ã€ŠMagic Shop Systemã€‹


 Chapter 1 - Kadyn

    Wind howled and water gurgled and trees rustled. The scorching sun had climbed on the head of Avibria City, and the Tonton river flows with a rumbling noise; the trees swung with every passing gust of wind, and birds twittered pleasantly, pping their beautiful wings.

    "Brother! Brother!"

    Ranulf, who was lying on the ground, unconscious, was jolted awake by a panicked shout. The veins inside his head throbbed, and his eyes felt heavy as if he was having a hangover. He clenched his head reflexively, trying to fight the excruciating pain that almost tore his head from inside.

    "Argh," he groaned in agony and opened hisrge, beautiful blue eyes in confusion. The dazzling brilliance blinded and forced him to shut his oceanic eyes¡ªonly after blinking and adjusting his sight, the surrounding became clear, as heid on the ground, drenched in water and covered in dirt.

    The first thing that fell in his eyes was the blue sky, vast and dignified. The second was the face of someone¡ªthough obscured due to the zing sun behind that unknown face. The sunrays had been blocked by the body as if protecting him from the harsh and scorching heat. His bodyid at the bank of the river and his clothes damp and dirty.

    "Brother, are you alright!?" He heard the same panicked shout he did before, and it belonged to a girl. Though he did not recognise the voice.

    ''But why is she calling me brother? I don''t have any sister, or do I have a secret sister?'' he thought, but then shook his head inwardly, denying the possibility. The idea was too absurd. His father had no courage to cheat on his mother.

    Ranulf focused his gaze in front of him as the face cleared, revealing a beautiful girl with ck locks and snow-white skin and blue eyes shining like two precious gems. Her face filled with worry and her hands grabbing Ranulf''s arm tightly, shaking and twisting it. Her smooth white face drenched in sweat as the sun pressed upon her shoulders. From time to time she wiped the sweat from her temples with a white handkerchief.

    "Are you alright, brother?" still not caring about the burning sun, she continued to call him brother. "Why are you reckless? What would I do if something had happened to you? What would mother and father do?" her voice filled with worry and care.

    Hearing this girl''s words, Ranulf''s confusion deepened, and confusion turned into shock, and shock made his expression a little sluggish. She spoke apletely unfamiliarnguage to him, but he could understand every single word¡ªwhen he was about to speak, the pain burst into his head once more. Hammering and ttering inside his brain like thunder.

    "Argh!" he grabbed his skull in between his hands, trying to fight the pain in his scalp¡ªas the pain alleviated, a rush of information tugged its way through his brain. It was a memory of someone called Kadyn¡ªa boy with a miserable life and with no achievement¡ªthere were four people in his family, mother, father, and a cute little sister. And he loved his sister very much. Though he needed her to protect himself from bullies every so often.

    In the world the boy lived, called Pengo¡ªfull of magic and magical beasts, unique races and wars, demons and cruel creatures of all kinds.

    Kadyn awakened a summoning element at ten when he was in elementary school. Hope filled him as he wished for a glorious future, working hard on every passing day. But as he practised magic, his dreams shattered, and hope lost, and despair filled his small, innocent heart. He couldn''t awaken a single Magic Star after working hard for the entire six months. His ssmates walked further and further out of his grasp¡ªso far, he could never hope to catch. The difference between him and them became crystal clear.

    Kadyn stopped going to the magic school. He gave up on being a wizard and ran a shop that sold medicines. His father was an elementary mage and a hunter. His mother was a homemaker and also an elementary mage. As for his sister, she studied in the magic school and was the pride of his parents¡ªin the entire family only he... was talentless, magicless, pitiful.

    As for his death¡ªhe was fishing and his leg slipped, drowning to death, as he could not swim. He remembered there was another fisher, not far away. It must be that guy who tried to save him and informed his sister.

    Ranulf snapped open his eyes and looked at the girl in surprise and astonishment¡ªhe even forgot the pain due to the deep impact of information he just received. He couldn''t believe that he had transmigrated into someone else''s body and arrived in an unfamiliar world beyond his imagination.

    He remembered he was grieving when he heard that his childhood friend and love of his life was in a rtionship with a senior of their school. The most miserable thing was that the girl herself introduced him while holding the hand of that bastard, breaking his heart into millions of pieces.

    He lost control over his emotions when the arrogant senior insulted him, and when his childhood friendughed along with others after her lover''s humiliation. He fought with that shit, and the senior wounded his head with a hockey stick.

    He still vividly remembered, after hurting him, everyone, including his childhood friend he loved, ran away in fear. He fell on to the ground, dizzy, wounded, helpless in his own pool of blood. No one came to help as his consciousness faded slowly and painfully.

    ''So I died?'' he chuckled self mockingly. There was a pain on his face, not the pain of dying, but he felt betrayed. She did not even call the ambnce for the fear that she might get into trouble.

    "That b*stard, Fenon. He bullied brother, that''s why he came here to get some peace. How dare he act so arrogantly! He thinks he can do anything just because his family is rich!"

    Ranulf gazed at the grumbling girl, who was not over sixteen years old in front of him, and felt a warmth that he felt only from his parents. He remembered his mother and father. ''I hope they are alright.'' He sighed, thinking about their dazzling smiles.

    He opened his mouth and tried to speak the strangenguage. "Do¡­don''t wo...worry, I am alright." He struggled and stammered somewhat to speak. But with some time and practice, he could be fluent as natives of this world.

    "You¡­ are you really alright?" she asked once more in concern.

    Ranulf¡­ err¡­ Kadyn stood from the ground, winced and grimaced in pain, but ignored and wiped the dirt from his clothes. Then he looked at his little sister tenderly. "Don''t worry, your brother isn''t that weak." He patted her head and said, "let''s go home."

    God, or whoever that was, gave him a second chance to live, and he won''t waste it due to the useless memories of the past.

    [Host transmigrated safely. Need at least twenty-four hours to assimtepletely.]

    [Host needs to find a shop in twenty-four hours, or your soul will dissipate before it can assimte with the body...]

 Chapter 2 - Piss Here, And I Am Your Father

    In the dining hall was sitting a group of three people. A girl, a boy, and a beautiful middle-aged woman. The woman looked in herte twenties, with ck hair and big blue eyes. All in all, she was an extremely beautifuldy.

    [Note: I said she looked in herte twenties but I never said, that was her age.]

    "Mom, I think I am full." The boy said depressingly.

    "What full, you didn''t even eat properly," chided the woman and passed the te filled with rice. "Here, finish it."

    "Mom, I am not a beast," Kadyn pleaded. "I also need to go to the shop."

    Kadyn eyed his sister, hoping for help, but the girl ignored him and continued to eat her rice, head down. However, he saw a small grin curling over her lips.

    "No, you aren''t going anywhere today!" the woman squeaked in a firm voice, and her eyes became wet. "Have you ever thought about what I would do if something happened to you? It was your luck that there was an angler near you, or I wouldn''t even have your¡­"

    The woman fell silent, and tears rolled down her cheeks. Kadyn looked at her face and remained quiet. He wanted to stay but his arse was on fire this entire time, because of the "Ding" he heard recently.

    He looked at his mother''s teary face and sighed, then said nothing about going to the shop. It was already noon. He still had over twenty-two hours. However, he wanted to go to the shop as soon as possible and do the damn thing that voice had asked him to do.

    Though he didn''t know what shit that sound was, because he heard no voice the second time, nor would it reply to his questions. But there was a sound echoing in his head¡ªtick, tick, tick, as if trying to say. ''Do not rx your butt.''

    It was better toplete the task as soon as possible. He didn''t want to take any chance. Who knows when this tick-tick would stop and st his arse?

    "Alright, mom, I won''t go to the shop today," though reluctantly, he said in the end. "I am full, I will go rest." He went upstairs to his room when he saw his mother''s nod.

    "Brother is acting weird." Elora, who sat silent all this time, spoke. "He never liked to go to the shop. Why is he insisting so much today?"

    "Isn''t it a good thing?" said Salona. "Your brother is bing responsible, this incidence must have made him realise his responsibilities."

    Elora rolled her eyes at her mother''s word. Though she also thought little about it, as long as her brother was happy.

    ¡ª¡ª

    Kadyn gaped at the small bed, a table, a chair, and a mirror on the wall as he fell on the soft bed. Though not asfortable as his bed from the earth. It wasn''t too bad either. He closed his eyes as drowsiness took over his consciousness, dragging him into a world of dreams, but there was no dream, only darkness, and he couldn''t ask for anything better.

    He woke up when it was dinner time, and after having the food, he again fell asleep. Not knowing what was happening, but he felt tired and drowsy.

    "Brother!"

    "Who is shouting¡­" he murmured and changed his posture.

    "Brother!"

    "Damn it!" he growled but didn''t open his eyes.

    "BROTHER!!!"

    "The heck!"

    Kadyn sprang in shock and blinked around in confusion. His eyes felt heavy, and his head ached as fuck. Only when he messaged his two blurry eye-balls and adjusted his sight, he realised the shout hade from the door.

    "Damn headache!" he winced and cursed but couldn''t do anything else.

    "Bang!"

    Someone banged on his door. "Brother!"

    "Coming!" he said, and opened the door, and peered out with his swollen eyes.

    "Aren''t you going to the shop?" Elora said. "Weren''t you keen yesterday?"

    Kadyn blinked his eyes at first, trying to process her words inside his head. Then all the drowsiness vanished. His eyes widened as if they would bulge out of their sockets. "Shit!"

    "Bang!"

    He cursed and closed the door and checked the watch. It was ten o''clock.

    "Damn, only half an hour left." He rushed to wash his face, and when he wiped the water with a towel, he saw his reflection in the mirror. Blue eyes, silver hair and damn handsome face. He wanted to give himself some praises, but time was short.

    Without brushing his teeth, he sprinted out of the room with the same clothes he wore.

    "Come sit with us," said Salona, looking at Kadyn, who rushed down from the upstairs. "I have made your favourite Sheesh Kebab."

    Kadyn nced over the table where delicious Seekh Kebab had been arranged in an order, and his stomach grumbled about seeing it, but the man did not have extra time to waste here. He cast one more reluctant gaze at the food, then at his mother. "I am sorry, mother. I don''t have time to eat."

    After speaking, he grabbed one of the Kebabs and dashed towards the door. He also saw his sister looking at him with narrowed eyes, muttering something. Though he failed to make head or tail of her murmuring, so he didn''t bother.

    "This bastard," Elora cursed, and pouted under her breath. "He didn''t even say sorry for his earlier rude behaviour."

    Salona wanted to stop Kadyn, but he was fast. Before she could speak, he scampered out of the house. "This boy." She murmured and shook her head.

    "I am going mom, ourpetition is about to start in two months, and it''s important to attend sses." After finishing her food, Elora also went to school.

    ¡ª¡ª

    Kadyn glimpsed around aftering out of his house and saw his neighbour, Miss Eddena, showering her nts while humming a song:

    Who are you, who are you to me?

    Why do you connect the threads of our hearts?

    Why am I so helpless in front of you?

    Now don''t leave me and go anywhere;

    Hold my hand and walk, I will show everyone;

    Who are you, who are you to me...

    Kadyn heard the song and peered at thedy in her garden. The song was about a lover questioning andining, but after leaving her mouth, the song had another kind of charm, beautiful. Thedy smiled and nodded at him when she found him standing and looking at her, and continued to water her nt and hum her tune with a small grin over her lips. The grin that tucked the strings of Kadyn''s heart¡ªher smile was beautiful and lonely and full of misery, that''s what he thought.

    Eddena was a twenty-nine-year-old looking beautiful unmarried woman. She had big plump breasts, white skin, slender legs, and a slim waist. Kadyn saw her beautiful, watery brown eyes and felt his heart raced. If he had to give her praise, he would say a single sentence: ''a dream of every teenager.'' Kadyn knew little about her as she rented the neighbourhood only a few months ago and talked little about her personal details with anyone.

    Although she was beautiful, Kadyn did not have time to admire her charm, as his arse was on pins at the moment. He picked his road bicycle and paddled on it with as much force as he could, rushing on the wide road towards his shop, passing through many cars, bikes, people, and buildings on the way. There were also shops on the roadside, selling different stuff.

    Kadyn sniffed a delicious smell from not far away¡ªstreet food was sold there. He nced for a second and hurried forward. No time for gulping and swallowing his saliva.

    He passed by the Radiant Brook Temple on the way¡ªbeggars could be seen begging on the temple''s stairs. Many disabled, without hands or legs, blind and weak. Some people gave them food, and some gave them money, but some chided and kicked and humiliated them. Kadyn did not stop and continued to paddle his bicycle, leaving the temple behind. ''It seemed even this world is mixed with beggars and kind and arrogant.''

    His house was not at an excellent location, just a little better than the slum area, but his shop was at quite a good location¡ªat the street that connects with the Glumsore Road, and Glumsore School of Wizardry was also on that road where Elora studied. To buy this shop, his father had spent a fortune.

    Though he didn''t get many customers in his shop, as he only sold low-quality herbs¡ªthe sum he earned by selling herbs was pitiful, not worth mentioning. As there were more prominent herbal shops avable for customers who sold fresh and high-quality medicines. Kadyn was only an ordinary guy, so he could not go to the wilderness and collect herbs.

    His father was a hunter, but he was not a herb collector. Hepleted missions given by his customers or missions from Hunter Hall.

    "Ting!"

    He ced his bicycle on the street and locked it with chains in front of his shop, as there was no parking ce here, and checked his wristwatch: 10:26 o''clock. ''Just at the right time.'' He smiled and wiped the sweat from his temples.

    Afterwards, he turned towards his shop. The first thing that came into his view was aboard¡ªLegendary Medicine shop. Kadyn saw the word Legendary speechlessly, then the worn-out door of the shop that looked more than a few millennia old from its look. The cracked walls, white paint turned yellow or even ck, after who knew how long whitewashing. ''Legendary indeed.'' Atst, his gaze fell on therge warning on the wall: ''Piss here and I am your father.''

    "..."

    [The shop has been found. Please check your free rewards.]

    [The assimtion speed has been elerated¡ªthe assimtion haspleted!]

 Chapter 3 - Magic Shop System

    Kadyn entered the shop when he heard the announcement, eager to learn more. "Free rewards? Complete Assimtion? I don''t understand." He murmured, unsure what that meant.

    "Free Rewards are one time rewards that the Host will receive. From henceforth Host has toplete missions to get the rewards. As for Complete Assimtion, it is thebination of your body and soul. This body does not belong to the Host, therefore it needed some time to assimte."

    As Kadyn whispered his doubt, a very lifelike voice jolted him awake and looked around in shock. "Who are you?" he squeaked when failed to discover anyone''s trace around him.

    "I am the one who will make you the greatest being in this world and beyond," again a proud voice jerked into his head, bbing nonsense as if people of this world were meagre ants.

    Kadyn rolled his eyes at this shameless bragging. "How would you do that, and most importantly, why would you do that?" he probed, not sure why his heart felt no fear after hearing this strange voice in his heart. On the contrary, he was calm, as still as water.

    "It isn''t important right now," replied the voice, as if getting annoyed by his questions. "Now im your free rewards."

    Though Kadyn wanted to know more, he knew better not to press no further after hearing the scowl filled with irritation and suppressed the urge to probe in his heart. "Umm¡­ so how am I going to im¡­ umm¡­ free rewards?"

    "You just need to think about the reward, and you could see the detailed window and im them."

    Kadyn did as he was told, and a screen appeared in front of him. "Elementary Level Shop? What does it mean?"

    "There is no meaning, it is what it looks like."

    ''Silence''

    "Elementary Potion Knowledge?" when he failed to get the answer, he proceeded to another reward. "Potion? Love Potion? Is it something like that?"

    There was a brief silence before a reply. "Yes, something like that."

    "No, no, no," Kadyn interrupted. "I am not that kind of person. I won''t use love potions to seduce women. I can make any girl wet under her thighs with my dashing look, anyway. Don''t you agree?"

    ''Silence.''

    Kadynughed awkwardly when he heard nothing and turned towards sessive goodies. "Elementary Formation Knowledge? Elementary Artisan Knowledge? 100 Energy Points? What are those?"

    "You will know when you im them." He heard an impatient tone and rolled his eyes, proceeding towards another reward with a hollowugh. His questions must have thoroughlytled the person. ''Maybe my questions are nothing but stupid and childish.''

    "Yeah, you got that right."

    "Wha-what?" Kadyn jerked and voiced. "You can hear my thoughts!?"

    ''No reply.''

    The next reward''s name was Pengo Portal, and he still had no idea what that might be. Learned by previous mistakes, he remained silent and turned at the final andst reward, a Magic Form.

    [Do you want to im the rewards? Yes or no?]

    Once more Kadyn heard the mechanical sound, different from the one he talked to. "Yes," he replied.

    [The shop needs twenty-four hours toplete its upgrading.]

    [Pengo Portal is unavable for the time being. Wait for the shop upgrade toplete.]

    [Energy Points are unavable as the host''s profile isn''t visible yet. Wait twenty-four hours.]

    [Elementary Formation Knowledge Scroll is avable.]

    As the notification sounded, a scroll appeared in his hand and before he could check the content inside, another ding attracted his attention.

    [Elementary Potion Knowledge Scroll is avable.]

    [Elementary Artisan Knowledge Scroll is avable.]

    [Magic Form is avable.]

    Three more scrolls fell in his hand out of nowhere. As he stood silently with a dumbstruck expression. Not expecting something as magical as this.

    "Drop the blood on the scroll to assimte the knowledge inside." The voice once more became normal. "I would suggest that you start with Magic Form Scroll, as the information inside other scrolls is useless without awakening at least five stars."

    Though he did notpletely understand the meaning, Kadyn still nodded and dropped the blood on the Magic Form Scroll. In the same moment, he felt a vast amount of information rushing through his head. He saw himself from inside out and every working¡ªthe mouth, throat, stomach,rge and small intestines, liver, pancreas, and galldder all working together, as the digestive system, to process the food he ate so that the cells can absorb the nutrients and convert it into energy.

    The circtory system moved blood, nutrients, oxygen, carbon dioxide, and hormones around the body,prising the heart, blood, blood vessels, arteries and veins¡ªone by one all the functions of the body revealed in front of his eyes as if he was looking at the movie and studded into his memory like words on a sheet.

    Atst he saw a scene inside his consciousness. Tenrge pools of different colours floated in the vast space of his consciousness; they looked in a separate space and time, blurry and full of mysterious vibes. Kadyn knew nothing of those ten pools. However, one of those pools appeared to be more vivid and with extra details. It flickered with silver light now and then, unlike other nine pools, and that was it.

    Then the scene changed, and he saw a process: a small line¡ªthough he had no idea what it was¡ªtravelled from every part of his body, and he once more saw the working process as he did before. After travelling throughout his body, the line reached his consciousness and joined with the ten pools that stood inside.

    [Elemental Chaos Form!]

    Kadyn opened his eyes, filled with bewilderment, shock, and disbelief. He understood what just happened. It was a form for awakening his Magic Stars! But his predecessor could not awaken a single star after such a long time and his body was the same as him, so what was the use of this form? He sighed, disheartened.

    "He could not awaken his stars, not because he was talentless, but because he was far more talented than anyone in this world and beyond. Though his soul wasn''t powerful enough to match his body''s talent and that was the reason behind his condition."

    Kadyn raised his brows, hearing the exnation, and reckoned. "With his soul, his talent was useless, so you arranged my visit in this world." No reply.

    "Knock! Knock!"

    As he was evaluating the situation, someone knocked on the door. Kadyn turned and went to look. Maybe a customer, he thought.

    "Hello, sir," stood a man in a ck coat and ck pants and white shirt, looking like a professional employee of somepany. Behind him, ten more people stood and their clothes weren''t the same as his, but like roadside workers. "I am here to renovate your shop, Sir."

    "What?" Kadyn''s face turned perplexed. He asked nopany to renovate his shop. ''What is going on?'' He peered at the man in ck and narrowed his eyes. "Sorry, I have no intention..."

    "He is here to upgrade the shop," the voice sounded in his head.

    "What?"

    "Free reward: Elementary Level shop."

    ¡ª¡ª

    Kadyn ced his bicycle in front of his house and chained it. Then peeked at the garden but became disappointed when he found no one there. He knocked two times on the door and waited for his mom to open it.

    The click sounded, and the door creaked before opening, and Salona peered from within. "You are already here, huh? Come, it is already lunchtime." She smiled at her son with motherly love and dragged him by the wrist.

    "Go, wash yourself," she said after entering. "Food is ready, and your sister isn''ting home early today, due to her uingpetition."

    Kadyn looked at his mother in confusion. "What kind ofpetition?"

    "Have you already forgotten?" she smiled bitterly. "It is an inter-schoolpetition. There wasn''t a healingpetition ever before. This is the first time the school is going to hold such apetition. That is why she is very enthusiastic about it."

    Kadyn nodded and went to his room to refresh. He didn''t even hearpletely what his mother said, as something else had upied his thoughts. ''How the fuck he went to order those people? Is he also a human living in the city? Then how could he enter my head?''

    "I am not a human," a voice replied, "and those people weren''t actual people."

    "What do you mean?"

    "They are just illusions I made to avoid future troubles."

    "What future troubles?"

    "What do you think people would do if your shop evolved abruptly and became something else, out of nowhere?"

    Kadyn fell silent and nodded inwardly, understanding what he was trying to say. Suddenly, his eyes shed. "If you aren''t human, then what are you? God?" he said and shook his head.

    There was a brief silence before Kadyn heard the voice. "You can call me Magic Shop System."

    "System?"

    "Yes."

    "Sounds cool!"

    "I know I am cool."

    "..."

 Chapter 4 - Doubts

    Kadyn had a savoury lunch with his mother. He sighed in relief and felt a little guilty when she asked no question about the store. After all he could not tell that her actual son died, and he transmigrated from another world, while out of nowhere a system appeared and talked gibberish and nonsense¡ªand his shop was on an upgrade mode.

    Thinking about the system, his migraine increased. He just wanted to live and live peacefully and fuck a few beautifuldies before something untoward happens in his life once more.

    "I am done, mom," he said and pressed the chair back as he stood up. "I will go rest in my room."

    His mother nodded as he went upstairs and continued to collect the tters. Kadyn fell on his bed and stared at the ceiling, thinking about his past life¡ªhis parents, school, and love¡­ though there was no love, a shame... without realising his eyes grew heavy and blurred and he fell asleep.

    An unknown amount of time passed, and his eyelids fluttered. He opened ''em, rubbing reflexively and went to wash his face. After wiping the water from his dashing countenance with a towel, he looked at the watch¡ª5:07 pm. He settled his hair and clothes and went downstairs and saw his mom sleeping on the sofa. Kadyn winced, seeing drops of sweat gathering on her temples, and fatigue clutching her face, and dark circles forming under her eyes.

    "Heh? What''s that?" he narrowed his eyes, seeing two red points on her neck. He approached and found a mark as if a snake had bitten on the neck. He examined and his frown deepened. But he was afraid to awaken her so he controlled his curiosity and went out to take some fresh air after confirming that it wasn''t a harmful mark because she looked fine and peaceful while sleeping.

    Still there was no one in the garden, so he wandered on the road. Other people walking, talking,ughing, and passing by him now and then. After looking round he realised that most of the houses were one-storey, and he rarely saw a two-storey house like his own. After walking away from his house he saw runnels blocked with garbage and leaves and debris and pebbles, stinking and water running over the road. He frowned and walked passed.

    Meanwhile wandering, Kadyn saw a familiar face. He smiled and walked towards her. "Hello, Miss Eddena."

    The woman scanned up in surprise at being called by someone in the middle of the road. "Oh, It''s you. Did you not go to the shop today either?" She smiled back at him.

    Kadyn felt his face burning, after hearing her words. It turned out his name was quite famous and people knew he was good for nothing. Though he wanted to scream and tell her it wasn''t him but his predecessor, but could he really do that? So he thickened his skin and maintained a gentlemanly smile on his face. "Oh, no, no, it''s not like that. Actually the shop is being renovated. I had to close it for today, can''t do business in that kind of situation, can I?"

    "Oh," Eddena nodded, surprised seeing his calm and smiling face. If it was before, Kadyn would have escaped due to shame and embarrassment, but today he seemed different, more handsome, more confident, looking like apletely unique person, and she had no idea how urate her spection was. s, she would never know.

    "Coming from shopping?" asked Kadyn, peering at the poke in her hands. He could see green leaves and vegetables and fruits inside.

    "Aye," chuckled thedy. "I went to Lower Town Square to buy some vegetables, as I have little love for meat."

    "Oh," Kadyn nodded, from his predecessor''s memory he knew that the Avibria City was divided into two parts, Lower Town and Upper Town¡ªand Lower Town Square was the marketce in the Lower Town, obviously.

    "Please, let me," Kadyn extended his hand towards her bag. "I am also going back."

    "You don''t need¡­"

    "I insist."

    In the end Eddena passed her carrier bag to Kadyn and both of them stumbled shoulder to shoulder towards their home. "I heard your song, and it was beautiful." Kadynplimented.

    "Oh, thank you," smiled the beauty, hearing his praise, and Kadyn smiled back when he saw his words working.

    "Did you learn somewhere?"

    "No, it is natural."

    "What, really?"

    "Yes."

    "I couldn''t believe that you never learned music, and yet, you are such a talented singer."

    "We are here." Just as he was nning to add a few more flowery words, her voice interrupted. Looking around, he found himself standing in front of her house and felt disappointed. He did not even realise that he had arrived at their destination.

    "Wannae inside?" when he was despairing and cursing and crying at his luck, he heard the most unexpected thing. He turned towards her and blinked, unable to process. "What?" he asked for reassurance.

    "If you don''t want to, it''s alright." Shaking her head, she proceeded to take her poke from his hand.

    "I aming, of course." He replied and hurriedly stood in front of her locked door.

    Eddena smiled and unlocked her house. The first thing that fell into Kadyn''s''s view was the hall¡ªthere were sofas and couches and cushions, a beautiful ss tabley at the center of the hall and between the couches. Around two meters left of the sofas, was a dining table with four chairs. He looked beyond and saw stairs going up. At the right side of the stairs was the kitchen. He knew because utensils were visible through the window. There was also a door on the left, he presumed it was a washroom.

    "Please, have a seat," Eddena gestured to him. "Do you want something cold or hot?"

    "There is no need¡­"

    "I insist."

    Kadyn looked at her bewitching smile and charming brown eyes, he blinked and swallowed, then nodded. "Tea."

    "Five minutes." She grinned, flicked and tousled her beautiful ck locks, and padded into the kitchen with her vegetable bag. Kadyn slouched on the sofazily and his eyes roamed round in boredom. But there were only walls for him to look¡ªfive minutes weren''t even up yet, when she walked out of the kitchen with a tray, two teacups and chips within.

    "Oh, you must be bored," Eddena ced a tray on the ss table. "I''m really sorry for leaving you alone."

    "No, no," Kadyn shook his head. "It''s alright. You don''t need to be so polite with me."

    After that Eddena sat down beside Kadyn. He jerked his head at her in bewilderment. Not expecting her to sit on the same sofa. Though shepletely ignored his gaze and sipped tea through the cup rims with her red mesmerising lips."

    "Please," she gestured to Kadyn to take his tea.

    Although feeling awkward, he still nodded and took the cup from the table. He could feel her slender thighs rubbing his right side, and he could perceive the warmth of her body, and as they talked to each other, her seductive boobs rubbed his hand, giving aplete and thorough boner to his innocent and virgin cock, turning his posture a little unnatural.

    While he was trying to hide an embarrassing situation, his head buzzed and spined and blurred. After that he felt a warm sensation all over his body, and afortable feeling washed him, making him moan in pleasure. Thefortable feeling turned into pain slowly. He tried to struggle but there was only darkness and pain and despair and then...

    ¡ª¡ª

    "Hmm?" Kadyn snapped open his eyes and examined his surroundings. He was in a room, but not his room.

    "Elora! Mother!" Kadyn squealed, confusion written all over his face.

    "Cick~"

    The door clicked and opened. Elora entered the room "You are awake."

    "Why am I in the mother''s room?" he asked anxiously.

    "Because you are heavy," she rolled her eyes. "We couldn''t take you to your room. So we let you sleep here."

    "But¡­ but why don''t I remember anything?" he creased his brows and struggled to think, but couldn''t recall anything. "Though I remember¡­ umm helping Miss Eddena, and then she invited me, and we had tea¡­ after that¡­ after that I can''t recollect anything¡­" he felt his head would burst into pieces if he''d think any further, so he stopped, and asked his sister instead. "Do you know what happened?"

    Elora sat beside him and frowned hearing his exnation and shook her head. "We found you on the doorsteps. We also asked Miss Eddena what happened, and she said that after drinking tea, you departed."

    "Departed?" he looked at her. "And how did I end up on our doorsteps?"

    "If you don''t know, then how would I know?" Elora shrugged her shoulders.

    "Grumble~"

    She rolled her eyes at him when his stomach grumbled. "Let''s go, you haven''t eaten for a day after all."

    "For a day?" he repeated confusedly and turned at his watch¡ª11:11 am. "I was down for over 16 hours!"

    "Yes, and you don''t know how worried mother was," she looked grudgingly at him. "I told her, you arepletely fine and just unconscious, calming her anxiety a bit. Even then the entire night she remained awake, looking after you." She paused. "Only an hour ago she fell asleep, and that was also due to fatigue."

    Kadyn felt warmth, hearing about his mother. He reckoned for a moment and changed the topic when nothing came to his mind. "Aren''t you going to school today?"

    Elora smiled at her brother. "Don''t feel like going today."

    "Alright, breaks are also important." He nodded and probed no more. It was normal to take a day or two off sometimes. However he did not see something hidden inside her smile.

    "What''s that?!" Elora eximed, looking at him with wide eyes.

    "What?"

    "On your neck. There''s a red mark," she replied.

 Chapter 5 - Divine Lion Magic Shop

    Hot wind howled and rustled, striking his face as Kadyn pedaled his bicycle. Trees at the the roadside swung and danced. Sweat dripped and drenched his clothes as the scorching sun hung on at the ny-degree angle. Kadyn looked at his watch¡ªit was 12:30 P.M.

    "Are you once more going to spend your life as a simp and die a virgin?" while he was thinking about the shop he heard System in his head.

    "Wh-what do you mean?" Kadyn asked in bewilderment.

    "What I mean is simple. You died in yourst life because of a girl. Do you once more want the history to repeat itself?" the system sounded annoyed. "This world works differently from your previous one. It is filled with violence and blood and greed, magic and demons and treachery."

    "Did I miss something?" Kadyn reckoned and his eyes widened. "You know what happened with mest night, don''t you?! Where did I get that mark on my neck?"

    ''Silence.''

    After that no matter what Kadyn tried, System never replied. In the end he gave up and continued pedaling his bicycle on the Glumorse Road. He tilted the handle and changed the direction, leaving Glumorse road. It took ten more minutes to arrive at the location of his shop.

    "Tring!"

    "Wh-what?!" Suddenly he pressed the brake and observed the situation ahead of him with an open mouth and panicked face. "H-how? Why?"

    He could not believe what he saw¡ªan enormous gate with two lifelike statues of golden lions, with golden wings sitting on either side of the entrance. It looked as if they would lunge in just a moment.

    "Who did this?" Kadyn threw his cycle with little care and dashed towards his shop. "Who dared to capture my shop? I''m fucking going to kill that bastard." He muttered, gritting his teeth.

    There was a crowd, watching the marvellous design of the shop in front of them, praising and sighing in admiration. "I can''t believe that someone is ready to establish a magic shop in the lower town as well." Someone said in admiration, looking at the two dignified statues.

    "I think the boy is trying to pull a prank." One man said, shaking his head.

    "What do you know?" another man refuted. "Do you think Kadyn spent so much money in the shop, just to y a prank on you? Don''t you think you have too high an opinion about yourself?"

    "..."

    As Kadyn arrived he heard the conversation and his eyes widened in glee. Though he knew that his shop was about to upgrade he never thought the change would be this drastic. It was a difference in heaven and earth.

    Kadyn rushed through crowd and arrived in front ofrge gate and looked at the board¡ªDivine Lion Magic Shop.

    "Did you give this name?" he asked the System.

    "Yes."

    "Why Lion? Why not Dragon or Phoenix?"

    No reply.

    Kadyn knew he would not get any answer from this mute system, so he stopped asking and looked at the statues in confusion and shook his head. What does it have to do with him if it was a dragon or a lion? His shop still sounded pretty badass.

    Amidst the crowd, Kadyn headed in his shop through the entrance. The door opened automatically¡ªhe had no idea if it was due to some kind of sensor or something else¡ªthe first thing that fell into his gaze was the vast courtyard and a hedge surrounded. There was also a garden adorned with different types of flowers. Afterwards he saw the six separate buildings¡ªMain shop, Potion Workshop, Artisan Workshop, Formation Workshop, Magic eleration Room, the and Practice Room.

    Before Kadyn could ask anything, a rush of information came into his head and everything became clear¡ªsimultaneously a window popped out in front of him.

    [Owner Name: Kadyn]

    [Shop Name: Divine Lion Magic Shop]

    [Mana Pool: Elementary]

    [Energy points: 100]

    [Elements:

    1) Summoning (activated: 0 stars)

    2) Fire

    3) Wind

    4) Lightning

    5) Psychic

    6) Darkness

    7) Earth

    8) Space

    9) Wood

    10) Blessing]

    [Abilities: Pengo Portal]

    Kadyn looked at the window, and his mouth opened wide in shock. Now he realised what the system meant by that Kadyn had too much talent. He had ten elements in which summoning was the only activated element. All elements needed a vast amount of energy for awakening, which old Kadyn could not provide. Therefore his other elements remained in hibernation¡ªalways sucking his mana, hoping to awaken¡ªand because his other elements always sucked his mana, he could not awaken summoning stars as well, due to his weak soul.

    He sighed in admiration, and then his attention came back to the window, and he saw Pengo Portal¡ª"Is it some kind of portal?" he just shot an arrow in the darkness and somehow hit the target.

    "Indeed, with it you can travel anywhere on the Pengo."

    "What, really?" Kadyn''s eyes brightened in excitement. He could travel anywhere in this world.

    "Put that thought off your head, for the time being, if you have any wish to live."

    "Ermm..." he wanted to ask the reason, but then shook his head¡ªhe would get no answer from this damn thing, anyway.

    [Warning: Host can''t cuss the system. Being a first mistake it is forgiven, but henceforth, every curse you intend towards the system, you will lose 10 energy points.]

    "What!?" Kadyn opened his eyes wide. "Wait a moment. What are energy points?"

    "Consider it money for the system," a voice sounded in his head. "Without it you won''t be able to use Pengo portal, and many more things."

    Kadyn heard and scuttled towards the Main Shop.

 Chapter 6 - First Customer

    Kadyn opened the gate and headed into the main shop. The first thing that fell in his view was the counter and a chair behind it. He saw something written on the wall, Lottery. Below was a Spinning Wheel divided into ten parts. Five nks and five filled with goodies.

    After that he peered deeper, and there was a room¡ªMana and Time eleration Room(Meditation Room). Without hum and haw, he entered. A huge formation had been constructed on the floor, and the formation covered every nook and cranny of the room.

    [The owner requires four energy points every hour to practice here.]

    A notification sounded inside his head when he examined the formation. He rolled his eyes and shook his head. "What are the benefits for practicing here?" he asked.

    "The magic practice will speed up by five times, and the time eleration by two¡ªone hour here is only half an hour outside." The System exined. "Previously, you saw the Magic eleration Room outside. That is for the customers, and could not slow down the time, and would only speed up magic practice."

    After that he hustled towards the Practicing Room, as there was no distinctive ce for him to practice, like the Magic and Time eleration Room(Meditation Room). He gawked into the room. But there was nothing inside¡ªexcept white walls. "How does this practice room work?"

    "You just need to think about the setting, and the type of enemy you want. Then you will understand everything."

    Kadyn did as he was told, and his surroundings changed. He stood on a vast grasnd and arge, vicious looking tiger strolled in his direction with a slow and steady pace. Kadyn spotted the creature, and his body stiffened. His face paled and his body trembled. "What the fuck!?"

    With no dy he spun round to escape, but when he spotted the scenery behind, his expression became sluggish, and the sluggishness transformed into fear, and fear drenched his back in a cold sweat. He had nowhere to run. There was only a vast grasnd in every direction.

    "Wh-what''s going on?!" he squealed, but no one answered and his panic only increased, looking at the decreasing distance between him and the tiger.

    "Roar!"

    The beast roared, and he staggered in terror and fell on his butt. The tiger stood just five meters away from him, staring with its maroon eyes. "Sa-save me! Someone!" he screamed, and the tiger lunged.

    Kadyn tried to crawl, and the tears rolled from his eyes, and the snot filled his nose. However in just a blink, he was under the paws of the vicious tiger, digging into his chest, and pinning on the grassynd. He tried to struggle, but to no avail. The tiger growled and tore off his right arm with its sharp fangs.

    "Ahhh!!!"

    Kadyn gave an agonised shriek. He fumbled and struggled under the tiger, as blood painted the ground and sprayed like water in the fountain.

    "Crunch~ Crunch~"

    The tiger crunched the arm under its sharp fangs, and blood dripped over Kadyn''s face. He felt cold clutching his heart, and darkness falling over his eyes. After munching over an arm, the tiger moved for another limb and another and another, and Kadyn screamed and screamed and screamed, until his throat became hoarse and his eyes started to lose their lustre. Until his every part was torn and eaten, until he lost the will to struggle.

    The darkness drowned and engulfed his consciousness. The pain and misery he felt faded slowly, and the warm feeling filled his body. He felt as if he was reborn, and opened his eyes, looking around¡ªwhite walls greeted him. No trace of a tiger, and he examined his body. No wound could be found. Though covered in sweat.

    "Wh-what was that?" he stammered and wiped the sweat from his pale face.

    "That''s how the practice room works." The System replied.

    "But that was too painful."

    "You can decrease the pain through that screen on the wall beside the door. Just now, you have gone through 70% pain."

    Kadyn peered behind him at the screen beside the door and saw a minus-plus sign. The value was seventy. He couldn''t help but sigh. The screen was just behind him, therefore when he entered, he failed to notice it. He had to go through so much suffering and pain. He shuddered, remembering the agony from before.

    "Umm¡­ is this thing free?" he asked when he noticed that System deducted no energy points from his profile.

    "All the services that are avable to the customers are free for you."

    ¡ª¡ª

    Kadyn sat at the center of the formation, and closed his eyes, and activated the Elemental Chaos Form. The air trembled and swirls of energy formed, surrounding his body. Mana rushed through his body. Kadyn felt as if he was filled with tremendous energy and a warm,forting feeling. Afterwards the mana divided into ten lines and reached his consciousness where pools hung in the air.

    With no dy Kadyn guided the energy lines towards the Elemental Pools and immediately felt connected with them¡ªthe meditation continued, and an hour passed.

    [One hour passed: 100-4¡ú96]

    Kadyn unceasingly guided mana through his body ording to the Elemental Chaos Form and felt thefort he never did before, and he''d not realised that the more immersed he became, the faster swirls formed around his body.

    [Fire element has been activated. Activated Magic Stars¡ª>0]

    After the five minutes of the second hour he activated the fire element. Though he waspletely immersed in meditation and did not realise the change.

    [Wind element has been activated. Activated Magic Stars¡ª>0]

    [Lightning element has been activated. Activated Magic Stars¡ª>0]

    [Psychic element has been activated. Activated Magic Stars¡ª>0...]

    One after another total eight elements activated, but the Blessing element remained inactive.

    The time passed, and four hours went by, and he activated two magic stars in this time. Fire and summoning both activated one magic star.

    [One hour passed: 88-4¡ª>84]

    And at this moment Kadyn opened his eyes, feeling invigorating and refreshing and marveling energy throughout his body. He took a deep breath and stood up, stretching his body and twisting his wrist. He walked out of the room and sat on the chair in front of the counter. Though he practiced four hours, only two passed outside.

    "Excuse me." Five minutester, Kadyn heard a deep voice. He eyed ahead of him, and saw a sixteen-year-old boy, with ck hair, and brown eyes, and thin body. He was wearing the uniform of the Glumsore School of Wizardry.

    "Yes?" Kadyn raised his eyebrows, looking at the boy.

    "Umm¡­" the boy gazed at Kadyn and hesitated, seeing how young he was. Not over eighteen-years-old. "Sir... is-is this really a magic shop?"

    "Didn''t you notice the board outside?" he replied annoyedly.

    "No¡­ uhh¡­ I mean I did, but why does someone want to open a magic shop in the Lower Town?"

    "Of course, for the greater good of the world?" Kadyn said righteously. "I want to empower the poor and lead them to conquer the world."

    "Uhh¡­" the boy lest speechless, hearing his sarcasm. This shop owner has a peculiar temperament. He thought. "What services do you offer?"

    "There are only two services for the time being. Magic eleration Room and Practice Room." He repliednguidly. "200 dors for the former, for one hour meditation. 100 fortter, for one practice match."

    The boy had a suspicious look on his face. Though he never enjoyed the services of the Magic Shop. He knew well that they cost far higher than this. "Are you sure?" he inquired.

    "Are you a customer... or a spy?" Kadyn was on the verge of outburst, but he took a few deep breaths, calming himself. "Do you want any service, if not, please leave?"

    "Alright, alright." The boy said in irritation when he saw Kadyn''s ring eyes. "I will check out the Magic eleration Room for an hour."

    "200 dor."

    "Sure," the boy said, and took out his phone.

    "No online payment. Only cash."

    "..."

    After paying, the boy went towards the Magic eleration Room, while Kadyn grinned in triumph after getting his first customer¡­ and two hundred dors means 2 energy points.

    [Converting cash into energy points: 84+2¡ú86]

    [Hidden quest ''First Customer''pleted. Energy reward: 86+10¡ª>96]

    [Mission: Awaken five magic stars of a single element. Reward: Level 1 Spell.]

 Chapter 7 - Magnus

    Kadyn couldn''t contain his excitement after receiving thest notification. However, as he sat on the chair, boredom clutched his head and drowsiness swamped his eyes, and he fell asleep.

    "Si-sir~" a noise fell in his ears, and he fumbled his hand in that direction. "Sir¡­"

    Someone once more called. He rubbed his eyes before turning at the culprit in irritation¡ªa boy was standing in front of the counter. The same boy who went into the Magic eleration Room not long before.

    "One hour is already up?" he asked in confusion.

    The boy ogled Ayaan speechlessly. Complete at a loss for words. "Umm¡­ sir, I want to use the same service once more, can I?" he inquired.

    Kadyn peered at the boy and thought he sounded humblepared to before. In contrast to his previous suspicious self. Furthermore he struck as nervous when he inquired about the service. Kadyn thought a little about it and nodded. "Sure, how much time?"

    "Five hours!" replied the boy.

    "Sorry, man," Kadyn immediately turned him down. "I can''t provide the service for five hours."

    "Sir, are you upset due to my earlier attitude?" the customer squeaked in panic. "If... if you want I can apologize."

    Kadyn gawked at the boy and then shook his head. "You misunderstood me. I didn''t think you were impolite. It''s just that I need to close the shop in two hours. Therefore you can''t stay here¡­ well if you want to practice here till tomorrow then¡­"

    [Warning: one customer can''t stay over six hours in the Magic eleration Room in a single day.]

    "The fuck!" Kadyn cursed in irritation and the boy flinched back in shock, seeing Kadyn''s sudden outburst. Not daring to speak no more.

    [Host is not allowed to curse the system: 96-10¡ú86]

    "Holy sh¡­" through the halfway Kadyn controlled and swallowed the urge to swear. He took a deep breath and cooled himself down. Though his expression turned ugly. "You can only stay here for two hours." He eyed the pale boy and sighed. "Four hundred dors."

    "Ye-yes sir," he handed over four hundred dors and headed towards the room without turning back, afraid that Kadyn would stop him the next moment.

    As the customer scurried to meditate, Kadyn also entered his secret room and activated the Elemental Chaos Form. The boy would take two hours. Kadyn could meditate four hours inside the formation. Of course at the cost of four energy points.

    ¡ª¡ª

    "Tring!"

    He locked his bicycle and hustled into the house. The door was already open. From outside, he heard a voice of a maning from inside. He slowed his steps, and eyed in front of him¡ªa man sat on the sofa and was talking with his mother, and Salona blushed now and then. Elora was sitting beside the man, hugging his right arm tightly and acting like a spoiled brat. Due to back towards him, Kadyn failed to see the face of the man. However, he knew who that man was.

    Salona was the first to notice him. "Come,e, son," she cried. "If it wasn''t for you, he would have already gone."

    Hearing Salona, the man and Elora veered round and spotted him. Kadyn peered at the man¡ªpale face, and red-deep eyes, and silver hair that made him devilishly handsome. Furthermore there were no wrinkles on his face, and he looked even younger than his mother, around thirty years old.

    "Come here," Magnus gestured and smiled towards Kadyn. Kadyn padded and stood in front of the man. "Fa-father." He had no idea why, but he felt a tremendous urge to call this man his father. Maybe these were the feelings of old Kadyn.

    "I heard you had an ident?" just when Kadyn sat beside his mother, Magnus urged and the temperature fell down. Kadyn felt he was inside the ice cube. But as soon as the temperature fell, everything turned normal. It appeared as if everything was an illusion just then. His mother and Elora''s expression didn''t change. That meant, neither of them felt the change in the atmosphere.

    He looked at his father more seriously, who was waiting for his answer with squinted eyes. He had no idea if it was his doing. Or it was really just an illusion created by his own head. "Cough," Kadyn coughed and continued. "It just as you said, was an ident. Nothing more."

    Magnus peered into his eyes and nodded. "If something is bugging you, just tell me. Remember one thing¡ªI won''t let anyone bully my children, no matter who it is."

    Kadyn detected a severe expression on Magnus'' face and felt a strange warmth surging through his heart. It was a different father just a few days before who was spoiling him. Now when he got another, he did not differ from the first. They both loved their children.

    After that Magnus again turned towards his daughter. "Ahh, yes, didn''t you say that you will participate in some kind ofpetition?"

    Elora eyed her father and shook her head. "What happened?" Kadyn urged reflexively, seeing her crestfallen look.

    Elora gazed at him and bit her lower lip before replying, "they cancelled the healingpetition."

    "What?! Why?" Kadyn asked.

    "There won''t be any inter-schoolpetition, and they wouldpete against other magic schools. The healing isn''t as exciting as other elements, so they cancelled it." She replied with her head lowered.

    "Dunce!"

    A voice sounded in Kadyn''s head. He knew who it was, and hearing such ament about his sister made him furious. He was about to burst when System exined: "I''m not talking about your sister. The organiser of thepetition is an idiot."

    "Why do you say that?"

    "Because the healing element is one of the most sought and feared elements."

    "How could healing be one of the deadliest elements?" Kadyn voiced his doubt. Everyone knew that the healing element could only heal. Why would someone fear it?

    "What do you know? In ancient times people called it the wound-illness controller. What do you think the controller means? If it could heal, then it could make wounds worse. Tell me what would happen if your wound never stopped bleeding amidst a battle? Furthermore, after a certain amount of time, the healing element could be evolved into something amazing. Something marvellous"

    "Don''t worry, there will be many chances in the future." Kadyn eyed Salona, who cupped Elora''s puffy cheeks, and patted her head, andforted her daughter. For this once, he felt grateful to the System, for blessing him with the love of a family once more.

    "Thank you very much."

    "..."

 Chapter 8 - Shadows In The Night Of Full-moon

    Kadyn gazed at the ceiling as heid on the bed, reckoning. Only three days passed, but so many unbelievable things urred with him¡ªtransmigration, system, magic shop, and who knows how many things are waiting for him in the future.

    He sighed and stood up. "I can''t sleep."

    He opened the door and went out. There was no one in the hall, of course. The lights of his parents'' and sister''s room were off. ''They must already be asleep.'' He thought and went to the kitchen.

    "Whoosh!"

    Just when he drank water from the refrigerator and was about to retreat into his room, he saw a shadow outside from the kitchen''s window. He padded and peered out, but found no one. He squinted, reckoning. "I am sure there was someone."

    Peering into the opening, he hesitated for a brief amount of time. But then he headed and opened the door, looking at the beautiful full moon in the star-studded sky; dark and empty roads; gigantic shadows of trees waving in the wind. There were streetlights on either side of the road, though some of them broken, or maybe stolen. He had no idea.

    Kadyn observed his surroundings but found no one. He peeked inside Eddena''s garden but saw no one inside. Just when he thought nothing was wrong, something came into his view. Under one of the broken streetlights, two shadows stood, talking. He didn''t notice before because that area was obscured in the shadows of trees, but when the gust of wind passed and the moonlight fell down, the scene became clear.

    Without alerting ''em, he moved closer and closer with the help of the shadows of the trees. When he was ten meters away, he heard a voice of a male. "You were the one, didn''t you?"

    "So what, it was me?" a woman replied. "You can''t run from your destiny."

    "Destiny?" sneered the man. "I make my own destiny."

    "That''s why you destroyed your bloodline?"

    "You know?" the man sounded shocked when the woman talked about his bloodline.

    "Of course I know." She said. "No matter how many times you try to remove it from your veins, it will recover time after time. Don''t you know that?"

    The man was silent for a moment, but then he replied in a firm and deep voice. "No matter what, I won''t go back to that life. You hear me!?"

    "We''ll see." Thedy sounded smug and confident in herself.

    "nk!"

    Suddenly a sound of pebble-rolling on the ground nged, and both of them peered towards Kadyn, but due to the darkness of shadows, he failed to see their faces. "Who are you?" he asked, eyeing at the obscured figures vigntly.

    "Whoosh!"

    The duo exchanged nces and disappeared. It looked as if there was no one present at that ce ever before¡ªKadyn froze with disbelief, and his mouth cked open. Two people vanished in thin air and in front of him as if they were some kind of wisp. He knew he was living in a magical world, but it was his first encounter with such a mysterious thing.

    "Whoosh!"

    "Huh!?" he veered in shock when he heard the noise behind him. Though when he turned, he realised it was the gust of the wind. His heartbeat started beating more than twice the normal speed, and his back was dripping with sweat. He wiped his temple and forced himself to calm. "Who the fuck were those two?!"

    After looking around fearfully, he strode towards his house withrge steps. He felt he would piss his pants if stayed any further. Therefore, he rustled into his house and closed the door bang without taking a single peek outside.

    However, just when he closed the door a shadow appeared outside the door before disappearing.

    Kadyn fell on the sofa limply and huffed. Suddenly, he felt tired and scared. ''Who were those two?'' He nced at the door of his parents room and walked towards it. He tried to open the door, and it was unlocked. Through the slit, he saw his parents sleeping on the bed while hugging each other. He sighed in relief and cursed for overthinking things.

    ¡ª¡ª

    Kadyn brushed his teeth and took a bath before going downstairs. Salona and Elora were having breakfast, but Magnus was not present. He turned towards his mother and voiced his doubt. "Your father has taken some kind of mission from Hunters Hall. There is a time limit toplete every mission, or he would not receive his money."

    Though his mother was smiling, he could feel the reluctance in her voice. He ced his arse on the chair beside Elora and chuckled towards Salona. "Don''t worry, mother. When I earn lots of money. I won''t let him work."

    Elora rolled her eyes, but Salona smiled. "I am sure you will seed one day."

    Kadyn knew she was saying just to make him feel better. After all, how could a boy without magic be something in this world? Although he was no longer that loser Kadyn. He was someone¡­ something he himself was unaware of. Unaware why the system chose him. Unaware if it was a good or bad thing. However, he would not let this chance go just because of his misgivings. Good or not, he would know eventually. He could do nothing to the system, so why not y by the system''s rules?

    "Aren''t you going to school?" He eyed Elora.

    "Don''t feel like going today." She replied.

    Kadyn nced at his sister for a moment and then dropped the idea of persuading her. She was not in a good mood these few days. It was better to avoid that topic.

    "Alright mom, I''m off." He said and stood up.

    "I''lle to the shop with your lunch today."

    "What?!" he gawked at Elora with bulging eyes, as he had heard something terrible.

    "I said I will take your lunch today."

    "No." He saw the squinted eyes of his mother and sister, and put a gentle smile on his panicked face. "I mean, you don''t need to worry. It''s no big deal."

    Elora eyed him andced on the chair before saying. "Now I will definitelye."

 Chapter 9 - New Customer

    Kadyn pressed the brakes and eyed before him¡ªa man already stood in front of the locked gate of his shop. Kadyn remembered this boy from yesterday, and his name was Hicka. Name with no surname. Just like Kadyn. After all only a few people living in the Lower Town had surnames. It showed status and power and wealth. Kadyn had none of them.

    "Ah, you are here." Hicka''s eyes shone, seeing Kadyn on his old, rusty bicycle. He could not wrap his head around. Why would someone like Kadyn want to ride a bicycle? He was the owner of a magic shop. He should move around in cars such as Nercedes, Languare, Mountain Rover, and Jamborghini

    Kadyn nodded and smiled at the boy before driving on his cycle towards the close gate.

    "But¡­"

    Hicka wanted to warn that the gate was locked, but when Kadyn approached, it opened¡ªHicka gawped, not understanding what just happened. He saw no remote that Kadyn used or something else. He wondered if the technology really developed so absurdly. He shook his head and headed inside.

    Kadyn unbolted the shutter of the main shop and pulled the counter outward before sitting on the chair. "Hmm, how much time?"

    "Five hours." Hicka thought for a moment and then replied. "There is apetition in the school. But we need five stars to cast a lowest tier spell. I had three stars beforeing here, but after meditating in your shop, I awakened one more. Furthermore I can feel, the fifth star isn''t far from awakening."

    Seeing the Hicka''s excited face, Kadyn recalled Elora''s crestfallen expression. He wondered how many stars she had awakened. "How many schools are participating in thispetition?" he suddenly found himself asking.

    Hicka caught Kadyn''s question, and his eyes shone. He was eager to curry favour with him. Therefore he enthusiastically exined. "There are five magic schools in the Lower Town in which our school is second¡­st in the ranking. The most power¡­"

    "Don''t drag it. Just state what is the purpose of thepetition?" He interrupted Hicka, seeing the boy was going to narrate the history of thepetition.

    "Yes, of course," Hicka said, embarrassed. "Actually, all schools arepeting for a spot." He gazed at Kadyn and waited for the question.

    "Spot? What kind of spot?"

    The boy grinned and continued. "The winner couldpete with the schools of Upper Town. That is such an honor."

    Kadyn heard the exnation and lost all the interest he had in this so-calledpetition. Justpeting with the school''s of Upper Town was an honor? With this mentality, they could onlypete with them their entire life, but never win.

    "Thousand Dors." He gestured at the boy, and Hicka took out the paper money from his bag before passing on the counter. Kadyn counted and nodded at the man, and Hicka strode towards the meditation room.

    Kadyn nced at the watch and it was 10:45 A.M. He was having a headache because of his beloved sister. She woulde in about one hour. He had no idea how he would exin the transformation of the shop to her. He tried to ask for the suggestion from the System, but the arrogant bastard never replied.

    Not thinking much about the issue. He headed into his secret room. Yesterday he awakened four magic stars. Two for both summoning and fire. Today he wanted to focus on a single element, fire. He realised that if he wanted to activate his stars faster. He needed to meditate on a single element.

    "Excuse me." As he approached the door, a call came from behind him. He nced back and saw a girl around the age of sixteen, standing in front of the counter¡ªtanned skin; big, charming, ck eyes; slim waist; curvy body. Though her face seemed ordinary. She had a really seductive body, enough to drive any boy insane."Yes?" he inquired, peering at her busty bosoms.

    "Is it really a magic shop?"

    "..."

    After he exined, only then she believed but not entirely, and chose the Meditation Room for an hour. He also told her how to meditate inside and retreated to his secret hole.

    [Energy Points: 84+2¡ú86]

    He checked the energy points and activated his Meditation Form. This time, he focused entirely on the fire element. All the energy rushed into the fire pool, filling it to the brim. He focused inside the fire pool and saw a twinkle. He detected a star in the distance, appearing and fading. He became thrilled and continued to meditate as the swirl of energy prated his body.

    [One hour: 86-4¡ú82]

    It didn''t take long for the star to stabilize and glow harmoniously with the other two shining orbs in the vast space of the fire pool. He controlled his excitement and proceeded to meditate with the Elemental Chaos Form.

    [One hour: 82-4¡ú78]

    When another star started toe into existence, he heard an announcement in his head. As the star was about to stabilize, he once more heard the notification and opened his eyes and stood up. "It''s time." Time for Elora toe, and one hour was also up for that new hot customer.

    He sauntered out and peered at the girl standing in front of the counter, and her face was flushing red, huffing, and appeared angry. She squinted when Kadyn strode out of his room and pointed at him. "You money grubbing bastard! I was immersed and was about to awaken a star. However suddenly the mana in the surrounding disappeared. I know that the one hour was up, but how could you do such a thing? The chance to awaken a star isn''t easy. But now you have wasted my opportunity!"

    Kadyn raised his brows and slouched in his chair. "What are you grumbling about? You can just go for another session if you want to activate your star."

    "You¡­ You bastard!" her chest heaved up and down, and her round mounds looked really seductive and pleasant to look. "Do you know it isn''t normal to get an epiphany? I doubt I could awaken this star soon. You money grubbing merchant!"

    Kadyn was getting annoyed, hearing her calling him money grubbing again and again, but he tried to exin. "You don''t know how our shop works. The epiphany you are talking about isn''t much of a deal. You can get it in just a minute or two inside the meditation room."

    "Wha...t?" the girl thought she misheard. "Are you sure?"

    "100%," he said.

    "Jenna?" when Kadyn was exining, a surprised cry sounded. He eyed in that direction and his heart raced.

 Chapter 10 - Arrow Rush

    Jenna veered round and peered at the owner of the voice. Her face that was twisting in anger, blossomed with a dazzling smile. "Elora?!"

    "Oh my god! It is really you!" Elora scuttled towards Jenna, and the two girls hugged each other tightly. "What are you doing here?" Elora inquired after holding each other for a moment.

    Jenna let go of Elora and gawped at Kadyn before replying to her friend. "Don''t ask. I came here when I heard that a magic shop has opened in the Lower Town. Can you believe it?"

    Kadyn heard Jenna and cringed before lowering his head and skulked his face into hands due to embarrassment. What was worse than hiding the truth? Hearing the truth from someone else, of course.

    Elora squinted at Kadyn under her eyshes and continued to talk with Jenna. She glimpsed him hiding his face in his hands and found it infuriating and amusing at the same time. ''Bastard''s still acting, humph!'' she thought, but the smile never vanished from her charming countenance as she gossiped with her friend.

    "Do you know I was about to awaken my fifth star, but that money grubbi¡­" Jenna saw Kadyn''s hawk-like eyes squinting in her direction and shut her mouth. "Anyway, I could not awaken my star because the time was over. What about you?"

    "Oh, me?" she pointed towards herself with a finger exaggeratedly and turned towards Kadyn. "I came to give food to my brother." She uttered and showed the lunch box in her hands. Then she gestured towards Kadyn and added. "Meet my brother, Kadyn."

    Jenna jerked her head towards Kadyn and gawked at him with her bulging eyes. "He''s your brother?"

    "Who else? Did he harass you or something?"

    "Hello, hello, do you take me some kind of pervert?" Kadyn couldn''t remain silent. After all someone calling him a pervert indirectly.

    "Humph, we will talk." Elora sneered, and Kadyn gawped at her speechlessly. ''What does she mean by we will talk? I''m big brother, damn it.'' He thought but voiced no objection.

    Both the girls whispered over fifteen minutes. Kadyn slouched on his chair and listened to ''em, chuckling from time to time. After that Jenna paid four hundred dors and once more went to meditate. She was keen to awaken her next star. After all, the fifth star was the starting point for wizards.

    "Now tell me what the hell is going on?" Elora rumbled at Kadyn as soon as Jenna vanished into the meditation room.

    "Err¡­" Kadyn straightened his back and eyed nkly at his sister,pletely lost for words.

    "Tell me if you are doing anything bad?" she inquired concernedly and drew nearer to him.

    "No, no," Kadyn denied without even blinking. "Don''t you believe your brother?"

    "Not anymore."

    "..."

    "Tell me." She urged, peering into his eyes.

    Kadyn sighed and looked at his sister. His head throbbed. He had no idea how he should exin the situation to his sister. After all he could not tell that her brother was dead, and he was someone else.

    "Trust me,'''' in the end he said. "I would do nothing wrong, never. Right now I can''t tell you how¡­ this shop became like this," he gestured in the surrounding. "But one day I''ll exin everything, trust me." He tried to exin and rose from the chair and cradled her hand.

    Elora squinted at him suspiciously but pressed him no further to exin the details. She''d be happy providing her dumb brother wasn''t doing anything stupid. "Alright, I''ll trust you this once and wait to exin everything."

    "Great!" Kadynughed, hearing her words. It felt pretty marvellous to have a sensible sibling. Or he had no idea how he would exin if she pressed the issue to the end.

    "Alright what kind of service do you have?" she squeaked suddenly, looking all about. "I also want to meditate?"

    Kadyn gaped at his sister and couldn''t make any sound. One more trouble. Would the system let her meditate freely because she is his family?

    "No favouritism allowed. She has to pay like others. Though you can also pay on her behalf."

    As he was wrecking his brain to find the solution, a sound echoed in his chaotic head. "What do you mean I can pay on her behalf?"

    "Two energy points or two hundred dors for an hour."

    Kadyn reckoned and creased his brows. He had no idea why the system wanted him to pay. Or anyone. What would he do after collecting all the money? He shook his head, then turned towards his sister, who was waiting eagerly for an answer. "Go meditate. Remember, you could meditate for only two hours."

    [Energy Points: 82-4¡ú 78]

    As hepleted his sentence, four energy points were deducted from his ount. "What the hell. I didn''t even tell you if I want to pay dors or through energy points. How could you deduct them like that?"

    "Who are you making a fool of? I even know what kind of underwear you wear. Do you think I don''t know you are broke with no penny?"

    "..."

    Elora ced the lunch box on the counter and dashed towards the meditation room with a jovial grin, leaving a single sentence. "Mom said you need to eat all that food."

    Kadyn chuckled and shook his head and ced the lunch box over the shelf, and went to his secret room. He wasn''t hungry. Food could wait, time could not. Two hours outside. Four hours in his room.

    Today he wanted to awaken five stars andplete the mission. Then he could cast spells, could use magic. Just thinking about it made his body excited. What would it feel like to cast spells?

    Sitting at the centre of the formation, he closed his eyes and activated the Elemental Chaos Form, and swirls of energy formed around him, prating his body, and diving into the fire pool.

    Not even fifteen minutes passed, and he seeded to stabilize the fourth star of the fire element. However when it came to the fifth star, no sign of awakening could be seen. Time passed and three hours vanished in the blink of an eye.

    Thest hour started, and he saw twinkling in the dark space of the fire pool. Kadyn focused all the energy on that ce. As the mana poured into the pool, the glittering star became solid. Kadyn didn''t bother and proceeded to stabilize it.

    [Energy Points: 66-4¡ú62]

    As this notification sounded, another notification followed behind it.

    [Missionpleted: Five stars have been awakened. Reward: Level 1 fire spell]

    Kadyn opened his eyes, and a window opened in front of him automatically.

    [Element: Fire]

    [Name: Arrow Rush]

    [Level: 1]

    [Star Pattern: one star in the middle¡­]

 Chapter 11 - Fury

    Kadyn stumbled out of his meditation room and spotted Jenna and Elora prowling towards the counter in an unconcerned manner, whispering some secrets of girls among themselves.

    He spun towards the lunchbox and took it out off the shelf. Inside the lunchbox, there were sandwiches. His predecessor loved them. That must be the reason his mother made them for him. However, he wasn''t a fan of sandwiches. He scratched his head and ced a sandwich in his mouth. He was hungry, damn it.

    "Mmmm¡­" Kadyn nibbled on it, and his eyes widened in surprise. He loved it! He had no idea why, but this sandwich tastespletely unique and delicious...

    "I want to train two hours more."

    As he was chewing his delicious, delectable, and appetizing sandwich, a voice fell into his ears. He peered at Elora. "Whad?" and asked, trying to gulp down the mouthful of sandwiches. He felt embarrassed in front of a sexy girl like Jenna.

    "I want to meditate for two more hours?" She rolled her eyes, seeing his stuffed mouth.

    "No, no, cough¡­ cough," Kadyn almost choked, hearing her words. He drank water and replied. "You can''t meditate anymore."

    "What, why?!" she widened her eyes, looking at her brother.

    "Because I am saying." He stated and gnawed over another sandwich. After all he could not tell her how poor he was. He spent energy points faster than he acquired them, and if this continued, he would have no point left. So how could he let her practice with no restraint? Furthermore, he needed to show her he was the boss here, muahahaha!

    "Then I will also go," Jenna spoke after hearing their conversation. "I just wanted to spend a little time with Elora."

    Kadyn stared at them and suggested. "Why don''t you try the Practice Room?"

    Elora nced at him and veered towards Jenna. Both of them whispered something among themselves that Kadyn failed to hear and nodded at him. "Alright."

    "Great," Kadyn chuckled and rified how the Practice Room worked¡ªPractice Room was a valuable asset of his shop simr to the Meditation Room. By increasing the pain sensibility, one could temper his or her willpower and fighting experience without hurting themselves. Such things weren''t even avable in the capital Drolis of the Shado Empire, much less in the poor city like Avibria. Though Kadyn was unaware of such a thing, and so was his customer.

    Jenna seemed eager to go to the Practice Room, as she had just awakened her fifth star. Kadyn guessed she must have already memorised a Star pattern and was keen to practice her spell.

    Kadyn again mentioned to them about the pain sensibility. He didn''t want them to feel the pain that he felt¡ªhe slouched in his chair after the duo vanished. It wouldn''t be long before theye out.

    He had already awakened five stars, and now he could assimte with the knowledge inside the scrolls and could practice his spell. However, he didn''t want to tell this truth yet to anyone that he had awakened five stars and became a genuine Elementary Mage.

    "Is this the ce?" someone spoke at the entrance.

    Kadyn nced towards the main gate of the shop and saw an abdominis boy, around the age of seventeen, stumbling into his shop. Behind him, two more boys entered. Though not as bulky as the first one, there wasn''t much difference in them, looking round balls of flesh.

    The first boy peered around and sauntered towards the counter, and the other two followed like good sidekicks. "Is this the magic shop?"

    "Yes," Kady replied, gazing at the three fatties.

    "So the news was correct." The boss fatty muttered and turned towards Kadyn. "Do you have any Speed Increasing Potion?" he asked.

    "Potion service is unavable for the time being." He replied. ''What will you do with Speed Increasing Potion anyway?'' he glimpsed at the protruding bellies. ''No matter how many potions you use. You won''t be able to run with that stomach.''

    "What, you don''t have?!" the boy red at Kadyn as if he would eat him at the next second. "I should have known that Lower Town can''t have any decent magic shop. What a waste of time."

    Kadyn frowned, hearing humiliating words for his shop. However, he remained silent. "I want a dagger with an earth elemental formation. Do you have it?" he asked in an arrogant tone.

    The lines on Kadyn''s forehead increased from hearing his words. But Kadyn remained calm. "Sir, right now, there are only two services avable: Practice Room and Meditation Room."

    "What, there are only two services avable?" the fatty mmed over the counter. "Then why are you calling this trash, a magic shop? Have you ever even seen a magic shop?"

    "You¡­"

    "Anyway what is the price to meditate in one hour?" just when Kadyn was about to burst. The fatty said. "I would like to check out."

    Kadyn took a deep breath and calmed himself down. "For one hour, you need to pay two hundred dors."

    "Two hundred dors?'''' The boy blinked a ck jaw at Kadyn, then burst into a peal of disgustingughter with his twopanions. "Two.. two hundred dors...ptttff."

    "What''s so funny about it? Tell me I also want tough." Kadyn couldn''t help but lose his temper a bit.

    All the three fatties stoppedughing while the big fatty stared at Kadyn. "You son of a whore wants tough with me? Who do you think you are?!!" he suddenly cursed, and Kadyn''s face darkened and fury built inside his heart. "Two hundred dors? Even beggars in front of my house earn a hundred times more than this, and you want tough with me?"

    "Pow!"

    Kadyn swung his hand and a sound of a p echoed, and the fatty stumbled back, gazing at Kadyn in disbelief.

    "How dare you?!!" he roared, covering his red, swollen cheek with his hand, and red drops of blood dripped from the corner of his thick lip.

 Chapter 12 - Miserable Thrashing

    In a sh Kadyn felt suffocated and some kind of pressure dawned on his shoulders. His face paled and legs trembled. He peered at the fatty and found a strange pattern under his feet.

    Though Kadyn had mastered no magic spell yet, he knew what those stars were. Star Pattern! Five stars under his feet drifted all about as if they were in a separate space. Kadyn sucked an icy breath in fear and tried to flee. But he failed to move. He looked down below and found himself shackled in brown chains, connecting into the earth.

    "Hahaha, do you think you can escape this easily from my Shackling Chains?" Fatty sneered. "You dare to hit me. Now you have to pay hundred folds." He stared at his two sidekicks and ordered. "What are you waiting for? Beat him!"

    Both of them exchanged nces and cackled in triumph. The duo gaped at Kadyn in disdain and punched in his abdomen. "Pow!"

    Kadyn plummeted over the ground and cramped, rolling on the floor. The chains vanished from his legs, and as he tried to stand, a kick descended on his neck. His head zed and buzzed in confusion.

    The darkness drowned over his eyes, covering the entire world. He felt a deep throbbing in his head, but could not tell what had happened just now. His right side smashed on the ground with a thud, face nk.

    After a breath passed, blood dripped from his face and wounded head. The red colour glittered in his silver hair, painting them crimson. As the spasm inside the head alleviated somewhat, and the view cleared, Kadyn felt the kicking on his body.

    Someone was punting him in a ruthless manner. One. Two. Three. Three of them. He could not recall the reason behind this thrashing. His head buzzed and excruciation burst throughout his body. Then he heard. "You, mother fucking bastard! How dare you p me!?"

    One more kick mmed over his abdomen. He felt his guts lurching and begging in an ache and misery. His saliva rolled out of his mouth and damped his face and dripped on the ground, mixing with blood. His entire body screamed to stop, but no sound came from his mouth except agonised moans and groans. After who knew how long pummeling he lost his consciousness.

    ¡ª¡ª

    "Brother! Brother!"

    Kadyn heard a shout that jolted his entire soul. He found this situation familiar, but could remember nothing. He struggled to open his eyes but blood was clotted over ''em, making it difficult to open his eyes. He kneaded his eyelids before opening them. He spotted three faces stuffed with worries, trying to awake him.

    He sought to stand, but fell down when the throbbing burst throughout his entire body. The veins inside his head pulsed, giving him a tingling feeling.

    "Brother, what happened here?" he peered at the sobbing girl, and his head cleared a shade as he recalled what had happened. He gritted his teeth in fury, and his eyes shone viciously. Once more. This type of thing happened to him. He was humiliated, and sought nothing but to smite that fat pig¡ªbut he knew he was no match for him. He knew magic. Magic.

    "Tell me, damn it!" Elora shouted, and tears rolled down her cheek. He gazed at his sister and winced, revealing his blood clotted teeth. "Don''t worry, it''s nothing."

    "What are you saying?!" Jenna squeaked. "Someone has beaten you so terribly, and you are saying it''s nothing. Are you made of stone or something?"

    Kadyn peered at her expressionlessly and found worry on her face, but she was nothing to him. Why bother? "It''s none of your business. You can leave." He muttered in an indifferent tone. No matter what, it really wasn''t her matter.

    "But Boss¡­"

    "Your are time is up," Kadyn interrupted before Hicka couldplete his sentence. "You can get lost, now."

    "Uhh¡­" Hicka opened and closed his mouth a few times, but no sound came. In the end he shook his head and scuttled towards the gate.

    Elora veered at Jenna. "I''m sorry for my brother¡­ can you please¡­"

    "No problem." Jenna just smiled, hearing her friend''s apology. "Let''s meet tomorrow." She nced at Kadyn onest time and sauntered away.

    "Who was it?" Elora inquired, eyes glittering in a vicious manner.

    "It doesn''t matter who it was, you can go home. I won''te today."

    "What do you mean, it doesn''t matter? And how would you stay here in this condition?" her eyes widened in shock, hearing his words. She wanted to know who dared to do such a thing to her brother. No matter what, she would make him pay!

    "Do you think mother would be happy to see me in this condition?" He gaped into her eyes, sighing. "Go, just tell her I have some work to do, and I will stay here for today."

    "Bu¡­ but your wounds?" she urged, and tears again started to fall from her eyes, seeing his broken and miserable condition.

    "Don''t worry, they are just superficial¡­ ahh!" before he could finish his sentence, Elora grabbed his arm, and he screamed in agony.

    "So these wounds are superficial?"

    "Don''t argue with me." Kadyn frowned annoyingly. "Just do what I am saying."

    Elora eyed at him and hesitated for a moment, as if considering something. In the end she exhaled. "Alright. I will returnter."

    He requested her to help him sit on the chair and nodded before sending her away. Elora glimpsed back a few times, but seeing his stern face, she sighed and vanished from his sight

    When Elora vanished, Kadyn groaned and moaned, cursed and shouted, but shouting made his muscles stretch and spasm deepened in his entire body.

    Fifteen minutester, he turned to examine his condition. His hands trembled in pain, his shirt was torn in pieces. His back throbbed in pain. His head pulsed agony. His nose was broken as blood flew and clotted inside. His guts lurched within his stomach. Then he vomited. Blood. The counter drowned in red liquid, but he cared little. He slouched in the chair and closed his eyes. He wanted to sleep, damn it!

 Chapter 13 - Kidnapped?

    Hearing footsteps, Kadyn gaped his eyes and found it was dark. He peered at the approaching figure and asked. "What are you doing here?"

    "I brought your dinner." Elora said, and ced the box on the counter. After that she directed a bowl there as well. "This is the ointment I made. It will soothe your wounds and heal them faster."

    "Alright, you can go now, or mother will worry. Be careful on the way."

    Elora eyed him onest time and sighed before hurrying out of the shop. Kadyn settled the ointment and the dinner on the shelf and winced to stand up. "Fuck, it hurts!" he cursed as excruciation throbbed inside his legs and transferred onto his spinal cord and all the way to the head.

    At first he undressed himself and stood naked in the dark gallery. "Is there no light?"

    In no time the entire shop illuminated. "You just need to think to brighten the shop." The system reminded him. Kadyn had no energy to waste on the system as his body was the junction of wounds, blood, and pain. He rubbed the ointment on his body. It gave the cool sensation and felt good on gashes. It was no wonder Elora was a healing mage. She could even make such an amazing paste.

    "Fuck!" when he was done at the front, he tried to apply on the back, but failed. He tried again and again, but his hands could not reach on many ces. His body cramped, and he could no further maintain his posture. Atst he gave up and brushed the bowl on the shelf. Then went into the Magic and Time eleration Room. Time to meditate.

    Kadyn positioned himself at the centre of the formation and looked at his watch. 9:00 P.M. He shut his eyes and activated the Elemental Chaos Form. Time passed and energy rushed into his body, increasing mana inside the elemental pool. Activated stars shone brightly and inactive longed to be activated, devouring the mana. Kadyn did not even notice that the darkness had faded and the yellow ball had climbed on the eastern sky, rushing higher and higher, beyond the grasp of clouds.

    [Energy Points: 18-4¡ª>14]

    Kadyn snapped his eyes and peered at his watch¡ª9:00 A.M. He meditated entire 12 hours! He examined his body and found that most of the wounds had been healed. He also seeded in activating one fire magic star. Now he had total 6 activated fire stars.

    He hurried towards the counter and brought a scroll from the drawer. It was Elementary Potion Making Scroll. He bit his finger and dropped the drop of blood over the scroll. No more waiting. He wanted to learn everything and be strong.

    "Argh!" he clenched his skull when a spasm burst into his head. There was a vast amount of information wrecking havoc inside his brain, but he paid little attention to the information due to excruciation. He fell on the ground and rolled as fish rolls out of the water. After ten minutester, the throb alleviated and Kadyn sighed in relief.

    He supported himself on both of his hands and sat on his butt before browsing the information. There were methods of herb preservation. Potion Forms. Merit and demerits of all the medicines. sses of potions and poisons, information about hundreds of diseases and their cures, so on and so forth.

    There were hundreds of thousands of herbs in his memory about which he never even heard, much less seen. The most bewildering thing was that he could tell their benefits and drawbacks. He knew how to purify them and how to meld them together at the time of potion making.

    [Mission: Concoct a level 1 Healing Potion, with a quality of at least average. Reward: 20 Energy Points+?]

    "What''s the meaning of this question mark?"

    "You will know afterpleting the quest." The system replied emotionlessly.

    "Brother!!"

    When Kadyn was reckoning in anticipation about the mission, a shout jolted him awake. He veered around and saw Elora stumbling into a shop with messy hair and tattered clothes, covered in marks of blood. Kadyn gazed at his sister with a horrifying expression and dashed towards her, catching before falling. He brought her inside the shop and gave her a water bottle. "Drink it first!" he said gently, unaware of what to do.

    Elora gulped the entire bottle down her throat. The water sloshed out of her mouth, wetting her clothes. "Mo-mom, sh-she vanished!"

    At first Kadyn failed to understand what she meant, but when he did, his eyes bulged almost out of their socket. He could not believe what he had heard just now, and his head buzzed ''Vanished? What do you mean?'' "How could she vanish!?" he inquired in an anxious voice.

    "I-I don''t know. When I arrived at homest night, everything was a mess in our house. However, when I called mom, someone hit on my head and I fell on the floor. They wanted to kidnap me as well. But someone saved me. I couldn''t see that person''s face as I lost my conciousness immediately, but I heard them saying they willeter for me." She said and bawled loudly. Tears rolled down her cheek.

    "Someone dared to kidnap mom. Should we go to the Magic Association? It is the alliance of the greatest wizards of the human empires. They are like the government¡­"

    "They won''t do anything. We aren''t even surnamed. There is no difference between us and bugs in their eyes." Elora wiped her tears and replied. She peered at Kadyn with wet eyes. "I want to see mom."

    Kadyn winced at hearing her words. "Don''t worry. We will find her together." He patted on her back gently. "Have you called father?"

    "No." She shook her head.

    "Alright, let''s go home." He reckoned, but his eyes shone with an extreme ruthlessness that even he hadn''t perceived, and unchained his bicycle. Today he realised the value of status. He decided one day he would make the Leader of the Magic Association kneel in front of him for making such unfair rules. Ain''t poor human? Don''t poor pay taxes? Don''t Poor fight with demons and other races?

 Chapter 14 - Panoramic Forest

    Kadyn eyed the messywn and scattered chairs and tables. Then frowned. "There are traces of struggle." He murmured, and Elora bit her lower lip and clenched her fist, but said nothing.

    After inspecting the house, Kadyn eyed his sister and voiced. "The entire house is in a mess. It''s impossible to do this silently. Have you enquired our neighbour Miss Eddena about this?"

    "Eddena said there wasn''t anymotion."

    The lines on Kadyn''s temples increased. Eddena''s words and the mess inside the house don''t quite match. Something is missing, but he could not tell what.

    "Knock~ Knock~"

    At this moment, a knock resounded on the door. Kadyn exchanged nces with Elora and gestured her to open it. Miss Eddena was standing outside the door and her face was filled with concern. Though Kadyn knew that faces could lie.

    "Haven''t you gone to the Magic Association? What did they tell you?" Eddena asked.

    Elora couldn''t help but nced back at Kadyn, hearing Eddena''s words, and lowered her head when she found him staring at her. "They know nothing." She replied.

    "Oh,"

    "Can please give me some time with my sister? I need to talk with her." Eddena was about speak something when Kadyn interrupted. Eddena gazed at him and nodded before retreating.

    "Did they insult you?" he peered into Elora''s eyes and asked. "Tell me what happened."

    "I¡­"

    "Tell me!"

    Elora shivered at hearing his shout. She had never seen him this angry before. Not even when someone had beaten him viciously. But now¡­

    "At.. at that time I could not think properly. So when Eddena suggested I should go to the Magic Association, I rushed without thinking. However, when I arrived their. They," she looked at her brother and tears fell from eyes. "They insulted¡­"

    Without finishing her sentence, she burst into bawling. Kadyn padded over and hugged her tightly, patting on her back gently. Though it sounded nothing terrible when she said. Kadyn knew she must have been humiliated by those arrogant people from the Magic Association. He gritted his teeth in fury, thinking about it, and wanted to crush those people under his feet. "Don''t worry, one day I will make them beg for mercy, but there won''t be any mercy."

    Kadyn didn''t know if she had heard him or not, as she continued to cry, but he had made this promise. One day.

    "It isn''t safe to stay here. Let''s call father, and then we will stay in the shop."

    Elora said nothing as she was out of ideas and tired and wanted nothing but to rest.

    ¡ª ¡ª

    "Strange something is missing." Kadyn sat in his chair and contemted loudly. He had let Elora sleep in the Formation Room while he opened the shop. "Father also isn''t responding. Is this a coincidence?"

    "Sir, can I meditate for six hours?"

    Kadyn nced up and found Hicka standing with a nervous expression.

    "Sure." Kadyn smiled at the boy.

    "Thank you, sir." Hicka hurriedly gave Kadyn twelve hundred dors and rushed towards the meditation room.

    [Energy Points: 14+12¡ª>26]

    "Practice Room, five battles."

    Another voice sounded, and Kadyn knew who it was. "Alright." He said, and Jenna gave him five hundred dors before hurrying towards the Practice Room.

    [Energy Points: 26+5¡ª>31]

    "Brother," Elora called as she scurried towards him with small steps.

    "You are here." Kadyn beamed at his sister. "I have something to do. Can you watch the shop for some time? You don''t need to entertain any customer, just close the shop after Jenna and Hicka leave."

    "Alright." She nodded without hesitation, and Kadyn entered into his secret room. Elora found it strange that he had important business inside that small room, but cared little and slouched into Kadyn''s chair.

    Kadyn stood in the room and murmured. "I want to use Pengo Portal."

    [World Name: Pengo]

    [Continent Numbers: Four]

    [Continent Names:

    1)Arura

    2)lor

    3)Ivrora

    4)Eozen]

    As he thought about Pengo portal, a window shed in front of him. Kadyn looked at the four continents with shining eyes. He had heard only one of those four continents¡ªEozen, on which he lived. He had no idea about three other continents. Without giving much thought he chose Eozen and a new window opened and hundreds of names of countries and capitals and forests and mountains appeared.

    After searching for over five minutes, he found Shado Empire''s name on the list. "Hmm, Panoramic Forest. I have heard about it. There are lots of precious herbs in this ce."

    He gazed at the ces of the Sado empire and decided to make his first journey¡ªto the Panoramic Forest, as he wanted to search for the herbs. "I hope my Energy points won''t go to waste." He muttered and his body disappeared as the notification sounded in his head.

    [Pengo Portal Used: 31-10¡ª>21]

    ¡ª¡ª

    In Kadyn''s house, a shadow strolled and searched the broken tables and chairs and foot prints keenly. "Who were they?" the woman spoke. "Why did they kidnap, Salona? She is just a weak Healing Elementary Mage." She heaved a sigh. "No matter who they were, I have to find them."

    After looking around, she found nothing. "Their ent waspletely different, though. Those people aren''t from the Shado Empire. Who is Salona? Did I miss something important?" She eyed the house onest time and vanished.

 Chapter 15 - Ungrateful Wretch

    The refreshing wind blew over Kadyn''s face as he eyed the view in front of him. The rustling trees swung harmoniously, and the twittering of birds¡ªand the howls of beasts reverberated throughout the jungle. He sniffed the cold breeze and peered into his surroundings.

    After examining his surroundings, he started to look for the herbs. "Oh, that is [Sweet Grass]. I can use it to make a healing powder. Though it is just a low-level herb. Something is better than nothing."

    His eyes glittered when he found a batch of sweet grass. He carefully dug it out and stored it inside the bag that he had prepared previously. Though he knew it wasn''t a wise choice to store the herbs in a bag like this, he had no choice. He had no herb-storing box.

    Nheless, after that he continued to search and found many herbs. But none of them was of high quality, most of them used to treat for a normal wound or scratches, and those herbs were just a little better than the normal weed. He needed to go deeper if he wanted something more.

    After thinking for a moment he scurried deeper into the forest. Though he knew it was dangerous, he also felt a thrill of unknown threat inside his heart. He was eager to use the spell he learned.

    "Boom!"

    As he wandered, he heard the sound of fighting and hurried towards the noise. After fifteen secondster he saw a man engaged in a battle with a beast from between the brush. He had a dagger in his hand, sweating profusely. Kadyn saw his clothes had been torn from many ces, smudges and blood marks could be seen all over his body. And in front of him was a vicious-looking wolf, growling and grunting at the man while the crimson blood dripped from its fangs¡ªon the corpse thatid on the ground in front of the wolf.

    "Damn you!" the man cursed furiously and dashed forward at the beast. He knew it was impossible to escape and could only fight head-on with everything he had.

    The beast also did not stay idle and lunged at the man. Just when the wolf was about ten meters away from the man, a star pattern appeared under his feet. Simultaneously, the ground shook and a wall of yellow soil formed in front of the beast. It was a five-star spell. The man stopped and sneered. "Stupid animal."

    "Smash!"

    The wolf smashed into the wall and crumbled it with tremendous force. It lost the bnce and fell in the dust. Wriggling and moaning. The blood oozed out from its robust scalp and the animal struggled to stand.

    Hunter didn''t want to give it any chance, so he hurried towards the beast with a sharp, shining dagger in his hand. When he was about two meters away from the wolf, it sprang at the man with an unbelievable speed and opened its glittering fangs to tear the man apart.

    "Fuck! It was acting!" the man cursed and realised that the beast was trying to hoodwink him and it seeded. The man was too close to avoid the attack and neither could he cast a spell in such a short time. When he had lost every hope, a me arrow appeared in front of him and smashed into the wolf''s skull. The beast was mmed away with a tremendous oomph.

    The man also fell to the ground and huffed with deep breaths. Wasting no time, he turned around and saw a boy around the age of seventeen or eighteen walking leisurely towards him.

    "You all right?" Kadyn asked him.

    Hearing Kadyn''s query, the man was brought back from his stupor and replied. "Ah, yes, I''m alright. Thanks for your help."

    "Growl~"

    Wolf stood with its charred skull and shook its head to wash the dizziness from the head. Afterwards it looked at Kadyn with full of resentment and hatred and dashed at him. Kadyn pushed himself towards the beast and once more cast the [Arrow Rush].

    Before the wolf could reach Kadyn, the spell mmed it away. The hunter saw the entire process and became surprised. Kadyn could cast a spell at such a speed. Even he needed around two seconds to cast a five-star pattern. However Kadyn had just now didn''t even taken half a second.

    What was this situation?

    Though Kadyn was unaware about the casting time and all. He wiped the sweat from his temples and cursed. "Fuck, why my head is feeling dizzy and body ache?"

    If someone else knew that it was his first time casting a spell, he would vomit on his face for saying such a thing. At elementary mage level, the mana was scattered all about the body, while the soul was inside the head of the mage. The mages could manipte the mana in their bodies with the help of the will and the source of will was the soul, that''s why he felt pain in his head.

    Many experienced mages won''t feel any ache as they were familiar with the limit of their body and use the magic ording to that limit, but Kadyn had no idea about it. The muscles inside his body stretched when the mana exceeded the limit. He used his will to control this energy, generating headache and body pain as it was too much for him.

    However Kadyn didn''t stop there, he took a deep breath and once more cast a spell¡ªthe beast that had just stood was smashed once more.

    "Howl!"

    Wolf howled indignantly and abysmal hatred flickered inside its crimson eyes before it dashed away. After casting this spell, Kadyn couldn''t take the pressure anymore and sat on the ground with his drenched clothes, and a cool breeze rustled through the copse of the trees.

    Suddenly Kadyn felt danger and his hair stood on their ends. He struggled and shifted his fatigued body at the side and avoided the attack by a hair. "What are you doing?!" Kadyn demanded when he saw the attacker was none other than the man he saved. It was the first time he met such an ungrateful wretch in his life.

 Chapter 16 - Escape

    "Heh?" the hunter muffled in surprise when Kadyn avoided the attack. "You can still move, heh?"

    Kadyn gave no reply and instead demanded. "I saved your life just now. Why are you trying to kill me?"

    "Sorry man, I don''t hold any grudge against you, but I have a family to feed, so give me your bag-pack and I might consider giving you a painless death." The man shook his head when he saw the clueless-type expression on his face.

    In just a single nce he could tell that this was the first time the boy hade to a dangerous ce like [Panoramic Forest]. The man had no intention to waste his time, after all, he wasn''t the only person here who would kill for the riches.

    "Whoosh!"

    Wasting no time, the man lunged at Kadyn with the shining dagger in his hand. "You killed yourpanion?" Kadyn probed.

    Hunter narrowed his eyes upon hearing him, but then snorted. "Humph," and attacked.

    Kadyn avoided the sh from the dagger. However, just when he was about to cast the spell, a long spike prated out from the ground, trying to poke a hole between his legs. Kadyn shuddered in terror when he saw where the spike was going to prate.

    At thest moment he flipped backward and avoided the attack, but he lost the bnce and tip of the spike brushed by his arm, dying his clothes red in blood.

    "Hmm?" the man seemed surprised when Kadyn avoided the attack. "You aren''t bad, kid. It''s just your bad luck to encounter me."

    Kadyn supported his body with his uninjured hand and sat on his ass, d that his butt was still perfectly fine. He peered at the man in front of him and rose on his aching legs.

    Hunter strolled and stood ten meters away from Kadyn. "Actually, you are correct. I killed mypanion." He eyed the cold corpse on the ground, lying on the puddle of blood as the flies cheeped about. Kadyn eyed the man, and his brows furrowed.

    Why didn''t he tell him this previously? Why now?

    Does he think I can''t escape death because of my injuries?

    Kadyn curled his lips in disdain and voiced. "That wolf¡­"

    "It came due to the blood stench."

    Hearing this, Kadyn realised what was going on. He looked at the corpse and saw a bag at the side. His eyes glittered, but he hid it cleverly, without letting the man in front of him know.

    "Why are you telling me this now? Do you think everything is under your control because I am injured?" Kadyn''s voice was filled with fatigue and as he said he slowly moved towards the corpse. He was closer to the body than the man and it was around eight meters away from him, while the hunter was about ten meters away from him.

    The man saw his action and thought that he was trying to find the escape and also started to move towards him. "Do you think you can escape me? You are nothing but a stupid child. You don''t even know most basic applications of survival¡ªto save a stranger''s life you have drained your manapletely. How stupid is that?." As he said, the man narrowed his eyes because Kadyn dashed in a certain direction.

    At first he did not understand what he was trying to do. After all, he could not run much farther in this condition. However, when he saw the corpse and the bag lying in the same direction, his eyes widened and a roar escaped from his mouth. "How dare you eye my valuables!"

    Kadyn smirked coldly, hearing the shout, and grabbed the bag. "Stop right there, or I will burn this bag to ash with everything inside."

    Hunter halted abruptly at his threat. The distance between the duo was only around five meters. Kadyn could see the red eyes of the man, killing intent bursting out of them. "So this bag is the reason you betrayed your partner, hmm?"

    "Give me the bag, and I will let you go." The man said after taking a long, deep breath.

    "Oh, how generous of you." Kadyn sneered. "Do you think you can hold me, if I want to escape?"

    Hearing Kadyn''s words, Hunter''s heart thudded, and he pried into his surroundings. But when he found no one in the surrounding, he again eyed Kadyn''s smirking face and snorted. "I would like to see how you escape, huh!" The man sprang at Kadyn after saying this.

    However, Kadyn smiled jubntly and blurted. "Return!" as he said, his body vanished without any trace. The hunter, who had jumped at him, fell in the dust and broke his nose, and the blood dripped from his nostrils. He looked around, stunned. Then howled indignantly "Arrhgghhh!!!"

    He was so confident, yet he still lost.

    ¡ª¡ª

    Kadyn appeared inside the meditation room and fell on his back, huffing and puffing. After fifteen minutes he opened his eyes and started to meditate. The experience he had gone through today was terrible and he won''t be able to forget it anytime soon. Who would have thought that his kindness would be repaid in such a way? Terrible!

    [Energy Points: 21-4¡ú17]

    Without realising an hour passed, however, Kadyn had no intention of stopping and continued to meditate.

    [Fire Star¡ú7]

    Fifteen minutester, one more notification sounded in his head. Kadyn became surprised when one more fire star activated. He thought it would take some time to activate another star. Who would have thought that happiness woulde this fast?

    This must be because of the pressure of the battle I have gone through.

    As he continued to meditate, the cool sensation washed his body, and his body healed

    ¡ª¡ª

    The door of the room opened, and Kadyn saw Elora''s anxious face and asked. "What''s the matter?"

    "Father was here."

 Chapter 17 - Von Hagen Household

    In the midst of speaking, Elora stopped, peering at her brother who stood with tattered clothes and bloody smudges visible all over him. Though she could tell that he wasn''t wounded as she failed to see any gash on his body. Blood had dried since long.

    "Father was... here? Then why did he leave?" Kadyn scurried at his sister and shook her shoulder agitatedly.

    "You are hurting me." Sheined, feeling a pang on her shoulders.

    "Oh, I''m sorry," he drew his hands off her shoulders and apologised in embarrassment.

    Elora sighed in relief and said. "He found mother''s whereabouts and came to tell us we don''t need to worry, and went after those kidnappers. Though father waited for you for two hours, but you never showed up, so he left."

    "So that''s what happened." Kadyn muttered. He was worried about his mother and didn''t know how to find her. This news was akin to the rain in the desert for him. However, he still felt as if something was amiss. He eyed his sister and asked. "Why would someone kidnap mother?"

    There must be something I am unaware of.

    Who could that be?

    Are they father''s enemies?

    Maybe those two shadows I saw that night.

    Elora shook her head at his query. She was as clueless as Kadyn.

    Kadyn hesitated for a moment before asking. "Don''t you think father is a little mysterious?"

    "What mysterious?" Elora rolled her eyes at her brother. "I have felt nothing like that from him. He is a caring and a loving and normal father. Don''t think too much."

    After that she gazed at his shabby condition and asked. "How did you turn to this?"

    He looked at his clothes and scratched his head, embarrassed. Even beggars wore better clothes than this. Furthermore, he could not tell the reason behind his condition and the fight he went through recently. "It''s nothing. Did any customere?" he tried to change the topic, and it worked.

    Elora became excited at his query but then sighed. "There were over ten customers. But you have told me to close the shop. Therefore, everyone left after I informed them."

    "What a waste." Kadyn shook his head. If he knew that something like this would happen, he had never left. Pengo Portal could be opened anytime if he had [Energy Points] but he can''t get customers with his will.

    "Alright, I have some work to do. I will be in the [Potion Making Hall]. You can rest anywhere you want."

    Elora watched Kadyn as he padded towards the [Potion Making Hall] with two bags on either side of him. Not thinking much into this, she slouched in the chair, and drowsiness engulfed her senses.

    ¡ª ¡ª

    The two shadows bolted under the curtains of night in a certain direction. Their speed was unbelievable, and the duo looked as if they had melded into the darkness itself. No matter how many hurdles appeared in front of them, they avoided without any hindrance. No matter how densely packed the trees blocked their path, the duo never seemed to slow down.

    "If I realise your hand was behind this. I will never forgive you." Magnus said coldly, looking at the beautiful woman at his right side.

    "How could you say that? I would never do such a thing." Eddena said, pretending to be hurt. Her silver locks danced with every passing gust. Her red eyes flickered like a bloody gem¡ªif Kadyn was here, he would have been shocked seeing this, because thest time he met her, thedy had beautiful ck locks and brown eyes.

    "After your departure, our household went through many tribtions. The majestic Von Hagen Household you knew, is the matter of the past now." Eddena Von Hagen said with grief.

    Magnus snorted, pretending as if he did not care, but his heart fluttered with many emotions at the mentioning of his household. Von Hagen.

    "We have caught up with them!" a sudden shout brought him back from the memories of the past. The duo stopped and peered amidst the copse of the tree. They saw a camp in front of them. Around twenty guards standing outside and guarding the tent and arge campfire burned as the few men sat around and talking,ughing, cursing with each other.

    Every guard had an insignia crafted over their chest pocket. Magnus eyed the mark and gritted his teeth in hatred. "Awnais n!"

    "Calm down." Eddena patted Magnus'' shoulder and teased. "I never knew the bloodthirsty, emotionless vampire Magnus Von Hagen could show such emotions for a mere human woman."

    "You would never understand." Magnus calmed down, hearing her words. "Because you never fell in love."

    "Isn''t it just sleeping with someone?" Eddena snorted disdainfully.

