile.", the two of them heard a voice.


    The man looked over to his side and saw a kid with some blood smeared on his face, looking towards them.


    Kate also looked over, when she saw the newcomer, she was surprised, and at the same time worried, because it was none other than Allen. The girl saw the fading pupil of the boy''s right eye, the hole on the shirt of his chest, and his blood smeared face.


    The man felt danger from Allen, and the former immediately got hold of his staff on the other side and aimed it towards the latter. However, the kid was already nowhere to be seen.


    The great necromancer then felt that somebody was holding the back of his head.


    "Die.", Allen softly said.


    Using (Firm Fists), the boy crushed the head of the man with his both hands. After which, he threw the man''s corpse so as to prevent the blood flowing out of his head to stain his clothes.


    The dome and the smoke that was pinning Kate on the ground disappeared afterwards. Allen then reached out his other hand to the girl to help her sit up.


    The girl saw the scar on the boy''s hands. Even though there was a healing vial to heal Allen''s injuries, sometimes, he wasn''t healed by it all the time.


    Kate accepted the help and she sat up. Afterwards, Allen sat beside him and said, "Let''s wait for Mr. Sanchez, there''s a demon''s corpse inside the castle."


    Hearing Allen''s sentence, Kate couldn''t help but be shocked. Demons were known to be powerful and mankind''s natural enemy, and it wasn''t everyday that there''ll be a corpse of a demon. If somebody else told her that there''s a corpse of a demon, she wouldn''t believe it.


    Kate gave a curious glance to Allen, which the latter noticed and said, "I killed it."


    The girl couldn''t help but be stunned yet again, but kept quiet and just waited for Mr. Sanchez and Drake.


    ***


    One day later...


    After taking care of the demon''s corpse, they all went back to Crescent Town, it took them more or less a day because they used a carriage and didn''t use the treasure that boosts one''s speed.


    Night...


    The trio and Mr. Sanchez just got back to Crescent Town. Now, they were by the outskirts of the town walking towards Allen''s family house.


    "I got a news that your father has left with your brother. I think they won''t come back for a long time or probably never.", Mr. Sanchez said.


    On the other hand, Allen didn''t say anything and just kept walking.


    Seeing that the kid has no reaction, Mr. Sanchez could only pity him. Of course, he already knew what happened.


    A few minutes, they arrived and entered the house. They followed Allen up to the second floor towards his bedroom. The boy took out the satchel form under the bed and a notebook from the drawer, which he placed inside the satchel afterwards.


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    "Don''t worry, you got us!", Drake tried to cheer Allen up.


    "Just say if you need anything, alright?", Kate added.


    "Thanks.", Allen replied, and said after a pause, "But I''m going to leave this place."


    Hearing what Allen just said, the two kids and Mr. Sanchez couldn''t say anything at first.


    "Where are you going?", Kate took the initiative to ask.


    "To the eastern region.", Allen replied. The kid then went to William''s bedroom, where there were many books on the bookshelves.


    "Please, take care of these books. I can''t bring them with me. They''re my only remembrance of my mother.", Allen requested.


    "We will.", Mr. Sanchez replied.


    ...


    All of them went out of the house after taking care of everything else.


    "How much money do I have now?", Allen asked to Mr. Sanchez. The former was referring to the share of the treasure he got from the Mount Watchtower.


    "1000 gold coins.", Mr. Sanchez replied.


    "Should I even feel bitter that I''ve been sold out for 10 gold coins?", Allen muttered to himself. However, because it was a quiet night, it was heard by the other two kids and the tavern owner.


    "Can I take 300 gold coins?", Allen asked.


    "Sure.", Mr. Sanchez took out two enchanted pouches from his pockets. Afterwards, he opened the both of them poured 300 gold coins to the empty pouch, and handed it to Allen.


    The kid then put the pouch inside the satchel. After which, he said to them, "Goodbye." He didn''t wait for them to reply back and used (Burst Steps) to get far away from them as possible.


    "I''ll be going back to the tavern. There''s something I need to take care.", Drake immediately rushed back to the tavern.


    When Drake was already far away, Kate suddenly said, "I want to join Allen."


    "No.", Mr. Sanchez rejected.


    "I want to join him, please!", Kate requested again.


    "No, as your master, I forbid you from doing so.", the tavern owner said.


    "But...", before Kate got to finish her sentence, Mr. Sanchez said...


    "And as your father, I know what''s best for you."


    Kate could only bow her head down, but she suddenly got an idea and said, "Then, can I go to the nomadic lands?"


    "For what?", Mr. Sanchez asked.


    "To get stronger. I don''t want Allen to feel what he felt again.", Kate said. However, the real reason why she wanted to was to deliver the letter from the remnant village. It was Allen who wanted to do that, but it would never happen.


    As for why Kate has the letter, it was because on the way back to Riverboard City, Allen asked to Kate to hide the letter for him, which the girl didn''t refuse.


    "You want to do something for that remnant in the mountain, right?", Mr. Sanchez asked.


    Meanwhile, Kate was surprised. They never told Mr. Sanchez about the remnant village.


    Seeing Kate''s surprised looked, Mr. Sanchez said, "I know a lot more than you do."


    "Then, do you agree to it?", Kate asked.


    "I agree.", Mr. Sanchez replied.


    "Thank you.", Kate hugged his father''s side. Though the former didn''t notice that Mr. Sanchez cracked a smile on his face.


    ***


    Allen was still walking amidst the darkness of the night. Guided by the starry sky, he walked towards the direction of northeast, where the eastern region was from his position.


    [End of Volume 3: Emotion]

 47 Six Years Later

    Eastern Horizon City, one of the main cities in the eastern region of the Trigurniburg Kingdom. It was built on a mountain, by the side of the mountain was a lake called Horizon Lake, whose water came from a waterfall on the side of the said mountain.


    The city before was once just a merchant trading hub for precious stones that were mined from the mountain itself. After a merchant saw the potential of the location, he recommended it to the governor of the province at that time to invest money to build a small settlement for the said location, which now grew into the current city.


    The type of government of the Trigurniburg Kingdom could be both classified as feudalism, with those nobles with their own forces, and dictatorship, where the government itself appoints mayors, governors, and many more to supervise cities and region, such as the Crescent Town.


    Though it has to be noticed that the regional governors would only be appointed by the king if the region was under martial law. If not, there would be ten foreign unbiased scholars from the Supreme Library from the islands beyond the Northern Forest that the king will invite to vote.


    However, dictatorship side was a bit more powerful than the feudalism side. The leader of the former was the prime minister of the country which were always influential, however, the said person would always apppointed by the king.


    So one could say, the king was still the most powerful person in the country, literally and politically. With the power to appoint the prime minister and with the said position''s power, he kept the nobles at bay. Technically, the king was also the leader of the nobles, so that''s why the feudalism and dictatorship sides'' powers were almost balanced.


    As for why there were some nobles that were the leader of a particular community such as the Riverboard City, it was because that the king has passed on a decree that let the nobles lead the cities that they built on their own, but of course, taxes and tariffs were still needed to be paid and the communities that they built still had to follow the rules of the kingdom. Which was also one of the reasons why the feudalism side could stand toe on toe with the said opposite side.


    ***


    As the sun rose on the horizon, a brand new day started for the citizens. Houses'' windows opened up, people walking out of the houses to get a morning walk, establishments opened up for businesses, the guard during the night changed their shifts with the guards during the day.


    At a particular house near the city walls. A kid, who was at twelve years old walked out of the house.


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    "Come back for dinner later, James!", a voice of a woman came from inside the house.


    "I will, mom!", James shouted back and he sprinted off. After which, a woman walked out of the house and saw the disappearing back of the kid, and she cracked a smile.


    "He''s really excited, I don''t see him like that everyday.", the woman remarked.


    "What do you mean, Melanie? He''s always like that everyday. You just don''t notice it.", a man who was at the small garden in front of the house said.


    "Hmph. Albert, you should get a job.", Melanie snorted. Meanwhile, the man, who was Albert, only shrugged and replied, "I''m trying, I''m trying! It''s just that there''s no space in any mines yet."


    ***


    "Good morning."


    "Good morning James."


    "Good morning."


    "Good morning kid."


    "Good morning."


    James was running on a street while greeting people on the way. He knew most of the people on the way and vice-versa. As he was about to reach to a corner. A man carrying a box of bread suddenly appeared and him and the kid were caught off guard.


    The man stop and the box that he was carrying accidentally shook, but it never fell from his grip. Luckily, on the other hand, the kid''s reaction speed wasn''t slow and he managed to dodge the man on time.


    "I''m sorry mister!", James apologized and quickly rushed away.


    The man could only sigh in relief and continued walking.


    Meanwhile, the kid made a smile on this face as he held two loafs of bread on his hands. He got them when the box shook and the two loafs fell from it, which he caught hold of it.


    "Hey James!", a boy at the same age as James greeted him on the road.


    James slowly stopped and called out, "Hi Ivan!"


    "Where are you going?", Ivan asked.


    "To that trader.", James answered.


    "Ohhh... can I come with you?", Ivan obviously knew the trader that James was talking about.


    "Mhm.", James nodded and the both of them sprinted away while splitting one of the loaf of bread for each other.


    ***


    At a street near the marketplace...


    There was a shop which was selling plants and herbs that were picked from the nearby places around the mountain.


    A man wearing an eyepatch on his right eye opened the curtains of the shop, letting the sunlight go through the window and to the plants.


    He flipped the wooden sign on the door to ''opened'', after which, he went outside to the small porch of the shop while dragging a rocking chair, which he sat on afterwards.


    The man was also carrying a smoking pipe and inserted some crushed herbs onto the hole and ignited it.


    "Huff...", the man started smoking while smelling the relaxing smell of the crushed herbs he used.


    He emotionlessly surveyed the people passing back and forth on the street where his shop was due to boredom.


    "Hey, mister!", a voice called out.


    The man looked over to the direction of the voice and saw two kids coming at his location.


    "Hello, Mr. Morgan.", James and Ivan greeted.


    "Hello James... and to you too, Ivan.", the man, was none other than Allen.


    "We brought you a loaf of bread to eat.", James handed the loaf of bread to Allen. The latter accepted it and examined it.


    "It''s new.", Allen said. "But then, you''ve obviously stolen it, haven''t you?"


    Hearing Allen''s sentence, James bowed his head in shame and said, "Well, it fell from the box, so I had to catch it so it won''t get wasted on the ground."


    "And it''s still stealing. Kid, I''ve always told you that...", before Allen finished his sentence, James continued it, "...it will ruin your life one day. That''s what you''ve been saying for a long time. Don''t worry, I believe you, mister!"


    Allen just nodded in response and asked, "What are the two of you doing here?"


    "Didn''t you say that I could help you in the shop in exchange for some few coins?", James gave a questioning expression to Allen.


    "I did? I don''t remember it.", Allen said.


    "But mister, I''ve been working for you for a week now! So please stop joking, your facial expression isn''t suited for it.", James ruthlessly said.


    Meanwhile, Allen didn''t reply anymore and looked at Ivan, "And you Ivan, what are you doing here?"


    "I''m just accompanying James.", Ivan said.


    "Oh, then you can leave now.", Allen''s reply made Ivan stunned.


    "Don''t worry, Mr. Morgan''s just joking, you can stay in the shop, but don''t create any trouble or ruin anything inside it.", James said.


    Ignoring the two kids, Allen walked inside the shop carrying the loaf of bread, followed by James and Ivan.


    As soon as the two kids entered the shop, they were bombarded by the relaxing and soothing smell of herbs and plants.


    "The smell is so good!", Ivan remarked.


    "That''s also my first reaction when I went inside here.", James added.


    "Don''t pay attention to the smell, or else you''ll become addicted.", Allen warned.


    There were shelves upon shelves, hanging pots or normal pots, and even aquarium of plants and herbs in the shop. Allen placed the loaf of bread on a clean plate on top of the counter, afterwards he took out a mask from the two drawers and gave it to the two kids.


    "Wear this, it''s unhealthy for you kids to smell the plants here for a long period of time.", Allen said.


    James and Ivan thanked Allen and wore the masks.


    Allen then took out a knife form the drawers and sliced the loaf of bread into ten, even slices in a few seconds.


    "You''re good at knives, mister!", Ivan praised.


    "Uh-huh.", Allen didn''t pay attention to Ivan and took away three pairs of bread and sprinkled some herbs onto it to make three sandwiches.


    "Here, eat these, it''s healthy.", Allen handed out a sandwich each to James and Ivan while the last one was for him.


    "It''s all vegetables.", Ivan muttered.


    "It''s delicious, I tried it once.", James lifted up his mask where his mouth was hidden and ate the sandwich while Ivan followed after him.


    After tasting it, Ivan was suddenly engrossed with the delicious taste of the sandwich. Even though there were only herbs inside the sandwiches, it was as if they could taste meat!


    Ivan noticed the taste of pepper and salt, with a tinge of cooked meat inside the sandwich which surprised him greatly.


    -crunch-


    Ivan even heard and felt a crunch from some of the leaves if the sandwich. After a few seconds, the kid didn''t notice that he has already ate the whole sandwich.


    "That was good, mister!", Ivan remarked.


    "I know right, if I didn''t know that mister is just a shop owner of plants and herbs, I might think he''s a chef!", James added.


    On the other hand, Allen has already finished his sandwich and said, "After you finish eating your sandwich, go continue reading the encyclopedia."


    "Mhm.", James nodded.


    Seeing the kid''s reaction, Allen walked out of the shop again and sat on the rocking chair while looking towards the passerbys.

 48 Whose Sun?

    Time passed and it was almost closing time. Allen walked inside the shop and saw James reading the encyclopedia of precious herbs and plants, while Ivan was nowhere to be seen because he has already left several hours ago.


    "Kid, it''s almost closing time, go sweep the floor.", Allen said.


    Hearing the shop owner, James immediately closed the encyclopedia and started cleaning the floor with a broom.


    Allen sat where James was sitting earlier and opened the encyclopedia to alleviate his boredom.


    "How much have we earned for today?", Allen asked.


    "50 bronze coins and one silver coins.", James replied.


    Allen nodded in response while sticking his sight to the encyclopedia. After a few moments, Ivan suddenly walked in.


    "Hey Mr. Morgan, James, there''s going to be an important declaration on the square later.", Ivan said.


    "Huh, what is all about?", James asked.


    "They said it''s because it''s a decree from His Majesty, the king himself!", Ivan replied.


    Before James could say anything, Allen said, "Speed up the cleaning, James. It''s probably important, let''s go there later."


    "Alright.", James then hurried up to finish cleaning the floor. On the other hand, Ivan left to inform other people.


    ***


    Several minutes later, Allen and James were walking towards the direction of the city square.


    "I wonder what is the king''s decree. What do you think is it about, Mr. Morgan?", James asked.


    "If it''s the king, then it''s important.", Allen answered while putting his hands behind his back.


    When they arrived on the city square, it was packed of people talking to each other on guessing what was the king''s decree about.


    "Hais, there are so many people! I can''t see anything!", James sighed in distress.


    "Follow me.", Allen said.


    "Uhh...", James could only follow the shop owner until they reached a nearby alley.


    Suddenly, Allen started climbing a four-storey building which greatly shocked James.


    "Kid, climb up if you want to see everything.", Allen looked down below to James. When the latter heard what the former said, he unhesitatingly started to climb up, albeit much slower.


    When Allen reached the roof, James wasn''t even halfway yet up the building. Seeing that the shop owner was already on the roof, the kid sped up. However, he almost lost his grip on the way, making him climb up slower again.


    Finally, James reached the roof and panted. It was exhausting to climb up such a tall building. The kid sat beside Allen looked over to the square. There was a platform in the square, where the king''s decree would be declared.


    "You''re really good at climbing, mister.", James remarked, but Allen only ignored what he said.


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    Afterwards, the people quieted down made way for three people wearing robes with the symbol of the kingdom and other kinds of insignia.


    "Aren''t those mages, mister?!", James pointed in surprise to the two blue robed men, each of them having a staff, and were behind an another man, who was carrying a folded gem-decorated parchment.


    Allen shook his head and said, "They''re adepts."


    James'' jaw dropped in surprise, adepts were rarely seen by the common people, in fact, this is the first time he saw adepts, and two of them at the same time.


    "How did you know they were adepts?", James asked.


    "It''s because their staffs have two blue gems on it.", Allen said.


    "Oh.", James tried to check their staffs but couldn''t do so due to the far distance.


    When the three of them reached the platform, the man holding the parchment unfurled the said object and read out loud.


    "His Majesty, King Santos IV, hereby decree that after finding two large gold mines, bronze coins will have no more monetary value any longer.", the man declared.


    It was a shocking and straight introduction.


    Suddenly, a loud discussion could be heard amongst the people. They were shocked, specially the merchants!


    Allen''s interest was piqued and listened even closer.


    "Quiet down!", one of the adepts magically increased the volume of his voice to be heard by everyone. All the people silenced themselves and waited what would be next.


    Seeing that everyone silenced themselves, the man continued, "And because of this, the bronze coins would be replaced by crown bronze coins!"


    The man took out a bronze coin engraved with a crown and there was some sort of tiny piece of metal on the middle on both sides of the coin, which was one of the indicators of it''s authenticity.


    "One could exchange one''s bronze coins to the local government bank starting tomorrow. All the bronze coins that has must be exchanged immediately. Anyone caught still using the bronze coins after a month the exchanging started shall be caught and be thrown into prison by the local guards. But if you don''t want to exchange it, you could still keep them as a souvenir.", the man said.


    When everybody in the square heard the latter part of the declaration, they were surprised by the strictness and the severity of the punishment.


    However, the next and concluding declaration was a bombshell information for them...


    "The bronze coins and crown bronze coins'' exchange shall be 10:1. This parchment and decree is signed by His Majesty, King Santos IV.", the man ended the declaration.


    In an instant, the whole square was in a commotion when they heard the last sentence. The city guards around the platform instantly rose their shields and protected the said location.


    All the people where shocked, specially the merchants. While most of the former only care that their money would decrease, the latter were worried about the effects that the decree would cause on the economy.


    "Excuse me, is this really the command of His Majesty?", an old, fat man, who was obviously a merchant from his clothes asked towards the man.


    Hearing the old man''s question, the man answered, "Yes it is. He also personally signatured it, do you want to see it?"


    "No thanks. I''ll be going off now.", the old man quickly left the loud and noisy area.


    Hearing the man''s answer, most of the smart merchants left the area and to prepare to exchange the bronze coins tomorrow.


    Meanwhile, most of the populace and some merchants started to complain, but the man didn''t care about it.


    "The king is so stupid!", suddenly a man blurted out in anger.


    Hearing what the man just said, the man on the platform''s face became gloomy and said, "Slandering the king, capture him!"


    However, the guards had already acted and immediately captured the man.


    Meanwhile, Allen and James were still on the roof of a building while watching what was happening below from above.


    "Why would the king even do this? Won''t our crown bronze coins then be in much smaller quantity? Then we wouldn''t even afford some basic things.", James remarked.


    Hearing what the kid has said, Allen shook his head and said, "No, don''t just focus on the aspect of the quantity of the crown bronze coins, pay attention to what will happen to the silver and gold coins too."


    "What do you mean, mister?", James asked. He wasn''t that good when it came to trading.


    "Let''s just say that bronze coins are like one of the foundation of the monetary exchange of the kingdom. If the kingdom could control the exchange of the bronze coins, then it will affect exchange of bronze coins to silver coins and vice-versa and silver coins to gold coins and vice-versa.", Allen said.


    "But it''s also not as simple as that they could just implement it, or else, the prices of commodities would surely rise, because the exchange rate of crown bronze coins to silver coins would then be 200-100:1 and silver coins to gold coins would then be 500-200:1 due to the smaller amount of crown bronze coins than the bronze coins, thus making expensive things need more money to purchase. However, because of the two gold mines that the kingdom found, the exchange rate of crown bronze coins to silver coins and silver coins to gold coins would most likely then be at 100:1, though there''ll be other factors to determine it, but I think that''s what the king wants to happen. Making the kingdom more rich overall.", Allen explained.


    James'' nose bled in confusion and just said, "I almost can''t understand anything you said mister! But it sounds interesting."


    "If you want to understand it, then read books.", Allen replied without any emotion.


    After a pause, Allen added, "You should return to your house, it''s about to get dark."


    "Alright, goodbye mister.", James climbed back down.


    Allen looked towards the sunset while muttering, "It was as if it''s the sunset that..." He didn''t finish his sentence and only removed his right arm from the jacket he was wearing and looked at it. His arm was full of scars from long ago.


    "It''s like it''s the same, yet it''s not the day.", Allen wore back his jacket and breathe out cold air. Afterwards, he reached out with his hands, and a snowflake fell from the sky towards his gloves.


    He felt cold.

 49 The Right Eye

    Allen returned to his shop by night. Eastern Horizon City has no curfew being implemented on to it, because it wasn''t even needed due to the discipline of the citizens.


    He was living in a two-storey building. The first floor was the shop itself, the room behind the first floor was the storage room where the already picked up and dead plants and herbs were at. The second floor was his bedroom, bathroom, living room, kitchen and balcony was.


    In addition, his house also has a basement, which was solely for doing alchemical projects. Allen didn''t just live a whole six years in Eastern Horizon City. Before arriving at the said city, he also lived in the Alchem Town down far southwest from the city, where he was taught on how to become an alchemist.


    In reality, Allen had no latent talent for alchemy, but all the knowledge that he had got from his mother''s book contradicted the saying, ''No Talent, No Progress''. He was noticed by an old man due to his intelligence and was taught the basic, intermediate and advanced alchemical knowledge, which he learned in two years and was even mistaken as an unusual talent.


    He went down the basement and removed the cover of the glowstone on the ceiling, which gave off light throughout the whole room. There were a lot of tables in the room, which were full of glass, tubes, and other kinds of objects. Moreover, by the corner of the room, there were some cauldrons and some furnaces.


    There were two types of alchemy currently existing, which were Pill Alchemy, and Liquid Alchemy; the former, orginated from the republic from the east and the latter came from the Northern Forest.


    Pill Alchemy, already written in the name itself, the end product of the said alchemy were pills. Meanwhile, in Liquid Alchemy, as the name suggests, it''s end product would be some sort of liquid.


    The Pill and Liquid Alchemies also has sub-categories, which were Healing Arts, Poison Arts and Miscellaneous Arts.


    The Healing Arts and Poison Arts weren''t needed to be explained as their names already described it.


    The Miscellanous Arts focuses on creating other kinds of helpful pills or liquid that could explode, create mists, and many more.


    The Pill Alchemy has one unique sub-category, and that was Emotional Alchemy, where one would use his emotions to enhance the end product. However, those emotions must be proper and matched for the end product that you want.


    For example, if you want to create a pill that would increase your adrenaline and power, your emotion must be happy and energetic, but if the emotions that you would use was sad and depressing, then you might get the opposite of what you want.


    On the other hand, Liquid Alchemy also has a sub-category, which was Weapon Enchantment and Enhancement. There are many ways to enchant and enhance one''s weapon, for example, taking it to a blacksmith and other related jobs who knew how to do enhancement and enchantment.


    However, there were limitations to those workers. For example, would a blacksmith melt and forge a leather weapon? Or would a leather worker put together and sew a metal weapon?


    Of course not! Unless you came from a ridiculous world, that wouldn''t work.


    But with the Weapon Enchantment and Enhancement, one could create an elixir that would enhance or enchant his weapon and one could do the said actions to a metal object, leather object, magical object, and many more.


    The prerequisite was that... the said sub-category of Liquid Alchemy was much harder than learning enchantment and enhancement in smithery, leathery, and other kinds of works.


    Comparing the unique sub-categories of the Pill and Liquid Alchemies. One could say that the latter''s unique sub-category was much more useful than the former''s.


    However, the Pill Alchemy''s Emotional Alchemy has an advantage over the Liquid Alchemy''s Weapon Enchantment and Enhancement, and it was it''s easier manufacturing of pills!


    Of course, as it was stated earlier, the Liquid Alchemy''s unique sub-category was really hard, but in the alchemic arts, it was the only way one could enhance and enchant weapons.


    Allen obviously knew how to do Pill and Liquid Alchemies. Except for Emotional Alchemy of Pill Alchemy, he could do Weapon Enchantment and Enhancement of Liquid Alchemy.


    "Winter is starting. It''s bound to get colder, and now''s the right time to create that recipe.", Allen muttered.


    He turned on the fire below the glass containers on the first table. Afterwards, he added water into the containers and went to fetch some things above ground.


    When Allen returned, he was now carrying satchel and the water inside the containers were lightly boiling. This was a new spatial treasure he scavenged on the way to Eastern Horizon City. He took out a leather bound book from the satchel and placed it on top of a desk to read it''s contents.


    He also got this book along with the satchel. There was a small insignia of a parasol tree under an opened book, which were both made of pure gold. Allen recognized the opened book, which was the symbol of the scholars from the Supreme Library of the north. However, he has no idea about the parasol tree.


    The book was mostly filled of alchemical products and other things related to alchemy. Allen turned to a particular page of a book where there was a picture of a vial filled with violet liquid. On the upper part of the book, the name of the liquid inside the vial was written and below the picture was it''s function.


    [Organ Restoring Potion


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    A powerful potion that could restore back one''s organ.]


    Allen unconsciously touched his eyepatch on his right eye. Ever since he became an alchemist, he tried to find a way to cure his blindness. Reptile''s Condemnation might make an injury not be able to heal, but only without any external help.


    When he got the book, he has always read it everyday, and found the formula for Organ Restoring Potion. Now, he wanted that his blindness could be healed by using the said potion.


    However, the Reptile''s Condemnation''s resistance to healing potions were high, so Allen could only hope that the said potion could really restore his eyesight.


    "Hundred year old ginseng, Primordial Sunflower seeds, a leaf of a Mana Parasol Tree...", Allen took out the ingredients needed to make the Organ Restoring Potion while reading their names from the book.


    "...Blizzard Crown Lotus.", Allen searched for the said plant inside his satchel, but it was nowhere to be found.


    "I still don''t have a Blizzard Crown Lotus?", Allen put his hand on his chin and thought of something.


    "I guess I could just pick one from the Monarch Forest later in deep winter.", Allen concluded and put all the ingredients back inside the satchel and turned off the fire below the glass containers and also covered the glowstone again.


    After which, he exited the basement and went straight to the bedroom. He turned on the magic glowstone on the ceiling to give off light throughout the whole room.


    His bedroom comprised of a bed, a small bookshelf full of books, a closet, a drawer, a desk, etc.


    In addition, the balcony was connected to the bedroom, he only needed to walk through the curtain to see the starry sky.


    Allen took a book from the bookshelf and carried a lamp towards the balcony and sat on the chair beside a table there. Meanwhile, a few snowflakes fell from the sky amidst the cloudy night, but he kept reading on the balcony along with cold wind.


    ***


    Outskirts of Eastern Horizon City...


    As snowflakes fell from the sky, a carriage was approaching the said city. Inside the carriage, there were several men wearing black robes.


    "Hais, winter is coming. It''s bound to get cold. Plus, we''ve been actually assigned on a mountain city.", a man sighed.


    "I hope we can just finish our mission immediately and get out of there.", another man said.


    "What''s our mission again?", a man asked.


    "Sabotage the mines. The mission came from the chief. But I wonder what we''ll get for doing so.", the first man pondered, but didn''t continue his hunches.


    "En!", the man who asked the question nodded in response.


    "I hope this mission will be quicker than what I expect. I want to come back to the southern region to relax for the winter.", another man commented.


    "Same."


    "Mhm."


    "Me too."


    ...

 50 Obreim Family

    Allen woke up early the next day. As soon as he stood up, he walked towards the balcony, which was now covered in snow.


    The winters in the eastern region, specially at the mountains, were always freezing, but for him, it was as if it''s just a normal day.


    He breathe in the cold air and looked towards the other buildings from his balcony. He could see lights in some buildings'' windows, while there were some people who woke up to check the thickness of the snow on their roofs.


    He didn''t linger any longer and returned back inside.


    As soon as he went to the first floor, he heard somebody knocking on the door.


    "Coming."


    When Allen opened the door, he immediately recognized that it was James. The kid was wearing thick clothes suitable for winter.


    "Hello Mr. Morgan.", James greeted.


    "Mhm... and you''re really early today. I''m only opening later in the afternoon, I''m going to the bank first to exchange the bronze coins that I have.", Allen said.


    "Well... I couldn''t really sleep in this kind of cold. Plus, it''s my payday today.", James rubbed his glove-covered hands together.


    "Oh.", Allen searched for his pockets something and took out a silver coin. "Here''s your payment."


    Seeing the silver coin, James was stunned and immediately said, "Wait, wait! Didn''t you say that my income would be 100 bronze coins? This is too much, mister."


    "The exchange rate is bound to change soon. One silver coin would be your income by then, now go buy food for your family.", Allen said.


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    "Thank you!", James thanked the shop owner from the bottom of his heart and rushed towards the marketplace.


    A few minutes later, Allen left his shop while carrying pouches inside his winter robes.


    Allen reached the bank, and saw that there were a few people already in line outside, even though the bank wasn''t open for business yet.


    If it didn''t start snowing yet, there would''ve probably be a lot of people on the line by now.


    He joined the merchants'' line, there weren''t many merchants present yet to exchange their bronze coins.


    When he joined the line, he was noticed by the other merchants at the front and started gossiping about him.


    There were some who gave off curious gaze; some who gave off gazes of contempt, who were most likely the rich merchants in the city; and some who gave off hostile gaze.


    For Allen, being a merchant was just like an assassin, you better know when to strike and when to back off. Apparently, the ones who gave him hostile gazes were his enemies in the merchant circle, but he never cared about them.


    "Well if it isn''t Mr. Morgan.", a voice said from behind him. Allen turned around and saw that it was an old man.


    He recognized this man, he was the leader of the most powerful merchant guild in the city. Currently in the line, Allen was the only one not from the merchant guild.


    "Have Mr. Morgan considered my offer of joining my guild?", the old man asked.


    "No, I don''t want to join your guild.", Allen said in a calm tone.


    Hearing Allen''s sentence, one of the merchants who had a hostile gaze towards him snorted, "You don''t know what kind of a blessing for you to be invited in the guild!"


    Another one blew a fuse and added more wood to the fire, "We have worked hard and almost risked everything just to join the guild. Now you''re being invited personally by the guild leader, you don''t even know what''s good for you."


    The sentences of th two men also triggered some of their fellow merchants who were listening. After all, they were in the same guild.


    On the other hand, Allen only ignored them. If one wants to become a merchant, it was really needed to know when to strike and who to strike.


    Those two other merchants who started the ruckus wanted Allen''s reputation to plummet from the other merchants around, which was a good trick... that would sadly not work to him.


    "Quiet!", the old man reprimanded, which silenced the other merchants.


    "You won''t really accept the invitation?", the old man asked again. Allen only shook his head in response.


    "Alright then.", the old man sighed in disappointment.


    Several minutes later, the bank opened up for business. The interior and the furniture of the bank looked so furbished that Allen could see his own reflection on the floor.


    Allen then went to the Merchant Corner to exchange his bronze coins.


    All the other merchants beside him looked over at the pouch that he was carrying, which surprised them greatly.


    "Such a small pouch, I wonder how many bronze coins are there inside it?", a merchant pondered.


    "Probably only a few dozens.", another merchant joked.


    "Hahaha...", most of the merchants laughed after that remark. However, their guild leader shook his head and even faintly smiled at them.


    Allen then opened the pouch and turned it upside down.


    -whoosh-


    Numerous bronze coins flowed out of the pouch as if it''s water. The other merchants were astonished by the sight. Even the lady who was across the desk in front of Allen gaped at the sheer volume of bronze coins.


    It only stopped when there was already a small mountain of bronze coins in the merchant corner. Everybody in the bank except for the old man dropped their jaws at the sight of that mountain of bronze coins.


    "Wait sir, I think I need to call a mage to count the coins.", the lady immediately went up the second floor of the bank.


    Seeing the dropped jaws of his fellow merchants, their guild leader was trying hold back his laughter. He was trying to save the face of his fellow men, because the merchants'' contempt on Allen''s small pouch was clearly heard by a lot of people inside the bank.


    Afterwards, mage went downstairs with the lady and also gaped at the sight of the small mountain. However, he composed himself at once and used his magical sense to instantly count all the coins.


    "That''s exactly 10,000 bronze coins.", the mage said.


    After which, the lady took out a pouch from under desk, "Inside this pouch is exactly 1,000 crown bronze coins, sir."


    Allen obtained the pouch, afterwards, the small mountain of bronze coins was kept inside the mage''s bag for safekeeping.


    As the mage was about to turn around, Allen suddenly said, "I have a few more pouches." He then opened his jacket and showed the pouches within it.


    The merchants who ridiculed Allen almost fainted by the sight and now realized why their guild leader wanted to invite him inside the guild, it''s because he has a lot of spatial storage treasures... and because he was really rich.


    The merchants: "..."


    The common people: "..."


    The mage: "..."


    The bank staffs: "..."


    The guild leader: "Pfft..."


    ***


    Allen returned to the shop earlier than he expected with 10,000 crown bronze coins. Because James didn''t return yet, he decided to water the plants.


    He took out a watering can from the storage room and started watering the plants.


    "Chomp...", suddenly, the plant that he was watering turned into a large venus flytrap-like swallowed the watering can he was using in a blink of an eye.


    "This man-eating plant.", Allen emotionlessly looked at the giant venus flytrap-like plant, which shrunk to a little sprout in an instant. Actually, it''s just one of the many weird plants inside his shop.


    Luckily for him, the plants had no intentions on eating his customers and James, or else they would''ve become salad by now.


    Afterwards, went to the storage room to fetch another watering can.


    Time passed by in a flash and it was already afternoon, but the sun was nowhere to be seen on the sky due to the cloud cover.


    "Good afternoon, mister.", James entered the shop and immediately sat behind the counter to start reading the encyclopedia.


    ...


    The business hours passed by in a flash, there weren''t many people who entered the shop, and even less who bought plants. Which was probably due to the cold weather.


    Suddenly, as Allen was about to approach the door to flip the wooden tab to ''closed'', a blond girl wearing robes, who also looked like on the same age as James,and carrying a staff entered the shop.


    "Excuse me, is this Alchemist Morgan''s shop?", the girl asked.


    "Alchemist Morgan? You must be talking about Mr. Morgan.", James said.


    "Who could it be then? Of course it''s probably him.", the girl said in an angry tone, she was obviously in a bad mood.


    "Huh, why do you even have to be angry at me? I''m just helping you!", James'' tone rose up, he was triggered by the girl.


    "What do you want commoner?! Do you want to become ashes?!", the girl angrily retorted.


    "Hmph, I...", before James could continue his sentence, Allen coughed and caught the attention of the two.


    "Are you Alchemist Morgan?", the girl asked.


    "Mhm.", Allen nodded, he used that alias when he was in Alchem Town. After which, he noticed the two gems from the girl''s staff.


    "You''re an adept?", Allen asked.


    "Yes sir, I am!", the girl proudly rose up her chin.


    "Oh.", Allen said.


    The girl couldn''t help but inwardly cringe by Allen''s reply, ''Oh?! That''s the only thing that you can say?!''


    Actually, being an adept at such a young age was already such a feat throughout the lands. So the girl has the reason to be proud of her achievements.


    "What do you want from me?", Allen asked.


    The girl took out an envelope from her sleeves and handed it over to Allen. There was a seal on the envelope, which was the symbol of the alchemists of the Alchem Town, which was a pill and a vial.


    He broke the seal and read the letter from the envelope.


    Right after finishing reading the letter, Allen asked to the girl, "You need an Adept Mana Stabilizing Pill?"


    "Yes, I recently broke through and became an adept, my mana inside my body is still chaotic, but I want to solve it fast because I need to go towards the central region.", the girl said.


    "Well then, the production of the pill will take a whole winter, are you sure about that?", Allen asked.


    "Of course! If I don''t take the pill, it would take me almost a year or more to stabilize my condition!", the girl said.


    "Do you have the ingredients?", Allen asked.


    "Here.", the girl gave Allen a ring, which was a spatial storage. The latter checked the contents of the gem and said, "You don''t have a leaf of a Mana Parasol Tree sprout."


    "What! Are you sure, sir?", the girl asked.


    "Yes."


    "How could I forget the most important ingredient!", the girl rubbed her forehead due to stress.


    "Don''t worry, I have that in here.", Allen said.


    "Oh? Thank you sir! I''ll try to repay you somehow.", the girl said.


    Allen didn''t reply anymore and said to James, "It''s closing time, you can leave now, flip the wooden tab first before you go."


    James said goodbye and did what Allen requested and left the shop.


    Allen: "Come on, let''s go to the basement."


    ***


    It was already dark when James returned to his house. He entered the house and saw his mother.


    "You''re exactly in time James, dinner''s ready!", Melanie said.


    James: "Alright, mom."


    "Finally, I''m really hungry.", Albert walked down from the second floor and saw James. "Oh, son. Please tell Mr. Morgan thank you for his generosity, that one silver coin is really helpful this winter."


    James scratched his nose and said, "Okay, father. I''m just going to replace my clothes." Then he went upstairs


    "He has changed since that Mr. Morgan arrived in the city.", Melanie remarked.


    "Mhm, at least he''s not stubborn anymore.", Albert replied.


    ***


    When James entered the bedroom, he immediately pulled out a new set of clothes from the closet and replaced the clothes he was wearing.


    As he was about to exit the bedroom, he unconsciously looked at a large drawer, which made his hands shake.


    He shook his head and snapped out of his stupor, after which, he left the bedroom.


    When he arrived at the kitchen, the hot food was already ready. The Obreim family could already considered a well-off family just by the food they were eating.


    The income of the family mostly came from Melanie from being a merchant''s receptionist.


    "Stewed pork, we don''t get this everyday.", James remarked.


    "Well, it''s your payday, so you deserve it.", Melanie said.


    "I think I will get a job in one of the mines by the end of the winter, then our income would surely rise and you can eat that everyday.", Albert rubbed James'' head.


    "Stop it, father.", James tried to get off Albert''s hand from his head.


    "Hehe... nope, I won''t stop.", suddenly he started tickling the kid.


    "Hahaha... please stop... hahaha..."


    "Hmph! Stop playing and start eating, or else I won''t give the both of you any stewed pork!", Melanie snorted.


    "Alright, alright!", Albert and James instantly stopped playing and started eating dinner.

 51 Little Salad

    Meanwhile, inside a small villa in the Eastern Horizon City...


    A man was preparing a hot tea to drink for the cold night inside his office room.


    "Sir Michael, there''s a letter for you.", a woman wearing formal clothes, who was obviously a maid handed over a letter to Michael.


    Michael was a herb merchant. He owned a lot of shops that sells plants and herbs all over the eastern region. However, the overall sales of his shop here at Eastern Horizon City suddenly plummeted, and it was due to Allen.


    Ever since Allen arrived in the city and opened up his shop, Michael''s shop in the city slowly lost customers. At first, Michael didn''t pay attention to it, but after this year started he finally felt threatened.


    Even though it was only in his shop at the Eastern Horizon City, this was where he was living, and where his business started! It was practically his home ground, it was humiliating that he was being beaten in his own territory.


    In addition, he was worried that Allen might set up an another branch somewhere in the eastern region, further decreasing his income.


    So first, he investigated Allen''s background, and found out that he was only a normal commoner by the findings that he was given, but Michael still needed more information, and so he hired an investigator to search Allen''s history and where did he come from.


    However, he suddenly lost contact of his investigator, which frightened him greatly and stopped doing anything related to Allen. He was a cautious man. He didn''t become a successful merchant for being rash, but it was due to his cautiousness and attention to every single detail.


    He opened the envelope and read the letter. Seeing the contents of the letter, he let out a frown and said, "Please tell No. 1 to infiltrate this shop." At the same time, he handed an address to his maid.


    "Alright, sir.", the lady butler walked out of the room.


    Michael drank his tea and let out a sigh, "It''s almost a year since that shop started its business. I think I''ve laid low for too much time. It''s time to infiltrate that establishment once and for all."


    "So he has a lot of bronze coins... then what about silver and gold coins?", Michael couldn''t help but shiver by the possibility.


    ***


    "Give me the leaf of a Mana Parasol Tree sprout.", Allen asked.


    "Here, sir.", the girl handed out the said leaf.


    After which, Allen put the leaf inside the pill furnace and did some adjustments to the fire.


    "Now we have to wait until the end of winter for the Adept Mana Stabilizing Pill.", Allen sat down on a nearby chair and wiped the sweat off his forehead.


    Meanwhile, the girl has been looking around the glass containers on the table, wondering about their uses.


    "I never got to ask your name.", Allen suddenly said.


    Hearing Allen''s sentence, the girl introduced herself, "My name is Anna. I''m from the Southern Wizard Tower."


    ''She also came from the southern region?'', Allen thought.


    The Southern Wizard Tower was a group of magicians under the government. It was first established by a powerful magician, who was now the Royal Wizard of the kingdom.


    The Southern Wizard Tower was not just a name of an organization, but also a location in the south. The base of operations of the wizards was at a sky piercing tower which was built over a large mana pool.


    Before the establishment of the Santos IV Era. There were many rebellions occurring all over the kingdom at that time after the death of King Santos III. The now King Santos IV was the only son of the late King Santos III.


    So, the current king went on an expedition with the now current Royal Wizard to extinguish the rebellions all over the kingdom. The existence of the Southern Wizard Tower was vital for the kingdom for those times.


    The tower kept the barbarians at bay from the Nomadic Lands from taking advantage of the civil war to take over the southern region. In addition, during the civil war a lot of wizards came from the said tower, adding to the lifeblood of the army of the king; thus, King Santos IV''s rule became concrete all over the kingdom.


    And after fully controlling the kingdom, he created the Dictatorship System along with the current Feudal System at that time so his political power was the most powerful all over the kingdom to make the nobles erase any idea of creating chaos again.


    Now, it was rumored that the Royal Wizard has broken through what was beyond the realm of Wizard, and the king''s power was also rumored to have broken through to something similar to what was beyond the realm of wizard.


    ...


    Seeing that Allen wasn''t responding, Anna tried to start an another topic for a conversation, "So sir, why did you leave Alchem Town? The higher-ups back there were always talking about your talent in alchemy. They said you have the chance to become the next Chief Alchemist of the kingdom."


    Allen shook his head in response and said, "I have no intentions to become the Chief Alchemist. It''s not my forte."


    After a pause, Allen added within his mind, ''Plus, I only wanted to become an alchemist to cure my eye.''


    "Oh... but then, would you be willing to...", before Anna could finish her sentence, she looked to the direction of the door on the first floor.


    Allen also noticed what the girl noticed and looked towards the first floor.


    "Wow, somebody even have the gull to enter the shop at this time. Hold on sir, I''m going take care of it.", Anna snorted and prepared her staff.


    Before Anna could walk away, Allen grabbed her robes which prompted the former to turn around towards the latter. The shop owner only shook his head, preventing the girl from going out.


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    Seeing Allen''s disagreement, Anna stayed put and looked towards the person who entered the shop.


    ...


    No. 1 cautiously looked around the shop. There were many plants hanging on the ceiling, there were also pots with small sprouts on the floor, there were even more so on the shelves, even in the aquarium too.


    "Is the shop owner here obsessed with plants?", No. 1 muttered. He was one of the many hired and trained subordinates of Michael.


    The world of trading was almost as the same as politics, it''s either you survive or you die. That''s why it was necessary to be shady in businesses sometimes.


    No. 1 was the elite of the elites. He has already done numerous jobs and all them were successful. Those jobs were sabotaging enemy businesses, assassinating, investigating enemy backgrounds, etc.


    He first approached the counter, and saw an encyclopedia of plants. He checked if there was any important information sticked to it, but found nothing. He also found a box where the money was kept; however, he put it back in the counter afterwards, because he''ll just come back for it.


    First and foremost on his to do list, the shop owner must be found and killed.


    Second, steal all the money and items with prices in the shop.


    Third, burn down the shop.


    Everytime No. 1 went onto a mission, that''s what he always do, depending on what kind of a mission was given.


    As No. 1 reached the middle of the shelves. He suddenly heard a faint rustle behind him. He immediately turned around to check what was it. However, he didn''t see anything out of the ordinary, other than a small sprout on a pot by the corner of the shelf.


    But he ignored it and continued walking towards the other end of the shelves, and as soon as he got to the other end of the shelves he heard another rustle behind him. He turned around and saw nothing out of the ordinary, other than the small sprout on a pot, this time, it was in the middle of the shelves where he initially turned around earlier.


    He snorted and approached the pot, afterwards, he viciously kicked the pot making it stumble towards the other end.


    However, when he got back to the end of the shelves, he saw the small sprout on a pot in front of his feet! He turned around and saw the small sprout which was suppose to be behind him, was gone!


    He turned back again and looked at the small sprout.


    "Hmph! I''m not scared!", No. 1 took out a dagger and stabbed towards the small sprout.


    -clang-


    Rather than swiftly slicing the sprout in half, it only created sparks, and the dagger suddenly obtained cracks!


    Seeing what happened, No. 1 felt a chill on his back and slowly backed off, but before he could even get half a meter distance away from the plant...


    -whoosh-


    The small sprout turned to a large venus fly-trap like plant in a flash. The plant smiled at No. 1, showing the rows of white, pearly, clean teeth, however, to No. 1, he felt like that a demon shark from hell just smiled at him.


    No. 1''s legs shook and weakened. He wanted to shout ''monster'', but couldn''t do so due to fright. In an instant, the plant chopped him in half with his teeth, living behind the bloody torso.


    After swallowing the upper body, it proceeded on consuming the lower part.


    "Burp...", the plant let out a burp and a satisfied smile, it then turned to a small sprout again and went to the corner of the shop.


    Anna''s jaw dropped. She was stunned by what just happened. She didn''t even sense the plant earlier when he entered the shop! Which meant that it was more powerful than her.


    She then looked at Allen and applauded, "Sir, your security is superb!" Allen only nodded in response.


    "What''s the name of that plant?", Anna asked.


    "Visergoroth Chomper, it''s ancestor is the legendary Visergoroth Eater, which was said to have eaten a whole city in one bite... but I named it Little Salad for convenience.", Allen answered.


    When Anna heard the first part of the sentence she felt a bit intimidated by it, but when she heard the latter part of the sentence, the corners of her mouth twicthed.


    On the other hand, Little Salad shivered. Of course, with it''s power it could hear what Allen just said from the basement if he wanted him to be heard.

 52 Meeting Again

    James happily arrived in front of the shop while carrying two meat buns, which he ''accidentally'' got from meat bun vendor. He took a bite on a meat bun, his eyes slightly widened as he moaned at the savory taste of its stuffing.


    Seeing the wooden tab on the door was flipped on the ''opened'' side, he entered the shop to get cover from the snowfall. As soon as he entered in it, he spotted Anna who was curiously inspecting a tiny sprout on a pot by the corner.


    The kid kept looking around, and saw Allen checking a plant inside the aquarium. He approached the shop owner and handed out the other meat bun.


    When Allen saw the meat bun, he gave an emotionless glare towards James. Although there were no change of countenance on Allen''s face, the latter felt that it was a glare of disappointment.


    "It was an accident, mister! You see, I...", before James could finish his sentence, Allen shook his head and silenced the kid. Afterwards, the shop owner took the meat bun and started eating it.


    "It already happened, there''s no need to explain.", Allen said.


    When James heard Allen''s sentence, the former felt more shame to the point he nearly wanted to hide his face from the latter. Allen didn''t show any displeasure nor any tone of disappointment on his voice, but the kid unconsciously felt that Allen was dismayed.


    "I got a temporary job for you.", Allen said to ease the atmosphere.


    After finishing the last bit of the meat bun; with an eager look James asked, "What is it, mister?" He wanted to redeem his bad image from Allen.


    "Tour that girl throughout the city.", Allen pointed towards Anna.


    Anna also heard what Allen said, and she turned around to see James. When the boy heard what Allen wanted, he was about to refuse but the shop owner gave him another gaze which made him slightly afraid.


    "Alright, I will.", seeing that he was being forced to do so, James could only comply. He was going to tour the person who he had a small fight yesterday, he thought that was really absurd!


    "Introduce yourselves.", Allen said.


    "Hi, I am James, nice to meet you.", James reached out his hand in a bid to shake the girl''s hand.


    "I''m Anna.", Anna reached out her hand and they started shaking. Actually, Anna wanted to refuse the tour, because number one, she could do it by herself, and number two, she was going to be toured by the person she had a small fight with. However, she took into accord Allen''s status and complied.


    After James and Anna left, Allen also temporarily closed the shop and left while wearing white robes.


    ***


    "That''s the marketplace where you will find a lot of food an necessities, bonus the pickpockets.", James joked. After which, she looked towards the Anna, and saw the pockets on her robes. "Ehh, won''t your pockets get picked easily by their large sizes?"


    "I don''t put important objects in my pockets.", Anna stated with an annoyed manner.


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    "Oh.", James said, and he thought in an irritated fashion, ''Why did Sir Morgan even made me tour her?''


    They treaded through the populous market, the two of them almost lost their sights on each other but they luckily made it and reached another street.


    As soon as they made a turn, James pointed to a clock tower, "That''s the famous clock tower of the Eastern Horizon City, it was said to have been built when the city wasn''t even established yet."


    Across the street, they saw a church with its towers protruding to the sky.


    "There''s a Retollian Church in this city?", Anna orally pondered when she saw the symbol of the church in front of the chapel. Which was a golden urn, behind it was a golden staff with unreadable words carved on it while there was a scroll of also unreadable words under the urn.


    "Rerollian what?", James was baffled. He never heard such a weird name before.


    "Retollian Church. How could you not know... oh wait, you''re just a commoner, you won''t obviously know.", Anna mocked and showed a tone of taunting.


    After a pause, she added, "Come on, let''s go inside it." After which, she sprinted towards the church.


    "Alright.", James agreed and walked towards the chapel.


    "Huh?", James noticed his eyes became a bit blurry and he started to become dizzy, making him slow down on his tracks. When he got even closer to the building, his legs became weak and almost fell to the ground.


    Anna turned around and saw what was happening to James, she immediately rushed back and supported him.


    "Are you okay? What happened to you?" The earlier tone of annoyance and ridicule was gone and was replaced with a worried one.


    "I... suddenly became dizzy and weak.", James answered.


    Anna then looked towards the church, afterwards she said, "On second thought, let''s just go somewhere else."


    "Err... okay.", James nodded and walked away with Anna''s support.


    ***


    Allen was currently far away from the Horizon Mountain, where the Eastern Horizon City was. During the time that Allen left the Eastern Horizon City, only several minutes had passed.


    He was currently lying on the ground with his stomach facing it. He spied the road that came from the south, waiting for something.


    After several minutes, a caravan could be spotted from afar. They were comprised of merchants and their guards, and even some mercenaries. However, Allen knew they weren''t really merchants, but smugglers!


    The smuggler caravan was delivering illegal goods and probably even slaves towards the black market of the Eastern Horizon City. The mayor of the said city always wanted to crack down the smugglers, which wasn''t a total success, because, there were some other lower government officials that were the agents of the black market.


    Allen was actually near the road, but the caravan couldn''t see him due to his white robes that camoflauged him among the white snow of winter.


    As soon as the caravan passed by him. Allen stealthily crouched towards three guards on the back, and he took out a dagger from his sleeves.


    -pshew-


    Without making the slightest sound, the lights of the guards were snuffed out. While slowly walking along with caravan on the back, Allen took a look inside the covered cart that three people were guarding earlier, however, he didn''t see anything other than four armored men!


    Faces of surprise could be seen on the four men, but they immediately composed themselves and charged towards him. In response, Allen backed away from them.


    Now, one of the armored men shouted to alarm everybody else. The whole caravan heard the yells of warnings and stopped on their tracks, afterwards, most of the men guarding it went to the back and saw a man with a white eyepatch on his right eye.


    "Attack! He must be the one stealing some of our goods!", one of the smugglers shouted. Since Allen came to Eastern Horizon City, he has always been secretly stealing from the smugglers, now, the group where the smugglers came from got ready for him. Though at the first place, he was only stealing a few goods from the smugglers.


    Unluckily for them, Allen was no ordinary thief.


    The armored guards and the mercenaries charged towards Allen without any hesitation, after all, he was only one person.


    "I guess I have to annihilate all of you.", Allen muttered. He didn''t place these people on his eyes at all!


    Rather than retreating, Allen charged forward towards the enemies, and a bloodbath ensued in that particular location.


    ...


    "No... please, don''t kill me! I have a family to feed!", a smuggler was on the ground and was being cornered to one of the carts by Allen.


    Nevertheless, Allen ignored the plea of mercy and unhesitatingly used (Dagger Flash) to end the smuggler''s life. Most slaves were either kidnapped or were forced to become one due to lack of money, but they don''t know that becoming a slave was worse than dying.


    After the short battle, Allen was the only one left outside, there were corpses everywhere and several decapitated bodies that would make one feel a chill on their necks. In the first place, he didn''t want to slaughter all of them, now that he did so, he figured that it''s better to save the slaves now.


    Allen then wore a white mask on the lower part of his face and searched the carts and carriages.


    After searching everywhere in the caravan, he stumbled upon a large cart full of people. The people inside it wore worn out clothes, some didn''t have clothes on their upper bodies, of course those ones were only men as they most likely gave their clothes to the women.


    There weren''t just grown-ups, there were children younger than teenagers.


    Most of the people, specially the women were frightened when they saw Allen, but the latter immediately said with an indifferent voice, "I''m not going to hurt you. You''re free."


    However, the people didn''t say anything. Allen entered the cart and crouched towards the people. When he got into the middle of them. He saw somebody familiar.


    -whoosh-


    Suddenly one of the people took out a dagger and stabbed it towards Allen. To prevent the same mistake of not surveying the surroundings, Allen has always been activating (Energy External Sense) that he learned from Melissa when he entered the cart, and sensed that there was a dagger on the man''s sleeves.


    He swiftly dodge to the side and avoided the dagger, he then grabbed the man''s arm where the dagger was and broke it with his elbow.


    "Ahhh...", the man shouted in pain, but his neck was suddenly firmly held tight by Allen, preventing him to shout even louder.


    He immediately brought the man out, and killed him. He couldn''t let the children see it, or else they would be scared of him even more.


    After killing the man, he went back to the cart and comforted everyone, "It''s alright now."


    The people inside the cart heaved sighs of relief. They didn''t dare do anything rash earlier because of the man with the dagger was beside the children.


    "Before coming out, cover the eyes of the children.", Allen added.


    The grown-ups and some of the older minors followed what Allen ordered and went out of the cart; there, they all saw corpses everywhere on the ground, specially at the back of the caravan.


    They widened their eyes and covered the eyes of the children more tightly.


    "There are clothes there. You can also bring that cart full of food for your supplies.", Allen pointed to two carts.


    "Excuse me, sir. We don''t know where to go, can you show us the way to the nearest city?", one of the man said.


    "Follow this road, it''ll lead you towards Eastern Horizon City. When you get to the gate, tell the guards that you were freed from a smuggler caravan and they''ll take care of you. Wear thick clothes because it''ll be very cold for you up the mountain.", Allen pointed his index finger to the direction of the mountain.


    "Thank you sir.", all of them said.


    Some of the men took a few horses from one of the carriages and connected it to the cart full of clothes and supplies. Afterwards, they started to leave while wearing new clothes.


    "You, the boy on the back.", Allen suddenly said.


    A boy behind the group of freed slaves stopped on his tracks and turned around to Allen.


    "W-what is it sir?", the boy asked nervously. He saw the numerous dead people on the ground and discerned that the man in front of him was the one who slaughtered them.


    "Stay here, let them go far away first.", Allen said.


    The boy didn''t dare disobey Allen and let the people go far away from their location.


    "W-what is it that you want, sir?", the boy nervously asked again and played with his hands to ease his unsettled feeling.


    Allen took off his mask and breathe out cold air, "Help me store the goods in the remaining carts. Your name is Edwin, right?"

 53 The Wrath of a Loli

    "Yes, but how did you know my name?", Edwin became nervous; and he became even more so when he took off his mask.


    "Who are you?" He asked with great courage. He doesn''t know what would happen next and why did the person in front of him removed his mask. He''s like a clueless kid who doesn''t know how society ran.


    "We first met a few years ago. I gave you a few bronze coins after you tried to steal from my pockets .", Allen said.


    "Umm..." Edwin dug deep into his memory. "You''re Allen?" He said as he recalled the kid that gave him ten bronze coin. However, he couldn''t match the look of the cold-looking person in front of him to the warm and friendly kid that he first encountered.


    "Good." Allen nodded. "Help me put everything I throw to you into this bag." He threw the extra enchanted satchel to Edwin.


    The boy got hold of the spatial storage and could only nod in submission.


    Allen started to raid the carts and carriages of the caravan, finding rare herbs, plants, food, weapons, even some magical and enchanted objects, though they could only be classified as trash.


    While Allen searched, Edwin put the things that the former found into the bag. One searcher, one storer. This process has been going for some time and only stopped after all of the remaining carts and carriages were checked.


    "Give me the bag.", Allen said and Edwin followed it.


    The shop owner then took out a white robe from the bag and gave it to Edwin, "Wear that, we''ll be going towards a secret passageway. Just follow what I say and go ahead of me so I could hide our tracks."


    Edwin obeyed again. After wearing the robe, the two of them set off after they freed the other horses that were left.


    ***


    It was already afternoon when the two of them returned to the shop. As soon as they entered the shop, the cold from outside was no longer felt, and Edwin sensed the addicting smell of the plants and herbs in the air inside the shop.


    The both of them took off their robes, meanwhile, Allen brought out a mask from the counter and told Edwin to wear it to prevent the addictive scent entering his nostrils.


    "Why were you with the smugglers'' caravan?", Allen sat down and replaced his eyepatch with a leather one while signaling Edwin to sit down on the chair by the door.


    "It''s because I had no choice.", Edwin shrugged.


    "What do you mean?"


    "It''s because that the whole Crescent Town is in chaos.", Edwin answered. Avoiding eye contact due to Allen''s suppressing look.


    "Why is it in chaos?", Allen asked.


    "It''s because the mayor was killed three years ago at the start of winter that time. The government still hasn''t sent a replacement for him. So, some of the merchants took the opportunity to raise up the prices of goods. The guards tried their best to arrest and suppress all of them, but it only did a little bit of help. Without the leadership of the mayor, even the new chief guard became loose and beared his fangs. It''s all a mess now.", Edwin explained and shook his head in dismay.


    "How did the mayor die?", Allen asked.


    "It wasn''t opened to all, but because my grandfather was once the chief guard, some of his fellow guards told me that he was probably tortured before he died. His eyes were plucked out of their sockets, his ribs were out of his body, and many more.", Edwin shivered as he imagined the scene. "They said his guts were almost everywhere!"


    On the other hand, Allen unconsciously touched his eyepatch and thought of Mr. Sanchez.


    ''They did that?'', Allen thought. Referring to "them".


    "Do you know a tavern named Three Heads Tavern in Crescent Town by those times?", Allen asked.


    "No.", Edwin shook his head.


    ''It seems that they were not implicated.'', Allen thought.


    "When did you leave Crescent Town?", he questioned.


    "About the start of fall, sir.", Edwin said.


    "Don''t call me sir, I''m not a noble.", Allen said.


    "Okay.", Edwin nodded. However, he suddenly lowered his head, hesitating to say something.


    Meanwhile, Allen noticed it and asked, "What is it that you want to say?"


    Hearing Allen''s question, Edwin gathered his bravery and worded out, "Can you... teach me how to fight?" A few words, yet, he began to sweat crazy and looked like he just took a bath.


    "What do you mean? Just say what you want to say.", Allen added.


    "When I saw those dead people earlier. I figured out that you are really good at fighting. Can you teach me how to fight?", Edwin''s fist curled up tightly and finished the sentence. "It''s because, I want to find out who killed my father... and kill whoever that was.


    "Do you want to get killed?" Allen suddenly interjected.


    "What?", Edwin was startled by the other''s words.


    "Do you even know who are you up against in the first place?", Allen forcefully made Edwin to look straight to him by grabbing his face.


    "No.", Edwin said. "Ow, ow, please not too tight."


    "Then you can easily die if you don''t have a single clue.", Allen replied again. His grip on Edwin''s face became tighter, almost causing the boy to shout in pain.


    "Nevermind. I''ll teach you then." Allen let go of Edwin and walked in front the door.


    "Thank you!", Edwin almost jumped in joy. The ecstasy that he was feeling right now due to his request being granted overshadowed the pain on his jaws.


    "We''ll start tomorrow.", Allen flipped the wooden tab on the door to ''opened''.


    ***


    Hours passed...


    It was already getting dark when James returned to shop after touring Anna. As soon as the kid returned, he noticed Edwin who was sitting beside the door.


    "Mr. Morgan!", James called out.


    Allen showed himself to James, the former was behind the shelves checking some plants.


    "Who''s this beggar here, sir? Should I kick him out?", James asked. The boy was still wearing his worn out clothes, it''s no wonder he was suspected as a beggar by the kid.


    The corners of Edwin''s mouth twitched as he thought, ''This kid''s mouth is untamed.''


    "No, and where''s Anna, didn''t you tour her around the city?", Allen asked.


    "Well, she said she would just rest inside an inn instead so that she won''t be a burden to you.", James said.


    "I think you should go find her, somebody will get into trouble if she stays out." Allen said.


    "Alright sir! You won''t worry about her when I look for her! She won''t get into trouble!", James saluted, as he was about to go out, he suddenly heard Allen''s voice again.


    "No, I''m not worried, neither did I say she''ll get into trouble. I mean is that there are those people out there who have weird preferences will get into trouble.", Allen corrected.


    James didn''t understand what kind of people are those ''weird people'' Allen mentioned.


    "Actually, don''t go look for her. It''ll just serve as a warning for those immoral men.", Allen paused and added. "You can go home now."


    "Alright, sir!", James left the shop and walked towards the direction of his family''s house.


    ***


    At another location in the city.


    Anna entered a tavern to dodge the cold outside, actually it wasn''t just a tavern but also an inn. She approached the counter and asked, "Is there a free room for tonight?"


    "Yes, there is at the second floor. 40 crown bronze coins for one night.", the man on the counter said.


    "Alright.", Anna gave the said amount of money and inwardly complained, ''How expensive, but once those two gold mines that the government found will become fully operational, it''ll become cheaper, just like what those old men from the Alchem Town said.''


    "Oh, can I have roasted chicken legs too, and some soup?", Anna asked.


    "That''ll be another 20 crown bronze coins.", the man said.


    "Here.", Anna handed out money again. Afterwards, the man on the counter gave a room key to the girl and a number plaque for the order. She found a seat somewhere at the corner of the tavern and waited for her order.


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    However, not even a long time has passed and a man with a stocky build approached her. Anna''s eyes were closed at that time because she was circulating her mana throughout the body to fight against the mana that became chaotic within her body, ''I hope that pill would finish faster.''


    "Oh?", she sensed that somebody was coming for her and saw the man with the stocky build. The man didn''t hesitate to look towards Anna, but she felt that there was something weird with his gaze.


    "What do you want?", Anna asked, but the man didn''t answer and kept looking at her.


    The girl sighed and grabbed the man''s hands like a romantic person... and dragged him to the floor with a loud thud. The commotion attracted everybody inside the tavern and looked over towards Anna and the man.


    The girl kept walking while dragging the man on the floor. The man tried to resist but couldn''t do so. Even though magicians had weak bodies, it wasn''t really weak comparing to normal people, it was only considered weak if compared to the non-magicians with the same strength as adepts!


    When one reached Adept realm, their bodies would strengthen and become a bit more powerful than most buffed normal humans due to the body absorbing excess mana; and that''s also the reason why when she reached Adept, chaotic mana appeared in her body, and that was the waste of the body after its strengthening!


    Even though she was just a new adept, and a young one at that, it wasn''t still suppose to be underestimated.


    "Erm... ma''am here''s what you ordered.", a waiter placed the dishes that Anna ordered on the table.


    "Oh? Guard it for a few minutes, I need to take this man somewhere.", Anna said.


    "W-where are you taking me?", the man asked with a frightened tone while still being dragged. He tried to resist, but couldn''t even do so! It was extremely humiliating for such a thing to happen to him; in fact, he felt he should hide his face under a mask for his whole life after this chastening occurrence.


    "To the guards, Mr. Pedo.", Anna answered while hitting the man''s head with her staff and fiercely dragged the man towards the door.


    "Help!", when they reached the door, the man got hold of the door beam, however, after a few moments he was still dragged away.


    The scene that just happened stupefied the people inside the tavern, specially to those who were like the man. Those kind of people thought at the same time, ''Am I dreaming? Is this era finally changing?''


    ***


    Several minutes later, Anna dragged the man towards a dead end of a dark alley.


    "Hey wait, weren''t you going to take me to the guards?!", the man frantically asked as he was thrown to the wall of the alley.


    "No, the guards will come for you instead... after you''re cooked.", Anna''s eyes suddenly became like two fireballs and her staff was suddenly lit on fire, melting the snow around her.

 54 A New Way of Dying?

    Inside Michael''s villa at the Eastern Horizon City...


    Michael was going back and forth inside his room. His trusted subordinate, No. 1, hasn''t come back yet since last night. He was worried for many hours now, thinking in his mind, ''Am I exposed? Who is that Mr. Morgan? Where did he come from?! Did he already know that I''m causing trouble?!''


    "Sir!", the lady butler suddenly opened the door, which frightened Michael greatly.


    "Holy mama! Please knock next time. You almost gave me a heart attack.", Michael scolded the woman. The latter apologized immediately afterwards.


    "So, any traces of No. 1?", Michael asked. He has tasked some of his subordinates to find where No. 1 had gone to.


    "Nothing sir.", the lady butler shook her head in rejection.


    "Damn it! Clear every record or anything inside our group that connects us towards No. 1, immediately!", Michael instructed. He was a cautious man, he won''t let himself get linked to his subordinates if they were caught.


    "Yes sir.", as the lady butler was about to close the door, she was called by Michael again, "And please, do tell No. 2 to at least find No. 1''s corpse."


    "Will do, sir.", the lady butler left at once.


    Michael sighed, he sat down on his chair and rubbed his temples in distress. A lot of trouble befell on him when that shop came!


    ''What is this, is that some sort of a cliche mysterious shop that came from a novel?!'', Michael frantically thought. If it didn''t reach this far, he would''ve never tasked No. 2 to do something, because that guy has a bit of a problem with his age priorities.


    Several minutes later...


    Michael was blowing a hot tea to lower it''s temperature. He needed to relax for a moment, and drinking tea was one of the ways of how he could relax.


    A knock could then be heard on the door.


    "Enter.", Michael drank some tea.


    The lady butler entered in a hurry and said, "Sir, there''s no sign of No. 2."


    Michael almost spitted out the tea he was drinking when he heard the sentence, "Oh, still hot, hot, hot!" He fanned his mouth with his hand.


    "What do you mean, there''s no sign?!", Michael asked with a slight crazy tone.


    "Sir, actually we have traced to where No. 2''s last location was, and it was in a tavern. Witnesses said that he was dragged away outside the shop.", the lady butler said.


    "The guards have caught him?! Immediately erase everything concerning him about us!", Michael said.


    "No sir, he wasn''t caught by the guards, he was dragged out by a little girl.", the lady butler said.


    "Are you sure with what you just said?", Michael asked.


    "Yes sir, I''m 100% sure, our men guaranteed it.", the lady butler nodded.


    "Proceed with erasing No. 2''s records from our group.", Michael said.


    "Alright sir.", the lady butler exited the room.


    "What is happening?!", Michael hissed and started to sip some tea.


    ...


    "Sir!", the lady butler entered the room again.


    This time, Michael really spit out the tea he was drinking, "What is it?!"


    "I got a news that our subordinates found No. 2''s corpse.", the lady butler said.


    "Huh, what!", Michael blurted out.


    "They said that... *gulps*... erm... No. 2 was burned alive, and it looks like he was also burned alive from the inside too.", the lady butler slowly said.


    Veins started to appear on Michael''s head due to worry, fear and panic after he heard the other''s sentence. Afterwards, he fainted and fell from his chair and he hit the ground with a thud.


    "Sir!"


    ***


    Next morning, a few minutes before the sun rises...


    This time, because Edwin would be temporarily living inside the shop, Allen let him sleep on his bed while the he slept on the counter at the first floor.


    Allen entered the balcony through the living room, he was carrying a tea made from the herbs that he was selling in his shop. The snowfall has temporarily stopped and he took the chance to drink the tea while relaxing on the balcony.


    He sat down on the chair and blew the tea to decrease it''s temperature. He was trying to remember what he has been frequently dreaming about. Even though the man that was killing him in his dreams has died long ago, he could still remember the same exact scene of what transpired.


    ''Is it over?'', Allen drank his tea. Although yesterday, he didn''t obtain such any dreams.


    At the same time, Edwin walked out of the bedroom and saw Allen. The latter noticed the former and said, "You''re already awake."


    "I can''t sleep due to excitement.", Edwin said with an itching tone.


    "Let''s wait for my employee. He''ll be taking care of this shop when we''re gone.", Allen said.


    After a pause, he added, "Go get yourself a bath. Wear the clothes I left for you in the living room."


    "Mhm.", Edwin nodded and left.


    ***


    Edwin walked out towards the balcony again, this time he was wearing a new set of clothes, which comprised of a white long-sleeves shirt, a pants with a belt, and leather boots.


    When he entered the balcony, he didn''t see Allen on the chair anymore, he walked downstairs and saw that he was sweeping the floor.


    Allen noticed Edwin and said, "Go to the bedroom first, there''s something I need to give you."


    Edwin nodded and walked back to the bedroom. A few minutes of waiting, Allen walked inside the bedroom and pulled out a box from under the bed.


    Allen lifted up the cover of the box, and Edwin saw numerous daggers of different kinds of sizes and materials made from. The boy was stunned by the sheer number of weapons.


    "I got this when I raided a smugglers caravan.", Allen explained. "Pick a dagger of your liking, remember, the weight, the length, and the handle of the dagger must suit you so you can perform your best. Remember, it must not be too light nor too heavy, not too long and not too short."


    Edwin started to examine the daggers, at first he was surprised by the heaviness of some of the said weapons. He directly skipped the daggers that were too long and too short for him.


    He already tested most of the daggers until he stopped by one particular pair of daggers. The daggers were made from some sort of black steel. Edwin felt that it wasn''t too light nor too heavy, and it''s length was just about right, the softness and hardness of the handle was balanced.


    "I want this.", Edwin said. The dagger that Edwin picked came with a pair.


    "You want to become a double wielder?", Allen asked.


    "Yes!", Edwin nodded.


    "If it''s your choice, then alright.", Allen hid back the box of the daggers under the bed and Edwin placed the daggers on his belt, where there were two specific leather pouches attached to it on each of its sides for the daggers.


    Allen walked downstairs first and looked around, but didn''t see James yet, "Where is that kid?"


    At the same time, Anna entered the shop and saw Allen, "Hello, Alchemist Morgan."


    "Hello.", Allen greeted back.


    "Alchemist Morgan, I''ve been meaning to tell you about what happened to James yesterday during the tour.", Anna said.


    "What is it then?", Allen asked.


    "When we got to the Retollian Church, I wanted to go inside there and James followed me, but when we got closer to the church, he suddenly felt dizzy and almost collapsed to the ground.", Anna said.


    Allen kept quiet at first and asked, "Is that what you wanted to tell me?"


    "Yes, I just wanted to tell you it, because I feel like there''s something wrong with him.", Anna said.


    "Don''t tell to anybody about what happened, nor mention this topic ever again.", Allen said.


    "Alright.", Anna nodded in agreement. Inwardly, there was a tinge of doubt that Allen knew something else.


    "And oh, Alchemist Morgan, do you know a merchant by the name of Michael?", Anna asked.


    Allen nodded in response, ''Isn''t that the person who tried to investigate my background?'' He knew that Michael tried to investigate his background, which Allen didn''t let him do so, though he still didn''t act against him because he was just a powerless human.


    "I got a news that he died last night?", Anna said.


    "Died? How did he die?", Allen asked.


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    "They said that he died because of too much mental stress he accumulated. They said he got all of that stress only in one night." Anna said, "It sounded ridiculous tho."


    Allen only answered an "oh", he already heard about those cases of dying due to stress in Alchem Town. There were some alchemists perishing because of either failing a very long experiment, or their brain couldn''t take the pressure any longer.


    ***


    "Why is your face so sour today?", Ivan asked.


    "No, nothing, I just ate something sour today.", James answered.


    "Is that what you call an excuse? Come on, we''ve been friends before our ages became double digits.", Ivan urged. "I know that you''re hiding something, tell me, don''t worry I won''t tell anyone!"


    "No!", James immediately disagreed.


    "Okay, if you don''t want to, it''s alright. Though have you heard about Carla accidentally falling into the sewers?", Ivan asked.


    "That rich girl fell into the sewers? What happened next?", James'' interest was piqued.


    "Because of what happened, she asked her father to seal the hole at once, and even sealing some of the holes near their villa.", Ivan laughed.


    "Rich people.", James laughed in response.


    "Yeah.", Ivan smiled.


    While laughing, James inwardly said, ''I hope you''ll never know about it. Maybe you''ll leave me and Mr. Morgan if the both of you find out about it.''

 55 Monarch Stone Patch

    "Good morning Mr. Morgan!", James entered the shop with Ivan. Both of the kids saw Allen reading the encyclopedia on the counter and Anna sitting by the door.


    "Err... hello?", Ivan greeted Anna.


    "Hello.", Anna replied back with a calm tone.


    "Wear your mask.", Allen threw a mask to James. The latter caught hold of it and wore it immediately.


    "Well, I''m going now, bye everyone. Bye James!", Ivan left the shop at once.


    "You''re late, kid.", Allen separated his sight from the book and gazed at James.


    "I''m sorry mister, I woke up a bit late today.", James scratched the back of his head and could only smile due to shame. He just broke a common rule of work ethics: Never be late for work.


    "I''ll deduct your salary for that.", Allen straightforwardly stated while looking away from him.


    "Hais, alright.", James made a sad sigh. ''What a ruthless shop owner.''


    "I''ll be leaving with somebody, I won''t come back until an hour or so before closing time. You and Anna would be managing the shop, alright?", Allen said.


    "En!", James and Anna both nodded in response. They didn''t ask for more information as it wasn''t needed.


    "Edwin, come on down now, we''re leaving!", Allen called out. The boy immediately came down. Afterwards, Allen pulled out two white robes from his satchel and passed one onto Edwin.


    They both wore the white robes and left the tavern.


    Seeing that Allen has left with Edwin, Anna suddenly got an idea and looked at James, "Want to do something fun, James?"


    "If it involves leaving the shop or entering other rooms in the building or destroying anything, no thank you!", James said.


    "Of course not! Do you want to know about it?", Anna asked while tapping her staff with her fingers.


    "Umm... alright then!", James nodded. Well, it was indeed a bit boring to just read the encyclopedia for most of the day, specially now that there weren''t many customers this winter.


    "Good, let''s go to the plant at that corner.", Anna pointed towards a small sprout on a pot by the corner of the shop.


    ***


    Several minutes later, both Allen and Edwin has reached the bottom of the mountain. At a normal human speed, such a feat was impossible, however, Allen helped the boy on going down towards the mountain to save time.


    "Where are we going, Allen?", Edwin asked.


    "Near the Monarch Forest. Do you know where is that, kid?", Allen asked.


    "I think is that forest I saw from afar.", Edwin guessed.


    "Maybe, now your first training session would be going towards the north side of Monarch Forest and arriving by noon... alone.", Allen said while handing a map over to Edwin. "Try to avoid the road, as the destroyed caravan might have already been found by the patrolling guards. So expect checkpoints there."


    "Wait, I''m going there alone?", Edwin asked.


    "Yes, and watch out for some monsters along the way.", Allen added.


    Before Edwin could say anything else, Allen was suddenly tens of meters away from his former position, and slowly disappeared from the boy''s sight.


    "There are monsters here?", Edwin muttered. He suddenly remembered why the smugglers'' caravan has so many guards and mercenaries that were surrounding it, he concluded that it''s because of the potential monster attacks. Though of course, it was also due to Allen.


    However, Edwin furthermore tightened his resolve and marched forward. At the same time, the snowfall has started once again.


    ...


    After a few minutes later, the winds became a bit stronger, signaling that it wasn''t a simple snowfall anymore, but a blizzard!


    "Damn it!", Edwin cursed. He was going against the strong wind, if it gets any stronger he might not be able to continue walking due to the danger of the landscape of potentially stepping on a deep hole. Luckily, the robe mostly protected him from the cold and ensured that he won''t freeze to death.


    At some point of time, he suddenly felt that the wind noticeably got weaker, but he didn''t know that it was due to the effect of the robes, which also strengthened his body overtime. Afterwards, he wasn''t even affected by the wind anymore.


    He started jogging on the way to reduce the time needed to arrive at the Monarch Forest, he didn''t stop until he saw numerous boulders and stones on the land in front of him. The boy took out the map and saw that the boulders he was seeing was part of a location called "Monarch Stone Patch" based on the map.


    He also looked at the Monarch Forest on the map, which was somewhere south-southeast from his position. After which, he didn''t hesitate to enter the patch.


    Edwin navigated his way through the stone patch. He saw some boulders with different kinds of shapes and sizes that looked like statues of some sort, there were also some precious gems stuck on them, he wanted to pluck them out but refused that notion as it would take a lot of time, so he only continued his journey.


    Several minutes later, now, he felt that he was near the middle of stone patch. He kept looking around in awe as he saw different kinds of valuable metals and gems on the boulders. He was almost tempted to pluck out one, but he still didn''t do so in the end.


    Edwin closed his eyes and muttered, "I just want to train to become stronger... and find out who killed my father... and kill him! This is just a waste of time." He walked away from the precious metals and gems and muttered, "But why is there still a lot of valuable metals and gems, when this location is near the main road?"


    He suddenly stopped walking, and saw a boulder with some sort of strange markings. He approached it and tried to recognize what it was, but he wasn''t educated in the first place, so he ignored it and went around the boulder.


    When Edwin was in the exact opposite side of the boulder, he felt like that he stepped onto something, he looked down and saw that it was a skull!


    Surprised and frightened at the same time, he kicked it away from his feet at once.


    He immediately went away from the boulder, however, after doing so, he unconsciously looked back behind him, and saw a headless skeleton just around the corner from where he came from! That''s not all, he also noticed scratch marks on the stone exactly where the headless skeleton was, and a rusty sword near it''s location.


    His intuition told him that there was something wrong in the stone patch, which also corresponded with the questions within his mind like: Why were those expensive metals and gems not yet taken away from here? Why was there some sort of strange markings on the boulder? Why was the main road not built on this place, when it could directly lead towards Horizon Mountain, but why was it instead curved around it?


    As he was about to run away, a howl echoed out. Edwin''s scalp turned numb and hid behind another boulder immediately. He took a peek from where the howl came from, and saw a white wolf with very thick fur, a pair of fangs growing out of it''s mouth and it''s exceptionally white pupils! He has never seen this kind of monster before. Actually, he has never really seen a monster yet.


    If Allen was here, he would''ve recognized that it was a Winter Wolf! The strength of the said wolf was almost twice that of a Bloodthirsty Wolf from the Crescent Town Woods. However, the Winter Wolves were almost extinct due to myriad of reasons, and they only go out of their dens during winter while they hibernate during the other seasons.


    The Winter Wolf was also larger than a normal humans, which greatly intimidated Edwin.


    The Winter Wolf suddenly looked towards Edwin''s position, either apparently sensing his gaze or noticing his smell. It walked slowly towards the human. The boy immediately tried not to avert his gaze away from the wolf, as the monster might take it as a sign of weakness.


    However, the boy underestimated the Winter Wolf. Unlike the Bloodthirsty Wolves, who focuses more on their strength than it''s sense and brain, the Winter Wolves both had wisdom and strength! Not just a bit of wisdom like a Stone Boar, but true wisdom!


    Seeing the boy''s gaze, the Winter Wolf stopped for a moment and gave a curious glare at Edwin. The latter was stunned by the show of wisdom of the creature, he started sweating profusely due to nervousness and unconsciously backed off.


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    When the wolf saw Edwin backing off, it pounced over to the boy. However, rather than hitting the boy, the wolf skipped over him and landed behind him.


    Edwin was caught off guard yet again as he fell to the ground, he backed away from the wolf in panic, but the wolf slowly approached him, until the boy felt that his back was already touching the boulder!


    He tried to take hold of his daggers through the holes on his robes, but the wolf suddenly unleashed a breath and ice formed on the boy''s hands, rendering him from taking out his weapons! Not only did the wolf had wisdom, but also intelligence to cast a spell! Yes, it wasn''t just any ordinary breath, but was an ice spell!