    "I won''t deny it, as it is a part of love. It''s the most direct way to show affection to our partner. However just as I said, it is but a small part. Otherwise every person who fuck a whore can justify it as a love."

    "Whatever¡­" Magnus left herpletely speechless. She did not reply and turned her gaze to the tent in the distance.

    ¡ª¡ª

    Inside the tent¡ªSalona peered at the man in front of her and snorted. "I never thought a carefree Oswyn Everson would be Awnais n''s dog."

    Oswyn cared a little about her taunting. He sat at the table and looked down at the beautifuldy in front of him and sighed in admiration. "So many years have passed, yet you are still as beautiful as before."

    Salona spat on the ground, hearing his words. "Do you realise how disgusting your words sound?"

    "You are still as before, proud, arrogant, untouchable." The man sighed when he said. "However, his majesty knows your whereabouts. He would never let you live a peaceful life, not after how you humiliated him."

    "You mean¡­" a sudden possibility stuck Salona and her eyes widened in surprise.

    "I''m not working for the Awnais n but the Royals."

    "Hahaha," hearing his words, Salona burst into a peal ofughter as if she had heard a marvellous joke of the decade.

    Oswyn frowned, hearing herugh. "What''s so funny about it?"

    She stoppedughing and ridiculed the man. "One of the proudest men I met in my life, has be nothing but someone''s dog. Don''t you think it''s amusing?"

    "Indeed." Surprisingly, the man did not deny her and instead nodded. That caught her by surprise. She eyed him and thought there must be a story behind him, but she cared a little about his story. Every person has his own story, his own grief, and his own struggle. She had no interest in anyone''s life.

    "Do you think your so-called husband woulde to save you?" he suddenly asked.

    "He will." She replied without any hesitation and nced at Oswyn disdainfully. "And when he does, you won''t have anywhere to run."

    "You seem quite confident in him," he said annoyedly

    "But of course." There was an arrogant aura around her that gave her a noble air. Oswyn felt the urge to pounce on her. But when he remembered about that person''smand, he controlled himself and grunted. "He is but a lowly hunter, amoner. He is just handing his life bying here."

    Salona peered at him and shook her head. "You are as ignorant as a two-year-old child. I never thought you would turn into such an imbecile." Though he hid the change in his expression just a moment before, her eyes still caught it.

    "Boom!"

    Before he could reply, a thunderous sound interrupted his train of thought.

 Chapter 18 - Never Blaspheme A Woman

    "Wh-what is this?" a guard screamed, before anyone could understand the situation the darkness devoured the sky. The stars vanished and the moon faded.

    The campfire burning at the centre extinguished as if someone had poured water on it.

    "What is happening?!" another guard asked. However, no one replied, as horror had muddled their senses.

    In no time everything soaked in darkness, their own hands were hard to see. At this moment Oswyn rushed out of the tent and looked at the sky with wide eyes. Looking at the darkness his body shivered, fear appeared on his face for the first time.

    "Third level spell!!" His body quivered, but then he said. "No, it is not an attacking spell, but a support type."

    Oswyn peered in front of him and saw a shadow strolling at him out of the bushes. "Who are you?" he asked vigntly.

    "Heh? You dare to kidnap my wife but you still don''t know who I am?" the man sneered.

    "Yo-you are Magnus?" Oswyn asked with a nk face but then denied. "How is that possible?! Magnus is just a lowly elementary mage. You are definitely stronger than him!"

    "They say ignorance is bliss, but for you? Ignorance will be the worst nightmare."

    "Hmph, we will see!!" Oswyn said in annoyance. It was the second time someone had called him ignorant. Arge fireball formed on his hand. Then it started to shrink, he waspressing it!

    "Take this!" Oswyn shouted and threw thepressed fireball at Magnus. All the guards backed away in fear. No one wanted to entangle in the fight.

    At Oswyn''s attack, Magnus snorted in disdain and lifted his arm. The darkness from everywhere started to gather. Not around him but around the fireball Oswyn had thrown at him.

    Magnus lifted his hand and clutched it into a fist. Then shockingly, the ball shattered and extinguished before disappearing into nothingness.

    Oswyn looked in front of him with mouth agape and found it hard to believe that his attack was nullified just like that. Though the spell seemed simple it was highlypressed. Not many [Second Level Mage] could take that attack head-on, but Magnus made it disappear like a wisp.

    "Who are you!?" he lost hisposure atst. How could an elementary mage do something Magnus just did?

    "Oh, I''m just a lowly elementary mage." He sneered at Oswyn.

    "Hmph," Oswyn grunted and unsheathed the sword. "If you don''t want to speak, I will make you do."

    "Magic Artifact?" Magnus squinted, looking at the shining weird with interest, but then shook his head. "Just a level two artefact and you are already acting in such a cocky manner as if it was a divine weapon."

    "It is enough to take you down," scoffed Oswyn. However this time his voice was missing the confidence he had previously.

    Who is he?

    Is he really her husband?

    Impossible!

    I have already checked everything about him, he is just an elementary mage!

    Then who is this guy?

    Oswyn thought about it for a moment and probed. "Friend, I suggest you not to make us your enemy. Not even the [Magic Association] would dare to utter a word in our king''s presence. Our king is benevolent and he would definitely reward you if you help us. What do you say?"

    "I say¡­ your mother must have fucked a few brainless downgrades to birth a brainless pig like you." Magnus said.

    "How dare you!!" Oswyn roared when he heard Magnus'' word. His eyes turned red and without thinking, he shed at Magnus with a sword.

    Magnus eyed the sword that was covered in fire and before it could reach him, his body shattered into tens of bats. The attacknded on the ground and formed a huge crater but Magnus was nowhere to be seen.

    "That was a nice attack. You tried to synchronise a spell with the sword, nice approach, s¡­you are far away¡­"

    While Oswyn was gazing at the empty space in front of him with a dumbstruck expression, a voice came from behind him.

    Oswyn veered around and tumbled back in shock. At this moment his face was pale and slowly fear started to appear. "Yo-you are a Vampire!"

    "Took you long enough," chuckled Magnus. He had just revealed the trademark ability of Vampires [Bat Sprinkle]. That''s how Oswyn realised his identity.

    Hearing him confirming his spection, Oswyn tumbled backwards and fell on his butt with a horrified gaze.

    Vampire!

    That was one of the most ruthless and powerful races on the [Eozen Continent]. Not many dared to confront them. Even his so-called king would not dare to fight them.

    "Wh-what do you want?" he asked and continued to crawl towards the tent. Magnus saw his action but did not stop him.

    When Oswyn reached the tent, he dashed inside andughed uproariously. "Hmph, so what if you are a Vampire, loved by darkness itself¡­huh?"

    Amidst shouting he stopped as if something had stuck in his throat. Then screamed. "Where is she?!"

    "You are talking about me?" from not far away came a voice. When Oswyn turned around he found two women standing behind Magnus¡ªEddena and Salona¡ªlooking at him scornfully.

    He eyed at them with wide eyes and couldn''t believe it. Not just a long ago he left Salona in the tent, shackled, but how¡­ At this moment his gaze fell on anotherdy and he seemed to understand something.

    Magnus already had enough of his nonsense. Before Oswyn could plead for mercy, Magnus clutched his throat in his hand and threw him in front of Salona like a chicken. "Do whatever you want." Magnus smiled at his wife.

    Salon gazed at Oswyn on the ground, covered in dirt with a pale face and kicked his head hatefully. "You fucking dog. How dare you look at me with your ugly frog-like eyes in that manner? Did you think I failed to notice it? You damn pig!"

    She cursed and kicked, cursed and kicked over and over again. All the guards shivered at the miserable sight in front of them.

    "Kach~"

    "Ahrghhhh!!!"

    She kicked in between his legs and an agonised shriek filled the entire clearance.

    "Now you know you can''t point this thing at anyone you want, humph!"

    "..."

    Even Magnus sweated profusely at the sight in front of him and clutched his legs reflexively¡ªIf Kadyn had seen this scene he would have been shocked. His gentle, caring mother had such a fierce side to her.

 Chapter 19 - Valofron

    After breaking Oswyn''s eggs, Salona dashed into Magnus'' embrace. "You unsealed your bloodline?" she asked with a concerned face.

    "It''s nothing." Heforted her. "I can tackle any problem if you''re with me. Without you this life is meaningless." Hearing him say this, Salona''s face flushed red and hugged her man even tighter. As he said, Magnus gestured at Eddena. She disappeared and with her disappeared all the guards and Oswyn.

    After five minutester, Eddena walked out of the brushes with her gentle smile, lookingpletely harmless. Magnus exchanged nces with her, but she shrugged her shoulders. He had no idea what she did with those people, and he asked nothing either.

    Salona peered at thedy in front of her and squinted. Eddena was her neighbour all this time and she never suspected her to be a Vampire.

    "Who is she?" she sped Magnus'' hand and eyed him with her daggered gaze.

    Magnus sweated profusely, hearing her question. Salona''s piercing gape became sharper at his reaction. He realised it would be bad to remain silent, so he introduced her to Eddena hurriedly. "Let me introduce you to thisdy." He looked at Eddena and said. "She is Eddena Von Hagen¡­ and my sister."

    "Oh, sister-inw," she sighed in relief and smiled. Thousands of terrible imaginations rose inside her heart just now. She peered at Magnus and gritted her teeth in irritation and scoffed. "If she is your sister, then why did you react that way just now."

    Magnus knew what she was talking about. He neared her ear and whispered in a husky voice. "You look sexy when you are jealous."

    "..."

    Salona rolled her eyes at him. Just when she was about to refute him, a shadow dashed out of the bushes. The man examined Magnus and Salona and fell on one knee when he found Eddena standing in front of him.

    "Miss." He called in a gruff voice. His breath was hurried and clothes rugged and drenched in sweat. Traces of blood could be seen on his clothes.

    "What happened, David?" Eddena frowned and asked. "Why are you here?"

    "Miss, Hemlock Household attacked. Now they are surrounding our household, and no one could escape. I have used a space artefact given by the master to leave the household. He has also given me your [Blood Imprint], that''s how I located your location."

    Magnus frowned upon hearing the conversation. He knew little about the Hemlock Household. They were also Von just like Von Hagen. Noble amongst vampires and bitter enemies of Hagens.

    Moreover, Von Hemlock wasn''t a single enemy of Hagen, many wanted to destroy them. Because of this, Magnus never wanted to return. Last time he almost died at the hands of his enemies. He survived because he met Salona.

    When she found Magnus he was already half dead. With her [Healing Element] and with the vast knowledge of herbs, she saved him¡ªfor the first time Magnus saw someone doing something for him and without ulterior motives. His heart moved, seeing her kindness. She treated him day after day, and ultimately, he fell in love for the first time in life.

    "We need to go," Eddena said agitatedly. She brought a [Teleportation Formation Disk] and a silver light covered their group and all of them vanished, leaving only rustling trees and burned ashes and a tall tent in the darkness.

    ¡ª¡ª

    Kadyn examined the apparatus in front of him and smiled satisfyingly. "The Potion Making Hall already has the apparatus, and they look pretty good."

    After that, he opened the bag that he snatched from the hunter and started to examine it.

    "Ground Ivy¡­ I have already collected enough." He said and dug deeper. That hunter was pretty desperate to get this bag. There must be something good inside it.

    "Valofron!" he jumped in surprise. After putting down about seven to eight herb, he found something that grabbed his attention. "With this I can refine [Soothing Drop] and I canplete the mission."

    Kadyn''s face shone in excitement, and he continued to check the bag. "Heh? One more Valofron." Kadyn squealed but continued to check the goodies. He found seven Valofron before another Ground Ivy appeared.

    When he thought Valofron was the most valuable thing in the bag, he found something else. He felt it with his hand and could tell that it was round, hard, and the surface was uneven. When he pulled it out of the bag, he saw it was red ore.

    "What is this ore?" he frowned, looking at the crimson stone. Though he tried to search this thing in his memory, he found no recollection of such ore.

    "Never mind. I will examine itter."

    After that, he once more turned his attention to the apparatus on the table.

    "Let''s start." He muttered with a tinge of excitement. Then he pulled out the herbs one by one, cing ''em on the table and washed them with water, cleaning every dirt from their leaves and roots. It was very important to clean the herbs as the dirt had gathered over the leaves and soil stuck in roots.

    He took out the Sweet Grass and made a mush with the help of Mortar and Pestle. He stored it into the Crucible. After that he made a mush of many herbs¡ªincluding Valofron¡ªand collected them inside the different Crucibles, as there were ten pieces of each apparatus.

    Afterwards, he pulled the Beaker and Tripod. Kadyn transferred the mush into the beaker and mixed the water with the help of the Dropper. Water can''t be excessive, as it would be a solutionter. If it was low, it would also end up as a failed product.

    After putting the water into the beaker, Kadyn ced it over the Tripod. Not long after the water and the mush which has mixed with each otherpletely started to produce bubbles.

    "Two minutes and it should turn into an emerald colour." Kadyn ogled at the boiling solution on the tripod and muttered. After two minutes, the solution really turned into an emerald colour. Kadyn did not wait and retrieved the beaker off the burner. Afterwards, with the help of the funnel, he filtered the solution and stored it in the sk. Most importantly, he needed no filter paper to do this, as the funnel was capable of filtering without filter paper.

    After that he repeated this process for every herb for an hour and stored their solution in the sk. "Now''s the most important part." He muttered and wiped the sweat off his forehead.

 Chapter 20 - Soothing Drop

    Kadyn brought the test tube and transferred the ten gram Valofron solution into it. Then he used a dropper to add other solutions in the test tube. Sometimes he would need to add one drop, some time two and sometime even more. Continuously, the solution changed the colour¡ªand the change in colour couldn''t be random. It was already fixed ording to the potion form.

    "Two drops Ground Ivy. Colour should be sky blue this time." He murmured and added two drops of solution. After adding the solution, a burning smell filled the room, and the entire solution turned ck.

    "Damn!" he cursed, looking at the failed product. "What mistake did I make?" he frowned and pondered.

    "Everything looks correct, though. There is no problem with the solutions." He stroked his chin with his fingers as he whispered. "I need to add every solution in ten gram Valofron at a particr interval of time. The mass of every solution is fixed, it can''t be changed¡­ wait a moment!" he suddenly eximed.

    He looked at the failed product in the test tube and murmured. "I need to add the solution at a particr interval of time, but Ipletely forgot about it."

    After realising his mistake he once more repeated everything, and added every solution in the test tube at a particr interval of time and with a fixed mass¡ªwhen all the solutions added, the result was sky blue. Furthermore, this time there was no smell. It was an odourless solution.

    "Last step." He muttered and brought the test tube over the burner. It took a little longer before bubbles started to form¡ªa pleasant smell wafted the surrounding and the colour of the solution changed once more, turning into a jade colour from sky blue. This was the [Soothing Drop] potion.

    [Mission Completed: Concoction of healing potion. Reward: 20 energy points + Ability Scroll]

    [Do you want to im your reward? Y/N]

    Kadyn stored the potion inside a veil and imed the reward.

    [Energy Points: 13+20¡ú33]

    [Ability Scroll¡úEmotion Detection: this ability will let you detect the emotion of other people]

    "Ability? Emotion Detection?" Kadyn looked surprised. He hoped that System would exin to him something about the abilities as he had no idea what they were, but no one cleared his doubts. "Wait a minute!" he eximed, as something came into his mind. "Isn''t Pengo Portal is an Ability as well?"

    After that, he opened his profile and checked the Pengo Portal''s status.

    [Abilities: Pengo Portal]

    At this moment he had a single ability. Though he did not know what they were, but he realised the abilities might be something even better than spells. He eyed the ability scroll and pondered. "[Emotion Detection], really?" he couldn''t figure out what use this scroll could have.

    Anyways, he dropped the blood over the scroll and a new ability added into his profile window. He tried to activate the ability, but nothing happened. "I will try it on someone in the morning."

    He checked the time. It was 1 A.M.

    "Damn, a single potion took me so many hours." He cursed but smile never left his face. He had sessfully concocted the first potion in his life. He thought about something and brought two more scrolls¡ª[Elementary Formation Knowledge], [Elementary Artisan Knowledge]. Without much dy, he dropped the blood on both scrolls.

    When the vast amount of knowledge coursed through his head, and the pain burst into his braincase. He clutched it with both of his hands and fell unconscious.

    ¡ª¡ª

    When Kadyn walked out of the [Potion Hall], the yellow ball of fire had already started to climb at the far distance of North-east. The birds twittered and soothing wind blew over his face, wafting his nose with a pleasant smell¡ªas he walked he saw bees and dragonflies, fluttering their wings around the flowers in the garden.

    "You are here." Elora called out when she saw Kadyn walking towards the counter while rubbing his swollen eyes.

    He peered in front of him and saw Elora sitting on the chair behind the counter. He stretched his hand and waist and said, "I''m going to take a bath. Don''t let anyone enter till then."

    "Ok!" she nodded and Kadyn once more walked into the shop. Every building had a washroom. So it didn''t matter where he bathed.

    Elora continued to sit, looking around in boredom. At this moment, someone walked into the shop through the main door.

    Elora eyed the neer, and a deep frown appeared on her beautiful face. The boy had long ck hair dangling on his shoulders. His brown eyes looked charming and a calm and confident smile hung on his lips. Behind him, three potbellies stumbled with an arrogant look on their faces. If Kadyn was here, he would have been able to recognise them. Becausest time these three had beaten him like a pig.

    "What are you doing here?" Elora said in an unpleasant tone.

    "Of course I came to meet you." The boy smiled. "I heard your parents went missing and your house is in a mess?"

    Hearing his words, Elora''s gaze turned icy. "What do you want to say, Fennon?"

    Fennon ced his hands over the counter and leaned toward her and whispered. "One yes, and I will help you search about the whereabouts of your parents."

    "Dream on! You bastard!" she cursed and stood up furiously.

    "Calm down," Fennon didn''t get upset at her reaction and continued. "I have talked about this matter with one of the people inside the Magic Association. Let me tell you. This matter isn''t as simple as it looks. The life of your parents could be in danger."

    Elora looked at the man, though, feeling disgusted at his petty tricks. She knew that he really had a few connections with the Magic Association. However, she couldn''t agree to his condition.

    "Ohh, it is brother Fennon." At this moment, when she was struggling in her heart, Jenna strolled towards them.

    Fennon saw Jenna and smirked. "Oh, Jenna, why don''t you convince your friend¡­"

    "What''s going on here?" before he could finish his sentence, an annoyed voice came from inside and Kadyn scurried beside his sister and peered at the group in front of him.

 Chapter 21 - Payback

    Fenon eyed Kadyn and curled his lips at a weird angle. Kadyn noticed his disdainful gaze and frowned. At this moment a few memories of the previous owner appeared inside his head. This man used to bully him often. Last time when Kadyn went to the Tonton river for fishing, it was after this man''s abuse and died by drowning.

    Kadyn spotted three familiar faces standing behind Fenon. Their countenances gleaming with an arrogant smile. It didn''t take long for him to understand the situation. So it seemed behind his beating was none other than Fenon.

    "Why are you here?" Kadyn demanded. He had no idea how powerful Fenon was. Even his sidekick¡ªfatty¡ªwas a five star elementary mage. He couldn''t be worse than him.

    Hearing his question, Fenon chuckled. "I came here to give an offer to your sister. Why don''t you persuade her?"

    When he said he red at Kadyn as if trying to intimidate him¡ªif it was old Kadyn he would have been terrified by him, as he had bullied and traumatised him for a long time. s, the old Kadyn was gone.

    "Oh, what offer?" Kadyn asked with interest.

    Fenon frowned when he saw Kadyn''s fearless face. He seemed to be unaffected and unintimidated. Furthermore, he dared to ask a question. Still the smile never left his face and replied with a gentle and calm voice. "I want to take her as my concubine."

    Kadyn was surprised, hearing that. He had read about the concubine, first wife and second wife thing. He never thought this world that was already well developed would have such a tradition.

    "In return I will help you find your parents." Fenon hurriedly added, seeing Kadyn''s contemting look.

    Elora turned pale when she heard him. Though she faced many hardships in the magic academy, she neverined about it to her family. Neither she told her parents nor her brother.

    Kadyn looked at his sister from the corner of his eyes and found her gritting her teeth and her lips shivering. Afterwards he veered his gaze towards Fenon and replied. "Sorry, we don''t need your help to find our parents. As for taking my sister as your concubine¡ªare you even worthy of caring her shoes?"

    "How dare you talk to mister Fenon like this!?" the biggest fatty thundered and extended his arm to grab Kadyn''s neck.

    "Brother!" Elora shouted. Fenon snorted disdainfully but did not stop his man. Jenna looked at the entire scene with interest and said nothing. However, just when everyone thought Kadyn was in trouble, the change urred.

    Kadyn squatted down and avoided the fatty. The abdominous guy couldn''t control his weight and stumbled even further. Kadyn found the advantage and arrived behind his adversary and kicked his calf.

    Fatty''s knees bent down and he fell on his face. However his nightmare didn''t end there. Kadyn ced his knee on his neck and locked his elbow¡ªfatty whimpered in pain and mmed his other hand on the ground again and again, in hope to ovee Kadyn. But every struggle turned out to be futile.

    "Leave him!" when Fenon saw his intention to make Kadyn suffer turned into nothing but a big joke, he couldn''t hold himself and shouted.

    "Stop right there." Kadyn''s icy voice rumbled. "Or don''t me me if I break his neck by mistake."

    "You dare!?"

    "Wanna try?"

    Looking into Kadyn''s eyes, Fenon for the first time felt as if he was ncing at apletely distinct person. He could not associate this domineering man and previously timid Kadyn. There was nomon thing in two except their face.

    When Kadyn saw Fenon had stopped. He snorted and turned his attention to the fatty under his knee. Without any deliberation, Kadyn mmed into the back of the man''s neck.

    "p!"

    "Fuck! What a thick skin. How could someone use so much oil?"

    Anyone who heard him almost had the urge to go insane. Fenon gritted his teeth in fury. Jenna froze at the same ce like a wooden log in the mud while Elora peered at her brother with wide eyes as if she saw him for the first time.

    What made others speechless was that he didn''t stop there.

    "p!"

    "p!"

    "p!"

    From the thick skin of his neck to the round, puffy cheek of the man, the entire portion turned scarlet. At first the poor thing cursed and struggled and threatened, but after getting more and more hits, he lost his toughness and started to plead.

    How could Kadyn let this vermin go this easily? He twisted the hand with force and a scream escaped out of the poor fatty. "Ahhhhh!!"

    "What are you doing!?" Fenon tensed when he saw the scene unfolding in front of him.

    Jenna trembled, looking at Kadyn, and Elora covered her face in shock. Since when her brother became such a daring man? The other two sidekicks who saw the scene tumbled back in horror. They knew the reason behind Kadyn''s anger. They feared after dealing with the big fatty he woulde after them.

    Kadyn gave no response to Fenon''s question. Instead, he continued to twist the hand. The sound of something cracking echoed, and everyone felt as if the entire ce turned colder.

    After breaking the shoulder of the man, Kadyn let him go. But fatty continued toy there, whimpering, snorting and twitching. Kadyn frowned, seeing fatty''s situation and said. "If you don''t stand in a second, I will break your another shoulder."

    "No, no, no, please!" fatty stood hurriedly with a tearful face and a dangling left hand at the side. His nose running continuously and his back drenched in a cold sweat.

    "Trash!" Fenon blurted out a single word.

    "Now you can get lost with your orchestra team."

    Fenon''s eyes turned cold. He did not look at Kadyn and turned towards Elora. "Think about my offer. Otherwise you will have only yourself to me if something happens to your father and mother."

    After that he turned around and left. Behind him, three round balls scurried. Two supporting the other. None of them dared to look back.

    Kadyn peered at the back of Fenon and frowned. He thrashed Fenon''s man because he wanted to see his reaction and make him fight back. So he could know how powerful he was, but the bastard never attacked.

    This bastard is a good actor. He just wanted to nt a seed of doubt in Elora''s heart. With her kind nature she would do anything to protect her parents. Moreover If he had attacked me just now, his previous words would have lost all the effect on her.

    Kadyn eyed Elora and saw her staring at the fading Fenon and biting her lips. It was obvious Fenon didn''t know the exact whereabouts of his parents. But his sister fell for his tricky words. He shook his head.

    I need to develop her character or she would be deceived by anyone in the future.

    Afterward he turned towards Jenna and said in a cold tone. "So, it was Fenon who asked you to befriend my sister?"

 Chapter 22 - Spinning Wheel

    "Wh-wh-what are you saying?" Jenna tumbled back in shock and started to stutter at Kadyn''s usation, but then she suppressed her anxiety and unease and shot back at him. "You are speaking nonsense!"

    "Am I?" Kadyn sneered as he strolled towards her.

    "D-don''te near me!"

    He paid no heed to her and arrived in front of Jenna.

    "Brother, I think, it''s just a misunderstanding." Elora couldn''t look at the scene and interrupted.

    "Yes, yes, this is all a big misunderstanding."

    "Really?" Kadyn said with a hesitant look.

    "Of course. Elora is my friend. Why would I do anything to harm her?" she sighed in relief when noticed Kadyn contemting.

    She thought Kadyn would let the matter slide as he had no proof, but a cold smile appeared on his face and he clutched her neck emotionlessly. "Ahh!"

    Jenna gasped in shock and gurgled as she tried to speak. However nothing could be understood¡ªElora couldn''t believe her eyes. She never thought Kadyn would do such a thing.

    "Have you remembered any deal with Fenon yet?" Kadyn asked, eyeing Jenna.

    The girl shivered at Kadyn''s icy gaze. "I-I don''t know what are you talking about?"

    "You are a hard nut to crack, heh?" Kadyn chuckled and mmed her on the counter.

    "Brother!" Elora could not take this anymore, and grabbed his arm, looking at him pitifully. "I don''t think Jenna has anything to do with Fenon."

    Kadyn, however, wasn''t going to let things slide just like this. He turned at the groaning Jenna and said to Elora. "You are too na?ve. Today let me open your eyes."

    He peered at Jenna and leaned near to her ear, whispering. "If you don''t speak the truth in two breaths, I will tear your clothes off your body. Then let you stroll the street naked."

    Jenna trembled at his words. Tears rolled off her smooth cheeks, falling down like precious pearls. She looked pitiful.

    "Speak!" Kadyn, however, showed no sympathy.

    "I don''t know what¡­"

    "Rip!"

    "Ahhh!!"

    Before she could finish her sentence, Kadyn tore a cloth off her arm, revealing a glistening skin underneath. Jenna looked at him in terror while Elora covered her face in utter speechlessness.

    "Speak!" his voice thundered in her head like a roar of a lion.

    Jenna eyed him with her teary eyes and lost all the courage at his ruthless look. She bit her lip so hard that blood dripped from her lips and then stuttered. "I-it was Fenon who asked me to be-befriend Elora, s-so I could tell him everything about her."

    Hearing her words, he pushed her away like a dump in the basket and turned towards Elora, whose face had turned pale at her friend''s words. "What do you think about your FRIEND now?" he deepened his voice at the friend.

    "I-I¡­" Elora mumbled, but couldn''t find any word. Sorrow flickered in her eyes. The friend she treated like a sister was actually just a chess piece nted by Fenon.

    Kadyn patted her head gently and said. "You need to understand that this world isn''t a beautiful ce, as some people described it. It is a cruel world, filled with greedy, selfish, and vicious people. You need to be wary of those people, otherwise regret will be your sole friend."

    Kadyn slowly started to mutter nonsense. However, he was unaware of the impact of his nonsense on Elora. How it would change her in the future. Today''s event was a terrible blow to her innocent heart.

    "Get lost. Don''te near my sister. Or next time you won''t just lose a single piece of your dress!." Kadyn uttered coldly. However, from the corner of his eyes he was peeking at her smooth glistening skin.

    What a waste¡­ such a hotty, but her heart is darker than ck.

    When Kadyn arrived, he had activated [Emotion Detection]. From Fenon he found lust for his sister and disdain for himself. However this didn''t surprise him. What surprised him the most was Jenna''s emotions. He sensed jealousy for his sister, and disdain for himself while love and lust for Fenon.

    She was definitely a snake in the sleeve, and Kadyn could not let her stay with his sister a second more. That''s why he did all this drama and made her confess in front of Elora¡ªor Elora would never believe him, even though he was her brother.

    Jenna covered her arm with another hand and dashed out of the shop.

    Hicka had just entered when he saw her sprinting out of the shop. "Hi, Jenna."

    However the girl gave no reply and continued to gallop away until she vanished from the eyes of confused bystanders. Hicka shook his head embarrassedly and scurried into the shop, followed by three more people.

    "Go, wash your face. You don''t look good while crying." Kadyn wiped tears from her cheek before sending her away.

    "Boss, today I brought my three ssmates." Hicka beamed. "They wanted to know how I awakened my stars this fast. So I told them about the shop."

    "You did a good job." He nodded pleasantly.

    Hearing Kadyn''s praise, Hicka held his head high and puffed his chest out and looked at hispanions proudly.

    Kadyn rolled his eyes at this shameless guy and asked. "How much time you want to meditate?"

    "Six hours!" Hicka replied. Surprisingly, hispanions also chose to meditate for six hours. They looked wealthy as they paid without much deliberation.

    This Hicka guy isn''t bad. He praised him.

    [Energy Points: 33+48¡ú81]

    A smile formed at the corner of his lips when he saw the Energy Points increasing abruptly.

    "I also want to meditate." Elora walked out from the washroom and asked.

    "Alright, how much time do you want to spend on meditating?" Kadyn veered around and smiled at her.

    "Four hours!" she said excitedly.

    Without thinking, he let her do as she had intended. He knew she was hiding the sorrow behind her sweet smile. When Elora strolled towards the meditation room, two more customers arrived.

    The duo hesitated before paying the money to Kadyn, but in the end they gritted their teeth and passed eight hundred dors to him.

    [Energy Points: 81-8+8¡ú81]

    "Let''s check this thing out." After sending the customers, he looked at the spinning wheel in front of him and murmured.

    Every spin needed 10 energy points, and that was the reason he held himself this long. Now he earned a few energy points, so he wanted to try his luck.

    "Spin!" he uttered, and the wheel started to roll.

    [Energy Points: 81-10¡ú71]

    No item was visible inside the wheel. So Kadyn had no idea what would appear.

    He ogled eagerly at the spin and waited for it to stop, and when it stopped, a message appeared on the screen. "Better luck next time."

    "..."

 Chapter 23 - An Egg

    Kadyn gawped at the screen with wide eyes. He sighed and shook his head. "Looks like my luck isn''t as good as I thought." He paused a little and murmured. "Should I try once more?"

    He hesitated, but in the end the gambler inside his heart won and the wheel once more spun. His heart raced with a rolling sphere.

    What am I going to get? After all, I am the protagonist here.

    Legendary Spell?

    God Artifact?

    Divine Potion?

    Am I going to be an OP overnight?

    Kadyn started to daydream when he thought about a treasure. As the speed of the wheel decreased, his heartbeat increased and his gaze stuck to the circle on the wall.

    Come on!

    Give me something awesome!

    The spin stopped, and Kadyn was thrilled as he looked at the message on the screen.

    [Congrattions: you have sessfully drawn a lottery!]

    However when the screen changed, and another message appeared, his smile froze.

    [You have won an egg]

    After that, an egg appeared on the ground. Around the size of the Ostrich''s egg¡ªwith the white shell covered in blue patterns¡ªthe shell couldn''t be any more rough. It was oval and only the word [ordinary] could describe its appearance. Nothing noteworthy.

    Kadyn felt the craggy shell with his hand when he held it.

    "What is this... stone?" kadynined. "I don''t want it."

    "You can''t abandon the lottery, especially not something living. If you do, your winning rate would fall in the future. Furthermore it is your first lottery, if you abondon this, I don''t think you will ever win again." System replied.

    "Wha...aat?" Kadyn shouted in frustration¡­ these stupid rules. Then again it was the system that gave him the second chance to live. So he had no right toin about it.

    "What should I do with this egg?" he sighed and reminded himself to remain positive.

    Who knows if it is a hidden mythical creature?

    However, when he looked at that stone like an egg, he lost all the hope.

    "Sign the contract by dropping blood on the egg. You also need to nourish it with your summoning element."

    "What do you mean I need to nourish it with a summoning element? Does that mean without summoning element I won''t be able to sign the contract?" hearing System, Kadyn''s interest piqued up.

    "You can... actually by dropping blood on the egg you aren''t forming a contract with but a kind of link. Anyway it is another matter, you will know in the future. Let me tell you the answer to your question.

    "Most people want to get the [Familiar] with the same element as them. Why is that? Because with that it would be easy to form a deep bond with the beast and the beast would also feel more connected with another person.

    "Therefore, in the future when people try to establish the real contract with their familiars, it won''t reject themter they could cooperate together to fight their enemies as their elements are the same that would increase their power greatly." System exined.

    "Why can''t I establish the contract immediately?" Kadyn asked in confusion.

    You or anyone else can''t, because it is an enormous burden on the familiars consciousness. An egg or a newly born would have a fragile soul as their bodies. If the creature couldn''t take the burden, it would die. Therefore, people let them develop before signing a contract.``

    "Then why can''t I use another element to nourish it."

    "Do you know what type of element this egg has?"

    "...err," Kadyn became speechless. Indeed, he had no idea. In the webnovels when lead gets an egg, it would produce amazing magic ripples, and fire would form over it, and stars would shine. But this¡­ he looked at the egg and couldn''t hide his disappointment.

    Am I still the protagonist?

    System ignored his depressed mood and continued to exin. "Moreover, the summoning element was made to connect with magical beasts. It doesn''t require one to have amon element to make a good impression on the monster."

    Anyway, Kadyn did as the system told him. He cut his finger and the red drop fell over the egg.

    "Is anyone here?"

    Kadyn heard a voice from outside and saw someone standing behind the counter. However he failed to see the light that shone on the egg at that moment. When he turned around, the egg had already gone into its dormant state.

    "What do you want, sir?" he peered at the man in front of him before asking.

    The man eyed Kadyn in surprise. He did not think the owner of the shop would be this young.

    While the customer observed Kadyn, Kadyn did the same¡ªhe was wounded, blood oozed from the gashes as the man cramped, and when Kadyn felt no malicious intent from the man, he put a smile on his face and waited for the other party to speak.

    "Ah, yes¡­ actually I need a healing potion. As you can see, I''m wounded. Do you have any?" he asked.

    "Healing Potion?" Kadyn frowned. He has yet to start his potion business, and he wasn''t proficient enough to make them regrly. So he wanted to wait for some time. Who knew the customer himself would arrive on his doorstep?

    "You don''t have it?" the man sighed in disappointment.

    I should have known.

    How could a shop in such a ce have a potioneer?

    He turned around to leave, when Kadyn said hurriedly. "I have a healing potion."

    Kadyn pulled out a veil of potion from under the counter. Liquid of jade color contained inside.

    The man peered at the veil and frowned. Jade colour healing potion? I have never seen or heard about it. "Is it a healing potion?"

    "Of course, it''s Soothing Drop. Elementary Mage just a need single drop to heal the deepest wounds. Of course, special conditions applied like poisonous wounds and such. In those kinds of situations it won''t be effective."

    Kadyn gave an exnation like a good shopkeeper. If he wanted he could hide the downside of the potion, but he didn''t want to. After all he wanted to establish a long time business and for that he needed to give a good impression to his customers.

    As he was exining about the Soothing Drop, three people arrived and eyed the potion with narrowed eyes. They also heard Kadyn''s exnation.

    "Hmph, nothing but crap." One of the three sneered. "I don''t believe it can heal any critical wound with a single drop."

 Chapter 24 - Selling A Potion

    Kadyn heard the neer and frowned. He eyed three of them but couldn''t recognise anyone, and he felt malicious intenting from them.

    "Are you here to cause trouble?" he demanded coldly. It was they who were trying to incite the trouble. So Kadyn felt no obligation to treat them like normal customers.

    "Hump! Don''t bend my words. Why would I cause trouble in this puny shop?" grunted Shum disdainfully.

    "Yes, if your potion can really heal wounds as terrible as you im, then prove it." Another boy standing behind Shum also voiced.

    "Why would I prove anything to the morons like you?" Kadyn snapped at them. He had never imed that the potion could bring the man on his deathbed back to life, but these three were spreading the sheet of the matter as if desperate that they would fail to stimte trouble for him.

    "What did you say?!" all three of them burst immediately hearing his insulting words.

    Kadyn disregarded their fuming expressions and turned towards the wounded guy. "If you want the potion, just buy it. There is no oppression, though. It''s your choice."

    The three of their faces burned in humiliation when Kadyn ignored their existence. However, none of them said anything anymore and ogled him coldly. They wanted to see him humiliated when his potion won''t work as he imed. After all, how could a shabby shop like this have a marvellous potion, as he imed?

    The customer hesitated for a little while but in the end clenched his teeth and decided to buy the potion. "What''s the price?" he asked.

    Hearing this, Kadyn fell silent. He had yet to decide the price.

    "Just focus on the potion and its status window will appear¡ªremember this applies only inside the shop¡ªyou can see the standard price of the potion ording to the shop. However, you can sell it for as high or low a price as you want. After all, it was you who concocted it. So the system won''t decide the price." System chimed inside his head, solving Kadyn''s problem.

    As he focused his gaze on the potion. The window appeared.

    [Name: Soothing Drop]

    [Category: Potion]

    [Type: Healing]

    [Rank: Elementary]

    [Grade: Intermediate]

    [Price: 1500 dor]

    [Effect: A drop of the potion can heal and soothe the wounds of the elementary mage]

    Kadyn looked at the screen with shining eyes and inquired. "The grade of the potion is intermediate. So if it was high, peak, or top-grade, does that mean price would also increase?"

    "Of course. As you know every potion is divided into five sub-categories¡ªlow, intermediate, high, peak and top¡ªat every increasing grade, the effect would increase about two times. So of course, the price would also increase."

    A wide smile spread across his face when he heard this. So he could earn more if he could increase the grade of the potion. Then he remembered how hard that was. He had almost poured his heart and soul to concoct this single potion, and it was still only at the intermediate grade.

    Shaking the distraction at the corner of his head, Kadyn turned towards the customer and replied. "1500 dors."

    "Whaaat!?" the wounded and others behind him screamed in unison. Their faces looked as if they had seen a ghost.

    Kadyn eyed them and asked. "Is it... too high?"

    "Too high?" everyone peered at him speechlessly.

    "You don''t want it?" Kadyn inquired and started to ce the potion inside the counter once more.

    "No, no, I want it." Replied the wounded man. How could he refuse such a generous offer? Anyone knew even the most basic potions sell at the gobsmacking prices. Kadyn was literally giving it free. Though the shopkeeper was unaware of that if he knew he would have definitely raised the price.

    The man passed the money and asked. "Can I use it here?"

    Although he had bought the potion, there still lingered the shred of doubt inside his head. It was the first time he came to this shop, and the chances of being conned were extremely high. So he decided to use the potion in the presence of everyone.

    "Sure, go ahead," he replied and passed the veil before taking the money.

    [Do you want to change the money into energy points? Y/N]

    "What is this?" Kadyn demanded in surprise to the system.

    "As I told you before, it is you who concocted the potion. The system can change it into energy points but not without your permission."

    Kadyn nodded and denied converting it into the energy points. It''s been over twenty-four hours since he and Elora had eaten something. He was already thinking about this matter when the help arrived. Now he could have supper with his sister, at the very least. A warm smile appeared on his lips.

    "How deep!"

    "How did he get that wound?"

    "It looks like a beast w."

    "What kind of vicious animal could do that?"

    Kadyn nced in front of him when he heard the gasps of others standing behind the wounded customer¡ªtwo more people had arrived in the meantime.

    At this moment, the man had pulled his shirt upward and revealed his stomach. Grotesque gash appeared. Deeper than four inches and white ribcage could be seen inside and crimson blood flew out of the wound. w mark!

    Kadyn realised that previously this man had stuck a cloth into the wound to stop the blood. However, when he pulled it out, the wound opened again. The man grunted and pulled out the stopper of the veil and poured the entire potion into his wound.

    "Ahh!" he moaned when a soothing sensation spread inside his body and the biting pain vanished. He opened his eyes wide in surprise and examined his gash and eximed in jubtion. He left dumbstruck when he found the wound was healing, with a pace visible to the eyes.

    "W-what is this potion?" he questioned Kadyn agitatedly. He had seen nothing like this before. Even the best of the best shop in the Upper Town area could not provide something as marvellous as this potion.

    Kadyn smiled without replying. He had already given him the introduction. There was no need to repeat the same words.

    The man took a deep breath when Kadyn remained silent and said. "My name is Khrom. I will never forget this kindness."

    Kadyn shook his head in resignation. He was just doing his business. However, he was unaware of how grateful Khrom was. After all, the potion was just too precious for him.

    While Khrom smiled jubntly, the smirk on the faces of the other three froze. They were waiting for Kadyn to be humiliated, yet he won himself glory.

 Chapter 25 - Throw Them Out

    "Ho-how could this be?" Shum stuttered, looking at the scene in front of him. Since when did someone sell this type of incredible potion in the city of Avibria?

    He ogled at Khrom''s healing wound and turned towards Kadyn, speaking. "I want to purchase the potion. Tell me the price. I can pay double the price he paid just now."

    Kadyn curled his lips disdainfully and sneered. "I really despise people like you."

    "You¡­" Shum''s face flushed red in humiliation. But he suppressed the fury in his heart. He wanted the potion. The treasure such as this could be a lifesaving trump-card in peril. "Will you sell it or not?!" he gritted his teeth hatefully.

    "I can''t believe how thick your skin is. After being humiliated, again and again, you can still stand here. Get lost!" Kadyn, who was smiling all this time, snapped. Shum and his twopanions jolted and staggered back at his thunderous shout.

    "You¡­ you...!" Shum pointed his finger at Kadyn, but no word came out of his throat. He was so furious that his face turned crimson.

    "You, your mother. Brother Khrom, why don''t you throw them out and I''ll give you one Soothing Potion with a twenty percent discount? You should know how hard it is topound materials to make such a potion." Previously Kadyn saw their expression and knew that the value of the potion far surpassed the price at which he sold. However, he cared little. He could always brew more.

    "Alri¡­ wait a moment," Khrom gawked at Kadyn and demanded. "You brew the Soothing Drop?"

    "Of course, who else would do?" Kadyn casually replied. "Please, don''t let them run. I want to see them being thrown--"

    Before he could finish Khrom bolted behind the escaping trio. Kadyn raised his brows in surprise. "Wind element?" he murmured. Also, Khrom''s control over his spell seemed impable.

    "Ahh, leave me, you damn brute." In just a blink Khrom got the two of them in dirt and Shum in his clutches. Shum felt shamed, disgraced, humiliated.

    "You Bastard! Do you know who I am?" he cursed.

    Khrom cared little about his threats and threw him out of the shop like crap. Looking at Shum, whoid on the road with a mouth kissing the ground and ass saluted the heaven. Khrom gave a disdainful sneer. The other two gave up on any hope and also joined their leader in the sameical posture.

    "Do you have any mo'' potions?" asked Khrom after throwing those nuisances. Just now, due to those morons, he hesitated to take the potion. If he hadn''t drunk it, he would never realise how amazing it was. That''s why he didn''t think twice before thrashing ''em.

    Kadyn shook his head. "No, I have to brew it. You cane tomorrow if you want any."

    "Alright," Khrom nodded and strolled away through the gate. Kadyn looked in his direction and fell into deep contemtion. This guy isn''t as simple as he seems. Khrom hid it carefully, but Kadyn felt a deep hatred in his heart. Not for himself. As for who? He had no interest to know.

    "S-sir, what is the pr-price for meditating?" when Khrom left, a stammering voice inquired. Kadyn lifted his gaze and found two boys standing in front of the counter. He remembered these two had arrived after those three morons.

    "For an hour, you need to pay two hundred dors," Kadyn replied.

    "Just two hundred dors, really?" another boy spoke.

    "Didn''t I already say, if you don''t want to, then leave?" he frowned, seeing their doubtful expressions.

    "We want to," both of them cried out and gave him four hundred dors.

    [Energy Points: 61+4¡ú65]

    After sending the duo, Kadyn went out, and it took around twenty minutes toe back. A bag was in his hand and a smile on his lips. He peered towards the meditation room and slouched in his chair in boredom. No customer. Heined.

    Time passed and the two who entered the mediation room in the veryst walked out with a reluctant gaze. Kadyn saw them approaching the counter and said. "You can also check out the Practice Room. There, you can improve your battle experience and control over your spells. Just 100 dors for a single fight, of course."

    The duo wanted to leave after meditating. As both of ''em had left with only four hundred dors. Of course, they couldn''t spend their entire money here. However, after hearing Kadyn''s words, they were eager to try this practice room. So they did. After drinking a bowl of milk, the cat would never be satisfied. It was a truth that no one can deny.

    [Energy Points: 65+2¡ú67]

    Kadyn exined the working of the practice room before sending them inside. He looked at their backs as they headed towards the other building and murmured. "Am I going to run this shop my entire life? Sit here and look at the fading backs of my customers as theye and go?"

    "I don''t know if you''re going to run this shop your entire life. However, how you run this shop depends upon you." System replied to him and fell silent.

    "What''d you mean?" Kadyn frowned.

    No reply.

    He grunted, hearing no reply, but said no more. He knew he can''t ask for everything from others and needed to depend on himself. But he was curious to know what other way could there be to run the shop?

    After half an hourter the two kids walked out of the practice room. Their bodies dripped with sweat, but their eyes shone with excitement. They arrived in front of the counter and said. "Thank you for giving us such a chance. We wille backter when we have money."

    Kadyn waved his hand and said nothing. He was fully aware of what kind of benefits the practice room could give. As time passes, everyone will discover it eventually. However, he forgot that fame begets jealousy and jealousy begets hatred and hatred is the source of all the troubles in this world.

 Chapter 26 - Ten Days

    When four hours passed, Elora walked out of the meditation room. Kadyn looked at her expressionless face and felt a sting in his heart. She had eaten nothing since yesterday, but she neverined, not even once.

    "Come, I have brought food." Kadyn said when he saw her absent minded gaze, looking unfocused at the distant, t, orange horizon. Hearing Kadyn''s call, she turned her beautiful blue eyes in his direction and asked. "What?"

    "Food." he pulled the bag from under the counter and waved at her. Elora blinked and then bit her lips, but remained silent. Before she brought food for him. Now the situation has reversed. The surreal feeling she felt was unbelievable¡ªfelt like ages passed when they had eaten food.

    Her throat had dried and her stomach sunken deeper, touching the ribs, but she didn''tin. However, at this moment her face showed pain she was hiding all this time¡ªshe controlled her tears, refusing to let them go and put a warm smile on her face.

    Though before she could understand anything, Kadyn embraced her tightly. The strong front she was putting crumbled like cards. Tears rolled off her smooth face, wetting her brother''s shoulder.

    "Alright, alright." Kadyn patted her head gently, but had no idea how tofort her. As he had no experience in this regard. So he waited until Elora calmed and stopped her bawling.

    The brother-sister duo sat on the mattress as the dishesid in front of them. The food was well packed that kept it warm. The mouth watering smell of biryani wafted through the room. The chicken was garnished with all types of spices and other stuff. Beef stewid on the other side, waiting for someone to im it. Two big bowls contained noodles, decorated with beef, an egg and green garlic leaves.

    "What''re you waiting for? Eat." Kadyn rolled his eyes when he saw her dazed face.

    "Thank you."

    "Oh, shut up!" Kadyn snorted and jumped on the food like a hungry wolf, and Elora giggled at him. Jubntly. All the dishes were her favourites¡ªseeing her best-liked food after a long hunger, she felt overwhelmed with warmth. It was her brother who brought these. For her.

    ¡ª¡ª

    After the supper, Kadyn resumed his work while Elora went to the Healing Hall. She wanted to rest. Kadyn said nothing and continued to eye the entrance in boredom. No one came.

    "It''s time for Hicka and others toe out." He murmured and gazed at the meditation room. Not long after the four kids walked out talking andughing and punching among themselves, looking jubnt. Excited.

    "Thank you, boss, for today." Hicka said, and the other three followed behind. The benefits they got from here were immense. Almost all of them had sessfully awakened a star. This was a shocking thing in such a run-down ce as Avibria city.

    Kadyn nodded and then he nced up at them, saying. "Why don''t you try the practice room?"

    All of them looked at each other and nodded. They wanted to see what this practice room could give them. After their first experience the expectation for this shop had climbed to the apex.

    Only Hicka shook his head. "I don''t have enough money. I won''t join you guys."

    "What are you talking about?" one kid said. "I have enough money. I will let you borrow. Return me when you have."

    Hicka wanted to refuse his friend money but others dragged him by his arm. Of course, after paying the money for two battles.

    [Energy Points: 91+8¡ú99]

    After these customers, no one came. So Kadyn had food with Elora and went to the mediation room.

    ¡ª¡ª

    The same schedule continued and ten days passed in these ten days he had awakened nine fire stars¡ªthat was unbelievable¡ªsix summoning stars and three lightning stars. In this period, he earned a staggering amount of energy points due to the increasing number of customers.

    [Energy Points: 500+12¡ú512]

    Kadyn also started teaching Elora potion making¡ªhe couldn''t stop smiling when he remembered her face after learning that he could brew potions. She was shocked beyond belief. She had a healing element and her dream was to be a famous potioneer. That''s why she knew how hard it was to be one¡ªto know that her brother, who was less than neen, had be a potioneer, was something to be bragged about.

    Moreover her brother''s achievements didn''t shock her the most. It was she¡ªherself¡ªwho brewed Soothing Potion in just a practice of five days. After that event, her smile came back and her face shone with confidence that shecked before.

    However the only regrettable thing was that she had no healing spell. If she had one such spell, the shop would be even more popr. After all everyone needed to heal from big or small injuries. Although other magus looked down on them, their value couldn''t be denied.

    ¡ª¡ª

    Kadyn stood in front of the Spinning Wheel and spoke. "Spin!"

    So the wheel started rolling and 10 points vanished like smoke in the fog. His hands sped in agitation, sweat trickling his forehead. "Come on!"

    "Better luck next time!"

    He had already expected it and once more rolled the spin.

    "Better luck next time!"

    Once more.

    "Better luck next time!"

    "..."

    After the fourth try he stopped, peering at the wheel speechlessly. He had the urge to curse the system, but he remembered it would cost him ten energy points, so he swallowed his indignance.

    "Last time." He exhaled deeply and once more the wheel rolled. Kadyn stoodnguidly. He had no hope to get any lottery¡ªwhen he thought the same notification would appear again, the change urred. "Congrattions on winning a lottery."

    The tion at this moment he felt could not be described in words. Then, he remembered thest lottery and his smile froze. He rushed to check the thing that he won and saw a scroll in front of the wheel. He rushed to grasp it as it would run away and opened to check what was inside.

    "Healing spell?"

    "What would I do with a healing spell?" Kadyn frowned.

    "Just give it to your sister." The system chimed in.

    "I should give her? But didn''t you sayst time that I can''t give a lottery to others?" he asked suspiciously.

    "Uh, cough, you can give non-living things to others." System replied after a short, awkward silence.

    "You''re contradicting your own words." Kaden wanted to know the reason behind his contradicting words, but the system refused to answer.

 Chapter 27 - Price For Being Conceited

    On the same day, after dealing with customers, Kadyn passed the scroll to Elora. The girl looked at him in confusion, and eyed the scroll.

    "What is this?" She asked.

    "See, yourself," Kadyn said and walked towards his secret room for practice, of course, without exnation.

    Elora eyed his fading back and returned her gaze on the scroll in her hand and opened it slowly. Then gasped in shock. Her eyes widened and her mouth hung open. "Eight-star healing spell!"

    Eight-star spells were a supreme treasure for many noble families in the Upper Town. Many families could only dream about it. Now she has such a spell for herself.

    Elora took a deep breath and heaved a long sigh. Kadyn was bing more and more mysterious day by day.

    Where did he get the form potion form?

    Where did he learn potion making?

    What about the healing form he gave me?

    No answer. Of course.

    Though she never asked him. Once, he said he would tell everything one day. But when that day woulde, who can say?

    Elora shook her head, shaking all the distractions off her head. She eyed the scroll with shining blue eyes and entered the Potion Hall.

    ¡ª¡ª

    Kadyn sat at the centre of the formation and activated the Elemental Chaos Form. Swirls formed around him and vanished inside his body.

    He gazed in the far horizon inside the fire pool and saw a star that appeared and disappeared now and then. This was the tenth star on the verge of awakening.

    [Energy Points: 464-4¡ú460]

    An hour passed but the star was still the same. Appearing and disappearing all the while. Not even a little difference could be seen. However, Kadyn didn''t falter and continued to work. He knew this was thest star and it would, of course, take longer than any star took before to awaken.

    [Energy Points: 460-4¡ú456]

    The period between the blinking of the star decreased and it started to take longer to vanish and smaller to appear. Kadyn thrilled, bursting his confidence.

    [Energy Points: 456-4¡ú452]

    He ced his entire attention on awakening the star and hadn''t realised one more hour passed¡ªthis was the time the star awakened.

    The entire fire pool trembled and illuminated with crimson light. All ten stars produced amazing zing burst of light.

    All of them burned, mixed with all kinds of fires. There were blue, white, green, yellow, orange and many other colours¡ªit continued to change, never stopping. Though Kadyn had no idea what change in colour implies.

    However, different from all nine pools, stood a tenth elemental pool, colourless, dormant, silent¡ªbut at this moment it trembled and golden light flickered on it. Though after that it once more went into its dormant state. Assuming its mysterious appearance.

    Kadyn nced at the ten awakened stars, and his heart pounded in eagerness and anticipation. There was only a single step left to reach the rank beyond elementary.

    Should I try? He asked himself, hesitating a bit. Then, he gritted his teeth and decided to give it a try.

    At worst I will just fail...

    He entered his consciousness inside the fire elemental pool and peered at the ten stars. After thest star awakened, all of them showed their true nature. Right now, they burned in mes. Kadyn could even feel the heat.

    Without deliberating, Kadyn covered a star with his consciousness. After that he tried to split his consciousness and felt as if he was trying to tear his soul apart.

    Damn, what is this? He cursed when the pain bolted through his brain. His mouth twitched in agony.

    When the searing pain burst inside his head, Kadyn felt like giving up¡ªhe regretted his rash decision. Now he realised why so many people stuck at the elementary magus for their entire life.

    However he couldn''t stop here or else, his confidence would receive a huge blow. He slowly brought stars closer and closer¡ªas they neared the repulsive force in between them intensified.

    Kadyn sweated, his body drenched and dripped wetly. The excruciation was terrible but still bearable¡ªin these ten days, he went into the practice room whenever he had time, just to get tortured and to improve his willpower.

    "Boom!"

    When the stars connected, a huge mushroom st formed at the centre of contact. Kadyn paled and coughed a mouthful of blood.

    No matter what I won''t let you go.

    He bit his tongue to make himself sane and continued to push his limits¡ªwhen the clouds vanished, he saw the stars had ovepped with each other. This brought great joy in his shuddering mind.

    Just half left, he murmured.

    He pushed both stars, making them ovep each other more and more. Finally, the two turned into one¡ªKadyn used his consciousness and moved to do the same thing with another star.

    The pressure suddenly multiplied by ten times. No matter how conceited he was, he couldn''t help but quiver. The mountainous pressure crushed on his skull.

    Come on! He screamed in his head.

    The two stars neared every passing second. Kadyn''s face had turned red, veins throbbed on his forehead, on his neck, and on his face. His hands shivered and his body shuddered, quivering in pain and agony. He looked terrible.

    "Boom!"

    "Arghhhh!!!"

    Before he could realise the situation, a horrible spasm burst into his head. The two stars sted and scattered in the distance. The one which had already melded with another star, broke into two, too. Dashing in a different direction.

    Kadynid on the ground without any energy in his body, his body convulsed continuously and his mouth frothed. It looked as his entire energy was devoured by something, leaving only a shell behind.

 Chapter 28 - Hicka

    The sun rose and the new day began. Elora sauntered out of the Potion Hall. Her eyes filled with excitement and vigour. She couldn''t sleepst night due to the shock she received¡ªthe healing spell Kadyn gave was a priceless treasure.

    Though as she lifted her smiling gaze, her face froze.

    "What happened to you?!" She squealed, ogling at her brother''s haggard appearance. His face was pale and cheeks sunken deep and eyes appeared dim and his breathing was hurried. His body seemed nothing but an embodiment of a skeleton.

    Kadyn nced at his sister and remained silent. He had no intention to talk about his embarrassing and stupid and deadly endeavour from the previous night.

    "Don''t worry, it''s nothing. I will be fine after some rest."

    Elora looked concerned but she''d not force him to tell anything, so she nodded in acknowledgement.

    "I''ll go get the breakfast," she said and strolled out of the shop.

    Kadyn gazed at her scurrying figure and took a deep breath and continued to sit there with his cramping body. He looked inside his fire pool and couldn''t help but feel a pang at the sight in front of him.

    The stars he tried to assimte with each other, had cracks all over their surface. They looked dimmer than the other seven orbs¡ªwhen he attempted to cast the spell, he failed.

    He pondered it might be because of the crashes on them. Then he tried to cast an Arrow Rush with the aid of the remaining stars, s, he still failed and couldn''tplete the spell pattern.

    "Damn, what is this about?!" He couldn''t help but swear in frustration. His most powerful element became useless. Of course, he''d feel the urge to kill someone. But this entire thing happened due to his stupidity. It was his fault. Who could he me for his losses?

    "It must be sequ, as the [Crack Melding Potion] described. I have to concoct it to mend the cracks before I could use the fire element again. Damn!" he stomped on the floor in irritation.

    "But its main ingredient is Five Star Spirit Grass. I don''t have it. I doubt anyone would sell the medicine either.

    "It''s the most effective medicine for the elementary mage to soothe the bacsh of the breakthrough. s, I need to concoct a potion." He rubbed his temple and his brows furrowed.

    Just as he was deep in contemtion, Elora strolled into the shop with a bag. "Let''s have breakfast." She said and the duo sat on the ground.

    All this while Kadyn remained absent-minded. Elora could tell he wasn''t in a good mood. Therefore she tried to cheer him up¡ªKadyn felt bad seeing his sister trying so hard for his sake. Won''t he be a bastard if he wasted her effort? He put a smile on his face.

    After having breakfast, Elora headed to the Potion Hall as she had be obsessed with potion-making, and spent most of the time brewing them.

    Kadyn slouched in his chair and waited for customers. Thinking, how could he solve his problem?

    Not long after a group rushed into the shop. Their faces shone with excitement. They were eager to meditate or practice. Everyone wanted to enjoy the unbelievable blessings of this bizarre shop.

    "Six hours."

    [Energy Points: 448+12¡ú460]

    "Two hours."

    [Energy Points: 460+4¡ú464]

    .

    .

    .

    After half an hour a familiar face appeared. Kadyn looked at the boy and recognised him. He was the same kid who had offered money to Hickast time¡ªEpora.

    Kadyn asked. "Do you know where Hicka is? I have given him a task. He was supposed to give me medicines yesterday."

    "Eh?" Epora seemed stunned at his sudden question. Then his face turned ugly.

    "What happened?" Kadyn inquired in rm when he saw his expression.

    "That¡­" Epora nced at Kadyn and hesitated but in the end, he went through and exined. "It was Fenon. Yesterday, he had beaten up Hicka. Now he is badly injured and his condition isn''t favourable. He might not survive this ordeal."

    "What?!" Kadyn sprang on his feet and his gaze turned cold. When he looked at a long queue in front of him, he calmed down and asked. "Can you bring him here?"

    "Alright!" Surprisingly the boy agreed and dashed out of the shop.

    Kadyn''s mood was already in a mess. After hearing this piece, it turned even sour. Last time, Kadyn queried about Hicka from his friends. The kid was honest and hardworking and determined.

    An orphan without any backer. He was bullied and sneered and looked down upon by others¡ªhe never gave up, no matter how many sufferings went through.

    His condition changed when he awakened as a magus and his talent was not bad either. So he was chosen as a student of magic school.

    s, how could an orphanpare with the scions of other families? He wascking in resources while they could have anything they wanted from their elders.

    To shorten this gap, he worked as a part-timer, trying to gain a ce in this cruel society. However the gap widened day by day, and his determined heart started to falter. The dismay had engulfed him when he stumbled upon Kadyn''s shop and his faith once more revived.

    Last time, Kadyn invited him to buy medicines for him from other dealers. In return, he would pay hisbor. With this, he could support the kid and earn from it. After all he needed herbs for potion making, anyway.

    Today he perceived he might have made things worse for the kid. He couldn''t help but feel hatred for Fenon. He always ignored that nuisance as he never saw him as a real threat.

    "I''ll make you pay, bastard. Just you wait." He gritted his teeth in indignation. The mes of fury burned inside his eyes.

    Half an hourter, Epora appeared with Hicka. His hand was ced on Epora''s shoulder while his face was swollen. His clothes tattered, and he looked haggard. He stumbled and swayed and grimaced from time to time but Epora held him.

    When Hicka''a gaze fell upon Kadyn and his eyes turned wet. "Boss, I have failed you."

 Chapter 29 - Wheel Of Fortune

    Kadyn healed his wounds with the potion and gave his clothes to Hicka, as his own had been torn apart. Though he was still weak, as the blood loss was excessive. He wasn''t feeling as much pain as before and was just exhausted and fatigued and frail.

    After that Kadyn sent him to the Formation Hall to rest as that ce was empty for the time being and the best ce to rest.

    "Next!" he shouted. Everyone was standing with dazed faces, jolted awake by hismanding tone.

    "Ah, yes, it''s me." A kid at the front said, smiling abashedly. "Six hours, Meditation Room, and three rounds, Practice Room."

    "Fifteen hundred dors," Kadyn said.

    .

    .

    .

    The customers continued to pour into the shop. Some in groups, while others in ones or twos. Though Kadyn couldn''t feel any happiness. His entire attention was still on Fenon. He needed to deal with that scum, or it could be a terrible mistake. He''d have to deal with him.

    Kadyn didn''t even realise how insane the idea of killing someone was¡ªfor someone who was from earth. However he was thinking about doing it himself without even realising. He had indeed changed or was in the process of changing.

    When all the customers were gone, a familiar man appeared in his shop. He was wounded likest time, grabbing his stomach with his right hand, a failed attempt to stop the bleeding from oozing out of his wound.

    As Kadyn''s gaze met with Khrom, the man grinned, revealing his blood clotted teeth inside his mouth. "Long time no see." His gruff and tired voice sounded. He stumbled towards the counter with shaking legs.

    "What happened to you? It''s been over ten days since yourst visit." Kadyn frowned when he saw w marks on his body. It looked even more terrible than before. Blood oozed out of his wounds, dripping on the ground with an audible sound, drip, drip, drip.

    "Ohh, I had something to do." Khrom replied, still smiling. "Do you have a Soothing Drop?"

    Kadyn said nothing. He eyed the man in front of him and asked. "You seem in a good mood today."

    Khrom peered at Kadyn and chuckled. "Indeed, I am. I have killed that sow in the end. What can make me happier than this?"

    Kadyn probed no further and brought a potion from the counter and passed it to Khrom. "Twelve hundred dors. Twenty percent off as I promised."

    Khrom took the potion and passed the money to Kadyn¡ªwith no dy, he poured the entire potion on his wounds one by one. When his breath calmed and the blood stopped flowing, only then he nced at Kadyn. "I want one more."

    Kadyn peered at him and said. "I will give you two for free and with a grade higher than this. I need some information."

    The man looked at him deeply and nodded. "Sure. There is nothing, I don''t know about Avibria City."

    Kadyn eyed Khrom meaningfully and voiced. "Good. Do you have any information about the Five Star Spirit Grass?"

    "Five Star Spirit Grass?" Khrom gawked at him in shock. "What do you need it for?!"

    Kadyn remained silent, gazing at the man in front of him. The meaning was clear and Khrom was no idiot. He understood Kadyn had no intention of telling him about his matter.

    He nodded and said. "I need to go into hiding, as the entire city is searching for me. Give me some time to collect the information."

    Kadyn blinked a few times and blurted. "Why the hell the entire Avibria city is after your life?!"

    "It''s because I killed that sow. I already told you, didn''t I?"

    "Who''s that sow, by the way?" though, normally, he won''t probe other people''s matter. This thing caught his interest.

    "Who cares who she is? Give me one more Soothing Drop."

    "1500 dors and get lost as soon as possible. I don''t want any trouble in my shop. Can''t you paint your face with coal or something to avoid being discovered?"

    "..."

    ¡ª¡ª

    [Energy Points: 627]

    Kadyn noted his points before spinning the wheel. He couldn''t help but approach the lottery wheel again. After all, it was the only source where he could find any spell or other useful stuff.

    His fire element had turned useless for the time being, and he needed to make himself strong. So he could only turn towards the spinning wheel.

    "Spin!"

    [Better luck next time]

    He had already expected this oue, so he just shook his head and proceeded.

    "Spin!"

    [Congrattions: You have won a throwing bomb]

    "Heh?" he jumped in surprise at the notification. He won a lottery in just a second turn. That was surprising, indeed.

    [Name: Throwing Bomb]

    [Category: Weapon]

    [Type: Long range]

    [Rank: Elementary]

    [Grade: No Grade]

    [Price: 500 dors]

    [Effect: One-time destructive weapon]

    "Hey, this is again contradicting your words," Kadyn said. "You said I can''t give my lottery to anyone. What is the meaning of price here? Doesn''t that mean I can sell it to anyone?"

    "Don''t you know the difference between giving and selling? Of course, you can sell anything. This is a shop, after all!" System snorted disdainfully.

    "..."

    "Cough¡­ spin!"

    And the Wheel Of Fortune¡ªas Kadyn called it¡ªrolled, and his heartbeat quickened. No matter how many times he tried this, the excitement of the unknown never felt overrated. It''s thrilling and enjoyable.

    Kadyn realised why those gamblers on earth would be so addicted to gambling. Now he knew... why?

    [Better luck next time]

    "Spin!"

    [Better luck next time]

    .

    .

    .

    [Better luck next time]

    Kadyn wiped the sweat off his forehead and roared in frustration. "Spin!"

    He peered at the wheel with little hope to get anything from it. It seemed the bomb had sucked his entire luck today. Even it was just a damned one-time use weapon.

    [Congrattions: You have won a Spell Scroll]

    Kadyn gawked at the screen as if he had read something wrong. But a few secondster, the screen remained unchanged¡ªhis eyes shone in excitement before grabbing the scroll.

    "What element does this spell belong to?" He said nervously and opened the scroll with his trembling hands. His eyes glued on the scroll and his heart thudded in his chest, and he opened it.

    At the top of the scroll was written [Darkness Walking]. He found six, dark-ck, shining stars in the upper-right corner of the scroll. It implied that the spell was six-star, and it belonged to the dark element.

    Although he had yet to awaken a single star of the dark element. It was just a matter of time before he would need spells for it.

    He turned towards the wheel again. Not willing to leave just yet. All the traits of a gambler could be seen in him at this moment. Although it was based on luck, it was exciting.

    "Roll!"

    And the wheel rolled as Kadynmanded. He peered in front of him as the wheel slowed, and he rubbed his hands in anticipation¡ªwhen the wheel stopped, it brought a dashing smile to his face.

    [Congrattions: You have won a Spell Scroll]

    He looked inside the scroll and realised that it was a lightning type, and it was the eight-star!

    Right now he only had three Lightning Stars awakened and, therefore, he could not use it right now. If he wanted to make good use of the spell, he would need to awaken eight stars.

    I just pray that fate won''t y a joke on me again.

    His face burned when he remembered his fire element. Even after awakening the ten stars, he was at the bottom of elementary mage. Kadyn felt his heart bleeding by just thinking about it.

 Chapter 30 - Dragon?

    The day passed. When Kadyn went inside the Meditation Room, he focused on activating the lightning stars. Though the Darkness Walker needed just six stars; it wasn''t a battle spell¡ªas the dark elemental spell, it would lose most of the effect in the day. So he decided to focus on lightning instead, as he''d already awakened three stars.

    When the light of the day devoured the darkness and the brilliance had scattered on the Avibria city, Kadyn opened his eyes and walked out of the room. He looked at his watch. It was 6 ''o''clock. There was still time before the shop opened.

    As Kadyn exited the Meditation Room, Elora also walked out¡ªa smile blossomed on her charming face when she saw him. "I have brewed another potion, brother." She said with a proud face.

    "Oh, which one is it?" Kadyn asked curiously. Though he could brew any elementary potion by himself. Hecked time¡ªand could only hand this work to his beloved sister. Although her sess rate wasn''t as high as his, it wasn''t bad either.

    "It''s Potion of Purification." She stated and folded her hands on her chest, appearing extremely satisfied with her work.

    "Oh, show me." He said. "The Potion of Purification is used to purify the impurities from the body. It''s also used for body strengthening. Though the effect isn''t that great. All in all this is a fine potion."

    Elora passed the vial filled with yellow brew¡ªKadyn held the potion and examined it.

    [Name: Potion of Purification]

    [Category: Potion]

    [Type: Purification and Strengthening]

    [Rank: Elementary]

    [Grade: Intermediate]

    [Price: 2000 dors]

    [Effect: Used for purification and extracting the impurities from the body and for the body strengthening]

    As he saw the data about the potion, his eyes narrowed in confusion. Thest time Soothing Drop he brewed was also an intermediate grade potion. However it was priced at 1000¡ªon the other hand this one at 2000. The difference was huge.

    Kadyn thought for some time and turned towards his sister and asked. "Was brewing this potion harder than Soothing Drop?"

    Elora blinked and bobbed her head. "Yeah, it was harder. I failed over... umm 30 times before I brewed this." Her face flushed in embarrassment as she said this.

    Kadyn opened his mouth a few times to say something, but the voice failed toe out of his throat.

    Isn''t the failing rate too high?

    Then how did you seed in brewing the intermediate potion in one go?

    Kadyn shook his head. Whatever the reason was, whether it was a fluke or talent, he was happy for her¡ªthe price of the potion must depend on its effect and the brewing difficulty.

    "Take this." He passed the potion back to her. "Your healing element is the support type. You need to strengthen yourself. If you can''t do that with elemental power, make your body strong. In that situation, you won''t bepletely helpless in a time of peril. After all it''s better to prepare for the worst-case scenarios."

    Elora nodded in understanding. Though she was proud of herself for having the healing element and had already be a potioneer. The truth was that she was weak, and she didn''t want to remain that way for the rest of her life. Else, she would be a burden for Kadyn. After all the strong revered in this world and the weakughed by the masses.

    ¡ª¡ª

    The duo had breakfast together and opened the gate for customers afterwards. The crowd stumbled into the shop one by one, trying to possess the head of the snake. However when they saw Kadyn, the line became straight, and no one dared to push anyone. As everyone knew how arrogant this shopkeeper was. He would throw them out of the shop if he didn''t like them. He cared for no one.

    Though some of them were stronger than him. They would not let the chance to practice or meditate here go to waste just for a petty scuffling; and Kadyn knew this well, so he cared little about the decorum of the shopkeeper. He, who is eager to get benefits, wille here. No matter what his attitude was.

    Furthermore, he wasn''t good atmunication skills, and he had no intention to learn them. He would treat kindly those who treat him kindly. Not the other way around. As Kadyn collected the money from the first customer, the others behind whispered among themselves¡ª

    "Hey, have you heard about Zephyr the White?" a boy said.

    "Are you talking about the dragon who lives in the Ice Crowned Hills?" another kid said.

    "Oh, I have heard a little about it. They say his fire is not fire but ice." The third boy chimed in with an excited look on his face.

    "Yeah, the same one. Do you know something big has happened and it''s rted to Zephyr the White?" the first boy whispered, trying to mystify the atmosphere. He was quite an excellent storyteller.

    "Oh,e on, tell us already," someone could take this no more and urged at the first boy and others followed. The dragons were legendary existence in this world that fascinated magus and ordinary people altogether. Everyone wanted to hear tales about them.

    "Hehe, then let me tell you: recently Zephyr has gone insane. He destroyed over ten cities of the Magic Association. In which the most famous is¡ªOkpool."

    "What?! How could this be, Okpool is one of the greatest cities of Magic Association¡ªan elder of the Association is the protector of that ce. How could it be destroyed that easily? Why does no one know such a thunderous piece of news? What is the source of your information?

    Furthermore, the dragons are as intelligent as humans. I don''t believe that it has gone crazy. There must be a reason behind his actions." Someone objected, ming the first boy for passing the false information. Others also nodded. His words made sense. If something like this had happened, the news had spread like a wildfire.

    "What do you know?" the kid sneered, looking at these morons disdainfully. "One elder of the Magic Association failed to protect the city. Do you think the Association would let such news spread that easily? It is a shame to them!

    "They did everything to suppress it¡ªto avoid the distress in the hearts of the masses¡ªto protect the prestige of the Association. However, how could such a piece of news be concealed for a long time? Just wait a few days and you will hear everyone talking about it."

    Kadyn listened to the heated discussion and raised his brows when someone mentioned the dragon. His heart pounded furiously, excitement shone in his eyes.

    Does that mean this world has dragons?!

 Chapter 31 - Crimson Ore

    "Alright. Let''s assume you''re correct. Then why the hell dragon assailed and annihted over ten cities of the Magic Association? Although Association isn''t that powerful¡ªit''s still a force to be reckoned with. Even Zephyr would think twice before doing something extreme. After all if the higher-ups of the Association were determined. They could certainly pose a threat to him. Even though they would pay a heavy price in the end.

    "The one more noticeable thing is that the Ice Crowned Hills are far away from the Association. Why would hee here to ask for trouble? Reason. There must be a reason behind it. What is that?"

    Many others objected to the im of the first kid. The boy fell silent at their questioning. He could find no word to retort them, and his face flushed in embarrassment.

    "Next!"

    Just when the boy was contemting the matter, Kadyn''s voice reached his ears¡ªshaking the distraction out of his mind, he proceeded towards the counter.

    Kadyn nced at the kid and asked. "What''s your name?"

    The boy eyed Kadyn in bewilderment. Kadyn never cared about asking anyone''s name before. So why was he asking his name? A confused expression emerged on his features, but he still replied with some hesitation. "Banut."

    "So Banut¡­ umm¡­ can you tell me more about this dragon?" Kadyn asked with shining eyes. He was very interested in knowing about them.

    Can I also be a dragon rider one day?

    How cool is it to have a dragon as a familiar?

    I wonder if there are people in this world who have dragons as theirpanions?

    Or dragons are entric existences who never cares about worldly matters?

    Kadyn shook his head in the end. No matter what was true, he would know in the future. He again turned his focus to Banut.

    Banut''s face reddened at Kadyn''s question. In reality, the legendary creature-like dragon was beyond his understanding¡ªhe was lucky enough to hear two officials in the Magic Association branch¡ªthe Avibria City¡ªtalking about it. To show off, he blurted the information in front of everyone.

    He never thought Kadyn would be interested in knowing about it. He knew nothing and was as clueless as anyone else. To avoid furtherplications, the kid told the truth.

    Although Kadyn felt regretful about hearing his answer. Kadyn''s impression of Banut improved a great deal. In this world, people would make all kinds of lies and stories to save their faces. On the contrary, this boy told him the truth without caring much about it, although he was a little foolish as he tried to use such news to gain some face¡ªbut who wouldn''t show off if they had such information?

    He wasn''t a cheap guy who would go to any length just to prove himself right, and Kadyn liked him and his honesty.

    Kadyn proceeded towards other customers after sending the kid¡ªwhen it was the fourth person, he saw a familiar face. "What are you doing here?" Kadyn yelled in a cold tone. His eyes squinted and fist clenched. He had never thought she would have a face¡ªor courage¡ªtoe here after being humiliated by him.

    "Why can''t I be here?" Jenna said with a gentle smile. Despite that, Kadyn could sense malicious intention hidden behind her sexy frown¡ªJenna curled her lips at his reaction and continued. "This is a shop. Its purpose is to provide service to the customers. Are you trying to deny my entry here?"

    Kadyn nced at other people queuing behind her and his face turned colder. This bitch was doing this on purpose¡ªif he were to deny her entry at this moment, all the customers would have a negative impression of his shop.

    She would use him of being biased towards certain individuals¡ªmany rumours would emerge. Some might stoping to impress beauty. Most of the men think with their dicks when a beautiful woman is involved in any matter.

    Although he has changed a bit aftering to this world. He was still indecisive and wanted no further to escte the matter. So he took her money and let her enter the Meditation Room.

    He knew what she was nning to do. Kadyn curled his lips in disdain. However his breath became hurried when his gaze fell on her slim waist and round perky butt, shaking left and right as she hurried towards the Meditation Room.

    Should I cuckold that bastard Fenon by fucking Jenna in front of him?

    Kadyn shook his head immediately as this thought appeared. Though she was a bitch through and through. She didn''t deserve that kind of treatment. However, if pushes to shove, he won''t regret doing it. He was indecisive, not a coward or stupid, whom anyone could trample under their feet.

    It took him some time to deal with all the customers. Then he went to the Potion Hall¡ªKadyn found his sister waspletely focused on brewing potion. She didn''t even realise that someone had entered the hall. Indeed, a hard-working girl.

    Kadyn shook his head and walked towards the corner of the hall¡ªwhere he discovered the crimson stone. Taking it in hand, Kadyn murmured. "Blountine~"

    When he absorbed the [Elementary Artisan Knowledge] Kadyn gained vast knowledge about the Metals and ores and other stuff. This stone was an ore of Blountine. That could use to make a [Top Grade Elementary Artefact].

    However the quantity of the ore was too little. Also, he needed to extract impurities from the ore. At that time, it would be even smaller. He won''t be able to make any weapon with it. Not even a small dagger.

    Just as his thoughts reached this point, his eyes lit up, and he pped his forehead. "How did I forget this?"

    Without wasting time, Kadyn dashed out of the Potion Hall and scuttled towards the Artisan Hall.

    After entering he nced around and saw a slightly protruded ground at the centre of the hall. A furnace had been built there¡ªit looked simr to the smithy on the earth but bigger. He saw no fire inside, though. The coalded at the corner, a hammer and other mini instruments on the other side. He examined a few boxes thatid there, chemicals contained within them. He knew it was used for separating the impurities from the ores.

    Then his gaze fell on the three ss containers on the other side of the furnace. The smallest was like the beaker, the second was about the size of a bucket and the final container was as big as a water tanker¡ªthey used to melt the ore or metal inside them. The metal won''t stick inside these containers.

    He was d that so many amazing things the system has given him for free.

    When he neared the furnace, he found frames of all kinds. There was a frame of a sword, dagger, bow, arrow, and many others. These things were only for apprentices¡ªto help them reform the ores or metals into a specific shape and sizes¡ªa veteran won''t need these things.

 Chapter 32 - Boom!

    Kadyn burned the coal inside the furnace and closed the surface except for a small portion. He brought the smallest container and ced it on the burning mes. Then he dumped Crimson Ore inside the ss container.

    As the heat intensified the ore started to melt. Kadyn waited for around fifteen minutes. In this short time he drenched in sweat¡ªhis clothes sticking to his body as close as the skin, hot air smashing into his smooth handsome face. He wiped the beads from his temples and added a chemical when he saw the ore had transformedpletely, turning as thin as water.

    In that instant the entire container sizzled and even mes covered its surface, extinguishing after a breath¡ªKadyn examined inside and saw that the fluid inside had divided into two colours. One was red while another was ck. The red materialid at the bottom¡ªvisible through the transparent screen of the container¡ªwhile the ck floated on the surface.

    Kadyn held the beaker-sized container with a tong and sloshed the impurities in the pit near him. When the red liquid started to fall alongside the g, Kadyn stopped¡ªthere were still impurities blended in the Blountine that only high-level artisans could purify, as it needed powerful spiritual energy. About which, he had no idea, so he stopped.

    Afterwards he stirred the red liquid with a steel rod and opened one of the frames. It was not a sword, nor a dagger, nor any other weapon frame. It was a round orb, like a smaller version of the pokemon ball¡ªa plug blocked a tiny gap at its bowed surface.

    Kadyn pulled the stopper and put the funnel in the opening¡ªhe was amazed at the simrities in Potion Making and Artefact Making¡ªthen with the help of the tong he started to pour the liquified Blountine in the funnel. After filing the first scaffold, Kadyn brought another simr frame and filled it, too.

    There was still little material left inside the container, but it was just too little and not enough to fill another pokemon frame. Then he dumped two scaffolds inside a bucket filled with water, producing bubbles inside because of the scorching heat.

    He waited around half an hour before taking them out of the water¡ªand when he opened, two red marbles fell out of them. Their surface was rough, not refined. Kadyn took them in his hands and murmured. "Not bad. Though the quality isn''t that good. After all I have used frames instead of using my own hands to form them. Not that I can make it with my hands, anyway."

    cing the orbs on an anvil, Kadyn held a small hammer that he took out of many others. There were many tools avable, of all sizes and shapes. After all artifacts weren''t just swords andnces and bows and hammers¡ªartifacts could be a small needle to a colossal tanker, to a shoe in a foot, to the pin in the hair of a maiden. Artisans needed delicate apparatus to deal with tiny artifacts.

    Tan, tan, tan. Kadyn used a hammer to deal with the uneven surface of the orbs. He adjusted the protruded exterior delicately. Two hourster the orbs that looked rough started to shine with a crimson lustre,id in his hand like two precious pearls.

    "I just need to finish thest step and it will be done. I wonder if Elora would like it?" a smile appeared on his face, thinking about his sister. "I will do it tomorrow. A lot of time has passed. Damn, it''s too hot here."

    He cursed when he realised his condition, drenched with sweat and reeking with smell and clothes tainted with soot that came out of the furnace. His face covered in dirt¡ªshaking his head, Kadyn walked out of the Artisan Hall.

    "Last time I gave you a warning that you can''t have any rtion with Kadyn. But, see, you are standing here. Wasn''t I clear enough?"

    Kadyn heard an arrogant voice as he exited the hall. He frowned and eyed in the distance.

    "Do you think I''m afraid of you? Hmph!" Hicka snorted as he wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth, looking indignant but fearless, at Fenon and hisckeys.

    "Teach him a lesson, Big One." Fenon curled his lips as he folded his arms in front of his chest proudly, standing with head high and chest out.

    At Fenon''smand, the biggest fatty stumbled towards Hicka and punched with a nasty expression, chuckling disdainfully at the weakness of the kid in front of him. Hicka peered at the iing punch with a cold but helpless expression. Though he had already awakened the fifth star, he had no star pattern.

    After all he was an orphan. Even school didn''t provide him any, as he had no money to bribe teachers. For they had the right to allocate the star patterns to the students. Why would they provide a pattern to an orphan who could not give them any benefit?

    "Stop right there!" Kadyn''s shout rumbled when the fist was about to smash Hicka.

    Fatty halted at his sudden appearance. On the other hand, Fenon grinned evilly. "Do it!'' he said.

    The hesitation washed away from Big On''s face, seeing Fenon''s conviction, and his fist smashed on Hicka''s chest, striking the poor kid over five meters away.

    "How dare you!" Kadyn clenched his fist and roared and brought a small ball out of his pocket. "I''ll make you pay for this!"

    He considered Hicka his friend, and it was because of him that Fenon bullied the kidst time. He swallowed his anger and indignation as he had suffered a bacsh at that time. Who could have thought someone would take his silence for cowardice?

    "I also want to see how you''ll make me pay!" Fenon sneered as a star pattern surrounded him. Nine stars appeared under his feet, indicating his rank! Nine Star Elementary Mage!

    Kadyn cared little about his rank at this moment, as the rage had consumed his reasoning. Without uttering a single word, he tossed the [Throwing Bomb] at Fenon and his minions.

    At first Fenonughed mockingly at his action, but when the ball neared the sense of foreboding shrouded him. His heart tightened in fear and body trembled. "Noo!" he screamed.

    "Boom!" and the bomb sted.

 Chapter 33 - Taking Advantage Of The Situation

    The ground trembled as the bomb bloated¡ªover twenty meters obscured in the dirt as the pebbles flew and rolled on the floor, broken. Kadyn fell on his butt in shock at the terrible st. He never assumed the impact could be this great. He caught unprepared, gazing ahead of him with a dumb expression and thudding heart.

    Hearing the st, others dashed into the shop from outside, staring at the huge crater in terror. Only people beyond Elementary Rank could do such a thing. They didn''t believe someone of that calibre woulde here. That made their expressions a little sluggish and confused and fearful.

    Kadyn paid no heed to those folks and peered ahead of him. Hicka had already stood from the ground, gaping at the pit with mouth agape. Big Oneid around ten meters ahead of Hicka, covered in blood and clothes tattered and hair ragged and face bloody. His chest heaved up and down, gasping in deep breaths. Then he cramped to sit and eyed the ditch with a fearful shudder.

    He was close to Hicka and far from Fenon, that''s how he avoided the catastrophe. But when he peered at the crater he knew that death had already clutched its ws around his neck¡ªif Fenon was dead he would die alongside him. His family would never let him go.

    "Do you have any idea what you have done?!" he screamed at Kadyn.

    "What have I done?" Kadyn knew that he couldn''t back down now. "Do you think that bomb was the only trump card I had?" as he said, Kadyn took out two red pearls from his pocket and gestured at the fatty. "I have quite a lot of toys to y with you. You just need to infuriate me like before and you will have another taste of that dreadful feeling." Kadyn cackled as he tried to bluff with red pearls that he just made.

    Big One tumbled back in horror when he saw two pearls in his hands. Though they seemed nothing but ordinary. He didn''t dare to look down on ''em. After all, prior to this Kadyn had thrown an even more ordinary-looking object and what it did was anything but ordinary.

    "Cough! Cough!"

    Everyone heard a coughing from the crater and gazed towards the obscured ditch in bewildered faces¡ªa breathter a weak voice sounded. "He-help~"

    "Damn, that bastard''s still alive!" Kadyn cursed and had the urge to rush into the pit and strangle him to death. However, he had already lost his chance. Right now he could justify that Fenon attacked and to protect himself and his friend and his shop, he had to do what he did. But if he were to kill Fenon at this moment, he won''t be able to justify his actions as the man was already half dead.

    "Brother!" Elora that was standing dumb at the entrance of the Potion Hall shouted and rushed towards her brother. Seeing her worried face, Kadyn smiled. Elora''s anxiety decreased when she eyed his smiling and confident face.

    "Help!" again a moan sounded from the crater and the dust settled down, revealing Fenon and his two minions wriggling and twitching and wailing, covered in blood and gashes and fatigued and lost.

    "How did they survive?!" Kadyn clenched his fist. He thought that after such a terrifying attack he could kill these nuisances, but he failed. Regrettable, but what could he do, now. He shook his head.

    "Boss! Boss!" Big One screamed, seeing Fenon''s condition and dashed towards him, supporting. "Someone help!" he screamed. No one moved, standing with nk faces, as they had no idea what to do. They weren''t physicians, after all.

    "Ka-Kadyn, please help me!" Big One said as he gritted his teeth in humiliation. "Give me that potion."

    Kadyn eyed fatty nkly as if looking at an idiot. He brought them into this condition, but now he was asking for his help instead. He nced at Fenon and thought. Should I earn a bit from this? Though I can''t guarantee anything about hisckeys, Fenon won''t die. Furthermore, I could avoid future troubles that would cause due to this incident.

    "Oh, of course, I would help you," Kadyn said. "If you guys hadn''t tried to kill my brother Hicka, I won''t even bother to nce at you. I''m a kind and peaceful person, after all"

    "You¡­!"

    Fenon''s eyes spat fire, but Kadyn cared little as he went on. "However, there is no free lunch in this world. You need to pay for potions."

    Big One said nothing and took out three thousand dors and reluctantly passed them at Kadyn.

    Kadyn looked at the Big One and asked innocently. "What is this?"

    Fatty seemed confused at his question, but he still replied. "Three thousand for three potions."

    "Three Thousand?" Kadyn gawked at the kid with excessive fat in front of him. "I think you have misunderstood something, sir. The price of a potion is 10 thousand, not 1 thousand. For three you would need 30 thousand."

    "What?!"

    "What, what? Are you dying purposefully and waiting for Sir Fenon''s death? Do you have ulterior motives behind this?" Kadyn pierced at the kid, looking suspiciously. Other people also jolted awake by Kadyn''s statement, eyeing Big One alertly.

    "Wh-what are you talking about? I''m¡­"

    "Just do it!" Fenon gritted his teeth and said. Stillying on the rubble with his broken body.

    "But.."

    "Give. Him. Money!" Fenon shouted when Big One continued to deliberate. He even suspected that Kadyn might be right about this bastard.

    Looking at Fenon''s face, fatty knew that he had sessfully infuriated him. Reluctantly, he pulled his money out of his pocket and realised that it was only around 12 thousand dors. Left with no choice, he took Fenon''s money. Of course, with his permission.

    "I''m a benevolent person. I won''t make you wait any further. Please take these." Kadyn passed three inferior(low) grade potions made by Elora.

    Big One snatched the potion and hurried to heal wounds on hispanion''s body.

    "Sigh, no gratitude, no word of thanks. Nothing. Since when has this world be such a selfish ce? I was wondering how someone could be so round, so that''s the reason. Evil thrives in this world while the righteous struggle to crawl. That''s a cruel world for you. Sigh." He took an exaggerated breath, showing his remorse to others.

    Fatty stumbled and almost fell at his words. Other people also looked at him with contempt as Kadyn counted the paper money gleefully.

    "With this money, I can make around ten bombs like the one I just used. I wonder if those would be enough to destroy an entire family?" as he counted he said, making his voice audible to others purposefully.

    As he expected, all the people present turned pale with fright at his statement. Fenon, who was already forming ns for his revenge, almost vomited blood in fear. Intention of revenge vanishing with every breath he took.

 Chapter 34 - Bluffing

    As the Big One applied the potion, a soothing andfortable and merry feeling spread inside Fenon and others. The blood stopped oozing out of their wounds. People noticing this scene left stunned. Who could have thought that the potion would be so potent and capable of stopping the bleeding of such nasty wounds?

    Kadyn saw their reaction, and an idea popped into his cunning head. "Cough~," he attracted everyone''s attention. Then proceeded. "As you can see, the effect of the potion. It''s amazing, isn''t it?

    "I don''t think many ces sell such potions. Even if they did, everyone could not purchase them. This potion that Fatty just used is the most inferior type in my shop. I have even higher grade potions."

    "Furthermore...cough~" he eyed Fenon and again turned towards the crowd. "Due to the special condition, I have raised the price of the potion just now. For other people it won''t cost that much. This potion I have sold would at most cost 2000 dors. Not bad, heh?"

    "You damn bastard!" Fenon couldn''t hold himself and cursed. "You took so much money and you still gave me the lowest grade potion?!"

    Kadyn ignored fuming Fenon and continued to promote his potion as this was an ideal time. Many people had seen its effect with their own eyes. One needs to hit the iron while its hot.

    "Umm, what is the price of higher potions?" someone inquired with a curious face.

    "5000 for intermediate and 10000 for high grade Soothing Drop. I assure you that you won''t be disappointed. You''ve seen the effect of the lowest grade Soothing Drop, so you can imagine that others will be only better." Kady bowed towards everyone as he exined.

    Fenon clenched his fist until his knuckles started to make a sound and turned red. How dare he use him as a dummy to promote his product?! He had the urge to dash and strangle the bastard alive.

    However, when he thought about the bomb, he shivered in cold sweat and swallowed all the anger and indignance. If it wasn''t for the defensive artifact he wore¡ªfor which his father paid a massive fortune¡ªhe would have sted alongside the bomb. His back drenched in perspiration at the possibility.

    "Two low grade Soothing Drop." No one knew who spoke, but the voice was a kind of trigger as everyone rushed towards Kadyn like a horde of vicious beasts.

    "Five low grade Soothing Drop."

    "Two low grades and two intermediate Soothing Drop¡­"

    Kadyn gaped at everyone with a bbergasted look. Although he had predicted that it would help his business to grow, he never thought that so many people would be ready to pay such an extensive amount of money¡ªhe was unaware of how precious potions in Avibria City were. Only Upper Town had potion makers. They would sell their potions to only those powerful families or organisations to gain their favour. No one would bother with peasants in Lower Town.

    Even with money they couldn''t purchase. On the other hand, Kadyn''s potion was really too amazing as they had never seen¡ªor heard¡ªabout such a healing potion before that could heal terrible wounds in a matter of minutes as it did just now. Although Fenon wasn''t healedpletely¡ªone had to know that he just used the lowest grade potion. It was almost a life saving treasure.

    "Calm Down, everyone!" Kadyn was almost overwhelmed by the rush, but he calmed quickly and said. "We have enough potions for everyone. If we run out of stock, we will just brew more. So, please be patient."

    "Are you speaking the truth?" someone asked after some hesitation. "Would you trade your potions to those powerful families in the Upper Town and stop selling us in the future?"

    Many others looked at Kadyn. They knew that people in the Upper Town monopolised the market of potions and artefacts, etc. They might not like it if Kadyn starts doing his business here. It worried ''em that Kadyn might stop trading potions when those peoplee to knock his doors.

    Kadyn looked at their expectant yet anxious faces and said. "Of course I will sell to them."

    Everyone became disappointed at his words. They should have known that it would happen, but they still had little hope. Now however.... Who would be stupid enough to reject the offer of someone from Upper Town. Almost all of them had connections with the Magic Association. It would be a terrible mistake to antagonise them.

    "However¡­" As they thought the matter hade to an end. Kadyn said, looking around him at the curious faces of the people. "I won''t stop selling others."

    His words made everyone''s eyes shine in anticipation. Then someone asked. "But¡­ but, they won''t let you sell. Otherwise we would be able to buy something that they think should be avable for people with status and peasants aren''t worthy."

    Kadyn did not know about such a thing, but he felt irritated at such a stupid thinking. He was already dissatisfied with authorities of the Avibria City when no one helped regarding his mother''s disappearance. "Everyone can purchase from my shop." He gritted his teeth and dered.

    "Then¡­"

    "To me, it doesn''t matter if you''re some big shot or a poor beggar. If you have enough money, I will sell you potions or anything my shop has to offer. I won''t stop selling in the Lower Town just because someone doesn''t want me to and vice versa. It''s my choice to whom I sell. No one can stop, or I''ll st them¡ªLower Town, or Upper Town¡ªDon''t try me."

    His gaze fell on the people, intimidating them to no end. They looked at Fenon''s ragged and miserable and bloody condition and shivered. No one dared to make a noise.

    "Alright,e tomorrow," Kadyn said. "We won''t sell anything today."

    Damn, I want to piss! Only Kadyn knew how terribly his heart was throbbing inside his chest. Today he had really gone too far on his bluffing. What other option did he have? If Fenon knew that he had no bombs left, he would end miserably.

    Furthermore, after hearing others, he realised that many others woulde after this incident. If he was nobody without any power, won''t they y him to death like a fool? However, now they would be vignt all the time. Afraid that he might throw a bomb on them anytime.

    He would ept the title of maniac dly. If he could frighten those people away.

    "Heh? What is happening here?'' a shocked voice came from behind Kadyn. Without turning he knew who it was¡ª"What happened to you, Fenon?!"

    Jenna almost screamed when she found Big One was standing in the rubble, supporting Fenon by his shoulders¡ªshe scurried towards Fenon and hispanions and eyed their terrible condition in utter speechlessness.

    Behind her, others also walked out of the Meditation Room with dumb faces. The scene in front of them hadpletely changed. It looked as if some kind of war had happened.

 Chapter 35 - Spell Casters

    Fenon''s group red at Kadyn hatefully, but he cared little. He knew he''d sessfully intimidated them. Fenon won''t do anything stupid unless he was sure to take Kadyn down. Until then he would have time to grow. With the system, it won''t take him long to reach his former heights and he might¡ªor could¡ªcross that certain boundary this time.

    The reputation of his shop would climb higher and higher. His bluffing would work as a shield for the time being while he grows. At some point this city might turn too small to hold his illuminance and glory¡ªhe curled his lips when such a thought crept inside his head. Daydreaming. He shook his head.

    "p!" He pped and said. "Alright, that''s enough. Come tomorrow if you want to buy potions."

    Everyone looked at each other for a brief amount of time and then departed one by one with reluctant gazes.

    "Should I call an ambnce for you, sir?" Kadyn grinned when he found Fenon and Jenna were still standing with three fatties.

    "Hmph!" Fenon snorted and tried to walk. "Ahhh!!" but pitiful Fenon fell and his entire body roared and trembled in agony. Jenna supported him with an embarrassed and awkward expression and left with herpanions.

    When all the outsiders and customers left, Kadyn sighed in relief. He eyed Hicka and said. "You go rest. Your wounds are still healing. Take this." He said and passed him a high-level Soothing Drop.

    "I can''t take this," Hicka shook his head. "It''s too precious. Furthermore, I''m already grateful for your help. For an orphan like me, you made Fenon your enemy. Do you think I''m worth it?"

    "Of course, you are," Kadyn chimed with a deep voice. "Your honest friendship is a hundred times more important than Fenon." He said and pushed the potion in Hicka''s hand and turned away without speaking anything. Hicka looked at his back and clenched his fist. No one knew what he was thinking.

    Kadyn turned towards his sister and said. "Let''s go. We have work to do."

    Elora''s eyes lit up hearing his words and scurried towards the Potion Hall.

    ¡ª¡ª

    Sofas and chairs surrounded the bed in the room, curtains falling and waving with a gust of wind that who knew from where came. The red carpet adorned the floor, giving it a noble look, while beautiful paintings hung on the walls¡ªa group of people sat on the chairs and sofas and Fenonid on the bed with a pale face. His faceced with anger and heart drowned in hatred and fear.

    "Have you destroyed the formation?" He asked Jenna.

    "No," Jenna shook her head. "That Meditation Room is weird."

    "Well?" Fenon looked at her for further exnation.

    "I don''t know but there was no formation inside. The mana was far greater than the outside but I could not find its source. It''s weird. Furthermore, before me, many people entered to meditate but when I went inside I was alone." Jenna exined with a peculiar expression. She''d gone to meditate previously but at that time she was alone¡ªor with Hicka¡ªbut at that time she cared little about anything and didn''t pay much attention. Today she realised that the shop is weird.

    "Does that mean the humiliation I went through was for nothing?!" Fenon trembled in rage, his eyes spitting fire¡ªJenna had gone to the shop to destroy the formation inside. To distract Kadyn, Fenon caused trouble. So that when Jenna would destroy the formation he won''t realise anything amiss, immediately. However, everything went utterly wrong. He made a fool of himself.

    When he thought that Kadyn used him like a test subject to prove the effectiveness of the potion, his heart burned in shame and fury and disgust. But he could not even walk with a straight body at the moment, much less fight someone. Sooner orter I will kill him no matter what! He gritted his teeth in hatred. Today''s humiliation could only be washed with Kadyn''s blood!

    "That bomb¡­" Jenna said after some hesitation. "Is it really that terrible as everyone imed?"

    Fenon stiffened and his heart pumped faster and his body turned cold in fear. The thoughts of vengeance that had just sprouted, fading. [Throwing Bomb] had be his nightmare¡ªa nightmare that won''t leave him anytime soon.

    "Don''t worry, Boss," Big One was sitting on another chair at the side of the bed. "Your talent is even greater than those talents from Upper Town. If it wasn''t for that bomb you could easily handle that bastard.

    "Furthermore, the Association Leader has shown interest in epting you as his apprentice. When that happens, it won''t be hard to be one of the legendary [Spell Casters]. At that time you could pinch Kadyn to death whenever you want."

    "Yes!" Fenon almost jumped in ecstasy, hearing these words. His eyes shone with a vicious radiance. "Two months. Two monthster I would graduate. At that time the Association Leader would ept me as his apprentice. That would be Kadyn''s end, hmph!"

    Then he looked at Jenna and said. "Send someone to buy the potions. I want them."

    Jenna nodded but then said. "Do¡­ you think that¡­ Kadyn might join a powerful family¡­ or even Magic Association? After all, he is so young and already a potioneer. Everyone would like to gain such an asset."

    Fenon left stunned at her question. But then said. "Didn''t he say he would sell his potions to everyone? That means he has no intention to join anyone. After all, no one would let him do what he intended to do¡ªsuch as selling potions to peasants"

    "That may not be true," Jenna shook her head. "The heart of people is unpredictable. Who knows if he was speaking the truth? He might change his mindter and decide to join someone. Who can say that won''t happen?"

    "Then what should we do?" he asked. Though he was a petty and vicious character. His scheming skills were almost zero. Almost.

    "Nothing," Jenna shook her head.

    "What do you mean?" Fenon asked in bewilderment.

    "We''ll wait. After all in this situation you won''t be able to do much, anyway," Jenna said. "If he joins any family or organisation you have to wait for the right time to take your revenge. But if he joins no one.... you know what I mean?"

    Fenon looked at her cunning eyes and understood what she was trying to say. The possibility of trampling Kadyn under his feet excited him to no end.

 Chapter 36 - Poisoned?

    "Alright," Kadyn said. "We are going to brew Soothing Drops. You can hardly brew intermediate grade, so don''t worry about that as we don''t have much time. I will take care of intermediate and high grade potions."

    Elora nodded and rushed to brew potions excitedly. Eager toplete with her brother. she wanted to show him her skills.

    Kadyn eyed her and shook his head. He wondered from whom she inherited herpetitive nature? His mother was a gentle person and didn''t look like she wouldpete with anyone¡ªfor anything¡ªwhile father seemed proud and calm and dignified. No way he would do such a thing.

    Anyway, Kadyn let her do what she wanted. Herpetitiveness would help her grow faster. However, as he brewed the potions, Elora lost her enthusiasm bit by bit.

    In an hour she concocted three low grade potions while he concocted three high and three intermediate grades. The blow was a bit too fierce to her gentle heart.

    Kadyn saw her disheartened face and said. "Why are you standing like a statue?" He went on. "Do you think I learned this in just a night or two? I have worked my ass to be this proficient. If you want to learn or even surpass me, work harder."

    After speaking, Kadyn once more started to brew. He showed his skills because he wanted to pressure her, and remind her that there are many talented people out there and this is just a start of her magical journey.

    "Work harder if you want to surpass me," Kadyn wanted to maintain herpetitive spirit so he provoked her.

    "Humph! Just you wait," Elora snorted. "I''ll surpass you one day."

    "Yeah, sure." Kadyn chuckled and teased her. "But before that,plete your task."

    Elora pouted and turned to work with more determination. Kadyn eyed her and curled his lips in satisfaction¡ªthe brother-sister duo continued and after two hoursters, Kadyn stopped for some rest. In this time, he and Elora and Hicka had dinner together. They talked andughed and ate like a family. Hicka was overwhelmed by Kadyn''s kindness.

    "I''m done with intermediate and high grade Soothing Drop." Kadyn said as they strolled towards the Potion Hall once more. "I will help you brew the low grade potions."

    Elora looked at her brother in confusion. "But you have concocted so few potions. I don''t think that would be enough for everyone."

    "Who said we would sell everyone?" Kadyn said.

    "You," Elora replied.

    "Ah, yes, though I''ve said everyone will get potions. I''ve also said that those who don''t get by any chance can buyter, after all we can always concoct more." Kadyn shook his head at her naivety. He came from earth so he knew how people do business there and he tried to do the simr thing. "One needs to maintain the dealing of his product or it would be just a regr soap or shampoo that anyone can use."

    Hearing his reasoning, Elora''s eyes went wide. She had never thought that her brother could be so scheming sometimes. Then why did he fight with Fenon like a fool? She shook her head¡ªfor sometime he has be really capable and daring. From time to time, she wondered what changed her brother so much.

    The duo immersed themselves in brewing potions and continued to do so for two more hours.

    "It''s enough." Kadyn said. "Thirty low, ten intermediate, and five high grade potions. Holly shit, that would make over 150,000!"

    Elora''s eyes widened in shock at the shocking amount of money they would earn from these potions. She just wanted to bury herself in potion making. Therefore, she didn''t really care about the price. But at this moment, her heart raced faster and faster.

    Over 150,000. Kadyn thought. After converting it would be 1500. At that time I can spin the Wheel of Fortune without much caring about the points.

    [Warning: The host will receive energy points ording to the standard price given by the system. Extra money wouldn''t change]

    Kadyn left dumb for a brief amount of time. He had the urge to curse, but he knew that would only reduce his points even further. "What is the standard price for the other two grades?" he asked, after taking a deep breath.

    [Name: Soothing Drop]

    [Intermediate Grade Price: 1500]

    [High Grade Price: 2000]

    He clenched his fist and had the urge to shout. The effect of the potions bes around two times with every increasing grade. So Kadyn thought that the price would, at least, double if not as high as he made. Nheless, he didn''tin, he could still get a vast amount of energy points that would be 550.

    Kadyn checked the time. It was 12:03 A.M. "Alright, get some sleep. We have a lot of work to do in the morning."

    "Ok." Elora nodded and went to sleep on the sofa at the corner of the Potion Hall. Kadyn looked at his sister and strolled towards the Meditation Room as many thoughts lingered in his head. I hope mother and father are fine.

    ¡ª¡ª

    "Salona, Salona!" an anxious and anguished and angry shriek echoed in the dark cave. Magnus fell on his knees as he hugged wounded Salona¡ªhis body was also ridden with blood, and gashes covering his entire being as blood oozed out of his injuries, puddling on the ground drip by drip.

    "Don''t worry," Salona said with a weak voice. "I won''t die that easily. The wounds are just superficial. They would heal after some time. However, the key problem is poison. It''s very hard to deal with and it''s corroding my insides with every passing breath."

    "Why did you do that?!" Magnusined, his eyes filled with tears¡ªthere was a saying that man never cries¡ªbut at this moment even someone like Magnus couldn''t stop his eyes from wetting. "I was their target!"

    "Silly." Salona shook her head. "I can fight against this poison due to my "Healing Element". If it was you¡ªthe oue would be terrible. That thing was made to deal with vampires. Now we have at least three months to find the cure."

    Magnus wanted to argue with her, but he heard footsteps from outside and became alert. However, when the neer appeared, he sighed in relief. "What''s the status outside?" he asked.

    "They are still searching." Eddena said with misty eyes. She looked fatigued, and her beautiful face was covered in blood and dust and her red hair entangled with each other.

    She scuttled towards the wall andced with the help of her back, slouching on the ground, and murmured with a sad tone. "Hagens are finished. We are the only survivors."

 Chapter 37 - Under The Umbrella

    When the first ray of the day spread over the city, people started to gather outside the Shop in a narrow street¡ªthe news about potions spread like a gue and everyone knew that today Kadyn would sell potions. His shop had be renowned in Avibria City over a single night. Everyone was eager to hold the vials of the potion in their hands.

    As the time passed the crowd swarmed into a small alley. It became hard to stand in a single ce due to the rush and the cursing and shouting and screaming filled the entire street.

    "Hey, take your hand off my butt!"

    "Where do you think you''re pushing!?"

    "You stink, damn it! How long has it been since you bathed?"

    "Do you think I won''t say anything because you have a round butt and big boobs?"

    Kadyn looked at the scene outside the gates of the shop and shook his head.

    "There are so many people. How are you going to sell those potions?" Elora, who stood beside him, asked.

    "Just wait and see. With increasing numbers of people, our profit will also grow," Kadyn said and headed to open the gate.

    He eyed the crowd in front of him and said. "I won''t lie to you. We have only a limited number of potions. However, there are so many people who want to buy it¡ªif I sell to specific people, everyone would get dissatisfied. Therefore, we will sell the potions to those who bid the highest."

    "Now we need topete?!" a man said with little anger.

    "Yesterday you said that everyone can buy potions!" another man voiced his indignant.

    Others also showed their unhappiness. However, Kadyn continued to maintain his smile. "Of course, everyone can get potions. But not right now. After all, it takes time to brew them. It''s hard to make so many potions alone in such a short time. Do you have any better ideas than bidding? If not, then we will follow my procedure."

    Kadyn eyed the crowd and went on when no one said anything. "Alright. We have thirty low, ten intermediate, and five high grade potions. We will start with low levels." As he said, Hicka came from behind, dragging arge table¡ªKadyn ced the table at the center of the gate.

    Then he put five potions on the table and said. "The value of these five potions is ten thousand. So we will start the bidding at ten thousand. Whoever bids the highest will get the potions." Kadyn said and peered at the vast crowd.

    "15000!" someone said.

    Kadyn turned towards the bidder and saw a brown-haired middle-aged man. He wore expensive clothes, his beard and mustache were trimmed. "Our friend has bid 15000. Does anyone want to bid higher?" Kadyn said towards the crowd.

    No one spoke. Kadyn was disappointed, but he knew that it was just a start many people just wanted to see the show first. He still has twenty-five more low grade potions. "1...2...3...sold!" he counted upto three and passed the vials to the man who bidded. The man held the potion and smiled, looking at the corner of the street where Jenna was standing with a smile.

    Kadyn wouldn''t care, even if he knew that he was Fenon''s man. After all he was giving him such an enormous sum. Why would he refuse the money from his enemy?

    "Alright, next batch," he peered at the gathering and said. "The starting price would be the same. Start!"

    So the bidding continued many peoplepeted with each other. The man who bought the first batch also participated but failed to get his hands on any more potion. Other people weren''t their just to watch the show after all.

    Kadyn noticed that anyone who bid seemed to have a force behind him as they stood in groups and no one dared to go near them. However, he also noticed a lonely figure standing at the corner. She looked around a 20 years olddy with a curvaceous body and charming countenance and green eyes and ck hair and slim waist and big boobs and sexy ass.

    She wore a beautiful blue dress that enhanced her charm even further. In her hand was an umbre of blue colour that painted a perfect picture of some ssic painting¡ªthe strange thing was that no one dared to go close to her, either.

    No matter who it was, they maintained their distance from her, peeking at her from time to time from the corner of their eyes. Kadyn was enchanted by her beauty. He had never seen anyone more beautiful than her in his life. He was just eighteen years old, and his blood was also hot. After all which man doesn''t like beautiful women?

    Kadyn took a deep breath and shook his head. For a moment he was distracted, but he controlled his emotions and went to proceed with his auction. He failed to notice a surprised look on thatdy''s face¡ªsurprised that he could resist her charm and curled her rosy lips. An alluring smile appeared on her face, and her brows arched like a crescent moon. s, no one saw that sight, as they had already turned towards Kadyn.

    "Alright," Kadyn said. "Let''s begin¡­"

    "Cut to the chase," an arrogant voice came from one of the groups. Kadyn turned and saw a girl gazing in his direction with a proud look. She was rather beautiful. If that blue clothed woman wasn''t here, she would be number one beauty in the crowd. She can even match Elora in beauty. However, Elora was just fifteen years old¡ªthere was a vast room to grow. But this girl was already around twenty. Her beauty was in prime.

    Before Kadyn could say anything, the girl went on. "If we calcte the price of intermediate and high grade potions, it would be 125000. I''m ready to pay 200000 to buy them. If anyone can pay more, I will concede."

    Kadyn was left stunned. He never thought that this woman would be so arrogant. Doesn''t she fear other people? What if they became upset and tried to make things difficult for her?

    "If Miss Zelie wants to buy the potion, I won''t take part." A middle-aged man said and cupped his hands towards the girl he called Zelie.

    Zelie just nodded without replying. It seemed it was beneath her status to reply.

    "Haha, if Irabel House can back out for Miss Zelie then our Palius house also won''tpete." Another middle-aged man said, snorting towards the man who first spoke.

    As these two spoke, others also retreated one by one¡ªKadyn eyed everything dumbly. He wanted to know what was going on. Does that mean this arrogant girl has some kind of special status?

    Hicka saw his confused face and whispered in his ears. ''That''s Magic Association Leader''s daughter."

    "Oh." Kadyn nodded, understanding the situation. He eyed the girl with narrowed eyes and had the urge to p her¡ªif she hadn''t spoken, he was sure to earn a lot. However, she foiled everything. To curry favour with her, everyone backed out from bidding. Left with no choice, he had to give the potions to that girl.

    One of the man walked towards Kadyn and passed the money as he took the potion off the table and walked away speaking no word. That attitude incensed Kadyn. But he couldn''t make enemies with the Magic Association. He knew that they could pinch him to death if he antagonized them with no power or backing.

    Taking a deep breath, he calmed himself down and said. "Alright. All the potions had been sold. You will know about the next sale soon. Thank you foring today."

    As he said, he unconsciously turned¡ªhe didn''t know why¡ªtowards the corner where thedy with the blue umbre stood just a few breaths prior. He was disappointed when he saw the empty space. She had disappeared.

 Chapter 38 - Burning Tip

    Kadyn refused all the customers. He''d not open the shop for business today. All of his customers had to leave with disappointed faces¡ªhe wanted to take some rest. As he had already earned a lot this time.

    He sat inside his cabin and looked at the dors. "After converting them into energy points, I''ll still have a lot of money left." He murmured and went on. "Convert!"

    [Energy Points: 677+550¡ú1227]

    Just as this message popped on the screen, other messages also started to sh.

    [You have reached a thousand energy points. The requirement to upgrade the shop to level 1 has met]

    [Do you want to upgrade the shop? Y/N]

    Kadyn stared at the screen, dumbstruck. He never knew that the shop could be upgraded. What would happen after upgrading? He had no idea. But he was looking forward to seeing what his shop would be at level 1. Doesn''t that mean, at this moment the shop was just elementary?

    [Do you want to upgrade the shop? Y/N]

    As he mused about the future prospects, the system once more asked, bringing him out of his dazed state.

    "Umm... Yes."

    Are you kidding me? Why wouldn''t I upgrade the shop?

    I wonder how the shop will change after the upgrade.

    Would I get some kind of divine fruit that could let me reach Rank 1 magus in a single swipe?

    Will I get¡­

    He continued to daydream. Then again, a message popped on the screen.

    [Energy Points; 1227-1000¡ú227]

    [Shop needs twenty-four hours to upgrade. The owner could not do business at this time]

    Kadyn eyed the message and sighed in relief. It was good that he had closed the shop for today. Otherwise it would cause many troubles if the Meditation Room and Practice Room suddenly stopped working.

    Just then a thought crept into his head and he opened his profile and clicked on the Pengo Portal.

    "It worked!" he eximed.

    The window appeared in front of him¡ª

    [World Name: Pengo]

    [Continent Numbers: Four]

    [Continent Names: Arura, lor, Ivrora, Eozen]

    Without deliberating he chose Eozen. He wanted to know his own continent¡ªwhere he lived¡ªhe could always roam other cester. The time woulde when he visits those continents. But not now, he wanted to discover and know about Eozen before going to other ces..

    He chose the Magic Association but not the Shado Empire like before. Instead, another kingdom of Association, Runad Kingdom. He had the specific reason behind it¡ªthe kingdom was surrounded by volcanoes, and in this kingdom, almost all the magus were fire users. He wanted to see if he could find something fire rted that could help in healing his fire stars.

    The Barren Volcanos: Filled with monsters. Fire Stone Mines are found at this ce.

    Kadyn read the description, and his eyes lit up. Fire Stones were kind of Magic Stones. The magus used them to increase magic energy to reach higher Rank¡ªthere were other elemental stones, like wood, wind, lightning, so on and so forth¡ªthe Formation masters also used them to set the formation.

    That was the reason Kadyn couldn''t set any formation in his shop for a safety purpose. Every formation needed a source to maintain them. Otherwise it would be just a skeleton without a soul¡ªand without a soul the body was useless.

    Wildfire Bubbling Lake: Spread in miles. A good hunting ground for hunters.

    Red Field...

    He continued to check. He also looked at the information about the cities of the Runad kingdom.

    The Burning Tips: A low level fire dragon used to live there. Many fire herbs could be found in that ce. Such as Ash Thyme, Ruby Ivy, Five Star Spirit Grass...

    "What?!" he halted and stared at the screen with burning eyes.

    Five Star Spirit Grass¡­ the chief ingredient to brew the Crack Melding Potion. He remembered the properties of the Five Star Spirit Grass. It was found in the fire dominant regions. He never thought that he could find clues about it through the Pengo Portal.

    Well, it was just an elementary level herb, so he wasn''t that surprised. He should have known that he could find it in such ces. However, after that setback, he was depressed and hadn''t gotten the time to think about it. After that many things happened, getting no time to contemte about this problem..

    "Let''s see if I can find the herb." He said and disappeared from his cabin. Although he had asked Khrom to search for the herb. He had no idea how long it would take. Furthermore that guy was hiding somewhere. No one knew his whereabouts. Kadyn couldn''t depend entirely on him.

    ¡ª¡ª

    "Damn!" Kadyn cursed as he appeared on a vast boulder, looking around him with a pale face. He felt as if someone was roasting him on fire. He tried to cover himself in mes to avoid this heat, but fire pool refused to respond¡ªremaining as silent as ever. He peered ahead of him depressedly and saw a tall mountain peak. Not exactly. A tall volcano peaks towering ahead of him, around a half kilometer away.

    So this is the Burning Tip. He thought as he eyed the far away ce from where a burning heat was released and smashed on his handsome, smooth face, turning it red, drenching his clothes in sweat. At least he wasn''tpletely helpless. After awakening ten fire stars, his body was also improved and his fire resistance increased.

    Even without the fire element, he wasn''tpletely vulnerable. Furthermore, he worked pretty hard in a few previous days to improve¡ªhe didn''t even sleep at nights¡ªand sessfully awakened eight lightning stars. That strengthen his body even further.

    Not wasting his precious time, Kadyn looked around him. The enormous boulders and floodingva surrounded him. He couldn''t see even a single ntation, much less Five Star Spirit Grass. Then heughed at his own thinking, if finding the herb was that easy everyone woulde here to fetch some. No one would be poor anymore. Herbs must be hidden even deeper into this ce.

    Kadyn again examined his surroundings and scurried towards the Volcano cautiously.

 Chapter 39 - Lava Frogs

    "Whoosh!"

    As Kadyn jumped from boulder to boulder, a creature lunged at him from the left side. He was caught unprepared and was shocked by this sudden attack. He somehow twisted his body and avoided the bashing and forced himself to descend on the boulder, avoiding the zingva and the creature that assaulted him.

    Before that monster faded intova, Kadyn glimpsed how it looked¡ªit seemed like a frog, Red, with a long tongue,va dripping off its body. Kadyn had no idea what that thing was, or if it could harm him or not. So he proceeded forward with utmost caution.

    "Tarrr tarrr tarrr..."

    Then he heard the sounds from all around him. He focused on his surrounding and gasped in shock. From inside, numerous heads were poking out and ring at him with their beady eyes.

    "Damn, they really looked frogs but lives inva." He cursed and jumped on another boulder, trying to leave this ce as soon as possible. At this moment, the frogs inside started to hop and one by one attacked him, bouncing out of theva reaching him in no time.

    Kadyn ducked and dodged and halted and jumped, and somehow he managed to avoid their attacks. When they neared him their tongues stretched out of their mouths like stic, trying to touch him. But Kadyn had seen the first frog doing this, and he was already prepared. After he continued to dash out of theva.

    But this tactic started to lose its effect after some time as more and more frogs lunged at him, without giving him time to get ready.

    "Fuck, what kind of creatures are these?" he cursed, and a lightning pattern appeared under his feet. The purple thunder covered both of his hands. Kadyn felt a tingle over his fist. But he had no time to care about it.

    Thunder Fist!

    "Bang!"

    He punched with both fists in irritation and green blood-spattered. Kadyn avoided touching the liquid. Who knew if it would corrode his muscles and turn him into a mummy? He had seen too many movies to do something stupid.

    Once more thunder shed over his fist and two more frogs faded into the bloody mist¡ªKadyn looked around and found that the creatures had stopped their assault. He thought they had been intimidated by his great power. He ughtered their fourpanions as easily as a chicken. However, he felt something amiss as they refused to retreat either. They just stared at him from theva, as if waiting for something.

    Kadyn seemed confused at their behaviour. After all, they didn''t appear to be intelligent creatures. At the scent of blood of theirpanions, they should have gone berserk, but here they are, ring at him and doing nothing.

    "TARRRR!"

    Kadyn heard the same weird sound, but louder than before. He peered in the distance and saw a huge boulder, moving in his direction. Before he could assemble his thoughts, the boulder sprang out of theva, sshing it all around¡ªKadyn saw this scene and his mouth hung open. He was thunderstruck at the sight of this gigantic creature.

    FROG! Other frogs looked minions in front of this gigantic beast. It was Frog King!

    So this wasmanding his minions all this time. Kadyn thought.

    He wasted no time and bolted towards the volcano. "Damn, my luck is really shitty. I have just arrived and already stumbled upon a group of these strange creatures!"

    "Tarrr tarrr tarrr¡­"

    The Lava Frogs started to chase after him, braying and flogging, showing their confidence in their king. The Frog King hopped from boulder to boulder, pursuing Kadyn. Every jump caused enormous sshes on theva.

    "TARRRR¡­"

    When it brayed, the fire breath came out of its mouth with the tongue. Kadyn felt a chill run down on his back and he padded his legs faster than ever. He feared that he might piss his pants due to fear. After all he was human, not a god, fearing something was normal.

    "Just a bit more!" Kadyn saw the ground not far away from him and headed forwards with all his might. The frog was just behind him, leaping in his direction and trying to catch him. It was just seven-eight meters behind him. Kadyn could feel the frog trailing at his back. He felt vipers crawling over his neck, sprinting even faster.

    When Kadyn was just two meters away from the ground, he turned around to take a look at the Frog King. A terrible mistake.

    "Boom!"

    The creature was just behind him, and when he turned around, his speed slowed down and the frog reached him. Before Kadyn could understand the situation he was in, the Frog King hopped out of theva and mmed into him. Kadyn panicked as there was no time or space to dodge or crouch such a gigantic creature. It was around the side of a bull. In a panic he activated his lightning pattern and punched with all his strength.

    "Bang!

    The fistnded on the head of the frog and covered its entire body in lightning. The frog screeched in agony, but like other frogs, it didn''t explode. Instead, after a brief period, the frog leaped and mmed into Kadyn, sending him sprawling. He coughed a mouthful of blood and smashed over ten meters away.

    "Arghh," he groaned miserably and realised that he had reached the ground. Kadyn stood and dashed towards the opposite of the Frog without even giving a second nce at the creature. That thing was too dangerous. Not even eight-star lightning spells worked on it. As continued to rush he heard screeching and hooting from behind, as if mocking him for running away like a coward.

    In front of him the ground was protruded and from afar it looked like hundreds of dunes of sand in the desert. But that wasn''t the case; they were stones. Kadyn wiped the sweat off his temples and murmured. "Damn, this ce is too dangerous."

    However, his lips curled, and a smile blossomed over his face. He felt thrilled and excited like never before when he was trying to escape. Though it was dangerous and at some point, he felt his pants might be wet because of horror, but in the end, it was a stimting and refreshing feeling.

    I want to explore this world even further. He thought and wiped the blood from his mouth and headed even deeper. Eager to find the herb, so he could cure his stars.

 Chapter 40 - Poor Kadyn

    After fifteen minutes Kadyn again faced theva pond. However, this time no monster attacked him and crossed the red liquid easily. Then he arrived at the foot of the volcanic mountain and lifted his head and eyed toward the sky, trying to glimpse the acme of the Burning Tip¡ªonly to fail in the end as it was obscured due to the smoke and fog released by the vent.

    Fortunately, the mountain was sloppy, not straight or dome like, making it a lot easier to climb. The Magma was rolling down from above and he avoided it with utmost caution as he didn''t want to turn into a roasted chicken.

    In his previous world he had read that the area surrounding the volcano was quite fertile, but at this moment he failed to see any fertility. He didn''t know that most of the nts and herbs would be destroyed by the magma. Nheless, he continued to search for the herbs.

    "Hmm, what''s that?!" Kadyn eximed but immediately put a hand on his mouth when he saw the herd of monsters in front of him¡ªin the distance hundreds of ants, red ants, were roaming around. Kadyn looked and saw a pool of magma that they were guarding.

    There was a herb inside!

    Kadyn felt disappointed when the herb wasn''t Five Star Spirit Grass¡ªinside the pool was Ash Thyme. The medicine was as precious as Five Star Spirit Grass. However, to Kadyn it was as useless as any other herb.

    "Ssh!"

    "Damn!" suddenly the magma surged at him from the summit, and when he realised, it was already forty meters away from him, gushing in his direction like a wave of tsunami.

    Kadyn nced all around him in terror and dashed in another direction. However, how could he run faster than the liquid? His heart almost came to his throat in trepidation. But then his gaze fell on an enormous boulder and jumped in that direction.

    The stone was huge; theva smashed into it, trying to shatter it away from its path, but the boulder remained standing on the same spot, not budging or giving a path to the magma to pass. Theva changed its direction and rolled from the side in defeat.

    Kadyn sighed in relief and wiped his sweaty temples. His body had be all sticky due to sudor. His hair mangled into each other and his face was covered in ck-dirt of the volcanic mountain. At this moment no one would be able to recognise him by just ncing at his face that looked terrible.

    Kadyn eyed his surroundings and found himself surrounded by huge stones. It was because of one of these boulders that he survived just now, or he would have turned into shish-kebab. He forced himself to stand and dragged his tired body through the stony terrain, looking around him for the thing he wanted.

    He searched for two hours continuously, but to no avail. Wherever he went, only dangers greeted him. Sometimes monsters and sometimes magma avnches. His body was full of bruises and burns and his clothes had been torn into pieces. His eyes seemed heavy, eager to fall into deep slumber, but he forced them to remain open.

    "This damn ce!" he cursed and kicked a pebble in irritation. "I don''t think I will get the herb." He sighed and nced around him. He saw a cave¡ªon the entrance coiled a python of crimson colour. "Everything is crimson here!" He said and shook his head.

    As he was contemting if he should enter the cave or not, a whooshing and roaring came from behind him. He turned around and looked into the horizon, his mouth left agape. In the sky there was a gigantic flying beast rushing in the direction of a volcano¡ªno, it wasing in his direction. It was snow white. Kadyn wondered if it came because heined about the colour.

    When the beast became clear, Kadyn''s body stiffened in terror. Dragon, that was a dragon! Though there was no horn in its head as legends say, but he saw his sharp ws and white scales, and its blue eyes that seemed to spout fire and its enormous wings that it pped up and down, supporting its gigantic body in the sky.

    "I have found you, human!" a female voice rumbled.

    "Heh?" Kadyn gawked at the dragon in shock and confusion. Did that dragon just speak? What does she mean by I have found you? No matter how stupid he was, he wasn''t stupid enough to stand in the same ce and presume that the dragon hade for an amiable talk with him.

    He nced around and dashed in a certain direction. "Humph. Where do you think you are going?!" the dragon snorted.

    "Bang!"

    "Damn!" Kadyn cursed when he saw the blue fire it breathed. As the firended on the ground, the temperature of the area dropped. The ce that was bubbling withva just a blink before freezing into ice crystals.

    Kadyn peered at the frozenva and boulder in utter terror, and didn''t know what to do. Then he remembered something and blurted in shock. "You''re Zephyr?!" but then muttered in confusion. "I thought Zephyr was male."

    "Damn human!" Zephyr cursed.

    "Woah, so sensitive about your gender," Before he could open his mouth again, Zaphyr breathed a fire and Kadyn dodged in horror. He didn''t want to get caught by that fire and turn into a statue. He somersaulted and ended up near the cave. He nced around him and found the Python at the corner, coiling with its head buried into ground.

    Kadyn wasn''t in any position to look down on the python, as he himself felt like fainting in dread. He took a deep breath and dashed into the cave.

    "Where do you think you''re going? Give me what is mine!"

    "What are you talking about?" Kadyn asked.

    "Still pretending, you despicable human!" in fury it again blew a fireball at him.

    "Bang!"

    "Damn it!" he cursed and again continued to pad into the cave. First thing he had nothing that belonged to the dragon and even if he had, the creature wouldn''t let him off easily after taking the thing. So he didn''t bother to argue with it. He had no strength, neither courage to do that.

    As he Kadyn entered the cave and heard a rumble from behind him. With terror-filled eyes, he nced at the python, turning into a statue, still in its coiling pose.

    "I-I need to get out of here." He stammered and looked around. At the center of the cave was a magma pool and inside the pool stood Five Star Spirit Grass and his eyes lit up.

    "Roar!"

    Kadyn heard a roar from outside and dashed towards the pool¡ªthe entire cave shook, as if someone were tearing it from outside. Kadyn plucked the herb from the magma pool, and the cave crumbled and copsed.

 Chapter 41 - Level 1 Potioneer

    "How much time would it take?" an impatient and arrogant voice of a female sounded in the Potion Hall.

    "It''s already been a long time since he entered to meditate. I think it should be time." Elora held her rage and replied. Hicka stood behind her, sighed in relief. He was afraid that this Little Boss would lose her temper and do something that would turn the situation worse.

    "Do you know how many people want to meet with me?" Zelie said. "It''s your brother''s honor that I came here myself. But this is how he treats his guests?"

    Elora had the urge to scratch that hateful face of Zelie. Who the hell asked you toe here anyway, damn bitch? She suppressed all her curses inside her heart, noticing Hicka''s pleading expression.

    "It''s really a bit careless of Mister Kadyn. Even if he don''t respect us we won''t mind, but..." a man sitting on a couch nced at Zelie and sighed regretfully that even a blind person could tell was fake.

    "Yeah, we came here with such good intentions, and he is making us wait. That''s a bit...sigh," another man upying a different couch also criticised Kadyn. He wanted to continue, but then he nced at Elora and fell silent. He had already achieved the result he wanted.

    "That''s enough!" Zelie said and stood up. "We''ll check it out ourselves!"

    Both the elders of the Palius and Irabel Family curled their lips in triumph. So what, your father''s the leader of the Magic Association''s branch in Avibria City? We can still control you with just a few words as we want. Both of them exchanged nces and a deep rivalry flickered inside their eyes.

    In Avibria City, three forces were the strongest. Palius Family¡ªwhose leader was the Mayor of the city. Irabel Family, the richest family in the city due to their flourishing business and thest was the branch of the Magic Association.

    Obviously, the Magic Association branch was the strongest, but they rarely interfered in the matters of the two families. However this time they have found a talented individual like Kadyn. How could they remain neutral and let others snatch him away from them?

    So to hire Kadyn all the three strongest forces sent their people here. Other families had no chance topete with these giants, so they didn''t even bother, afraid that it might irritate these people.

    "Mr Ephrais Palius, and Mr Sho Irabel," the old man that sat beside Zelie silently all this time, finally spoke, staring at the two elders. "You two are quite reputable individuals. I never knew that you enjoy ying the pig to swallow the tiger."

    "What are you talking about, old man?" Sho Irabel said with a little difort, sensing the old man''s hawk-like eyes, exchanging nces with Ephrais Palius. Neither of them knew who this old man was.

    They thought he came just to protect Miss Zelie, but now they were having other thoughts. This old man doesn''t look like a protector type. Instead he suddenly gave them a terrible pressure that only their leaders could exert on them, turning their expression confused and sluggish.

    "You can pretend all you want," the old man went on with his t voice. "But remember to not forget your limits or you won''t even realise when your head left your body."

    The duo trembled when they saw a threatening gleam in his eyes. The old man turned towards Elora and said. "Though they were just trying to incite a little fire among others, they aren''tpletely false. It''s really been quite some time. Lead the way." The old man stood as he said.

    "Even Grandpa Yel is bored," Zelie said. "What are you waiting for? Lead the way!"

    "Yes, yes, I''ll take you there." Hicka heard the cracking sound of Elora''s knuckles and said hurriedly. "Please, sir." He nced at Elora helplessly and led the duo. However other two people didn''t move, remaining frozen on the same spot.

    "Gra-grandpa Yel? Was that Potioneer Yel?" Ephrais Palius asked with his trembling voice.

    "We-we tried to con Miss Zelie in front of him," Sho Irabel said. "Do you think he wille after us?"

    "I-I don''t know," Ephrais replied with a pale face. "But I don''t think he would make things difficult on us afterwards. After all he''s a majestic Spell Caster and level 1 Potioneer. Would he stoop low enough to make things difficult on us? If he wanted to kill us, he could have done that with a swipe of his hand."

    Sho nodded, and the duo stayed no further, scuttling out of the shop as soon as possible.

    Elora heard their conversation, and her eyes went wide. She couldn''t believe that the old man was a legendary Spell Caster, and he was also a level 1 potioneer. How shocking was that for an aspirant like her to encounter a level 1 potioneer, who dreamed to reach that level one day?

    However the basic requirement to be the level 1 potioneer was to be a level 1 Spell Caster. Most of the people would remain at that level for their entire lives.

    "Oh, no!" suddenly she remembered that the old man went to her brother. She knew that her brother''s mouth was foul and his temperament wasn''t good. Who knew what would happen if he antagonised that old man? Elora dashed out of the Potion Hall, chasing after them.

    As the trio walked, the old man lectured Zelie. "You need to control your emotions. Didn''t you realise those two cunning foxes were trying to set you against Kadyn, so they could benefit from this?"

    "I''m sorry, Grandpa Yel." Zelie put her head low and apologised. Hicka couldn''t believe how docile she acted in front of this old man. He must be someone great.

    "It''s fine as long as you understand." The old man smiled and patted her head lovingly.

    "Sir, we are here," Hicka said with a weak voice.

    "Alright, ask Kadyn toe out," Grandpa Yel said in amanding tone.

    "Errr¡­" Hicka felt as if something was stuck inside his throat.

    "What err, didn''t you hear what Grandpa Yel said?!" Zelie looked at Hicka with a threatening gaze. The poor guy''s heart shuddered in terror. He didn''t want to disobey these two people, but he also didn''t want to disturb his boss. His heart was entangled in a weird struggle.

    "Do as they tell you," Elora rushed from behind and told Hicka.

    The kid sighed in relief seeing her. He nodded and knocked on the door¡ªno reply. Hicka eyed Elora and again knocked. Still no reply. After five knocks, the old man lost his temper. "Let me see."

    Elora turned pale in fright and said. "Elder, let me try." He might be lost in his meditation."

    Elder Yel eyed Elora and nodded and stood with his hands behind his back.

    s, no matter what method did she try¡ªknocking, calling¡ªno one replied from inside.

    "Step aside, girl," the old man said and mmed on the door heavily. Then again, and again, and again. Each time his handnded on the door, the booming noise increased. Elora stepped aside in terror and didn''t dare to speak anything.

    "This door looks rather solid," he turned towards Elora and said. "Your brother might have faced some trouble in meditation. Do you want me to break this door?"

    Elora''s breath almost stopped at his words. She never thought about this possibility. However this wasn''t impossible, thinking that her face became paler.

    The old man saw her sluggish expression and curled his lips in a deep sneer and turned towards the door and a fire burned over his fist¡ªthen he mmed on the door without waiting for her reply.

    "Boom!"

    He thought that the door would shatter in a single punch but¡­ ten times more terrible force than his attack released from the door and crashed over his chest. Blood spattered as the old man was smashed away, screaming in pain, anger, and bewilderment.

 Chapter 42 - Snake Dance

    "Grandpa!" Zelie screamed in shock at the turn of events. Fortunately no one was standing behind Elder Yel, so he was the only one who suffered from misfortune.

    Zelie dashed towards the old man and called him again and again¡ªhis ribs had been caved in his stomach and he coughed blood continuously as he struggled and moaned and rolled on the ground like a fish out of the water.

    "I won''t forgive you for this?!" seeing the old man''s condition, Zelie yelled at Elora and Hicka. "You dared to set a trap!"

    Hicka and Elora stood not far away with frozen expressions. They had no idea what happened. Furthermore what kind of power someone would need to injure the Spell Caster to this degree.

    Elora eyed the grunting figure on the ground, and her heart turned cold. She was afraid that this matter won''t settle easily.

    Before Elora could reply, the door of the room opened, and Kadyn walked out from inside with his ragged clothes and wounded body and charred hair and ck face.

    He eyed around him and saw the old man on the ground, lying in the puddle of blood and rolling in excruciating pain, and said. "Hey, what kind of dance is that, Snake-dance?"

    Zelie red at him, but seeing Grandpa Yel''s condition. She remained silent and supported him.

    Kadyn sneered at her reaction. Actually when he arrived, the system sent him the warning that someone was attacking the shop. He was shocked and terrified at the same time.

    Elora was still in the shop. How would he face his parents if something had happened to her? However at that time, another notification sounds in his head:

    [Do you want to activate the offensive formation? Y/N]

    Of course, Kadyn chose to activate the formation. He was worried about his sister. Though he had no idea how powerful the so-called offensive formation really was, as he had never seen or used. He presumed that it could at least halt the enemy for some time.

    However seeing the situation outside, he was left stunned, and his lips curled on their own. But his expression turned weird when Elora told him that the old man on the ground was a Spell Caster.

    "What are you standing for?" Zelie said. "Give me the highest grade Soothing Drop!"

    "Miss, I think you are pretty aware that I have sold all of my potions," Kadyn said nonchntly. "Furthermore this Elder is already at the Spell Caster. Do you think the Elementary Rank potion could heal him?"

    Zelie clenched her fist and wanted to refute him when four to five men in ck bolted in their direction. "What happened, Lady Zelie?" one of the men asked. These were the people that they had stationed out of the shop when the duo came to meet Kadyn.

    "Can''t you see the situation?!" she yelled. "Help me take Grandpa Yel to the Association!"

    "Yes, Lady Zelie!" all of them said, and helped her to carry the wounded old man, not daring to ask for the details.

    Zelie turned towards Kadyn''s group of three and said in her icy tone. "This matter isn''t over, yet. Just you wait, humph!" saying that she rushed out of the shop with her people. Afraid that the old man would die, his wounds looked really terrible.

    "This is bad!" Hicka said with a pale face. A simple name of Magic Association was enough to terrify the two greatest families in the city. But they had done something so severe. He was unsure that he would even see the next dawn.

    "Don''t worry, if the situation bes bad, just hide inside the building of the shop." Kadyn said casually, as if it was no big deal.

    After all, now, he knew that no one could touch him or anyone inside the buildings of the shop¡ªwhenever someone would attack the shop, the offensive formation would activate.

    However he wasn''t aware how powerful enemies the system could hold against. But it was enough to injure someone like that old man, so not many could threaten them in the Avibria City.

    "What do you mean?" Elora asked in confusion. Hicka also looked at him with a nk face.

    "I don''t have time to exin. Don''t you see my condition?" Kadyn said and struggled towards the counter and took out two vials of potion from inside.

    "There are still Vials of Soothing Drop?!" Elora said, and remembered that he refused to give it to Zelie¡ªif that bitch knew about this, she would definitely go berserk, thinking that a smile appeared on her silky lips.

    "By the way, how did you turn into this?" she asked, ncing at him weirdly. Even a beggar outside the temple would look better than him.

    "Ah," Kadyn scratched his head and said. "It''s a long story that you can notprehend." After taunting her, he walked away, leaving furious Elora and chuckling Hicka behind.

    "What are you smirking for?!" she red at Hicka, ready to beat him white and blue.

    "Ah, nothing."

    Elora ignored him and looked at her brother''s back and shook her head; then remembered something and pped her forehead. "I forgot to ask him."

    "What?" Hicka asked from behind.

    "Of course I''m talking about those people who came out of nowhere, saying that they are going to Upgrade the shop," Elora rolled her eyes at him. Then said, "and that attack..." but she fell silent after speaking half the sentence.

    "Ahh, yes¡­" Hicka said.

    Kadyn entered the bathroom and poured the water inside the tub before mixing the two vials of Soothing Drop. Then he sat inside and moaned in pleasure as that cool sensation coursed through his body. Though Soothing Drop couldn''t heal burned ces on his body, it could still soothe them.

    "The Soothing Drop isn''t enough," Kadyn murmured. "I need to brew other potions¡ªto deal with poison and burns and other kinds of wounds. After taking some rest, I would brew a lot more potions. I already have enough money to buy the herbs."

    ¡ª ¡ª

    After an hour-long bath, Kadyn walked out and looked around him. Only now did he realise that many people were working like crazy in the shop. Two more buildings were under construction. He didn''t know what the purpose of those two buildings was.

    "I would know after the shop upgrades." He shook his head, not thinking much about it. He was still weak and tired and drowsy. He wanted to sleep, so after telling Elora, he went into a deep slumber.

 Chapter 43 - Khrom

    Kadyn only woke up when the night had already engulfed Avibria City and the crescent moon strolled in the garden of clouds above everyone else. He walked out of the Formation Hall, where he slept, and looked around. The construction of the two buildings was progressing rapidly. The workers were speeding all around, shouting and screaming like any ordinary people.

    He was amazed at the abilities of the system. It could produce such life-like illusion. Moreover these illusions seemed to be filled with emotions and consciousness of real people. As anyone could talk to them and they would reply.

    "Oh, you are already awake." Just when he walked out of the building, he heard Elora''s pleasant voice. "I was justing for you¡ªdinner time."

    "Sure, let''s go." Kadyn smiled at his sister. "By the way, where is Hicka?"

    "Ah," Elora looked awkwardly at him and didn''t know how to respond.

    "What?" Kadyn became confused at her reaction.

    "You see that guy?" she pointed towards one worker and asked. "That one, with a weak body and clumsy hands?"

    "That guy who is covered in dirt?" Kadyn said, finding the guy Elora was gesturing towards. "Even his face has been painted¡­ wait a minute!" he halted and looked at Elora with an incredulous expression. "Do you mean he''s Hicka?"

    Nod.

    Kadyn''s expression could be described by only a single word¡ªspeechless. He shook his head and asked. "What is he doing there?"

    "Well, he thinks he is useless," Elora said helplessly, "he thinks he brought only troubles for you, and you have saved him and given him food and clothes and everything, but in return he couldn''t do anything to help you. So he wanted to do something." She fell silent after saying, ncing at him.

    Kadyn couldn''t help but shake his head. "And the best thing he could find was this."

    "Everything is in front of you." Elora shrugged helplessly. She had tried to stop Hicka, but the kid was pretty stubborn. In the end, she let him do what he wanted.

    "Nevermind," Kadyn said. "It''s all good if it makes him feel better."

    Although Kadyn didn''t voice it, he was touched by the honesty of this guy. Only the hungry understand the value of food, only the thirsty know the price of water. Hicka was poor, an orphan. In his entire life he was sneered at by others and looked down on by many.

    Kadyn had shown him so much kindness that''s why he felt ashamed, as he couldn''t do anything when the need arose, and when he couldn''t find anything to vent his frustration, he went to help in the construction. Unaware that his help won''t make a difference of a shit.

    "You''re awake, Boss." while Kadyn was talking with Elora, Hicka noticed him and rushed towards him enthusiastically, as if trying to show that he worked really hard. Kadyn smiled at his child-like behaviour and said. "Go, take a bath. Then we''ll have dinner together."

    Hicka nodded and went to clean himself. "This kid, sigh." Kadyn eyed his back, and a smile appeared on his face.

    When Hicka vanished, Elora turned towards him and inquired. "Have you thought about the incident earlier? How are we going to deal with it?"

    "Didn''t I tell you to just hide inside one building of the shop when the situation turns bad?" Kadyn said.

    "I''m serious, brother." She said in an irritated tone.

    "Me too."

    "..."

    Elora stomped furiously and dashed away. Kadyn smiled and heeled her.

    ¡ª¡ª

    The darkness faded, and a new day began. Kadyn was seated in the garden while looking at the ongoing construction and sipping the tea from the rim of the cup when a visitor arrived. "I thought I won''t see you for a long time." Kadyn said with a smiling face.

    "You have caused quite a ruckus yesterday." Khrom chuckled. "I wanted to see if you need any help."

    "Look Who''s Talking?" Kadyn said half-mockingly. "Your arse is already on fire but you still want to burn your hand." He gestured to him to take a seat.

    "What can I say, I''m just that stubborn," he said and looked at the workers running all around. "But I don''t think you need my help. You seem quite confident."

    "No, not at all. I''m frightened from inside. My heart is as cold as ice, shivering in terror." Kadyn replied and poured tea for him and asked. "Sugar?"

    "Like hell anyone would believe you." Khrom rolled his eyes at him and said. "One spoon."

    "You said you''re stubborn. Can you tell me how this stubborn guy''s condition became so severe that he had to hide his face behind a mask?" Kadyn ignored his words and asked. Then passed the cup towards him.

    "How!?" Khrom almost jumped from his seat in terror and eyed his surroundings vigntly.

    "Don''t worry. I don''t sell my customers," Kadyn said. "As for your question¡ªisn''t it easy to guess? You have said that the entire city is after you. But you''ve visited my shop two times in the presence of quite a few customers, but no one came to investigate. Isn''t it obvious you are hiding your identity when you visit me?"

    "Ah, I didn''t know Mr Kadyn has such sharp eyes." Khrom said, looking at him deeply.

    "I didn''t know, either." Kadynughed and took another sip from his cup.

    "I have some information about the herbs you want. After all that batch is full of level 1 herbs, finding a batch of Five Star Spirit Grass won''t be that hard."

    "Oh, tell me more." Kadyn said with interest.

    "It is inside the Magic Association¡­"

    "Forget it." Kadyn shook his head. "I don''t want to make them even more hostile towards me. Furthermore I have already found it."

    "Then forget it." Khrom shook his head. Then he looked at Kadyn and asked. "Anyway how do you intend to deal with your problem with Association? They won''t let it slid; you have injured a man who is only below the Leader himself."

    "I have my ns," Kadyn said. "If they don''t have someone higher than the 1st level Spell Caster. They can just dream about killing me."

    Khrom peered at Kadyn with a deep gaze. Thenughed. "That''s good. But be careful, they are shameless people and can go any extent to achieve their goals."

    "Thanks for the warning," Kadyn nodded towards him. "I''ll be careful."

    "That''s good then."

    Both of them fell silent. After some hesitation Kadyn asked. "What do you do for a living?"

    Hearing his question, Khrom''s expression turned sad. He looked at the horizon and shook his head. "For the time being, nothing."

    Kadyn sensed the sadness inside his heart and he was a little confused by his behaviour, but he asked nothing personal. But his words came as aplete surprise for Khrom. "Do you want to work for me?" He asked with expectant eyes. "I will pay you nicely."

 Chapter 44 - Upgrade Completed

    Khrom eyed Kadyn with a surprised face. He never thought that Kadyn would be daring enough to offer him a job, even after knowing that he was a criminal, trying to hide from his enemies. He thought about something and said, "I need some time to think about it."

    Although Kadyn was a little disappointed at his reply, he still respects his decision. He can''t force anyone to work for him after all¡ªKhrom was well aware of the workings of the city. He was also proficient in disguise, as he can see. Therefore Kadyn wanted him to collect some intelligence for him about the big shots of the city, especially about Association. So when the time of battle with them arises, he won''t be caught off guard.

    "It''s alright," Kadyn nodded. "Take your time and think about it carefully."

    After that he took out two vials of high grade potions and passed them to Khrom. "Here, didn''t youe here for these?"

    "But I didn''tplete the work you asked me to do." Khrom shook his head. "You have already gotten the herb."

    "I have asked about the whereabouts of the herb," Kadyn replied, "that you have already told me. Take this."

    Kadyn shoved the vials and said. "I''m not giving you for free. You''ve earned it."

    Khrom knew that he was doing this to show his goodwill¡ªhe couldn''t help but feel that Kadyn was worth his friendship. "Alright," he said, "I won''t be courteous then."

    "What are your thoughts regarding the Association?" Kadyn asked suddenly. "Why do you think they haven''t attacked yet? I''m just a weak shopkeeper. They should havee to destroy me as soon as they heard about the matter regarding the Elder Yel."

    Khrom nced at him and said seriously. "Well, if you haven''t given me the potions, I wouldn''t have bothered telling you this, but," he looked at him meaningfully, "let me tell you that Elder Yel has already woken up. He told that there is something very powerful inside your shop and they shouldn''t make a move recklessly.

    "Elder Yel said that your shop protected by powerful formations¡ªthat''s how he got injured¡ªno ordinary Rank 1 Spell Caster could threaten you inside it."

    "As expected of the old fox, he could see that the attack was the work of formation." Kadyn cursed. Now he needs to be more careful and he can''t go outside the shop as he pleases. At this moment he understood why Khrom hesitated to ept his offer. He wondered how he knew all this information, but he didn''t probe about it. Everyone has their secrets.

    "Do you think they would hinder my business to drive me out of the shop?" he asked

    "Well it''s not impossible," Khrom said and stood up. "Alright, I will take my leave."

    Kadyn remained sitting even after Khrom left, deep in thinking. After a while he sighed and walked towards the Potion Hall. He wanted to brew a few potions and wanted to auction them. At first he didn''t care about the status and much, he thought he could trample anyone with power. However now he realised that status was also a kind of shield.

    That''s why he wanted to sell the potions to people with status. Though the Association could stopmoners froming to his shop, they won''t do anything extreme against those influential families. Otherwise who will believe in the Association¡ªthey might even rebel against them¡ªso the Association needed to be more careful dealing with them.

    ¡ª¡ª

    The entire day, he concocted different types of potions. He wascking the herbs, and he didn''t want to give any chance to the Association to strike back, so he forced himself to stay in the shop, and neither did he send anyone outside.

    Due to theck of herbs, he couldn''t brew as many potions as he wanted, but it was enough to drive some people insane. Even Soothing Potion was enough to attract so many people. He refused to believe that so many potions won''t cause ripples inside anyone''s heart.

    [The Shop about toplete its upgrading process¡­ 10¡­ 9¡­ 8¡­ 7¡­]

    At this moment the beeping sound started to ring inside his head. A screen appeared in front of him, and he saw a notification. At first he was bewildered by this sudden sound but then became thrilled. He rushed out of the Potion Hall and looked at the two buildings in front of him. He wanted to know what their purpose was.

    [6¡­ 5¡­ 4¡­]

    At every decreasing number, his heartbeat increased. He was eager to know the new things that would appear after the upgrade.

    [3¡­ 2¡­ 1¡­ Congrattion the shop has been upgraded to Level 1]

    Before he could think about anything, the notifications started to sound inside his head, screen shing in front of his eyes again and again.

    [Level 1 Library has been added]

    As the notification sounded, a rush of information appeared inside his head. The one of the new buildings inside the shop was the Library. There were all kinds of books avable, Formation, Potion, Artisan, Poison, Herbs, Magic. Furthermore there was a specific section inside where all kinds of spells were avable¡ªElementary to Rank 1 Spell Caster.

    Though Kadyn was disappointed when the knowledge inside the library didn''t assimte with him. Now he has to read books like other people if he wants to learn anything. Such a pain in the ass.

    [The defensive system has been modified: Owner is the King]

    Once more, all kinds of information appeared inside his head. Owner is the King¡ªthe ability only Kadyn could use, and he needed to be inside the shop to use that. For Spell Casters and below Rank Magus, the area inside the shop had turned into No Fighting Zone. Only Kadyn and those to whom he had given his permission could fight inside. Only Magus above the Spell Caster could break the defensive system.

    Kadyn was thrilled to know that, and sighed in relief. Now no one had the power inside Avibria City who could threaten him. He wondered if the entire Magic Association had anyone above the Spell Caster.

 Chapter 45 - The First Employee

    [Auction House has been added]

    So the second building was an auction house. Furthermore the auction house had no level or grade. It was gradeless¡ªthe level of the shop would be its level. However the auction house had a really peculiar ability. No one could rob inside¡ªexcept people above Spell Casters¡ªIf the thief wasn''t above Spell Caster, after some time the robbed treasure woulde back to the same ce it was before.

    Kadyn smiled that he did not need to be extra careful when auctioning anything inside the house. The thief would risk everything for nothing. He would make aplete fool of himself by trying thievery in the auction house.

    [The owner can customize the shop at his will]

    Kadyn could build new buildings and make them part of the shop. Of course he had to pay to the System in Energy Points to do that. He could change the positions of the buildings, he could move them from one ce to another. He could also change the look of the buildings ording to his taste¡ªby spending some extra points, of course.

    [Congrattions! The owner has gotten another ability¡ªShop]

    Kadyn seemed to be a little surprised by the name of his ability, but when the information about it appeared inside his head, everything became clear. It seemed this Shop ability didn''t work as he predicted.

    If he wanted to purchase something by using this ability, at first, he had to add that item in the shop, only then he could purchase that particr item. Like if he wanted to purchase Bronze, then he had to add a piece of bronze, then he could purchase it as much as he wanted.

    [The function to hire the staff is avable now]

    The recruits need to take the oath before bing a part of the shop. After joining the shop they could not leave, ever, and betraying means the fate worse than death¡ªKadyn had no idea what the fate worse than death means, but it could be nothing good, he presumed¡ªthough they could do whatever they wanted, go anywhere they wanted without any issue. There were no restrictions on them except being loyal to Kadyn. Kadyn had the full power to decide the hierarchy of the staff.

    [The shop can be hidden inside the owner''s body]

    Kadyn could hide the shop inside his body as it could shrink to a infinitesimal value. With the shop he could use Pengo Portal and travel throughout the Pengo World.

    [All the Elementary Buildings or Functions inside the shop have been evolved into Rank 1!]

    [Congrattions! The Shop has been upgraded to Rank 1]

    Kadyn opened his eyes and looked around him¡ªthe shop that was small just a few seconds before had transformed into something pretty cool, spreading in the area of around 1 kilometer. The buildings that looked highlypressed previously with each other had enough space to show their majesty.

    Kadyn saw that on either side of the Main Building were standing the Library and Auction House. The other buildings had been pushed away, lining vertically to the Library and the Auction House and formed a vast square together in between, where the garden was present¡ªonly one side left open that led towards the gate of the shop.

    The buildings had been organised on their own. However there was still a vast space left to fill. After all these few buildings could not cover the entire 1 km. Kadyn smirked at seeing this. Now he could build his house here. After sleeping on the sofa for a long time, he could sleep in a bed again.

    "Wow, this is so cool!" Elora rushed out behind Kadyn and eximed, seeing the scenery in front of her. "How did it be like this?" She looked at the vastnd, spreading all about them with her twinkling eyes.

    She had never seen anything turning like this in just a single day. Furthermore, where did all this spacee from? They hadn''t destroyed any buildings, but the shop had spread in such a huge area.

    "This¡­ this¡­" Hicka looked in front of him and stammered. No word came from his mouth. He was utterly speechless. Other than the Main Building where Kadyn worked, all the buildings had changed their positions. Of course he would be shocked. He had never seen or heard such a thing in his entire life.

    "Hehe, you just need to know that no one can touch us inside the shop now," Kadyn chuckled, seeing their reactions. He was extremely excited.

    "Heh? Where are the workers?" Elora finally noticed. "Why did they suddenly disappear?"

    "Why do you care so much about those construction workers?" Kadyn rolled his eyes at her.

    Elora knew this smelly brother wouldn''t spill the beans, so she gave up on probing about the changes inside the shop. Then her gaze fell on the Library and she eximed. "Wow, Library!"

    Any Commoner knew that the Library was the ce where nobels stored their books: different profession rted books, etiquette rted books, magic books, so on and so forth. Nomoner had the permission to enter those kinds of ces. Even inside the magic academies, only nobles could use such a facility.

    Not even people with surnames could enter the library, simr tomoners they would never get such a chance. With this one could imagine how much importance people of this world gave to books and knowledge. That''s why Elora was so excited when she saw "Library" words written on one building. Without deliberating, she dashed towards it and wanted to see inside as soon as possible.

    "Smash!"

    "Heh¡­ what?!"

    Just as she touched the gate of the Library, a kind of force pushed her away, not letting her pass through the door. Though not hurting. She turned confused and looked at Kadyn who was staring at her with mouth wide open when a notification sounded in his head.

    [No outsider could enter the Library, one need to be the staff of the Shop]

    Kadyn finally understood what was going on. Of course, the shop won''t allow any outsider to enjoy the books inside the Library. That would be the most stupid thing to do. There were spells and books of all kinds and vast knowledge of every topic and every profession that existed in this world. One would kill to just enter one time¡ªKadyn would be the king of morons if he let any customer enjoy this ce just for some energy points.

    At this moment, he closed his eyes, and a scroll appeared in his hands. He eyed his sister and said. "This is a contract. You need to read this scroll carefully and if you agree with the terms inside the scroll, drop the blood on it. Then you can enter the Library."

    "Aren''t you the owner?" Elora said. "Then why do I need to sign the contract to enter the Library?"

    Kadyn shook his head. "Not to enter the Library, this contract means you are the part of the shop. Even I have to follow the rules of the shop. I can''t bend them for anyone."

    He remembered how he needed to pay with Energy Points every time he meditated, used Pengo Portal, yed the lottery...

    Elora looked at her brother and took the scroll from his hands and cut her finger to drop the blood. "But you¡­" Kadyn looked at her action bewilderment. She hadn''t even read the scroll.

    "I trust you, brother." She gave him a beautiful smile and dropped the blood on the scroll. The scroll started to vibrate and then shattered and entered inside her forehead and a golden mark appeared at the center of her brows. She was the first employee of the Shop!

 Chapter 46 - Library

    [Employee Name: Elora]

    [Employee Rank: Iron]

    [Magus Rank: 9-star elementary mage]

    [Element: Healing]

    [Energy Points: 0]

    [Loyalty: 86%]

    [Evaluation: Treasure]

    Kadyn looked at the new window that popped out in front of him and opened his mouth wide. He had no idea that he could see the status of his employees. Furthermore Elora had already awakened 9 healing stars¡ªthat was quite an eye-popping achievement in such a short time.

    Though Kadyn knew that it was due to her practising inside the meditation room, as he had let her practice as much as she wanted, leaving only to brew potions or eat food.

    As Kadyn was looking at the status window of Elora, another window shed in front of her as well, that only she and Kadyn could see. Hicka had no idea about it. However in this screen Loyalty and Evaluation were missing.

    Before she could ask anything about the screen that popped out of nowhere, Kadyn turned toward Hicka and passed him another scroll. "Take this and drop your blood. Read it before that if you want."

    Hicka shook his head and said. "I believe that you won''t harm me." After speaking, he dropped the blood on the scroll and it shattered and entered between Hicka''s brows. However this time the mark wasn''t golden like before but red that only Kadyn could see. He looked at the status of Hicka, and his expression froze.

    "What is this, Boss?" Hicka eximed as he looked at the screen in front of him

    "Oh, it''s nothing." Kadyn smiled, and the window disappeared. "You need to spread the news that tomorrow there will be an auction and this time we won''t sell soothing potion but other types of potions. There are several kinds¡ªspread the news that one of them is strength type."

    Hicka eyed Kadyn with an incredulous expression and said excitedly "Boss, are you really a potioneer or someone else is helping you? I mean, I never saw you brewing potions and you have already concocted a batch for an auction."

    He didn''t know that Elora could also brew potions, as Kadyn had never told him. He didn''t want anyone to know about it, yet. It might bring quite some trouble for her.

    "Well the shop was under construction, and I had nothing better to do, so I concocted potions," Kadyn said. "Alright, go and spread the news. You need to tell just this piece of information to a few people outside the shop ande back. Everything will be done."

    "Would that really work?" Hicka asked confusedly.

    Kadyn shook his head at his na?ve expression and said. "Don''t you think this street has be a lot livelytely?" he went on. "Who do you think are those people?"

    Hicka opened his eyes wide and seemed to understand something. "They are here to keep an eye on the shop!"

    "Good, now you understand," Kadyn said. "Just go spread the news."

    Hicka nodded enthusiastically and dashed out of the shop. Kadyn looked at his back, deep in thought, and sighed before turning towards Elora. "Let''s go, I''ll show you the Library."

    "Yes," Elora said excitedly and followed Kadyn from behind.

    As Kadyn entered, he felt as if he had appeared inside another world. His heart calmed down and all the distractions he was feeling faded. The same thing happened with Elora. Both brother and sister exchanged nces, pleasantly surprised.

    Kadyn nced ahead of him and saw a huge hall. At the centre of the circr hallid a vast round table, and over fifty plush chairs surrounded it. At one corner was another smaller and square-shaped table, a chair was ced behind, that seemed bigger than any chair in the Library¡ªa que lying on the table and a word "Warden" was written on it.

    The shape of the Library was like a hollow cylinder; the shelvesced along with the curved walls, standing one over another, touching the dome of the library. It was closed from every side, even the gate from which Kadyn and Elora entered was closed now. However there was no trace of gloom here. It looked just like a day.

    Kadyn realised the Library was divided into two major sections¡ªthe first section was filled with elementary books and the other was for the Rank 1 books. Then Kadyn found that both sections were further divided into smaller sections like Potion Making, Artefact Making, Formation, Herbs, Physician, Poison, etc.

    Elora spotted a potion-making section and dashed towards it and tried to take a book out of the shelf, but failed. Her hand passed through the book as it was an illusion. "Heh? Why can''t I touch it?"

    Kadyn''s gaze fell on the number below that particr book¡ªtwenty. And just as he was about to reply, a notification window popped out in front of Elora.

    [You need to pay with energy points to the warden or the owner before you could read the book]

    Hmm, twenty is the price of reading this book. Kadyn thought.

    Warden? Is that a Librarian?

    "What is happening?" as Kadyn was lost in thinking, Elora''s pitchy voice knocked his eardrum.

    He eyed her and exined. "You are an employee now. You need to pay with Energy Points if you want to read books here."

    "What are Energy Points?"

    Kadyn exined and told her the purpose of the energy point. Only then, Elora nodded. "So how do I earn these energy points?"

    "Hehe, tomorrow you''ll know," Kadyn chuckled.

    Elora pouted at Kadyn''s stingy behaviour. He always acted like this in front of her. Not telling her anything.

    Kadyn walked over and arrived in front of the spell section of the Elementary Rank. This section was further divided into different sections based on distinct elements. He disregarded all the elements and went to the fire section. He extended his hand and took the book out of the shelf.

    "Huh? How can you touch the book?!" Elora, who was standing behind him, noted.

    "Because I''m the owner of the shop."

    "Then why don''t you give me a few books to read?" she said with puppy eyes, looking at him expectantly.

    Kadyn rolled his eyes at her behaviour and said. "Though I''m the owner, I can''t give you books to read without energy points. I have to follow the rules. Tomorrow you will have enough points to read a single elementary book."

    Actually he could spend some of his points or transfer some of his points to her to read the book, but Kadyn didn''t want her to depend on him all the time. She needed to earn points like others.

    "You and your shop, both are weird, perfect match to each other." She folded her hands in front of her chest dissatisfiedly, and taunted.

    Kadyn smiled and once again started to search through the spellbooks. Though he wanted to give her a book, he could not, or it might affect her future.

 Chapter 47 - Artisan

    Kadyn took a scroll off the shelf. It was a 10-star fire spell, [Meteorite Shower]. It was arge area type spell. He could summon meteorites from the sky, assaulting several foes in just a single attack.

    "This is the one," Kadyn murmured and took the scroll with him. Only he could take the scrolls or the books out of the library. No one else could take anything out, not even a single paper from the library that belonged to the library.

    Outside the library, Elora asked. "Now what? Do we need to concoct more potions? But we have little herbs left."

    "Yes, we are going to brew a potion," Kadyn''s expression turned severe as he said. "However it is not what you think. I already have herbs for that potion. Come on, I would need your help to brew it."

    Elora''s face hardened when she saw Kadyn''s grave face. This task must be very important to him. She thought and clenched her fist and followed Kadyn from behind. Without even realising, she started to admire this useless brother of hers.

    She no longer looked like the one who shielded him from everyone and everything. Just acting like a little girl who needed her brother''s protection¡ªor maybe she was always like this. But no one was there to support and fend for her before this. Her brother couldn''t protect himself, much less her, so she stepped over and guarded him instead.

    However now she could tell that her brother had changed. He had be unfathomable, mysterious, and unpredictable. She started to look up to him.

    "What kind of potion do you want to brew¡­"

    "Shhh¡­ don''t talk about anything here," Kadyn said, covering her mouth with his hand. "Outside the Potion Hall, never talk about the brewing or anything else, Ok?"

    Elora was confused, but she still nodded. She knew that there must be a reason for his actions.

    "Ah, I have something to give you." Kadyn remembered something and took out a bracelet from his pocket on which two crimson pearls were shining. They were the same crystals that Kadyn made in the Artisan Hall.

    However this time they looked a little different. Numerous lines carved on the two orbs that gave them a kind of charm, boosting their beauty and looking like a piece of an ornament.

    "What is this, it''s so beautiful!" she eximed, spotting a bracelet in Kadyn''s hand snatched it from his hands. Kadyn shook his head at her action.

    "This is an artefact! There is an array pattern!" she eximed again. Kadyn pped his head, looking at her behavior. Just now he told her not to talk about important things openly, and here she was, shouting about the bracelet. Fortunately no one was inside the shop.

    Elora saw Kadyn''s expression and her face turned red. "Cough, I mean it''s good stuff. Who won''t be surprised if you take it in front of someone out of nowhere? You must have paid arge sum to get this artefact for me. I love it. Thank you, brother!"

    "Yeah, the price was pretty high." Kadyn remembered his fight with that ungrateful bastard he saved inside the Panoramic Forest. He had almost lost his life due to his naivety. If it wasn''t because of the shop, he might have turned into a rotten corpse by now.

    "What, really?" she eyed her brother lovingly. He really loves me the most. She thought.

    "You just need to wear this bracelet all the time. It is a good thing." Kadyn said and exined nothing further. Actually he had inscribed the array over those two crystals. Artisan was the profession that came to existence afterbining two types of professions, cksmith and Array Master.

    The cksmith could only forge normal weapons with no magic that normal people used to hunt animals, and Array Master could inscribe the Arrays on weapons, turning them into magical weapons or artifacts.

    However, Artisans could forge the weapon as well as inscribe them with arrays. Although it was a mixture of two professions, it didn''t follow the path of either profession. Like the invention of cars, no cksmith could think about those boxes and neither did any Array Master. Only Artisan could invent those things.

    Afterbining two professions the new path opened. Several things that seemed impossible previously seemed easy now.

    "Alright, let''s go," Kadyn entered the Potion Hall followed by Elora.

    The hall hadpletely transformed, turning vaster. The apparatus had been changed, and the quality had improved. With these apparatus the sess rate would increase over 5 percent.

    "Alright, we need to brew the Crack Melding Potion." Kadyn said.

    "What is the use of this potion?" she asked.

    "To heal the damaged stars."

    "What?!" she looked at him with an incredulous look and stammered. "Is-is there really such a potion avable? I''ve heard that if someone''s stars had been damaged he could only heal them naturally. Until that time a person would be useless¡ªthat was also the reason, majority never even try to reach the Spell Caster."

    "That''s just bulshit," Kadyn snorted. "How do you think those nobility could reach those heights? Have you ever seen any noble with broken or damaged stars? They must already have some ways to heal their stars but they don''t want to tell the masses, or those people who are desperate might do something insane to get their hands on that method."

    Elora was surprised to hear his words and remembered she really never saw or heard any noble being injured during their breakthrough. They must have a method to heal their stars!

    "Do you want to sell this potion as well?" she inquired, her eyes flickering with curiosity.

    "No."

    "Then?"

    "I''m going to use it." He scuttled towards the apparatuses and started to examine them.

    "What do you mean you are going to use¡­ hold on a sec!" she peered at him with a dumbfounded expression and went on. "Does that mean your stars are damaged?!"

    "Yes."

    "But how?"

    He never activated a single star when he was in magic school. Now he was telling her that his stars were damaged¡ªthe stars could be damaged in only a few conditions, if something goes wrong with the meditation, someone did it intention due to enmity, and one of the most shocking reason, one failed to break the Elementary Rank, damaging the stars in the process.

 Chapter 48 - Crack Melding Potion

    Kadyn shouldn''t have any stars in the first ce. However she knew that somehow he managed to awaken his stars. But who could have thought that he had already reached that step and even tried to break through? How daring must he be to do something crazy like that?

    "Alright, enough of this," Kadyn shook his head, glimpsing her agape mouth. "Let''s start brewing."

    He took out the Five Star Spirit Grass and several other herbs and ced them on the table. The duo washed them carefully, cleaning all the impurities thoroughly. After all, a minor mistake could turn into a failure.

    Kadyn exined to her the process of brewing the potion. Then said, "make a solution of these herbs. Be careful, don''t end up failing. We don''t have enough herbs to start over again if we fail."

    Elora nodded and started to boil the herbs, she needed to extract the essence of these herbs. On the other hand Kadyn made a paste of the Five star Spirit Grass, and then filtered the juice in the beaker and started to heat it with the help of a burner.

    "Nourishing Leave solution," Kadyn said towards Elora.

    "Here," she said and passed the beaker filled with a green solution. Kadyn used the dropper to drop three drops in the beaker of Five Stars Spirit Grass and said. "Root of the Rainy Mashroom!"

    "Coming up," without deliberation Elora passed a beaker of the brown solution¡ªthis process continued. Elora made the solution and Kadynbined them. His face was grim and his body was covered in sweat, sticking to his body like glue.

    Suddenly the entire solution started to produce bubbles¡ª"Damn, it''s bing unstable!" Kadyn cursed and said to Elora. "Give me the Calming Water."

    "Here," she passed a small ss bottle, filled with blue liquid. This was the chemical that he had concocted previously¡ªit had only a single function that was to calm the unstable solution during the brewing. It was fortunate that Kadyn had brewed it, or he would have wasted all the effort and the herbs without getting any result.

    Kadyn dropped two drops of Calming Water and the solution calmed. He wiped the sweat from his temples and sighed in relief. It took over two hours to brew a single potion. He took this long because it was his first time and it was really hard to brew the Crack Melding Potion.

    Nheless, in the end, he seeded in concocting the potion. He looked at the vial filled with white solution and said to Elora. "Alright, thanks for the help."

    "Do you really need to say such words to me," Elora scoffed and scurried away, but Kadyn''s words halted her steps abruptly. "You will take over the auction tomorrow."

    ¡ª¡ª

    The new day began and clouds of people gathered outside the shop. The gate was closed, not letting no one enter. Although many were displeased, no one expressed it.

    Some of them knew what happened to Potioneer Yel when he attacked the shop. Kadyn hadn''t spared even someone like Elder Yel¡ªno one caused any trouble and waited for the gates to open.

    "Go, open the gate," Kadyn said to Hicka.

    The kid nodded and swung open the gate. All the people outside started to rush. "Please walk-in line. Don''t try to cause trouble." Hicka said. "If anyone caused trouble, he would be banned for a lifetime. It doesn''t matter how high his/her status is."

    Hearing his words, several people''s faces changed. Though they were aware that Kadyn was arrogant they didn''t think he would let his servant say such a thing. Won''t that turn everyone against him?

    However when they saw arge fascinating auction Hall, all of their eyes turned round and their mouths hung open. All of them had seen from outside howrge this shop was. No way something this marvellous andrge could be made in such a tiny ce. Moreover there were several buildings like this.

    At this moment a crowd split and formed a path in between and a group of people walked from outside. They held their heads high in arrogance and walked with a puffed chest. Their clothes were made of silk. Well, all of them were men, not single women.

    "Wow, that is House Palius, one of the big three," someone shouted excitedly.

    "That elder, is that Aphrais Palius?!"

    "It''s really him!"

    "There are people from other noble houses with him!"

    "But I don''t know any of them!"

    "Look, look, another group has arrived." Another man''s voice chimed, attracting everyone''s attention.

    "I know that guy! He is Sho Irabel from House Irabel! He is also with people of other houses, it seems as the nobles have divided into two groups." No one knew who said it, but people turned incredibly excited at his words.

    Two of the three strongest forces had arrived to attend an auction; both of them with their own supporters. It only happens in the Upper Town. For the people of the Lower Town, it was an unprecedented turn of event.

    "The Magic Association''s people didn''te, that''s strange." After a small pause, a voice said.

    "Isn''t it already good enough?" one of the men grunted at his friend''s behaviour. What kind of existence was the Magic Association? Why would theye here?

    "Last time it was just a single potion and the Magic Association''s people were present." The first person said in a disdainful voice, noticing his friend''s ignorant look.

    "Ah, really?" the man seemed surprised at his words. "I wasn''t present in the city. It seemed I missed quite some fun."

    If Kadyn was here he would know that this man was the same who had almost killed him in the Panoramic Forest.

    However his attention was focused on his guests that had arrived just now. He led the people of the two great houses into their private rooms while Hicka maintained order outside and collected the entrance fee¡ªhundred dors from each person¡ªand Elora went to prepare for the Auction.

    Kadyn talked with them with a smiling face and didn''t put on airs this time. He didn''t care if those two had a rivalry, he just wanted to do business¡ªthey also responded in the same manner. Though everyone knew that those smiles were hiding their motives. After a short walk, they arrived at their room.

    Kadyn led both of the groups to their respective rooms. The members of the Palius and Irable and other houses were amazed at the scene in front of them. The room was filled with sofas and couches, and a tableid at the centre.

    The floor was made of beautiful white marble that was carved with flowers, leaves, and petals¡ªand the walls glittered with whiteness. It looked simple yet noble. The nature of the room produced peaceful vibes, calming everyone.

    In front of them was a vast ss wall, from which they could see the entire auction house below them¡ªa huge round tform stood in front of the thousands of seats that were arranged in a curved manner. A path split those seats into two sections.

 Chapter 49 - An Old Man

    At the end of the hall was arge door from which people gushed inside and found a decent spot to rub their asses on the plush chairs. The hall was filled with noise and din of the people. Everyone was eager to find a seat of their own.

    Elora walked on the stage from behind with a nervous expression. She looked back. Kadyn nodded towards her and gave a confident and encouraging smile. She smiled back and again turned towards the audience, clenching her nervously trembling fist, and said. "Good morning, everyone."

    Her voice boomed throughout the hall¡ªthis was the function of the hall that let the auctioneer exemplify his/her voice¡ªthe muffling sound reverberated and the entire hall became quiet.

    "Ah," she became nervous as the eyes of hundreds of people focused on her. However it didn''t take her long to calm her thudding heart down.

    "Cough, as you all know," she said, "today we are going to auction the potions. What kind of potions, some might ask?" she peered at people, her nervousness fading slowly. "Let me show you then."

    As she said the floor in front of her split open and arge table climbed out of it automatically and over ten wooden boxes had been ced on it¡ªeveryone looked at the scene with dumbfounded expression. They had never seen such a disy prior to this day. That lifting trolley seemed a marvelous thing.

    Elora eyed theical expressions of the people and curled her lips and said. "We have over ten different potions. The first one we will be auctioning is," she paused, creating a tension in the atmosphere, then went on, "the Potion of Purification."

    Everyone had a nk face as they had never heard about such a potion, so she exined. "This potion is used for purifying magus'' bodies. It could extract the impurities from the body and strengthen it. You should know what the maguscks the most? Its defence, of course. Though this potion might notpletely solve that problem, it could increase the rate of your survival.

    "Furthermore you can''t disregard another benefit that is impurity extraction¡ªeveryone knows that our bodies have impurities. When we use different potions, they would leave a small amount of impurity in our bodies that would increase over time and at one point that impurity could turn into a deadly poison, turning you into a cripple from a majestic magus."

    As she exined, the entire hall broke into an uproar, everyone''s eyes turned fiery. All of them wanted the potion. Kadyn saw their reaction and shook his head. Elora was really clever with her words. Although the potion was effective, it couldn''t remove all the impurity. Nheless it was still worth purchasing.

    The crowd gradually calmed and turned their heated gazes towards the potion in Elora''s hand. She smiled and said. "Furthermore¡­" she stated and went on, "the grade of this potion had reached the peak and you should know that only the top grade is above it."

    The murmuring again sounded, but Elora went on. Her face was already brimming with a confident smile and all the nervousness had washed away. "The starting price of this potion is just three thousand."

    It was the real standard price of the potion. Kadyn had decided to make all the standard prices a start price for auctioning them. With this he won''t seem like a money-grubbing merchant. However he knew that this starting amount would not affect the result in any way, as people were eager to purchase the potions. Moreover his potions were rarer than anyone had ever seen before so everyone wanted to take possession of them.

    "Oh, you don''t need to worry about the starting price." Anguid voice reverberated from the first row, attracting everyone''s attention. An old man with a fragile body and white hair sat on a chair with his legs crossing each other¡ªbeside him sat two other men. One was an old, and another was a middle-aged man. Both of them seemed extremely respectful to this old guy. The man continued, "because we are taking those potions."

    "What do you mean, sir?" Elora frowned. "Are you trying to cause trouble here?"

    "No, no, you have misjudged mepletely." the old man stood and strolled in front of the stage. "I''m taking it aspensation for your terrible behavior¡­"

    "Hey, old man, get lost and do your prank somewhere else," someone shouted from the back in irritation.

    "It looks like his screws got loose. The side effect of the increasing age is too much for him to endure."

    The entire hall burst into a peal ofughter at thisment. The old man''s face turned red in fury and a terrible pressure released from his body, choking everyone in terror. Those who were closer to him immediately maintained their distance in shock and fear. This fragile looking old man was a terrible, terrible foe.

    Though the old man was irritated by twoments, he restrained himself from going after the speakers. However that didn''t give peace of mind to those two poor fellows. Both of them left the hall with terror-stricken faces. Not daring to stay any further.

    The old man turned towards Elora and said. "Ah, you can leave now. I''ll take care of these potions."

    "Who are you? Why are you doing this?!" Elora demanded, not willing to give her hard work without a fight to anyone. She and Kadyn had put so much effort into brewing these potions. Why should she give them for free? If you want, then pay for it!

    "Oh, you want to know the reason?" the old man said with a proud tone. "Then I will tell you."

    He turned towards the two men standing behind him and said. "Remove it."

    The duo nodded and removed the disguise, revealing their faces. "Elder Yel?!" Elora eximed and her face turned pale, and the entire situation became clear. Though she failed to discern the identity of the second man. He was a tall, proud-looking middle-aged man.

    "Damn, what is Association Leader doing here?!" Epharius and Sho jumped from their seats. Although they weren''t that familiar with Elder Yel and knew just his name before meetingst time. They knew this middle-aged man¡ªhe was the Leader of the Association!

    "Now you understand the situation. Step aside, girl," the old man said and walked towards the stage.

 Chapter 50 - Whats Going On Here?!!

    "Hey, hey, old man." Kadyn jumped on the stage from behind Elora and stared at the arrogant old fogey. "Are you trying to scare a little girl, huh?" he said. "Would you mind talking to her brother?"

    Everyone gaped at him, including the old man and his twopanions¡ªthe old man was silent for a sec, then asked. "You are Kadyn?"

    "So what, I am?" Kadyn said, a little annoyed by his arrogant posing. You seem to be suffering from malnourishment. What are you posing for, hmm? He thought.

    "That''s good," he said. "You need toe with me."

    "What if I don''t want to go with you?" Kadyn curled his lips and folded his hands on his chest and looked below at the old man as if the emperor was looking down on his subordinate. An annoyed look appeared on the old man''s face. No one dared to scorn at him. He was the mighty member of the Magic Association and high-ranking member at that. His anger red, but he clenched his fist and took a deep breath. He hade here for a purpose.

    I will let you experience despair and tormentter. He thought.

    "Yo-you thief!" before that fragile looking old man could reply, a shout came from among the audience. A man sprang from his seat and pointed at Kadyn. "You thief, return my possession!"

    Kadyn peered at the man, and his lips curled into a weird angle. Who''d have thought you''ll send yourself to me this easily? He thought and said. "What are you shouting for?"

    The man didn''t stay in his seat and rushed towards the stage amidst the crowd. "You still dare to ask the reason, you bastard!?" his shout reverberated in the entire hall that made Kadyn frown. How shameless and disgusting and ungrateful can someone be? This was a living example.

    Kadyn had saved his life, but he tried to kill him in return. Though he failed in the end, Kadyn took his spoils¡ªthat he had taken after killing his ownpanion¡ªand escaped with the help of shop teleportation. But this guy...too shameless.

    The man turned towards the old man and sped his hands and bowed, with a sobbing face. "My Lord, this kid had deceived me. I have helped and saved his life. But in return he killed mypanion when we were sleeping and injured me heavily and robbed my hundred magic stones before escaping. I was injured so I could not chase after him. Who could have thought that this shameless kid was the owner of this ce? He must have built it with the help of my money!"

    The audience gasped. 100 magic stones! That was a huge sum, even for a wealthy noble. Much less to themoner. What kind of dogshit luck one would need to get that many stones in some random cave? However in the end he lost his valuables, filling him with resentment. Audience gloated at his misery.

    "Is that true?" the old man gave a hard look to that man.

    "Ye-yes, My Lord. I wouldn''t dare to lie in front of you." He stammered and lowered his head.

    "You bastard! I saved your life, and it was you who killed yourpanion, and that bag was stuffed with trash herbs!" Kadyn roared when he heard the usation. However, immediately realising that he made a terrible blunder. He shouldn''t have spoken at all. He was just too young and rash and inexperienced. He didn''t think before speaking.

    "Oh, so it''s really true," as expected, the old man''s eyes lit-up and said. "A thief and murderer like you, has no right to live in this society."

    Kadyn no longer refused or tried to exin himself. He knew that no one would believe him in this situation. So he turned towards the main viin and asked. "Tell me your motive directly. Don''t try to justify your detestable intent behind other people''s baseless usations. Everyone can tell that you had evil inventions from the start."

    "So what?" the old man sneered. "Can you do anything to me? Do you think that useless formation would work on me? Go ahead and activate it. I want to see how powerful that so-called formation is. However before that let me show you something¡­ " he said and pped. From the doorway of the Auction Hall, seven people entered.

    Two potbellied kids dragged Hicka into the Auction Hall, covered in blood, beaten, and almost unconscious. Crimson liquid dripped on the floor¡ªdrip, drip, drip¡ªwith each step they took, leaving red-marks behind as they passed. Kadyn sighed and eyed the other four people behind the first group.

    He wasn''t surprised by seeing Fenon, Jenna, and Fatty One. However he narrowed his eyes, spotting Shum in that group. He was the same kid who caused trouble for Kadyn when he sold his very first Soothing Drop to Khrom. At that time, Khrom was terribly injured and needed instant treatment. Therefore, even though he was suspicious, he still bought a potion that solved his predicament.

    Kadyn never thought that this dolt had done that on purpose¡ªhe thought he was just some arrogant cunt, trying to unt his awesomeness. Now, it seems, everyone works for Association. But that also seems somewhat off¡ªat that time, he had no feud with Association, so why?

    Fenon''s group arrived in front of the stage and each of them bowed towards the three elders. Then Fenon taunted Kadyn. "Today, I will wash away my humiliation. Do you regret what you did?"

    "Moron," Kadyn said. "With one skeleton, and two minions, you want to make me regret?"

    Fenon''s face was nk for a second before Kadyn''s words sank into his head. He pointed at him with his trembling index finger and roared. "How dare you insult Elder, Association Leader and Potioneer Yel!"

    Everyone looked at the three of them with weird expressions. The Elder, whom Kadyn described as a skeleton¡ªand he really was a skeleton in every sense¡ªroared. "Surrender or you won''t see your friend alive, kid?!"

    Kadyn paused and eyed Hicka, whoid on the ground, twitching, gasping, and moaning, then said. "Ah, yes, my friend." He ced his hand under his chin and thought about something before sighing, "Old Man, you''ve really got me this time..."

    "That''s good you understand." The so-called Elder interrupted before Kadyn could finish talking. "Hand over all the Potion Forms you have ande with us. We won''t do anything to you."

    "Do you even know the basic etiquette, old man?" Kadyn said. "You shouldn''t interrupt someone in between while he''s talking." Before the trembling old man could lose his temper, Kadyn went on. "As for my friend, sigh, people need to sacrifice some things in their life to achieve greatness. Brother Hicka, I won''t forget your sacrifice."

    Everyone looked at him with a dumbfounded expression. No one could believe their ears. Even Elora felt her head spinning. What the hell is going on?! Why brother is talking nonsense? Is he really going to sacrifice, brother Hicka?!!

 Chapter 51 - Thrashing

    Hicka as well looked up and stared at Kadyn and said with his mournful voice. "Bro-brother Kadyn, please, save me." He tried to stand up but failed and fell again and continued twitching on the ground.

    "Sorry, brother, but I have to sacrifice you," Kadyn said and ced his hands behind his back. He turned towards the group of people that wanted to tear him apart piece by piece and smiled jubntly and said. "Go ahead, kill him. Though I would feel great pain, some things one ought to do if he wants to shatter the limit of the cocoon and be a butterfly." His voice was filled with righteousness. But when people spotted that wretched smile on his face, their hearts trembled.

    "Cocoon? Butterfly? My ass!" Association Leader cursed. "You knew everything, didn''t you?"

    "Oh," Kadyn looked at the man and asked with an I-am-clueless expression. "I don''t know what you are talking about? Please, borate."

    "You knew that Hicka was working for us!" Association Leader pointed at Kadyn and roared.

    Everyone peered at Kadyn''s smiling face and understood the entire situation. Hicka was a viper in the hide of a friend, so that''s why he refused to bow down previously in front of his enemies for his so-called friend.

    "How?" Hicka said and climbed up from the ground, ncing at Kadyn confusedly, his wounds healing rapidly. "I don''t think I''ve ever made a mistake. Even in the Association, only three people knew about my secret. Then how is it possible for you to know this?!"

    Fenon and other''s sprang in fright spotting Hicka''s terrible wounds healing with visible eyes. Even Kadyn''s Soothing Drop was nothing in front of this speed. In no time his wounds patched as if they were never there. Fenon knew how terrible his wounds were, however they vanished in a blink.

    "Potioneer Yel''s skills are really praiseworthy," Kadyn said. "Healing your wounds almost instantly. If I''m not wrong, this should be the Rank 1 healing potion you have just used."

    "Yo-you¡­" Hicka pointed at Kadyn and wanted to retort him but he felt as if a lump had stuck in his throat¡ªhe could not find any word to refuse Kadyn''s words. Then he screamed. "How''d you know all this?!"

    "Why are you still asking him like a dunce," the skeleton elder snorted, his voice still filled with confidence. "We just need to interrogate him. I''ve had enough of this drama. On your knees, brat!"

    As he said a terrible pressure engulfed the entire hall, turning everyone pale with fright. However his main target Kadyn was still standing in the same ce and with the same disdainful smirk on his face. The old man realised that his pressure wasn''t doing anything to Kadyn, he unleashed his entire power, trying to get Kadyn on his knees but to no avail. "What, how could this be?!" he screamed, not believing his own eyes. Kadyn was just a puny Elementary Mage. How could he hold against his pressure?

    "Because you''re standing in front of me, moron," Kadyn lunged at him. The old man didn''t move from his ce and just eyed Kadyn disdainfully, as Kadyn reached around five meters from him, he tried to catch him by his throat. However, to his horror, he realised that he could not move! Before he could understand anything, a p reverberated throughout the hall.

    The elder had been smashed over ten meters away, red palm print had been etched on the right side of his face, drops of blood trickled from the corner of his lip; eyes wide, almost bulging out of their sockets. His body trembled in humiliation and fury and indignance.

    The hissing and gasping reflected in the entire hall, Elder Yel and the Association Leader stared with a dumbfounded look, disbelief written all over their faces. That old man was an elder of the Magic Association¡ªHeadquarter¡ªRank 2 magus. How could a brat like Kadyn defeat him? That makes no sense at all!

    "p!"

    "p!"

    Just as they were trying to process the situation, both of them felt a burning sensation on their faces, smashing them into the ground. The duo screeched and yelled andnded over ten meters away, among the audience.

    "I''ll ughter you, boy!" the elder yelled. However when he tried to cast a spell, his face paled. He could no longer feel his sea of consciousness. "This-this¡­"

    "What, you want to cast a spell?" Kadyn mocked. "Go ahead, I''m waiting. Hit me,e on, hit me."

    Everyone''s expression turned weird, hearing Kadyn''s words. Why do his words feel so vulgar?

    The old man clenched his teeth until blood rolled out of his mouth. He tried again and again and again but to no avail, failing miserably every time. Now fear started to grip his heart¡ªhe could not feel his sea of consciousness as if it never existed. What kind of power would someone need to do something like this? Rank 3? No, not even Rank 3 or even Rank 4 would be able to do something this insane!

    "Bang!"

    "Ahh!"

    Kadyn gave no time to the so-called Elder of the Magic Association, and his kicknded on his abdomen, a mournful shriek that escaped from his mouth, sent a chill in everyone''s body.

    Others turned pale with fright, witnessing this. Especially Association Leader and Elder Yel¡ªthey knew how powerful that elder was. However, in front of Kadyn, he was nothing but a punching bag.

    At this moment Kadyn turned towards Hicka. He didn''t feel resentful towards the Association Leader or Elder Yel or even that old man. However he treated Hicka as a friend or even brother, but he betrayed him. His heart turned cold when he first realised that he was a spy. He felt terrible fury burning inside his heart, he wanted to thrash this bastard until no breath left inside his body.

    Hicka spotted Kadyn''s gaze and his entire being trembled and turned pale, and then he fell on his knees, pleading. "Please, please, forgive me, brother Kadyn. I was forced to do everything."

    Kadyn strolled towards him and asked with a nonchnt expression. "Really?"

    "Yes, yes, they made me do everything. They are bad people. Yes, bad people."

    "Boom!"

    "Ahhh!"

    Kadyn smashed into Hicka''s head and the boy rolled on the ground and moaned and snorted and choked. "Do you take me for a fool? A magus of Psychic element with ten awakened stars like you have turned into this, what a waste. I have to say that I''m impressed by your determination, you''ve let them beat you like a pig but never told them the truth, impressive.

    "However I still don''t know the purpose behind all this¡ªwhat was your purpose behind all this? Tell me if you all don''t want to die."

    He turned towards the Association Leader and asked. "Tell me! Or you die!"

    "You''ll kill us if we tell you," he stood and said with a weak voice and pale face, looking at Kadyn with a frightful expression. He realised that he made a terrible, terrible mistake by making Kadyn his enemy. He made such a blunder for some stupid benefits.

    Kadyn had an urge to kick this man again and again, breaking his every bone and crush him under his boot. "Do you fucking take me some kind of murder-maniac?! Tell me and I will let you live, or else you''ll really die today!" Kadyn''s heart was already boiling with rage and this stupid pig, even in this situation, was trying to mess with him.

    "I''ll tell you but on one condition." Finally the Association Leader made up his mind.

 Chapter 52 - Worse Than Death(1)

    Kadyn nced at the middle-aged man with an amused and intrigued expression and said: "Mr Leader, I think you don''t realise what kind of situation you are in right now, do you?"1

    Association Leader Barret Duncan felt a chill, spotting a smirk on Kadyn''s face. He wiped the sweat off his temples, trying to suppress the growing apprehension inside his heart. He felt furious and humiliated and fearful at the same time. Barret waspletely helpless in front of this brat. He gritted his teeth and replied. "I know that we aren''t in a position to negotiate, but I still hope that you will listen to me. Otherwise we won''t feel safe."

    Kadyn stared at him and said nothing, waiting for him to finish. "I want you to sign a Spirit Contract that you won''t hurt us." In the end Barret Duncan said.

    The murmurs filled the Auction Hall when people heard his words. Kadyn had some understanding about the so-called Spirit Contract due to assimting the knowledge of the three Elementary Scrolls. As the name implies, it was a contract, but no one could break this contract or that person would receive a tremendous bacsh and his/her soul might shatter due to this bacsh.

    Thinking about this, Kadyn curled his lips and said. "Sure, but I will be the one who writes the terms and conditions. You can reject it if you don''t like it, but don''t expect me to be lenient with you at that time. Deal?"

    He knew that it wouldn''t be easy to make them spit the information about his parents, as it was theirst hope to survive. Therefore he decided to take a step back. He would have many chances to get even with them in the future.

    Barret Duncan hesitated for a moment and nced towards the elder before giving his nod. Kadyn smiled at his gesture and turned towards the audience before speaking apologetically. "I beg your pardon. Today, there won''t be any auction." Kadyn turned towards Elora and went on. "Show the way to everyone."

    Though the girl pouted hearing his words; he wanted to send her away again. However she stillplied with his words and strolled towards the gate of the Hall. After that no one dared to make a noise and slowly started their departure. The Elders of the two families¡ªIrabel and Palius¡ªsighed dejectedly and stood up as well. Although they wanted to see the conclusion of this event. No one was daring enough to stay after Kadyn''s words.

    As the hunter, who almost killed Kadyn in the Panoramic Forest, saw this, he too wanted to escape. However Kadynughed coldly at his action and grabbed the man by his throat, who struggled and gurgled and fumbled in his hand like a chicken at the chopping board.

    "Still want to run, huh?" Kadyn sneered. "I''ve never seen someone as shameless as you in my life. Now you need to pay the price for your shamelessness¡ªone needs to take responsibility for his every action, right?"

    "Hmm, hmmm¡­.gurgellesd," the man struggled in his hand but to no avail. At this moment the fire started to gather on Kadyn''s hand and took the form of an arrow. This was the first spell pattern he had learned. Arrow Rush. Spotting the arrow in Kadyn''s hand, man''s struggle intensified. He fumbled his legs this and that way with horrified eyes.

    "Puchi!"

    Without any deliberation, the arrow prated the man at the centre of his forehead and opened a hole in a skull¡ªthe struggle stopped as the lustre in his eyes faded and the life left from his body. Putang! Kadyn threw the man without any emotions on his face. It was a weird feeling. He had never killed before; and yet he felt nothing after killing the first man in his life ever. He looked at the corpse on the ground and took a deep breath. The calmness in his eyes almost terrified everyone to the brink of crying.

    He gazed around and saw some of the people¡ªwho had still to exit the hall¡ªstaring at him with terror-stricken looks. As his eyes fell on them, that almost petrified and appalled several people as they rushed out of the Auction Hall with trembling legs.