    The boy''s face paled as he saw what was happened. Now, the wolf was less than a meter away from him. He could already feel the monster breathing upon him!


    The wolf looked closely at Edwin, however, rather than getting killed and eaten, which the latter expected, the wolf suddenly sniffed the white robes he was wearing!


    "Do you know somebody by the surname of Morgan? You better not be lying, my eyes could see through lies.", the wolf suddenly spoke, further proving it''s high wisdom.


    "Yes, I do.", Edwin answered without even taking into accord how the wolf could talk. He already knew that Allen''s surname was Morgan when he heard James'' loud greeting earlier in the shop.


    Hearing the boy''s answer and seeing that he wasn''t lying, the Winter Wolf further asked, "What is he to you?"


    "M-my teacher.", Edwin stuttered.


    "Your teacher?", the wolf asked again.


    "Yes...", Edwin nodded at once.


    Suddenly, the monster opened his mouth wide. Edwin immediately closed his eyes and prepared for the worst.


    -pew- -pew-


    Two chunks of ice shot of out the wolf''s wide mouth towards Edwin. The latter was forced to open his eyes due to getting hit by the chunks of ice.


    Edwin closely inspected one of the chunks of ice on his lap, there, he saw a lotus which also looked like a crown inside of it!


    The wolf closed it''s mouth full of pearly white teeth and said, "I have found these two Blizzard Crown Lotus during my hunt last night in the Monarch Forest. They''re valuable, but not for me. Take those to your teacher, I''m sure he will find a way on how to use them."


    At the same time, the wolf destroyed the ice on both of Edwin''s hands with a flick of it''s claws. Afterwards, it walked away, getting a bit of distance away from the boy, as if the wolf remembered something, it turned around towards him and said, "And also, please tell Alchemist Morgan my thanks for curing my whole pack. Those two Blizzard Crown Lotus aren''t enough yet to repay him. He didn''t want anything in return, so do give it to him."


    "I-I will.", Edwin was still frightened by what was happening.


    Hearing the boy''s reply, the Winter Wolf suddenly started to sprint away, Edwin could only process what just happened when the monster was already a white blur from far away.

 56 Organ Restoring Potion

    Noon...


    "Huff... huff... huff...", The already exhausted Edwin wheezed as he arrived atop an elevated ground. From where he was standing, he could see the Monarch Forest and Allen''s figure from afar.


    The boy didn''t waste more time and rushed to the shop owner. As soon as was near Allen, Edwin knees fell to the ground due to exhaustion.


    "I didn''t expect for you to arrive here by noon.", Allen approached Edwin and checked on his condition. "No broken bones, no frozen internal organ, overall strength and agility increased, and it looks like your constitution improved a bit."


    Edwin sat up with great difficulty and took out two objects from his robes, "I met a white wolf earlier, he said that I should give these two flowers to you. He also said thank you for curing his pack."


    Allen took hold of the Blizzard Crown Lotuses inside the ice cubes and examined them, "Coincidentally, I needed these lotuses."


    ''Looks like I don''t have to venture inside the Monarch Forest after all.'', Allen thought.


    "You did good, rest up.", Allen commented. Travelling from Horizon Mountain to Monarch Forest was difficult and exhausting for somebody like Edwin. Even if the robes that the boy was wearing helped it strengthened his resistance and body during the arduous strong wind, it didn''t increase the boy''s overall stamina.


    "So, what am I going to do next?", Edwin asked.


    "Travelling back from here to the bottom of Horizon Mountain.", Allen replied back.


    "W-what?!", Edwin almost fainted when he heard the sentence. "I thought you''re going to teach me how to fight?"


    "Not now, your body is too weak.", Allen said. The boy couldn''t refute the shop owner''s words and he only stayed quiet.


    After an hour of resting, Allen said goodbye to Edwin and sprinted off far away from the latter''s eyes in a blink of an eye.


    Edwin breathe in deeply and looked towards the somewhere north-northwest, where the Horizon Mountain was from his position. He gritted his teeth and started to travel once again.


    When he left, he still hasn''t noticed that there were eyes watching his back from the forest.


    ...


    Time passed and Edwin returned to the base of the Horizon Mountain. As it was almost closing time, Allen carried Edwin up on his back up the mountain and rushed towards a secret tunnel which lead towards an alley inside the city.


    When the both of them returned to the shop, Edwin was already walking on his own. Allen looked for James at the counter but didn''t see him, then he heard the sound chuckling and looked towards the direction from where it came from.


    At the corner of the shop, both Anna and James were playing with a small sprout on a pot. The girl was carrying a stick that she secretly lit on fire through her magic while the other kid was looking away from her.


    Of course, the little sprout was none other than Little Salad.


    Hearing the shop door clicking when it closed. Both the two kids looked over at Allen and Edwin.


    "Mr. Morgan, you''re back!", James approached the counter.


    "Hello Alchemist Morgan!", Anna smiled innocently.


    On the other hand, the Little Salad suddenly waved towards Allen and became red for a moment but returned back to its original color. It was obvious that it was feeling wronged for being played by the two children. Inwardly, it wanted to tear them, but it feared that Allen might really make a salad out of it.


    "James, you can go home now. And it''s closing time, you should also leave, Anna.", Allen said.


    "En!", both of the kids nodded and left the shop and they both went to different directions.


    "You will go towards the north side of Monarch Forest and back here everyday until next week. That''ll be the first session of your training.", Allen said to Edwin.


    After a pause, Allen added, "You can sleep in my bedroom again, I''m going to do something in the basement. Do not disturb me, understand?"


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    "Okay mister...", before Edwin could finish hid sentence, Allen interjected, "Don''t call me mister, I''m only maybe a few years older than you are. Just calling me ''Allen'' is enough, I already told you this."


    "Alright, Allen.", Edwin walked upstairs, while Allen went straight to the basement.


    ''He is so cool.'' A joyful smile cracked up on his face as he inwardly said those words.


    ...


    "Blizzard Crown Lotus, a flower that is dangerous when used as a weapon from those practitioners from the republic from the east. But is also a great remedy for injuries due to it''s extremely cold yet refreshing properties.", Allen muttered.


    He placed both of the lotuses in ice cubes on top of a table and took out the leather bound book full of drawings and informations about alchemical products and things related to alchemy. He turned its page to where the Organ Restoring Potion was.


    He ignited the fire from under the glass containers used for Liquid Alchemy and readied all the ingredients for creating the Organ Restoring Potion. He stored one of the Blizzard Crown Lotuses inside his satchel, kept the other one outside, took out a dagger, and started breaking apart the ice cube where the lotus was.


    As soon as the ice cube broke, Allen took out a pillow from his satchel and placed the lotus flower on it. When the lotus flower touched the pillow, ice started to slowly spread on its surface, proving the coldness and magical properties of the flower.


    He wore gloves specially made for handling alchemical constituents, and approached a particular glass container where most of the ingredients would be put in.


    The water inside the glass containers started to boil. Afterwards, Allen decreased the strength of the fire, and took out a clean knife and a whetstone. He sharpened the knife with the whetstone and started removing the skin of the ginseng, when the said action was done, Allen then minced the ginseng and some of the other ingredients.


    After which, he took hold of a covered glass of bottle with some sort of liquid.


    "A glass of Mana Parasol Dew, came from the Mana Parasol Tree. It could strengthen one''s spell or body, and could also slightly purify the mana in one''s body and slightly increase the storage of the energy inside the body.", Allen muttered.


    What''s the difference between mana, energy of the body, and stamina?


    The mana''s a type of energy that''s ever present in the air. It also has a purity level, the purer the mana one could refine within their body, the more powerful their spells would be. Of course, only magicians or people that could control it could make use of it.


    The energy of the body or internal energy[1], came from the body itself. It wasn''t needed to be purified, because the said energy that the body would produce would be already perfect for the constitution of the body of the practitioner.


    One could produce pills that could replenish internal energy; although in clarification, the way the pills work weren''t supplying the said energy, but temporarily boost the creation of the internal energy of the body, hence replenishing it.


    As for stamina, it''s as it was. However, when internal energy was depleted, the body would be exhausted. For example, to Allen''s case, if his internal energy was depleted due to using the Erchian Dagger, he nearly won''t be able to move anymore due to exhaustion.


    Plus, stamina [or endurance], it''s still a separate type of physical or mental strength [energy] that nearly all living beings possesses.


    If one was an internal energy practitioner, they would still be fatigued even if they weren''t using the said energy. Why? It''s because, again, stamina is a separate type of bodily strength.


    In addition, mana practitioners also had stamina; however, they won''t be a potato when they deplete themselves of their mana, unlike their counterparts.


    All in all, mana and internal energy had their pros and cons. The former was mostly available anytime and anywhere, but the power or spells also depended on the purity of the mana, respectively; as for the latter, it was already perfect for the body, hence it has a stronger output of power than mana, however, they would be reliant to the said energy, once they depleted it, they could be considered as a dead chicken by then if they were currently battling.


    He poured one drop of Mana Parasol Dew to the first glass container through a small hole on the top. When the drop mixed with the boiling water, the white smoke that the first container suddenly became fragrant, then the water became a bit cleaner and purer, which also happened to the next connected glass container and to the next until to the last one.


    The Mana Parasol Dew acted as the water purifier at this case.


    Then Allen put all the ingredients except for the Blizzard Crown Lotus in a sequence inside one of the connected unique glass container.


    Afterwards, he sliced off the lotus flower itself from it''s stem and hurriedly put it inside the same glass container.


    Allen removed his gloves, with both of his palm areas almost covered in ice due to touching the flower alone. He looked at the stem and thought of a way to dispose of it.


    Then he suddenly looked to the direction where Little Salad was.


    ...


    Few minutes later, Allen returned back to the basement and looked at the last glass container, where the finish product would be.


    After several minutes, he turned off the fires under the glass containers, signaling that the product was fully created.


    Unlike the Adept Mana Stabilizing Pill, the Organ Restoring Potion was much faster when it came to duration of how long will the concoction be finished. One could shorten the time needed, but rare herbs, treasures, and a large amount of internal energy would be needed, which Allen has, however, he won''t use it to the said pill, because he and Anna were just faintly ''service traders''.


    The last small glass container that Allen was now holding was halfway filled of violet liquid, which was the Organ Restoring Potion.


    Allen took off his eyepatch and placed back the seemingly cool Organ Restoring Potion on the table.


    He equipped his normal dagger. Then he stabbed it towards his faded right eye.


    It wasn''t just any stab tho, his intention was to remove his eye directly from his skull!


    -pshew-


    After removing his right eye, he immediately poured a drop of Organ Restoring Potion on his right eye.


    In a matter of seconds the eye grew back, but it wasn''t just due to the Organ Restoring Potion, because Allen also learned how to regenerate from the Erchian Dagger.


    He already tried this method of stabbing out his eye a long time ago and heal it back, however, Reptile''s Condemnation was too powerful, and so, that eye stayed blind for many years.


    The Organ Restoring Potion wasn''t only for washing away poison from organs, but could also heal and regenerate them too.


    Allen planned with help of the said potion, his eyes would go back to normal the way before it was!


    When the eye fully grew back, Allen closed his left eye, and found out that the potion worked! His right eye has been healed!


    "It worked?", Allen muttered. However, his vision on his right eye slowly became darker and darker, until he couldn''t see anything!


    He opened back his left eye and took out a glass from his satchel, and saw that the pupil of his right eye slowly became gray!


    ***


    Just after the sun has set...


    At the Obreim Residence...


    James arrived back home and saw Melanie and Albert were already at the dining table, preparing to eat dinner.


    "You''re finally back? Go replace you clothes and eat dinner.", Melanie said.


    "Alright, mom.", James immediately went upstairs.


    "About the 15 crown bronze coins we talked about?", Albert suddenly asked Melanie.


    Melanie searched for the said amount of money inside her pockets but couldn''t feel anything.


    "My bad, I forgot. I''ll be right back, I''m going to get it.", Melanie went upstairs towards their bedroom and took out 15 crown bronze coins from a locked drawer and placed it in her pockets.


    As she was about to leave the room, she suddenly looked towards under the bed and pulled out a box from underneath it. He opened the box, which was filled of sewed clothes for a baby girl.


    She smiled and warmly hugged it, and placed it back under the bed. Then she went back downstairs.

 57 A Week Passing By

    Dawn, the next day...


    Edwin walked downstairs. He was already wearing the white robes given to him by Allen.


    The boy then saw Allen, who was still wearing his leather eyepatch, while reading a leather bound book.


    Allen looked towards Edwin and said, "You''re early."


    "I couldn''t sleep properly.", Edwin rubbed his arm.


    "Then you should, for that body of yours, sleep is still a very important thing.", Allen replied and returned his sight back towards the book.


    After a while, Edwin kept standing beside the bottom of the stairs which Allen noticed, "Aren''t you going to go now?"


    "What? You''re not going to go with me?", Edwin was caught off guard.


    "No, it''s to exercise your independence. I am sure the route from Horizon Mountain to the north of Monarch Forest isn''t that dangerous, but you should avoid Monarch Stone Patch, even if the Winter Wolf there is my friend, his wolf pack wouldn''t be that welcoming to outsiders.", Allen said.


    "I got it.", Edwin nodded.


    As Edwin was about to go out of the door, Allen said without bothering a glance, "Take care."


    Edwin smiled and said, "I will, good luck to whatever you are doing." Afterwards, he exited the shop.


    After repeatedly reading and changing pages, he saw a page about Reptile''s Condemnation. The said concoction was also a product of Liquid Alchemy that could be categorized as a poison, so it wouldn''t be weird that it''s included.


    "I think it isn''t Reptile''s Condemnation.", Allen kept changing the page of the book as he kept reading, until he saw another particular product of Liquid Alchemy.


    "Dragon''s Condemnation?", Allen read the name of the alchemical product and it''s information.


    [Dragon''s Condemnation


    Made solely from a poisonous dragon''s saliva, a Supreme Viper''s poison, and seeds from a Dragonblood Fruit.


    A wound smeared by the this concoction would still heal, but only through the help of very powerful healing potions.


    However, it would leave an aftereffect towards the part of the body where it was used.


    Cures for this type of concoction is basically non-existent.]


    Reptile''s Condemnation was made from a minor dragon''s saliva, and an ancient viper''s poison mixed with water.


    However, the ingredients for Dragon''s Condemnation was even more superior with the addition of Dragonblood Fruit; plus, although could be healed with the help of very powerful potions, but its side effect won''t be easily mended, specially that as stated on the book cures for the Dragon''s Condemnation doesn''t even exist.


    In addition, Reptile''s Condemnation and Dragon''s Condemnation both looked like clear water, so Allen conjectured that those people from that secret organization mistaken it for the former.


    However, he also questioned his conclusion because Dragon''s Condemnation was extremely rare and super expensive, just the ingredients used were so rare, so the organization ought to have a very distinct label so it won''t get mixed up with the other potions.


    For example, a dragon''s saliva. There were no more recorded dragons that were still alive until today, all of them were presumed dead after the number of their race dwindled tremendously in a short time.


    But it''s not just a dragon''s saliva but also a poisonous one!


    Supreme Vipers were already confirmed to be extinct. While Dragonblood Fruits were most likely extinct by now, because they were under the care of the dragons during their prosperous era.


    "The only way I could probably be able to heal my blindness now is to ask help from those high organizations, if it really is Dragon''s Condemnation, is most likely through the Retollian Church, the Eternal Scholars of the Supreme Library, or the forces of hell.", Allen said.


    Allen removed the possibility that the Retollian Church would help him, as they might find out that he was possessing the (Erchian Dagger), which was the weapon of a devil king.


    He also didn''t include the forces of hell, as it wasn''t worth it, the condition might be too high, and he will earn the ire of not just the church, but the majority of the forces in almost every region of the world.


    The Eternal Scholars of the Supreme Library were the only ones left, but they won''t see anybody even if it''s the king of the Trigurniburg Kingdom was visiting them, less likely Allen.


    "I guess... I couldn''t really heal this injury?", Allen asked himself. He already became an alchemist! Healing his blindness on his right eye was literally his only goal why he became an alchemist in the first place.


    "Which to choose?", Allen tried to pick from the three mentioned factions. In reality, he knew that there were more than three choices, but those three mentioned were the ones with highest chance of him obtaining the cure or even just information on how to get hold of an antidote.


    In the end, he closed the leather bound book and placed it back into his satchel. He considered that it would be better for him to think of it on another time.


    Time passed and it was already opening time.


    "Good morning, Mr. Morgan!", James walked in the shop in the same cheerful manner.


    "Good morning, Alchemist Morgan.", Anna also entered the shop, but a bit more reserved than the other kid.


    Allen only nodded in response and went outside while dragging his rocking chair.


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    As soon as Allen was outside, Anna suddenly said to James, "I think Alchemist Morgan''s in a bad mood."


    "How are you sure about that? He doesn''t even show any response on his face.", James replied back while sitting behind the counter.


    Anna only answered an ''eh'' with a shrug to James'' sentence.


    ***


    Several hours had passed and it was almost closing time now. At the same time, Edwin returned to the shop.


    "Hey, who are you, big brother? You''ve been here for some time.", James asked. He was wearing the usual mask he used during worktime, due to the scent of the plants and herbs inside the shop were addicting. On the other, Anna wasn''t wearing any mask, because with mana, she could suppress her sense of smell, which made the kid a bit curious about her.


    "My name''s Edwin, and your name must be James, right?", Edwin removed the hood of his robes and approached the kid on the counter.


    "Yes, you look like an assassin. Are you one?" Like any other child, James had a taste for curiosity.


    "Well...", before Edwin could even start his sentence, Anna suddenly coughed and glared at him.


    Seeing that glare, it was as if Edwin already knew what Anna was saying and he said to James, "Well... not really, I just pick plants for Allen."


    "Oh." With a dejected tone, James returned back to reading the encyclopedia.


    Afterwards, Edwin walked upstairs and thought, ''What a cute kid.'' He had an urge to squeeze James'' cheeks earlier.


    A few moments later, Allen walked in the shop.


    "Sir Alchemist Morgan, so how''s the prices in the marketplace going?", Anna asked. Allen went to the marketplace to check if the prices on goods had changed after the king''s decree.


    "It''s fluctuating, the move of the king is good, making the exchange of coins not too short after he found out those two gold mines. Though at first the prices will be high.", Allen said and looked at James. "So, has your family bought enough food to last until the fluctuations of prices would finish?"


    "I already told them what you said about that. I don''t know if they did, but I think that they listened.", James shrugged.


    "Mhm." Allen nodded then said, "The both of you may leave, it''s closing time."


    "Alright!" Both James and Anna exited the shop. When they were outside, the two of them greeted goodbyes to each other before separating once again.


    ...


    For one week, Edwin traveled from the Horizon Mountain to the north of Monarch Forest and back. At the same interval, James and Anna was always at the shop. The former was reading the plant encyclopedia everyday, while the latter was just relaxing around the shop, and occassionally played the sprout Little Salad with James.


    On the other hand, Little Salad doesn''t seem to mind it anymore. It was as if it got used to and it turned into a normal part of its daily life.


    Meanwhile, most of the time everyday in the whole week, Allen was in the basement reading the leather bound book.


    Dawn...


    On the balcony, Allen was still reading the leather bound book while Edwin was sitting across him. They took the chance that there was currently no snowfall and sat down at the said location.


    "So Allen, what''s the next thing that I would do?", Edwin asked. He already did the first session and thought that his body improved slightly, but he didn''t know that it upgraded by a large margin compared to what it was.


    As it was dawn, it''s bound to be bone chilling cold even if it''s not the middle of winter yet. However, Allen wasn''t wearing any thick clothes, only a plain shirt. While the clothes that Edwin was wearing was thicker, although it wasn''t as thick as what the normal populace would wear by these times.


    "Fighting.", Allen replied without looking back.


    Hearing the word, Edwin''s slightly newly awakened countenance brightened up, "When will it start?"


    "Do you want to start later?", Allen turned a page of the book.


    "Yes!", Edwin cheerfully replied.


    "There''s a pond in the middle of the forest at the east of the Horizon Mountain. The pond is called Snuffed Pond, that''s where you''ll train." Like always, Allen replied without batting an eye.

 58 Snuffed Pond

    James arrived at the shop a few minutes before daily business would start. Taking this chance, Allen opened up the shop earlier and left with Edwin while wearing the same robes.


    The both of them used the same secret passageway and walked out of a hidden tunnel by the side of the mountain.


    As it was early and the woods where the so-called Snuffed Pond was, which was just near the Horizon Mountain, Allen and Edwin took their time hiding from the eyes of the sentry posts and patrolling guards while the younger one enjoyed the snow white scenery down below.


    It was as if the day today was on their favor, because snow has temporarily stopped falling again, letting them clearly see the snow covered lands until to the end of the horizon.


    Additionally, some portions of the clouds that were preventing the sun from shining down for several days has dispersed.


    "Is this why the mountain was called Horizon?", Edwin muttered to himself.


    After sneaking pass several sentry posts and two herds of mountain goats, the both of them has finally reached the bottom. Between the two of them was a snow covered grassland.


    They both transversed through it, with Allen being on the lead. Good thing that their robes were snow white color, because even though they were away from the mountain already, some sentry posts could still monitor the grassland they were on right now.


    There was nothing to see, and their journey was uneventful. When they finally reached the nearby woods, that''s where they took off their hoods, because the sentry posts from the mountain won''t spot them anymore.


    "Are there dangerous beasts in here?", Edwin asked.


    "No, most of them will hide because of the Winter Wolves while the remaining ones will hibernate during the winter.", Allen replied.


    The two of them continued their journey, with Edwin still following Allen''s lead. Despite the fact that it''s now winter, there were still some small animals that were travelling on top of the snowy ground.


    Finally, after passing a large shrub, the both of them reached Snuffed Pond. As soon as they entered, Edwin felt that he was reenergized. As he was about to ask why did that happened, Allen already answered, "This place is bountiful of unrefined mana on the air to the point that it could affect us non-magicians. It''s basically a paradise for mana users."


    "You''re more affected by the sheer density of mana in this place than me, because you haven''t used internal energy yet.", Allen added.


    "So, you''re going to teach me how to use internal energy?", Edwin asked with a tinge of excitement.


    "Not just pure internal energy, but also mana. The reason why people who used internal energy couldn''t use mana after they became practitioners of the said energy is because they didn''t absorb mana when they finally controlled their internal energy for the first time."


    "Even before they became internal energy users, their body was already frequently producing internal energy, it''s just that they can''t sense nor control it. As I said earlier when one controls it for the first time, it becomes permanent and using mana will almost be impossible.", Allen said.


    After a pause, he added, "Try to sit down here and relax yourself."


    Edwin sat cross-legged, after which, Allen took out a little notebook from his satchel and gave it to the boy, "Read this, and you''ll know how to sense and control internal energy."


    Edwin started reading the notebook, which was full of drawings and descriptions about mana and internal energy. Everything in the book was handwritten, which made him inwardly curious and he guessed that Allen got it from somewhere very dangerous. However, it was Allen who actually wrote the contents of the book when he was at Alchem Town, with the some knowledge of his books back at this home and mostly through the books at the library in the said town.


    After completely reading it, Edwin read it again to make sure that he really comprehended every word and every drawings on the notebook. Afterwards, he closed his eyes and meditated.


    ...


    Almost an hour later, Edwin felt pain all over his body to the point that he yelled. At the same time, Allen put some pressure on the boy''s nape with his palm, also using his internal energy to soothe the pain.


    Then Edwin panted heavily due to exhaustion and laid down on the cold ground, "Is it successful?"


    "I don''t know, you can try to sense it.", Allen said.


    Edwin remembered the contents of the notebook and followed the procedures, then he sensed the energy flowing inside his body. He felt that there were two types of energy in his body, one was as if giving him a perfect sensation of himself, and the other was more mystical, as if coming from a heavenly well.


    "It''s a success, there is mana and internal energy in my body!", Edwin had a very wide smile while he told those words.


    "Good, it looks like the bountiful mana in this place helped." Allen said.


    Due to the abundance of mana in the area, Edwin didn''t need to absorb the said energy by himself and the mana itself voluntarily entered his system.


    Then Allen asked, "Now, can you separate both of those energies?"


    "I can try.", Edwin closed his eyes and felt out to the energy again. The mystical feeling earlier came from the mana, while the other one was his internal energy. After doing several steps of separating both of the energies, the boy was finally able to do it.


    "Done.", Edwin said.


    "You are fast.", Allen said. "Now then, if my guess is right, your body has strengthened again."


    Edwin nodded, "Uhh, I think it did?"


    "Now stand up."


    Edwin did what Allen said.


    "Before teaching you how to use mana and internal energy, you need to know how to fight first. Let''s do it with bare hands first." , Allen dropped off his satchel on the ground. "So that the time you start practicing with them, you''ll have some experience already."


    "Alright.", Edwin got into a fighting position, while Allen was still standing like a normal person. Their distance from each other was five arms away.


    "Go." Allen said under his breath.


    Finally, the boy charged towards Allen. As the former was about to hit the latter, Allen sidestepped without any haste and punched at the boy''s stomach.


    Edwin stumbled to his knees fell to the ground and held his stomach in pain.


    "I''m already being gentle with that punch, stand up.", Allen said.


    "Isn''t it actually better... hiss... to teach me some fighting technique first? I can''t find back against you, even if you won''t use all of your strength.", Edwin slowly stood up.


    "No, the way we fight won''t necessarily be the same. Specially that you want to wield two daggers. If you still can''t take it, then I''ll be on the defensive.", Allen said.


    After his sentence, Edwin charged again and punched out. Allen easily dodged the punch, at the same time, the boy sent out more punches, however, on the way, he suddenly lost momentum and tripped to the ground.


    "Don''t exhaust yourself, and pay attention to where you''re moving, if this was a real fight, I would have killed you for at least 75 ways already.", Allen said.


    Edwin stood up again and inwardly noted what Allen said. The former stabilized his breath and attacked again.


    Attacking, making a mistake, Allen giving tips. The said actions repeated until they rested at noon.


    "Here, it is a notebook of all basic techniques I know that uses internal energy.", Allen handed out a small notebook to Edwin.


    "Oh, thanks.", Edwin took hold of it and read the contents of the first page. "Basic Techniques of the Erchian Dagger."


    "Erchian Dagger, what''s that?", Edwin asked again.


    "It''s nothing. Go read it somewhere, I need to check something here.", Allen said.


    "Ehh... alright.", Edwin left the area where the pond was.


    ...


    Deep in the afternoon...


    Edwin unsheated his daggers and closed his eyes to remember the steps of how to create a dagger flash.


    He opened them again and slashed out towards a tree.


    -sou-


    A small dagger flash flew from one of Edwin''s daggers and hit the tree. The flash left behind a very tiny cut on the tree, which was nothing significant.


    "Finally after several hours, but why is it so small?", Edwin examined the cut and got an idea. "I think I should ask Allen for more tips, it won''t hurt, right?"


    He approached the location where the pond was, and from behind the shrubs, Edwin saw Allen crouching by the pond looking at his reflection.


    Edwin narrowed his eyes and attempted to spy from afar.


    From his location, he saw Allen''s reflection, which looked like a younger version of himself, not wearing any eyepatch of some sort, smiling, unlike him right now.


    "You know... it is useless for you to hide from me, Edwin.", Allen suddenly start speaking, taking the boy off guard.


    Hearing Allen''s sentence, Edwin stepped out of the bush and said, "Don''t worry I didn''t see anything."


    "Is that the truth, or are you implying that you won''t tell anybody?", Allen said.


    After a pause, he shifted the topic, "Have you ever wondered why was this location called ''Snuffed Pond''?"


    "Why?"


    "Look at the reflection of the sun."


    Edwin did what Allen said and looked to the reflection of the sun, which was already near the corner of the pond. There, the former saw that the sun''s reflection was just a big ball of rock!


    "This pond... is magical.", Edwin was amazed at the sight.


    "Originally, it was not. Let me ask you an another question, have you ever wondered why are there no animals in the pond nor near the vicinity?", Allen questioned.


    "Now that I''ve thought about it, I don''t see animals here.", Edwin glanced around him and questioned, "Why tho?"


    "It''s because there''s a monster at the bottom of this pond, to be precise, a devil."


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 59 One Month Training

    A certain time ago: A few days before Allen arrived at Eastern Horizon City.


    "Give me it back.", Allen told the man that he was cornering by a tree. The former was holding the longsword-transformed Erchian Dagger and a curved sword [katana] on his other hand.


    The man was none other than the devil that Allen made a deal with.


    The two of them sustained a lot of wounds from battling each other, even Allen''s regenerative ability had a hard time healing his wounds.


    "I don''t have it on me! Hahaha...! Kill me if you want to! I don''t have it! Hahahahaha....!", the devil made a crazed echoing laugh that could get somebody a chill down their spine.


    ***


    Back at the present...


    "A devil and I were battling over something. I thought I already cornered him, but he actually had a special tool for escaping.", Allen recalled a short part of what occurred.


    ''H-he battled a devil?'' Edwin was extremely amazed by what Allen told. ''He is so powerful!''


    A thought then struck a kid and orally said it, "Wait, then why is the devil at the bottom of the pond?"


    "It''s because it sealed itself. Me and that lesser devil were fighting in the corners of the Monarch Forest that time, so when it tried to escape with a special tool at the last minute, I wasn''t able to react on time and so, it almost escaped."


    "Then, why is it here now?"


    "When it used that special tool, the false devil just rushed to a random direction, which was actually towards the Eastern Horizon City. As it was about to escape from my sight, I think it sensed a powerful person from the city and immediately changed direction and went here and sealed itself. Maybe it was a sudden move, because that false devil thought that that person, who was the holy priest in the Eastern Horizon City, sensed him too.", Allen finished recalling the story.


    "It was called ''Snuffed Pond'' by a cartographer who recently re-explored here and saw the fireless sun. However, that cartographer didn''t know that it was due to the effect of devilish magic, which was to show what is one''s real being; any kind of things, living or magical will be affected by it.", Allen added. "Lifeless objects too could be affected, but it would only show their more ''essential'' appearance."


    After a pause, he said, "And so, there were also some magicians who found out about this place and investigated it, they found out that this place was filled with dense mana. I think they wanted to build a training grounds for other mana users here. However, they suddenly left, most likely is that they sensed the sealed false devil."


    Hearing the whole story, Edwin couldn''t help but voice out, "You''re so powerful."


    "No, in fact, I couldn''t even killed it with my strength."


    "Umm... is it safe to look at my reflection?", Edwin asked. He was a bit curious about this pond.


    "It''s safe.", Allen nodded.


    Hearing the assurance, Edwin approached the pond and looked at his reflection. He saw himself, still the same, but without any emotion and there are even hints of blood on his cheeks.


    "What the!? What does this mean?", Edwin stumbled back.


    "Probably means that you want to kill somebody, who you really hate.", Allen answered.


    "Is this... the outcome?", Edwin asked again.


    "Maybe it shows the outcome, maybe it doesn''t, maybe the past self, I conjectured it could show many things.", Allen replied. "Nevertheless, do not always believe in everything that is shown. The outside appearance is deceitful, and even more so your reflections."


    "If it shows the outcome, why am I not looking happy?", Edwin muttered to himself.


    Allen didn''t answer more questions and just told him to keep practicing, which he immediately followed.


    Afterwards, Allen looked back to the pond to see his reflection and muttered, "But I know showing the future isn''t your forte, as there''s no such thing as ''future-telling''; be it be through stars, through cards, even through magic... I am certain that even most powerful magician won''t be able to do that."


    "So what was really shown?", Allen remembered what was Edwin''s reflection and looked to the direction where the latter left.


    "Is it a lie or a truth?"


    ...


    Hours passed and it was already time to go back. On the way back, gray clouds started to cover the sky again, and the snowfall continued.


    Under the cover of the snowfall, Allen and Edwin weren''t spotted by the sentry posts on the mountain, and the both of them safely made it back to the shop.


    ***


    The next day, Allen and Edwin left for Snuffed Pond to train again.


    This time, Allen was going to teach him how to battle with daggers.


    "Do you know how to use the dagger techniques I let you read with internal energy?", Allen asked.


    "I can only make dagger flashes, but they are too small.", Edwin sighed in disappointment.


    "At least you''ve learned it, others would only be able to learn it by a day.", Allen said. Actually, the Dagger Flash that he wrote in the notebook was the same technique that he got from the Erchian Dagger, which was almost or already perfected, and was also the reason why Edwin could learn it so fast.


    "We''re not going to use dagger skills yet.", Allen took out a dagger from his satchel and put his satchel to the ground while Edwin unsheated his double daggers.


    The first to attack was Edwin, he has already been taught the basics on how to attack with daggers last night by Allen.


    -clang-


    The boy slashed down with the first dagger. On the other side, Allen easily blocked them, and at the same time the other dagger on Edwin''s hand stabbed forward, however, Allen easily blocked it again without moving from his original position!


    "Add a few complex attacks with the daggers.", Allen said. "Your attacks are more predictable than a baby''s goal."


    Hearing Allen''s tip, Edwin charged forward again and made several attacks with his daggers.


    "Don''t just use the same pattern of attacking again and again.", Allen added as he blocked, parried, and even disarmed Edwin from time to time.


    When the sparring session ended, it was time to learn how to use dagger skills, unlike yesterday, Allen was now teaching Edwin and the latter learned how to create a dagger flash. After the same amount of time spent yesterday passed, the both of them went back.


    The process above changed from time to time as Allen kept training the boy everyday until it was already a month later.


    ...


    -clang- -clang- -clang-


    Edwin and Allen were sparring while moving everywhere in the woods. This time, Allen was dodging some of the boy''s attacks while moving from his position unlike a month ago.


    As their distance shortened a bit, Edwin sent out two flashes, each one from his two daggers. However, those dagger flashes suddenly split into more yet smaller ones, which was Multi-Flash.


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    Rather than backing off, Allen dodged every single flash at close quarter, without his robes getting a cut and without using a skill!


    Afterwards, Allen sent out dagger flashes, which was even faster than Edwin''s multi-flash, the latter initiated (Shadow Steps) but still had a hard time dodging, but he still successfully avoided them all.


    Meanwhile, the trees behind him got a deep cut due to the flashes that Allen sent.


    After which, the boy executed Burst Steps and stopped when he was nearly right in front of Allen.


    Edwin semt out a flurry of attacks afterwards, but the other wasn''t seem to be bothered by them and was even blocking and parrying all the numerous attacks!


    After Edwin''s attacks, Allen started to counterattack with stabs and slashes. Even though it was only normal attacks, Edwin still had trouble blocking, dodging, or even parrying them.


    Seeing that he was going to be overwhelmed, the boy unhestatingly backed off and flickered away.


    Edwin reappeared somewhere in the woods, but he didn''t waste any time and rushed away.


    "Damn it, I used my only one of flicker for today!"


    When the boy was already away from where he reappeared, Allen easily arrived there, and looked to the direction where Edwin went.


    ...


    Edwin was still running and hopping from the branches from the trees, when he suddenly felt that something was coming!


    He immediately went back down to the ground, but his action was a mistake because Allen reappeared right behind him and got a hold him while pointing the dagger towards his neck.


    "You lose.", Allen said. However, Edwin slowly became transparent and disappeared!


    "Hm?", Allen only held thin air and he muttered. "A clone."


    -whoosh-


    Edwin used Burst Steps from behind Allen and placed his dagger by the latter''s nape!


    "You lose.", Edwin smirked.


    "It''s an improvement." Allen said, "And you now know how to create a clone."


    "Thanks.", Edwin sheated back all of his daggers, making a short chuckle due to the comment.


    Allen: "Even with my reflexes, I wasn''t able to avoid it."


    "You weren''t really being serious at me.", Edwin scratched the back of his head and humbly replied.


    ...


    The both of them went back to the Snuffed Pond to get back all of their things that they left there and travelled back towards the Horizon Mountain.


    "What am I going to do next, Allen?", Edwin asked.


    "You are going to travel into the Monarch Forest and kill a bear.", Allen said.


    "A bear?"


    "Not just a bear, but a demonic bear. That bear has been a thorn inside the forest that even the pack of winter wolves wanted to finish it off, but I couldn''t finish it off yet because I''m too busy. Now, I think that''s the first task I''m going to give you.", Allen said.


    "Alright.", Edwin nodded in response.


    "Of course, you''re going in alone, I''m not going to help you.", Allen added.


    "If you say so." Edwin sternly replied, but inwardly, he was feeling both nervousness and excitement.


    Silence prevailed for a while on their walk until Edwin asked, "Do you think this strength enough?"


    Allen made a short glance at the other, then answered, "To kill the person who killed your father?"


    "How''d you know?" The boy was startled about Allen''s sentence.


    "I can hear what you say from the bedroom."


    "Oh, err... then yes.", he nodded.


    "No, your strength isn''t enough." Allen replied as they proceeded through the woods, "In this world, there is nothing truly enough. It''s only because of intertwining imagination and man-made limits we thought that it is."


    "How?"


    "If you want something, then you obtain it, won''t you feel you yearn for more?" Allen said, "I saw a lot of people who are like that, they knew to themselves they wanted more, only never to openly tell it."


    Edwin internally agreed with Allen''s sentence and mumbled, "There is nothing truly enough?"


    ''Then what am I doing isn''t enough too?''


    [End of Volume 4: The New Horizon]

 60 Monarch Fores

    Edwin yawned as he entered the shop with Allen, stretching out his arms, he glanced simultaneously at Anna and James. The girl was curiously looking at Little Salad while James was still reading the encyclopedia of plants, with one of his hands rubbing his temples.


    "Mr. Morgan, I think I can''t take reading this anymore! I feel like my head''s going to explode!", James stressedly cried out. "I heard magicians need to read books, but just this book alone can give me a headache!"


    "How could you become a magician if you don''t want to even read books.", Anna retorted.


    "Do magicians need to read books?", James asked.


    "Yes."


    "Oh, are you a magician yourself?", James asked.


    "Wait, no! No I''m not!", Anna refused. She and Allen both had an understanding that James shouldn''t find out that she was a magician. The girl doesn''t know why the shop owner doesn''t want the kid to find out, but she could only abide because the Adept Mana Stabilizing Pill was still being created for at least two more months.


    "Then don''t say that magician read books if you''re not one. You''re really an unreliable information source.", James retorted with a taunting tone.


    Meanwhile, inwardly, Anna was extremely furious, not just furious to the point she almost blew up! She really want to slap James the truth that she was a magician, and at the Adept level at that! Actually, in her mind, her chibi self was already slapping James'' chibi in rapid motion while her hands were on fire!


    She could only snort at James'' reply and didn''t bother him anymore.


    "It''s closing time, the both of you should leave now.", Allen interjected to prevent a fight breaking out from the two kids.


    "Alright.", James took off his mask and left the shop, while Anna gave one last look to Little Salad and also left.


    "You should go upstairs, I need to do something at the basement again, so don''t bother me.", Allen said to Edwin. The latter nodded in response and went upstairs.


    Afterwards, Allen flipped the shop''s sign to ''closed'', he fully covered the windows with their curtains to prevent people potentially peeking inside, then he approached Little Salad, who was in the corner.


    Little Salad grew to his monster plant form and let out whimpers.


    "You have the blood of a Visergoroth Eater, so you shouldn''t whimper like a baby. It''s staining your kind''s reputation.", after Allen''s seemingly ruthless yet not ruthless remark due to the plain tone of his voice, he went straight to the basement.


    On the other hand, Little Salad color turned blue, appearing as if he would start to cry now.


    ***


    James was humming a tone while he was on his way back home; however, he suddenly felt a painful shock coursing throughout his head which made him stop on his tracks.


    He held his head tightly and dashed into an alley. There, he rolled on the ground and even let out some quiet shouts while gritting his teeth.


    When the pain subsided, he was drenched on his sweat and was panting heavily. He sat up with great difficulty, while doing so, he looked towards a broken mirror leaning by the wall of the alley. There, he saw his reflection, yet, both of his eyes were color black.


    He immediately turned his gaze away from the mirror and rushed back home.


    Arriving back at his house, just like always, James saw his mother preparing dinner in the kitchen. At the same time, his father was going downstairs and saw the kid.


    "Hey, you look tired.", Albert approached him when he saw his tired countenance.


    "I think I didn''t get enough sleep yesterday.", James giggled.


    "The both of you should prepare, I''ve cooked chicken soup with some spices!", Melanie said from the kitchen. "Because your father finally got a job at the mines!"


    Working in the mines wasn''t bad as one would think, because the mines in the Horizon Mountain were tightly monitored by the government and due to the city not having a poor standing, the equipment that a miner would need for mining would be complete, thus, almost guarranteeing the miners'' safety.


    After hearing about the chicken soup, Albert lightly told James to eat first before going to replace his clothes, then he excitedly entered the kitchen.


    "I think the both of you should go eat first, I''m going to eat later at night.", James replied back that her mother could hear it and he went upstairs to his room.


    "What''s wrong with him?", Melanie asked.


    "He looks a bit tired. Let''s just let him sleep for a few hours, then wake him up later to eat.", Albert said.


    "Mhm."


    James took off his jacket and dropped it on the floor, after which he straightly lied down on the bed, his body was shaking, not because of the cold, but because of fear.


    He unconsciously looked at a large drawer in his room and muttered, "I shouldn''t have approached the church." Then he closed his eyes and took a nap.


    ***


    The next morning, after James ate his breakfast, he wore a new set of clothes under the same jacket from yesterday and walked out of the house.


    As soon as he was outside the door, he saw that one of his neighbors approached his mother, who was currently watering a flower on their tiny garden.


    He overheard that they were talking about a baby girl.


    However, James didn''t stay any longer and left the vicinity of the house.


    As soon as the kid arrived at the shop, he saw Edwin wearing the white robes and carrying a satchel while Allen was beside him talking about something.


    "Oh, he''s here.", Edwin said.


    Allen looked over at James and the first thing he noticed was his visage, "Why is your face pale?"


    "What? It''s nothing, it was probably too cold last night.", James let out a smile, but it was a bit crooked on its sides. After which, Allen diverted back his attention to Edwin.


    "Alright, I''ll be going now.", Edwin passed by James and exited the shop. At the same time, Anna walked in and saw the kid.


    "Why is your face pale?", Anna asked the same question as Allen.


    "Nothing! I''m alright.", James immediately answered and went to the back of the counter.


    "Uhh...", Anna was startled at the other''s hasty reply, but later put it at the back of her head and greeted. "Hello Alchemist Morgan."


    Allen nodded in response and went back to the basement.


    On the other hand, Anna approached Little Salad, who was still at the same position as yesterday.


    ***


    Time gradually passed and Edwin arrived somewhere outside of the Monarch Forest. His task was to kill a demonic bear in the inner region of the forest.


    The said forest was splitted into three regions on the map that Allen gave him, which were the outer region, inner region, deep region.


    The outer region was mostly explored and has many information about the beast and animals there. Last night, as a last minute decision, Edwin went to the library to read about the monsters of the Monarch Forest and saw that most of the beasts recorded in the book were from the said region.


    The inner region was more mysterious, there still wasn''t a major exploration started to explore the said region. There were some minor exploration that had started, but were mostly unfruitful, and that''s were the demonic bear resided.


    In addition, from Allen''s explanation, he heard that the demonic bear was different than it''s normal peers. It never went to hibernation and stayed awake and kept hunting during the winter.


    The deep region, however, wasn''t even explored for once, but Edwin wasn''t planning to get close to it even once, because there might be powerful beasts that were living there.


    However, that was his initial plan, but now he had to change it, because earlier, Allen also tasked him to find a bright orange shard, which was called a Soul Shard in the inner region.


    It might be in the inner region, but he was forewarned that it could actually be near or even in the deep region. But Allen also said to him to not risk his life for it and don''t go to the deep region to look for it.


    The Soul Shard came from different shapes and sizes, but Allen only wanted him to find a shard that was at least as long as 3cm and 2cm wide. The said shards were one of the treasures of the Monarch Forest, but only a few people would look for it as they were frequently near the mysterious deep region.


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    Edwin put back the map he was looking at in his satchel that Allen specially prepared for him; although it was actually one of his two satchels, but he let it be brought by the boy.


    Inside the satcjel were different kinds of tools, weapons, a jar of medicinal pills, and a few poisons too.


    "Stop being nervous, I wanted to do this in the first place.", Edwin sucked out a cold breath as he tried to comfort himself. Following which, he strengthened his resolve and walked in the forest.

 61 The Mortal Planes Codex

    The cold freezing breeze of winter kept battering Edwin. Though with his strengthened body and the enchanted white robe that Allen gave, he never felt a chilling feeling sweeping over him.


    The Monarch Forest was composed of a species of tall trees that were at least a hundred meters in height and nearly ten meters in diameter.


    From the ground, they looked like giants that belittled all other kinds of lifeforms.


    Edwin has been in the forest for several hours already. Trudging through the snow that painted the ground white. He expected that it would only take a few hours to reach the inner region from the outer region, but he underestimated the size of the Monarch Forest.


    "Good thing my rations would last me for a few more days, but then, I don''t know longer would it take me to enter the inner region. I might need to hunt for food after I consumed my current supply of them..", Edwin muttered then inwardly cursed his shallow knowledge and said, ''So that''s why magicians always read books.''


    He previously knew from Anna when she said that particular sentence about magicians needed to read books. As for why he believed what the girl said unlike James, Allen already told him that Anna was really a magician.


    In addition, during his training for one month, he wasn''t just trained by Allen on how to use internal energy, he was also taught by Anna a few spells, nevertheless, those kinds of spells doesn''t take up ''mental space'' of magicians. However, they weren''t that useful and couldn''t be exploited for attacking nor defending.


    He kept treading amidst the tall trees until the sun was about to set. Seeing the sun was about to disappear from the horizon, Edwin immediately explored for a nearby shelter and discovered an opening on the ground, which was actually a cave. The boy didn''t hesitate to enter it as there seemed to be no other refuge in the vicinity.


    When he entered the cave, the first thing he noticed was the thick spider webs on the walls. Edwin unsheated the both of his daggers from his belt and backed off a bit. He could go out of the cave and easily escape from danger, but if he did so, he would be vulnerable to the other dangers outside.


    Who knew what kind of monster might be travelling in the forest when it''s dark.


    Now, it was either he would get out and find another place to rest into or whatever kind of a threat inside the cave would get killed. Nevertheless, it was the latter for the boy.


    Edwin pursed his dry lips and raised his awareness on the surroundings, waiting for any attacks coming towards him.


    But the situation he was expecting never happened.


    After waiting for a while, Edwin took out a tiny bottle of potion from his satchel and threw it to the darkness. Afterwards, the pill weakly exploded and released some sort of light, which illuminated the cave.


    From his place, Edwin realized that there were only a few spiderwebs on the walls of the cave. He chuckled at himself for being worried at nothing.


    But his laughs paused when he spotted an entrance to a separate chamber at the end of the cave.


    Seeing the entrance, Edwin cautiously approached it while there was still light coming from the potion. When he reached the entrance, he peeked inside the chamber, and was surprised that the chamber wasn''t even that dark as he was expecting.


    On the ceiling of the chamber, there was some sort of magical stone that was lighting up the whole space.


    Edwin checked around from the entrance and noticed that there was no giant spider or any kind of arachnid anywhere. Still, he picked up a pebble and threw it inside the chamber to check for traps, but there wasn''t even one.


    "No traps?" Edwin was confused by the absolute safeness and continued, "I guess I''m only being paranoid." He only inwardly mocked himself for being too expectant.


    He then stepped into the chamber and further inspected what was inside it.


    The chamber wasn''t that big nor too small for its kind, it could only be compared to three or four times as big as a room in a common inn. In its middle, there was a large stone round table with numerous papers and other kinds of objects placed on it.


    The boy approached it but didn''t dare touch anything and saw that it was there was a map of the eastern region, but it was a lot different than the regular map such as there was no Eastern Horizon City; nor even East Gate City, which was the regional capital of the said region. Though the Alchem Town was present at the southwest direction from the Monarch Forest.


    There were also books and some parchments on top of the round table, but the most eye-catching of all was a golden protractor. He approached the protractor and was about to get hold of it when he accidentally tripped on a stone.


    Luckily, he was able to hold on to the table and didn''t completely stumble to the ground.


    As soon as his hand touched the table, blue glowing veins appeared and it was as if the table started pulsating. Edwin was frightened by the sight and immediately jumped away from it. After he did so, the whole chamber shook violently for a moment.


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    Then bookshelves, a makeshift weapons armory, a smaller rectangular table made out of fine wood, a pedestal engraved with some sort of patterns and a book on top of it were brought up from underground.


    Not just that, a translucent barrier materialized from where he came from. Edwin tried to bash himself out through the barrier, but a repulsion kicked him back to the ground.


    Edwin stood up and stabilized his footing, checking around him, he beheld the new furniture that came up.


    The bookshelves didn''t have any book on them, the weapons were already rusty, while the book''s cover on top of the pedestal was covered with dust and normal spiderwebs.


    "I knew this place wasn''t that simple as it seemed.", Edwin sighed for being too relaxed.


    Now, he wanted to immediately get out off of here, but his only exit was blocked by some sort of magic.


    Seeing that there wasn''t any alternate route out, he had no more choice but to thoroughly inspect the book on top of the pedestial, which was the only thing left interesting.


    The corners of the pedestal were dimly lit by colored gems, which looked like they''re almost out of power.


    Edwin removed the spiderweb and blew the dust away from the cover, then opened the introductory page.


    "I can''t understand what is written." He remarked as he caught sight off the non-understandable language on it.


    When he planted his sight on it for a few more seconds, the words on the cover suddenly changed to the normal language he knew. The said occurrence surprised Edwin, but he didn''t waste more time and immediately read the cover.


    "The Mortal Plane''s Codex" He touched the page of the book, hoping for it to have another reaction.


    However, seeing that nothing happened after he made contact with it, he tried to open the other pages of the book, but failed to do so.


    He didn''t give up and even used one of his daggers to make a page budge, but as soon as he inserted some force to the improvised leverage, the dagger splitted to two pieces.


    "Whoa." Edwin blinked several times without making any change on his face. Allen told him that those daggers he chose were tougher than normal weapons. He didn''t doubt what Allen told him, making him conclude that the book was indeed magical.


    He threw across the room the remaining dagger piece he was holding, "Maybe... I shouldn''t have tried budging the book."


    "Ugh, I shouldn''t have entered this chamber in the first place!" He screamed and hit his forehead with his palm.


    However, he didn''t give up and tried to open any page of it until he successfully turned to a page near the back of the book.


    He saw that the inscriptions on the book were written in an unrecognizable language, but just like what happened earlier, it changed into the modern known language.


    Edwin then read the book...


    [The Wraith ~


    Just after I have taken care of the arrogance of those dragons. I have sensed that the eighth incarnation of the Wraith has remembered all of its incarnations.


    After so, most of the barbarian clans on the nomadic lands has united and attacked the southern region of the Trigurniburg Kingdom. I have also sensed movements from the Hell Plane, the devil king, Erchian, is probably planning to interfere; but the higher-ups of the Retollian Church, along with the Retollian Holy Alliance would have most likely sensed it too and won''t let an interference occur from the forces of the Hell Plane.


    In spite of the innumerable chaos occurring all over the world in a short time, my time has also come, for me to face the Wraith and oversee the balance of the Mortal Plane, just like my predecessors.


    ~ ~ ~


    I have succeeded in killing the incarnation of the Wraith. Its soul was driven away again to the depths of the world, but my soul is now dispersing and my body is deteriorating at an extremely speedy phase after I was hit by some kind of an attack by it.


    Even me with my power, even my predecessors except for the first, also died this way. I was too stupid to think the illusion was really her!


    Is this the fate of the Celestials?


    I have left everything. I don''t even know what happened to my hometown. I don''t recognize anybody there anymore.


    Where did my children go? Where were they? I promised to go back to them. How long has it been? I can''t recall the number of years I have spent without them.


    I think they are already old or dead by now~ I''m only still alive because of the extension of my lifespan. Maybe I should not have accepted this responsibility, but then, I would have died that day.


    I am stuck in the paradox of life and death. Since that day, I knew my life was only borrowed from the start. I even knew the greatest secret of the world and kept it for myself.


    I should have spread that secret, then everything would undergo eternal chaos and all will end, but I still hesitated, because my children are too weak to take care of themselves.


    In the end, I don''t blame anybody. My fate has always been tied with taking care of the world.


    ~ Steven, the eighth Celestial]

 62 Glowing Symbol

    Reading the contents of the book, Edwin became confused to what was written, "Wraith? Celestial? Retollian? Erchian?"


    Other than the part where it mentioned the war of the southern region of the Trigurniburg Kingdom, he didn''t know the rest of the page-turned-letter.


    He tried to turn to other pages, but couldn''t do so just like earlier. In the end, Edwin gave up the idea of exploring the other contents of the book and he closed it.


    As he turned his back to the stone lectern, he suddenly heard flapping noises behind him.


    The boy turned around and saw that the book was repeatedly changing pages. His eyes widened and immediately backed off.


    However, before he got away, the book suddenly pounced on his face!


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    He tried to get the book off his face, but it was as if it''s glued onto him now. He even used the only of one of his daggers that was left to stab the book, but his remaining weapon also broke while doing so!


    When he felt that he reached the worktable, he viciously pounded the book to the table, even disregarding the chance of him getting an injury.


    -bam- -bam-


    Edwin repeatedly bashed the book on his face on the table9 to the point that he became dizzy, but he didn''t even stop for once.


    As the Edwin was about to hit the worktable again, the book removed itself from the boy''s face, however, Edwin didn''t process what happened in time due to his dizziness and he bashed his face onto the table.


    -bam-


    Edwin stumbled backwards while bits of blood flowed out of his nose, then he tripped and crashed down to the ground, with his head getting bashed on the floor with a strong force that rattled his brain.


    The book, which was now standing on the worktable shook, it was as if it was laughing on Edwin''s misfortune. Then the book turned to a particular page and a short beam of light came from the showed page and went to the boy''s left palm.


    Afterwards, Edwin eyelids became heavier and heavier until they finally closed.


    ***


    Some time later, Edwin woke up. He rubbed his head and nose due to the pain of hitting himself earlier. Following which, he sat up and checked if there was still blood flowing out from any parts of his head.


    After checking his nostrils, he was suddenly surprised as he noticed that the book was now on his lap.


    "Huh?", Edwin let out a startled face, but was infuriated afterwards and pinned the book with his both hands to the floor and started to pound it.


    "You damn, face eating, perverted, worthless piece of junk!", Edwin angrily cursed as he punched, kicked, used his weight to crush the book, and many more.


    The boy only stopped when his rage ultimately subsided and that''s when noticed that his hands was sore due to punching the book multiple times.


    "Hiss..." He took out some sort of potion from his satchel to heal the soreness. He was about to start to rub the liquid when he noticed that his left palm faintly glowed.


    His eyebrows rose and he examined the glow.


    He spotted that there was some sort of a symbol faintly glowing. The glow also followed the rhythm of his breathing, making it look that it was alive.


    Edwin couldn''t understand what was the meaning of the symbol, and it made him more baffled from where did it come from.


    He tried to touch the glowing veins of the word with the fingers on his other hand. When the fingers and the faintly glowing veins met, his fingers also glowed a bit, it was as if his whole body suddenly connected with it.


    Because he didn''t understand the word written, he put into mind that he would ask Allen what was the meaning of the word, as he thought the latter could understand it.


    Afterwards, Edwin decided to leave, but, he forgot that there was a translucent barrier on the exit! But, the barrier rippled and at the same time, the glow of the word on the boy''s palm intensified. He realized that the word was some sort of key to exit. He tried his guess and it almost worked... almost.


    "Is there an another key here?", Edwin searched around the chamber. He looked on top of the round table, the shelves in the wooden table, and even the rusty armory, but none of them seemed to work, that''s when he saw the book that jumped on his face on the worktable.


    The boy took the book and used it with the symbol and finally got out of the barrier.


    "Hahaha!" Edwin laughed and rejoiced and he threw the book to the ground, he still couldn''t forget what the book has done to him.


    Edwin walked towards the exit of the cave, but he sensed that his body became heavy and his pace slowed, until to the point he stopped somewhere near the exit!


    The distance between him and the exit was so near, yet so far at the same time. That''s when the weighing force turned into a suction force and dragged him back near the entrance of the chamber, hitting the stalagmites, the rocks, and boulders on the way.


    The white robe he was wearing protected his body. Other than feeling his back ached due to the rough ground, the dragging didn''t cause any serious harm to him.


    His left hand then went out of control, he tried to resist but couldn''t do so and he was dragged towards the The Mortal Plane''s Codex.


    Seeing the book again, Edwin now realized where did the mark on his palm came from and why he couldn''t leave the cave! He wanted to tear the book into thousands of pieces, but he could only imagine it, as the book was as if as tough as a mountain!


    The book suddenly shivered, as if knowing what was Edwin thinking. The boy also noticed what happened and figured out that the book knew what he was thinking because of the mark on his palms.


    "So you can read what I think?" In the end, Edwin could only sigh and picked the book up, he tried to place it inside his satchel, but it didn''t enter. So, he placed the book in the pockets inside his robes instead.


    Now, he effortlessly walked out of the cave and saw that the sun has just risen on the horizon.


    "How long have I been sleeping?", Edwin stretched his arms up high and yawned. Then his eyes widened and said, "Wait, my weapon! I need to get it fi..." When the boy turned around, the cave was nowhere to be found!


    He looked blankly to where the cave once was even walked on top of it''s former location, but nothing happened.


    "Now how will I kill that demonic bear?", Edwin thought and suddenly remembered about the book. "What if I use the book and hammer it at the bear''s head, it''s probably harder than a demonic animal''s skull, right?"


    The book inside his robes shivered again sent a mental attack to Edwin through the mark.


    "Gahhh...!" He repeatedly hopped like a rabbit then plopped to the snowy ground while the mental attack was ongoing.


    ...


    Although the mental attack only lasted for a few breaths of time, Edwin''s eyes were now bloodshot, due to the pain he felt from the said attack. He really wanted to tear, burn, incinerate the book, but he knew that it''s impossible for him.


    Edwin crawled up from the snowy ground, and stabilized his footing.


    -whoosh-


    As soon as he stood up a spear suddenly went flying to him. However, Edwin''s reaction speed was still fast enough, even though he was mentally attacked by the book and dodged the spear on time; but more spears went flying towards him, forcing him back.


    ''If I only had a dagger, I could''ve sliced those spears apart.'', Edwin thought.


    Now, he backed off to the middle of a clear snowy patch, where the cave was once was. At the same time, creatures who were much smaller than the boy and has green skin walked out of the dense cover of trees.


    "Goblins?", Edwin saw the said creatures holding wooden spears, wooden swords, and carrying baskets of rocks behind their back.


    ''So they are real? I thought that they are merely fantasy beings in stories.''


    There were ten goblins in front of him, if he only had a weapon, he could take them on at the same time; despite of that, he doesn''t have any sharp weapons to use and he could only retreat.


    But as soon as he turned around, he saw ten more goblins behind him, with the addition of an orc!


    Each of the orc''s steps lightly shook the ground. The orc was carrying a large club, almost as big as Edwin!


    ''An orc? But grandfather said they aren''t real too!'' He thought. His grandfather has been telling him stories involving goblins and orcs, but he said that they don''t exist!


    Back to the forest; the boy couldn''t run away and was surrounded by the horde of enemies. He got into a fighting position. He could use Burst Steps or even Flicker which could only be executed by him once a day, but he felt some sort of weird feeling from the orc that he didn''t dare do so.


    The goblins at the front used spears to force Edwin to the middle and be on the defensive. Meanwhile, the other goblins behind them got ready to throw rocks at the boy.

 63 One Human, One Book, One Slap

    With malicious grins showing their yellow teeth, the goblins drooled at Edwin, as if he was their favorite food!


    To be honest, he was really their favorite food.


    Then the ten goblins threw rocks towards the boy. Even if with the protection of the robe, Edwin would still get hurt or bruised because the rocks could be considered as blunt weapons.


    He dodged the rocks while deflecting some back to the goblins, but then, they stopped throwing rocks.


    Five of the goblins who were carrying spears changed their weapons to swords and charged at Edwin.


    With visible surprise, the boy was caught off guard by the neatness of the formation and communication of the goblins. In the stories that he heard, goblins were known to be disorganized and undisciplined, but it wasn''t the case for these gremlins.


    When one of the goblins got close to him, Edwin took the initiative to attack. The goblin suddenly became frightened and it started slashing the sword to the boy when he wasn''t even close yet.


    Granted that these goblins were somewhat organized and disciplined, their fighting experience was actually a bit lacking.


    Edwin took advantage of the toughness of his robe and used its sleeves to stop the frantic slashes of the goblin, and used his other hand to disarm the goblin and kick him and hastily run towards the unarmed creature.


    But as he was about to kill the goblin, the other four creatures attacked simultaneously.


    Even though Edwin''s robe was tough and unbreakable in front of these wooden weapons, he might still get hurt by getting tackled down to the ground by the goblins.


    Due to the small size of the wooden sword of the goblins, for a human like Edwin, he was only taking hold a short sword.


    He backed off from the four goblins, but at some point he was stopped by the goblins who were holding spears.


    Edwin was starting to get annoyed, but he couldn''t do anything about it. He was surrounded from all sides while being forced to focus into defense.


    The speed of the sword-wielding goblins varried, one of them outrun the other three and first arrived at the boy and slashed down with its sword.


    The boy parried the strikes of the goblin, while forcing it to back off by several steps. Edwin was still more powerful than them individually, as he was about to attack the goblin again, the other ones who were still holding the sword came to the rescue and simultaneously attacked the boy again.


    This time, Edwin couldn''t back off because he was near the edge of the formation and could only defend and attack against the four goblins.


    The boy might be outnumbered, but he was still obviously more powerful than the other four by a large margin, making them retreat one by one.


    Suddenly, one of the goblins accidentally tripped to the ground. He ran towards it and was about to kill the stumbled goblin when the other eleven goblins, including the one he disarmed earlier started to throw rocks again.


    Edwin was forced to defend himself again by the rain of rocks, while dodging the strikes of the sword-wielding goblins. Due to this, the four sword-wielders and Edwin was in a stalemate.


    ''I can''t keep this on for much longer!'' Edwin tried to think of a way to get out, he couldn''t even execute Flicker or Burst Steps or even Shadow Steps because he felt the orc wasn''t that normal as it seemed to be.


    As for dagger flash? Would the wooden sword even be qualified for it?


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    ''Allen was really being easy on me when we fought.'' He thought but he suddenly changed his mind, ''No, it''s not that I''m weak. It''s because I don''t have the initiative!''


    In an instant, the spear-wielding goblins also attacked the boy. Edwin dodged the spear attacks, but was hit by a rock on the back and an another one to the arm.


    At the same time, one of the goblins who was equipped with a sword slashed towards him, Edwin could only block it with his own sword, but he was hit again by the rocks!


    Now, the boy lost his concentration and one of the goblins took this opportunity to slash down at Edwin''s wrist while the sleeves of the robe wasn''t protecting it.


    Edwin felt a sharp pain on his wrist, making him hiss as he spotted a wound on it.


    Seeing what was happening, Edwin unhesitatingly did a flicker. At the same time, the orc acted too.


    When the boy reappeared, the orc was also near his location. The latter then kicked the former and the boy and was knocked away to the ground a few meters away from his initial position.


    As he was standing up again, Edwin coughed out blood.


    If a portion of the force of the kick wasn''t absorbed by the white robe, his spine would have probably get crushed.


    As he was about to stand up again, the orc dashed to Edwin. The speed of the orc wasn''t as fast as the boy''s Burst Steps, but because he was injured, he wasn''t able to react on time and was sent flying by an another kick.


    This time, he managed to land back down the ground without getting knocked down.


    "Ugh." Edwin coughed out more blood from his mouth.


    "I can''t let this continue or else I''ll become meat paste.", Edwin gritted his teeth and tried to resist ejecting out more blood.


    Then the boy''s eyes slightly widened as he sensed danger. He rolled to the side, avoiding another kick of the orc.


    However, the orc''s club suddenly glew the faintest of light and it smashed it towards the boy.


    Even with the protection of the white robes, because the club was a magical blunt weapon, Edwin knew that he would be crushed to death; if not crushed to death, he would be severely crippled afterwards.


    At the last second, an idea emerged from the boy''s mind.


    -bam-


    The club collided with something and it made a loud noise.


    -boom-


    Afterwards, the orc''s weapon suddenly exploded creating smoke all over the area and it forced the orc back several tens of meters away from the boy.


    Arising from the smoke, Edwin panted and let out an infuriated expression, while his one of his hands was carrying the Mortal Plane''s Codex!


    The boy stood up on his feet, a bit shakily this time due to his injuries.


    At the same time, another sword-wielding goblin was charging towards him and slashed down its sword. Seeing the enemy, Edwin blocked the wooden sword with the book, and the sword broke in half as if it was merely a twig!


    The goblin was surprised and was about to run away when Edwin swiped the book''s front to the goblin''s face.


    -whoosh- -pshew-


    The goblin''s head flew away from it''s body and landed somewhere far away from it! What just happened startled all of the other incoming goblins and made them stop on their tracks.


    Edwin was also surprised by the result and checked the book. After promptly examining, he saw that there was no single stain of blood on it.


    The boy glanced at the codex then towards the remaining goblins, "If a man throws a brick at you, then hit him with a book!"


    "Roar!", the orc angrily roared stood up and dashed towards him without considering what just happened. The orc was slightly smarter than the goblins, which was almost impossible considering the common orcs focused on their strength rather than their brains.


    However, seeing this, Edwin wasn''t flustered anymore and even charged forward to the orc to meet it head-on. As soon as they get a considerable distance to each other, the orc punched out with its giant fist. On the other hand, the boy raised the book.


    -bam-


    The fist was thoroughly blocked, and the orc even staggered back due to the backlash, but Edwin was still firm on his place.


    Blood flowed out of the orc''s knuckle causing it to roar in anger even more.


    From his observation, the orc in front of him was smarter than the ones on the stories that he heard, but its intelligence was beaten back by its anger! And it didn''t care for anything anymore and even charged forward again while punching its other arm out.


    -bam-


    This time Edwin dodged the orc''s attack and the beast only hit the ground, causing a short, weak quake. The boy used this opportunity to get closer to the orc''s head and slap the book to the orc''s face.


    Meanwhile, seeing the boy actually trying to get closer to it, it grinned and sent out his other already bleeding hand to block the boy.


    -crack-


    Contrary to what the orc was expecting, the result was that its already bleeding arm bled even further and even its shoulder was dislocated!


    The orc roared in fury again and punched out with its other fine arm, but Edwin anticipated it and dodged it fairly quickly. The boy then used the arm as a stepping board and tried to slap the orc''s head was once again.


    -bam- -pshew-


    The orc''s head flew from its body and landed somewhere in the clear field. Afterwards, the orc''s body went it its knees then tumbled to the ground with a loud thud.


    Then Edwin turned his head towards the remaining goblins and smiled. The smile along with the fact that there was still blood on his mouth, made him look dashing and dreadful at the same time.


    The goblins didn''t hesitate to drop all their weapons and equipment to the ground and started running away with all their might, even bumping on each other, but would Edwin let them escape after he was beaten so badly?


    The following result was an one-sided massacre. A human, and a book, capable enough to behead the enemies in one slap.


    The last thing that the goblins saw was a human carrying a book, before they were slapped to death amidst the snowy terrain.

 64 Shadow

    Amidst the snow-covered ground and the snowy trees, bodies of the decapitated goblins were lying about, with their green blood staining the ground.


    Their heads were some distance away from their bodies, nobody knew what it felt to die by a book, now, they experienced it; nevertheless, they won''t be able to tell the tale as their skulls were bashed away like bouncing pebbles getting thrown towards bodies of water.


    Edwin pulled out a jar full of pills, after swallowing one pill, he placed it back in the satchel.


    A refreshing feeling swept his body, it was cold, yet warm at the same time, like it was the perfect mixture of hotness and coldness.


    Meanwhile, the Mortal Plane''s Codex on his hand was still devoid of any stains of blood, even after one-shot slapping all of those humanoids to death.


    Edwin placed the book back in his robes and checked the corpses of the monsters to see if there were anything valuable on them until he got a tiny orb from the pockets of the pants of the orc.


    The orb was half as big as a circle that one could make by pushing the ends of the index finger and thumb to each other. He could feel some sort of energy flowing inside the orb, however, he felt that it was dangerous, but in the end, he still kept it inside his satchel.


    "I really need a new weapon, or else if I meet another group of these monsters and probably much more powerful, I won''t survive.", after which, Edwin left the area, fearing that other lifeforms had sensed the battle earlier.


    ...


    A few days later...


    After accidentally encountering another group of goblins, Edwin was forced to fight again, but just like what happened to the first group, it was a one-sided fight.


    After raiding their bodies, the boy got a dagger in a good condition, "A good quality dagger, but it''s not even enchanted, hais."


    Normal weapons, such as what Edwin got, wasn''t graded and was of worse quality than a Minor Inferior weapon.


    Nevertheless, he still equipped it because he had no choice, or else once he encounter a much more powerful enemy, the book won''t probably even get to protect him. Actually, he felt if the consciousness codex reached its limit, it won''t let the book be used as a weapon for who knew how long.


    Because Edwin always see groups of goblin on the way for these past days, he concluded that he was nearing to their lair. The boy frowned as he thought, ''Should I continue this way or take an another path?''


    The route that Edwin planned was the fastest way to enter the inner region of the forest, but if he suddenly detoured, it might take more days to enter the said region. After considering the pros and the cons, he still took a detour, because there might be a powerful entity residing at the goblin lair which could9 sense him from afar.


    Another few days had passed and Edwin has arrived beside a river. He took out a map and muttered, "There''s no river going out of the forest. There''s also nothing recorded in the outer region, that means I''m already in the inner region."


    Edwin looked at the position of the sun on the horizon, the sun can''t really be seen, but its shining figure could be behind the clouds, "I need to find an another shelter."


    Based from the position of the sun, only a few hours were left until it would set.


    He kept the map and was about to continue travelling the when the sky instanly darkened and everything else was blanketed by the darkness.


    "Huh?!" He hastily looked upwards and around him, now, it was already nighttime, there were stars shining brightly on the sky with the moon, there was no sign of the sun.


    The boy widened his eyes and backed off one step, "What happened? Wasn''t it still daytime a few seconds ago?!"


    He thought of the possibilities of what could have happened, ''Is this an illusion? Did I get hypnotized? Did I touch something?'' He scratched his eyes, looked around his body, but saw that there was nothing wrong.


    "Why''s the river''s color black?", Edwin approached and took a closer peek on the river.


    As he got closer, he knew his eyes weren''t being deceived from afar, because the river was now pure black in color!


    He sniffed the air near the river to see if the smell changed, but there was no difference in its smell.


    His back started sweating all of a sudden, "Who?" Turning around, he spotted a black silhouette far away from him.


    The silhouette seemed like a shadow of a human, but Edwin felt that it was much different than it seemed!


    He blinked one time, and the distance between him and the silhouette shortened, he blinked an another time and the distance shortened yet again!


    The boy was alarmed and threatened at the same time!


    As the shadow slowly came upon him, he backed off, but it was as if the distance didn''t even change! He looked behind him at the river while still walking back, but he wasn''t even approaching river even if his legs were moving! The river was so near, yet so far!


    He looked at the ground below him and saw that he was indeed changing his position, but still, he couldn''t move towards the river. He looked towards the black silhouette, which was even nearer this time! It was as if that the whole world was coming towards the silhouette.


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    In an instant, without Edwin blinking, the silhouette appeared right in front of him. At the same time, he stopped moving, or rather, he couldn''t move anymore!


    He was horrified down to his bones. He still bravely looked towards the silhouette. Even though the silhouette was all black, it''s eyes were even darker and blacker than the whole body, like the darkest of the darkness.


    When their eyes met, Edwin felt like he has been seen through by the silhouette, which added to his fear.


    The silhouette stretched out its hand and touched Edwin''s glabella, and it pierced its finger through it, then everything changed. The silhouette suddenly disappeared and the scenery before him changed into a bedroom.


    There was a little boy and a man sitting on top of a bed beside each other. When Edwin saw the man, he was surprised and blurted out, "Father?!"


    However, his father, and the little boy, which was his past self didn''t hear him. He approached the both of them and tried touching them, but his hands only went through them. In the end, he gave up trying to get their attention and just looked at the both of them.


    "Happy birthday father, here, I made note for you. I hope you''ll like it!", Little Edwin eagerly gave a letter to his father, even getting a little itchy; the latter examined it and coughed a few times before smiling, "Thanks, it made me feel much better."


    "Really?" The little kid''s eyes shone, "Then I''ll make more of them so you won''t get sick anymore!" Little Edwin excitedly looked to his father.


    "No, no, this is enough, it''s enough.", Edwin''s father said.


    "Oh? If you say so father!" Although his notion was rejected, Little Edwin wasn''t discouraged one bit.


    Edwin smiled at the sight, it felt good to see his father again, even though he can''t be seen. But under his smile was the bitter taste of reluctance as a child and longing as a young man, because, this was the last time he saw him alive.


    Suddenly, everything fast forwarded in a flash, and it was already nighttime.


    "No... no... I don''t want to see this, get me out of here!", Edwin''s countenance changed for the opposite and he shouted, he knew what''s the next thing that would happen with his intuition.


    He tried to exit the room, but couldn''t do so; he tried to turn the doorknob, but his hands just went through; he tried to phase through the wall and door or anything, but couldn''t; he tried to jump out of the window, but was suddenly pulled back by a force; he tried to close his eyes and cover them with his hands, but he still could see through them!


    The boy tried everything, until another kid wearing a black mask quietly entered the room through the door. Edwin tried to turn around, but he couldn''t move again and was fixed in his position.


    He struggled and tried to move, but it was all for a naught, by the time he stopped struggling, his father''s neck was already slashed opened and everything that happened has followed.


    However, Edwin didn''t pay attention to what happened afterwards, he suddenly felt that he could move again, but his knees only collapsed to the ground as he cried out, "I''ll kill you!!!"


    Adding another frantic shout, he declared, "I will kill whoever your family is! I''ll kill them all!"


    The masked kid exited the room, while Edwin immediately behind him, until the former entered an alleyway, as the latter was about to follow, he sensed somebody gazing from behind him.


    Edwin turned around and saw a man looking at him.


    "You are not from this time." Without any emotions, Mr. Sanchez looked at Edwin and muttered to himself, "Good thing I lend the kid a mask."


    Edwin was surprised that somebody could see him and asked to him, "Who are you?"


    However, Mr. Sanchez coldly replied, "Return." A simple word, yet, Edwin felt that it filled with a lot of power.


    The boy felt that his existence fluctuated and he immediately run inside the alley.


    "Return!", Mr. Sanchez said again.


    This time, Edwin couldn''t feel his legs and anymore and he was slowly fading away.


    "NO! I need to see who killed my father!", Edwin desperately crawled towards the corner of the alleyway.


    "Return!"


    This time, Edwin felt that he became much more weaker, and couldn''t even lift up his hands anymore.


    "No! Please no!"


    This time, Mr. Sanchez''s eyes changed color as he said, "There are only two kinds of beings who know how to check back in time, and I am not going to let you last longer here even if you are the good one!"


    The tavern owner clapped once with his hands and the boy heard a muffled explosion.


    Everything went dark for Edwin, but not for long, because he returned to the scene where the silhouette was piercing his forehead.


    The silhouette pulled back it''s hand in a flash, and its figure slightly became faded and smoke arose from its body. It was obvious that he was injured somehow!


    Then the silhouette''s arm turned into the figure of a sword and stabbed it towards the boy''s heart.


    Edwin wasn''t able to move when the sword already pierced his heart. With wide horrified eyes, he looked one more time towards the black figure until he felt his consciousness fading at a fast speed.


    ***


    Meanwhile at Eastern Horizon City...


    James was sleeping soundly while his hand was over the counter. However, his eyes opened wide from his sleep and he fell from his chair while coughing violently many times.


    "James!", Anna noticed what happened and ran over to the kid.


    Then suddenly, James started to cough out blood and his face turned pale.


    "Alchemist Morgan!", when Anna saw what was happening, she called out for Allen, but the latter was already one step ahead and examined James.


    Allen carried the kid and sat him on the chair. James already stopped coughing, but his face was still pale.


    Allen took out a pill from his pockets and let James eat it, easing the kid''s pale face back to normal.


    "Kid, go home and rest.", Allen said. "Anna, can you escort him back to his house?"


    "Okay." Anna agreed.


    James didn''t reply and just immediately left the shop along with Anna and went back home without saying anything.


    ...


    As it was still early, his mother and father was nowhere to be seen inside the house, because they were working. James left Anna outside and rushed to his bedroom then locked its door.


    He thoroughly pulled out the large drawer from the shelf and placed it on the ground.


    Meanwhile, there was an another drawer on the wall!


    He pulled out the drawer too, and there was a corpse of a baby inside it.


    The kid slowly became calm as he saw the corpse, however, he began crying afterwards, "W-what am I?" The tone of his voice was the combination of fear and regret.

 65 Secret of a Secre

    Metallic flavor could be sensed by his taste buds and he started to cough out bits of black blood.


    Wiping his mouth after he finished coughing, Edwin surveyed around to where he was currently at.


    He was in the same familiar chamber in the cave where he got the Mortal Plane''s Codex.


    "How did... what happened? How did I return back here?" Inside Edwin''s mind were the numerous questions on how he got back in here and what did he even experience.


    Everything was just as he remembered it was in the chamber, nothing changed; it was as if the days he had gone through seemed unreal.


    The boy stood up and he started walking carefully, but several seconds didn''t even pass when he stumbled on the ground. Afterwards, he vomited more black blood.


    He ate some healing pills coming from the satchel, but none of them worked as he kept puking out blood.


    "Agghhh...", following which, he felt an excrutiating pain on his abdomen, making him strongly grasp the said part of his body with one of his hands.


    Then something on his chest glew which alleviated the pain he was feeling. That glowing thing also stabilized his condition.


    After he felt the pain subsided, he took out the object that glew from his chest area, which was the the Mortal Plane''s Codex.


    "Are you even helpful or not?", Edwin tightly held the codex.


    The codex slightly shook, as if responding to the boy''s words. At the same time, bits of information entered Edwin''s mind.


    Edwin sighed and put back the book inside his robes and looked at the mark on left wrist. It was the same mark that the codex gave after he was knocked out.


    When he inspected the bits of information that newly-entered his mind, he felt a brief headache but it immediately vanished away,


    "What kind of mess did I enter into?"


    "But can I even do anything now?", Edwin grumbled to himself again. In the end, he calmed down and asked the book if there''s something usable in here to use as weapon, preferably a dagger.


    The codex gold him that there was a pair of daggers in the armory. He looked for those pair until he saw it behind a rusty chain mail.


    When the book told him its grade, a surprised reaction covered his face when he found out that they were actually Superb-Medial grade.


    Superb-Medial grade even if it was rusty right now, meaning that at the time of the weapon''s peak, it could''ve been a Minor-Superior enchanted weapon!


    In addition, there was something written on the blade of both of the daggers, however, just like the mark on his palm, he couldn''t decipher the words on both of them.


    "This is enough." With a happy smile, Edwin left the cave feeling he obtained a valuable treasure.


    ***


    The next day, James returned to the shop.


    "Hi James!", Anna greeted him.


    "Hello.", James replied back. The most noticeable thing about him now was the growing eye bugs on his face.


    Allen gazed at James, "You still look tired, you should return to your house and get some rest." He was currently taking notes of a plant on top of a shelf.


    "No thanks, I hate being alone. Mom and dad aren''t home yet.", James replied while slightly shivering.


    As he was about to walk to his spot, Anna grabbed one of his bare hands in a bid to shake him, but she felt a chilling pain on her hand which prompted her to pull it back.


    Her hand turned pale and frost formed on it due to lack of warmth after touching James.


    She used the mana inside her body heat up her hand until the coldness disappeared.


    "James, are you really okay?", Anna asked while caressing her numb hand.


    "I said I am!" James shouted, startling the girl


    Allen approached James and forcefully grabbed one of his hands.


    Even though Allen was currently wearing gloves, he could feel a piercing coldness flowwed entered his hands which spread towards his arm.


    As the coldness was about to enter his chest through his shoulder, inside his consciousness, the Erchian Dagger started to spin and drove out the coldness out of his body.


    "Mister, your grasp is too tight!", James tried to remove his hands from Allen''s grasp.


    Allen was the one who removed his grasp from James'' hand and said, "Kid, do you feel anything?"


    "No, nothing. I feel normal.", James replied and sat on his spot before the other could say anything back.


    Allen looked at Anna and saw that she was still massaging her wrist to remove the numbness.


    Due to Allen being vastly more powerful than the girl, he sensed that the amount of mana in her body was almost depleted after she used it to heat up her hand earlier.