    Kadyn cared a little about those people and turned towards Barret Duncan. Then he gaped at Fenon and others, who turned pale in fear and stumbled back with their shivering legs. Though there was a smile on Kadyn''s handsome face at this moment, to them, he was no less than a devil from their gruesomest nightmare.

    "Wh-what do you want to do?!" Fenon stammered with an aghast face and weak voice. None of his previous arrogance could be heard from his voice at this moment. Now he realised that he had hit the iron te filled with poisonous thorns.

    Nheless, Kadyn didn''t pay any heed to Fenon and turned towards Hicka and shook his head disappointedly. "Your Psychic element is truly powerful. You can control your emotions, that''s truly admirable. s, but I''m really disappointed with your actions. I thought that I got a true brother."

    "Humph!" Hicka snorted, not willing to reply.

    Kadyn shook his head, and a screen appeared in front of him that only he could see.

    [Employee Name: Hicka]

    [Employee Rank: None]

    [Magus Rank: 10-star elementary mage]

    [Element: Psychic]

    [Energy Points: 0]

    [Loyalty: 0]

    [Evaluation: Traitor, a professional killer and a rapist]

    [Murder: 30]

    [R*pe: 23]

    [Activate the punishment: Y/N]

    Kadyn looked at him and said. "A person like you does not deserve to live."

    As Kadyn''s furious words rumbled in the Hall, Hicka started to scream as he fell on the ground, rolling and wriggling like a worm that he was. "Ahhh! Ahhh!! Stop this!!"

    However Kadyn smiled and watched the process emotionlessly. He also knew nothing about what would happen in the end. A punishment worse than death, huh?

    Anyone who saw Hicka''s condition felt a chill in his spine. No one understood what was going on as Kadyn had just spoken to him and he started to scream like a crazy maniac. That made everyone even more fearful and apprehensive towards this teenager boy whom they had never put in their eyes.

    After five minutester Hicka stopped struggling andid on the ground. If not for the twitching of his body, people would have thought that he had died. He slowly turned his gaze towards Kadyn and said with hatred and terror-filled broken voice. "My Elemental Pool~ give-give me back my Elemental Pool!"

    At first Kadyn was confused, but then a thought urred inside his head and his eyes widened. Then he snorted coldly. Serves you right. But then he thought, that doesn''t sound like a punishment worse than death, right?

    As this thought appeared inside Kadyn''s head, something started to happen to Hicka that made even his face pale in fear. This was too much to watch!

 Chapter 53 - Worse Than Death(2)

    Hicka produced a heart-wrenching screech that made everyone''s scalp tingle in dread. However the main source of their terror wasn''t his screaming but the scene that unfolded afterwards.

    His hair started to fall, and in no time, he became bald without a single hair in his head. Even whiskers fell like a nt that caught a gue. But the terror had just begun¡ªck mote surfaced on his skin and spreaded over his body, covering his entire being in ck specks.

    As the process continued, Hicka''s howls grew ceaselessly; one could not envisage what kind of pain he must be going through to scream like this horrendously. His voice turned hoarse and croaky, his pping and fumbling and quivering body started to lose its strength. In the end he could only twitch, but not move.

    However this wasn''t the end. The ck skin over his body turned gloopy, and the yellow pus-filled his body. The twitching over his bald scalp could be seen¡ªthen something even more horrifying happened. His ears started to melt, turning into liquid and dripping on the ground, bit by bit, drop by drop.

    Then his nose turned into fluid, rolling down from his face, his lips vanished as well, revealing ck¡ªthat should be pink¡ªgum inside his mouth. Hicka truly had turned into a man of horror at this moment.

    "This this?!" Association Leader Barret Duncan screamed. Others also gawked at the scene with spooked gazes. None of them had seen such a thing ever in their lives. Such a horror could only happen in nightmares, not in real life.

    "This is too horrifying." The elder that acted arrogantly just a few minutes before, was shivering like a scaredy-cat and gulping down with trepidation. He looked aged than before, weak and feeble and older. If he had known that this innocent and frail-looking kid was this nightmarish, even someone had beaten him to death, he would have never dared toe here. s, there was no medicine of regret in this world.

    Behind both of them stood Elder Yel timidly. He had no courage nor strength to speak at this moment. His face portrays the dread inside his heart. His legs trembled, and it looked like he wouldn''tst long; but he remained standing, gawking at Hicka and his rotting self.

    On the other side, Fenon and others had already wet their pants; Jenna wasn''t an exception. All of them gathered at the corner timidly and looked at the horror taking ce in front of their eyes. None of them paid heed that they had already pissed their pants and the liquid puddled under their feet as the reek wafted them.

    Just when everyone thought that this nightmare was about to end, something more scalp-tingling and terror-stricking started to happen¡ªinside the pus small worms started to wriggle. As that happened, Hicka gave a heart-wrenching screech and once more started to howl like a madman on the floor.

    Now even Kadyn felt his heart clenching in trepidation. This Punishment Worse than Death was too horrifying, too too horrifying. Inside the pulpy head of Hicka wrigglers squirmed. In no time his entire body filled with maggots. Twisting and turning and eating the fresh pus that had formed on his skin. The rotten stench of the flesh wafted the entire hall.

    Kadyn had the urge to vomit but he controlled himself. However others couldn''t hold. Barret and Elder Yel and the old man shot the food out of their mouths that they had eaten not long before.

    As Kadyn''s heart was filled with disgust and unease, a voice sounded inside his head.

    [Punishment worse than death haspleted]

    Kadyn couldn''t help but think that the maker of the system must be some kind of crazy maniac to do such a thing. Then again, betrayal could be really fatal sometimes¡ªit could destroy empires and ns and even civilisations in a matter of a blink and turn them into dust. So it wasn''t too surprising that the system gave such a harsh punishment for a betrayal. He wondered if the creator of the system was betrayed by someone, for him to be this harsh towards this certain aspect.

    At this time yelling of the kid on the ground also stopped, and heid on the floor without any movement. However Kadyn could tell that he wasn''t dead. System won''t let him die this soon, or how could it consider punishment worse than death? He needed to live, live like this, fumbling everywhere, a life worse than death. Furthermore Kadyn didn''t feel any remorse either. Because he didn''t juste to him with ulterior motives, he was a murderer and a rapist.

    Even in his previous world, Kadyn believed that rapists¡ªwere worse than killers¡ªshould be sentenced to death. However those moronic politicians never took action regarding this, speaking that death was unfair punishment. It was because of that those people dared to do such disgusting acts. They had no fear ofw, as they knew they would be able to escape easily aftermitting such a crime.

    He looked at the boy covered in yellow slime and frowned. How should I send him out of this ce? Of course, he didn''t want to touch that gross skin and drag him out of his shop. At this moment his gaze fell on the group of youngsters and his eyes lit up.

    "Youe here," he said with amanding tone. Not giving any room to argue.

    Fenon and others heard him and started to howl and beg.

    "Please, please, forgive me. I was stupid, bastard, mother-fucker, to have the courage to fight with you. Sir, please, I don''t want to be like that. I would be a horse or dog if you want. One chance, one chance, please." Fenon urged with a snotty nose and crying eyes. However no one mocked him. After seeing that scene of horrors, how could they care about these petty things?

    Kadyn gawked at them and curled his lips. He knew they had mistaken his intentions, but he had no desire to correct them. He peered at them sternly and said. "If you don''t want to turn like that abomination. Take him out of the shop. I don''t care where you will throw him, but I don''t want to see him near my shop ever. Do you get it?"

    All of them looked at Kadyn nkly, then a sick expression appeared on their faces. They were already having difficulty controlling the urge to puke. However Kadyn didn''t give them a second choice. Either take him out of the shop or apany that horror of a man. The choice was obvious.

    Just when they moved towards the man filled with pus and rotten skin and stench worse than a rotten dog, Kadyn''s voice sounded. "You would remain here, Jenna."

 Chapter 54 - Spirit Contract

    Jenna froze on the spot and looked at Kadyn with quivering eyes. Hands trembled and lips shivered. Then she stammered. "Kad-Sir, please, forgive me. I was wrong, but I never had any intention to harm Elora."

    As she spoke, she fell on her knees and started to sob. Kadyn cared a little about her antic emotional melodrama¡ªshe should have thought about this before hurting his sister¡ªhe turned towards Fenon before speaking. "You also stay here."

    The boy, who had just sighed in relief, tumbled back and almost fell on his butt in trepidation. Fenon''s face paled and horror was evident on his handsome face. Just as he was about to open his mouth, Kadyn said. "No need to beg. It won''t do any good, other than annoying me."

    Hearing these words, Fenon felt as if the soul had almost left his body. Looking at the condition of Hicka, he felt as if vipers were crawling on his neck. No one could tell how much misery and pain Hicka was feeling at this moment. Moreover, no one wanted to know that either. Such a misery, such an ending. Too frightening.

    "You can go," Kadyn said towards others. "However, remember to be more tactful in the future."

    "Ye-yes, sir," Shum said in a fearful voice. "Th-thank you for be-being merciful."

    Then they held a chunk of meat that was filled with dripping pus and wriggling maggots. As they felt the gooeyness on their hands, their faces paled and Big One puked; following him, all of them did the same, the stench was unbearable; on top of that the disgusting pus and worms that touched their hands made their gut to lurch.

    However, when Kadyn''s cold eyes fell into their view, none of them dared to remain in this damnable ce, and scurried out of the hall. Just as they left, Elora rushed inside with a horrified face. "What was that?!" she demanded. She saw something outside that looked like a human, but not a human in any way.

    Kadyn had no intention to reply to her question directly as it would make the situation even moreplicated, and he wouldn''t be able to respond to the shower of questions that woulde afterwards.

    "It''s good you''re here. Now tell me, how do you want to deal with them?" As he said, he pointed towards Fenon and Jenna, whose expressions turned stiff immediately before a gush of delight rushed out of their faces. They would endure any punishment if they could escape that certain horror. They would even die happily to avoid bing that abomination.

    Elora peered at the duo and looked at them with narrow eyes. At this moment she felt no kinship with that girl who was like her sister at some point; now she was aplete stranger to her. "No need to do anything to them." She said and shook her head. "I have already forgotten everything."

    A jubnt expression appeared on the duo''s face. They could escape this cmity. However, at this moment a voice that was like the voice of Yama King to them sounded, almost freezing their heart. "How could you let them go just like this?" Kadyn said, a little dissatisfied. "At least shatter their Elemental Pool, cripple them. You already know what kind of intention this mother-fucking maggot Fenon had previously. Jenna had betrayed your trust. Every person should pay for their actions."

    "Humph, if you''ve already decided then why are you even asking me." Elora scoffed. "Do whatever you want, but don''t ask my opinion about anything in the future." She said and dashed out of the hall, leaving only frowning Kadyn behind. She is too na?ve. He thought and shook his head.

    "Your luck is too good. Get lost and don''t show me your face again!" He was furious. Why did he even ask her opinion? He should have punished them before asking her. But it was who suffered, so he thought that only she had the right to decide their fate.

    As they spotted how furious Kadyn was, both of them dared to stay no further¡ªwhen the duo vanished, Kadyn turned towards the trio that was waiting for a long time. At this moment, their faces were pale. The scene had a tremendous impact on them, but Kadyn had to say that these people were really something. Even after watching such a horrifying scene, no one fell unconscious, not even those six morons.

    Just as he was about to speak, his nose twitched. This ce was filled with a disgusting stench. But as he thought about it, a window popped out in front of him and a voice resounded in his head.

    [Do you want to clean the shop? Y/N]

    Kadyn obviously chose yes with shining eyes. He had never known that such an option was avable. Maybe it was because this was simr to arranging the buildings in the shop¡ªhe could arrange the buildings from one ce to another. Cleaning wasn''t a big deal.

    [Energy Points: 217-10¡ú 207]

    Just as he was rejoicing that such an amazing function was avable for him, another notification appeared that left him agape. 10 energy points. Damn! With that amount I can travel to any ce on the Pengo! He felt as if his heart was bleeding, but he could do nothing about this. I wonder how much this damn thing would cost to build a house?

    [You can''t curse the System: 207-10¡ú197]

    In the process of pondering, he forgot a rule and lost an extra 10 points just like that. Kadyn looked at the window and took a deep breath before sighing, not saying anything. It looks like his tolerance had increased.

    At this moment, small gales of wind appeared inside the Auction Hall. From wherever those gales passed, the stink faded. Due to Hicka rolling at that ce, the pus and worms had fallen there, but as the gust passed, they had also vanished.

    On the other side, three people saw this entire process with their beady eyes and agape mouth. None of them could tell the source of those gales. Furthermore, how could the stench and the pus vanish just like that? It was like they had been transported with those gusts.

    Kadyn turned towards three of them, who were gawking at him incredulously, and said with a grin. "Now, let''s sign the Spirit Contract, shall we?"

 Chapter 55 - Doppelganger

    Kadyn sat on his plush chair and looked at the contract that he had signed with a smirking face. "Now three of them can''t do anything to retaliate. On the contrary, they have to listen to my every demand. Most of all, the danger has gone, and I can go anywhere in the city without worry."

    Then he frowned. "Barret said the people of Rirus Empire had been killed while traveling back and mother had vanished mysteriously without a trace. What does that mean? Did someone save her? Didn''t father go after her? If he sessfully rescued her somehow, then where are they now?"

    Kadyn''s brows creased and wrinkles formed on his temples as he pondered hard about the situation, but to no avail. In the end, he shook his head and put the contract away and stretched his arms and neck before standing up as he muttered with some expectations. "Let''s check out the Level 1 Meditation Room."

    Previously, he could not examine any ce after the upgrade, as he was busy brewing potions for auction. But now, he had all the time to do whatever he wanted. However what depressed him was the price of 1 hour¡ªit was 10 energy points.

    He entered the room and could immediately tell how dense the mana was inside. It was over three to four times or even five times aspared to before, and he felt it just by standing at the corner of the room. He could already imagine how insane his meditating speed would be when meditating for real.

    Kadyn looked around in astonishment. The formation had changed. Though he could still not tell the head or the tail of the formation, but this formation was giving a kind of golden hew that was mysterious.

    After peering around, he sat at the center of the formation that was etched on the floor, eager to check out the efficiency of the Level 1 Meditation Room.

    He activated his Chaos Elemental Form with the help of Lightning Element. Immediately, a rush of mana poured into his body, gushing like a turbulent of a wind. Kadyn was surprised that an extensive amount of lightning element was rushing into his Elemental Pool.

    Previously, when he meditated, there was only a tiny amount of elemental energy that would gather around him or he would absorb. Right now, he could ingest much faster and arger quantity!

    This was certainly due to the upgrade. After all, his mediation ground had already reached the level of Spell Casters¡ªon the level of Elementary Mage, one would use star patterns to cast spells while the Spell Casters had no such thing like star patterns. They would control elemental power directly through spells that they could cast by using Spiritual Energy. They would not need something like stars that Elementary Level Magus used.

    [One lightning star has been awakened: 8+1¡ú 9]

    Not even ten minutes passed, and a star awakened. Purple lightning gathered on his body, whizzing and fizzing, but he didn''t feel ufortable and continued to drive it into the Lightning Elemental Pool. Around fifteen minutester, a final star also awakened. Kadyn beamed with joy, his heart was filled with ecstasy and exultation, but he didn''t stop, and switched to another element.

    ¡ª¡ª

    While Kadyn was immersed in Mediation, thousands of miles away from him in a dangerous wilderness, two shadows shed, dashing through the woods in the murkiness of night¡ªa man and a woman. However, a man was shouldering another woman on his back, who had a pale face and shriveled hair. She was coiling her hands around that man''s neck to support herself.

    "There are two men in the right." Eddena said with a tired voice. "That is the weakest point of their encirclement."

    "What is their strength?" Magnus asked. Fatigue was visible in his eyes.

    She took a deep breath and replied. "ording to the mana fluctuation I have felt from them¡ªone should be Level 2 and another Level 3 Spell Caster."

    Magnus clenched his hand furiously and said through his gritting teeth. "If I''ve recovered my strength, if¡­"

    If? There weren''t many ifs and buts in this world. One needed to act ording to the situation, and Magnus knew that pretty well. Taking a deep breath, he said. "You tackle Level 3 and I will finish that Level 2."

    Once upon a time he had the power to crush these people under his feet like ants. However, he had destroyed that strength, for the sake of apanying his beloved, he was no more that domineering Magnus Von Hagen of the past. He was just a weak man who wanted to escape and save his wife and meet his children. And he knew that.

    "You don''t need to feel indignant." Eddena''s heart pained when she saw Magnus'' crestfallen face. "You just need to recover your powers slowly. At that time, no one would be able to stop you. We would make them pay one by one."

    Magnusughed at her words mockingly. It was ''he'' who destroyed his strength. And now he wanted that power back to ughter his enemies. He believed that if anyone knew this truth, they wouldugh and mock him for being such a dunce. However, he felt no remorse for what he did; he would do the same if he was given a chance again. He had forsaken that power for this woman on his back and he would embrace it again just for the sake of this woman. That''s how much he loved her.

    Salona tightened her grip and leaned on his back as teardrops fell on her husband''s broad shoulders. Magnus stiffened immediately¡ªrealising that the woman he loved so much was crying¡ªand groped her round butt tightly. Salona cried out loudly at Magnus'' action and bit his ear furiously. "Ouch," he yelled, but thenughed. "I love my tigress, not whimpering, frail and fragile looking woman."

    Before she could reply, he shushed her. As he spotted two shadows about two hundred meters ahead of them and a fierce glint passed through his eyes before speaking to Eddena in a serious tone. "We need to finish them as quickly as possible. We can''t give others any chance to surround us again."

    Eddena nodded and bolted towards her prey. However, before she could catch that man off guard, he spotted her; after all, he was also a Level 3 Spell Caster like Eddena¡ªwith a startled face he peered at the woman in front of him and brought a talisman in his hand. But Eddena gave him no chance to signal hispanions and jabbed with full force, as out of nowhere a ck dagger formed in her hand.

    However, that man wasn''t easy prey, either. Before her dagger could reach him, arge shield appeared in his hand and blocked the attack. Just as he thought that he had blocked the attack sessfully, his face paled in terror, because the woman in front of him started to be illusory and then fadedpletely. "Dark Doppelganger?!" he cried. That was a spell only highest ranking nobles in the Nightshade could practice, and even among them, a very few could seed.

    [Author''s Note: Nightshade is kingdom of vampires]

 Chapter 56 - Going Out

    "Puchi!"

    Eddena rematerialised behind him, sensing a threating from his rear, the man tried to duck in the hopes of avoiding the attack. However, at this moment a dagger prated his left shoulder from behind. He gave a heart-wrenching shriek and struggled to free himself.

    Eddena gave him no chance to unbound himself and continued to pierce her dagger until it punctured his vulnerable heart. The man''s mouth coughed, but no blood came out of his mouth, as there was no blood inside his body¡ªthen his body started to lose its strength and the lustre of a living from his eyes faded and his body copsed without a shred of life.

    Not far away there was another man. He saw the battle and turned pale with fright. However, just as he was about to signal other people, a w appeared out of nowhere clutched his throat, hanging him like a chicken in the air. He was shocked and horrified, he didn''t even notice the slightest fluctuation from this man. How much experience one would need to have such control over his strength, to be this stealthy?

    Nheless, Magnus gave him no chance to plead for mercy, as he had no time for that, and twisted his neck before he crumbled on the ground¡ªthe rosiness had vanished from his face, bing paler, then almost white, as his body was in an ice cube.

    Magnus looked towards Eddena and coiled his arms around Salona''s butt who was leaning over his shoulder¡ªand the trio bolted into the horizon. Themotion would definitely attract others. It wouldn''t be wise to stay any further.

    Around twenty secondster, clouds of shadows dashed towards that particr location. They looked at the corpses on the ground. A man who had ck hair, a pale but handsome face. He was tall and robust, releasing terrible pressure. He looked into a distance and curled his lips, murmuring. "I wonder how long you''ll be able to run, Magnus." Then he turned around and shouted towards other shadows. "After them!"

    ¡ª¡ª

    As the next day began, Kadyn walked out of the meditation room. After stretching for some time, he peered around, looking at the silent and quiet shop in front of him, engulfed in the gentle warmth of morning sunshine. The garden looked beautiful, butterflies flew and honey bees gathered around flowers. It was six o''clock. He had spent eight hours in meditating¡ª

    [Energy Points: 197-80¡ú 117]

    At this moment Elora walked out of the Potion Hall, yawning and rubbing and stumbling. She wanted to use the Meditation Room as well. However, Kadyn didn''t permit it, as she was already an employee of the shop. She needed to earn her own Energy Points before she could utilize facilities in the shop.

    "You''re here," Kadyn had a gentle smile and said. "I''m going out to look around. As I don''t know much about the city." He said. His predecessor was really too useless. "Can you be my guide?"

    "I don''t have time for that, humph!" she snorted. "I need to practice. After all, I don''t have something like Meditation Room to aid me."

    Kadynughed at her tantrum. He knew that she was upset as he didn''t let her practice inside the mediation room anymore. He looked at her and shrugged his shoulders helplessly. "Aftering we will sell those potions. You''ll have enough points to use the Meditation Room."

    "Humph, that''s more like it," she said. "I''m going to take a bath. After that, we''ll go out."

    Kadyn shook his head. She was unaware that the meditation room wasn''t an old meditation room anymore. It needed more energy points to meditate inside. Though it wasn''t like that the Elementary level of the mediation room had disappeared. Kadyn could enable it whenever he wanted. But after testing the upgraded thing, he realised that the previous room was trash inparison.

    An hourter, Kadyn paddled the bicycle out of the shop while Elora sat on its broken back seat. "Let''s start with magic school. I haven''t gone there for ages." She said, "and please, change this cycle. It''s too embarrassing to go anywhere on it."

    Kadyn''s face reddened. He couldn''t deny his sister''s words. With no deliberation, he rode towards the magic school. Though he knew about the Glumsore School of wizardry as his predecessor went there to study. However, he wanted to see it himself. The duo arrived at their destination after fifteen minutes of riding. "So this is the Glumsore School of Wizardry, huh?"

    Kadyn eyed the gigantic board in front of him and nodded. Many students were entering and exiting the school. He turned around and said to his sister confusedly. "Why are there so many people this early? You used to go to school sote."

    "What does it have to do with you?!" Elora turned red when she heard his question. It seemed she wasn''t as wonderful a student as their mother thought her to be. He peered at her and curled his lips. This only red her anger and the girl shouted. "What are you looking at?!"

    Kadyn grinned and paddled his cycle. He didn''t want to add fuel to the fire. But as he was distracted he crashed into someone. "Ah, I''m really sorry." He apologised.

    In front of him was a voluptuous middle-aged woman, with ck hair. Her face couldn''t be described as beautiful but her body was erotic and arousing. She wore revealing clothes, her deep cleavage was visible as her front was open in a U shape. She red and pointed at him with a furious expression. "Are you blind?!" she screamed. "Can''t you see that someone is in front of you!"

    "I''m really sorry, mam," said Kadyn regretfully. "I didn''t mean to hit you."

    "Didn''t mean to, huh?" she sneered. "Do you know who I am?"

    "No, I don''t."

    "..."

    The woman turned red in anger. She directed her trembling finger at him, as her huge boobs jagged up and down and said. "You-you bastard. How dare you insult a teacher of Glumsore School of Wizardry?!" Then her gaze fell on Elora who was sitting behind Kadyn, looking at her furiously, and she scowled. "So it was you, bitch! Don''t you want to stay in school no more?!"

    Kadyn heard her words and his eyes turned cold. He was trying to appease the situation by being polite. But who would have thought that someone would assume his courteous behaviour as his weakness. She even dared to curse his sister. How dare she!

 Chapter 57 - Crazy Woman

    Kadyn clenched his fist and opened it before speaking in a calm voice. "Mam, mind your words. You said you''re a teacher but no one would be able to tell that after looking at the way you''re talking. You should conduct yourself like a teacher. Furthermore which teacher wears clothes like this whileing to school? Are you going to teach your students or seduce them?"

    "How dare you talk to me like this, brat?!" The woman lost her temper hearing Kadyn''s words. No one dared to insult her in school. How dare he?! Suddenly a pattern appeared under her feet and eight stars revolved around. Then the wind started to condense in her hand and took the shape of a de like a crescent moon that she threw at Kadyn.

    Kadyn finally lost his patience, he was trying to control his anger¡ªeven though his previous words were a little harsh¡ªand didn''t want to cause any trouble but who would have thought that this crazy woman would attack him without hesitating. How could she be a teacher? She was an arrogant and snobby woman who loved to show her big boobs and act conceited.

    "Brother!" Elora shouted when she saw Miss Tombend casting her most famous spell¡ªMoon de.

    However Kadyn just snorted and waved his hand, an arrow rushed out of his palm and shed with the wind, but the de was stronger and the arrow failed to stop it. Then he waved his hand again and two more arrows collided with the Moon de, stopping Miss Tombend''s attack sessfully. The process was pretty quick. No one saw when he formed his star pattern.

    Miss Tombend eyed Kadyn incredulously and couldn''t believe that this feeble and frail yet handsome looking kid, sessfully blocked her attack, without even budging from his ce.

    "What''s happening here?" just when she was about tounch another attack, a car arrived. A middle-aged man looked out from the window and said, "oh, it''s you, Miss Tombend. Come, I''ll give you a... ride."

    The way he said thest word was really weird. Kadyn turned around and eyed the man strangely. After looking at his luxurious car and the expensive suit he wore, he became certain that he really had a capability to give a¡­ ride to this half-naked Miss Tombend.

    Miss Tombend looked at the middle-aged man and her eyes lit up. She made a face as if she had faced the greatest injustice in this world. If Kadyn didn''t know this woman''s character already, even he would be deceived. "Principal, you''ve to help me. This brat dared to insult the dignity of Glumsore School of Wizardry, continuously badmouthing it. However, when I asked him to stop, he attacked me. If I wasn''t strong enough, he would have injured me."

    Kadyn left dumbfounded after hearing her words. From which angle this woman appeared to be a teacher? She was such a good actor and a liar.

    "You-you are lying!" Elora lost her temper when she heard her words. Miss Tombend saw this and a cunning light shed inside her eyes.

    "Shut up! Who asked for your opinion?!" Principal Lobo heard her and shouted furiously, but then, his gaze froze. He knew this girl! His eyes trembled and his face lost all colour. He saw a boy sitting on a shabby looking bicycle, staring at him with his emotionless eyes.

    At this moment, hundreds of students had also gathered around, looking at the show interestingly.

    "Is that kid out of his mind," someone from the crowd said,'''' he dared to enrage Miss Tombend. Everyone knows that she is a narrow-minded woman, and scuffling with her is a big no no."

    "Everyone knows an ambiguous rtionship between Principal Lobo and Miss Tombend. He would definitely teach those two harsh lesson. Didn''t he beat another teacherst time when he annoyed Miss Tombend?"

    "Shh, don''t speak loudly. You won''t be able to stay in school anymore if that crazy woman heard you."

    Miss Tombend looked at the man inside the car and said brightly. "Principle Lobo, you''ve to punish this brat and that slut."

    "Don''t try to cause trouble, Tombend!" Principal Lobo said as he opened the door of the car, walking out. The entire ce turned quiet immediately. Principal is trying to solve the matter? No one could believe it.

    "No, I want you to beat these two to death. If not, don''t even try to touch me from now on."

    Everyone sucked a cold breath at her words. This woman really didn''t have any sense of her surroundings.

    "Shut up!" Principal Lobo shouted in embarrassment. Though everyone knew about his rtionship with this woman, he never admitted it. Even when he had beaten another teacher, he found an excuse to do that.

    Miss Tombend turned pale at his shout. "Yo-you talked to me like this just for this pair of bastards?!"

    "I said shut up! Don''t you get it? Get lost from here. Or don''t me me for not caring about your gender!" he was bing more and more anxious. He tried to calm the situation with a few words but this braindead woman could not understand the severity of the matter.

    Miss Tombend turned red at his shout and anger red on his face. She pointed at Principle Lobo and screamed. "You dared to shout at me, Balsam Lobo! Do you think you can throw me away after fucking me just like this? Dream on!"

    Kadyn opened his eyes wide and looked at this crazy woman speechlessly. Other students also turned stiff after hearing her words. Few girls became red at her words and turned their heads away in embarrassment.

    Principal Lobo lost his temper. He bolted towards screaming Miss Lobo and pped her in anger as the crisp sound resounded in the surrounding area. She had been smashed two meters away and blood dripped from her cherry lips. A crimson palm printed could be seen on her left cheek. "You whore, how dare you trouble, Sir Kadyn," Principle roared. He tried again and again but this woman...

    Everyone gawked at him, even Kadyn was caught off guard by his words. ''Sir Kadyn?''.

    Instead of trying to save his reputation, he was angry that she troubled Kadyn. Was he really such a good man?

    Not caring about anyone, Balsam Lobo walked towards Kadyn and said with a timid voice. "Sir, Miss, please forgive me for my earlier rudeness. I was blind for not being able to recognise you."

    People gasped in amazement when they heard his words. What the heck is going on? No one knew.

    Kadyn peered at him with interest and said. "Do I know you?"

    "No, you don''t," Balsam said embarrassedly. "I was present in the auction yesterday."

    "Oh." Now Kadyn understood why this man looked fearful of him. Anyway, he couldn''t deny that he liked it when Balsam Lobo spoke to him in such a respectful tone. Anyone would like it, right?

    Miss Tombend heard their talk and her eyes widened. Why the hell this fucking man talking so respectfully to a kid who is riding a broken cycle? In a single look, anyone could tell that Kadyn was poor. He wore cheap clothes and rode a broken cycle that looked a few decades old. That was one of the reasons she dared to be so brazen previously.

 Chapter 58 - Humiliation

    Kadyn peered at Miss Tombend and turned towards Principal Balsam Lobo. "She dared to insult me and my sister time and again. How would you exin it?" Suddenly his expression turned fierce. He locked his gaze on the principal, waiting for his response.

    The man shivered and staggered back. He had seen Kadyn beating three Spell Casters like pigs without any fear. He was just a 10-star Elementary Mage and had no hope to break-through that legendary rank in his life. How could he contend with Kadyn? He felt inner reverence for him after yesterday''s event.

    Kadyn sneered and said. "I want her to bow down in front of us and say that she is a bitch. Or else¡­ trust me, you don''t want to know."

    Principal Lobo heard his threat and gulped hard. He nodded with some effort and turned towards Miss Tombend. "Do as Sir Kadyn tells you to do."

    "What happened to you, Balsam? You used to be so kind and gentle to me. However, today, you''re disregarding our rtionship for just these two kids?" Miss Tombend looked at the principal and started to sob.

    Tears fell from her eyes, rolling on her smooth, long neck and disappearing in between her deep cleavage. Several people spotted this scene and swallowed hard. Though Miss Tombend couldn''t be said to be the most beautiful woman in school, she was certainly the most sexy and appealing.

    "I don''t have all day to wait here," Kadyn said from the side, frowning at their melodrama while a little impatient look appeared on his face. "Make it fast, or if I move myself, it won''t end with just bowing down."

    "Ye-yes, sir," Lobo said and turned towards the woman and said with an angry voice. "Don''t you understand the situation? Are you a pig? I''m trying to save you, but you-you¡­" he stammered at this point. His body was trembling in anger. "Apologise to them, or don''t me me for being merciless. I assure you that I will beat you to death here and now!"

    Miss Tombend stared at the principal with wide eyes. She looked at his eyes filled with anger and swallowed her saliva nervously. Her body turned cold. She looked at the two kids in front of her and couldn''t tell what was so special about them that even principal feared and revered them. What is the background of these two? She thought while gritting her teeth in hatred.

    "Still not moving!"

    Miss Tombend trembled at his shout and hurriedly bowed towards Kadyn and Elora. Then, through her clenched teeth, she said. "I-Im sorry."

    "Heh? Is that supposed to be an apology?" Kadyn sneered. "There''s no sincerity in your voice. Are you apologising or insulting? And who would say that you''re a bitch!"

    "Don''t go too far, kid!" Miss Tombend''s anger again red. However, at this moment, a kick smashed into her chest. She screeched with pain and misery and rolled over twenty meters away. "You fucking whore! What did I say to you just now?! Do as you ask to do. One more disrespectful word and you''re dead!"

    Miss Tombened struggled to stand and red at Kadyn and Elora with hatred, but she no longer said any disrespectful words. Then she bowed and said. "I''m sorry for my earlier behaviour. I-I''m," she clenched her teeth, "I''m a bitch."

    "Nice boo...view. Nice view. Principal, scenery is pretty good around here...ouch!"

    Elora punched him from behind. She knew what Kadyn was talking about, as she sat just behind him and could see everything in front of Kadyn. As Miss Tombend bowed, her boobs started to sag, waving from left to right and right to left. Furthermore, she wore no bra and he could see her entire enticing chest underneath clearly, even her pink nipples.

    Though the Principal understood what he was talking about, he didn''t dare to point it out. "Sir, are you satisfied now?"

    "No, I''m not." At his words, everyone''s gaze turned weird, as if saying how much more do you want to look? I''m not talking about that you perverts. He wanted to scream at them but controlled the urge.

    He Ignored strange gazes and turned towards Lobo, speaking. "Cough, I mean, you dared to shout at my sister without any reason. Why haven''t you bowed down and apologised yet?"

    All the people in the surrounding gasped and sucked a cold breath. This kid really knows how to take revenge and humiliate others. Balsam Lobo gave a deep look to Kadyn and bowed before speaking. "I''m sorry for my earlier offence. I ask for your forgiveness, Miss."

    "Alright, you are forgiven," Kadyn said. "But next time, restrain your cow; don''t let her run amok."

    Principal turned red in embarrassment at his words. He nced at the Miss Tombend, who was trembling in rage, and sighed before nodding at Kadyn. "I''ll take care of it in the future."

    "Good, then I''ll take my leave now." He said and started to paddle his cycle before speaking to Elora. "I''m not letting youe here anymore. This school is filled with perverts. Not that they could teach you anything, anyway."

    Principal almost fell when he heard this statement. What do you mean by this school is filled with perverts?!! However, he didn''t dare toin. He swallowed his anger and indignation and humiliation and walked towards the trembling Tombend. Their rtionship had already be aughingstock; he couldn''t care less about the opinions of other people now. Not that anyone would dare to speak anything on his face.

    He held her hand and tried to drag her towards his car, but Tombend didn''t budge, ring at him like a viper. Principal looked at Tombend helplessly and said. "Come with me, and I''ll give you a reasonable exnation. The matter isn''t as simple as you think."

    Tombend stared at him deeply for around thirty seconds before speaking. "Exnation, yes, give me an exnation. I also want to know the fucking reason!"

    ¡ª¡ª

    "That woman''s so arrogant and aggressive," Elora said, with a little fear in voice. "She is a jealous woman and can''t tolerate someone more beautiful than her. She used to bully me and a few other girls in ss due to this reason. It''s good that principal controlled the situation today."

    "What do you know?!" Kadyn sneered. "That woman is all bark and no bite. She can just do some childish things to irritate others. However that principal is a calctive and cunning and vicious individual, just like a viper peering at you from thickets."

    Kadyn could sense people''s emotions, and he knew the genuine emotions of the principal. No matter how amazing an actor he was. Though not long before he realised that he could not tell emotions of someone who had reached the Spell Caster.

    "What do you mean?" Elora asked, confused.

    "You''ve spent so much time in that school. You should at least be aware of about the character of your principal. Do you think he is such a pleasant person, that he doesn''t feel any grievance towards me, after I''ve humiliated him to such an extent?"

    Elora was startled hearing Kadyn''s words, and a thoughtful expression appeared on her charming face. He was correct. Lobo is also narrow-minded like Miss Tombend. He would never forget today''s grievances. A worried look appeared on her face. "Would he find troubleter?"

    A vicious light flickered inside his eyes and he said. "How would I know? However, if he dared to do something, then he should not me me for being merciless."

    Kadyn stopped talking and rode his bicycle. After ten minutester they arrived at a bustling ce. Kadyn looked ahead of him and asked Elora. "Is that a marketce of Lower Town?"

 Chapter 59 - Dwarf

    Elora exined as the duo walked into the market. "The market is divided into different parts. This ce is a Vegetable and Fruit Market. There are other simr ces, such as Herb Market, Cloth Market, Food Market, essory Market, etcetera etcetera."

    Kadyn nodded and looked around at the different vegetable and fruit shops, selling apples, mangoes, grapes, potatoes, tomatoes, and many others. Though he had no intentions to buy anything.

    The duo crossed the Vegetable Market and arrived at the Metal Market. The sounds of iron hitting iron reverberated from different directions. Kadyn was interested in metals as he could use them to forge artifacts.

    Elora, who was beside him, seemed to understand his thoughts and said. "This is the Lower Town. Though they sell metals, they are of the poorest quality. They are adulterated. If you want something of good quality to forge artifacts, go to the Upper Town. These low-quality alloys can only be used to forge normal weapons; they won''t be able to bear the pressure from an Inscription(Array) and shatter in no time."

    Kadyn was surprised that Elora knew this much about the Artisans. As if knowing his thoughts, she replied. "Though I learned little about magic in school. I could learn somemon knowledge about the magic world."

    Hearing her words, Kadyn nodded and said. "It seems it wasn''tpletely useless to send you to that school of perverts."

    Elora turned red at his words. It seems he was still angry at Miss Tombend for insulting her.

    Not bothering with her, Kadyn looked around and went to check out the metals to different vendors. s, he failed to find any decent metal. All of them were mixed with hundreds of impurities; even he could not purify them. Even if he could, he won''t, as it required a lot of hard work. Profit didn''t match the investment.

    After ten minutester, Kadyn arrived in another ce.

    "Snap!"

    "Ahh!"

    He narrowed his eyes when he heard a mournful screech. A man was standing with a whip in his hand while hitting people in front of him from time to time. He had a cruel smile on his thick lips; he had a dark face and curly ck hairs. He cursed and smirked and kicked people in front of him,ughing and taking pleasure in other''s misery.

    "This is ve Market," Elora whispered from behind him. "Maybe they are going to sell them."

    Kadyn''s face changed. ves? He had never thought that this ce would be selling humans. After all, Avibria City was well developed and civilised. It was not like any primitive ce from legends. It was run by people and hadws...ahhh, yes,ws were just in name here. Kadyn remembered the incident with his mother and could not help but shake his head.

    The guard led a few ves to the podium and stood at the side. Then a fat man dressed in wealthy attire walked on the stage. A smile appeared on his pudgy face; he turned around his round and heavy frame and looked at the gathered people about the podium, sping his hands and rubbing them in anticipation.

    "Haha, hello everyone." He said, eyeing the people. "Today we have five ves to sell. These are just ordinary people and can''t use magic, but don''t look down on them. We''ve captured them from Western Mountain Range from one of the Barbaric Tribes there. Not even four or five ordinary people would be able to ovee them in strength."

    Everyone''s eyes started to shine after hearing his words. Kadyn stared at five men on the stage, groaning furiously at the guard near them, showing their teeth like monkeys in defiance, and realised that they really looked like savages. They were tall, wearing animal skin, hiding the lower part of their bodies; their upper part was open, bulging muscles could be seen.

    "I''ll be taking these five people." A man said from the crowd. "For each person, I can pay a thousand dors. Five thousand aren''t bad. What do you say, huh?"

    Kadyn peered around and saw a man with a small build; his body was filled with muscles and he wore tattered clothes, covered in ck shoots. A hammer was ced on his shoulder. "He is a most famous cksmith in the Lower Town, ck Hammer," Elora whispered from beside him.

    Kadyn looked at the middle-aged man and nodded his head. At this time a burst ofughter sounded from the crowd. "Haha, ck Hammer, I didn''t expect you toe here to bid. It just so happens I need some manpower and these five qualify the criteria. After all, I need some strong hands to carry our herbs from one ce to another."

    ck Hammer frowned at hearing the voice and replied in a cold tone. "Why so much nonsense? Bid more than me if you want to buy them."

    "Then I won''t be polite," the middle-aged man who looked like a merchant smiled and said. "Ten thousand."

    "His name is Ofor Irable," Elora exined. It seemed she knew quite a bit about the market. "He is thergest dealer of the herbs inside Lower Town."

    "Someone from House Irabel?" Kadyn said as he nced at the man, who had an evergreen smile on his face. Though Kadyn could tell that this man was more cunning than a fox.

    "Yes," Elora nodded.

    "I wonder if ck Hammer would like to increase the bid," Ofor said. "If you can increase the bid, I would forfeit."

    "Hmph!" ck Hammer snorted but said nothing.

    The ve-dealer saw their confrontation and smiled before announcing. "Does anyone want to bid higher than Sir Ofor?" he waited but no one replied. "1...2...3...SOLD!"

    "Thanks for letting me win." Ofor turned towards ck Hammer and said with the sincerest smile on his face.

    "Humph!" ck Hammer''s eyes turned cold. Though his voice sounded sincere, he could see the mockery in his eyes.

    Just as everyone was about to scatter, the ve dealer said. "I''ve got an announcement to make."

    Everyone halted and looked at the smiling ve dealer in confusion. The man looked around and said. "Tomorrow there will be a ve auction in the Upper Town. This auction isn''t something that could bepared with this puny auction here. ording to my sources, I''ve heard that there is a dwarf."

    An uproar broke out in the surrounding area. No one had ever guessed that a dwarf is going to be auctioned tomorrow. Dwarves were the legendary existences in the eyes of these people.

    "How''s that possible?" someone couldn''t hold himself and asked. "There''re no dwarves on our continent''

    "Yeah, I''ve also heard that there are no dwarves on the Eozen Continent."

    "I wonder how someone was able to capture one."

    "Furthermore, why would someone auction him in Avibria City? He should have gone to one of the great cities and he would have earned a fortune from this."

    "Dwarves are born artisans and have great knowledge in the way of forging. Any artisan would go crazy to get his hands on a dwarf and their secrets."

    The brother-sister duo looked at each other in shock. Kadyn had never thought that he would be able to hear such shocking information here.

 Chapter 60 - Torture Begins

    After hearing that shocking news Kadyn and Elora decided to go back. They had already spent a lot of time outside. But before that, the duo had a delicious supper in one of the restaurants of the Food Market.

    "Food was delicious," Kadyn praised. "I''d love toe back again."

    "I know, right?" Elora said, and asked. "So, are we going to attend the auction tomorrow?"

    "Yeah," Kadyn replied and fell into deep thought.

    "You want an employee for your Artisan Hall, don''t you?" Elora chuckled, looking at him with interest.

    Kadyn eyed her and nodded. It seemed his sister had be smarter. She could see through his intentions pretty easily. "Dwarves are born Artisans. If I could win his trust and could recruit him, that would be great. After all I can''t do everything by myself."

    "You don''t want his secrets?" Elora asked curiously.

    Kadyn nced at his sister and smiled, not replying. She must be kidding. He''d almighty System to assist him. With time he''d be able to learn who knows how many tips and tricks about artisans. He refused to believe that a puny dwarf could contend with the System, who was able to drag his soul from earth to this world and give him a new life.

    Elora nodded and didn''tment any further. Though she had hundreds of questions in her heart, she suppressed them. He would tell her when he wanted. She nced at her brother''s back, who was paddling his broken cycle.

    Then she asked. "Why do you think that ve dealer announced such news at that ce? Though the Market is a most prosperous ce in the Lower Town, it is still poor aspared to the Upper Town. No one in the Lower Town would be able to bid for something like a dwarf."

    "Of course their actual intention was something else," Kadyn said. "After all they could not go from ce to ce to announce this news. So they adopted the easiest option, telling this news to some people in the ve Market. Now that information would spread like a wildfire. Even other cities would know about it in no time. I''m sure that tomorrow''s auction is going to be something really interesting."

    When they arrived at the shop, it was already dusk. The crimson sun was sinking down in the west, spreading yellow rays on the bustling city of Avibria.

    Suddenly Elora remembered something and red at him. As if knowing her thoughts, Kadynughed sheepishly and said. "Don''t worry, we''ll sell those potions tomorrow and you will have enough points to use."

    "Didn''t you say the same thing when we were going out?"

    Kadynughed awkwardly at her tantrum. "This time it is real. I promise."

    "Humph!" she snorted and scurried towards the Potion Hall. However, before she could take over ten steps, a notification sounded in her head that left her stunned.

    [You have gained 20 Energy Points]

    She eyed Kadyn with mouth agape. He smiled and said. "With these points, you can enjoy ten hours of Elementary Meditation Room or four hours of Level 1 Meditation Room."

    [Author''s Note: this Meditation Room is different from Kadyn''s that requires 10 points to meditate for an hour. It needs just 5 points for a Level 1 Meditation Room and 2 for an Elementary Room]

    Elora had no idea about the difference between the two levels. So Kadyn exined to her in detail. Only after that did she nodded and went towards the Meditation Room in excitement.

    Kadyn looked at his sister''s back and shook his head before moving towards the Practice Room. Last time he had tried to break through but failed miserably. He realised that the main reason behind his failure was his weak willpower. He could not take the pressure and failed. Therefore, he was going to torture himself a little and see if he could improve his willpower.

    He entered and looked around. It was still the same room. However, there used to be a single screen before that controlled the Body Pain, but now there were two. Something was written on top of those two screens¡ªBody Sensitivity, Soul Sensitivity.

    He had still a vivid picture ofst time''s torture. It wasplete hell. However, now there was Soul Sensitivity also added. Torture to his soul? Even thinking made him shiver.

    Nheless, he had no intention to torture his soul, yet. Therefore he put that screen on zero while the other on 70%. "I will try it after I have some resistance towards the body pain." He said and imagined a dragon he had encountered not long ago.

    [Practice Room can not visualise something/someone stronger than Rank 1 magus]

    Kadyn was surprised. He had never thought that this would be the case. So there was a limitation on visualisation. Thus he dropped the idea of visualising the dragon. He thought for a moment and a man appeared in front of him: he was Barret Duncan, Magic Association Leader.

    Barret Duncan looked at Kadyn with red eyes filled with hatred and said with gritted teeth. "You bastard, I will ughter you!"

    "Heh?" Kadyn eximed when he heard him talking and hatred in his voice was evident that anyone could discover. But why? It was just a projection, wasn''t it? A doubt shed inside his heart, but no one exined.

    Barret Duncan eyed him and smirked. "Today I will torture you to my heart''s content. Today I will relieve the hatred in my heart."

    As Barret spoke, the ground split apart under Kadyn''s feet. He couldn''t even resist before he fell inside. "Damn, what is going on?" his heart was filled with confusion. Why did Barret have consciousness? He also had hatred in his heart. Does that mean every visualisation inside the Practice Room had the thoughts and grievances of the actual person to who that projection belonged?

    At this moment the earth started to shrink. "Fuck, is he going to squash me to death?!" his voice was filled with horror, and his spection wasn''t wrong¡ªthe walls from both sides continued to close to each other, shrinking closer and closer.

    Kadyn screamed and roared and whined when his body started to contract in between two sides. His throat broke and his tears and snot fell uncontrobly, but to no avail; ultimately, he was squashed to nothing but a meat paste.

 Chapter 61 - Magic Runes

    Kadyn snapped open his eyes, and his shivering legs crumbled as he fell on his butt. His clothes had been covered in sweat while his body twitched and convulsed. Ten minutester, he calmed down and again stood up, taking a deep breath. He gritted his teeth and shouted. "Appear!"

    Barret once more emerged out of nowhere. He looked at Kadyn and mocked. "I''ve seen all kinds of people in my life, but never someone like you. Masochist."

    Kadyn clenched his knuckles in fury and dashed towards Barret. However, he realised that he was standing inside a swamp and could not budge from his ce while his body started to sink. His face changed, and he struggled to free himself. s, the more he struggled, the faster he sank into the swamp. It took around fifteen minutes before his head went inside the marsh and stopped breathing, lifeless.

    "Appear!" without resting, he again shouted and struggled to stand on his trembling legs.

    "Haha, you''re a tough nut to crack," Barretughed. "However, no matter how hard you are, I will crack you ultimately. And you don''t need to worry about your sister. You know what I mean? Kekeke."

    "Bastard!" Kadyn''s eyes turned red when he heard his words and lost his reasoning. However, before he could take a step further, spikes poked out like sharp javelings from underneath him and pierced through his body, pinning him to death, as the blood and faeces spattered all about.

    Just like this, the training continued. Kadyn endured all the physical and mental torture that his enemy showered him with. As time passed, he started to gain some immunity over the provocative words of Barret. He didn''t do anything rash. Nheless, he was just an Elementary Rank Magus. How could hepare with Rank 1? No matter how he tried to counter, he died a miserable death.

    He didn''t even realise that his temperament had changed somewhat. He wasn''t as rash as before; he tried to find different methods to counter the attacks of Barret. He also realised that Barret knew only three Rank 1 spells that he previously used.

    At this moment, Kadyn dashed towards his nemesis, who was looking at him in disdain. "Die, you brat!"

    As his shout reverberated, spikes pierced at him. However, Kadyn was ready this time and a dark elemental power surged out from him and a star pattern circted around, as his body disappeared¡ªDarkness Walking. He had gotten this six-star pattern from the lottery. Not long before he sessfully awakened his six darkness stars. Now he could use the Darkness Walker to avoid the Rank 1 spell. That was some achievement to boast about.

    "Haha, nice trick," Barret sneered when he saw that Kadyn sessfully avoided his attack for the first time. "However... do you think that a puny Elementary Magus like you stands a chance against me... a Spell Caster?!"

    As he roared, a terrible pressure dawned over Kadyn; he fell on his knees, and the Darkness Star Pattern vanished like smoke. He nced at Barret in shock and horror, with a pale face and a shivering heart. What a terrible power. What a terrible foe. He thought.

    He realised that if it wasn''t for the shop''s protectionst time, he would have be a dried corpse by now. The strength of the Spell Caster was beyond measure. He looked at Barret helplessly and saw a rune shining over his head. "Is that the Magic Rune?!" he screamed, and left stunned. So that''s how Barret suppressed him. That was the power of the Magic Rune! Every Rune could give a special ability to its user. It seemed that Barret''s rune gave him the ability to suppress.

    Every magus needed to draw a Magic Rune inside their consciousness before bing a Spell Caster. There were all kinds of runes¡ªall of them with special abilities. Of course, some were strong while others weak.

    However, runes were scarce. Powerful forces like the Magic Association monopolised them. Even if someone had the talent to be a Spell Caster, he won''t be able to be one. Due to theck of these things.

    "Haha, you aren''tpletely ignorant, brat." Barretughed. "Now, die!"

    At this moment, over ten swamps formed around Kadyn. The rune had enhanced his magic power as well! Though he wanted to fight and escape this predicament. He had no power or means, as he could not avoid those attacks. He fell in one of the swamps and died a miserable death once more.

    "Fuck, that was too overpowering!" he cursed, but the excitement shone inside his eyes. He wanted to be a Spell Caster! Only now did he realise the gap between two ranks. No matter how talented Elementary Rank was, even the trash Rank 1 Spell Caster would be able to kill him¡ªthe ultimate winner will always be a Spell Caster.

    "That is not necessarily true." At this moment, a voice sounded inside his head.

    Kadyn was overjoyed hearing it. It''s been a long time since the system had spoken. Kadyn asked. "What do you mean?"

    "There are special circumstances, you''ll know in the future. Though I doubt you will be able to reach that level on Elementary Rank. Wait till you''re Spell Caster, and you will be able to battle with the magus higher rank than you." System said nonchntly, but Kadyn felt as if someone had poured the cold water on his rising ambitions inside his heart. What do you mean you doubt I won''t be able to reach that level?

    Although he wanted to ask some more questions, the system stopped talking. No matter what he asked, there was no reply. In the end, he sighed and gave up.

    After that he ended his training and checked the time; it was 2 A.M. He felt fatigued; therefore, he stopped the practice and went to sleep. He needed to go to the auction in the morning, and he wanted to get that dwarf. Though he never thought about making him his ve. After all, he was from the modern civilisation and he felt very resistive towards such acts as very.

 Chapter 62 - Loyalty +1

    The first glimmer of the dawn shone in the eastern horizon, spreading yellow and crimson rays on the bustling city of Avibria. Kadyn and Elora had breakfast before the duo got ready to go out; they wanted this dwarf, as he could be a decent employee.

    However, before they could take a single step forward, someone dashed inside the shop. Kadyn frowned when he saw this, but his expression changed a little when he spotted the face of the man. "Khrom!"

    The man in front of him was Khrom whom Kadyn had offered a jobst time. Since then he had disappearedpletely. Kadyn had a pretty good impression of him. Though he looked suspicious, he had a clear conscience, proud and determined heart. Furthermore, he was decent at information collecting. If Kadyn could recruit him, he would be a great asset in future. Anyway, this wasn''t a time to think about those things.

    He hastened towards Khrom and held him, who was covered in sweat, dirt, wound, and blood. "What happened to you?" Kadyn asked.

    "D-do you have a po-potion?" he held his arm that was bleeding continuously and asked with his trembling, weak voice. Then he struggled and walked towards the wall of the Potion Hall and sat with the help of his back. Kadyn exchanged nces with Elora and took out a high-grade potion that he had concoctedst time. "Drink it."

    Khrom swallowed the entire vial in a single gulp and ced his head on the wall, not speaking anything for some time. The sight was sorrowful. Kadyn didn''t know Khrom''s story but he knew there was one behind him. Most of the time he came, he was cloaked in vicious wounds. Kadyn couldn''t help but be a little interested in his situation.

    It had taken around ten minutes for the blood to stop. However, his wounds were ugly and deep, taking longer than expected. All in all, he was fine for the time being and would be healed after some rest of a few days.

    Khrom opened his eyes and stared at Kadyn, and said with a determined tone. "I''m ready to work for you. However, I need you to kill someone."

    Kadyn looked at Khrom, then shook his head. "I''m not an assassin. Sorry, I can''t do that."

    A crestfallen look emerged on Khrom''s pale face; staring towards the sky and teardrops fell from his eyes. He gritted his teeth in hatred and fury. Kadyn saw a strange fire in his eyes as if he wanted to burn everyone and everything. However, he couldn''t, as he had no strength. He looked furious yet¡­ helpless.

    "Though I won''t kill anyone," Kadyn said at this moment, and Khrom again focused his gaze towards him. "I can help you achieve your goal."

    Khrom''s entire body trembled at his words. He stared at Kadyn with a sullen face. Then he fell on his knees. "Please, help me, and I''ll be your ve for the rest of my life."

    This action shocked Kadyn. He knew how proud Khrom was. To do such a thing, he must have lost every hope. He could sense despair and guilt and hopelessness and rage inside his heart.

    "You don''t need to do that," Kadyn said. "My words are still the same. I want you as my employee. Do you ept it?"

    Khrom looked at Kadyn and gritted his teeth before nodding. Kadyn smiled and said. "Remember, you''ll be my Employee, not a ve. You can do whatever you want. You can go wherever you want. You''ll benefit ording to your merits. However, remember one thing," Kadyn peered at Khrom and his voice turned grave, "you can never betray, or you would live a life worse than death. Do you ept these terms?"

    Khrom took a deep breath and clenched his fist before nodding. Kadyn could see the struggle inside his heart. He looked like a bird that wanted to fly, unfettered and unrestrained, but got captured by a hunter.

    Kadyn shook his head. He knew that he was showing this emotion because he had no idea what kind of fortune had fallen into hisp. There wille a day when he would be proud to call himself an employee of his shop. As he thought about this, a scroll appeared in his hand. "Drop your blood on it." Kadyn passed the scroll to Khrom.

    Khrom didn''t bother to read anything and dropped the blood. The scroll burst and entered into his head, the golden mark appeared and vanished without any trace.

    [Employee Name: Khrom]

    [Employee Rank: Iron]

    [Magus Rank: 10-star elementary mage]

    [Element: Wind]

    [Energy Points: 0]

    [Loyalty: 2%]

    [Evaluation: Has potential to grow]

    Kadyn looked at the status window and left stunned. 10-star elementary mage? Furthermore, he had only 2% loyalty for him. What the fuck? Isn''t it near being a traitor? But System gave him a pretty decent evaluation. What the heck is going on?!

    "Low loyalty doesn''t imply that someone is a traitor," System cleared his doubts. "Loyalty can be cultivated. You just need to be sincere enough. Someone can have zero loyalty for you and he could still be a decent employee with tremendous potential.

    "Low loyalty is one of the signs of a traitor but it isn''t true every time. After all, when you hire someone new, it is natural for him to have a low loyalty towards you. You''ve to win over the hearts of your employees. How? That''s your headache."

    "My wounds!" just as he was listening to System, Khrom eximed. Kadyn eyed him and found that all the wounds hadpletely vanished from his body. He looked fine and full of vigour. There was no trace of weakness on his face.

    "I''m healed, but how?"

    "Consider it a free reward you have received after joining our shop." Kadyn smiled.

    "Thank you very much."

    [Loyalty +1]

    Kadyn peered at Khrom in shock and checked his status. Truly, his loyalty had increased by one. Then he nced at Khrom and a dumbfounded look appeared on his face.

 Chapter 63 - Upper Town Market

    Apletely new face stood in front of Kadyn! He looked around twenty-one, fair countenance, short ck hair, and strong built. All in all, he was a handsome man.

    Khrom also realised that something was amiss, spotting Kadyn''s reaction, and touched his face. He sighed and said. "This is my real face. To hide my identity, I had to disguise myself. Otherwise, I would have died a long time ago."

    Kadyn just smiled at that, he looked at him and said. "We''ll hear your storyter, but it''s ok if you don''t want to tell. Though, right now, we have an important matter to do. Go take a bath, then we''ll set off."

    Khrom took a deep breath and nodded before looking at his miserable condition. He looked worse than the worst beggar outside the Radiant Brook Temple, covered in dirt and blood, wearing ragged and tattered clothes. Though his handsome face produced a strange contrast with his condition.

    "Alright," he nodded and went to take a bath.

    "I wonder, what''s the story behind this guy," Elora murmured.

    Kadyn stared at Khrom''s back and nodded. Who had this guy offended? After all, he was the 10-star Elementary mage. Therefore his enemy can''t be weaker than him. After his previous disy, Kadyn realised that his foe was far stronger than him, to the point of making him hopeless. Otherwise, he would not havee here, to beg, to sell himself in order to destroy his enemy. He was desperate for revenge.

    Kadyn shook his head, not thinking much into this issue. Khrom was already his employee, and no one can touch his people. Though he forgot that he was just a puny Elementary Mage himself.

    Twenty minutester, Khrom walked out of the bathroom. He had once more resumed his previous appearance. It wasn''t a good thing for him to wander with his original face. That could bring lots of trouble. Kadyn saw this but didn''t say anything. It was wise to act cautiously.

    Kadyn smiled at him and said. "Let''s go. The auction will start soon."

    "Auction?" Khrom tilted his head, looking at Kadyn and said. "Are we going to the auction that is in Upper Town?"

    "You''re well informed." Kadyn smiled and put his bicycle away. Previously, they were just two people and could fit on a single cycle, but now, one person has increased. Can''t sit on a single broken two-wheeler, can they? Therefore the trio set off on their feet.

    After walking for fifteen minutes, they arrived in front of a vast gate. There stood guards, peering at the passing folks with their beady eyes, whistling whenever a woman passed,menting and chuckling.

    As Kadyn''s group arrived in front of the gate. They started to size them, their eyes lit up, spotting Elora behind Kadyn. Though she was just a teenager, she was indeed beautiful.

    However,before any one of them couldment or jeer, Khrom released a powerful pressure. All of them turned pale when they felt terrible oppressioning from him. They were just ordinary guards, 5-star elementary mages. How could theypare with someone like Khrom? None of them dared to speak anything and opened the passage for Kadyn''s group.

    Kadyn was surprised at how overbearing Khrom was at that moment. Furthermore, he seemed pretty experienced with this kind of situation. Khrom spotted his gaze and smiled. "Give ''em a finger and they will take a hand. You need to show a strength that is far higher than ''em. Otherwise, they won''t stop being a nuisance."

    Kadyn nodded. It seemed he had much to learn. He was just a newbie after all.

    As they crossed the gate, Kadyn sighed when he saw his surroundings¡ªwide roads, clean sewer, beautiful green trees, swinging beside the road. Houses were taller aspared to the houses of the Lower Town, beautiful engravings could be seen over the walls and doors of those buildings. They were made of different kinds of stones¡ªte, limestone,terite, marble.

    Their group walked and Khrom led them towards the ve Market. Kadyn and Elora had no idea where the ce for the auction was; they intended to inquire previously. However, Khrom seemed to know every nook and cranny of this ce. So they depended on him to lead them to their destination.

    Ten minutester, a bustling ce appeared in their sight. This was the market of the Upper Town. In a single nce, Kadyn could tell the difference between Upper Town Market and Lower Town Market. This ce was huge, the streets weren''t as narrow as the Lower Town. Shops looked taller and majestic.

    "This is a Cloth Market. We need to cross the essory Market before reaching the ve Market." Khrom exined as they walked.

    Kadyn nced at the shops around him and spotted all kinds of cloth¡ªcotton, silk, linen, wool, velvet, nylon, etcetera etcetera¡ªevery kind was present at this ce. Kadyn saw Elora peering at the shops with shining eyes, and looking from one ce to another. It was evident to see that she was interested in buying a few things. However, she didn''t say anything. They weren''t here to shop.

    Kadyn smiled and said. "Don''t worry, we''lle backter. You can buy anything you like, but not now, alright?"

    Elora turned red when she found that Kadyn could see through her intentions and nodded. "Hmm."

    When they crossed the Cloth Market, a dazzling essory Market greeted them.

    "Wow!" Elora eximed when she spotted shining pieces of jewellery all around her. Kadyn smiled at her reaction. He couldn''t me her; there were really all kinds of pretty jewellery that could be seen here, rings, earrings, nes were the mostmon.

    There was a shop that sold eleven pieces of jewellery. Kadyn found that all the jewellery was made of precious gemstones. Tree leaves and flowers could be seen, etched elegantly on them. He spotted many other kinds of essories as well but he could not pinpoint their origin.

    He couldn''t help but sigh at this. The difference between Lower Town and Upper Town was too vast. He would never see these things in Lower Town Market.

    "We are here," Khrom, who was leading them, said. Kadyn lifted his head and eyed ahead of him.

 Chapter 64 - Slave Auction

    The bustling ce filled with the clouds of people appeared in Kadyn''s view. Tens of people had been lining outside the Auction Hall.

    Kadyn felt a little ufortable, seeing so many people, talking excitedly about the auction of a dwarf. He''d never thought that he would attend a ve auction in his life. He felt light-headed. So many people, all of them were here to see the show. To see someone being auctioned.

    Kadyn sighed, strength reigns supreme everywhere, and the greed of a human knows no bound. It was the same on the Earth. It is the same on the Penego, and he doubted it''ll be different anywhere else.

    "Alright, let''s go," Kadyn took a deep breath and headed towards the entrance of the auction house. He spotted two passages; one was filled with a crowd, pushing, shoving, cursing could be heard from there, while the other was tranquil, elegant, red carpetid on the floor, and a beautiful woman stood there with flower trays in hands. The difference was vast.

    Anyone could tell what was going on. The treatment of people varies ording to their status. It was the same on earth, no matter how much they bullshit about ''The Right to Equality''. Furthermore, in this world, there was no concept of equality at all.

    He proceeded towards themoner entrance. He doubted that guards would let him pass from the second gate. He was no VIP.

    "We can go through the VIP entrance," Khrom said from behind.

    Kadyn looked confused when he heard him. Khrom spotted the confusion on his face and exined. "Any 10-star elementary mage or above can use the VIP passage to enter, and they can bring a single person with them. Though the auction house won''t give them a private room. The treatment is still better than those people standing there."

    "Oh." Kadyn nodded.

    "Let''s go," Khrom said and walked ahead of them.

    "Halt!" one of the guards shouted, as he spotted the three youngsters, trying to go through the VIP entrance. He looked at Khrom¡ªwho was leading¡ªcoldly and said. "This passage is for VIPs. Others can''t enter."

    Khrom didn''t reply. He just released the pressure, 10-star Elementary Rank. The guard, who was looking at him disdainful, left stunned, turning pale as the pressure dawned over him. He had never thought that the kid who looked not over twenty-one had already be such a high-level magus. Other people also spotted the event and became startled.

    "Wow, he looks so young and has already be a 10-star Elementary Magus." A man said excitedly from the crowd.

    "I wonder if he is single." Behind that man stood a woman, her face was covered in e. She looked at Khrom and said. "He looks handsome."

    The man turned around and eyed the woman. Then he curled his lips disdainfully and said. "It''s good to have dreams, but it''s not good to have pipe dreams."

    "You¡­!!" the woman burst into rage.

    As the people talked and argued among themselves, the guard gained hisposure again. He nced at Khrom andKadyn and Elora. Then said, "Though you''re a 10-star Elementary Mage, you can take only a single person with you inside."

    Khrom didn''t reply, he turned around and looked at the boy behind him. Kadyn nodded at him and walked forward. He looked at the guard and a powerful pressure released from his body¡ªthis time the guard started to tremble. Kadyn was even younger than Khrom; no one could believe that he had reached 10-star Elementary Mage. The guard himself was just a 7-star Elementary Mage after all.

    "Can we enter now?" Kadyn asked with a smile.

    The guard looked embarrassed and nodded. "Yes, please." He gestured with his hands.

    "Let''s go." Kadyn nced at Khrom and Elora behind him and walked into the auction hall.

    "Do you know who those people are, Captain?" another guard asked from behind the Captain.

    "If I knew, why would I stop them?" Captain sounded irritated. That guard stopped asking any further when he saw that the man wasn''t in a good mood, as he was shamed two times simultaneously¡ªthe Captain narrowed his eyes and stared at the back of Kadyn''s group and murmured. "Since when such talented youngsters appeared in Avibria City? Are they from another city?"

    Unaware of the thoughts of the guard captain, Kadyn arrived into a vast hall. Thousands of seats were present, but over half had already been upied by other people. At the very front of the hall was an auction stage. Kadyn lifted his gaze and eyed the windows on the first floor. Those were VIP rooms. He could sense powerful auras from there. However, he cared little about them, as he had nothing to do with them.

    He looked around and found three empty seats at the right corner of the hall.

    "Let''s go."

    After obtaining a seat, Kadyn didn''t have to wait much before a man walked on the stage. He looked old, about seventy years old. He had white hair and a white beard. However, his eyes were filled with vigour. The old man nced at the people who were still talking amongst themselves and smiled before speaking. "Hello, everyone." His voice sounded and the hall quieted down, attracting everyone''s attention.

    "Psychic Element?" Kadyn murmured in confusion.

    Khrom looked surprised when he heard Kadyn''s words and replied. "He''s Old Li, 9-star Elementary Mage, and yes, he has Psychic Element."

    Kadyn nodded, hearing Khrom''s words. He also had Psychic Element that''s why he felt familiar when the old man cast the spell to calm everyone down. Furthermore, the old man was very experienced and fast, not many people realised that he had cast a spell on them.

    "Today''s auction is a little special," Old Li continued. "I guess you have already heard a little about it." Old Li looked at the eager faces of his audience and said. "Yes, our final product is a dwarf."

    As soon as his words sounded, an uproar broke inside the auction hall. Many people still had doubts about the credibility of the information. Now Old Li himself had confirmed it. A dwarf would be auctioned today!

    Everyone turned iparably excited at such a thought. Dwarves, the legendary race on the Penego, Master Craftsmen. Those people could produce artefacts that could destroy nations.

    Old Li waited for the people to calm down and said. "However, before that, we have lots of good stuff as well. I assure you that you won''t be disappointed."

 Chapter 65 - Artisan Hot Rod

    Old Li nced around the auction hall and smiled before speaking. "The first item that we''re going to auction is¡­" he paused for a second and continued. "White Rosemary Flower!"

    At this moment a beautiful girl walked on the stage at a slow pace and a tray in her hands. There was a wooden box ced on the tray. Old Li held the box off the tray and opened it, revealing a flower that had a fusion of white and red. It appeared to be a lily flower, but it wasn''t a lily.

    "It''s really White Rosemary Flower," Kadyn murmured, then looked at Khrom. "Isn''t it a ve Auction? Why are they auctioning something other than ves?"

    "Though the speciality of this ce is ves, they also auction other things. After all, it''s not easy to find decent ves. Something like a dwarf is as rare as the feather of the Phoenix and the scale of the Dragon. They can''t run their business just based on very."

    Kadyn nodded in understanding and turned his attention towards the stage once more.

    "Some of you may not know about the White Rosemary Flower. Let me exin it in a sentence: This herb can awaken an Elementary Star!" As soon as Old Li''s words sounded in the auction hall, everyone was left stunned. The silence fell, however, it didn''tst long before the chatter erupted.

    Old Li smiled satisfyingly, looking at the reaction of the audience. Then went on. "The starting price for this herb is five thousand dors."

    "Six thousand!" as soon as Old Li finished speaking, a man on the left side of the hall couldn''t contain himself and shouted.

    "Six thousand five hundred!" another voice resonated.

    "Seven thousand!"

    "Seven thousand five hund¡­"

    Kadyn heard the heated bidding and shook his head. "What a bunch of morons."

    "What do you mean?" Elora asked in confusion when she heard him. "Isn''t that herb precious if it can awaken a star of the Elementary Mage?"

    "What do you know?" Kadyn shook his head. "That old man is a cunning old fox, telling only benefits but hiding the repercussions of taking that flower."

    "Repercussion? What do you mean?" Khrom overheard their conversation, as he was sitting on Kadyn''s other side and asked with a confused face. He was familiar with this herb, and he knew that it could awaken an Elementary Star, however, he had never heard about any side effects.

    Kadyn smiled, spotting the confused look on his face. "It''s normal if you don''t know. After all,some knowledgeable people might not know about it as the side effect doesn''t show at the start at all." He paused briefly before continuing. "This herb can awaken a star, it isn''t worth the price one have to pay."

    "What price?" Khrom asked.

    "That person won''t be able to be a high-level mage. The speed of mana absorption will decrease significantly. No matter how talented he is, he won''t be able to go beyond the Elementary Mage. No matter how much of a genius someone is, he would be trash. I don''t think that the old man is unaware of this fact. After all, he is an experienced auctioneer, but he hid it from everyone, for gaining some benefits. He might look gentle and benevolent, but he''s a poisonous viper."

    Khrom and Elora leftpletely stunned, especially Khrom, whose face had turned pale after his exnation. Kadyn saw this and became confused. However, it wasn''t the time to ask about it.

    "Alright, next item is¡­"

    Someone from the audience had bought the flower. After that, Old Li brought another item and the bidding started again. As for who bought the White Rosemary Flower, Kadyn didn''t bother to think about it. He purchased the flower without thinking of the consequences, due to his greed. And Kadyn had no time to be the saviour of the world and be enemies with the people of the auction house. It wasn''t worth his time and effort.

    "Our next item is a kind of metal," Old Li said and a girl passed the tray that contained a fist-sized ck metal. It seemed ordinary. Old Li peered at the audience and chuckled. "This item''s useless for most of the people in the hall. However, for Artisans, it is a treasure. Let me tell you that this is not any ordinary Rank 0 metal. It is Common Rank, ck Iron."

    Kadyn heard and his eyes lit up. He wanted to get his hands on a decent metal for some time, so he could add it into his Shop Ability. However, who would have thought that he could get a metal of Common Rank in this auction. That metal could be used to make a rank 1 artefact. Though Kadyn couldn''t make it, yet. It was just a matter of time. Therefore, he wanted this metal!

    "The starting price is ten thousand dors." Old Li announced.

    "Eleven thousand!" a deep voice sounded from the front row. Kadyn eyed the bidder and spotted a familiar silhouette, ck Hammer. He had encountered himst time when he went to wander the city with Elora.

    "He also wants to buy it?" Kadyn said in confusion, as ck Hammer was just an ordinary cksmith. He would just waste the metal.

    "ck Hammer loves to collect all kinds of metals." Khrom, who had already recovered from his earlier shock, replied.

    Kadyn nodded and didn''t say any further. The hobby of collecting metals didn''t sound weird to him. On Earth, many people loved to collect all kinds of things as well, like antics, coins, paintings and so on.

    "Thirty thousand!"

    While Kadyn had been talking with Khrom, the bid continued to climb. In the end, ck Hammer gave up unwillingly. He couldn''t do anything, as he wasn''t as wealthy as those VIPs. An ordinary cksmith could neverpare, not even with the lowest rank artisan.

    "Thirty-five thousand," at this moment, someone increased five thousand in a single bid. Kadyn looked towards the source and realised that the voice hade from room number four. The so-called VIPs had joined the bidding.

    "Forty thousand," a hoarse voice came from room number two, then he said. "Friend from room number four. Let me have this chunk of metal, and I''ll owe you a favour. This metal is quite suitable to make a dagger for my son."

    "Haha, so it''s an Artisan Hot Rod," the man from room number four said. "Favour from Artisan Hot Rod isn''t a bad thing, huh? Alright, I give up."

    "Wow that is Hot Rod from Glont City," as the people heard the conversation between the two parties, someone eximed. "He''s a Rank 1 artisan."

    "Damn, our Avibria City has no Rank 1 artisan."

    "How could Avibria Citypare with Glont City, one of the ten most prosperous cities in the Shado Empire?"

    As the people conversed among themselves, the man from room number two said. "Then I''ll thank you¡­"

    "Forty-five thousand." However, before Hot Rod could finish his sentence, someone increased the bidding. Hot Rod''s voice froze on the spot. No one knew what kind of expression was on his face at the moment. But they could imagine he must be feeling as if he had swallowed a fly.

    The audience turned towards the bidder and realised that he was a young man, sitting amongst themselves. The silence remained a few moments before mour sounded. No one could tell where Kadyn''s courage came from. How dare hepete against Hot Rod?

    "Who''s that kid? He dared to bid against Hot Rod."

    "He looks no more than Neen."

    "Why do I feel that he looks familiar?" someone said from the crowd in confusion.

    "Damn, how could you forget him. He-he is that guy," a man sitting beside the first man said with his fearful voice.

    "What do you¡­ oh fuck!"

    Those who didn''t know about Kadyn became confused. However, no one bother to clear their confusion. Those who knew about Kadyn werepletely terrified.

    At the corner of the hall was sitting a group of youngsters. All of them turned pale, spotting Kadyn. Thest time was also an auction, wasn''t it?

    "What the hell is that demon doing here?" Fenon said with a panicky voice.

    "He won''t do anything to us, will he?" Jenna shivered, remembering Hicka''s rotten self.

    "We would have died a long time ago if he wanted to kill us," Shum reassured everyone. However, his face was already pale and his clothes drenched in a cold sweat. It was good that Kadyn was sitting on the other side of the hall, or else he might have already wet the floor.

    Kadyn paid no attention to his surroundings and remained calm, a smile hung on his face.

    "Fifty thousand," after a brief silence, Hot Rod shouted.

    Kadyn frowned. The bidding had already crossed the standard price of the metal a long time ago. However, Hot Rod continued to bid, he could not tell why. After all, the original price of this chunk of metal wouldn''t exceed thirty thousand. That was the real reason why that man from room number four stopped bidding.

    As for Kadyn, he could make good use of this metal and produce unlimited ck Iron after adding it in the shop. Why was Hot Rod trying so hard to get this chunk of metal, even after the price exceeded its real value? Though he felt something amiss, he could not pinpoint it. Therefore, he dropped the idea.

    "Fifty-five thousand," Kadyn said.

    "Don''t go too far, boy!" Hot Rod couldn''t hold himself anymore. This kid tried to embarrass him again and again. He was feeling furious. How dare this kid embarrass him in front of so many people? Even Spell Casters would try to curry favours with him in the hopes to build a good rtionship.

    "I need that metal, sorry." Though he felt a headache, hearing the furious roar of the other party, he wasn''t afraid of him. At the worst, he would just hide inside his shop. Furthermore, he still had three powerful bodyguards¡ªAssociation Leader and the other two¡ªwho could make anyone retreat in terror. Though he hadn''t used them yet.

    Kadyn peered at the VIP rooms. He knew that those three must havee in the auction. After all, a dwarf isn''t something that could be auctioned every day.

    "Is there anyone else who wants to bid more than this Sir?" Old Li looked towards room number two and asked. However, no one replied. The silence felt a little eerie. But Old Li didn''t wait much longer.

    "1...2...3...Sold! Congrattions to this gentleman for buying ck Iron." He said and passed the chunk of the metal to the girl beside him. After that, the girl brought the metal to Kadyn. He passed the money that he had prepared in advance and took the metal from her excitedly.

    The auction continued and many other items appeared but nothing caught Kadyn''s interest. It took almost an hour to auction all the items.

    Finally Old Li looked towards the audience and grinned.

    "The time that everyone was waiting with anticipation has finally arrived." Old Li nced at the audience and a huge smile appeared on his face. "The final bidding will start now."

 Chapter 66 - Artisan Ironclad

    Everyone''s eyes lit up hearing Old Li''s words. The moment they had been anticipating all this time had finally arrived. Old Li grinned and stroked his white beard with his right hand with a confident and jubnt expression. Then spoke. "As everyone knows, dwarves are very talented in artefact making. Anyone who could get their secrets would benefit greatly.The knowledge you would acquire can''t bepared with a little money¡ªmoney can be earnedter, but opportunities such as these can''t be found whenever we want."

    Kadyn couldn''t help but sneer, hearing these words. This old bastard was really cunning. Though he was cunning, others weren''t stupid either. The man from room number four couldn''t take his bullshit and said. "Old Li, we didn''te here to hear you. We are here to bid for the dwarf. Please, don''t waste our time."

    Old Li froze on the spot at those words. He gritted his teeth and a vicious glint flickered inside his eyes. That man gave him no face at all. However, Old Li was also a veteran, he maintained his smile and said. "Of course, if Artisan Irond wants me to speed up the process, I''d be d to do that."

    "So that guy is Artisan Irond," Khrom whispered.

    Kadyn looked at him in confusion and asked. "Do you know him?"

    Khrom noted. "A little. He''s from Zhodon, which isparable to Avibria City. He is just around twenty-five years old and has recently reached the Rank 1 artisan. At that time it caused a huge turmoil in the Shado empire. It seems that the Magic Association had invited him to join. Though he didn''t refuse, nor did he ept the offer. He''s a very talented person, and might be able to reach Rank 2 one day."

    Kadyn nodded and turned his attention towards the stage, as Old Li spoke. "Bring him up here."

    The people fell silent hearing his words. Now they would be able to see the dwarf. After a few breaths of silence, three men drove a four-wheeled pushcart on the tform. It was closed from all sides with iron bars. A gate could be seen on one side of the cart and arge lock was hanging on it. However, Kadyn didn''t pay attention to the cart. Instead, to the one inside the cart.

    He saw a girl, she looked around ten or eleven, shrinking in the middle of the cart, coiling her hands around her knees. Her face was covered in dirt and her clothes embedded with filthy smudges of blood¡ªtraces of whipping¡ªher short hair had been entangled among themselves due to the dust, fear and horror were evident on her innocent countenance.

    The poor girl shivered with terror as she looked around at the vast audience, ring at her like wolves. She was no different than a human girl, except her height was smaller than a human of her age.

    Kadyn clenched his fist at such a scene. It was like a circus animal that humans captured on Earth and forced them to dance for their amusement. Anger red inside his eyes. "How could they do such a thing to a kid no more thaneleven?"

    Elora also felt heartbreaking when she saw the condition of the girl. Her face turned red with anger, but she could only clench her fist as she knew that she wasn''t strong enough to help that girl.

    Khrom heard them and shook his head. This brother and sister duo was too inexperienced. He wondered if he had made a mistake by epting Kadyn''s offer. In the end, he sighed and warned. "If you want to help someone you need to have sufficient strength. Or else it would only bring troubles for you. This world is not a good ce for honest and upright people."

    Kadyn just smiled hearing his warning. He knew that the world was filled with injustice, if he helped everyone in need, he would bring unnecessary troubles for himself, he would be exhausted to death if not killed by enemies.Though his heart still pained when he looked at the poor girl in such a terrible condition.

    "As you can see, this is a dwarven girl that we captured a few days ago. Anyone who could get their hands on this girl would get her secrets as well." Old Li said.

    "Are you joking with us, Old Li?" Artisan Hot Rod from room number two couldn''t help but sneer at this moment. "You''ve made such a huge fuss for just a little girl and wasted our precious time. Do you think everyone is stupid here? How would a girl like her know the dwarven secrets of forging? Look at her, do you think that she is qualified to know those secrets?"

    People couldn''t help but look at Old Li weirdly, this old bastard dared to make such a fuss over nothing. This was just a child; even if she was their princess she won''t know much about forging at her age. Furthermore, no one believed that she had a high status among the dwarves, or why would she get caught by the ve Dealers?

    "What a waste of time." Artisan Irond from room number four sighed as well.

    "You shouldn''t spread lies, Old Li," at this moment, a familiar voice came from room number one. Kadyn knew whom that voice belonged to. Old Li heard and hurriedly replied to that man. "Association Leader Barret, let me exin the situation first."

    This time Old Li sounded quite polite. After all, if he dared to antagonise this Association Leader, his business won''tst long. This city, this country, and many other countries were ruled by the Magic Association. They were the true rulers of thisnd. Old Li understood this fact clearly. Therefore he dared not to show any grievances on his face and remained polite.

    "Oh, go on, I would love to hear your reasons," Barret said with his dignified voice. Other people also turned towards Old Li.

 Chapter 67 - Embarrassing Situation

    Old Li sighed in relief and exined. "Though this girl seemed to be small, she is definitely a genius of the dwarven tribe. Some of you might not believe me but I suspect that she might be from the royal bloodline."

    As soon as his words sounded, the hall was stunned into silence. The royal bloodline? What did that imply? Unlike humans, dwarves were not divided into thousands of territories. On the contrary, there was a sole ruler that ruled the dwarves. That was the Dwarven Royal n. Their strength was so terrible that no other dwarven n dared to object¡ªor oppose¡ªthem. Now Old Li dared to im that she was from the Royal n. He must have hit his head in between the doors beforeing to the auction.

    After a brief silence, a peal ofughter reverberated. Then the entire hall was filled with chuckles and mockery and curses. Artisan Irond couldn''t help but mock. "Old Li, do you think you''re too smart, or you think we''re are too stupid? You can con others with false information but not us. You did the same with that White Rosemary Flower. You told only prose but you left the terrible cons of the herb."

    Immediately, people in the hall were left stunned. Most of them didn''t have a strong background. Therefore, they didn''t know much about the White Rosemary Flower. After hearing that it could awaken a star, they started to fight over it vigorously. Now it seemed that something was wrong with White Rosemary Flower.

    Khrom heard Artisan Irond''s words and his expression became awful. He clenched his fist and blood started to drip. However, Kadyn didn''t realise it as his attention was somewhere else.

    Old Li''s expression also didn''t look good when Irond exposed his petty trick. He thought that none of those people would stoop low enough to expose this matter. As he didn''t lie about the effect of the flower and just didn''t tell about the consequences of taking it. However, who would have thought that this Irond would say it so bluntly in front of the masses. After today the reputation of the ve Auction House would definitely decrease.

    Old Li clenched his fist and red towards room number four with viciousness. Afterwards, he suppressed his anger and indignation and said. "At least, let me exin before using me of anything." He said, but could not hide the resentment from his voice.

    "Sure, I would like to hear your exnation." Irond sneered.

    The old man took a deep breath and calmed himself down. He was getting agitated after being provoked by Irond again and again. If it wasn''t for his strength, Old Li would have already thrown him out of the Auction House. Afterwards, he looked at the dwarven girl inside the cart and said. "I said I suspect that she is from a Royal n but I didn''t say that I''m confident about it. Furthermore, I said that because this girl herself admitted it."

    "Are you kidding us? How would we know if you are speaking the truth about it?" this time it was Artisan Hot Rod who questioned. "Who knows if you have terrorised that little girl to admit it in front of us?"

    Old Li was left speechless by such a counter, his face turned a little red; however, he hid it without letting anyone see. He thought that he could use this fact to raise the price. Now it seemed that it had be a bone in his throat, painful to swallow, hard to remove. He couldn''t help but once more re at room number four hatefully. It was all because of that bastard Irond.

    "He dug his own grave." Kadyn shook his head and murmured

    "What do you mean?" Elora asked.

    "He thought that he was smart and tried to con other people before this. However, he forgot that today''s audience wasn''t just ordinary people. Therefore when he coaxed other people in previous bids. The VIPs became vignt. He could me only himself for being stupid."Kadyn couldn''t help but find the situation a little funny. How could an old and cunning man like him, make such a blunder. It seems being extra cunning is also not good.

    Old Li appeared gloomy after being embarrassed by others, time and again. He thought that he could gain a huge fortune by conning these people. But today''s situation waspletely different from his expectations. He didn''t know how to proceed. He cleared his throat and said. "Let''s leave the matter of her being a royal aside.Let me tell you that she can forge an intermediate grade artefact already."

    "Sigh, I can''t take it anymore." Artisan Irond said. "Don''t you feel any embarrassment, old man? Do you think forging an intermediate grade elementary artefact is something great? Just start the stupid bidding, even I''m starting to feel sorry for you."

    The audience burst into a peal ofughter. Old Li looked gloomy and his expression was dark. He clenched his teeth in fury and said. "Now we''ll start the bidding. The starting price is hundred thousand dors."

    People gasped when they heard the price. Hundred thousand? Isn''t that too much for a girl?

    "Old man, you really have a big appetite." Irond mocked.

    However, Old Li ignored his remark this time; he knew that he would only embarrass himself by arguing with that brute.

    "One hundred and ten thousand." Someone from room number three¡ªwho was silent all this time¡ªspoke.

    "Haha, so it is Patriarch Irabel." Barret Duncanughed and said. "I''m also a little interested in that girl. Though she might not know the secrets of dwarven tribe''s forging. She would definitely be a Rank 1 artisan after some nurturing. It seems my branch iscking an artisan of that rank. One hundred fifty thousand." He knew what the Patriarch of Irable House was thinking, so he didn''t mind speaking out loud.

    After a small silence, someone from room number five-spoke with a hoarse voice. "One hundred eighty thousand."

    Khrom who was sitting beside Kadyn heard the voice and his body trembled and his eyes turned red as the murderous look emerged on his face. Kadyn happened to see the change on his face and became bewildered.

 Chapter 68 - Mayor Palius

    "What''s the matter?" Kadyn inquired when he saw a change in Khrom''s expression. He could feel myriads of emotions from him, rage, fear, helplessness, guilt.

    "It''s nothing." Khrom eyed Kadyn and shook his head, then he took a deep breath and calmed himself down.

    Kadyn frowned seeing his reaction. Even a dunce would be able to tell that something was wrong with him at this moment. He peered towards room number five and narrowed his eyes. After that person spoke only then Khrom''s expression darkened. So that must be the source of his unease.

    "So that person is your enemy, huh?" Kadyn asked as he looked at him.

    Khrom clenched his fist and said with some difficulty. "If you want to break the contract¡­"

    "Come on, do you think I''m afraid of him?" Kadyn sneered. "At most he is a Rank 1 Magus. Trust me, no Rank 1 magus can do shit to me in Avibria City."

    Khrom looked at him in surprise and fell silent. Though he knew about the sh between Kadyn and the Magic Association Branch, he guessed that it was due to some kind of strange formation inside the shop that rendered the Association Leader and others helpless. However, now looking at Kadyn''s confident face he thought that the matter might not be that simple.

    Kadyn didn''t bother to exin the source of his confidence. He looked towards room number one and curled his lips. It seems I''ve to mobilise Barret to capture this person. Or else I won''t be able to gain his loyalty.

    "Hohoho, Mayor Palius is also interested in this little girl, huh?" Barret Duncanughed when he heard the bidding of room number five.

    Kadyn heard and squinted, "Mayor, huh?" he curled his lips and looked at Khrom beside him, who seemed quite ufortable at the moment. "Don''t worry, I''ll give you an opportunity to take your revenge," Kadyn said and patted his shoulder in a brotherly manner. Only then did his expression improve.

    [Loyalty +5¡ú8]

    Kadyn left stunned when he heard the notification. He nced at Khrom incredulously. He never thought that his few words would increase Khrom''s trust in him. In a single jump, he gained five more Loyalty Points. Then he thought: Would I get any reward by increasing the Employee''s loyalty towards me, or loyalty is itself a reward? Anyways, this wasn''t the time to think about these things and he turned his attention towards the bidding once more.

    "Two hundred fifty thousand," at this moment, Patriarch Irable shouted. "No matter what, I will take this girl with me today."

    "You shouldn''t talk big before seeding or else you would embarrass yourself, hmph." Mayor Palius humphed coldly. "Three hundred thousand!"

    "Three hundred fifty thousand!" Patriarch Irabel shouted through his gritting teeth.

    There was a brief silence before Mayor Palius increased the bid. "Four hundred thousand!"

    No one spoke after the bid reached four hundred thousand. Old Li nced around and said with a smiling face. "Mr Mayor has bid four hundred thousand. Does anyone else want to increase the bid?"

    Silence.

    Just when Old Li was about to announce the end of the auction, azy voice came from one of the corners of the hall. "Four hundred fifty thousand."

    Gasp!

    People turned to look at the bidder with stunned expressions on their faces. No one thought that he could bid such a high number. Furthermore, he dared to bid against Mayor Palius. Isn''t he concerned that he would offend someone that he could not afford to offend? Some people thought. However those who knew about Kadyn became excited and started to whisper among themselves.

    About fifteen-secondter, a deep voice came from room number five. "Do you even have that much money to pay, boy? This auction isn''t a yground for someone like you who is green behind his ears."

    "Did I ask if you have enough money or not? So why are you poking your nose in my matter? Older people aren''t necessarily wise and young people may not be ignorant. So I would suggest that you choose your words carefully."

    Wow!

    Kadyn''s reply left everyone stunned and gasps sounded all around. Then he turned his attention towards room number one and asked. "What do you say, Association Leader Barret?"

    Everyone opened their mouths wide, no one understood what was going on. Even those people who knew about Kadyn were confused. After all, some time ago, Kadyn and the Association Leader were trying to put each other down. So why would he involve Barret Duncan at this moment and ask his suggestion? Confusion was evident on their faces.

    As the people eyed the room number one eager. The silence dawned over the hall. Everyone wanted to hear Barret''s reply. Would he choose to side with the Mayor or this bold and haughty looking boy?

    Finally, a sigh sounded and Barret spoke. "It is indeed inappropriate to speak in such a manner, Mayor Palius. The younger generation surpasses the old. Didn''t you heard this saying?" then he went on. "You asked if he has money or not: don''t worry, I''ll pay it for him no matter how high bidding goes."

    Barret wasn''t stupid, since Kadyn had involved him in his talk, it was clear to see what he wanted. Though Barret was a little disheartened, he still went with the flow. After all, he had signed a Spirit Contract with Kadyn. He was obliged to follow Kadyn''s order.

    The auction hall waspletely silent at this moment, but then, cheers erupted throughout the hall. Everyone looked at Kadyn in a new light. This kid wasn''t simple. Even Leader Barret supported him.

    "If that is the case then I will withdraw from the bidding." After a brief silence, Mayor Palius said. Indignation and irritation were clear to hear in his voice.

    After all the price had already crossed his estimated limit. He won''t benefit by increasing a bid any more. With that kind of money he could even invite any Rank 1 Artisan to make an Artifact for him. It wasn''t worth bidding anymore.

    Kadyn heard him and sneered. Not feeling happy, huh? However, he provoked the man no more. It is fine to attack a snake, but not to attack an injured snake. Now Kadyn had injured the snake, he needed to be cautious¡ªor he would die without even realising.

 Chapter 69 - Curtain Falls

    Old Li stared around the hall and said with a pleasant smile. "Is there anyone else who would like to increase the bidding?" no one replied. "1¡­ 2¡­ 3¡­ SOLD! Congrattions for sessfully winning the bid."

    The entire hall echoed with a thunderous chorus. Who would have thought that Kadyn would win the most precious thing in the auction?

    Kadyn walked towards the stage and looked at Old Li before speaking. "You can get the money from Leader Barret." Without giving him a second nce he turned towards the small girl inside the cart and said. "I''ll take the girl with me."

    Old Li eyed Kadyn with a strange expression and passed him something as he exined. "This is a ve amulet. You can control the dwarven girl with its help. Furthermore, you would be able to find her with its help, as the amulet could pinpoint the direction of the girl"

    Kadyn looked at the small amulet in his hand and clenched his fist, turning the amulet into dust.

    Old Li left stunned when he saw this and couldn''t help but speak. "How would you control her now? She could run away anytime, and you won''t be able to find her."

    Kadyn nced at the old man and said nonchntly. "What it has gotten to do with you?" this man could do anything to increase his profit. He even sold herbs that would harm the foundation of a magus, without even telling them its side effects. Therefore, Kadyn didn''t bother to hide his disdain and contempt for the old man.

    Old Li heard Kadyn and his face turned cold. He clenched his fist and passed the key to open the door of the cart before scurrying away. He needed to collect the money from Association Leader Barret.

    When he thought about Barret, he couldn''t help but nce at Kadyn once more. What rtionship does this brat have with Barret Duncan? A confused expression appeared on his face.

    Kadyn paid no attention to him and opened the door of the cart. He looked at the girl inside and smiled before speaking in a gentle voice. "Come, I''ll take you out of here." He extended his hand towards the girl.

    However, instead ofing near to him, she became frightened and crawled away from him like a panicked chick.

    Kadyn could feel her fear as he looked at her frightened expression. He became disheartened when he saw her condition. It was hard to believe that humans could be so cruel.

    "Let me do this." Elora who was behind Kadyn said. He nodded and let her try. She stared at the dwarven girl and said. "Hey, I''m Elora. What''s your name?" Elora asked, but the girl remained silent. She still looked rmed and shocked and scared.

    Elora didn''t feel disheartened when she saw her tactic wasn''t working. She went on. "Come with us, and you can eat as much as you want. We have all kinds of food at home: roasted chicken, beef, noodles, biryani, rice. Everything you want. What do you say?"

    Kadyn and Khrom left stunned when they heard her words. Both of them looked at her strangely. However, when they spotted the little girl ncing at Elora with an eager expression, licking her lips¡ªthey couldn''t help but think: This also works?

    The dwarven girl eyed Elora and said with a little fearful and trembling voice. "Wi-will you re-really give me foo-food?"

    "Of course, who do you think I am?" Elora patted her chest proudly, reassuring her. "Do you think I will lie to you?"

    "That other uncle also said that he will give me food. But then, he locked me in this cart. Would you also lock me?" she stared at Elora with her innocent eyes, her voice started to fumble and her eyes became slightly wet. But the girl didn''t let the tears fall.

    Elora couldn''t help but grimace, encountering the treatment that would fit only animals, poor kid. "No, we won''t lock you up. You can y all you want. We have arge ce. How could we do such a cruel thing to a sweet and cute girl like you?"

    "If-if you don''t lock me and give me food, then I''lle with you. That bad uncle didn''t give me any food," she said and bit her lips. This time she couldn''t control her tears. Then she choked and started to cry.

    "Come, your elder sister won''t let anyone bully you from now on." Elora grabbed her hand and hugged her tightly. Her eyes turned red when she saw how hard the little girl tried to control her tears but still failed. How much hardship this little had seen in such a tender age? Elora embraced her tightly for about two minutes before letting her go. She looked at her with a gentle face and said. "No one would bully you from now on. You see those two big brothers. They are very strong. They would beat anyone who dares to mistreat you, alright?"

    The girl looked at Kadyn and Khrom with wide eyes. "Are they really strong?" she asked.

    "Of course," Elora said.

    "Even stronger thanUncle Sarav?" she once again asked curiously.

    "Uhh.. who is Uncle Sarav?" Hearing Elora''s words the girl''s face saddened. She chewed her lower lip but remained silent.

    Kadyn saw the situation and said with a smiling face. "Alright, we''ll talk about itter. Let''s go. Are you hungry?" he eyed the girl. "Big brother will let you eat anything."

    "Really?" the girl asked with glittering eyes.

    "Yes," Kadyn said. "Let''s go."

    "M-my leg is hurt." She said after some hesitation.

    "Show me," Kadyn said, looking at her small legs. He could see bloody marks on her skin. The wound had started to get infected.

    Elora sucked a cold breath when she saw this and her face started to tremble with rage. She clenched her teeth but in the end, she suppressed the urge to curse.

    Kadyn eyed the girl and said gently. "Come, sit on big brother''s back. I''ll carry you."

    "Yeah! Big brother is so good!" the group smiled and scurried away.

 Chapter 70 - Khrom Story

    Kadyn walked out of the auction hall with his party. He exchanged nces with Elora and Khrom and said. "Let''s go."

    No one had any intention to linger around. So everyone nodded. However, at that moment, Kadyn felt a vicious re on his back. He turned around and saw a middle-aged man, with ck hair and a small beard, standing not far away from him, staring at him viciously. Kadyn curled his lips when he spotted him. He looked at Khrom and said. "He is Mayor Palius?"

    Khrom''s body trembled, but controlled his urge to pounce at the Mayor and nodded. Then continued to re at Mayor Palius. Anyone could see a deep hatred in his eyes for this man.

    "Don''t feel too conceited, boy." At this moment, Mayor Palius opened his mouth and red at Kadyn. "You won''t even realise when the earth has slipped from under your feet. So be careful from now on."

    Kadyn smiled at his threat. He didn''t think too highly of him, even though he was a Rank 1 Magus. If Kadyn didn''t have so many elements to take care of, he would have already reached that level.

    Gul Palius turned even more ashen when he saw Kadyn''s nonchnt expression. He clenched his fist and red at him viciously. "Hmph, I''ll see how long you can act conceited." He huffed and dashed away with some of his subordinates. No one dared to speak at this moment as they knew that the Mayor wasn''t in a good mood. They just gave an unfriendly look to Kadyn and followed behind the Mayor.

    "Hohoho, I didn''t think the little brother was such a daring man," at this moment a burst ofughter sounded from another side. Kadyn peered at the source of theugh and saw a man around the age of twenty-five standing not far away. He had red hair, strong built, and wore casual clothes without showing any extravagance.

    The man nodded when he saw Kadyn''s gaze shifting towards him. Though Kadyn had never met this man, he could tell who it was.Kadyn narrowed when he spotted him and smiled. "So this is brother Irond."

    Irond was taken aback when he heard Kadyn''s casual voice. Neither servile nor arrogant. No matter where he went, all the people would try to suck up to him, trying to please him; even people with simr status as him weren''t an exception. However, a boy who wasn''t even Rank 1 Magus talked to him without showing any intimation or respect. He didn''t seem to care much about his status as an Artisan or Magus.

    Nheless, the expression of surprise didn''tst much longer, as a wide smile appeared on his face. "I didn''t think I would be able to meet someone as outstanding as brother Kadyn."

    Kadyn looked at him and realised that he must have heard his name from the crowd. Then he shook his head and said, "I don''t deserve brother Irond''s praises."

    The two of them talked for a few minutes. Kadyn realised that, although Irond was young and talented, he wasn''t conceited like other people. He left a pretty good impression on him.

    "Alright, I need to go now." Irond said and passed a badge towards him. "This is my token. If you evere to Zhodon, you can show this token to the Irond Manner''s guards. They will take you directly to me."

    Kadyn hesitated for some time before taking the token. He was still weak, it won''t do him any good to offend everyone around him. Furthermore Irond himself didn''t seem bad, not a narrow-minded person like Gul Palius or Hot Rod from Glont City.

    Irond walked away after a brief talk with Kadyn. Then something came to Kadyn''s mind and he looked around before spotting a few figures. He curled his lips and looked at them with interest.

    Association Leader Barret, Potioneer Yel, and the precious daughter of the Leader Barrett, Zelie walked together. Kadyn grinned and whispered something in Khrom''s ears. Khrom nodded and walked towards the Association leader. At first, Barret frowned, however, after a brief talk his expression changed and nced at Kadyn from time to time. He nodded towards Khrom before thetter retreated.

    "How was it?" Kadyn asked with a smile.

    Khrom couldn''t help but take a deep look at Kadyn and said. "He agreed."

    "Let''s go then," he said and walked away at a slow pace. Some people would point at him, from time to time, as he carried a dwarven girl over his shoulders.

    Kadyn didn''t realise that there was a pair of eyes peering at his back. "Dare to take a thing that I desire, huh?" the owner of the eyes snorted. "You must have a death wish."

    "What should we do, father?" from behind the man stood a youngster. He looked at where Kadyn had vanished with a cruel expression and said. "We haveto snatch that little girl from him."

    "You are blind," Hot Rod chided his son. "Do you think that girl deserves my attention, heh? She is just a kid from a dwarven tribe. Some people might covet her due to her potential of bing a Rank 1 artisan, but to me, she isn''t worth anything."

    "Then?" the boy looked utterly confused. He could not tell what his father was thinking about.

    Hot Rod turned toward his son and grinned evilly. "You''ll know, but not now. Just wait for night to engulf the Avibria City."

    The boy raised his brows but didn''tment any further. He also wanted to know what kind of thing made his father disregard his status and plot against a boy who was just an Elementary Mage.

    ¡ª¡ª

    Kadyn and his group arrived at the shop. He didn''t waste time and took a healing potion before giving it to the little girl. "Drink it, and your pain will disappear and your legs won''t hurt anymore."

    The dwarven girl nodded and swallowed the potion in two gulps. The effect showed on her body as a soothing sensation filled her. The pain vanished and wounds healed. The fatigued expression disappeared. "Wow! This is too good!" then her expression became sorrowful and murmured. "If I had this potionst time, mother and father would have not died."

    Kadyn raised his eyebrows when he heard her words. He looked at her and asked. "Do you know what happened to your family?"

    As soon as she heard Kadyn''s words, tears started to fall off her eyes. Then her sobbing became bawling, making Kadynpletely speechless.

    "Why are you asking stupid things from a little child." Elora chided. Kadyn rolled his eyes at her and shrugged his shoulders. He was just curious about her origin. He wanted to know how she ended up in the ve dealer''s hands.

    At this moment Kadyn''s gaze fell on Khrom and said with a serious face. "Let''s go. I have something to talk to you about."

    Khrom eyed Kadyn and felt a little unsettled inside his heart. He knew what Kadyn wanted to talk to him. However he clenched his fist and a determined expression appeared on his face. He had made a decision.

    "Take care of her," Kadyn said to Elora before leaving. "Let her eat whatever she wants."After that he walked out of the Potion Hall and went towards the Artisan Hall.

    Kadyn and Khrom sat on the sofa before each other. Neither of them said anything for about ten minutes. It was Khrom who took a deep breath and spoke. "I was an orphan while she was the daughter of the vige leader," a warm smile appeared on his face. "Both of us fell in love with each other. The vige leader didn''t ept at first as I was an orphan. However, my talent in magic was top notch in the younger generation of my vige. With time I''ve left everyone in dust and finally her father also became convinced."

    Then his expression started to darken. "It was a year ago when we came to the Avibria City because I thought the vige was too small to contain a talent like me," there was a self mockery in his voice, "Then I joined city guards that are under the control of the Mayor. I was an eight-star elementary mage, enough to be a captain of a decent squad. Everything was goingsmoothly. Three monthster, I became a ninth-star elementary mage."

    "At that time I encountered a bandit group that had killed and plundered hundred''s of caravans. After a fierce fight I was able to kill their leader." Then he clenched his fist and went on. "That was the time my downfall began."

    At this moment his both eyes werepletely red. "Everyone congratted me for my achievements. Now, I wasn''t nobody. Therefore one day I was invited to the Mayor''s mansion to celebrate the Mayor''s birthday. I was excited and went together with my wife. But who would have thought that I was digging my own grave."

    "I never thought that my family would be destroyed in such a cruel manner. I was a failure, but I med her."

 Chapter 71 - Kidnapping?

    "Association Leader Barret hase, brother." A voice sounded from outside the door, interrupting Khrom. There was a pause in between then she said. "Melvona is alone. So I''m going back."

    Elora was a smart girl and knew that Kadyn must be talking about something important to Khrom. Therefore, she did not poke her nose where it did not belong.

    Kadyn looked at Khrom and spatted his shoulder and stood up before speaking. "Let''s go. I''ll let you have your revenge soon."

    Khrom trembled hearing his words. He peered at Kadyn with a stupendous look. His face appeared sluggish as if he was having a hard time believing those words. Hoewever, Kadyn let him speak no more and walked out of the Artisan Hall.

    Khrom stared at his back and clenched his hand into a fist, as viciousness flickered inside his eyes. Then he took a deep breath and a determined expression appeared on his face, as he followed Kadyn closely from behind.

    Elora had Barret and others wait in the Formation Hall before she went to inform Kadyn. Barret looked at the old man beside him and asked with a nervous face. "Why do you think Kadyn demanded three of us toe here today, Elder Jyn?"

    "How would I know?"the old man grumbled hearingBarret''s words. "If not for you, how would I end up in such a situation?" he was the same old man who attacked Kadyn with others in the auction hall but was defeated pathetically.

    Barret''s face turned red when Elder Jyn chided him. Though what the old man said waspletely true. It was Barret who invited him to deal with Kadyn. As he had be wary of him after Potioneer Yel was injured inside his shop.

    However,who would have thought Kadyn would turn the table in such a swift manner, defeating them with no problem at all. They had to bid for his everymand and demand. After all, their lives were in Kadyn''s hands.

    Elder Yel saw the situation turning sour, so he hurriedly tried to alleviate the matter. "Elder Jyn, Leader Barret also didn''t anticipate that the brat would be so cunning. We had never thought that he was hiding such a terrifying formation inside his shop. If not for that, how would he be able to force us to sign that Spirit Contract?" his eyes were filled with anxiety. "However, now our top priority is to not anger that demon lord, or I don''t know what he would do to us. He ispletely insane."

    "Hmph!" Elder Jyn snorted when he heard him, but said nothing. Ever since he signed the contract, he felt as if a huge boulder was pressing over his heart. Today, when the Association Leader informed him that Kadyn had summoned all of them, he could not hide his resentment for Barret. This was all because of this bastard! If he had not invited me, would I be in such a precarious situation? Damn it!

    "You guys seem pretty lively, huh?" at this moment, a peal ofughter came from outside. The trio looked at the door of the hall and a silhouette stood there that made their hearts tremble in trepidation. This demon has finally arrived. Everyone looked at Kadyn with some fear and dread in their hearts. Kadyn had full control over their pathetic lives. One mistake and they could die in vain.

    "Haha, we were just wondering, the reason behind this sudden summon." Barret gave a hollowugh as he stood with others and greeted Kadyn with a forceful smile. "Do you need anything from us, Sir?"

    Kadyn smiled and took a seat, Khrom didn''t sit and just stood behind Kadyn examining the three people in front of him. The three of them looked at Khrom strangely. None of them knew him. "This¡­" Yel said, ncing at Khrom.

    "Oh, he is an employee of my shop," Kadyn said nonchntly. Then peered at Potioneer Yel. "What, do you have any problem with him?"

    "Ahh, no, nothing." Elder Yel broke into a cold sweat as he awkwardly replied. He eyed Khrom once more and lost his interest. He was just an employee after all. Not worth their attention.

    "Alright, let''s discuss today''s matter." Kadyn pped his hands and peered at them. "Do you know why I called all of you today?"

    The three of them exchanged nces with each other, then shook their heads in unison. They had no clue what Kady was thinking. And why would they even know? They weren''t psychic after all.

    Kadyn looked at their confused faces and said. "I need you to capture someone."

    "Wha¡­" all of them stared at Kadyn with mouth agape. None of them could believe their ears and a dissatisfied expression appeared on their faces. They were majestic Spell Casters, but now Kadyn was using them as thugs and hooligans. They gritted their teeth in indignation and helplessness.

    "What?" Kadyn said when he saw their expressions. "Do you have an opinion about it?"

    Elder Jyn immediately put on a facade of fake smile and said. "No, we would do as Sir Kadyn says."

    Khrom was looking at this entire process with shining eyes. He never thought that Kadyn was so formidable that he could subdue even someone like an Association Leader. Then his gaze turned towards Elder Jyn; though he had no idea how powerful he was, as he had never met or seen him before, but he felt chilling oppressioning from him that surpassed even Barret. This old man was stronger than Leader Barret! Khrom had no idea how Kadyn subdued these three people. Admiration flickered inside his eyes.

    Kadyn heard Elder Jyn''s reply and chuckled. "Great. Then tonight, I want you to capture¡­ Gul Palius."

    "Mayor Palius?!" Barret almost screamed when he heard Kadyn''s words. Others also looked at him incredulously. Khrom who was standing behind him leftpletely stunned and his heart filled with gratitude. He knew Kadyn must be doing this for him.

    [Loyalty +5¡ú 13]

    Kadyn grinned when he heard the notification but he wasn''t shocked like before. Then he turned towards Barret and said. "Yes, Mayor Palius. I want you to capture him."

    "It''ll cause huge waves in the city if the Mayor disappeared overnight. How would we exin this situation to our higher-ups? He was appointed by the Magic Association as the Mayor, after all."

    "How would you exin, huh?" Kadyn looked as if he was contemting deeply. He tapped his index finger on his chin, then stared at the three people in front of him and smirked. "What has it gotten to do with me? I said I need you to capture that man. It is as simple as that, no concession. I don''t care what happens after that. Do you get it?

    "Furthermore, Jyn is the Elder of the Magic Association''s headquarter. Don''t tell me you can''t even handle such a small matter? Aren''t you too useless if that is true? Remember you''re living until you show your worth or else¡­ hmph!" his expression turned cold as he spoke, sending shivers inside Barret and other''s hearts. They couldn''t help but sigh in their heart. Why did they even expect any mercy from this brute?

    "I need Gul Palius here before 2 A.M. Or be prepared for punishment." He once more curled his lips and went on. "But trust me, I''ll let you experience the thing called terror. Thoroughly. "

    They trembled in terror at his words. A body dripping with pus and filled worms appeared inside their heads. They immediately had an urge to puke, but controlled with some difficulty. The trio stared at Kadyn with terror and said. "We won''t disappoint you, Sir," Their backs had been drenched in a cold sweat.

    "Good, I''m eager to meet Mayor Palius face to face." Kadyn sneered.

    "Sir, why do you want to¡­ to capture him?" After mustering some courage Elder Jyn asked.

    Kadyn looked at him, amused at his tamed expression and said. "That bastard dared to threaten me in front of so many people outside the Auction Hall. He wants to make me regret offending him. Can you believe it? Who the fuck does he think he is?" Kadyn peered at Jyn and asked. "Tell me, do you think I should wait for him to make things difficult on me? Hmph, I''ll thoroughly let him understand the meaning of loose mouth could cause catastrophe."

    The trio heard and shivered in dread. They thought that something had happened for Kadyn to make a move on Mayor Palius. However, it was just a little bickering. Their hearts couldn''t help but clench. How ruthless one would be, to kill someone for just a small squabble? They could help but sympathise with the Mayor.

    "You can go now," Kadyn said. "But remember, I don''t like failures."

    Three men nodded and scuttled out of the hall, leaving only Kadyn and Khrom inside.

    "Thank you," after a brief silence Khrom said. His voice was filled with gratitude. No matter what story he told to others. But he knew the real reason behind his action. He wanted Khrom to get revenge.

    "You are an employee of my shop. I would do all I can to clear regrets inside your heart. Only then would you be able to give your hundred percent to the work." Kadyn said. He stood from the couch and walked out of the hall.

    Khrom stared at his back and clenched his fist before speaking. "No matter what reason you have to do it¡ªbut after today''s matter¡ªI would use every drop of my blood to return this gratitude if I have to."

 Chapter 72 - Elora Showing Her Healing Talent

    After dealing with Barret and Elder Jyn, Kadyn didn''t linger around and opened the shop for customers. He waited for some time but no one appeared. Then he looked at Khrom who stood behind him and said. "Go, train inside the Practice Room. It is very beneficial to improve your willpower. It will help when you try to reach the Rank 1 magus."

    As he said, a notification sounded in Khroms head.

    [Energy Points +10¡ú10]

    Khrom eyed the points in surprise. After he became an employee, he naturally received his own interface in which he could see his status. At first, he was shocked when he heard the mechanical sound in his head. But after some time he had be ustomed to it. On the contrary, what surprised him was, 10 energy points, that he could be seen on his status window. He knew that he needed to earn these points if he wanted to enter the Library where all kinds of spells were stored or the Meditation Room where he could meditate or the Practice Room.

    An excited look appeared on his face but then he remembered something and his face became ugly. He turned towards Kadyn and shook his head. "These points are useless to me. I could never reach the Rank 1 magus after all."

    Kadyn raised his brows and eyed Khrom before speaking. "You''ve eaten White Rosemary Flower?"

    "How do you¡­"

    "You said you arrived in Avibria City a year ago. After three months you reached 9-star Elementary Rank." He nced at Khrom and slouched on his chair as he continued. "What I''ve understood from your previous story, something happened after that time, and you became a wanted criminal. Tell me, is it possible to be a 10-star Elementary mage in such a short time without any resources?

    "Furthermore even if you had resources, it still won''t be easy to reach this level. If my spection is correct, you have used the White Rosemary Flower or something simr, to forcefully awaken the final star."

    Khrom sighed at Kadyn''s words and nodded. "You are correct. I''ve used White Rosemary Flower. I was desperate to increase my strength. But at that time I had no idea that it had such a terrible drawback." He shook his head and sighed.

    Kadyn looked at him and took a deep breath before speaking. "Though White Rosemary Flower could awaken your star, it would contaminate your Mana Pool." He shook his head and nced at Khrom and smiled. "Maybe it is not possible for me to purify your Mana Pool at the moment." Khrom''s expression became dull after hearing his words. But then he looked at Kadyn and said with a surprised voice. "Not able to purify at the moment? Does that mean it is possible in the future?" his eyes were filled with expectation.

    Looking at his eager face, Kadyn smiled and said. "You need to train inside the Practice Room if you want to reach Rank 1 Magus. After all, one needs strong willpower to merge all the stars."

    "Alright," Khrom said. "I''ll go and practice then."

    Kadyn smiled and fell into deep contemtion.

    "Hello, sir."

    At this moment a voice sounded. Kadyn lifted his head and saw a familiar face. His name was Epora, the same kid who helped Hickast time. Though Hicka was a rotten egg, it didn''t mean all the people around him were bad. "Oh, hello. What kind of service you want today?" Kadyn asked with a smile.

    Epora said. "Sir, I want to meditate for five hours." Then he passed Kadyn five hundred dors.

    Kadyn looked at the money and then eyed Epora before speaking with a gentle smile. "If you want to spend these five hundred dors in meditation,then I would suggest you spend them in the upgraded version of the meditation room."

    "What do you mean, Sir?" Epora asked with a confused face. Was there even a higher level meditation room here?

    Kadyn smiled and said. "This meditation room is for Rank 1 Magus. However, Elementary Rank can also use it. Your speed will be far greater than before. What do you say?"

    Epora''s face was filled with disbelief when he heard Kadyn. Rank 1 Meditation Room that could increase the practice speed of the Spell Casters! He could not believe it. He had never heard about a magic shop that could support meditation of the Spell Casters. Magic shops main target audience was Elementary Rank Magus. After all, who would sell the thing to others that could support the practice of the Spell Caster?!

    "Sir, Is that true?!" Epora asked with an agitated expression.

    Kadyn was a little bewildered when he saw Epora''s face that was filled with shock. Then he smiled and said. "Of course. You are my regr customer, that''s why I''ve told you." Epora rolled his eyes at him when he heard this, but said nothing. Kadyn''s face had be pretty thick after some practice, he didn''t seem to notice Epora''s expression and said. "Do you want to meditate inside the Rank 1 Meditation Room? The price is five hundred dors for an hour."

    Epora paused briefly and a hesitation appeared on his face. After all he didn''t know about the effect of the Rank 1 Meditation Room. What would he do if the effect was worse than the five hours spending inside the Elementary Meditation Room? Wouldn''t he lose today''s pocket money in vain?

    Kadyn saw the struggle on his face and chuckled. "Don''t worry, I can assure you that the effect is far greater than the Elementary Meditation Room."

    Epora gritted his teeth and nodded. "Alright, I''ll see how effective it is."

    "Good," Kadyn smiled as he sent Epora off to the Meditation Room.

    As he sat on his chair, a huge smile appeared on his face, and he murmured. "It isn''t easy to con...ah, no, I mean it isn''t easy to convince others."

    "Sir, sir, please save my child!" suddenly a panicked voice sounded. Kadyn looked towards the source of the shout and spotted a woman who looked around twenty-five or twenty-six, she had a pretty face, and slim body. Though her cheap clothes made her look ordinary. She held a child that looked around five or six years old, and her eyes were filled with tears.

    "What do you want?" Kadyn asked after some hesitation.

    "Please, save my child, Sir." The woman said eagerly and showed the face of her child that waspletely pale; his breathing was shallow, appearing as if he would take hisst breath at any time. "I don''t know what happened to him, but he fainted suddenly."

    Kadyn thought for a moment and said. "I''ve got a healing potion. However, it is a bit expensive. You need to pay 2000 dors."

    "Two thousand?!'''' The woman was left stunned when she heard the amount. She was just an ordinary housewife. Her husband was out to earn some money, even after working a whole day, he would only earn only thirty or fifty dors. How would she pay such a huge amount?

    "Sir, please help me...I-I would do anything¡­"

    Kadyn didn''t know how to appease the woman after all he wasn''t a heartless man, he felt sympathy for her.

    "What''s happening here?" Elora walked out of the Potion Hall as she looked at the scene in front of her. Melvona was walking beside her. Herplexion had improved and Kadyn could see some rosiness on her small innocent face.

    Elora nced at Kadyn and asked. "Will you tell me what''s going on here?"

    He exined the situation to Elora. He was feeling conflicted as he wanted to help this poor woman. However, if he did something like that, won''t otherse in the future to ask for free help? After all, he was doing business, not a charity.

    Elora nodded after understanding the situation. She looked at the woman in front of her and said. "Alright, I will heal your son. However,you need to pay with something."

    The woman looked at Elora and said hurriedly. "I''ll do anything. Please, save my child."

    "I don''t want you to do anything." She shook her head and asked. "Can you cook?"

    The woman was dazed for a moment, but she hurriedly nodded.

    Elora smiled and said. "Alright, you will be our cook from now on. After you pay us back with your work, you can leave or you can continue working. What do you say?

    "What..." thedy didn''t know what to say. She waspletely speechless. This also work? Nheless, she still nodded and looked at her son''s pale face, her heart pained.

    Elora arrived near the woman and ced her hand on the kid''s forehead. Simultaneously, a green light released from her body and eight stars appeared under her feet. Then she shouted. "Heal!"

    Immediately a green light covered the boy. Kadyn was left stunned when he saw this process. He knew the spell, Elora had cast, was the same he gave her some time ago. He had won it from the lottery.

    After a minuteter, she pulled her hand off the child and a smile appeared on her face. "The boy is fine now."

    The woman immediately fell on her knees, her heart was filled with gratitude at this moment. "Thank you, thank you so much."

    Elora hurriedly held the woman and said. "Please, don''t do that. I did that because I needed a chef. Otherwise, someone would make me eat restaurant food my entire life."

    Kadyn rolled his eyes at her and asked. "What had happened to this child?" Elora''s face darkened at his question. She looked at the woman in front of her and asked. "What did your son eatst time?"

    Looking at Elora''s grave expression, her heart skipped a beat. She thought for a brief moment and said. "He just drank milk in the morning." She looked at Elora and asked cautiously. "Is there something wrong, miss?"

 Chapter 73 - Perpetrator, Or A Loving Husband?

    Elora took a deep breath and nced at the woman. "Your son was poisoned."

    "Wha.." the woman turned pale hearing her words. "How could this be?!"

    "Though I don''t know what kind of poison it was, as I don''t have any knowledge of poisons." She sighed and said. "But I can assure you that your son was poisoned." She lifted her right hand and showed it to everyone. Kadyn''s face turned pale when he saw her palm. "What is that?"

    The centre of her palm had been turnedpletely blue. But when he looked carefully he realised that the mark was shrinking continuously and a blue gas dispelled from it, fading into thin air.

    Elora nced at her palm and replied. "This is the poison that I have extracted from that kid''s body."

    She turned towards Kadyn and gave a reassuring smile. "Don''t worry, this poison is not harmful to magus¡ªit is only dangerous for non-magicians. As for this kid, it was life-threatening. If I hadn''t treated him in time, he would have died."

    Kadyn sighed in relief after hearing that it wasn''t fatal. He eyed the woman and asked. "Do you know who did this?"

    The woman frowned and shook her head. "I don''t know. He didn''t go out today and no one hade to our home either. I don''t know how he got poisoned."

    "Where is my son?!" just when he was about to ask another question, a shout came from outside. A man dashed into the shop. He didn''t pay any attention to the surroundings and sprinted to the woman who held her child tightly. " Rayna, what happened to our son?" the man asked with an agitated expression.

    Kadyn eyed the man. He looked around twenty-eight years old, had an average looking face and a strong build. However, when Kadyn''s gaze fell over him, he frowned. Then he curled his lips and a cold light flickered inside his eyes.

    "What are you doing here, Ck?" Rayna asked with a surprised look.

    "I came early from work. However, there was no one present in the house. Therefore I asked our neighbour and then I realised that something had happened to Kove. That''s why¡­ just tell me what happened to him." He seemed anxious and worried for his son.

    Rayna looked at Ck and tears fell from her eyes. "Thank you, Ck. For taking care of me and my son."

    "What are you speaking about?" Ck shook his head and wiped Rayna''s tears gently. "You are my wife and Kove is my son. I must take care of you two."

    Rayna didn''t say anything and nodded gently. She felt blessed and eyed Ck with a smile. "Oh, he is your husband? He seems concerned about you and your child." Kadyn who stood at the side asked with a smiling face as he eyed Ck from up and down. An expression of pondering appeared on his face.

    "Who are you?" Ck frowned. He didn''t like Kadyn''s tone and the way he looked at him.

    "I''m just a small shopkeeper." Kadyn smiled and said. "By the way, she is really your wife and that kid is your son?"

    The atmosphere turned strange, as soon as his voice sounded. Elora also frowned. Has my brother fallen in love with Rayna? She thought and her face turned a little strange. Rayna looked at Kadyn with a bewildered face and hesitated for a moment before replying. "He is my second husband. We got married about fifteen days ago."

    Ck frowned and an annoyed look appeared on his face. He eyed Rayna and said. "Why are you telling him about our personal life?"

    "Ck, they are our benefactors; without them, our son had died." She hurriedly exined.

    Ck was left stunned and a vicious glint appeared in his eyes, but he hid without letting anyone see. "I thank you for saving my child."

    Kadyn didn''t bother with him and spoke to Rayna. "I suppose this kid''s father was your first husband?"

    Ryana bit her lip and nodded. Ck, who was at the side, couldn''t hold himself and said. "Though you have saved our child, it doesn''t mean you can interfere in our private life."

    Kadyn once more ignored Ck and asked Rayna. "Don''t you want to know the perpetrator behind this incident?"

    Hearing his words, everyone left stunned. Especially Ck, whose face turned a little pale. He clenched his fist and grunted. "We don''t know you, Sir. And you don''t need to worry about our personal life. We can handle it."

    "Hmm?" Kadyn nced at him and chuckled. "What''s wrong, Mister Ck? Why are you spacing out? I thought you loved your son and wife very much. However, it doesn''t seem you care about your son much, as you don''t have any intention to find who did this. What would you do if that person does something more insane next time?"

    "Of course, I want¡­"

    "Then it settled," Kadyn said. "I have already found a person who poisoned your son."

    "Really?" Rayna said and gritted her teeth in hatred. "Who did this? I''ll make him pay!"

    Kadyn chuckled coldly and looked at Ck. "Mister Ck, do you know who is the person behind this?"

    "How would I know?" A cold sweat covered his forehead as he said.

    "Oh, you don''t know?" Kadyn said with a sigh and peered at Ck and said. "Then let me tell you."

    "Who is he?" he asked.

    From the side, Elora and Rayna looked at the duo strangely and felt that something was amiss. Elora thought for a moment and a light appeared inside her eyes. She seemed to understand something.

    Kadyn was silent for a moment. Then he stared at Ck and his eyes turned cold as he stated. "It was you!"

    "Wh-what nonsense are you talking about? Why would I do something to my son? I love him!" Ck turned pale and screamed. He held Rayna''s hand and said. "Let''s go, we are leaving."

    Rayna hesitated and said to Kadyn. "Sir, you must have made a mistake. Ck isn''t that kind of person. He can''t do such a thing." She shook her head.

    "Did you hear that, boy?" Ck sighed in relief when he heard Rayna''s words. His confidence once more blossomed. "You don''t need to worry about our family." He said and started to drag Rayna by her hand.

    "Hold on a second."

    Ck turned around and stared at Kadyn before speaking coldly. "Boy, don''t go too far."

    Kadyn ignored him and looked at Rayna and said. "I don''t have any intention to poke my nose where it doesn''t belong. However, you are going to work here from now on. Therefore I thought about warning you. Otherwise, you will have only yourself to me if you realise it toote."

    "What is he saying?! Ck said and twisted Rayna''s hand. "You are going to work here? How dare you make such a decision by yourself? Are you cheating on me?"

    "Ck, you¡­" Rayna turned pale when she heard his words. It was the first time something like this Ck had said to her. He was always kind and caring. What happened to him? She was bewildered.

    Kadyn''s face turnedpletely dark as soon as heard Ck''s voice. At this moment Khrom walked out from the Practice Room. Kadynsaw him and a cruel smile appeared on his face. "At first I just wanted to warn her about you. But now I''ve changed my mind." He nced at Khrom and pointed towards Ck. "He had done something unforgivable. I want you to make him confess his crimes. Can you do that?"

    Khrom nodded at Kadyn and walked towards Ck. "You¡­ what are you trying to do?!" a terrified expression appeared on his face.

    Khrom looked at him and grinned. "You are just a normal human but you dare to shout here, huh?" Khrom hit Ck''s hand that held Rayna''s wrist. The man grunted, and tumbled back, as a searing pain prated into his flesh. "Yu¡­ you, what¡­"

    "Confess!" Khrom interrupted as his cold voice sounded. Ck shrank back whenhe heard him and hesaid with a trembling voice. "I-I didn''t do anything."

    "Trying to act tough, huh?" Khrom chuckled and appeared in front of Ck in a blink. Before he could resist, Khrom twisted his hand and pped him on the ground. The man moaned and groaned and struggled, but to no avail.

    "Don''t do this, please." Ryana turned pale and pleaded to Kadyn. "He could never do such a thing. I have known him for many years."

    Kadyn looked at her and said. "I''m not doing this because I want to prove that he is the culprit behind your son''s poisoning." He turned towards Ck and went on. "However, he dared to insult me. Loose tongue could have terrible consequences. Now he needs to pay for his loose tongue."

    Rayna turned pale when she saw Kadyn''s expressionless face.

    "Do it!" Without giving her a second nce he said to Khrom. Thetter grinned cruelly when he heard hismand. He was already hiding so much anger inside his heart that he didn''t know where to ease his agony. Now he had found a prey he would torment it thoroughly.

    He drew a sharp dagger from his back and smirked at Ck. "Confess, or every ten seconds you will lose a finger and then an entire limb. After that ears and nose. Followed by eyes¡­ What do you say? Have you decided to confess?"

    As he heard Khrom, Ck turned pale and his body quivered. Then a strange smell permeated the surrounding area.

 Chapter 74 - Rayna

    "The fuck!" Khrom cursed when the terrible odour wafted the surrounding. He peered at Ck and kicked and once more cursed. "You fucking piece of shit. Do you think you can shit wherever you want?!"

    His nose twitched as the terrible odour spread in the shop. He pped the man in irritation and once more kicked on his chest and shouted. "Confess!"

    Ck gazed at Khrom''s cold face and stuttered. "I-I didn''t do anything."

    "It seems you don''t remember. Don''t worry, let me help you to recollect your memory." Though he was feeling disgusted by the stench he still moved and held Ck''s hand. Before Ck could protest Khrom had already detached a thumb of his right hand.

    "Ahhhh!!"

    An agonised shriek reverberated in the entire shop, as he rolled and quivered and cursed nonstop. However, no one felt pity for him except Rayna who thought he was innocent. As she thought about pleading once more, Kadyn''s dark face fell into her view. She embraced her child tightly and remained silent. Not daring to speak.

    Rayna thought that this ce was a normal shop; and she came here to ask for help, as she had heard about the shop''s reputation and knew that they sold miraculous potions. But only now did she realise that she had entered into a den of beasts. She felt iparably ufortable. Ck''s every shriek sent a shiver into her spine.

    Elora patted her shoulder from behind and said. "Don''t worry. My brother never does anything without a good reason. There must be a purpose behind this as well."

    Rayna didn''t know what to say. She hadplete trust in Ck as she knew him for many years. She and her husband and Ck were childhood friends. How could she not know about Ck''s character?

    After her husband died in the forest while collecting herbs, it was Ck who supported and helped her. Never asking anything in return. Therefore when he proposed to her a month ago, she could not reject him. After all she was a single mother, Rayna knew that alone she could not give her son a decent life. She was an ordinary human after all. Therefore after a long thought, she epted his proposal.

    "Are you going to confess or would you like to lose another finger?" just as she was lost in past memories, Khrom''s cold voice sounded. She bit her lip but stayed silent.

    "Please, let me, let me go!!" Ck bellowed with pain and indignation. His eyes turned crimson and his body had been covered in sweat. He begged and pleaded, but to no avail. Khrom wasn''t a kind soul like Kadyn. He had seen all kinds of colour in life and his heart had turned cruel. Though usually, he appeared normal, there was a vast grievance hidden in him.

    "Looks like you''ve chosen a second option, huh?" Khrom grinned widely as he stared at Ck as if he was a kind of toy.

    However, just as he was about to take another finger from his hand, Ck''s terrifiedly shriek sounded. "It was me. It was me! I added poison in the milk because I knew that Kove drinks milk every morning."

    Rayna heard him and her legs buckled. Elora¡ªwho stood behind Rayna¡ªsupported her, preventing her from falling. Rayna stared at Ck and her eyes turned red, as she screamed in rage. "Why? Why did you do that?!"

    "Why? Don''t you know?" Ck said with full of bitterness. "I have loved you since we were children. However, you rejected my proposal and got together with Melo. I was broken from inside. He wasn''t better than me. Not in look, neither in wealth. But you still choose him over me." At this moment his face became cruel as a vicious smile appeared on his face. "Therefore I decided to destroy that bastard and snatch his woman."

    Rayna''s heart trembled as she heard his insaneughter.

    Ck peered at Rayna and sneered. "After long nning, I got my chance. We both went to collect herbs, but a group of wolves attacked us. Melo wasn''t as strong as me. Therefore, when we were trying to escape, I injured him so he would fall behind and wolves would not go after me. Two birds with a single stone."

    He startedughing maniacally. "You know what? He died at that time, and he died miserably. I still remember his face that was filled with disbelief and confusion. s, he would never know the reason why he died."

    Rayna trembled at this moment and tears fell from her beautiful eyes non-stop. She never thought that Ck, her closest friend, would do such a thing. He was the reason behind every terrible thing that happened in her life. She stared at him and asked with a voice filled with hatred. "Then why do you want to kill my son? He is just a child!"

    "Isn''t it easy to perceive?" Kadyn spoke from the side as he darted his cold look at Ck. "Kove is Melo''s child and Ck hated him to the extreme point, as in his point of view, Melo had snatched his love from him." Then he shook his head. "People say that women are jealous creatures, but men aren''t any different. Therefore, he couldn''t stand the sight of Kove, as he was Melo''s son. He wanted to kill him, but he also wanted to make you his woman. So he couldn''t do anything to Kove openly.

    "And to achieve his goal he had only one choice¡ªto endure. He endured for five years, and acted kind and helped you as much as he could. And as time passed you started to realise that it isn''t easy to foster a child¡ªthat''s what Ck wanted to make you realise¡ªyour financial condition started to deteriorate day by day. That was the time he once again proposed to you, and the oue was obvious."

    Rayna started crying and fell on her knees. This time Elora didn''t support her. It''s better to wash your bitterness and grievances through tears, sometimes. "Why al you clyig, Maa?"

 Chapter 75 - Sneak Attack

    At this moment an innocent voice sounded and Rayna''s body stiffened. She lowered her head and saw that Kove had opened his big innocent looking eyes, as he stared at her with a questioning expression.

    "No, no, my son. I wasn''t crying." Rayna hurriedly put a smile on her face as she caressed her child''s small face. "Actually, something fell into my eyes. But don''t worry, now it''s fine."

    As Rayna was talking with her son, Kadyn turned towards Khrom and said. "Take him away from here and dispose of him." He waspletely disgusted by this man. He didn''t even leave an innocent child due to his hatred.

    Khrom held the man and grabbed him by the neck and cursed. "Shit this is too unbearable." No matter how Ck protested, he didn''t loose his grip.

    As he looked Khrom''s fading back. Kadyn asked in his head. "How should give sry to my workers? Just now Khrom did a dirty job. But he didn''t receive any benefit. He isn''t like Elora who has potion-making skills. How should I pay to him?"

    "You don''t need to worry about it." After a brief silence, System spoke. "There is already a system for workers." System paused for a second and continued. "There is a new option at the bottom of your profile¡ªEmployee."

    Kadyn opened his status window and looked at the end, and indeed, there was an extra option. "Just click on it and you will understand." After exining the system again fell silent.

    Kadyn did as he was told. After that two names appeared: [Elora] and[Khrom]. Kadyn spotted in front of their names the option of Energy Points. However, at this moment it was showing [Inactive]. His eyes glittered and he said. "Active"

    Just as he had predicted. The option changed in front of their names and it turned to [Active].

    "After activating it, employees would get their energy points automatically if they do any work¡ªorplete a mission¡ªgiven to them by the shop owner." System exined. "Every task has a fixed value. Simr to the standard price of potions. Though you can sell the potions at a higher price, you can''t increase or decrease the value of a task.

    "But yeah, if you want to give your employee extra points then bear it in your mind that their value would be halved. Where they need to expend a single energy point, they have to expend two. Everything has its own merits and demerits. It''s up to you, how you see the situation."

    Kadyn understood and nodded his head. Does that mean the points that I gave to Elora and Khrom would be halved in value? He shook his head and sighed. He turned towards Elora and said. "You arrange a ce for Mis Rayna."

    Elora nodded and patted Rayna''s shoulder gently. Then she looked at Kove and a warm smile appeared on her face as she eximed. "Wow, you are so cute!" then she looked at Melvona and said. "Come here. From now on, he would live with us, you need to take care of him, as his big sister, ok?"

    Melvona blinked her eyes and nodded and looked at Kove curiously. Kove also turned to look at her but then eximed. "Wow, big sister is so small!"

    "..."

    "You¡­ you¡­" Melvona pointed at Kove but couldn''t find any word to retort him. Then she dashed away towards the Potion Hall where she was staying with Elora.

    Rayna red at her son and said. "That was rude, Kove. you shouldn''t have said that to her."

    "But¡­ she¡­"

    "No but," Rayna chided him. "You''ll go and apologize to her immediately."

    "Fine," Kove signed depressedly when he looked at his mother''s stern expression. Elora chuckled and held Rayna''s hand. She knew that her emotions were in turmoil at the moment, but she controlled them as her son was in front of her. "Alright, lets go," Elora saidand led them to the Potion Hall.

    Kadyn looked at their backs and frowned. "I need to build a house." However, when he looked at his Energy Points, a depressed expression appeared on his face. "I need to sell all the potions that I brew for an auction."

    As he said, a middle-aged man entered the shop. He looked around and his eyes fell on Kadyn. "Sir, do you have a Strength Increasing Potion?"

    Kadyn looked surprised and said with a gleeful face. "Yeah, sure,e. I''ll show you. The name of the potion is [Draught of the Bear]. It could increase the strength of an ordinary man or elementary magus by about two times. It could also increase the mana by1.5 times."

    "Good, I''ll purchase a potion?"

    ¡­.

    After dealing with the middle-aged man, Kadyn didn''t have to wait much longer before another customer appeared. He was a student. Though Kadyn didn''t know his name, he knew that he was a regr customer.

    At noon he ate the food with everyone that Rayna made and couldn''t help but praise her culinary skills nonstop. She was a brilliant chef. Elora saw her brother''s behaviour and puffed her chest out arrogantly as if telling him: ain''t I amazing?

    Just like that the entire day passed and the night arrived. This night wasn''t like any other night. It was special, especially for Khrom. He looked eager and impatience was written all over his face. He couldn''t wait to tear that bastard piece by piece. Kadyn patted his back and assured him. "Don''t worry, today you will have your revenge."

    Khrom eyed Kadyn and a grateful expression appeared on his face. However, he didn''t say anything. He just remembered this favour in his heart. Then he looked at the gate and said. "Why aren''t they here yet? It is already midnight."

    "Don''t worry, there are still two hours," Kadyn said. "However, if they don''t arrive after two hours, they could not me me for being merciless."

    Khrom nodded and waited patiently.

    Time passed and half an hourter Kadyn eximed. He peered into the darkness with a cold expression. Khrom followed his gaze but didn''t see anything. "What is it?" he asked.

    "A rat," Kadyn replied and stood as he stared at a certain ce. After that, a star pattern appeared¡ªin which ten red stars glittered¡ªunder his feet as he shouted. "Meteor Shower!"

    The sky turned red and a vast number of red meteors fell from the sky. "Fuck, how did this brat discovered us?!" an angry shout came, and then someone punched towards the sky and all the meteors shattered like ying cards.

 Chapter 76 - Poor Hot Rod

    "It''s you, old bastard!" Kadyn eximed, spotting the culprit. He never thought that this guy would sneak into his shop in the middle of the night.

    "Damn it!" the man cursed and peered at Kadyn with a vicious expression. "I wanted to do this silently, but who would have thought that you''ve got a death wish, brat?"

    "Hot Rod!" Khrom''s eyes widened when he saw the man''s face. What the hell this bastard is doing here. He thought. Kadyn and Khrom exchanged nces, both of them could see the confusion in each other''s eyes.

    "What are you doing? Are you here for Melvona?" Kadyn calmed himself down and asked¡ªif he was out of the shop he would definitely run with his tail between his legs. But here, he was the king. No Spell Caster could do anything to him. As he thought, he curled his lips triumphantly. It felt good to have an overpowering trump card like a magic shop.

    "Melvona?" Artisan Hot Rod looked at him with a nk face, then he thought about something. "Oh, that Dwarven girl. No, I''m not here for her. Anyway, It''s better you''ve discovered me. Now I don''t need to sneak and search for it by myself."

    Kadyn frowned and narrowed his eyes. "What do you mean?"

    "Father, why are you wasting time with him? Just break his limbs and snatch the item." A boy standing behind Hot Rod said with a malicious expression. He stared at Kadyn as he was an ant; his face was filled with disdain and arrogance.

    "Haha, don''t mind him. My son is a little hot-tempered." Hot Rod chuckled and turned towards Kadyn. "Though he is a little impatient, what he said is true. I came here for something. Give it to me."

    "What is the thing that sir Hot Rod wants?" Kadyn curled his lips as he asked. Though he wanted to thrash this father and son duo, he controlled his urge. He needed to know the purpose behind their visit.

    "I want the ck Iron you bought from the auction." Hot Rod said and went on. "Don''t let me repeat, or it won''t do you any good."

    "Why do you want ck Iron? It is just amon rank metal. It might be precious for an Elementary Artisan,but someone like you¡­ it isn''t anything special." Kadyn asked with his glittering eyes. It seems there was something that he was unaware of. If Hot Rod had gone to this extent for just that metal, it must be something very precious. Is that not a chunk of ck Iron? Kadyn thought. Then said, "I''ll give you the metal after you tell me why you want it."

    "You don''t know what''s good for you, brat." Artisan Hot Rod sneered and a rune appeared over his forehead. Simultaneously, a horrifying aura dawned over Kadyn. "I''ve given you a chance, but you ignored my kind gesture. Don''t me me for being ruthless now, kneel!" he shouted.

    Khrom felt the pressure and a terrified expression appeared on his face. He didn''t know what to do, he felt helpless in front of the pressure of Rank 1 Magus. However, at this moment, Kadyn grinned and waved his hand as he said with a t tone. "Disperse!"

    As soon as his words fell, the pressure vanished. "Wha¡­ what!" Hot Rode screamed with shock and horror when he realised what had just happened. He saw Kadyn still standing tall and proud peering at him with a disdainful smirk as if he was a clown. His eyes shrank and horror appeared on his face. Only those people at the Rank 2 Magus could disperse his pressure as Kadyn did. Does that mean¡­ as soon as he thought of the possibility his body quivered and his heart trembled and his face turned pale.

    "What are you doing, father?" A boy shouted from behind Hot Rod."Just finish himoff."

    "p!"

    "Shut the fuck up, you dunce!" Hot Rod smashed his son ten meters away with a p. His face had swollen like a pig; blood trickled from his lips, and tears and snot appeared inside his eyes and nose when he realised what had just happened. He felt wronged. He didn''t even know why his father had suddenly pped him. "Father.."

    "I said shut the fuck up!" Artisan Hot Rod shouted at his son and gritted his teeth in fury. He turned towards Kadyn and fear flickered inside his eyes. This time he had hit the iron te. "Sir, I''m really sorry for my offence. Please, forgive me." As he said, he knelt. Khrom and Hot Rod''s son were left stunned at such a disy. Neither of them could understand what the hell was going on.

    Kadyn looked at the kneeling man in front of him and a surprised expression appeared on his face. This guy was pretty decisive, as soon as he realised that he had offended the wrong person, he became tamed. Kadyn eyed him and said with some interest."I can forgive you, but one needs to pay the price for his actions. What price can you pay?"

    "What does Sir Kadyn want from me?" Hot Rod looked at Kadyn and asked with a nervous expression.

    Kadyn smiled at his question and replied. "Two years. I need you to work in my shop for two years. You aren''t the worker of my shop. However, if you can be a regr employee or not, that depends on your behaviour, and performance in the future."

    Artisan Hot Rod''s lips twitched when he heard what Kadyn said. Who the hell wants to be a worker in your shop? I''m the majestic Rank 1 Artisan! He thought but remained silent. He wasn''t stupid enough to argue with Kadyn. However, his face already sold him. One could tell with just a single look that he was quite depressed at this moment.

    Kadyn eyed at his troubled face and chuckled "It seems it''s quite hard for you to make a decision. Let me help you then." Hearing Kadyn''s words, Hot Rod looked at Kadyn with hopeful eyes. However, his next sentence made him pale with fright.

 Chapter 77 - Hustril

    "If you don''t ept my proposal. You will lose a hand, a leg, an eye...and... Ah, yes, an ear." He grinned and asked. "What do you say?"

    "I''ll work for two years." He said and nodded vigorously as if he was made for working in his shop. However, only he knew the condition of his heart. He wanted to cry but no tears came out of his eyes; he wanted to scream but didn''t dare to; he wanted toin but had no courage. In the end, he could only sigh with self-pity.

    "Alright, tell me, why do you want ck Iron?" Kadyn said with great interest.

    Hot Rod eyed Kadyn and shook his head, suppressing his depression before replying. "That metal isn''t ck Iron."

    "Ohh, then what kind of metal is that?" Kadyn asked, eager to know more.

    "Hustril." He replied.

    "Hustril?" Kadyn frowned as he had never heard this term before. "What kind of metal is that?"

    Hot Rod hesitated, but then he sighed, and replied. "Though this metal is just a Common Rank. It is a special and rare metal. Almost scarce in a ce like the Magic Association. One would hardlye into contact with it. Furthermore, it looks just like ck Irons, however, there are blue dots on Hustril that ck Ironcks. I have read it in a book by chance, or I also wouldn''t know about it."

    "Can you tell me the use of this metal?" Kadyn said. "I don''t want to know its history."

    Hot Rod nodded and said. "It is used to forge Storage Artifacts."

    "Wha...t?" Kadyn left agape when he heard Hot Rod. "Are you sure?" he asked with an agitated expression. How cool that would be to have a Space Ring or a Space Bracelet. He could store anything inside without any problem.

    "I''m not lying." Hot Rod said with full confidence.

    An excited look appeared on Kadyn''s face. Then he asked Hot Rod. "Can you forge it?"

    "I''ve never tried, but I''m sure I can seed." Then an embarrassed look appeared on his face. "It''s just that... I don''t have an Inscription for it."

    Kadyn stared nkly at Hot Rod and sighed. Why did he even expect something from him? Without Inscription, there was no difference in normal weapon or artefact. One could say, an artefact bes an artefact after the artisan inscribed the Inscription on it. Furthermore, different Inscriptions needed in different situations.

    [Author Note: Previously, I''ve used Array instead of Inscription.]

    He red at Hot Rod and asked with irritation. "Are you lying because you don''t want me to know the Inscription?" After all, Inscriptions were the most precious thing for Artisans.

    "No, no, I''m telling the truth." Hot Rod hurriedly replied.

    Kadyn nced at him and said. "Lying would do you no good. So I would suggest you behave."

    Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

    At this moment three shadows appeared inside the shop simultaneously. Kadyn nced at them andughed. "Have you finished the task?"

    Three of them walked towards Kadyn and revealed their faces. They were Elder Jyn, Leader Barret, and Potioneer Yel. Elder Jyn grinned at Kadyn''s question and threw a man who hanged in his hand like a bag of rice. As the body fell in front of Kadyn it made a "Thump" sound. The man groaned and moaned in agony.

    He appeared in a miserable condition. His nose was broken, his limbs appeared useless, his clothes were covered in blood and sweat. He lifted his head after some struggle and gazed at Kadyn, but the figure was blurry, and he could not see the face clearly. Then he said. "Wh..y are y..ou doing this?" his voice was weak and pathetic, trembling with fear.

    Khrom walked out from behind Kadyn as his eyes glittered with hatred and kicked Gul Palius onhis head without a shred of mercy. He squealed like a pig and smashed in the distance. This sudden development caught every off guard, including Elder Jyn and others. They exchanged nces with each other and shook their heads. It seemed the real reason Kadyn captured Mayor Palius was because of this guy.

    Khrom padded towards Gul Palius and realised that he had fallen unconscious. Then he looked towards Elder Jyn and the other two with a questioning look. It was Leader Barret who replied. "Though he is just a Rank 1 Magus, he has reached the peak. Therefore, we had to struggle quite a bit to subdue him. If it wasn''t for Elder Jyn''s help we would have been ughtered by him."

    As he said, his face turned red. He was the Branch Leader of the Magic Association inAvibria City. He was supposed to be the strongest person in the city. But someone had already overtaken him. It was Elder Jyn who controlled the situation. However, the oue didn''t fare too well for Mayor Palius, as he had turned into a swollen pig.

    At this moment Khrom turned towards Kadyn. "Can you give me five Healing Potions?" he said. "I''ll pay youter when I have energy points."

    Kadyn thought and nodded. Potions weren''t provided by the Shop, so he had full control over them. He passed five vials to Khrom and said, "This is the first andst time. Next time I won''t give you a single thing without energy points." After all, he needed to follow rules strictly. Otherwise,no one would value the rules.

    Khrom nodded gratefully and poured the entire vial inside Mayor''s mouth. Kadyn saw and understood what he wanted to do. "There is a ce behind the Shop. You can do whatever you want there. We don''t want to wake up the children due to some strange noise after all." He said to Khrom. Then turned towards Elder Jyn before speaking. "Follow Khrom, and help him, if the Mayor tries to struggle."

    Elder Jyn nodded. He knew there was no option of refusing, so he could only nod with a sigh.

    "So, it was you, hahaha!" Mayor Palius opened his eyes and nced at Khrom who was in his original appearance. After all, he needed no more to hide. Gul Palius stared at Khrom and mocked him. "You want revenge for raping your wife, huh? Then you''re also a sinner. You killed her, after all ."

 Chapter 78 - Real Culprit

    Khrom trembled when he heard Gul Palius'' words. Wrath appeared inside his eyes, rage engulfed his face, as he stared at the man on the ground. Gul Palius didn''t seem to notice his expression and continued sarcastically. "That woman thought she could save you by acting like a whore, but who could have thought that you would kill her instead?" Mayor looked at Khrom and revealed his bloody teeth, grinning. "She tried to save you by acting like an unfaithful wife but you? You killed her. I don''t think you are any better than me."

    Khrom turned pale as he heard Gul Palius. He knew that everything he said was true. His wife did everything to save him, she didn''t even shirk from enduring those awful things. However, instead of bearing the burden and hardship together with her, he killed her. He still vividly remembered her expression when thest time she breathed.

    There was a relief on her face, as she knew that she could be free of this terrible life; there was a pain in her heart, as her husband was the one who killed her; her eyes were reluctant, as she knew that she would be separated from her love for all the eternity; her eyes were filled with tears, but her face had a blossoming smile that he used to see when they were in their vige.

    Guilt gnawed him from inside as he remembered her sweet innocent smile, her face in tears, the pain that she hid in her heart. The terrible things she went through for him, endured for him and lived in pain, everything just for him, and he knew that. He fell on his knees and tears rolled from his eyes, as guilt engulfed his heart like a w of a devil from hell.

    Mayor Palius looked at Khrom andughed evilly, and then sighed. "She was an amazing woman. Her tender skin, her silky hair, her velvety lips, her¡­"

    "Shut up!" Khrom snapped with rage,staring at Gul Palius with crimson eyes. His entire body trembled in fury. He gritted his teeth in rancour and grunted. "I''ll make you pay for what you did to her. I''ll make you beg for death...but death won''te to you!"

    "Hahaha!" Mayor burst into a peal ofughter when he heard his roar, staring at Khorm mockingly, then sneered. "Do you think you can make me beg? What a pipe dream you''ve there, but indeed the taste of your wife was amazing, I still miss it." He licked his lips pervertedly and grinned.

    Khrom kicked him again and again. However, the Mayor continued to chortle.

    Kadyn frowned when he heard their conversation. He looked at Khrom and sighed. Then a cold expression appeared on his face. This guy deserves punishment worse than death. However, he wasn''t his employee so he could not deal with him the same way he did Hicka. He thought for a moment and turned towards Potioneer Yel. "Do you have a potion that could increase the body''s sensitivity?"

    "Huh?" Potioneer Yel looked at Kadyn in confusion but then something came into his mind and his eyes shone. He nced at Mayor Palius, however, didn''t feel a shred of pity for him. As he knew what kind of person he was. He nced at Khrom and nodded. "I''ve two such potions. One could increase the sensitivity of Rank 1 Magus by 10 times while the other couldby 20 times. We mostly use them to interrogation or torture thecriminals."

    "Give me the most potent one," Kadyn said without a shred of emotion. However, his heart was burning with rage. Kadyn didn''t even want to think about the pain Khrom went through.No one could understand his pain and anger. Kadyn didn''t know in what kind of situation he killed his wife, but he must have been devastated when he realised the truth.

    Potioneer Yel nodded and said. "I''ve stored it in my living quarters. I''ll go get it."

    Kadyn didn''t bother with him anymore and walked towards Khrom. He gently patted his shoulder and said. "Don''t worry, I''ll make him pay for what he has done to you, and indeed, he will ask for death, but we won''t let him die."

    Khrom looked at Kadyn and fell on his knees. Then started to cry, he looked upward and shouted in misery as he held his head in his hands, pulling his hair in frustration. Kadyn stared at him, hesitating for a moment, but then sighed and remained silent. He turned towards Mayor Palius who wasughing mockingly at Khrom and kicked on his mouth. The man squealed pathetically and threw a mouthful of blood.

    Kadyn peered at him and said in a cold tone. "This isn''t a ce where you can be unruly. Do you think that no one could make you pay?" As he said he turned towards Leader Barret, his impression of the Magic Association worsened once more. Someone did such terrible things and the Association turned a blind eye. There was no way he would believe that they didn''t know his doings.

    Leader Barret spotted his gaze over him and he turned red. Elder Jyn''s face also darkened when he realised the situation. Though he was an arrogant old man and loved to unt his seniority everywhere, but he never did anything against his conscience. He could not hide the disappointment in his eyes when he looked at Barret.

    Barret turned pale when he saw their gazes and hurriedly exined. "I know I''m to me. I''ve heard a little about Khrom''s matter. At that time he was the talk of the town for a while." Previously Khrom was hiding his face so he didn''t realise his identity. However, after seeing his face and hearing his story, he understood who was he. "He had uprooted the most dangerous bandit group at that time after all. However, his life turned upside down when he was invited into the Mayor''s mansion. Someone''s eyes fell on his wife." He sighed and looked at the Khrom¡ªwho sat on the ground¡ªin pity.

    Then he looked at Kadyn again and went on. "Next day I heard the news about what happened to his wife. After all, these kinds of things can''t be hidden for long. s¡­"

    Kadyn narrowed his eyes at him, an annoyed look emerged on his face when Barret stopped talking.

    Barret nced at Kadyn and hurriedly exined. "Mayor Palius wasn''t the main culprit behind this incident."

 Chapter 79 - Elder Beor

    Everyone turned their gazes towards Barret, including Khrom. They could not believe that there was another culprit behind all this. Barret looked at everyone''s faces and hesitated for a moment, but then sighed and replied. "He is Elder Beor from the Glont City."

    "Elder Beor!" Hot Rod, who was standing at the side with a dumbstruck expression all this time due to the strange situation in front of him, shouted in shock and bewilderment.

    Kadyn turned towards him and asked. "You are also from Glont City. Do you know something about him?"

    Hot Rod looked at Kadyn and nodded with fear. "Yes, I know a bit about." He took a mouthful breath and went on. "Our Glont City has a guardian¡ªjust like other top cities¡ªand that is Elder Beor. However, it would have been better if we had no guardian." He sighed at the end of his statement.

    "What do you mean?" Kadyn frowned.

    However, before Hot Rod could reply, Elder Jyn interrupted. "That bastard Beor is full of lust. He had done so many atrocities that it is impossible to count." He gritted his teeth in rage and disgust.

    "He has made several unmarried girls pregnant in Glont City." Hot Rod sighed. "Furthermore, no one could speak anything against him, or he would execute them. He is too powerful after all. Not even those nobles dare to voice objection much lessmoners."

    "Though he is a piece of shit. He is indeed strong as he is at the peak of the Rank 2 Magus, and after a few years he might reach Rank 3." Elder Jyn said. "That''s why the Association didn''t take any action against him. After all, he is a great asset to them."

    "Am I supposed to feel gratified?" Kadyn sneered. Elder Jyn didn''t speak afterwards, spotting Kadyn''s irritated expression. Then Kadyn turned towards Barret who had yet to finish speaking. Feeling his gaze over himself, Barret continued. "At that time Elder Beor was going somewhere and stayed inside the Mayor''s mansion. I suppose Mayor invited him to his birthday party at that time where he spotted Khrom''s wife."

    "Impossible! It was this bastard Gul who dragged her away in front of my eyes. If Beor was there I would have known about him." Khrom shouted. He could not believe what he heard. He had just captured the culprit behind all the terrible things that happened in his life. But now he heard that he wasn''t the real viin, but there was another hidden boss.

    "You dare to touch me, Barret?'''' At this moment the Mayor struggled on the ground and stood up with his shaky legs, before stating. "Elder Beor would ughter you all if you do anything to me"

    "Why would he do anything to us for a piece of shit like you? Are you his illegitimate child or something?"

    "You bet I am."

    "..."

    Silence descended over the ce. Everyone peered at him with stunned expressions. No one could believe their ears. Mayor Palius was the bastard child of Elder Beor.

    "Impossible!" Barret shook his head. "Your father was from the House of Palius. Everyone knows that."

    "Hehe, hasn''t someone just now said that Elder Beor is a lusty man? Can''t he fuck my mother to give me birth?"

    Kadyn opened his mouth a few times but couldn''t speak anything. He gaped at Gul Palius as if he was looking at the unique species of an animal in the zoo. What the hell are you being so proud of? Your mother fucked someone other than her husband and got pregnant with you, but you are telling this so proudly. What a bastard!

    "So you are a bastard after all," Kadyn said. "And your mother was just a whore that Beor used and threw away. What a cheap son of a cheap mother." Kadyn''s face was filled with disgust. He had never met someone like this bastard.

    Mayor heard his words and stiffened for a moment before speaking. "Hmph, you are just jealous of me for having a powerful father. Anyway, you can gloat for the time being. However, when my father realise what has happened to me, you would die a horrible death." He nced at everyone''s faces around him and went on. "All of you."

    Kadyn looked at Khrom and said. "Give him a nice treatment, and don''t worry about that old bastard. When the timees we will take care of him as we are going to take care of his illegitimate child."

    Khrom didn''t speak anything, he didn''t know what was right and what was wrong at this moment. All this time he thought that the Mayor was his strongest enemy. However, now he realised that he was just a pawn. So that was the reason she behaved like that. She knew that the old bastard was far stronger than the Mayor.

    Therefore, she cut her ties with me, to save me. His heart filled with agony and pain. He felt weak and helpless at the moment. He could not do anything to someone like Beor. As the despair was trying to engulf his heart, his gaze fell over Kadyn. He nced at Kadyn and saw him nodding at him. Only then a wisp of hope appeared in his dark heart. He knew Kadyn was not an ordinary person, he might be able to take his revenge with his help.

    Whoosh!

    At this moment Potioneer Yel appeared at the door of the shop. He looked around and his gaze stopped on Kadyn''s face. He walked to him and said. "I''ve brought the thing you asked for." Then he passed a few vials filled with red liquid to Kadyn.

    Kadyn nodded when he received the potion and passed it to Khrom. "Make him suffer as much as possible. He should beg for mercy. He should realise that one needs to pay for his deeds. Make him regret the things he did." As he said a cold expression appeared on his face. Khrom took the vials from him and nodded. Then turned towards the Mayor, staring at him with a fierce glint inside his eyes.

 Chapter 80 - Zephyr Appears

    After Kadyn sent Khrom with Elder Jyn while dragging Mayor with him, he turned towards Hot Rod with a grinning face and said. "Let''s sign the Spirit Contract that you will work in my shop for two years...for free. What would I do if you ran away in the middle? Where would I find freebour like you,hmm?"

    "Spirit Contract?" Artisan Hot Rod almost screamed, looking at Kadyn with tearful eyes, almost pleading. Leader Barret and Potioneer Yel exchanged nces, the duo could see a pleasant expression in the eyes of each other. As the saying goes, hardshipes and goes with time but it could be a lot easier if someone could share that hardship with you. Now they had gotten someone to share it with them so obviously they would feel pleasant. The duo stared at Hot Rod with a grinning expression.

    Hot Rod looked at their faces and didn''t know why he felt a chill on his back. He nced at Kadyn with his pitiful eyes that werepletely ignored by thetter. "Don''t worry, it''s your honour to work in Sir Kadyn''s shop." Barret said as he gave Hot Rod a reassuring smile. However, it only made Hot Rod''s expression ever so worse. "If you don''t believe me you can ask Potioneer Yel." He added.

    Potioneer Yel was lost in thought when Barret''s question jolted him awake. He looked at Barret and saw him winking at him. Then, "Ah, yes, yes, what Leader Barret said is true. You don''t need to doubt him."

    Hot Rod rolled his eyes at them. Even a blind man could tell that they were quite happy at his misfortune. These bastards! He cursed inside his mind. Then turned towards Kadyn. "Alright, I''m ready to sign the contract." After all, he wasn''t stupid. He had seen the miserable condition of Mayor Palius. Though he was Artisan and Rank 1 Magus he knew that he wasn''t as strong as Mayor Palius therefore he could only give in to the situation, or consequences won''t be in his favour. Struggling was futile.

    "Ahhhh!!!"

    At this moment a heart-wrenching screech sounded. However, it seemed that the man was quite a distance away. The voice had almost faded when it reached the shop. Though it was enough to send a child through Hot Rod''s spine. Any reluctance or objection that was inside his heart crumbled like a house of cards.

    ....

    The screams reverberated throughout the night. If Kadyn hadn''t sent Khrom away to do his torturing the squeals had woken everyone in the shop. Just like that the darkness of night faded and the new day begun. The sunrays scattered around and fell over the Divine Lion Magic Shop.

    Kadyn sat on his chairfortably as he sipped the tea through the rim of the cup that Rayna had made for him.

    "Wow, so beautiful!" a peal ofughter sounded from the distance. Kadyn smiled as he looked at Kove and Melvona running behind butterflies, trying to catch them and eximing again and again after seeing their beauty. Running this and that way, chuckling pleasantly.

    Kadyn smiled and scooted backward on his chair. Suddenly his gaze turned towards a certain spot. Khrom and Elder Jyn walked towards him with tired expressions. Khrom''s hands were filled with blood. His clothes also had red smudges all over, while his eyes had turned red and hair messy, body covered in sweat and dirt.

    The two children saw his appearance and stopped ying. They looked at each other and whispered something that no one could understand other than them. Kadyn peered at Khrom and then Elder Jyn. "Go take a bath."

    Khrom nodded without any hesitation while Elder Jyn said. "I''ll go to the Association."

    Kadyn didn''t have any opinion about that so he nodded. After Elder Jyn went, Elora walked out of the Potion Hall with Rayna. She eyed Kadyn and narrowed her eyes and walked towards him. "I heard some noise in the middle of the night. Was it your doing?" she asked.

    "What are you talking about? What noise? I didn''t hear anything. I was sleeping like a dead dogst night." Kadyn said and smiled at his sister. "Did you have a nightmare or something?"

    "Don''t y with me. I know you very well."

    Kadyn gave a hollowugh but didn''tment on this. Elora looked at him and said. "Next time if you do something like this please do it outside the shop. Children are living here now."

    At this moment a boy entered the shop so Elora stopped bugging him and went away with Rayna following her. It seemed that she had gotten a sidekick. Kadyn chuckled at the thought. "What would you like to buy, Sir?" he said to the kid in front of him.

    "Meditation Room," the kid said. "Four hours."

    The boy paid eight hundred dors before Kadyn could ask. It seemed he was pretty familiar with the rules here.

    After that, another man came. Kadyn stared at him and realised that he was the same middle-aged man who bought the Drought of the Bear yesterday. He smiled at Kadyn and rubbed his hands in anticipation before speaking. "I''ve used the Draught of bear and it was amazing. Sir, do you have other kinds of potions as well?"

    "Such as?" Kadyn inquired.

    "Such as a haste potion? A potion that could increase fire resistance or the potion that could increase senses?" the man asked with great anticipation. He had bought a potion yesterday just to check if the reputation of the shop could match its products. After all, Kadyn''s shop had be quite famous and many influential people knew about it. He came a second time because he was shocked after using the potion. His strength had doubled and mana inside his body increased by 1.5 times as Kady had promised him. Due to that, he could kill a beast that he was eying for a long time.

    Kadyn straightened his back and stared at the man before replying. "At the moment I could only provide you a haste potion that could increase your speed by 1.5 times."

    A pleasant smile appeared on the middle-aged man''s face and he said, "Alright. I''ll buy two of the haste potions." He said, speed was one of the most important attributes in the battle. With enough speed, one could be almost invincible. However, people with earth elements didn''t have fast speed while people with wind elements didn''t have a strong defence. Every element has its merits and demerits. Therefore with potions or artefacts, they could ovee their shorings.

    ¡­.

    The time flew and two days passed. However, Avibria City had gone through great turmoil as the Mayor of the city had disappeared overnight. No one knew where he went. Some of the guards of the mansion said that there was a great battle in the mansion on the same night when the Mayor vanished. After this piece of news people made all kinds of stories and rumours started to flow all over the city. One such rumour was that the House of Irabel kidnapped the Mayor and threw him in the Tonton river after slitting his throat so no one could find him.

    Kadynughed coldly when he heard about the rumour. It seemed that no one suspected that Barret did such a thing. After all, the Magic Association was the overlord of ten kingdoms, ruling each of them. These kinds of struggles were beneath their majestic status. While the House of Palius and Irabel were rivals. Therefore the suspect was obvious in people''s eyes.

    Kadyn looked at the watch and realised that it was 7 o''clock in the evening. He scooted the chair back and stood up before stretching his arms and waist. "Damn, my butt hurts." He ced his hands on his ass and cursed. "It''s hard to sit for hours in a single ce."

    Then his eyes glittered and he opened the status window to check the total energy points.

    [Energy Points: 875]

    He grinned looking at the points. Then sighed. "Elora took 25% points from the potions that she brewed and I used over 200 points in building a house. If not for that, I would have crossed 1500."

    Just as he was thinking amotion came from out of the shop. A confused expression appeared on his face and just as he was about to go out and check the source of noise, Khrom came from the out. "What''s thismotion all about?" Kadyn asked.

    Khrom looked at him and replied with a grave expression. "Zephyr entered the Shado Empire."

    "Zephyr?" Kadyn looked confused at first but then a chill ran down through his spine as his eyes widened in fear. "Are you talking about Zephyr the White, that crazy dragon?"

    Khrom nodded and went on with a serious tone. "As soon as he entered the empire he started to wreak havoc. Destroying vige after vige, city after city. None of the elders of the Association could stop him."

    Kadyn raised his eyebrows and wanted to correct him that Zephyr was female but he dropped the idea in the end. Khrom continued with a grave tone when Kadyn remained silent. "Thest city he destroyed was Zhodon."

    "Zhodon?" Kadyn said with a surprised look. The city where Artisan Irond lives. He thought. Khrom nodded. "Yes, and now, Zephyr is rushing towards Avibria City."

    "What?!" Kadyn''s eyes went wide as his heart almost stopped in terror. That crazy dragon was going to attack Avibria city. Is she searching for me? Kadyn thought and his heart clenched in terror.

 Chapter 81 - Terror Of Zephyr(1)

    The entire city was in chaos due to sudden development in the situation. Zephyr was about to attack Avibria City. At this moment, Barret had taken the charge of the city and fortified it, cing guards on the city walls to watch the situation around the city.

    Association Leader Barret had sent most of the people in the Upper Town from the Lower Town. Unfortunately, the poption of the Lower Town was far greater than the Upper Town. Not everyone could shelter themselves there; people panicked and the city had descended into utter chaos. No one wants to die after all.

    Barret tried to control the situation and calm down the panicked people; however, it made little difference to change the overall condition of the city as the terror had already spread amongst the citizens. No one was ready to hear the exnation. Some people even tried to leave the city. However the gates had been already closed, and guards refused to open them. Barret didn''t want anyone to leave the city, or the condition would only worsen at that time.

    "Sir, do you really not want to move to the Upper Town?" Barret looked at Kadyn and asked. He seemed pale at the moment while his body was covered in sweat. The man looked pathetic at the moment, but Kadyn knew that he was under too much pressure at the moment. He looked at Barret and shook his head. "I''ll stay in the shop." He replied.

    Barret nodded and didn''t bring the same topic again. He knew that the shop might be the safest ce in the entire city as he had experienced its power himself. He never felt as helpless as that time ever in his life.

    However, Zephyr was too powerful. He doubted that the shop could hold against her. That''s why he tried to bring Kadyn into the Upper Town. Kadyn looked at his sincere expression and smiled. Then asked. "Didn''t the Association send any Rank 3 elders to confront Zephyr?"

    A deep sigh left from Barret''s mouth. "You don''t know the situation." He said. "When the first time Zephyr started attacking about half a month ago, Association sent an elder who was at Rank 3." He looked at Kadyn and sighed. "Do you know what was the oue was?"

    "Elder was defeated?" Kadyn said unsurely.

    Barret shook his head yet again and stared at Kadyn before replying. "He was ughtered in less than two minutes. Elder waspletely helpless; he couldn''t even escape, much less battle against Zephyr."

    Kadyn''s expression changed after hearing Barret''s words. Then he asked. "So now the Association is afraid of Zephyr and won''t send any elders so as not to antagonise it anymore, huh?"

    Barret looked at Kadyn with an embarrassed face and nodded.

    "Hmph! What a bunch of cowards. They should just die instead." He sneered. Then he turned towards Barret. "You can go back now." He said. "If your people want to buy artefacts, send someone here. Of course, he needs to have enough money."

    Thetter''s eyes twitched, but he still nodded. He didn''t want to upset this demon, or he would die even before Zephyr could im his life. He said his farewell and walked out of the shop.

    After sending Barret, he turned around and saw Artisan Hot Rod standing behind him at the gate of the Artisan Hall. "What are you standing there for? Didn''t I tell you to forge at least ten Elementary Artifacts beforeing out?"

    Hot Rod looked at Kadyn and replied fawningly. "I''ve already finished the mission, Sir."

    "That was fast." He looked at him andplimented him. Then said, "It seems forging Elementary Artifacts is nothing for you." Before Hot Rod could feel proud. Kadyn said. "Hmm, then forge a Rank 1(Common Rank) Artifact. The more the merrier."

    "Sir," Hot Rod nced at Kadyn pitifully.

    "What?" Kadyn narrowed his eyes as he looked at the man.

    "It''s not that I don''t want to forge Common Rank Artifact but I don''t have Cauldron." He stared at Kadyn''s confused expression and knew that he waspletely clueless about the forging beyond the level of Elementary Rank. So he exined. "At the Elementary Rank, we can just use a furnace that cksmiths use.

    "However if someone wants to create a Common Rank Artifact he has to use a cauldron to purify impurities in the metal. After all, higher-level metals aren''t as easy to purify as Elementary Rank.

    "They need to be burned at a higher temperature. Furthermore, we add all kinds of different metals and different worldly treasures to further improve the quality of the artefacts. However, we can''t do those things without a cauldron."

    Kadyn frowned and stared at Hot Rod before speaking. "Don''t you have your own cauldron?"

    "I do have a cauldron." Hot Rod replied. "But I left it in Glont City when I came to attend the auction."

    "We don''t have any metal left to forge, fathe¡­" at this moment Dion(Hot Rod''s son) walked out of the Artisan Hall. However, when his gaze fell on the face in front of him, his body stiffened. He looked at Kadyn with fear and turned pale. After all, he acted too arrogantly in front of Kadyn.

    Kadyn ignored him and once again turned to Hot Rod and said. "We will talk about it after the situation calms down in the city."

    As Hot Rod nodded and Kadyn walked in another direction, leaving the father and son duo behind.

    He was thinking that why the hell that damned dragon was after him, and he reached a single conclusion¡ª

    At this moment he pushed open the door of his meditation room and peered at the corner where he saw an egg. "Hmm?" he let out a surprised muffle.

    The egg, which was supposed to be white and covered in blue lines, hadpletely transformed. It was no more in its previous form and had changed its colour. Red. It looked as if the fire was burning inside it.

    "Why its colour changed?" Kadyn thought out loud. "Previously, its colour matched with the Zephyr so I thought it belonged to her. Now it doesn''t look like her egg. What''s going on?"

    He strode toward the egg and held it in his hand. Shortly, he felt a burning sensation on his hand. "Damn." He cried as he felt a biting sensation over his hand and activated his fire element to resist the heat.

    However, as soon as he tried to resist the heating from the egg, something even more shocking happened. His mana was sucked by the egg, before he could react his entire fire pool had depleted of mana. He tumbled back with a terrified expression.

    "What the fuck is going on here?!" He waspletely horrified and threw the egg on the ground in panic. His face was dark, clouded with confusion.

    He thought that if the situation went out of control he would return the egg to Zephyr. However, this sudden change made Kadyn ponder over the situation again. This egg definitely did not belong to Zephyr.

    Kadyn wiped the sweat from his temple and once more nced at the egg. He moved forward once more and held it, this time he didn''t activate his element to resist. On the contrary, he used authority as the shop owner to suppress the egg.

    Suddenly it calmed down and its surface also cooled. Now he could hold it without worrying about burning. Kadyn looked at the egg and chuckled. "No matter what you are and why that damn dragon is so obsessed with you. I will know it eventually.

    After that, he ced the egg at the corner and once more looked at the egg before walking out of the room. However, as soon as he walked out the crimson light burst out of the egg and surrounded from all sides. If Kadyn was here he would seeplex runes over the surface of the egg.

    ¡­.

    Roar!

    As soon as he walked out of the room he heard a deafening roar that made the entire city tremble. He looked into the horizon and a serious expression appeared on his face. "She is here atst." He murmured. He looked around and saw everyone was present at the moment, staring in the distant sky with fearful faces.

    "All of you," as he said, everyone turned towards him. "No matter what happens. Never step a foot outside the shop. Am I clear?"

    No one replied.

    Kadyn frowned and once more shouted. "Am I clear?!"

    "Ye-yes." Hot Rod was the first one to reply. Then others also followed. Except one. Kadyn looked at Elora and asked. "I asked, am I clear?" Elora wanted to argue with him but looking at his frowning face, she bit her lip and nodded reluctantly. Only then Kadyn''s expression improved. He looked at Khrom and said. "You look after her. Make sure she won''t do something stupid."

    Then he looked at the Hot Rod. "You are the strongest person here. If something untoward happens to any of my people. I''ll hold you ountable."

    Hot Rod shrugged his shoulders and nodded. Then Kadyn turned around and dashed out of the shop. He didn''t take the egg with him because he wanted to keep his bargain chip to the end with him. He would give it away only if he had no other choice. After all, he can''t just watch while thousands of people are being ughtered because of him.

    Roar!

    He peered in the sky and saw a dot in the distance that was moving towards Avibria city with an insane speed. As the shadow neared, Kadyn saw its appearance. "Indeed, it''s that bitch!" he cursed as he dashed towards the city walls where Barret wasmanding the troops.

 Chapter 82 - Terror Of Zephyr(2)

    Kadyn squinted as the bright rays of the sun fell into his eyes as he tried to look at the figure, almost blinding him. Though he cared little about it at the moment, his gaze was fixed on a shadow that pped its vast wings, rushing towards the Avibria City.

    "All the archers, be ready to shoot!" a shout came from up ahead. Kadyn looked and realised that it was Barret,manding. At the very front were the soldiers with the crossbows; behind them were ordinary archers and at their backs stood people with javelins in their hands, ready to throw them at any moment, looking at the approaching cmity with terror-stricken eyes. But they still held their weapons as tight as they could with their trembling hands.

    After all, their families, children, wife, parents, friends were all in the city, giving up at this moment would be equal to giving up on their loved ones and none of them agreed to such a condition. They decided to fight until the end for the people that waited for them in the city. For the happiness of their loved ones.

    The soldiers crouched behind the parapet while Barretmanded the troops with grave faces. Behind him stood Elder Jyn and Potioneer Yel. Their faces were pale. One could even see Potioner Yel trembling. If it wasn''t for Elder Jyn beside him, he might have already run away from terror.

    At this moment, at Barret''smand, all the archers pointed their bows and crossbows and javelins towards the colossal figure on the horizon as it dashed towards them like an unstoppable gust of wind that wanted to swallow them all in a single gulp. As the dragon reached around 200 meters away from the city walls Barret shouted. "Shoot!"

    Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

    Roar!

    A furious roar reverberated in the entire Avibria City. The arrows and javelins hit the dragon and fell like the useless cotton balls, not even crossbows made any difference. Not a single wound or a brush appeared on the thick skin of Zephyr. Though it indeed did a thing, made her even more furious. She looked at the people on the city wall and said with a disdainful voice. "You lowly humans dare to resist in front of me. Die!"

    The blue fire discharged from her wide open mouth. As the despair had clouded everyone on the wall, and in the city, a silver sword appeared out of nowhere and sliced through the breath of fire into two simr parts.

    Kadyn, who was standing below the wall, looked at the figure with wide eyes and a shock appeared on his face. Elder Jyn. He peered at Zephyr and said. "Though you are powerful. It doesn''t mean you can run rampant. You are just a beast, so it is understandable for you to do things that beasts are most proficient at¡ªchaos."

    Zephyr stared at Elder Jyn with her blue eyes as she pped her snow-white wings in the sky. The scene was indeed beautiful and enticing, but at this moment, no one felt any intention to admire the scene. "Rank 2 Magus and you dare to block my path. I don''t know if you are brave or stupid. No matter which is true, your death is unavoidable today. No one can block my path!"

    Whoosh!

    As soon as her word ended, she breathed blue fire again and this time it was even more horrifying. Elder Jyn saw this and his face changed as a fearful expression appeared on his face. "Everyone avoid it, I can''t block it!" he shouted and a weird rune emerged at the centre of his eyebrows and two huge wings appeared on his back as he stood in the air without any support, pping wings that had sprouted from his back just now.

    Bang!

    Though, at this moment, Elder Jyn felt no sense of aplishment and turned his grave gaze below on the wall. Tens of frozen statues stood on the wall as if someone had ced them for an exhibition. Only a few people were lucky enough to avoid the attack, even though they were out of breath, gasping, panting, wounded and terrified.

    Elder Jyn saw this and his eyes turned red. "How dare you, beast!" his furious shout rumbled on the sky of Avibria City that everyone heard. They lifted their gazes and peered in that direction. They knew that he was the only one who could help them in this situation, if he was defeated they all would die a pathetic death. No one would be able to save them.

    Kadyn hated to admit it but he waspletely terrified at this moment. Horror was stered on his face. He thought if worsees to worst he would just give up on the egg, but only now did he realise that he might not even get the chance to negotiate before turning into an ice statue. Just a thought terrified him. He had the urge to run away at this moment, however, he fought that feeling and forced himself to stay.

    "Wind Sword, Sword of Judgement!'''' At this moment Elder Jyn once more shouted and a gust of wind merged and formed a colossal sword. He looked at Zephyr and shouted. "Die!"

    "Hmph! Just keep dreaming about killing me." Zephyr sneered and lifted her w and swung it towards the sword. The two forces collided and a huge rumble echoed in the city as the light-filled the sky, obscuring the beast and Elder Jyn from the sight of the citizens and soldiers and Kadyn.

    However, when the curtains faded, horror and despair once more engulfed the entire city. Zephyr was still fine, not even a scratch could be seen on her snow-white body. She peered at Elder Jyn and scoffed. "That tickles me. Can you use that once more; my back is itching for some time, I can use your attack to relieve myself."

    "Don''t be too arrogant, beast!" Elder Jyn was incensed when he heard Zephyr''s mocking tone. He pped his white wings behind his back and once more cast the same spell. "Sword of Judgement!"

    "Hmph, looks like it''s your most powerful spell. What a disappointment." She said and turned into a blurry shadow.

    "Watch out!" Barret and Potioneer Yel shouted in unison. However, their warning did little to help the situation. Before Elder Jyn couldplete the spell, Zephyr''s w had already reached in front of him. Elder Jyn waspletely terrified by this insane speed. Even with the help of his wings, he could not avoid the attack.

    Boom!

    The wnded over his chest and sent flying hundreds of meters away. Hended on the wall, with his caved chest, coughing blood continuously. The horror was evident in his eyes. Only now did he realise the terror of Zephyr. The strength of the dragon.

    "We are doomed!" Barret despaired.

    Potioneer Yel buckled at the corner with the help of the wall, cuddling his legs with fear. However, no one mocked him for being such a scaredy-cat. Everyone''s heart had been drowned in despair and terror. All in all, everyone was affected by the situation and hopelessness engulfed their hearts.

    Barret''s nced at the dragon with a pale face and clenched his fist as he shouted towards his soldiers. "Brothers, as you can see that we are going to die." His gaze roamed on the faces those were filled with terror. Then he continued. "However, do you want to die a pathetic death as this arrogant beast wants us to, or like heroes that the world would remember with respect? Choose what kind of death you want!

    "Tell me, will you be able to face your loved ones in the next world if you abandon them here. You are their hope and you need to fight to the very end. To protect them, to show them your love and dedication. To show this arrogant beast that no one could trample our dignity! We need to show our wives that her husband is no coward and to show our lovers that her choice was not wrong and to show our children that her father is a real hero. We need to fight to protect them all!"

    "Fight!"

    "Fight!"

    "Fight!"

    As soon as his speech ended, the entire city rumbled with shouts, fear started to fade from everyone''s face and an unwavering determination appeared on their faces. Even people in the city were affected by this sudden burst of shouts. Their blood boiled with heroic spirit, they felt as if they could tear the sky at this moment if they wanted. Even Kadyn was affected by this.

    However, he knew that this was thest struggle before the wisp died. But at this moment the impression that Barret left on his heart was too deep. He always thought that this guy was too cunning and maniptive as he had even ced Hicka in his shop as a spy. But today his thinking changed. He started to respect this man in front of him who was trembling with fear and terror, but could still inspire thousands of people with his voice. He clenched his fist and made a decision.

    Zephyr looked at Barret andughed mockingly. "Nice speech, but it won''t help you in any way. The oue has already been fixed on the stone that no one could change. You''ll die and your loved ones will die along with you and every citizen will follow afterwards."

    "Oh, really?" Just as Kadyn was about to move and reveal himself in front of Zephyr, an unfamiliar voice resounded that he had never heard before. He looked towards the source and his eyes widened.

 Chapter 83 - Mysterious Woman

    A shadow appeared out of nowhere and stood in the sky with the support of two beautiful white wings that had been pping on her back. She wore a white dress and had blue hair that swung in the wind like the waves of the ocean. Her curves made Kadyn'' heart burn in passion, he could not calm his heart.

    As if a woman felt his gaze she nced in his direction. She blinked her captivating green eyes and her enticing lips parted into a sweet smile. Then she nodded at him. Kadyn was left stunned by her gesture. Only after a brief moment did hee back to his senses. But he could not tell the meaning behind her nod.

    "Who''s thisdy?" he muttered in confusion. It was the second time he had seen this woman. The first time was when he auctioned his potions for the very first time. At that time she was standing at the corner of the street,alone, under the shadow of a blue umbre and in a blue dress.

    Thedy saw Kadyn''s dumbfounded face and a smile deepened on her rosy lips. Then she turned towards Zephyr.

    "Who are you?" Zephyr said. "How dare you interfere in my business?" though her voice still seemed overbearing, there was some kind of vignce hidden in it. She looked at the mysteriousdy alertly; she felt threatened by her.

    Thedy chuckled at Zephyr''s words and said with a nonchnt expression. "Actually you have something that I need."

    "Heh? What do you mean?" Zephyr asked with a confused expression.

    The mysteriousdy was still smiling and said. "You dragon core. Though you aren''t a real dragon it is very useful to me. It could help me advance to the next rank"

    "How dare you?!" Zephyr waspletely enraged by the woman''s words. The beast core was simr to the consciousness inside a human, taking it means that she would die. In the most direct way, the woman wanted to kill Zephyr before taking the core from her body.

    Kadyn was also dumbfounded by her statement, so was Barret, and Elder Jyn who had stood up from the rubble after struggling for some time. No one thought that someone would dare to be so brazen in front of Zephyr. Even the Magic Association didn''t dare to provoke her.

    Kadyn peered at the woman''s back and curiosity engulfed his heart. Who is she? Where did shee from? He thought but had no answer. He shook his head and drove all the questions out of his mind and focused on the current situation. It would be better if she could defeat Zephyr. He didn''t know if Avibria City would be able to pass this tribtion, otherwise.

    The mysterious woman just smiled casually at Zephyr''s enraged roar. It seemed as if she didn''t put Zephyr in her eyes at all, and that only fueled even further in angering the dragon. "Let''s see if you will be able to smile when I tear you apart into millions of pieces," Zephyr said and then her gigantic body was covered in blue mes. At this moment Zephyr looked as if she was the incarnation of the fire god.

    The mysterious woman looked at her and nodded gently. "No wonder, no one from the Magic Association dares to fight with you. You''ve already reached the peak of Rank 3. Even their leader, Oswyn, might not be your match. Furthermore, even if they could defeat you, they would have to pay a heavy price that they are unwilling to pay."

    Kadyn was left stunned. From her words, he realised that she was not someone from the Magic Association. He looked at thedy in the sky but could not see through her. He could not tell which rank she had reached.

    Roar!

    Zephyr didn''t seem to be in the mood to talk or hear. She simply roared and dashed towards thedy in white. The mysterious woman didn''t budge from her ce and remained standing, but when the dragon appeared in front of her andunched a w attack towards her, she shattered into millions of small icicles. Zephyr left stunned when the mysteriousdy suddenly burst into millions of crystals.

    Before she could think about the situation a dangerous feeling appeared from behind her back.

    Thedy had appeared behind her back and an ice sword formed in her hand andunched the attack towards Zephyr''s head. She wanted to twist her body and avoid the attack. But she underestimated her opponent far too much.

    Boom!

    The ice sword smashed on the gigantic head of Zephyr and she was sent flying and fell on the ground with a booming sound and arge pit formed due to the impact. The woman in white stood in the sky and peered at Zephyr.

    Rumble!

    The gigantic figure burst out of the pit and once more dashed towards the mysteriousdy in rage. "Die die die!" Zephyr screamed as she breathed a blue fire that covered the entire sky.

    "Be careful!" Kadyn didn''t know why he said this, but words left his mouth on their own. Thedy seemed to hear him and curled her lips and smiled towards Kadyn. He was left stunned for a moment. She was too beautiful but then shook his head. It wasn''t the time to nk out.

    The woman, however, didn''t move from her ce and continued to stand with the same smiling expression. The blue fire engulfed her entire being and buried her beneath its chilling energy. "Hahaha." Zephyr burst into a peal of cold and mockingughter. "How conceited. You dare to receive my ultimate attack head-on. You must be courting death. Although my fire can''t be considered one of the top ones. It is enough to handle someone like you."

    "Really?" at this moment a cold voice appeared from underneath the sea of the blue fire. Then the fire started to converge in a single ce at an unbelievable speed. Kadyn opened his mouth wide but could not speak any word. He was leftpletely stunned.

    At this moment a gorgeous figure once more revealed herself in front of everyone. She stood on the same spot but her temperament had turnedpletely frosty from her previous gentle appearance. She looked at Zephyr coldly and extended her hand, revealing a blue orb at the centre of her palm. "Were you talking about this?"

    "You¡­" Zephyr''s expression changed and her eyes were filled withplete horror and disbelief. The ultimate move she was so proud of, was dealt with just like that. "H-how¡­"

    "It doesn''t matter how." The woman once more put an enchanting smile on her lips and said. "Now please give me your dragon core. Or I have to do it by myself."

    "Keep dreaming!" Zephyr roared. "I would prefer to detonate myself. No one can tarnish the pride of the dragon race."

    The woman in white sneered. "The dragon race? You aren''t even worthy of calling yourself a variant due to your tainted bloodline. How dare you associate yourself with the majestic dragon race."

    Zephyr trembled hearing her words. She had touched the most sensitive part inside her heart. Indeed, she wasn''t worthy of calling herself a dragon. Furthermore, she wasn''t even born with dragon blood but gained it due to some good fortune. She was a low-grade Snow-snake. She wasn''t even worthy of reaching Rank 1. But now she was at the peak of Rank 3. It was her limit and without another fortuitous encounter, she would never be able to reach above Rank 3.

    Her chance came when she encountered the mysterious egg. She felt a strong bloodline power from it, she wanted to devour it as soon as possible. She felt that egg could evolve her bloodline once more. At that time she would not fear anyone.

    However before she could devour that egg it mysteriously vanished, she was furious and couldn''t take such a huge loss. That''s why she decided to search the surrounding kingdoms one by one. No matter who dared to block her path she ughtered them.

    Not long after she encountered Kadyn in the Burning Tip of the Runad Kingdom. She felt the simr energy as an egg from his body. He definitely hade into contact with an egg. However, before she could capture him he mysteriously disappeared.

    The mysterious woman looked at Zephyr''s trembling body and didn''t feel any sympathy for her. Zephyr didn''t have any qualms about killing thousands of innocent people to achieve her goal. So why should she show any mercy? People get what they give. It was nature.

    The womannded on the ground and walked toward Zephyr at a slow pace. Zephyr looked at the mysterious woman and said. "I may have very thin dragon blood inside my body. But I still have it. Therefore, I''m far superior to you. No one can trample the pride of a dragon. Not you, nor anyone else!"

    Suddenly her body started to twist and turn. "I will not let you benefit from my death!" she screamed and cracks started to appear on her body.

    The woman in white saw this and curled her lips into a disdainful sneer. "Do you think you can destroy my hard work by just detonating yourself?" she said. "You are too naive if you think I would let you die just like that."

    Zephyr didn''t reply, but the cracks started to form over her gigantic body even faster.

    "Hmph!" the woman in white sneered. Then she made some mysterious signs with her hand and shouted. "Seal!"

    At this moment hundreds of icy chains appeared and restricted Zephyr from detonating her body. Even her mana was sealed. "What is this?!" Zephyr shouted in terror, eyes filled with resentment. She could not feel mana at all, nor she could detonate herself.

 Chapter 84 - Aleera

    "Is that a formation?" Kadyn muttered with wide eyes, looking at the chains with shock and anticipation. Though he had some superficial knowledge about formation he never implemented it.

    Furthermore, at Elementary Rank he needed outside force to provide a power source to the formations. It was only when someone reached Rank 1 Magus or above would he be able to use his/her own spiritual energy to maintain the formation just like the woman in white did.

    However even then one would need some time to prepare the formation. He didn''t see the mysterious woman making any effort to ce the formation. It appeared out of nowhere. Either she was so powerful that she formed the formation in just a blink or she had already prepared it before even the fight began. Kadyn was more inclined to believe the sec0nd option as he felt just a little stronger energy than Zephyr from her. She must have anticipated that Zephyr would try to detonate herself when she was pushed in the corner and prepared the formation to stop her.

    "Take them off. I am telling you, take them off!" Zephyr screamed. Struggling. Fumbling her wings. Her voice was full of hatred and bitterness and helplessness.

    The woman in white didn''t pay her any attention; she walked towards the dragon and stood near its gigantic head. "No matter how you struggle, you won''t be able to free yourself." The woman said and shook her head. "The formation is powerful enough to seal Rank 4 Magus, much less you. A lowly Rank 3. You better keep silent and let me take your core."

    "You¡­ you¡­ you''re shameless." Zephyr screamed. Tears welled inside her big ck eyes. However, the woman showed no empathy for her. By her expression, Kadyn realised, though she was exceedingly beautiful, the most beautiful woman he had ever seen in his life, but she was no kind soul. He better keeps his distance from her. Or he might not even realise how he died.

    She ced her hand on Zephyr''s head under the watchful eyes of Kadyn, Barret, Elder Yel, and all the other soldiers. She smiled and said in a low voice to the dragon but it was loud enough for Kadyn to hear. "Sorry, but I need your core. You better keep a low profile in your next life or you might once more end up in a simr situation."

    Roar!

    Zephyr roared with eyes filled with malice and rancour and hate. However thedy in white didn''t let her speak any further, she dug her hand into her head. It went inside like tofu. The dragon screamed and cursed and roared, but then, the woman pulled a fist-sized white orb from inside. The twitching of the dragon stopped, her fumbling wings copsed lifelessly on either side of her gigantic body. Her roaring mouth left open even in her death, while her eyes looked in the white-robed woman''s direction in full of hatred and indignation, still wide open. One could say that she died a miserable life.

    Kadyn sighed and took a long and deep breath. Atst, the danger had passed and the beast had been ughtered. He looked at the beautiful white-robed woman with sparkling eyes. But he didn''t dare to say anything. Though he had the urge to rush in her direction, he suppressed that feeling as soon as it appeared. Who knew what might she do to him if he made her upset? After all, he was too weak at the moment. He wasn''t qualified to talk to her on an equal footing.

    It was Elder Jyn who stumbled towards her with his tired body, covered in wounds and blood, grimacing and wincing in pain from time to time. He bowed towards thedy and said. "I sincerely thank you on the behalf of Avibria City, Mam. We would never forget this kindness."

    The woman waved her hand in his direction in a nonchnt way and said. "Don''t mention it. I need her beast core, that''s why I killed her. No other reason. You don''t need to thank me."

    Elder Jyn bowed a few more times before retreating. It was better to not upset someone as powerful as her. Though she said that she killed Zephyr because she wanted her core. It was also an undeniable truth that she saved everyone in the city. What could they do if she just let Zephyr destroy the city before taking the action? So no matter from which direction one looked at the situation she was indeed their benefactor.

    As Elder Jyn retreated after expressing his gratitude. The woman turned towards Kadyn and smiled and said something that made Kadyn jump in fright. "I never thought to see one of the inheritors in the lower world."

    Kadyn looked at her with wide eyes and words left his mouth on their own. "Who are you and what are you talking about?" Only after speaking did he realise that his tone was quite rude. However, he didn''t know how to correct himself. So he remained silent, looking at the mysterious woman.

    The woman just smiled, not bothered by his tone, and replied. "I''m Aleera. As for what I''m talking about," she stared at Kadyn and went on. "You will know it in the future."

    Kadyn was surprised by how gentle her voice sounded. She no longer acted as she did in front of Zephyr. He thought and hesitated for a moment before asking. "You said something about the lower world." He narrowed his eyes. Then continued. "Are you from another world?"

    "You ask too many questions. No girl would pay you any attention if you act in such a vignt manner around her."

    Kadyn felt embarrassed being teased by such a beautiful woman. She looked at his red face and giggled. Kadyn saw it and once more became dazed. Without even realising his wariness decreased. Before he could speak again, two huge icy wings spread from behind her back.

    "Can we meet again?" he hurriedly asked, voice filled with anticipation and expectation. But as soon as the words left his mouth, he became embarrassed.

    The woman looked down from the sky and nodded before dashing into the sky with unbelievable speed, leaving only her voice in his head. "Try to live long enough and we might meet."

    Kadyn was left stunned by her words. Not understanding what she meant. Then he looked at the same spot where she vanished, muttering. "I wonder where has shee from and where she went?" He felt as if he was inside a dream.

 Chapter 85 - New Spell

    Kadyn looked at Elder Jyn and said. "I want this dragon body. Do you have an objection?"