    Ironically, Anna was a fire magician, yet, nearly all her energy was wasted on a single heating which was suppose to be easy for her as it was one of the uses of her elemental magic!


    He then looked back at James who was holding the plant encyclopedia.


    ''The coldness pierced through my gloves, it''s not the element of ice, because the coldness attacked our souls instead, it''s very weak, but it was still able to hurt a newly-ascended adept.'', Allen thought.


    Allen inwardly pondered, ''Why is he even able to cause damage to somebody else? He doesn''t know any magic.''


    ***


    Several days passed, and during those days, the snowfall didn''t stop even once, though it was only light, but if accumulated after a long time, the effect was no less than a snowstorm.


    Edwin didn''t encounter any goblins nor orcs, making him wonder where did they go. It was like, they didn''t actually exist.


    Using a long branch he got from a tree, he made use of it as a walking stick to check if the snow he was trudging on was too deep or not.


    Some time passed, he paused as he heard the sound of flowing water that prompted him to immediately approach it.


    Travelling a few more distance, he saw a familiar unfrozen river, so familiar that a chill ran down his spine.


    Of course, this was the river where he was supposedly killed by some sort of shadow.


    "I''m finally inside the inner region.", Edwin said.


    Fearing that that shadow might come here and kill him again, but this time, maybe him dying a true death, Edwin started to back off from the river, however, before he could even pass an another tree, the river started to rumble and something shot out of it towards him.


    Seeing that something was headed for him, Edwin took out his pair of daggers and sent out a flash towards it while retreating hastily.


    -clang-


    A sound of metal clashing against metal echoed out as the flash broke into pieces while the figure continued to fly towards Edwin.


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    On the other hand, Edwin initiated Shadow Steps and dodged the figure on time, but the impact created a shockwave that made him fly a few meters away.


    The boy landed on his feet as soon and didn''t hesitate to initiate Burst Steps to run away while spotting what was the figure.


    Edwin: "A demonic crocodile?"


    After gaining a certain distance, Edwin stopped running away to preserve his energy, at the same time, the demonic crocodile started to run towards him.


    The demonic beast''s speed was fast, but wasn''t as fast as how it rushed earlier from the river.


    Even though it might not be fast, it was certainly much faster than Edwin''s normal running speed.


    If Edwin would use Burst Steps, he would certainly be much faster than the beast, but the problem was that the said technique would only provide a burst of speed in a short time.


    In addition, he would quickly run out of internal energy if he kept using it because it wasn''t for any long-term running.


    When the monster got near at Edwin, it struck out with its silver-like claws.


    Edwin avoided to the side, the monster''s attack was only able to hit the ground, briefly shaking it while leaving a deep mark on the snow..


    After that, the beast let out more attacks, making the boy retreat every single time.


    "I can''t get too passive, I wish I could use the book.", Edwin initiated Shadow Steps. The reason why he couldn''t use the book was that he knew it wouldn''t let itself be used, and might even electrocute him if he kept being stubborn.


    With Shadow Steps he swiftly dodged the incoming attacks of the monster and even got to counterattack.


    Edwin attacked back with Multi-Flash and it pierced through the monster''s shiny scales!


    "Yes!"


    Red glowing veins suddenly appeared on the monster''s scales, and spread it throughout itss body.


    "No!" Edwin noticed what was happening immediately used Burst Steps to run away.


    Then a shockwave was sent out of the crocodile''s body, instantly reaching the boy.


    He was flung far away from his initial position onto the air making him hit a few tree branches; but Edwin didn''t become flustered.


    He took out a grappling hook from his satchel and threw it to a thick tree branch.


    The hook''s rope wrapped around the tree branch and used it to land safely on the ground.


    Edwin looked at the direction where the crocodile''s position was, and saw that all of the trees near the said monster were uprooted and the snow on the ground disappeared, as if a windstorm passed by.


    The demonic crocodile didn''t waste more time and charged towards the boy once again.


    "Why is it chasing me?", Edwin grumbled and continued to dodge more of the monster''s attacks.

 66 Two Roads

    ''What is this monster''s weakness?'', Edwin thought. ''How can I beat it?''


    While he was thinking of a way how to prevail over the monster, more trees were sliced apart by the monster''s seemingly indestructable claws.


    Small craters also formed everywhere around the area where the monster was rampaging.


    After some time, Edwin got an idea and sent a flash towards one of the beast''s eyes!


    The demonic crocodile paused all its movement as it sensed danger. It immediately reacted by moving down its eyelids.


    However, Edwin''s flash this time was abnormally faster, because this time he injected more internal energy than the normal amount!


    Before the monster could close it with its eyelids, the flash already hit the beast''s soft eye!


    "ROAR...!", the demonic crocodile howled in pain. Its scales suddenly changed and became a bit spiky.


    When Edwin saw what was happening, a bad feeling welled up from inside him and he increased the distance from the monster.


    In an instant, several hundreds of spikes made of its own scales were ejected from the monster''s body and went all over the place, piercing everything nearby.


    As the barrage of spikes stopped, the battlefield could be said to be utterly devastated.


    All the trees in the vicinity fell down as its lower part was destroyed, the large boulders were pulverized into many more smaller rocks and the ground where the monster was standing looked like a sea of scales.


    Meanwhile, even if Edwin already retreated before the beast could even initiate the earlier attack, several dozens of spikes still went towards him, he dodged most of it, while a few left some tiny cuts on his robe.


    If he reacted much slower, his body would''ve been full of bloody cuts by now!


    Following which, the demonic crocodile''s condition went back to normal, except for the fact that it was a bit larger now, and the injured eye has been healed!


    "How can I even beat the demonic bear if I can''t even beat this demonic crocodile?", Edwin muttered.


    Then, he remembered that Allen taught him about something.


    During a certain day of his training...


    Edwin was jumping tree by tree, running away from something.


    Or rather, somebody.


    -sou-


    As he was about to jump over to an another tree, a flash suddenly appeared and intercepted him.


    Edwin was caught off guard and he slipped from the top of the tree, but as he was falling down, he used his daggers to stick himself onto the tree and safely landing on the ground.


    -sou-


    Another flash came towards him from his side.


    The boy noticed it but it was too fast for him to dodge, so he could only block it with both of his daggers.


    -clang-


    He blocked the flash with both of his daggers, but Edwin had to take several steps back because of the sheer power of the ranged attack.


    In a blink of an eye, a figure appeared behind him and kicked his back, sending him away.


    Due to his unstable footing, he wasn''t able to plant his feet firmly and he rolled away on the impact.


    Finally, he stopped rolling with his back facing the sky.


    Edwin didn''t even get to move when a foot pinned him on the ground on his head.


    "Haven''t you learned how to use flicker? Why didn''t you use it?", Allen asked.


    "I feel like it''s such a waste to use it.", Edwin replied.


    "And why is that so?"


    "I won''t even be able to escape, you''ll just notice me easily. Also I think it''s much better to use it for attacking.", Edwin answered.


    "If you can''t escape, then hide instead. Easy as that.", Allen replied.


    Allen removed his foot from Edwin''s back and helped the latter up.


    "Again.", Allen said.


    "Can''t we take a rest first?", Edwin asked.


    "No, or do you want me to double the difficulty your current training method?", Allen warned.


    "Damn it, you''re so ruthless.", Edwin grumbled.


    -whoosh-


    Allen suddenly started to act and charged at Edwin.


    The latter was caught off guard and when he blocked Allen''s strike with his daggers, he flew away again.


    Edwin: "I was joking, I was joking!"


    ...


    The ground shook repeatedly as the monster attacked again and again.


    Now, it could be seen that Edwin was having a hard time, until he accidentally tripped on a root of a tree.


    The demonic crocodile then took this chance and slammed down it''s claws upon Edwin.


    The boy frantically used his hands to cover up his head, but how could that protect his body from the attack?


    -bang-


    Dust and snow floated up onto the air after that heavy strike.


    When everything settled down, the monster raised its claws to check on the human.


    The beast was expecting a crushed bloody body, however, Edwin''s body was nowhere to be seen, there wasn''t even a trace of blood anywhere!


    Seeing the result of the attack, the demonic crocodile repeatedly stomped on the ground in rage, as he was about to run amok and destroy all the nearby trees, a wail came from the river, which prompted it to get back its senses and run back to the river.


    Meanwhile, inside the crown of a tree, Edwin was nervously covering his mouth with both of his hands.


    Earlier, the Edwin that that was crushed by the monster was only his clone.


    During the fight, he got a chance to get away from the beast''s sight. He replaced himself with his clone while he used flicker to escape onto a branch and climbed up to the top of the tree.


    Or else, he wouldn''t have made such a small mistake by tripping on a root.


    It might be a demonic beast whose senses were boosted; nevertheless, it was still a crocodile, which was much better hunters in the water than on the land and was great at making sneak attacks.


    If the battle happened on the river, Edwin won''t stand a chance, or if he was closer to the river earlier, he would''ve perished without knowing how he died.


    Just like normal species of crocodiles, they prefer to make sneak attacks while hunting for food.


    In reality, he was actually planning to lead the monster away with his clone, but it was too weak and couldn''t keep up with its attacks, hence, the clone tripped.


    When he heard a splash of water, Edwin knew that the beast returned to the river, but he didn''t dare go out yet, fearing that the monster might attack him again.


    It was only a few hours later that he dared to go out of hiding. First, he reclaimed the hook and rope that he used earlier from the remains of the trees.


    As he was going to finally go out of that place, another wail came from river and froze Edwin into place.


    However, nothing happened afterwards.


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    He inwardly let out a sigh of relief and escaped from that location.


    Nighttime...


    Edwin found an underground cave devoid of any monsters.


    There was a bonfire which was lighting up most of the parts of the small cave.


    He was currently cooking meat that he got from killing boar on the way.


    The boy started to eat the meat while thinking, ''So that demonic crocodile was only guarding its baby?''


    He remembered the wail which made the beast go back to the river.


    ''Lucky guy.''


    After he finished eating, Edwin took out the codex, "I hope you can make me stronger."


    "The person that killed my father might just be a normal human, but I still want to get stronger, I can probably... no, I can kill whoever that guy is... and make him pay for what he had done."


    "There is truly nothing enough in this world.", Edwin muttered as he remembered what Allen said to him.


    ''He''s wrong. I will prove it by killing whoever that guy was. It will be enough for me.''


    Finishing his meal, he then trained a few more times before sleeping.


    ***


    On the other hand, at Eastern Horizon City...


    James was sleeping soundly when he suddenly woke up, and a translucent black barrier appeared around his room.


    The barrier restricted all noise from the outside world, and prevented anybody from hearing on the inside, and the barrier, came from none other than James.


    The kid threw himself off his bed while wailing in pain.


    Black smoke came out of his orifices which formed a hand that tightly held his head in a bid to crush him.


    His eyes were turning black at fast rate. He was losing his clarity and control!


    "G-get o-out of me!", James resisted the grip. "I know you won''t dare crush my head!"


    The grip only lasted for a few seconds and it disappeared.


    The barrier around his bedroom also disappeared along with the black hue from his eyes.


    James panted while wiping off the sweat off his forehead. Afterwards, his stomach suddenly rumbled in hunger.


    "I''m not hungry.", he muttered.


    His stomach rumbled again.


    "I said I''m not hungry!", he angrily said.


    Following which, he went on top of his bed again and covered himself with his blanket, but even so, he was still shivering and he kept muttering something under his breath.

 67 Magic Frostbite

    Dawn...


    Allen blew a cup of herbal tea that he was holding and kept stirring it with a spoon to decrease its temperature.


    He walked out of the store and sat on his rocking chair under the roof-covered porch.


    Even though it was still early, there were already a few people on the road playing with snow.


    In addition, the temperature of the air was freezing to the point that icicles started to form on the roof of the porch and ice was starting to cover the windows of the store.


    Ice was almost starting to form everywhere to the point that the rocking chair couldn''t be moved anymore.


    The ice was still thin, but it was spreading at a fast rate.


    Actually, this occurrence was normal considering that it was in the middle of winter and they were up the mountain, but it was only for the normal people; as for Allen, he felt that there was something else behind this.


    A few hours ago, he sensed there was a sudden plunging of temperature that took place, which was why he woke up rather early today.


    He was about to take a sip of his tea when he noticed that the tea was already fully frozen!


    "How could this even turn into ice so fast?", Allen put a finger onto the frozen tea. "There is something wrong going on."


    He walked back in the shop and said, "Little Salad, check all the plants if there was something wrong with them."


    Little Salad who was currently in its sprout form waved its tiny leaves in response, after which roots appeared in the bottom of its pot and it started walking towards the other plants.


    Contrary to the situation outside, the interior of the shop was still as warm as ever.


    "Good thing those old men taught me how to create an array to control the temperature.", Allen muttered.


    Several hurried knocks then came from the door.


    "Come in."


    Anna walked inside the shop and immediately closed the door at once. She was currently wearing thick clothes, but even so, she was still shivering that it made her feel like that there was an earthquake!


    "W-why is it s-so c-cold so s-s-suddenly?! I couldn''t even r-resist it with my own flames!", Anna stuttered out.


    "Here, unfreeze this and drink it.", Allen gave her his frozen tea.


    Anna followed Allen''s instructions and unfroze the tree with her fire.


    When she finally drank it, she slightly stopped shivering, it was obvious that there was some sort of medicine added into it, after which, she asked, "Sir Alchemist Morgan, what''s happening?"


    "I''ve read about this, it''s called Magic Frostbite. It''s not a magical spell, but a special condition of the environment which will only affect internal energy users and magicians, but if it is too severe, then it could even affect the magical plants, animals, and the temperature as a whole.", Allen explained.


    "So... that means mortals won''t get affected?", Anna asked.


    "Mhm, if it is not that severe.", Allen nodded in response. "But the problem is, it''s actually severe."


    "Then... how did this happen?", Anna asked again.


    "There must be some sort of catalyst for this to happen.", Allen replied.


    "Catalyst?"


    "It means that something or someone must be the main key for this to happen.", Allen answered.


    ***


    Meanwhile, in the Retollian Church in Eastern Horizon City.


    An old man with white hair, wearing robes with symbols was looking outside the window from a spire of the church.


    The old man was none other than the holy priest of the Eastern Horizon City.


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    The holy priest frowned as he faintly emitted a golden light which couldn''t be seen by normal eyes.


    The light was fending off the Magic Frostbite which was approaching the old man.


    Though not only the man was protecting himself, but the building, or the church building itself as a whole was fending off the Magic Frostbite.


    "I''ve never seen this kind of severe frostbite in my whole life.", the old man looked out towards the window.


    "Sir, may I come in?", a voice came from the door.


    "Come in."


    A younger man who looked like about 30 years old wearing the same robes as the old man, albeit with less symbols, walked in and bowed his head down, "Sir, the Magic Frostbite is worse than we thought it was."


    "I can see that... have you found out the cause of this?", the old man asked without looking.


    "No sir, we can''t divine it, but we know that this only covers the whole city, but the temperature in the surrounding region is affected.", the younger man replied. "But if given more time, the Magic Frostbite might start to the surrounding places from this location!"


    "In all the years of my life, I have never seen such a severe Magic Frostbite like this take place.", the Holy Priest sighed.


    After a pause, he added, "Relay my command to all the officers to not exit the building until this issue is solved and message the ones outside the city to not return and go towards the other congregations."


    "I will, sir."


    "And oh, send a letter to the regional bishop about this problem, you may exit now.", the old man said.


    The younger man didn''t say anything else and left the room.


    ***


    It was already morning when Edwin continued his journey.


    "Is it just me or did it suddenly get colder?", Edwin asked himself.


    But he didn''t pay attention to it after as he used a bit of mana to heat his body up through a minor spell that Anna taught him.


    "Huh, what''s that?", the boy noticed something from far away.


    He almost jumped in fright for fear that it was that shadow, but when he checked it, it was only a figure of an animal.


    "Could it be?", Edwin crouched down and sneaked towards that animal.


    He hid himself behind snow covered boulders, thick trees and bushes on the way while keeping a close eye on the animal.


    Finally, when he got the appropriate distance, he hid himself inside a large bush and took a peek on the animal.


    Edwin saw that the animal, was only a deer eating some leaves sticking out of a tree.


    The deer immediately walked away after getting what it wanted, however, due to Edwin''s curiousity, he followed the deer to where it was going.


    After a while, when Edwin saw where the deer was heading for, he gaped at the sight of it.


    On a basin, he could see from the edge of the said location, the sheer number of deers in a herd.


    Not just any kind of deers, but deers with white fur, making them look like as if they''re made from snow.


    "Whoa... what kind of deers are these?", Edwin asked himself.


    As he kept looking at the animals, he saw one particular deer, whose antlers were as big as a moose''s, yet still has the elegance of a deer''s; it was also much larger than the other animals around it, actually, it was the biggest of them all.


    In addition to its unusual antlers and size, it''s eyes were gold in color, as if it''s sight could penetrate any veil.


    After checking that deer, he determined that it was the leader or the alpha of the herd of deers.


    "I should leave this place, these deers are probably dangerous." Edwin said.


    However, before he could even turn around, he saw something at the corner of his eyes.


    He looked at the direction where he spotted something, and saw a figure also wearing white robes.


    The figure took out a wooden bow with some sort of faint engravings, then it nocked an arrow and pulled the bowstring, aiming the shot towards the deers.


    -sou-


    As the figure let go of the bowstring, the engravings on the bow faintly lit up, and as the arrow glided through the part of the weapon where the arrow and the bow touches, the same faint engravings appeared on the arrow.


    When the arrow was finally separated from the bow, it turned into a beam of energy and struck the basin.


    -boom-


    Snow and land shot up into the air after the impact of the explosion created by the arrow.


    When everything settled down, Edwin saw that the arrow missed and didn''t hit any deer, actually, in fact, it was far away from the nearest animal.


    Then he noticed that the figure took out something from it''s robe and suddenly threw it at him.


    Edwin caught hold of it, and saw that it was some sort of crystal.


    He didn''t get to inspect it for long because the crystal emitted a light almost as the same as the sun, but luckily, Edwin''s reaction was fast and he closed his eyes just at the right time.


    The blinding light subsided and Edwin opened up his eyes again, the crystal disintegrated into dust and was carried away by the wind, then a grave thought came into him.


    He looked at where the figure was once standing, but it was nowhere to be seen, then he looked at the herd of deers at the basin.


    All the deers where looking right at him, even the ones who were sleeping earlier had their eyes glued onto him.


    Edwin gulped in dry air and said, "Damn it."


    He immediately started to retreat back, but after his first step, the largest deer, which was the alpha, neighed and smoke came out of its nostrils.


    After that, the other deers also neighed and charged forward at Edwin.


    "Ohhhhhh... no.", now, Edwin didn''t even hesitate to initiate Burst Steps.

 68 The Alpha Deer

    In a street of the Eastern Horizon City. James and Ivan were side by side walking amidst the freezing weather.


    "What''s with that face again, James?", Ivan yawned and stretched his arms up high.


    "Oh? Nothing, I''m alright.", James smiled in respond.


    "Really, then why is your face pale?", Ivan narrowed his eyes at James, suspecting the latter was sick right now.


    "It''s really nothing, I''m fine.", James replied, but this time, he was nudging both of his hands at each other.


    Ivan noticed his actions and said, "Stop lying! I know that you''re lying!"


    "No! I''m not lying!", James nudged both of his hands again.


    Ivan rolled his eyes and said, "Well then, I''m going to tell Mr. Morgan about it."


    "No! Don''t tell him anything!", James grasped Ivan''s shoulders and started to shake him like he was a lifeless doll.


    "Stop! I won''t tell him then!", Ivan forcefully removed James'' hands from his shoulders.


    "Thanks!", James'' mood lighten up a bit and they continued walking.


    However, inside Ivan''s mind, his inner self was chuckling in a mischievous way.


    "Have you noticed that it got much colder today so suddenly?", Ivan rubbed both of his arms, he was already wearing gloves, yet, he could still feel that coldness entering his thick clothes.


    "Huh? No, not really.", James shook his head.


    "What kind of a body do you even have?! I want that kind of resistance!"


    ...


    After a while, they finally arrived at Allen''s shop.


    "Good morning, Mr. Morgan!", James and Ivan simultaneously greeted as they entered the shop.


    "Morning.", Allen greeted back.


    "Good morning to the both of you.", Anna yawned, she was still tired after she woke up too early today.


    "Good morning..."


    "Hey Mr. Morgan something''s wrong with Ja...", Ivan blurted out, but before he could finish his sentence, his mouth was covered by James.


    Ivan immediately removed James'' hand from his mouth and tried to finish his sentence, but the latter still got to cover the former''s mouth again.


    "What is it?", Allen noticed what was happening and asked.


    James'' face instantly became gloomy and glared at Ivan, but the latter mockingly stuck on his tongue to the former.


    Ivan replied to Allen, "Mister, something''s wrong with James today."


    Hearing what the kid said, Allen approached James and held the his hand, afterwards, the former felt spiking coldness enter his hands which instantly spread throughout his arm.


    The Erchian Dagger inside his consciousness then spinned and let out light which dispelled the coldness.


    ''How could it grow this severe in such a short time?'', Allen thought.


    "Am I alright, mister?", James asked, he didn''t have to hide anything now.


    "Mhm, your body''s fine.", Allen replied. Well, he was technically still telling the truth because the one causing the coldness was his soul.


    "See, I told you I''m fine!", James glared at Ivan, but inwardly, the former heave a sigh of relief, because he thought that Allen didn''t see anything wrong.


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    Ivan shrugged in embarassment and said, "Well, I got to go now, see you later." After which, he left the establishment.


    As James was about to go to his usual spot, Allen interrupted him, "You should go home kid, I might be closing early today because of the sudden drop in temperature."


    "What?! Alright mister.", James was surprised at first, but he still reluctantly left the building in the end.


    Obviously, the real reason why Allen made James go back home wasn''t because of the sudden drop in temperature, but because the kid might affect the plants in the shop with his condition.


    Even if there was the array set up by Allen, it could only block the Magic Frosbite outside shop.


    Allen turned his head at Little Salad, who was as if trying to say something as it waved its tiny leaves at him.


    Of course, Allen knew that Little Salad''s reaction was because of James.


    ***


    In the Monarch Forest...


    Edwin swiftly jumped over a small creek and passed by crocodile and ran after landing on the other side.


    The crocodile tried to chase after Edwin, but before it could even get out of the water, the ground started to rumble.


    The trees, rocks, and snow shook in unison while the water on the stream swayed back and forth.


    From the direction where Edwin came from, numerous deers charged forward without any hesitation, trampling rocks, plants and small living beings on the way, and even a few trees were occasionally uprooted!


    When the charging deers got closer to the creek, the crocodile tried to bite one of the deer.


    It got hold of a deer with its jaws, but soon, more deers stomped and stampeded on the top of the crocodile.


    When the stampeding herd left the area, what was only left on the location where the crocodile once was, was snow smeared with blood!


    ...


    Edwin ran as fast as he can while using Burst Steps from time to time to escape the herd of angry deers, but whatever he did, he couldn''t shake off the animals!


    "How fast and strong are these beasts?!", Edwin started to leap over the trees, he didn''t stop for a second, because even if he was atop a tree right now, the deers could just bring it down with their sheer number and momentum.


    "I just couldn''t kill them, right?", the boy started to think if he should start killing while running away.


    Suddenly, the alpha deer, who was in the near front of the herd, neighed and its antlers glew and a beam of white light shot out of it towards Edwin.


    -boom-


    The tree where Edwin was currently standing was cut in half by the explosion.


    Luckily, he had already jumped on an another tree before the other tree he was standing on earlier collapsed.


    "What the...!", Edwin was frightened by the power that the beam of light produced. Its power could almost be comparable to a strike of the demonic crocodile he encountered last time, albeit faster.


    The alpha deer shot out an another beam of light from its antlers.


    "Oh dear, oh dear, oh dear!", Edwin jumped down from the tree and avoided the beam of light.


    -boom-


    The beam of light hit a tree and exploded which caused the tree''s upper part to either fly away in pieces and some of it got disintegrated.


    When Edwin touched the ground, he rolled first due to his momentum then stood up and started to sprint away again immediately.


    Now, he felt that he was getting tired because his internal energy was running out after using Burst Steps for many times!


    Edwin took out a pill from his satchel and swallowed it and in an instant, his internal energy was replenished.


    Meanwhile, the alpha deer didn''t dare send out an another beam of light because it might hinder its kin''s momentum from the damage it would cause on the ground.


    The boy heaved a sigh of relief when he saw that the deer wasn''t attacking with its antlers again.


    Edwin kept running forward followed by the herd of angry deers, until the boy was stopped by some sort of an almost flat cliff face.


    Hearing the incoming deers about to catch up onto him, Edwin started to climb the cliff face while initiating Shadow Steps from time to time to make himself swifter.


    When the deers arrived at the area, Edwin has almost fully climbed the cliff face.


    However, the deers didn''t seem to have noticed him yet, and taking that chance, he started to climb faster while he was still not spotted.


    But Edwin accidentally slipped his foot from a step, making pebbles fall from that height.


    The alpha deer noticed the pebbles which made it look up, when it saw Edwin, it started to neigh and its antlers glew again.


    "Oh no.", Edwin noticed what was happening and climbed even faster, however, he was heard by the whole herd, but he didn''t even care if he has been heard anymore.


    Another beam of light then came from the alpha deer''s antlers, going towards him!


    -boom-


    The beam of light hit the cliff face and exploded, launching rocks and dust everywhere in the location.


    When everything settled down, a crater was formed on cliff side by the attack of the alpha deer!


    Meanwhile, Edwin was already on top of the cliff, he got on the top in time by a second earlier the beam of light hit the cliff face.


    "That was too close." With an exhausted sigh, Edwin laid down on the ground. He made a deep breath and relaxed his body.


    After a few seconds, he crawled towards the corner of the cliff and took a peek on the deers.


    What the boy spotted were contrary to the situation earlier, as the animals were now eating peacefully on the herbs and grass that they were digging out of the snow.


    Some were even sleeping while the younger ones were playing freely. It was as if, the chase didn''t even happen.


    However, he couldn''t see the alpha deer anywhere. He kept looking and looking but saw no sign of it.


    Some time later, he heard sound of hooves behind him.


    Edwin froze, then mustered his courage as turned around and saw that it was the alpha deer!


    The antlers of the alpha deer were already glowing brightly, much brighter than before, it has already prepared a powerful charged attack!


    A dumbfounded look appeared on Edwin''s face as he saw the deer.


    ''Guess I have to use my only Flicker for the day?'', he thought.


    As he was about to initiate Flicker, the next thing that happened made him even more stunned.


    "What''s with that dumbfounded look? Do you really take all animals as stupid creatures?", the alpha deer sneered.


    "Well, not really.", Edwin muttered. He already saw the Winter Wolf back at the Monarch Stone Patch, so even if this occurrence was surprising, it wasn''t that stunning than the first time.


    "Hm? And how could you say that?", the alpha deer asked, even if the boy only muttered the sentence, the deer could still hear it with its above average abilities.


    "Because I met a Winter Wolf once in the Monarch Stone Patch who could talk.", Edwin said.


    "So you met Avram. How lucky of you to be alive until now.", the alpha deer said.


    ''This guy seems to be reasonable, maybe I can talk my way out of this?'', Edwin inwardly pondered.

 69 Sudden Spread

    "Wait, wait! I wasn''t the one who disturbed your herd earlier, it was somebody else!", Edwin slowly backed off towards the edge of the cliff.


    "Oh? I already know, it''s just that I really want to kill a human right now." Hot air came out of the alpha deer''s nostrils as it replied and kept charging its antlers.


    ''So much for being reasonable.'', Edwin inwardly complained.


    As he was about to prepare to initiate the Flicker technique to escape, the alpha deer suddenly stopped charging its attack and the antlers went back to normal.


    The alpha deer look in a certain direction and narrowed its eyes.


    Then Edwin took this chance to sneak away from the beast, but before he could even get a few meters away from his original position, the alpha deer suddenly asked, "Kid, I change my mind, ride on my back."


    The beast went in front of him and crouched down, which made Edwin stunned by the immediate change of situation.


    "What are you waiting for? Hurry up! I might need your help.", the alpha deer urged.


    Hearing the tone of the beast, Edwin climbed up the animal''s back, then the deer stood and looked down the cliff to its herd.


    The powerful beast started to neigh down to the other deers; when the neigh reached them, all of them, including the ones sleeping, playing, and eating looked up the cliff, then in an instant, the herd moved and swiftly rushed away from the location, opposite to where their leader has looked earlier.


    Without warning, the alpha deer jumped down from the top and followed the herd from behind.


    Meanwhile, Edwin was almost scared to death by the alpha deer''s sudden action, the boy felt that his heart was left behind on the top of the cliff after it jumped down from a very high place.


    However, those thoughts didn''t last for long and he couldn''t help but ask what was happening, but the beast didn''t answer and kept running, though it limited its speed to be behind the herd.


    Due to his curiousity and because the beast wasn''t answering his question, Edwin took a peek behind him.


    An arising sense could be felt by Edwin as the feeling that a layer of frost came from that wilderness that he was facing and covered everything, but there wasn''t seem to be any change that happened.


    "That spreading power that you probably sensed right now is called Magic Frostbite, everything, including animals, plants, and humans who could utilize internal energy and mana will get negatively affected by it, even those toothpick-wielding humans who can use the element of ice will surely get affected.", the alpha deer said.


    The toothpick-wielding humans that the deer was talking about were the magicians.


    "Oh.", Edwin replied.


    "But this is much more severe than a normal. I need your help on spotting if there are any deers that will stray from our original path, I''ll be busy paying attention on the front of the herd if there are any obstacles, got it?", the alpha deer asked.


    "Yes, I got it.", Edwin replied.


    As soon as Edwin answered back, the alpha deer''s antlers glowed, and the antlers of the other deers also glowed, albeit faintly.


    After which, the animals sped up, as if they got a boost.


    Due to their current speed, Edwin was forced to hold tightly onto the alpha deer while maintaining his vigilance in case of a deer straying off from the original path.


    Also inwardly, the boy was caught off guard by the sudden boost of the herd''s speed, if this happened earlier, he knew that he could''ve been caught.


    On the other hand, Edwin also heard other animals around their location as he focused internal energy to his ears to temporarily boost his hearing.


    He heard different kinds of beasts of the wild such as apes and gorillas swinging on the trees; snakes slithering; frogs hopping; also numerous kinds of birds such as eagles, hawks, owls soaring on the sky, and many more animals going at the same direction, which was away from the Magic Frostbite.


    "There are actually so many beasts that could use internal energy and mana.", Edwin muttered.


    "No, actually, internal energy is always present in anybody''s bodies, the only ones that can get affected by this are the ones that can utilize it.", the alpha deer explained.


    Though Edwin actually already knew that every living being has internal energy within their bodies, he still nodded as a form respect.


    "Huh?", Edwin looked at the corner of the herd, he saw a deer stop running to catch its breath.


    "There''s a deer over there that stopped.", Edwin informed the alpha deer about it, and the latter neighed then a beam of light shot towards the resting deer from its antlers.


    Rather than exploding on impact, the beam of light entered the deer, renewing it of its vigor; then it rejoined the herd.


    The herd rammed down the trees, bushes, and rocks on their way, leaving a mess on their wake, however, the other animals didn''t seem to mind it as it was for their survival.


    However, a giant boulder could suddenly be seen from far away on the oath of the herd, it was too big for their momentum to destroy it by force.


    But the alpha deer''s antlers glowed and a beam of light came shooting towards the boulder, destroying the obstacle and letting the deers pass the area without stopping.


    They encountered other kinds of obstacles on the way, but they were either destroyed by the momentum of the herd or were all obliterated by the alpha deer.


    Meanwhile, Edwin spotted and reported the deers that were straying from the original path or the ones that stopped running so that the alpha deer could easily take care of it.


    By now, they reached the side of another cliff, but they still didn''t stop along with the other animals, because the Magic Frostbite was still on their tail.


    "There''s an another deer there that stopped.", Edwin pointed at a baby deer at the side of the herd who took a stop to eat grass.


    As the alpha deer was about to approached the baby deer, the cliff face rumbled and a rockslide occurred.


    The herd leader''s antlers glowed much brighter as ever, even brighter than the time when the alpha deer was about to kill Edwin earlier, after which, a ball of energy formed above the head of the said beast and turned into multiple beams of light that went towards the falling rocks.


    -boom-


    A loud explosion occurred and the ball of fire formed by the beams of light swallowed all the falling boulders, incinerating them into ashes.


    The herd didn''t stop even once and continued running, but because the alpha deer dragged its attention towards the rockslide earlier, the baby deer was left behind and the Magic Frostbite reached it.


    "No!", Edwin widened his eyes and tried to jump off the herd leader''s body to save the baby deer, but he couldn''t get off, it was as if he''s glued to the body of the alpha deer.


    "Human, don''t you dare do something stupid, I still need your help in spotting the straying deers!", the alpha deer warned.


    "But..."


    "You can''t save everybody. Now go focus on what I told you to do or else more will be swallowed by the incoming Magic Frostbite!", the alpha deer coldly silenced Edwin.


    The boy zippered his houth and complied to what the alpha deer told him to do so.


    Finally, the herd and the other animals finally stopped running away when the Magic Frostbite stopped spreading.


    All of them were now in a wide plain surrounded by trees. If there wasn''t any snow on the ground, this place would''ve most likely been a grass patch.


    Edwin got off from the back of the alpha deer and looked at the direction where the Magic Frostbite was.


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    The Magic Frostbite couldn''t be easily seen with the naked eye, even when Edwin redirected some of his internal energy to his eyes to enhance his eyesight, he still couldn''t see the Magic Frostbite clearly.


    Although it couldn''t be seen on his perspective, he could faintly sense its existence.


    "Human, I''ll be right back, don''t go away yet.", the alpha deer said.


    Edwin only nodded in response, then the herd leader''s antlers faintly glowed, and some sort of faint translucent barrier appeared around it, then it rushed towards the Magic Frostbite in a whoosh.

 70 True Strength

    Time passed and the alpha deer returned, this time, on its back, it was carrying the same baby deer that stopped running earlier.


    The alpha deer carefully removed the baby deer from its back, then Edwin approached it.


    The boy saw that the little deer was only sleeping, which made him heave a sigh of relief. However, he sensed that it was currently weak.


    "Don''t worry about this little guy, he''s dormant right now after he was exposed in the Magic Frostbite for too long.", the alpha deer said.


    After a pause, the herd leader added, "Come with me, human."


    Edwin nodded, but then he remembered that the smart beast might kill him. He started to hesitate whether to follow or not.


    ''Well, I won''t be able to escape even if I wanted to anymore.'', Edwin made up his mind and decided to come with the beast.


    After he saw the true power of the alpha deer when they were escaping from the Magic Frostbite, he felt that even if he used Flicker to run away, he won''t be able to maintain a long distance from it, just the destructive beam of light from its antlers would be enough if the herd leader got serious!


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    The both of them walked away from the herd, on the way, many animals looked with innocent curiosity towards Edwin, like it was their first time seeing a human.


    But when Edwin looked back at them, they would stop looking at him and ignore him.


    In addition, he also noticed that the animals were making way for them, no... rather, they were making way for the alpha deer.


    The alpha deer could be compared to a celebrity.


    A very dangerous celebrity.


    This scene made Edwin curious about what kind of deer was in front of him right now.


    When they got to a certain location where it was far away from the nearest animals, the alpha deer stopped walking and introduced himself, "My name is Rein, the alpha of the Highborn Emperor Deer herd."


    ''Rein? Catchy name.'', Edwin thought, but he didn''t dare say it out loud in front of the powerful beast.


    "So, what brings a human like you in the depths of the Monarch Forest?", Rein asked, his tone was now the exact contrary to the time that he tried to kill Edwin earlier.


    The boy thought at first if he should answer honestly or not, and in the end, he chose to tell the truth, "I came here to kill the demonic bear."


    Rein made a curious gaze and asked, "Are you kidding me, right?"


    "Well...", Edwin scratched the back of his head. Now that he thought about it, it was ridiculous to try to kill the demonic bear, he even had a hard time escaping from the demonic crocodile.


    "You''ll never be able to kill it, because you''re doubting yourself.", Rein added.


    "Eh?", Edwin was surprised by the reply of Rein.


    "No I''m not, it''s just that it''s probably too powerful for me after I encountered a demonic crocodile.", Edwin said truthfully.


    "And you escaped that giant lizard, without getting hurt?", Rein asked.


    "Yes."


    "Like I said, you''re really doubting yourself too much."


    "How powerful is that demonic bear then?", Edwin asked.


    "As powerful as your humans'' Mid-stage mage.", Rein answered.


    Edwin''s eyes widened, "What?! How could I battle something as powerful as that?!"


    ''Does Allen even knows how powerful that demonic bear is? He still sent me here to battle that monster!''


    "And you just escaped from the demonic crocodile which is as powerful as a Late-stage mage.", Rein added.


    The last sentence made Edwin stunned again, "But the level of my strength is only comparable to the Mage Apprentice level when I came here!"


    "How could somebody as strong as that survive in the inner region of the Monarch Forest?"


    "Umm..."


    Now that he thought about it, it was really foolish that somebody with the same strength at the Mage Apprentice level would survive in this location.


    ''Why would Allen even send me here then?''


    Questions kept increasing in his mind, if not for the fact that he suddenly got an increase in strength without his notice, he really would have died long ago.


    "So, are you still going to battle that demonic bear then?", Rein asked.


    "Now that I''m already here, then I will still fight it.", Edwin nodded.


    "Then suit yourself, I still need to take care of my herd.", Rein was about to leave when Edwin asked, "Wait, do you know where to get Soul Shards?"


    "Hmm, Soul Shards? What are those? I don''t know any kind of object called like that.", Rein replied.


    Edwin was dismayed by the answer of Rein, if the herd leader, who has been living in the inner region doesn''t even know about it, then the said object should most likely be at the deep region.


    Edwin: ''Maybe it has another name to them?''


    "Can you point me to the direction where is the demonic bear''s lair?", Edwin asked a different question.


    Rein turned his head to a certain direction and said, "If you follow this direction where I am looking, you will get to that demonic furball by a few days."


    "Thank you.", Edwin said.


    "You are welcome. I guess this is where we part ways, see you again, human.", Rein said.


    "My name''s Edwin, and goodbye.", Edwin introduced himself along with his farewell.


    "You know Edwin, your aura is a bit familiar.", after Rein said that sentence, he didn''t stay any longer and ran back towards the herd.


    "Huh?", Edwin was confused by what Rein said.


    However, Edwin immediately stopped thinking about what Rein said and followed the direction that it pointed its head to earlier, "I still have a bear to kill."


    While walking, he passed his time by contemplating how could have he become stronger in a few days. From having a strength the same of a mage apprentice to being equivalent of the Mid-stage Mage level.


    Edwin looked at the faint glowing mark on his palm which he got from the codex. Not only did that book gave him this mark of unknown meaning, but also bits of information.


    Those bits of information were already shocking to him. Every time that he remembered them, he couldn''t help but be wary and feel fear.


    "If I fail, am I going to die in such a horrible way? Why was I even chosen? I wanted to increase my strength in a fast way, but the price is too big.", he murmured as he walked about without taking note of anything.


    After a while, he noticed something from far away which piqued his interest.


    He narrowed his eyes to get a better look and saw that it was white-robed figure with a bow and arrows on its back.


    It was none other than the person who got him into a predicament with the Highborn Emperor Deers earlier!


    When Edwin saw the figure, his blood boiled in anger but he still managed to keep his calm with a very deep gulp and a smile.


    He checked the aura of the figure, and saw that it was only as powerful as an Early-stage mage, which was somewhat of a surprise considering that somebody with that kind of strength was still alive in the inner region until now.


    He also noticed the bow on its back. The bow has faint engravings on it, which was what made its strike so powerful when the arrow was launched based on his assumptions.


    ''I will make you repay for what you did.'', Edwin snorted angrily within his mind.


    ***


    A few hours earlier in Eastern Horizon City...


    Allen and Anna were relaxing inside the warm shop, when the former suddenly looked towards a certain direction.


    "What''s wrong Alchemist Morgan?", Anna asked.


    It has been more than a month since she came to this city to avail Allen''s services in alchemy so that she could speed up the process of cleaning her pathways of mana from the chaotic mana.


    However, after that time that she touched James, a bone-chilling feeling entered her body which forced her to use up most of her mana, surprisingly, the chaotic mana was also flushed out or gone along with that freezing feeling.


    In fact, it was she doesn''t even need that Adept Mana Stabilizing Pill anymore, but she still kept waiting for it as a sign of respect to Allen.


    "Nothing, it''s just that the Magic Frostbite started to expand.", Allen answered.


    "Oh.", Anna replied, she doesn''t even know how dangerous was this Magic Frostbite compared to the other ones, because she doesn''t have any knowledge and didn''t experience it too long by herself.


    "Didn''t you send Edwin to the Monarch Forest? I hope he''ll be alright.", Anna said.


    Allen didn''t answer and continued reading the book about alchemy.


    The girl suddenly felt a chill on her back, it was as if the mood changed from warmness to coldness.


    "Oh, I think there''s a plant going amok." Allen stood up from his position. But as soon as he did so, he heard a sound of chomping, followed by swallowing.


    He sat back down and continued reading.

 71 Edwin VS the White-robed Figure

    Amidst the snow covered forest, Edwin carefully sneaked towards the white-robed figure to attack it.


    The image of how he was framed was still fresh in his mind, the explosive attack from the bow, and that projectile that released the blinding light.


    In addition, there was also that powerful attack from the bow, but Edwin knew that it wasn''t because of the real power of the figure, but it was from the weapon itself.


    Plus, he wasn''t really planning to kill the figure, but only scaring and also to take the bow to teach it a lesson.


    Also, he wanted to test his new strength into full potential. When he encountered the demonic crocodile, he could only evade, while when he met Rein, he wouldn''t even get to retaliate or escape.


    He thought he was even lucky that the deer didn''t kill him in the end, like it was about to do in the first place.


    With what occurred during these last few days in the Monarch Forest, it also attested on how dangerous the inner region of the said location was.


    Even though he wanted to teach the white-robed figure a lesson, Edwin was still cautious by this point, because anybody weak could be stronger than one would initially see.


    When Edwin got exactly some distance away from the back of the white-robed figure, the former saw from behind the bush he was hiding at, that the latter was drinking water from an unfrozen stream.


    He unsheated both of his daggers and waited for an opportunity.


    -whoosh-


    Edwin initiated Burst Steps and ran towards the white-robed figure.


    The figure sensed something was wrong and immediately dodged to the side, but it was a bit too slow, and Edwin got to kick the figure away its sides, making it fly away.


    When it landed on the ground, the figure swiftly took out a short sword from its sleeves. At the same time, Edwin rushed towards the figure with Burst Steps, and both the short sword and daggers collided.


    -clang-


    The figure took several steps back due to Edwin''s overwhelming strength, after all, the latter was exactly one sub-level above the former.


    On the other hand, Edwin was surprised when he felt that his hand has gone numb after the exchange. He glanced at the opponent''s weapon and saw that the short sword also has a faint engravings just like the bow.


    He attacked again while the figure only defended. This time, Edwin used his full strength and sent the figure flying away, however, his hands went numb again, and this time, the numbness that was inflicted was much greater than before!


    "A specially enhanced weapon?", Edwin realized what kind of weapon the short sword was. He redirected some of his internal energy to his hands, but the numbness didn''t even fade away!


    Soon, the white robed figure stood up from the ground and counterattacked with its short sword.


    This time, Edwin didn''t dare block or parry the short sword and only kept dodging, or else he would lose his daggers after his hands got too numb!


    After a while, ironically, the white robed figure slowly suppressed Edwin, which annoyed the latter, after all, his strength was a level above the enemy!


    -sou-


    A flash flew from Edwin''s daggers each, the said action caught the opponent off guard and forced it to meet both of the flashes head-on with its short sword.


    The flashes made the white robe figure take a few steps back due to their strength, but it was met by more flashes than then split into smaller ones, which was none other than Multi-Flash.


    After a while, their distance from each other increased. Now, there were a few cuts on the enemy''s robe due to getting overwhelmed by the flashes.


    "I need to finish this.", Edwin said to himself. The white-robed figure wasn''t that powerful in terms of pure strength, however, the enhanced weapons that it was wielding closed in the gap between their attack power.


    But before he could even start to act, the white robed figure readied its bow, then immediately launched several arrows in a very fast pace!


    -whoosh- -whoosh- -whoosh-


    "Oh s-...", Edwin''s sentence was cut midway because he started to dodge the arrows.


    -boom- -boom- -boom


    As the arrows were released from the bow, they turned into beams of light and piercing sounds echoed throughout the surroundings along with explosions.


    "How could I forget about the bow!", Edwin grumbled. He was too focused on the short sword that he didn''t pay attention on the bow.


    While shooting out arrows from time to time to hinder Edwin, the white robed figure started to back off, in a bid to leave the area.


    ''I''m not going to let you leave!''


    He initiated Shadow Steps at its limit and evaded the beams of light while closing in the distance on the figure.


    The figure''s chin instantly rose in surprised that Edwin got to dodge the attacks while decreasing their distance from each other.


    However, rather than panicking, it started to nock two arrows at once!


    -whoosh-


    The first arrow was dodged, but as soon as Edwin evaded it, the second arrow was by his side!


    He avoided the second one, but due to the short distance between the two arrows, his face was grazed by it and a wound formed!


    Soon, more pairs of arrow were simultaneously shot out, however, this time Edwin anticipated it and avoided all of them.


    As soon as their distance from each other shortened at a certain point, Edwin disappeared in an instant.


    The figure was startled and stopped pulling the bowstring to equip itself with the short sword.


    However, Edwin reappeared on the back of the figure and took this opportunity to pull away the bow from the latter''s body!


    He successfully pulled the bow and threw it away, and taking this chance he also grasped the enemy''s wrist!


    He also took this chance to pull out more weapons which were hidden, like the short sword, the small crystals that gave off blinding light, and a tiny box.


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    Everything happened swiftly that the figure didn''t even get to retaliate, after Edwin was sure that there were no more weapons, he kicked the figure on its abdomen and flew a few meters away.


    "The things that occurred these past few days... is really stressful!", Edwin angrily shouted as he approached the figure.


    "First, I was forced to hide like a coward from a demonic crocodile!", he sent out a flash.


    The flash hit the side of the figure, who was about to try to stand up and escape, but the flash hindered it from doing so.


    "Then I got framed by you and a herd of deers chased me endlessly!", he sent out an another flash at the side of the figure, almost hitting it.


    "After that... a freaking deer almost raped me to death! But no... it was actually enjoying me trying to escape, as if I''m a pitiful animal!", Edwin exaggerated and sent out an another flash to block the escape of the figure.


    "Then I was forced to work together with that deer to escape a Magic Frostbite!", he sent out an another flash.


    "Now, I was just going to teach you a lesson for framing me, because your strength is one freaking lower than mine!", he sent an another flash.


    "But oh wait, no, instead I was almost trashed like an animal again, by somebody who is suppose to be much weaker than me!", he wiped off the blood flowing from the wound on his face and put some pressure on it with his hands.


    He sent out an another flash to the side of the figure.


    "I can live with the issue about the demonic crocodile and the deer, but not getting overwhelmed by the likes of you, because I still have a freaking pride!", Edwin angrily said and sent out more flashes to the enemy''s sides.


    "I already considered that I shouldn''t kill you, but because of what happened, you might call more of your friends, after all, you''re obviously not alone in this forest with that kind of level of strength!"


    When he reached the white robed figure, he kicked its abdomen again and pinned it down, "Consider yourself dead!"


    He lifted up one of his daggers and filled it with internal energy.


    As he was about to kill the figure, the latter coughed out blood and the large hood that was covering most of the upper part of its face was removed.


    Edwin stopped his action at last moment, when he saw the face of the figure.


    "An elf?", he blurted out in surprise.


    However, it wasn''t just an elf, but a female elf!

 72 Came By Itself

    "An elf?!", Edwin blurted out in surprise.


    Suddenly, the elf spit out some sort of small object which shot towards Edwin.


    The boy immediately reacted by intercepting it with both of his daggers, however, when the object made contact with his weapons, it suddenly exploded and cold mist spreaded out and covered Edwin''s two arms, after which, the mist turned into ice.


    While Edwin''s arms were frozen, the elf took this opportunity to kick him away and stand up.


    Edwin easily broke the ice, and saw the elf was looking back at him harshly while catching her breath.


    He knew that the elf won''t be able to escape with her current condition.


    On the other hand, Edwin''s thought was spot on as the elf also inwardly knew that she probably had to lose some limbs to escape by this point.


    The eyes of Edwin flashed with a cold glint and rushed towards the elf while using Burst Steps.


    However, rather than running away, the elf let out a faint grin.


    The elf grasped the air with her hand, and a silhouette of a bow appeared.


    She pulled the bowstring and an arrow made of energy materialized, and she shot it towards Edwin!


    Then another Edwin appeared on the battlefield, one was still charging towards the elf while the other tried to run away.


    But the arrow was too fast! In fact, even faster than the ones she shot earlier!


    The arrow tore through the clone that was left behind and caught up at Edwin in a flash.


    Edwin initiated Shadow Steps at the last moment and dodged the arrow, but the energy arrow exploded at his side with a boom.


    Due to the shockwave of the explosion, he flew off the ground and landed far away while piercing through a tree destroying it.


    As soon as he landed, Edwin coughed out a mouthful of blood and felt a pain on his back, specially at the part of his body where the backbone and the lower part of his body was connected.


    Good thing that he wasn''t as powerful as a mage apprentice anymore, or else the bones on his back would have been crushed due to the strength of the impact.


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    ''I hope there''s something that can help me in this bag!'', Edwin reached out at his satchel and searched inside it.


    "You even forced me to use my Spirit Bow. I''m already telling you, you should really raise up your standards of your judging on every living being in this forest.", the female elf replied with an even paler face.


    Using the Spirit Bow obviously took a toll on her.


    She picked up a crystal from the ground and threw it towards Edwin.


    On the other hand, Edwin knew that it was the same crystal that could release a blinding light, so he closed his eyes immediately.


    After a few seconds, he opened them again after the blinding light passed. However, he didn''t notice that a short sword came for him.


    The short sword accurately pierced his wrist of his arm that he was using to search for something in the satchel, exactly where there wasn''t any cover of robes'' sleeves, which made him hiss in pain.


    But as soon as it subsided, he found out that his arm was numbed by the weapon!


    He was about to use his other hand to search the satchel again, but the elf nocked an arrow on the bow.


    "If you move, you''ll become a blood puddle.", the elf warned.


    Edwin paused on his movements and looked around him. Finally, he sighed and gave up.


    "Well, this is the third time my life is at the mercy of somebody else.", he muttered while looking up at the tree branches and leaves that were hiding the sky.


    "You shouldn''t really underestimate everyone you see even if they''re weaker than you.", the elf said as if hearing what the boy grumbled. However, she didn''t approach Edwin.


    "You''re not going to search my belongings?", Edwin asked.


    "Why should I? I don''t have the same level of your stupidness to fall for your trap.", the elf replied.


    Meanwhile, Edwin inwardly felt wronged when he heard the elf''s comment. He truly gave up by now. His back was extremely painful to the point he couldn''t move his lower body, he even feared that he''ll get paralyzed if not treated immediately.


    "What do you want then?", Edwin asked.


    "I just want to observe a human''s reaction overtime in this situation.", the elf replied.


    "It''s your first time seeing a human, I guess?", he asked, but the elf didn''t reply back.


    Some time passed...


    "So, are you just going to stand there aiming the bow at me all day?", Edwin asked again.


    The elf still didn''t answer back.


    "I guess that''s a yes? Won''t your back get hurt by staying at that posture for a long time?", he asked again.


    There was still no answer.


    "I guess that''s a no then?", the boy answered his own question.


    "Even if I''m injured, I can do this post for a week.", the elf suddenly replied back.


    "And why are you so talkative?", she asked back.


    "You said that you wanted to observe what will I do in this situation, so... this is what I''m doing.", Edwin shrugged his one not numbed shoulder.


    "..." The elf became speechless at what Edwin said. ''They were right, humans are this stupid.''


    "You can drop the bow down, I won''t even be able to move with my back. I feel that my backbone almost separated from my lower body. Though that shouldn''t happen with the toughness of my body... or maybe...?", then he remembered about the grazed wound from the arrow on his face.


    ''So that''s probably the reason why I got injured this seriously?'', he pondered.


    "Hey, what''s on that arrow?", Edwin asked again, but the elf didn''t reply anymore.


    Time passed and night replaced day.


    Due to the density of the trees in the Monarch Forest, it wasn''t always snowing hardly inside the said forest, as such, the snow beside Edwin didn''t accumulate that much yet, but if it''s outside the said location, he would''ve already been buried alive under the current circumstances.


    One could still feel the bone-chilling coldness during the night under the robes, specially for Edwin.


    Even if he had already magical robes and that almost useless magic that Anna taught him to use mana on heating up his body, he still could feel the extreme cold.


    "Why is it much colder inside this forest anyway?", he complained. "Wait, I think it''s because the light of the sun is blocked in here, I don''t know."


    ''This human... is really stupid. Are they all like that?'' The elf thought.


    He checked at the elf, who was still aiming the bow at him.


    "So... aren''t you going to heal yourself in case that some sort of beast will suddenly attack?", Edwin asked.


    "I can just leave you behind so whatever kind of animal can take you as its food.", the elf replied coldly.


    "Alright then, but won''t you take it into account?"


    "Take account of what?", the elf asked.


    "That I can already move again!", Edwin moved his body in a flash, but he didn''t even get away from his original position because he only moved his upper body. "Just kidding, hahaha...!"


    The elf was startled at first and got ready in an instant, but when she found out that Edwin was only joking, her face became gloomy and even wanted to shoot the arrow.


    ''Are other humans as crazy as this one?'', she asked within herself.


    "I''m joking again.", Edwin suddenly stood up in a flash; removed the short sword from his wrist; then threw it at the elf.


    The elf was caught off guard by the fast action of Edwin, and the short sword pierced through her hand where she was holding the bow, but still managed to release the arrow.


    -whoosh-


    The aim of the bow was a bit crooked downwards and landed somewhere near in front of Edwin, followed immediately with the explosion.


    He was about to charge forward but stopped at the last moment and readied himself before the arrow landed with a bang.


    The shot up snow settled down at a fast rate, then he saw that the elf picked up all of her belongings already and readied to shoot more arrows.


    As the battle was about to start again, the both of them suddenly stopped and looked towards a particular direction after sensing something was coming.


    "No good!"


    "Roar!!!", the nearby trees where all destroyed as a monster''s roar came to them. Afterwards, an enormous sized bear attacked them.


    "So it came by itself after all?" Realizing what it was, Edwin prepared himself.


    Of course, it was none other than the demonic bear he was after.

 73 Die

    ''I didn''t even get to heal all of my injuries.'', Edwin bitterly thought.


    "I really can''t believe that it actually came here to attack.", the elf muttered under her breath.


    Seeing the demonic bear, the elf didn''t hesitate to slowly retreat, but before she even started to run, the beast jumped with its powerful limbs which shook the ground and landed somewhere behind the elf.


    The elf immediately shot the beast with it''s arrows while hastily retreating, but contrary to its large size, it moved swiftly and dodged all the arrows.


    When she stopped shooting, the demonic bear charged towards them. The speed of the monster was incredibly fast to the point that it has already reached the both of them.


    The bear swung down its claws.


    -clang-


    Edwin met the bear''s claws midway with his Firm Fists while holding the daggers. Blood seeped at the corner of his mouth.


    He was already injured, couple with the fact that he had to take on the full brunt of the beast''s attack, the wounds that were left further worsened.


    Due to the strength of the demonic bear, he took several steps back, after that, an another claw came towards him again, which he blocked too.


    Another claw came for him again, but he still managed to block it. However, a fast claw came from his side and swiped him away.


    He was knocked some distance away. Edwin immediately attempted to stand up, but the beast was already upon him and it raised its claws.


    -boom-


    "ROAR!!!", before it could even crush the boy, an explosion occurred on the monster''s back and it roared in pain.


    From far away, the elf nocked an another arrow and shot again.


    This time, the arrow didn''t hit the demonic bear because it was prepared for it. Now, the monster charged towards her at a shocking speed.


    A few arrows were also sent out, but it didn''t the bear again nor even grazed it for once.


    As the bear got close enough, it sent out two consecutive claw strikes to the elf.


    The elf already predicted it and dodged them, but the beast sent out a fast third attack which caught her off guard.


    However, it never hit her, because Edwin sent out a Dagger Flash which wounded the demonic bear''s claw, rendering it from continuing the attack.


    "ROAR...!", the demonic bear roared again, not because of pain, but because of fury. Earlier when it was hit by the elf''s attack, it wasn''t even wounded, it''s because that even though her attack was powerful and explosive, it wasn''t as sharp like Edwin''s.


    It ignored the elf and pounced towards Edwin with it''s powerful limbs, shaking the ground.


    His eyes widened and jumped back so that he won''t get crushed by the beast.


    When the demonic bear landed, it didn''t waste its time and attacked Edwin with both of its claws.


    The boy blocked the attack with both of his daggers, but he got into one knee and more blood seeped out of his mouth.


    The bear placed more pressure on its claws, trying to get him on both of his knees.


    But just like earlier, the elf intervened again by shooting two arrows at the same time, making the monster roar again.


    It didn''t pay attention to the boy again and charged to the elf.


    Relieved from his predicament, Edwin panted and inwardly said, ''This monster is more powerful than I thought.''


    Most demonic animals were more powerful than the other creatures in terms of strength in the same level, and they had different kinds of specialties depending on what kind of animal they were.


    For example, the demonic crocodile that Edwin encountered was almost unbeatable in terms of its defensive capabilities and short range destructive attacks.


    Now, the demonic bear that they were encountering was much better in terms of the beast''s maneuverability and bone crushing instantaneous attacks.


    After thinking deeper, he couldn''t help but remember his earlier thoughts, ''Why did Allen even send me here? Doesn''t he know the real strength of that demonic bear?''


    His line of thought was cut off when he recalled that they were still fighting. As he was about to help out to the elf, the latter shouted at him, "Cover your eyes!"


    Immediately knowing what would happen, Edwin closed his eyes and even covered it with his arm.


    The elven lady dodged a sweep, retrieved something from the ground and threw it at the bear.


    On the other hand, the monster didn''t even mind what was thrown and even bashed it''s head to it.


    Afterwards, the tiny projectile emitted a light that was as bright as the sun!


    Slowly bit surely as the blinding light subsided, Edwin stopped covering his eyes and saw that the demonic bear was dizzily wandering around shaking its head from time to time.


    Taking this chance, he regrouped back beside the elf and took out a bottle of pills.


    He swallowed one and felt cooling sensation all over his body. The cooling sensation didn''t increase the coldness that Edwin could feel, but it in fact stabilized it.


    His injuries healed at a noticeable rate, just like the deep cut on his wrist from the short sword which returned back to normal.


    "Do you want one?", Edwin asked.


    "No, I have my own pills.", the elf showed her palm, on one of her fingers was a ring. The ring faintly glowed and a shiny, green colored with a tinge of violet, medicinal pill appeared.


    She consumed it and her pale face went back to normal, in fact, it was actually much better when Edwin first saw her face.


    "We can''t just go separately attacking that beast like we did earlier, or else we''re going to get killed one by one.", the elf said.


    "I have a plan, but it''s risky.", Edwin said.


    She looked at the demonic bear, who charged head-on towards a tree. The thick body of the tree didn''t even stand a chance against the monster and it crashed down to the ground.


    The elf blinked repeatedly with a emotionless face when she saw what happened to the tree.


    "Alright then, human, what kind of plan do you propose?", she asked.


    After a pause, she added, "The plan should be fast, or else there would be more beasts that will come here after being attracted by the noise."


    Edwin became inwardly relieved when the elf agreed to work with him, he thought that she''d refuse to help him because of their pride as elves just what was written on the stories he knew.


    After which, he discussed his plan.


    ...


    Some time later, the bear''s eyesight returned to normal.


    -boom-


    An explosion occurred on its side which prompted it to look where the attack came from. It saw the elf who had just released an arrow.


    Even so, before it could even start to attack, it roared as it felt extreme pain on its back.


    Even not seeing what happened, it knew that its butt was now full of deep cuts from flashes. So, it savagely turned around to face the attacker, which was Edwin.


    "ROARRRRR...!!!", this time, the monster pounced forward from a distance towards Edwin, the latter rolled back and evaded the former''s body along with its attack.


    The bear tried to crush the boy to his demise several times with its claws, and even with its mouth, but he dodged them all.


    -bang-


    The beast raised both of its claws and sent them down towards the boy, but the latter dodged to the side while using Shadow Steps, making the attack only leave clear bear paws on the ground.


    Soon enough, the monster tried the same attack, but Edwin reacted fast enough and sent a Multi-Flash while the former''s body was wide open.


    -pshew-


    Several wounds appeared on the bear''s body. Making it howl in pain.


    Now, he immediately retreated because knew that the bear would go berserk and would relentlessly attack without defending itself.


    His prediction was correct and the demonic bear had indeed gone berserk.


    Pound, sweep, chomp, pound, sweep, chomp, repeat. Now that it could only care less its own attacks, they suddenly formed a pattern unlike earlier, and flaws also started to emerge!


    One might wonder, why would something be raging like the demonic obtained a pattern on his or her attacks?


    It was because when a beast became demonic, they would also gain sentience and could control their attacks.


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    And due to them being once former animals, if they just let their instincts run througb them then the flaws of their once former selves would show up!


    "All or nothing!", Edwin shouted as he evaded a sweep and threw his daggers to the mouth of the bear as it was about to chomp.


    The daggers accurately hit the part between the jaw bone and the upper mouth bone, rendering it from closing its mouth.


    Rather than backing off, the boy charged forward and created clone which hopped on top of the mouth of the beast, while Edwin held down its jaw.


    He also activated Firm Fists to keep his grip on the jaws and also redirected most of his internal energy to the lower part of his body to keep sticking on the ground.


    "Gah... gah... gah...", however, he could still get attacked by the claws of the enemy, nonetheless, he didn''t decrease his grip and instead increased it further to keep the bear from moving away.


    "NOW!", he shouted while still getting attack. ''I could have let my clone be in my position right now if it wasn''t so weak! This hurts so much that I feel like I''m being crushed from all directions!''


    Meanwhile, a lot of distance right behind Edwin, a silhouette of a bow appeared on the elf''s hand while an arrow made of energy formed.


    It was none other than the Spirit Bow!


    The elf nocked the arrow on the bowstring, aimed it at the mouth of the beast.


    With a deep breath, she then let go of it!


    -whoosh-


    As soon as the energy arrow was launched, Edwin let go of the jaw of the beast and rolled backwards and ducked to avoid the arrow.


    The energy arrow immediately arrived at the beast''s mouth and entered its body.


    -boom-


    An explosion occurred inside the monster''s body, of which, the light of the explosion even leaked out of the beast''s mouth and eyes!


    After the light subsided, the demonic bear''s body collapsed on the ground, its eyes lost its glow and smoke came out of his mouth.


    Holding his sides due to his injuries, Edwin still smiled victoriously as he said, "Haha... yes!"


    He turned around to the elf, who gave a thumbs up for Edwin''s plan.


    The plan was in fact, only dangerous for him, the elf would only need to shoot with her Spirit Bow while he had to keep the bear from staying at one place while its mouth was wide open for the energy arrow to enter.


    This was the only thing that he could think of to kill the monster in a fast manner.


    Suddenly, cracking sounds could be heard and Edwin fell to the ground, gasping for air while some sort of green liquid oozed out of his mouth.


    "Human!" With a worried tone, the elf called out and ran towards Edwin.


    In a slow manner, Edwin''s vision became dimmer and dimmer, but before he totally lost his consciousness, he remembered the day before he left Allen''s shop, of which, he saw Allen muttered something under his breath, at first Edwin didn''t know what it was, but it was as if he got a moment of clarity, and he read his lips.


    "Die, Edwin."

 74 Yes or No

    Several weeks passed...


    It was now the latter part of the winter, and the said season was nearing its end.


    For the past weeks since the Magic Frostbite appeared, the said phenomenon didn''t change for once, and it in fact, extended towards a part of the Monarch Forest.


    This happening started to alarm the Regional Bishop himself, and was even paid attention by the Archbishop stationed in the Trigurniburg Kingdom and by the central government too.


    They had never expected that such a Magic Frostbite that would cover the whole Horizon Mountain and the nearby regions would stretch towards to even the inner region of the Monarch Forest.


    In history, only ten Magic Frostbite as big as this has ever occurred, and they mostly had a considerably large time interval between them.


    ...


    The door of the shop opened and Allen walked inside the building. He removed his snow covered jacket and placed it on the counter.


    Anna yawned and said, "This cold really makes me want to sleep."


    Everyday, since the past few weeks, she would go to Allen''s shop to do three things: Firstly, she would check if the pill she ordered was done; secondly, she would ask about James'' condition; lastly, whenever she''s bored, she would go observe Little Salad as if she''s a hungry vegetarian.


    She looked at Allen and asked, "Is James all right?"


    "Don''t worry, his condition didn''t get worse.", he replied.


    However, Anna was still dismayed as it also meant that Allen couldn''t do anything about James'' situation.


    "Is there any way for him to get back to normal?", she asked.


    "There is an object which can probably help him, but it''s too rare."


    "Oh."


    "Also, your Adept Mana Stabilizing Pill is going to finish forming earlier than I thought, maybe before winter ends.", Allen added.


    "Alright!", she replied. She didn''t need it anymore, but because it was already ordered, it would be rude not to claim it.


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    "Sir Alchemist Morgan, did your apprentice come back yet?" Anna asked.


    Allen: "Who? I don''t have any apprentice."


    "I mean Edwin, did he come back yet?" Anna asked her question again, this time straightly asking of Edwin.


    "No, it will be his choice if he wants to return." Allen replied back.


    After informing the adept about her pill, Allen then went upstairs to his bedroom.


    When he entered his bedroom, he approached the wall, and pulled out a part of it.


    There was actually a secret drawer!


    In it, there were six pieces of small, faintly glowing, golden crystals. If somebody knew what the crystals were, they would be surprised that they were the rare Soul Shards!


    "To use or not to use?", Allen asked himself.


    ***


    Inside a room in a hotel in the Eastern Horizon City.


    There were several men gathered around a table. As soon as another man walked in, they all sat down quietly.


    The new person said to them, "Let''s start planning the sabotage."


    ***


    Somewhere else...


    A blinding light hit the eyes of its owner as they were slowly opened.


    He felt a warm feeling, a feeling that he last felt a long period of time ago. It was relaxing, giving him a feeling that he was lying down on the grass while the sun midly shone down on the lands.


    His eyes adjusted afterwards, and he noticed that he was inside a room.


    The room was mostly made out of fine rocks that couldn''t even be seen in most luxurious inns and hotels.


    There were branches of trees growing out of them that were sticking out of the wall, yet, it was as if they actually served as a decoration rather than being unpleasant on the eyes. There was also a single window where light entered the room.


    "Where am I?", the boy muttered, who was none other than Edwin.


    After which, he recalled that he suddenly sensed the painful burning sensation in his chest that spreaded throughout his body before he fainted in the forest after the demonic bear was killed.


    After remembering, he tried to sit up but wasn''t able to. He couldn''t move most of his body, even his arms nor feet, though he could still turn his head and eyes around.


    He then noticed that he wasn''t wearing the white robe anymore, he was only wearing his suppose to be undergarments which were a shirt and leather pants.


    Panic washed over him as he searched for his robe in the room, which he saw that it was on a stand near the door. He tried to channel some internal energy onto his eyes to enhance his sight, but he found out that he was devoid of the said energy.


    In addition to that, his body also lacked mana, so he tried to absorb some from the air, but he realized that he couldn''t obtain any of the said energy too.


    In the end, he just narrowed his eyes and saw that the codex was still in the robe, then he relaxed and heave a sigh of relief.


    Tiredness started to invade him and he yawned unconsciously. He resisted in response, but he only got sleepier and sleepier.


    "No!", he shouted repeatedly, but he was only in fact muttering.


    Soon, his eyes closed and he started sleeping again.


    ...


    As consciousness slowly came back to him, his eyes narrowly opened.


    Now, there was a lamp that lit up the whole room, as if there were hundreds of them inside the object on top of a table.


    No light came from the window anymore, signaling that it was already night.


    Feeling that he can slightly move his arms and hands, he tried to lift them up.


    "Eeeek... you''re already awake?!", a voice screeched in surprise.


    He dropped his arm to the bed and turned his head towards the source of the voice and saw a young elven girl with gray pupils.


    The young elf turned around to hide her face from Edwin and asked herself in panic, "What should I do? What should I do?"


    "Can you... help me sit up?", Edwin weakly asked.


    Swallowing her nervousness, she turned back around and helped Edwin sit up with the wall where the bed was sticking to to support his back.


    "Where am I?", he asked.


    However, the elven girl didn''t answer and hurriedly left the room.


    "So much for a conversation.", Edwin grumbled.


    Some time later, the door opened again and another figure whose pupils were green came with the little elf.


    The newly-arrived person was none other than the elf that framed him.


    "Where am I?", Edwin asked, albeit with a bit of a serious tone, but one could still sense a hint of weakness on it.


    "In my house.", the elven lady said.


    "Why can''t I move my body?"


    She looked towards the little elf and said, "You go explain it."


    "Okay!", the little elf nodded in response.


    "You see, Mr. Human, when you were brought to me, your condition was so bad to the point that your heart stopped beating! Luckily, with my great talent, I got to revive your heart.", the elven girl cheekily said.


    "So here''s your heart now.", suddenly, the little elf showed a human heart to Edwin, frightening him as his eyes widened.


    -badump-


    "Did it just beat?!", Edwin asked frantically as if he couldn''t feel weakness any longer, making him almost faint afterwards.


    "Zoe!", the elven lady glared at the little elven girl, who was Zoe.


    "I''m only joking.", the little elf rolled her eyes and hid the heart.


    Zoe coughed and continued, "You were inflicted with a... hmm, what are the right words? Ah yes! A gut-wrenching, bone crushing, deadly poison that spread throughout your body. You almost died and most of your blood became green, so I had to drain most of it from your system, and that is why you can''t move most of your body parts right now."


    After a pause, she added, "If you are a magician, you won''t be able to absorb mana, because the pathway of the said energies are still blocked due to the remains of the poison. Plus, your body isn''t able to produce internal energy for now because it is still too weak after getting inflicted by the poison.


    "You had 80% chance of dying, but because I was talented, you''re still alive now! Hehehe." Zoe chuckled, "But I wonder, how did you even get that poison?", She then curiously asked with innocent eyes.


    "I... don''t know.", Edwin said.


    "Then... what was the last thing that you consumed?", Zoe questioned.


    "A healing pill.", the boy replied.


    "May I see it?"


    "Can you get my satchel?", he requested.


    The elven lady took the satchel from behind Edwin''s robes and gave it to him.


    He searched the satchel and took out a jar with pills occupying less than a quarter of it.


    Without asking Edwin, Zoe unceremoniously snatched it from the former''s hand, "This will take a few hours, I''ll be right back." She then left the room.


    Just right after Zoe left, Edwin''s stomach rumbled and he felt extreme hunger.


    "How long have I haven''t been eating?", he held his stomach while his hands were twitching.


    Without saying anything, the elven lady left the room, but immediately came back with a small plate of leaves and passed it to Edwin.


    "Here, eat these, they''re the only kind of food I have for now.", she said. "They are more delicious than they look."


    "Thank you." Edwin accepted them and placed it on the bed.


    The elven lady was about to leave the room when Edwin added, "Thank you for also saving me."


    "Mhm.", she nodded then exited the room.

 75 Whose? 2 in 1

    In the middle of the night, Zoe returned at Edwin''s room with the jar of pills. The latter was keeping himself awake by tossing a bouncing ball made of leaves across the room.


    "I got the results... and I retraced that there is some sort of herb that was used to create those pills, and that herb''s extract matched with the poison in your body.", Zoe said.


    "And I got to say to whoever made these pills is an absolute genius! I almost didn''t even notice the herb extract. I don''t even know what type of plant was used!", she added.


    "But I will still need the pills to continue studying it, won''t you mind..."


    Before she could finish her sentence, the boy said, "I won''t mind, actually, you can have it!"


    "Really? Thank you!", Zoe happily replied and left the room.


    When Zoe closed the door of the room, she saw the elven lady was standing by the beam of the door.


    "You heard our conversation, Ms. Ariel?", Zoe asked.


    "Yes.", the elven lady whose name was Ariel said.


    After a pause, she questioned, "What more can you say about the person who created those pills?"


    "Hmm, probably such a great master, or..."


    "Or a cunning poison concocter?", Ariel interrupted and finished Zoe''s sentence.


    "Well, yes, after all, if one is a great alchemist, one is also a great poison maker.", Zoe nodded.


    "If you excuse me, lady, I''ll be going off now.", Zoe courteously bid farewell and left the area.


    After the little elf left, Ariel carefully took a peek inside the room.


    As soon as she opened a bit of it, she heard sobs from inside the room. Peeking inside it, she saw Edwin laid down on the bed crying, while covering his eyes with his arms.


    She immediately closed the door afterwards and commented, "What a weak willpower."


    ...


    Next morning, Edwin woke up earlier today. No light came from outside the window yet.


    Now, he could move his legs, but they were still somewhat numb, making him need the support of the nearby furnitures to steadily move.


    He approached his white robe amd inspected the codex to see if he could open more pages, however, the book didn''t even budge an inch except for the page that was already shown to him.


    Soon, he started putting on his robe and boots; with the codex being placed in his robe. After finishing all the said actions them, he was about to open the door to leave when it was opened by somebody else.


    Ariel was surprised when she saw that Edwin was about to leave, "Leaving so soon?"


    "Yes.", Edwin nodded.


    "Aren''t you going to wait for Zoe to check you again?", Ariel asked.


    "No, I''m going to leave now.", he said, then Edwin changed his path to avoid Ariel, but the latter blocked his path again.


    "Where are you going?", she questioned again.


    "To the south, I don''t know... just let me through.", he stepped to the side again, but the elf still blocked his way.


    "You won''t even get out of the forest alive with your current condition.", she rebuked.


    "I should''ve died long ago, you know!", Edwin refuted.


    Suddenly, Ariel punched him in the face, and with the latter''s current condition, he took a few steps back and stumbled to the ground.


    "Are all humans hardheaded like you?", she slowly approached him with an indifferent look on her face.


    "Do all elves think highly of their own race as you do?", Edwin said.


    "No, why do you always think we are above you humans you puny...", while insulting, Ariel repeatedly stomped on Edwin''s chest.


    "Ow... stop... *cough*..."


    ...


    After finishing what she was saying, the elf stopped stepping on Edwin''s chest with her foot.


    On the other hand, the boy sighed in relief. Though he was repeatedly stomped on the chest by the elf, most of the force was absorbed by the thick codex on his chest under the robe.


    Even if Edwin almost wasn''t injured the slightest, Ariel ignored it and even reached out her hand to help him up.


    After some time, the boy accepted the elf''s hand and stood up.


    "So... you''re not hungry?", Ariel asked.


    "No, in fact, I don''t feel anything after you kicked me a lot of times.", Edwin joked, starting to smile a bit.


    However, there was still no change on her countenance and left the room.


    Edwin: "..."


    Going out of the room, he was met with a short corridor, the design was still the same as within the bedroom, but the difference was that the quality seemed worse.


    After the corridor, he arrived to what seemed to be like a kitchen.


    Everything in the kitchen also seemed to be of below average quality.


    "What do you want?", Ariel appeared and asked. However, she didn''t wait for Edwin to answer and said, "Go sit down, I''ll make you the same leaves that you ate last night."


    He followed the elf''s instruction and sat down on the chair, which slightly creaked.


    ''So much for being an elf, I thought they are tidy with their things.'', he thought.


    ''Humans have no respect, doesn''t even know basic thanking etiquette.'', Ariel sneered within her mind.


    Before the elf could even start preparing the needed ingredients, a knock came from the door.


    "It must be Zoe.", she went to the other room where the door leading outside was.


    When she opened the door, she saw an elf wearing white robes with green and gold linings in front of her.


    Then two other elves with the same robes crashed through the window in the kitchen. After which, they brought out small poles, which turned into double bladed staffs.


    One of the elves slashed down at the surprised Edwin, but the latter jumped back, dodging the attack, leaving the chair in two halves.


    The other elf then charged him, however, the elf''s staff changed into a pole and thrust it towards him.


    He easily evaded that attack, but the other elf''s weapon also turned into a pole and swifty stabbed Edwin towards his chest.


    This time, he didn''t get to dodge because he was still recovering from his injuries.


    -bzzt-


    Faint but painful electric shocks came from the pole and slowly numbed him. Meanwhile, the other elf also attacked Edwin on his back, increasing the intensity of the shock.


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    When the elves retrieved their weapons, Edwin collapsed to the ground, almost unconscious.


    However, his consciousness started to fade away, and before he was knocked out, he saw a blurry vision of Ariel entering the room beside an another elf.


    "Why?", he muttered, but he passed out afterwards.


    ***


    When Edwin woke up again, he saw himself inside some sort of a closed room without any windows. There wasn''t a single source of light inside the room, but his eyes adjusted so he can at least check where he was.


    His wrists were secured with chains that was connected to the ceiling, while his feet were also tightly secured on the wall.


    There were also two other chains in the room, one with a skeleton on it, the other one with a blood puddle under it.


    In addition to that, he also saw his gray shirt hanged on the other side of the room.


    A sensation of tiredness was all over his body, he couldn''t move his body even if he tried his best.


    Suddenly, an entrance opened from the other side of the room, and a large, masked elf, wearing black clothes walked in while carrying a small metal stick.


    The entrance behind the elf closed as soon as he entered the room.


    The elf went in front of Edwin and asked, "Where are your other fellow humans?"


    "What other fellow?", the boy weakly asked.


    The elf punched Edwin on his stomach with his fist filled with internal energy.


    While the sound of bones cracking could be heard, blood seeped out of the boy''s mouth as he replied, "I''m not with anybody!"


    "Say it, where are your fellow humans?", the elf asked again.


    Still, Edwin answered the same question.


    -whoosh-


    The small metal stick that the elf was holding turned into a mace. Red electric flashes came from the weapon.


    The feeling of agitation and fear surrounded him as Edwin''s eyes widened, "I''m really alone, I''m really alone, I''m really..."


    And by then, shrill screams resonated inside the room.


    ***


    Inside a room...


    A thin elf wearing vibrant long tailed vest entered a room and bowed down.


    "So, did that human say anything yet?", an old elf sitting behind a desk asked without looking at the newcomer


    "Not a thing, sir.", the other elf replied.


    The aged elf kept looking at the letters on his table and said, "It''s been several hours since that human woke up, that human really knows how to hide things. What do you think about it, chief?"


    "I think, that human isn''t connected to the other ones we saw. We might have mistaken him to be one of them.", the elf chief answered.


    "Oh? I was talking about what we should do to make him tell the truth. Do you really trust that human?", the elder elf put down the letters he was reading and looked at the other elf.


    "No! Forgive me, sir.", the chief elf bowed down again.


    "Alright, I''ll let it off, it''s just a trivial matter.", the old elf pulled out a drawer and took a quill and ink from it.


    After a pause, the elder elf said, "The council sent me a letter to use that ''object'' continuously for a few days. You may leave now."


    The chief elf''s forehead let out beads of sweat when he heard that ''object'', but his face became solemn as the that thing would be used for a few days.


    Afterwards, he bowed down again, however, he didn''t leave just yet, "Sir, I''m also reporting that Her Highness found out what we really did to that human."


    "Hm? Don''t let her near that place.", the old elf replied.


    "As you command, sir."


    ***


    With the sound of the chains slightly swaying back and forth. Constant pants and sobs could be heard within the secret chamber.


    Edwin''s hands repeatedly twitched, even though his body was mostly the one that get hit, he could feel the pain up to his chained hands.


    The pain he felt was like as if repeatedly getting ripped apart, crushed, minced, and slowly being peeled by giant hands.


    "Father... father... father...", Edwin muttered the same words each second.


    Some time later, the large elf walked in the room while holding a box and the same small metal rod. The elf placed the box on the floor but kept carrying the rod.


    "Where are your fellow humans? Where did you hide the fruit? From where did you came from?", the elf asked. Edwin already heard the same questions for a lot of times.


    "I''m not one of them, I don''t know what you''re talking about, I''m not one of them...", Edwin hurriedly answered.


    However, the metal rod turned into the mace and the elf bashed it against the boy''s chest.


    He let out several shrill screams, blood continuously flowed out of his mouth and nose while sounds of bones cracking could also be heard.


    The same questions, answers, and torment repeated again and again and again and again, for Edwin, he felt that it would never stop.


    When it finally stopped, a puddle of blood formed under the boy, his already dried pants was soaked in blood again. In addition to that, there were also a few pieces of "meat" on the ground.


    His ribs were exposed and the boy felt that he could die at any moment from now, but the elf won''t let it happen.


    The elf retrieved a pill from his robes and planned to heal Edwin with it. However, because the boy''s energy pathways were blocked, the elf could only take an another option...


    ...and that was planting the pill right inside the body.


    The boy let out even louder shouts of pain as the elf forcefully pierced through his ribcage and placed the pill inside his stomach.


    Meat and flesh grew back and Edwin''s body returned back to once it was.


    "Still not going to tell the truth?", the elf asked.


    "I don''t know what you''re talking about... I don''t know... I don''t know...", Edwin wheezed.


    The elf let out a sigh and he opened the small box. Inside it was a red thorn, but the elf seemed to hesitate picking it up.


    Instead, he wore a glove on his hand and picked up the said object.


    "Why... are you even here?", the elf changed the question.


    "I-I... I don''t know... I don''t know...", Edwin kept answering the same question. At the same time, he felt an extreme headache attacking him that barred him from answering with his true purpose.


    Still dissatisfied with his answer, the elf stabbed the thorn towards Edwin''s chest.


    -whoosh-


    The thorn grew into a little red plant and its vines pierced through Edwin''s back, and even attaching itself to the wall behind him.


    Not just that, the vines also stretched and pierced everywhere in his body, to the lungs, to the kidneys, to the heart, to the throat, to his brain. Everywhere from top to bottom.


    The vines at some times connect some of his organs to the other organs, some of his organs also got crushed, some were pierced through, some where utterly dislocated, etc.


    Nonetheless, he gets healed every time through the vines too, but it also added more to his pain.


    Blood flowed out of his orifices at a fast rate.


    He wanted to scream the loudest as he can, but he couldn''t even let out a squeak, less likely a yell, because his throat was filled with blood.


    The suffering he was going through right now couldn''t be explained by mere words.


    Meanwhile, the elf turned around and ignored the boy''s wide eyes, as if they were going to get remove from their sockets.


    -clang- -clang- -clang-


    The loud rattling sound of the chains holding the boy, made them elf extremely uncomfortable.


    In the end, the elf couldn''t take it anymore and left the room. The elf couldn''t even turn around to see the bloody mess behind him!


    The mark on Edwin''s palm grew brighter and turned blood red, but the boy didn''t notice it because of the unexplainable pain he was feeling.

 76 Yadhtrib

    Two days later, James returned to the Allen''s shop along with Ivan.


    "James, are you okay now?" As usual, Anna was inside the shop, she stood up from her former squatting position and greeted.


    "Hello.", James weakly greeted back.


    "Nobody''s going to greet me?", Ivan asked.


    "You are not the one who is sick.", Anna didn''t even bat an eye towards Ivan.


    For the past few weeks, Anna and Ivan got acquainted because of one common thing, and that was their worrying for James.


    Ivan: "..."


    "Hehehe...", James chuckled.


    "Hmph, traitor! I thought we are friends!" Ivan snorted, "I still have something to do, I''m going out, goodbye!" He stomped his foot then left the shop. "HMPH!"


    "Where''s Mr. Morgan?", James asked.


    "He''s not awake yet.", Anna replied.


    "Then how did you enter the shop?!", James narrowed his eyes in suspicion.


    "Oh... I have my own ways.", she quietly took a peek at Little Salad. Afterwards, she squatted back down in front of it.


    "I think you developed some sort of weird plant fetish.", James scratched his face with a single finger as he said.


    "What? Why would I even do that?", Anna angrily looked at the other kid.


    "Oh come on, just tell the truth. You are in love with that plant, aren''t you?", James smirked.


    Little Salad: "..."


    Anna: "?"


    Few seconds later...


    Anna: "????????"


    ''Calm down, calm down, calm down. He is sick and he doesn''t know anything about magic, don''t slap him to death...'', Anna tried to calm herself down.


    Meanwhile, also in her head, her chibi self was furiously slapping James'' chibi figure just like the last time, but this time, the color of the fire on her hands was blue!


    Her line of thoughts broke when she saw James started coughing hard and went to his knees. One of his hands were grasping his belly while the other was holding onto the counter.


    She immediately ran over towards James and tried to help him stand up, but the latter refused Anna''s hand.


    "Why are you even..."


    "I think I''m dying, right?"


    James'' sentence startled Anna, the latter was about to say something when the former continued...


    "I''m going to die because of some sort of sickness. You shouldn''t touch me, or else you''ll get hurt instead.", James backed off a bit.


    The kid continued, "I don''t understand some things, but I''m not completely blind. I saw how you hastily retracted your hand from me when you touched me one time."


    Anna slightly relaxed and squatted in front of James.


    "I heard my parents'' conversation. My father started to work at the mines earlier than scheduled and he planned to work the whole day and night, in fact, he hasn''t come back home since two days ago. My mother is also working double time. But I know that they want to throw a party for me, bigger than the previous ones... my birthday is tomorrow, after all.", James said.


    "You''re smarter than I thought you were.", Anna mumbled.


    "No, but I still wonder... what is your walking stick for anyway?", James looked beside the door and saw Anna''s staff.


    "W-walking stick?", Anna also looked at her staff and was dumbfounded by what James had said.


    The gems socketed in her staff were covered by a plank of wood which looked like a design on it.


    "It''s for... uhh... checking if the snow is too deep so I won''t accidentally fall.", she still remembered what Allen said not to let James find out she was a magician.


    "So, your birthday is tomorrow, right? What''s your wish?", Anna swiftly changed the topic of their conversation.


    "Well... I want to see magic up close. I always heard about magicians but I never saw them doing magic up close.", James said.


    Anna paused for a moment when she heard James'' wish.


    Then she took in a deep breath and said, "James, do you want..."


    However, she didn''t get to finish her sentence after they heard footsteps on the stairs.


    "Mr. Morgan''s awake.", James supported himself up and walked towards the stairs while Anna followed behind him.


    ***


    In the deep region of the Monarch Forest where only a few humans would enter, and even fewer to make it out alive, there was a hidden yet large kingdom.


    That kingdom was recognized to be the ruler of the said forest, and it was known by smart beasts by its two titles, ''Monarch of the Forest'' and ''Forest of the Monarch''.


    Both of the titles referred to the kingdom itself, but has two different meanings. The first one was about the external relationship of the kingdom to the everything around it; on the other hand, the second title was about the kingdom being ruled by a supreme ruler, thereby making it the ruler of the forest too.


    It was really just a miniscule kingdom based on its size if compared to real ones, which was only thrice or four times as big as a large human city.


    Its inhabitants were mostly elves, who were only myths in the human legends. Their lives were obviously much of higher grade than humans, even the poorest of elves could match the middle-class humans.


    From atop the nearest mountain, one could see tall, decorative towers that were constantly getting taller the nearer they were to the center of the city-kingdom, where there were four citadels representing the four cardinal directions.


    On the middle of the citadels, was a halved mountain and on top of it was a palace whose spires and towers could reach up to the skies, making it look like a heavenly abode.


    That would be the first impression of outsiders, however, the higher ranked elves knew that the half mountain wasn''t really natural but was literally built and forged over hundreds of thousands of skeletons of their enemies!


    ...


    Meanwhile, a white-robed elf riding a horse stopped outside the western gates of the walled Western Citadel.


    "Halt!", the fully armored elven guards on the walls switched their weapons from bladed staffs to their bow and arrows and they aimed them swiftly at the newcomer without delay.


    "Open the gates!", the newcomer removed the hood of her robes, and she was none other than Ariel.


    The guards retracted their bows and elegantly changed their weapons back to bladed staffs.


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    Following which, the large steel gate rose up and Ariel entered through it.


    She rode through the soldier filled streets and headed towards a large palatial building, which was the citadel itself.


    After dismounting, Ariel entered it and ran up on a spiraling stairs. When she reached the top, she only saw a single door at the end of the corridor.


    She furiously opened the door while panting, "Elder Dewthorn!"


    Inside the room which seemed to be like an office, there was an elf with hair as white as snow, reading through the parcels and letters.


    "Your Highness Ariel, what can this lowly one do for you?", Elder Dewthorn asked without looking at her.


    "What did you do to that human? Where is he now?", Ariel calmed down and asked politely. Even though she was a member of the royal family, and one of the highest ranks at that, her authority doesn''t exceed nor even come close to the aged elf in front of her.


    "Is there something that Her Highness wants from that human? I can force it out whatever it is from him.", Elder Dewthorn said, still not batting an eye on her.


    "So my guess was right. You are the Imperial Prosecutor, I know what you can do!", she said.


    "I think I know where this is heading to. Let me guess, you want me, Your Highness to free that human boy?" This time, the elder glanced at Ariel.


    After she didn''t answer his question for awhile, Elder Dewthorn sighed, "Your Highness, you know very well that you shouldn''t tamper anything in these kind of matters, specially concerning about an outsider. Haven''t you been taught of not making contact with humans?"


    Feeling like she was thrown a bucket of cold water, Ariel retorted, "I was also taught to not repay kindness with emnity!"


    "So you owe something to that human? Nevertheless, your refutation doesn''t make any sense... because actually, do you even owe anything to that human?", Elder Dewhorn coldly stated.


    "How did you...?", Ariel was surprised that the aged elf knew what really happened, the former actually doesn''t owe anything to Edwin anymore, because she also saved him from the poison in exchange.


    "Don''t you have a friend named Zoe?", the old elf raised his brows in curiousity.


    "She... told you?" Ariel''s countenance changed slightly when she heard the last sentence.


    "How could I put this into words? Hmm... I think you should just wait until the verdict is out, Your Highness.", Elder Dewthorn dismissedly said.


    "But..."


    Before Ariel could finish her sentence, Elder Dewthorn interjected, "Your Highness, even if I wanted to free that human, I won''t be able to, because the Council of High Elders is the one supervising this case, I''m just managing it for them."


    "Your Highness, I know that you requested to one of my men to not do something bad to him, but please forgive me, this isn''t my decision, it is the council''s; if not, I wouldn''t even touch a piece of hair on that human if you told me to.", Elder Dewthorn sternly replied.


    "Thank you for accomodating me, elder." Seeing that she won''t be able to do anything, she didn''t stay any longer and left the room.


    On the way down the stairs, she tried to relax herself, "I should visit Zoe and ask why did she do this. There must be an explanation."


    When she thoroughly calmed herself down, Ariel muttered under her breath, "Why does that human gives me a familiar feeling?"

 77 Verdic

    The nauseating smell of blood permeated the air inside the cold, damp cell.


    The continuous cracking of bones and the sound of sharp slashes could be heard inside the chamber. Those sounds could make one be terrified for their lives.


    If one would listen closely, one could hear somebody breathing in the backrgound amidst the other noises.


    It was calm, not too slow nor too fast.


    ***


    On a particular street in the elven city.


    "Zoe, open the door, we need to talk about something!", a white-robed elf whose head was hidden under a hood knocked on the door of a house.


    The elf was none other than Ariel.


    "Zoe? Hello?", she called out again, but nobody answered.


    She took out an emerald with magical engravings from her pockets and sent a message through it. After waiting for several minutes, there was still no reply.


    "Should I use my authority to forcibly enter? But I don''t want to use my authority in front of many people, it''s embarrasing.", she muttered as she looked at the elves walking to and fro in the street.


    That''s also the reason why she was being low-key right now, if the nearby citizens found out she was the princess, heck, the news of her knocking on a door could reach the other side of the city in less than an hour.


    And it wasn''t just any overstatement.


    "Huh, Ariel?", a voice suddenly called out behind her.


    "???", Ariel was slightly startled when somebody called out her name, ''Is my cover blown?''


    She slowly turned her head around to check who called and saw a blonde boy, about at the age of 10.


    The elven boy was wearing clean, , sewed, longsleeve shirt, pants, a raggy scarf around his neck, old-fashioned leather boots, and mask on the lower part of his face.


    The boy slightly raised his hair that was covering his eyes, and it revealed his green, emerald like pupils, which was the color of the royal family.


    "Gabriel, what are you doing here?", Ariel recognized the boy and quietly asked.


    "Big sister, I''m strolling around the city.", Gabriel replied.


    After a pause, he scratched his neck and grumbled to himself, "Why do we even have to stay low-key everywhere we go inside the city?"


    "Big sister, can''t you take me to your adventures for once? There''s nothing fun to do in the palace.", Gabriel pouted his cheeks.


    "No, you''re too young and it''s dangerous, and you''re the..."


    "I know I know, I''ll be the one who will inherit the kingdom, so I better stay at the palace to keep reading books and get more intelligent. But the problem is, how can I hone my mind if I stay there all the time?", he interjected.


    "Can''t you have a debate with the imperial officers?"


    "So, should I have a debate with the Imperial Chancellor who doesn''t want to expand the city because we can just make the buildings much higher, which is really a bad idea in the aspect of aerial defense, and what did he reasoned out? He said that nobody would even dare to attack the kingdom, such absurdity! Or the Imperial General who always train troops everyday which isn''t really his job and because of that, there are a lot of documents stacked in his office that he haven''t checked yet, so irresponsible. Or those other hypocritical, greedy, good for nothing high-ranking officials who even wanted to split up the governance of the city just because father isn''t that active in the government affairs? Those kind of officials could instigate a rebellion and what they stated is equivalent to saying that father isn''t really capable, it is plain treason!", Gabriel rolled his eyes in disgust and crossed his arms.


    The corners of Ariel''s mouth twitched when he heard his little brother''s complaint, but when she heard the last part of his long sentence, she asked, "Wait? They did say that?"


    "Uh-huh, I overheard some of them say in their secret meeting in an inn earlier.", Gabriel replied.


    "So there''s really going to be a rebellion and you''re just here relaxing instead of telling it to father?", Ariel almost made a facepalm.


    "Pfft... as if father won''t even know, he probably has spies informing him of it already.", Gabriel almost laughed by the stupidity of those other elves.


    "Big sister, I wonder why you are visiting Zoe, and why are you a bit flustered?", Gabriel asked.


    However, he was still the one who answered his own question, "Though I''ve been hearing top secret news these last few days that Zoe reported a human and that human was caught. So, I''m guessing that that issue also has something to do with you?"


    "Yes, I was at my makeshift house somewhere far away from the city, and those Elven Vindicators barged in and captured him. I told them not to do anything bad to him, but they even tortured him for who knows what reason.", she said.


    "Why do you even care about an outsider?", Gabriel asked.


    "It''s a weird feeling, he just feels so familiar, yet I never saw him before in my life!", Ariel explained.


    "I think it''s much better for you to just go to the mountain under the palace, the Council of High Elders is going to hand out their verdict on that human later for being assumed to be involved in stealing a very important fruit with other humans.", Gabriel said.


    "So soon?"


    "Mhm, plus, I also heard that they used that ''object'' in forcing him to tell the truth. But I think his answers didn''t satisfy them.", Gabriel added.


    Ariel felt a chill on her back when she heard about that ''object''.


    "Whoever made that ''object'' is undoubtedly evil." Ariel commented.


    "Agreed." Gabriel nodded.


    ***


    Both Ariel and Gabriel arrived at the half mountain under the palace and entered through a secret tunnel lit by torches and magical stones.


    "That human makes you instinctively protect him? Well, that is really an absurd reason, anybody would mistaken you to be in love with him instead.", Gabriel looked at her sister at the corner of his eyes.


    "Also, what will you say to the elders once you are there?", he asked.


    "Honestly, I don''t know.", Ariel replied.


    "Well here''s a tip, just become a witness and say that human didn''t do anything wrong. Worse case scenario, you might even get implicated in this stealing issue.", Gabriel suggested enthusiastically, as if not caring about the latter part of his statement.


    After getting to a certain part of the tunnel, Gabriel stopped and sticked his ear to the wall, "Hold on, I think it''s starting."


    "Then we should hurry up!", Ariel said.


    The pathway, however, suddenly shook, though the shaking immediately disappeared afterwards.


    "What just happened?", she asked.


    "The pathway at the end just closed up probably due to the verdict to ensure security, we''ll never get to exit this place until it''s done.", Gabriel sighed.


    "Is there any other way out?"


    "No, as far as I remember all pathways near and connected to the Judging Chamber are usually sealed during a verdict.", he answered.


    "We''re a bit step too late!", Ariel inhaled a lot of air to calm herself down.


    "Big sister, do you want to see how the verdict will go? I have a One-Way Transparent Scroll on me.", Gabriel asked.


    "Of course."


    Gabriel took out a scroll from the pockets of his pants, it was bigger than the size of the pocket, however, it was clear that the pants was a spatial treasure.


    The elven kid unfurled the scroll and pasted it to the wall, letting them see the Judging Chamber from the other side of the wall.


    ***


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    A bit earlier...


    A bear entered the cave chamber while carrying a cage on its back. The animal was also surrounded by eight Elven Vindicators who were guarding it.


    It arrived on top of a large elevated platform, where the elves placed down the cage, then the animal went down the platform and left the chamber.


    -whoosh-


    The Elven Vindicators pointed their bladed staffs at the cage where Edwin was.


    His wrists and feet were tied together by chains, of which the chains were also tied to the steel cage.


    His neck was also secured by chains which were connected to the chains on his wrists and to the cage itself.


    The boy was in a kneeling position with his hands behind his back and his head ducked down.


    He was wearing new set of clothes, however, there were still some bloodstains on them that were obtained from the leftover blood.


    In addition, few drops of blood went out of his eyes, ears, nose, and mouth from time to time.


    His bare feet still has a tinge of blood left on it, as with his bare hands too.


    A slight quake occurred which immediately subsided, afterwards, six figures entered the room and went to the high podium where there was a single seat.


    The figures went to the back of the low table but nobody sat on the seat, they all looked at Edwin, the newcomers weren''t actually humanoid figures, but were animals!


    "This human was caught near the city. Chizowa suspected that he is connected to the ones who stole the fruit, it''s really suspicious for a human to venture this deep.", a black bear with shiny black paws looked at a horned gorilla.


    "The princess took in this human, but she doesn''t know that this human is involved in the stealing.", the gorilla snorted.


    "And so you just ordered to use a Red Thorn on that human without our consent?", a brown crocodile questioned.


    Although the crocodile has sentience, it was smarter compared to the demonic crocodile that Edwin had encountered.


    "So, you''re siding with a human now, Kirk?", Chizowa angrily asked.


    "No, I mean that it''s a waste to use a Red Thorn on making him tell the truth.", Kirk retorted.


    "But he still denied everything in the interrogation.", the bear added.


    "Then... it means that he isn''t really connected with those other humans?", Kirk pointed out.


    "Hmph, what do you mean not connected?", Chizowa rose his voice.


    A white furred wolf narrowed its eyes and used its great sense of sight to check on Edwin, even though the boy was ducking his head down, the beast clearly recognized him, "This human boy is innocent!"


    Everybody in the room was surprised by the wolf''s statement, including Ariel and Gabriel in the pathway beside the chamber.


    "You''re siding with a human, Avram?!", Chizowa roared angrily.


    "Yes, is there anything wrong with that?", Avram calmly asked.


    "How traitorous! The several years of you and your kind being stationed to live at that broken stone patch already poisoned your mind!", the gorilla grunted.


    "Well, I did hear about you getting a debt on a human, Avram.", the bear said, showing its hostility to the Winter Wolf.


    "Hmph, Chizowa, your kind losing your symbolic fruit isn''t really the problem of everybody else in here! Don''t you dare pass your irresponsibility to us.", Avram retorted.


    Following which, he coldly looked at the bear, "As for you, Sango, you have no rights to whoever I will ask for help because I know who will be trustworthy or not. At that time, I also asked for your assistance, and what did you do? You just flatly rejected it. You do not have enough honor and jurisdiction to challenge what I will do for my clan!"


    The bear was taken aback and couldn''t refute anything back, but the gorilla further became enraged and even stood up on its two feet!


    "Why you...", Chizowa glued his eyes at Avram, it seemed that his fuse was almost lit up.


    "Silence.", a lion interjected to what was happening.


    The gorilla calmed itself down and sat back down, it didn''t dare go against the lion, because it was the highest and most powerful between all of them, instead, he asked to the lion, "What is your opinion about this, Nareol?"


    "That human obviously didn''t do anything. It''s impossible for him not to admit it under the pain of the Red Thorn.", Nareol said.


    The lion''s statement invigorated Avram, also Ariel and Gabriel who could hear and see what was occuring.


    "But still, he tresspassed within our lands and found the kingdom, and he has to die so that our location will remain hidden from the eyes of our enemies.", the next statement of Nareol just crushed the recent hope of the three mentioned above.


    "Wait! Can you lighten up the human boy''s pumishment instead of a death penalty?", Avram requested.


    "Then we shall do it by vote. Should we lighten up the human''s punishment? All yes, step forward.", the lion said.


    After which, Avram and an another animal stepped forward, which was a white deer!


    "Huh, Rein?", Avram showed a surprised look at the White Emperor Deer.


    The other beasts, including the lion were caught off guard that Rein stepped forward.


    "I thought that you took a stand long time ago that you do not care about human beings?", the gorilla''s temper lit up again.


    However, Rein as if didn''t hear, nor even felt the presence of Chizowa.


    "All no, now step forward."


    This time, the three other chiefs stepped forward, except for Nareol.


    Three said no, two stated yes, one abstained.


    Rein sighed and muttered under his breath, "I can''t do anything now, human."


    Avram also let out a sigh and murmured, "I hope you can forgive me, Allen."


    "Vindicators, you know what to do.", Nareol signaled.


    The eight Elven Vindicators all nodded and stabbed their weapons at the same time inside the cage.


    -pshew-

 78 Your Majesty!

    The staffs pierced through different parts of Edwin''s body, including his chest and his head.


    Blood started to flow out like a waterfall from the part of the body where Edwin was wounded.


    Both Ariel and Gabriel gasped at the sight, even some of the vindicators hissed in cold breaths when they saw such a scene.


    But contrary to everyone''s expection, Edwin grinned and slowly disappeared.


    ''A clone! How didn''t I even notice it?!'', Rein inwardly exclaimed.


    "The clone looked so real.", Gabriel said.


    Suddenly, one of the cloaked vindicators swiftly acted knocked out one of its fellows.


    The other six elves immediately acted and started attacking the the vindicator that ran amok.


    -clang- -clang- -clang-


    Series of sound of metal clashing against metal emerged as the person simultaneously blocked the attacks of the other vindicators.


    The person removed his hood and mask, revealing his whole face, which was none other than Edwin!


    "Let me return the favor.", Edwin calmly stated, but one could see through his eyes the burning anger he has been holding for days.


    -whoosh-


    He charged to one of the elves separated from the others, continuously harrassing him.


    His other fellow elves were about to support him, but it was already too late.


    When the elf thought he saw an opening, he struck down with his staff, however, Edwin easily got hold of his weapon, shocking the former.


    The boy then stabbed the tip of his double bladed staff lightly at the elf''s nape, after which, an electric current came from the weapon and shocked the elf out.


    Nevertheless, it wasn''t over just yet.


    As soon as the body collapsed to the ground, Edwin kicked the unconscious elf''s body away.


    "Don''t worry, I won''t make the five of you suffer, I''ll just kill all of you very fast so I can slowly peel of the flesh off of that ugly animal.", he turned around away from the remaining elves and pointed at Chizowa. The horned gorilla beat his chest and roared loudly, it was obviously offended by Edwin''s statment.


    "Kill this arrogant human!", one of the elves shouted and charged towards Edwin, followed by the other ones.


    The left palm where he was also holding the double bladed staff faintly glew red, then he used both of his hands and slashed towards the incoming enemies.


    The quality of the weapons they were holding were just the same, but Edwin''s weapon broke through the other double bladed staffs of all the elves!


    Then Edwin moved around the other elves in a fast manner until the knocked all of them out.


    "Woah." Gabriel''s mouth was wide open when he witnessed everything.


    ''The Elven Vindicators suck.'' Gabriel thought, ''Maybe their training should be intesified.''


    The animals on the high podium were startled, but didn''t show it on their faces.


    ''How did this kid''s power rival a human adept''s in just a few weeks since I met him?!'', Rein questioned within his mind.


    ''Isn''t it the first time I saw this kid, he was still much weaker than a mage apprentice of his fellow humans?'', Avram was also baffled.


    "Aren''t you going down from there, butt face?", Edwin mocked Chizowa.


    "Why you...!", the gorilla''s anger reached its peak. He furiously roared much louder than before and jumped down from the high ground and landed in front of Edwin, shaking the surroundings.


    Actually, before Chizowa landed, Edwin already jumped back to avoid getting crushed by the animal.


    Being near his opponent, Edwin could feel the immense pressure from the large body of the horned gorilla, as if it''s also a form of mental attack.


    The bear, Sango, was about to help Chizowa when he felt that Nareol was staring at him.


    "You don''t want me to help him?", Sango asked.


    "Let Chizowa vent his anger on that human alone, you might accidentally get harmed by him even if you''re trying to help him.", Nareol said.


    "HAAA...!", Chizowa punched a fist towards the boy. The latter didn''t dodge it this time, instead, he also stabbed forward with his weapon, meeting the attack head-on.


    -boom-


    Edwin flew some distance away, when he finished rolling on the ground due to the momentum, he immediately stood up and wiped the blood flowing out of his mouth.


    "Do you think somebody two levels weaker than me could take me head-on?!", Chizowa sneered.


    "Can somebody as arrogant as you also come out of that attack unscathed?", Edwin retorted.


    "Huh?", the gorilla took a look of his hand, and saw that it had a large cut on it and was bleeding profusely!


    Now that he noticed it, Chizowa couldn''t help but grasp his hand out of pain. The pain was unexplainable, it was as if he was feeling immense suffering and agony from it.


    "I''M GOING TO KILL Y..", he grasped his hand even tighter because the pain intensified.


    "The pain becomes worse because of fluctuation of emotions? It''s rare to see somebody use that kind of method.", Gabriel commented as he analyzed what was happening.


    "Have you already seen somebody else do that?", Ariel asked.


    "No, I just read about it.", Gabriel shook his head.


    Chizowa rushed forward again, and much faster this time. On the way, he formed a fist with his other hand which glowed, after which, he punched out even though he was still far away from Edwin.


    A sonic boom sounded out. Edwin hurriedly sidestepped and felt a powerful wind passed by him. A few pieces of the ends of his hair fell down to the ground due to touching the said wind.


    -boom-


    The wall far behind him shook and a deep fist mark appeared on it.


    But Edwin didn''t get to look at it because Chizowa was already upon him.


    The boy continuously backed off as the horned gorilla repeatedly sent out punches with both of his hands. The attacks weren''t as powerful as the one that created the soundwave earlier, but it still could injure Edwin if he was hit once.


    Edwin suddenly showed his left arm out which faintly glowed red. After that, Chizowa felt he was being suppressed and his movements instantly slowed down.


    So he took this chance and upwardly slashed the animal''s humongous body with his double bladed staff.


    -pshew-


    Now, a large wound appeared on Chizowa''s chest, making him collapse in one leg due to the pain.


    "I''M COMING FOR YOU!!", Chizowa lifted up his arms and bashed it to the floor, send everything on the platform up into the air.


    Next, he formed another glowing fist and punched out towards Edwin.


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    -boom-


    The shockwave attack travelled towards the boy.


    However, Edwin disappeared from where he was! The attack only hit the ceiling, a few large rocks fall down.


    Chizowa''s eyes widened in surprise, and also a bit in horror. He looked above him and saw Edwin on the air falling towards him with his weapon aimed at his head.


    The gorilla immediately moved, but his back was still hit by the attack, creating a deep wound across it, then he fell flat on the ground.


    The boy stepped on Chizowa''s back, as the former was about to kill the latter, he heard Sango''s voice.


    "Human, don''t you dare do it!", Sango warned.


    Edwin turned around at the direction of the high podium and taunted, "Come, if you want to stop me."


    "Hmph!", Sango snorted and charged forward. To his surprise, Nareol and Kirk also joined him, leaving Avram and Rein behind.


    "You can''t stop the three of us, submit or die.", Nareol said.


    "You already sentenced me to death, do you think I''m stupid enough to submit?", he angrily berated.


    "You animals and elves are untrustworthy!", the red glow on Edwin''s left hand intesified as he added.


    The Council of High Elders, Ariel, Gabriel, every elf and creatures inside the city felt a power of suppression falling on them.


    The three beasts that were advancing towards Edwin stopped as they felt extreme pressure was upon them.


    "Stop it, kid!", Rein shouted as he tried to resist the invisible force, but Edwin only ignored him.


    Gabriel fell to his knees and grasped his neck for air.


    "Gabriel!", Ariel tried to help Gabriel, but she too started to choke because of the invisible force.


    Then the boy started chanting out "I-I curse, your kinds, to forever... to forever, be in p...", Edwin''s countenance changed and he stopped at the last word he was speaking, because he felt a piercing chill on his back.


    In a blink of an eye, he was suddenly thrown away to the wall with a shocking speed.


    -boom-


    Dust and rocks flew to the location where Edwin was thrown. When it settled down, the boy could be seen with his stomach flat on the ground. He rose to his knees, held the back of his head and coughed out blood.


    The supression disappeared and everyone started to madly breathe in air.


    Afterwards, Edwin looked towards an elf with blonde and white hair and whose face was like of a middle-aged man. However, the most striking thing one could see on the newcomer was his green eyes.


    When Gabriel and Ariel finally stabilized their breathing, they saw the newcomer, "Father?!"


    Rein, Avram, Kirk, Sango, and Nareol bowed down and said, "Your Majesty, Azriel!"


    Azriel gazed at the five animals and nodded, he also checked Chizowa''s condition, who was still alive, albeit just unconscious.


    The king''s sight also pierced through a certain part of the chamber, where he saw Ariel and Gabriel who were looking at him, though their faces were a bit pale.


    Finally, he coldly looked at Edwin, who was angrily looking back at him, as if ignoring the fact that Azriel was several levels more powerful than he was.


    Suddenly, Azriel appeared in front of the boy in a flash. He grasped Edwin''s head and bashed it to the wall.


    -boom-


    Blood flowed out of the boy''s head, mouth, and nose.


    Edwin tightly held on Azriel''s arm and tried to take the his grip off from him, but it was just a futile move. The king changed the part of the boy that he was holding from his head to his neck.


    A sword materialized on Azriel''s other arm and pointed its tip at the boy''s bloody forehead.


    "You dare curse my people, human?", Azriel coldly looked at Edwin.


    He further tightened the grip on Edwin''s neck. The latter endured the former''s grip, however, it was too tight to the point that Edwin shook his legs and even attacked Azriel''s arm with his own arms.


    In the end, Edwin slowly became unconscious and his arms and legs fell down.


    -boom-


    Azriel powerfully stabbed the sword, but it only hit the wall beside Edwin instead of his head!


    He let go of the boy''s neck and let his body fall on the ground, then Azriel looked at Nareol, "Imprison him inside the tightest cell and don''t let him use internal energy and mana."


    "Yes, Your Majesty!", Nareol bowed down. Not daring to meet the eyes of the king of the elves.

 79 Your Majesty! 2

    Edwin eyelids jumped up as he was rudely awaken.


    For a moment, he closed his eyes and took a rest before sitting up to check where he was.


    "No, not again.", he murmured, because he was back at his house back in Crescent Town.


    The relaxing, nostalgic, golden color of the sunset was illuminating his room through the window.


    Next, Edwin stood up and exited his room.


    Going out of his bedroom, he saw the same old combined small dining room and kitchen, but he didn''t focus on the furniture, instead, he kept his sight on the door of the other bedroom.


    Slowly approaching the door, he felt mixed emotions and even burdens and lightness at the same time.


    Touching the rough texture of the door, Edwin felt a chill all over his body.


    "I don''t want to.", he said to himself.


    "Yes, you do.", he replied to himself.


    "Wait, who are you?", he asked to himself.


    "No, who are you!?", he asked himself.


    "Why am I even here?"


    "No, why am I here?"


    "Where am I?"


    "Where are you?!"


    "Who am I?"


    "Who are you?"


    "I can''t remember!", he grasped his head as he tried to recall. The sunlight coming from the sunset turned red, making every single thing look like stained with blood. Meanwhile, darkness slowly crept out of the corners of the house.


    As the it was about to touch Edwin, it suddenly disappeared, then the sunlight turned back to normal.


    "Edwin", a neutral voice sounded out behind him.


    The boy was surprised that somebody called out to him. He turned his head around who it was, and saw that it was a woman.


    The features of the woman was blurred, nevertheless, one would know that it was a woman from the figure of her body.


    "Who?", he asked.


    "You.", the woman replied.


    "Me?", Edwin asked.


    "Mhm.", the woman nodded. Then, it was as if Edwin''s mind got clearer after the confirmation.


    After a pause, she asked, "Aren''t you going to open the door?"


    "Should I?", he turned his body back in front of the door.


    "It''s your choice.", the woman shrugged.


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    "Who are you?", Edwin turned around again, but he didn''t see the woman anymore.


    He sighed and tried to push open the door, which didn''t budge. He pushed it as hard as he can but the door won''t move.


    Then, an idea surfaced on his mind. Instead of pushing the door, he pulled it instead and it opened.


    However, it wasn''t a room that was behind the door, but was a mirror!


    The mirror was currently showing his reflection, but it was only him and not even the objects beside nor behind him.


    Touching the mirror with his bare hands, the glass rippled like a calm pond or lake getting disturbed when one threw a rock in its middle. The image that it was showing changed and Edwin saw three moving pictures each neatly leveled.


    On the top was a very beautiful land, just by looking at it Edwin felt refreshed.


    In the middle it was like the one on top, but paled in comparison.


    Below the two, was an image of a vast red land whose skies were bloody red, looking at it, Edwin felt that the temperature became hotter and he could hear wails of numerous people.


    -bang-


    He closed door loudly as he started to sweat. Then, Edwin could feel that his body became lighter and lighter, until everything around him vanished.


    ***


    Coughs broke out inside an enclosed room as Edwin woke up.


    The boy stood up and examined himself. He noticed that he was wearing a new shirt, pants, and even boots, which were actually of higher quality than the ones he initially used.


    Checking the room, Edwin saw that the room''s ceiling, walls and floor were all white, while there was a light coming from the four upper corners, giving light everywhere within it.


    He tried to circulate a bit of internal energy and mana, but found out that he couldn''t! That time when he fought, he could use the said energies once again because the Red Thorn also decongested his energy pathways.


    Now, there was a thin metal cover with engravings around his wrist, which was probably the object that was preventing him to circulate energy. He tried to remove it but was unsuccessful, it was as if it was a part of his body.


    "I''ve been too rash again!", he chuckled as he mocked himself.


    He didn''t feel angry anymore, only confusion mixed with regret.


    Edwin carefully looked around the small room, trying to find out the exit, but wasn''t able to find anything for awhile.


    As soon as he sat down after giving up, a part of the wall across the room opened up and Rein walked in.


    "Come on human, follow me.", Rein said, but Edwin didn''t pay attention to him.


    The anger he felt towards the elves and their affliated animals already reached a high level and was ignited again when he saw Rein.


    Seeing Edwin was ignoring him, Rein hastily said, "If you want to get out of here, follow me!"


    "Take this thing off first.", Edwin showed him the object around his wrist.


    "Later! You might do something rash again on the way if I did so.", Rein retorted.


    "I won''t.", Edwin replied, but the deer still didn''t take it off of him, making him have no choice but to follow Rein out of here.


    Outside the weird cell, the walls, ceiling, and floor this time were now made from the common rocks or bricks.


    "Why are you even helping me to escape, haven''t I almost killed your fellows and even you?", Edwin asked, but Rein was the one who didn''t respond this time.


    They kept evading the guards'' sight while taking detours if they couldn''t, until they reached a long corridor.


    When the both of them were near the middle of the corridor, they noticed the shadows of a group of elven guards approaching the end of the corridor, not just that, there was also another group of guards slowly coming towards the path where they entered!


    "Hurry!", Rein quietly urged.


    The both of them rushed towards the middle of the corridor where there was a door. Rein let Edwin enter the door while he stayed outside.


    "Phew.", Edwin let out a sigh of relief.


    -click-


    Edwin heard a sound of something clicking behind him. He turned around to see what it was, but after seeing it, he almost choked on his own saliva.


    -click-


    The clicking sound came from a chair, though it looked new, it was in fact, a lot older that it seemed to be. Whereas there was somebody sitting on the chair, which was a half-blonde, half white-haired elf whose eyes were green and was writing on a piece of paper on the table.


    Of course, it was none other than Azriel.


    ''Wrong room, wrong room! I''d rather fight a regiment of elite guards than him!'', the boy tried to open the door behind him without looking away from Azriel, but found out there was nothing to grasp, in fact, there was no more door behind him!


    "Uh..."


    "Shh...", Azriel silenced Edwin.


    ''This is, very awkward.'' Edwin thought. He did almost try to kill the citizens of the elf in front him, making him uncomfortable even just by breathing.


    After a long period of silence, Azriel was the first one to talk, "So, how did you like to fight with Chizowa''s clone?"


    "Clone?", Edwin mustered up his courage and asked.


    "Those six animals that you saw, Rein, a Highborn Emperor Deer; Avram, a Winter Wolf; Nareol, a Monarch Lion; Kirk, a Steelborn Crocodile; Sango, an Orthodox Blackpaw Bear; Chizowa, a Horned Ruler Gorilla. Those are just their clones, so don''t be proud that you have beaten one of my high elders.", Azriel said.


    The king added, "Have you ever really thought of that my kingdom is so weak that the high elders are also weak? Yes? Well, I''m telling you human, they''re still merciful enough not to move their real bodies just to squash you."


    "And oh, their real bodies are right under this very mountain you''re in right now.", Azriel gazed at Edwin.


    "I''m sure that must be a very important secret.", Edwin replied. Well, he was already here, he won''t be able to do anything even if he tried to flicker away.


    Azriel formed a tiny ball of energy between his forefinger and thumb, "You see this little orb of energy? Once I flick it to you, your body is too weak that you''ll disintegrate into near-invisible dust."


    "Alright, just say it, why am I here?", Edwin slightly rose the tone of his voice. He knew that his disrespectful move now was just too stupid, but could he even do anything right now to change the situation?


    Meanwhile, his left hand where the ancient symbol was glowed red, even if there was already the object on his wrist preventing him to use internal energy and mana.


    "You''re really bold... and stupid too, human.", Azriel stopped writing and stood up to approach Edwin.


    As Azriel slowly approached Edwin, the latter became more cautious, ''What should I do? What should I do? These elves are really treacherous.''


    When Azriel got closed enough, he snatched Edwin''s hand where the red glowing symbol was.


    "This...", Azriel carefully examined the symbol.


    "You can see it?", Edwin was surprised. He knew that only he could see the symbol through the information he got from it.


    "Anything living in the Monarch Forest who are really close to nature can sense it. If they''re powerful enough, they can see it.", Azriel explained.


    "You don''t have to hide anything, I know it''s a Celestial Symbol.", the elven king added.


    "So that''s what it''s called? Well, I have my guesses. I don''t even know what it means, tho.", Edwin muttered, but he didn''t dare directly look at the green eyes of Azriel.


    "The Celestial Symbols'' meaning are different per Celestial, even though their structure is almost the same if compared to each other. From the ancient language this symbol was written, it means ''eleventh''.", Azriel said.


    "So I''m the eleventh one that will die?", Edwin rhetorically asked.


    "No! Look human, it looks like you already know what you''re up against, but let me tell you this, from our records, not all Celestials have died after fighting the Wraith.", Azriel said.


    "So then you kept me alive just to face a terrifying being? Look, I still have a lot to do! I don''t want my soul to get dispersed", the boy replied without a bit of courtesy.


    "But sadly for you... your soul is already starting to disperse. I noticed it the first time I saw you.", Azriel replied.


    Now, Edwin''s face changed when he heard that sentence from the elven king.


    "It''s really dispersing in an extremely slow speed. Probably less than 0.00000000000...01% have started to disperse. It''s neglible if not carefully looked, but nonetheless, it''s still dispersing.", Azriel said.


    "But don''t worry, your soul won''t fully disappear for millions of years from now.", he added. "If the dispersing speed won''t speed up."


    "I-I-I..." The truth washed over him like a bucket of cold water getting thrown at him. It might take millions of years for his soul to completely disappear, but could he stop it? Wouldn''t he be already dead by that time then, either through fighting the Wraith and losing or dying of old age?


    "I''m not ready yet, I don''t even know where the Wraith is at all or how powerful is it."


    "But you will surely get more powerful much faster even if you are compared to the talened ones because of this symbol.", Azriel said.


    "Also...", Azriel suddenly got his knees and touched the ground with his forehead, making Edwin even more confused that he already was!


    "...may you please take this as a form of apology for what my kind has done to you. I don''t want the elves to suffer like what happened to the dragons."


    Seeing such a scene, the red glow on Edwin''s mark disappeared and returned back to normal, "Stop what you''re doing! I don''t want anybody kowtowing to me."


    Seeing that the red glow was gone, Azriel kowtowed one last time, "Thank you for accepting my apology."


    "Why did you just do that?", Edwin asked. For king not just to beg but also to bow down for apology was really embarassing on their part. In fact, it could mean that the whole nation the ruler was leading was also begging for forgiveness, which was an utter humiliation whether it was done in public or not!


    "I''d rather get humiliated than a Celestial potentially hating my race for his whole life. This is why the dragons almost went extinct, I just don''t want it to happen to my people."


    Edwin: "But, what''s so scary about me getting angry?"


    "When your hatred reached the peak either for an individual or a race. You can use that mark to either curse or suppress them for all eternity.", Azriel answered, this time with a much friendlier tone than earlier.


    There wasn''t a stark difference, but the change of tone was obvious.

 80 Your Majesty! 3

    "That powerful?", Edwin was startled when he heard the true power of the symbol.


    "Yes, but you can be stopped by somebody else several levels more powerful than you are even if you''re suppressing them with this, or somebody not affected by the suppression.", Azriel explained.


    "Ehem, now then, I hope you wouldn''t say to anybody that I bowed down to you.", Azriel coughed awkwardly.


    This was the first time Edwin saw that a king would actually act a bit off from his prestige.


    ''He''s actually not that bad?'', the boy thought.


    "So then, aren''t you going to go back to where you came from, from that human city on the mountain?", Azriel asked.


    "Not yet, I still have something to do.", Edwin shook his head.


    "Like what?"


    "Like... I still have to get a Soul Shard, whatever that is.", Edwin shrugged.


    "Oh.", Azriel flicked his fingers and a small box shot out from the drawer and landed on his hand. The elven king opened it and they saw that the box was full of golden shards of glass.


    "Pick one.", Azriel said.


    Edwin gazed and carefully examined the Soul Shards from the box until he pulled out a shard of the right size without delay. Then the box floated back inside the drawer.


    "Anything else?", Azriel asked.


    "My equipment is back at an elf''s house.", Edwin said.


    "What''s the name of the elf?", Azriel asked.


    "I don''t know, I haven''t asked her.", the boy answered.


    "Can you explain what that elf looks like then?"


    "Well, she has green eyes, she can form a bow made of energy, she looks beautiful, and she...", Edwin didn''t get to finish his sentence becayse Azriel interjected, "It must be my daughter Ariel. What are the equipment that you were using?"


    "A white robe with a book and a pair of daggers in it, a satchel, and also a pair of boots, but I think I won''t need the boots anymore.", Edwin replied.


    "Alright.", Azriel went to the wall behind his chair and a window suddenly popped out there. Opening his hands, an outline of a bird made of energy materialized and flew away.


    ''Did I just describe that elven girl beautiful in front of her father?! DAMN IT, right in front of her father!'', realizing Azriel''s earlier sentence and his own description, Edwin couldn''t help but inwardly scold.


    He wanted to kill himself for that embarrassment!


    ''He might not kill me because I''m the 11th Celestial, but he might beat me half to death as that elf''s father, I''m just telling the truth that she''s beautiful.'', Edwin was still putting on a straight face, but he was already inwardly preparing for the worst with all kinds of scenarios in his mind.


    Time passed and Azriel didn''t do anything to Edwin, the latter dismissed his earlier thoughts and concluded that the former didn''t notice about it.


    The bird returned with the robe along with Edwin''s weapon and the Mortal Plane''s Codex.


    "Hm?", Azriel took a closer look at the pair of daggers. "I can''t believe you have a bloodline treasure, but it''s obviously not yours."


    "Bloodline treasure?", the boy asked.


    "A weapon with magical properties or functions that can only be used by the ones who have a blood relation with the creator. This weapon... is seriously a top-notch treasure if it wasn''t so rusty!", Azriel exclaimed.


    "Then, can you please translate what is written on them?", Edwin requested.


    "Hmm, they are different, this one means ''Holy''.", Azriel passed the dagger to Edwin.


    "And this one is... M-? This one looks like it''s ''Morgan''?", Azriel gave the other dagger to Edwin.


    ''Morgan? Isn''t that Allen''s surname?'', Edwin was remembered when he heard the translation. ''No, how could it be? This weapon looks very old, much older than him.''


    "Also, I got this from that little girl that reported you.", Azriel fetched the small jar of Edwin''s healing pills.


    "This... I don''t want it, it''s poisonous.", Edwin placed it on top of the table.


    "Haha! No, it''s not poisonous. I examined it personally, tough there is indeed a poisonous plant used as an ingredient, it wasn''t suppose to bring out its deadly properties. Something must have triggered it somehow.", Azriel explained.


    "Huh?"


    "Though I have to say to whoever made these pills is an absolute genius. I almost didn''t notice the real function of it, which was to actually boost the medicinal properties of other plants.", Azriel added.


    With a reluctant expression, after Edwin heard the function of the poisonous plant, he accepted the jar and stared at it for a long time, ''Was I mistaken about Allen trying to kill me?'' Then he placed it inside the satchel after wearing the white robes.


    "Before leaving, I want you to sign this agreement to not expose that we, elves still exist, and the location of our kingdom to anybody, unless I told you to do so. However, if you did tell it without my permission, you will almost melt into a blood puddle and most likely die horribly.", Azriel showed the paper that he was writing on earlier.


    "I accept.", Edwin accepted without the slightest hesitation. He put his signature on it then the paper burned then it turned two beams of light which entered through his forehead and Azriel''s separately.


    "There''s a teleportation array somewhere in the forest. Rein will guide you towards it. The array will teleport you back near the northern edge of the Monarch Forest, so you can quickly go back to that human city.", Azriel pointed behind Edwin.


    Edwin turned around and saw that the door was back at its original position! He opened it and saw that there were trees outside, with snow falling down from above!


    As the boy was about to step out, Azriel said, "I almost forgot, here''s a pendant, it will protect you from the Magic Frostbite."


    "Oh? Thank you, Your Majesty.", Edwin gladly accepted it and put it in his pockets.


    "So Edwin, I hope we will see each other again. And the next time we''ll meet, you should be several times stronger than you are right now. Farewell.", Azriel said.


    "Farewell to you too, Your Majesty.", Edwin bowed down in courtesy and exited.


    -click-


    The boy heard a clicking sound which prompted him to turn back around, but he didn''t see any  door, but only a boulder.


    In just one night, his whole opinion of the elves and the Monarch Forest changed many times!


    "How powerful.", Edwin muttered. He clenched his hands as he thought, ''How long should it take for me to become as powerful as he is?''


    "So Edwin, how was the experience of meeting His Majesty?", Rein approached him and asked.


    "It''s great, he''s warmer than I thought he was.", Edwin answered.


    "Mhm, well, that happens with almost every king.", Rein sighed as he remembered about something.


    "You met other kings than him?", Edwin asked.


    "Of course, with how old I am, I met most of the kings of olden times.", Rein replied, though hiding the fact that it was really his real body that''s old.


    "How powerful is His Majesty?", Edwin questioned.


    "Honestly, I have no idea. But it''s near somewhere to your human king or emperor or whatever you call your leader.", Rein said.


    After a pause, the herd leader added, "I hope you wouldn''t expose our location."


    "Haha, don''t worry I won''t. I have no choice too, after all.", Edwin smiled.


    "Come on, follow me so you can get out of here."


    ***


    "What a great boy.", Azriel muttered as he closed the door.


    "Surely is, if his attitude changes up a bit, he will improve much faster.", a wise yet feminine originated behind Azriel; it''s as if you could almost feel the eternity on it.


    -click-


    "Plus, he has serious mental and trust issues, a curse, and even a seal too, but eh, it depends on him if he will live longer... or shorter.", the voice said.


    "Do you mean the Celestial seal?", Azriel questioned.


    "Not just that, there''s two of them. One is the Celestial seal, and the other is a memory seal.", the voice replies.


    "Memory seal? Somebody sealed his memories?"


    "Yes." The voice confirmed, "The sealer is weak based on the energy, but the medium used is extremely powerful."


    "Can you take that seal off?"


    "Yes, but I will have a hard time doing so. Nevertheless, I just hope he will become very powerful once that day comes."


    "Same as what I am thinking... Your Majesty, Great Monarch.", Azriel turned around and saw a little smiling elven girl sitting on the chair while cheerfully swinging her feet.


    The little elf was none other than Zoe.


    ***


    Under the cold, cloudy, night sky, Edwin walked out of the Monarch Forest. He took a last look at it, then pressed onwards towards the Eastern Horizon City.


    ***


    At the mines of the Eastern Horizon City...


    Albert, the father of James, just finished his overtime shift in the mines. He was currently carrying a pickaxe on his shoulder, looking like a real miner.


    -clang- -clang-


    "What''s that?" Suddenly attracted by a loud noise, Albert approached the location where the sound originated, and saw several black-robed men planting something in the mountain!


    If Allen or Anna were here, they would''ve recognized what the men were planting, which were magical explosive shards!


    Even though Albert didn''t know what it was, his instincts told him that it wasn''t something good.


    He took a step back, however, it was a fatal mistake, because he accidentally stepped on a fragile stone.


    -crack-


    The sound of cracking was neglible, but all the black-robed men looked at the direction of the noise and spotted Albert.


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    ***


    Amidst the snowy streets near and connected to the large marketplace of the Eastern Horizon City. James and his mother, Melanie, were in front of a fruit stall buying food.


    "One lemon and five apples please.", Melanie said to the merchant.


    "Mhm, that''ll be 95 bronze coins.", the merchant gave the said number of fruits.


    "Here.", Melanie passed a silver coin and added, "Keep the change." Afterwards, she and James went to a different stall to buy meat this time.


    "Mom.", James tugged his mother''s clothes to get her attention.


    "What is it, James?", Melanie turned her head to James. Every time she would see her son''s pale face, her insides would feel like it''s being twisted because of the pitiful sight, but she didn''t dare show it on her face.


    "Mom, can you tell the truth, am I really...", James didn''t get to finish his sentence because Melanie interjected.


    She crouched down to match the kid''s height and sighed, "Looks like you''ve already notice. Yes son, we were going to throw a surprise birthday party for you!"


    "But..."


    "Hey lady, what''s your order, you''re blocking the way hurry up! A new year is about to come and everybody''s hurrying up!", the meat vendor complained.


    "Oh wait, my bad.", Melanie stood up again and started haggling with the vendor.


    "She''s really trying to hide it.", James muttered.


    Then from the corner of the kid''s eyes, he noticed somebody familiar at the end of the street, making him narrow his eyes.


    "Father?", James saw that it was Albert. However, the latter immediately went away from the former''s sight, as if he''s in a hurry.


    "He must be going to try and surprise me on the way back... but what about I surprise him instead? Hehe...", James chuckled and went to the direction where Albert has gone to.


    "James, come on, let''s go home.", Melanie took the meat then paid for it and looked beside her, but she didn''t see James anywhere!


    "James? James?", she called out, but nobody answered.


    "Where did you go?" She looked around her then went to a different direction.

 81 Choice

    Few minutes later...


    "Father, where did you go to? Hmm...", James looked at the four branching streets in front of him.


    "Maybe that one?", he chose the second street to the right and entered it.


    Living in this city for many years, James already knew most of the streets in this part of the city, so he was not worried that he would get lost.


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    As soon as he left the vicinity, Melanie arrived at the intersection point and quickly went to the second street to the left.


    "Huff... huff...", she kept panting due to the heavy basket of food she was carrying while running.


    ''Not again, not again. I can''t lose him again!'', Melanie thought. She ran even faster this time, she didn''t know why, it was wasn''t just because of James'' condition; but also because, she didn''t want to repeat what happened several years ago.


    The snowflakes that landed on her head accumulated, making her hair look like it has a crown of white color.


    When she turned around the corner of a street, she stumbled on somebody else, making the both of them fall down on the ground.


    "I''m sorry! Huh, Albert?", Melanie saw that it was her husband she stumbled on


    "Melanie? Damn it, don''t follow me!", Albert hastily stood up and ran into a nearby alley, ignoring his wife.


    "Hey! Help me find our son!" Luckily, nothing fell from the basket; so, she immediately followed after Albert.


    "Albert, help me find James!", Melanie shouted out.


    When Melanie reached a wide part of an alley, which was also the dead end. She only saw Albert''s back because he was looking at the wall. The buildings surrounding the alley were all abandoned, making their walls look old due to not being maintained.


    "W-why did you...?", Albert held his stomach and fell to his knees. The snow under him was painted with his blood.


    Melanie''s eyes widened and screamed in panic. She let go of her basket to run away, but two black-robed men blocked her path in front of her and other two went near Albert.


    -pshew-


    ***


    "Where did father go now?", James slowly walked on the street, carefully looking around.


    "Ehh, isn''t that father''s voice?", the kid turned his sights to an alley as he heard a familiar voice.


    "But why would the surprise be in an alley?", he asked himself.


    Still, he entered it and followed the only pathway available.


    "There are other people?", nearing at its end, James noticed the voices of other unfamiliar people.


    Before taking the last turn, he stopped at the corner and peeked his out his head to see what was happening.


    ''What kind of surprise must be it to have a lot of people? Maybe the neighbors are here too?''


    When he spotted what was happening, horror automatically plastered on his face, then he didn''t hesitate to start running away.


    However, he felt that somebody held his clothes, and then he was dragged back and thrown into the wide area.


    The four men wearing black robes surrounded James. By the corner, the kid spotted Albert and Melanie who looked like they were unconscious. Blood leaked out of their wounds, turning the snow under them into color crimson.


    "Mom, dad!", James immediately stood up to run towards his parents.


    One of the men kicked James on his sides making him stumble back down. The kid held the injured part as he hissed in pain.


    Nevertheless, he still tried to stand up, but was pinned down by one of the men again.


    "What should we do with this one?", one of them asked.


    "No witnesses, remember?", the man pinning down James said.


    "Tsk, tsk. A whole family getting killed. This probably the fifth time I''ll be doing this.", the man who first booted down James shook his head in amusement.


    "Let''s take him back, he might become useful." the last one said, who seemed to be their leader, "We are running out of available agents. Knock him out!"


    "Alright.", the one who was restraining James raised his hand in a chopping position and striked the back of the kid''s neck.


    -clang-


    Suddenly, the man felt that he just hit a steel wall with numerous thorns, causing the bones in his hand to break with a crisp sounda


    "AHHH...", the man clutched his own hand due to tremendous pain. He didn''t expect that his bones would break by just trying to incapacitate a child.


    Unexpectedly, James jumped up and kicked the pained man on his head.


    Another crack sounded out and the scream ceased as the man''s head flew away from his body.


    The head splattered blood as it landed and rolled on the snow. When it stopped moving, the agony of the man could be seen on his face.


    The headless body dropped on the ground with a thud. The other three men were caught off guard, but they regained their composure at once and started attacking James with their spells and weapons.


    Now, the kid''s eyes were as dark as the pure night sky. Devoid of light therein like black pearls. Afterwards, he kept dodging the numerous assaults of his opponents.


    Seeing a flaw, James took the chance to kick one of the men''s legs who was slashing with a sword, stumbling him down. After dodging a few attacks from the other two, he pounced on the enemy on the ground.


    -crack-


    Another head flew across in that zone, further staining the ground red once again.


    This time, one of the saboteurs showed slight fear when he saw how his one of his comrades were murdered in a terrifying way. James turned his head towards that man, cold sweat flowed out of his body even though the temperature was freezing when he saw the eyes of the kid.


    In a fast rate, James turned into a shadow and charged towards that man.


    The man ran several steps back while hurling attacks at the kid; however, all of them only passed through him as if he was an illusion and the distance between him and the man shortened!


    In the last bit of space between them, James dashed even faster and he reverted back to his human form and...


    -crack-


    A third head separated from a body.


    "Die kid! Eat this fire!", the last man shouted, who was the leader. He was controlling the growth of a large ball of molten lava and fire with his hands.


    James didn''t notice it earlier because he was busy with the other one. When he became aware of the ball, it was already near him; so, he could only brace himself and met the attack head-on!


    -bang-


    Due to the impact, he was sent flying through the air and eventually hit a wall.


    His body slid down and collapsed to the ground facing the snow.


    Just like Edwin, the last man standing could also control internal energy and mana at the same time!


    Taking out a sword from under his robes, the leader injected it with internal energy and rushed forward to the kid.


    With a sharp whooshing sound, the man hacked his sword down at James'' head.


    All of a sudden, the kid raised his head and spat out some sort of pure, black ball made of smoke which proceeded towards the man at a fast speed.


    The man didn''t get to act on time and when the ball hit him; he was catapulted away and broke through the wall at the other side of the area.


    Slowly standing up, James tightly held one of his burnt arms with the other. He took a few steps forward, drawing closer the wall where the enemy leader was; however, the kid stopped on the way when he heard a breathing due to the temporary silence in the surroundings.


    "Huh?", James looked at the spot where his mother and father were. Right after hearing another breathing, he quickly rushed to them.


    "Father!" First, he checked Albert''s condition.


    As soon as he touch his father, he only felt a very cold body, as cold as the snow they were stepping on.


    The kid''s hands began shaking Albert to see if it could do something, however, there was nothing left to be done anymore.


    After a few more shaking, James'' grip on Albert''s body loosened and the latter fell down to the ground.


    On the kid''s countenance, what could be seen was his slightly opened mouth and wide eyes, along with it was a few drops of tears trickling down from them.


    His hands were still shaking even after Albert fell down the cold ground.


    James started sobbing, but he paused when he heard another breathing making him hastily go to the side of Melanie.


    "Mom?", he examined if his mother was still living, to his relief, she still was.


    "Mom, let''s get out of here, come on. That bad guy is still alive!", James tried to pull Melanie up.


    "James, I can''t move anymore.", Melanie faintly spoke out.


    "I-I can still carry you.", as James was about to carry Melanie on his back when she weakly said, "No, leave already, or else they might take you away."


    "But..."


    "James! Follow what mama says, alright? Now get away from here, run as fast as you can!", Melanie interrupted the kid.


    "But...!" He didn''t get to continue his sentence when he saw the resolute gaze of her mother.


    Seeing the gaze, James slowly ducked his head down, "I''m... I''m so sorry."


    "I know what you are thinking. It''s alright, it wasn''t your fault in the first place."


    "No, not that! What I mean is that... I was the one who killed Summer!" James cried out, "She wasn''t missing, I killed her! I killed her!"


    "I know.", Melanie replied.


    "W-what?!" With a short gasp, James looked with a confused expression towards Melanie.


    "How did you...?"


    "I just know, don''t worry, your father also knows about it.", Melanie vaguely explained.


    "I-I-I..."


    "Now please, get out of here... please."


    Swallowing his saliva, James answered, "I-I will."


    However, before he even got to stand up, he clutched his stomach as it ached, if he could explain how painful it was, the kid would say it was like he was pierced by millions of needles.


    Then three men wearing the same robes as the ones that James killed earlier arrived from the roof and helped their leader up from the rubble.


    "Kid, you''re not escaping from us!" The leader shouted, "It''s either you obediently join us and we will save your mother... or die with her!"


    He added, "And from your looks, you won''t be able to fight much longer."


    Witnessing the kid''s earlier capabilities, the man still all the more wanted to take James in! In fact, that kid could become a great asset in the organization.


    Right now, he was imagining the glee from the promotion he would obtain if he recruited such a powerful kid with unknown strength.


    "Y-you can save mom?", James asked.


    "Yes we can!", the man replied.


    "No son, don''t!", Melanie said.


    "But you''ll still remain alive. I won''t be able to fight anymore and... I don''t want to lose you!", James stated.


    "No! Just... do what you have to do.", Melanie said. As James was about to respond, he saw the resolute gaze of her mother and kept quiet.


    "So what, kid? What''s your choice, come on I''m being impatient here, the mines aren''t going to blow themselves up!", the man stressed out.


    "My choice?", James muttered. He looked over to Melanie then to man, then to his mother then back to the man and vice-versa for several times.


    Finally, he opened up his mouth towards Melanie''s face and sucked in air. White smoke came out of his mother''s orifices which went into his mouth.


    All the men were startled when they what was happening. The three newcomers were about to stop James from what he was doing, but it was already done in a flash.


    "My choice? My choice... is to kill you baddies!", James slowly rose up his head and looked at the men.


    Black tears fell down from his eyes while he gritted his teeth.


    From the corners of his already pure black eyes, he saw Melanie and Albert, his mother and father, resting peacefully as if everything that occurred never took place.


    Before his mind started to blur and forget them, he muttered out, "Run, run, run!"

 82 Darkness Over the Horizon

    "Pfft... hahaha...!"


    When the three henchmen saw what James did, they laughed at the audacity of his actions.


    However, their leader narrowed his eyes and panickedly said, "Retreat, retreat!"


    The reaction of their leader baffled the men; nonetheless, they still followed it.


    "Did I tell you that you can leave this place?", James made a grasping motion with his hand.


    A black, translucent barrier appeared on the path leading out of the area and to the air above them!


    On their leader''s command, the men attacked the barrier, but it was as if it was tougher than a wall of several dozens of meter.


    Not being able to do anything, the four of them could only face the kid, who was looking at them with his pure dark eyes.


    James made gestures with his right hand and a black lance covered by dark smoke materialized. The lance''s height was taller than him; but still, he could carry it with one hand like some sort of a wooden stick.


    "I''ll take my time mincing you four.", James made a taunting gesture to them. His voice wasn''t the same voice as earlier, it was totally distorted to the point the earlier voice couldn''t recognized anymore!


    Meanwhile, inwardly, the three newcomers were somewhat starting to feel fear. They had saw a lot of things during their past missions, but it was never as scary as this one.


    "We need to kill that kid to get out of here. It is either he dies or we die.", their leader said. The other three snapped out of their stupor; then they unsheated their weapons from under their robes while preparing other objects.


    On the other hand, their leader was getting ready to cast spells again.


    "Still resisting? You had fun taking their lives, now I will have my fun.", James grinned. The grin was kind of adorable, but the distorted voice along with those black-colored eyes made it seem like the smile came from the depths of darkness instead.


    -whoosh-


    The three men along with their leader started to attack. The ones wielding swords injected internal energy to their weapons, strengthening their attributes; meanwhile, their leader who was casting spells mostly about the element of fire provided cover fire to each of his men when they would retreat.


    They may be different people; but their minds were as if it''s only one, making their movements look like it had some sort of synergy.


    However, James was carefree with his every moves. He wasn''t even trying to dodge at all! He only walked around the area while blocking each of the enemies'' attack from three to four directions.


    ''Looks like I worried too much. He doesn''t seem that skilled in battles.'', the leader thought.


    Then a weak, cold wind blew. The four remaining black-robed men felt it; after that, the next thing they saw etched a chilling sensation on their backs.


    One of the melee attackers was suddenly split in half from top to bottom. That wasn''t the reason why the felt their backs turned cold, but it was because they didn''t even see James attack even once!


    In addition, when the halved body dropped to the ground, not a single drop of blood leaked out from the wound across the body.


    It was a clean cut!


    "H-how? You''re using a lance!", the leader asked madly in panic.


    "Anything can be your weapon of choice and use it for another weapon''s function; though it is many times harder, it is still possible.", James responded. But it wasn''t distorted anymore, it was a different voice compared to the one earlier!


    "Like this.", the lance on James'' hand disappeared. But he grabbed the back of the head of one of the black-robed men who didn''t even notice the kid''s movement, and bashed his whole body to the other incoming enemy.


    Both of them as soon as they made contact with each other were also split in half just like their comrade earlier!


    The kid discarded the half of the body that was left and frowned at the blood flowing out of the recent kills, "It''s been a long time since I used this style of attack."


    The lance from earlier reappeared and James pointed it at the remaining man, who was the leader, "Nevermind the other three, you''re the one that I will skin alive."


    Seeing that he was all alone, the man started to feel a tingling sensation that crawled over his body.


    Witnessing how his comrades were murdered, the man took out a dagger and stabbed it towards his throat to commit suicide without any delay!


    But would James let him do so? The answer was an obvious no.


    Before the dagger could even touch his neck, the man froze on the spot, as if he was inside a block of ice.


    James slowly approached the last man. Every step that the latter could hear, seemed like as if Death''s whisper was getting louder and louder.


    When the kid arrived in front of the man, he took the dagger away from his grasp and took a look at it for a moment.


    "This is sharp enough.", the kid commented. After that, he looked at the frozen man; inwardly, the latter was already frightened to the point he wanted to beg for mercy.


    ''Please no, please no, please no, please...''


    But of course, his cries couldn''t be heard.


    Minutes passed and and a naked body dropped to the ground with a thud. Beside the body was its own skin. It was a very unsightly sight. The man couldn''t be physically recognized anymore. Along with the bloody sight of the skinless figure, were the several stabs on his chest.


    "So many souls, so many souls, so many souls...", James kept muttering.


    "No! I won''t let you!", James'' voice went back to the distorted one as he resisted the temptation of consuming.


    He knew what would happen if he let ''that'' feed on the souls of everyone here. He''ll totally lose control of his own body and commit massacre throughout the whole city!


    The lance and the barrier disappeared as he dropped to the ground and started rolling.


    "Stop, stop, stop...!", James kept repeating the same words. His right hand tried to reach to the sky while making a casting gesture, but his left hand was preventing it from doing so.


    In the end, the right hand still successfully managed to straightly reach out to the sky, and it casted a spell.


    Afterwards, darkness covered the sky above the city.


    The darkness wasn''t noticeable by mortals nor even practitioners comparable of mages and lower, but for the ones who had the strength of adepts and above, it was a separate story.


    ***


    There was old man sweeping the snowy ground at the Retollian Church on the Eastern Horizon City. He was accompanied by a younger man who was wearing the same robes as the senior, albeit with less symbols.


    Of course, the old man was none other than the Holy Priest of the Eastern Horizon City.


    -thud-


    The old man dropped his broom, alarming the younger man.


    "Sir!", the man immediately approached the senior.


    "I''m alright! I''m alright!", the old man assured. He looked up at the dark sky and muttered, "I hope you''re seeing this, Great Lord."


    -boom-


    A quiet explosion occured. The strength of the barrier around the edifice intensified, though it couldn''t be noticed by the eyes of mortals, the old man could clearly see while the younger one could faintly sense it.


    "Why do I feel strengthened so suddenly?", the man asked.


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    The old man then said something under his breath.


    "Sir, what did you say?", the younger one asked.


    "Gather all the holy warriors. The Great Lord is strengthening us to purge that evil!", the old man pointed at the darkness on the sky.


    The other one doesn''t know what was the Holy Priest was pointing too; nevertheless, he knew it was something serious.


    "Alright sir.", the younger man slightly bowed. Following which, he went to the other sections of the grounds of the church.


    ***


    Edwin looked up the sky of Horizon Mountain from afar; from there, he faintly saw and sensed the darkness above the Eastern Horizon City.


    "What just happened?" Edwin was startled by the sudden appearance of the darkness.


    Due to this, he increased his travelling speed to arrive earlier at the city.


    ***


    Allen was leisurely reading the alchemic book on the counter of the shop. With light coming from the lamps hanged from the ceiling, the lamps served as gentle nightlights.


    As he was about to drink his tea, he paused and put it back down. He looked at Little Salad who was in its sprout form. The little plant was frantically waving his leaves as if it was warning about something.


    "I know.", Allen answered. He then triggered a technique he knew from several years ago, and his sense covered the whole city.


    Every children listening to the stories and lullabies from their parents, the ever busy market of the city, the sleeping prisoners in the city jail, the people making love in the inns, the unusual behavior of the Retollian Church, and a handful amount of people that were looking up the sky. All of which, was under his senses.


    It was the Energy External Sense which Melissa, Lord Levine''s trusted helper, taught to him.


    "Stay here Little Salad, this is something serious.", Allen said.


    Little Salad nodded in response.


    After that, through the said technique, Allen telephatically messaged Anna who was also looking up to the sky.


    ''Meet me at this location..., immediately.''


    At first, Anna was alarmed, but she composed herself when she found out whose voice was in her head.


    Then he deactivated the Energy External Sense and nudged his forehead.


    "What a costly technique.", Allen muttered. Even though he was more powerful compared to his former self, the technique still took a toll on his internal energy, specially when he messaged Anna.


    He fed on a pill coming from a drawer and went upstairs to wear his white robe and get his satchel; then, he left the shop through the balcony.


    ***


    After the spell was successfully sent to the sky. James felt that his resistance was weakening against that ''thing''.


    "No, stop! No!", the kid kept resisting at his best, but he was slowly losing his body. Afterwards, he ran out of the area and back towards the alley.


    ***


    "Why did I even lose to that bet? Hmph.", Ivan scolded himself as he carried a heavy basket of fruits with both of his hands.


    "Hmm?", he stopped walking as he noticed something unusual. Following which, he pasted his ears to an alley near him.


    "Isn''t that James'' voice?", Ivan asked himself.


    "Why would James be even in an alley at this time? I''m probably hallucinating.", Ivan shook his head and continued walking.


    However, he heard more noises coming from the alley, which he determined that it was really James'' voice!


    "He''s really in the alley? Isn''t he sick?!", Ivan questioned himself again; nevertheless, he entered the alley along with the heavy basket.


    "James? James? Why are you in here? Aren''t you sick?", Ivan called out as he kept walking in the dark path of the alley.


    "Hey James? Are you playing a prank on me? You know very well I hate places that are too dark.", Ivan shouted.


    Suddenly, the noises stopped, prompting him to stop too.


    "Hey! This isn''t funny James! Step out now!", Ivan warned.


    Then he felt something cold touch the back of his neck, sending chills all over his body. Ivan then only sensed that his body was carried up and thrown over the nearby wall.


    A figure jumped towards him and tightly held his neck with both of its hands.


    "J-James?", Ivan recognized the figure, which was none other than James!


    "W-what are you doing? I-I c-can''t breathe!", Ivan tried to get off James'' grasp, but it was too tight to do so.


    He looked up his friend, and saw his menacing black eyes.


    "James, James, James...", he repeatedly called out. As seconds pass, his voice became weaker and weaker, until he was only murmuring.


    Ivan''s countenance was so black because of asphyxia that one could mistaken him to be dead already!


    The other kid then unexpectedly let go of Ivan a second before the latter was about to pass out.


    "Ivan?", James'' eyes widened as he said.


    "No! What am I doing?!", the kid pulled his hair in distress ran away towards the exit.


    Ivan heavily coughed and wheezed as he recovered his breath. He looked at James'' back which was getting smaller and smaller as he went farther and farther.


    "Wait!", Ivan got to his feet and sprinted after the other kid. Though the distance between them widened because the latter was faster than the former.


    ***


    Allen arrived at the dead end location where the fight recently occurred. The first thing he noticed was the corpses of James'' parents.


    "I''m sorry I''m late, I had to take a detour, Sir Alchemist Morgan.", Anna ran in the area. As soon as she arrived, she gaped at the sight of corpses and blood all over the place.


    "Aren''t those... James'' parents?", the young adept walked beside Allen and spotted the two Obreims.


    "Then where''s James?", she added. Anna then looked over at Allen who was looking up the sky.


    "Have you sensed it?", Allen asked.


    "Kind of, it feels so... cold and baneful.", Anna replied, implying to the darkness covering the sky.


    "What if I say James did that?", Allen stated.


    "W-what? How?!", shock was plastered over Anna''s face as she heard what Allen said.


    She didn''t doubt what he said because the topic was so serious.


    "Come on, I think James will try to escape from the city. We need to be fast because I sensed the church is coming for him too.", Allen added.


    ***


    Soon enough, James arrived at the western walls of the city. He swiftly climbed up the walls and made it on the top.


    There were no guards on this part of the walls. Taking this chance he ran to the other side and prepared to jump.


    -whoosh-


    A golden chain flew towards the kid and wrapped around his arm, stopping him from jumping at the last moment; after that, two more chains appeared and attached themselves to his other arm and one leg.


    Near the stairs of the wall, three plate armored men were holding each of the chains, and they started to pull the kid to them.


    James used his other unchained leg to gain friction on the wall to try to stop himself from being pulled; despite that, he was still being dragged towards the three men.


    "I don''t want to hurt anybody, but you forced me!", James distortedly said, then he began to enchant a spell. A moment later, the enchantment already finished before the three men could act, and they all flew towards the kid.


    Right after that, black smoke came out of James'' mouth and cut off all the chains attached to him. He ducked to avoid getting hit by the three incoming men which kept flying and flying until they fell out of the wall.


    Once again, the kid positioned himself at the corner of the wall and jumped away, then he started to enchant out another spell.


    Suddenly, a blinding light shot to James which made him shriek and stopped him from finishing his enchantment. He lost his momentum mid air and started to fall back down to the snow-covered mountain.


    The old holy priest arrived and frowned, "I''m a second too late."


    He then said to the other people behind him, "Five of you get those three holy warriors on the ground back to the church to heal. The rest, follow me, that evil must be purged before the sun rises or everyone in the city will notice the patch of darkness on the sky!"


    ***


    When the kid started to fall back down, he first hit the top part of a tree.


    James tried to get hold of it but his momentum was too strong and he broke through it.


    Then he crashed on the snow-covered ground, but his body kept rolling and rolling until he reached a small cliff; he tried to get hold on the corner of the cliff, but he slipped his grip and plummetted down.

 83 Darkness Over the Horizon 2

    ''How did that beam of light hurt me?''


    ''It''s because you are evil.''


    ''No I am not.''


    ''Only bodies with evil souls can get affected by that kind of attack, so you are really evil!''


    ''No, you are the one that''s bad, I just got affected because you are inside my own body.''


    ''You are the one inside MY body. You are really evil, didn''t you kill your own mother and ate her soul?''


    ''No, it''s because that was the only way I can get out of there.''


    ''Oh, was that the only way?''


    ''Huh?''


    ''You''re too selfish because you didn''t save your mother and father from dying and even killed her, what kind of a son are you?''


    ''But she wanted me to get out of there!''


    ''Let us start from the beginning shall we? How did your mother arrive to that area?''


    ''I think... it''s because she saw father and followed him?''


    ''Then why did your father went back home late?''


    ''It''s because it''s New Year''s eve and also my birthday is tomorrow, he wanted to give a gift to me.''


    ''See, it''s also your fault why your father was killed too.''


    ''No! How?!''


    ''And because you ran away from your mother''s sight, she had to find you, but found your father instead. See that, you are the reason why they were both killed. You really are the one who killed them. You are despicable and evil!''


    ''No! No! No! Go away!''


    ''Didn''t you kill your own baby sister too?''


    ''No I didn''t! You were the one who killed her!''


    ''Really? Who was the one that ate her soul then?''


    ''It was your fault! You made me hungry!''


    ''Hahaha. Did you hear your own words? I made you hungry, yes, but who was the one in control of the body that time?''


    ''M-m-me?''


    ''Yes, you! And why didn''t you resist the temptation then, so who really killed your baby sister?''


    ''Uhh...''


    ''You were the one who killed her on your own will.''


    ''No!''


    ''You killed your father.''


    ''No!''


    ''You killed your mother.''


    ''N-no!''


    ''You killed your sister.''


    ''No-no!''


    ''You killed your own family.''


    ''No that''s not true!'', James'' voice squealed.


    ''You almost killed your own best friend.''


    ''Stop!''


    ''You will also kill that girl named Anna.''


    ''STOP!''


    ''You will also kill that man surnamed Morgan.''


    ''No, I won''t, I''ll never do that!''


    ''You will kill everyone... just like what I did!''


    ''...''


    ''See you are evil! It''s just that you don''t accept it''


    ''No more, please.''


    ''I''ll take my body back then.''


    ''I-I won''t let you.''


    ''What?!''


    ''I said I won''t let you! If you want it, then neither of us will have it!''


    ''What are you going to do, kid?!''


    ***


    James'' eyes opened once again. He climbed out of the deep snow that cushioned his fall. From his location, he was already near the base of the mountain.


    The kid looked around him, as if trying to find something, "I can''t just bash my head against the mountain. I need to crush all of my internal organs so that monster won''t be able to use my body."


    He grasped the air in front of him and chanted out a spell, but nothing happened.


    "Why isn''t it working?!", James distressedly said.


    ''Do you think I will let you borrow my own power to kill me?! You might be a smart child, but you don''t think things through. I''ll just forcefully take control of your body even if that will be costly.'', a voice sounded in his mind.


    A spiky sensation attacked his left arm, and James felt that it was getting numb at a snail''s pace. He shook his arm to try to control it again, but it didn''t work.


    Having no choice left, James ran as fast as he can downwards towards the west. From afar, he can see the currently dark Horizon Lake.


    "I can''t go to those golden men. They probably won''t listen to me. I need everything in my body to be crushed so that it couldn''t be used. I hope I can find something useful for that.", James arrived at the bottom and continued running away beside the lake. The golden men he referred to were none other than the warrior monks of the church.


    Now, the kid was only basing and relying everything on luck. If he couldn''t find something to use for destroying his own body then there''s a large chance that the Eastern Horizon City, or even the whole eastern region would be massacred.


    Even though the monster seemed weak, it was only because it still hadn''t took over his whole body.


    ''If I won''t be able to find anything that I can use... then I will just dig out my own organs and crush them.'', James gritted his teeth as he thought.


    ''Oh really? Will you do that?'', the voice said in his mind.


    ''I will!'', James shouted in response within his mind.


    ''When will you do it?'', the voice asked.


    ''I said if I won''t be able to find something useful!'', the kid angrily responded.


    ''Haha, what a coward... I''ll do it myself then!''


    The kid''s left arm acted in a flash and stabbed itself through his body before James could act; the latter could only look at it with wide eyes as it dug out his heart and crushed it.


    -thud-


    He collapsed to the ground as soon as it was crushed. However, the left hand kept twitching, followed by the other hand, and by the eyelids.


    ''James'' stood up at once and examined his body. The hole on his body healed and a new black heart regenerated.


    "Sadly, you don''t know the real extent of my power. I don''t die that easily, hahaha...", ''James'' laughed in a different voice. The laugh made the already cold surroundings even colder.


    The lance covered by black smoke appeared on his hands and ''James'' turned around and used his weapon to slash downwards.


    At the same time, a dagger flash flew forward to ''James'', but was easily blocked by the lance.


    "That dagger flash''s essence seems a bit familiar.", ''James'' muttered as he cautiously looked around. "Show yourself!"


    Somebody wearing white robes stood up from the ground and said, "You''re not that kid."


    "You are the one who looks likes a kid!" ''James'' coldly replied and he sniffed the air, "What a thick smell of blood you have. You should go back to your parents or else you''ll get hurt."


    The newcomer was none other than Edwin.


    Edwin only chuckled at what ''James'' responded.


    A faint smirk showed on the lips of ''James'' but he still coldly said, "I''d gladly grant your wish of death, if I''m not so busy right now." He turned around and was about to leave when Edwin answered, "I know a soul still has to get used to the body it recently took over, so you''re not going anywhere."


    Edwin lunged forward to ''James''; the latter snorted and murmured, "Damn it."


    In turn, ''James'' also charged, he slashed upward to the incoming Edwin; in turn, the latter blocked with his twin daggers and used the force of the lance to propel himself to the air and launched several Multi-Flash.


    ''James'' blocked and dodged the approaching projectiles; at some point, because it became overwhelming, he was forced to retreat back near the edge of the lake. He then chanted out a spell and numerous spikes seemingly made of black glass formed beside him and launched them to Edwin.


    -pshew-


    The black projectiles pierced through Edwin, making him look the inside of a beehive. However, he slowly turned to dust and was brought away by the wind.


    "Such a realistic clone!", ''James'' was taken off guard.


    "Take this!", Edwin appeared near at the back of ''James''; the former kicked the latter''s back before he could even turn around, which made a cracking sound and was sent flying away!


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    "I put in too much strength! Damn it, Edwin don''t destroy James'' body!", Edwin scolded himself.


    From afar, he saw ''James'' standing up as if he didn''t even get an injury from that kick, letting Edwin heave a sigh of relief.


    "It''s been a long time since somebody injured me while I''m controlling a body!", ''James'' grinned in satisfaction. Afterwards, he started to charge forward again; this time, his speed was much faster and arrived in front of Edwin!