    Elder Jyn hesitated and said. "This matter is too big. It would definitely attract people from the headquarters. If you take this body with you, it might attract unnecessary trouble for you."

    Kadyn thought for a moment and nodded. Indeed, this matter would definitely attract people of the Magic Association and if they knew that he had monopolised the carcass of a dragon, they would definitely try to make things hard for him. After all, the body of the Rank 3 beast was an absolute treasure. Its body could be used to make artefacts of Rank 3 while its blood could be used to concoct different types of potions. He looked at Elder Jyn and said. "Alright. You can have the entire body. But I want its blood."

    The old man nodded in understanding. "Don''t worry. I will let Barret deliver it."

    Only then Kadyn walked away, leaving tired and fatigued Elder Jyn behind with the frozen statues on the city walls. Barret looked at his tired and wounded soldiers and tried to lift their mood as he said with a smile. "Alright. We have won the battle¡­"

    ¡ª¡ª

    Kadyn entered his shop and looked at everyone in front of him, and smiled. He thought that he might be able to help in negotiation with the dragon, but someone had already dealt with him. The situation was kind of embarrassing. He tried to be a hero but someone else stole the thunder before he could even strike the conversation with the beast. However, from inside he was d that he didn''t need to do anything or he might have pissed on the spot from the terror of death.

    "Everything is settled now. Zephyr is killed." Kadyn nced at the confused faces in front of him and said. "We are safe."

    "Dead?" Hot Rod said with a stunned expression. He was having a hard time believing it, after all, Zephyr was too powerful. However, he didn''t dare to question Kadyn. Then said. "Who is strong enough to deal with him?"

    "We''ll talk about itter. First, I need some water." Kadyn said as he walked towards the house that was behind the shop. However, before he could take over ten steps, Rayna rushed out of the house with a water bottle. Kadyn nodded,feeling grateful for her hard work before taking the bottle from her. Only then he felt a little better, his dried throat felt a cool sensation from water. Making him almost moan in pleasure.

    ¡ª¡ª

    "So that''s what happened," Elora murmured as she heard Kadyn''s story. She didn''t see anything as she was in the shop and no one let her go out. She felt a little dissatisfied inside her heart. She also wanted to watch that fight. She wanted to look at the woman who killed someone as powerful as Zephyr in a few moves. She couldn''t think how strong that woman must be.

    "Who was that woman?" Elora murmured.

    "How would I know?" Kadyn rolled his eyes at his sister''s stupid question. However, the same question was also inside his heart. He wanted to know more about her, he wanted to know who she was. No matter what, she was an amazing woman. Her blue silky hair, her lovely slim and supple waist, her lustrous green-eyes, her charming red lips, her entire body. He could never forget it, he could never forget her.

    Then he nced at everyone and said. "Alright, get to work everyone. I''m going to open the shop."

    "Is it alright to open at such a time?" Khrom spoke from the side. "I mean the entire city is still under the shock of the attack."

    Kadyn looked at him and shook his head. "No matter what, it is still better than just dozing off all around, right?"

    When Kadyn put it this way, Khrom couldn''t reply. Indeed, something was better than nothing. "Alright," Kadyn pped his hands and said. "Get to work everyone."

    Elora looked at Kadyn and said. "I have reached a 10-star Elementary Rank. I have learned a new spell from the Library. I want to practice for some time."

    Just as Kadyn was about to nod he stopped. He looked at Elora and a smile appeared on his face. "What?" the girl asked in confusion.

    Kadyn didn''t reply. He turned towards Khrom and said something that only he could hear. Khrom nodded a few times and went out. "What did you say to Brother Khrom?" Elora asked suspiciously, squinting at Kadyn.

    "You''ll know about it in some time. Just wait." Kadyn rolled his eyes at her and remained silent. Then he turned towards Rayna and said. "Sister Rayna, can you make tea and snacks for us?"

    "Sure," Ryana smiled at Kadyn and went to the kitchen.

    "Yeah, snacks, snacks." Kove and Melvona cheered and licked their lips as if they could already feel the taste. Kadynughed at their cute reaction and patted their heads.

    "We''ll go out, then." Hot Rod said and stood with his son, Dion. He knew that he didn''t have a good rtionship with Kadyn. So he always acted cautiously around him.

    "Just eat with us first. Then you can go do your work."

    A pleasant expression appeared on Hot Rod''s face. He didn''t expect that Kadyn would invite him. After all, he didn''t have a good rtionship with him. On the contrary, he was hostile against him before he was forced to sign the Spirit Contract. It was already good enough for him that Kadyn didn''t treat him like a ve, but now, he even invited him to eat with him. He didn''t realise, but some goodwill started to take root inside his heart towards Kadyn.

    It took around fifteen minutes for Rayna to make tea and Snacks. Just as she brought trays on the table, a noise came from outside. "What''s this noise?" Elora voiced her confusion.

    "Dion, go out and check the situation." Hot Rod told his son. However, Kadyn stopped him and turned towards Elora. "Didn''t you want to practice your new spell? Come, let''s see how powerful your new spell is." He said.

    Then Kadyn stood up and told to Rayna. "We''lle back in no time, Sister Ryana. Let the children eat until then." After that, he walked out with everyone else.

 Chapter 86 - Goddess Of Healing

    Khrom stood in front of tens of stretchers on which woundedy, moaning and groaning with pain and misery. Barret looked at Khrom and asked. "Did Sir Kadyn really say to bring these people into the shop?"

    "Do you think I would lie about such an important matter?" Khrom replied helplessly. Barret had asked the same question over four or five times on the way to the shop, and he still didn''t seem convinced.

    Just when Barret was about to speak once more a voice came from not far away. "You are already here." Kadyn walked with Elora, Hot Rod, and his son, Dion. he looked around and saw the condition of the soldiers on the litter and a grave expression appeared on his face.

    Some had broken legs, while some had twisted arms. There was a guy with a half-face caved in, one could see blue veins pumping inside. One had lost his eye, only goop remained in the eye socket,while others were covered in blood and gore with broken ribs or broken backbone.

    At the time of the battle, Kadyn didn''t pay much attention to these people but now when he looked he felt a chill through his spine. Their condition was more critical than he had thought. And all of this was because of a single attack by Zephyr.

    Kadyn could not imagine what would have happened if she had attacked once more. He felt great respect for Elder Jyn at this moment who dared to fight head-on with a beast like Zephyr and held it for some time until that mysterious woman appeared.

    He looked at Elora and said. "Can you do this?"

    Elora looked at the condition of the wounded, and her expression turned sullen. She could tell how grievously injured they were. Taking a deep intake of cold breath, she said. "I can try."

    Kadyn nodded. Barret heard their conversation and his face couldn''t help but twitch. Are you kidding me? You aren''t even sure if you can heal them. Then why even bother? Are you trying to kill them? However, he dared not speak such words directly to Kadyn. After thinking for some time he asked. "Sir, how much do we need to pay for healing our people?"

    Kadyn looked at him and shook his head. "You don''t need to pay for this once. This is free. All of them are our heroes who didn''t back down in the face of such a terrible enemy. How could I charge you anything?"

    Barret was left stunned at his reply. Since when did you be such a benevolent man? He thought, but on the surface, he smiled and said. "Then I will thank you on the behalf of every soldier."

    Kadyn waved his hand towards him in a nonchnt way and turned his attention towards Elora. The girl had reached the centre of the wounded people. She took a deep breath once more, calming her racing heart. Then she closed her eyes and green light started to cover her entire being. Stars started to lit up under her feet. One. Two. Three¡­ Eight. Nine.

    When she activated nine stars, sweat covered her face, drenching her back, and a fatigued look appeared on her face, and her body started to tremble. Kadyn saw her clenching her teeth in pain. One could easily tell that she was having a hard time casting this spell. She could not control the tenth star efficiently yet.

    Elora gritted her teeth and clenched the end of her dress with her right hand. Kadyn saw blood trickling from the corner of her lips. He took a step and just as he was about to stop her, the tenth star appeared under her foot. All the stars started to dance and formed a strange pattern.

    Kadyn reckoned that this was the new star pattern that she learned. Anyways, no one could learn the pattern just by looking at it. There was a special method to form every pattern or anyone would be able to steal it. That would be nothing but a joke. Who would dare to use magic in that situation? Afraid that someone might steal their star pattern.

    "Life Fairy: Rain of Healing!" suddenly she shouted a name and her body burst into a blinding radiance. The scene was obscured from Kadyn''s eyes, but then he forcefully opened his eyes, looking at the scene. What he sawpletely stunned him. A shadow of a beautiful woman stood behind Elora.

    She had a crown made of flowers over her head. Beautiful green wings that looked as if they were made of leaves. The beautiful woman eyed Elora and waved her hand. The downpour started to fall from the sky. However, this rain was not any ordinary rain, the colour of the water was green, it looked as if it was filled with the vast energy of the world.

    As the drops of green liquid fell over the wounded, their wounds started to heal. Even the guy whose face had caved in had be as good as new. The broken hands healed, twisted legs recovered and looked as if they had never gone through such terrible muttion.

    There was a guy who had lost his one eye. However, as the drop of rain fell on his nk eye that was filled by nothing but goo, started to regenerate. And in no time, a new eye appeared in the eye socket.

    Kadyn, Barret, Khrom, Hot Rod or anyone else who was present on the spot, had beenpletely frozen on the spot in shock and amazement. No one ever thought that a healer could do such a thing.

    Someone like Barret was extremely experienced and even he waspletely dumbfounded at this moment. He had only heard such a thing possible in fairy tales. Regenerating lost arm, or leg, or eyes, or any part of the body.

    No ordinary healer could do this, not ever. Barret looked at Elora¡ªwho was covered in a beautiful green light, as her hair swung in the wind¡ªin awe and muttered. "She is a Goddess of Healing."

 Chapter 87 - Backlash

    Hot Rod who stood beside him heard the murmur and nodded in agreement. He had never thought that he would have the honour to witness such a thing in this life. Hot Rod also became curious about the Library that Elora had talked about before.

    Elora had said that she learned this spell from the Library. He could not believe that there was such a powerful spell inside the library. Then a thought appeared inside his head. Are there even more powerful spells there?

    He looked at Kadyn who had resumed his calm expression once more and awe-filled Hot Rod''s heart. Not just him, even Barret was lost in thoughts. He nced at Kadyn from the corner of his eyes and made a decision. Kadyn didn''t realise that this disy of Elora had changed many people''s thinking towards him.

    Slowly the shadow of the woman from behind Elora faded and the rain stopped. As soon as the rain stopped, Elora''s face turned pale, and she held her head and screeched with a heart-wrenching voice. Kadyn was horrified seeing this and dashed towards her and held her tightly.

    "What happened, Elora?" Kadyn said with a pale face. His heart was full of panic. "Say something!" He pped gently on her face, but her eyes were only half-opened. She looked at him from the slit and said with a weak and trembling voice. "I-I''m fine. Nee-need to rest. Wa-ter."

    "Bring some water, Khrom!" He shouted without turning back. And gazed at her pale face that looked as if someone had sucked the blood out of her body. His heart pained as he stared at her face. If he knew this would happen he would have never, never let her do such a thing. He just wanted to let people know that there was an amazing healer in the city. s...

    That spell was too powerful. It wasn''t something that an Elementary Mage could perform. But then again, that spell was made for Elementary Mage. Star patterns were for Elementary Mage, and she used the star pattern to cast that spell. Then why did she suffer such a bacsh? He could not understand.

    "Water!" Khrom rushed towards him with a water bottle and passed it to Kadyn. Elora had already closed her eyes, but she wasn''t unconscious, Kadyn ced the rim of the bottle on her lip and let her drink. After that, she eyed Kadyn through the slit of her eyes and whispered. "I want to rest."

    "Yes, yes," Kadyn was covered in sweat due to panic. His heart almost stopped beating due to her condition. Almost. Though she was weak she could still see his pale face, she curled her lips and warmth filled her heart and ced her head on his chest and then closed her eyes, falling asleep.

    Kadyn brought her into the house. "What happened to Elora?" Rayna, who was ying with children, looked at Kadyn with a dumbfounded expression and asked. "Why are you carrying her like that? Is she alright?"

    Kadyn sighed and said. "She should be alright after some rest. I guess." Then he headed towards Elora''s room. Ten minutester he came back. He looked at Rayna and said. "Take care of her. Please, pay attention if she wakes up and needs something."

    Rayna nodded, and he headed out of the house. But then he heard Kove asking in a low voice. "What happened to Sister Elora, Mom?" Then Melvona followed. "Is she sick, Aunt Rayna? But wasn''t she alright just a few minutes ago?"

    Rayna didn''t know how to reply as she had no idea what had happened to her.

    Kadyn didn''t remain to hear the conversation and walked towards the area where everyone was present. "Is Miss Elora alright?" Barret asked. He was worried that Kadyn would me them.

    After all, it happened while she was helping his people. Though it was somewhat unfair for them as it was Kadyn who asked them toe, this world was where strong ruled. No one gave a damn about rules or integrity.

    However, Kadyn just waved his hand and said, "She is alright, needs some time to recover. That''s it."

    Elora was his Employee, he could see her status. She was fine, however, it was good that she didn''t force herself too much or her Mana Pool might have exploded due to the pressure. Kadyn could not help but shiver at that prospect. She would have be crippled if that had happened.

    Then he looked around him and asked. "How''s your people doing?"

    Barret sighed in relief when he saw that Kadyn was not upset. Then an excited look appeared on his face. "All of them havepletely recovered. They are just exhausted but after a few days'' rest, I''m sure they will be as good as new. Miss Elora is really the reincarnation of the Goddess of Healing."

    "Did you bring the thing that I want?" Kadyn changed the topic and asked another question, peering at Barret. The man saw his gaze and became a little embarrassed as he replied. "We need some time to extract dragon''s blood. In this period, we were busy, so didn''t have time to do the task that Sir Kadyn entrusted to us."

    Kadyn frowned and said. "I don''t want to force you, but you should know that the people from the headquarters would be reaching in the city at any time. They would demand the dragon''s body from you as soon as they arrived.

    "It is a great treasure after all. We have time to take out the blood from its body and can say that the mysterious magus was the one who took it away. However, after they arrive, it will be hard." He looked at Barret and went on. "At that time don''t me me for not giving you any face."

    Barret nodded his head seriously and said. "Don''t worry. As soon as I go, I will deal with this matter."

    Kadyn stared at his grave expression and said. "I hope you will do as you promise me."

 Chapter 88 - Life Element

    Barret departed afterwards as he had so much work to do. He took the people that Elora had healed and walked out of the shop. The healed soldiers looked grateful and appreciative and bowed towards Kadyn before following Barret.

    Kadyn nced at everyone around him and said. "Alright, today is off. We aren''t doing any work today."

    "But didn''t you say¡­"

    "Now I''m saying the exact opposite. Do you have any problem?" Kadyn looked at Hot Rod and chuckled. "Well, if you want to work that much, I won''t force you."

    Hot Rod smiled embarrassedly and remained silent. Kadyn looked at Khrom and asked. "What about you? Do you also want to work?"

    "Hehe, I''m good," Khrom said and rubbed his hand as a vicious glint passed through his eyes. "My hands have been itching for some time. I will go get a cure for it."

    Kadyn eyed him and couldn''t help but shake his head. He knew what he was talking about. Khrom still hadn''t killed Mayor Palius. However, he wasn''t in the shop as Elora had warned Kadyn to do these things out of the shop due to children. Khrom had hidden that guy somewhere that even Kadyn wasn''t aware of. He would vanish from time to time.

    One could easily guess where he went at that time.

    Hot Rod also knew about it and couldn''t help but shiver. Even though he was stronger than Khrom, he felt a little fearful of this maniac. He had tortured Mayor Palius for many days, and he still didn''t have any intention to let him go, and he might continue to do that in the future. His hatred for the man was too deeply engraved inside his heart.

    As Kadyn was about to depart, he thought something and looked at Hot Rod. "You should know about the market value of all kinds of metals and artefacts, right?" he asked

    Hot Rod stared at Kadyn and nodded in confusion. "That''s good," Kadyn said and turned towards Khrom. "I need you to find the market price of all kinds of herbs and potions. Can you do that after dealing with your matter?" As he said a window appeared in front of him. Kadyn looked at Khrom and said. "Ten Energy Points are the reward if youplete the mission. Do you want it?"

    "Sure, I would do it," Khrom replied without a hitch in his voice. Energy points are essential for the growth of the person in the shop. He needed the energy points for everything. He would never miss the chance to earn them.

    As he said, Kadyn nodded and gave him the mission. A window popped up in front of Khrom.

    [Mission: Herb Information Collection]

    [Reward: 10 energy points]

    [Requirement: Collect the market value of about 70% herbs in the Avibria city]

    [Do you want to ept the mission? Y/N]

    Khrom epted the mission without any hesitation.

    After that Kadyn walked towards the house. The city had yet to recover from the shock and terror of Zephyr, and now even Elora was ill. So Kadyn didn''t have the heart to open the shop. Even if he opened it, he would not do much business, so it was better to take care of his sister, instead. He entered the hall where Kove, Melvona, and Rayna were sitting. He nodded towards Rayna and went straight to Elora''s room.

    Kadyn entered the room and a fragrance filled his nose. The walls were whitewashed, the floor was tilled with gorgeous stones. A huge bedid at the side of the room. Arge family photo was hanging behind the bed, on the wall. Kadyn, Salona, Elora, and Magnus. The entire family. On either side of the bedy two tables, on one was a nightmp while on the other was a flower pot, filled with flowers, of course.

    Kadyn saw arge beautiful mirror on the right wall. There were leaves and flowers inscribed at the white edges of the mirror. Just below the mirror, there was a casket, on whichy a makeup organiser and skincare organiser.

    There was a sofa,ced with the wall, and a ss table stood in front of it. There was also a window from which one could see outside the room. Kadyn nced at Elora, sleeping on her bed. He couldn''t help but feel bad for her. If it wasn''t for him, she wouldn''t have tried to heal those people with that insanely powerful spell pattern. However, there was no point in ming himself. So he sighed and sat on the sofa.

    two minutester he started to feel drowsy. He tried to remain awake but in the end, the torpor engulfed his senses, and he fell asleep on the sofa. He didn''t know when it was, but he heard someone calling his name. He opened his eyes and rubbed them, removing crust out of them.

    Then he nced around and found that Elora had already awakened and she was sitting on her bed, legs inside her nket while staring at him with a warm smile. "What happened?" Kadyn asked.

    Elora pointed towards the door and said. "Association Leader Barret hase. He wants to meet you."

    Kadyn stood up and nodded towards Elora before heading towards the hall where Barret was waiting for him. As he arrived in the hall, Barret stood up and smiled. "I have brought the thing that you wanted." He replied. Though one could see tiredness inside his crimson eyes. They looked as if blood would drip out of them at any time. It seemed as if he hadn''t taken rest since the Zephyr''s attack. Fatigue was evident inside his eyes¡ªand on his face.

    "Alright, thanks," Kadyn said. They went on. "And take some rest, if children were to see your face, they would be scared out of their wits."

    Barret smiled and shook his head. "I guess, I won''t be able to sleep today." He said with a low voice.

    "Why?" Kadyn looked at him curiously.

    A sigh escaped from Barret''s mouth, and he nced at Kadyn before replying. "They are here. The people from the headquarter."

    "Oh, are they suspicious or anything?" he asked, eyes locked on Barret.

    "They just arrived not long ago, and are resting at the moment. Therefore I came to deliver this before they find something amiss. Potioneer Yel is handling the situation with Elder Jyn. However Elder Jyn is injured so he could just instruct Yel what to do, without doing anything himself."

    "Then that''s good," Kadyn said. "As long as they don''t know about the blood. It''s all good."

    At this moment Barret pointed towards the tworge barrels at the corner of the hall and said. "The thing you wanted is inside these barrels." Then he stood up and cupped his hands before speaking. "I need to go back or they would get suspicious."

    Kadyn thought and asked curiously. "How powerful are they?"

    "There are five of them." He said and nced at Kadyn. "All of them Rank 3."

    Kadyn sucked a cold beath at his words. Rank 3. Five of them. If they knew that he had taken something that belongs to them. They would definitely tear him into shreds. I need to keep a low profile until they go back. He thought with a racing heart.

    ¡ª¡ª

    After sending Barret, Kadyn turned towards Hot Rod, and Khrom, who had already returned after getting his itching cure and spoke. "You guys take these barrels to the Potion Hall." Then he looked at Khrom and said, "You will get 1 Energy point for it."

    Hot Rod''s face twitched as he heard this term once more. He didn''t know what the energy point was. But he knew that it was simr to the money. As wherever Kadyn would ask Khrom to do any work he would tell him that he would get this-and-this many energy points. Though he was curious, he never asked, as he knew that he would be asking for trouble if he upset Kadyn.

    The duo dragged the barrels and went towards the Potion Hall. Kadyn didn''t stay in the hall either and went to Elora''s room. He wanted to know what kind of spell she used to heal those soldiers. The spell was so overbearing that Elora could have been crippled if she made a minor mistake at that time.

    When he arrived in her room she was reading a book. He looked at her and she lifted her gaze, staring at him. Then Kadyn walked towards the sofa and sat on itfortably before speaking. "What kind of spell was that?"

    "Healing." She said, but when Kadyn didn''tugh she went on. "A bad joke, I guess. Actually, for that spell, I have used all of my energy points."

    "I know."Kadyn already knew that, as he had checked her status previously, and she had only ten energy points left in her ount.

    Elora took a deep breath and nced at Kadyn before speaking. "Actually¡­ umm¡­ that Spell Pattern didn''t belong to the Healing Element."

    Kadyn was confused for a moment, but then his eyes widened. If that Spell Pattern didn''t belong to the Healing Element then how could she cast it? He looked at her in confusion and asked. "What do you want to say? borate."

    Elora tightened her grip on the corner of the nket and exined. "Actually, the spell belongs to the Life Element." She looked at Kadyn and proceeded when he didn''t say anything. "It is simr to the Healing Element. Or you can say that Healing Element is derived from Life Element. As the Healing Element is the part of the Life Element so I could use the spells of Life Elements as well."

    Kadyn didn''t speak anything and continued to stare at Elora, as he could tell that something was off here.

 Chapter 89 - Trying To Breakthrough Once More

    Elora looked at Kadyn and continued to exin when he remained silent. "Though I can use the spells of Life Element, I have to pay a price." She shifted her body and supported her back with the help of a Headboard te behind her, straightening herself. Then went on. "Healing element is like a low level of Life Element.

    "To cast Life Elemental Spells I need to use more than ten times mana aspared to Healing Element. If My body failed to provide it the Mana Pool inside me would explode. That''s what happened when I cast the spell to heal those soldiers. That spell wasn''t too terrible, or I would have turned to cripple by now."

    "Why did you do that?" Anger red inside Kadyn''s eyes after hearing her exnation. "How could you take such a risk?" He red at her furiously.

    Elora lowered her head seeing Kadyn''s angry face like a child who had been caught doing something mischievous. She sped her hands and replied with a weak and embarrassed and timid voice. "I-I just wanted to try. Because I read inside the scroll of the spell that people with Healing Element could also perform it. I-I never thought..."

    "You never thought that it could make you cripple!" Kadyn said, still peering at her. Obviously upset with what she had done. "If something had happened to you what would I tell mother and father. How would I face them?!"

    "I''m sorry," she replied timidly.

    Kadyn looked at her and sighed. He could not see her upset, and looking at her like that made him feel pain. His expression softened and he said with a soft tone. "Alright, what''s done is done. Don''t do something like that again, alright?"

    Elora lifted her gaze and nced at him before nodding.

    After that Kadyn stood up and walked towards the door, leaving his words behind for Elora. "You can rest for today. I''ve something to do in the shop." Then he stopped at the edge of the door and turned to look at her. "I''ll let Sister Rayna know, just call her, if you need something."

    Then without deliberation, he walked out of the room. Elora stared where Kadyn had been standing and a sweet and warm feeling appeared inside her heart. An exciting look emerged on her face and she said. "If father and mother were here they would definitely feel proud of brother. He has be so responsible."

    As soon as those words left her mouth her eyes dimmed. "Where are you, mother, father?" As she spoke she curled her hands around her legs and ced her head on her knees.

    ¡ª¡ª

    After instructing Rayna and others Kadyn went towards the shop. When he arrived he saw a light inside the Artisan Hall. Hot Rod must be doing something. Kadyn didn''t care as no one could steal the shit out of the shop. And Hot Rod would never do such a thing even someone gave him the hundreds of times more courage than he already had, as he had signed the Spirit Contract with Kadyn¡ªif he broke the terms and conditions inside the contract he would be asking for troubles and Hot Rod wasn''t that stupid. Definitely not stupid.

    Kadyn headed towards the Meditation Room without stopping in the middle, pushing the door open. The first thing that came into his view was therge runes on the ground. It was some kind of formation that gathered the mana from the surroundings and produced a better condition for mediation. Then his gaze moved and fell over the egg thatid at the corner.

    Kadyn hesitated for a brief amount of time and walked towards it. He took the egg in his hand and once more activated the fire element. Simr to the before the egg started to lit up and started to suck the fire element, devouring as much mana as it could. Only when Kadyn ran out of the mana did he ce the egg on the same spot it had previously been. And murmured. "I wonder what kind of beast is hiding inside this egg?"

    He shook his head, driving all kinds of disturbing thoughts out of his mind and walked towards the formation and sat at the centre of it like always and activated Elemental Chaos Form. He needed to recover the mana he had lost to the egg before trying to breakthrough.

    As time passed the people around him started to be powerful. If he doesn''t improve his strength he would be trampled by those people for sure. Therefore he wanted to increase his strength. He was once more going to try to break through. As the mana filled his fire pool he looked ahead of him with a grave face.

    The vast space expanded in front of his eyes and tenrge stars¡ªor one could say sun¡ªburned, spreading the light in all directions. Kadyn took a deep breath and focused on one of the stars. Then on another. He spread his willpower and started to draw them closer to each other.

    He was surprised at how easy he could move them this time. Was it because his willpower has improved or because the Meditation Room has upgraded? Kadyn had no idea. But he felt pleased with this discovery. Ever since he failed he never tried again to breakthrough, however, now he started to feel pressure.

    First Zephyr. Second Aleera, the mysterious girl. Then the people of the Magic Association. He needed to improve his strength if he wanted to live. He was lucky enough that Barret and Elder Jyn were in the shop when they tried to attack him. If they had been outside, he couldn''t even begin to imagine the oue. Even a normal Rank 1 Magus could deal with him as easy as flipping hands. Or taking a piss.

    Sizzle!

    The two stars came into contact with each other and a strange sound echoed throughout Kadyn''s head. Though he didn''t let go of the stars and pressed them closer and closer and closer. In the end they started to ovep each and in no time two stars turned into a single entity. Butrger and brighter than ever. Without stopping he grabbed another star using the same willpower and started to press it on the first one that lookedrger and brighter than thetter.

    This time it took a little more effort but in the end he sessfullybined the three stars. Kadyn sighed in relief when hepleted this step. Because at this point he had failed previously.

    However, he knew that he was far from reaching his goal. Then he moved towards the fourth star. Then fifth. Then sixth. When he reached the seventh star he was panting heavily. Though he couldn''t see, he could feel that his body must be covered in sweat, and his face red due to pressure, and his body tremble from time to time.

    Kadyn stopped briefly and then grabbed the seventh star and started tobine with the colossal ball of fire that he had formed afterbining the other six stars. Though it took a lot of effort, in the end, he seeded.

    Now he needed tobine three more and he would be able toplete the first step of reaching Rank 1. He controlled his surging excitement and sucked a long breath of air and focused once more at the eighth star. He could not afford to fail. Not once again. He needed to seed and he will not fail no matter what. He clenched his fist and started tobine one big and one small ball of fire.

    Slowly. Slowly. Slowly. Just a bit more! He screamed and the big star sucked the small one. He had sessfullybined another star. Now his breathing had be uneven, his hands trembled in fatigue while sweat dripped from his red face and his trembling hands, drenching his arse below as sweat dripped drop by drop.

    Kadyn panted and winced in pain but he didn''t let himself get distracted just because he was feeling ufortable and his head felt as if thousands of maggots were crawling inside, gnawing at his brain, eating it bit by bit. He was so close to his goal he could not let himself fail this time. Pain or no pain, he could not fail.

    Come on! He screamed inside his head and pressed another star towards the gigantic sun at the centre of his Mana Pool. His speed had reduced to almost the speed of a snail. He was slow but he was still moving, the stars were stillbining.

    It took forever tobine the ninth star, but he indeedbined it in the end. Kadyn felt the urge to give up, to sleep. He wanted to lie down on the ground and take a nap. He was tired and needed rest, his head felt like tearing from inside due to pain, his body ached and sweat dripped. Sleep. Pain. Sweat. Ache. He could almost imagine himself drenched and smelling like a pig.

    He peered at thest star with a tired expression and gritted his teeth. He can''t let go of this chance. Last time there were only three stars and his mana pool was injured so severely that he could not even cast Spell Patterns. However this time there were nine stars andbined with thest one there were ten. He couldn''t imagine the oue if failed this time. Sleep. Pain. Sweat. Ache. No matter how much pain he felt he could not give up at this moment.

    Sleep. Pain. Sweat. Ache. He winced in pain and he could feel sticky liquid all over his body and his eyes screamed and begged for sleep. His arse had turned numb from sitting for a long time or was it due to the pressure? He had no concept of time.

    He sucked a deep breath of cold air like before and started to stir the small star towards the big one as he did to others. However, it wasn''t as easy as others. He almost screamed from the effort he had put in it to move the star.

 Chapter 90 - Blessing Element

    The excruciating pain that he felt was unbearable, but he continued to push forward, little by little, step by step. And the stars came into contact with each other. However, the impact was too big, the boom resounded in the entire Mana Pool and Kadyn howled as he clutched his head.

    "Arghh!!"

    He squealed but he didn''t give up. He felt as if someone was slicing him piece by piece with a slow pace, poking prickles inside his wounds to further increase his suffering. However, he wasn''t the Kadyn of the past. He had gone through a lot of pain and misery like this in the Practice Room. He had already died tens of times there and he died horribly. His willpower was already on another level.

    Sizzle!

    The stars made a noise as they drew closer to each other. It took him forever to ovep half of the stars. No, no, I can''t give up! Though he said that, he couldn''t hold any longer, he was tired and could not move any further. His mind started to go nk, darkness appeared as if wanting to engulf his consciousness into his embrace.

    Just as he thought that all of his efforts were about to go to waste, a soothing sensation filled his body. The darkness started to fade and coolness appeared. His energy was stored and his spirit was invigorated. He felt refreshed and all the tiredness faded like a wisp.

    Kadyn was shocked by this development. He realised that the energy wasing from below his butt¡ªformation¡ªfilling his entire body with a soothing sensation. An ecstatic feeling overfilled his heart. He couldplete the final step now. Without any dy, he pushed the smaller star towards the bigger one. Then the smaller one vanished, devoured by therger star.

    However, at this moment, something big happened: the star produced a zing light, blinding him and filling the entire Mana Pool before bing silent. A huge single star burned at the sky in front of Kadyn as he peered at the scene with awe and glee.

    As he looked at the colossal star in front of him. He failed to notice that at the corner of his Soul Sea there was a dull space, a dull pool or one can say inactive pool. At this moment it started to tremble and a golden light emitted from it, overshadowing everything else.

    Kadyn thought that the process had beenpleted when a notification sounded inside his head.

    [Blessing Element has been activated. Activated Stars¡ú 1]

    A suction force appeared on the Golden Pool(Blessing Pool) and started to drag the Fire Pool towards itself. Kadyn was horrified by this sudden development. He didn''t know what was going on. Therefore he tried to resist the suction but failed miserably in the end. The Fire Pool continued to move towards the Blessing Pool and in the end, it was devoured by thetter, fading.

    Suddenly Kadyn''s will appeared inside the Blessing Pool, and he looked around in panic but then what he saw made him dumbfounded and shocked beyond measure. At the centre of the pool was hovering a gigantic ball of fire. Fire Star that he formed afterbining ten other stars! Blessing Pool had destroyed the Fire Pool and made Fire Star its own.

    "How''s this possible?!" he shouted. Everyone knew that every element had its unique properties that couldn''t be mixed with other elements. Just like Elora tried to use Life Element''s spell and the result was a terrible bacsh, even though the Healing Element had been driven from Life Element itself. Much less mixing twopletely different elements like Fire and Blessing.

    Well, he didn''t have much knowledge about Blessing Element as he had never heard about it from anyone. As if no one knew about this element. Even in the shop, he didn''t see any spell that belonged to the Blessing Element. Strange indeed.

    However, at this moment he had no way to know what was going on so he sighed and left the Meditation Room.

    ¡ª¡ª

    The sun rose and scattered its orange and purple rays all about the city. The birds twittered and flew out of their nests in the hope of finding the food. Kadyn sat on his chair and looked at Khrom and Hot Rod in front of him. "Have youpleted the work I''ve assigned?" he asked Khrom.

    "I have collected information about 50% of the herbs." He replied. "Give me a day and I will be able toplete the mission."

    "Good." Then he turned towards Hot Rod and said. ''The business of artefacts isn''t that great in Avibria City. After all, the city is poor and not many people can afford the luxury to buy one for themselves. Even magus can''t afford them." He paused then went on. "Potion business has also dulled somewhat. Though our products are great, not many people could bear to buy them."

    "What do you suggest we should do?" Hot Rod asked.

    "What do you mean by what I suggest?" Kadyn rolled his eyes at the man. "I''m asking you because I have no clue how to deal with it. Do you have any solution?"

    Hot Rod rubbed his nose in embarrassment and thought briefly before replying. "The best we can do is expand our business to other cities. After all, it''s not like we can''t sell our goods because of somepetition but because not many can afford to buy them."

    Kadyn nodded in agreement. "How should we expand our business then?"he asked, looking at the man curiously. Hot Rod was far more experienced than him. That was the reason he thought to seek his guidance and he indeed did not misjudge the man.

    As Kadyn expected Hot Rod came up with an answer in no time. "The most efficient way is to improve our reputation in the surrounding cities. After all, we aren''t the only people in the business of Potions and Artefacts. Furthermore, we don''t even have Rank 1 Potioneer in our shop yet. Though Elementary Potioneer might be highly respected in the Avibria City, it isn''t anything in the outside world."

    "Just tell me what we should do to expand our business," Kadyn said, wrinkles starting to appear on his forehead due to Hot Rod''s exnation. He never did business in his life. So he had no idea how to manage it, he could just slowly learn.

    "In the Orddono, the Capital of the Shado Empire," Hot Rod said and stared at Kadyn before continuing. "On every Sunday there will be a gathering. The Market. All kinds of people¡ªinterested in buying or selling¡ªwill gather there.

    "I have also attended the gathering quite a few times. One can do business at that ce and build rtionships through business. Though it might not be a genuine rtionship, in the business world it ismon to make friends just to make deals with them, and when the deal is over we can go our separate ways, as simple as that.

    "However reputation is very important, never try to con someone. It could work one time but it won''t work a second or third time. On the contrary, someone who tricks someone like that won''t have any ce in the business world. No one would work with him after knowing the truth."

    Kadyn nodded, understanding what Hot Rod wanted to say. He looked at the man and said. "So you suggest that we start from Orddono and build a rtionship with influential people of the Shado Empire. Then our reputation will increase on its own."

    "Exactly." Hot Rod nodded. "Even if we couldn''t form any rtionship with others, we can still do our business there. Though it would be slow, we can still build our reputation like that."

    "Alright, we will go to the Capital Orddono the next Sunday."

    "The next Sunday is just the day after tomorrow." Khrom interrupted. "And I don''t think we can make it in time for the gathering. After all, we can''t go there without any potions and artefacts. And to make them, we need time that we arecking at the moment."

    "Well," Kadyn said. "Then we''ll go to the next gathering. What''s the rush?" Afterwards, he turned towards Hot Rod and asked. "Can you tell me what kind of potions are most sought in the Capital? So I would try to concoct ording to the market. As for artefacts? I''m sure you know what kind of artefacts you need to forge."

    Hot Rod nodded and then hesitated for a brief moment and asked. "I would need my Cauldron. So¡­"

    "You want to go to Glont City?" Kadyn interrupted before he could finish his sentence.

    Hot Rod nced at Kadyn and nodded. "Not just my Cauldron is there but all the collection of my Common Rank Metals is also there."

    Kadyn''s eyes lit up when he heard about the collection of Common Rank Metals. Right now he had a single Common Rank Metal and that was Hustril¡ªthat he had yet to add into his Virtual Shop¡ªnow he heard that Hot Rod had more Common Rank Metals he started to be restless. He peered at Hot Rod and said. "Alright. You can go and get your things. How much time do you need to return?

    "Two days." He replied.

    "Alright. When are you nning to leave for Glont City?" Kadyn asked.

    "I will depart tomorrow in the morning," Hot Rod replied after thinking for some time. Then went on. "Dion will stay here," he looked at his son and said sternly "Don''t cause any trouble while I''m away."

 Chapter 91 - Magic Stones

    The next day Hot Rod embarked on the journey to Glont City. Kadyn resumed his business and opened the shop for customers. Elora had also recovered by now. Therefore he let her concoct Elementary Potions that he could sell in the Orddono City.

    When the day passed he let her rest and started brewing potions himself. In the meantime, Khrom had alsopleted his mission and earned 10 energy points. Though it was not much he could still not stop grinning when he saw his status window. It was his first earning after all.

    Kadyn looked at the notification that showed that he had lost 10 points and shook his head. He was the owner so he needed to pay his employees as well. Just like that, the first day passed.

    On the same day in thete night, he went to the Meditation Room and looked at the corner. Egg. Simr to before he injected his fire element into it. Though his fire pool had been destroyed his fire star was still present.

    Furthermore, Kadyn realised that the mana inside the Blessing Pool was two times greater than the Fire Pool, and Blessing energy could convert into the fire at his will. Is it because it devoured the Fire Pool? He thought.

    He could not cast Fire Patterns anymore. However, he could control Fire Element and those simple attacks were stronger than any Spell Pattern he had seen. Though far from reaching the level of Rank 1 magus.

    After that, he ced the egg on the same spot and brought a metal from his pocket. Hustril. He looked at the ck metal that sprinkled with blue lights as Hot Rod had said, and a smile appeared on his face. He opened his Virtual Shop where he could add the metal so he could purchase it in the future.

    [Hustril has been added to the shop.]

    The notification sounded in his head. He looked at the metal on the screen and read the information that had been appeared below the metal.

    [Name: Hustril]

    [Category: Metal]

    [Rank: Common]

    [Price: 50 points for a quintal]

    [Properties: Mostly used to forge Low-Rank Space Artefacts and used as a supporting metal in many artefacts]

    "Well, it''s not that pricey. I can afford to buy it." Kadyn smiled, looking at the window. "I need to reach Rank 1 Magus so I can forge the Rank 1 artefacts."

    At that time his shop would definitely be a legendary existence in the Magic Association Alliance. After all, Hustril were too scarce here and not many people had space artefacts. Even those who had would never sell them as they were too precious.

    At this moment he didn''t want to make Hot Rod his employee as he was his freebour for two years. Furthermore, he could still see the vignce inside the man''s eyes. Though he had slowly started to revere Kadyn it wasn''t to the extent that he would be his servant. He was doing everything because he had no choice. Who could say that he would not betray him?

    Though Kadyn could easily handle him in that situation he didn''t want to lose a potential Rank 1 artisan like that. Therefore he slowly wanted to make Hot Rod submit to him by himself¡ªnot by force. At that time he would make him an employee.

    "Anyways, that is for the future." He said and started to meditate. Today he was going to merge Lightning Stars.

    ¡ª¡ª

    The next morning Association Leader Barret arrived. Kadyn looked at the man and asked. "Is everything ok?"

    "Yeah, that''s what I came to tell you." He replied, and a smile appeared on his face. "People from the Headquarters have already departed."

    "Did they take Zephyr''s body?" he asked curiously.

    "Of course, that was their main intention." Barret rolled his eyes. "They were a little disappointed and angry at us when they heard the blood had already been extracted from the corpse." He shook his head when he thought about it, and a somewhat angry look appeared on his face. It seemed they have humiliated him for losing the dragon''s blood.

    Those useless bastards didn''t even dare to confront Zephyr and now when someone had killed her, they wanted her entire corpse. Barret had never seen someone as shameless as them. Nheless, he knew that he could not show his disapproval in front of them. So he endured everything, but his belly was full of fire at this moment.

    Kadyn already knew that this would happen but he was still a little disappointed. The body of Zephyr was a precious treasure. It could be used to make so many artefacts. s¡­

    Kadyn looked at Barret and asked. "That was it?"

    "No," Barret said. "I mean I came here because Khrom told me that you are nning to go to the Capital Orddono." He paused briefly and gave Kadyn a look. "If you need any help just tell me, I know quite a few people in the capital. It would make things easy for you. Furthermore, Irabel House will also send a caravan to the gathering¡ªif you want you can travel together with them."

    "They are also sending a caravan?" Kadyn looked surprised.

    Barret eyed his surprised face and knew that he didn''t know much about the Irabel family. "Don''t look down on them. Even in the Orddono Capital, they are somewhat famous for their Silk Clothing."

    "Silk Clothing?'''' He looked surprised at Barret.

    "Yes," Barret replied. "Silk weaving is done through sericulture or rearing of mulberry nts, nurturing the silk insect, and eventually developing cocoons by procedures like twisting, dyeing, weaving, printing, and finally finishing off the product. If not for their limited resources and shallow foundation they might have already be one of the best suppliers of silk in our reagion."

    Kadyn was surprised, he had never thought that Irabel House''s main business was Silk. Nheless, he was just slightly surprised and that was also because never thought that they were doing such an unusual business that people from earth used to do.

    But then again, though this world was magical, people still loved to wear expensive clothing, eat delicious food and build beautiful houses. These were the necessities of a human being, after all.

    After that, he stared at Barret and changed the topic. "How''s Elder Jyn doing?"

    "He''s doing fine now. Potioneer Yel has concocted all kinds of healing potions for him. After a few days, he will fully recover." He replied.

    "That''s good." He murmured. Then went on. "If they are interested in travelling with us. I don''t mind."

    Barret smiled hearing his response. "Alright, I''ll let them know. I don''t think they would have any problem. After all, more people means better security. Bandits would think twice before attacking such arge convoy." He paused and said. "Alright, then I will go and let Patriarch Irabel know about it."

    Kadyn nodded, but then he thought something and asked. "Do you have any¡­ umm, Magic Stones?"

    "Magic Stones?" Barret seemedsurprised at his sudden question.

    "Yeah, I need them for something. Do you have any?" Kadyn''s eyes lit up seeing his reaction. He must have some Magic Stones.

    Barret hesitated but then said. "I have around 10 Magic Stones ¡ª if you want I can give you."

    "Really?" Kadyn''s eyes lit up.

    "I''ll send Zelie to give you Magic Stones," Barret said and departed. Kadyn eyed his back and a smile appeared on his face. He was always thinking about how to get his hands on some Magic Stones but he never thought that Barret would have some. Now he could practice Formation Building.

    "If I could reach the level of Aleera I would feel content." He grinned as he said. He knew that it wouldn''t be easy to reach the level of Aleera, she was a real Formation Master.

    "Well, I can practice Elementary Formations with those Magic Stones, or I can add the Magic Stone in Virtual Shop as well, and when I reach Rank 1 Magus I won''t need any outside energy to maintain the formation. I would be able to form them with my own Spiritual Energy." Kadyn muttered.

    "Sir, I need to buy a potion."

    As he was lost in thinking he heard a voice from another side, he looked at the man and grinned. "Sure, what kind of potion would you like to buy, sir?"

    ¡ª¡ª

    The two days went just like that and on the end of the second day Hot Rod arrived. Kadyn gaped in surprise in front of him and saw around five men carrying a colossal cauldron through the shop gate. Only now did he realise why Hot Rod didn''t bring the cauldron with him when he came to the Avibria City. The thing was humongous. And hard to carry.

    Hot Rod smiled whenhe spotted Kadyn. "Sir, where should I make them ce the cauldron?"

    "Of course, inside the Artisan Hall. Where else do you think?" Kadyn rolled his eyes at him.

    "This way," he instructed the worker after Kadyn confirmed. Then he turned to look at Kadyn and asked. "Sir, when do you think I should begin forging?" he paused and asked. "What about metals?"

    "Didn''t you say that you have a collection of Common Rank Metals?"

    Hot Rod''s eyes twitched. But he still passed the bag that he was carrying with him. Kadyn took it and checked the content inside. Indeed, he saw quite a few metal chunks. Some were the size of a fist, while others were the size of a marble. But for Kadyn their value was far greater, no matter if it was marble-sized metal or fist-sized, they were invaluable.

    Now he could add them in Virtual Shop as well. He would have an infinite supply of these metals in the future. His eyes shone as he thought about it. He looked at the Artisan who was peering at the bag with reluctant eyes. Kadyn rolled his eyes at him and said. "Don''t worry, I will return these metals."

    Hot Rod stared at him and gave an only-ghost-would-believe-you type look.

 Chapter 92 - Zelie

    Kadyn sat in his room, peering at the metals in front of him. There were five different metals. After checking them through the System he realised their names: Fobloicium, Deskanium, Greithil, Eskine, Wosnium. They were all Common Rank Metals. Kadyn couldn''t stop grinning as he looked at them. "With these metals, we don''t have to struggle to find more powerful metals for a long time." He said and added them in his Virtual Shop.

    Then he yawned and fell on his bed. He wasn''t going to meditate today. "Though my body doesn''t feel very tired, my mental strength could only recover through sleeping." He murmured. He closed his eyes and said, "What kind of element are you?"

    He looked at the Golden Mana Pool in his Soul Sea and a solemn look appeared on his face. At this moment two stars were floating inside the Blessing Pool. One burned with fire while another crackled with purple thunder from time to time. These were Fire and Thunder elements that were absorbed by the Blessing pool. While beside the Blessing Pool seven other pools were floating inside his Soul Sea. However, Fire and Thunder Pool were missing from that number.

    Just like that, he fell asleep. Though he did not have any idea what kind of element was Blessing he could still tell that it was extremely powerful. After all, it was using other elements as its stars. He wanted to merge other elemental stars so he could unravel the mystery of Blessing Element as soon as possible, but he didn''t want to make any mistake so he controlled himself from hastening the process.

    After an unknown period, Kadyn opened his eyes. He examined his surroundings and realised that it was already morning. He left the bed and went to get refreshed. When he walked out of the room the breakfast was already ced on the table while Elora and children were eating and Rayna was standing behind, serving.

    "Good morning," Kadyn said as he walked into the hall.

    Elora turned towards him and smiled. "Good morning."

    Two children also greeted him after Rayna urged them. Kadyn grinned and sat on a chair beside Elora. Then he looked at Rayna and asked. "Where is Khrom and Hot Rod, ah, yes, and his son Dion?"

    "Artisan Hot Rod worked the whole night to adjust his cauldron with his son so he could use it to forge in the future. He didn''te the night before, so I assume he slept there. As for Khrom, he is working to break through to the next Rank.However, he seemed pretty frustrated yesterday. It appears that he is having a hard time progressing." It was Elora who replied.

    Kadyn nodded understanding the situation. Khrom''s condition was a little tricky. He needed to concoct the potion to remove the side effects from his body. However, the problem was that the potion was Rank 1 and he could not brew it at the Elementary Rank.

    Suddenly his eyes lit up. Why didn''t I think about this? He thought and a smile appeared on his face.

    "Sir, Miss Zelie hase." Khrom entered the hall. Kadyn lifted his gaze and spotted Khrom. Behind him ady walked, her face was a little pale and she looked somewhat nervous and afraid. When she spotted Kadyn looking at her she lowered her gaze hurriedly.

    Kadyn opened his mouth and closed it a few times but no word came out of his mouth. Is this really the same girl I have met previously? He still remembered how arrogantly she acted. However, right at this moment, she seemedpletely docile and tamed. She sped her hands and rubbed them nervously, her eyes downcast, not daring to look at Kadyn.

    "Oh, It''s Miss Zelie Duncan." Kadyn smiled. "Come take a seat and have breakfast with us."

    Zelie lifted her gaze in surprise and peered at Kadyn. She thought that he would take revenge for her previous arrogance, but now, it seems that she was too narrow-minded and ignorant. She forced a smile over her face and replied with an apologetic tone. "I''ve to decline Sir Kadyn''s offer. I''ve already had my breakfast. I''m here on the behalf of my father. He sent me to deliver something."

    "Ah, I know," Kadyn said as he chewed the bread inside his mouth and said. "Please, have a seat. We will talk about itter."

    Zelie nced at everyone in the hall. Two children were eating and fighting among themselves. Khrom and Rayna stood behind Kadyn and Elora. She took a deep breath and sat down on the chair that was opposite Kadyn and Elora. Zelie nced at Elora and said in an embarrassed voice. "I''m sorry for my rude behaviour on that day."

    "Don''t mention it," Elora shook her head, "That was in the past. Young people are full of themselves nowadays. They think that everyone should do their bidding. However, with time they realise that one needs to give respect if they want respect."

    Kadyn almost choked at her words and started to cough furiously. A chunk of bread had stuck in his throat. Rayna hurriedly poured the water for him. Only after drinking did he stabilize.

    Elora red at him but hepletely ignored her. He looked at Zelie and said. "I heard from Leader Barret that you are also an Elementary Potioneer."

    Elora shifted her gaze towards Zelie, filled with curiosity. She didn''t think that this arrogant Young Miss of the Magic Association branch in the Avibria City was also an Elementary Potioneer. At the same time, apetitive light flickered inside her pupils.

    Zelie strengthened her back when she heard his words and a proud look appeared on her face. However, she hurriedly controlled her urge to show off and replied humbly. "I''m just a beginner. Potioneer Yel saw some talent in me that''s it."

    Elora rolled her eyes when she saw how hard she was trying to control herself from showing off. At this moment Zelie''s impression as well somewhat improved in her eyes. Though the girl was a little narcissistic and proud and arrogant, she wasn''t a bad person. It was that her upbringing was a little different so she felt rejected towards others.

    As Elora was weighing Zelie, Kadyn grinned. "Hehe, my sister is also an Elementary Potioneer. I think you two would make great friends. Why don''t you show her our shop, Elora?

    Elora gaped at him. Somewhat bewildered. She didn''t know what was in Kadyn''s head but she didn''t refuse. She just stared at the girl in front of her. "Alright, I''m done," Kadyn said as he scooted his chair back and stood up.

    "I''m also done." Elora followed him.

    Eventually, Zelie brought a pouch in front of Kadyn and passed it to him. "This is the thing you wanted."

    Kadyn stared at the small pouch in her hands and took it gently. Then he looked at Elora and said, "Take Miss Zelie for a stroll."

    After Elora and Zelie went out, he turned towards Rayna and Khrom. "You should also have your breakfast."

    Then Kadyn headed to the shop as well. When he arrived there were already people standing behind the gates of the shop. As time passed the poprity of the shop started to spread in the entire city. Now almost everyone knows about his shop. Hunters woulde to buy potions and sometimes even artefacts. People from noble families would alsoe to take a look from time to time.

    Furthermore, in his shop, all kinds of potions could be found. Not like other shops that would sell specific kinds of potions. Like if someone sells healing he would only sell healing, if someone sells haste type potions he would only sell them. Even if they sell other types they won''t be as good as their main potion. However, Kadyn''s shop was different, he sold all kinds of potions and with the best quality avable in Avibria City.

    He opened the gate and people rushed inside. "Everyone, please, stand in the line, no pushing and shoving. No fighting in the shop." He said as he sat on his chair. A man at the very front said with a humble tone. "Sir, I would like to use the Elementary Practice Room. Two battles."

    "I want to buy two Soothing Drops."

    "Meditation Room for two hours."

    "I need a dagger¡­"

    It took around an hour to deal with all the customers. At this moment, Hot Rod also walked out of the Artisan Hall with his son, Dion. Hot Rod nced at Kadyn and smiled. Kadyn looked at the man and enquired. "How many artefacts are ready?"

    "Twenty Elementary Rank Artifacts.After all, we don''t have Common Rank Metals to forge Common Rank Artifacts."

    "Don''t worry about the metals. You''ll have enough of the metals." Kadyn said. Then went on. "Do you think you can forge enough artefacts in a week?"

    Hot Rod nodded confidently. "I''m positive that I will be able to make enough artefacts before the gathering."

    "That''s good then." Kadyn nodded. "Alright, go and take a bath. You are smelling like a rotten pig."

    Hot Rod turned red from embarrassment and nodded. Artisans needed to work in the heat of the fire so of course their body would have the smell of sweat. He once more nodded towards Kadyn andscurried away with his son.

    "No, you are wrong!" At this moment a shout resounded.

    Kadyn frowned and stared towards the Potion Hall from where the shout hade, and he knew that the voice belonged to Zelie.

 Chapter 93 - Fishing

    "Why are you arguing?" asked Kadyn as he looked at Elora and Zelie.

    The twodies turned towards him in surprise as they didn''t realise when he entered the Potion Hall. They were too engulfed in their bickering. However, as soon as the surprised look appeared on their faces it faded. Elora was the first to speak. "We weren''t arguing but discussing something." She rolled her eyes at her brother.

    "That was the discussion?" Kadyn gaped at the duo speechlessly. He could hear their shout even outside of the Potion Hall and they are saying that it was a discussion. Elora and Zelie heard him and scoffed at the same time. "That''s how we discuss, do you have any problem?" a small tinge of red appeared on their faces when they realised how loud they were. However, both thedies being proud and arrogant at the same time, refused to admit their mistake.

    Kadyn smirked and didn''t press the topic any further. He shook his head and said. "Then please continue your... discussion. But keep it down this time, alright?"

    The two beauties turned red at his sarcastic tone. But just as he was about to go back to his work Elora said. "Ah, I need your help with something."

    He peered at her in confusion. "What?" he asked.

    "Actually I and Zelie were argu¡­" he paused and coughed before correcting herself, "were discussing a potion, but we didn''t agree with each other on something. Can you help us?"

    "Oh, what kind of potion is it?" Kadyn asked curiously.

    "Draught of Steelskin." This time Zelie replied.

    "Oh, what about it?" Kadyn said in confusion. "Isn''t it just an Elementary Potion? Why are you arguing about it?"

    "Discussing," Elora corrected him.

    "Yeah, why are you¡­ discussing it?" Kadyn rolled his eyes at his sister.

    "Actually, it''s not a big deal," Zelie shook her head. "I think sister Elora made a mistake."

    "Do you think I have never concocted a Draught of Steelskin?" Elora scowled as soon as she heard Zelie''s words. "I have brewed it tens of times and used the same method. I''ve sold it to many customers."

    "Don''t worry, they or their families wille knocking at your door. Be prepared to give an exnation."

    "You¡­"

    "Alright, alright," Kadyn interrupted. "If your¡­ discussion has ended, can you tell me what''s going on?"

    Elora and Zelie turned red at his words. But they still exined the situation.

    ----

    "Venom Thyme?" Kadyn nced at Zelie and asked. "What''s wrong with it?"

    "Don''t you know that it is a poisonous herb?" Zelie replied. "If you use it in the potion what do you think will happen?"

    "So that''s what you were arguing about, huh?"

    "Discussion!" The duo corrected him once more.

    Kadyn rolled his eyes at them and looked at Zelie. "Have you ever concocted a Draught of Steelskin?"

    Zelie turned red at his question. "I tried to brew it many times over a month, but no matter what I tried I failed to concoct it." She looked at Kadyn and went on. "Potioneer Yel gave me the form. However, he said that one herb is missing. I experimented with lots of herbs but to no avail."

    "That old man seemed to have a pretty high opinion about you, giving such a hard task," Kadyn said, looking at the girl. He shook his head. "The task he gave you is almost impossible toplete."

    "What do you mean?" Zelie asked curiously.

    "Have you ever thought the missing herb is Venom Thyme?"

    "Are you saying¡­ no, that''s impossible!" Zelie shook her head stubbornly, not believing his words. After all, how could a poison do any good?

    "That''s where you are wrong," Kadyn smirked when he saw her face. It seemed Potioneer Yel was expecting too much from this girl. However, this high expectation shows that she was highly talented. If I could recruit her¡­ his eyes shed and a cunning smile appeared on his face. He didn''t argue and turned towards Elora. "Show her how to concoct the potion."

    "Yes," Elora grinned. It was the most effective way to win the argue..err, discussion against Zelie. She scurried towards the long table where they concocted the potions and started to brew the Draught of Steelskin. Zelie didn''t say anything, she just stared at the process. She frowned from time to time. It was different from her own method. However, herbs were the same, except the Venom Thyme thatden on the table, some distance away from the other herbs. Elora had gloved her hands when she cleaned the poisonous herb and made a solution with it.

    She took around forty-five minutes to brew the potion. Afterpleting the process she turned around and looked at Zelie with a triumphed grin across her face. Zelie didn''t look at her and continued to stare at the potion inside the vial in Elora''s hand with a nk face. She could not believe that she seeded. She could tell with just a single look that the potion was Draught of Steelskin as it had the same colour as a genuine potion. However, she still was having a hard time epting it. She strode to Elora and said. "Can I check the potion?" she said. This time her face waspletely serious.

    "Of course," Elora said and passed the vial of red liquid to her.

    Zelie opened the stopper and took a sniff. Then she lifted her gaze and looked at Elora and said. "Not poisonous."

    "Of course, it''s not poisonous. Do you think we would sell the poison in our shop as a potion?"

    Zelie turned slightly red as she heard her words, remembering her own words from before. But then she looked at Kadyn and asked. "Why did its poisonous property has disappeared?"

    Kadyn smiled and exined. "Do you know about Pigmy Rosemary?"

    Zelie looked confused but still nodded. "It''s one of the ingredients to brew the Draught of Steelskin."

    "Correct," Kadyn pped his hands appreciatively and went on. "Do you know why we use it in this potion? After all, every herb has its uses. What is the use of Pigmy Rosemary?"

    Zelie shook her head as she had no idea. She had still to seed in brewing the potion and Potioneer Yel refused to tell her. He wanted her to find the answer on her own.

    Kadyn replied when she shook her head. "It is used to control the poisonous characteristics of Venom Thyme. Though Venom Thyme is poisonous, it also has another property: it could increase the body''s defence. That''s why when someone eat the herb would feel as if he has be stronger, but after some time, the poison would overwhelm the former property. However, while concocting the potion, Pigmy Rosemary will dissolve the poisonous property and strengthen its defensive properties. So now you know why we use the Venom Thyme." He looked at Zelie and grinned.

    Zelie nodded and turned towards Elora before speaking. "I''m sorry. I was wrong."

    "Don''t worry about it. I knew that Venom Thyme was poisonous but I didn''t know about its properties. Because of you I also learned something new today." Elora replied. The situation had be somewhat awkward for Zelie. Elora didn''t want to linger on the same topic anymore. So not to embarrass the girl.

    At this moment Zelie looked at Elora and asked. "Hey, who taught you potion brewing? Your techniques were somewhat unique. Furthermore, in the sequence you added the herbs was also different from mine."

    "Hehe, of course, my techniques are unique." She puffed her chest proudly. "My brother has personally taught me after all. As for your second question: there are hundreds of sequences to concoct every potion. The sequence of adding herbs can differ; however, with that, the timing would also differ, so you need to pay attention to it. And there won''t be any difficulty in brewing potions." Elora exined.

    Zelie looked at Elora and asked with an eager tone "All this was taught by your brother?" she nced at Kadyn in amazement. Kadyn was even younger than her. How could his knowledge be at such an eye-popping level? She was having a hard time believing it.

    Well, some of the things I have learned from the Library." Elora replied.

    "Library?" Zelie was surprised at this. Only powerful houses like Irabel and Palius, or an organisation like Magic Association would have their own library where they could hold all kinds of books and scrolls, storing their precious spells and methods of magic. The library was the most important ce in any sect, family, or organisation. She never thought that Kadyn''s shop would have a library. She peered at Elora and asked earnestly. "What kinds of books are there inside your library?'''' As soon as she spoke, she realised her mistake. "I''m sorry. I didn''t mean to¡­"

    "It''s alright." Elora interrupted. She knew that no one would be able to steal anything from the library. As an employee, she could not bring any book out of the library, much less someone else who had no good intentions. She looked at Zelie and went on. "There are all kinds of spells. Scrolls about potions, artefacts, poisons, and many other things. Even Rank 1 Spells are avable."

    The more Zelie heard the more her eyes widened. Kadyn saw this and curled his lips. The fish had already taken his bait, he just needed to pull the fishing pole out of the water, and the fish would be in his grasp.

    At this moment Elora looked at him and winked. Kadyn was surprised. It seemed that his intentions had been seen through by his sister.

 Chapter 94 - Preparations

    The time passed. Everyone was eager for the uing event. They were immersed in the preparations. Elora was brewing potions with her all might. Sometimes Zelie woulde and help her. Her attitude had improved a lot and from an acquaintance, she had be Elora''s friend. While in the other hall, Hot Rod worked with his son and Melvona, forging all kinds of artefacts. His speed was almost eye-popping.

    After all, he was a Rank 1 Artisan, forging Elementary Rank artefacts was nothing for him. It was only when he forged Common Rank artefacts would he struggle. He would even fail from time to time. However, Kadyn had provided five to six kinds of Common Rank metals and in quite arge quantity.

    He had purchased them from the Virtual Shop. In the beginning, when Hot Rod saw the heap of Common Rank metals he was leftpletely dumbstruck. He realised that they were the same metals that Kadyn had taken from him but in muchrger quantities. However, he didn''t dare to ask Kadyn anything.

    On the other hand, Kadyn spent his days slouching on his chair, handling customers. In the night he meditated and fought in the Practice Hall and studied Formation Building. He had awakened ten stars of most of the elements. Only Space, Summoning, and Psychic had yet to awaken the tenth star. Kadyn worked hard to awaken their tenth star in the meantime, but his main focus was to assimte other elements with the Blessing Pool.

    While others were working hard Khrom didn''t stay idle. He was the one who dealt with the herb suppliers and metals suppliers in the city. After all, Kadyn couldn''t waste his energy points on buying low-level metals that he could easily get in the city. And it was Khrom who dealt with this matter.

    Of course, Kadyn didn''t let him do all the work for free. He had earned quite a few energy points in this time. Furthermore, his Loyalty had reached 15% if it wasn''t for the energy points he would have already advanced to the Bronze Rank Employee.

    Elora''s condition wasn''t much different from Khrom either. Her Loyalty was already at an eye-popping level of 90%, but due to theck of Energy Points, she could not advance. However, even then, she had already reached the Bronze Rank from Iron. After all, her speed of earning the points was far greater than Khrom while her Loyalty was already at such a strikingly high level.

    "We are leaving tomorrow," Khrom said as he stood in front of Kadyn. Then went on. "I have talked with Leader Barret, he said that Patriarch Irabel himself is going to apany the caravan this time."

    "He is going himself?" Kadyn asked in surprise.

    "He usually does not apany them to the Orddono. However, the attacks of bandits have be quite frequent in this period. He doesn''t want to lose his precious valuable so he decided to go himself." Khrom exined in a confident tone. He seemed to know everything about the city.

    "How''re our preparations?" he turned towards Hot Rod who stood not far away from Khrom. "I hope we have enough artefacts for the gathering and of the finest quality."

    "I can assure you that our product can be counted as one of the best qualities in the gathering." Hot Rod said and wiped the sweat trickling over his forehead.

    "That''s good, then." He said and then looked at the small silhouette behind the artisan and asked. "How''s she doing?"

    Hot Rod tilted his head and looked at Melvona and said with a hint of admiration. "She is a genius." He looked at his son and grunted in dissatisfaction. "She has already surpassed this stupid son of mine. He just knows how to use my reputation to unt his status. Good for nothing!"

    Dion turned red at his father''s berating. He lowered his head and dared not to look up due to shame. Kadyn smiled at this. "Oh, you can''t say this." Then he went on. "The best example is me. You can ask around if you don''t believe me. I was good for nothing as well in the beginning. But see, now even you are working under me.

    "Some people just have a slow start or they are just slow. However, it doesn''t mean they can''t reach the peak of their profession. What matters is the steady pace, maintain it, and who knows what surprises are waiting for you in the future."

    "I never thought I would hear such wise words from a brain dead person like you." At this moment a sarcastic voice sounded in Kadyn''s head.

    Kadyn, however, just rolled his eyes and ignored thement. He had be ustomed to his mocking, almost immune. On the other hand, Hot Rod heard Kadyn''s reply and said sheepishly. "I would be content if he couldpare even the tenth part of sir Kadyn."

    Dion also stared at Kadyn with curious eyes. He never had a good impression of Kadyn, even some rebellious thoughts were breeding inside his head. However he never thought that Kadyn would speak for him. For the first time ever, some goodwill appeared in his heart for Kadyn.

    After that Kadyn once more turned towards his sister and focused his gaze at the innocent face beside her. Elora saw his gaze and shook her head. "He failed to awaken. He is just a normal human, just like his mother." She nced at Kove and felt pity for the child.

    Kove lowered his head and a few drops of tears fell from his eyes. Everyone was magus here, it was just him and his mother that could not use magic. He felt insignificant in front of these people.

    Though he was just about five or six years old, the hunger and hardship he went through previously, had matured the kid quite a bit. He knew that magus were the ruler of the world. He wanted to be one himself, make his mom proud. s¡­

    Elora saw his crestfallen expression and hugged the kid in her embrace. "Don''t cry. It was just the first time we tested, so we can try again. I''m sure you will be able to awaken."

    Kadyn looked at the kid and shook his head in pity as he knew that once someone failed to awaken he would never seed.

 Chapter 95 - Towards The Orddono City

    The day passed and the sun rose. Kadyn stood in front of everyone and smiled. "Is everyone ready?"

    "Yes!" they replied in unison. Then Kadyn''s gaze fell upon Rayna, Melvona, and Kove. "You three will stay here. The trip can be dangerous. And I don''t want any misshape to happen." He gazed at Rayna and continued, "Sister Rayna, take care of Melvona for me."

    "I will," Rayna replied with a serious face. "She might not be my child but I have always treated her the same as Kove."

    Kadyn nodded and as he was about to move, something came to his mind and said. "And try not to go out. There is everything avable in the shop. You don''t need to go out to purchase anything."

    Though Rayna found the request a little peculiar she nodded, nheless.

    Then Kadyn turned towards everyone and said. "Alright, let''s go."

    All of them headed out of the shop. Five four-wheeled carriages were standing on the road, all of them with four corner posts and a fixed roof. The two horses standing in front of each carriage, ready to gallop and drag their wagon at the shout of their drivers who sat on the driving seats, with the bridle in their hands.

    Kadyn and Elora sat in one, while Hot Rod, Khrom, and Dion sat in another. Two carriages were for them while others were for the Artifacts and Potions that they were going to sell in the Orddono City. The carriage had two seats facing each other, two people could sit on either of them.

    Previously Kadyn had asked why can''t they use cars or lorries to go to Orddono City. Hot Rod replied that the path to the city wasn''t suitable for such vehicles. It was filled with sloppy mountains and dense forests and valleys. There was nothing like a road. The cars were only fit for cities. They can''t travel in them to different ces.

    Most importantly the cars needed a magus to power them up. How could they exhaust their mana when they knew that the path was dangerous, bandits could attack any moment. It was best to preserve their energy. He also couldn''t use Magic Stones.

    After all, he needed to exchange them with energy points and that wasn''t worth it as every stone needed a single energy point to exchange. How many energy points would he spend before reaching the Orddono? He could not even begin to think about it.

    Elora looked at Kadyn and asked. "Where are we going to meet with the Irabel family?"

    "Outside the city gates." He replied. Then he said to the driver. "Let''s go."

    "Wait!'''' Just as the driver was ready to move, a shout came from not far away. Kadyn lifted the curtains of the carriage and peered towards the source and saw a figure dashing in his direction. He knew who it was. He exchanged nces with Elora. Thetter shook her head as she had no idea why she was here.

    "Why are you here?" Kadyn asked when Zelie arrived in front of the wagon. She was huffing while drops of sweat trickled from her smooth skin. She calmed her breathing before replying. "I also want to go to the Orddono City."

    "Why do you want to go there?" He asked, ncing at her in confusion.

    "What kind of question is that?" Zelie rolled her eyes at him and went on. "I want to see the Shado Empire''s capital. Is that reason enough?"

    Kadyn found his lips twitching at her words. How docile she was acting not long ago. But after spending time with Elora in his shop she understood Kadyn''s character ¡ª he wasn''t like those petty and arrogant nobles who would feel grudge at every minor thing. And she knew that.

    "Did you tell your father?" he asked.

    "Of course," she said with a confident tone. "Do you think I would do such a thing without telling my father?"

    "Yes."

    "You¡­"

    "Alright,e inside," Elora said. "We are gettingte."

    Zelie pouted and stuck her tongue out at Kadyn and climbed on the carriage. Kadyn sat on his seat and said with an annoyed voice. "What are you waiting for? Move!"

    As he shouted the five wagons set into motion. Kadyn''s carriage was at the very front while Khrom and others were taking the rear so they would know immediately if anything was amiss.

    However, as the wagons moved a light covered the entire Magic Shop. When the light vanished there was only nk space. The shop was missing.

    Inside the carriage, a small light flickered on Kadyn''s hand and then vanished. He curled his lips and looked at the twodies who were whispering among themselves.

    ¡ª¡ª

    It took about ten minutes to exit the city. The carriage stopped and Kadyn exited with two beauties. He nced around and spotted over twenty wagons lining the road. People were carryingrge boxes, arranging them inside delicately. As he arrived all of them turned towards him, looking curiously.

    However, the main focus wasn''t him but two beauties beside him. Some even whispered among themselves, but none of them dared to approach. It seems that they already knew who he was. Or most probably, they knew who Zelie was. She was a famous personality of Avibria City. She was beautiful and on top of that, she was Leader Barret''s only daughter.

    Kadyn heard the jealous whispers and curled his lips. He was enjoying this feeling. But at this moment a peal of heartyughter came not far away from him. "Haha, mister Kadyn is quite punctual."

    He turned around and saw a middle-aged man walking towards him. He was about seven feet tall, with a robust body; he had long hair and a short beard. He looked rather dashing.

    Kadyn returned the smile and said. "How would I dare to let Patriarch Irabel wait."

    "Haha, Mister Kadyn is quite humorous." Heughed and then he stared at Zelie beside him. "Does Miss Zelie also want to go to the Orddono?"

    "Yes," Zelie replied nonchntly.

    Kadyn was surprised at her dry reply. He also spotted a little fluctuation on Patriarch Irabel''s face but he hid it before others could see.

 Chapter 96 - Good Or Evil?

    Kadyn looked out of the carriage window at the gurgling Tonton River ¡ª that was obscured in fog in the distance, only shadows of river and mountains and forest could be seen ¡ª as the caravan passed the bridge. Kadyn''s face was filled with unexinable emotions at this moment.

    This was the ce where he first opened his eyes in this wonderful yet scary world. He stared below the bridge and saw anglers fishing andughing and enjoying themselves. He sighed and his attention returned towards the bridge that was made of iron, and concrete, and woods, and ropes. The bridge made noises as the wagons passed one by one.

    "Such a beautiful scene," Zelie eximed as she peered into the distance. "I didn''t know that one could admire suchpelling scenery from this bridge."

    "Oh, I''ve seen it so many times that I don''t see any beauty in it anymore," Elora replied with a t tone.

    Zelie rolled her eyes at her and continued to peer in the distance. Kadyn eyed the girl and asked after some hesitation. "Patriarch Irable, is he interested in you or something?"

    Zelie''s expression froze and she turned her attention towards Kadyn, peering and scowling at him. "Where that stupid idea came into your head?" She rolled her eyes. "Do you think if he had such thoughts towards me that my father would let him live in Avibria City peacefully?"

    "True," Kadyn nodded. Indeed, Barret would have beaten him half to death if not to death ¡ª if he had done something like that. After all, the man was simr in age to Barret, he would never tolerate such a thing. Then he asked. "But why was he looking at you in such a ...strange manner outside the city?"

    "That''s because I''ve rejected his marriage proposal."

    "Didn''t you just say¡­"

    "He wanted his son to marry me!" She scoffed when she saw his smirking face.

    "Oh," he nodded and fell silent. Zelie nced at him briefly and continued her gossip with Elora. Not bothering with him.

    The carriages passed the bridge in the meantime and reached the cobbled and broken path. Full of pits and puddles. The trees stood tall on either side, rustling and waving and disappearing behind as the wheels of the wagon rolled over the uneven and bouncy ground.

    After two hourster the forest vanished and a in grasnd appeared. The name was Exclusive Terrain. In the distance, Kadyn spotted a herd of elk. Not far away there was a group of bulls. Then his gaze fell over the pack of jackals, gawking at the elk as if waiting for the right time to attack.

    As Kadyn stared outside the window, at the Exclusive Terrain in front of him, inside the Avibria City a shout rumbled in the Branch of Magic Association. "That unruly brat!" Barret clenched his teeth furiously and shattered the table in front of him.

    Elder Jyn nced at him and shook his head. "Kadyn isn''t as simple as he appears. He would protect her."

    "I''m not worried about bandits, but that guy is a snake. Zelie had humiliated him cruellyst time. He would not let the matter rest easily. He was just waiting for the right time. But I never gave him that chance. However, what better chance he could get than this time? Though Kadyn might be powerful, I don''t think he is powerful enough to fight with him."

    Barret grumbled in frustration. "Furthermore,ter he could say that it was the doing of bandits. We won''t be able to do anything to him. Though he isn''t as powerful as Mayor Palius, he has good rtions with many powerful people. I thought I could help Kadyn this time but who would have thought I would hit the axe on my own foot by doing it."

    Elder Jyn thought for a moment and then smiled. "Don''t worry. Hot Rod is also Rank 1 Magus. If Patriarch Irabel tried something wicked he would be hitting an iron te." Though he said that his face was also grave. Hot Rod might not be his match.

    "We would have captured him as well when we did the Mayor," Barret said regretfully. He never thought that something like this would happen so he cared little about the Irable Family. However, who would have thought that stupid daughter would enter the bill of a snake willingly?

    "If you aren''t at ease then why don''t you go yourself?" Potioneer Yel said from the side. "They have arge caravan so their speed won''t be that fast. Maybe you will be able to catch them in time."

    Barret didn''t reply and turned towards Elder Jyn. The old man smiled and said. "Don''t look at me. If you want, then go."

    ¡ª¡ª

    The sun had reached its destination and turned yellow from blinding white and then orange and then crimson red. It was about to sink in between the mountain peaks and fade from the eyes of masses when the carriages stopped.

    Kadyn walked out of the wagon with twodies on his heels and looked ahead of him in confusion. Then came Khrom and Hot Rod. "Why did we stop?" asked Hot Rod. "We can still travel more than a few miles before dusk."

    At this moment Patriarch Irabel walked towards their group. Kadyn peered in his direction and saw a beautiful girl around the age of twenty beside him. She had ck curly hair and big almond eyes. She wore a red dress and her waist was slim while her chest was full that showed a long cut at the centre, revealing two half, white, bouncy balls. A wonderful sight to behold. She looked like aplete seductress. But her eyes were filled with disdain and her face had a cold expression. That ruined the charming sightpletely.

    Kadyn shook his head and then he examined the other silhouette: he was a handsome young man, around twenty-two or twenty-three years old. He had long hair simr to Patriarch Irabel and there was a warm, confident smile on his face. He was tall and of a strong build, he walked with a steady and slow pace.

    "There is a clearing ahead of us, we can spend a night there," Patriarch said.

    "Alright then," Kadyn said. "We''ll stay there."

    "Perfect," Patriarch Irabelughed. Then he introduced two people beside him. "This is my son, Grym." The boy nodded at Kadyn and others with a gentle smile, but his gaze was fixed at Zelie all this time, asionally his gaze would fall on Elora. A cold light appeared inside Kadyn''s eyes, but he controlled his anger. Then he peeked at Zelie and saw her face had turned ugly. "She is my daughter, Ha." At Patriarch Irable''s voice, the girl just looked at everyone and didn''t nod and neither spoke anything.

    "Haha, she is a shy girl." Patriarch Irabelughed awkwardly when she remained silent.

    Kadyn and everyone else looked at the deep cleavage and their lips twitched. If you want to find an excuse then find something that is believable. Shy? Even ghosts won''t believe such a tant lie.

    "Alright!" Patriarch Irabel pped and went on. "Let''s go to the camping ce. As for the food, we''ve already sent our people to hunt for games."

    Kadyn climbed the carriage with Elora and Zelie. However, when Zelie was about to enter Grym said from behind. "Do you want to travel with us, Zelie?"

    She stopped and peered back at the boy and then spat disdainfully. "No!" and climbed the carriage.

    Kadyn stared at her furious face and grinned. ''He doesn''t look so bad."

    Zelie red at him and snorted. "What do you know? He is the biggest pervert in Avibria City. Though Mayor Palius was also a disgusting man he still cared a lot about his image. But this bastard Grym, he had done uncountable treacherous things."

    "If they are so bad, why did your father send me with them? What kind of rice is he cooking inside his head? What would I do if that pervert''s eyes fell on my cute little Elora?" Elora rolled her eyes when she heard her exaggerated tone.

    Though Kadyn''s tone was sarcastic he meant what he said. He had already sensed many kinds of impure emotions from Grym and Ha. Patriarch was a Rank 1 Magus so he could not tell his emotions. But he could guess that nothing good was inside his head either.

    "Though the Irabel family is simrly rotten to the core as Palius, they are great businessmen. Furthermore, we will just travel with them so we can ensure our safety in case the bandits attack us. However, after reaching the Capital we will go our separate ways." She scoffed when Kadyn med her father. "That''s why my father let you join their caravan."

    "Anyways I would prefer to travel alone instead of travelling with them," Kadyn said.

    "Do you think I want to travel with them?"

    Before he could reply the carriage stopped. "Alright, we are here." He said to the twodies and walked out of the wagon.

 Chapter 97 - Trap

    In the darkness, about four campfires burned and crackled, lightning the surrounding. While therge shadows of trees and humans ¡ª man and woman ¡ª and tents and carriages and asional bats that swam in the sky this way and that danced on the ground as the me illuminated the space.

    They could hear the roars and howls of wild animals from time to time. However, no one paid much attention to them as they weren''t concerned about it. A small matter, there weren''t any powerful magical creatures in this ce.

    Around one of the campfires a group of people sat, man and woman, both included. They talked from time to time as they ate roasted doe that hung at the centre of the fire. Elora munched on the leg piece and praised it. "Hmmm, this is sooo gooood."

    "I know, right?" Zelie wasn''t any better. Sucking her fingers clean.

    Kadyn shook his head at theical disy of two girls and drank the water from his waterskin and then passed to others. They also finished. Kadyn looked at Patriarch Irabel and Grym and Ha and said. "Thanks for inviting us to dine with you."

    "Oh, please," Patriarch Irable shrugged. "We are travelling together. So it''s natural that we take care of each other. Isn''t that right?"

    "Of course," Kadyn nodded. Then he stood up along with everyone else and gestured towards three figures politely. "Then we will take our leaves."

    Patriarch Irable nodded as Kadyn''s group headed towards their tents. They have built threerge tents. Elora and Zelie went into one and Kadyn and Khrom in another and Hot Rod and Dion went into the third ¡ª andst ¡ª tent. As for the drivers of the carriages, they were sleeping inside the carriages that were standing at the centre of the camp.

    Patriarch Irabel and Grym and Ha stared at the fading backs with mocking expressions. "This went fairly well." Ha ¡ª who never spoke all this time ¡ª said with her husky voice. Then she looked at her Grym and chuckled. "It seems you will be able to fulfil your desire this time. That arrogant girl would pay the price for her arrogance."

    Grym curled his lips but remained silent. Patriarch Irabel frowned and said. "I''m worried about Hot Rod. He is Rank 1 Magus. What if it doesn''t work on him?That would foil our n."

    "Even if it doesn''t workpletely on him, he would still be no match for you at that time, father." Grym snickered. "We just need to lower his fighting power. He would be nothing but a punching bag. Even I would be able to ughter him as easy as a pig."

    "Brother is correct, father. He won''t be able to fight you with his full strength ¡ª even if the drug failed to knock him down." Ha said confidently. Then she looked at her brother and leaned closer to him. "I saw you were peeking at Elora as well. They are staying in the same tent. Do you want¡­"

    Grym''s breath became uneven as soon as she mentioned Elora. Yes, that girl was no less beautiful than Zelie or his sister. He nced towards the camping area and a heated look appeared on his face. He wanted to ravage both of them together.

    Ha snickered seeing her brother''s reaction. She knew him too well.

    At this moment a vicious light shed in Patriarch Irabel''s eyes and he whispered. "You dare to insult me because of your daughter. I''ll see your expression when you realise what happened to your precious daughter. Your pride would be the biggest disgrace for you." He said through his clenched teeth as he grasped towards the sky with his hand and formed a fist.

    Ha nced at her wristwatch and said. "It would take around twenty minutes to affect. Ten minutes have passed."

    "Just wait a little longer." Patriarch snorted when he saw his son''s impatient expression. Grym shrugged, noticing his father''s gaze and continued to wait.

    When the time was over, Ha chuckled at her brother. "It is time." She nced at her father and brother and stood up. "I will be going, then. Have a great time." She winked at her brother and scrambled towards her tent.

    Patriarch Irabel looked at his son and said, "Go, I''ll watch out of the tent. And be sure to take a few pictures." As he said he revealed a line of teeth inside his mouth as he licked her lips.

    "After killing her we can say that she was killed by bandits. Barret, however, would use us at that time, but we have our own connections and he won''t be able to do anything to us. He could only resort to desperate measures at that time. This kind of video or photo wille in handy in such a condition. He won''t want us to show the scandal of his dead daughter to everyone, would he?"

    Father and son duo cackled triumphantly as if the victory was already in their pockets. Then Grym eyed his father and asked. "What about Kadyn and his people¡­ and Elora?" as he said thest name he licked his lips pervertedly.

    "Of course, they have to die at the hands of the bandits." He snickered. Then he curled his lips and went on. "As for that girl, you have to kill her as well. After all, we can''t leave any loose ends. However, before that, you can do whatever you want to her. The path to Orddnono is long and tiring. I would also like to have some enjoyment."

    Grym grinned and stood up. Then he walked towards the tent in which Elora and Zelie were sleeping. Patriarch also followed from behind. But when they reached outside the tent he stopped while Grym looked at him and entered the tent with a jubnt expression.

    Today his wish woulde true. He would be able to fuck that arrogant bitch. She dared to reject me and insult my father and my family. Today I will ravage you under me and let you understand that no one can insult Palius, not you, not anyone else. He entered the tent with those thoughts while Patriarch Irabel remained outside.

    Two minutester, the weird noises started toe out of the tent.

    "Mmmmhhhh¡­"

    "Ahhhhmmmmm¡­"

    "Puh!"

    "Puh! Puh!"

    "Puh! Puh! Puh!''

    "Mmmm!"

    Patriarch Irabel chuckled and shook his head and then murmured. "Youngsters are really full of energy."

    After that, he sat on the ground with the help of the tree near him. Then a cold gust of wind passed and sent a chill through his body. "Damn, it''s already starting to get cold. A few dayster it would be unbearable in the open."

    The trees rustled and danced with the wind, leaves felt as if they were singing a melody. The noise of insects came from all directions. But the asional roars would frighten them from time to time. Only after waiting for a little while did they start chattering again.

    In the meantime, quite a few servants came after hearing the noise as they wanted to know what was going on. However, Patriarch Irabel chased them away. Afterwards, no one dared toe near Elora and Zelie''s tent.

    He looked towards Kadyn''s tent and then at the Hot Rod''s tent and shook his head. Even Hot Rod was unaffected by the drug. It seemed that Hot Rod had fallen asleep. The drug might not work fully on him, but it would definitely affect him somewhat. Otherwise, he would have alreadye to check after hearing such a loud moan. As for Kadyn and Khrom ¡ª he never put them in his eyes. In the eyes of Spell Caster, Elementary Mage was nothing.

    "Should I finish Hot Rod while I have a chance?" he muttered and a glint shone in his eyes. "It would be bad if he woke up and realised what happened to Zelie. At that time it would be hard to deal with him. The gap isn''t that big in between us after all." Then he stood up and decided to finish the trouble as soon as possible.

    "Mhhmmm!"

    "Puh! Puh! Puh!"

    Patriarch looked towards Elora''s tent and shook his head. The moans were intensifying continuously. He headed towards Hot Rod''s tent with careful steps. He stood outside and examined his surroundings before entering inside.

    "What?!" he cried in shock. "Where are they?" No one was inside. His eyes widened in horror and terror filled his face as his body trembled with anxiety and fear. Then he dashed out of the tent and went towards Elora and Zelie''s tent. The moaning sounds of a girl and a boy still could be heard.

    Without deliberation, he barged into the tent. He looked at the scene in front of him with a trembling heart. His eyes turned red and muscles tremble while rage gushed out of his mouth in the form of a roar. "What the hell are you doing?!"

 Chapter 98 - Ruse

    Grym and Ha were sitting on a chair, facing each other. Naked. Their mouths had been taped so they could not talk. From behind Ha stood Khrom while behind Grym stood Kadyn and behind Kadyn stood Dion. The most shocking thing was that Grym and Ha were pping each other ¡ª and each p would make a "Puh!" sound and due to being their mouths closed their moans sounded as if someone was having a heated sex.

    As Patriarch Irabel entered the tent he saw his two children sitting naked on chairs and pping each other like stupid. He was stunned briefly but then his anger red. Grym and Ha eyed him with teary eyes and red faces and snorted with misery and injustice. This wasn''t supposed to happen. This was too humiliating and unbearable.

    "I''ll kill you!" Patriarch Irable roared when he saw the humiliated situation of the boy and the girl.

    "Bang!"

    However, before he could take a step forwards and release his anger on the group something hit him from behind. The surroundings started to turn ck as he felt the hit over his head. He tried to turn back and see the culprit that attacked him. He saw Hot Rod standing with arge hammer in his hands with an eerie smile on his face. Then he crumbled on the ground. Unconscious.

    "Mmmm!"

    "Mmmmhhhh!"

    The duo saw their father''s condition and tried to scream but only those strange voices left their mouths. Khrom and Dion chuckled when they heard them. They felt no sympathy ¡ªif they weren''t vignt it would be them in this condition. Screaming and moaning and begging for mercy. Mercy? That was a joke.

    "That was satisfying." Khrom broke the silence.

    Ha covered her smooth white boobs with both of her hands in shame and fury and continued to sob. Though she could hide most of them, one could easily see those perfect melons, pink nipples, white skin and whatnot. Her slim, smooth waist was enough to burn any man from inside while her perky butt would drive people insane.

    Though Kadyn felt nothing looking at her. Since when did I have such marvellous control over myself? He thought.

    Kadyn looked at Ha and snorted. "Don''t try to act like an innocent and clueless maiden¡ªthat you are not¡ªyou are a vicious woman with a disgusting mindset. And we all know that, so cut it out." Then he went on. "And don''t think that we are interested in those sagging jugs and your wet pussy. If you think that, then you''ve got too high of an opinion about yourself. After all, anyone can tell that you are as loose as the broken condom."

    Ha''s body stiffened and then she tried to scream at Kadyn that she, of course, failed. Everyone else also had weird expression. Kadyn ignored their strange gazes and eyed Hot Rod. "Kill Patriarch Irabel." Then he looked at Grym and Ha again

    The duo immediately stopped struggling and a hopeful look appeared on their faces when Kadyn didn''t include their names in his kill list. Kadyn felt even more disgusted ¡ª they didn''t give a damn about their father''s life. They wanted to save just their asses. "These two are even more disgusting than Patriarch Irabel. First, destroy their Elemental Pools."The naked brother and sister duo''s eyes widened in horror as soon as his words left the mouth and started to struggle.

    Kadyn ignored them and continued. "Cut their tongues and hang them with their dead father. Then burn some of their carriages. Make it look like it was a bandit attack. I''m sick of people ying tricks on me. I''m not going to show mercy anymore." The more Kadyn spoke the paler the duo became. Any hope that had appeared on their faces had vanished. Only despair, sorrow, and unwillingness remained.

    The night was destined to be a nightmare for some people. Khrom, Hot Rod, and Dion took the charge and attacked in the middle of the night in disguise as bandits. Killing most of the people of Patriarch Irabel''s caravan. Letting only a few escape. And that was intentional. After all, they needed them to tell others stories about this bandit attack ¡ª Or people would be suspicious if only his people remained unscathed.

    Under the eerie light of the crescent moon, the tents burned and blood dripped in puddles. Screams and moans of misery reverberated the entire night, making the eve look spookier.

    Kadyn made Khrom and Dion attack a few of his people to make the ruse more authentic. But when they were about to be ughtered he arrived and saved them. Khrom and Dio ¡ª who was in disguise ¡ª escaped. They had yed all night like this. Kadyn even made Hot Rod injure him over the shoulder to make the incident look even more believable.

    While Hot Rod made Kadyn injured him severely, but not enough to threaten their lives. They had all kinds of healing potions. Though they would lose most of the effect on Rank 1 magus. All in all, it was better than nothing. Furthermore, Rank Magus had a recovering speed far superior to Elementary Mage, so Kadyn didn''t worry about Hot Rod.

    While all this was happening Elora and Zelie were sleeping in Kadyn''s tent. They had been drugged and Kadyn didn''t give them antidotes as he did to others. So they slept the entire night without realising what was happening around them.

    "This is horrible!" Zelie looked at the burning tents and the disgusting smell of blood with a pale face. She had never thought that something like this would happen while they were sleeping without a care.

    Then she nced at the faraway tree and saw three figures hanging by their necks, dead. She felt a chill through her spine but then a satisfied look appeared on her face. It was better that those disgusting people died. Though she felt a little guilt inside for thinking that way after all some of them might be innocent people. She turned towards Kadyn and asked. "Why Ha and Grym are naked?"

    Kadyn nced in the distance and grinned. "Why do you think they are naked? Were they doing something¡­" he trailed off in between. Zelie turned red at his crude reply and red at him furiously.

    Kadyn ignored her daggered gaze and turned towards carriage drivers and said in a serious tone. "Get ready. We can''t stay here any longer. Bandits may bring even stronger force. Arghhh!" He held his shoulder and groaned in pain. Khrom hurriedly held him and passed him a healing potion. Kadyn winked at him. A perfect act.

    On the other hand, Elora looked more steady. She nced at Kadyn and frowned. She had already seen quite a few loopholes in their story. However, she kept her mouth shut. She could tell that Patriarch Irabel had no good intentions towards their people. It was the only matter of time they would turn on them. She would ask Kadyn what had happened when they were alone.

    Zelie eyed the Irabel family''s few carriages that were intact and asked. "Are we going to leave them here just like that?"

    "What do you suggest then?" Kadyn asked. "We are struggling to carry our people and carriage. How do we take the Irabel family''s carriage as well? Won''tter people say that it was us who killed these people out of greed? Furthermore, I am toozy to care about the valuables inside." He indeed didn''t put that in his eyes.

    Zelie opened her mouth a few times to something but could not find any word. He was correct¡ªif they took the Irabel family''s carriages with them, people would start making all kinds of storiester. However, she still felt a pity leaving that behind.

    "Whoosh!"

    Just as they were talking about a figure dashed through the woods andnded in front of the group. His face and body were dripping with sweat even in such cool weather ¡ª not so cool though ¡ª he looked around at the burned carriages and scattered corpses with wide eyes. Then his gaze fell upon the ground and he said with a panicked voice. "Are you alright?" he wasn''t asking everyone but a particr figure among the group.

    Zelie stared at the man with a surprised and bewildered look and asked. "What are you doing here, father?"

    Barret walked towards her and said with a panicky voice. "Don''t worry about it. Just tell me if you are hurt." He looked at Kadyn''s shoulder that was covered in blood and Hot Rod who stood not far away with a pale face, clothes tattered, hair messy; his body covered in tens of wounds.

    Zelie walked up to him and squeezed his father''s hand tightly and said. "I''m alright. It is just Kadyn and Mister Hot Rod who got injured."

    Only then Barret sighed in relief. He looked at the hanging bodies and asked Kadyn. "What''s going on here?"

    Kadyn smiled and replied with an evil smile. "Oh, it''s nothing. Bandits attacked our caravan. They captured us unprepared so we couldn''t fight anymore. Ha and Grym were in that condition from the start."

    He pointed at their naked bodies. "When they got captured they tried to fight back. However, it only annoyed the bandit leader even further. He immediately hung the duo with their father. When they were about to do the same to us. You arrived and saved us."

    He looked towards the carriage drivers and said. "What do you think? Isn''t that exactly what happened?"

    One of the carriage drivers was pretty smart. He took no time and hurriedly said, "Yes, Sir. I can bear witness to the entire process." Then others also followed. Now Kadyn had Barret with him he didn''t need to be that cautious. Matter settled.

 Chapter 99 - Ten Kingdoms: Magic Association Alliance

    Kadyn, Barret, Zelie, and Elora sat inside a single carriage. Kadyn told the entire story that happenedst night. From drugs to conspiracy. From start to end. From ughter to the arrival of Barret. How he turned the tables. How they stripped the brother-sister duo naked and made them p each other ¡ª Zelie and Elora blushed furiously when they heard about it ¡ª until Patriarch Irabel realised something wrong. Kadyn looked at the twodies and smiled awkwardly and stopped talking.

    Zelie eyed Kadyn incredulously and said with a shocked voice. "So much had happened. Why didn''t you wake us up?"

    "I don''t know about Elora but you''ll only make things difficult so it is natural." Barret snorted when he heard his daughter''s question. He peered at her with a stern expression and said. "You''ve yet to exin your previous actions."

    Kadyn also shook his head. He had been conned by this girl. He took her with him because he thought she had already asked Barret''s permission. Now he realised that she made a fool of him. He felt embarrassed andical at the same time.

    "Would you have let mee if I had told you?"

    "No."

    "See, you didn''t even think before replying." Zelie pouted like a ten years old child.

    Elora, who was sitting silently all this time, turned towards Kadyn and asked. "How''re your wounds, now?" her voice was filled with concern.

    Kadyn smiled towards her and replied. "Don''t worry. The potion worked fine and I''m mostly healed after your spell."

    Elora nodded and then said with slightly an unnatural tone. "If you do something like this next time, do tell me. I know I''m not a battle mage, but I won''t be a burden at the very least."

    Kadyn¡ªwho had started to talk with Barret¡ªturned towards her in surprise. Though Elora''s face didn''t show it, Kadyn realised that she seemed angry with him.

    Before he could speak anything Elora continued. "I''m working hard not because I want to be famous, nor for riches, nor for anything else." She looked at him and said with slightly wet eyes. "I''m working hard to be strong because I want to support you, to protect you, to stand side by side and face all kinds of perils TOGETHER¡ª if something had happened to you I won''t be able to live. I''ll tell you. I don''t have the courage to face my mother and father and tell them that their son is no more."

    Kadyn''s heart skipped a beat when he heard words. He looked at her determined face and tightly held her hand. Then he soothed the girl. "I promise something like that will never happen again. I''m sorry I didn''t tell you before. Because I didn''t want to worry you. Because I didn''t want to hurt you. I didn''t know I would hurt you, instead."

    Only then Elora''s expression improved somewhat. The journey continued. The group passed a few towns in between. In the Lightbreach Town, they stopped and replenished their provisions and took long baths before leaving the town. They also crossed a river. Frothy Canal was its name. Though it wasn''t as wide as Tonton River. It was, nheless, a river. The water was fresh. One could see the bottom of the river, fishes hopping inside and out merrily. Though there was no angler to be seen as Tonton River.

    As they proceeded the mountains started to be taller and wider and closer, trees started to be dense, long and somewhat eerie "Hopeless Mountain Range." Barret murmured.

    Kadyn looked outside and sawrge boulders and trees and towering peaks in the distance and asked. "So this is the famous Hopeless Mountain Range where Hopeless Bandit lives¡ªor plunder."

    Barret nodded then said. "Hopeless Bandit isn''t a single group. All of the groups here collectively are called Hopeless Bandits."

    "Ouch!" something came under the wheel of the cart and Zelie''s head hit the roof of the carriage as she winced.

    "Be careful. The path is full of debris and pits." Barret said, looking at his daughter disapprovingly. It has already been one and a half days since she was travelling and yet she still hasn''t learned to be careful on such a decrepit path.

    Zelie smiled awkwardly and held the handle at the corner of the cart tightly. No letting the bounces affect her.

    "Si-sir~"

    At this moment the carriage stopped abruptly and the driver said with a trembling voice. Everyone exchanged confused looks. Then Kadyn asked. "What happened?"