    While hastily jumping to the side, Edwin thought, ''How did he get faster so suddenly? Is that soul getting used to the body at a fast rate?''


    As soon as Edwin dodged to the side, ''James'' flawlessly stopped his charging momentum and stabbed the lance at the boy''s direction.


    In turn, Edwin acted in time and parried the lance with both of his daggers, but ''James'' kept attacking with the lance while closing in on the former; the boy tried to get away, but ''James'' was always on his tail.


    Edwin dodged and evaded every attacks until he was sent flying away by the last one.


    ''He''s as powerful as a wizard now. I won''t be able to last any longer!'', Edwin said inwardly. Then he stumbled to the ground.


    -whoosh-


    ''James'' charged again while delivering a punch with his hand towards Edwin; the latter got to roll to the side to evade it but the former attacked with his lance.


    ''It''s too fast, I can''t block it!'', Edwin''s pupils shrank as he saw the incoming lance.


    -clang-


    A curved sword parried away the lance on time. Edwin looked at the person who did it and saw somebody wearing the same white robes as he was.


    "You came just in time, Allen.", Edwin knew that the newcomer was none other than Allen!


    Then a rain of fire descended from above to the ground behind ''James'' who was about to retreat!


    From afar, Anna who recently casted a spell approached the the other two.


    "You grew powerful so fast.", Anna commented when she saw how powerful Edwin was now.


    On the other hand, Allen helped Edwin to stand up.


    "Yeah, it was one painful growth.", Edwin shrugged in response.


    After a pause, the boy took out a golden shard from his satchel and gave it to Allen, "I think I now know why you needed this. Here''s the Soul Shard you have requested."


    "Mhm. Looks like my decision of you exploring the forest as your training wasn''t a bad idea.", Allen nodded and took the shard. He then looked at Anna who was looking a bit worried for James.


    "Don''t hesitate with your attacks, it''s not James.", Allen assured her. "But I will try my best to get him back."


    "Okay.", Anna replied and prepared herself.


    "Edwin, you guard Anna in case that monster sneak attacks her.", Allen added.


    "Got it.", Edwin sternly nodded in agreement.


    After that, Allen initiated Burst Steps to charge forward in an explosive speed.

 84 Darkness Over the Horizon 3

    -clang- -clang- -clang-


    Allen initiated several fast attacks with his curved sword, leaving behind afterimages and somewhat making ''James'' retreat back; however, at some point the latter sidestepped and managed to stop the former''s momentum with his lance!


    -whoosh-


    Several fireballs were launched by Anna and distracted ''James'', creating a flaw in his defense.


    In an instant after the fireballs all landed, Allen swiftly closed in and made follow-up attacks. Slightly wounding ''James'', but wounds healed all at once.


    "How fast.", ''James'' commented.


    Allen didn''t pay attention to the unclear or unconscious praise of ''James'' and just shortened their distance between them.


    "Get lost!", ''James'' shouted. He knew that if this continues, he would soon be at a total disadvantage. Just the first exchanges between him and Allen made him figure out that the latter wasn''t to be underestimated, specially if the former was still getting used and still fusing to the new body.


    After narrowly dodging one of Allen''s slash over his head, ''James'' used his own weapon to jump up into the air and left his weapon on the ground.


    Then the lance on the ground disappeared and reappeared again on his hands up on the sky.


    Anna chanted out a spell and pillars of fire burst from the ground below ''James'', but all of them missed.


    "Hollow Dark Crush!", ''James'' charged his lance with some sort of power relating to darkness. It wasn''t the ''Bane'' of the necromancers, because even if gave off the feeling of death, the feeling that one would feel when confronting this darkness-related power was like both death and blackness.


    Sensing the changes, Allen immediately activated Shadow Steps.


    Afterwards, ''James'' stabbed the lance forward on the air.


    -boom-


    A trail of darkness followed behind the invisible force made by the lance and the force crashed to the ground, making a short intense quake.


    "So powerful!", Anna said while holding tightly on her staff to prevent herself from tripping to the ground; meanwhile, Edwin steadied himself by activating Shadow Steps while constantly moving.


    ''James'' landed back on the ground; and at the same time, the quake stopped.


    Following which, Allen charged towards him coming from the thick smoke and dust that rose onto the air after the earlier attack.


    He then continued suppressing ''James''.


    "Not even affected... eh?", ''James'' noticed something after blocking several strikes of Allen.


    "Darkcloud Screen!", ''James'' planted the tip of his lance to the ground. Then dark fog immediately rose up near them even up to Edwin and Anna''s location.


    However, Edwin managed to get Anna and himself out of the radius of the fog in time.


    "I can''t sense anything inside the fog.", Edwin said.


    "Neither can I. I hope Alchemist Morgan will be safe.", Anna added.


    "Can you decrease the volume of the fog with your fire?", Edwin asked.


    "No, the spellcaster is too powerful for me for it to be even slightly affected.", Anna shook her head. Rembering something important, she took out a satchel from her magician''s robe and consumed a pill from it.


    "What''s that?", Edwin asked.


    "A pill that Allen made to counter the Magic Frostbite. Wait... aren''t you affected by the frostbite?", the adept asked worriedly.


    "No I''m not.", Edwin replied.


    On the other hand, in the dark fog, Allen was using Energy External Sense and cautiously moving around while finding his way out, but it was as if he was walking in circles; in the end, he deactived the said technique to conserve his internal energy.


    ''My sense of direction in here is confused and suppressed, but...'', he suddenly stopped walking and turned to his right; after that he sidestepped, dodging something and then viciously reached out his hand in the fog.


    ''...I still have my instincts.''


    The fog around him dispersed. Edwin and Anna saw what was happening and spotted Allen, who was holding ''James'' by his neck.


    Wasting no time, Allen disarmed ''James'' of his lance and stabbed his curved sword to ground to the ground.


    Taking out the Soul Shard, the former tried to feed to the latter but he kept his mouth shut.


    "Let me go!", ''James'' angrily blurted out then immediately closed his mouth again to prevent Allen from feeding him the Soul Shard.


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    With a tight grip, he attempted to injure Allen''s arm that was holding him, but Allen''s hand was thoroughly latched onto the other''s head, making him unable to do anything.


    "Let me go." The kid said it again, but this time with a distorted voice. His eyes were still the same, but it was as if there''s somebody else looking through it.


    Unexpectedly, Allen threw the kid away.


    This action took Edwin and Anna by surprise.


    "Didn''t Allen say we shouldn''t have any second thoughts, why did he do that?" Edwin was baffled.


    "No, I think there''s another reason why he did that." Anna replied.


    Afterwards, ''James'' grasped his head and shouted, "This body is mine now! Get lost you weak soul!" His aura became more and more powerful.


    "I already said that I will never let you get out of here!", the distorted voice shouted back through the same mouth, which was none other than real James; in an instant, his whole body immobilized.


    "Do it, before it''s too late.", James calmly said while tears tricked down his face from his eyes.


    ''I told you already kid, nothing can kill me even if you try to crush all of your body into a pulp! I''m a soul, not a weak human like you! Your actions are futile against me!'', the sinister voice sounded out within his mind.


    Suddenly, a dagger with engravings materialized in Allen''s right hand.


    It was none other than the Erchian Dagger!


    In a split second, he charged towards James at an even faster speed.


    ''Wait, that dagger... a weak mortal has that weapon!?'', the evil soul noticed the Erchian Dagger and said within the kid''s mind; this time, its voice contained fear.


    The voice within the kid''s head shrieked to its highest tone. The scream weakened James'' will due to its intensity, but he still held on.


    Allen pierced the dagger right through James'' heart; the former then injected more internal energy to the dagger which spread throughout the latter''s insides!


    ''No!!!''


    A powerful rnergy then gripped every soft organs inside James'' body, then it pulverized all of them.


    Now, time seemed to slow down, as James fell to the ground; Allen kneeled with one knee and caught him on time, then he let the kid hug him.


    James used the last bit of power coming from the evil soul and tightly held onto Allen''s robes. With shaking hands, he clenched them to the other''s robes.


    Clinging to the last bit of strength left, James muttered, "I-I-I..."


    "I-van?"


    Some time later, the kid closed his eyes and lost the grip of his hug on Allen.


    After everything was over, Anna and Edwin approached the two of them; the former breathe in deeply and resisted the urge to bawl, it has been about three months since she arrived here.


    In the whole city, the one she was closest to was only James. Anna said, "It was his birthday today."


    Edwin held back his tears as he angrily asked, "Why did you kill him?!"


    "He asked for it.", Allen replied and he laid James'' body on the ground. He recalled the moment when James said to him to let him go, there was a different message behind those words, and it was to kill him.


    Edwin couldn''t believe what Allen told him, he wished that he was stronger so that he could''ve personally battled James and probably prevent him getting killed as the only option.


    "If only, if only..." Edwin clenched his hands due to anger. Even though he had only stayed at the shop for a month or less with James, he was still somewhat fond of the cheerful kid.


    "You can come out.", Allen looked to a particular direction.


    A kid stood up from the snow and approached the group. Edwin and Anna were astonished when they saw who it was.


    Obviously, it was none other than Ivan.


    Ivan kneeled in front of James'' body. He held his friend''s cold hands; eventually, his emotions erupted and bawled on his James'' body.


    ...


    Following which, when Ivan calmed down and slightly stopped weeping, Allen asked, "How did you know that he wouls come here?"


    Earlier in the city, Anna and Allen separated in order to find James much faster; that''s when Allen recognized Ivan who seemed to be finding somebody.


    At that moment, he asked to the kid if he knew where James was. That''s where Allen found out that Ivan was almost killed by James; nevertheless, he still tried to search for his best friend.


    Next, Allen regrouped with Anna; unknown to the latter, Ivan followed the both of them with the help of the former. The rest of the happenings followed.


    "This was where we always go to before you arrived in the city.", Ivan wiped off the tears off his face; yet, he broke into wailing again as he stuttered. "I remember one day, several years ago, James told me that he''s been hearing voices in his sleep; sometimes, he sees a shadow at the corner of his eyes. I joked that there''s monster following him, I never thought that there was really a monster!"


    Allen then looked towards to the direction of the Horizon Mountain and said, "The people from the church is coming. They already noticed the battle."


    After a pause, he added, "They might do other things with James'' body, we need to bury it some distance away where they won''t expect where it is."


    He then looked at Edwin, "Go to the Monarch Stone Patch with James'' body and Anna; wait for me there. As soon as you enter it, Avram, the winter wolf that you saw, will notice your presence."


    "Where are you going, Sir Alchemist Morgan?", Anna asked.


    "I need to take Ivan back to the city and permanently cover our tracks.", Allen answered back. "Then we will leave."


    "We are going to leave the city?", Edwin asked quietly.


    "Yes, the church may trace what happen back to us. Anna will be safe as the ecclesiastical forces won''t dare interfere with the kingdom''s magicians even if she was found out, but not with us loose people and commoners.", Allen replied.


    Edwin carefully carried James'' body up and said, "Then I''ll see you later, Allen." And left with Anna towards the direction of the Monarch Stone Patch.


    "Come on, I''ll take you back to your home.", Allen said to Ivan.


    Ivan let out an unwilling look, prompting Allen to say, "Don''t worry, you will be able to visit his body."


    When the kid heard the sentence, he only nodded and let himself be carried by Allen.

 85 Farewell

    The rays of light from the sun touched the whole city as the tip of the sun rose up.


    Today wasn''t just James'' birthday, it was also the end of the year and of the winter.


    The once cloudy skies were now filled with holes as the clouds started to dissolve. Along with their dispersal was also the darkness above the mountain city, which was never noticed by its citizens. In addition, the Magic Frostbite also began dispersing.


    "So that''s what happened to James'' father and mother.", Ivan muttered. He was being carried by Allen on his back while jumping on the roofs, unnoticed by the city folks. Allen just recalled what happened to James'' parents, making the kid''s mood even more dejected.


    "That''s where I live.", Ivan pointed at a building.


    The both of them landed in a nearby alley. Allen checked where Ivan was living, which was in a house nearly as big as James''.


    "Goodbye Mr. Morgan, I hope we will see each other again.", Ivan bid farewell as he went back down from Allen''s back.


    "Wait.", Allen stopped Ivan from going out of the alley. He took out a pouch from under his white robe, it was one of his magical pouches. Then he retrieved the Blizzard Crown Lotus from his satchel and placed it inside the pouch.


    "Remember, if you want to visit where James is buried, you need to present this lotus to a wolf named Avram. Don''t be frightened by him, he''s not bad for a wolf.", Allen said.


    Then he added, "Don''t let anyone else find out that you have this lotus nor even this pouch, understand?"


    "I will.", Ivan nodded.


    "Place your thumb on the pouch. I have already erased my mark on it.", Allen requested. Then Ivan followed what he said and placed his thumb on the pouch.


    The kid felt a ticklish sensation on his thumb, which immediately disappeared.


    "Now it has your mark. Only you can use it and only you can erase it, unless you are dead then it would be immediately erased.", Allen passed the pouch to Ivan.


    "Goodbye Ivan.", Allen said.


    "Goodbye again, and thank you.", Ivan smiled a bit and bid farewell again and left the alley.


    When he had already exited the alley, he suddenly remembered something, "Oh no, the fruit basket!"


    ***


    Entering the herb and plant shop, Allen was met by Little Salad. The interior of the shop was still dim and the only source of light was through the glowstone on its corners and to the ceiling as the curtains were all closed.


    "Little Salad, I will leave you behind here.", Allen straightforwardly said.


    Little Salad transformed into its hugr Visergoroth Chomper form and let out weeping sounds like a crying dog.


    Allen: "Can''t you speak?"


    "When are you coming back?", Little Salad asked with a tone of a child.


    "I don''t know, but I''ll be coming back. Go stay at the storage room and keep growing stronger, alright? You have all the resources that you need in this shop to grow.", Allen patted Little Salad''s head.


    "I''m sure that you''ll have to leave this shop to somebody else so that nobody else will try to steal something from here, who will I allow to enter?", Little Salad inquired.


    "I''ll think about it, I''m going to my bedroom first. Don''t let your senses pry into it before I leave.", Allen said and didn''t wait for Little Salad''s reply; he went upstairs and went straight to his bedroom.


    As soon as he entered, he used his External Energy Sense to block the room from inside and outside.


    He took every book, clothes, weapons, and other important items that he has and placed it inside his satchel. Lastly, Allen approached a wall and pulled out the secret drawer where the Soul Shards were.


    Inside it, were still the same six Soul Shards from before. He pulled out the Soul Shard from his satchel that Edwin gave to him.


    He carefully examined it all-around, then he consumed it.


    Afterwards estatic feeling washed over him; the sensation of something coming back to him.


    Few seconds later, that feeling disappeared.


    Looking at the floor below him, he saw that it was stained with a few droplets of liquid.


    He also noticed that there was something on his face and wiped it off.


    Finally, he placed the box where the six Soul Shards were inside his satchel and went downstairs.


    ***


    Inside a large building in the Eastern Horizon City, an old man was doing some paperwork in his office.


    "So... how long are you going to stand behind my back?", the old man said without leaving his sight on the papers.


    "I never got to ask you personally, why are you here?", Allen spoke out.


    "This is where I live, I''m not following you. Speaking of you, you were the one who took care of that darkness, am I right?", the old man replied.


    After a pause, the old man added, "You, an internal energy practitioner can take down an evil being like that at that level, I''m guessing you have a special means on you."


    "None of your business.", Allen replied. "And it''s not evil. Well, not the owner of the body."


    "So this is how you treat the person who taught you how to become an alchemist, my dear apprentice?", the old man asked, and suddenly rolled his eyes towards Allen, "You know the first time I met you, you were still dangerously cute back then, but now it''s just dangerous."


    Then he added, "Let me ask you again, do you want to join my merchant guild?"


    "No, I don''t want your protection.", Allen shook his head in disagreement.


    "Alright, if you say so. I won''t bother your life, but those people from the west beyond the borders of kingdom will." The old man said, "Technically, you don''t regard me as your master anymore, so I won''t interfere anyway."


    "I''m just here to grant you access to my place.", Allen cut to the chase and placed keys on top of the table.


    "Well then... it''s in safe hands. I''ll also take care of your little pet plant.", the old man hid the keys and assured Allen.


    "I''ll see myself out.", after that, Allen''s figure faded away.


    When Allen''s figure was absolutely gone, the old man recalled, "When I first saw you, you were only just as powerful as a small adept, even though you got more powerful due to something, you are still talented without it. But sadly, your stubbornness will get you killed."


    He stood up and walked near the open window, he savored the cold air coming from outside. Making a grabbing gesture with his hand to a shelf, a mirror floated towards him and landed on his hand.


    "You are really interesting kid. I wasn''t even able to investigate your past. I guess somebody else is protecting you... somebody more powerful than I am?"


    In a second, he leaned back and spread out his hands.


    "No matter, I will take care of your place and see that your plant will be in good hands!"


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    "Oh I love you my dear apprentice!"


    ***


    In a certain location at Monarch Stone Patch. Avram and Edwin were digging a hole; on the other hand, while Anna was sitting beside James'' body while cautiously looking at the former.


    The winter wolf felt sort of uncomfortable by the adept''s gaze, as if she could see all its secrets.


    Edwin discerned what was happening. The corners of his mouth twitched at the scene and thought, ''Is she always like this?''


    "This should be deep enough.", Avram said.


    Hearing the friendly beast''s statement, Edwin planted the shovel to the ground. The shovel was one of the tools that Allen gave him for exploring Monarch Forest.


    Afterwards, Edwin meticulously carried James'' body towards the newly dug hole.


    "May I take a closer look?", Avram requested.


    "Uhh... okay.", Edwin crouched down so that the friendly beast may see James.


    Avram sniffed James and showed a tinge of surprise, "This scent is a bit familiar. Is he..."


    "No, no he wasn''t. He didn''t want it in the first place.", Edwin immediately rejected Avram''s unfinished question.


    Next, James'' body was carefully put in the hole and began filling it up with the dirt that was dug out.


    Avram turned his head towards Allen, who just recently arrived without anybody else noticing; the latter then beckoned the former to come with him.


    While both of them were strolling around, Allen explained to him about Ivan possibly visiting James'' grave.


    "Don''t worry, I''ll guide that human if he visits his friend''s grave. Even if it''s not winter.", Avram said.


    "Mhm. By the way, do you know how Edwin became more powerful in just a few months?", Allen asked.


    "I don''t know. When I first saw him, he''s even weaker than a mage!", Avram exclaimed.


    "Also, I sense a thick smell of blood coming from him. Avram, I know that the Monarch Forest is still under your supervision as one of its high elders, did something happen to him while he''s in the forest?", Allen stopped walking and glanced at Avram at the corner of his eyes.


    Suddenly, Allen added, "You know what, nevermind. He became more powerful, and that''s that. Come on, let''s go back."


    "Alright.", Avram nodded. Inwardly, he heaved a sigh of relief, ''It''s best that you won''t know what happened to your pupil.''


    When they returned, Edwin already finished returning the dirt that was dug out back to the hole.


    "Anna, here''s the pill that you ordered.", Allen took out a blue pill that emitted a bit of coldness from his satchel.


    "Oh? Thank you.", Anna gladly accepted it and placed it inside her gem spatial storage.


    "I will leave the three of you. I still have some things to manage like the wolf cubs accidentally strolling around and might find the main road.", Avram then jumped on a boulder.


    The alpha wolf added, "They might accidentally kill the travellers due to their cuteness." Then he sprinted off to an even deeper part of the stone patch.


    "Anna, where are you going now that your pill is done?", Allen asked.


    "I''ll go back to the central region, my master must be worried of me by now!", Anna replied back.


    She added, "Sir Alchemist Morgan, thank you again for the pill. Edwin, take care. I''m going to leave now while snow is still intact, some places might get flooded after they will melt. I am going to help the populace at the flooding areas if needed."


    "Take care to you too.", Edwin bid farewell, while Allen nooded in response. Following which, she left the area, going towards the direction of west.


    "How about you Edwin?", Allen asked. "With your current level of power, you can already take care of yourself."


    "I don''t know where to go.", Edwin responded. "Maybe I should follow you first, I find this strength still lacking."


    "Then we''ll go to the East Gate City, the regional capital. I want to get hold of an object there.", Allen said.


    "Okay.", Edwin nodded and thought, ''Did I really misjudge that he was trying to kill me off?''


    ''Maybe I was?''


    [End of Volume 5: The Wraith, the Celestial, and the Three Planes]

 86 Either Way

    West Rising, the name of a town somewhere at the east of Eastern Horizon City. It is a harbor town connected to the Rising Sea, one of the largest inland seas in the kingdom.


    Further south of the city was the path to the Monarch Pass, and furthermore was still the enormous Monarch Forest. The said pass was between the southern shores of the Rising Sea and northern part of the mentioned forest.


    For clarification, when Edwin was travelling back and forth near the Monarch Forest back to the Horizon Mountain during his endurance training, the part of the forest that he always saw was the northwest point of the said forest.


    A young man wearing a somewhat old gray longsleeves tailcoat and a merchant''s hat walked out of a ship booking facility. He kept the two tickets he was holding in the pockets of his clothes and left the pier.


    Even if winter has already ended a few days ago, he still saw some piles of snow on the way.


    Later, he went to a hotel then went up to a certain floor and knocked on a door.


    "Come in.", a voice came from inside the room.


    He entered the room and saw Edwin, keeping something inside a drawer. The boy was wearing the same type of clothes as the man, but in color green.


    "Oh it''s just you, Allen.", Edwin said. After Allen closed the door, Edwin pulled out two sheated daggers from the drawer.


    "Those are not the daggers I gave you, are they?", Allen asked.


    "No, I got them in the Monarch Forest.", Edwin truthfully replied.


    "Mhm, if they are magical, do not always rely on them.", Allen added. He took out the a ticket and placed it on the top of the table.


    "Your ticket. Do not lose it. We will leave by tomorrow dawn.", Allen said.


    "Alright, thank you.", Edwin immediately got hold of it and hid it in the pockets of his pants.


    As Allen was about to step out of the room, Edwin requested, "Can we eat in an inn tonight? I want to taste the delicacies here."


    Allen turned back around and questioned, "Do you have any money on you?"


    "Uhh..."


    "I will be the one paying.", Allen said.


    "Thank you! I promise, it won''t be expensive.", Edwin earnestly replied.


    ...


    Several hours passed and night replaced day. The town was like the Eastern Horizon City, albeit its streets were narrower and obviously, the population was lower.


    Due to it being an important location for goods to arrive from the other side of the sea, the presence of guards in this town was noticeable; specially at key areas such as the harbor, market, etc.


    In the business district of the town, Allen and Edwin were looking around for food stalls and restaurants.


    "Whoa, is that a sausage on a stick?", Edwin sniffed the air and approached a crowded food stall.


    "Hello boy, do you want some sausages? It''s mostly stuffed with crab meat and a few other seafoods.", the vendor introduced.


    The aroma coming from the cooking sausages assaulted Edwin like an army of bowmen shooting a wave of arrows upon their enemies.


    "I think I will buy...", before Edwin could finish his sentence, he was instanly dragged away by Allen by his collar.


    "Huh? It is just a sausage, there is nothing wrong with it, and I think it''s not that expensive.", Edwin complained as Allen stopped dragging him.


    "The reason why it smells so great is because of an addictive herb. Combining seafoods inside a wrapper won''t smell that alluring.", Allen said.


    "Is the herb magical?", Edwin asked.


    "No."


    "Then why did you drag me away if it''s not something dangerous? I know my limits already, it''s not like it can hurt me."


    "Even if doesn''t have any magical properties, it can still be addictive to you who doesn''t even know it in the start. Do not underestimate a plant even if it doesn''t contain internal energy nor mana.", Allen sternly said.


    "Hais, alright, you''re the expert.", Edwin sighed and gave up the arguement.


    The both of them kept searching and searching for a restaurant until they stopped to a large building with three floors. The exterior walls of the establishment was neatly decorated with wooden engravings, enhancing the already fancy stained glass windows.


    "This one seems too expensive.", Edwin commented as he saw the design of the restaurant.


    However, Allen entered the shop which prompted Edwin to follow him.


    Inside, the walls were painted pearly white with short lines of gold on them. The carvings on the wooden chairs and tables seemed so shiny and intricate that it looked brand-new. Even the candles used for lighting up the whole place emitted a relaxing smell.


    There were a lot of people eating in the first floor, even so, the restaurant was by no means to be of poor standards.


    "Excuse me, what can I do for the both of you?", a waiter dressed in clean clothes draw near Allen and Edwin.


    "I want a table for two on the top floor. Is there a free space?", Allen inquired.


    "I''m sorry, the top floor is only for...", the waiter cut his sentence midway when Allen stuffed in a gold coin in his pocket.


    "Oh, if you won''t mind, follow me sirs.", the waiter said with a more respectful tone this time around and guided the two to the third floor.


    Compared to the first and second floor, there were only a very few people in the third floor. In addition, everything in here were fancier and more elegant; with the lighting in the room being used here was a glowstone lamp on the ceiling just like in Allen''s bedroom back at Eastern Horizon City.


    When the two of them sat down on a spot by a window, the waiter asked, "What do the both of you like to eat?"


    "Everything that this floor offers.", Allen replied then gave the waiter ten more gold coins. "Keep the change."


    After that, the waiter hurriedly went away to the kitchen.


    Allen gazed at the stunned Edwin and asked, "What''s wrong?"


    "I only wanted to eat in an inn for tonight. I can accept eating in a restaurant too, but not this kind of a luxurious one.", Edwin embarassedly answered.


    "Don''t be ashamed. If you have money, spend it, you will never know when you will die. A person, whether rich or poor won''t be able to spend all his gold if he is dead.", Allen looked out the window and saw the lights of the town.


    He then closed his eyes and snored quietly.


    ...


    Very fast asleep, he saw a cornered child on a wall who was being beaten up by a baton by somebody older than him. The kid''s nose was bleeding and bruises started to appear as he get hit by the baton overtime.


    "I will get more coins next time, father! I will get more coins! I promise will get more coins!", the kid cried out as he tried to cover his face with his arm.


    "Damn it! I told you to work harder! This wouldn''t have happen to you if you worked harder!", the older person shouted at the kid and continued attacking him with the bat.


    Meanwhile, another cries of a younger child could be heard by the bottom of the stairs.


    Then the baton held by the man was thrown over to the younger one, almost hitting him!


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    However, although it didn''t hit the child, it made him go quiet and just stared with contempt on the man. A stare of hatred supposedly couldn''t be seen from children like him.


    "Please stop! I''ll work harder next time! I''ll work harder! I''ll work harder!", tears flowed down and the older kid sobbed heavily.


    ...


    "Hey, Allen.", Edwin called out.


    Allen opened his eyes and asked, "What is it?"


    "The food''s already here.", Edwin pointed down at the table full of delicacies. "Also, the waiter said this is just the first batch."


    "Good service.", Allen grabbed hold of the provided utensils and started eating with Edwin.


    "Not really, I think almost half an hour has passed." Edwin commented then he inwardly said, ''Whew, what was he muttering all about? It sounds like ''I''ll work harder''.''


    Later, up until the last food was eaten, Allen asked, "I''ve been wondering, how old are you?"


    "I think I''m already 16. I don''t know the exact date of my birth, but I''m sure about my age.", Edwin answered.


    "How come you know how to write?" He asked again.


    It wasn''t a problem for a citizen of the kingdom on how to have the most basic reading skills, but it was another thing for writing, as education wasn''t cheap.


    "My grandpa taught me. He does some paperwork in the house back at the days." Edwin replied.


    A few seconds passed and Allen questioned once again, "What will you do when you already took care of that person who killed your father?"


    "I... have no idea.", Edwin shrugged and pondered orally. "I will probably come with you then. It will maybe be so boring after I do that."


    ...


    Some time later, the both of them left the restaurant and went back to the hotel towards their rooms.


    On his bed, Allen placed both of his hands at the back of his head and an unconscious thought of something struck him while looking at the ceiling, then he lifted a hand up and examined with his one eye a coin made of stone between his index finger and thumb.


    "Those kinds of dreams are coming again." Allen said, "Aftereffects of consuming a Soul Shard."

 87 A Sleepless Nigh

    The next day...


    Before the sunrise, Allen and Edwin left for the harbor carrying their satchels.


    "I wonder what''s the feeling of travelling by a ship. I can''t wait!" With obvious eagerness, Edwin didn''t hide an ounce of his excitement.


    "You are in a public place." Allen quietly told him.


    "Oh." Looking around him, Edwin saw a number of people fixing their gazes on him.


    He calmed down, composed himself, and walked behind Allen with his face a bit red from embarrassment.


    Arriving at the pier, they saw a crowd of people around the harbor''s official posting board, fussing about something.


    "Excuse us, excuse us.", Edwin said as he and Allen went through the pack of people.


    When they reached the front, Allen silently read what was written; while Edwin was surprised by the contents, "Trip by ships are postponed for three months due to large-scale pirate attacks?"


    He exclaimed, "We have to wait until summer just to get to East Gate City?"


    "How will I deliver all my winter crops to East Gate City? They are going to be rotten just a month later!" A nearby man sighed in disappointment.


    "My perfume business! Those damned pirates!", another bystander cursed out loud.


    "My family is going to get worried if I won''t get to return soon!"


    "Can''t we just take a detour around the Rising Sea?"


    "What?! That''s even more dangerous!"


    "You probably came from other places. You can''t go north, even by land because that''s where they say the headquarters of the pirates are located."


    "How about south?"


    "Are you kidding me? I''d rather wait then, I don''t want to get crushed by the boulders coming from the mountains because of frequent landslides in the Monarch Pass, and even further south is the Monarch Forest!"


    "Then... we''re really stuck here?"


    "We can get some help from the mercenaries to travel by north."


    "No thanks, the loss in my business for three months costs less than hiring greedy guild hoarders."


    "But not my business!"


    "Those people are surely going to take advantage of this."


    Soon, Allen dragged Edwin and left the crowd, walking back to the main street of the town.


    "So Allen, what are we going to do?", Edwin asked.


    "We will take the road down south.", Allen replied.


    "Oh, I think the way north is much better. We can easily handle those pirates.", Edwin said with slight excitement in the tone of his voice.


    However, Allen shook his head and said, "It''s not as simple as you think."


    "Huh, why?"


    "No, nothing. Let''s just prepare for our travel."


    ...


    As the sun rose, the both of them left the town riding a coach driven by a man with a shaggy beard.


    "I guesz it''z another pirate problemz?", the man asked through the small window.


    Edwin: "Yeah. Wait, another?"


    "Well, thiz iz already... I think- the zeventh time in just two yearz. It''z obviouz that it''z zecretly motivated. The government iz too quiet about itz.", the man laughed heartily.


    Hearing the man''s conclusion, Edwin looked over at Allen who only shrugged and kept reading a book about plants that he got from a small shelf below their seat.


    Silence prevailed for hours until it was pass afternoon. The man asked, "The both of you are going through the Monarch Pasz?"


    "Yes, there''s no other way. The road to the north is more dangerous.", Edwin confirmed.


    "Alright. Remember, I''ll only take you near the pasz, until only there, got itz?.", the man sternly said.


    Edwin looked at Allen at first, seeing that he wasn''t responding, the former replied, "That''s enough for us."


    "Alzo, the both of you zhould be careful. I alwayz hear newz that there are frequent landslidez in the pasz. There are monsterz az long az I could remember, but I think the newz about monsterz aren''t truez.", the man warned.


    "Umm... thank you for the warning.", Edwin nodded.


    Some time later, the coach finally stopped.


    "We are near the pasz already. Thiz iz az far az I will goz.", the man said.


    Allen and Edwin exited the coach and inspected their surroundings. They were on top of a small hill.


    Looking straight ahead from their direction, they saw mountains taller than the Horizon Mountain with a single path going through them.


    It was none other than the Monarch Pass.


    Looking at one side, they spotted an endless stretch of trees, which was apparently the Monarch Forest.


    "Goodbye. And thank you for that generouz pay, sirz.", the man bid farewell and even bowed to Allen. After that, he drove the coach away from the area.


    "You paid another gold coin?", Edwin guessed.


    "Mhm, it''s a waste not to spend money.", Allen nodded in response.


    Edwin: "..."


    "Come on, let''s go.", Allen started walking to the direction of the forest.


    Edwin raised his eyebrows, "Hold on, won''t we travel through the pass instead? Boulders won''t really be a problem for us. And it''s the fastest way too."


    With their strengths combined, or just even Allen alone, falling boulders were just the same as fragile vases for them, so it was no wonder Edwin would be confused.


    "There''s no rush, we all have the time in the world for travelling. I just want to take a detour to the forest to do something.", Allen replied.


    Edwin couldn''t do a thing and followed Allen as he entered the forest. The latter took out a magnetic compass and removed its glass cover; next, he dislodged its needle and replaced it with another thicker needle; then placed back the glass cover.


    He shook the compass a few times and checked it; however, he saw that it wasn''t working, he returned it back in his satchel with the hat he was wearing.


    Seeing Allen heading deeper into the forest, Edwin couldn''t help but ask, "Allen, shouldn''t we stay near the pass instead?"


    However, Allen didn''t reply and kept walking, forcing Ediwn to only follow behind closely.


    A few hours later, the sun was about to set when they reached a stony hill devoid of trees. Allen went straight to the hill, followed the other.


    As the sun finally sank down, that''s where they reached the top of the hill.


    "Let''s set up our tents here.", Allen said; afterwards, he took out the materials of his tent from his satchel.


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    Edwin also imitated him and took out the same materials from his satchel. Inwardly, he was still confused as to what they were doing in this location.


    As he was about to ask Allen again, he took the thought from the end of his tongue back at his mind; in the end, he ignored the urge to ask the question.


    When Edwin finished setting up his tent, Allen was already done from constructing his some time ago and also completed lighting up a small bonfire.


    "Come on, let''s eat in front of the fire.", Allen sat down took out his food. Edwin also took out his own food and sat by Allen.


    "Mmm... steak."


    Later, right after eating, the two of them entered their tents and went to sleep.


    Above them was the sky full of stars, shining down like fireflies. Among them was the single moon, an immutable watcher from time immemorial.


    ...


    In the middle of the night, Edwin unconsciously opened his eyes in a narrow manner. As soon as he did so, a shadow outside his tent was right in front of his spot. The shadow then lifted up its weapon, which seemed to be a sword.


    -crack-


    A crack sounded out and at the same time he blinked, the shadow disappeared.


    Processing everything that he saw, Edwin''s eyes widened and he took out both of his dagger then rushed of his tent.


    With the moon giving light, everything around the tents became discernable by eye. Along with Edwin channeling some internal energy to his eyes, his sight became clearer, though not enough to be considered as


    He carefully observed the surroundings, but saw nothing suspicious.


    "I think it''s only a dream.", Edwin mumbled.


    He recalled the shadow''s weapon, and noticed that although it looked like a sword it seemed to have a different shape compared with the usual swords.


    ''I think I saw it before. Where did I see it? It looks like... a curved sword...'', Edwin thought.


    ''... a curved sword?'' Startled by his conclusion, he recalled Allen owned such a weapon!


    Edwin hesitated about his conjecture; however, he was sure that it was a curved sword.


    If it wasn''t Allen, then who possessed a curved sword? The only person he knew in possession of the said weapon was Allen!


    The already buried notion of Allen killing him surfaced on his mind once again, like an undead grabbing him to a grave.


    "I must be a bit tired and got hallucinations, that''s all.", Edwin sighed; he thought that people like him couldn''t get easily tired, as he was not just an internal energy practitioner, but he was also as powerful as an adept!


    In the end, he returned to his tent; nevertheless, he still couldn''t sleep because he continued channelling internal energy everywhere in his body out of preparation for the worst.

 88 Purpose

    Next day before the sun rose, Allen and Edwin continued their travels.


    Allen turned around to Edwin and saw the latter looking sleepy. He asked, "Did you just use all of your internal energy?"


    "No, I didn''t get to sleep.", Edwin said. He was yawning from time to time as they transversed through the forest.


    Suddenly, he tripped to the ground because of an exposed tree root.


    "Take a rest. We can travel the next day instead.", Allen approached Edwin and reached out his hand to help him up.


    However, Edwin refused Allen''s hand and said, "I can stand up by myself." He did stand up on his own and he started to yawn again.


    Afterwards, they continued their journey; but not a long time passed when Edwin stepped in a hole. Allen reacted on time and pulled Edwin up before his legs even entered the hole.


    "You are just dragging me down. Let''s go to a clear space so you can sleep.", Allen said again.


    "N-..."


    "You can''t refuse. If this keeps on for much longer, you can get killed by your lack of vigilance. Although you''re that powerful already, you still need to sleep, even magicians at the level of Adept still take a rest during night.", Allen crossed his hands.


    "I... okay, I''ll sleep.", Edwin stopped being stubborn and agreed.


    Later on; they found a spot where there weren''t many plants that could damage the tents and rebuilt one there.


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    "What are you going to do?", Edwin asked.


    "Obviously, I''ll guard you.", Allen sat down under a tree and took out a book with a small symbol of a parasol tree under a book, both of which were made of pure gold.


    On the other hand, Edwin lied down in the tent and thought, ''I must not sleep, I must not sleep...'' With his repeating thoughts, he was still alert of his surroundings.


    Suddenly, he abruptly sniffed the air and noticed that something smelled so relaxing and calming. A few seconds later, he was already snoring.


    Allen closed the book he was reading and returned it in the satchel, then pulled out his curved sword and closed in on Edwin''s tent.


    When he was a few steps away from the tent, he turned his head around to a different direction, and rushed towards to where he was looking.


    ...


    Edwin stretched his body and yawned. He slightly opened his eyes, but it became wider and he hastily sat up.


    "I-I slept?", Edwin rubbed a side of his head. He searched around the tent and spotted some sort of burnt leaves. He sniffed the leaves and found out its scent was the last aroma he sensed before sleeping.


    Without thinking any further, he concluded that it was Allen who owned and burnt them. He was an alchemist, it was not that farfetched for him to have some in stock.


    "I''m still alive.", Edwin heaved a sigh of relief and exited the tent.


    As soon as he exited the tent, a figure pounced on him, catching him off guard.


    -pshew-


    Another figure came from the other direction and slashed the first figure in half. The second figure was none other than Allen.


    "Get your weapons!", Allen said to Edwin; the latter snapped out of his stupor and took out his twin daggers.


    More figures charged towards them. If one would examine them, they looked like giant horned lizards.


    A reptile vaulted towards Edwin. The boy retreated a step to avoid the large beast and launched a dagger flash.


    -pshew-


    The flash pierced the enemy''s scales and created a deep wound, but the reptile didn''t seem to feel the pain and opened up its large mouth in a bid to swallow Edwin.


    However, rather than retreating, Edwin launched two Multi-Flash with both of his daggers and tore through the monster''s mouth.


    Bloody wounds appeared one after the other in its mouth, making it wail in pain, gurgling its own blood until it collapsed.


    He wasn''t given any time to rest when a few more reptiles started to swarm over him.


    "There''s too many!", Edwin tried to loosen the beasts, but every step he took to get away seemed to get him even closer to them.


    "Get on a high ground and cover your nose.", Allen calmly replied after he killed two of those gigantic lizards.


    Edwin nodded when he heard Allen. He slowly backed off and when the lizards pounced, he jumped up and used one of the beasts head to propel himself upward to a tree and climbed up.


    Seeing Edwin began climbing up, Allen pulled out a herb from his storage bag. As soon as the herb was taken out, an exploding scent wafted out of it which immediately spread out in the area.


    Every living being other than Allen and Edwin paused their movements and looked over at the herb. Then all of them rushed towards it like a tidal wave.


    In addition to the reptiles, the plants, as if stimulated by the odor, started to grow like wildfire.


    Allen placed the herb back inside the satchel; nevertheless, its scent still remained on the air and everything around him was still in chaos. Still, the reptiles kept charging in his direction, but he didn''t wait for them; instead, Allen made the first initiative.


    On top of a tree branch, Edwin spectated the battle below. Allen might be outnumbered right now, but more or less a minute later, he was the only one left standing.


    On the ground were the numerous corpses of dead monsters and some ferocious animals that were also attracted by that scent. Allen didn''t spare a second glance at them and approached a reptile on its dying breath.


    He then stabbed his weapon to the beast''s brain and twisted it.


    Edwin jumped back down to the ground with one of his hands still covering his nose. When he landed, he noticed Allen glanced at him on the corner of his eyes.


    -whoosh-


    Allen blitz towards Edwin and slashed his weapon sidewards; the latter only got to process everything what was happening when the sword was already upon him.


    Edwin hastily made a sharp dock. The weapon only hit the tree behind him and cleanly penetrated it without making any sound; however, as soon as that happened, Allen made a swift stabbed towards his abdomen.


    The boy tried to take out both of his daggers from his storage bag to block it, but the stab was just too fast.


    But the attack stopped at the last moment. The very tip of the weapon already pierced the clothes and his epidermis, letting out a few drops of blood.


    "You''re not out of control?", Allen asked.


    It was only a few seconds later when Edwin stuttered in reply, "N-No."


    That''s when Allen withdrew his weapon and put it back in his satchel.


    "Go eat a healing pill, the one that I gave you. I think you still have some stock of it, am I right?", Allen turned around and started walking away, but suddenly stopped when he heard Edwin mutter something under his breath.


    "What did you say?", Allen turned around again and asked.


    "Aren''t those pills poisonous?", Edwin asked while avoiding eye contact with Allen.


    "What poisonous? Do you think I will give you something deadly?", Allen stated, approaching him step by step.


    "I mean, can''t you just already say that you are going to kill me?", Edwin stated and he also retreated step by step. He forced out of his mouth each of his words in that sentence.


    "Where did you get that notion? With the gap between our strength I can kill you without using a weapon. Why should I even do it secretly like poisoning you?", Allen retorted.


    He added, "It''s a waste to use it on you too."


    After a pause, he further said, "And why would I kill you? Is there a reason for me to do that?"


    "Umm.."


    "See, you don''t know any reason.", Allen pointed.


    "What is that burnt herb that I found in my tent after I woke up?", Edwin asked.


    Allen: "Oh, you mean that herb. I used it so I can force you to sleep. You were uncooperative earlier, so I thought that you won''t even sleep. Let me guess, you are thinking I will kill you while you''re taking a rest?"


    "Yes!"


    "To be honest, if you haven''t slept, you would''ve become a burden to me if we battled these reptiles. Then you know what would''ve happened?", Allen asked.


    "What?", Edwin asked slightly gazing at Allen; when he looked at his single eye, the former felt a chill travelling all over his body. He immediately looked away but the coldness still haven''t disappeared.


    Allen: "You would''ve died." He accelerated his , making Edwin a bit nervous; however, he only patted the latter''s shoulder, "Eat a healing pill, so we can finally get out of here."


    Edwin summed up of what''s left of his courage, "I want to ask a question."


    "What is it?", Allen went to the beat-up tent, it was almost destroyed after the monsters rampaged. He examined the damaged tent and added, "Looks like the tent''s unusable. Let''s just leave it here."


    Edwin: "Why did we even enter the forest?"


    "Come on, I think I have given enough time.", Allen notioned at Edwin to follow.

 89 See-neaking In

    It was already pass sunset and the full moon was shining down from above; nevertheless, Allen and Edwin was still awake, trekking up a mountain.


    They already exited the Monarch Forest a few hours ago. After getting out, they proceeded to climb up the mountain at Allen''s lead.


    ''Where are we even going?'', Edwin thought.


    At some point, Allen stopped walking and took out a compass. It was the same compass that he tampered with before they entered Monarch Forest. Edwin saw the compass and made him think why Allen kept taking it out.


    Before they even started to climb up the mountain, Allen have been taking in and out the compass for many times.


    Unlike yesterday, the compass needle started moving and pointed to a certain direction up the mountain. Allen placed it away in his satchel and continued to stride towards the direction where the needle pointed.


    Some time later, the two of them arrived near a pit on the mountain. On the pit, was an encampment of some sort.


    "There are actually people living on the mountain?" Edwin remarked, "Isn''t this pass dangerous?"


    However, Allen shook his head then pointed to something near the settlement. Edwin looked over and saw that it was a coach, but he felt that it was a bit familiar.


    "Could it be?", Edwin turned his gaze to Allen.


    "Yes, it''s that same carriage.", Allen nodded and took out his compass again. The tip of its needle pointing towards the carriage.


    "The people camped in there are pirates. The driver of the carriage we rode on is also a pirate.", Allen added.


    "How did you know?", Edwin asked.


    "The accent of the driver was suspicious. It seems like he was forcing to copy the accent of the townsfolk. If he didn''t come from the neighboring country the east, then he''s a pirate.", Allen said.


    He added, "So I hid a special kind of metal that I could track on the book that I was reading... and my hunch about that man was right."


    "What are we going to do now then?", Edwin asked curiously.


    "No, what are you going to do?", Allen returned back the question.


    "Me? Wait... I''m going to take care of them myself?", Edwin asked in surprise.


    "You still didn''t answer my question. Again, what are you going to do?", Allen repeated the question.


    "I''m going to... kill them all?", Edwin replied. A tinge of hesitation appeared on his face.


    "And why is that?", Allen asked.


    "Because... they killed innocent people?", Edwin said.


    "Alright, but what if there are also some innocent pirates in that camp?", Allen asked again.


    "How can that be possible? Pirates being innocent?", Edwin was baffled.


    "Some of them were probably forced under certain circumstances. Yes, they have sinned in some ways such as stealing and possibly murdered others to make a living, but is that reason enough to end their lives?", Allen questioned.


    ''Should I answer yes or no?'', Edwin thought. In the end, he couldn''t answer back anything.


    "We live in a world where morality is one of the basis of what the majority will think of you. Killing is wrong, but there is always a reason for everything that we will do.", Allen said.


    "Edwin?" Allen turned his head to Edwin, "Have you killed somebody?"


    "No." He shook he his head. As far as he could remember, he hasn''t killed a single sentient being yet. Even the elves were only severely injured.


    "I will capture them, but what will I do to the ones who did heinous acts?", Edwin asked.


    "Leave them to me. Try to restrain all of them first.", Allen said. Afterwards, he gave the boy a black robe and sent him on his way.


    ***


    The camp didn''t have any walls surrounding it, letting Edwin easily enter its perimeter. He noticed at one glance the nicely built shanties, as if the settlement was a permanent one.


    He heard noises of cheering as well as laughing as he got closer to the center. In the center of the settlement, a large bonfire was burning; surrounding it were celebrating people. He didn''t head straight to that location because there were too many of them.


    Allen took his satchel where most of his equipment were and only carried his twin daggers with him so that he would be challenged.


    He kept travelling around the camp discreetly until he found the place that he was searching for, which was a rather large house. The house was bigger in size and even had some decorations on it compared to the rest of the buildings around it, but it was near the bonfire where there the crowd was having a party of some sort.


    Edwin guessed the building was the home of the leader of the settlement.


    Still under the cover of darkness, Edwin made a detour around the center, avoiding the torches or any source of light that could expose him until he arrived at the back of the leader''s house.


    "Hey you! Stop right there!", a voice said behind him.


    Edwin was caught off guard, and he cursed within his mind, ''Damn it, I should''ve checked the area first.'' He was sure that all of the men were celebrating, but he was caught by a patrol.


    "Why aren''t you kneeling? Go kneel!", the voice said again.


    He slowly started to get into a kneeling position; however, he was also getting ready to take out his twin daggers from his sleeves at the same time. As he was about to fully get into a kneeling position, he swiftly got his daggers out and injected it with internal energy while turning around towards the voice.


    Turning around, he only saw a seemingly drunk man who was talking to a training dummy from the other side of the path.


    "You piece of **** how dare you not respond! Eat this.", the man lifted up his sword in a bid to attack the dummy, but he suddenly slipped midway and fell on his back towards the ground while the sword swirled on the air above him.


    As the man was about to stand up again, the butt of the sword accurately hit his head and knocked him out.


    Edwin: "..."


    After that, he checked the backdoor and figured out that it was unlocked. He carefully entered through it and closed it.


    He was now in a small hallway lit up by torches. He probed the rooms that was connected to the hallway until he found the bedroom.


    Going inside the bedroom, he surveyed around until he finally walked towards a wardrobe and hid in it.


    Time passed and the sounds of celebration faded. Edwin almost took a nap, but his tiredness was cleared off when he heard footsteps coming towards the room.


    Through the little holes on the wardrobe, he spotted a big man whose physique could be mistaken for a barbarian, and beside him was a woman; then something happened next.


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    Edwin''s mouth widened as he witnessed everything, from the up to bottom to the both of them going up to the bed. He covered his eyes, calmed himself down, and swallowed his saliva.


    Afterwards, he heard the sounds of moaning, making his face twitch repeatedly.


    "Harder, harder.", the woman''s voice said. After Edwin heard that, even louder moans echoed throughout the room; this time making his hands shudder.


    Then he started hearing the sound of the bed creaking loudly for many times. Edwin unconsciously slapped his forehead in distress.


    "Huh, who''s that?", the man said. He went out of bed and grabbed his sword from underneath.


    Afterwards, he approached the wardrobe. When he was in front of the wardrobe, he pierced his sword through it and slashed it apart.


    When the wardrobe collapsed, only pieces of wood and clothes remained, some of which got torn apart, but there wasn''t anything else.


    "I could''ve sworn I heard something", the man said.


    In a split-second, Edwin appeared behind the man and knocked him out by the back of his head. The man dropped to the ground with a thud.


    Edwin seemed to be slightly panting and sweating although he didn''t waste a lot of internal energy.


    "Ummm... kid, don''t you want to come up here? I can give you... you know.", the woman shyly said to Edwin, as if she didn''t see how the man was easily beaten by him.


    Edwin quickly threw the dagger with its handle aimed towards the woman''s head, which knocked her out. That''s when he started to pant heavier, but he tried stabilized his breathing and it went back to normal a few seconds later.


    After which, he stiffly walked towards the bed to retrieve his dagger and tied the man with the rope he found in another room, while he wrapped the woman around the blanket first then tied her up. He also covered their mouths with cloth in case they would attempt to call for help once they woke up.


    "Next targets, the assistants.", Edwin said as he left the house.

 90 Monarch Walls

    Night passed and the sun was beginning to shine from the edge of the horizon.


    From the encampment, a black-robed figure was waving its right hand towards Allen.


    ...


    "That took long enough.", Allen approached the figure, which was none other than Edwin.


    "I tied up everybody here. It was a breeze, they were drunk so it was an easy job.", Edwin replied with fervor as he guided Allen through the encampment.


    After walking for some time, the both of them reached the center of the camp where the already extinguished bonfire was. Beside it was numerous people tied up by ropes, either by groups, pairs, or alone.


    There weren''t just men, there were also women who were wrapped around by blankets, and even minors too.


    When Allen saw the women who looked like burritos, he turned his head to Edwin.


    As if knowing what kind of look Allen was giving even with a blank face, he looked away and said, "I swear... I didn''t do anything."


    After a pause, Edwin coughed to ease the awkwardness and asked, "What are we going to do to these pirates?"


    "Leave it to me.", Allen said as he went closer to a man. He removed the cloth covering his mouth; after which, the man made heavy breaths as he said, "I-It''s you two!"


    "How are the horses? Are they still being fed nicely? Or were you the one who fed on them?", Allen pulled up the man''s hair, forcing him to look straightly towards him.


    The man was the driver of the coach that Allen and Edwin rode on.


    "What do you want?", the man asked with fear and an eastern accent.


    "Who is the one here that committed the most grievious crimes?", Allen untied the man and made him stand up.


    The man nervously scanned around the area until he pointed at the leader of the settlement, "He''s the leader here, and also committed a lot of crimes like..."


    Allen interjected mid-way and said, "No need to state them."


    He loosened his gripped on the coach''s hair, "Edwin, guard this fellow. I''m going to have a little talk with this man." Allen carried up the tied man and dragged him towards his house.


    There was a bit of fear on the man''s face; however, he mostly felt anger right now as he kept resisting Allen''s pull.


    Before Allen went inside the house, he said to Edwin with his back facing him, "And whatever you hear, don''t get bothered by it."


    Not even a minute had passed, the most painful cries could be heard, but immediately stopped; however, it started again and this time, the yells were even louder.


    A commotion started within the camp, as the time passed and the shouts of pain became even louder, more than half of the people outside started to cry, most of which were women and most of them comprised of kids.


    The kids started to heavily tear up, the cloth wrapped on the mouth of a particular kid loosened and he cried out to Edwin, "Please, don''t do that to me, I beg you! I promise that I will never do anything bad again mister!"


    More kids started to weep as they said the same words under the cloths.


    The door of the house opened again, and Allen walked out of it. He stared at the kids who suddenly started to beg for mercy.


    "Why is everyone crying?", Allen asked.


    "I think that man''s shouts scared them.", Edwin replied.


    "Oh, I only cut a single finger of his and he already started to cry loudly as if I''m going to pluck out his eyeballs.", Allen said.


    Everybody in the area heard it and slightly calmed down. However, some of them were still nervous or became even more so.


    "Why are you even afraid? I''m not going to harm all of you.", Allen said.


    He approached the already trembling carriage driver and said to him, "So you should only tell me the ones who did brutal acts. If I found out that you''re lying, I''m going to do all the things I did to the ones whom you pointed at, understand?"


    "Y-Yes!", the driver nodded. The guy in front of him didn''t show any flicker from his eyes nor from his face, making him scared even more.


    ...


    The sun was already up on the sky when Allen walked out of the house again. Almost everybody in the area looked at him with fear on their eyes.


    There were some people missing in the location, of which all of them were dragged inside the house.


    "What are we going to do to the rest?", Edwin asked.


    Allen looked over to the crowd to ponder for some time and replied, "They will be returned to the town."


    A majority of the pirates either inwardly or outwardly rejoiced due to Allen''s decision; however, some of them became even more depressed.


    "Escort them back to West Rising, if I found out you did something else to them, you know what will come for you.", Allen eyed the coach driver.


    "I-I will.", the driver replied.


    "Come on, let''s leave.", Allen said to Edwin.


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    "But what about the...", Edwin didn''t finish his sentence and only pointed towards the house.


    In response, Allen searched for something inside his satchel, and took out a burning torch, which was none other than the Magical Burning Torch.


    He ignited the building from where he walked out on fire and didn''t leave the camp until it was fully bruned to the ground.


    It was after this encounter that a short-lived story of two men spread throughout the surrounding areas, one swiftly capturing everybody like an eagle catching its sleeping meal in the dark; and another one who showed no emotions at all, yet under that face was a tiger that pieced apart its meals.


    The both of them swiftly climbed down the small mountain. Edwin already returned the black robe that Allen gave to him before they exited the camp.


    "Did you really kill those people?" Edwin looked back at the camp.


    "No." Allen answered. In his mind, killing them won''t change anything. Instead, after he made sure that the pirates were disabled, he hid them in the basement of the building. He gave them enough food and water to be rationed amongst them until they could find the way out from that dark cellar.


    Of course, the resources he gave them was limited and would only last for a few days even if it was split up as few as possible. But he knew with the characters of the pirates, the chance for that to happen was the same as the possibility for pears to grow from apple trees.


    Burning the house was only just for show so the other surviving pirates would think twice if they would want to come back into their usual businesses.


    "Allen, are you sure that man will really return those people back to West Rising?", Edwin asked.


    "No, I''m sure that some of them will try to make that driver submit.", Allen said.


    "Then why did you let him lead?", Edwin asked.


    "Even though they might go back to being pirates, I''m sure that they won''t dare do it again in this location, specially after what I did to the ones who have commited the worst crimes.", Allen replied.


    "But they''ll become a problem for others in the future.", Edwin said.


    "Only for others. Don''t concern yourself to other people''s problem if it won''t be fruitful..", Allen said.


    ''Your so selfish.'' Edwin always disliked these types of people, in fact, he wanted to help the remaining pirates to return to the town, but Allen''s presence prevented him from doing it.


    Edwin didn''t answer back to Allen''s statement and tried to change the topic to what place they were heading to next.


    Allen stopped walking and pointed to the ends of the mountain range, "To one of the best places for alchemists in the kingdom."


    ***


    A few days of travelling passed; from afar, Allen and Edwin spotted a wall so tall that the latter was amazed by it.


    "The wall of East Gate City is so tall!", Edwin marveled at the sight of the magnificent walls of steel.


    Its height was extremely tall, as if it was a mountain made of iron. It reflected the sun''s rays, and because of that, the land around the structure was charred as black as charcoal.


    With its enormous size, the walls could seemingly block giants without effort.


    "That''s not the walls of the East Gate City, we still have a long way to go there. This is just a stop.", Allen replied.


    After a pause, he added, "That wall is called Monarch Walls, it surrounds two towns, one city, and the Aeoshun Observatory."


    Allen''s sentence made Edwin felt even more amazed, but also confused at the same time. He asked Allen what''s the reason to why the wall was built.


    Allen: "I don''t know, based on some books that I have read; the wall has been existing before a community nor the observatory was established within it. Actually, it was written that it was possibly even older than the Trigurniburg Kingdom itself."


    For one, hearing the Monarch Walls'' ancient background would think it''s not being used anymore, but on its top were soldiers; not just ordinary guards, but were full-fledged soldiers of the kingdom stationed on it. Even with its age, the said structure was still usable; actually, it was still very tough even if its lower part was starting to rust due to the passage of time.


    A guard isn''t at the same level as a soldier. The former could mostly be found in normal communities or unimportant locations, but the latter could only be seen in core locations such as regional capitals and some other significant places.


    In addition, unlike normal guards the soldiers were as strong as mages, and the elites were as powerful as adepts.


    Even by a normal observing person, one could realize the importance that the government placed onto the said architecture.

 91 The Alchemy Contes

    Within the Monarch Walls, there are four important locations which are the Austere Town, Town of Alk, Ryon City, and the Aeoshun Observatory.


    The Monarch Walls bordered the Rising Sea''s southern shores, while the Monarch Forest to the giant wall''s south and the Monarch Pass to the west.


    There were two entrances, which were on the east and west sides. The two mentioned towns guarded the two said entries; with the Town of Alk safeguarding the west, while the Austere Town securing the east.


    In the west entrance, carts, carriages, and people were waiting in line to be inspected prior to entering the walls.


    ***


    "Stop right there. We''ll have to inspect those sacks of yours." A soldier clad within a full-body armor halted a horse-pulled cart loaded with burlaps that cut through the lines.


    "What?! Can''t you just let me go through? I''ve been travelling for several days already through the Monarch Pass, I need to sell them immediately!" The merchant riding on the horse complained.


    Although there were bandits in the Monarch Pass before Allen and Edwin took care of them, some people could travel out of the pass if they were lucky enough.


    "Inspect or get out of here." The soldier didn''t care about the complaint and warned the man.


    "Just let me pass you doll! Here''s the tarriff." The merchant got off from his mount and approached the soldier and threw a pouch of gold coins right in front of the his face.


    The quantity of money inside the pouch was too much compared to the real amount of the trade tax. The man was obviously bribing the soldier.


    As he just turned around to walk back to his horse, he felt that his shoulder was tapped.


    "What is-" As soon as the merchant turned back around, an armored hand punched his face, making him stumble to the ground.


    "What was that for?!" The merchant a burning sensation all over his face. Blood flowed out of his nose and mouth due to the strength of the punch.


    The soldier was actually holding back the force of his attack; if he wasn''t suppressing his strength, he could have already killed the merchant in one strike.


    "Check those sacks.", the soldier signalled his fellows.


    A few soldiers checked the contents of the sacks, it didn''t take long and one of them reported for the group, "Sir, these bags are full of high quality weapons. But there are no enchanted ones in here."


    "Well, well, well, where are your papers of allowing you on trading weapons?", the first soldier looked sternly at the merchant.


    "Erm...", the merchant wasn''t able to answer.


    "Take him to away men, and confiscate these contrabands.", the soldier commanded.


    The merchant... or smuggler did get to enter through the walls, it''s just that he would be spending a lot of time of his life inside it.


    Allen and Edwin witnessed everything from afar. The latter commented, "That was a bit too harsh, don''t you think?"


    "That man just tried to bribe these soldiers. It''s akin to challenging their dignity. Don''t be weirded out he got punched right on his face.", Allen said.


    The both of them were also waiting in line to enter the walls. When it was their turn, the soldier inspecting individuals entering the walls noticed their satchels.


    "Aren''t those bags of yours are spatial treasures?" The same soldier who punched the smuggler pointed at their satchels.


    "Mhm." Allen nodded.


    "The law allows to carry those kinds of items to any cities in the kingdom. But they are restricted here,, unless you have a special pass." The soldier explained straightaway and with an upright manner.


    "Let me search for something.", Allen sunk his hand inside his satchel. A moment later, he took out a wax seal with the symbol of the Alchem Town.


    The soldier saw the seal and was surprised, "So you''re an alchemist. Forgive me for stalling you, the both of you may enter."


    Edwin was surprised with the fast change on the soldier''s attitude. As soon as the both of them entered through the walls, he asked why did that soldier became friendlier.


    "Alchemists in this location enjoy a high rank in the hierarchy." Allen replied.


    The both of them followed the only road until they reached the Town of Alk. The first thing they noticed was the intoxicating smell of herbs and medicines in the air.


    Rows and rows of huts and buildings were selling herbs, even magical ones could be spotted.


    The two of them immediately went inside the nearest inn to take a rest. Inside his own room, Allen lied down on the bed even though it wasn''t night yet.


    "I need a medium-sized Internal Energy Orb to increase the amount of internal energy I can store in my body. There''s probably somebody selling one in East Gate City.", Allen muttered to himself.


    Obtaining an Internal Energy Orb was the reason why he was willing to travel to the far east of the kingdom.


    An Internal Energy Orb was a type of treasure that could strengthen one''s power. It has a counterpart for magicians which was called Mana Orb.


    The effect of an orb would depend on how much of an energy does it store and the strength of the person who wanted to absorb it.


    A knock came over the door. Allen got out of the bed and opened it, spotting a little boy wearing a cute alchemist dress, which comprised of two layers of coats and pants.


    "Ermm...", the boy searched something inside the pockets of his clothes until he found a piece of paper and read it with a constant childish tone:


    "A contest of alchemy will take place in Ryon City. Anyone who have skills in alchemy can join and win prizes. The entrance test will start next week in the same city."


    "What are the prizes?", Allen asked.


    "I don''t know, mister. My master only told me to advertise it in this town.", the little kid shrugged and walked to the next door.


    Suddenly, the kid said, "Wait I forgot! Do you have any questions sir?"


    "No." Allen said.


    "Oh, okay." The boy let out a smile and knocked on the next door.


    Allen closed his door and sank into contemplation. After a while, he sat down on his bed and thought, ''One of the contest''s prizes could be an Internal Energy Orb, I should probably sign up.''


    ''But it''s been a long time since I''ve entered in a competition like this, and it was when that thing happened.''


    Back in the Alchem Town, there were tournaments such as this which were separated into beginner, intermediate, and expert.


    The beginner category was for apprentices of the alchemists. The intermediate category was for the new and approved alchemists; while the expert was for the talented ones, either old or young.


    He won the first place in both the first two categories, but didn''t win in the last one because he left the town when it was already the final round.


    "Maybe I should join. Even if they are there, they won''t be able to do a thing to me anymore."


    The next day, Allen woke Edwin up early in the morning and started their journey towards the Ryon City.


    On the road outside the town...


    "Why do we have to start travelling so early in the morning?", Edwin asked with a faintly annoyed tone.


    "So we can arrive in the city by afternoon.", Allen said.


    "Can''t we just take a carriage?", Edwin requested. Although he was already as powerful as an adept, just like what Allen told him a few days ago that even magicians at the level of Wizard still need to take a rest.


    "No, it''s just a few hours walk.", Allen shook his head.


    ''Telling me that even people at the level of Wizard still need to sleep, but you woke me up from my good nap. Where''s the justice in this world?'', Edwin complained within his mind, but didn''t dare voice it out.


    ***


    Meanwhile, in a villa somewhere in the Ryon City...


    The door of the basement opened up and large amount of smoke went out of it.


    A man wearing a complete set of alchemist''s clothes ran out of the door while coughing. He removed the mask on his face, revealing a handsome face riddled with noticeable eyebugs.


    "Mr. Howard, please get that defective cauldron back to where it belongs." The young man shouted out the window.


    "Coming, coming!" A deep old voice replied from outside.


    "Selling me a defective cauldron, that trader is going to get it!" The young man gnashed his teeth in anger and walked upstairs to his bedroom.


    He hastily cleaned himself and replaced his smoked alchemist clothes with spotless everyday attire; afterwards, he sat in front of a worktable and wrote on a piece of paper.


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    "...take back your defective equipment that you sold to me... give me back the money I paid to you... sincerely yours, Gavin." Dictating some of the words he wrote.


    After finishing writing, he placed the letter in an envelop and sealed it with wax; then, he called out to Mr. Howard again to deliver the letter.


    However, he didn''t wait for his assistant to get the letter and only left it on the floor outside his room.


    "One week left until the alchemist competition. I hope the prizes are as good as I heard in the gossips. I can easily win first place with my expertise.", Gavin yawned, stretched his joints, and looked outside the window.


    ''The prizes I will get from the competition is only secondary. If I win, that group will invite me over, then I can finally finish the plan.''


    "But why do I suddenly feel itchy about this contest these past few days..."


    "...this sensation seems familiar."

 92 Concocting Pills

    Ryon City was one of the most prosperous cities in the kingdom. Inside its walls were different kinds of shop from foods to jewelries, but its most notable items were none other than alchemical products.


    A lot of the eastern region''s supply of medicines and even poisons came from the Ryon City.


    Comparing Ryon City with other communities such as Eastern Horizon City, the latter''s most distinguishing feature was that one has a chance of spotting four alchemists over ten people even in its normal streets.


    Even the regional capital of the east region, East Gate City, never had that many alchemists residing within it.


    The reason why the said city became a paradise for alchemists was that the land where it is standing, particularly the lands within the Monarch Walls were unusually very bountiful of different kinds of herbs, plants, and even rare sightings of spiritual fruits on some occassions that were useful for alchemy.


    "You may pass.", the guard who was inspecting the people passing through the city gate said.


    Two men wearing coats entered the majestic walls of Ryon City. What was seen on the outside was also seen in the inside of the walls as they saw rows and rows of elegant buildings.


    One of the men was wearing an eyepatch on his right eye; while the other one looked somewhat younger, it also could be seen that he was struggling to keep himself awake.


    "What a strong aroma of herbs.", the younger man sniffed the captivating air of the city, after deeply inhaling he started coughing and sneezing, forcing him to cover his mouth and nose.


    "It''s too intoxicating. So that''s why most people here are wearing masks.", the younger man''s eyes became watery after sneezing for a lot of times.


    "You are tired because you didn''t sleep early." The man wearing an eyepatch commented without batting an eye.


    ''Y-you... you... you woke me up early then you blamed me for being tired!? What are you, stupid?!'' The younger man grumpily thought, but he didn''t dare say it out loud.


    The two men were none other than Allen and Edwin.


    "Here, wear this mask.", Allen passed to Edwin a mask he got from his satchel.


    "Thanks.", Edwin immediately wore the mask and yawned deeply again.


    "Umm... can we go to an inn or a hotel now so I can sleep?", Edwin asked.


    "Yes.", Allen replied.


    ''Haha, finally I can sleep again!'', Edwin rejoiced within his mind.


    "But only after we tour to at least a few parts of this city.", Allen added.


    Edwin: ''$#&$!''


    ...


    Touring around the city, the two of them spotted many shops selling pills; some of them were purely marketing pills that were useful in battle such as strengthening pills, some were merchandizing healing pills, a few were bartering pills that could help magicians in nourishing their Mana Heart.


    What is Mana Heart? Mana Heart was the core of the magicians, the more powerful it was, the more spells one could use, and the stronger the said heart, the more efficient a magician''s mental capacity was.


    Mana Heart was formed through the constant circulation of mana and the staffs of the magicians. There were two kinds of Mana Heart, the gems on the staffs of the magicians, and the internal one.


    In Edwin''s case, because he could both control mana and internal energy; it''s much harder for him to form a Mana Heart


    "Huh?", Edwin approached a shop and looked at the products it was selling through its window.


    The shop wasn''t selling pills nor herbs, but weapons. What caught his sights weren''t weapons, but were twin dagger sheats.


    Although his weapons didn''t need sheaths to maintain their quality, because within his satchel, his twin daggers wouldn''t easily rust even for a long time.


    But he still wanted one as once a battle suddenly erupted, he still had to take his daggers out from his satchel which would take much longer compared to pulling them out of sheaths.


    Every second counts when it comes to battling, if he was one second slower, he could be killed without himself knowing how he died.


    "Edwin.", Allen''s called out from the crowd.


    "I''m coming.", Edwin took one last look then regrouped beside Allen.


    "So you were saying you wanted to sleep? I asked people where''s the nearest villa to be rented around here, come on, let''s go there.", Allen said.


    ''Yes!'', Edwin inwardly rejoiced.


    "After we eat lunch.", Allen added as he suddenly entered a restaurant.


    Edwin: "..."


    By this point, Edwin''s face turned livid. He didn''t know if he should feel angered or depressed at the indirect torture of tiredness and fatigue he was suffering from.


    It was finally nighttime when the two of them arrived at the villa. The process to rent it was quick and they were able to occupy the villa right away.


    "Finally, sleep!", Edwin hastily rushed away to a bedroom, fearing that Allen would force him to do something again.


    Allen was carrying a large backpack full of herbs and medicinal plants. The reason why it took them so long to go to the villa was because they purchased ingredients in order to create elixirs first.


    He entered a chamber full of tables. It was unclear what was the purpose of this room. With the villa not being attended for quite some time, dust managed to contaminate nearly every nook and cranny of the room.


    He opened up the curtains and nightlight entered the room, softly lighting the interiors. The soft light further gave an eerie sensation to the already creepy room, but for Allen, he was unconcerned of it as he was used to places such as this.


    Allen cleaned up the room first before bringing out the tools he needed to create potions and elixirs, then he placed them on top of the tables.


    There were different kinds of tools such as the glass tubes and containters, like the one in the basement of his shop in the Eastern Horizon City; there was also a single cauldron, a furnace made from some sort of black shiny stones, the alchemical book, metal rods, knives, and many more.


    "I know you are watching.", Allen looked over to the door.


    "Oh.", Edwin fully opened the door and coughed awkwardly. "I couldn''t sleep."


    For the whole day his urge of sleeping was like a lion roaring at its peak, now, it was akin to a fat cat meowing for food.


    "Do you want to help me create some medicines? I probably need some practice for the upcoming competition.", Allen turned the pages of the book.


    During their travel towards Ryon City, Allen already explained his purpose on coming to the said city to the boy.


    "Alright.", Edwin approached him and peeked on the pages of the book.


    "Vitiating Potion, umm... what''s that?", Edwin asked.


    "The potion is made from the Thorn Vitiating Plant, as written in its name, it could ruin or weaken the properties of other liquids.", Allen explained.


    "Using a potion to spoil another potion... erm... cool, I guess.", Edwin complimented; however, he was inwardly cursing himself for such a clueless admiration.


    "But I have always wondered, if a poison expires does it become more poisonous or less poisonous?", Edwin asked.


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    "Go research about that on your own. There''s a library in this city, I can go with you there tomorrow.", Allen said.


    Edwin: "..."


    Edwin: ''I don''t even know if you are annoyed or not under that emotionless face.''


    "This is what we will make.", Allen stopped turning the pages and pointed at the drawing of a pill.


    The color of the pill was green and had a simple name, which was Healing Dew Knife.


    The main ingredient of the said pill was some sort of a low-grade grass named Dew Knife.


    The reason why it was called like that was because the blades of the said grass looked like real knives; in fact, if one had a weak skin, they would bleed if they touched it with some force.


    "Why are we creating such a weak healing pill?", Edwin asked. Although he didn''t see Allen making a pill even for one time, he had a hunch that it wouldn''t too hard for him to make higher-graded potions or pills.


    The healing pills he used in the Monarch Forest were already at the level of mid-grade, on the verge of being high-grade. In addition, one of the ingredient was a poisonous plant; however, its deadly properties weren''t even felt and unless it was triggered, the medicine wouldn''t harm the user.


    The poisonous properties of the plant not stirring up also showed how great Allen''s skills was in alchemy.


    "Nobody would be able to afford if I will make at least mid-grade healing pills or elixirs.", Allen replied.


    "But I saw several shops selling mid-grade medicines, and some with a few high-grade ones. How could no one be able to afford a mid-grade drug?", Edwin remembered that he even spotted a few people that could be counted in one hand buying the high-graded pills and potions.


    "How do you know that it''s high grade?" Allen asked.


    "Because it says so on their description." Edwin replied then realized something, "Ohh! I really shouldn''t believe everything what is written."


    "They are high-grade defects." Allen said.


    Edwin chuckled. He was already used to Allen''s ''effortless way'' of making other people laugh. Without the proper facial expressions, he could still crack jokes.


    Well, or so he thought.


    "You''ll understand soon why anybody can''t afford a real mid- and high-grade drug.", Allen turned on the fire under the furnace.


    The furnace has two compartments, the lower one where the fire would start burning, and an upper one where the heat coming from the other compartment that would mold the ingredients.


    There were some partly charred firewood in the lower comparment. They were the remaining blocks of wood left from Allen''s last production of pills.


    There were different ways of creating pills and potions. One could create pills by using the furnace, while one could blend potions by using the cauldron, or both by using the special tools like glass tubes.


    The only difference between potions and pills was that the former was faster to produce, while the latter was easier to carry and take less place than a potion does.


    "Let''s start creating the medicine.", Allen slightly gazed at Edwin.


    "Mhm.", Edwin nodded in response.

 93 Pill Merging

    Allen took out the Dew Knife grass from the bag, but rather than placing it inside the furnace, he put it onto the cauldron and filled it water almost to the brim.


    "Wait, aren''t we going to create pills? Why does it seem like we''re making a potion?", Edwin curiously asked.


    He had no knowledge over subjects such as alchemy, but he was sure that to create a pill, one has to use a furnace to do so.


    "If we use the furnace right away, a lot of the medicinal properties of the plant will be wasted. Most people and a lot of rookie alchemists will likely put it inside the furnace first, but they don''t know that their actions will destroy many valuable nutrients coming from the ingredients that were used.", Allen explained as he injected internal energy to the cauldron.


    The cauldron was a specially made tool just like the furnace. They have a special mechanisms inside them that could allow internal energy to flow through, and with them the alchemists could use their said energy to catalyze the medicines.


    Such tools also had their counterparts which could allow mana to catalyze the ingredients, but they make up the minority of the percentage; even though in terms of numbers, magicians or mana users are a lot compared to internal energy practitioners in the kingdom.


    Ironically, the reason for why internal energy tools for alchemy are more abundant is due to internal energy is easier to trigger than mana.


    The cauldron began heating up, and when smoke rose up, Allen chopped and added a few more ingredients such as the common ginseng and other herbs.


    The color of the water changed each time new ingredients enter the cauldron.


    "Pass me the metal rod." Allen didn''t let the cauldron be unsupplied by his internal energy for a long time and immediately placed back his hands on it.


    At the same time, Edwin gave Allen a metal rod.


    "This is too short, give me a rod that is slightly taller than the cauldron''s height.", Allen passed back the rod.


    Edwin followed Allen''s instruction and passed him a metal rod which was the size that the latter requested.


    Using the metal rod, Allen stirred the contents of the cauldron. Even the metal rod was no ordinary tool. He could inject internal energy into the said object to keep catalyzing the liquid in the cauldron.


    As minutes passed, the liquid turned gooey and its volume became smaller and smaller until it was only near the bottom of the cauldron.


    Allen scooped up a small portion of the remaining liquid and smelled it. Without even getting closer, Edwin sensed the smell of the gooey medicine from afar.


    "It''s so fragrant.", Edwin remarked.


    Meanwhile, Allen started to pour in the liquid inside the furnace. He didn''t just stream it into the furnace, he only let it flow to what it seemed like veins of the upper compartment.


    After pouring all of the contents of the cauldron into the compartment, he closed it and placed his hands on the furnace. He chanelled his internal energy throughout the furnace and noticed every single changes occurring within it.


    With the heat coming from the lower chamber and with the help of Allen''s internal energy, the liquid on the veins started to compress towards the central part of the upper compartment where they were shaped into solid pills.


    However, even after the pills finished shaping, Allen''s internal energy deformed them back into their sticky form and let them reform again; but even after they solidified for the second time, he crushed them again with internal energy like a nutcracker.


    Crushing the pills, letting them reform, and crushing them again and so on has been repeated for many times already and only stopped after half of the firewood was burnt out.


    Allen then used a tool to retrieve the pills from inside the furnace and moved them on top of a plate.


    There were 4 pills which were still releasing smoke because of intense heat. There were originally 13 of them inside the furnace, but as Allen pulverized and shaped them up again and again, their quantity shortened.


    However, the quality of the pills rose up which could be seen from their glowing hue.


    "Why don''t they smell so fragrant unlike when it was in their liquid form? I don''t actually smell anything.", Edwin asked.


    "Most of the time, if your medicine emits a smell, its quality would be lower than expected. The stronger the scent, the lower the quality.", Allen clarified.


    Edwin: "Huh, then doesn''t that mean your medicine is perfect because it doesn''t even smell?"


    The healing pills that Allen made were indeed perfect for a low-graded pill; that doesn''t seem important but it''s actually harder to make a perfect low-graded pill than a low-quality medium-graded pill.


    He already mastered how to concoct perfect pills even if it was only low-graded pills before he passed the age of 18 years old; a feat that the other older and senior alchemists regarded him as a once in a century talent.


    Meanwhile, Allen didn''t pay attention to the remark and readied the cauldron again.


    Edwin: "You''re making more medicines again?"


    Allen nodded and replied, "The same medicines."


    After creating the medicinal paste, Allen poured it inside the furnace and repeated all of the actions he did earlier.


    He did those steps for a few more times until the fifth batch was made.


    Now, there were a total of 15 perfect-quality low-graded Healing Dew Knife pills on top of the plate.


    "You''re done?", Edwin asked.


    "Yes.", Allen said, but he ignited the cauldron''s fire for the sixth time which surprised Edwin.


    Noticing Edwin''s slight startle, Allen said, "What will I do next is the most important part."


    This time, Edwin paid more attention to Allen''s next moves.


    While waiting for the water in the cauldron to boil, Allen retrieved a potion from his satchel and trickled out some few drops from it to the heating water.


    "This is a special molding potion.", Allen said to Edwin.


    When the water started to boil, he picked up a Healing Dew Knife pill and placed one inside it. The pill immediately sank after under the water.


    Afterwards, he carefully placed two more on the boiling water which also submerged.


    Allen began to stir the water with a metal rod and didn''t stop until a pill floated back up at the top. He snatched the pill and examined it.


    "Do you want to check it?", Allen asked.


    "Yes.", Edwin nodded; after which, Allen passed the pill to his hands and the former began to scrutinize it.


    "Why do I feel like there is a new layer... and it became a bit brighter?", Edwin closely inspected the pill and voiced out his thoughts.


    "Good observation. There is indeed another layer over the pill. The new layer was formed after the other two pills merged with the first one I initially placed.", Allen explained.


    "Oh, what''s the difference now?"


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    "Its medicinal strength is stronger, it''s actually even stronger than most weak medium-graded healing pills. But even though it''s as strong as a medium-graded pill, it is safe to use even if your body isn''t suited to take in the said grade of pills.", Allen said.


    Allen: "I call it Pill Merging."


    There were risks for people with weaker bodies or having inadequate experiences on consuming pills that were too much above their level, instead of helping them recover, it could worsen their injuries or even kill them.


    That''s also what made the ''Pill Merging'' advantageous. It could make a low-graded pill into the same strength of a medium-graded pill without the dangers associated with the latter grade of pills to weaker people when consuming them.


    But the higher the grade of the initial pills to be merged, the harder it was for a successful merging.


    "Huh? How expensive is it now then?", Edwin asked.


    "I don''t know, but we''ll know it by tomorrow. Now give me back that pill, I''m still not finished merging all of them.", Allen took the pill from Edwin''s hand and placed it on the cauldron, which sank down again.


    Next, he placed all of the remaining pills on the cauldron. This time, the waiting took much longer which lasted for a few hours due to Allen meticulously supporting the molding with his internal energy.


    There are two ways to do Pill Merging, one was to constanly merge of the pills with the same number of layers, which would be longer but safer; or putting all of the pills at once to merge, much riskier but faster compared to the former.


    As stated earlier, there is also a risk of failure when it comes to Pill Merging, once the merge failed, the pill that was used would be wasted and would become unusable.


    After merging all the remaining pills, there are now five extra layers and its glow became even brighter than before. The glow was seemingly stabbing through the eyes of the observers.


    "How come I have no clue about this merging thing at all?", Edwin doesn''t have any experience nor knowledge with regards to alchemy, but he has been hearing about it by gossips back at Crescent Town and even in his recent travels with Allen; however, he didn''t hear the word Pill Merging even once inside the Monarch Walls where there were a lot of alchemists.


    And everywhere his ears would stick onto, most of the time he could only hear topics about alchemy.


    "That''s because- I was the one who created this method.", Allen said as he kept the five-layered healing pill into his satchel.


    "Created?"


    "Just go to sleep already, or else I''m going to make you stand on a pinky finger all day long under the sun while lifting a boulder with your feet.", Allen said.


    -whoosh-


    Without even wishing goodnight, Edwin rushed back to his room.


    Allen looked around him and saw the messy room.


    ...


    After a few minutes of cleaning up, Allen closed the windows and curtains and finally exited, while walking in the corridor.

 94 The Pills Price

    The next morning Allen and Edwin went out to look for a shop to sell the pill.


    As the registration was already six days away, one could obviously notice the huge number of people walking to and fro in the streets.


    The registration for the competition was actually already declared a month ago, and there were already a lot of alchemists who arrived by this point of time to watch or participate in the contest.


    Allen and Edwin stopped by a food stall to buy some street foods.


    "Almost everyone around us are alchemists.", Edwin remarked as he chewed on the mini sausages with his back facing the stall.


    "Hm?", Allen ate a whole mini sausage in one bite.


    "I can smell smoke, herbs and plants all over them... and I-I think I''m g-going to sneeze b-because of it.", Edwin uncontrollably took in a few deep breaths and covered his mouth.


    "Achoo!", a baby-like sneeze sounded throughout the area.


    "Whose sneeze was that?", a passerby asked to his friend beside him.


    "I don''t know, but I think it''s just a baby.", the other one replied.


    "Weird."


    Almost everybody in that place also heard it, but most of the people disregarded it and continued with what they were doing.


    "A baby?! How about I beat all of you up and make all of you cry like a true baby.", Edwin angrily muttered under his breath.


    "What a cute sneeze you have.", somebody said behind Edwin.


    "Why you...", Edwin fumed and turned around to see who said that and saw a girl. The girl''s long hair was tied by a pin and even has faint rosy cheeks and intricate shape of face, making her look like a true beauty.


    However, the most surprising thing was that she was the vendor of the food stall they were eating at.


    "Uhh, who said that?", Edwin asked with a blank face.


    "I did, I said your sneeze is cute.", the girl replied. She wiped the sweat off her forehead that formed due to the hot temperature of the mini sausages she was cooking.


    "Hehe, thanks.", Edwin blushed as he scratched the back of his head.


    "Actually, you look cute too.", Edwin replied.


    ''Wait, what the heck did I just say?!'', Edwin almost facepalmed himself in public. Now, his cheeks became even redder because of embarrassment.


    "Actually... erm... you look cute too.", the girl also blushed and even almost let go of the stick she was holding.


    "Hehehehe... is that so?", Edwin face became even redder after the compliment. The intensity of him scratching the back of his head increased.


    "Be careful, you might get yourself bald from all that scratching.", Allen tuned in which made Edwin fall back to reality.


    "Oh.", Edwin immediately stopped scratching his head and his face reverted back to normal; nevertheless, as soon as he remembered what just occurred, he internally shouted in all kinds of emotions.


    "I guess puberty only hit you today.", Allen finished eating his snack and paid the girll.


    "You... I...", Edwin wanted to say something against Allen''s comment, but he didn''t get to as his face started to blush again every time he recalled what happened.


    "Before you kill him with his emotions, do you know any shop that I could sell my pill to?", Allen asked to the girl.


    "Oh, so sir''s an alchemist? Don''t worry, I know a lot of those kinds of shops, including mine!", the girl proudly said.


    "Alright, but we''ll probably just find another one. We don''t want to bother your food business. Come on Edwin, let''s go.", Allen turned around, but before he could start walking away, the girl called out:


    "Wait! My shop is just the building right behind me. It won''t be that bothersome."


    Allen stopped walking, "Lead the way then."


    The girl nodded and led the two of them to the lobby where there was a long wooden counter. The design of shop was very rustic, yet at the same time relaxing due to the color harmony between the wood, the plants, and the patterns that were used on the lanterns on the wall beams.


    There were also different kinds of pills and potions of all shapes and sizes displayed in the shop behind the glass windows.


    "So, may I see what pill do you want to sell?", the girl asked.


    Allen took out a small box from his satchel and opened it. Inside it was the five-layered Healing Dew Knife pill.


    "It''s just a Healing Dew Knife pill.", Allen said.


    "How much are you willing to sell that to me?", the girl asked while sizing up he pill.


    "10,000 mana stones.", Allen replied back.


    The price almost made Edwin choke on his own saliva, he already heard from Allen that each mana stone costed 100 gold coins. Selling the pill at the price of 10,000 was equal to a staggering amount of 1,000,000 gold coins!


    What are mana stones? Mana stones were special kinds of minerals formed from mana pools or from the places where there were abundant mana in the area.


    Meanwhile, the girl''s eyes widened and only got to compose herself seconds later.


    "May I take a closer look?", the girl requested.


    Allen: "Mhm."


    After Allen agreed, the girl took out a magnifying glass from under her desk and closely examined the pill. After a while she shook her head and said, "Forgive me, but I''m not buying it at that price."


    ''To be honest, who would even buy it at that price? Does she even have that large amount of mana stones at all?'', Edwin inwardly commented.


    "I''m willing to buy it for 100,000 mana stones instead.", the girl continued her sentence.


    Edwin almost had a heart attack when he heard that. Not only the buyer herself increased the price, but actually to a more choking amount of 100,000 mana stones, which was as the same as 10,000,000 gold coins!


    Now, there were two thoughts circling around Edwin''s head: How expensive is this pill really is? And where did that girl get the money from?


    "Why did you increase the price?", Allen asked.


    "Because it was made by none other than Alchemist Morgan, which is you, am I right sir?", the girl smiled.


    "I personally saw what a merged pill looked like! The first pill you used your self-made technique Pill Merging on was put to display in the Alchem Town only for a day, but I was lucky enough to see it when I was travelling there!" The girl recalled back the small pill that looked like it had many layers if one observed it deeply.


    "This Healing Dew Knife pill is now akin to a holy artifact of the alchemists! How could I buy it for 10,000 mana stones?! In fact, it probably costs more than 100,000 of them. Although you were the one who suggested that price, I feel like I''m taking advantage of you, Sir Alchemist Morgan.", the girl truthfully said.


    A hundred thousand mana stones were more than 95% of her total savings, but she didn''t seem to waver with her words.


    "I''ll take 80,000 mana stones instead. I don''t have any use for that large amount of mineral.", Allen said.


    "It''s a deal then, sir.", the girl said. Slight hesitation could be felt on her tone because of Allen decreasing the price.


    Before the girl was able to grab the mana stones, Allen asked, "How are you going to sell my pill to regain your loses?"


    "An auction will take place two days from now. I guess I can sell it there... I mean if you allow me to auction it there, Sir Alchemist Morgan.", the girl replied.


    A large portion of her treasure would be used to buy the medicinal pill. Of course she would definitely sell it to recoup her loses.


    Allen was known for being discreet back at Alchem Town. In spite of the fact that he was a well-known person there, he wasn''t always noticed even if he was walking in a populous street.


    "Sell it if you want to.", Allen said.


    "Thank you, sir. I almost forgot to introduce myself, my name is Alice." She said while taking out four enchanted pouches from a drawer. The contents of the pouch were none other than the 80,000 mana stones.


    "This boy beside me is Edwin, he''s an ignoramus.", Allen introduced.


    Edwin said hello to Alice, but suddenly paused and asked, "What''s an ignoramus?" However, he was ignored.


    "Well, it''s best that we go now. We will see each other at the auction.", Allen bid farewell.


    "Really sir?" She was surprised but controlled her reaction. Still, Alice felt anticipation from imagining seeing Allen again.


    "Goodbye.", Edwin said.


    "Goodbye Sir Alchemist Morgan. Goodbye to you too, Edwin.", the girl sent the two of them off.


    Walking back on the streets, Edwin sighed, "We found a shop earlier than expected."


    "It''s to the library then.", Allen said as he ate another stick of mini sausages.


    ''More reading? Ugh...'', Edwin complained within his mind.


    He doesn''t actually dislike reading books, it''s just that it seemed that it''s not needed to even waste his energy on reading, unlike the time when he was at Eastern Horizon City, where he had to read to obtain the basic information about Monarch Forest.


    "Edwin.", Allen called out.


    Edwin: "Yeah?"


    "You really took a liking on that girl?", Allen looked at Edwin while walking.


    "Ermm..."


    "You are really naive, kid.", Allen said.


    "No I''m not! And I''m just 2 years younger than you are!", Edwin quipped.


    "In terms of legal age, you''re still a kid.", Allen retorted without a tinge of change on his face.


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    After a pause he stated, "You might be as strong as an adept already, but your mental age is still young. To be honest, I think Anna''s mentally is older than you are."


    As if reading Edwin''s mind, Allen added, "And no, whatever you experienced in the Monarch Forest isn''t enough."

 95 In Your Dreams

    \"Hahahahaha!!!\" A crazy yet lively laugh sounded out in a basement full of alchemical tools.


    Gavin took out a pill from the furnace and placed it on top of a metal plate. He let it cool down for a while until it wasn''t smoking anymore.


    The pill looked larger than ordinary pills, and even appeared slightly lumpy. However, its most striking appeal was it seemed to have a layer.


    \"Finally, after many years. I successfully created a layered pill! Hahahaha!\", Gavin laughed heartily again while he carefully placed a cover over the pill.


    It was a layered pill. Not made through Pill Merging but through other means, that''s why it looked like it had small bumps.


    \"A few days from now I''m going to show this to the alchemist community. It might be a bit deformed, but it''s still a layered pill.\" He sighed in exhaustion and sat down on a chair.


    \"This is just the first step, I still have to perfect my layering method. The next step is to make a revolutionary technique in alchemy. I''ll surpass you! I''ll finally surpass you!\" Gavin pulled out a recording gem from his pockets and activated it.


    On the recorded image that was being shown, a group of old people were congratulating a young boy with an indifferent expression.


    \"I was always behind you; now, I''m going to surpass you and leave you behind, Allen Morgan.\", Gavin gritted his teeth while stating the name.


    Mixed emotions washed over him as he watched the record. His feelings diversely changed among sadness, anger, shame, and even guilt.


    He looked at the recorded image with red veins piercing throughout his eyes. Which he accumulated for not sleeping for many days.


    ***


    \"In your dreams.\", Allen crossed his arms. He looked down at Edwin who was on his knees.


    The two of them already returned to the villa from the library when Edwin suddenly requested to go harvesting for spiritual fruits. Allen refused at first but the boy went to his knees and begged.


    Edwin tightly grasped Allen''s pants and said for the fifth time, \"Can we please go hunt for spiritual fruits?\"


    \"No.\", Allen asked.


    However, Edwin didn''t answer the questions and only kept begging.


    \"Nevermind, there''s still a few days before the auction, we can go hunt for some.\" Allen was the first to give up and granted his request.


    \"Haha, thank you!\", Edwin''s tone instantly turned lively; then, the former hastily went back to his room without even greeting the latter a goodnight.


    ''He didn''t tell me the reason.'', Allen thought. He would''ve agreed immediately if he knew Edwin''s goal. Afterwards, he remembered about the girl they met earlier.


    ''Did he really fall in love with that Alice? He probably obtained brain damage, but where did he really got it from?'' He inwardly asked himself. It could possibly be from love, or from something else.


    When Edwin entered his room he locked the door, closed the curtains and immediately took out the Mortal Plane''s Codex.


    Earlier, when he and Allen traveled around the city the mark on his right hand started to react which prompted him to secretly take out the codex then it communicated to him through the mark.


    \"Search around the Ryon City for a spiritual fruit. But which fruit is it?\", Edwin muttered the words that the codex sent to him.


    \"Where in the world is it around here? And what kind of fruit is it?\", Edwin asked to the book, but it didn''t reply.


    \"I know you have consciousness! Don''t you dare act like a dead compiled pieces of paper!\" Edwin snorted.


    Nevertheless, the codex still didn''t answer back.


    \"Hais, it''s up to myself to find out what kind of fruit do you want then.\" Edwin shrugged in frustration.


    On one hand he wanted not to do it because there seemed to be no penalty for dodging it; on the other hand, there might really be a punishment for not doing so, plus, more pages of the book could be unlocked if he did it.


    ...


    The next day, the two of them set off early again. Arriving at a spot somewhere away from the city they inspected the luscious green grasslands along with plant hunters picking up valuable materials growing from the ground.


    There were some occassional fights around them, but they were orderly and done in a neat way. Fights were frequent during hunts, resulting in an unspoken rule between the hunters.


    \"Now that I thought about it, hunting for valuable ingredients for alchemy is better than buying one from the market.\", Allen said.


    Unlike straightly buying from the market, which would be slightly unreliable because the plant bought could be fake or of low quality; personally searching for the needed ingredient was better. Athough it would take a lot longer, one would be sure to find the exact quality of the plant he needed for for free in exchange for time.


    \"It''s best that we split up, pick up these ingredients for me and once you found them, immediately hide them in the satchel to prevent yourself from getting into trouble.\", Allen passed a short list to Edwin.


    \"I will.\", Edwin nodded.


    \"And before you go, in case you battle against somebody here you should hide your full strength at first. If you are feeling like you are going to lose a fight, forfeit the challenged plant so you won''t be beaten up half to death. If you won a fight, you can either choose to take any of the loser''s picked plant or not, if you''re the one who was challenged.\", Allen reminded the boy.


    \"Alright.\", Edwin replied.


    \"Don''t kill anybody here. Don''t steal. Fighting in this location is legal, but killing is not. Also, it''s your choice if you want to fight honorably or not.\", Allen finished his reminders and started walking off with his hands behind his back.


    From afar, Edwin saw a man challenging Allen as soon as he went near him; the former couldn''t help but pity whoever that guy was, but he didn''t watch the fight and just started to walk off to a different direction.


    \"What kind of plant does the codex want? It''s probably very extravagant and precious.\", Edwin muttered to himself.


    The more he thought of what kind of a plant was it, the more he shivered at the possibility what kind of people would he face just to fight for it.


    \"Whatever that is, this is also a good location to hone my battling skills.\" Edwin stretched his joints he walked.


    Not all the people who were in that place weren''t just there to find valuable materials for alchemy and such, but also because it''s a great spot where one could enhance their skills in battle.


    \"Is this a Dew Knife grass?\", Edwin plucked the grass out of the ground and closely examined it.


    The Dew Knife grass that Edwin picked looked healthier and taller than what Allen used on creating Healing Dew Knife pills.


    \"Hiyahhhh!\", a voice came from behind Edwin, seemingly getting closer and closer.


    Edwin sidestepped and dodged a man''s arm chop on his head. He looked at the muscular man dressed in light armor who was preparing to attack again.


    The boy reacted at once and made an uppercut to the man''s chin; when the latter was hit by the former''s attack, he stumbled backwards due to dizziness but recomposed himself instantly. He wasn''t even using his internal energy to punch.


    \"Not fighting honorably, eh?\", Edwin eyed the other person. He assessed that the true power of the opposite side was weaker than him.


    But Edwin was still cautious as almost everybody in the place hide their true strength in case they would battle in the future.


    An opponent''s strength wasn''t always equal to their levels. For example, if one was a mid-stage adept his or her strength could either a low-stage adept, or a high-stage adept which were the minority.


    The light-armored man attacked again by trying to swiftly kick Edwin from his side. However, the latter easily blocked it with one of his arms without feeling any pain; afterwards, he got hold of the leg and pulled the enemy closer to him.


    As soon as the enemy was pulled closer, the man let out fast punches which made Edwin let go of the leg to evade the attacks the other sent out, letting the latter retreat some distance away.


    Edwin didn''t let this chance come to pass and continuously closed in to the man. Suddenly, the fist of the enemy glowed and he directly sent it out towards the boy.


    The punch was two times faster than the ones released earlier!


    Feeling the danger emanating from the fist, Edwin made a sharp dock to avoid the strike. He got hold of the other''s arm and elbowed it with a hard force causing the man to shout in pain.


    Backing off while clutching his pained arm, a look of surprise came from the man''s face when he saw the boy how he easily dodged and counterattacked.


    \"Finally using all your strength?\", Edwin took a small step back, initiated Burst Steps and speedily rushed towards the man.


    In the man''s eyes, Edwin was so fast he couldn''t keep his sight on him; however, he still punched out while his hand slightly glowed.


    -bam-


    Edwin stopped right in front of the man and caught the glowing hand with his own. The other side was astonished that somebody who only looked like a teenager easily intercepted his full-powered attack.


    Making use of the enemy''s shock, the boy also sent his fist towards the chest of the former. The punch easily penetrated the light armor and it hit the body.


    A few drips of blood flowed out of the man''s mouth and he stumbled back several steps until he tripped to the ground.


    Few seconds later, he still couldn''t stand up from the ground.


    \"You lost.\", Edwin stepped one foot on the man''s body.


    \"I surrender!\" The man said with a slight force on his tone. The front part of his body was aching from Edwin''s punch, making him feel pain with every words he uttered out.


    \"I think I might have inserted too much power.\", Edwin replied in a sorry manner. He was trying to hold back his strength, but it was still too much in the end.


    \"Do you need help? I have some healing pills on me.\", Edwin consoled.


    \"No, I have my own.\", the man reached out a small bottle of pills on his belt. He popped out a few and consumed it.


    The man sat up on a stiff manner and asked, \"So what kind of plant do you want? I have Silver Thorn branch, Paleflower, Dew Knife grass, Burning Goo bud. I was the one who first attacked, but I feel I should compensate.\"


    Although the man stated the plants that he had, there was still no certainty if that was all of his harvest.


    \"Can you take them out?\", Edwin requested. The man nodded and took out the mentioned plants from a spatial storage.


    Edwin eagerly checked them one by one, but in the end, he was disappointed because the codex didn''t react on any of these plants.


    Noticing the displeasure on the boy''s face, the other side asked if there was anything wrong.


    \"No, there''s nothing wrong. It''s just that I can''t find the plant I need.\", Edwin clarified. Not only the codex didn''t react, but those plants that the man presented also wasn''t in Allen''s list.


    \"Nevermind, I won''t take anything. But you can have my Dew Knife grass, I don''t even need it.\", Edwin gave the grass to the other person. The man gleefully accepted it and after a few more words the both of them parted ways.


    ''Kids these days, so powerful. A lot of them are also respectful.'' The man inwardly felt at ease.

 96 Unfinished Gem

    Arriving near a growth of trees, Edwin sat down on the ground to take a rest after sparring for several times already.


    He watched the several people that were battling each other for the fruits growing on the trees.


    It was a common scene that as soon as somebody picked a fruit from the trees, they would try to hide it instantly so that others won''t be able to challenge them for it. Which he tried for many times, and also didn''t end as expected almost the same number of times.


    Beforehand, he found out earlier on from one of the people that sparred against him that as long as nobody saw the plant or fruit he harvested and hastily kept it inside his storage bag, nobody would battle for whatever that plant was.


    It was a common rule.


    That''s why earlier, Allen was contested by somebody else because he was seen obtaining a small shrub.


    \"What kind of plant does the codex even wants?\", Edwin was extremely bothered. He expected that by tomorrow he has to help Allen intensively train for the competition, so he has no time for finding what shrub or fruit the Mortal Plane''s Codex wanted; then, after that day would be the auction.


    Plus, he''ll also be busy in the next few days. He planned to support Allen during the contest itself.


    \"I still got several hours before sunset.\", Edwin stood up and rushed towards the tree growth.


    He scanned the fruits around the growth while avoiding unwanted skirmishes from other people. When he finally concluded his inspection, the codex hasn''t reacted yet.


    As he was about to go to another location, Edwin noticed a particular mana fruit that caught his eyes.


    On one of the trees, a half-crystalized orange-colored fruit was lightly swaying on the air while the wind was blowing towards it.


    The fruit was called the Unfinished Gem; additionally, it was on Allen''s list of needed ingredients.


    However, another person who was far away from him also seized his attention. Its face was hidden under a mask, and through the eye holes the person was gazing at the same fruit; then, the former turned his gaze towards the boy, and both of their eyes narrowed.


    Silence prevailed between the other person and Edwin as they kept their eye contact to each other. Although there were some people fighting nearby, it didn''t even make them lose their concentration.


    The two of them made their moves at the same time and rushed towards the fruit and climbed up the tree. When the both of them were already near the mana fruit, the boy saw that the other individual was closer to the Unfinished Gem than he was!


    The opposite side also knew that he has a higher chance of obtaining the fruit. The person all the more stepped up it speed to its fullest. He reached out to the fruit as soon as it was within arms reach; however, the next scene stunned him.


    Edwin instantly became faster, only leaving behind his afterimages! From climbing, his movements became running! Afterwards, he arrived in front of the Unfinished Gem in a blink of an eye and picked it out of the tree before the other side could even react!


    The boy jumped down from the tree and stored the fruit inside his satchel. The other man also jumped down the tree and landed in front of him.


    Thereupon, the man took out a saber from the scabbard and slashed onto Edwin.


    No conversation was needed to indicate; the spar for the Unfinished Gem has begun.


    Edwin avoided the attack by dodging to the side, not backing down, he punched towards the enemy''s abdomen.


    The counterattack was fast and because their distance to each other was too close, the masked person could only block it with his vacant arm.


    When he received the punch, he flew some distance away, almost flying out of the growth.


    Using this opportunity, Edwin took out his twin daggers ''Morgan'' and ''Gesegnet'' and sent out dagger flashes.


    But the flashes were blocked and destroyed by the saber; even so, it gave Edwin enough time to close in to the other person and began assaulting.


    Their weapons clashed, attempting to wound each other. The fast sounds of rattling and clanking attracted nearby people and they watched the battle.


    \"Huh, that masked menace is here?\", a bystander was startled.


    \"Who''s that?\"


    \"You''re probably new here. That guy hiding his face over there, he''s somebody who recently got famous in the city. He''s currently wanted for murdering a group of people.\"


    \"What?! But how did you know?\"


    \"You''re a dummy! Duh, it''s posted at the city hall!\"


    \"...\"


    Astonished that the enemy could keep up with his swift attacks, Edwin increased the speed of his strikes; but his opponent could fare on with it, in fact, the saber strikes were getting quicker and quicker as time passedy by.


    In a blink of an eye, one of Edwin''s daggers was parried up onto the air out of his hand.


    -pshew-


    The saber pierced his clothes and into his shoulder, painting that part of his coat with blood.


    The situation started to favor the masked person.


    Edwin knew that he won''t be able to do a lot and began backing off, but he couldn''t get away from the masked man; at some point, he was injured on one of his knees, almost getting him killed!


    Although he was using the Shadow Steps technique to evade the attacks, his opponent was just too fast.


    ''I need to get the other dagger or else I''m going to lose!'', Edwin thought. When he got the chance, he initiated Burst Steps to his body''s full capacity.


    -crack-


    Edwin''s left knee cap broke. It was already bruised earlier on, and it completely collapsed after he pushed to its limit.


    The new injury interrupted his Burst Steps, making him stumble, roll on the ground until he was stopped by a tree.


    The masked man leaped up onto the air and aimed his saber at Edwin''s legs in a bid to cripple him.


    But Edwin suddenly vanished on the spot and the saber only slashed through thin air.


    \"He knows how to flicker?\" The masked male realized with a startled tone.


    The boy reappeared above the man and kicked his back; the latter blasted away, while on the air he accidentally let go of his saber and finally hit a tree which stopped him from further flying away.


    Whispers of discussion broke among the spectators after they saw Edwin flickering in and out of nowhere. To at least be able to flicker, one needed to have even the slightest of insight about \"space\".


    Even the magicians had to have the most simplest knowledge about \"space\" to be able to learn the spell \"teleport\", a magical technique that has a longer range than flicker; the spatial storage too as they had to be competent to at least create a storage with the smallest possible capacity.


    And it''s even harder for an internal energy practitioner to be able to comprehend it. Although Edwin could control both mana and internal energy, he always used the latter to execute flicker.


    Edwin retrieved his other dagger and kicked the enemy''s saber many stretches away from them.


    \"You lose.\", Edwin turned his back and stiffly began walking away. But he paused his steps when the masked person started to mutter words under his breath.


    The unfamiliar words that were being murmured out became louder and louder. Edwin never heard such language that was being spoken by the opposite side.


    As each second pass by, the boy felt alarmed as his instinct to run away was slowly creeping in in his body.


    \"Do you think I would let anybody win so easily?\" He shouted as stood back up and reached out his hand towards the empty space in front of him.


    Out of nowhere, an incorporeal saber materialized on his hand. The weapon emitted a choking suppression which were directed towards Edwin.


    Feeling the invisible energy from afar, Edwin felt there were an uncountable number of sharp weapons aimed towards him; he tried to put more distance between him and the other person, but it was no use on removing the pressure on him.


    The masked individual chopped down his saber. Edwin''s instinct moved in and hurriedly jumped out of the way.


    The blades of grass where Edwin was once standing were sliced apart by an invisible force like onions being crushed.


    The other side made a sidewards slashing motion which drove Edwin to dock down; the latter felt the air right above him was sheared asunder.


    Then the direction of the saber changed. The speed of slashes hand increased in intensity.


    Edwin was caught off guard by the sudden shift and wasn''t able to evade the next attacks. He was sliced by the invisible force, creating many deep wounds and lacerations throughout his body; however, his clothes were still left unscathed. The attacks only affected his body.


    He crashed to the ground with his face looking towards it and vomited large amount of blood.


    The saber-wielding person stepped one foot on top of him and kicked him hard to the ground, making him cough up more blood.


    \"I-I...\", Edwin tried to surrender, but before he could even utter out the last word the opponent made more slashing motions towards his back.


    Wounds that were either deep or shallow appeared and he didn''t stop attacking until Edwin was bathing in his own blood.


    \"I''m surprised that you didn''t even shout in pain. Your pain resistance must be very high, probably because you always lose in battles. Hahaha...\" The person mocked.


    After laughing, he reclaimed the saber and said, \"Give me the fruit or else I will multilate you with this.\"


    Edwin painfully reached out his hand towards his satchel and took out the Unfinished Gem. The fruit was snatched away by the other side, after obtaining it, he kicked Edwin away.


    \"Here''s a consolation for you.\" The masked person dropped a tulip to the ground and even stepped on it; afterwards, he left the area.


    As the battle ended, the onlookers started to also leave and abandoned the bloody Edwin on the ground. He never felt so soaked in his own blood other than the time he was taken captive by the elves; in addition to that, he never experienced such humiliation in public.


    He reached out to his satchel again and pulled out a small jar; after that, he took out two healing pills and swallowed them.


    His injuries recovered at a fast rate up to the point he was about to be fully recuperated. Edwin sat up and observed his surroundings, seeing that there wasn''t anybody in the vicinity he yelled from the bottom of his lungs.


    \"I''ll come back for you, whoever you are.\", Edwin stood up, then sensed the symbol stinging him.


    \"What now?\", Edwin angrily asked. But his countenance paused as he realized something. He approached the discarded flower and picked it up.


    The mark reacted and started heating up.


    \"I''ll give it, I''ll give it! Just don''t fry me.\", Edwin rubbed his red-hot skin around the symbol and ran away towards a dark spot in the growth.


    He sat down at the bottom of a tree. He pulled out the codex and placed the tulip on top of it. The flower dematerialized and the book glimmered on its bindings.


    When the glow dispersed, Edwin eagerly opened the book to see if a new page was now unrestricted.


    ***


    A few hours later, before nightfall...


    A masked person landed on a backyard and removed his mask.


    \"Sir Gavin.\"


    \"Oh holy Retollian!\" Gavin jumped in fright and turn to the source of the voice while brandishing his saber. A man with a curly beard was carrying a watering can and shears.


    \"It''s just you, Mr. Howard. Don''t scare me, alright? I thought somebody else was here.\" Gavin sighed in relief.


    \"Sir, are you successful in obtaining all the needed resources?\", Mr. Howard asked.


    \"Yeah, but, one of the people I fought with... it makes me remember...\", Edwin was about to finish his sentence when the older man interjected,  \"Remember Allen, if I may interject?\"


    \"Yes, how did you know?\", Gavin sat down on the nearby bench.


    \"Hold on, I''ll get you a glass of water, sir.\", Mr. Howard rushed back to the manor and passed a glass of water to Gavin.


    Gavin: \"Thank you.\"


    After draining the contents of the glass, Gavin asked, \"How did you know?\"


    \"Almost everything that you say is about him.\", Mr. Howard said as he ignited a nearby lantern post.


    Mr. Howard added: \"I wonder, how did that person you battled with remind you of him?


    \"He knows how to do Flicker.\", Gavin stated with a slightly raised tone.


    \"I hope you didn''t severely beat up whoever that opponent of yours.\", Mr. Howard questioned while giving a look of doubt to Gavin.


    Gavin: \"About that...\"


    \"You did, didn''t you?\"


    Gavin: \"Well yes, but actually no.\"


    \"You need to improve your control over your anger, you might not know that next time you battle you would clash against somebody more powerful than you are.\" Mr. Howard scolded. Although he was the servant, he wasn''t afraid of his master.


    \"I will, don''t worry.\" He assured.


    Gavin coughed, \"Ehem, but I want to eat first. I''m getting hungry.\"


    \"Come on sir, I prepared some snacks in the kitchen.\", Mr. Howard''s tone changed from being authorative to being meek and signalled Gavin to return to the manor.

 97 The Place of Sunrise

    \"Give me the plant and fruits on the list you harvested.\", Allen went straight to the point.


    After spending a few more hours on the fields around the Ryon City, Allen and Edwin met back at the entrance of the city right before sunset.


    Edwin took out a knapsack containing the plants that he obtained on Allen''s list and gave it to him; afterwards, the latter hid it in his own satchel.


    \"Do you want to eat dinner in a tavern or restaurant?\", Allen asked.


    \"No, I want to go back to the villa immediately.\", Edwin shook his head.


    \"Alright, I''ll eat by myself then.\", Allen said and looked away from him.


    \"Sorry, sorry, hehe...\", Edwin thought Allen was angry and slowly backed away from him, he finally ran away when he got a certain distance from him.


    ''What''s wrong with him? Is he really in love?'', Allen thought.


    ***


    Edwin returned back to the villa, went straight to his bedroom, locked the door, closed the curtains, and even turned off the magical glowstone on the ceiling. The only source of light now was the weak golden glow of the sunset.


    He pulled out the Mortal Plane''s Codex and turned it to a new section he got authorization of. There wasn''t anything important written on the page except for a drawing of a map.


    From how the map was drawn, it seemed to start from the eastern region of the Trigurniburg Kingdom on its left page and to the western lands of the Medea Republic on the right page.


    \"What should I do now?\" Edwin asked the book.


    Then the illustration of the Mendia Republic shined brightly that it lit up the whole room.


    \"Go there?\" Edwin asked again.


    -bam-


    In an instant, the codex closed and crushed Edwin''s hands.


    \"Ow! This piece of...\" As he was about to finish speaking, the mark also glowed and electrocuted him to the point he jumped backwards to the wall which resulted to cracks appearing on it.


    Edwin stood up with the support of the wall while holding his head. His hands already slipped out of the grip of the codex.


    ***


    Allen strolled around the city after he ate dinner. He was somewhere in the residence district where many houses were lined up neatly along the concrete road.


    He activated Energy External Sense and covered the whole living area.


    Inside one of the big houses, he perceived several men gathering for a meeting. While in another room, there were another group of male enjoying somebody of their opposite gender.


    However, Allen still acted indifferently and continued to wander in the area. He was about to deactivate the technique when he spotted a figure landing on top of the roof of the house.


    He stopped walking and turned towards the direction where that house was. Allen stepped in a dark spot and after light reached it he was nowhere to be found.


    ...


    Appearing on top of the nearest building where that house was, Allen was now wearing black robes and his hood shadowed his whole face, making him look he came from the care of darkness.


    \"Ahhh!\" A pained shout came from the house and woke up the nearby people.


    After that, the sounds of weapons clanging on each other reverberated out from the building causing the people who were already awaken by the earlier shout to panic.


    The echoes of battle immediately dispersed as soon as it began, and a figure came out from the top of the said house and jumped towards the roofs of the buildings, escaping in the distance.


    On the other hand, Allen glued his sight on the figure and followed in pursuit.


    From far away, Allen''s eyesight pierced through even the blanket of darkness and spotted the figure, who was wearing a mask and carrying a saber.


    The figure then went down to a dark area; nevertheless, Allen still followed and landed there too.


    As soon as he stepped his foot in that location, he stepped to one side and evaded a saber strike.


    \"Who are you?\", Gavin pointed his saber towards Allen, but the latter didn''t answer.


    Seeing that Allen won''t answer, Gavin instantly gave his all to his attacks. Afterimages show up as he aggressively assaulted.


    With his hands on his back, Allen evaded the onslaughts without making any major moves.


    -clang-


    As if materializing out of nothing, Allen pulled out his curved sword from the sleeves of his robes and parried the saber away.


    Although caught off guard by the sudden appearance of the sword, Gavin still didn''t back off and continued the repeated attacks.


    However, Allen kept his unperturbed posture and after a few minutes of fending off Gavin''s attacks, the latter seemed to get exhausted and his strikes slowed down.


    Gavin backed down and retreated a few steps away from Allen. Even after all of his explosive assaults, he didn''t even see the other side getting fatigued nor creating an opening while defending.


    Now, he was starting to get worried about the black-robed man''s purpose on following him, who he didn''t know was Allen.


    He inwardly speculated that the man was sent to finish him off for bothering too much in the operations of the group he was taking care off.


    In a blink of an eye, Gavin saw Allen''s vacant hand getting a small black throwing knives from under his sleeves and did a few tricks and gestures with it and its number multiplied like magic and he readied to throw all of them.


    Alarmed by the abrupt increase of knives, Gavin''s eyes under the mask widened and raised his saber to block the knives.


    But Allen unforseenly changed the trajectory of the knives and sent them away towards the air above Gavin.


    -pshew-


    \"Ahhh!\", pains of shout came from the darkness and three bodies landed to the ground and blood began leaking out of them. However, they were still breathing.


    As if knowing what was happening, Gavin also slashed the space behind him, and blood unexpectedly spurted out of it.


    A man whose blood flowing out of his throat became visible and his body laid to the earth.


    Gavin then began to look around him and further heightened his senses. Finally, he slashed somewhere to his side, and a human body fell again.


    Allen slid his sword back in his robes and sent out more throwing knives towards the darkness. Each time he launched a knife, a new victim was always disabled.


    Other than the yells of the first three men, the succeeding battle was so quiet that one could only hear the sound of weapons whooshing through the air.


    When the battle was over, Gavin killed the ones that were disabled by Allen.


    Some time later, a lot of bodies were already lying dead and the pungent smell of blood permeated the air around them.


    \"Thank you.\", Gavin said.


    Allen slightly looked towards him, then rushed forward and caught the latter''s wrist. Gavin was startled by what was happening and only got to collect himself when he was already pushed over a wall.


    The other hand of Allen got hold of another throwing knife and pierced Gavin''s wrist and pinned it to a wall.


    \"You! Sss... who are you?\", Gavin hissed in pain as blood trickled down from the pierced wrist. Allen then dropped a flower to the ground, the same flower that Gavin gave to Edwin earlier.


    After which, Allen silently left the area, ignoring more of Gavin''s questions and curses.


    ***


    Arriving back to the villa, Allen peeked quietly inside Edwin''s room. Seeing that the latter was already sleeping, he closed the door.


    He went to the kitchen and prepared himself some tea, after that, he carried a cup of tea and entered a room which seemed to be like a library.


    The library wasn''t that big, but it''s enough to accomodate chairs, tables, even a podium, and a lectern on the raised platform. The setup of the furnitures inside the room made it seemed like it was a little courtroom.


    He walked around the library, looking at the books displayed on the shelves.


    Allen went in front of the lectern and saw an opened book on top of it. It was a bit dusty, indicating it was left behind for a long time. He then closed the book to its front cover, and saw its name.


    \"King Daniel Santos II''s Laws of the Trigurniburg Kingdom? I think there''s such a book back at the house.\", Allen turned the pages of the book and looked at its contents.


    Reaching the final page, it was almost totally blank except for a small handwriting on its bottom left part. It was written as:


    Property of William Morgan of Crescent Town, Prince Artenai Santos'' aide and advisor. Whom shall ever possess this book without the authorization of the owner shall be prosecuted for Theft and Stealing/Tampering Government-owned Documents and other criminal charges by the Guards of Public Documents, National Army, and National Guards in the Name of the King or Queen of the Land; under the warrant of the Imperial Court, Supreme Court; and the Sanctity of the Imperial Throne.

 98 The Boy From the South One-sided Narrative

    [Edwin''s Point of View]


    ''Wake up! Wake up! Wake up!'' A rattling voice shakes my head. I try to keep my eyes shut to stay asleep, but the last piece of dream I had burst like a bubble.


    Yawning deeply, I sit up on the side of the bed. Checking the window from there, I realized there was still no sunlight.


    "Still dawn?" I muttered with inaudible words.


    My sleep was disturbed by that voice again. It will occassionally wake me up, and would even electrocute me. The nerve of it. Once day I will... no, I shouldn''t think about it, it can sense what I''m thinking.


    Heck, I don''t even have a secret left because of it!


    Yep, the voice was actually the symbol itself that was talking.


    I stand up from the clutches of my comfortable bed, resisting the feeling of the enticing bed spirit dragging me down.


    Stretching my joints, I moaned, feeling the relaxing sensation from doing it.


    I dressed myself with my everyday wear since leaving Eastern Horizon City. I don''t get tired of it, at least I have something to wear. It''s fancy too compared to what I was wearing before Allen rescued me.


    Finally, I left the bedroom.


    I went straight for the kitchen and found some cold tea.


    "It''s probably Allen''s tea." I said, wondering what will it taste like. Maybe refreshing, maybe not, it is Allen''s so I think it''s bound to be a good one.


    But I didn''t dare drink it. The urge of taking a small sip struck me, but I resisted it until it died down.


    The tea might be drinkable when it''s hot, but could become poisonous when it''s cold. Maybe even the poison would stick on the teapot, and the next person that will use it will get poisoned. Maybe if I touch the handle, I''ll get poisoned too? Or even just being near it, I don''t know, I don''t know!


    I decided to walk towards the alchemy room while toying with the Magic Frostbite Resistance Pendant.


    I checked what could be seen on the way. The designs including the furniture that were placed inside here are so intricate, but it''s not as livelier as the ones in the bedrooms.


    Arriving in front of the door of the alchemy room, I politely knocked several times, but with time passing, there were no replies coming from the other side. I slightly opened the door to check if Allen was inside, but there wasn''t a single living being in there.


    So then, I decided to search for Allen until I spotted the library. The door wasn''t thoroughly closed, there was gap. Peeking through the gap I saw Allen, with his head resting on top of a book.


    "He is a reader after all." I said to myself and realized he is asleep.


    Carefully approaching him, I noticed a small box near him on the top of the table.


    It''s Allen''s personal belonging. I really shouldn''t touch it or else from who knows where a trap will shoot out and kill me.


    Everything around him is so dangerous.


    Turning my head away from the box, I noticed that the book where Allen''s head was resting on was turned on its last page.


    There was a long writing on the back cover. Probably the owner of the book.


    The writing seems to be something about getting persecuted? No, it''s prosecution. I wonder what''s the difference between the two.


    As I checked even closer I spotted the book''s current page only recently dried, as if it was wet earlier on.


    Then I sighted something very pecular, the part of the page where Allen''s eyes were near at were still soaked.


    It looks like... he cried?


    It''s a weird feeling, I don''t see him making any expressions on his face. His coldness is way different from the normal one.


    Anna is cold, but actually warm when you get to know her. Like Allen, but why do I feel it''s different?


    Rein is aloof, and not to mention he has some fetishes on killing humans. But nice to his herd. Allen is nice too, I think.


    I immediately tiptoed away from Allen, afraid to wake him up.


    Exiting the library, I closed the entrance and went into deep thinking of what to do next to spend the remaining time until sunrise.


    ***


    At the backyard...


    Currently in a cross-legged sitting position, I kept circulating my mana and internal energy throughout my body.


    It was a practice mandated by Allen to me that I should do everyday so that the veins in my body would be wide enough for the said energies to circulate easier.


    He always say to me that I shouldn''t be lazy with this exercise, telling me it''s not that frequent to see somebody that could control both mana and internal energy.


    But for me, I don''t feel that special. I don''t know why, but I can''t put my tongue on it. Maybe because there are more unique individuals around me? Or is it because I can''t even make use of mana yet? Or because I''m still useless?


    "Edwin." I heard Allen''s voice from behind.


    Lifting my eyelids, the light coming from the sun striked me like poison flinching a victim''s body. Why did I even position my face directly to where the sun will rise in the first place?


    His voice wasn''t manly nor childish, it''s actually only a plain, emotionless one. I have always been wondering since I encountered him back at Eastern Horizon City, he seemed so bleak yet not so bleak at the same time.


    Sometimes, I would think he doesn''t even have any emotions at all.


    Looking straight towards Allen''s immutable eyes... I mean eye, because he was wearing the same old leather eyepatch on the right one, I couldn''t even see any trace of change on it even the longer I look to it.


    The sensation that the eye gave was do cold that I couldn''t stand staring directly at it for a few seconds.


    "What is it?" I asked with a polite tone.


    Allen: "Aren''t you going to go change your clothes for the auction today?"


    Oh yes, the auction. I almost forgot about it.


    "Umm... no, this is formal enough already. Plus, I don''t have any other good clothes to wear." I shrugged.


    What I was wearing were the long-tailed coat over a shirt and comfy long pants, all of which were provided by Allen.


    "Come on, let''s go buy a more formal clothing for you." Allen said and didn''t wait for any of my replies because he entered back inside the villa.


    Why does he do that? He will leave once he made a decision, probably because he doesn''t want me to go against it?


    I sighed inwardly at the sight. He was so extravagant in spending his money.


    Come to think of it, he can sell a merged pill of his for an amount of 800,000 gold coins, and that was already the lowest price offered by him, while the buyer was still being reluctant to take it because it was too low.


    Every time I see him waste his money, a hesitant would flow through me. Making me think if I should continue walking with him or not, because I would benefit from it too.


    Grandpa would always say to me when he comes back from duties: "Don''t spend money lavishly."


    But having a lot of money yet not being spent is even worse, maybe?


    ***


    Strolling around the city to find a shop, I kept the same position, always walking behind Allen.


    I don''t really consider myself as somebody equal to him, even with our strengths, I''m severely outpowered by him.


    I also thought he tried to kill me twice, I don''t behind that unchanging face, maybe he feels so wronged for accusing him. Pfft... as if.


    Well, if he wanted to finish me off, I would''ve probably be dead back at Eastern Horizon City; but I blindly sticked to the notion he was really trying to kill me, until he had to personally say he wasn''t.


    I could also feel a sense of security just by viewing his back.


    ''You have some weird fetish.'' The symbol sent me a message.


    You dumb number, it''s not a weird fetish, well it''s probably one... wait, no it isn''t, is it?


    Yeah it''s not.


    I have no idea what kind of feeling is this, maybe it''s like he''s a protective big brother to me. That''s probably the correct feeling, right? Never had an older brother before, so it should be this?


    A protective older brother.


    "Here." He didn''t say much and just entered a shop with me.


    Entering it, my eyes widened I saw the extreme fanciness that was displayed inside. The wood furnishings weren''t just shiny, but there were pieces of expensive stones and linings of gold inserted in them.


    It''s not that much actually, but why would they even use it as a design in a shop?


    ''It''s fake, obviously.'' The symbol said. ''You''re dumb.''


    Me: ????


    The process of purchasing new clothes was fast. As soon as we finished buying, we immediately wore them and exited the shop.


    Allen bought two long coats, each one for the both of us.


    The ones that he bought were more stylish, formal, and pleasing to the eye than the travelling coats we usually wore.


    Should I say something, like a thank you for the new clothes? But that seems too unpleasing to hear, because after all, these things were expensive.


    ''Just do it.'' The symbol said.


    "Thank you." Finally, I was able to say it.


    "You''re welcome.", Allen replied without looking back to me.


    He''s so indifferent. I have the urge to ask why he is like that, but maybe I shouldn''t do it, because he might feel a bit displeased, angered, or won''t even bother to answer at all.


    Perhaps, if he wasn''t only a few years older than I am. I could''ve regarded him as my father.


    The symbol: ''What?''


    I''m like a little kid, with my eyes looking up to him like my idol. It''s squinching, but that''s what in my mind.


    Oh yeah, he told me once that I''m an ignoramus. No, I am not stupid, I know what that word means, I just don''t want to speak against him, because maybe he''s joking at that time and I will ruin the moment.


    I wonder, where will I be now if Allen refused to train me? I wanted to kill father''s murderer. Then what will Allen think of me? He doesn''t wantonly kill. He did kill James, but maybe there was no choice so he did that.


    Come to think of it, I still have that few bronze coins debt. I got it when he gave me those bronze coins I stole him. Grandpa told me to return it back as a debt, but I wasn''t able to find him then.


    He doesn''t even need it. He''s so rich.


    Wait, what will I do if I kill the person who killed father? It''s kind of an overkill. It''s probably just a mortal. Should I still kill?


    The symbol: ''No.''


    I should do it then.


    The symbol: ''...''

 99 The Auction Begins

    "Edwin, you seem a bit flustered.", Allen said.


    "You look like you are extremely nervous." A girl wearing formal dress added, who was none other than Alice.


    "No I''m not. Hehe...", Edwin shook his head in disagreement and laughed with an obvious insecured tone.


    Earlier, Allen and Edwin met up with Alice in front of her shop. The three of them were now on their way towards the venue of the auction.


    ''He''s definitely in love.'', Allen thought.


    ''He''s definitely getting crazy.'', Alice thought.


    ''I''m definitely embarrasing myself right now.'', Edwin thought.


    "So Sir Alchemist Morgan, I already gave the merged pill that you sold me to the auctioning officials to be merchandized as one of the items in the auction.", Alice said with her still carefree attitude. Even in front of her idol, she could still talk with Allen like they knew each other for a long time.


    "Also sir, I placed it inside a small box along with a note. I submitted it to them and I left at once." She added.


    "Allen, can I talk to you privately for a moment?", Edwin requested.


    "Mhm." He nodded in response. After which, Alice volunteered herself to go a bit farther away from the two of them.


    Lowering his voice, Edwin asked, "Why do you want to auction the pill?"


    Allen paused on his steps, prompting both Edwin and Alice to also stop. The former looked at Edwin. "The alchemy competition that only takes place once in every two decades is held here in Ryon City is coming. Attracting more participants to join the contest will be beneficial."


    ''Beneficial?'' Edwin was confused, "Huh? Attract more people to join? Isn''t it suppose to be the other way around?"


    Although Edwin doesn''t know what was Allen''s status in the world of alchemy, he grasped that it''s not something so simple; specially when he saw the reaction of Alice on the merged pill he concocted.


    Allen: "You have no idea what are the real traits of true alchemists."


    "Then, if more alchemists participate in the event, won''t they try to work together to against you? I mean, you made a merged pill which seems to be a great achievement for you, but what I mean is that they''ll be scared of you and try to kick you out of the competition, I think?", Edwin voiced out his thoughts.


    "Then it will be a fair fight." Allen replied and resumed walking. On the other hand, Edwin didn''t ask anymore questions and gaped at Allen from behind him.


    "A f-fair fight?", Edwin looked blankly at Allen as if his soul was snatched away from him by those very words.


    ***


    Somewhere in the northern section of the city, there was a large structure with many solid columns on its exterior.


    Due to its complex designs and multifaceted column branches, it could be mistaken as a small palace.


    The said building''s roof was made of tough and shiny iron with its radiance could be spotted from far away, and there were gemstones socketed onto the arcs of the fancy wooden double doors making them look like portals.


    Its design also made it stand out from the buildings around it.


    The Alchemist Union which was the general governing group of alchemists in the region, owned the edifice. Just from that palace-like structure alone showed the mightiness and influence of alchemists in the surrounding area.


    "Whoa." It was a short reaction made by Edwin, nonetheless, it represented nearly everybody''s first impression of the building.


    When he snapped out of his stupor, he saw Allen and Alice already left him behind and entered the building.


    "Hey! Wait for me!"


    Setting his foot through the opened doors, Edwin became stunned once again by the adorned interiors of the entrance hall.


    The tall pillars holding up the ceiling weren''t just inserted with gemstones and pearls, but the pillars themselves were made from pure silver to the point where one could seen their reflection on them.


    The chandeliers above and the torches on the walls were inlaid with firestones that release out flames until their energies would be depleted.


    Meanwhile, the floor below was made of the finest marble and waxed so thoroughly that it directly reflected everything over it like a real mirror.


    Edwin shuddered and his hands slightly quivered at the sight of such extravagance.


    Allen tapped his shoulder. Edwin movements went back to normal.


    "I have the urge to... you know...", Edwin only shrugged and shook his head.


    "Steal them.", Allen resumed the other''s sentence.


    "Yeah.", Edwin nodded.


    "Come on, ignore everything and let''s go to the auctioning hall.", Allen nudged Edwin on his back and they tided through the lobby.


    "Sir, I got us three seats at the back just like you told me to do. I don''t know why you wanted to sit there, we could have actually purchased VIP room." Alice approached and passed a ticket each to Allen and Edwin.


    "It''s too exorbitant to purchase those rooms." Allen replied.


    ''Says the person who could probably buy a whole town.'', Edwin ludicrously rolled his eyes in contempt. He didn''t know if Allen was being too humble or too shameless on his statement.


    Entering a separate room, the three of them sat to their designated seats and waited for the auction to begin.


    There were nearly every kinds of people joining in the event. They spotted, of course, alchemists, nobles, magicians, church officials, and rich merchants.


    "There are so many people in this auction compared to the past ones. Maybe the approaching contest attracted them." Alice commented.


    Meanwhile, from one of the private rooms above the audience, Gavin and Mr. Howard took their seats and watched the people below while enjoying the delicacies delivered to them.


    Mr. Howard took a bite on an apple and remarked, "The apple that they grow here is juicy and sweet!"


    "It''s because of the abundant energies within the Monarch Walls that they''re so delicious." Gavin also took a bite on an apple and a wide smile appeared on his face.


    "What makes master so happy today? I''m sure a fruit won''t suffice you.", Mr. Howard asked.


    "You already know. I''m finally able to copy Allen''s layered pills! But I still need to perfect my own layering technique. Nevertheless, everybody who are attending will see my success, it will be my first step on surpassing him.", Gavin''s smile was so wide that his cheeks started to hurt.


    After a pause, he added, "The second one would be me being the victor of the upcoming alchemy competition. A lot will be watching it because it only takes place once every few decades. Then everybody would finally begin to forget about that Allen."


    "It''s a pity that he suddenly disappeared from everyone''s eyes. Everyone expected that he''ll win that competition, but now that the prodigy not in the limelight, sir would be able to conquer in that tournament.", Mr. Howard said.


    Gavim''s expression darkened, "Don''t call him a prodigy."


    "My apologies, master.", Mr. Howard replied.


    ''He was never a prodigy! I was suppose to be that prodigy! He only took it away, that accursed being took it away! If it wasn''t for him, that...'', Gavin''s thoughts stopped halfway and he only sighed in the end.


    The lights in the main hall dimmed and a man wearing an alchemist''s robes walked out from the curtains of the stage. He bowed down and loudly declared, "The auction will now begin!"


    Just after the man announced the commencement, he threw a potion up onto the air which exploded out and formed fireworks.


    Afterwards, the fireworks turned into a cloud which shaped up to a lightning stallion that galloped on the air above the guests and dispersed into miniscule ticklish bolts that dropped down to the audience below.


    However, it didn''t end just there and the man catapulted another potion above everybody and it released a black smoke above them which turned to a faceless figure of an alchemist along with a furnace and cauldron.


    Then, the cauldron and furnace turned to shapeless smoke and moved towards the figure''s closed hands, after which, it opened his hands and elixirs and pills flew out of them that were snatched by the people.


    Finally, the figure slightly bowed down and dissolved.


    "The Alchemist Union is getting creative in attracting patrons." Gavin said as he hid a pill he obtained from the freebies the figure gave out.


    "Ha! I got a potion!" Edwin happily placed the elixir inside his satchel.


    "Only got a tiny pill.", Alice only shrugged at her bad luck and hid it.


    Meanwhile, Allen inspected a sack of potions he got. Suddenly, he threw the sack away unnoticedly amidst the numerous people.


    "Aw! Who threw... wait, it''s a sack full of potions! HAHA!"


    "Huh, what? You''re so lucky!"


    "What a lucky person."


    "So lucky of him, I only got a little pill."


    "You got a small pill, while I got absolutely nothing! Damn it."


    "Everybody, we will now bring out the first item!" The host loudly proclaimed. The declaration silenced the whole place and everyone focused their eyes onto the stage.

 100 The Holy Conflic

    It was a clear starry night. The moon was up, there were little to no clouds covering up the sky.


    Sitting down in a field of grass on a hill, a teenage boy was looking towards the darkness with blank eyes.


    "Umm... excuse me, can I sit with you?" A girl asked from behind.


    "Yes." The boy replied without looking back.


    Sitting on the spot beside the boy, the girl asked, "Why are you looking there? There''s nothing to see. Why not look upwards instead? Look, there are a lot of stars."


    The boy raised his head. The sky was glittering with many stars.


    "What are you thinking?" The girl asked.


    "Nothing." The boy replied.


    "Then why are you looking blankly?" The girl inquired again.


    "Nothing.", the boy answered.


    "Then... why aren''t you happy? Is there anything wrong the people here?" The girl kept asking questions.


    "I don''t have any emotions." The boy straightly responded.


    "Pfft... hahaha...." The girl chuckled at the other''s reply. However, seeing that the boy didn''t react, she stopped laughing and questioned, "You''re joking, right?"


    "No." The boy plainly said.


    ''Umm, what to ask next?.'' The girl inwardly pondered. After a short pause, she uttered, "I think it''s impossible that you don''t have any emotions."


    The boy was still quiet.


    "How did you even reach this far if you have no emotions? Won''t those type of people be standing still like they are dead? You know, you should stop lying if you want to get along with us. Senior brother said that lying is prohibited. There was an accident where a crafting room was blown up after an apprentice lied." The girl shared.


    "No." The boy replied.


    On the other hand, the girl facepalmed and thought, ''This guy is so complicated.''


    ***


    It was already time for the 7th item of the auction. The previous items that were sold were materials used to make weapons, ingredients for alchemy such as a fruit and a plant, a powerful pill and an elixir.


    "The objects that they auction here are so unique.", Edwin commented as he eagerly waited for the next item to show up. He recalled the large shiny Starstone that caused a commotion in the room.


    "Seriously, that Starstone is worth 1,000 mana stones?", Edwin looked towards Allen and asked. But it''s still not as surprising as the price of the merged pill.


    "The Starstone could be a prime material for creating a Major-Inferior grade weapon, even those sects from the Midea Republic would war for a mine of it." However, it wasn''t Allen who answered him, but was Alice.


    "Just like how magicians in our kingdom would die even just for small mana springs, it''s almost the same for those eastern people would kill each other for those mines.", Allen added.


    "Oh, but come to think of it, are there magicians in that nation?", Edwin asked, implying to the Midea Republic.


    "There are a few groups of magicians there, but they call themselves ''magus'' in its singular word while ''magi'' in its plural sense.", Alice answered this time.


    Before Edwin could ask questions again, as if knowing what he would inquire, Allen interjected, "Do you know the Ancient War of the southern region?"


    "Yes.", Edwin nodded. He''d been hearing those from the stories of his grandfather.


    "Then there''s also the Primeval Holy Conflict that occurred before the war of the south.", Allen said.


    Edwin gave Allen that blank look of curiosity about the Primeval Holy Conflict.


    On the other hand, he knew what that glance and answered, "During those times, Trigurniburg Kingdom wasn''t founded yet. The whole land of our kingdom was under the control of the Retollian Church. When the church was at its peak, it had a gigantic domain. The Trigurniburg Kingdom today towards the Western Mountainous Region and to the three holy kingdoms beyond the mountains, was the dominion of the Pertheon Empire."


    After a pause, he added, "Based on the books and historical accounts that I read, the Northern Forest and the Mendia Republic along with the islands on the east beyond the republic was under one government too. Well, those two gigantic powers didn''t get along at some point of time. This was where the split of culture and the war started, the word magician was replaced as magus in the east, and then their cultures started to further break apart from each other."


    Alice began to take interest in the topic and listened even closer.


    "Why didn''t they get along?", Edwin asked. From what he understood, those two seemingly giant powers had one single culture; it was absurd for him that they started to have conflicts with each other as it seemed like they didn''t have any cultural differences.


    Countries with a single culture tend to ally with each other or avoid conflict overall because they understood one another.


    "The Federated Eastern Republic, although they had one culture with the Pertheon Empire; the former had many more sub-cultures such as worship of nature and necromancy which was an eyesore for the latter. They wanted to reform the republic''s culture in secret but it they were found out. It escalated very quickly from minor arguements to disgust to an all-out war. That''s it." Allen finished the story.


    "What about the nomadic lands? Are there no stories about them in those times?", Edwin questioned.


    If a war of that scale occurred those times, then the nomadic lands should''ve at least been affected to a certain degree.


    "Yeah, I didn''t hear any information about them in your story." Alice said.


    "I saw no historical records about the nomadic lands." Allen answered.


    "Ladies and gentlemen sorry for the delay, but the 7th item shall now be unveiled!" The host loudly declared, quieting down the crowd.


    A few moments later, a movable desk was transfered out towards the stage, on top of the desk was a leather-bound book.


    "This book is the 4th volume of the Flicker Encyclopedia! It is one of the rarest inscription of the uncommon internal energy technique of ''Flicker'', it''s not just a piece of literature, as it probably could even teach one to learn the said technique!", the host declared.


    Now, another commotion occurred amongst the guests. The whole venue was as if, revived of its vigor and most of the people sticked their eyes onto the book.


    "What''s with all the noise about flicker?", Edwin was baffled, in his mind it''s just a book that could teach somebody ''Flicker''.


    "You don''t know? Flicker is one of the rarest techniques for internal energy practitioners, it''s like the spell ''Teleportation'' for magicians. There''s probably only two handfuls of people who knew how to execute that.", Alice explained.


    " Aare technique?" The boy slowly turned his head towards Allen, who was looking at the book.


    ''If it''s a rare technique, why did Allen just teach it like that to me as if it''s expendable?'', Edwin thought. After that, he inwardly sighed as he would maybe never know Allen''s reason for doing so.


    "50,000 gold coins!", somebody started the bidding.


    "75,000 gold coins!"


    "1,000 mana stones!"


    "2,000 mana stones!"


    "250,000 gold coins!"


    "5,000 mana stones!"


    "5,500 mana stones!"


    Edwin gaped at the fast increase of the bidding price of the encyclopedia, which easily surpassed the price of the Starstone!


    "Now this is a real auction!" The corners of Alice''s mouth rose up at the sight of the crazy people bidding for the fourth volume of the Flicker Encyclopedia.


    Finally, the price stabilized at 20,000 mana stones with the bidder coming from one of the private rooms.


    "Are there anymore follow-up bids?", the host asked.


    "20,000 mana stones. These people are crazy.", Edwin commented.


    "I guess the price is worth it for them. After all, Flicker Encyclopedia is very rare.", Alice added.


    "No more bids in three... two...", before he could say number one, his counting was cut by a voice.


    "40,000 mana stones.", Allen plainly stated. However, his voice attracted all the people inside the hall.


    ''I guess Allen is crazier than them.'' Edwin was inwardly astonished.


    "Huh, who would have such a large amount of mana stones from the audience below?" The man who was bidded 20,000 mana stones for the encyclopedia glanced down towards the heap of people, trying to find out who outbid him.


    "Whoa, I would never even spend 40,000 mana stones on a book." Gavin said. He tried to spot for the person who bid such a large amount of mana stones, but couldn''t do so because the spot were Allen''s group was sitting was under a balcony.


    However, from the angle were the man''s private room was positioned, he clearly saw Allen and committed his face in his memory.


    In the end, the Flicker Encyclopedia Vol. 4 was sold to Allen for 40,000 mana stones.

 101 Internal Energy Orb

    "Please bring out the 8th item!"


    Under the command of the host, the eighth item was carefully carried out by several men.


    It was a transparent orb-like object that had a yellowish-orange hue where one could mistaken it to be the physical representation of internal energy.


    Although internal energy and mana was naked to the eyes of weak beings, the both of them had unique representations that one would be able to find out what kind of an energy was that.


    The appearances of internal energy and mana were both like threads of light, but their colors differ. The former could be identified as having a golden hue; while the mana would be bluish, of which, the darker the color, the more potent the mana was.


    The sphere was placed over the table that was used to take out the Flicker Encyclopedia. It had a diameter of a few inches, but no matter how small it was one could feel the power emanating from it.


    "This is an internal energy orb. It is enriched of internal energy that it''s guaranteed that once the orb is fully assimilated, it could make somebody a practitioner of that energy as powerful as an adept to advance a sub-level." The host clarified the effect of the item.


    It was another rare treasure. Almost everybody in the room got their interests piqued by the function of the item.


    Host: "The offer for the item shall start now!"


    "10,000 mana stones!", a voice from one of the private rooms declared.


    As soon as the initial bidding price was proclaimed, a third of the people on the ground instantly wavered by the immense amount of mana stones being offered.


    10,000 mana stones was equivalent to 1,000,000 gold coins, even aristocrats would be a little hesitant to spend such large amount of the mentioned currency.


    "20,000 mana stones!" Somebody from the audience below bidded. It was an old man who seemed to be in his last years.


    "30,000 mana stones!" A yell came from one of the private rooms again.


    "40,000 mana stones!" The same old man crazily shouted, it seemed that it was all of what''s left of his savings; however, his bid was immediately overthrown by another person from one of the private rooms.


    Only a few seconds passed and the price for the orb skyrocketed to 100,000 mana stones which shook the countenance of numerous people sitting below.


    "These people are going crazy for such an item. An expert alchemist could probably even concoct an elixir or pill to help one advance through that level." Gavin commented as he enjoyed the spectacle. The level that he was referring to was Adept.


    "That orb was guaranteed that one will advance in a sub-level. It''s maybe useless for you because you''re talented sir, but it is very precious to people who are stuck at a bottleneck for a very long time. It''s more valuable to the ones near the end of their lifespan.", Mr. Howard replied.


    "You are right. It''s also hard finding an alchemist that could create an elixir or pill guaranteed to make you advance a sub-level in strength, in fact, I think there''s no such person who could do it.", Gavin sighed.


    ''But I''ll try to accomplish that!'' Gavin ardently thought.


    Down below, Alice eagerly watched the chaotic and extravagant atmosphere of multiple guests bidding for an item.


    A thought suddenly came through her mind and asked herself, "A mana stone costs 100 gold coins, with this many stones being used as a bidding chip in this place, won''t the economy collapsed by the ratio of exchange between mana stone and gold coins?"


    Her thoughts were indeed logical; with 100,000 mana stones that was worth 1,000,000 gold coins, it''s possible that there''s somebody who owned 1,000,000 mana stones and it would cost 100,000,000 gold coins!


    The economy of all territories would be in a mess as gold wasn''t unlimited, yet there is a large chance of a mana stone forming in special places because of mana being abundant on the air.


    As a shop owner, she had to be knowledgeable about the economy.


    "Sir Alchemist Morgan, what do you think?" Alice asked.


    "The government doesn''t control most of the mana springs. Also, millions of mana users utilize mana stones for their power to be further augmented. Now if those millions extracted all the mana in their mana stones, they won''t be different from ordinary stones anymore." Allen briefly replied. "A wizard alone could drain a million mana stones and its strength won''t even move."


    "You have a point, Sir Alchemist Morgan.", Alice agreed on Allen''s statement.


    Alice then looked over at Edwin, and was surprised to see tears flowing down from his eyes while looking at the other bidders.


    "Is there anything wrong?", Alice asked.


    "No, I feel like I''m just really lucky to even enter such as place filled with money.", Edwin wiped off the tears of his face.


    "You''re not used on seeing a lot of money being spent?", Alice questioned again.


    "I guess." The boy chuckled.


    The price of the internal energy orb already reached 140,000 mana stones after their little conversation. Now, the hot bidding between two factions of separate private rooms was the focus of everyone.


    "141,000 mana stones!", one of the factions declared. The tone of the voice seemed that it came from a woman.


    "That voice, it seems familiar." Alice deeply pondered.


    "142,000 mana stones!", the other faction stated. One could notice the awkward accent of the voice.


    "The other one probably came from the Midea Republic." Alice speculated..


    "143,000 mana stones!", the first faction declared once again.


    "I know it now! The owner of that voice came from one of the astrologists of Reverent Observatory!", Alice realized.


    "175,000 mana stones.", Allen called out which made everybody stunned, specially Alice and Edwin.


    "Edwin, pretend that you don''t know him!", Alice urged with a low-shouting voice.


    "Huh?", Edwin was baffled by Alice''s exhortation, but he easily comprehended why and followed it.


    "Who''s that?!", the people from the Reverent Observatory and the Midea Republic looked down the audience and spotted Allen.


    "Hmph! 178,000 mana stones!" The representative of Reverent Observatory said in an agitated manner.


    "180,000 mana stones!" The person from the Mendia Republic gritted his teeth and rose his bid.


    "200,000 mana stones." Allen said.


    "This..." Everyone in the room was speechless by Allen''s bravery and audacity, he didn''t even put the other sides'' statuses on his eyes at all.


    ''Allen''s going to get himself in big trouble.'' Edwin had an urge to stop him from continuing his bid, but he would be implicated if he obtained the orb in the end and knew it''s better for Allen to act alone this time.


    "..."


    An utter silence befell on the hall as the price of the item reached 200,000 mana stones. Equivalent of 2,000,000 gold coins. The minds of some people were already blank, some were gaping with their mouths open, while Alice and Edwin pretended to be extremely surprised and didn''t know Allen.


    The host repeatedly blinked at the sight and when he regained his composure he loudly stated, "The item is hereby sold in three... two... one. It''s officially bought!"


    "It''s not worth it to raise it any further." The woman representing the Reverent Observatory shook her head in dismay.


    The person from the Midea Republic narrowed his eyes and spotted Allen. Meanwhile, the earlier man who was outbid by Allen on the Flicker Encyclopedia was caught off guard that it was the same person who beat him to the book.


    Gavin tried to look whoever was the bidder, but again wasn''t able to spot Allen due to the balcony blocking his sight.


    "It''s the same person." Gavin said. ''His voice is familiar.''


    "That man has some guts to take that item away from these big shots.", Mr. Howard added.


    Another empty silence pervaded the atmosphere of the auction after the orb was sold out to Allen. The silence now was as deep as the depths underwater in the middle of an ocean.


    "Ehem, now folks, it''s time for the 9th item. Please bring it out at once!" The host tried to ease the suffocating mood through the ninth item.


    After which, a small jar containing a single pill replaced the orb. The host rose the jar for everybody to see the pill inside it.


    "It''s my pill!" Gavin''s smile rose to his ears when he recognized the pill inside the jar.


    ''Finally, now everybody will know that I successfully created a layered pill like Allen''s, hahaha!'' He inwardly snickered.

 102 The Tenth Item

    "Everyone, it''s a layered pill made by Sir Gavin of the Alchem Town!" The host''s voice reverbated throughout the hall.


    As the voice reached the end of the room, the alchemists'' eyes widened and people who knew the famous layered pill were startled.


    "Impossible, somebody actually copied Sir Alchemist Morgan''s layered pill!", Alice was dumbstruck by the revelation.


    "It''s not a perfect copy.", Edwin said as he narrowed his eyes. "Look at it, it''s deformed."


    ''And it doesn''t look like it was made through pill merging.'' The boy added in his mind.


    "Yeah, it''s actually deformed." Alice''s agreed at Edwin''s observation.


    "What do you think, Allen?", Edwin looked over at the shop owner and asked.


    "That layered pill is less effective than the normal product." Allen replied.


    "How are you sure?", Edwin asked.


    "It''s a Pine Sight Pill, made from the Elliptic Pine plant which is a primary material to other low-grade illusion miscellaneous potions or pills that could affect people who are at the Mage level. I can see the pill''s flaws even from afar. It''s only effective to people who are a the level of Mage-apprentices", Allen replied.


    "Can you tell me the flaws then?" Edwin requested.


    "First of all, the pill is obviously deformed. Second, the method used for layering just decreased the overall effectiveness of the pill. Third, based from my second observation the creator of that pill wasted a lot of resources just to make that one product. Fourth, there is a chance it will easily become defective." Allen finished stating all the flaws; meanwhile, the image of the pill to Edwin further plummeted by the other''s criticism, like it degraded from being an eagle to a featherless chick.


    In fact, the boy was already disgusted just by looking at it.


    "Another question, do you know that ''Sir Gavin'', the one who made it?" aEdwin asked.


    "Yes." Allen nodded, "He''s my senior brother."


    "The bidding for this item shall now commence!" The host signalled the start, cutting the duo''s conversation.


    "100,000 gold coins!" Someone from the audience said.


    "500,000 gold coins!" Another person from the audience called out.


    "10,000 mana stones!" A figure from one of the private rooms has began bidding.


    Next, that figure was followed by other more people in the other private rooms, most of which were with mysterious backgrounds.


    The price of the pill finally peaked at 75,000 mana stones.


    "Are there any more bids?" The host asked.


    The faction representative from the Midea Republic nervously stared below and to the other private rooms if there were other figures that would topple the given price, specially at Allen.


    "We can''t increase it anymore. It won''t be worth it." The representative nervously muttered.


    "It''s alright. There''s still the final object to be auctioned. I heard it''s something groundbreaking for alchemists." A person with a more calm composure tried to relax his nervous companion.


    "Remember." The calmer man added, "We need an object that we could study how does the alchemy of these Niburgians work. That''s our priority."


    In the end, the pill was successfully sold out to the folks from the eastern republic.


    "Only 75,000 mana stones?" Gavin became disappointed by the result of the auction.


    "It''s already great for a pill to be sold for that amount. Normal pills at that level can only be bought for hundreds or thousands of mana stones." Mr. Howard said.


    "You have a point." Gavin replied.


    "I hope sir''s decision to auction it won''t risk your reputation. It has a lesser quality in terms of its medicinal strength. It will be detrimental to the status of the alchemists in Alchem Town.", Mr. Howard warned.


    "Don''t worry, nobody would complain. I only want for everyone to know that I am here to participate in the upcoming tournament!" Gavin only shook off the warnings, "Plus, people only tried to buy it because of its rarity and uniqueness."


    ''Not to mention the original dimwit who knew how to make a layered pill went missing.'' Gavin thought. After which, he grinned as he fantasized other contestants in the upcoming tournament would respect and fear him.


    However, he still kept his guard up. He expected there would be exceptional people joining in it.


    Host: "Ladies and gentlemen. Now it is time for the last item!"


    The people from the private rooms and almost all the guests on the balcony and below became eager. Afterwards, another jar containing a pill was placed on top of the table where the 9th item once was.


    "Uhh, sir." Mr. Howard''s eyes widened, "You should take a look a the last item." He urged Gavin who was with his eyes closed while grinning.


    The glass of the private room had a special function. It was enchanted to close in onto the item being auctioned. That''s why Mr. Howard was able to clearly see the item although he was only a normal person.


    ...


    "So the news was right. It''s indeed another pill, but why is it groundbreaking for alchemists here?" The calmer man from the Midea Republic pondered.


    ...


    "Haha, the informants were right after all!" The faction representing the local government of Ryon City became estatic.


    Everyone in this particular room were wearing formal clothes with emblem of the local government on their collars.


    "Mi''lord, it looks like you were correct." One of the people looked at the person sitting foremost from them.


    "So that means, he''s here." The marquis of the Ryon City stood up and approached the window with his back straightened up, his hands behind him like a born nobleman.


    He scanned the crowd, trying to find somebody. He also looked over to the other private rooms, however, he couldn''t see anything on the other rooms as all of them including the place where he was standing had their windows magically tinted and surroundings sealed.


    ...


    In another room, there were a group of people wearing robes, of which, the deeper the color of the robe, the higher the rank in their group.


    "He''s here?" A woman was startled when she saw the pill inside the jar. She was wearing a purple robe with glittery-like designs. With all the designs, her body was like wearing a sun-setting starry heaven.


    Of course, their group came from none other than the Aeoshun Observatory.


    "Most likely, our lady." One of the women respectfully agreed.


    ...


    "What is it?", Gavin snapped back into reality and spotted the 10th item for the auction. His visage froze when he recognized what was it.


    "He actually came back? The nerve of him!", Gavin''s tone turned more frenzied on each word he spoke out.


    ...


    "What''s going on with a lot of people looking so dumbstruck in here?" Edwin surveyed around him, noticing almost everybody has their sights fixed onto the pill.


    Meanwhile, the ones who didn''t know what was going on had curious gazes latched onto their faces.


    "You''re kidding, right?" Alice showed a weird look to Edwin.


    "No." Edwin shook his head like an innocent little boy.


    Alice: "..."


    "Alright, so the pill that the host is currently presenting is Sir Alchemist Morgan''s layered pill." Alice explained, "People who really know Sir Alchemist Morgan''s unique creation, the layered pill, are petrified because it''s akin to a holy artifact of the alchemist."


    "Ohh..." Edwin dawned upon the realization, "I didn''t expect that a lot of people know about that pill."


    "This is an auction hosted by the Alchemist Union. Most of the guests who attended likely knew what is happening in the alchemists'' circle and would probably find out about sir''s greatest creation." Alice further clarified.


    "Hahaha, this is such a wondrous day for me!" An old man cloaked in an alchemist robes laugh heartily amongst the crowd, "I can''t believe I''d be seeing such a treasure again in all my life! That means Sir Alchemist Morgan is here!"


    "Truly is a wondrous moment!" The alchemist beside him also shouted happily.


    "Master, who is Sir Alchemist Morgan?" A little boy wearing a kiddie alchemist robes asked the older person beside him, "They seem to be happy of him."


    "Listen closely, I''m about to tell you a very important story that took place a few years ago." The kid''s master''s mood became melancholic as tears slowly flowed down from his eyes.


    A cheerful noise then rose among the rest of the crowd, of which, the clamors mostly came from the alchemists attending the auction.


    "Our sources indicated that this pill wasn''t sold by the great Sir Alchemist Morgan." The host declared, "However, the management guarantees that he was the one who concocted it!"


    The clarification of the host, nevertheless, didn''t decrease the excitement of the attendees.


    "When will the bidding start!?" One of the guests passionately screamed.


    "Start it!"


    "Don''t waste your damn time looking at us! Begin now!"


    "Begin it!"


    Numerous urges from the people were hurled towards the host as if he''s the public enemy number one right now.


    Feeling a bit inwardly wronged he thought, ''It''s not my fault you people are suddenly in a hurry.'' After which, he said out loud. "The bidding shall start, now!"


    "One-hundred thousand mana stones." Somebody from the private room bidded. It was from a faction of the Mendia Republic.


    "Two-hundred thousand mana stones!" The lady from the Reverent Observatory declared. Then she thought, ''I won''t let you outsiders get the hand of that pill.''


    "Three-hundred thousand mana stones!" While returning to his seat, the marquis of the Ryon City calmly stated with his voice reaching up to the corners of the hall.


    Once again, the people down below were astonished by the lightning-fast increase of the bidding price.


    "Those rich factions, hais."


    "I wish I was rich as them, hmph."


    "Same here."


    "Four-hundred thousand mana stones!" One of the alchemists below shouted.


    "Whoa what? He has that large amount of money, yet, he''s not inside one of those private rooms?" One of the guests was surprised.


    "Probably because he''s being humble." The person beside him whispered.


    In the auctions of Ryon City, one could inquire a private room during the said events when they had enough monetary treasure like gold coins or mana stones.


    Additionally, one''s prestige could also be used to acquire a private room.


    "I should have never attended this time, oh if I only knew in this occassion that there are a lot of extremely rich people present here." Another guest commented as he looked up towards the private rooms.


    ''The items this time is so valuable, no wonder those big ones are here.'' A guest depecrated in his mind. It would never dare to say such things out loud.


    Meanwhile at this point, the price of pill skyrockted up to 800,000 mana stones.


    "This..." Edwin didn''t know what to say as he watched the spectacle of throwing bids between the higher members of the society from their respective private rooms.


    "825,000 mana stones." The marquis bidded.


    "850,000 mana stones." The faction representative from the eastern republic said.


    "Those outsiders, they must not get their hands on that pill!" The marquis slammed his fist on the armrest of his chair.


    "Calm down, sir." One of his subordinates started to massage his shoulders.


    "Sadly, I couldn''t spend more mana stones. I still need them to build-up my Mana Heart." The city leader sighed in disappointment, and then he looked towards the room of the Aeoshun Observatory astrologists, ''It''s up to them now.''


    "875,000 mana stones!" The lady from the observatory stated.


    "900,000 mana stones!" The faction representative raised their bid again.


    As the woman was about to utter a higher price, one of her men stopped her from doing so. "Forgive me ma''am, but 890,050 mana stones is all we have in this trip."


    "Really? Then does somebody in this room have excess mana stones?" The lady asked.


    "No more, miss. That 890,050 mana stones is everything we have summed up, including our own money with us." Another of her assistants replied respectfully.


    "Can somebody contact the observatory here? We shouldn''t let those outlanders obtain it!" She asked.


    "I''m sorry miss, I already tried contacting them some time ago, but it seems the communication here is blocked."


    After that reply, she could only collect herself and muttered, "Hais, maybe we would lose such a treasure to those people?"


    Afterwards, she calmly said, "This is such a humiliation."


    "Are there any more follow-up bids?" The host asked. "The bidding shall be final in five, four, three..."


    "1,000,000 mana stones." A last second bid entered the fray.


    Everyone looked to the direction of the origin of that voice, and spotted the highest private room in the hall.


    As the person from the Midea Republic was about to raise the stakes again, however, the calmer man beside him prohibited him from doing so.


    "We won''t be able to beat their bids how much we wanted to in this place.", the man said.


    The marquis and the lady let out a faint smile as they said, "The Alchemist Union."


    "The Union?", Gavin curiously looked at the highest room.


    Allen silently looked up. He knew the recent bidder came from the Alchemist Union.


    The host let out an obvious shocked countenance when he heard the Alchemist Union participating in the bidding.


    When he regained his composure, he immediately started the countdown and the merged pill was finally sold to the Union.


    It also marked the end of the auction.

 103 Courtesy and Status

    "One million mana stones, one million mana stones, one million mana stones..." Alice checked her hands. They were shaking so violently as if it was still deep in winter.


    The auction had recently ended and the three of them separated from the crowd and were travelling towards the back side of the building.


    "Wow, you are super rich now." Edwin remarked while trying to help her to calm down.


    "The two of you pretend that you never knew me, I''ll take another way around." Allen didn''t wait for the others to reply and headed off to another corridor.


    Although nobody told him, Edwin has already grasped the current situation and realized its severity.


    "He actually took away two valuable items from other people." Edwin remembered about the other people who were in the auction. In his mind, they were not to be offended. "But I still can''t see why is the Flicker Encyclopedia cheaper than the Internal Energy Orb."


    "That''s because magicians can learn Teleport and Flicker is only for internal energy practitioners, and the former is the mainstream fighting force of the kingdom." Alice replied from the side.


    "So, are you alright now?" Edwin asked.


    "No." Alice sighed, "Nobody even knows that I have such a large amount of mana stones, that''s why I got to buy Sir Alchemist Morgan''s layered pill."


    "You mean the 80,000 mana stones you used to buy the pill? It seems so little compared to the other bids.", Edwin replied.


    "Of course it would be little compared to the others in the auction room, because the people in the private rooms probably have the highest of stature in the whole eastern region." Alice grumbled, "Now that the layered pill was sold for 1,000,000 mana stones, I don''t even know where to hide such a big amount! My spatial storages are too short, and if others find out I have that large quantity of mana stones, they would probably hunt me down and even burn down my shop if I don''t give it!"


    "You are really thinking too much. Relax and let''s try to figure out a solution for this instead.", Edwin patted her from behind while trying to cheer her up.


    Hearing Edwin''s words, her mood settled slightly, and after a long pause she said, "You know even if you are an ignoramus, you still know how to comfort somebody."


    "Oh, thanks! Uhh, but what''s an ignoramus?", Edwin questioned. He already heard such a word from Allen when they were with Alice that one time, but didn''t know its meaning.