    "There are pe-people. I mean¡­ I mean they aren''t no-normal people. They they¡­"

    "Let me go check out," Barret said and stepped out of the carriage. "I will alsoe." Kadyn followed from behind. Just as he was about to go out he looked at the twodies inside and said. "Stay here." Duo bobbed their heads obediently. Kadyn sighed and exited. The two girls exchanged nces and grinned. Then they exited as well.

    As Kadyn exited Hot Rod also joined them. Khrom and Dion remained behind.

    Kadyn nodded towards the man and stared ahead of him. A group of around twenty men stood in front of them. Kadyn examined them one by one¡ª some held swords, some javelin, some had hammers while others were without weapons ¡ª his gaze stopped on a man at the very front. He had a ck beard, long messy hair; his clothes were tattered and a long and deep cut over his right cheek made the man intimidating and somewhat spooky. He was tall and strong-looking and he was ring at Kadyn''s group.

    As Kadyn examined him he also examined each of them. When his eyes fell on the twodies behind the three men, he licked his lips and chuckled. "Never thought that our luck would change for the better this time. I was already thinking about going to the city brothel. Who would have thought god would hear my prayers and send two top-grade beauties at my doorsteps?"

    "Boss, don''t forget us." A man from behind said. He seemed like a vice-leader as he stood just a step behind the leader and behind him were others. As he said others also followed and grumbled about how long it had been since they had tasted a woman.

    The leaderughed and said, "Don''t worry. I would let all of you taste¡­"

    "Ssh!"

    Before the bandit leader could finish his sentence he sank into the earth, and with him sank hispanions. They looked around in horror and realised that they had fallen into a swamp. Where did this swampe from? They had the urge to cry but no tears came.

    At this moment, Barret took a few steps forward and snorted. "You talk too much. I can assume that you are one of the weakest bandit groups in the Hopeless Mountain Range." He looked at the bandit leader inside the swamp, struggling, and harrumphed coldly. "Just a lowly 8-star Elementary Mage and you dare to block our path."

    "S-spell Caster!" the bandit leader blurted in horror. His frog-like eyes widening to their limit. "Sir, sir, we didn''t know about you¡­"

    "You didn''t know?" Barret grunted. "Are you saying that you didn''t know that I am a Spell Caster ¡ª that''s why you attacked, huh? And if you knew you wouldn''t, yes? That means to say if I was weak you would have done all of those atrocities you just spoke about, huh?"

    "I-I¡­" the man waspletely lost for words. He seriously didn''t think that there would be a Spell Caster in such a small caravan. After all, there were just five carriages ¡ª not worthy enough to be apanied by a Spell Caster.

    "Sir, please forgive..."

    "Forgive you?" Barret snorted. "How dare you ask for forgiveness after insulting my daughter in front of my eyes." He waved his hand and the swamp engulfed the whole bandit group as if it was a maw of a gigantic beast. None of them even had a chance to scream¡ªor struggle, or beg. They died such a pathetic death just because they made a foolish mistake and chose the wrong target.

    Kadyn gulped as he saw this scene. He recognised the spell Barret used. Because he had died hundreds of times due to that spell in the Practice Room. Though he was already Half-Rank 1 Magus he couldn''t understand when Barret cast the spell. I need to learn more about Spell Casters. He thought. He had no idea how they cast spells. When Barret cast spells there was nothing like a spell pattern. The spell appeared out of nowhere under those bandits. Then how¡­

    "Let''s go." Elora''s voice interrupted his train of thoughts. He looked around and entered into his carriage with everyone else. After this incident, they have be even more alert. They didn''t want to be caught unprepared. There was no medicine for regret after all. And Kadyn didn''t want to die unjustified death.

    Fortunately, they crossed the Hopeless Mountain Range until the evening arrived and no other bandit attacked their carriage. "From here we would need around three hours. Let''s continue."

    "Will guards open the city gates for us at night?"

    "They might not open for you," he chuckled and brought a badge from his pocket. "But they can''t stop someone from the Magic Association."

    Kadyn stared at the badge and realised that a map was carved on it. It was divided into ten different parts while something was written at the centre in bold letters: Magic Association Alliance. Other than that there was nothing written. Not even the name of the ten different sections. Though he could guess that they were ten kingdoms. Because the Magic Association was the alliance of ten kingdoms.

 Chapter 100 - Bricklayer

    The group entered the city without any problem as Barret had predicted. Though the registration took a lot of time and the city guard''s question frustrated them, in the end, they entered Orddono''s colossal gates, nheless.Kadyn looked at the gigantic walls in awe and excitement. He had never seen walls this high ever before.

    The torches were burning above the walls. As they entered, Kadyn was greeted by the wide roads and green hedge on either side of the road. The flowers waved as the gust of wind passed. Every ten meters there was a street light. And they were working, unlike Avibria City. In all directions tall buildings stood, the city looked as if it was twinkling with light.

    After that, they didn''t go to find an inn. Rather, Hot Rod led them towards a certain ce: a wide-open space, hundreds of tents were standing in front of them ¡ª it was already eleven o''clock,but the light still illuminated from every tent, the people were talking andughing and some of them even dancing around the campfires. The atmosphere was merry and pleasant.

    Kadyn and the people beside him looked surprised after seeing the atmosphere around them. This was so¡­ refreshing. None of them had seen anything like this before (Except Barret and Hot Rod).

    "The gathering will start in the morning." Hot Rod said. "All kinds of people¡ªnobles and people from other kingdoms¡ª would gather here." He paused and then went on. "Don''t look down on anyone here, they might be working for a powerful lord. I would suggest everyone against offending people here. It would do us no good to provoke them."

    "Alright, let''s find a ce to build our shop." Kadyn nodded towards Hot Rod and walked deeper. As he walked around he realised that tents were only at the edge of the gathering, but deeper he saw wooden and even concrete buildings¡ªthey were all shops¡ªhe wondered how they built them in such a short time.

    Hot Rod saw him frowning while looking at those shops and exined. "This is the capital of the Shado Empire, Orddono. There is no shortage of Rank 1 magus here." He paused and went on. "People could hire bricyers to build shops for them. The more you pay the better the quality of the shop. The customers would be more attracted towards genuine shops instead of stalls that the people inside the tents would build tomorrow."

    "Bricyer? I have never heard about them." Elora asked in confusion.

    "They are the Earth Elemental Mages." It was Zelie who replied. She puffed her chest out when she saw that Kadyn and Elora werepletely clueless about them. "Thye use magic to build houses and shops and castles and all kinds of building-rted stuff."

    Barret saw Kadyn''s thoughtful look and said. "Don''t belittle Bricyers just because they aren''t proficient in fighting. They could build mazes and imprison someone for the rest of their lives. The Magic Association has built many scary prisons with their help."

    Kadyn was amazed when he heard about Bricyers. They seemed fascinating people. Then, he eyed Barret and asked. "What is the difference between Bricyers and normal Earth Elemental Magus? Both of them have Earth Element."

    Barret nced at him and replied. "The main difference is that the Bricyers are poor souls."

    "What do you mean?" Elora chimed in. She seemed curious to know more about it. Kadyn also turned towards the man and waited for him to exin.

    "I''m also an Earth Elemental Magus," Barret replied. "Do you know how many spells I can cast?" Though Kadyn had some knowledge about his spells he remained silent and waited for him to exin. "Three spells." He turned towards them and continued. "I''m the leader of one of the Magic Association''s branches. However, I have only three spells. How many spells do you think those people would have without any background?"

    "None," Kadyn replied unconsciously.

    "Correct," Barret nodded. "Therefore, they could only control the earth element forcefully and crudely without the support of spells. And the most they could do is build buildings and win against ordinary people. They would be asking for humiliation if they were to battle against someone with a spell."

    "That is such a waste of manpower," Kadyn said. "Why can''t the Magic Association recruit them? It will increase their strength tremendously."

    Barret eyed Kadyn and shook his head. "If they recruit them, who would build their castles and gardens and bridges and prisons and many more things? The Magic Association Alliance is made of ten kingdom''s nobles and most of them are racists and narrow-minded and petty people. They would never allow peasants ¡ª ormoners ¡ª to sit alongside with them."

    Kadyn was surprised by Barret''s words and asked. "So you are also connected with some powerful noble families."

    "Though I''m a noble," Barret shook his head. Then continued. "I''m not a high-level noble as I was also a peasant once upon a time." He sighed and exined. "It was my father who saved Elder Jyn when he was injured in the fight against a magical beast. At that time Elder Jyn discovered me. I was talented from my younger days in magic. So, to repay my father''s kindness, he taught me magic. When I reached Rank 1 magus five years ago he made me noble and then appointed me as an Association Branch Leader. Though that is as high as my status could be alleviated. I won''t be able to get a promotion any further."

    Kadyn patted Barret and joked. "Why don''t you join my shop? You can also get a promotion as high as you want."

    Zelie, who was standing at the side, rolled her eyes. However, Elora and Khrom''s eyes flickered. They knew what Kadyn was talking about.

    "Should we also hire a Bricyer?" Hot Rod chimed from the side.

    Kadyn red at the man for being untactful and then smiled. "No, we don''t need one."

    Barret rolled his eyes at him. My fate. He sighed ¡ª Kadyn saw his crestfallen look and shook his head. He knew that the man had misunderstood his meaning. However, he didn''t exin. They would understand in a moment.

    They arrived at a ce where no tent or person was present, a wide-open space. "Good ce. Though we are far away from the centre. It is still a good ce." Kadyn looked towards the centre and spotted arge building. Some of them had two ¡ª or even three floors. Those shops must belong to a powerful noble family. He thought

    "It is a nice ce." Barret nodded. "Furthermore, even if we could capture a spot towards the centre, it would do more harm than good to us."

    Kadyn nodded. Those arrogant nobles would never let a nobody like him stay near the centre of the convention. This ce was ideal for him.

    A cold gust of wind passed and made Kadyn shiver. He stared at everyone and smiled. "Now, we need to build our shop."

    "Ai ai, I will do it," Barret said half-heartedly. It was the work of Bricyers. Now, he needed to do it by himself. He felt like an errand boy while Kadyn was a cruel lord that would torture his subjects on a whine.

    Kadyn rolled his eyes at him. "Did I say something like that?"

    "Then?" Barret halted and peered at him in confusion.

    "Just wait and watch." Kadyn chuckled and extended his arm in front of everyone''s confused faces. Then, a light flickered on his hand, and a small structure emerged from the light within his hand. Kadyn grinned when he saw their dumbfounded expressions and pointed his hand towards the ground. Then, the tiny structure on his palm started to float andnded on the ground. Before anyone could ask anything, their eyes widened in shock. The small structure started to erge and in no time it became asrge as any building and stood in front of them majestically.

    The two life-like golden lions sat on either side of therge gate and a huge board hung at the top of the gate. That read Divine Lion Magic Shop. Kadyn looked at the shop and nodded satisfyingly. Then, he turned towards everyone else and chuckled, spotting their wide-open mouths. "Close your mouths or fly would find a way inside."

    "This¡­ this¡­" Hot Rod came to his senses and pointed towards the shop with a shocked and bewildered look. He had never seen something like this before."Is your shop some kind of powerful artefact?" he asked.

    Barret''s face also turned grave as he looked at the building in front of him and asked. "Now I know why we werepletely helpless at that time."

    Kadyn was stunned hearing Hot Rod''s words. He gazed at the shop one more time. Artefact? Can it be true? He found it inconceivable.

    However, he hurriedly drove those thoughts out of his mind. This wasn''t a time to think about that. "Alright, let''s go inside." He opened the gate as he entered and everyone else followed from behind.

 Chapter 101 - Shop Modification

    The shop was silent. It felt eerie in the darkness. The moon was hiding behind the clouds, so no light. The weather was foggy, which made it even more troublesome to look at. However, Kadyn was in control here. With just a single thought fog faded and light appeared in the shop. Elora and Zelie sighed in relief. Kadyn saw their expression and rolled his eyes. The girls were furious seeing his smirking gaze, but too embarrassed to retort.

    "Sister Rayna must have fallen asleep," Elora said to hide her embarrassment. Kadyn nodded and looked around and his gaze fell over tall buildings one by one ¡ª Potion Hall, Artisan Hall, Formation Hall, etc; in the end, his gaze fell upon the Main Building.

    I need to modify it. He thought. Then he turned towards Khrom and Dion and said, "Lead the carriages inside."

    The duo nodded and went outside. Kadyn stared at the main building and a picture appeared inside his head. He wanted to make the shop look like that picture. Following that, a window opened in front of him.

    [The modification needs 150 energy points. Do you want to continue? Y/N]

    As soon as Kadyn clicked yes, the shop started to tremble. "What is happening?" Hot Rod''s voice quivered. "Is this an earthquake?"

    Kadyn rolled his eyes at him. Barret rxed when he spotted Kadyn''s expression. Then, to everyone''s shock, the buildings started to shift. They moved backwards except the Main Building. It moved forward. In the end, other buildings had been hidden behind the single one.

    When everyone thought that this was the end. The buildings once more started to change. The entire shop had turned white ¡ª appearing to be made of white marbles¡ª and tworge pirs appeared on either side of its door. Then beautiful carvings started to form ¡ª wild animals, beautiful flowers, mountains andndscapes. There were even carvings of wizards fighting and ughtering each other.

    Then, there were carvings of strange creatures: eyes red, hair red, bloody teeth ¡ª two at the side were longer than the rest ¡ª and two horns could be seen on their heads. Are they vampires from legends? He thought. But then, he shook his head. No, vampires have no horns. He contradicted. Afterwards, he shook his head and peered somewhere else. A beautiful dome had formed at the top of the shop, entuating its beauty.

    After that, the path formed at the front of the shop and flowers and shrubs spread their greenery on either side. Then, the tiles appeared on the path and a red carpet formed afterwards. Kadyn smiled.

    Then, his attention turned towards the inside. The shelves formed ¡ª protruding out of the walls. They were covered with sses. They could be used to disy their potions or artefacts inside. The counter that was at the very front moved back and dragged until it was near the wall at the very end. However, it stopped before reaching around two meters away from the wall, and behind the counter on the wall shelves started to form like before, sses as a protectiveyer.

    Afterwards, on the edge of the counter appeared a screen. On which one could see a spinning wheel. Wheel of Fortune. Kadyn hadn''t used it for a long time and had almost forgotten about it, but at this moment, he remembered about it ¡ª as he could use it in this convention to attract other customers and make his shop a little more distinguished than others.

    Furthermore, that shining screen was something pretty eye-catching. Even if some people suspected it was a fraud ¡ª as many people do ¡ª they would still want to try it. It would do a good job with amazing people. After all, the technology of Pengo wasn''t as advanced as the earth.

    The screen was hanging without any support that was shocking on its own. People would take it as some kind of spell. Furthermore, the System seemed beyond any technology Kadyn had seen in his life. It could do anything if you have enough energy points and strength.

    Just as the modification waspleted the noise came from behind them. Five carriages entered the shop. Khrom and Dion gawked at the scene in front of them with wide eyes and open mouths. "When¡­ did it turn out like this?" Khrom asked after a brief silence of amazement.

    "Just a moment ago," Zelie replied. She chuckled and shook her head.

    Khrom eyed her stupendously. He wanted to ask: sister, do you know how shocking this is? However, he had seen many amazing things since he became acquainted with Kadyn so he suppressed his curiosity for the time being. But Dion remained frozen. Khrom had to nudge him with an elbow in his waist before he came back to his senses.

    "Alright," Kadyn turned towards everyone with a smiling face. "Let''s put our goods on disy."

    At this moment, however, a figure appeared from behind the building. It stumbled and cocked its head this way and that. "Who-who is there?" a trembling voice asked. A voice of a woman.

    Everyone turned towards the shadow and a smile appeared on Kadyn''s face. "It''s me, Sister Rayna."

    The shadow revealed itself. She was Rayna staring at the group in surprise, bewilderment, and confusion. "Why are you back?" she asked.

    Everyone couldn''t help but chuckle at her words and turned towards Kadyn ¡ª however, Elora took the lead and exined everything to thedy. Rayna seemed amazed when she realised the truth. So, Kadyn could take the shop with him whenever he wanted to take it. Rayna shook her head, she wasn''t a mage so she didn''t know what mages were capable of. She thought every powerful mage could do that.

    "You can go to sleep, Sister Rayna," Kadyn said. "Children are alone. They will get scared when no one is near them."

    After sending Rayna, they resumed their work. They had ced all their artefacts and potions on a disy and most of the shelves had been filled ¡ª though there were still lots of them empty. But Kadyn had put the goods in such a way that it seemed full. So it didn''t bother them much.

    "It looks beautiful," Elora said, and Zelie nodded in agreement.

    "Not many shops will be able topete with us in presentation. It would attract lots of customers." Hot Rod nodded as he looked at the disy. First those gigantic lions at the entrance then the carvings on the two pirs and the shop. Everything was perfect.

    Kadyn nced at the shelves and thought for a moment before speaking. "People could tell the use of every artefact ¡ª except few ¡ª but potions are different." He nced at everyone. "The customers won''t be able to tell their use." He paused again and then went on. "How about writing a little description on each shelf?"

    "That would be great¡­ but, won''t that take too long?" Elora spoke of her concern. "We won''t be able toplete the task before dawn."

    "Hmm¡­" he ced his hand under his chin and looked at the shelves around him. Then he sighed and a window appeared. And twenty energy points vanished again.

    However, under every potion and artefact, a que appeared that described their uses. Barret, Hot Rod and others gawked at the scene with wide mouths but then shook their heads. However, when they looked at Kadyn a kind of reverence and respect started to emerge in their eyes. Doing something that Kadyn did, wasn''t a Rank 1 or Rank 2 or even Rank 3 mage could do. It was something beyond these ranks.

    "Don''t look at me like that," Kadyn rolled his eyes at them. Then went on. "Alright, everyone take some rest. We need to work in the morning¡­"

    "How dare you sabotage my ce! Get out of here, right now!"

    Before he could finish his sentence. A shout reverberated. Kadyn frowned and exchanged nces with everyone else. "Let''s go check out what''s going on." He said and scurried towards the exit. Others exchanged helpless nces and followed him. They had just arrived and someone had already found them to cause trouble.

    Kadyn looked in front of him and saw a group of ten people. At the very front was standing a young man around the age of twenty-five: he had ck hair, small height; he had a pointy nose and broad shoulders. He was holding a staff in his hand on which a shining gem could be seen. A magic staff.

    However, it was only an Elementary Rank artefact. Though Kadyn failed to recognise its grade. After all, he wasn''t in the shop at the moment. "Who are you and what do you want Sir?" he asked. Barret, Hot Rod, and others also arrived, looking at the group in front of them with narrowed eyes.

    The man''s expression flickered somewhat when others arrived, however, he recovered quickly. Then, he said in a proud and arrogant tone. "Do you know what mistake you made,d?'''' His tone was haughty and somewhat disdainful. It felt as if he was talking to a beggar outside the temple who had stepped on his feet by mistake.

    Elora turned red from fury. It''s been a long time since she had seen someone talking to her brother like this. She clenched her teeth and took a step forward. Kadyn, however, waved his hand and stopped her and looked at the man in front of him and said with a nonchnt expression. "I don''t understand what you are trying to say. No one is going to get impressed by that petty disy of yours. Especially not twodies beside me. So tone it down."

    A few snickers sounded and the man turned red in embarrassment and anger. "You¡­ you¡­"

 Chapter 102 - Starting Of The Convention

    "I don''t have time to deal with clowns," Kadyn said. He looked at Khrom, then continued. "Chase him away ¡ª if he tries to resist, break his legs and arms. At least we can use the chicken to scare the monkeys."

    Khrom nodded and walked towards the man who stumbled back apprehensively. He pointed at Kadyn and said. "Do you know what kind of mistake you are making? I would suggest you change the location of your shop. Or, you will regretter."

    "Take him down." Kadyn snorted. The man already had evil intentions towards him and his shop. Why should he be lenient with him? Though Kadyn knew that it might bring troubles for him. He also couldn''t show any weakness, or people would take him as a pushover. Give an inch and they''ll take a mile. That was the nature of humans.

    "Alright, alright," the man with staff said when he realised that his threats weren''t working. "I''ll leave this time, but you will pay for your arrogance in the future. The House Wynner isn''t something that someone like you can contend against." He eyed Kadyn again deeply before turning to leave. "Let''s go." He scurried away with hispanions, not even looking back.

    "This is bad," Barret mumbled with a grave face.

    Kadyn turned to look at him and asked. "You know something?"

    "The House Wynner is one of the great noble houses in the Orddono City. Their family leader is Rank 2 Magus." Before Barret could tell him, Hot Rod exined, his tone grave, and eyes serious.

    Kadyn frowned. "I don''t understand. How did we offend this House Wynner?"

    "I think they did because they felt threatened." Hot Rod said, thinking briefly. He went on when he felt everyone''s attention on him. "The House Wynner is the one of the biggest suppliers of the weapons in the Shado Empire. They even have business ties with the people outside the kingdom." He paused, then continued. "I think they felt offended when they saw our shop."

    "Shop?" Kadyn asked.

    "Yes," Barret nodded from the side. "Haven''t you noticed that our shop is far more attractive than any shop in this gathering? Even those," He pointed at the shops in the distance ¡ª two or three stories tall ¡ª and said, "aren''t able topare. It isn''t weird that you attracted the ire of others. Especially those arrogant noble houses. How could they let someone unknown embarrass them."

    Yes, Kadyn thought. His shop was far more attractive than anyone here. It would make people jealous and especially Great Noble Houses ¡ª they would feel humiliated when nobody''s shop is better looking than them.

    Kadyn snorted and started to walk towards the shop. "Everyone gets some rest. We need to work in the morning. As for troublemakers," he paused and looked at everyone with his blue eyes. "Next time if theye, make an example for others. Let them know that we are no pushovers." Then he scrambled into the shop.

    "Wow, Kadyn looks so cool when he is acting domineering," Zelie said with shining eyes like a fangirl.

    Elora rolled her eyes at the girl but then frowned. "I just hope that it won''t backfire." She muttered. Kadyn was rash but she was cool-headed and could weigh the pros and cons of the situation.

    ¡ª¡ª

    The sun shone in the northeast, spreading its illumination in the darkened sky, announcing its arrival to the world. The mours sounded all around the ce, as people ran from here to there. The tents had vanished while in their ces people had built trading posts, booths, and stalls. Some were selling herbs, some precious stones, some of them were selling metals and a few were selling weapons.

    All kinds of things could be found in the gathering. Some of them even had Common Rank Materials that were almost impossible to buy in Avibria City. But they were in small quantities. After all, they were just low-level vendors. One or two Common Rank material was already beyond their capability or it might attract greedy eyes. It could be their misfortune if they could not protect it.

    "Wow, it''s so beautiful." Zelie and Elora strolled the market, ncing here and there with curious gazes. At this moment Zelie''s gaze was shining as she looked at the precious gem on a booth. It was greenstone, shining with lustre, and as the sun rays fell from above, it only became finer and prettier. Attracting Zelie''s beautiful gaze towards itself.

    "I think we should return," Khrom said from behind with a worried face. "There would be customers to deal with in the shop today. We can''t roam around like this."

    Zelie pouted, hearing him, but didn''t retort. "Brother Khrom is correct. We need to return." Elora nodded and the group walked away. Zelie looked around a few times reluctantly and also stumbled through the crowd.

    The vendor ¡ª who was eyeing the group expectantly ¡ª cursed at his bad luck. He hadn''t gotten a single customer yet, and the one who seemed to be interested in buying his goods was dragged away by herpanions. Such a stroke of terrible luck.

    No one noticed that not far away from the booth stood two men. If Kadyn was here he would be able to recognise one of them. He was the same man who went to cause trouble yesterday night, standing behind another man with a staff in his right hand. However, at this moment, he appeared rather tamedpared to yesterday.

    "They are the people from that shop, Ish?" asked the other boy with a nonchnt voice. He ced both of his hands behind his back and peered towards Elora, Zelie and Khrom with his deep eyes. He had fair skin, tall body, but he seemed rather scrawny, not muscr; on the contrary, he seemed malnourished and dark circles were visible under his eyes.

    "Yes, Sir Jefor," said Ish fawningly. "They were quite arrogant yesterday. Not putting House Wynner in their eyes. They even mocked me for being too arrogant."

    "Is that so?" Jefor asked.

    "Yes, yes," the man with a staff said. "I didn''t want to upset you, that''s why I kept my mouth shut." A cunning light shone in his eyes as he went on. " But the guilt gnawed at me from inside since then. I couldn''t stop myself from telling you, Milord."

    Jefor Wynner tightened his grip on his sword on his waist and a vicious glint shone in his eyes. Then he said, "Keep watching them. Inform me when those two girls go out once again."

    Ish curled his lips triumphantly when he heard Jefor. He peered towards Kadyn''s shop with a cruel smile. You dare to insult me, huh? I''ll make you cry tears of blood, just you wait.

    ¡ª¡ª

    "What kind of weapon do you want to buy, Mistress." An excited voice of a girl asked. Beside her there was another girl; she seemed eighteen or neen years old. She had long sexy legs and tan skin, her eyes were wide and beautiful. Dark and deep. She had a slim waist and bouncy boobs. Her long ck hair waved with a passing gust of wind, reaching her round butt. The girl wore an emerald dress.

    Though she wasn''t as white as snow and as beautiful as a heavenly goddess. She had her own charm that could captivate anyone. As she walked with a steady people peeked and stole nces of her from the corner of their eyes.

    The girl acted as if she didn''t see their gazes and continued to walk. Then she replied to her servant girl tersely. "I want to buy a dagger."

    "Mistress, have you decided you answer?'''' The girl seemed quite talkative. As soon as she got the answer to her first question she asked another.

    "What answer?" the girl asked confusedly, ncing at her servant girl. Though the servant girl had fairer skin than her, her temperament was nowhere near the woman in the emerald dress. She could notpare to her in sexiness. One could easily distinguish who was a master and who was a servant. That''s how vast the difference was between the two.

    "Ahhh, you don''t even remember." The maidservant said regretfully. "Forget it, I asked. I don''t think Mister Vled has any chance."

    Hearing her maidservant''s words, the girl rolled her eyes and continued to walk. But then she paused suddenly. Huh?" she looked in front of her in surprise.

    "What?" the servant girl saw her confused expression and also turned to look in that direction. There stood a shop, grand and dignified. It had a weird charm, attractive, and mysterious. That would make anyone curious about it, and near the door stood a que with the support of a pole that read: Weapons and Potions Only.

    The maidservant eximed. "That''s a new shop. I never saw this before. Which noble family does the shop belong to? Why there is no board of their names. Divine Lion Magic Shop. Strange."

    "Let''s go check out." The tan-skinned girl said, after a brief silence.

    "But Mistress, Master said that the Wynner family sells the best quality weapons."

    "I just want to check out. I didn''t say I would buy anything. I''m just curious." The shop looked amazing. Before the servant girl could protest, the girl had already walked towards the entrance.

    "Wait for me." The maidservant followed hurriedly.

    As the duo reached the entrance they eyed two lion statues for a moment in surprise. They looked too real. But then they entered the shop. As they wanted to know if it was all hat and no cattle. Or there was more to this shop than meets the eye.

 Chapter 103 - Selling A Common Rank Artifact

    "Wee to our shop," Khrom greeted as the two girls entered. They nodded towards him and then moved towards the shop with astonished expressions. Nefia looked at the carvings on the pirs with an amazed look. The flowers were beautiful and the leaves appeared real; wizards were fighting just in front of her, she felt. But then¡­ she stopped.

    The carvings of demons with two vicious horns over their heads. The fangs dripped with blood, eyes crimson and hair red. "Is-is that¡­ no, it can''t be them." She said and then shook her head.

    "What is it, Mistress?" Her maidservant Cecilia asked.

    "No, it''s nothing," Nefia shook her head. "Let''s go inside the shop." She said and then headed into the shop, walking on the red carpet. The maid followed from behind.

    Kadyn lifted his head when he noticed someone entering the shop. He stood from his chair and smiled towards twodies in a weing manner. "What would you like to buy, Misses?"

    "Oh, oh, I''m just apanying Mistress." Cecilia turned red when she saw Kadyn speaking to her, ohhh, so politely. After all she was just a maidservant. No one ¡ª Except Nefia ¡ª treated her politely ever before. This was the first time someone talked to her so gently.

    "In my shop, it doesn''t matter if someone is a servant or noble," Kadyn said nonchntly, hearing her words. "You came here that means you are my customer. That means I need to respect you. Isn''t that right my two lovely customers?"

    Elora and Zelie sitting on the side of the counter rolled their eyes when they saw his exaggerated disy. Elora had just asked him to be polite with everyone, not like before, acting haughty and arrogant. But now, he was making her cringe with his disy.

    "I would like to buy a dagger," Nefia said from the side. Her voice seemed somewhat annoyed when Kadyn ignored her and started to talk with Cecilia.

    "Ahh, of course, you want." Kadyn once more said in his exaggerated politeness. "This way, please." He led the duo towards one of the shelves where daggers were arranged in a beautiful manner.Blue shining dagger, red dagger as if a fire was burning over it, the silver dagger with a beautiful hilt. All kinds of daggers could be seen.

    Nefia shook her head as she looked at the daggers. "I need a Common Rank dagger. Do you have any?"

    "Of course we do," Kadyn said from the side. He pointed towards the two shelves at the top, where one could see daggers lining and shining. Though they were inside the shelves so no one could tell their ranks, as also Nefia failed to recognise. That''s why she felt slightly disappointed. She thought of them as Elementary Rank. "All of them are Common Rank Daggers." He said.

    "All of them¡­" Nefia was surprised. She looked at the daggers, but failed to sense any fluctuation from them, she could not tell their rank. "Can¡­ can I have a look at one of those daggers?"

    "Feel free to take any dagger out of the shelf."

    Nefia was surprised. No other shopkeeper would let his customers touch his goods freely. Who knows if he wanted to steal or had a bad intention towards the shop. However, when she eyed Kadyn, there was only a confident smile on his face. He wasn''t looking worried about his goods.

    Nefia nodded and took a dagger from the shelf. It had a silver haft, beautiful engravings had been etched on it. But no, they weren''t Inscriptions, but just to entuate the look of the dagger. After that, her gaze fell on the d, where she saw some mysterious lines engraved. She looked at Kadyn and said. "There is a wind elemental inscription on it. Do you have any¡­. Ahhh, dark elemental dagger."

    "How could we not have a dark elemental dagger? After all, the daggers are the most favoured weapon of dark elemental mage." Kadyn said as he eyed the girl in front of him. He thought that he felt familiar vibes from her. Now he knew why. She had the dark element. He had it too.

    Kadyn took out a dagger from the shelf and passed it to Nefia. "Here, a dark elemental dagger, as you asked."

    Nefia held the dagger and examined it. The dagger was dark; it wasn''t shining like the previous one. Its hilt was also dark and its butt was made like a human skull, also ck. After that Nefia started to channel her mana. The dark light suddenly burst out of the dagger. The girl dropped it on the ground and took a few steps back in shock. Her face turned somewhat pale.

    "Wha-what happened, Mistress?" Cecilia supported Nefia from behind and asked urgently, but Nefia didn''t talk. She continued to look at the dagger over the ground. "What have you done?" Cecilia demanded furiously. "Do you know who she is? Do you have any idea what kind of mistake you have made? You dare to sell fake artefacts!" her voice was sharp and quite ufortable to hear.

    Kadyn frowned and the gentle expression on his face from before had vanished, and anger started to build in its ce. As he was about to reply, Elora walked from behind and said to Cecilia in a neutral tone. "Miss, can you please ask your mistress about what happened before reaching any conclusion?"

    "What is there to ask about, huh? You sold a fake artefact that hurt my mistress," She seemed furious, far from her previous docile appearance. "Now, you even dared to justify yourself. Aren''t you being too shameless?"

    "Don''t be rude, Cecilia." At this moment Nefia broke out from her shock and gestured towards her maid to stop causing trouble, as she grabbed the dagger from the floor.

    "Miss¡­"

    "I''m fine," she replied. "I want to buy this dagger."

    "Fifty thousand dors," Kadyn replied. Though the standard price of the dagger was just about twenty thousand, Kadyn was selling it just a little below the market price. Around ten thousand dors. Though it sounded quite a loss, it would benefit him in the future. Furthermore, the money wasn''t that important to him. The Energy Points were, so he didn''t think much about it.

    Nefia gestured towards her maid. Cecilia also realised that she had misunderstood the situation. Her face turned red. Then she apologised. "I''m sorry."

    Kadyn calmed down when he saw an embarrassed expression on her face and said. "For the sake of your beautiful mistress, I will let you go. If you made that face no one would marry you so smile."

    Zelie and Elora rolled their eyes at him while Nefia smiled. She had never met someone like him before. Strange boy. Then she flicked her hand and a bundle of notes appeared. "Here, fifty thousand dors."

    Cecilia wanted to speak something as the fifty thousand seems a huge some for an ordinary Common Rank dagger, but was silenced by Nefia''s re.

    Kadyn took the money and a smile appeared on his face. "Thank you. Please, be free to check out our potions as well. They are also of the finest quality."

    "You have already robbed the entire money from the mistress and you are still being so greedy."

    "Don''t be rude, Cecilia," Nefia said helplessly, her face also turning somewhat red when her secret was revealed. Cecilia realised her mistake and bit her tongue under her teeth in embarrassment.

    Nefia knew Cecilia sometimes could be really annoying. Though she was her servant, she was also her best friend, even closer than that, like her sister. Therefore, she could only sigh helplessly when she acted grumpily. She looked at Kadyn and others apologetically. "I''lleter to buy more artefacts¡­ and the potions," she looked around as she said. Then went on. "But now, we need to go."

    Then she grabbed Cecilia''s hand and headed towards the exit of the shop. Kadyn stared at the girl and murmured. "She has a Spatial Artifact." His eyes were glued on her right hand on which she wore a shining ring. "She must have a strong background." He muttered. The two girls beside him nodded in agreement.

    "What happened just now to that girl?" Elora asked after a brief silence.

    Kadyn smiled and started to walk towards the counter as he told them what happened.

    ¡ª¡ª

    "Dagger is too powerful to control?" Cecilia asked in shock and bewilderment.

    Nefia nodded. "Yes. Not only that but the dagger is at the peak of the Common Rank. The artisan who crafted this dagger must be at the edge of advancing." Nefia paused and then continued. "I''m just an Elementary Rank Mage. If it was a normal Rank 1 artefact I would have controlled it without a problem, but not this one, when I tried to control the dagger, it backfired. I could not control the Inscription on it." She nced at the dagger in her hand incredulously.

    "I thought they¡­"

    "They conned us?" Nefia rolled her eyes and Cecilia turned red once more in embarrassment.

    "Alright," Nefia patted her on the shoulder. "I know you did that because you were worried about me. You don''t need to feel bad. But remember to think before acting in the future."

    The maid nodded and the duo walked away.

    As they vanished into the distance, a figure walked out from behind a tree, holding a long staff in his hand. He was Ish. At this moment he was frowning. Then he murmured. "What is she doing here? I need to inform Jefor about it. Though he is just an idiot, he is a rich idiot with a powerful background. I need him to trample that arrogant boy for me." He gritted his teeth when he remembered Kadyn''s words and then he also vanished.

 Chapter 104 - Slyff

    "Alright, I''m going to brew potions." Elora stood up after hearing his exnation.

    Zelie also stretched and followed behind her before speaking. "If I sit here a little bit more, I''ll bore myself to death."

    Kadyn was alone in the shop when the duo left. He slouched in his chair in boredom and closed his eyes. In just a few minutes he dozed off.

    A voice of footsteps came from in front of him after an unknown amount of timeter. He opened his eyes and wiped the crust out of them and blinked a few times to adjust his eye-sight. A man. No, not man. A boy around the age of eighteen stood in front of the counter, looking all about in the shop curiously. Left and right. Back and forth. His eyes were filled with eagerness.

    "Can I help you, sir?" Kadyn voiced, attracting the boy''s gaze towards himself. He had a handsome but innocent looking face, without a single whisker, in and smooth like a child. His pristine brown eyes were beautiful and wide in interest, his nose was small and his lips red. He was tall though, and had ck hair.

    "Oh, oh, I just wanted to check out." The boy flushed. "I-I don''t have any-any money. You-you don''t need to ask your guards. I would get lost myself." The boy said and scrambled. Before Kadyn could speak, he had already dashed out of the shop.

    Kadyn opened his mouth wide to speak but then swallowed. The boy had already vanished from his sight. Then he curled his lips. "What an interesting guy. I wonder what''s his name."

    "Very interesting indeed." A voice sounded in his head out of nowhere, frightening Kadyn out of his wits as he jumped from his chair. Then, he realised whom that voice belonged to.

    "Hey, don''t speak like that?"

    Silence.

    "What do you mean by your previous words?" Kadyn asked curiously.

    "I would suggest you recruit that guy."

    "Why?"

    Silence.

    Kadyn sighed and looked towards the gatenguidly as he stood from hisfortable chair and walked out of the shop. The system never interferes with his decisions, no matter how stupid they are. Now he asked him to recruit that guy, it can''t be for nothing. He found Khrom outside and asked. "Did you see a boy running out?"

    "Yes. Did he steal something?" Khrom asked.

    "Do you think that boy is capable of stealing something from my shop?" Kadyn rolled his eyes at him. "I need you to find that boy." As he said the quest window appeared.

    [Quest Name: ?]

    [Reward: 100 Energy Points]

    [Do you want to ept the missions? Y/N]

    Khrom looked at Kadyn pleasantly. He had never received a mission that could give him even thirty energy points but this mission was worth 1oo. Kadyn was also surprised. That boy must be special if the system has offered such a huge reward. Kadyn himself didn''t have many energy points; a hundred was a big sum even for him. From thest deal, he earned just 200 energy points.

    "Why there is a question mark at the ce of quest name?" He asked in bewilderment. It had never happened before.

    "You''ll know when you recruit the boy."

    "Alright, you can go now." Kadyn waved his hand towards Khrom. "The sooner you find the boy the better."

    At this moment a figure walked out from the other side. Kadyn eyed the neer and said. "You came at the right time. Apany Khrom and help him in his search."

    Dion didn''t know what it was all about, but he still nodded.

    Khrom didn''t waste his time and dashed out of the shop with Dion. Hundred Energy Points would let him learn some weaker Rank 1 spells. He might even be able to find a way to advance inside the library. Though he wasn''t Rank 1 himself, he had the confidence to be in the future. The more time he spent in the shop the more shocked he became. There were so many mysteries surrounding Kadyn.

    ¡ª¡ª

    At the centre of the Orddono City stood a castle. Large and beautiful. The dome that was far bigger than Kadyn''s shop could be seen from miles away, though half of it was obscured ¡ª or it appeared to be as if it was from a distance ¡ª in the mist and clouds. At the four corners of the castle, stood four towering snow-white pirs, poking a hole into the clouds.

    The guards stood alertly at the gate of the castle with javelins and swords and staffs in their hands. Some of them were standing in attention like statues while some were roaming back and forth, and some had azy and bored look on their faces. Though there was one thing that wasmon in all of them: Pride. They all looked prideful and somewhat arrogant.

    At this moment twodies headed towards the gates of the castles. They turned to look in their direction. Then all of them stood in a file, chests out and eyes peering straight ahead of them. A man ¡ª who looked like themander ¡ª walked towards the twodies and greeted thedy with tan skin. "Wee back princess."

    Nefia nodded at the man. "Has my father returned yet?"

    "Ummm¡­ Not yet princess." Themander replied with an awkward expression. But then he said. "Don''t worry, he will be here tomorrow for sure."

    A tinge of disappointment shed inside her eyes, but then she lifted her head and smiled. "It''s alright. Father is busy after all."

    Themander eyed Nefia and wanted to speak something, but then he sighed and kept his mouth shut. Nefia vanished into the castle with Cecilia. Only then he murmured. "If you knew how much pressure His Majesty is carrying over his shoulders¡­" He shook his head and sighed.

    The day passed and night arrived. Nefiaid on her soft bed, staring at the ceiling absentmindedly. She still remembered how everyone used to care for her and celebrate her birthday. However, ever since her mother died, no, killed, everything changed. Her father was busy dealing with the kingdom''s problems. He had no time for her anymore. Though she would get her pocket money consistently from her big brother, was it enough? She wanted to spend time with her family and celebrate her birthday, but none of them even remembered that tomorrow is her birthday.

    Dong!

    The watch sounded and she looked towards it. No, not tomorrow, her birthday is today. She curled her arms around herself¡­

    Smash!

    Something fell on the ground and smashed.

    "Who''s there...umhh?" she sprang from her bed and shouted, but before she could understand anything, a hand pressed over her mouth. She was horrified and tried to struggle free.

    "Shhh, it''s me." A voice spoke in a hushed manner. She looked at the handsome face in front of her with wide and surprised eyes. As the pleasant expression appeared on her face ¡ªa voice came from outside her room and her face turned pale.

    "Is there something wrong, princess?" a guard asked from outside.

    Nefia sighed in relief when the man didn''t barge into her room without permission. "Oh, it was just a cat." She replied, her chest heaving up and down with anxiety.

    "Just give me a call if you need anything, princess. Good night." The guard said from outside and then¡­ then silence.

    Nefia turned towards the boy who was staring at her with a smiling face. "Slyff, you bastard. What would have happened if someone had found out about you?" she punched on his shoulder gently, but then ced her head over his chest, hugging him tightly. "Why are you here? You should go back as soon as possible. It won''t do us any good if someone finds out about you."

    The boy patted over her shoulder and said in a soft voice. "Happy Birthday, princess."

    Nefia''s body stiffened. She lifted her gaze and looked up into his brown eyes and asked. "You-you remember¡­"

    "Of course, I remember." The boy said, caressing her cheeks gently with one hand and with the other holding her slim waist. "Did you think I would forget about it?"

    "Oh," Nefia smiled and then said. "So where is my gift?" but as soon as she spoke, she regretted it. Who could know Slyff''s condition better than her? He was poor and lived in a slum. From time to time, he would go hungry for an entire day. s, the boy was too prideful, he would rather starve than take Nefia''s money.

    When Nefia looked into his eyes apologetically in shame, he brought a beautiful red rose from his back. He said. "I, uh, I can give you only this at the moment, princess. Though it''s just a stupid flower¡­"

    "No, it''s not," Nefia said. "I love it. Thankyou!" She said and her eyes became wet. Then she hugged him again, tightly, burying her head into his shoulder.

    "Actually, I wanted to buy an artefact for you," Slyff said with an awkward expression. "But when I went into the shop I was frightened as I looked into those shelves. They were filled with hundreds of potions and simrly with all kinds of artefacts. I had only a hundred dors. Many shopkeepers had thrown me out of their shops many times. So I didn''t want that to happen again, so I left hurriedly."

    Nefia looked at Slyff with a pained expression but then something came to her mind and she asked in surprise. "Were there tworge pirs at the gate of the shop, embedded with all kinds of carvings?"

    "Wait, how do you know?" Slyff eyed her in surprise.

    "Oh, I also went to that shop today." Nefia replied. Then she leaned towards him and gave a peck on his cheek and said shyly. "Alright, you need to go now."

    "Princess," came a voice from out and the duo stiffened in their hugging position.

 Chapter 105 - Dark Shadow

    "Nothing," Khrom replied.

    Kadyn looked at the two tired faces in front of him and rubbed his temples. Then he lifted his gaze. "Alright, Start searching again in the morning. We''ve two more days in Orddono. But thest day is quite important and I would need everyone''s help in the shop. That means we have just tomorrow to search for the boy." He paused and then said. "You''ll take Elora and Zelie with you tomorrow, which will increase the probability of finding the boy. Alright, you can go now."

    After the duo left Kadyn remained sitting on his chair, thinking. "Where did he go?" He thought out loud. Then he stood up and started to push the shelf from one side. The entire potion-shelf slid in the opposite direction, revealing a room behind the wall. Kadyn entered the room and closed the shelf again, leaving the dark, cold, silent, and eerie shop behind.

    ¡ª¡ª

    "Uhh, hey there," Slyff looked at the neer and said awkwardly while still hugging Nefia. Then he slowly separated from her, blushing embarrassedly. Nefia rolled her eyes at him. He was even shier than her.

    "Wha¡­ what the hell¡­"

    "Shhhh!" Nefia suddenly vanished from beside Slyff, turning into a cloud of smoke and appeared in front of Cecilia, closing her mouth with her hand. "Do not make a sound." She said with a hushing voice.

    Cecilia calmed down and nodded. Only then Nefia took her hand off her mouth and sighed in relief.

    "Who the hell is he?" Cecilia asked after a brief silence, pointing at Slyff, staring at him like a predator.

    "Uhh," Nefia turned red at her question.

    "Oh, hey, I''m Slyff." The boy replied.

    "And?" Cecilia stared at him and Nefia with a suspicious expression.

    The duo flushed, but the boy collected his courage and said with a determined face. "And, I''m her boyfriend."

    "Holy shi...ummm."Nefia once more closed her mouth, suppressing her scream. "I told you to keep silence." She said with an annoyed expression.

    "Wow, atst, you got yourself a boyfriend." As soon as Nefia took her hand off her mouth, Cecilia jumped like a dolt and looked at the princess with shining eyes. Then grinned. "Though I never thought that our princess was this secretive, huh?"

    "What are you talking about?" Nefia flushed red in embarrassment.

    "Hehe, nothing." She grinned and examined the boy in front of him curiously. "Hmmm¡­ handsome face, nice height, oh, beautiful eyes; though you look pretty weak to me."

    "That''s enough, Cecilia," said Nefia. Then she turned towards Slyff and said. "You need to go before anyone else finds out about you. It won''t be good. No one would dare to do anything to me, but..." she looked at the boy with a pleading expression.

    Slyff nodded. He looked at Nefia and then Cecilia and sighed. It seemed he had something else to talk to her about. Now he could wait for their next meeting, but he had no idea when that would be, poor guy. He climbed on the windowsill ¡ª and looked at the girl he loved ¡ª before jumping down.

    "Careful!" Nefia said and dashed towards the window. There was a tree outside from which Slyff was going down. The princess sighed in relief. Slyff gazed up after going down and sent a flying kiss towards her. Nefia blushed and also did the same. And then the boy bolted away and vanished into the misty night.

    "A, so sweet," Cecilia spoke from behind.

    "What are you doing here?" Nefia turned around and asked. "It''s already past 12 o''clock in the night."

    "Happy birthday, princess," Cecilia said. "I thought I would be the first to wish you. To think that someone has beaten me in this."

    "Thank you. It means a lot. Thank you so much." She said as she hugged the girl.

    "Do you love that boy, princess?" she asked.

    "More than anything," Nefia replied without thinking.

    "But your father and brother¡­"

    "What about them?" she snorted. "They never cared about me. Why would they care about this?"

    "These kinds of matter aren''t easy to handle, mistress." When she saw an impatient look on Nefia''s face, Cecilia sighed and replied. "Alright, you need to rest, princess. I need to go back."

    As she said she nced towards the window and something shed inside her eyes. There was a pain on her face, a few tears fell from her eyes; there was a struggle inside those misty pupils, but then her expression became determined.

    ¡ª¡ª

    The moon hid under clouds and mist. The weather was cold and foggy and the wind whistled, hitting the face of the walking silhouette under the streetlights. Even with streetlights, it was hard to see beyond ten meters in front of him. The rustles of trees would sound as the gusts of winds would pass. The asional barks of dogs, and the weird noises of insects.

    "Damn, it''s cold." Slyff blew the warm breath over his hands asionally and then folded them around himself. In the silent road, his footsteps echoed as if he was walking inside a closed tunnel, and the cobblestones under his feet screeched, rolling this way and that, from his unintentional kicks.

    However, at this moment someone else''s footsteps started to sound. Slyff stopped. He examined his surroundings and said with a little fearful voice. "Who''s there?"

    No one replied. There was a spooky silence on the road that sent a chill through his spine.

    He peered this way and that but found no one. He sighed in relief and continued to walk. However, after walking just over ten meters, he again started to hear footsteps. He felt cold in his heart when he realised that someone was following him.

    He had heard rumours about demons, vampires, changelings, and all kinds of creatures, who work at night, sucking blood, eating flesh and brain. Some even could take the form of the victim, roaming around the city after killing him. As he thought about it, his heart felt a terror-stricken chill.

    "Fuck, I''m useless. Why can''t I have fire, lightning, water or other kinds of elements? Why did I get this useless element, about which I''ve never even heard off?" he muttered and clenched his hand into a fist.

    He suppressed the anxiety and fear. "Show yourself!" he shouted. "I know you are following me, demon, or whatever you are, I''ll take you on. Come on!"

    There was a shadow standing about twenty meters away from him, but he couldn''t see it due to the mist. However, strangely it seemed as if the shadow could see him clearly. The shadow held a long sword in its hand and its body was covered in ck, head to toe,pletely. It peered at Slyff ¡ª who was shouting in the middle of the road like a maniac ¡ª then sighed and walked away, fading into the mist.

    "Hey, why the hell are you shouting like a dolt in the middle of the road?"

    Slyff froze in the middle of his shouting. He turned around and eyed the dark silhouette in the darkness. There was only a shadow, no shape, no face. As soon as he saw that eerie figure, Slyff was frightened out of his wits. "Holly shi-shi-shit¡­ who-who are you? Listen to me, I don''t have much flesh over my body even if you want to eat me. Furthermore, I have eaten rotten food since I was young. My body is definitely filled with poison. It won''t do you any good."

    "Bro, did someone hit your head or something?" The shadow walked out of the fog and stared at Slyff with a strange expression. "Do you think I''m some kind of ghoul or something? To think that you would take me as some kind of man-eater¡­ dude."

    "It''s-it''s you!"

    "Of course, it''s me. Who else?" Khrom replied. "Do you know how much time I wasted just searching for you? Now,e with me. My boss has some work with you."

    "Come with you? Come where?" Slyff asked in confusion. Why does he want me to go with him? He thought and his expression hardened. I''ve heard the man raping man thing quite a few times. Is it something like that? He paled as soon as he thought about it. I''m handsome and have soft skin, nice body. Damn, why didn''t I think about it? He must be that kind of a man, or why would he stroll in the middle of the night. Would Nefia ept me after the rape?

    "You stay right there!" he shouted towards Khrom who was walking towards him. Khrom halted. "What?" he asked, eyes filled with confusion.

    "Please, let me go. There are lots of handsome men around here. You can go find anyone, why me? Though I look handsome, my body is filled with e. Leave me, please." He said with teary eyes.

    Khrom stared at the boy with a nk expression, he couldn''t understand his meaning, but when the words sank into his head, his face turned red and anger shed in his eyes. "You fucking paranoid bitch!" He cursed. "What do you take me for?"

    "No, no, stay away from me¡­"

    Whoosh!

    Bang!

    Khrom didn''t waste his time. He hit the boy on the back, and Slyff fell unconscious. Khrom put him on his back and walked towards the shop. He sighed in relief and muttered. "My luck isn''t too bad. If I had gone to bed I would have never found this lunatic bitch. I don''t know what Kadyn wants from him. He is aplete creep. To think this bastard thought that I¡­" he sighed and continued to walk.

 Chapter 106 - Shape-shifter

    The wall slid to one side as if it was an automatic door. Kadyn walked out and closed it behind him and stretched before heading out. The fog had already vanished, but the weather was still cloudy. Though from time to time, the sun would show itself, spreading its warm rays all around. The gate of the shop was closed. And Kadyn failed to find anyone around so he went to the house behind the shop.

    Barret was sitting in the garden reading a book, not far away from him was Hot Rod and the cigar was in his mouth, sucking and puffing on it with a pleasant expression, producing ring after ring of smoke. At the side of the pond, in front of the house, two children were ying and giggling from time to time. Kadyn smiled as he saw everyone and turned his gaze towards therge tree ¡ª not exactly on the tree, but on the three people under the tree.

    "Oh, you''ve found him," Kadyn said with a surprised and pleasant expression. The three people under the tree were Khrom, Dion, and Slyff. As Kadyn walked towards them the trio stood up. "Good job." Kadyn praised Khrom.

    Khrom rubbed his hands in anticipation when he heard Kadyn''s words. He nced at Kadyn and said, "Uhh¡­ 100 energy points." He showed his white teeth and continued. "I don''t know why do you want this creep though, but whatever."

    "Creep?" Kadyn eyed Slyff confusedly. " What do you mean?"

    The boy red at Khrom furiously and gritted his teeth. "I told you not to call me that. It was just a misunderstanding."

    "But you are. Creep."

    "You!"

    "Alright, that''s enough." Kadyn frowned when he saw the two of them, but he didn''t feel annoyed; on the contrary, he felt happy, happy for Khrom. The man had gone through so much pain and misery. But now he was opening himself with others,ughing, teasing and taunting. It was for the best.

    "I have sent you your hundred energy points." He said to Khrom. A window popped out in front of Khrom. He saw the name of the quest in surprise: Shape-shifter. He looked at Kadyn but he was already turned towards Slyff to talk.

    "I want to recruit you," Kadyn said to Slyff.

    The trio looked at Kadyn with jaws drooping down. Especially Khrom. He could not tell why Kadyn wanted to recruit this dolt. However, he knew that if Kadyn wanted to do this, there must be something special about Slyff that he couldn''t see. Is it because of the Shape-shifting thing? He thought and his curiosity piqued.

    Dion looked enviously at the boy. After spending some time with Kadyn and his people, he realised that the shop wasn''t any ordinary ce. There were lots of secrets hidden here, and only official employees could know about those secrets. Most of all there was that mysterious library. He also wanted to go inside, damn it. Then he sighed and shook his head.

    "Wha-what do you mean you want to recruit me?" Slyff asked with his trembling voice. He had lived in a slum since he could remember. There was no memory of his parents inside his head. He struggled to survive, eating the leftovers of nobles outside the restaurants, on the roadside, and anywhere he could find. He even begged when he couldn''t find anything to eat.

    However, when he met Nefia, everything changed. He didn''t want to show that ugly side of his to her; so he started to work, he tried to find a job, but only curses and humiliation received in return.

    He struggled day by day, but to no avail. Who would have thought¡­ he looked at Kadyn and nodded hurriedly. "I''ll do anything. Please, tell me: Do I need to wash your utensils? Or do I need to clean your house? I-I can wash your clothes and do all kinds of chores." His eyes turned red and somewhat wet.

    Kadyn looked at the boy and sighed. Slyff was just a single person and there were thousands, hundreds of thousands of people out there like him who couldn''t even eat at a single time a day, struggling to even survive.

    "No," Kadyn said. "I mean you don''t need to do all those things."

    "Then what do I need to do?" he asked, with a hopeful expression.

    "We will decide after you have signed the contract." He took out the scroll and passed it to the boy. "Read it carefully before dropping the blood on it."

    Slyff took the scroll, but then shook his head. "I don''t know how to read."

    "Oh," Kadyn turned towards Khrom and said. "Exin everything to him."

    "Well," Khrom turned red in embarrassment.

    "What?" Kadyn asked, seeing his awkward expression.

    "Before signing the contract I didn''t read it."

    Kadyn waspletely speechless. All kinds of clowns have stuck to me. He sighed and turned towards Slyff and exined everything from beginning to end. Khrom and Dion were listening from the side.

    Though Kadyn knew about Dion''s existence. He didn''t send him away, as he wanted to sow the seed inside his heart, the seed of curiosity. And curiosity would drive people towards their doom or the greatest of fortunes. Kadyn wanted to know what he would choose when the time arrives. Doom or fortune. He hoped that it would beter.

    "Does that mean I can do anything amd there is no restriction except being loyal to the shop?" Slyff asked, his eyes full of curiosity. He had never heard of such a weird contract before. Well, truthfully he had never heard about any kind of contract, actually.

    "Yes," Kadyn said. "Remember, this contract is for the rest of your life. You won''t be able to break it ¡ª and if you try to do that, you die. Do you ept it?"

    Slyff clenched his teeth and nodded. "Yes."

    "Good, drop the drop of your blood."

    Slyff did as he was told.

    [Employee Name: Slyff]

    {Employee Rank: Iron]

    [Magus Rank: 6-star elementary mage]

    [Element: Shape-shifting]

    [Energy Points: 0]

    [Loyalty: 1]

    [Evaluation: Extraordinary]

    Kadyn gawked information in front of him. There was nothing special about the boy, except the Shape-shifting element. Well, the evaluation was also quite good. That is rare. He thought. I have never heard of the shape-shifting element before.

    As he was lost in thinking, suddenly, hundreds of pictures started to sh inside his head. He saw a miserable and lonely boy, trying to survive in the world. He was humiliated time after time, to survive, he begged, and stole; he did all kinds of things to survive, to live for one day more.

    Slowly he was going towards the darkness, and no one could me him for being a criminal, he wanted to survive and live, just like everyone else. And he did what he needed to do to gain an extra day in his life. He even killed a drunk who wanted to rape him. Though that was just an ident, the guy died from the knife in his hand. Well, it was inside the slum, so no one cared about them. And no one came for him after that.

    He might have sumbed into the darkness, but then came a girl in his life, gentle, caring and loving. She looked at him like a human, not like an animal as other peoples would look at the children like him ¡ª a boy without a father and mother ¡ª they would insult him for being a bastard, and find ways to humiliate him a little bit more, noble ormon people, all of them were same. But she was different. She didn''t push him away; on the contrary, she embraced him and the two fell in love with time.

    Kadyn opened his eyes slowly and murmured. "That was interesting. I didn''t think that girl was a princess with such a kind heart. That is hard toe by nowadays." He paused briefly and mused. "So as my strength increases I would be able to see through the memories of my employees, huh? But it seems it is only a one time privilege ¡ª only when a new employee would sign a contract."

    He turned towards Slyff who freaked out as soon as the window appeared in front of him out of nowhere. Only after Khrom exined to him, did he calm down and then opened and closed the window a few times. "This is fun." He giggled. Then asked. "What is the Shape-shifting element?"

    "Do you have any spell patterns?" Kadyn asked.

    "I don''t even know about this strange element. How would I have a spell pattern."

    "Uhh, that is true." He paused and said. "Ok,e with me."

    Kadyn led the boy towards the library. Dion stared at Kadyn''s back and asked Khrom. "What kind of element is Shape-shifting?"

    "Never heard of it," Khrom replied. "But it must be something like a changeling. After all, the meaning of shape-shifting is as clear as water."

    "Why did boss bring Slyff into the library?" He again looked at the two fading silhouettes, eyes flickering with curiosity.

    "Curious, huh?" Khrom chuckled and stared at him. "If you want to know then work hard and be an employee yourself, and you will know everything." He said and walked away, leaving confused Dion behind. Hot Rod was still puffing the rings of smoke out of his mouth and nose while Barret was busy reading his book. None of them seemed to care about anything, enjoying the warmth of the morning sun.

    Dion sighed, and entered the house after Khrom.

 Chapter 107 - Four Scrolls

    "Wow!"Slyff eximed when he saw thousands of scrolls and books sitting inside the shelves. He didn''t know what kind of books and scrolls they were. No matter what kind of books there were, they were invaluable. His eyes shed with curiosity as he rolled his neck from here to there.

    Kadyn smirked seeing his shocked face. After all, most of the books were monopolised by nobles. Only a few lucky individuals would be able to read those books, and Slyff definitely wasn''t one of them. Even Elora ¡ª who studied in his previous magic school ¡ª didn''t have a single spell; with this, one could tell how zealously they guarded the books, especially magic rted.

    The duo walked deeper and Kadyn continued to examine all the shelves as he passed them. When he reached the section and Elements he stopped. Slyff looked curiously at the shelf but could only shake his head in the end, as he failed to understand anything that was written on the shelf.

    Kadyn peered around him, and five minutester, his gaze stopped on a single shelf. "Found you," he curled his lips in triumph. After all, the library was huge and it wasn''t easy to find something. Then he walked towards that particr shelf, followed by Slyff, of course, on his toes.

    Shape-shifter. That''s what was written under the shelf. Kadyn looked through the scrolls and started to read books to understand about the element in more depth. After an hourter, he took four scrolls from the shelf and looked at Slyff. The boy eyed at the scrolls and rubbed his hands in anticipation before asking. "Are they for me?"

    "Yes, and no," Kadyn rolled his eyes when he saw a confused look on his face and exined. "I''m making an exception because you have no spell, or I would never give a spell to anyone for free. They need to work to earn the right and you are no exception. Of course, except for this one chance. Am I clear?"

    Nod.

    "Good. Now, choose one of the spells," He said. "All of these scrolls are six-star patterns. With this," he held a scroll in his hand, "you will be able to transform into a wolf."

    "What, really?" Slyff''s eyes widened in shock and a pleasant expression appeared on his face. He always thought that his element was useless. Now, he knew that it was he, who was ipetent, not knowing the worth of the talent he possessed. A gleeful expression appeared on his face.

    "Of course," Kadyn said proudly. But then he sighed. "But you will only have their body strength, you won''t be able to use their techniques, nor will you be able to use their elements, yet."

    Slyff didn''t feel discouraged. On the contrary, he eyed Kadyn, with shining eyes. "You said not ''yet''. Does that mean I would be able to use even their skills and elements that they possess in the future?"

    "It''s too early to talk about that," Kadyn said and proceeded towards another scroll. "This is a bear shape-shifting scroll. You will be able to transform into a bear."

    "This one is a stallion scroll. I would be able to ride you if we were stuck somewhere without any source of travelling, hehe."

    "..." Slyff.

    "Now, finally, this is a bee transformation scroll. You can turn into a bee." Kadyn extended his hand towards Kadyn and said. "You can choose anyone you want."

    The boy looked at the scrolls and the first thing he did was to set the horse transformation scrolls at the side. Kadyn grinned at his action but said nothing.

    The boy eyed the three scrolls and seemed to struggle to make the decision. In the end he took a deep breath and chose the bee scroll. "I''ll take this one." He said as he held the scroll.

    "Why did you choose the bee transformation scroll? Bear scroll could give you strength beyond what you canprehend. Though wolves might be weaker than bears in strength, they are nimbler, speed is one of the most important aspects in battle. As for the stallion¡­ Well, I could ride it." Kadyn asked with a meaningful expression, as he knew about Slyff''s secret., but as he reached hisst sentence, his expression became somewhat wretched.

    Slyff felt ufortable seeing Kadyn''s gaze. He cleared his throat and said. "If anything I have learned from young till now, is that, survival is most important ¡ª if you want to aplish anything great in your life. And this Bee Transformation Scroll will let me do just that.

    "I would be able to walk away in front of people and they won''t be able to recognise me. However, with a bear or wolf scroll, I would certainly get more strength, but that strength won''t be enough in front of the strong wizards in the city. There are tons of Rank 1 mage, where would I be able to stand among them? Nowhere. But I can aplish lots of things with the bee scroll."

    "For instance, sneaking into the princess'' chamber, huh?"

    "Huh?" Slyff gawked at Kadyn as if he had seen a ghost. Then he flushed. "How do you know about¡­"

    "About princess?" Kadyn chuckled. "Of course, I know everything about you. You''re an employee of my shop after all."

    "No, I mean, no one knows¡­"

    "Catch it and drop the blood on the scroll and you will be able to learn it," Kadyn interrupted. "However, you would need to practice, if you want to transform in a blink. Two more things ¡ª first, while you are in bee form, your mana would decrease continuously.

    "You have to take this fact in mind when you are in bee form. The second is that, the bee and other three beasts are of the lowest level beasts,parable to the six-star pattern mage. You need to learn a lot more things in the future. It''s just a starting point for you."

    "Alright, drop the blood and learn the spell," Kadyn said and smiled.

    Slyff nodded and took a deep breath, and then dropped the blood on the scroll. One could assimte with the information inside the scroll ¡ª picture, data, rune or whatever was inside, won''t be affected ¡ª while one needed to read books manually inside the library.

    At the start, Kadyn didn''t realise, and he continued to study scrolls manually like a bull, though it was hard, he could still learn everything. Sometimeter, he was able to learn about the fact ¡ª that he could assimte the knowledge ¡ª when his blood fell on the scroll unintentionally. Well, who could me him, he was really dense at that moment. Though he still was, who would ept his shorings?

    After fifteen minutester, Slyff opened his eyes. "Done?" Kadyn asked.

    Nod.

    "Good, let''s go."

    The duo walked out of the library. No one was present outside the house. Kadyn entered the house and found everyone sitting together, having breakfast. Slyff looked at the group in front of him and felt a little ufortable. Though he had spent a night here, all the while, he was unconscious, unaware of his surroundings.

    Now, he came face to face with so many people, he felt uneasy, as he had never sat together with anyone, nor had anyone let him sit with them. He had developed a kind of resistance towards people. He feltfortable with Nefia and her alone.

    "Come, have a breakfast with us," Kadyn said to him and walked towards the table and scooted the chair behind and sat his arsefortably. On a plush chair, almost moaning in pleasure.

    "But¡­"

    "No but," Kadyn''s voice turned stern. "You haven''t eaten anything since yesterday. Not from the night, but from the morning, convict me if I''m wrong."

    "Hey, why are you still standing there," Rayna said to him in a loud voice and gave a big-sister type smile. "Come here, and sit with everyone."

    "Big brother, sit here," Melvona and Kove said from the side.

    "Though you are a Creep, you are one of us now." Khrom grinned. "Come here. Little Brother Creep."

    "Hey, don''t call him that." Rayna chided and red at Khrom. Thetterughed awkwardly but didn''t say anything. Kadyn''s eyes shed in surprise, as he saw the eye contact between Khrom and Rayna, and then a meaningful smile appeared on his face. He turned towards Slyff and said. "Hey,e on. Don''t act like those snotty nobles."

    Slyff wiped the corner of his eye and nodded as he walked towards them. "Here, here. Big brother." Kove said enthusiastically. Everyone chuckled at his cute antics and continued to eat. Rayna served Slyff. "Eat as much as you want everything is free." Slyff felt a warmth in his heart that he had never felt before, the love he missed in his entire life. His eyes again started to tear but he controlled them and smiled towards Rayna and started to eat like a hungry wolf.

    "Where are Elora and Zelie?" Kadyn asked.

    "Oh, those two girls are inside Elora''s room, talking about some potion theory. They are toopetitive." Rayna shook her head.

    "Haha, I never thought thatzyss would be so hard working after spending some time here. It''s her fortune that she was able to acquaint with you." Barret said from the other side of the table. He seemed quite pleased with his daughter. Grinning from ear to ear.

    "All is good as long as they like it." Kadyn smiled and resumed eating.

    After having breakfast, he no longer stayed with everyone else and went to open the shop. It was already time.

 Chapter 108 - Transforming Into A Bee!

    The second day of the convention began. One could tell just by a single look that there were greater numbers of people today inparison to yesterday. The people from different ces of the Shado Empire or outside the empire would arrive today, and tomorrow would be the end and finale of the gathering. Some people would leave with smiles over their faces while some might lose all hopes for their future.

    There was a huge part of luck in this, really. And Kadyn might becking most of the things, luck certainly wasn''t one of them. Or, how would a braindead person like him be able to get the system in the first ce?

    Today his shop was also filled with lots of customers. Far greater than the previous day. Khrom and Slyff helped him in handling the crowd ¡ª though there were lots of customers only a few had any intention to buy anything.

    Most of them were just looking around, or maybe some of them had ulterior motives. Kadyn could see through their intentions with just a look until they weren''t Rank 1 Mage. s for those poor souls, they had chosen the wrong target. Kadyn gave no opening for them to steal anything, but even if he had, they wouldn''t be able to steal, as soon as they had done that, Kadyn could sense it.

    But he had no time to handle those morons, so he let Khrom and Slyff keep a watch over them ¡ª the duo did nothing to hide their gazes and followed those few selected ones the entire time. First, was to warn them that they were under watch. Second¡­ well, there was no second.

    Kadyn closed the shop for a time at noon for lunch and then again opened after about an hourter. And once more customers gushed into the shop. While Kadyn was inside the shop ¡ª Elora and Zelie were brewing potions inside the Potion Hall. working hard to replenish the product that had been sold out.

    Not far away from them ¡ª in the Artisan Hall ¡ª Hot Rod with Dion and Melovona was forging artefacts. The huge cauldron burned in front of him as he controlled the fire with his spiritual energy and added myriads of metals and shaped them into artefacts.

    Previously he had limited Common Rank metals. So he always hesitated to try forging Common Rank artefacts in the fear of failing and losing his precious metals. However, right now, he had arge amount of metals to practice so he did not hold back and forged to his heart''s content ¡ª in this period his forging skills had improved exceedingly.

    Now he could forge low or intermediate or even high-grade Common Rank artefacts without failing. He would only struggle when forging peak or top-grade one. Though he would struggle to forge them, he could still forge them ¡ª one of the top grade artefacts he forged was the dagger that Nefia bought from the shop. If he was Rank 2 Magus he might have already be Rank 2 artisan.

    Previously he had some resentment in his heart towards Kadyn, but it slowly faded as he got to know Kadyn more and more. The boy was shrouded in aplete mystery. A mystery boy. He could not see through him. However, he knew that standing against him would be a bad, really really bad decision, and certainly the most stupid decision of his life. So he forgot the grudge that he held against Kadyn.

    High ranking artisans were rare not because there weren''t any talented people. But because they didn''t have enough resources to practice their skills. No matter how talented someone is, he won''t be able to walk much further without resources. And Kadyn was giving him just that ¡ª how could he put himself against him? He was happy to work like this for the rest of his life if he could forge artefacts and train his skills every day.

    So the day ended. Slyff looked towards the door disappointedly and sighed before turning around, "Ohh!" he stumbled back when a face appeared ¡ª and almost touched his face ¡ª in front of him, when he stabilised himself, only then did he realise that it was Kadyn. "Looking for your girlfriend?" Kadyn grinned at him.

    Slyff flushed at hisment but still nodded. Kadyn patted over his shoulders. "She''s a princess, so she can''t roam around like other people whenever she wants. Furthermore, she needs to be cautious when she is around you. After all, if someone found out about your rtionship, it would be a terrible matter. Terrible indeed." Kadyn squeezed his shoulder encouragingly. "Work hard. There''lle a day when the princes and princesses will be nothing in front of you."

    Kadyn strolled away afterwards, leaving Slyff somewhat speechless. Princes and princesses would be nothing? You must be kidding! He thought and shook his head, helplessly. Then also followed, walking towards the house.

    After having dinner Slyff went out of the house, near the pond, and started to practice the spell that he had received in the morning from the library. During the day, he couldn''t find time ¡ª or space ¡ª to practice. However, now he was free and had all the time. Though he was feeling a little fatigued after working the entire day in the shop, he cared little about it, as he was too excited to practice his spell.

    He focused inside his Shape-shifting Mana Pool. Six stars ¡ª without any shape, or form, or colour ¡ªwere shining in front of him. He took a deep breath and started to arrange the stars ording to the scroll ¡ª it took around five minutes to do that, and his body had been covered in sweat by then, while his face was trembling red.

    He again sucked a deep breath, calming his heart. Then he focused on the stars, and as soon as he did, the arranged constetion started to tremble, producing the blinding light.Then the lines started to manifest from stars and joined each other as if it was some kind of spider web. In the end, all the stars were connected to each other and produced a blinding light far greater than the previous one, and then, a bee shape manifested above the constetion.

    Slyff saw this and an exhrated chuckle escaped his mouth ¡ª and when he opened his eyes he was looking at apletely different world. Blue and green. Those two colours were emitting from everywhere. He turned in another direction and saw a few more colours emitting from that direction ¡ª that, where the garden was ¡ªviolet, yellow, blue and all kinds of colours. Though he failed to find red , orange or any such types of colours.

    Slyff eyed at the huge de in front of him ¡ª actually thousands of des ¡ªand it was green,pletely green, he saw a tree that was so big that he couldn''t even begin to measure its size. Just its leaves wererger than the des he spotted in front of him. He spotted a building that was taller than any mountain he ever saw, and he saw a sea. Was that really a sea, no, it was a pond. He recognised. Then he once again turned towards the green de and realised that it was grass.

    Everything had be so big because he had transformed into a bee. Slyff slowly pped his wings and started to soar into the air. The gust of wind resisted him, but he pushed himself harder.

    "Wow!" He eximed and moved forward. In just about fifteen minutes he was flipping in the air as he wanted, rolling in the air as he wanted, and no gust of wind could do anything to him. He felt as if he was made for flying. Though he knew that it was just an illusion, he felt amazing at that moment.

    "Haha, this is fun!" Heughed, but half an hourter he started to feel weak. "I''ve almost run out of my mana." He said and undone the spell, transforming into human form again. He sat on the ground and sucked the deep breaths andden on the grassy ground covered in sweat. "Now it hurts, damn!" he cursed as soon as he transformed back into a human form.

    "p! p!"

    Kadyn walked out of the house and pped pleasantly. "Nice work. You are already able to cast the spell.Now you just need to practice more and decrease your spell casting timing."

    Slyff nodded when he heard Kadyn''s words. "I can''t cast the spell anymore. I need to rest and replenish my mana. It hurts terribly. Aiii!" He moaned and gasped deeply.

    Kadyn chuckled and said. "This was your first time, that''s why your body is aching so much. But as you practice the spell, the pain will vanish as well."

    Though Slyff wasted his mana in just a single go, he also learned to control his bee body to some extent. As for the spell timing ¡ª that was a slow process, he needed to practice diligently if he wanted to reduce spell casting time.

    "Ahhhh!!" just as Kadyn was about to walk away he heard a heart-wrenching scream from outside the shop. Everyone hurriedly dashed out of the house and exchanged confused gazes. Then they turn towards Kadyn. "What was that scream?" Elora was the speaker.

    "I don''t know. Let''s go and see what''s going on." Kadyn replied and scurried towards the exit of the shop. Others didn''t hesitate and followed closely behind him. Only children and Rayna and the moaning boy in the ground remained behind.

 Chapter 109 - Beaten Worse Than A Dog

    A man was lying on the ground, covered in grime and blood, clothes had been tattered and hair ragged. His face was pale and his body twisted and turned on the ground from this way and that. Over ten men were standing in front of him as heid on the ground, kicking and cursing and spitting on him continuously.

    At every knock and thump, the man let out a hair-prickling screech that would send a chill through anyone''s spine.

    "Have you decided yet?" a middle-aged man said with a cold voice.

    "I-I don''t have the thi-thing you-you want." The man spoke, and with every word the blood gushed out of his mouth, his lips twitched and his body shivered, maybe in fear, or maybe in pain.

    "Heh?" the middle-aged man chuckled at his reply. "I wonder how long you will be able to endure the torture." He waddled down and held his face in his right hand and then jerked it away. "Bring it out." He spat towards one of the men behind him.

    "Here it is, second lord," said the man with a respectful tone and passed arge wooden box. The middle-aged man nodded and said to him, "You have worked hard, Ish."

    The man or more precisely the boy who brought the box to the middle-aged man was none other than Ish from the House Wynner. "Thank you, second lord. It is what I should do." Though he said that, a smile never left the corner of his mouth.

    The second lord(the middle-aged man) nodded at him and turned towards the man on the ground. Then opened the wooden box and brought a small hammer and nails from it. "Do you know what it is?" he asked with a grin ¡ª the man eyed the second lord with eyes full of hatred, however, there was fear as well. As he knew what the middle-aged man was going to do with him.

    "There was a man," the second lord began. "Very tough. Very strong. And definitely very arrogant. But he had something that House Wynner wanted, but he refused, and that was his greatest mistake. At that time the house leader gave me the task to break the man." He smiled harmlessly as he reached there. But the man on the ground felt as if hundreds of vipers were crawling over his skin.

    "Do you know how I broke that man?" he held the hammer and nails in his hand and continued. "With these ¡ª when the first nail went into his skull, he screamed and cursed and moaned and cried, but did not break.

    "When the second nail was inside his skull, he turned and twisted on the ground and begged for mercy. He cried but tears refused toe out from his eyes. But he still refused to cooperate." At this moment he stopped and grinned at the man on the ground. "Do you know what happened when the third nail went into his skull?"

    The man looked at the middle-aged man with horror and could not produce any sound, his face had been turnedpletely pale.

    The second lord chuckled and shook his head. "The third nail never went into his skull, because he pissed himself in terror, and it didn''t take long before he gave the thing that we wanted." He peered at the man and smirked. "I wonder how many nails you can take. One? Two? Three? I would really like to know. Hold his hands and legs!"

    Four men rushed to pin the man down on the ground. The man tried to struggle but to no avail. He struggled and cried and screamed and again cried and screamed and struggled and begged. The second lord ced the nail over his skull and aimed slowly with a hammer. "Don''t do this. Please, don''t do this. You can take the cauldron!" in the end, the man gave up on any hope.

    "See," the middle-aged man chuckled. "It isn''t that hard, is it? You should have done this a long time ago." The man pulled his hand away and grinned at the trembling man on the ground. "Now, where is the Cauldron?"

    The man gritted his teeth and then extended his hand. Over his hand, there was a thumb-sized cauldron. He said. "This is the cauldron you are after."

    "Are you ying with us?!" said the second lord, his tone turning chilling again.

    "This is a Rank 3 cauldron, a high-level artefact. It could change its size. Let me show you." As he said the cauldron changed its size, bing eight feet tall, and eight feet wide. It was like a round ball, all kinds of runes had been carved over its surface, dragon, tiger, moon and stars ¡ª it had a golden surface. A work of a master.

    "So that''s how it works, hahaha," the second lordughed out loud at this disy. He peered at the cauldron with greed, but as he was about to take the cauldron, he stopped.

    "Long time no see, Irond." At this moment, a distant voice came, freezing the second lord''s expression. He turned around and saw a group walking towards him from the shop.

    All this time he was lost in his work and didn''t care about his surroundings. Furthermore, he didn''t think that anyone would dare to interfere in his matter. After all, the leader of their house was a Rank 2 mage. Only the king himself was above him, Rank 3.

    "Who are you?" asked the middle-aged aka second lord. "How dare you interfere in the matter of House Wynner?"

    "Sorry man, I don''t have any intention to interfere in your matter," Kadyn chuckled, but his face was cold as ice, "but you see, this guy, whom you have beaten worse than a dog is my friend, so I would suggest you give up on snatching anything from him."

    Irond''s face twitched as he heard Kadyn''s words. Are you trying to rescue me or insult me? He thought, but remained on the ground, feeling grateful in his heart. After all he wasn''t close to Kadyn, as for friendship, that was just a load of bulshit, they had just talked once ¡ª they could hardly be considered acquaintances. Much less friend.

    The second lord''s face turned cold as soon as he heard his words and took a step forward. However, from behind Kadyn Barret and Hot Rod walked out and blocked his path. "I would suggest you to against doing anything stupid, Mr. Llyris," Barret said as he flicked the Magic Association''s badge in his hand.

    The middle-aged man stopped. He eyed the badge in his hand and then red at Barret. "You know who I am, and still dare to go against me. Do you know the consequences of your stupidity?"

    "Well, why don''t we find out?" Barret scowled and a rune appeared on his forehead. Hot Rod also did the same and on his forehead also appeared a rune. Llyris Wynner turned somewhat pale. He thought that these two were ordinary Rank 1 magus, but they seemed as strong as him. Someone like Irond was far too weak aspared to them.

    "I can let the man go, but I''ll take the cauldron with me," Llyris said.

    "I don''t think you have a clear understanding about your situation ¡ª if you want to know, why don''t you fight with these two men here? And then, I think, you''ll have a more evident view of the situation." Kadyn stared at the man. "What do you say?"

    Llyris peered at Kadyn and Kadyn returned his gaze with the same intensity, refusing to back down in the face of threat; in the end, Llyris gritted his teeth and eyed the cauldron reluctantly in front of him. Then said, "I hope you won''t regret it in the future."

    "Never heard the word. Do you know what it means?" he asked Barret.

    "Maybe some kind of new word." The man replied.

    Llyris'' face flushed red and his eyes turned colder and colder. "Let''s go!" and he scrambled away with others.

    Ish, who was standing behind the man, was utterly shocked, and couldn''t believe that Kadyn, whom he didn''t put in his eyesst time, was able to make Llyris, the second lord of House Wynner, retreat. A little fear appeared in his eyes, and he hurriedly dashed behind everyone else.

    Kadyn remained standing until Llyris'' group faded from view. Then he turned towards the man on the ground, twitching from time to time in pain. "I thought you died when Zephyr destroyed Zhodon. How did you end up here?"

    "Help me first. I''m not in the shape of walking by myself."

    Khrom supported the man and helped him to stand. Irond gasped for a breath and said. "Fuck, they had beaten me too much. One day I''m going to crack their skulls, aiiii. Do it gently, man. Or, my body is going to split into hundreds of different parts."

    "Ahh, sorry about that," Khrom said embarrassedly. He had squeezed his hand rather forcefully, making Irond jump in shock. "I''ll be more careful next time." He put his hand over his shoulder, holding the man.

    "Let''s go inside the shop," Kadyn said. "We''ll talk there. I can sense lots of eyes here."

    Everyone nodded in agreement and entered the shop. Though none of them revealed themselves, people were eyeing them like a hungry wolf, or more precisely at the cauldron that was lying on the ground.

    "Wait a sec," Irond said and extended his hand towards the cauldron and it again became the size of a thumb and fell into his hand. "Let''s go." So the group vanished into the shop.

 Chapter 110 - Sus

    "Now, would you be so kind as to tell us what is going on?" Kadyn asked as soon as they entered the house, peering at Irond.

    "Can I have some water?" his hoarse voice sounded miserable.

    Rayna nodded and went to fetch the bottle of water. After drinking his fill, he wiped his mouth with his sleeve, and took a deep breath and turned towards Kadyn. "Why did you save me? And please, don''t tell me the bullshit about being my friend. We barely know each other."

    Others also turned towards him. They as well wanted the reason why he saved the man. Moreover, at the start, they had seen his expression and he had no intention to save him, but suddenly he jumped in front of Llyris and blocked his path. No one knew what was going on inside his head.

    Kadyn smiled at the man and said. "There is a reason I saved you, a few reasons actually. First, I don''t like House Wynner; on the first day we arrived they tried to make things difficult for us. Second, I like you. Uh-huh, don''t take me wrong, I''m straight as an arrow," a few snickers sounded from behind him. Kadyn rolled his eyes at them and went on. "The third reason is your cauldron."

    "So you''re also after my cauldron." Irond''s expression turned ugly. But he was too injured to stand or talk loudly, so he continued to sit while staring at Kadyn ¡ª eyes turning cold, slowly, slowly.

    Kadyn shook his head when he saw his expression. "You misunderstood my meaning. I don''t have any intention to take the cauldron from you."

    "Then?" the man asked suspiciously. He could not grasp Kadyn''s intention at all. What does he want to say?

    "Didn''t I tell you, I don''t have a good impression of the House Wynner?"

    "Just because of that you saved me?"

    Kadyn refused to reply and said. "Anyway, I would be more interested in knowing your story."

    "Sigh," Irond took a deep breath and slouched on the sofa with a tired face before speaking. "When Zephyr attacked, I went to fight it with everyone else." He shook his head self-mockingly. "Can you believe it, I thought, if I could not defeat the dragon, at least, I would-could injured it?"

    Kadyn looked at the man weirdly. Where did you get your confidence, bro? He wanted to ask, but remained silent ¡ª Irond saw his expression andughed. "I know how stupid I was, arrogant even. However, who could me me? I never received a setback in my life. I was genius above genius ¡ª at least, that''s what I thought."

    "What''s the story of the cauldron?" Kadyn asked curiously.

    Irond opened his fist and revealed a tiny cauldron inside. "This cauldron is the reason I could be Rank 1 artisan and mage. I found it in a cave. After that, I advanced by leaps and bounds and after two years of hard work I reached the level I am today." He sighed and went on.

    "When Zephyr attacked I fought and the beast injured me heavily in a single attack. However, I was lucky enough to survive, because my otherpanions couldn''t even react before turning into ice statues." His expressions turned sad and full of guilt as he remembered that heartless ughter and screams of hispanions, and cries for help and his cowardly escape.

    "I recuperated in a forest near Zhodon, and when I came out, I heard the news about the fall of Zephyr." He looked at Kadyn. "Nothing was left for me in Zhodon so I came to Orddono in the hope of a new and glorious future. I wanted to settle myself here. The easiest way to do that ¡ª was to tie me with a powerful force, so I went to the House Wynner. I even showed my cauldron to them so they would value me ¡ªa most stupid thing I have ever done in my life."

    "Anyways, take some rest," Kadyn said. "If you want you can leave tomorrow. Or if you want, you can stay until you''repletely healed." He turned towards Khrom. "Take him to the guest room."

    "You want to recruit him?" Elora asked from the side when Irond left with Khrom ¡ª he had thoroughly offended House Wynner for that man, so it was evident to see what he wanted to do.

    "I don''t know, yet," Kadyn said and frowned. His brow creased and formed lines over his forehead. "I don''t like it." He mumbled and slouched on his sofa.

    "What do you mean?" Zelie asked confusedly, others also looked at him curiously.

    "I can''t say anything yet. We''ll talk about itter." He stood up and smiled coldly. "For now, be ready to fight. I don''t think we''d be able to get a nice sleep today."

    Everyone''s expression changed at his warning. They knew House Wynner would not let the matter rest after what Kadyn had done. They were proud and arrogant and narcissistic. Nobels. How could they take such a humiliation? They would strike before dawn. They would strike hard, powerful enough to destroy all of them, but to destroy them, was it that easy? A cold smile appeared on everyone''s faces.

    "What should we do?" Barret asked. "They have at least six Rank 1 magus, and one ¡ª their leader ¡ª Rank 2 magus."

    "You don''t need to worry about anything. Just don''t step out of the shop. No matter what happens. Am I clear?" he examined everyone''s expression.

    They bobbed their heads up and down in understanding.

    He stared towards the guest room briefly and frowned again. He felt something terribly amiss with this situation, but he could not tell what. Then he took a deep breath and turned towards everyone. "Go sleep, everyone. Remember anything happens, don''t ce your feet out of the shop."

    Everyone went into their rooms, but Kadyn continued to sit in the hall, deep in thinking. Then he stood up and walked out of the house and went into the practice room. No one knew what was going on with him.

    Time passed. It was 3''oclock in the morning. A thick fog was covering the area and clusters of clouds were hiding the moon and stars and a vast and dignified blue sky. The darkness was eerie and chilling and ufortable. The trees rustled as the howling cold-freezing wind passed.

    And at this moment, the sounds of footsteps came from outside the shop. One, two, three, no, more than that; hard to evaluate the number, really.

    "Boom!"

    The entire shop rumbled and trembled with a thunderous boom. Everyone rushed out of the house and dashed towards the shop. "Is it House Wynner?" Slyff asked from the side. His voice was somewhat timid.

    "Of course, it''s them, who else?" Zelie rolled her eyes at the boy.

    "Uhh, of course." The boy replied awkwardly. Then looked in front of him, shouted in shock. "Is-is that Mister Kadyn?"

    "What?" Everyone followed his gaze and peered towards the gate. Kadyn was rushing out. Before anyone could say anything he had already vanished.

    "Why is he going out?" Dion said with his trembling voice, "Didn''t he ask us to remain in the shop no matter what happens?"

    Others also frowned. Elora gritted her teeth and said. "Let''s go, and find ourselves."

    "But¡­" Zelie tried to reason with her.

    "You can stay if you want, but I''m going," Elora said, staring at her friend. Zelie sighed and took a deep breath. "Alright, let''s do it."

    "Hold on!" Barret interfered from the side. "I don''t think this is a good idea. Kadyn told us to stay here, so we should stay here."

    "And let my brother handle everything on his own?" Elora grumbled.

    "Think about it a bit, the shop is the safest ce. Why would he go outside? This makes no sense." Barret argued.

    "I don''t know about that, but I''ve seen him going out with my own eyes. I won''t stay idle." Elora didn''t leave an option for anyone to argue. She was too adamant to go out and see the situation herself.

    "Alright," Barret had said. "If you''re going, then I''ll apany you."

    "Me too," Hot Rod also squeaked from the side.

    Elora nodded and walked towards the gate. "Ahhhh!" as they took the first step an agonised shriek came from outside. "It''s brother''s voice!" Elora turned pale with fright. Others also exchanged shocked and bewildered nces. They could not understand what was going on. Why would Kadyn go out and let his enemy capture him while he waspletely safe inside the shop?

    Elora dashed outside the shop and others followed. What they saw made their hair prickle on their bodies. In front of them a group of men, certainly people from House Wynner, was standing. And on the ground was a man, covered in blood and dirt, twitching and twisting with pain and agony. His miserable moans were enough to send a chill inside everyone''s heart. He was none other than Kadyn.

 Chapter 111 - Whos More Cunning?

    "Stop!" Elora cried, her eyes widened in shock and fear for her brother''s safety. She could not bear to see him in such a condition either.

    "Haha, if you want your brother,e, take him by yourself." Ish mocked and kicked Kadyn in the abdomen and pressed his feet on his head. While staring at their group with a mocking expression.

    Elora gritted her teeth and stepped outside the shop. Others sighed and followed her. They could not let her go alone and fight with her enemies by herself. "Stay away from him!" she said with a cold tone. However, others justughed; she was helpless, as she had no offensive spell and could not attack them even though her belly was full of fire. She wanted to burn them alive for what they had done to her brother, her face was red in anger.

    "Hahaha, they are out!" a peal ofughter came from behind everyone, and Llyris the so-called second lord of House Wynner walked towards them, grinning. Beside him stood four more figures: two of them were middle-aged men while two looked rather old with white hair and beard, with weak looking bodies and frail skin. However, no one dared to look down at them, after all, they could stand side by side with Llyris. A top Rank 1 mage.

    Llyris stared at the people in front of him mockingly and then his gaze stopped over Elora. "You should have listened to your elders, girl. Now, everyone would die just because of your stupidity."

    "Release my brother!" Elora squealed at him.

    "Oh, you''re talking about him," he pointed at the man on the ground, covered in blood, limbs broken and clothes tattered, twitching helplessly. Llyris grinned. "He is not your brother."

    Everyone widened their eyes and stared once more toward the body on the ground. Elora snorted. "Do you think I''m blind? He''s my brother. Release him this instant!"

    "Look again, and this time more carefully," the man chuckled as if he was looking at his most favourite y.

    Elora''s face clouded with confusion hearing his words and she once more looked at the body on the ground. Then Kadyn''s figure started to vanish. "Wha-what''s happening here?" everyone was baffled when they saw such a scene; in no time, Kadyn''s entire body had vanishedpletely. There was nothing left in front of them, except cobblestones and dirt and grass here and there, and the people who kicked him just now also vanished. Everything was an illusion.

    At this moment, a man walked out from behind five Rank 1 mages. "What a disappointment." He shook his head. "You ask me to make a move by myself for just this bunch of clowns." His gaze roamed each of the figures in front of him.

    "Leader, where is that brat?" Llyris asked. "I can''t find him."

    "I couldn''t find him in the shop, or at least, my perception failed to detect him. Are you sure he is inside?" He looked at Llyris in confusion.

    "We''ve confirmed it. He should be inside the shop." Llyris said with an uncertain expression.

    "You can''t even handle a single task decently," Enwyld Wynner snorted disdainfully at his brother''s ipetence. Llyris flushed in embarrassment and clenched his fist into hatred as a vicious re sh through his eyes. He had endured his big brother''s mockery since young, but he could not do anything about it. After all he was the weaker one, and power was everything in this world. Furthermore, Enwyld was now House Leader.There was no match between them. So he swallowed his humiliation.

    "Anyways," Enwyld began, "Now, we have his sister, and ording to what I''ve heard from the rumours, he is very fond of her. He won''t let her die like that, would he?"

    Their group chuckled as they peered at Elora and others as if they were nothing butmbs at the chopping board. Barret came out of his shock and shouted towards others. "This was a trap. Move inside, hurry!"

    "It''s toote!" Llyris cackled and dashed towards them ¡ª ready to vent his anger on these poor souls ¡ª behind him were the other four Rank 1 mages. Only Enwyld remained behind, standing calmly, peering at the escaping party as if they were nothing but a herd ofmbs, trying to escape from their terrible fate with thest effort.

    Llyris appeared behind Barret and punched his head. Others also did the same, trying to knock down everyone. However, as soon as they touched the bodies, their hands touched nothing and passed through them as if those bodies were made of fog. You can see, but can''t touch. This development left them gobsmacked.

    Enwyld left stunned and frowned as he realised that something wasn''t quite right and wanted to check out what was happening, but then stopped. He had felt something amiss and hurriedly backed away as if he had discovered something very frightening. His face was pale while his body drenched his sweat. He looked at his people and shouted. "This is a trap, leave, now!"

    Llyris and others stopped and nced at Enwyld in confusion. However, they trusted their leader''s instinct so they started to retreat. "Hahaha, now you''ve already arrived you don''t need to go back."

    Everyone felt a chill in their spines as soon as they heard this voice. Llyris recognised the speaker. "How could this be?!" he said in horror. "House Leader didn''t sense you inside the shop! How could you escape from his senses when the entire shop is covered in formation?!" he asked with a pale face. Enwyld in the distance also felt his face going darker and darker and darker, at every passing second. He had just said that there was no one left inside the shop, now this man arrived. Wasn''t it simr to pping his face?

    "Oh, you people can y, so can I. How did you like the y?" Kadyn grinned as he looked at the shocked faces in front of him. He enjoyed this scenario quite a bit.

    "You''re also a Formation Master like our House Leader?" as soon as Llyris said he shook his head. "No, that can''t be, even if you are, you won''t have such high attainment in formations at such a young age. How could you dupe our House Leader who is Rank 2 Formation Master? Impossible. What¡­"

    As he was shouting at Kadyn, his surroundings started to change. To hisplete horror, he realised that he was standing inside the shop with his fourpanions. "How is that possible!?" He said with a pale face, now fear started to appear in his eyes and gripping his heart. "We were inside an illusion all this time!"

    "You aren''t as dumb as you appear. You tried to lure my people outside the shop, but I have already modified the shop. It wasn''t just extended to the gate of the shop but beyond, but you couldn''t tell that, of course, due to illusion. " Kadyn apuded the man and nodded vigorously. However his heart was bleeding. Only he knew how many energy points he had wasted in this operation. "Now, you are in my hands. What should I do with you?" he grinned evilly as he red at the five Rank 1 mages. This is a big fish.

    "Humph! Don''t be too arrogant, boy," an old man said. "Do you think that now we are inside your shop, we can''t resist you?"

    "Uh-huh," Kadyn nodded in reply, annoying them even further.

    Without wasting time with him, they dashed towards the gate. However, when they reached it, the scene blurred in front of them and they appeared on the same spot where they started. "What is this?" Llyris demanded. "What the hell is happening?!" he was on the verge of crying now.

    "This is my domain," replied Kadyn as he put his hands behind his back. "No one ¡ª and I mean no one ¡ª can leave from here without my permission. I''m the king here. The sole ruler."

    All of them gaped when they heard his words, but then Llyris scoffed, "Hmph, I''ll see your power then. The King my foot, the sole ruler my ass." As he said he cast the spell ¡ª to his horror he realised that he could not feel his consciousness. He could not feel his mana, and he could not feel his Magic Rune!

    "How''s this possible?!" he tumbled back and fell on his arse. Others also tried and discovered the same peculiarity and their faces turned pale in terror. Now they were feeling a real horror.

    Kadyn smiled at them. "Actually your n was quite amazing. If anyone else was instead of me, you havepletely duped him with that illusion trick of yours. However, it is as useless as cow dung if you want to use it in my shop. You won''t be able to deceive a single fly, much less a human with two eyes, two ears and arge head on his shoulders." He shook his head. Then shouted without turning back. "Bring him out!"

 Chapter 112 - Helpless Enwyld

    Hot Rod came from behind and with him came others. However, in front of them was a miserable looking figure, with a pale face and trembling body. Irond. Khrom and Dion, and even Slyff was kicking him from time to time, cursing even. The humiliated man didn''t dare to fight back, as he had already tried a few times and failed.

    "Ahh, you see," Kadyn grinned towards Llyris and pointed at Irond. "We have caught the spy you have sent. Do you recognise him?"

    "I''m not a spy!" Irond roared, his voice was hoarse and pitiful, enough to melt a normal man''s heart. But who was Kadyn? He had seen even worse betrayal and even better actor. Hicka was his name. Neither Kadyn was a simple-minded brat who had just transmigrated, deceiving him inside the shop was equal to eating corns from your nose.

    "Well, I don''t like exining," Kadyn said, then smiled. "But in the start I liked you, so I''ll let you know what mistakes you have made which led you to fail your mission."

    Irond lifted his head and stared into Kadyn''s eyes without speaking. Kadyn smiled when he got his full attention and went on. "The first mistake: you said that you escaped from House Wynner when they tried to take your cauldron," Kadyn shook his head. "The House which was filled with so many Rank 1 mages, you escaped it, but then a single Llyris was able to capture you and in front of my shop at that. Don''t you think that is too much of a coincidence?"

    "Second, you said that you fought with Zephyr ¡ª I don''t know why you said that, maybe you wanted to make your story more believable. However, you didn''t know that I have seen Zephyr with my own eyes.