    However, Alice''s steps started to speed up and overtook him while ignoring the question.


    The boy chuckled and shook his head, ''Pfft, I already know.''


    The two of them finally reached another corridor, and at the end of it was a big door guarded by two magicians. There were also two lanes beside the walls of the path; each of which were for the people who won items, and the ones who first brought the valuable objects to be sold in the auction on the left and right sides respectively.


    Edwin and Alice queued up to the right side; from their position they spotted Allen who was on the left lane near the front carrying his wooden number plackard, of which, a type of flower was carved around the edges.


    After a while, the two quietly chatted with each other about some random things to quell their boredom.


    The host of the auction walked out of the door and called out the people who were first in line to claim the items they successfully bidded for or sold. When it was finally Allen''s turn to enter, he gave the plackard to the host; and from his angle, Edwin recognized that the flowers carved were chrysanthemums.


    Just a few seconds later, Allen walked out of the room and immediately left the corridor, not waiting for the other two.


    Finally after some time, only Edwin and Alice remained in the area. The host then nodded towards the two magicians and they pointed their staffs at them.


    Alice''s heartbeat began to speed up and her feet involuntarily trembled.


    ''They''re only at the Mage level.'', Edwin inwardly laughed and put on a calm countenance. He could sense the magicians'' level and knew he could take them on.


    When the host looked over at Edwin, an eyebrow of his rose up due to the latter''s serene look. However, he right away gazed at Alice and asked, "You were the one who sold that layered pill to us, correct?"


    Edwin lightly nudged Alice. She collected up her courage and nodded in response to the question.


    "Come with us, the sir wants to see the both of you." The host opened the door and signaled to follow him.


    ***


    Coming out of the building, Allen walked straight to a crowdy location. He activated Energy External Sense and controlled it to cover the whole street.


    Scanning everything in the place from the buildings to the little speck of dust gliding through the air, he percepted a number of people were eyeing and tailing him from behind.


    Afterwards, he deactivated the technique. Allen didn''t stop on his tracks until he exited the gates and reached the bounteous plains around the city.


    From a distance away, the ones following Allen also stopped as he turned around to see them.


    Allen examined the four people; the former''s indifferent look made some of them uncomfortable.


    There was a man who looked like a half-Niburgian and half-northerner. He was one of the last bidders for the Flicker Encyclopedia.


    Next, an old man who seemed to be at the end of his life. Then, a elegantly clothed man who had the insignia of the marquis of Ryon City on the pocket of his coat. Lastly, the calm foreigner from the Midea Republic with each of his fingers having a ring.


    "What do you gentlemen want?" Allen inquired. It might seem a respectful question, but the tone he used seemed the other way around. Well, the fact that it''s the only tone he could speak with.


    "I only want to trade the Flicker Encyclopedia for something else." The first man said.


    "Then why didn''t you increase the bid earlier?", Allen replied back.


    "You?" He looked over at the elegant man.


    "I''m only here to ''look after'' the sir here.", the servant of the marquis said as he glanced at the Midean.


    Allen then turned to the old man.


    "Give me the orb!!!" The old man shouted crazily.


    "I have come here to bargain.", the foreigner replied.


    "No.", Allen answered towards the Midean.


    Even with Allen''s rejection, the foreigner only shrugged and said, "I guess I''ll take it the old-fashioned way."


    "In the end, it''s strength that determines the result." The first man replied. He took out a stick, which then extended into a battle axe. The axe was adorned with traces of gold and mana stones. It was a Minor-Medial weapon.


    The foreigner then tapped a ring of his and it turned into a spear. From nearby, one could feel the striking stabbing intent coming from it.


    On the other hand, the marquis'' servant and the old man both took out their magician staffs, the older one had two external Mana Hearts (gems) on it indicating that he was at the Adept realm; however, the servant has three gems on his staff, meaning that he was a wizard!


    Meanwhile, Allen brandished his curved sword from his satchel.


    The air around was intense and suffocated, as if nations were going to start a war right this very moment.


    As a battle was about to erupt, a woman with a figure approached them from the direction of the city.


    The woman was none other than the representative from the Aeoshun Observatory.


    "Tsk, tsk, tsk, why do men always resort to fighting?" The woman shook her head in disgust.


    "Lady Dianne, the rising star of the Reverent Observatory." The half-Niburgian bowed in courtesy.


    "Pfft, stop acting like you''re civil. You people with the blood of the northerners are almost the same as those barbarians from the south." She shooed away the man.


    "As for you, I can''t believe that foreigners almost obtained Alchemist Morgan''s layered pill. Sadly you lot failed. All your actions seem to fail all the time.", Dianne ridiculed. "Oh well, good thing the Alchemist Union bidded for it."


    Even the foreigner was mocked by her, he still asked with formality why she was there.


    "I''m here because of him." She pointed at Allen.


    After a pause, she continued. "You seem familiar to me, where have we met before? Hmm..." Dianne dug deep into her mind until a memory surfaced up. "Oh I know, I saw you at Alchem Town... you''re Alchemist Morgan! The eyepatch, the dead look from his handsome, and the mysterious vibe coming from you; you are him!"


    "Are all people wearing eyepatches on their right eyes are him?" Allen asked.


    "You didn''t reject my question." She snickered.


    "I did not accept it either." Allen retorted.


    "Because you didn''t reject nor accept it in the first place; in a way, you really are Alchemist Morgan." She said.


    ''This woman is annoying.'', the half-northerner, the servant, and the Mendian all thought at the same time. If she had a lower status, they might have knocked her out already.


    Dianne took out a potion from her purple robes and wobbled it slightly, "This is a Coalesced Explosive Ember, it packs a very powerful punch." She shook it violently once and threw it at Allen, "Catch!"


    As the potion flew mid air, another elixir was thrown by Allen. The glass containers of the elixirs crashed and broke each other, resulting into the two mixtures combining up on the air.


    Right after then, they rushed to the ground without making the slightest reaction.


    "You really are him! I was right, haha!" She laughed joyfully.


    "For goodness sake, are you trying to kill everybody here?!" The servant angrily scolded.


    They weren''t the only ones in that area. There were nearby people sparring in the area; with their strength, all of them could escape alive from the explosion, but it''s not the same for the close plant hunters.


    "Calm down, nobody was hurt. See! I won''t get in trouble to your ''great and glorious Marquis''.", she shushed the person down. "But still, I proved that he is Alchemist Morgan! Not a lot of people, and only a number of alchemists could do such a feat like that. Countering a potion with another one on the spot."


    Everybody else looked towards Allen. The northerner kept his axe, "Maybe losing the encyclopedia to you isn''t such a bad thing after all."


    "I feel like I will watch a great show during the tournament." The Midean turned his spear back into a ring and wore it.


    "Might I ask, Alchemist Morgan, do you know me? I am Dianne, I''m also a famous youth during your time too." She asked.


    "Yes, I do hear the name Dianne from my fellow alchemists those days.", Allen nodded in agreement, making her rosy lips curl up.


    "You are the person nicknamed ''future whore'' by them." Allen continued his sentence.


    The smile on Dianne''s face became stiff while most of the men that came after Allen had their mouths twisted as they held back their laughs.


    "Shut up, I''ll take that orb from you!" The old man shouted and started to chant out a spell.


    Allen vanished out of thin air, startling the old man, after that, he felt somebody was breathing on his neck. After which, his sight blackened and he tumbled to the ground.


    "Looks like Alchemist Morgan isn''t just an alchemist. Well, I am truly looking forward for that tournament now." The Midean bowed and walked away, followed by the marquis'' servant.


    "I guess there are other ways to learn that Flicker technique." The northerner also bowed with courtesy and headed back for the city.


    "I''m excited for the competition now." Dianne walked away. After gaining a certain distance from Allen, she yelled. "One day I will force you to go to my bed!"


    Allen ignored the last sentence and looked at the knocked out elder near his feet.

 104 Old and New Acquaintances

    Years ago atop the hills in the eastern region.


    There was a walled community situated on the very hills. Within the walls were all sorts of of buildings such as the residences, shops, a merchant hub, brothels, etc.


    It was none other than the Alchem Town.


    This was where most of the alchemists in the nearby area where living at. In fact, it had more alchemists than the whole southern region.


    The Alchem Town was one of the branches of the Alchemist Union. Although only a branch, the Alchem Town was also more popularly called as "Alchemist Union" or simply "Union", obviously derived from its mother organization.


    ***


    "A new apprentice?"


    "Yeah, I heard an elder accepted somebody new as a personal apprentice. He said it''s a boy."


    "How old is he? Is he older than me?"


    "Nope, he''s actually a few years younger than you."


    "Seriously? Hais, looks like there''s a second Gavin."


    "Look, there he is. He''s with... huh, Senior sister Airein?"


    "What?!"


    Two figures walked up the stone path on the hill. One of them was a boy wearing an eyepatch and carrying a satchel; while the other person was a girl who get angry from time to time because of the boy''s attitude.


    "This location here, where there are many houses is the residential area of the normal apprentices." The girl introduced to the newcomer.


    She then asked, "Hey? So you''re still not going to react Mr. Deadface?" She snorted. "Well, you''ll surely be impressed when you arrive at the top of the hill."


    The girl paused her steps then turned her head towards the gossipers. She showed a furious face and screamed, "I can hear you people gossiping about the new guy beside me from far away! You blabbermouths are better used if you were in a brothel or a tavern as drunk informants instead!"


    "Senioe sister noticed us! Run!" The gossipers instantly scrammed away as if their lives depended on it. It wasn''t the first time this kind of situation occurred.


    She was called "senior sister" not because she was older, actually she was younger than them; but because she has a higher rank than they do.


    As she was about to continue walking, she saw another person coming down from the hill approaching the both of them.


    Her violent expression immediately turned into a humble and fragile one when the other person came closer.


    "Senior brother!" She greeted the newly-arrived person with a wide smile.


    "Airein, you are still very cute, you know that?" The boy squeezed Airein''s cheeks with his fingers. Suddenly, he inserted more force on the squeezing motion. "I can hear you shouting like a crazy person from afar. You are going to wake up people from their sleep with that kind of attitude!"


    "Ow! Stop it! I won''t do it ever again! I will never again!" Airein forcedfully removed the hands off her face. Leaving behind red, cherry cheeks.


    "This is the new guy, eh?" The boy looked over at the newcomer and asked.


    "Yes.", Airein nodded. "Why don''t you introduce yourselves?"


    "Don''t you already know him? Why don''t you introduce us to each other?" Her senior brother said.


    "Eh, I''m too lazy." She answered with a straight face.


    ''I will do it myself.'' The boy thought and presented himself. "Hello, I''m Gavin, a personal apprentice of one of the elders. Welcome to the Alchem Town! A branch community of the Alchemist Union!"


    "What''s your name?" He reached out his hand in a bid for a handshake.


    Looking straight on the eyes of the new apprentice, Gavin saw the expressionless visage of the other kid. He was surprised as even the old people he had been with weren''t this emotionless.


    ''It''s like I''m looking at a dead person.'' He inwardly said.


    ''No. I shouldn''t think like that.'' He shook of that thought.


    ''We''ll make him feel alive here then.''


    "My name is Allen." The young Allen accepted the handshake.


    "Junior brother Allen. Again, welcome to our little community of alchemists!" Gavin beamed up.


    ***


    As Edwin and Alice were guided much deeper into the lounge room, the former slowly felt several intimidating auras from behind the second door.


    "Please wait for a moment here." The host guided the two of them to sit down on a sofa. Attendants then brought them some fruits and drinks, then the host entered the second door, leaving behind the two magicians with some servants to accompany Edwin and Alice.


    ''I can take care of these two, but I don''t know about the people on the other room.'' Edwin calculated the risk of running away in case something ''funny'' happened.


    "Umm... how are you?" Edwin looked over to one of the magicians and tried to strike a conversation.


    "Quiet, you have no rights to speak with us." The magician boldly replied. Not battering at eye on him.


    ''No rights to speak with you? Mister, you look like you are in your forties yet you are still in the Mage realm, even Anna could beat you with one move.'' Edwin turned his sight away from the man and just rolled his eyes in disgust.


    "Did you just roll your eyes?" The man audaciously asked.


    "Err... what if I say yes?" Edwin cheekily stared back at the magician with a provocative tone.


    "You...! Don''t you dare be brazen to me kid!" The man further became more overbearing and almost lifted up his staff.


    Edwin: "But what if I continue to be so?"


    Also Edwin: :3


    ''Is this guy trying to commit suicide?!'', Alice wanted to stop Edwin from teasing the magician, but because of her nervousness she was as still as a statue.


    She knew that the magician was only a mage, with Edwin trying to provoke the other party, she knew he would easily beat him up.


    "I''ll kill you!" The man lifted up his staff on the air, however, the other magician blocked the line of sight of his comrade and said, "Calm down, don''t do it here. Calm down."


    As the other magician tried to settle down his fellow, Edwin showed his tongue from behind the former which further enraged the latter.


    "I''m going to get you kid!" The fuming mage was about to push away his companion and shoot a spell at Edwin when the host finally came back.


    "Sir and ma''am, may you please come with me?" The host politely requested.


    On the other hand, Edwin and Alice didn''t reply and just stood up and followed the host.


    "You should be quiet because you are going bother the sirs, if you don''t keep your mouth shut you''ll be fired!" The host threatened the fumming mage in a calm and authorative manner; forcing the latter to obey and only angrily stare at Edwin.


    ''With his age, this man could become my uncle, yet his temper is like an immature kid younger than me.'' Edwin thought.


    Entering the other room, the two of them saw that it looked like large living room. The main colors of the chamber were green and yellow, which gave off a relaxing vibe like they were in a forest.


    There were bookshelves filled with writings, even a big glass container full of scrolls, and a few parchments sealed and placed on the walls.


    There were three people that were sitting on three separate beautified wooden chairs that had soft and cottony bases and restbacks around a table. Two of the chairs had equal height, but one of them was higher compared to the other two.


    A thin elderly wearing white alchemist robes with gold and black linings was sitting on the tallest chair, while a man and a woman were resting on the other two.


    After the door behind them closed, the woman flicked her fingers and an invisible barrier surrounded the room.


    Edwin sensed that it was a barrier that could block people''s communication and prevent others from prying into this room.


    Or worse yet, to block their call for help.


    ''That woman is only an adept.'' Edwin judged according to the power of the barrier and along with the fact he could still feel the power of the woman.


    "Before I give the 900,000 mana stones, already taking away the 10% fee of auctioning the pill. Answer this question first, from whom did you obtain it from?" The younger man asked the question, looking towards Alice.


    "From a customer, sir." Alice replied with utmost respect. The people in front of them weren''t the type of persons one could easily offend.


    "Do you know the background of that customer?", the man continued to ask.


    "No, sir.", Alice replied with a calm face. With several years of her business expertise, she had haggled with a lot of customers. Her experience of facing people were now helping her to put on a calm facade.


    "You do know if you are lying, your life is going to be torn apart for it." The man sternly replied.


    "I wouldn''t do so, sir." Alice answered back.


    As the man was about to say something again when the elderly interjected, "That''s enough, just give them the mana stones."


    The man was surprised by the other''s command, nevertheless, he obeyed it and stood up to give Alice a small bag.


    "Do you have a large enough spatial storage to store that amount of mana stones?" The elderly asked.


    "No, sir.", Alice shook her head.


    "Keep the bag then, and off you go." The elderly said. The old man looked at the woman. The former didn''t need to speak and the latter removed the barrier.


    "Before you go, who is that boy beside you?" The elderly questioned.


    "H-he''s my... umm, boyfriend." Alice immediately answered back.


    "Alright then, you may exit." The aged man let the two of them leave, guided by the host.


    "Sir, why did you dismiss them so fast?" The man looked over. "They most likely really know where Alchemist Morgan is."


    "The information that she gave is enough." The elderly drank the glass of wine on the table.


    "Enough?" The man and woman curiously asked at the same time.


    "Enough for me to take doubt on what she said." The elder swirled the glass and the corners of his lips slightly rose.


    ...


    Both Edwin and Alice were walking alone in a corridor, the host already left the two of them after he led them out of the lounge.


    It was a silent walk between the two of them, Alice was on the other side of the wall as Edwin was too. Earlier, after they exited the lounge, the two of them began to take distance from each other.


    "Don''t take what I said earlier seriously." Finally, the silence was broken by Alice. She still didn''t try to make eye contact with him tho.


    "Yeah, I won''t." Edwin replied back, avoiding eye contact too.


    Suddenly, the two of them stopped in their places.


    ''Why can''t I move?!'', Alice tried to shake her body, but she was as frozen as a statue on her spot.


    ''Somebody just froze us in place!'' Although his body was frozen, Edwin could still move his eyes and he spotted a figure at the other end of the corridor approaching them.


    When the figure was already close enough to be recognized, Edwin saw that it was the old man from earlier!


    With his hands behind his back and with a slightly bent posture, he went over at Edwin and placed an orb on his hand. Saying loud enough for Alice to hear, "If he has time, tell Allen that I, Esmund, want to talk with him alone. This very orb on your hands is my payment to see him."


    He also went over to Alice and smiled, "Also, lying to old people is bad for young people like you."


    After that, he resumed walking, passing the two of them; finally, Edwin and Alice only got to move again when the sound of footsteps disappeared.


    Freed from being immobilized, the girl slid to the ground and panted in nervousness, "I thought I was going to die." There were even traces of tears on her eyes as she stated those words. It was like a bucket of cold water was thrown over her.


    Edwin approached over and calmed her down. When she finally collected her emotions she asked what he got from the old man.


    "It looks like it''s an internal energy orb." Edwin could feel the energy inside the orb resonating with the mana and internal energy within him.


    "Let''s get out of here before that old man changes his mind." Keeping the orb in his satchel, he supported her up.


    "Okay." Alice muttered under her breath then resumed walking with a faster pace.

 105 Mid-stage Adept Strength

    As Edwin and Alice entered the latter''s alchemy shop, they spotted Allen sitting on a chair reading the plant encyclopedia.


    Allen kept the book in his satchel and looked over the two of them, "What''s wrong with her?" He asked as he glanced at the perturbed Alice.


    "I''ll go upstairs, I''m just going to sleep first. Excuse me, Sir Alchemist Morgan." She apologized and walked upstairs with haste.


    "Care to explain?" He gazed at Edwin.


    The boy then recalled everything to Allen that occurred from them entering the lounge towards the room, to the three that seemed to be like higher-ups of a certain group, until to Esmund''s ''invitation''; minus the part where he angered the mage.


    Edwin asked, "Do you know him?"


    "Yes, we have our grievances with each other", Allen replied.


    Edwin kept silent and didn''t probe deeper.


    Suddenly, Allen added, "Also, getting humiliated by that person wielding saber is a disgrace to you, isn''t it? I watched how you miserably failed defending yourself against that person."


    ''He knows?'' Edwin was startled and became a little nervous, he thought that Allen was angry under that colorless tone of his voice and his unchanging expression.


    "I''m sorry for disappointing you." Edwin said while trying to avoid the other''s eyes.


    "Stop being guilty. You''ve been apologetic these past few days." Allen stood up and handed Edwin over a book; the latter took hold of it and he read its cover.


    "Flicker Encyclopedia Vol. 4? Umm, I know this could improve my Flicker, but what about my fighting skills?", Edwin asked.


    "You can go train your fighting skills in the harvest lands outside the city." Allen replied, "I''ll allow you to train for as long as you want and lend you that book to improve your Flicker until we leave the city."


    "Thank you!", Edwin appreciated from the bottom of his heart.


    "If you won''t get stronger after everything else, I''ll have to personally train you.", Allen said.


    "Really?" Edwin had a slight glimmer on his eyes, ''Should I purposely slow my improvement so Allen will teach me?'' His strength would most likely improve if Allen personally taught him again.


    Allen continued, "I will use my full strength when doing so."


    "Oh." The glimmer on his eyes faded away when he heard the continuation of the sentence. If Allen would use his full strength in training him, it would just be a one-sided massacre on the part of Edwin.


    And the boy knew that Allen would show no mercy to him. He also inwardly shuddered that he would probably feel the same pain from that Red Thorn of the elves.


    "Don''t worry, I won''t disappoint you!" Edwin eagerly said.


    "Didn''t you say that Esmund gave you an Internal Energy Orb, I want to take a look at it." Allen remembered Edwin''s story and asked.


    "Oh? Here." Edwin took out the Internal Energy Orb from his satchel and handed it over to Allen. The latter then appraised it.


    Edwin asked, "What''s wrong with it?"


    Not a long time passed when Allen gave it back to Edwin and said, "Nothing. I was just checking if that old man did some few additions on it. And it''s not just an Internal Energy Orb, it''s actually a Hybrid Energy Orb. It also has the same level of mana in it. It''s very compatible for you."


    "But is it safe to use?" Edwin asked.


    "Yes, but remember; never trust Esmund if he gave you more gifts." Allen said.


    The boy only nodded in response and committed what Allen said into his mind.


    Allen stood up from his place and added, "How about I help you integrate that orb into your body?"


    "Yes!"


    ***


    "I can''t believe it! Why of all occasions he came back at this very moment!" Gavin fiercefully slashed his saber through a tree. The tree was cleanly sliced sidewards and toppled to the ground afterwards.


    The backyard garden of Gavin''s rented villa was all a mess. Flowers, shrubs, and even the destroyed parts of the small bird fountain was everywhere on the ground.


    Gavin sat down on the grassy patch of land and panted, not due to exhaustion, but due to the anger boiling from within him.


    "Want some tea to calm yourself down, sir?" Mr. Howard brought over a platter with a teapot and a pair of teacups over it.


    "Yes, thank you." Gavin nodded. Mr. Howard sat beside him on the grass and poured some tea on the cups, after which, they started sipping in its contents.


    After Gavin finally cooled down, Mr. Howard asked a question, "What are you going to do now that he''s here?"


    "Continue with the plan." Gavin replied.


    "Is that really all you want to do?", Mr. Howard looked at Gavin with a serious countenance.


    "Why are you looking at me like that?" Gavin asked and requested for a refill, after getting one, he resumed speaking, "It''s as if you don''t trust me."


    "Don''t look at it that way. I just know what you could do to a great extent." Mr. Howard drank more tea, "You shouldn''t let your anger overcome you, or else, your plan will fail."


    "Also." Mr. Howard added, "I got some news that that organization is now hunting for you, if you expose yourself you will be killed as soon as possible."


    "I just want to pull their roots out of this city. I don''t want them to control such a vital place for the alchemists." Gavin replied.


    "The problem is do you know their most powerful asset or their overseer in this location?", Mr. Howard asked.


    "No." Gavin shook his head, "But I''ll find out."


    "You can get yourself killed by doing so.", Mr. Howard sighed, "Sir Gavin, I know that you really want to help rooting those people out of here, but your life will be in great danger because of this endeavor of yours. You''re only as powerful as an adept, but we don''t even know what level of strength all of your enemies have."


    "Why does it seem that you''re against what I want to do?", Gavin glanced at Mr. Howard.


    On the other hand, Mr. Howard answered back, "I''ll have nobody to serve once you get killed, and I''m truly worried for your safety."


    After a pause, he added, "Sir, you came back yesterday with your wrist bleeding. You needed your own made pill just to heal it."


    Along with their tougher body, internal energy practitioners had a boosted regeneration compared to magicians. It wasn''t as powerful as Allen''s Regeneration technique, but it was better than normal people''s.


    A wound of an internal energy practitioner signalled many things. A few of which was their enemy''s strength was far greater than theirs or their body was deteriorating.


    "I think whoever attacked me was only there to avenge whoever that person who could use Flicker I fought against outside the walls." Gavin replied, "But the weird thing is, I had to concoct a more powerful pill just for my wound to heal, even though I already swallowed some healing pills. I couldn''t even rejuvinate it with the healing pills I brought with me."


    "Maybe that person only wounded you as a warning too. You really should stop offending more people for some time if you want to solve the predicament here in this city." Mr. Howard suggested.


    "Don''t worry, I''m not alone, I''m with somebody else.", Gavin replied.


    "I know." Mr. Howard nodded, "If you''re confident with what you''re doing, then I won''t be able to change your mind; now, can I ask for you help?"


    "Sure, what am I going to do?"


    "Help me clean up the mess here."


    Gavin looked around at the untidy surroundings and chuckled awkwardly, "Hehe, I might have overdone my rage."


    ***


    It was already night when Allen and Edwin returned to the villa. The two of them went straight to the backyard.


    "Sit cross-legged and give me the orb." Allen said.


    Edwin followed what the other stated. Allen also sat cross-legged in front of the boy and grasped the orb with both of his hands.


    Next, he sent internal energy towards his palms which passed through his gloves and to the surface of the orb, and then he began rubbing the orb in a circular motion.


    The orb then started shrinking with the help of the internal energy coming from Allen; its diameter became shorter and shorter in length and stopped when it was already as small as a fingernail.


    Allen then handed it over to Edwin, with him still being unsure on what to do next.


    "Eat it. Then the integrating process will start." Allen said.


    "Just like that?" Edwin asked with some doubt.


    Allen nodded in response.


    "So you won''t turn it into a pill or elixir or won''t do any powering rituals?" Edwin asked.


    "No." Allen shook his head.


    "It seems so simple." Edwin commented. "Well, here it goes." He unhesitatingly swallowed the little orb.


    "The process will also be very painful." Allen added the last minute.


    "Wait, hold up..." His sentence was cut midway when he felt a stomachache. However, that pain instantly subsided.


    He sent his sense everywhere in his body and noticed a large exponential growth of mana and internal energy.


    "Rapidly circulate those energies all throughout your body. Don''t waste a single second. The energy the orb gave you will slowly disperse away." Allen said.


    "Okay." Edwin concentrated and started the circulation.


    As both type of energies were circulated around his body, they began to fully merge into his system and even to the fleshy body itself.


    The integration of mana was swift and many times faster than internal energy; as the latter''s origin didn''t come from Edwin''s body, it would have a hard time merging to him.


    Like how medicines that "rejuvinate" one''s internal energy, they weren''t supplying the body of the said energy but was only stimulating the body boosting its production of the mentioned energy.


    However, the energy coming from the Internal Energy Orbs originated from another life form such as a plant or even extracted internal energy from a human or even animals capable of utilizing it.


    Meanwhile, even though there was also mana in the Hybrid Energy Orb, it wasn''t a hard procedure as although it did come from possibly a far place, there was generally only one type of mana that everybody would be using.


    The process of integration of mana was smooth, but for the internal energy, it could be described as the rough side of two rocks sliding pass each other.


    Even though it was a difficult procedure, Edwin only hissed from time to time, but eventually didn''t shout nor cried out in pain until he finally finished the assimilation.


    "You have a high level of pain resistance.", Allen said.


    .


    "Oh." Edwin remembered what happened in the Monarch Forest, "I just got wounded again and again." He replied, not mentioning what occurred in the said location.


    "Mhm." Allen glanced the other from top to bottom, "You became stronger, you are as strong as a mid-stage adept now."


    "I did?", Edwin checked his strength by sending out a full-powered dagger flash to the air. The flash flew away in a blink of an eye, but the most noticeable thing for him is that it became faster and stronger.


    "Haha!" Edwin grinned as he sensed the improvement of his strength.


    "Now get used to your new level of power.", Allen said. Once Edwin accomplished doing it, he would be able to maximize the use of his strength.


    "But what about the competition? I want to watch you in the elimination rounds." Edwin questioned. He would have to focus on his training for many days to achieve that goal, also sacrificing the time for watching the alchemy competition.


    "You can watch me compete once it''s already at the final round. For now, your main objective is to enhance your overall fighting strength, because you fought like a mindless barbarian when you encountered that saber-wielding person." Allen replied and stood up, "Go to sleep."


    After which, he walked back in the villa.


    "Good night." Edwin greeted back with a low voice. Then he thought, ''I wish I had that kind of confidence.''

 106 A Rainbow of Emotions

    Early at dawn the next day, Allen went to the kitchen to cook up tea.


    After making tea, he filled the already prepared teacup and called out, "Edwin?" However, he didn''t answer back.


    He called out one more time, nevertheless, it was still quiet. Allen went into the boy''s room and saw that he was still sleeping soundly.


    Allen placed his hands on the bed. He exerted force on his hands and threw over the bed.


    -thud-


    Edwin woke up from his sleep and angrily scanned the surroundings, "Who''s that?! I''m going to..." When he spotted Allen, he immediately shut his mouth up and greeted him.


    "You are going to what?" Allen asked. Referring to the other''s unfinished sentence.


    On the other hand, Edwin and just made a short laugh, "It''s nothing. It''s nothing!" Shakings off the question.


    The boy stood up and politely asked, "What are you doing here, Allen?"


    "Waking you up." He replied and fixed the bed back to its original position, "It''s much better if you go to the harvest lands early. New mana plants and internal energy plants grow daily there, specially during dawn where there aren''t many people."


    "Okay, I''ll get ready." Edwin replied with a smile.


    Allen nodded and left his room. As soon as he left, Edwin''s smile became stiff, ''Did somebody ever get a continuous good night sleep because of him?!''


    He then proceeded on taking a bath.


    It wasn''t actually necessary to take a bath for him with his level of strength, he could use internal energy to expel all the filth from his body. Nevertheless, he took one because he felt more refreshed than taking the ''shortcut''.


    After the bath, he wore a gray shirt, tight black pantaloons, and leather boots. Of course his satchel won''t be left behind, then walked to the kitchen and saw Allen preparing breakfast.


    "Where''s my white robes? I couldn''t find it.", Edwin asked.


    "It''s covered with your blood, so you are going to wear a cloak instead." Allen threw over a green cloak which Edwin caught hold of; then the former added, "Sit down and eat."


    "Alright." Edwin followed and sat down.


    Like how people who were as powerful or were adepts need to sleep, they also had to eat meals regularly or take fasting pills; unlike the ones as strong or were wizards, who could live without doing those things.


    It was a seemingly simple difference, however, that stark distinction showed the disparity of power between the said two levels.


    That''s why when an internal energy practitioner became as powerful as a wizard or adepts becoming wizards, they were nearly above everyone in almost anywhere.


    Right after he finished eating, Edwin bid goodbye and left the villa.


    Allen cleaned up the dining table and changed his clothes with the same ones he used during the auction, then also left the villa with the sun already peeking through the horizon.


    He later arrived in front of a palace-like building, which was none other where the auction had taken place.


    Staying outside for a few moments, he entered the structure afterwards.


    Today, although the auction was already over, there were still a number of people visiting that location.


    Allen passed through an entrance to a separate room which lead him what it seemed like a museum. He stopped in front of an object surrounded by a transparent glass cover.


    The object had an oval shape and was twice as a large as a fingernail; in addition, if one had a careful eye, they could notice that that thing had multiple layers.


    It was none other than Allen''s merged pill.


    "You were really a made-up genius in your generation." Somebody stated beside Allen. "It''s a pity that you were a coward and ran away."


    "Before I left, I felt you were a douche bag." Allen turned his eyes at the old man beside him. "You are still a sadist until today, Esmund."


    "At least you still remember me, kid!" Esmund cracked a smile. "Look at you, you are a young man now and as powerful as a wizard too! The last time I saw you you were still easy to kill."


    "What do you want to talk with me?", Allen asked.


    "Straightforward, I see. But based on the tone of your voice, you still haven''t obtained back your emotions." Esmund and pointed at his own right eye, "And you still didn''t heal your right eye yet." He shook his head in disappointment.


    After a pause, the old man added, "I guess you are still clueless, boy."


    "If I''m only here to get mocked, then I''ll just see myself out." Allen turned around and was about to walk away when Esmund halted him.


    "Don''t be impatient!" Esmund stopped Allen from walking away, "I called you here for a job."


    "If it involves killing, I''m not going to participate in it." Allen replied.


    "Heh, I take it back, you don''t really remember me." Esmund snickered. After which, Allen resumed walking towards the exit.


    Esmund caught up to him and held his shoulder, "I know what you want." He took out a little shining shard from his pockets and continued, "Here''s a Soul Shard. I hope you could change your mind." Then the old man stuffed it in Allen''s hands.


    "I''m still not going to do the job." Allen replied back.


    "What about this then?", Esmund then peeked out another Soul Shard from his pockets, albeit this time, it had a rainbow color.


    Allen glanced at it then looked at the other''s eyes, "The last time I used that shard, the only thing I felt was utter regret." He still refused the job and just exited the building.


    "Your body is still greedy." Esmund shook his head and grinned, "He still kept the Soul Shard that I gave him."


    ***


    In an early morning on a certain day...


    "Junior brother Allen!" Airein called out from afar and ran over. When she got close enough, she pulled Allen''s hair towards her which nearly made him stumble to the ground.


    "What do you want, senior sister?" Allen asked without any change of expression. Disregarding the fact that his hair was being pulled.


    "Senior brother Gavin wants to talk with you." Airein let go of the other''s hair.


    "You didn''t have to be very loud." Allen fixed his hair back to the way it was. "There are people still sleeping."


    "Hehe, but Senior brother Gavin told me to as loud as possible." Airein chuckled.


    -bam-


    A stomping noise originated from right behind Airein, making her jump in fright and turn around to see what it was.


    "Oh? Senior brother Gavin!" Airein smiled when he saw the older apprentice.


    "I told you to be as loud as possible?" Gavin pondered while looking at the sky as if he''s recalling something. "Well, there are people that are still sleeping, so I probably told you that." He made a stern narrow look towards her afterwards.


    "Hehe..." She chuckled again. With a blink of an eye she sprinted away like a cheetah, leaving dust behind on the wake.


    Gavin turned his head to Allen and said, "The branch chief wants to see you."


    Allen: "Chief?"


    "Yes, the chief.", Gavin nodded and explained. "The organization of alchemists here in Alchem Town is just one of the branches of Alchemist Union."


    The both of them walked side-by-side and Gavin continued, "The current leader here is Esmund. He''s from the central region and sent by the Union itself."


    "Why does he want to see me?" Allen asked.


    "I don''t know." Gavin shrugged, "Maybe something important. After all, you are extremely talented, they say. Probably better than I am."


    "You won''t be angry if I surpass you?" Allen questioned again.


    Gavin shook his head in response and said, "I''d be happy instead if somebody does surpass me. Being the best of the younger generation is so stressful." He breathe out hot air as he recalled the hard assignments that had been given.


    "I won''t be able to beat you, they say you''re the cream of the crop even if compared to the other best of the best of different branches." Allen replied.


    "Don''t be so negative! You already have a dead face while you''re still not enthusiastic. Try to smile for once, junior brother. You will look much better if you do that." Gavin patted Allen''s back, "I think it''s been a year since you arrived here. How time flies by."


    "Mhm.", Allen nodded, scratched his eyepatch, then remained silent.


    ...


    "Here''s the office of Branch Chief Esmund." Gavin and Allen stopped in front of a two-floored stone bungalow. The former knocked on the door and reminded the latter, "Be respectful, alright? I''ll go somewhere else now, I still have an unfinished task to do."


    Gavin then left Allen behind in the area. Later, the latter entered the house by himself when he heard someone called him from inside.


    As soon as he entered, the voice called to him again to climb upstairs. He immediately went to the second floor and spotted two doors. One of the doors was slightly opened while the other was closed; then he entered the first door.


    "Close the door."


    Allen followed the order then looked at the seated person. The man was wearing a mantle of deep color and there was a symbol of the Union on the left part of his garment, showing his high position within the organization; in addition, his hair was also turning gray.


    "Have a seat." The old man pointed at the seat at the other side of his desk.


    The young Allen took a sit. Afterwards, the man immediately introduced himself, "You probably already heard of me. My name is Esmund, branch chief of the Alchemist Union in this particular region." He then showed a smile that made him look like a humble sheep.

 107 All Se

    Like in a flash, three days had already passed as if time accelerated like lightning. Today, was the day of the long-awaited competition; a tournament that would only occur once every half a century which would take place in Ryon City.


    The streets near the venue were packed of decorations that were set up a few days beforehand in preparation. Near the center of the city was a humongous structure that was as tall as Ryon''s walls. Not only the height of the building was huge but also was its capacity capable of accommodating three-quarters of a million people.


    It was a roofed coliseum.


    Nevertheless, this roofed coliseum was just one of the colossal infrastructures within that part of the city. There was also the Ryon City Marquis'' estate although nearly devoid of large buildings, its land size could be compared to Crescent Town.


    There was also the beautiful large cathedral of the Retollian Church in this very city too.


    ***


    The branch office complex of the Alchemist Union was also standing in this city, showcasing how the said organization was one of the most powerful faction within the Monarch Walls.


    The cathedral and the branch office complex of the Union-Alchem Town weren''t near the coliseum, but were on a separate area along with the city administrative building.


    Within one of the buildings in the branch office complex, Esmund was sitting on the high chair in a conference room at the end of a long table, and along with him were the higher-ups of the particular branch he was heading sitting on the seats on the two sides of the table.


    "The day has come for us to host this once every five-decade tournament. I sincerely hope everybody and everything is prepared.", Esmund voice reverberated throughout the quiet chamber then he looked at one of the seated men.


    "Rest assured sir, we are more than ready." The seated man whom he gazed at replied and took a peek through the papers he was holding, "Summarizing everything, the tools to be used during all the rounds except for the final one are prepared. The array that can hinder almost every kind of magical transportation for extra security has already been finished after it was started to be set up last night and what is only needed are your orders to activate it, it''s expected that it will cover the whole city."


    "Why is such formation needed during this time? In the past competitions there weren''t such any kind of those arrays, even small-scale ones." Another man questioned.


    "It''s because we have new visitors, we wouldn''t want them to get hurt, do we?" Esmund was the one who replied to the question. It might seem like a worried tone, but there was a tinge of sarcasm inserted in it.


    "What if those ''visitors'' will run amok? I''m guessing that they are powerful enough to ignore the effects of our array." The second man replied.


    "Oh, we know, Asdrim. The array is there just in case if they brought more friends." The first man chuckled as he thought of the possibility of what he said.


    The other people within the room also chuckled, but the happy air instantly turned into a solemn one afterwards, and that''s when the first man continued speaking, "The security would mainly be provided by the Marquis'' forces, but we already requested some reinforcements from the national government too for a thicker two-sided shield."


    After a pause, the first man added, "Well, in the other areas it''s all set and the respective directors already raised the go-signal."


    "Great job." Esmund nodded in satisfaction, "Also, the bishop of the eastern region and one of the government cabinet members will be attending this event too. Let us all show our best courtesy." He stood up and said, "Let this meeting be adjourned, and may this tourney be bountiful for each and every one of us."


    Esmund glanced at the first man, "I hereby allow the activation of the array."


    "It will commence." The man nodded.


    As the meeting signaled its end, the attendees stood up and began to exit the room, as Esmund was about to join the leaving crowd, another old man pulled him closer then whispered close to him, "I hope you already apologized to Allen."


    "There''s nothing to apologize to him, Samuel." Esmund calmly answered, "You know, the two of you are a parallel mix, not only disrespectful to the higher-ups, but are also hardheaded. You have been bothering me about this."


    "He''s only disrespectful to you." Samuel retorted


    Esmund then unexpectedly went closer to Samuel''s ear and whispered something back, then he smiled after doing so.


    "Are you lying or not?" Samuel asked.


    "Is that a rhetorical question?", Esmund laughed and added, "Go oversee the array, Samuel." After that short command, he then left the room.


    ***


    In the villa...


    "Can''t I really go with you just for today?", Edwin requested. He has been training for a few days, and was nearly used to the new level of his strength.


    "No, focus on your improvement." Allen replied. "Or I won''t let you watch me in the final round."


    "Okay, okay! I will!", Edwin nervously backed away from Allen by a short distance. ''Why can''t he just let me watch for once? Hais, nevermind, maybe this is for my own good.''


    Allen clothed himself of his alchemist robes over the shirt and tight pantaloons he was wearing and strapped his satchel around him.


    As he approached the door, Edwin called out, "I hope you will be successful, Allen!"


    He stopped on his tracks and said, "I will." After which, Allen left the villa.


    ***


    Walking through the streets, Allen slipped through amidst the populous crowd who were eagerly gossiping about the upcoming tournament.


    ''I can sense the faint aura of an array covering the whole city. It''s familiar.'' Allen thought.


    Later, he walked into an empty alley and drawn an array beneath him. After fully drawing it, he planted his hand on top of it and transferred internal energy. The array started to glow and when it reached its climax, he disappeared from his location.


    ***


    Somewhere underground...


    Several people were sitting cross-legged inside a closed chamber. Each and every one of them had a blue-glowing rough pillar which were made from mana stones behind them where they harvest extra mana.


    Under them were also small circles connected towards a bigger one with complicated symbols and words on the middle of the enclosed room. And that larger circle has veins reaching out towards the tunnels that crossed every part of the city.


    "Director Samuel, the array perceived somebody has used some sort of method of teleportation inside the city." One of the seated men said towards an old man.


    "What kind of teleportation?" Samuel asked.


    "Array-type.", the man replied, "Our array actually sensed it prior to its full activation."


    He added, "It has the same mark-type as the drawn arrays we use, sir. It''s probably one of our men, but we already informed beforehand the prohibition of its usage during this event."


    "Tell me that person''s current location, I''ll contact some men to punish whoever was that." One of the other array overseers stated.


    "No need, I''ll personally go over there to scold that person." Samuel stood up from his position and summoned his magician staff, "I want to stretch outside before sitting here all day."


    "Really, sir?"


    "Sir''s a true gentleman!"


    -happy whistling noises-


    "Bravo!"


    -clapping noises-


    "I have never thought you can be this considerate." The man who said this sentence made thumbs up.


    ''Did he take some addictive drugs?''


    Everybody else in the room applauded the actions of Samuel as if they were little kids in an elementary school.


    Despite Samuel being their overall superior, the people assigned with him were his somewhat acquaintances and were able to tease him.


    "Silence you old men!!" Samuel snorted and chanted a spell which teleported him out of the place.


    Everyone remaining in the room: "..."


    That one smart-looking person in the chamber: "Did he invoke his rights to self-incrimination?"


    -poof-


    Samuel suddenly appeared back and said to the person who first reported, "Where did that person teleport to?"


    Everybody else again: "..."


    ***


    -whoosh-


    Samuel reappeared at an alley. As soon as he stabilized his senses, he spotted the back of a robed person seemingly trying to get something out of his satchel.


    "You!" Samuel fiercely pointed his staff at the other as if he''s a prosecutor of justice and continued, "There is already a circular that it''s temporarily not allowed to initiate any use teleportation in the city. You, as an employee of the Alchem Town branch, you are hereby put under the jurisdiction of..." If it was a normal employee working for them ranking below a director, he or she would have frozen on the stop.


    However, his sentence didn''t get to finish when the other person turned around to look at him. Samuel also froze on the spot when he recognized who it was.


    "..." Samuel didn''t know what to say next.


    It was Allen! It was actually him?!


    He then imagined scenarios of how the next few seconds would go on like casual greetings, or a small fight, or a dramatic scene of his, or an opera-like music show, or the world suddenly breaking apart because it''s made of glass, or a heavenly beam descending from the heavens and claiming retribution of all lives all over the lands and seas and on the air.


    And even thought of this:


    "So, we meet again." Samuel cracked his hands and brawnily approached Allen while emitting a powerful visible aura.


    ...


    "I know you are imagining things again." His line of thought was interrupted when Allen began speaking.


    Samuel coughed to ease his awkwardness and replied with a squeaky voice, "No I''m not!"


    "You thought of a world-ending disaster." Allen said.


    ''This kid... how does he know me?!'' Samuel inwardly choked. He didn''t directly reply back at Allen''s statement and only stated, "You finally decided to come back to the spotlight."


    "No, I''m not. I am only here to do something." Allen replied.


    Samuel: "Do something? What is it?"


    "It''s best not for you to know.", Allen answered back.


    "Oh." Samuel was a bit disappointed that Allen was secretive of his goal. He then swallowed his saliva and gently said to him, "Please... return back to us already."


    A short period of quietness came afterwards. Samuel painfully waited for a response, seemingly like it was taking forever.


    Allen began speaking back, "I know you want me to return back, but you don''t own me. You tried to invite me to your merchant guild in the Eastern Horizon City and kept bugging me join it in the name of protection because of the dagger." He responded and took a glance at Samuel, "You only want me to go back to you, not to them. Get your priorities straight, and maybe you yourself too." He turned back towards the exit and resumed walking.


    "You...!" Caught off guard by the reply and wanting to say something in response, Samuel thought of topics or words but Allen was already long gone after.

 108 The Competition Has Begun!

    At the back of the coliseum, numerous people were lining up to register for the contest.


    Each person has his or her objective in participating at the competition. Some were there just to join the hype, some were there purely to experience what it''s like to be in the expert circle, some were there to obtain fame, a few were there due to some certain desperations, a number of them also joined due to the desire of winning, and many more.


    Allen was still a distance away from the registry table. He was reading the plant encyclopedia while waiting for his turn to register.


    He felt his robe was being tugged from the back. Turning around to see who it was, he saw a little kid with his big eyes looking back at him curiously.


    "Excuse me, mister. What are you reading there?" The kid asked with the cute constant tone of how children spoke.


    Allen: "A book."


    "What kind of book is it?" The kid asked again.


    "A thick book." Allen answered back.


    "What kind of a thick book is it?" The kid questioned again.


    "An encyclopedia."


    "What kind of an encyclopedia?"


    After the last question, a wave of silence prevailed over Allen and the little boy. The latter was still looking up at the former''s left eye, not noticing the indifferent look that could give one a chill down their spine.


    "Why are you here?" Allen ignored the kid''s last question and asked his own.


    "My master told me to join the competition for experience." He replied.


    "He''s not accompanying you to register?" Allen asked.


    "Nope." The kid answered.


    "Your master is lousy." Allen commented straightforwardly, not batting an eye on the kid''s feelings.


    However, on the other hand, the kid only shrugged in response, "I heard a lot of people call him like that."


    "Who is your master It''s not possible for an alchemist master to be known like that." Allen asked. Based from the boy''s testimony, his master was notorious for being like that.


    Alchemists under an organization who were allowed to take on personal students in a master-apprentice relationship would be one of the best in he group. For him, it''s quite impossible for a complete good-for-nothing teacher would appear from them.


    Even if the master wasn''t in an organization, they''d still have a degree of dignity as an alchemist not to be known like that.


    "I don''t know his full name, but most of the time they call him... I think... err... Director Samuel?" The boy answered.


    "I know him. He''s totally lousy."


    "You know him, mister?" The boy asked.


    "Yes." Allen nodded. "Do you really want to participate in this contest? I guess that your master already taught you the basics of alchemy, but it''s not enough."


    "No, not really." The kid declined that he wanted to join. "But yes, master already taught me all the branches of alchemy." He beamed, showing the proudness from his achievement.


    The kid then added, "I didn''t want to join in the first place, but I want to see my idols! Master said that they will also be here joining!" His eyes shone brightly with fervor.


    "Who are they?" Allen asked.


    "There''s Ma''am Dorothy of Ikkleshan, said to be the one of the most cunning battle-concocters. There''s Sir Gavin of East Gate City, one of the most talented alchemists in the whole kingdom! Then the best of them all, Sir Alchemist Morgan, who first concocted the famous layered pill!" His clenched his hands and shook it up and down due to his excitement.


    "I already personally saw Ma''am Dorothy and Sir Gavin, but didn''t get to talk with them. But I really want to see Sir Alchemist Morgan personally the most, he''s the only one that I haven''t seen yet." The kid kept hopping in agitation as he imagined the scene of meeting his idols.


    As Allen and the little boy kept conversing with each other, as if the time accelerated, the two of them reached the end of the line.


    "Enter your name in this gem." The registrar pointed at a big green gem on the table.


    Allen planted his hand on top of the gem directed some of his internal energy inside it. After writing his name, the registrar let him pass and enter the coliseum.


    Suddenly, a loud deep horn sounded out and a voice could be heard afterwards, "The signed-up participants has reached the maximum number for this competition."


    "The signed-up participants has reached the maximum number for this competition." The message repeated for a few more times until it stopped.


    Sounds of disappointment, anger, and frustration rose among the incoming people who were suppose to be signing up.


    Allen turned around and saw the kid he talked with. The kid was doing tantrums and looked he wanted to cry. Meanwhile, the registrar in front of him tried to calm him down.


    "He''s with me." Allen told the registrar. "Aren''t we allowed to bring in helpers?"


    "Well yes, it''s not prohibited." The registrar nodded and went to the side to make a path. The little boy showed a surprised countenance and froze on the spot.


    "Don''t you want to enter?" Allen questioned.


    The boy ran over at his side and they continued to walk in the venue. The soon as they left the coliseum''s outermost area, they encountered a long corridor dimly lit by magical glowing stones on the walls.


    "Thank you, mister." The kid''s cute little voice quietly sparked out amidst the dim lighting in the corridor.


    "What''s your name?" Allen asked.


    "My name?", the kid paused on his sentence and thought of something.


    Finally, he replied, "James, my name is James."


    On the other hand, Allen introduced himself with his first name. After introducing themselves, James initiated another conversation with Allen if metallic objects could be melted and used as medicines.


    A little while later, they reached the end of the corridor where another man who checked if the incoming people were registered and gave them a pouch full of gemstones. The man also told him that there were important information about the first round written in the gems. After that, Allen was given a room number and he proceeded underground through the nearest stairs.


    The area was still lighted up by the glowing stones on the ceilings, and sometimes on the ground. Some vines and other plants were also present, hanging around and growing through the walls and floor.


    While walking even deeper, he used the time to read the information inside the gemstones.


    It didn''t take long after and they reached another corridor with rooms on each side. With the number plate on his hand, Allen searched for a door with the same number; when he found it, he inserted a gem that was provided by the second registrar earlier into a gap on the door.


    With a clicking sound, the door was unlocked and they both went in.


    Inside the room was a bed, a table, a few chairs, two small drawers on each side of the bed, another glowing stone lamp each on top of the drawers.


    James closed the door, sat by the table and silently observed Allen.


    Meanwhile, Allen inspected the floor of the room and found a gem socket a meter away from the door. He attempted to insert a gem in it but was unsuccessful; nevertheless, he tried the other gems in the pouch until one of them finally sank in.


    Another clicking was heard and the sound of a working underground mechanism could be detected. Only stopping until a circular symbol rose around the gem, afterwards, thin beams of metal pierced the gem from the symbol and a projection appeared mid-air which showed the ongoing occurrences in the main area of the coliseum.


    ***


    Meanwhile, the area around the coliseum was also nearly full of people who were watching from projections coming from gemstones like the one in Allen''s room.


    ***


    Earlier...


    In a room of the coliseum, five people were gathered, including of which was Esmund.


    Aside from him, there was the marquis of the Ryon City, Marquis Rowin, wearing the nobles'' attire; the young lady from the Aeoshun Observatory who was also their representative, Dianne, wearing the same robe when she greeted Allen; the bishop of the eastern region of the kingdom, Dominic, who was wearing his clergy uniform; and one of the officials of the Royal Cabinet, Theqias, wearing the official suit of the high-ranking members of the government along with the insignia of the kingdom on his collar.


    "The Lady sends her regards to Sir Esmund." Dianne slightly bent her back to bow.


    "Thank you."


    "As the representative of the of the Retollian Church, we send our congratulations to you, Mister Esmund." Dominic shook Esmund''s hand in greetings.


    "It is too early for success, good reverend." Esmund smiled.


    Theqias also made a handshake with Esmund and stuffed an envelope in his hands, "It''s a letter from the Chief Alchemist, Esmund."


    Esmund placed the envelope in his pockets and thanked Theqias.


    Theqias nodded and added, "His Majesty would also like to greet your branch on this occasion too."


    Esmund''s eyes slightly widened in surprise and he made another oral appreciation, "I''m so thankful to His Majesty for noticing this branch."


    After which, he also made a handshake with Rowin.


    "I hope this event will be successful." Marquis Rowin said.


    "Surely will, it has your full support after all, great marquis." Esmund replied with another smile.


    Rowin: "Mhm."


    "Let us go out already."


    ***


    Allen and James saw the angle of the projection changed and was directed towards the platform on the coliseum where there were five seats.


    After which, Esmund, Dominic, Dianne, Rowin, and Theqias appeared on the screen and walked towards the seats.


    Theqias sat on the middle seat, while on his left was Dominic, on his right was Esmund, on the far right was Rowin, and on the far left was Dianne.


    ***


    In another participant''s room, Gavin was sternly looking towards the screen.


    Along with him in the room was Mr. Howard, sitting beside him on the bed.


    ***


    Meanwhile, also in another contestant''s room, a woman was also paying attention at the screen.


    The woman had features of calmness, yet, under the calmness was an intimidating indifference.


    Of course, she was none other than Dorothy.


    ***


    The five all stood up, then Esmund walked to the edge of the platform, looked at all the spectators, then towards a giant floating projection above the place powered by four gemstones.


    He was currently being shown at the screen. Setting his sights away from the screen, he took out a gem and positioned it near his mouth.


    "Let the Ryon Alchemy Tournament, begin!" Esmund''s voice was projected throughout the whole coliseum and at the surrounding area outside the venue.


    All the spectators in the venue as well as the ones on the outside cheered loudly. A type of cheer that could deafen an unsuspecting person.

 109 The Black Book

    As the commencement of the tournament echoed throughout the coliseum; one of the gems carried by each participant glowed and floated up, then it crashed towards the wall and a stone arch emerged from the wall.


    The gem''s position was on the topmost part of the arch. The glow then began to disappear and reappear in a pattern, as if it''s a pulsating heart.


    Symbols surfaced from the stone arch as the pulsating glow travelled from top to bottom like blood flowing out of a heart, circulating towards the different parts of the body.


    A spark appeared and the part of the wall within the stone arch liquified and turned into a portal.


    "Whoa." James couldn''t help but express his amazement by the sight, "Mr. Allen, you will go through that to enter the first round?"


    "Yes." Allen nodded.


    "I wonder what is inside that portal." The kid murmured.


    Without replying, Allen then dropped his satchel beside the portal. It was unallowed to bring in any kinds of object, aside from clothes of course. If anybody tried to do so, the portal would repel them back.


    As Allen entered, the portal dispersed into nothingness.


    ***


    The first round would be mainly for elimination.


    In this round, each of the contestants would be presented 101 books. Each book has 1,000 images of countless varieties of plants, making a total of 100,000 images of plants to be filled up of their description.


    The requirement to pass this round is to obtain a total of 40,000 points. How were they to be calculated?


    There were 101 books, however, each of them also has different kinds of difficulties which could be determined through their covers.


    The easiest to fill up were the 35 white books. Each of the images filled up with the right description would be 1 point. Making it a total of 35,000 points.


    Next would be the 45 purple books. It would be 3 points per each image successfully answered. Making it a total of 135,000 points.


    The third type of book would be the red ones. There were 20 of them and each of the plant rightfully solved would give one 20 points. Which was a total of 400,000 points.


    Lastly, there was the single black book, with each of the plants drawn within it would be worth 40 points if correctly answered. Making it a perfect total of 40,000 points.


    It was also the most difficult book.


    All of the participants were teleported to another separate single tall chambers. Allen looked at the towers of stocked books, then he glanced at a single desk and chair with a working lamp on top of it.


    He also noticed that his strength was suppressed to the point he could be considered as a normal human after he entered the room.


    Although his strength was generally clamped down to a nil; his senses weren''t fully suppressed and noticed that his speed was much faster, or rather, the time was slower in the room. The slowness of time was a familiar sensation to Allen, he had encountered it before in the Mount Watchtower and inside his consciousness where the Erchian Dagger resided.


    Allen walked around the room first. He searched all around before picking up a book.


    It was the black book.


    He proceeded to the desk, sat down, and opened the book.


    ***


    Meanwhile, in the other rooms Dorothy, Gavin, and a few others also picked up the black book and opened its first page.


    As it was a single black book. A lot of them thought that it was best to answer it first because it would also provide the most points.


    On its first page, they all saw a drawing of a blue lotus flower, it was so realistic as if they could feel the coldness that the real flower would emanate just from the drawing.


    "Blizzard Crown Lotus?" All of them recognized the said plant.


    ***


    "This is so easy!"


    ***


    "Isn''t this supposed to be in the white books?" Said a baffled old man.


    ***


    "Talk about free 40 points." Another contestant clicked his tongue in surprise.


    ***


    They all wrote the Blizzard Crown Lotus'' description, from its petals towards its stems, its possible origin, even minor information such as its other variant names, etc.


    As soon as they finished writing each and every one of its definition, the page glowed, signifying they successfully obtained 40 points.


    Majority of the people who initially tried the black book was taken aback by the ease of the first image.


    As they were about to turn to the next page, the scene before them changed to a dark frozen snowing wasteland.


    ***


    "Oh no.", Gavin said as he unconsciously stood up, after he did so, the desk and the chair along with everything else on top of it disappeared out of thin air.


    "This wasn''t written in the gems!"


    ***


    Allen realized what was happening. He tried to sense internal energy within his body but he noticed that it was still suppressed.


    It was also the same occurrence with the contestants who answered the black book. Some of them began cursing themselves for their stupidity, while others started to ran towards in different directions as soon as it occurred.


    If somebody could watch the people who wrote on the black book, they''d be laughing from a number of the contestant''s reaction.


    Allen sensed something that set its sight on him, he slowly turned around and saw several blue eyes watching him under the blanket of darkness. The eyes made it seem like their possessor was some sort of a dangerous primordial beast.


    A high-pitched screeched emanating coldness and destitute sounded out from the direction of the eyes. Allen ran towards the opposite direction, while running away, he looked behind him to see nothing but empty darkness.


    Due to the heavy snowfall along with the suppression of his strength, Allen''s line of sight was reduced tremendously.


    "Mmmmhmm¡­" The monster behind him suddenly could be heard moaning, just after the moans the area around Allen became even colder, and he felt that the cold started to creep in his body and began corrupting it.


    Allen felt the sensation was familiar and he determined what it was, "Magic Frostbite."


    Ice gradually formed on his skin, beginning from his feet and from his hands. As his internal energy was suppressed, he couldn''t put up a fight against the power that was corrupting his body.


    A few moments of running later, he spotted a glowing dot from afar. Allen immediately turned towards the direction where the dot was and sprinted.


    Suddenly, he heard the sounds of something piercing through the air from the sky behind him. Numerous icicles rained down on him from above.


    The icicles hit the ground, and exploded into little bits of sharp ice which increased the danger of just being near them.


    However, where he could he hide from them in this plain of snow?


    There were short explosions every time those projectiles touch the ground. Allen carefully yet also hastily dodged the icicles and their remaining bits.


    The ground began shaking and shaking more intensively. Allen knew that the monster was getting closer and closer towards him.


    The rain of icicles stopped. At the same time, several blue eyes emerged from the darkness behind Allen. The distance between him and the eyes shortened by each second that passed.


    As the blue eyes arrived several meters away from Allen, the glowing dot from afar became even brighter and a ball of fire shot out from it.


    -boom-


    "EEEK¡­"


    The ball of fire hit the monster. Allen made a short glance of the beast behind him, and saw a giant multi-eyed four-legged beast.


    The eyes were on some sort of giant petals which were emitting a faint bluish light. The petals were located at the foremost front of the monster''s body, and in the part of the body where the petals were attached at was a mouth with numerous teeth made of ice.


    In addition, due to the light that the ball of fire provided, Allen also spotted the beast''s exposed spine on its back.


    But Allen didn''t waste a single chance that the monster was hindered by the fireball. With everything he got, he ran towards the source of the fire.


    When the dot of light was already as big as his fist from his perception. He stumbled in an area devoid of snow. Unlike the snowy wasteland, grass and other kinds of plants were healthily growing.


    The Magic Frostbite dispersed from his body. Allen searched all around himself for injuries and saw a small portion of his arm near the elbow was pierced by an ice shard. He then removed the shard right out of his arm without any hitch, leaving behind a holed sleeve soaked in blood.


    He looked back from the direction from where he came from, and saw nothing but only darkness and heavy snowfall.


    Allen sat down at the grassy ground. He knew that the monster wouldn''t dare come closer to this location, if it could, he would''ve already been gobbled up by it.


    After resting for a few minutes, he stood back up and discarded his already tattered cloak. He might not have been hit from all the monster''s icicle attacks, but his clothes weren''t given any mercy.


    He approached the dot of light he spotted earlier, which was actually on the tower.


    On top of the tower was a pulsating energy, the same energy that kept the cold at bay on the boundaries of its aura.


    Vines and other invasive plants grew near the tower''s base, extending upwards.


    However, the most important thing now was that his internal energy in here wasn''t fully suppressed unlike on the outside. Nevertheless, the energy wasn''t enough to trigger his regeneration abilities.


    He circled around the tower and sighted a furnace and other tools for creating pills and elixirs on the other side.


    He knew what he had to do as soon as his sighted the alchemic tools.


    Allen sat down in front of the tools and landed a glimpse on the energy on the tower.


    The energy was slowly dissipating.


    If it fully dissipated, the protection it was giving off would also die off.


    Time was of essence; without delay, Allen stood up and gathered plants and herbs to concoct the needed pills and elixirs.

 110 The Black Book 2

    The glow on the tower became dimmer as minutes passed by. Along with the disappearing energy was the shortening of the protective boundary.


    With the area of the protection shortening, loads of grass were left outside which was immediately covered by the cold, freezing snow.


    Allen was finishing on concocting his last pill. Although some of his pills that he concocted would generally take longer to finish, the speed of concoction within the protection of the tower sped up the process.


    A few of the pills that had to take a few days to finish mixing and coagulate only took minutes within the periphery of the tower!


    -poof-


    The furnace''s hatch opened up, revealing four pills that had mixed colors of red and violet which emitted a warm aura.


    On the ground were a number of small vertically cylinder vials and two other jars; one of which already had several pills of different colors within them and the other was fully empty. All of containers were found while he was picking up the needed plants and herbs in the boundary.


    The glow of the surroundings dimmed. Allen looked at the barrier. It has begun blinking in and out of existence, signifying the energy was nearly out.


    "EEEK!!" The monster screeched again from the depths of the cold darkness beyond the barrier.


    Allen consumed one of the red-violet pills. They were special medicines for protection against the Magic Frostbite.


    After which, he placed the other pills in the empty jar, strapped the vials and the other jars on his belt.


    Doing one last check before leaving, the ripped garment on his elbow caused by an icicle was already fixed and the wound has healed using the healing pills he made.


    Looking back at the boundary, only tens of meters remained protected; he could clearly see the snowy wasteland extending towards his location at a noticeable pace.


    He took one last look on the top of the tower. Only a small portion of power was left.


    Allen grabbed one of the vials, opened it, swallowed a drop and rubbed it on his clothes.


    "A few drops." Allen shook the short cylindrical container. He then sealed and strapped it back on his belt.


    In a few moments; he slowly became invisible and finally disappeared along with the glow of the tower.


    At the same time, the ground abruptly trembled. A darker shadow covered the tower that kept stretching until the monster landed and crushed the structure with its humongous body.


    However, it didn''t stop there and further jumped on its destroyed remains.


    It opened up its mouth full of sharp teeth and inhaled deeply to screech again.


    Suddenly, the sound of breaking glass could be heard. Before the beast could even react, a cloud of green smoke appeared in front of it and the monster inhaled the whole cloud.


    The monster paused and its eyes widened, and started to cough heavily. At the same time it was coughing, one out of the ten giant petals making up its mane withered and fell down, along with one of the ten eyes on that petal.


    When it stopped coughing, the monster furiously gazed towards its surroundings, trying to find whoever did that. It sent out its senses to search for the culprit, but to no avail, there wasn''t a single trace of it to be found.


    -whoosh-


    Another vial was thrown towards the monster and it exploded into green smoke again some distance away in front of it. The beast clearly spotted it and determined the source of trajectory.


    It originated to the direction behind the cloud of green smoke from its perspective!


    The beast then covered its front by bending its petals down then furiously hopped forward.


    -whoosh-


    But another vial was thrown the air towards the cloud of green smoke. The forefront tip of the beast''s head was already inside the said cloud and it hit the incoming vial.


    The container shattered and the liquid from it dripped everywhere, but an unforeseen situation occurred; as a drop of liquid made contact with the cloud, it instantly ignited it and a powerful explosion ensued.


    Unfortunately for the monster, most of its body was still within the cloud when the explosion consumed it; because of it, it wasn''t able to focus on the trajectory of its landing and it touched down a few meters away from its supposed to be landing spot.


    The ground quaked once again as the monster landed unsuccessfully. Its large body kept rolling a few distance away flattening the snow on its path.


    A monstrous wail echoed out.


    Three of the giant creature''s petals started burning and fell down to the ground!


    At the same moment, the invisibility of Allen wore off and he dashed away at once!


    The beast opened up the remaining petals and its eyes spotted Allen''s figure running away. All of his eyes instantly turned red and aimed its sights towards him.


    Allen perceived that his whole body became colder, then ice started to form on his feet and on his hands once again.


    It was Magic Frostbite!


    ''The duration of the Magic Frostbite medicine isn''t this short.'' He thought to himself.


    He swallowed another pill that could counter the Magic Frostbite, but there wasn''t even a speck of change that occurred!


    Noticing nothing happened, Allen retrieved another vial from his belt, opened it, and threw it on the ground to where he was about to arrive to. The liquid flowed out and dripped through the snow.


    As he crossed the spot where the vial landed, a thick wall of grass grew out upwardly and covered the monster''s line of sight on Allen.


    Two of the beast''s petals then withered and fell to the ground, prompting it to close its eyes and halted from what it was doing.


    ''My guess is right, there are a lot of dead plants buried underneath here.'' The vial he recently thrown contained a quick nourishing potion that could make normal plants grow a lot faster in a miniscule timeframe. He had modified it so it wouldn''t freeze immediately, and plants would grow a lot crazier and even faster.


    Allen sat down on the cold snow with his back supported by the thick tall grass. He clenched his hands to check if he could still feel them.


    He successfully opened and closed them several times, meaning that he was still in control. But the ice was already nearing his elbow like it was some sort of a skin sickness. If the ice reached the said joint, he won''t be able to use his hands properly; specially for throwing more vials and retrieving pills.


    He also exerted his control over his legs and slightly lifted them up, even so, most of the part below his knee caps were nearly numb; and if the corruption of the Magic Frostbite reached his knee caps, there would be a large chance he''d be crippled and won''t be able to run away.


    Furthermore, the corruption showed no signs of dispersion, either from his knees nor from his wrists.


    He took out another pill and ate it. Afterwards, his sight penetrated the heavy snowfall and spotted a grove of dead trees.


    "If I can''t find permanent cover, I''ll freeze to death if that monster made the same attack again." Allen muttered. He stood up and took a peek on the monster from the edge of the wall of grass.


    The beast''s eyes were still closed. It was still recovering from its recent suicidal-like attack against Allen.


    Meanwhile, due to the effect of extreme cold and snowfall, the wall of grass that Allen built began freezing at a fast rate. Once the ice penetrated deeply into the grass, it would begin destroying it from the inside and break it down into bits of ice.


    Not wasting any time, he sprinted towards the growth of dead trees. On the way, he ate a pill which replenished his stamina to keep himself on the move.


    One would be fully exhausted when they depleted themselves of their internal energy, but because his internal energy was sealed its interconnection with stamina was severed. Hence, he was now using stamina.


    It''s one of the reasons why in spite of the fact that the output of attacks committed by an internal energy practitioner was more powerful than a mana user due to the first energy matching the body, the latter still had an advantage over the former because of that certain disadvantage.


    Allen was about more or less a quarter of a hundred steps away from the growth when the monster opened its eyes once again, making him stop on his tracks.


    The eyes already went back to their bluish color. The beast then looked around it in search for Allen; the latter, meanwhile, after noticing the creature still hasn''t been able to spot him yet, he continued his steps albeit much lighter and slower this time.


    -fwoosh-


    But in an instant, his left foot unexpectedly sank into the deep snow, creating a slight noise; nevertheless, that slight noise was enough for the monster to hear it!


    The monster gazed towards the noise and saw him. The monster then screeched furiously; six of its ten petals were destroyed by a tinier being! It felt its dignity was blown away by a being tinier than it!


    Allen ditched his left boot and continued running.


    Once again, the monster''s eyes changed colors, now it was dark-bluish.


    A dangerous aura permeated from the eyes as they locked towards Allen!


    Then everything towards the direction where the monster was looking at turned into ice starting from its current position and moving towards Allen in a very fast pace.


    Everything on the way, from the ground and the falling snowflakes turned into ice. The rotting tall grass was completely turned into ice then shattered into pieces with the falling iced snowflakes.


    The ice then reached the location where the boot was left behind and it also turned into ice, on its wake were the fast-falling frozen snowflakes, making it look like a hailstorm was closing in!


    In a split second, as the ice was about to reach Allen, he reached a dead tree in the growth and escaped the sight of the monster!


    The side of the trees that were facing the beast turned into ice, but didn''t completely shatter due to their thickness even though iced snowflakes were raining down at them.


    Another painful wail sounded and two of the monster''s petals detached from the main body and dropped to the ground.


    Allen panted, closed his eyes and leaned his already stiffed body. He was fully exhausted from his breakneck run crossing the snowy field.


    He opened up his eyes again then saw that the monster only had two petals left on its body from the reflection of one of the frozen dead trees.


    "Two more petals and that creature is dead." Allen murmured. Based on his knowledge about plants, a Blizzard Crown Lotus would lose its medicinal effect if its petals were all plucked away from its main body.


    Earlier, he determined the Blizzard Crown Lotus monster would likely die if it all of its petals were to be separated from its body. The spine was a good candidate to attack as it was likely its weak spot, but because he found out the petals were more vulnerable, he went for them instead.


    Swallowing another stamina replenishing pill, Allen was slightly revitalized and quietly thought of a way on how to detach the remaining two petals.


    A few moments later, he stood up from his position. Retrieving the invisibility potion, he unplugged the cork, drank a drop, and also spilled the remaining few drops on his clothes.


    Meanwhile, the monster already recovered from its last attack and angrily charged right at the growth of trees.


    Due to its immense size, it easily reached the growth and shattered all the partly frozen trees with its weight and icicle attacks.


    Without showing mercy, it obliterated the growth as if the trees were only measly sticks on its eyes. However, Allen was nowhere to be found.


    Suddenly, two vials simultaneously came out of nowhere on of the sides of the beast. When the two vials crashed onto each other, it created the same explosion as earlier.


    The monster uncontrollably stumbled sideways. Although it was still devoid of any wounds, one of its sides was now burnt black due to two continuous explosions.


    Still and all, the invisibility wore off and Allen was exposed. Due to the potion being used twice in a short duration, the second intake reduced its effectiveness to a bare minimum.


    The monster turned towards Allen and hatefully glared at him; nevertheless, it still didn''t act and only angrily stared at the human.


    "Use more of your suicidal spells." Allen taunted. But the beast only kept staring back at him as if there''s a staring contest.


    Tranquility appeared amidst the strong snowstorm, neither side seemed to surrender. A human wearing an eyepatch, his clothes covered in snow; a beast with only two of its ten eyes remaining stared at each other without making any wave.


    "Do you concede?" Allen broke the quiet peace with a question. In his observation, the monster seemed to have its own mind.


    After a long time of gazing, the monster closed its eyes and bowed its head down towards him.


    ***


    Literally in a blink of his eyes, Allen returned back to his former location in the chamber full of books. His robe was still in perfect condition along with his sleeve and left boot.


    Meanwhile, in the other rooms, the other contestants that tried to answer the black book also got out from the illusion less than a second later in the chamber''s time.


    In the illusion, almost an hour has crossed for Allen, but in fact, only half an hour passed on the outside world.


    Majority of the contestants that entered the illusion failed to kill or tame the monster.


    Even so, among the few people along with Allen that successfully beat it were Dorothy, Gavin, and other ones who knew how to survive in harsh conditions.


    Some of the people who failed to defeat the creature attempted to go on to the next page but wasn''t able to do so. The contents of the succeeding pages faded away due to their failure.


    In spite of experiencing great hardship; Allen, Gavin, Dorothy and other people who overcame the challenge chose to continue answering the black book.

 111 Dorothy of Ikkleshan

    In a certain night on Alchem Town...


    "Gavin!" A young lady called out from behind him.


    Gavin turned around and saw a girl running towards him, "Dorothy?"


    As she arrived in front of him, he approached her and checked on her.


    "Why are you running here? Aren''t there people assigned in your quarters? You''re our guest! You should have requested your servants to call for me instead." Gavin said.


    Dorothy came from Ikkleshan, an autonomous city-state in the central region led by a confederation of natives.


    In pre-establishment of the kingdom during the chaotic warlord times after the dissolution of the Pertheon Empire, the band of natives in between a river and a former cliffside founded a confederation to defend themselves from the aggressive warlords that wanted to annex them.


    The city was beside a destroyed cliffside and a river called Gertun, literally meaning "King''s River" in their tongues.


    The natives later on, helped the Grand Magician and the future first king of the Trigurniburg Kingdom to establish order all over the now official kingdom.


    "I wanted to talk personally with you. It''s important." She replied while slightly catching her breath.


    "What do you want to talk about?" Gavin asked.


    Hearing Gavin''s question, a reluctant expression appeared on her deadpan face.


    ''She''s cute.'' Gavin inwardly commented.


    "What''s with that shyness? Come on, just say it, you''re a guest here." Gavin urged.


    "Well you see, I..." Even after Gavin''s urges, she was still a bit hesitant over what she was about to say.


    As Gavin was about to say something again, Dorothy swallowed a mouthful unnoticedly and interjected, "I want to talk to yo-, I-, Alche- I mean Allen Morgan."


    Gavin''s jaw dropped by the other''s statement, he thought, ''It''s not what I think it is, right?''


    He was still as a statue for a few seconds until he was able to recompose himself, "Ohh... I get it, you want me to introduce you to my Junior brother!"


    ''I can''t believe with that kind of indifferent face; somebody would get attracted to him.'' He then sighed in glee, ''I am so very, very proud of him.'' Although the "feelings" weren''t directed to him, he became euphoric as if he would cry out of joy.


    "Don''t worry, I can do that by tomorrow morning." He nodded in response and added, "I need to go now, my master made me go on an important errand. I''m sorry I won''t be able to accommodate longer!" He sprinted off at once, leaving behind Dorothy.


    "Uhm..." Dorothy was dumbfounded by how fast Gavin talked. She never even got to reply back.


    "But actually..." Dorothy wanted to say something else, but because Gavin wasn''t present anymore, she sighed it off and left the area.


    ***


    The pages in the black book were answered one by one. Going through different illusions, fighting the beasts referenced from the plants and herbs that they had to answer.


    Many contestants fell and lost on the way due to the extreme conditions and circumstances that became harder and more complicated as pages were turned.


    In the end, only two people managed to turn to the last page.


    ¡­


    Allen reappeared in a square with a protection orb on top of the fountain in the middle. Looking to the sides, rows of buildings made up the side of the streets that stretched out from the square.


    In spite of all the standing structures, no people could be seen using them.


    It was utterly quiet.


    Eerily quiet.


    "Hello." A calm voice greeted from behind.


    Turning around, Allen spotted a familiar woman.


    A slight change on the woman''s eyes was noticed by Allen. It was an expression of startlement.


    "Allen Morgan." The woman said.


    "Dorothy." Allen said.


    It was a silent afterwards.


    "You still have that eyepatch of yours. I thought Gavin was helping you cure your blindness." She continued the conversation.


    "You know what happened. He won''t believe anything." Allen replied.


    "Let''s not talk about it anymore then." Dorothy changed the topic, "What was the plant? The last one already had all its definition written, but I didn''t see the name."


    "It''s Visergoroth Eater." Allen answered.


    Dorothy: "S***."


    "We need to find a place where we could concoct pills and elixirs to battle that kind of a monster." Dorothy said in a monotonous one like Allen would do.


    "At least, we are safe in here for now." Dorothy looked over and saw a ball of energy over the fountain''s statue. It was emitting a protective aura; of course, it was the same type of energy that Allen encountered when he battled against the Blizzard Crown Lotus monster.


    In actuality, Allen and the other contestants also came upon such objects when he fought against other monsters in the illusions.


    "Come on, let''s find the alchemy shop in this town." Allen started walking off towards a street branching out of the square.


    Dorothy caught up with him.


    Near complete silence rose afterwards, the only sound they could hear were their footsteps.


    "Do you believe I did that?", Allen suddenly asked, shattering the noiseless atmosphere.


    "I know you won''t be able to do such a thing." Dorothy replied back with a slight raising of her tone.


    Allen made a short glance at her, "You are lying."


    Dorothy huffed out hot air and said, "It''s just that... it''s really believable, plus, Gavin doesn''t lie, specially if it''s about that."


    "You know, you should really smile for once, it might help you." Dorothy tried to change the topic again, "To be honest, I never see you smile nor even frown for once."


    "I also don''t believe your emotion was taken away." She suddenly added.


    As Allen was about to say something, she interjected, "How did I know?" She said while glancing around the buildings on her side, "Airein told me."


    "She doesn''t believe in the first place." Allen replied.


    "Don''t mind if she doesn''t believe you, I''m not Airein, plus in my opinion, I think that''s not the case for you." She narrowed her eyes on a signage of one of the buildings, but shook her head in dismay as it wasn''t an alchemy shop, "It''s not the emotion that was taken away, it was your ability to feel it."


    "So, what if it was taken away by a devil or whatnot? If it was, then you should''ve turn into a senseless animal." She said, "Because emotions make us, us! Us humans have wisdom, and with it, we have emotions. While weaker beasts and some people are ignorant or imprudent or both, those people will still be categorized as humans because they have the characteristics that make them a level higher than animals."


    "I am not saying it because of disdain of those lower beings, I''m saying it because it''s the truth." Dorothy clarified with a bit of sarcastic tone at the beginning then she looked towards her side, but Allen was nowhere to be found.


    [beep]


    She looked around her and saw Allen looking towards a certain building.


    "Were you even listening?" She murmured under her breath. ''He''s still annoying.''


    Allen beckoned her to come closer. When Dorothy went back at the side of Allen, the latter pointed at the signage of the structure.


    "You found an alchemy shop." She realized what it was, "Great. We need to hurry up and concoct some pills and potions before that orb runs out of energy." As she was about to enter, Allen tapped her shoulder.


    "What is it?" She asked.


    "We''re battling a Visergoroth Eater, our current clothes won''t last long against it." Allen said.


    Dorothy looked at her own attire, which was the same old-fashioned alchemy robes and a thick shirt and pants. Nodding in agreement she asked, "So, what do you suggest we do?"


    "I''ll get us some proper clothing from the other shops here in this town, while you concoct everything we need." Allen said, "There''s a plant and herb shop across the street, so the needed ingredients will probably more or less complete." He pointed at the said building.


    "If you say so, okay." She saw an eye to eyes with Allen''s suggestion. She was a famous battle-concocter, and along with her reputation was her experience in simultaneously handling the creation many pills and elixirs at the same time, so her alone making them would actually be equivalent to five people also concocting at the same time.


    Right after she agreed with his request, Allen also requested to make some of the pills and potions he exclusively needed to fight against the Visergoroth Eater; then the two of them temporarily separated to fulfill their agreed upon responsibilities.


    ***


    Earlier, right after the contestants entered the portal...


    After Esmund declared the start of the competition and sat back on his seat, Theqias whispered to him, "I need to go soon."


    With a startled countenance, Esmund asked, "Why sir? But you just got here, Great Sir!"


    "His Majesty sent me to this place for something else, but don''t worry, somebody would be in my place." Theqias replied, "Only for this day, but I will return in the next round."


    "If it''s a must, then by all means, I will not hinder your exit." Esmund most politely said.


    "Good." Theqias made a nod and added with a grim tone, "Also, don''t underestimate whoever was sent in my place." His line of sight then turned towards near the farthest right seat where somebody was looking towards him. The person that was gazing at him made a single nod.


    "Alright, good luck in your hosting, Mister Esmund." Theqias sat up and walked out of the platform.


    Just at the moment he exited, somebody who was wearing the same type of clothes that of Theqias, albeit less eye-catching, walked up the platform and sat at the middle seat.


    When Esmund inspected the replacement for Theqias, he raised one of his eyebrows in astonishment as the person was young, in fact, even younger than Dianne.


    ''He''s so young, and a bit familiar too, did I see his face somewhere before?'' He inwardly wondered.


    "Greetings, I am Esmund, the branch chief of the Alchemist Union in this area, which is also the main host for this event. May I know young sir''s name?" Like how he greeted Theqias, Esmund made a very polite sentence and sent out his hand in a bid for a handshake.


    "Nice to meet you, Sir Esmund." The young man replied back with a polite pleasantry that inwardly pleased Esmund. After which, the boy accepted the handshake.


    ''This young man isn''t so overbearing unlike most of his superiors are.'' Esmund was all-smiles in front him.


    Almost forgetting that he had to introduce himself, the young man immediately did so after he remembered, "My first name is William and my surname is Morgan, again it''s a pleasure to meet you, Sir Esmund."

 112 Preparing for Battle

    "These are the most suitable equipment that I found." Inside the lobby room of the alchemy shop, Allen placed several upper and lower body armors, boots, paddings, etc., near the counter on the floor; all of which were made from leather.


    "The Visergoroth Eater is a plant monster. I''ve had read about how ferocious it is. I hope these armors would last." Dorothy examined the equipment.


    "Once we soak them in a fortifying liquid, they''ll be hard as steel but still keep the lightness of a leather." Allen replied.


    "The effect of that liquid will only last for a few hours." Dorothy replied.


    "A few hours should be enough." He replied while unsheating a sword, "I also found an enchanted sword. It is Minor-Inferior grade." He slid the sword back to its sheat and placed it on the counter.


    "Sadly, you won''t be able to utilize it into its full potential. Once we leave the protection orb''s boundary we can''t use our internal energy." She replied and calmly added, "Those old seniors, even if I''m just a junior, they are not going to hear the end of this for creating this torturous illusion."


    "I''m only using it for its durability and sharpness. I''m sure that the monster won''t be that powerful." Allen replied to Dorothy''s first remark.


    Why was he sure that this monster they would be facing won''t be too powerful? It was because when they battled against the other ones in the previous pages, they did so while their internal energy and mana were thoroughly suppressed, and because if the beasts had more powerful strengths, they won''t even be able to last longer against them.


    "Why did you even keep answering until to the last page?" He asked in response to her second comment.


    "I will take all the points I can get to win this round." She replied.


    "Mhm." Allen nodded.


    "Can you help me soak all of these¡­" Her sentence didn''t end yet when Allen left the building without warning.


    Dorothy gazed at the equipment messily stacked on the floor. A frown appeared on her deadpan face, "He left me with all of these things."


    "Allen Morgan¡­ you really can make somebody annoyed at you." Shaking her head, she stopped the urge of destroying the equipment on the floor.


    ...


    Returning back to the alchemy shop, Allen saw the organized equipment on one side of the shop while jars of pills and bottles of elixirs where neatly placed on top of the counter.


    Meanwhile, the Minor-Inferior graded sword was leaning on the counter.


    Dorothy came out of the door beside the counter and glanced at Allen, "I already soaked the equipment in the fortifying liquid I concocted."


    "Mhm." Allen nodded. He approached the sword and asked her, "Did you also soak the sword?"


    "No, enchanted objects can''t be temporarily enhanced.'' Dorothy replied.


    "I didn''t know." Allen then inspected the concocted objects on the counter.


    Taking in another breath, she didn''t dabble any longer about that topic and asked, "What were you doing when you left?"


    "I checked the protection orb on how long would it still last. I can say we still have about a few hours." Allen replied.


    "Did you also concoct a weapon enhancing liquid?" Allen asked.


    "Yes." She nodded then landed a glimpse at the sword, "Now, I know why you wanted me to concoct that."


    She then added, "It''s one of those liquids on top of the counter. It has a gray color."


    Allen searched for the gray colored liquid until he found one. He noticed that there were only a few drops of it stored inside a tiny transparent bottle.


    "This could be sufficient enough to enhance the sword." He brought up the sword along with the liquid then sat cross-legged on the floor.


    Meanwhile, Dorothy picked up her leather equipment then entered the door beside the counter to change clothes.


    Shortly after, she came out of the door wearing the leather armor almost everywhere on her body, even so, the armor didn''t the decrease the gracefulness of the shape of her body.


    She then wore her alchemist robe over the armor then looked over at Allen who was dripping out all the weapon enhancing liquid on the Minor-Inferior sword.


    As he finished trickling down all the liquid from the container, the sword hummed then the liquid immediately sank into the weapon.


    An audible clanging came from inside the sword, when that sound subsided, a quiet boom was emitted by the weapon.


    In the eyes of Dorothy, the sword''s aura became stronger and livelier than before.


    "It became a Major-Inferior sword that fast?" Although not showing on her face, she was genuinely curious, "You seem to be greatly experienced when it comes to enhancing weapons."


    Upgrading a weapon through Liquid Alchemy wasn''t that simple as one would think in the first place.


    The alchemists, not only had to concoct ''weapon enhancing liquids'' in a delicate manner, but if they themselves wanted their enchanted weapon be improved, then they also must know how to direct the said liquid''s energy all throughout the selected weapon so that the improvement won''t be unbalanced.


    And if an enchanted weapon after its promotion of grade was unbalanced, the channeling of energies into the weapon would also be in a disequilibrium throughout its whole structure, further resulting into flaws during attacks and further resulting into more flaws which would lead to the weapon shattering or the death of the wielder.


    "I have an enchanted sword. I already enhanced it for a lot of time." Allen stood up and sheated back the sword. He placed the sword in a leaning position on the wall.


    "Okay." She made a nod, "I''ll sort out the potions here."


    While Dorothy wasn''t looking, he took out a folded brand new shirt from the pocket of his alchemist robe. Then removed his robe.


    Allen wore his new batch of upper garment, and after doing so he approached the armors at the corner of the room and he began wearing the upper body armor, belt, knee protectors, and boots which were all made from leather.


    He approached the counter and strapped some jar of pills and vials on his belt then said to Dorothy beside him, "Go get your pills and potions."


    However, Dorothy didn''t respond and was only still on her position.


    Seeing she wasn''t responding, Allen glanced at her face and saw an indifferent gaping expression.


    He glanced over to the direction where Dorothy''s eyes were looking at and he determined she was looking over a window.


    If one would look closely, the part of the window where she was looking reflected the same exact spot where Allen was standing earlier.


    "Hello?" Allen waved his hand, in front of Dorothy.


    "Oh." She snapped out of her stupor. She scratched her head, "Let''s go before the protection orb loses power."


    She then approached the door and was about to open it when she heard Allen''s voice.


    "You forgot your pills and potions." Allen pointed over the remaining items on the table.


    ...


    Going out of the store, the two of them were all set and ready to battle the Visergoroth Eater.


    "While you were travelling around the city to get the armors, by any chance have you found the way out of the city?" Dorothy asked.


    "No." Allen replied.


    "Let''s go climb the walls instead." She said while looking to a random direction and pointed. "I''ll take a guess that this is the shortest way to exit the city."


    However, Allen continued, "I said no, because there is no way out of here."

 113 A Path Ou

    "No way out of here? Seriously?" Dorothy raised one of her eyebrows.


    Allen nodded, "The shop where I got our armor came from an armory near the wall. I tried to climb it up but the same energy that is protecting us repelled me back to the ground."


    "I also attempted to break through the wall with our current strength, but I wasn''t even able to scratch it." He added.


    "I know you have a teleporting technique; did you use it?" Dorothy questioned.


    "It''s different from teleport, I need to see where should I be flickering first before I could initiate Flicker or else it will not work." Allen answered.


    Teleport and Flicker might seem like the same types of technique, but their requirements and sometimes results were different.


    Flicker could be used more or less in an instant as long as one could see his or her wanted destination.


    Meanwhile, the Teleport technique or spell could be used for long-distances unlike Flicker.


    However, the prerequisite was that the former needed to have a drawn mechanism like what Allen did with the array or only utilizing mana if one doesn''t know how to create a teleportation array that could be used by both magicians and internal energy practitioners.


    In addition, Teleport could be used even without seeing one''s destination as long as he or she knew the coordinates to that particular place one wanted to go to.


    "What are we going to do then?" Dorothy asked.


    "Do you have anything in mind?" Allen questioned back.


    "No." She shook her head.


    ''The speediest way to get out of here is to teleport. But I don''t have the correct strength of level to initiate it, and even if I do have, the teleportation array in terms of fastest time of drawing that I know of can only bring the caster.'' Allen thought.


    "How about we stay here until the protection wears off?" Dorothy suggested.


    Allen disagreed, "We are up against a city-eating monster that can eat this whole place in one second. If we keep staying here until the orb disappears, we might not even know if we are already in its jaws."


    "Good point." Dorothy made a nod and gazed at the ceiling, deeply thinking of a solution.


    Suddenly, another idea struck her and she suggested, "How about we use the underground passages? I''m sure those tunnels will be present in this kind of a large community. Like a sewer system."


    "Then let''s go find the city hall." Allen said.


    "What for?" She asked.


    "If there is indeed an underground tunnel, then it should be in the records of the city hall." Allen replied.


    Dorothy: "I think I saw the city hall at the corner of my eyes when we were in the square."


    ...


    Arriving back at the square, the first thing they noted was the protection orb on the fountain.


    The glow of the orb was obviously weaker than it was before.


    Shortly after, their eyes landed upon a stone building. Its facade was neatly designed with stone pillars that had intricate old writings on it.


    It was none other than the city hall.


    As they approached it, Allen stopped walking, crouched down, and closely inspected the writings on the pillars.


    Dorothy also paused on her tracks and asked, "Hey, what are you doing? We don''t have much time."


    "The inscriptions on the pillars are rather old." Allen said. "The books provided to us didn''t have a specific timeline to what era did the Visergoroth Eater live, but this might determine it."


    "Why do you want know about it?" Dorothy asked.


    "That information could help us later." He replied. Every information available on a foe that they were going to fight against might be able to help them. In the earlier illusions, there had been many types of info on plants that they were battling against hidden around in the area.


    "I can''t seem to identify this language." Allen said, "But I can tell that it is a variant of a word during the Supreme Dominions Era."


    "It''s during the peak of Pertheon Empire?" Dorothy asked.


    The Supreme Dominions Era was the time where the Pertheon Empire rose to its most powerful level where its lands comprised of the western holy kingdoms, Western Mountainous Region, to the now Trigurniburg Kingdom; with the Federated Eastern Republic also existing at those times.


    "No, it looks older, it might have originated from before the Supreme Dominions Era." Allen then stood up and said, "Let''s go inside."


    After walking inside, they were met with the grand yet seemingly humble interior of the city hall.


    Inside the main hall, they spotted the magnificent interior, where one could see the decorated rows of pillars on each side holding up the ceiling.


    However, the most striking of which were the overflowing amount of ivories adorned all over the place. The arches that led towards the other parts of the government building were made from pure ivory, the top of the pillars were also made from ivory, there were ivories intricated between the tiles on the floor too!


    Even the drawings on the ceilings had ivories inserted of them!


    Nevertheless, what made it seemingly humble was that they weren''t that noticeable and could be mistaken for any simple stone.


    "So many ivories. I never seen anything as grand as this." Dorothy looked all around her, mesmerized by the sheer whiteness and smoothness of the said stone.


    "Did you attend the recent auction?" Allen asked.


    "I did, but what I mean is that there is so much ivory. The venue of the auction didn''t have that much of those things." Dorothy replied.


    "But it was shinier." She added, "And didn''t have those drawings of people on the ceiling."


    "These kinds of designs most likely came from another part of the kingdom, or possibly from outside the lands of the kingdom." Allen replied and he approached the receiving table where there was a small directory of the city hall. "Maybe from the location where the Visergoroth Eater was seen."


    "Are you sure? Those old men could have incorporated weird designs like these to make the city hall look more expensive." Dorothy said.


    "Those old men will never add something insignificant." Allen answered.


    Afterwards, he said, "I found the way to the records office, follow me." He told Dorothy as he entered through an ivory arch.


    Dorothy followed him from behind. As they entered the corridor, she called out, "Hey Allen."


    Allen: "What?"


    "If you don''t mind, can I ask you a personal question? We did this once with Airein and Gavin a few years ago in Alchem Town." Dorothy asked. "You were the only one who didn''t answer."


    "Okay." Allen nodded.


    Dorothy braised herself and asked, "What was your life before you became an alchemist?"


    He replied back in a second, "I was a thief."


    Waiting for several seconds, but seeing Allen didn''t continue anymore, Dorothy let off the topic.


    "We are here." Allen said and the two of them stopped in front of a door. He turned the door knob and pushed it open.


    As the door was opened, what greeted the two were the multifold rolled scrolls kept within cylindrical containers inside a wide room.


    There were scrolls on the shelves, on the tables, in the barrels, in open boxes, and many more to the point some of them littered the floor!


    "Let''s not waste time." Allen turned his head to Dorothy, "Go look for the map of the community, surely there''s a copy of that in here, start at that big table there. I will look for the map of an underground passageway if there are any."


    "Mhm." She nodded and approached the biggest table.


    Meanwhile, Allen activated Energy External Sense which he controlled to cover the whole room.


    He scanned each and every content of all the cylinders. A few moments later, he deactivated the technique and walked towards a barrel.


    Afterwards, he dug in his hand and pulled up a container.


    He opened the container and took out a furled brown paper. Unfurling it, he saw it contained a drawing of different passageways.


    It was the map of the underground canal.


    On the other hand, Dorothy said, "I found a map of the city!" She pulled out an unfurled cartographer''s paper from a large drawer and went back to Allen to show it.


    Allen nodded then also looked on the graph of the underground canal.


    Allen pointed at a spot of the underground canal graph, "The basement of the city hall is connected to a tunnel that will lead to the canal." He folded the graph several times and hid it in his pockets.


    "Let''s go." Dorothy also folded the map she was holding and kept it.

 114 Entering the Core

    "That''s one dark tunnel." Dorothy gazed at the passageway. It was as if they were looking at a void.


    From her and Allen''s position, they could hear the faint sound of the water gushing inside the tunnel.


    Far behind them was the stairs from where they came from.


    Around them were a few bits and parts of magical gemstones that were faintly lighting up the place.


    "Our strength is still with us. Our eyes can adjust in that blanket of darkness." Allen said and took out the map of the underground passageway.


    "Follow me." Allen was the first one to enter, followed by Dorothy.


    As they entered, they could only see darkness everywhere, however, as what Allen said their eyes adjusted and they could now faintly see what was at the end. It was the sight of a running canal at the end of the tunnel.


    As they exited passageway, they fully saw the features of the canal. It wasn''t dirty nor smelly compared to the canals in the big cities. It was also like a small stream, but with a faster current.


    "This canal in front of us will lead us to the main exit." Allen determined from the map of the underground canal.


    The two of them followed to where the current was flowing.


    Allen was in front, still looking at the canal graph; while Dorothy inspected the dim canal walls around her.


    She spotted some bits of the dark brick wall pieced out of order; some were already chipped apart, while another part of the walls were thoroughly devoid of bricks, showing a surface of a smooth stone.


    "Such smooth stone layer!" She remarked then shook her head, "But it''s a waste of mana and internal energy just for building an intricate underground waterway for a single city if this was done in our time."


    "Magicians and skilled practitioners most likely didn''t build this canal." Allen interjected without looking.


    Dorothy: "Then who did?"


    "The normal populace, should be the ones supposed to be living up the ground." Allen answered.


    "Humans those times sure are clever." Dorothy added and thought, ''If commoners today will be the ones that would construct this kind of infrastructure. It will take a very long time or maybe never even be accomplished.''


    "People long ago were more skilled than the people today." She vocalized her thoughts.


    "Majority of the world became too dependent on mana and internal energy to the point that the average citizens were ignored of their necessities." Allen said.


    "Yeah, I saw in a book about the history of alchemy that non-magicians and -internal energy practitioners before Supreme Dominions Era can concoct potions if they have enough expertise." Dorothy stated.


    "You should duck." Allen suddenly said.


    Dorothy: "Duck?"


    -whoosh-


    Several spikes launched out of the water at the same time, shooting towards their heads.


    Meanwhile, Dorothy was safe and sound after evading on time. She stood up straightly again and with a cautious bearing, gazing around her in search of the enemy.


    After no more projectiles were shot to them, Allen approached one of the spikes on the ground that was deflected by his sword earlier.


    Then he crouched slightly and sent out his hand to pick it up.


    Before he even got to touch it, Dorothy said, "Don''t touch it! It might be dangerous."


    He paused and recalled back his hand. Standing up, he turned his head to Dorothy and said, "We need to turn around. I can sense a lot of movements to where this part of the canal is heading to."


    "If you say so." She nodded and let Allen be on the lead again.


    How was he sure that there were enemies on their original path? It was because after the spikes shot towards him and Dorothy, he immediately activated Energy External Sense.


    Now, with a Mage-level strength, the said technique could cover a portion of the passageway they were in.


    Nonetheless, he didn''t sheath his weapon yet and kept it on his hand at all times.


    They resumed walking, but they didn''t go far from their original position when Allen realized something, "We are being forced to go to the core of the canal system."


    Even with an incomplete thought from the sentence, Dorothy knew what Allen was implicitly saying, and that was the Visergoroth Eater could be at that location where they were heading towards now!


    "The Visergoroth Eater is actually inside the translucent protective barrier of the protection orb." She said while preparing to throw a few potions if something attacks, "We should hurry up, the monster could be suppressed by now."


    However, Allen disagreed, "There are also many movements on this path. We need to be careful."


    After saying this, he popped up a pill which replenished his internal energy.


    ''The Energy External Sense is still taking a toll on me.'' Allen inwardly said.


    Due to his internal energy depleted at a fast rate, he limited the range of the said technique to conserve his energy.


    "Dorothy." Allen paused on his steps and looked at Dorothy, "Be alert, attack when you think it''s needed."


    "I know." She nodded firmly.


    Allen adjusted his head a bit and looked behind her. He pointed, "A beast is charging at you."


    Without even looking, Dorothy threw a potion at her back which hit the incoming figure. The figure couldn''t be seen easily as it was dim within the underground canal.


    The figure shrieked as it was set on fire by the potion on contact. Afterwards in a swift motion, it lunged onto Dorothy!


    -whoosh-


    As the monster was about to reach her, she turned around and sent out kick straight onto its head.


    -pshew-


    With a smooth wood-cracking noise, a head separated from the body. The head landed down on the canal and was taken away by the current, while the body drooped down the ground in front of Dorothy.


    She inspected the remains of the figure, however, it instantly turned into dust after she exhaled a breath.


    "It''s a very weak body of some sort of a beast, but it''s stronger than normal human beings." Dorothy commented, "The potion I threw would never be able to soften a normal monster''s body, specially the bones, to the point of turning it to dust."


    After that small engagement, the two of them resumed walking.


    Travelling through the remaining distance, the both of them didn''t encounter anything on the way and it was a relatively safe journey.


    Finally, as they arrived near the entrance to the core of the underground canal, they halted their steps with the same thing in mind.


    The current of the canal then paused, making it look like a dead stream contrary to the lively one earlier.


    "I can hear numerous sounds coming to this direction from behind us." Dorothy said, "I can also hear movements near us."


    "I can''t hear the ones behind us." Allen replied without looking directly to her, "Take care of the ones coming from behind us."


    -shi-


    In a flash, Allen stabbed his sword to the wall beside him, then a grayish liquid flowed out of it, followed by a body appearing out of nowhere in the exact location while crashing to the ground.


    Audible hissing noises then sounded out all around them, followed by numerous heavy yet fast footsteps behind them.


    Five-legged green beasts jumped out of the canal and all lunged to Allen, while a swarm large six-limbed gray lizards closed in from behind.


    Dorothy slid downwards towards one of the lizards that was about to attack her with its claws. She stood up in a quick pace when she was already behind it then jumped on top of it to avoid another lizard''s pounce on her.


    Taking out a vial, she threw it down to the lizard she was now standing on and flipped away from it.


    As the vial broke and the liquid inside it made contact with the monster''s skin, a bubbling sound broke out and the monster started to howl.


    Not even a few seconds has passed and bubbles spread throughout the beast''s body, in an instant, the fearsome beast evaporated into gray smoke!


    When the smoke touched another lizard, it also howled in pain and that lizard''s body began bubbling and also evaporated into smoke!


    Then the smoke made contact with more of the beasts and when they also evaporated, more and more of their kind was affected by it until a cloud of smoke appeared from where the two originally entered the canal!


    Allen sidestepped and dodged one of the five-legged monster''s swipe. Meanwhile, the other of the same green monsters took this chance to him!


    As more five-legged beasts attacked, Dorothy was alarmed and was about to help Allen but she stopped on her steps when blurry silhouettes appeared wherever he stepped!


    It was none other than Shadow Steps!


    It might seem that the monsters were about to overwhelm him, but he perfectly avoided all of the attacks of the beasts without getting grazed!


    When Allen spotted a chance, he planted his right foot on the ground and charged forward to the monsters.


    -pshew- -pshew- -pshew-


    The monsters were tackled and killed off one by one by him in succession, either through decapitation or slicing their bodies apart.


    When all of the five-legged beast were killed, Allen glanced at Dorothy, "How long will that wall of smoke last?"


    "About 10 minutes, depending on its thickness." She replied.


    "We have 10 minutes to kill the Visergoroth Eater before another swarm of lizards will be able to attack us." Allen said and he stepped in towards the entrance while popping up another replenishing pill along with Dorothy.

 115 Core and Core

    Not long after they went in the tunnel, the two spotted light at the end of it. Both, however, did not speed up, but instead slowed down; they knew what would come after they reach that light. A beast awaits.


    As they exited the passageway; they walked up a metal platform directly connected to the exit. From its edge, what greeted them were the raging torrential waves of the core.


    "Those waves can easily lacerate a normal person apart." Dorothy gazed down from above.


    Based from the definition of this exact chamber on map of the underground canal, the core was shaped like a sphere, however, that wasn''t the case now as the chamber looked like more of a cylindrical one.


    Allen looked around him, the platform they were standing on was elevated compared to the tunnel from where they have come from.


    Additionally, the water coming from the core was being drained from the four symmetrically distanced tunnels, one of which was where the two of them came from.


    To his left and right, there were more metal stairs and pathways leading higher, capable of allowing at least three people walk at the same time.


    Those set of pathways were also connected to other set of pathways towards the also elevated large middle-most platform in the core.


    "All of the water is being pumped from the floor of this chamber." Dorothy looked towards while leaning on the metal bars, "This is so huge. Those old people really like these ancient structures. Normal people can''t even accomplish these."


    "It''s possible to construct this with the right tools." Allen said as he also looked down towards water bashing all-over the place due to the strong current.


    "I don''t know any kind of city in our kingdom that has this kind of complex infrastructure, nor even to other nations." Dorothy then gazed at Allen, "I''m interested to hear your reasoning about this."


    "It''s likely technological stagnation." Allen replied, making Dorothy raise her eyebrows.


    "Maybe, the world we know became too deeply focused with magic, leaving behind other things." He clarified.


    -pump-


    Both Allen and Dorothy heard a loud pump that resonated throughout the chamber. The two of them looked up to the ceiling and sighted an inflated pulsating organ.


    "So the Visergoroth Eater is actually the whole underground canal system, who knew?" Dorothy casually shrugged and emotionlessly eyed the organ.


    "It probably integrated itself into the whole system of the canal." Allen answered back and took out a few red pills from the strapped jar and pointed to the central platform, "Let''s go to that largest platform."


    Suddenly along with several splooshes and splashes, three green-violet vines shot up from the water and pierced forward to the location of the two!


    Without any warning, Dorothy was carried up by one of Allen''s hands and he threw her towards the central platform!


    In an instant, the platform where Allen was standing on was destroyed and he fell down to the raging waters!


    Meanwhile, Dorothy didn''t bother about Allen and didn''t waste any time and was about to throw an explosive pill to the pulsating organ several tens of meters above her when the platform where she was now standing on shook violently.


    Nearly getting off-balance, she stabilized her footing and glanced over to the pathways connected to the central platform.


    From the veins originating from the giant organ, hordes of the same five-legged monsters landed down from above, blocking every path from the platform!


    As it was darker earlier and there was an ongoing battle, neither Allen nor Dorothy were able to see clearly the whole characteristics of the said monster, however, now, she was able to recognize them.


    They had darkish-green color skin with nearly a similar physique of a human being, albeit they seemed to be like made of leaves.


    Four of the five-legged monstrosities'' hands had seven fingers with sharp, pointy ends; meanwhile, the fifth limb didn''t have any fingers but has a long protruding lance-like structure, making it look like an in-built weapon for the beasts!


    "Good entrance." Placing back the red pills into the jar, she then took out other variety of pills of different sizes and colors.


    Over the deadly waters; Allen successfully swam above the surface after plunging down. His face was full of small cuts due to the intensive torrential water bashing all-over him.


    If he was only a normal person and without the protection of enchanted equipment, he would have nearly been a blood paste by now.


    However, he felt something touched his left foot and was pulled down underwater!


    As he was pulled down, beneath the angry waves was the relatively undisturbed blurry water world around him.


    Not wasting a single second, he freed himself from the vine that was entangling his left foot and surveyed his surroundings.


    It was dark everywhere, nearly pitch black. In his mind, Allen silently recalled something, but his line of thought was waved off when his instinct kicked in and hastily swam to the side.


    A vine pierced through the water creating a sharp, bubbly sound that passed by Allen.


    He activated the Energy External Sense and detected a lot of the same vines closing on him!


    Penetrating through the water like a fishing spear being launched from above, vines of different circumferences and length whooshed closer to him.


    -pshew-


    Allen sliced apart the nearest vine already near him and evaded the other ones. Although being outnumbered, he was able to cut more vines while avoiding the remaining ones.


    However; even as he mowed more of them, it was as if the vines had no end and kept coming back at him with even more of them!


    Slowly but surely, he was beginning to be overwhelmed and was forced to only defending himself.


    From behind Allen, another vine shot towards him and pierced through his right knee!


    -crack-


    A crisp sound could be heard and the vine severed the lower portion of Allen''s leg!


    The vine held Allen''s severed leg and a mouth full of sharp teeth appeared on the vine itself then it crushed and consumed the leg!


    His wound immediately healed and a new portion of his leg grew almost as fast like an arrow released from a bow.


    ''I won''t be able to use Flicker underwater.'' Allen briefly raised his head up while sensing the vines around him with Energy External Sense.


    ''Does this sword have a special function?'' An idea occurred within Allen''s mind and he injected the weapon with internal energy.


    On the other hand, more vines appeared near Allen, concurrent with him transferring internal energy into the weapon.


    However, a few seconds later Allen canceled his actions, ''I already injected 35% of my stored limit of internal energy, but it''s not halfway filled yet.''


    When he turned all of his focus to his surroundings, a sheer number of vines were already encircling him, preparing to attack at any moment!


    ''I won''t be able to use pills nor elixirs underwater too. If I will use a pill here, the jar will instantly be filled of water and the other pills will be scattered away.'' He thought.


    Then, Allen heard the faint sound of something splashing deep through the water. It was faint, yet it repeated many times until he determined where it came from.


    Glancing upwards again, he spotted a lot of bodies of those five-legged green monsters landing on the water like shooting stars and sinking down even further like the debris of destroyed ships.


    Only a few seconds then passed, numerous corpses of the said monsters sunk down repeatedly. Some of them were burnt to a crisp, some were frozen solid, some of which were literally obliterated into little bits!


    Even if blood leaked out of their wounds, it was as if it was incompatible with water and did not mix with it.


    -whoosh-


    Within a few moments, majority of the vines that were surrounding Allen shot up towards the corpses and began eating them.


    Now, the remaining vines that were still encircling Allen could only be counted on two hands.


    But what could those meager amounts of cannibalistic plants do to Allen?


    Without delay, he easily killed those vines then continued swimming upwards to the surface.


    A few vines tried to intercept him, but because they weren''t coming in a huge horde, they were sliced one by one like parasitic plants plucked from their roots.


    Finally, Allen successfully emerged over water. Around him, were remains of the five-legged monsters.


    Additionally, more of the said monsters were still dropped down from the platform.


    Sounds of explosion and shrieks came from above, as more and more of those beasts fell. The battle above was of extreme magnitude that blinding lights originated there from time to time.


    Then the surging waves carried Allen towards one of the exits, as he was about to be completely taken away, he flickered to the metal platform and hastily ran up.


    Reaching the main pathway to the central platform, Allen saw the remains of the dead monsters if not stacked on each other, they had either unsightly caved wounds that most likely resulted from the earlier explosions or were frozen solid.


    Allen looked over at the central platform, where Dorothy was on a corner of the said platform surrounded by the green mutants.


    Even so, she wasn''t at a disadvantage and was actually pushing them back to the other side!


    Taking of this chance of a temporary respite, Allen swallowed another pill and his internal energy was fully replenished in a few moments.


    Then he took out three red pills and charged towards the central platform with the sword on his other hand.


    On the way, there were a few monsters remaining on the pathway, however, Allen seamlessly cut through them and he when he was near the central platform, he threw the three red pills towards the center of the beasts.


    -boom-


    A few seconds later, three explosions sounded out, unitedly creating a single loud one that decimated the central ranks of the monsters.


    The location where the explosions occurred was utterly devoid of monsters! The only thing that was left of their traces was the gray goo all over that place.


    Due to this, a lot of the five-legged beasts redrawn their attentions towards Allen then they prepared to charge!


    However, the monsters didn''t have to go near Allen anymore as he himself pierced through their horde.


    In whichever direction he would slash, gray blood would flow making the already metallic platform look even more so.


    Comparable to a lance piercing through an armor, Allen impeccably mowed down the monsters.


    Regardless of their numbers, both Allen and Dorothy butchered through the sheer numbers of the enemies.


    In fact, the monsters were no less than dead pigs right now! Even surrounding their only two separated enemies, they were helpless by their relentless attacks and their numbers dwindled at a fast rate.


    They were already in a pickle with Dorothy alone, but when Allen joined in the fray, they were completely being decimated now!


    The result of Allen entering the clash was already evident, a brief of time passed and the only ones left standing were him and Dorothy.


    She looked upwards to the organ. It gave off slight vibrations and pulses like a heart would.

 116 Heartbea

    "If only there was a dagger in that weapons store." Allen landed a glimpse on the organ then back at Dorothy, "I could have sent many dagger flashes to scrape that heart off."


    Looking back at Allen, Dorothy asked, "How are you sure it is a heart?"


    Records of the Visergoroth Eater on the outside world was scarce; there were little to no information even in the libraries of Alchem Town and Ikkleshan when she had been researching about the said monster, making Dorothy wonder where did he get such knowledge.


    ***


    A few years ago, somewhere in the southwest edge of the Monarch Forest...


    Inside a fairly lit up cave by magical gemstones, the young Allen viewed a squiggling sprout restrained by the sole of his boot, "Visergoroth Chompers are very rare, it should be one in a million chance to find one in this era."


    Visergoroth Chompers were the youngsters of Visergoroth Eaters. Although differing in power and possibly external looks, both had nearly the same internal body structures as per the records written.


    Holding the curved sword on one hand and the Erchian Dagger on the other; the latter dematerialized from his grasp and he aimed the tip of the former to the resisting sprout.


    Meanwhile, around them were obvious signs of a recent battle. From the huge chomp marks to the long rifts left behind by flashes and slashes nearly everywhere on the walls.


    "Turn back to your monster form." He took out a glowing knife from his satchel and returned the curved sword inside it.


    Crouching down, he then stabbed the knife a needle''s breadth away from the bigger part of the sprout and continued, "If you don''t, a pill made from a Visergoroth Chomper''s essence and a salad can be good alternatives."


    The sprout paused on all of its movements then began whimpering like a dog''s cries of mercy.


    ***


    Back at the present...


    Allen only kept looking back to Dorothy without replying anything.


    It was an utter silence between the two.


    "Don''t want to explain it? I can live with that." Dorothy set her gaze away from him and focused back up to the heart.


    "I have my ways." Finally, Allen answered back, albeit it was an implicit rejection of the question.


    -rumble-


    Tremors appeared all around them, starting from the heart above, to the walls then to the platforms, then to the surging water below that were coming from the large vents on the walls that resulted into bigger waves.


    As everything shook violently, Allen''s and Dorothy''s feet were still firmly planted on the platform.


    When the trembling stopped, green veins then stretched out of the heart towards the ends of the room.


    Realizing something, Dorothy pointed out, "The monster''s aura became more powerful!"


    She noticed something of their auras, prompting her to check them, "This is not good, we also became even weaker than before!"


    Then from above, the veins originating from the heart were torn apart from the inside and numerous five-legged monsters rained down again from above.


    In response, Allen and Dorothy took out a few red pills from their jars and threw it to the incoming monsters above them.


    -boom-


    Simultaneous explosions broke out and a ball of fire was formed over the central platform, incinerating all the coming beasts.


    No monster was capable enough to pierce through the fire, only their ashes were able to come down to the platform, however, the ashes didn''t last long on the floor as the wind carried them away.


    Meanwhile, the beasts that weren''t aiming to land on the central platform descended to the pathways and the other minor platforms.


    "Dorothy, I have an idea on how to kill that heart." Allen suddenly said.


    Dorothy: "What is it?"


    "Can you keep me protected?" Allen asked, "I only need time."


    "I can." She nodded.


    "Here''s my jar of explosive pills, you need it more than I do." Allen closed and tossed over the jar, which Dorothy got hold of.


    Afterwards, hordes of the five-legged beast charged towards the central platform from all the connected bridges to it.


    Showing an unmoved countenance, as the monsters stepped on the central platform, she pulled out a variety of pills from the jars, and threw them simultaneously.


    First, three red pills were thrown to one side of the platform.


    -boom-


    A deafening explosion erupted which decimated the monsters on that side, leaving behind a large fire that blocked the way of the monsters from that direction.


    Not wasting any time, she threw more pills to the other incoming beasts.


    Each time the pills made contact with solid surface, either a blast of fire or burning acid or ice or a tranquilizing aroma would emerge from them, wreaking havoc amongst the ranks of the incoming beasts.


    With just those pills, Dorothy was able to keep the monsters near the corner of the circular platform!


    "Are you done with what you are doing?" Dorothy asked.


    "No, I need a few more seconds." Allen replied.


    On the other hand, the five-legged monsters broke through the obstacles created by the pills and swarmed forward once again, making vibrations all over the platform.


    "I will have to use the last Species Obliterating Potion then." Dorothy pulled out a vial from her belt and stared closely at the incoming monsters getting closer to them.


    When the monsters finally reached a certain distance, she threw the potion to the nearest beast!


    The potion shot towards the monster, however, it hopped and dodged it then continued charging forward!


    Nevertheless, its companion from behind hit the vial and broke it!


    With a crisp sound of glass shattering, the liquid from inside the fragile container soaked the monster all over its body.


    Without warning, just like the first six-legged gray lizards earlier on, bubbles formed all-over its body!


    It shrieked as it tried to get it off, but in just a few seconds, it turned into green smoke, and as one of the monsters touched the green smoke, it also howled and not a long time passed it also turned into smoke then another one until to the last one in the vicinity.


    Meanwhile, there was still one survivor, which was the one that dodged the vial by hopping!


    Before it reached about 10 meters away from Dorothy, she flicked a red pill at it and it pierced through its body.


    -boom-


    From the inside, the monster was swiftly obliterated.


    "I''m done." Allen said as he suddenly went to one knee with the support of his sword.


    "Are you alright?" Dorothy asked.


    "I am, I just used nearly used up all my internal energy into this sword." Allen picked out a replenishing pill from one of his jars and consumed it. "Took me two turns to fill it."


    He stood straightly up again, "I''m going into position. I can sense this sword has a ranged ability."


    He and Dorothy were already in the centermost part of the platform, directly under the giant heart.


    Allen aimed his sword up to the heart, then he pulled it down.


    Afterwards, the sword began to glow faintly. From the weak faint glow, it became more and more intense until to the point it was a blinding golden light.


    A golden line emerged from the middle of the weapon and branched out from it to the ends of its blade like growing branches of trees.


    Dorothy was forced to step back because of the striking light.


    Then the aura of the sword became more powerful, from Minor-Inferior graded it shot up to Superb-Inferior graded.


    But it didn''t just stop there, it crawled up to the point the aura of a Peak-Inferior graded weapon could be sensed!


    Dorothy turned her back on Allen and shadowed her eyes with her arm, for the first time, her countenance changed greatly and she thought, ''Isn''t this¡­ a suicide-type weapon!''


    Finally, its aura reached a Peak-Inferior graded weapon could have!


    "It''s a suicide-type weapon, huh." Like what Dorothy realized, Allen also recognized what kind of weapon was it.


    Allen: "It doesn''t matter, this is just an illusion. Even a cursed weapon can be useful."


    Dorothy walked away farther, reaching the edge and turned around again.


    "Hm?" Noticing something, she cupped one of her hands and placed it on her right ear.


    She focused all her senses on her hearing, even allocating a huge portion of internal energy towards it.


    Despite the stormy-like surges of the waves on the surface; under it was a quiet, calm, and peaceful water. As if it was barren of life.


    -swish-


    There was a movement that caused swishing underneath.


    -swish- -swish- -swish-


    With sudden air-piercing sounds, numerous vines shot towards central platform from water below!


    -boom- -boom- -boom-


    Loud and powerful shaking could be felt on the central platform, then in an instant, the platform started to creak sideways!


    Dorothy hastily normalized her senses and kept herself steady. Not even thinking of it, she ran to and hopped onto the connected stabler pathway from the central platform, however, Allen was still in the middle, unable to move because he was still controlling the sword!


    "Allen!" She shouted, "Don''t continue the attack!"


    Another rumble occurred, but this time, it took place at the heart!


    More veins stretched out from the heart and embedded themselves onto the ceiling and started vibrating!


    The vibrations spread throughout the chamber, shaking every single nook and cranny of the chamber.


    Dorothy held tightly onto the steel railings on the pathway and looked down below.


    The waves down below were so chaotic that the walls of the chamber it would hit obtained very small cracks!


    "I can feel like we are on the brink of becoming low-stage mages!" Dorothy sensed that she and Allen were becoming weaker, while the monster, including the vines became stronger than before once again!


    Allen: "If I should destroy that heart, that moment is now."


    -boom-


    As more vines shot towards the central platform! The vines began tearing the platform apart, until it started to fall down altogether!


    After which, Allen jumped up with all his current strength could give towards the heart!


    Meanwhile, because the central platform has already been destroyed, the vines continued to shot forward towards Allen!


    A vine overtook Allen and attempted to block his way!


    However, in a blink of an eye Allen disappeared and the vine blocked nothing!


    Allen reappeared somewhere a considerable distance away underneath the heart.


    "This distance should be enough." He said.


    The sword glowed blindly. If the glow could be heard, its sound could be heard across the whole Ryon City!


    Allen lifted the sword up!


    A loud echo of some sort sounded out, not because the heart was slashed, but because it released a more powerful aura!


    Dorothy was already at the walls of the chamber when it happened, she narrowed her eyes and muttered, "The heart became more powerful and we became weaker again. The protection orb is on the verge collapse already."


    The said organ began shrinking rapidly, then in a second...


    -boom-


    It enlarged once again! Like a very powerful heartbeat, it sent a more destructive soundwave throughout the chamber, with most of the force concentrated towards the middle!


    The metal pathways in the middle and on its periphery split apart into smithereens by the intensified vibrations.


    Dorothy tightly held onto what she could hold just to prevent herself being taken away by the vibrations. The walls all around cracked by the sheer strength of the vibrations. Some parts of it fell and almost hit her unknowingly!


    The vines trying to catch up onto Allen withered into dust, while Allen himself was flung down furiously from above and into the water below, splashing it everywhere!


    "Allen!" She shouted and looked at the spot where Allen crashed down. An expanding blood puddle was now on the spot he had crashed into!

 117 The Faker

    Alchem Town, a few years ago¡­


    Atop the hill, the young apprentices of the alchemist masters were leaving a huge building.


    It was the institute where they''re taught of alchemy.


    Allen walked separate amongst the many other people. Attempting not to be seen by anyone.


    However, it failed as a few other of the other apprentices came over and blocked his way.


    "Umm, excuse me." The young Allen said with his seemingly immutable emotionless tone.


    "We won''t move. We want to talk to you now." One of the male apprentices commanded.


    "¡­"


    "Are you listening?" The same apprentice questioned.


    Allen: "Yes."


    "You have been failing all of the tests when it comes to concocting pills or elixirs. Even the most basic ones like creating poison out of the Liquid Silver, which is ridiculous! A non-apprentice of a master can even do that! Is your master even teaching you anything?" The same male apprentice said a sentence after sentence of criticism.


    "He did master all of what was written in the books, but when it comes to really taking it in action. You are worse that those weaklings down the hill." A girl among the group added.


    "Eiden, maybe because his master had something in his head. You know, there are rumors that Sir Samuel has taken a liking on young boys." Another one of them also added.


    "Bwahaha¡­"


    "Pfft¡­"


    "Maybe he was being taught something else, hahahaha¡­!"


    Sneers and laughter came all around from the group.


    "Stop it." Eiden deepened his voice.


    The whole carnival of laughter paused from his words. After which, he glanced at the person who brought up the topic about Samuel, "There is not yet a single proof that he is like that. That kind of statement can get you into trouble. Don''t bring up that rumor ever again."


    The person who was reprimanded had beads of sweat all over his face, he shouted with fervor, "I will not bring that up again, Chief!"


    As Eiden settled down the issue, he looked back at Allen with the same strict countenance, "Allen, remember this, I am going to request the masters to put up a special concocting test to you by next week; if you aren''t able to pass it, you will be losing your apprenticeship privileges and be demoted. If you did too bad, do not expect to remain in the Alchem Town." The Alchem Town he was referring to was the organization, not the town itself.


    Just after Eiden finished what was he saying, another apprentice approached them and placed his hands over Allen''s shoulder.


    "Are you done speaking, Eiden?" That apprentice asked, who was none other than Gavin.


    "Are you going to protect him again, Gavin? You shouldn''t defend an obvious failure when it comes these matters." Eiden asked back.


    "Stop hiding behind Gavin''s clout you coward of a failure!" The same apprentice who brought up the rumor about Samuel shouted.


    "Airein!" Gavin called out loudly.


    All of the other apprentices that came with Eiden faltered in their countenances. That one shout of a name seemed like a beast has been summoned.


    From the other leaving apprentices in the other part of the hill, a figure dashed out of them and closed down on Eiden''s group.


    "Run!" All but Eiden sprinted away from the location, before the dashing figure even arrived.


    The figure arrived afterwards. It was Airein. She then asked, "What is it, Senior Brother?"


    "Nothing, they already left." Gavin replied.


    "Gavin." Eiden said, "IF, that friend of yours doesn''t improve before that special test next week. He will be removed from apprenticeship. It''s quite a disgrace to be seen by other alchemist organizations to have any single direct apprentice who doesn''t know how to concoct."


    "Removed, or he could be designated to the scribes'' advisory group. The second one is uglier than the first." Eiden walked away from them after the last warning.


    "Huff¡­" Gavin breathed in deeply, "I am going to teach you again."


    "You already tried to teach me many times, Senior Brother. I didn''t improve anyway." Allen replied.


    "We''ll try it again. I won''t let you get kicked out, more so moved to that rotten advisory group." He patted Allen''s shoulders.


    "That group?" Airein shivered.


    ***


    Back to the present...


    Weak breathing, fatigued body, dizzy head.


    Those were Allen''s current condition while his whole body was covered in his own blood underwater.


    A portion of his clothes were tattered into pieces, specially the back part.


    The parts of the leather armor, if not flattened, had rips present on them.


    Meanwhile, his right eye was now fully exposed when the strap of the eyepatch was destroyed on impact to the raging waters after he was thrown away by the soundwave.


    ''My healing ability can''t catch up with my injuries.'' With dim eyes, he searched around him for anything useful.


    However, what he could only see were the shredded pieces and remaining parts of the vines continuously sinking downwards.


    Shards of glass along with pills were floating about almost everywhere from the spot which Allen plunged into water towards his current position.


    His belt was now devoid of jars of pills and vials of elixirs, the only remains of their existence were the shards spread out from his location.


    As for the contents of the potions, they mixed with water after their containers broke.


    Looking somewhere a bit above him, he spotted his sword.


    Setting his sight on the weapon, he moved his right hand towards it.


    But what it seemed like a hand''s reach away, was in fact much further than that.


    His eyesight further dimmed and dimmed, his body became number as he sank even deeper, and his senses became duller and he finally passed out.


    ***


    -BOOM-


    Late at night, an explosion occurred in the basement of Gavin''s quarters.


    What used to be a furnace was now blown into pieces, as black as charcoal. The other remaining bits smashed to the walls, other alchemical tools, creating cracks all over them.


    "Good thing no sounds can go out of the basement. This would''ve woken up everyone." Gavin commented as he stood himself up from the rubble of the other tools around him.


    "Are you alright, Allen?" He looked at the kid who was standing still in front of the furnace. Nearly all of the front of his body was blackened due to the explosion. There were bits of the furnaces beside him on the floor. If he weren''t an internal energy practitioner or a magician instead, his body would''ve been injured by the power of the explosion and the shrapnel of the furnace.


    "I failed again." Allen said. "How many times have I failed?"


    "Si-¡­" Gavin was about to say more than six-hundred times, but he held back his tongue; instead, he approached Allen and sat in front of him on the floor. Allen also sat on the floor afterwards.


    "Let''s do this tomorrow again. It''s bad for adepts to stay up at night. That also goes to internal energy practitioners like you." Gavin said.


    "The test will be held tomorrow." Allen answered back.


    "It is?!" The other was caught off guard. He placed his hand on his chin and thought of a solution.


    "Go back to your quarters. I''ll think of a solution." Gavin said.


    "Okay." Allen nodded, walked upstairs, and left Gavin''s personal quarters.


    "Is this really the only way." An idea entered his mind, but he hesitated on doing it.


    ¡­


    The next morning, Allen was called straight to a certain alchemist master''s abode where he would take the test.


    In the abode''s basement. The master guided Allen down here.


    The boy was given a list of pills and potions that he should concoct, after which the master added, "I''ll return at sunset to check on your results." Without saying anything else, the master left the basement, and locked it from the outside.


    Allen glanced at the list. He knew to himself, there was not a single thing he could concoct on the list. Nevertheless, he couldn''t feel any worry about it, as he was literally emotionless. He approached the wall of the basement and sat down with his back facing it and sat there blankly.


    Suddenly, he turned his head towards a certain spot. He sensed that there was an abrupt change in the mana around it.


    In a blink of an eye, Gavin appeared there. He stabilized his senses and looked around him. As soon as he saw Allen, he knew that he was at the right place, "Haha! Sneaking on my master''s notes paid off. That teleportation spell is so costly, phew."


    "Why are you just sitting there? Come on, I''ll concoct the pills and potions for you." Gavin approached Allen and urged him to stand up.


    "Isn''t this cheating?" Allen said.


    "I don''t care! Come on now, give me that list and pass me all the ingredients I say!"


    ¡­


    Several hours passed. The sun has set.


    The sound of the door of the basement being unlocked from the outside could be heard. With a click, it opened, and the alchemist master walked down the stairs and spotted Allen sitting by the wall, alone in the basement.


    On a table which used to be empty, there was now several bottles of pills and potions on it.


    In one glance, the master knew these were the end products. He took out a metal stick with inscriptions and approached them. Spotting the list of concoctions that he requested on the table, he counted them all and determined there was not any single deduction of number. He then checked all of the concoctions by first, smelling them, after that, when it came to the pills, he swallowed one to know its potency, then on the potions or elixirs, he first placed the metal stick, which glowed according to their medicinal strength, and also drank a few drops.


    Finishing testing them all, he looked over at Allen with a weird face, "I expected you to have a lower quality of products. These ones are on the level of Gavin''s concoctions! Maybe the initial rumor about you being his equal is correct, you only needed to be pressured to improve like this."


    "Tomorrow, I will report that you have passed. Congratulations." He calmly said.


    Unknowingly, what he consumed was born out not of true skill, but of a trick that would never be found out by anyone else, other than a few people in the future.

 118 In A Heartbea

    Back to the present...


    Allen eyes opened in an instant and he began coughing heavily. He vomited out large amounts of water onto the metallic floor.


    "Are you okay?" Dorothy asked while kicking a five-legged monster''s body down to the raging waters.


    Allen looked around were they were, which was in the mid-upper part of the chamber, near to one of the vents.


    "How long have I been out?" Allen asked.


    "Only a few minutes since I dragged you out of water." Dorothy replied.


    She added, "I healed most of your external wounds. If you had any internal injuries, your regeneration ability could have mended all of them already."


    "I never thought you would actually have that kind of ability. Mostly monsters are the ones capable of doing such a thing." Dorothy approached him.


    "Where''s the sword?" Allen questioned.


    "Right there." She pointed towards near a destroyed part of a certain pathway, only a few feet away from the waters. Stabbed through the metal pathway was a sword.


    "These pathetic five-limbed creatures attacked me while I was carrying you. They are more powerful than before after the orb weakened." She said, "They are about a sub-level above us, I can hardly keep up with their assaults."


    "We can still destroy the heart." Allen gazed upwards and saw the even larger veins originating from the organ.


    "Probably, but it''s even harder now." Nodding in agreement, Dorothy said, "It is such a waste if we don''t finish the book, it''s already the last page."


    "We''ll try assaulting again one more time." He stood up and leaned on the metal bars.


    "How about I try it, you don''t have to do everything, you know." Dorothy said, "Your injuries aren''t fully healed yet, you need to time to recuperate which will be a waste."


    Allen glanced at her for a few seconds in silence, then replied, "Go."


    After a pause, he added, "Can you get near to the heart?"


    "With your condition right now, I''m sure I would get farther than you." She replied and unstrapped a potion.


    After that, Dorothy unbuckled her belt and tossed it near Allen.


    "You go protect yourself with the remaining pills." She then drank the potion she was holding.


    Until she drained the potion to its last drop, Dorothy felt she was reenergized and as if feeling she was more powerful.


    A slight pause passed, and she jumped down from her current position to another pathway.


    As soon as she landed, the monsters on the pathway where she landed pounced on her.


    However, Dorothy jumped downwards again from the current pathway to a different one, evading the pouncing beasts.


    While she was travelling down in a fast manner, a lot of monsters were tailing her from behind as she landed from a pathway to another.


    Finally, Dorothy landed where the sword was and pulled it up.


    She sensed the stored compacted energy in the sword, it was many times more of her current internal energy.


    "A trigger type suicide weapon?" She determined while inspecting it. However, the monsters that were tailing her from behind all landed on the platform, making her stop her act of scrutiny.


    "I got a long way up to go." Glancing towards the ceiling where the heart was, her sight passed through the numerous destroyed pathways, and where the central platform once was.


    Meanwhile, looking down from above, Allen slowly picked up Dorothy''s belt. There were still a considerable number of pills left inside the sealed-tight jars.


    Suddenly, the pathway where he currently began shaking, but his stand was firm as he was holding onto the metal rail with his other hand.


    Turning his body around, Allen spotted a few five-legged monsters that separated from the groups that were tackling after Dorothy.


    With crazy shrieks, they charged towards Allen like an angry mob. The faster ones overtook their slower counterparts, even jumping over them.


    But Allen was prepared and he already took off the cover of one of the jars. As soon as the jar was opened, he threw two red pills towards them.


    Suddenly, the skin on the tip of the fifth limb of one of the charging beasts peeled off, creating a five-petal design around it.


    What revealed from underneath the peeled skin wasn''t a bone nor another skin, but was a gray gem!


    The gem glowed, then it splintered into pieces. In a flash, the monster opened its mouth wide open and made a deep breath.


    Like the length of the sound of flicking fingers, the monster breathe out loudly as if it was a roar and a soundwave shot through the pathway.


    The soundwave crashed through the other monsters on its way, carrying them along with it.


    On the other hand, the metal rails on the sides of the pathway were either bent or thrown away everywhere.


    In response, Allen threw two explosive red pills to the incoming soundwave, but it didn''t just stop there as he took out a cold light blue pill and threw it on the floor in front of him.


    When the cold pill touched the floor, a wall of ice immediately grew from it.


    -boom-


    The two red pills exploded in contact with the soundwave, turning the monsters and some debris that it was carrying into ashes.


    Continuing to travel on its path, it could be noticed that the soundwave was now slower compared to earlier.


    With another loud sound, it crashed onto the ice wall, and with another boom, the soundwave destroyed the ice wall and it dispersed along with it.


    From behind the supposed to be wall of ice, Allen emerged unharmed. He glued his sight to the particular five-legged monster that released the powerful soundwave.


    The monster seemed steadier like a statue, however, it suddenly collapsed dead and its body began dispersing as it turned into dust.


    The gem on the fifth limb of the monsters was a key component for them to live. Without it, like the recent monster, they would drop down dead.


    He was about to approach the already vaporized remains of the monster when he stopped on his steps and glanced at the direction from the entrance where he and Dorothy entered.


    "Dorothy, how much longer will that wall of mist last?" He shouted while his sights were glued to the entrance.


    "It already evaporated; I can hear them coming!" She answered back from afar while evading several monsters by jumping up to the pathway above her.


    The water near that entrance began shaking, at first it was only mild vibrations, but not even a long time passed short but chaotic waves emerged and bits of dust and stone fell from the ceiling over that location.


    Allen then turned his gaze away. Holding the belt on his hand tightly, he took a deep breath and hopped up on the metal guardrail on the side of the pathway.


    With it, he used the railing like a stepping stone and jumped up to the next pathway above him.


    Successfully landing on it, he took another deep breath and like earlier, he hopped on the rail and jumped up to the next pathway.


    He repeated this a few more times until...


    -crack-


    After landing on another pathway, a crack sounded out from inside Allen''s body and made him pause on his movements.


    Meanwhile, a five-legged monster attempted to ambush Allen by jumping behind him and slashed with all its sharpened limbs.


    Looking from the corner of his eyes, Allen rolled away and dodged the attack. Without stopping, the beast lunged towards him again.


    In this instance, Allen sidestepped to the side. When the monster landed, it created a slight shake nearby it.


    Nevertheless, Allen was firmly holding on the rail and his balance wasn''t affected. In a second, he focused most of his internal energy to his right leg and directly kicked the monster.


    A quiet boom sounded and the monster was thrown away.


    Allen rubbed his back and felt he touched something hard rising at the lower part of inside his body.


    ''My regeneration ability is still healing the other parts of my body. It won''t be able to heal this one immediately.'' He immediately opened another pill jar.


    He searched for a healing pill in that particular jar, but couldn''t find any. Closing it, he searched on the next jar, but there wasn''t a healing pill too.


    He kept on checking until to the last jar, where he found that only one healing pill was left.


    "Dorothy could have used a lot of healing pills on me." Allen said to himself and swallowed the pill.


    A cool feeling washed over his body that was gone in a flash. He rubbed his back again and sensed that there was still something hard rising from under his skin, but it was shorter this time.


    "The medicinal strength of the pill is weak." He judged.


    There were a few reasons why the strength of medicines were weaker. The user could have consumed a lot of them which made his or her body immune to its effects or the medicine wasn''t that of good quality. But in Allen''s case, he knew it was the former.


    He gazed around him, looking for Dorothy. When he looked above him, Allen spotted her jumping up to another pathway.


    Behind her were the numerous five-legged monsters; with some of them shooting soundwave out of their fifth limb, causing themselves to turn into dust.


    But those soundwaves didn''t hamper her the slightest and successfully passed by location where the central platform once was.


    Allen turned back his head towards the earlier entrance, "The vibration on the water stopped." Noticing the abrupt calming of the surge of water on that place.


    Then from the dark portion of the entrance, a scaly claw slowly and carefully emerged into the light.


    After that, another claw came out along with the earlier one, moving side by side with the other one.


    The owner of the claw then showed its head. Unlike a normal lizard''s head, its shape was more of like a dragon with bits of its scales near the neck extending upwards from the skin.


    In addition, at the end of those rising scales was a crown of green erected thorns surrounding the neck like a lion''s mane.


    With the lush green appearance of the crown, it made seem look like as if the lizard was what would a Visergoroth Chomper would look like if it was an animal.


    As the lizard''s whole body came into light, the next most striking characteristic was its big tail.


    Next, the tail split into three, with the middle one being the largest.


    The lizard turned its head upwards, and it met Allen''s gaze.


    Gazes meeting, they stuck their sights to each other for some time until the beast squinted and closed its eyes.


    Opening them again, it redirected its look towards Dorothy who was already near the heart.


    Its tails then rose up, then flippers grew in between each of them at a fast rate.


    The tails vibrated, creating waves over the flippers. At some times, the right tail would close its gap between the middle tail and widen it again, which was also the same scene with the left tail.


    Allen recognized such actions. The monster was signaling something else with its tail!


    Glowing patterns emerged on the tails and the flippers, changing their positions and colors every time in short moments.


    Behind the beast, more glowing patterns displayed themselves, lighting up the dark tunnel and exposing the uncountable giant lizards inside it on its floor, walls; and even on the ceiling.


    For a single second, everything in the tunnel and in the core chamber vibrated as if there was an earthquake; then the glow on the lizards'' patterns intensified and spread throughout their bodies, making them look like a living lamp.


    From the middle tails of the other beasts, beams of light shot towards flippers of the furthermost lizard on their front.


    They were preparing for a powerful attack!


    Allen went on the move, jumping down at once to a small circular platform beneath him.


    -whizz-


    His movements suddenly froze as a beam of light coming from the tunnel nearly hit his head. The beam then continued to shot forward and hit the wall, creating a deep hole on it.


    A pause later, numerous beams of light were launched from the tunnel and they rained upwards to Allen.


    The beams of light were like shooting stars, grazing the night sky.


    This time though, it was the metal pathways and platforms that they were aiming for, leaving holes as they go through them, turning them into piles of scrap metal that would then plunge to the waters below.


    Allen immediately jumped upwards as fast as he could.


    Each time he landed, more and more cracks could be heard from inside his body, to a point that his body shivered and became heavier to carry.


    As he jumped and landed one more time, a loud crack came from both of his legs. The bones on his legs were completely collapsing and becoming dislocated.


    He was forced to hold onto the railing and kneel on both legs!


    Meanwhile, as the beams evermore destroyed the pathways below him, he threw the belt with pills that he was holding towards the newly-arrived beasts!


    -boom-


    All of the remaining pills were destroyed by a tremendous explosion.


    Clouds of fire; green, gray and black smoke; cold and hot vapor; golden shimmering lights, and many more then coalesced into a giant ball of pure destruction!


    However, the beams weren''t even slowed by one bit and resumed to approach Allen at lightning speed.


    Allen looked at the beams, seemingly unceasingly on its movements, whatever he could do, it would still go towards him.


    -eeeeeng-


    In a heartbeat, a high-pitch slash of a sword sounded out.


    Everything around Allen paused, literally everything.


    The smoke, the beams of light, the large explosions, the waters, all of which were still; only he seemed to be moving now.


    He glanced towards the gigantic heart, where a humongous wound pierced through its middle by the sword held by Dorothy.


    Dorothy, meanwhile, could also move. Now, she was falling down from a height after successfully attacking. Wounds were all-over her body which she obtained not from the monsters, but from the sword itself. It was after all a suicide-type weapon.


    She let out a relieved sigh and muttered, "Finally."

 119 William and Esmund

    The splooshing and whooshing sound could be heard as the portal reactivated in the room. A leg stepped out, after which, the person''s whole body walked out; it was none other than Allen.


    Back to the small bedroom, he spotted James lying down on the bed playfully swinging his feet at the air while reciting something.


    "A familiar name of common.


    A familial tie to summon.


    Responsibility on hold.


    Their deaths shall be their only toll.


    The praises from the republics.


    The marches from the ruled kingdom.


    Unjailed from the light tyrants'' flicks.


    So nevermore to ways of some.


    Inheritance! Inheritance!


    The old forefathers'' duties.


    Dignity shall be its stance.


    Ever woe to cowards of worries.


    Majesty, Highness, Royalty.


    Monarch, Distinguished, Scholars.


    Army, Magicians, Alchemists.


    Duties one in all, all in one."


    Finishing the poem, James pondered, "Now what''s for the next stanza?"


    "I never read nor heard that poem before, did you make it yourself?" Allen interjected.


    "Who''s that!?" Startled by the sudden question, James sat up in a fast manner, glancing around him he eventually saw Allen.


    "It''s just you, mister." James calmed down then answered, "Yes, I made it myself, mister."


    "What are your inspirations for making that poem?" Allen asked.


    "Nothing, I just made it out of the bottle." James shrugged.


    "You are going to compose the fifth stanza, right?" Allen asked.


    "Yes." The kid nodded, "But I don''t know where to start, there are so many topics to choose from."


    "Why not about magic?" Allen suggested.


    "About magic?" James looked up the ceiling into deep thought, then he gazed back to Allen and said, "That''s a good idea. Thank you, mister!"


    Allen answered with a nod and sat by the table and watched the projection.


    The projection was currently showing the massive crowd within the arena, spectating another yet larger projection, where it was showing the leaderboards of the top 10 contestant who had the most points.


    The names on the #10 up to the #1 were seemingly immutable as the competitors were gradually gaining points at an even rate, with the #10 having 150,000 points.


    Suddenly, a new name replaced the person at #10, and it didn''t take much longer and it surpassed the #9 and #8.


    The crowd went wild at the sight!


    ***


    Esmund smiled and thought, ''Gavin finally caught up. He better not disappoint us alchemists here in the eastern region.''


    The newly-entered contestant was none other than Gavin!


    "Who is this Gavin Libban Rae?" William asked as he read the name being showed on the projection.


    "One of our brightest talents in this generation, good sir!" Esmund was all smiles while talking to William.


    "Really sir?" A faint glint shimmered on Esmund''s eyes but it immediately disappeared as he hastily added, "Ehem, against the main branch I can, but never the Ministry of Alchemy."


    He excitedly added, "If you want good sir, I will tell you more of the talents in my..." However, William interrupted him, "I already investigated what should be investigated."


    Then William''s voice became quieter yet colder, "I hope there isn''t a single maltreatment within the ranks of your branch''s apprentices, is there one Sir Esmund?" He glanced with a gold gaze from the corner of his eyes.


    William: "You know very well the consequences for failure of that basic non-maltreatment directive."


    Meanwhile, Esmund nodded seriously but still managed to crack out a polite smile, "If you are referring to that little trivial that occurred a few years ago Sir William, it has been taken care of."


    William maintained his cold eyes towards Esmund until he looked back to the giant projection.


    Esmund then also turned his look away back to the projection, ''This mortal is audacious and arrogant.''


    Esmund: ''William, I presume. You are really connected with Allen, but you are the same as he is.''.


    William: ''Hiding your true colors, eh. Your smiling face is no different from an ugly cheap leather bounding.''


    Esmund: ''I''ll make sure you will taste your own medicine.''


    William: ''You will surely get a slap of your own thick book cover one day.''


    While they were conversing with themselves inside their thoughts, the spectators cheered louder as Gavin took the #1 spot!


    ***


    "Senior brother is still competitive like before." Allen said.


    "Senior brother? Who''s your senior brother, mister?" With a curious look, James interjected.


    Allen: "Gavin."


    "Senior-Apprentice Brother Gavin is your senior brother? Wait, you entered Alchem Town before?" James became more curious.


    Why did James say ''senior apprentice brother'' instead of ''senior brother''? Because when it came to their membership in the branch, Gavin is a distinguished talent and one of the top apprentices.


    Top apprentices, meanwhile, could still call their fellow top apprentices like the plain ''senior or junior brother or sister'' because they had the same apprenticeship.


    "Yes." He nodded.


    "Why haven''t I heard of you before?" Suddenly, a thought struck the kid, "Oh yeah! I haven''t asked your name yet mister!"


    After a short pause, Allen said, "My name is..." However, his sentence was discontinued as another loud scream of the crowd pierced their ears.


    ***


    "Dorothy? It''s that woman from Ikkleshan in the central region?" William raised his eyebrows. "She came all the way down here to participate in the tournament?"


    "She''s a talented alchemist from the main branch on par with Gavin." Esmund said.


    Inwardly, the small branch-leader said, ''This is a chance for Alchem Town. If Gavin beats that woman from the main branch, me and the whole town will be more known in the circle of alchemists everywhere.''


    Her name was an eagle, flying up through the rankings until she managed to catch up behind Gavin.


    Nevertheless, the eagle wasn''t soaring high enough and her score couldn''t catch up to Gavin''s, staying right behind on his tail.


    This sight made Esmund pleased to the point he already managed to forget his anger towards William.


    ***


    Watching the projection, Allen said to himself, "Dorothy caught up."


    "Senior Apprentice-Sister Dorothy caught up!?" James yelped.


    "Eeek!!!" He shrieked in excitement.


    "Mister, were you able to qualify for the next round?" James asked.


    "Yes." Allen responded.


    "What do you need to accomplish to enter the next round, mister?" James continued with his questions.


    "40,000 points are needed to pass this round. The book that I answered gave 40 points per finished page and there are 1,000 pages, I should be able to qualify even if I didn''t answer the other books." Allen replied.


    James: "Why didn''t you answer the other books? You could have gotten higher points!"


    "The important thing is to pass this round." Allen answered.


    Time passed and Gavin''s score finally halted at 609,440.


    Witnessing this, the audience unanimously clapped their hands and cheered while the die-hard fans of Gavin shouted even louder.


    James: "The score stopped? Was he able to finish all the books?"


    "It is obvious he wasn''t able to the finish the black book, but he finished and correctly answered the other ones." Allen said.


    There were four colors of books; black, red, purple, and white. The was only one black book, the number of red books were 20, the purple ones were at 45, and there were only 35 white books; all-in-all there were a total of 101 books.


    Each book has 1,000 pages and the points varied from the colors of their covers.


    For the single black book, each successfully answered page including of killing the monster would give 40 points, with a total of 40,000 points for the whole book. If the monster isn''t killed there would be no points given regardless of the correct answers.


    The red books, meanwhile, for each page answered correctly, one would obtain 20 points. Multiplying it with the number of books and pages, 400,000 points were up for grabs.


    Purple books, although had the most number, only gave a meager amount of 3 points for each plant. Making it a total of 135,000 points.


    While the white books only gave a plummeting amount of 1 point per page. Doing some calculations, all of the white books could give 35,000 points; less than the amount of points of a single black book.


    Tallying all the scores up, one could obtain a perfect score of 610,000.


    Nevertheless, Dorothy''s score showed no signs of stopping and was reaching Gavin''s.


    The watching crowd, whether inside or outside the arena or within the contestants'' rooms, held their breaths.


    Esmund ducked his head while tightly holding onto the armrests of his seat, praying that Dorothy''s score won''t go over Gavin''s. Dianne and Rowin were closely paying attention, while Dominic and William wore expressions of placidity.


    -crack-


    The armrest that Esmund was holding tightly fractured due to the great force he was exerting to it.


    The seats they were sitting on were not any ordinary seats found everywhere. They were made from the wood of a medium-quality Mana Parasol Tree and the paddings were sewed from the leaves too, not only it was tough, but it could also refresh and energize whoever sat on it.


    But between his grip, it was no different from a plank of brittle wood filled with termites.


    A wave of silence then overtook everything.


    Esmund''s curiosity arose, "What happened?" He muttered.


    He rose up his head and looked at the projection.


    Gavin''s name was still on top of Dorothy''s. The latter''s points stopped at 586,800!


    Invigorated by the result, the branch chief didn''t notice that he stood up and began clapping.


    ***


    Meanwhile, in the city''s underground array.


    "Sir Samuel, the projection was delayed!" One of the cross-legged people reported. "It might be because of energy fluctuations."


    "Direct my station to supply power for the projection." Samuel commanded at once.


    The reporter nodded and the symbols underneath him flashed and a new vein was created which connected to where Samuel was sitting on.


    "Done!"


    Samuel closed his eyes and channeled his mana.


    ***


    Back at the arena.


    The projection glitched once and turned off, then in a jiffy, Dorothy''s name was at the top spot with 609,940 points!


    The spectators processed what occurred and when they finally realized the situation, a deafening cheer and claps sounded out, specially from the part of the arena where the watchers from the central region were.


    "Junior Sister Dorothy is so awesome!" A middle-aged woman wearing alchemical robes joined the cheers from the group originating from the central region. Although she was cheering for her, she did it in a professional way by clapping the noble''s way.


    "The people in the Alchem Town branch are showing improvements! Just look at Gavin, they trained an alchemist on par with us with fewer resources." A younger short-haired woman also wearing the standard robes for alchemy clapped.


    The short-haired woman added, "It is such a shame that Alchemist Morgan isn''t present. He could''ve beaten junior apprentice sister."


    "Thyia, not in a public place." The middle-aged woman said.


    Thyia: "Oh, my bad!"


    ***


    On the platform, William also stood up and clapped. Dianne followed him, along with Rowin and Dominic.


    Under the guise of the clapping sounds, William was smirking so hard that his mouth was beginning to hurt. With his knowledge, he knew true purpose of Esmund clapping earlier.


    Esmund spotted the other''s snicker and clapped even harder, occasionally making explosions of unclear soundwaves.


    A small rounded gem within his pockets vibrated, prompting him to pull it out and place it to his ear.


    "Esmund." A voice called came from the gem.


    "Samuel? What is it?" He asked calmly, but it was obviously forced.


    Samuel: "Just to inform you, there was a glitch in the projection, but I fixed it immediately."


    "Yes, I noticed. You chose a very, very, very great moment to do that." Esmund replied and cut off the communication.


    ...


    Time passed and the sun was now high up the sky.


    After Dorothy grabbed the top position, there wasn''t anything noteworthy to be of topic and the elimination round was declared to be officially over.

 120 The Assistants

    Later that day...


    With the elimination round finally coming to its end, Allen and James met by the entrance from where the contenders entered earlier after their registration.


    Their surroundings were teeming with a lot of contestants that were making their way out of the arena. A lot of them had bright smiles on their faces, a number were the opposite, and some didn''t stick around for too long and left at once.


    "Thank you for helping me enter mister!" James enthusiastically waved Allen a goodbye. The latter only nodded in response and set the kid off.


    Walking down the road, the kid was thinking of what would be the best rhymes and words for the fifth stanza of his poem, which was about magic.


    James surveyed around him, the path walk was filled with vendors selling tournament-related wares, "Hmm, maybe I should buy some."


    The kid went towards a stall, but he paused on his steps and realized something, "Wait! I didn''t even get the mister''s name!"


    ***


    The arena was the still holding a lot of people leaving through the stairs leading out of the main spectators'' area. If teleporting wasn''t currently restricted, the place would have been more spacious by now.


    On the platform, the esteemed guest were approaching Esmund.


    "Mr. Esmund, you will not be able to deny it any longer. Congratulations for a successful first round!" Rowin congratulated with several claps.


    "I will inform of this to the Matriarch. On behalf of her, congratulations Sir Esmund." Dianne slightly bowed.


    "The archbishop has been questioning me since time immemorial to report. It seems I have something worthy to say to him." Dominic said with his hands behind his back.


    "Thank you for your remarks, everyone." Like earlier, Esmund was all-smiles again.


    "Yes, yes." William joined in, "He had been celebrating early on even before the competition was over." He said while slowly clapping and approaching them.


    Esmund''s hands secretly curled up into fists. Of course, Esmund knew that William was actually talking about him standing up when Gavin supposedly passed Dorothy on the leaderboard rankings.


    Suddenly, William added, "He was expecting that the first round shall be a success, which is. His confidence is not there as a mere display."


    "Who are you by the way? I never heard of a young person like you joining in the adults'' conversation." Dominic raised an eyelash.


    ''Heh.'' Esmund snickered in his mind.


    "Dear reverend, I think I have heard the Bishop of the Capital complementing of you." William smiled back in response.


    "Him? He is a good friend of mine!" Dominic spoke in a more courteous tone.


    Dianne chimed in, "I better go, I have to send a letter to the Matriarch about this competition''s success." She bowed again and left the area.


    "Farewell, if Retollian willed, I will be returning to watch for the next round." Dominic also left.


    William: "You know, you are quite popular. I should also be going now."


    "Yes, I am very known, Sir William. In fact, a lot of people should be approaching be outside by now." Esmund smirked in response.


    "Mhm." William nodded, "You have a lot of men waiting for you. Have fun entertaining them, sir." He didn''t stick around any longer and left the platform with his chin up, leaving behind Esmund.


    As William left Esmund''s sight, the latter deeply breathe in and muttered, "I am going to make you pay you young imbecile¡­" His sentence was cut off as he inhale deeply again and sighed.


    A man wearing gray robes was now beside him. He appeared without even making any the slightest sound!


    He and the gray-robed man were the only ones left on the platform. The latter asked, "Do you want me to do something, sir?"


    "No. Ignore it." Esmund answered back. He relaxed his hands and stretched them out with each other, "I do not want to offend the kid."


    ***


    In an inconspicuous location near the arena, there was a carriage parked along with a black-white stallion. The stallion was bigger than a normal-sized of the same kind of animal.


    William walked towards the carriage and knocked on the door. The door opened and he entered inside.


    The interior of the carriage was bigger than it seemed from the outside. Of course, this carriage wasn''t any sort of such transportation, just the steed alone was unusual for a normal passenger.


    There were three people sitting on the opposite sides where the seats were, one was a woman wearing light armor. Beside her was a young frail man with shaking hands, and on the other seat was also a young man with a countenance and posture of a dignified person.


    "Sir William, you finally returned." A woman wearing exquisite and shiny armor along with a sword strapped on her belt greeted.


    "Thank you, Chelsea." William''s tone now was deeper and more somber.


    "Hello, Sir William. After visiting for the alchemy tournament today you have to East Gate City immediately for an appointment with Duke Edward Meros." The dignified man reminded.


    "I''ll have to do something first before I leave, Frederick. Inform the coach." William said.


    "I will." Frederick nodded and went out of the carriage.


    "H-Hi S-sir W-W-William!" The frail man waved hello to the younger Morgan.


    "Heigens." William nodded back. He then sat beside Frederick''s spot.


    Frederick opened the door and asked, "Sir William, we have a problem."


    "What is it?"


    "The coach resigned. He left a letter." Frederick passed an envelope to William. The latter, however, was torn into pieces and thrown to the trash bin.


    William: "Resignation accepted."


    "Now, who will..." Frederick wasn''t able to finish his sentence when William chimed in.


    "Including his life."


    "I''m sorry what, sir?" Confused by the interruption, Frederick asked for a clarification.


    "I accept his resignation, including his life''s." William said while grabbing a book to read from under his seat.


    A chill visibly went down Heigens'' spine and he immediately warned, "S-s-sir, your reputation will surely s-suffer!"


    "Sir William, although I am sent to obey your orders and to protect you, I will never do such an illegal action." Chelsea patted something under her pants.


    "We will never let you do that, sir." Frederick sternly replied.


    The younger Morgan looked at the three opposed persons. He could only sigh and say, "I am in a bad mood today. Forgive me for being rude."


    "It''s alright s-s-sir!" Heigens replied.


    "I will drive the carriage for you then, Little Sir." Chelsea smiled while jokingly adding. After then, she went outside to drive the carriage.


    Frederick then closed the door.


    It didn''t take long and the carriage went off.


    He sat beside William, "So, what seems to be the problem?" He asked, his demeanor now was different compared to his airy attitude earlier. Although he was still showing a cold, hard face.


    "I can solve it myself. I''m smarter than the both of you combined." Obviously annoyed by being interfered with his own matters, William shooed the both of them away.


    "This is going to be a debate of attributes, I see." Frederick''s face became colder, "Then so be it." As he was about to say another word, Heigens said:


    "You m-might be s-s-smart, but you are only a t-t-teenager!"


    "Older people will die first." William retorted.


    "T-t-that a-attitude of yours w-will be y-your demise!" Heigens sputtered.


    "Then good, I will die immediately so I will never have to look for my damn brother who left me!" William shouted frantically, "Everybody near me disappears without me noticing, my mother, my big brother..."


    "T-t-then you aren''t s-s-smart, you are b-b-blinded! You d-d-do not know how to keep t-t-them!" Heigens pointed his index finger towards William.


    William: "You..."


    "Y-you said everybody n-near you d-d-disappears without you noticing, b-but you are the one w-w-who left your own f-f-father!" Heigens blurted out.


    William clenched his fists over the opened book on his lap. He gritted his teeth and bowed his head down.


    His lower body and his arms were shaking. Along with his fast breathing, it might seem like he was about to explode out at any moment.


    Heigens: "Y-y-you are a co..."


    "Heigens." Frederick interrupted. He made a silencing gesture towards the other in a bid to stop him from continuing.


    Heigens noticed and understood what Frederick was trying to convey and glanced away.


    ''You had to make him too upset.'' Frederick rolled his eyes away from Heigens. He redirected his sight towards William.


    Listening closely, Frederick perceived the sound of fast yet quiet breathing. He rubbed William''s back to calm him down.


    ***


    In nearly every location in the world, poor people would always be present. Everywhere, even in great cities, a poor populace wouldn''t be nonexistent, and as their numbers increase, slums would surely appear.


    Allen arrived at the slums through array teleportation. Well, inside a building in the slums.


    Looking around him, the most noticeable object to behold was a bed. Along with it were a wardrobe, a shattered glass mirror, a small chest by the door, and a small window.


    It was a small bedroom.


    "I have made a slight mistake on my calculations." Allen murmured.


    "But these array teleports aren''t trustworthy to begin with." He continued.


    Arrays for teleportation were a luxury for internal energy practitioners, as unlike magicians who could teleport by just purely using mana even without such mechanisms, they needed catalysts for that action which were the arrays.


    Strengths of array teleports varied from one another. The higher one''s main level of power, the faster and wider the range of the teleport would be. Additionally, three types of array teleports exist; one was the singular type, the second was purely for transportation of non-living objects which of course has limitations on how many could be teleported, and the last one was for mass transportation of groups of living beings, with including non-living objects too.


    Why do the second type exist? It was because for an array teleport to work, an energy provider was required which was none other than the traveler itself. But due to it only for being purely transporting non-living things, another array was needed on the location where the object would be teleported to at; using twice or more of the amount of energy needed. Hence, it was separated from singular and group array teleports.


    Allen sensed somebody was coming from behind the door.


    The door swooshed open and a girl walked in while limping. She closed the door and went straight for the chest.


    Unbeknownst by the girl, a man was standing right in the middle of the room, gazing at her emotionlessly.


    She walked weirdly towards the chest. Upon a closer look, Allen spotted a grazed wound on her knee.


    Allen paid no heed and he went to the door. He grabbed the knob and was about to turn it when he looked at the wound again.


    ***


    Earlier...


    William''s carriage was speeding through the street. The magical stallion attracted the eyes of the onlookers, some of which immediately removed their sights upon who have seemingly seen a lot of such animals.


    It was Ryon City, where there''s an abundance in alchemical products either finished or processed. It''s no wonder that some people would generally be used the such magical beasts.


    In cities, one would most likely see such domesticated magical animals as those locations could be a hub for trade and goods.


    However, not all cities were like that; for example, although Eastern Horizon City was a city, powerful people seldom travel towards there. The city could be considered rich, yes, but what made it rich was its mineral mines, would powerful personalities with their priced steeds even go there just to purchase minerals, when they could just send somebody on their behalf?


    As the carriage stride towards the street, it finally reached the slums.


    "W-why do we even h-h-have to go into the s-s-s-slums?" Heigens asked with visible nervousness, "This p-place is such a h-h-hazard! It''s s-so dirty and d-d-dangerous. Who k-k-knows it could be filled with t-t-thugs? We m-m-might get sick! A dragon c-c-could come out of t-t-the ground! Or k-k-knives will r-r-rain from the s-s-skies! Or m-m-maybe the s-s-slums is a secret h-h-h-hiding place for an u-u-u-undead army! AHHHH!!!" He tightly pulled his hair while shouting frantically.


    ''Here comes the nervous boar again.'' Frederick rolled his eyes and he spoke to him, "Calm down, Heig."


    Frederick was still rubbing William''s back. The latter was sobbing quietly with his head ducked.


    "W-w-what if we s-s-suddenly hit something!" Heigens shouted.


    -bang-


    The carriage slightly shook. The weak shaking disappeared immediately afterwards, and the carriage continued to run.


    From the outside, Chelsea opened up a slidable small window behind the coach''s seat and asked, "Sir, we have hit somebody. I think it was a child."


    William paused on his sobs and raised his head. His eyes were red from all the sobbing. "Continue travelling, we shouldn''t waste time on such a trifling matter."


    "Mhm." Chelsea closed the small window and check a book beside her. The book was filled of William''s schedules to where he should go to.


    ''The slums is the shortest way there.'' She thought and closed the book. Chelsea looked back for a moment to check on the person she hit; but it was already far from the naked eye.


    "I hope that child did not get any serious injuries." She worriedly spoke.


    ***


    Back to the present¡­


    In the slums, a group of children where gathered in a circle conversing with each other.


    A young boy ran to the group. Looking exhausted, he was still able to speak, "Mr. Frank''s giving free snacks again, let''s go!" He didn''t stay longer and ran away.


    "What?"


    "Wait for us!"


    "Hold up!"


    "Don''t leave us!"


    The children all ran towards the same direction.


    "Ella, try to catch up!" A boy shouted to a limping girl.


    "You go ahead! My leg still hurts." Ella replied while holding her injured leg.


    "If you say so." The boy answered back and left at once.


    While she was walking, the wound''s pain intensified which made her hiss. She immediately walked towards the entrance of an alley and clutched the skin around the injury.