    "Not even Rank 2 Mage like Elder Jyn could fight him, and he is still recuperating after his fight with the dragon. But you ¡ª a low-grade Rank 1 mage imed that you survived her attack and in this time you were able to recuperate and had time to travel to Orddono. That is too unbelievable. I don''t know what kind of superhuman healing ability you possess."

    Kadyn eyed at the shocked expression of Irond and curled his lips. "If my guess is correct you interrogated me when you were in Avibria. At that time you realised that there was something mysterious about my shop and I tamed Barret and Potioneer Yel and elder Jyn," he eyed Barret and said apologetically. "Sorry, but I don''t know a better word to describe it," Barret rolled his eyes and remained silent. Kadyn again turned towards Irond. "That''s why you tried to befriend me, if I''m correct."

    Noticing the shock inside his eyes, Kadyn knew that he was on a track so he continued. "When Zephyr attacked, you escaped from Zhodon, travelling to Orddono. Here you were recruited by House Wynner. After all, Artisans aren''t asmon as mages." Kadyn ced his hands on his butt and went on. "When we arrived and settled our shop here, House Wynner didn''t like it, as my shop looked better than theirs. So they tried to make things difficult for me.

    "And I drove Ish and his party away so House Wynner became furious. At that time you heard about me and told them everything about my shop which piqued their interest, and they became eager to know the secrets of my shop. They nned to send you into the shop and set the formation disk that Leader Enwyld of your house would control from outside. Am I right?"

    Irond didn''t put any pretence anymore; he red at Kadyn with a cold expression and asked. "How did you know that I set the formation disks?"

    "What a cute kid, now you have admitted your mistakes, daddy has to give you ice cream, huh?"

    "You¡­"

    Kadyn ignored him and looked outside the shop. Enwyld stood there with a cold expression, staring at him with eyes full of hatred. "Oh, man, are you going to kill me with that killer gaze of yours? Don''t, I''m scared."

    Kadyn stumbled back with a fearful expression and then stopped and curled his lips. "No, you can''t do shit to me ¡ª if you want your people back, alive, then you gotta pay me with something. After all, no matter how heartless and wealthy or strong you are, you can''t afford to lose six Rank 1 mages, can you?"

    "What do you want?" Leader Enwyld asked, gritting his teeth hatefully.

    "Oh, nothing much," Kadyn grinned. "I want to sell you all my artefacts and potions. What do you say?"

    "What?!" Enwyld gawked at him as if he had seen a ghost. Others also stared at him with strange gazes. Who didn''t know that House Wynner was a huge supplier of artefacts, now Kadyn wanted to sell them his artefacts. What a joke!

    Hot Rod and Barret exchanged nces,municating with spiritual energy, a kind of trick that only people above Elementary Rank could pull off.

    ''Our products aren''t of that high quality ¡ª Elementary Potion and Rank 1 artefacts ¡ª so even if we sell them to a family-like Wynner at the market price, it would only benefit us, and they would be useless to Wynners, as they have their own artefacts. As for potions, they are just elementary ranks. Not worth mentioning. Their effect on Rank 1 mages are minimal, as for finding their forms, I think they must be dreaming if they have such a thought .'' Barret weighed the pros and cons.

    Actually when Kadyn sold the Soothing Drop for the first time, Zelie was the one who purchased most of them, and it wasn''t because they needed it, but because they wanted to find its form; however when Potioneer Yel tried, he could not even find a single supplementary herb, much less its main ingredient.

    At that time he concluded that not even Rank 3 or above potioneer would be able to find its form. That discovery shocked him beyondparison ¡ª it was the reason he was so desperate to know the form and went to Kadyn, and the conflict started between them.

    ''Indeed,'' Hot Rod replied mentally. '' Furthermore, we don''t even need to run from here to there in order to find the clients. This is the most efficient way of selling anything I have ever seen.''

    ''Agreed.''

    While the duo was talking with each other Kadyn grinned towards Enwyld and said. "I don''t like to beat around the bush. Say, do you agree? If not, I''m going to finish these six people." As he said he brought a gleaming dagger from his robe and red towards the people on the ground, grinning like a heartless butcher.

    "House Leader, please save us!" a middle-aged man screamed in terror as soon as Kadyn took the first step towards them.

    "I gave my whole life for the House Wynner. Who would have thought that I would die like this? House Leader, please take care of you." As the old man said this, everyone rolled their eyes. If you want to ask for help then do it directly, why are you trying to emotionally ckmail the man.

    "Brother, save us," Llyris said. "Do you think House Wynner still be House Wynner if it lost six Rank 1 mages?"

    Enwyld gritted his teeth and clenched his fist. Then blurted. "Fine!"

    "That''s more like it!" Kadyn pped his hands jubntly. Then turned towards Barret, "Write the Spirit Contract."

    "Spirit Contract?" Enwyld frowned. "What''s that for?"

    "Do you think I''m five years old child?" Kadyn rolled his eyes at his stupid question. "Of course it''s for my and mypanions'' safety. What will I do if you attack me after I release your people? Won''t I die a horrible death for my stupidity? So to avoid that, you need to sign the contract that you won''t attack us and neither conspire against us and never oppose us. If you agree to these terms then I can release your people, or just forget about getting them back."

    Enwyld was trembling with rage and humiliation. He had never faced such a scenario before. At first he thought that he would be able to get revengeter, but now, Kadyn had blocked that path as well. Spirit Contract wasn''t something that he could defy. No one could defy it. Not even those super powerful mages.

    While Enwyld was deep in thought Kadyn turned towards Irond and said. "You, leave the cauldron here."

    "What?!" everyone from House Wynner lifted their gaze filled with anger and fear. Kadyn saw their reaction and chuckled. "So that cave story was also bulshit, huh? This cauldron belongs to the House Wynner. This makes things even more interesting." He walked towards Ironde and snatched the thumb-sized cauldron from him.

    Then he took the Spirit Contract from Barret and read it and nodded in satisfaction towards the man. Barret was indeed more experienced than him, not leaving any loophole for House Wynner to useter. Kadyn rolled the scroll and threw it out of the shop towards Enwyld. "Drop your blood."

 Chapter 113 - Vampires In The City

    Kadyn eyed the horse-drawn carriages in the distance, and then looked at the window in front of him, and curled his lips in triumph.

    [Energy Points: 7007]

    That was an eye-popping sum. He had earned it after selling all the potions and artefacts. Furthermore, he had millions of cash as well, as he gave no discount to Enwyld. Not even a discount of a penny. However, left with no choice, Enwyld had to pay the money and sign the contract. After all, he alone could not fight all the enemies and run his business. This encounter left a bitter taste in his mouth. He had lost too much while earning nothing except useless artefacts and potions.

    The carriages'' wheels rolled on the cobbles of the road, grinding noises echoed in the darkness. The weather was cold, as the chilling gust of winds howled from here to there, but Enwyld didn''t seem to care, as he sat inside his longfortable Aura, his face was frosty and eyes red ¡ª only he and Llyris and Irond were sitting inside the car (others were following from behind with the carriages) but neither of them dared to make a noise when they saw Enwyld''s dark face.

    Irond gathered his courage and tried to exin:" I don''t know how he knew about the formation disks. I was very careful in doing¡­"

    "Shut up, you useless thing!" before he couldplete his sentence, Enwyld gave a hateful roar. The words stuck inside Irond''s throat, and then he swallowed and remained silent.

    "It isn''t time to be angry but to think with a cool head," Llyris said tactfully. "How should we deal with this situation?"

    "How should we deal with the situation, huh?" Enwyld red at his brother with a mocking gaze and said. "You tell me how should we deal with this fucking situation! And if you can''t give any suggestion, then shut the fuck up!"

    Llyris'' eyebrows twitched and he clenched his fist in humiliation. He could only endure in the face of his brother. Strength. That was everything and his brother was stronger than him. Far stronger.

    "Screeeeech!"

    At this moment the driver pressed the brakes and a screeching sound reverberated, and three of them pushed forwards, but then controlled themselves. Enwyld looked at the driver and growled. "What the hell are you doing? You useless thing!"

    "Sir, a few figures are standing in front of the car. Though due to the fog I can not see them clearly, but I can assure that there are about five to six people." The driver exined hurriedly. Then he rang the horn but the people didn''t give way. Enwyld peered in front of the car through the ss and saw a few figures standing in the light, released by the car. However, they were blurry in the mist, hard to see.

    "Go, and check who is blocking our path," Enwyld said to Irond. "And teach them a good lesson. Kill them if you have to."

    The man looked a little apprehensive but still dismounted the car. In the darkness of night, it wasmon to bump into a few gangsters. This was the capital of the Shado Empire, all kinds of people could be found here.

    "Who''s there? Report your name this instant. Do you know who''s inside that car?" Irond shouted. As he spoke, carriages also arrived from behind, and other Rank 1 mages came to inquire about the situation. When they heard that someone was blocking Enwyld''s car, they became furious.

    "Just kill them. No need to reason with these lowly people." A middle-aged man said with an irritated voice. They were already in quite a bad mood and now someone dared to block their path. The nerve!

    "Kekeke, indeed, there is no need to reason with lowly humans. Just kill them all!" As soon as the middle-aged man finished his words, a burst of eerieughter came from the fog and six shadows walked out of the mist, revealing themselves.

    "Who are you? How dare you block¡­" the middle-aged man remembered the word the man had spoken just now and his face turned ghostly pale. "Yo-you ar-aren''t humans?" he stammered and stumbled back, others also took a few steps back in horror.

    "Fufufu~" a seductive woman was standing at the very front of that unknown group,ughing in a charming and enthralling manner. Then curled her lips and her eyes shone with red light. "Now, you know, just give up on your life. Rank 1 mages, huh? I was craving for the blood of a strong mage for some time."

    "The-they are vampires!" Irond squealed. Others also trembled and hurriedly maintained their distance.

    "Kekeke," the group of vampires burst into a peal ofughter when they saw the pathetic expressions of these humans. They didn''t even show their strength, yet they were already cowering in terror.

    "You humans can only breed and breed and breed. You''ve ruled this continent far too long with the help of your number, but the time is about to change. This continent and this world will be ours, and you will be nothing but our food." The woman''s voice sent a chill through everyone''s spine. "Take them out. I will handle that man inside the car. His blood must be quite delicious."

    The woman strolled towards the car at a slow pace. The car headlights fell upon her body, revealing her glossy figure. She had long red hair and pale skin and she wore a ck dress. Though it was revealing more than hiding. Half of her boobs were visible, forming a deep cave at the centre. Her navel was open and visible and seductive, enough to burn any man from inside with just a single nce at it. As she walked her heavenly boobs juggled up and down.

    Though the scene was enough to captivate any man, it wasn''t enough to captivate the man who knew that his life was on the line at this moment. Enwyld was pale, as he knew how vicious the vampires could be. "Drive the car!" he shouted at the driver.

    The man poured his mana into the rune on the car. However, before he could start the car a shadow appeared near the window. "Hello there," she said in her seductive tone, but it sent a chill in the driver''s spine.

    The vampire didn''t give him any time to beg for mercy, as there was nothing such as mercy in their world. She broke the window with her hand as if it was made of paper and grabbed the man through his neck. He screamed and struggled. The woman looked at the fumbling man in her hand and curled her lips in a vicious grin as if enjoying thest struggle of the man.

    Then two sharp and long fangs appeared inside her mouth and she dug them into his neck. Slowly, the strength seeped out of the man and his face turned pale and his struggling body went limp. Life had vanished and the soul had departed from his body. Now, he was nothing but a simple shell.

    When she threw the man on the ground, Enwyld and Llyris were already in the distance, trying to escape. She looked towards herpanions and realised that they were enjoying their meals. She chuckled and vanished. When she appeared she was in front of Llyris. Without wasting her time, she broke his neck with her sharp fangs and sucked him dry. The most shocking thing was that Llyris couldn''t even struggle in her hands. He was no different than a chicken in front of her.

    After dealing with Llyris, thest one was Enwyld.The man ran and ran and ran, his chest was heaving up and down, and he sucked the air deeply. And when he thought that he had run quite a distance, he tried to turn and take a peek behind. However just as he turned a face appeared in front of him, almost touching his face, horrifying the poor man. He tumbled and rolled back, falling on his aching arse, then dragged his body with the help of his hands and legs.

    The woman shook her head when she saw the pathetic man in front of her. But then, her brows creased and an excruciating pain burst into her head. "Fucking bastard! You are a Psychic!" she scowled at the grinning man on the ground.

    "Toote to regret, hahaha, die you blood-sucking demon!" Enwyld curled his lips and drew a dagger from his robe andunched an attack without wasting his time. Just when the dagger was about to slit her throat, thedy sneered and sidestepped and clutched Enwyld through his neck. "Do you think your Rank 2 pathetic spell could deal with me? What a wishful kid you are." She said with a disdainful sneer and Enwyld could only see helplessly as she sucked his blood from his body.

    After two minutester she threw the shrunken body in the thickets like garbage and wiped her lips with a satisfied smile. "Delicious!"

    Suddenly, she creased her brows and waved her hand and tens of dark des formed from her hand and went directly toward a certain bush. However, after that, there was no movement. She frowned and walked to check, but there was no one, nothing. "Strange, I''ve sensed someonehere."

    "Whoosh! Whoosh!"

    As she was gazing at the thickets with a deep frown, five shadows appeared behind her. "Miss Amaris, is there something wrong?" one of the men asked respectfully. His eyes were downcast like his otherpanions. No one dared to look at her brazenly.

    "It''s nothing," Amaris nced at the bush and said. "Let''s go."

    As the group of vampires vanished a bee with a broken wing also soared from about a hundred meters away. "Holly shit! That was close." It cursed and disappeared in the distance.

 Chapter 114 - Blood Tribe And Vampires

    "Thud!"

    A body fell on the ground and moaned and crawled with the support of one uninjured hand while dragging another limp hand with all his effort he could muster. He was covered in blood and grime and looked as if he was standing on the death door. He was in a terrible, terrible condition.

    "Slyff!" a horrified voice shouted as soon as he appeared. Then several figures dashed towards his crawling miserable frame. "What happened to you?" Kadyn asked with wide eyes. "Did Enwyld realise that you were tagging along with him?"

    "Enwyld is dead," he said with a pale face, "everyone else is also dead."

    "What?!" everyone turned pale at this shocking news. "What do you mean? Who killed them?" Khrom asked.

    "Hey," Elora interrupted. "At least, give him a healing potion before asking anything. See, his left arm is almost torn apart, bones are visible. It must hurt terribly. You guys are so heartless"

    "Indeed," Slyff said in agreement, eyes bing wet. He was suffering such pain and these bastards were asking question after question. Do you even know the word ''shame''?

    "Ah, yes," only then Kadyn scratched his head embarrassedly and stopped his questions. Just as Kadyn took out the healing potion a notification sounded and a window appeared in front of him.

    [Due to the sudden increase in the danger of the mission. The reward has increased.]

    After that the details regarding the mission came into his view.

    [Quest: Spying on Enwyld]

    [Reward: 30(old)¡ú 100(final)]

    [Quest Status: Completed]

    [Reason to increase the reward: Vampire attack]

    Kadyn opened his mouth wide when he read the details inside the window, and peered at the boy on the ground. Then said hurriedly. "Hey, you have alreadypleted your mission and you have enough energy points to buy the potion. Do you want it?"

    Everyone looked at him weirdly. What the hell are you asking at a time like this? Kadyn saw their faces and turned somewhat red, but didn''t care too much. He was the one who needed to pay every employee after theypleted their missions, so he would not let the chance go to earn his energy points back. But yes, if Slyff hadn''t any energy points that would be another matter altogether. After all, he could not let his employee die.

    As this idea came into his head, the system replied. ''You can loan them, and when they have enough energy points they can return them, after all they are your employees and can''t run away, can they?''

    "I agree," Slyff was almost on the verge of crying. "Give me the potion." He said with his weak voice. This damn bastard boss.

    "Alright," Kadyn poured the potion into Slyff''s mouth and the healing potion started to take effect, healing the boy rapidly. He was only at the 6-star elementary mage, so the effect of the potion was more evident on him. Stronger people needed stronger to heal potions and vice-versa.

    "Take him to his room and let him rest," he said to Khrom. "His wounds are terrible."

    Only now have you realised it? Slyff rolled his eyes at him as did others.

    "No, I need to tell you something," Slyff said with a weak voice. "It was vampires¡­ they... they killed Enwyld and others. Though I don''t know why. The strongest is the woman¡­ cough cough cough..."

    Rayna hurriedly gave him water to control his coughs. "Don''t speak anymore," she said.

    Before others could collect their thoughts after hearing such a shocking piece of news, Kadyn''s voice interrupted the train of their brainwork "Alright, you go rest. We''ll talk about itter." Obviously his words were meant for Slyff.

    "Why are they here?" Barret said somewhat apprehensive. "There must be a reason they are making a move. Furthermore, there is a vampire among them who killed Enwyld. She must be Rank 3 at the very least. This is bad."

    Kadyn knew a little about vampires, but it was from movies andTV series of his previous world. He didn''t know if those rules even applied to these real and vicious vampires. Such as they can''t walk in the sun and drink blood, and they have pale skin and all those things. He still remembered how girls loved vampires. Would they still be able to love them, if they hear such an act of bloodbath? He doubted.

    He looked at Barret. "Can you tell me about vampires?" He said. "I don''t know much about them." Though he knew that there might be books regarding vampires in the library, he didn''t want to sit for hours to learn about them. Barret could tell him without consuming too much time.

    Barret took a deep breath and said. "Let''s go, we will talk about it inside the house."

    Though it was around 3:48 A. M, no one had any intention of going to bed. Khrom also came back after sending Slyff into his room. Barret sucked a deep breath and stared at Kadyn before asking. "Do you know about the Blood Tribe?"

    "Blood Tribe?" Kadyn said confusedly. "What''s that?"

    The middle-aged man stared at him deeply before replying. "Have you seen the carvings on the pirs inside the shop?"

    "What has got to do with Blood Tribe?" he had seen them, of course.

    "You see," Barret began. "There are carvings of Blood Tribes on those pirs. I''m sure you have seen the drawing of creatures with horns and wings with sharp fangs and red hair and eyes. Killing and drinking the blood of humans and elves and other races."

    Kadyn nodded and others also followed. As they had also seen those weird creatures. Kadyn peered at Barret and said with a slightly surprised voice. "You mean those creatures are from Blood Tribe?"

    Barret nodded. "I don''t know why they are on those pirs but they are indeed those vicious demons."

    "But what it has gotten to do with Vampires?" he was still confused regarding this matter. Vampires and Blood Tribe were twopletely different types of demons. He seemed more and more confused.

    "Everything," Barret replied when he saw his confused face. "Because Vampires are the branch ¡ª or should I say children¡ª of the Blood Tribe."

    "Huh?" he opened his eyes wide, trying to process the information he had got from the man, but he could not wrap his head. The heck! Children? Should their children also be the same as them?

    "Yes," Barret nodded. "A long time ago, we used to fight with each other and war was toomon with different races. Though we still fought with each other, candles could neverpare to the sunlight. We killed and killed and killed each other, rivers of blood flow on the Pengo. However, no one knew that we were giving birth to the terrifying nightmare that would terrorise us generations after generation."

    He paused and sighed before proceeding. "On the battlefield of humans, elves, dwarves, and many other races a huge bloodke formed after generations of fighting. No one knew but something terrifying was being born inside it. After hundreds and thousands of yearster a nightmare was born. Strange creatures with horns and wings, dripping with blood came out of thatke, and the ughter began. Where ever they passed, they brought death and unending suffering with them"

    Everyone was listening to the story keenly. The more they heard the wide their mouths opened. They never heard about it before. Maybe because they were not qualified to know about it. Even Barret knew about it because Elder Jyn had told him. Even he wasn''t qualified to know such a secret otherwise.

    "At that time they had ughtered almost half of the poption of the Pengo. Can you believe it? Half! No single race could confront them alone. Therefore, all the races gathered under a single banner for the first time, to defeat those demons, and to protect their loved ones, for the future of Pengo, and for the future of their race. They decided to bury their hatred for each other.

    "At that time a horrifying battle began and rivers of blood flowed. The most terrifying thing about those creatures was that no weapon and no formation and no treasure could kill them. Humans, elves, dwarves and other races ¡ª in which some of them vanished for all eternity in that battle¡ª could do nothing to them. Everyone was helpless."

    "Then, how did we defeat them?" Kadyn asked curiously.

    "We didn''t because we couldn''t." He said with a helpless smile.

    "What?!" Kadyn almost jumped on his feet. Then he sat down. "I don''t understand," he asked, if we didn''t defeat them, then how did we escape those vicious demons. He thought.

    "We failed to kill them time and again, no matter what trick we used, so we imprisoned them," Barret said as he eyed Kadyn. "And please don''t ask me where we imprisoned them. Because I don''t know."

    Kadyn nodded but then frowned. "You have talked a lot about Blood Tribe, but vampires were nowhere in the story."

    "Oh, they were in the story, you just missed them." Barret stretched his waist and changed his posture on the soft couch before continuing "The Blood Tribe''s reproductive abilities were terrible. Very slow. Almost negligible. Therefore they started to use humans for it, and the half breeds of human and Blood Tribe were called vampires."

    Everyone was staring at the middle-aged man with dumb expressions. They could not close their mouths. What they heard was too shocking. So vampires were half-human and half-demon. Holy shit! Everyone was left stunned.

 Chapter 115 - Motive

    "Though vampires are half-human, they are also half-demons. They could live with normal food like humans but they also love to drink human blood. Furthermore, the more someone drinks human blood the faster would be their advancement in strength.

    "So tell me who would be able to resist such a tempting thing? They think humans are nothing but a portion of delicious food, the source of wetting their throats." Barret exined, his eyes shining with unbearable hatred towards vampires.

    Kadyn took a deep breath and asked. "So does that mean those vampires are here just drinking blood?"

    "It''s possible," Barret said. "However, mostly, they would choose to target weaker cities or viges for this kind of thing. Why would they do such a thing inside the Orddono, the capital of the Shado Empire?"

    "Maybe they are bored of drinking weaker human''s blood," Dion replied, but after speaking he realised how stupid his reasoning sounded so he shut his mouth immediately, and he felt as if his face was burning. What an embarrassment. He thought.

    But on the contrary to his expectation, Barret nodded in agreement. "That''s also possible," he paused for a moment and went on. "But in my opinion, they had a deeper purpose this time. Or why would they send a vampire who is powerful enough to kill Rank 2 mage, Enwyld? She is possibly Rank 3. Are they trying to attack someone as strong as Rank 3? Maybe a Royal Pce?"

    He abruptly stood up as soon as such a thought appeared in his head. "That''s it! They are definitely here to attack the Royal Pce, or why would they send a Rank 3 vampire mage?" he took a deep breath and sat down again, but now, his face had turnedpletely dark. No matter what, he was a human and a member of the Magic Association. Every king and the emperor of the ten kingdoms was an elder of the association, so how could he remain calm after learning such shocking news?

    "If vampires are such a huge threat and enemies of humans then why won''t humans gather together and uproot thempletely?" Hot Rod asked. Though he was also a Rank 1 mage and artisan, he wasn''t as knowledgeable as Barret as no one told him about these things before, he didn''t have much knowledge about vampires.

    Barret shook his head at his query. "Do you think it''s possible to gather humans together? Everyone has their own agendas, their own aim, and their own ambitions, no one want to follow others, even they were able to gather, it won''tst much longer, just like thest time when all the races gathered to fight with Blood Tribe but as soon as the cmity passed the alliance was shattered, and never again was formed.

    "Not only that, we even fight with each other like hungry wolves. Even in the Magic Association Alliance, a low-grade power in this vast world, one could find so many rotten eggs who think just about themselves."

    He again fell silent and then looked at everyone. "Furthermore, we have no idea where vampires live, their hiding ce. We just know that it is called Nightshade, and that''s it. No one wants to waste energy and time and manpower to find out their whereabouts. So tell me is it possible to gather humans together?"

    Everyone was silent for a moment before Kadyn asked. "So when do you think they would attack the Royal Pce?" he dropped the subject as there was another most pressing matter in front of them.

    Barret looked at him and sighed. "It might have already been toote. The vampires work in the darkness of night, I''m sure they will try to finish whatever theye to do before dawn."

    "Then why are you still sitting here?" Kadyn stood up abruptly. He was shocked after hearing Barret''s exnation.

    "It''s useless," Barret shook his head. "Furthermore, we don''t even have a Rank 2 mage. How are we supposed to confront the Rank 3 vampire? We would be ughtered just as easily as chickens, we won''t even have a chance to fight back in front of such a powerful mage."

    "At least, we can warn the guards and rescue a few people if we are already toote. I won''t mind if I fail but I want to try." Kadyn insisted. He thought about Slyff and that princess and his heart almost came to his throat. He knew Slyff loved her most in this world, now he injured himself for the sake of his so-called mission, it was Kadyn''s duty to protect his loved ones. Or how would he be able to face him in the future, the guilt, he didn''t want to carry it inside his heart for the rest of his life.

    Barret looked at him and sighed. "Alright, let''s go. However, no matter what happens don''t try to fight with them ¡ª if they havee to destroy the Royal Pce and the people inside it, they all must be Spell Casters."

    Kadyn nodded, he was not stupid enough to sacrifice himself for the sake of others. However, if he could save some innocent lives he would not escape from his responsibility.

    "Boom!"

    A thunderous boom reverberated in the entire Orddono Capital. Kadyn exchanged nces with everyone and a serious expression appeared on his face. "Such a powerful aura," Barret muttered. "It must belong to a Rank 3 mage. The king must be fighting that Rank 3 vampire mage!" as he said he hurried out of the shop.

    Kadyn, however, turned to look towards his people and said. "Only Hot Rod and Khrom will follow me. You all should remain inside. No one would step outside the shop no matter what happens. Am I clear?"

    "Be careful," Elora said, "don''t try to be a hero if the situation isn''t in your favour."

    "I know I know," Kadyn rolled his eyes at her. From the corner of his eyes, he saw Khrom and Rayna exchanging nces, there was hesitation on their faces. But in the end, no one spoke, and Khrom started to walk towards the exit.

    "Be-be careful," a slightly nervous voice came from behind him. Khrom stiffened and gazed back at the beautifuldy. Rayna flushed red when she saw his gaze on her. "I-I mean, all of you, be careful."

    Kadyn grinned but had no time toment on such matters and said to his twopanions. "Let''s go."

    The group dashed out of the shop and rushed towards the Royal Pce. Kadyn peered in the distance but there was nothing other than darkness and booming sounds of battle and cries of panic. Barret was waiting for them outside and when Kadyn and two others arrived he joined them and went directly towards the source of the noise. None of them spoke anything.

    As they neared the pce they heard the heart-wrenching screams of soldiers and servants and everyone elseing in their direction ¡ª and when the pce appeared in their view, Kadyn''s heart shook.

    The fire was burning furiously here and there, while dark shadows were dancing from here to there, ughtering anyone who came in their path. They were vampires, and no, it wasn''t four or five shadows as Slyff had described. There were hundreds of them. Hundreds of Rank 1 vampire mages. It was enough to numb anyone''s heart. In terror.

    Did they hide the army somewhere and only now they revealed it? Kadyn pondered in shock. He looked at the ughtering shadows and his hurt trembled in fear, and he had an urge to escape and run away from this damned ce. However, he suppressed that feeling inside his heart and continued to dash deeper into the pce.

    The screams sounded and helpless screeches reverberated and bodies littered on the ground, covered in blood, lifeless. Some had their guts and entrailsing out of their stomachs and while others were looking with wide terror-filled eyes in front of them. But all of them were dead, without a shred of life.

    Kadyn felt disgusted when an unpleasant smell wafted his senses but he didn''t stop and ran inside the pce. He wanted to search for the princess. He would not let anything happen to the loved ones of his people. His eyes turned cold and a firm look appeared. At this moment a w appeared out of nowhere, reaching to his throat.

    ¡ª¡ª

    "You need to go, princess!" Cecilia said with a tearful face.

    "No, I''m not leaving you no matter what!" Nefia said to the girl with a firm face. "I would never abandon you!"

    "Why-why do you insist on staying here!" Cecilia could not help but be a little emotional. "I''m not a good person. You should stay away from me!"

    "If you aren''t a good person then there won''t be anyone good in this world." Nefia had no intention to leave her friend, no matter what.

    "No, I''m a bad person," Cecilia fell on her knees when she couldn''t change Nefia''s heart and decided to tell her the truth. She lifted her beautiful innocent looking face and peered at her and said. "They are here for me."

    "What?" Nefia was taken aback by her words and asked in confusion.

    "The vampires," Cecilia said, her voice bing firm. "They are here for me. I''m the reason they are killing those innocent people. I''m the reason for everything that is happening! So leave! Get away from me!" the tears rolled out of her eyes uncontrobly. The secret that she had been hiding all this time, was revealed. Would Nefia still love her and treat her like a sister as she always did? Her heart was filled with pain, but what could she do?

 Chapter 116 - Friendship

    Just as the w was about to grab Kadyn''s throat his figures vanished mysteriously. The vampire was stunned and before he could understand what had happened his head was already detached from his shoulders. Kadyn was standing behind him with a blood-dripping sword in his hand with a cool expression. The headless body slumped on the ground and twitches in the blood briefly before bing still.

    The three figures behind him who were caught off by this sudden development were left stunned. "Space Element," Barret murmured and exchanged nces with two men beside him. He was shocked, not because Kadyn possessed Space Element, one of the rarest elements in the world but because he had seen with his own eyes Kadyn using a fire spell before.??

    Now he was using Space Element as well, what does that mean? Barret was not someone like Hot Rod or Khrom couldpare with, he was far more knowledgeable than them, and even he had never seen ¡ª or heard ¡ª one person possessing two elements.

    Kadyn didn''t seem to notice their shocked faces and continued to run after killing Rank 1 vampire mage. He could not believe how easy it was to kill that guy. Are they really that weak? He thought and shook his head.

    Actually that man wasn''t weak at all, but he was caught off guard by Kadyn. He had never thought that this weak-looking boy would suddenly disappear from in front of his eyes and when Kadyn would appear he would lose his precious head. His soul must be weeping at this injustice, and unfairness, after all he didn''t even have a chance to show his strength, but could he me others for his stupidity?

    Barret used his earth element to ughter any opponent who came to face him, Khrom used his wind magic to dash swiftly amide the corpses and fight and retreat without getting injured. He wasn''t trying to kill them, because if he did he would have died hundreds of times by now, so he just harassed a few vampires and when they were distracted Hot Rod sted them with his fire element into bits and pieces. Though he didn''t have much experience in fighting, his strength was formidable. Enough to kill a few vampires who were enraged by a man again and again.

    The surrounding was filled with death and ughter, it was hard to who was who (that''s why he and hispanions didn''t stray far from each other) one mistake and they could lose their life. One time Barret had almost lost his head, if it wasn''t for Khrom''s timely help he would have died and his headless corpse had been lying in the dirt and blood, under the feet of hundreds of people.

    ¡ª¡ª

    "You¡­ what do you mean by they are here for you?" Nefia asked with a shocked and confused and bewildered expression. She could notprehend what she meant, or maybe she knew what she meant but didn''t want to admit it in her heart. She had yed with Cecilia since they were little, how could this be, why is this happening? Nefia''s body trembled ever so slightly and she bit her lips, praying that it must be a nightmare. s, it was no nightmare.

    Cecilia peered at her and said with a firm tone. "They are here for me, because I''m one of them."

    "You¡­ you are one of them?" Nefia''s face had turned pale and her legs felt weak as she tumbled back but was supported by the wall behind her back. "How could this be? How could this be?" she continued to murmur and stared at Cecilia as she was looking at a stranger.

    "Yes, I''m also a vampire," Cecilia said. She had hardened her heart and told the truth she knew that it could ¡ª and definitely, it would ¡ª finish their rtionship, but right now she had no option. She wanted Nefia to leave this ce as soon as possible, only then would she have a chance to survive.

    However, after a brief initial shock, Nefia recovered and took a step towards her and crouched down before holding her delicate hand. "I was just shocked and never thought that a vampire could be a cute and trustworthy and a careful person like you. I never thought that a vampire ¡ª a so-called blood-sucking vampire ¡ª would be no different than humans, with small dreams and romantic hearts ¡ª reading love stories in nket without letting anyone know ¡ª and full of mischief." Nefia chuckled and wiped the wet corner of her eyes.

    She really lost herself in despair for a moment, but then she saw Cecilia''s anxious face. Why was she anxious? Because she wanted her to leave and stay away from her. At that moment she felt ashamed at her inferiority. How could such a person who thought about her at a time like this would be a heartless blood-sucking monster? She refused to believe it!

    "Why are you still not leaving?" Cecilia''s felt touched and her eyes became wet somewhat after hearing what Nefia said, but anxiousness increased on her face when Nefia refused to leave. "They are here because they want something from me, they are ughtering everyone in your castle because of me. You should hate me, so hate me and go!"

    "No, I would never¡­. Watch out!" suddenly Nefia shouted and pulled Cecilia from where she was sitting. However after that, she lost her bnce and could not dodge the attack herself.

    "Puchi!"

    A sword pierced her shoulder and came out of her back. She vomited a mouthful of blood and stared at her attacker with a frozen expression. Only when the vampire pulled his sword from her shoulder did she tumble back helplessly with a dull expression.

    The blood gushed out of her wound and painted her clothes, her face was pale and then¡­ she fell. However, before she could copse Cecilia held her. "Ahhh!" she screamed in agony for her friend. "Why did you do that, why why why!" her eyes had turned red as if blood would drip out of them any moment. Vampire, indeed she was. Nefia had never seen those red eyes prior to this day.

    "I-I won''t lie but for a second I actually doubted you when you told me about your identity. Maybe this is the punishment god has given me for doing it." Nefia said as the blood gushed out of her mouth. "Don''t cry. You should go, run away from here."

    "Run away?" someone sneered from behind Cecilia. "Do you think it is possible to escape now? You shoulde with us to the Nightshade without resisting because if you force us to take an action it won''t be a good thing for you, girl."

    Cecilia didn''t reply nor did she turn back. She looked at Nefia and said with a gentle voice. "Just wait here for a moment. I won''t let anything happen to you." Then she stood up with a cold face and peered towards the two men in front of her. In a single look, she could tell that one man was a Rank 2 while another was Rank 1. However, the most shocking thing was that there was no fear on her face. She seemed fearless and maybe some would say¡­ stupid? Or why would she, a vampire, put her life on the line for a human?

    Suddenly a tremendous amount of energy gushed out from her body and engulfed her surroundings. "Pea-peak Rank 2 mage!" Rank 2 vampire blurted and his pupil dted in shock and he became alert instantly. He never thought a little girl who had escaped from Nightshade would have already be so formidable. However the shocked expression onlysted briefly then his face turned to normal again.

    "You shouldn''t have hurt her," Cecilia said emotionlessly. "You shouldn''t have hurt her."

    "Humph, so what I hurt her?" the man snorted, his voiceced with arrogance. "She is just a lowly human, and you, you are a traitor. So surrender!

    "Gasp!"

    Cecilia heard Nefia''s long gasping breaths and her face turned colder and colder; she had no time to bicker. She needed to end this battle as soon as possible, but she had no confidence because that Rank 2 vampire was no weaker than her. Nheless, she still decided to attack. Immediately two shadows appeared from her body and then turned into her duplicate copy, staring at their enemies with cold expressions.

    "Doppelganger?!" the Rank 2 vampire shouted while Ran 1 turned pale. The doppelganger spell was the supreme spell of vampires. Only nobles could practice it and after one seeded he/she would be able to make his/her copy which would have exact strength as the original body. It was a powerful spell that all vampires coveted but only a few could practice.

    "No, it''s not a doppelganger," then Rank 2 Vampire noticed something and said, "Your copies have just about 20% of your strength. It is far inferior to the doppelganger."

    "It is enough to kill you," Cecilia snorted and dashed to the man with one of her copies while another went to the Rank 1 vampire, and the battle started.

 Chapter 117 - Summoning Element

    "Boom!"

    Kadyn peered into a distance and saw a man and a woman were fighting in the sky. Spell after the spell was cast, neither of them wanted to give a chance to the other. The man was covered in an armour of wood and leaves and his hands were longer than ten meters, waving like the branches of a tree while where the woman stood, the area waspletely dark, darker than the darkness of night. She was also covered in ck armour and her red hair danced like the tentacles of medusa. Both of them were the Rank 3 mages.??

    "Bang!"

    A spellnded about one meter away from Kadyn and he was pushed back by the impact. His body was covered in wounds and dirt and blood, though it was hard to tell if the blood was his or someone else''s. Khrom who was standing behind supported him with his hands. Kadyn nodded and looked in front of him at the attackers. Six vampires were standing. Though they were just Rank 1, their number was greater than his group.

    "Trying to ovee us with a superior number, huh?" Kadyn''s eyes were cold as he looked at them. "Then we will see whose number is greater."

    As he spoke ten stars started to circte under his feet, and before anyone could understand what was happening, a portal opened behind him and a huge w exited from within. Then another w and then another, tens of ws appeared.

    "He is a summoner!" one of the vampires shouted. "We can not let him summon anything!"

    "Humph, what''s so amazing about a summoner," one of them sneered. "He is just a 10-star elementary mage. What can he do to us, Spell Casters? If he was Rank 1 mage, that would be another matter altogether."

    "But it is still better to be cautious¡­"

    "Alright, let''s attack!"

    "Protect Kadyn!" Barret shouted and jumped in front of Kadyn and deflected the iing attack. Though he was shocked when Kadyn revealed one more element, he was experienced and had fought many times, so he didn''t waste any time overthinking it. Khrom and Hot Rod also reacted pretty fast and went to fight head-on.

    Hot Rod nced at Khrom and Barret and shouted. "I think it is high time to use them."

    The duo looked at him and then all three of them fished out a dagger from their robs. Then they poured the mana into those daggers and they erged, bing three long, shining swords. Top Rank 1 artefacts! Hot Rods masterpieces. However, all the three swords were somewhat different from each other because he had forged them ording to the element its owner had.Like Khrom''s sword released white light and Hot Rod''s sword red and on the other hand, Barret''s sword had grey colour.

    "Attack!" the battle cry echoed and the three against six battle started. Kadyn''s eyes were closed. He was trying to summon beasts, but he had never practised this spell before as he had just now reached 10-star elementary rank with summoning element,and that was the reason it was taking so long to cast.

    "GRRR!"

    Finally three huge heads exited from the portal and they were the heads of a single creature. They had sharp fangs and fire released from their nostrils as they breathed. Their eyes were like two burning orbs. Finally it walked out with its colossal body. However, as soon as it exited it peered directly at Kadyn and then a middle head opened its mouth wide, saliva dripping from within, ready to taste this human who dared to summon it.

    "Ahhhhhhh!!" Kadyn suddenly shouted and his face turned red and his muscles twitched and then blood started to gush out of his ears, nose, mouth and even eyes. But as the beast was about to devour him, an invisible energy was released from his body and the beast kneeled and started to whimper like a helpless puppy.

    Then other beasts also exited the portal. They were simr to the first beast, with three dog-like heads and burning red eyes and colossal bodies, but aspared to the first one,they were a lot smaller.

    When Kadyn opened his eyes his forehead dripped with cold sweat and his heart was trembling with terror. He had cast a powerful spell that he hadn''t practised yet, he thought he would be able to control it, and he did in the end, but the struggle was hard and terrifying.

    He looked at the beast in front of him and a sigh of relief washed over his face and a smile appeared in the end. "I can summon only a single rank 1 Cerberus and other beasts are simr to 10-star elementary mage or lower. Even then, I almost lost control. I would have turned into a meal if I had failed in controlling it"He wiped the blood from his eyes and nose and other ces with a fearful expression.

    After that, he turned to look towards the battle and saw that the condition of hispanions wasn''t looking good. Though they were using artefacts to fight that saved lots of mana and increased their battle pros, they still could not overpower six vampires with their number.

    Kadyn looked at the three-headed colossal beast that was kneeling in front of him and curled his lips and then jumped on its back. "Go, ughter those bastards!" hemanded, now this beast and other smaller ones were under his control. They would do anything hemanded.

    "Roar!"

    Hundreds of terrible roars filled the surroundings and the beasts lunged towards those vampires and a massacre started. The one Kadyn chose was caught off guard and could not react in time and his head was devoured by the beast and his entire body was sucked into its stomach.

    This happened so fast and so swiftly that no one could believe in their eyes. That beast didn''t even give him the chance to struggle. Then before the other five vampires coulde to their senses, elementary beasts alsounched their attacks. Though they could not hurt those vampires. They were enough to hold them for some time.

    "Holy shit!" Khrom shouted. "That is way too overpowered. You are just Elementary Mage. Damnit, I''m jealous!"

    Kadyn rolled his eyes at him and said. "They would be able to engage those vampires. Let''s go, we need to find Princes Nefia. What are you waiting for to climb it!"

    The trio hesitated as they looked at the terrifying beast and then climbed on its back.

    ¡ª¡ª

    "Puch!"

    The vampire man dug his fangs into Cecilia''s neck. She screamed and struggled. But then he snapped her neck and her body crumpled on the floor like a lifeless wooden log, and indeed she was lifeless. However, at this moment a w appeared from behind the man (vampire) and tried to grab him, but he was ready and retreated around ten eight meters away.

    The man was covered in blood and his face was paler than any vampire. He red at Cecilia in front of him and revealed his blood clotted teeth. "Your copy is dead. In no time you will also follow. Oh, no, I can''t kill you. We need that thing from you after all."

    Cecilia didn''t reply and turned into a wisp and vanished as if she was never there. The man looked all around him vigntly, gnashing his teeth in hatred. This damn whore knew so many spells. So infuriating! He cursed.

    "Come capture me," a voice reverberated in the entire hall. He could not tell the exact location. He looked all around. "You whore, I will torture you to death when I capture you!" he shouted.

    "Oh, really?" as soon as these words sounded the man froze because he could tell that Cecilia was standing just behind him. "I dare you to move," she said. The vampire didn''t try his luck and remained standing on the same spot.

    "Careful!"Nefia, who was sitting on the corner of the room with the help of a wall, shouted at this moment. Though due to this she had used thest bit of her strength and fell unconscious, she sessfully warned Cecilia.

    Cecilia felt a sudden danger from behind her, she looked at the vampire in front of her and a hesitated look appeared on her face. If she avoided this attack she would lose her chance to kill this man and the next time she might die by his hand when he joined hands with another vampire who had sessfully killed her copy.

    But if she killed the vampire she might get killed by this iing attack. She gritted her teeth, and a determined expression appeared on her face, and didn''t waste any time and broke the neck of a Rank 2 vampire, but at the same time, a sword prated her back.

    "Puchi!"

    "Ahhh!" she howled in pain and tumbled a few meters away while the sword was still stuck inside her back. She red at her attacker and gritted her teeth and then tried to circte her mana, but even more terrible pain burst out of her wound.

    "Hahaha, how do you like it?" the vampireughed triumphantly.

    "Mana Sealing Poison." She muttered, and then stared at the man and asked. "Do you think you will be able to get your hand on that thing if you kill me?" she curled her lips and blood gushed out from the corner of her mouth, but cared a little about it. She knew that if they wanted that thing, they would never kill her before getting their hands on it.

    However, this time she hadpletely mistaken.

    The Rank 1 vampire curled his lips. "Do you think after your death we won''t be able to know about that thing? You are too naive." He paused and said. "Since you are about to die, let me tell you that there is an Oracle in our tribe who can control the spirit of the dead and ask them about their secrets. She just needs your body to do that. Now, die!"

    Cecilia was still processing this shocking news when tens of dark spikes dashed towards her.

 Chapter 118 - Painful

    "Roar!"

    A deafening roar sounded and a man appeared in front of Cecilia and deflected the attack with a clunk sound. Cecilia looked at the man in front of her and then at the beast that had appeared in the gallery out of nowhere and then closed her eyes and lost her consciousness. The previous attack was already life-threatening for her and she was holding herself by just a thread. As soon as she saw that the help had arrived she lost her consciousness.??

    "Who are you?" the vampire demanded. "How dare you interfere in our matter. Do you know the consequences of interfering in our matter?"

    No one replied. Kadyn looked at the blood-covered unconscious body of Nefia and Cecilia and his blood bubbled with fury. "Kill him." Hemanded.

    As soon as he said he jumped down off the beast and dashed towards Nefia while Khrom and Hot Rod rode the beast and attacked the vampire. He was just Rank 1. It didn''t take long before he was sliced in two by Barret''s sharp sh of a sword. Blood painted the floor and guts littered the ground as the disgusting stench wafted the entire ce. Everyone''s expression twisted in disgust.

    "Now, what?" Khrom asked.

    "Now, you need to get into the shop and take these two girls with you." Kadyn sighed in relief when he realised that Nefia was still alive. She would be alright after some treatment.

    "What about you?" Barret frowned when he heard Kadyn. He could tell from his tone that he had no intention of going with them.

    "Don''t worry, I can escape on my own," Kadyn replied with a smile. Then flicked his hand and a gate appeared in front of them. "Get inside. It will lead you to the shop."

    "This?" the trio widened their eyes when they saw the gate. It was hard toprehend from where this gate appeared, but then they exchanged nces and shook their heads ¡ª if it was Kadyn''s doing, then nothing was too shocking.

    "This gate will take you to the shop. Now get inside, Nefia and Cecilia are severely injured. Take them to Elora to heal," he said as he looked around him vigntly.

    "If it is that easy to escape then why don''t yoe with us?" Barret insisted. He didn''t want to leave him behind. After spending a few days with him he became quite close to Kadyn. It would be heartbreaking if he died here.

    "Didn''t I tell you that I have my reason to stay here?" finally Kadyn couldn''t take any longer and frowned in displeasure. "You need to go, hurry."

    "Alright, we will go first, then," Barret sighed and shook his head, "but be careful."

    Then the trio entered the door with two unconsciousdies. Kadyn took a deep breath and looked around him. Actually it wasn''t that he didn''t want to go with them but he couldn''t, as the shop was inside his body. How could he go inside something that was inside him? That was impossible.

    Just as he turned and was about to move, a group of vampires appeared in front of him. One, two, three¡­. Seven. Seven of them. As soon as they saw him they surrounded the man. "Shit!" he cursed. What should I do? He thought but nothing came into his mind.

    But the enemy wasn''t going to wait for him to formte his n, and so, they attacked. Kadyn tried to defend and he seeded but he was just a single man ¡ª with a mindless beast ¡ªnot even Rank 1 mage yet, but none of his enemies was below Rank 1. Just as he avoided the first attack another came and hit on his back, he winced in pain and flinched, groaning miserably.

    "I have felt Cecilia''s aura at this ce, but it suddenly vanished. It must be this guy''s doing," one of the vampiresmented. His red eyes fixed on Kadyn and his beast.

    "We need to capture at any cost, or we won''t have a good ending," another one replied.

    "Let''s capture him first," someone else suggested. "After that we would make him vomit anything he knows about Cecilia."

    "Let''s do it!"

    "Fuck, I can''t stay here any longer," Kadyn cursed when he saw their red eyes peering at him like vicious wolves. "I have to escape," he murmured and thenmanded his summoned beast. "Attack!"

    "Roar!"

    "Bang!"

    As the beast attacked, Kadyn opened his status window. He wanted to teleport away from here, otherwise, he would not make it out of here, no matter what. After all he was alone and he was no match for these people, and who knew how many vampires were roaming inside the castle.

    However, the vampires didn''t give him a chance to focus. They continued to attack him from all directions., injuring him from time to time. Kadyn persisted and tried to hide behind the beast as much as he could.

    "Roar!"

    The three heads roared and attacked frantically at the enemies. One of the vampires couldn''t react in time and his head was torn from his body, the beast chewed his head and a crunching sound reverberated in the entire hall, sending a chill in others'' spines. Nheless, they became more alert after that and started to attack it from a distance. None of them could match the beast in closebat. It was simply asking for death.

    However when they took the long-range attacking method, the beast wasn''tpletely helpless either. Because it could breathe fire. This time it sessfully burned two vampires. Though they didn''t die from its attack, they weren''t in a condition to fight anymore either.

    "Let me take care of him," when every one of them was filled with despair as they could not take care of a single mindless beast, a voice came from behind them. They split and formed a path, then a man walked in front of them. He was a Rank 2 vampire!

    All the Rank 1 vampires retreated respectfully. The man looked at the beast and then at the Kadyn behind it and sneered disdainfully. Then without speaking anything he lifted his right hand and shed in the beast''s direction. However, before anyone could understand what had happened, the Cerberus sliced into two equal parts. The insides of the beast fell from below the belly and spread on the ground. Blood and water and other disgusting material.

    Unexpectedly the impact of the attack even affected Kadyn who had once again opened the window, however, by mistake he chose another continent just now and had to go back and start over again. He knew that such a mistake at this moment was almost asking for death, but he was under too much pressure and it happened without even realising. That''s why it took him so long. He wanted to teleport to Avibria city, but then he was smashed on the wall by an enemy attack.

    He groaned and winced and then sat by the support of the wall. He held his chest that took thest attack and knew that his rib was broken. Then he peered at the attacker and wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth. His vision was blurry and he felt dizzy. "Shit!" he cursed.

    The vampire walked towards him step by step and crouched in front of him and before he could say anything, he grabbed his face in his hand and mmed him on the wall. Kadyn felt as if his head would explode at any moment. The pain was almost unbearable, the right side of his face was covered in blood while his right eye had closed due to swelling.

    Only then the vampire spoke. "Where is the girl?"

    Kadyn tried to focus with his single eye on the man and revealed his bloody teeth. "Which girl?" he said.

    "Crack~"

    "Ahhhh!"

    "This time I just broke your single hand, next time it will be your other hand and then another leg and the torture will continue until you tell me where is the girl." The vampire said with an emotionless voice.

    Kadyn gritted his teeth and remained silent.

    "AHHHH!!"

    "Next will be your right leg,"

    Kadyn''s entire body twitches and his two hands dangled at the side of his body without any strength. However at this moment Kadyn curled his lips and said in a weak voice. "I don''t think you will be able to fulfil your wish."

    The vampire frowned at him and reached to break his leg, but before he could take the action, the light covered Kadyn and then he vanished. There was nothing at his ce, except his blood and rubble and debris of battle and of course the guts and faeces of the beast.

    "Fuck!" one of the vampires cursed as he witnessed this eye-popping scene.

    "What the hell was that?" someone elsemented.

    "He-he vanished just like that?" the disbelief was evident on their faces.

    "Was that legendary Space Element?" one of them asked in confusion.

    "What do you know?" another vampire sneered. "He wasn''t even a Rank 1 mage, how could he perform such a long-range teleportation spell. Three to five meters should be his limit. But now, see, he had vanished without any trace. That was too ridiculous. If my guess is correct he must have a powerful teleportation artefact."

    Rank 2 vampire''s expression turned ugly as soon as Kadyn vanished. He wasn''t even a Spell Caster but he escaped so easily from his grasp in front of so many vampires. That was so humiliating in his eyes. Uneptable. Unforgivable.

 Chapter 119 - Central Eozen

    "Thump!"

    A body appeared out of nowhere and fell on the ground like a sandbag. Then a groaning and moaning echoed and a body twitched and convulsed o the damp and marshy ground. Kadyn tried to look around him but everything was blurry, nothing was clear.??

    His head was heavy and filled with painful throbbing while his body was embedded with hundreds of deep wounds. He continued toy there helplessly without any strength for around fifteen minutes. In this time he tried to drag his body, however, even fifteen minutester he just moved about five meters. Even that formed a long red line behind.

    "Am I going to die?" he muttered and coughed a few times, blood and slime-covered the ground and his cloth and mixed with the sludge, turning it crimson that clotted his body. He wanted to bring the shop out but he could not think clearly and his head was dizzy so after trying a few times to focus he gave up on it as well.

    After doing all that he stopped and continued toy on the ground, helpless, unmoving, miserable. He sighed and his mind slowly started to drift towards the darkness. He forced himself to remain awake and the war of attrition started that after a long time he lost. The darkness engulfed his mind, his body, his soul and everything else, dragging him into oblivion.

    However before he lost his consciousnesspletely a thumping sound of feet entered his ear. "Someone... is going to¡­ save me? Or is it¡­ an animal? Are they want my flesh?" no matter what it was, Kadyn didn''t care anymore, he closed his eyespletely and everything faded into the darkness. Though he felt a warm sensation after a long time, afortable feeling that he never thought he would ever feel again, but he didn''t open his eyes and continued to sleep.

    An unknown amount of time passed and Kadyn''s eyes twitched then they opened abruptly. He looked around him and found that he was lying on the bed, a wooden bed and he was covered with a thick¡­ nket?. He tried to stand but the pain came back and he fell back with a miserable cry.

    Two minutester when his pain alleviated he examined his surroundings and realised that he was inside a normal, in-looking room. There was no window, no fan, no mattress on the floor and the entire house was made of wood. There was no carving or any painting on the walls, it was extremely simple. At the side of his bed were a chair and a table, though no one was sitting there at the moment and a water pot was sitting at the foot of the table.

    "Where am I?" he muttered but this time he didn''t try to stand. From his previous attempt, he could tell that his rib was still broken, though not in a terrible condition as it was when he left the Orddono. He touched his chest and could feel the dressing over there. Someone had helped him. Then he realised that he could move his hands! Yes, though they were still aching like hell. Nheless, he could lift them. He looked at his hand covered in clothes and shook his head. He never thought that he would ever face such a condition in his life.

    "Do you know where we are, Old Man?" Kadyn rxed and asked after realising that his condition was alright.

    The system was silent for a moment and then grunted. "What do you mean by Old Man you little runt?"

    "Ah," Kadyn realised that he was calling the system Old Man. It makes no sense. "I just felt like calling it, I don''t know why. I won''t do that in the future."

    "No, it''s alright, you can call me that as much as you want. Why the hell would I care?"

    "Oh," Kadyn failed to notice the agitation in the voice due to his condition. "Then do you know where are we right now? How far away from the Magic Association. That bastard broke my bone after bone. So I just chose a random ce without even checking the details." He sighed and his eyes glittered with full of hatred as he recalled that otherworldly pain he went through.

    "You are at the central part of the Eozen Continent." System knew that Kadyn''s IQ was too low to understand his meaning. So he continued to exin further. "The Eozen Continent is divided into five parts: Eastern, Western, Southern, Northern, and Central. The Magic Association is located on the far side of the Eastern Continent. Though they aren''t that weak, they aren''t a powerful force either, their strength is just below average."

    "Below average?" Kadyn''s face twitched when he heard it. He couldn''t help but remember those hundreds of Rank 1 vampires and tens of Rank 2 and that terrible battle. That absolute ughter. That was a force to be reckoned with and now the system was saying that they were just below average. Are you kidding me? He wanted to scream but he held back the urge to do it.

    "No, I wasn''t talking about vampires when I said below average." The system knew what Kadyn was thinking about. "They are a powerful force even on the entire Pengo much less on the Eozen Continent. I was talking about just Magic Association."

    "Oh," Kadyn nodded. "Does that mean this central part of the continent is the most powerful or something? After all, it is called central."

    "What a stupid child." The system sighed. "Have you ever heard that the people in central India are more powerful than the people of North India or South India? Remember, height, or colour, or any such thing doesn''t tell you the strength of a person. The mana is equally distributed on the entire Pengo, but yeah, there are a few ces that have more mana gathered than the others, but those ces could be anywhere, North, East, South, West, Center. Anywhere. Am I clear?"

    "Yes," Kadyn nodded. "So what''s the name of the country we are currently in?"

    "Ceston Empire," the system replied. "Do notpare Ceston Empire to the Magic Association. The Emperor is a Rank 4 mage, and he isn''t just at the beginner level so don''t underestimate it. As for where you are at the moment ¡ª it is a small vige. It was your fortune that younded near this vige or you would have died a miserable death."

    "Ummm¡­ so how long did I sleep?" he asked after hearing the system.

    "A month."

    "A month¡­ ahhhhh!" Kadyn jolted by the system''s words and almost jumped off the bed, however, as soon as he sat on his butt the pain burst out of his ribs and he gave a miserable cry and fell on his back once more. His face was pale, twitching. His body convulsed in pain and the tears threatened toe out of his eyes. The pain. The agony.

    "Bang!"

    At this moment a door of the room sprang open and three people dashed inside the room. Kadyn peered in front of him and found that one of them was a middle-aged man with thick brows and muscr body and tall height; another was an old man with a hunched back and white beard and white hair. His face was full of wrinkles and he was grabbing his beard from time to time while staring at Kadyn. He walked at a slow but steady pace.

    At the very end was a young boy around the age of fourteen or fifteen. He was around 6''feet tall and had ck hair. He looked at Kadyn, eyes filled with curiosity.

    "You are awake, young man." The middle-aged man smiled gently as soon as he entered. Then suggested. "You should not try to move. Though Old Dem has treated you for an entire month your injuries are still critical."

    "I need water," Kadyn said. Only now did he realise that his throat waspletely dry. He wanted nothing but water at the moment.

    "Give him some water Little Waul," Old Dem said to the little boy behind him.

    As Kadyn drank the water Kadyn felt a euphoric feeling throughout his body. He felt as if all of his body cells had reawakened. After that Kadyn calmed down and his expression as well improved somewhat. Elora must be very worried. He thought. I have to contact them, but before that¡­ he nced at the people in the room.

    While Old Dem was checking his condition Kadyn also got to know the name of the middle-aged man. He was Roclus, the leader of the cton Vige; Little Waul was his only son and Old Den was the only Physician of the cton Vige. It seems they were hunting in the forest when they found him. His condition was critical so they took him into the vige for treatment.

    Kadyn heard the story and couldn''t help but feel grateful towards these kind people.

 Chapter 120 - Inside The Shop

    In therge hall a group of people sat and the atmosphere was gloomy; they seemed depressed. Elora looked at Barret and asked. "Uncle Barret do you think Brother is alright?" her eyes were red and swollen as she hadn''t slept for a long time. Her face as well was filled with fatigue and dark circles could be seen under her eyes. "It''s already been a month."

    Barret eyed Elora who had lost a few pounds in this period and sighed, but then forced himself to produce a smile and said. "I''m pretty sure that he is alright. After all, this shop is Kadyn''s artefact if something has happened to him the shop would have be ownerless and a huge change would ur at that time. However nothing like that happened."??

    He sighed. He had already told her the same statement many times. However, it never soothed her heart and always remained agitated. How could she calm herself when her brother''s status was unknown. How could she eat carefreely when she had no idea if her brother had anything at all.

    "Don''t worry sister Elora. I''m sure Kadyn would be alright. He is so powerful after all." Zelie also tried to cheer her up. She knew that Elora hadn''t slept for many days and the dark circles under her eyes were telling the entire story. If it was an ordinary person he/she would have already copsed a long time ago.

    "No matter what happens," Elora gritted her teeth in hatred, "I would never forgive those vampires. I would ughter them one by one."

    "Everything happened because of me," Cecilia, who had already recovered almostpletely, said from the side. "They were after me ¡ª if I had surrendered myself, nothing would have happened to Kadyn. I am the one to me."

    Elora heard Cecilia and her face softened because she was also a vampire and just now she dered that she would ughter all the vampires. That must have hurt her heart.

    "Cecilia don''t me yourself," Nefia held her friend''s hand,forting. "If it wasn''t for you they have already seeded in their sinister n. However, if you had submitted yourself to those vampires, wouldn''t Kadyn''s effort have been in vain?"

    Slyff was sitting beside her but didn''t interrupt. His mood also seemed off. Kadyn went to save Nefia because he loved her ¡ª at least, that''s what he thought ¡ª but now he had vanished and they were trapped inside the shop. Furthermore, no one knew how long they have to live trapped inside. No one wanted to be trapped. That feeling of suffocation was horrible.

    "Alright, everyone," Rayna arrived from the kitchen and pped her hands towards everyone," trying to improve everyone''s mood. "It''s time for breakfast. I''m sure Sir Kadyn woulde sooner orter, unscathed andpletely fine. But if he sees you in this condition he would definitely not gonna like it."

    Just as Rayna''sforting voice faded another voice echoed in the entire hall. "Indeed, I''m not happy at all. I''m really disappointed."

    Everyone froze on the spot as soon as the voice sounded in the hall. Then everyone''s eyes widened in shock and ecstasy, and a smile blossomed on Elora''s beautiful face and she asked hurriedly. "Bro-brother, is that you?"

    "It''s only been a month and you have already forgotten me, huh?" Kadyn chuckled. As they heard his voice the heavy atmosphere changed and a smile appeared on everyone''s face. Kadyn was fine, he was alright. Everyone felt grateful in their hearts. Even Dion wasn''t an exception.

    "Brother, why can we only hear your voice but not see you?" she asked when she found that Kadyn himself was missing and only his voice could be heard. She felt ufortable and a terrible feeling appeared inside her heart.

    "Ah, actually I just awoke from thea. Those vampires were too vicious, they wanted to know the whereabouts of Cecilia so they tortured me, breaking both of my arms and a few ribs¡­"

    "I''m going to ughter those bastards!" as soon as they heard everyone''s face burned with fury. Even weak Rayna and two small children Kove and Melvona clenched their fists tightly. How dare those demons hurt our big brother Kadyn? They thought, and the furious expression looked cute on their faces.

    "Ah, don''t worry about it," Kadyn said. "I will take care of them in the future. Right now, I''m still too injured and can''t even move from the bed and to enter the shop I need to take it out of my body, but right now, I can''t do that. But don''t worry; though I can''t enter the shop that doesn''t mean that you can''t exit either. So give me a healing potion a top grade healing potion."

    "Brother, let mee out and I will be able to heal you," Elora said hurriedly, eager to see him. He was injured and could not even stand after a whole month¡­ his condition must be pretty bad.

    "I''m already about to be a Rank 1 mage. I don''t think your healing spells would work on me that much and I won''t let you use that self-harming spell no matter what. Furthermore¡­. I don''t want to¡­ alert the vigers who saved my life," Kadyn''s voice sounded weird. But no one noticed it.

    "Hehe," at this moment, Rayna chuckled and said proudly while patting Elora''s back. "You underestimate your little sister too much. She has already be a Rank 1 mage." Though she felt happy for Elora she also felt a little envious in her heart. After all a corner of her heart also wanted to waft in glory, support herpanions and fight alongside them. s, she wasn''t destined to be a mage, never.

    "Whaaaa¡­. really?"Kadyn genuinely felt surprised. It''s just been over a month since she reached 10-star Elementary Rank and now she had already broken through to the Rank 1 magus. That was¡­ fast.

    "Alright, then you can heal me," Kadyn was really happy about his sister''s achievement, but then he asked. "What about the Mage Rune?"

    "Oh, that I haven''t started building yet. Uncle Barret said that he would let me build the same Mage Rune that he built¡­"

    "No, you definitely didn''t build that rune. Just wait for me to recover. At that time I will take you into the library where you can choose a rune that fits you the most."

    "There are Magic Runes inside the library?" Elora asked with a surprised voice. She had gone into the library quite a few times already but never seen the section about Magic Rune. Maybe I missed that section. The library is so big after all. She thought and didn''t think much about it.

    Other people inside the hall were also left stunned by Kadyn''s statement. Especially Cecillia, Hot Rod and Barret. They were Spell Casters and knew how precious Magic Rune could be. However, from Kadyn''s words they realise that he didn''t have just a single Magic Rune, but quite a few in number. This was truly shocking for them.

    The Magic Rune was the foundation of the magic, a real path to strong starts after building a magic rune. That''s why many people would never be able to be a genuine Rank 1 mage, as they could not build the rune.

    "Alright, then I will wait for my brother to recover," then she curled her lips. "Now, I can cast Life Fairy spell without harming myself. It is a piece of cake to heal you."

    At this moment a door appeared in front of everyone. "Enter this door and you will be able to exit the shop. Everyone doesn''t need toe out, Elora and Uncle Barret enter the door."

    Barret felt a little surprised when Kadyn called him uncle. Moreover there was respect in his tone like never before. Barret didn''t know that his and Hot Rod''s impression had improved quite a bit in Kadyn''s eyes when they fought and protected him with all their might.

    They showed no ill will and did everything to make Kadyn safe, earning his respect. As for Khrom, he was already like a brother in Kadyn''s eyes. So there was no need to say anything any further.

    Soon the duo appeared beside the bed on which Kadyn was lying. "Brother!"

    "Shhhh¡­ tone it down," Kadyn gestured to her in a low voice.

    Only then did Elora shut her mouth, but her tears started to fall when she saw his condition. His face was pale and his entire body was covered in strips. Heid on the bed helplessly, unable to move. She once more felt a burning desire to ughter those vicious vampires.

    At this moment Barret closed his eyes and spread his consciousness. A few secondster he opened his eyes and looked at Kadyn in confusion. "They are just low-level Elementary Mages. Then why¡­"

    "I will tell you in a moment, but before that, Elora heal me please. Uncle Barret don''t let the fluctuation caused by the spell go out of this room. Or it would expose you two."

 Chapter 121 - Conspiracy

    Barret sealed the wooden room so no fluctuations of Elora''s spell could go out and alert the vigers. Only then did the girl cast the spell. She closed her eyes and shouted. "Life Fairy: Rain of Healing!" Then a shadow emerged from behind her. However this time her body was far clearer than thest time when Elora healed those injured soldiers.

    Her beauty was iparable and her eyes were close. An elegant flower crown adorned her green, increasing her charming look even further and stunning green wings spread behind her back, that looked no different than the leaves. But the striking green light they emitted was enough to awe anyone present in the room.??

    At this moment the Life Fairy opened her charming blue eyes and stared at Elora and then waved her hand. As soon as she made this gesture the atmosphere of the room changed and green drops started to pour down from the ceiling ¡ª as the first drop fell on Kadyn''s body, afortable feeling spread throughout his body.

    His broken bones started to heal rapidly, making a cracking sound as they joined each other. Kadyn winced from time to time in pain but as the pain appeared the soothing sensation would follow, alleviating the agony, and that would make him moan in pleasure.

    The spellsted only half a minute but in this period his condition improved beyond words. Though he wasn''t in his top condition yet, he was almost healed ¡ª the shadow of the woman behind Elora as well vanished. But as soon as the shadow disappeared Elora''s body went limp and copsed on the ground.

    However, Barret took a step forward and supported her from behind. Her face was pale as the sheet of paper and her body was drenched in sweat but a slight smile hung on the corner of her mouth. Her body waspletely devoid of mana at the moment.

    Even after improving her strength by leaps and bounds, reaching the rank of Spell Casters (though she could only be considered half step into the Spell Caster Rank as she hadn''t started building her Magic Ruin yet) she still could cast this spell almost barely. Thankfully her condition was a lot better than thest time, and there didn''t seem to be any damage done to her body.

    Kadyn looked at her and asked. "Are you alright?"

    "It''s nothing," Elora smiled and stood straight, though her legs still shivered slightly. "It is just because I have used excessive mana, and would need to recover for a day or two," she looked at him and asked. "How about you?"

    Kadyn sighed in relief and smiled and took off the nket of his body and put his legs on the soil floor and stretched. "Hmmm¡­ soforting~ A pretty amazing spell. Though not enough to heal Rank 1 mage in a critical situation. It is still pretty good for an elementary spell to heal a Half Rank 1 mage."

    There was one more thing that Kadyn didn''t say: His body was almost already as strong as the Rank 1 mage due to his extra elements. Because whenever he assimted an element into the Blessing Pool, his body would be strengthened by the Blessing Element. Until now his body had been strengthened eight times as he had assimted 8 elements with the Blessing Pool.

    Kadyn moaned in pleasure as his body made a cracking sound at his every stretch. After that he walked towards Barret and murmured something in his ear. The man heard him and nodded; Elora was near him so she also heard what he said and a light shed in her eyes as she understood what he meant.

    "Alright, now you can go back," Kadyn waved his hand and said to them. "I''ll let you know when I need your help. Well, that is if I couldn''t handle the situation myself."

    As the two of them vanished with the door, Kadyn fell on his bed again and said. "Once you said that Healing Element could be evolved into something amazing. Were you referring to the Life Element?"

    "Oh, my my, how much effort did your small head put to reach that conclusion? No matter what, I''m impressed," a sarcastic voice spoke in his head.

    Kadyn gritted his teeth and had an urge to curse, but then sighed and said. "So what do I need to do to evolve her healing element?"

    "You can do nothing about it," the system replied. "It all depends on her."

    "At least give me a hint," Kadyn said.

    "Shoo~ shoo~"

    "..."

    Kadyn was furious and speechless at the same time. He couldn''t counter him with words. As he was immersed in deep thinking, he heard the sound of footsteps. He hurriedly put the nket over himself and made a miserable expression. As if his body was feeling so much agony that he could not bear it; he made his whole body jerk and twitch from time to time. I hope I''m not overacting. He thought

    "No, you are not," System replied. "I could still bear the overacting but what you are doing is beyond that so tone it down a bit."

    "Errr.. ok," Kadyn was embarrassed hearing such ament and started to act more normally.

    The door of the room opened and a Waul entered. He nced at Kadyn and smiled. "I''m here to bring your breakfast." He said and walked towards the table before cing a tray filled with fruits over it. "Do you need me to feed you or you can do it yourself?"

    "Ah, please, pass the tray to me. I can eat myself," Kadyn said. Who the fuck want to eat with your hands? Where is the beautiful fairy who is supposed to treat me and feed me like other protagonists?!

    Waul ced the tray over hisps. Kadyn nodded with a smile and started to eat slowly with his trembling hands and started to nibble on the fruits. He just hoped that Waul would not see through his terrible acting.

    After eating a few pieces of fruit Kadyn wiped his mouth with his sleeve and passed the tray again to Waul. "I''m full," he said. "Can you pass me the water?"

    After drinking water, Kadynid down and closed his eyes, appearing as if he had fallen asleep. Waul looked at him briefly and then walked out of the room with the fruit tray ¡ª as soon as the boy exited the room, Kadyn opened his eyes and sat on the bed. Then he flicked his hand and the door that led to the shop once more appeared ¡ª from which Slyff walked out.

    "Do you need any help, boss?" Slyff asked as he appeared inside the room. His heart was filled with gratitude towards Kadyn as he had saved while knowing the danger of going to the castle. His loyalty increased rapidly towards Kadyn and was already above 2o.

    "Yes, I need you to go out and investigate this vige. There is something off with these people. I want to know what that is. Can you do it?" asked Kadyn as he looked at Slyff.

    "Alright," the boy nodded.

    Then a window opened in front of Kadyn and he assigned the quest to Slyff ¡ª afterwards, Slyff tried to open the door of the room, but it was closed from outside. He shook his head and transformed into a bee.

    At the moment he wasn''t just a 6-star elementary mage, but he had already reached the 9-star. After all, previously he had received hundred energy points and with the help of those points he was able to improve his strength, and one month was more than enough to do that.

    As Slyff went out Kadyn checked his status window as well, and his eyes bulged out. "What the hell? Where did my thousand energy points go?"

    [Energy Points: 5907]

    "Previously I had about 7000!"

    "Did you think that teleporting with the shop was simr to teleporting alone, huh?" said System with an irritated tone.

    "You mean the cost of teleporting with the shop is 1000 energy points?" Kadyn asked with an agitated voice. "That''s insane!"

    "Humph, how could a brainless person know about the spectacles of such an amazing ability?" System defended. "With this ability, you can teleport as many people as you could enter inside the shop. You can escape with hundreds of thousands of people if the enemy is too powerful and the defensive formation of the shop doesn''t work in front of him, and you think the price of such a life-saving ability is insane! It is you who is insane, wanting to use such an amazing ability with the 1o energy points!"

    "..."

    Kadyn''s expression became weird when he heard the exnation. "Err¡­ so you mean I can teleport as many people as they can enter inside the shop?"

    "Exactly!"

    At this moment a bee entered the room and it transformed into a human form. Slyff eyed Kadyn and said. "Boss, you were right. Those bastards have no good intentions. They are nning something very vicious."

 Chapter 122 - Offring

    After sending Slyff, Kadyn continued his acting, appearing helpless in front of vigers. At noon they brought him some light food while Old Dem also came again to check his condition. They treated him so well ¡ª if he didn''t have his emotion detection ability they would have made him aplete fool as he detected no w in their behaviour just by looking. Almost perfect, and maybe, that was their only w. Being too perfect.

    In the noon he also showed them that he had recovered quite a bit of his strength and could almost stand on his feet and walked a few steps before falling back on his bed. Old Dem and the vige leader Roclus were somewhat shocked at the rate of his recovery, but then an ecstatic expression appeared on their faces. The duo exchanged nces and nodded with each other as ifmunicating something. Kadyn saw their behaviour but didn''t speak. He smiled and closed his eyes. ''Let''s see what you have in store for me.'' He curled his lips in a mocking smile.??

    When the night arrived he ate his dinner and fell on his bed, but as soon as the people exited his room, he opened his eyes and hurriedly brought a vial from under the pillow and poured it inside his mouth. "Never thought that they would have Hibernation Cudweed. Though they are weak, they have quite a few resources ¡ª if I hadn''t prepared the antidote beforehand for such a situation, I could have been in trouble this time. I can''t underestimate these people too much, just because there is no Spell Caster in the cton Vige.

    "Anyways, I need to find the main viin behind all this. ording to what Slyff said these people are just following someone else''s instruction. They kidnap people from the forest from time to time and send them to this mysterious person. However, that guy doesn''t like injured people. That''s why they healed me before taking me to that mysterious man or whatever it is."

    Kadyn closed his eyes and continued his act. After two hourster, around 10 o''clock in the night, the door of his room opened slowly with a creaking sound. Then the four to five people entered inside one by one. The room was dark, not even a candle was present at this moment, so the atmosphere appeared quite eerie.

    All of them walked continuously when an old voice said. "Don''t worry. I''ve given him a full dose of Hibernation Cudweed. Even Half Rank 1 mage wouldn''t know where he was for at least two hours, much less this boy who was already in such a terrible condition. Though after checking him I realised that he is at least a 7-star elementary mage, but so what? The Hibernation Cudweed is enough to knock down even Half Rank 1 mage for at least half an hour. What could this boy do?"

    "Old Dem is speaking the truth," another voice said. "I was the one who gave the food mixed with herbs to the boy and he ate it in front of me. There''s no way he''s awake. Furthermore, even if he was awake... hehe."

    Everyone in the group snickered when they heard him. Indeed, what could he do in front of absolute strength? That''s what they thought.

    "Alright, Vige Leader," the third voice said. "If what you are saying is true then I''m relieved."

    Kadyn''s eyes twitched inside the nket. He knew two of the three voices. They belonged to Old Dem and Roclus, but he had never heard the third voice. Though they seemed to be the people of the same vige as they talked like they knew each other pretty well. Their ent was also the same.

    "Refu and Hari, both of you bring our guest out," said the unfamiliar voice. The other two shadows that were standing behind the three of them said. "Yes, Elder Tandu," and walked towards Kadyn''s bed. Kadyn could hear everything but he could not see anyone or anything as his face was buried under the nket. Neither did he have the Spiritual Perception like Barret.

    He could only remain patient and wait for the correct time to strike back. He needed to find the one who was pulling strings from behind the scene. ''How dare he/she conspire against me?!''

    As the men carried him out of the wooden room, his face was still covered in a thick nket. Therefore, he couldn''t see anything. Though he could cast a spell of the psychic element to see those people, he was afraid that these people would be able to sense something off and be vignt and the man who was doing all this might escape from his grip. So he continued to endure. Waiting for the right time to strike.

    "Vige Leader!" as they exited the wooden house tens of voices sounded in unison. It appeared as if the entire vige had gathered outside the wooden house.

    "This month we don''t need to send anyone from our vige," said Roclus. "We were fortunate to capture this injured boyst month. Now we can save a life of our own for an extra month. No matter how evil it sounds, I will do anything that it takes to keep my people safe ¡ª I will take all the me for every evil."

    "Father, you aren''t doing anything wrong," Waul! Kadyn thought. "Everything you did, it was for the cton Vige, to protect our people. No one mes you!"

    "Humph, you are nothing but a bastard! Who said no one mes him?" a voice of a man grunted for not far away and a middle-aged man who was thin and looked almost malnourished walked out of the crowd, holding a long wooden stick in one hand from which he supported his weak body.

    "You father and son duo," he said, "don''t even feel embarrassed while speaking those words in front of everyone. Do you think we don''t know anything? It was your previous vige head who signed the contract with that Jinn for getting rich. However, we are the ones who are paying the price. How is this fair?! Why don''t you send your son and then go yourself to sacrifice?!"

    "Old Keo," said Roclus. "I know that you are feeling remorse because you lost your only sonst month, but you should know that whatever I did, it was for our vige ¡ª if I hadn''t sent your son to that demon, our vige would have been destroyed by him."

    "For our vige?!" shouted the man called Old Keo. "You think I''m stupid?! If that is the case then why don''t you send your own son to the Jinn, because it was your father who made a contract with him and promised to send a person every month to the Bamboo Cove! It should be you, repaying the debt, not us. Neither does anyone else. Nor that innocent boy you are going to sacrifice today!"

    "Humph, how could your son who had no talent in magicpared to me," Waul said. His expression turned wretched and a cruel smile was present on his face at the moment,pletely different from his innocent appearance that Kadyn sawst time.

    Though Kadyn didn''t see his expression, just those words were enough to tell what kind of person he and his father was, and even their predecessor seems to be an asshole. As the saying goes: a whore could not give birth to an emperor. Children often take after their parents. A perfect example was this father-son duo.

    "You fucking shit I curse you to die a horrible death at the Bamboo Cove!"

    "Puchi!"

    Suddenly someone threw a dagger towards Old Keo, before the man could react, his neck was slit open. The man made gurgling sounds and could not speak anything; the blood gushed out of his sliced windpipe and painted his hands and then his entire body. The poor man fell on the ground miserably and twitched for a minute before his body stopped any moment. Dead!

    "You piece of shit," Elder Tandu snorted and collected his dagger from the ground before wiping it over Old Keo''s body. "Ordinary people like you have no say in this world. I thought you knew about this matter. Who knew that you were eager to die and reunite with your son."

    Then he looked at the Roclus. "Vige Leader Roclus, Let''s go. I don''t want to upset Mr. Jinn for beingte."

    "Haha, sure sure," Roclus chuckled, "I hope that this boy will be able to satisfy Mr. Jinn." He rubbed his hands in anticipation. "If he is happy with our offering he might give us a new spell or a magic artefact."

    "Hehe, we have never offered a mage stronger than 5-star. I''m sure Mr. Jinn would be really pleased when he sees this boy. He is pretty strong mage after all." said Waul. "I wonder what we would get from Mr. Jinn, potion, artefact, precious herb?"

    "Whatever it is," Roclus said. "We would be able to know about it very soon. Let''s go."

 Chapter 123 - Battle!

    "Father, do you know how powerful is Mr. Jinn?" Waul asked out of curiosity as they exited cton''s gate and continued to walk towards their destination. The cold wind was howling and biting the skin of everyone while the fog had been obscuring the sight of these people.

    "No idea," Roclus replied. "However, I''m sure that he is a fabled Spell Caster ¡ª people like us could not afford to offend existence like him. We are just puny ants in his eyes."??

    "Spell Caster," Waul repeated and gulped his saliva, hearing his father''s words. In the entire cton there wasn''t even a single 9-star elementary mage. Roclus, who was the strongest person, was just at the 8-star elementary mage. So the concept of being a Spell Caster was too legendary and farfetched and like a fairytale to these people.

    As the group continued to walk, the density of trees started to increase and the shadows of trees seemed as if they were the ghost spirits. The cold wind blew and trees danced; the rustling sound at this moment appeared like theughter of a devil. Even though Kadyn was covered in a thick nket he still felt cold due to chilly weather.

    "I hate doing this in such cold weather," Elder Tandu grumbled as he rubbed his hands together, to warm himself up. His body was covered in a furry coat, but he still couldn''t help but curse when the chilly wind sted on his face, turning his ears and nose red.

    "Just endure it. Aren''t we also doing the same?" Roclus said irritatingly. He was also feeling ufortable in the forest in the middle of the night. Is it necessary to cry your pains in front of others? He thought.

    "I was saying," Elder Tandu said.

    No one spoke anything for about half an hour and they continued to walk just like that. The tree leaves crunched under their feet and the damp grass made a sloshy sound as they walked over it.

    "Sir, can we rest for some time, our hands are already numb due to the cold? I don''t think I would be able to carry him much before losing the grip," Refu said with a pitiful expression as he stared at the Elder Tandu, Roclus and Old Dem.

    "Brother Refu is speaking the truth; I''d also not be able to walk much longer before dropping this guy," Hari added when he saw that his brother had already spoken about their problem.

    Everyone in the group exchanged nces before Roclus said. "Alright, we will rest for about fifteen minutes before resuming our journey."

    "By the way, Old Dem, how long we need to walk? I have never gone to the Bamboo Cove. After all that is a forbidden area," Refu asked after cing Kadyn on the ground. Kadyn felt a cold and damp soil and weed underneath him; he wanted to curse these bastards for dumping him just like a rice bag, but he controlled the urge to do so. He would trample them one by one after capturing their Sir Jinn, hmph!

    "If my calction is correct," the old man said with his trembling voice. "We need to walk about ten kilometres more."

    "..." Refu.

    "..." Hari.

    The duo wanted to cry but no tears came out of their eyes; two brothers exchanged nces and a helpless look appeared on their faces.

    "Alright," Elder Tandu stood up after just ten minutes and said. "Fifteen minutes are already over."

    "What?" Refu and Hari looked at the man with bulging eyes. Are you kidding me? It''s not even been five minutes! Are you trying to show off just because of Roclus'' previousment? Nheless, when they saw the stern expression on Elder Tandu''s face they swallowed any dissatisfaction they were feeling at the moment. After all, not long ago this man had killed Old Keo without even batting an eye in front of hundreds of vigers. Would he hesitate to kill them in this silent and dark forest?

    The group continued to walk on the debris and cobbles, dead leaves and wood of the forest. Just like that, half an hour passed. The two poor boys who were carrying Kadyn were on the verge of crying ¡ª both of them were mages; if they were any ordinary people they would have already copsed. Although they haven''t awakened their five stars yet.

    Nheless what made them even more depressed was the speed of Old Dem. Though he appeared frail and week, with a hunched spine, and withering skin, he was pretty strong, because there was no sign of fatigue on his face until now and he was walking faster than anyone in their group ¡ª the forest looked eerie as the huge banyan trees started to appear one by one. Their long tentacles were falling from above like the tails of poisonous snakes. The deeper they went therger number of tentacles became.

    "It seems we''re pretty lucky; we haven''t encountered any magical beast till now," Waulmented, walking pleasantly and gracefully with his hands behind his back, examining his surroundings now and then.

    "Indee¡­ careful everyone!" just as Roclus was about to reply to his son, he shouted towards hispanions and punched towards Waul''s head. The boy saw his act and turned deathly pale in terror, all the gracefulness he was maintaining all this whilepletely shattered. As the punch covered in gauntlets neared his head, he closed his eyes and stood there with his wobbly legs.

    "Boom!"

    The hand collided with something, but it wasn''t his head; he felt something warm and sticky over his face. Therefore, he slowly opened his eyes and realised that his father was nowhere to be seen ¡ª when he turned around he spotted the man, he was punching here and there like a moron, but when he calmed a little and focused in the darkness of night, he realised that he was attacking tentacles of the banyan tree.

    "What are those tentacles?!" he shouted when he realised that something was amiss.

    "Those aren''t tentacles of these banyan trees, but magical beasts who disguised themselves in the banyan trees'' tentacles," Old Dem replied and swung his wooden stick and killed one of the beasts. "These are Tentacle Snakes. They mostly live on banyan trees and act like tentacles that''s why they got such a name."

    "Are they dan-dangerous?" he asked and his legs started to shake.

    "Not until they bit you," the old man replied and once more swung his staff, and a wind de discharged from it, cutting another snake in half.

    Refu and Hari had since long dumped Kadyn at the corner of a tree and were fighting with wooden sticks in their hands. Kadyn opened his eyes and looked at the scene in front of him. "Roclus is an 8-star earth elementary mage and he knows a 7-star spell that could harden his body as hard as a rock. Hmmm, no bad, not bad at all." Then his gaze fell on Old Dem and shook his head. "6-star elementary wind mage, but he knows just a single 5-star spell ¡ª wind de."

    On the other hand, Tandu was holding a blue coloured sword in his hand at the moment, slicing all the iing snakes with the weapon. "6-star water elementary mage. Though he also has just a 5-star water spell pattern, simr to the Old Dem ¡ª If all of them knew spell patterns equal to their magic ranks, they would be able to solve this problem after some struggle. However, right now¡­" he looked at the hundreds of snakes attacking their pitiful group and shook his head.

    After that his gaze fell on Waul who had copsed on the ground in terror. What a waste. He was already a 5-star mage, but due to fear he couldn''t even think straight and lost the will to fight.

    "No!" a shout came from the left side of Kadyn ¡ª Refu held Hari in his arms and roared in agony and pain. "I will ughter these bastards! I will not let a single of them live! Die die die!" he swung the wooden stick frantically, he had lost his mindpletely when he saw his brother''s lifeless open eyes and foaming from his mouth. His tears fell continuously as he fought but no matter how hard he tried, he could not defeat those snakes. His hands ached and it slowly started to be difficult to breathe. His body was losing strength with every attack.

    While Kadyn was observing the fight about three snakes reached him and tried to bite him. He snorted coldly and swung his hand, cutting all three of them in hundreds of pieces. Such low-level magical beasts weren''t anything in front of him.

    "We can''t fight with them; we need to escape from here," Roclus shouted when he started to lose his strength slowly.

    "You moron should have done it from the start. At least you have saved that Hari," Kadyn murmured and pulled the nket over himself once more, waiting for someone to carry him.

 Chapter 124 - Mr. Jinn

    "Father, I can''t move anymore," Waul said while taking deep breaths. After escaping the Tentacle Snakes, Roclus made him help Refu to carry Kadyn. However, just in half an hour, he started to beg for a rest. He waspletely exhausted and his entire body ached and his hands had turned blood red due to carrying Kadyn.

    "No, we can''t rest. It''s already 12 o''clock in the night, we need to reach the Bamboo Cove before 1 A. M." Roclus refused tly his son''s demand and continued to walk with a stern expression. "Just endure a bit more. The Bamboo Forest is just ahead of us ¡ª it won''t take long to reach our destination from here."??

    Waul gritted his teeth and continued to walk side by side with Refu. However, not even fifteen minutes passed he lost grip over Kadyn and the body fell on the ground with a thud sound.

    "Mother fucker, just you wait, I will make you pay for everything with interest," Kadyn winced and twitched inside the nket and cursed inside his head again and again, but controlled the urge to shout out loud.

    "I-I can''t move anymore," Waul fell on his butt and looked at his father pitifully. "I want to rest, father."

    "Useless!" Roclus grunted. Then he turned towards Elder Tandu. "We are already slow; we can''t afford to rest anymore. Help Refu to carry the boy."

    Elder Tandu grunted at his request but didn''t refuse. So the group once more started to move. "Fath-father¡­"

    "If you speak one more word, I will break your legs and leave you for the dinner of forest''s animals," Roclus red at his son and said with a cold face. He was very much disappointed in his son. He can''t evenpare with Refu who had yet to awaken his fifth star. "Move!" his anger red the more he thought about him.

    Waul flinched at his father''s shout and lowered his head; he clenched his fist in fury and followed behind them silently with aching legs.

    As the group went deeper and deeper the coldness increased, making their speed slow. Kadyn also felt the change, but he didn''t know what was going on outside. He just felt that the temperature decreased suddenly in this area.

    "We have entered into the Bamboo Forest," OId Dem''s voice. Kadyn thought. Then the old man continued. "The deeper we go, the colder it bes. Furthermore, it''s not because of the weather but the environment is always the same at this ce. Though I don''t the reason behind it."

    "Hmm, maybe it is the reason why Mr. Jinn is staying here," Roclus said after some contemting.

    "Maybe this is some kind of treasure," Waul said with an enthusiastic tone, even though his face was red from fatigue. "Maybe we would be able to steal it."

    "p!"

    A painful p echoed in the foggy and cold night. Waul was sent ten meters away by the impact of the p and blood dripped out of the corner of his mouth. He looked at his father with teary eyes and asked. "Why did you hit me, father?!" he appeared quite pitiful at this moment.

    "Why?" Roclus gritted his teeth in fury. He looked around with a tensed face and went on. "You are asking me why I pped you, you beast! How dare you covet something that belongs to Mr. Jinn. Even if you are my son I would kill you if you ever again thought about such a thing. Am I clear?!"

    "Ye-yes," Waul stammered and stood with his trembling legs. He no longer dared to speak any further. His face was pale while his face burned from the p, he rubbed his cheek, stared at his father with a vicious gaze that went unnoticed.

    "Hmph," Roclus snorted and continued to walk. The bamboos were standing long and tall and dense on all sides, covering them from above like a huge canvas. He looked at Refu who was on the verge of copsing and said. "Endure a bit more. We are about to reach our destination."

    The boy nodded in reply and bit his tongue and continued to carry Kadyn with everyone else. Afterpleting this mission he would go to those bastard beasts and ughter them one by one. How dare they kill my brother?! Furthermore, Hari''s body was still there; though Refu wanted to bury him before leaving, there was no time to carry a dead amidst that kind of rush when their own life was on a stack.

    Around ten minutester the group stopped. Everyone looked ahead of them with amazement. "Is this the Bamboo Cove?" asked Refu as he looked in front of him with wide eyes.

    "None other," Old Dem said with an excited expression. Then he turned towards Elder Tandu and Refu. "Put the boy down. Mr. Jinn woulde himself to take him. We just need to wait until then."

    As Kadyn''s body touched the ground he couldn''t help but shiver. It was too cold and moisturised. ''Where is that damn Mr. Jinn?'' When everyone was a little distracted, Kadyn opened his face, enough to see around him. However, he failed to find this Mr. Jinn.

    On the contrary, there was a hugeke in front of him, spreading in a radius of a few miles(just spection). The fog was covering the view while the night was dark, so Kadyn couldn''t see too far. Furthermore, he didn''t want to alert these people so he remained in a single position, not daring to move. Not daring to make a sound.

    Just like that half an hour passed, it was around 12: 43 A. M at this moment. Suddenly a sshing sound came from the distance. Everyone looked and realised that the sound hade from theke. However, due to the fog, they failed to see anything or anyone who made that sound. Kadyn also peered into the distance with an eager expression. He could feel a powerful aura rushing in their direction.

    "Is it some kind of magical beast?" asked Elder Tandu.

    "I don''t know," Roclus shook his head.

    "Don''t worry," Old Dem said, staring into the dense fog with a deep gaze and an excited look appeared on his face. It wasn''t his first timeing here. So he knew a lot more than the others. "No magical beast could live here without the permission of Mr. Jinn.... errr."

    He was only halfway through when the words stuck in his throat. He looked in front of him and his eyes almost bulged out of their sockets ¡ª a huge head appeared from the fog, two red eyes glittered over its head. The beast had a long head that was somewhat t from above and it was flicking its tongue. Snake! It was a huge, colossal snake! Only a part of its body came out of theke while the other was hidden inside.

    "Not bad, not bad at all," a voice came from the snake. "I never thought that you would give me such a pleasant surprise."

    Everyone was stunned when they heard the voice. However, when they focused their gazes at the top of the head of the beast, they realised that someone was sitting at the top. He looked human, but he was not. His body waspletely blue and two horns jutted above his head. His eyes were red like two gems and when heughed, yellow teeth came into view and he wasn''t wearing anything above his waist, while he stood at the snake with bare feet.

    As soon as everyone saw him they hurriedly kowtowed in submission, rubbing their heads on the ground as if a devotee had seen his god. However he didn''t pay any attention to those people, his gaze was fixed on Kadyn ¡ª who had closed his eyes and was acting unconscious with all his effort ¡ª and said with a mocking voice. "Aren''t you going to bow down to this lord, boy? You can''t pretend to sleep in front of me."

    Kadyn''s heart skipped a beat. He cursed. He didn''t know that this creature was powerful enough to tell if he was sleeping or not. Roclus and Old Dem and others were also shocked hearing his words. They wanted to turn and check Kadyn but no one dared to move from their positions, still pressing their heads on the ground.

    Kadyn sighed and stood up before gazing at the blue creature into his red eyes. As he looked at the Jinn, the other party also examined him with extreme curiosity. "Half step Rank 1 mage. Not bad. This gift is pretty decent. I will reward you heftly this time."

    At first Roclus and others were left stunned when they heard Jinn''s words ¡ª Half Rank 1 mage¡ª but then an ecstatic look appeared on their faces and again kowtowed gratefully.

    Kadyn looked at the Jinn and said with a smile. "You seem pretty confident. Don''t you find it peculiar that these people were able to take me here?"

    "Hehe, no matter what is the reason behind your action. Now you are here, it doesn''t matter. You are mine now!" Jinnughed confidently.

 Chapter 125 - Injured?

    "Hehe, really?" Kadyn looked at the human-like creature at the top of the beast and sneered. "Do you think, just because you are stronger than me, you will be able to crush me whenever you want?"

    "So what if I think like that?" Jinn said with a disdainful expression. "You are weak, just like an ant in my eyes so obediently submit to me."??

    "What if I refuse?" Kadyn peered at him, not showing any hint of apprehension over his face. Jinn narrowed his eyes and a cold expression appeared on his face. "It seems you don''t realise the situation you are in at the moment. Then let me show you."

    He waved his hand and the water of theke started to float in the air, in just a few blinks it turned into a huge wave, floating in the sky like a waving ghost in the darkness of night. Old Dem and others saw such a scene and turned pale. Mr. Jinn is really capable of doing anything. They thought and a worshipful expression appeared on their faces.

    "Are you blind, boy?" Waul shouted at Kadyn. "Mr. Jinn is giving you a chance to serve him, even dying for him would be a blessing for your pitiful life, but you refused. Bow down and Mr. Jinn might forgive you for your rudeness!"

    "Yes, how dare you refuse Mr. Jinn''s kindness!" Refu alsomented from the side.

    "Really, the newborn calf doesn''t know the terror of the tiger," Elder Tandu also shook his head. He sighed as if feeling sad for Kadyn.

    The huge snake stared at Kadyn with its red beady eyes and hissed, flicking its thin poisonous tongue towards him, daring Kadyn to speak nonsense.

    Kadyn didn''t pay anything to those minor characters and looked at the colossal wave behind the blue creature at the top of the beast. Then he folded his hands in front of his chest, curling his lips in disdain."I would also like to see how powerful this water wave really is. Comee, hit me."

    "Fuck!" almost everyone at the scene cursed out loud when they heard his provocative tone. Because if Jinn attacked with that huge wave, not only Kadyn, even they would be submerged into the water. They might even lose their lives due to that attack. How could they remain calm in this kind of situation?

    Jinn looked at Kadyn and chuckled. "Well, I wanted to wait for some time to devour your soul. Who would have thought that you were so eager to die." He red at Kadyn as he said. "I will make you beg for mercy in a moment. All that arrogance on your face needs instant treatment, after all."

    As everyone thought that the wave of water woulde and devour them ¡ª the water calmed down, sshing into theke. The Jinn, however, wasn''t standing at the head of the beast anymore, but in the air. Blue wings had been spreading behind his back, as he stared down at Kadyn like a king looking down at his subordinate.

    Then he spread his hand towards Kadyn and an illusory hand ¡ª that looked as if it was made of water ¡ª stretched towards Kadyn, like a w of a devil in someone''s nightmare.

    "What the¡­" Kadyn saw it and tried to dodge the attack. However, he realised that he could not move. He stared at the iing attack and shook his head with a helpless smile. "It looks like I still need to ask for help," he muttered.

    As soon as he thought about it, the door appeared from behind and a shadow dashed out from within, colliding head-on with the iing attack. The illusory hand was shattered, scattering into millions of water particles,in an instant, while the Jinn in the air was pushed hundreds of meters away. The blood dripped out from his mouth and appeared at the corner of his lips. However before anyone could see it, he licked it with his tongue.

    "Who are you?" after stabilizing himself, Jinn looked at the new figure standing beside Kadyn and asked furiously. "How dare you try to foil my business?! Do you know the consequences?!"

    Cecilia didn''t even spare a nce at the shouting Jinn. She turned towards Kadyn and asked with a concerned tone. "Are you alright? Are you hurt?"

    "Oh my, it feels good when a beauty is worrying about you, doesn''t it?" Kadyn smirked as soon as she asked and winked at her.

    "Wh-what nonsense are you talking about?" Cecilia turned red hearing his teasing words and looked away due to embarrassment. Her heart started to beat faster. It was the first time someone said those words to her. Even though she was powerful, she was still a young girl. Kadyn saw her reaction and didn''t push his luck, it wouldn''t be good if a misunderstanding appearedter in between them.

    "How dare you ignore me, bitch?!" Jinn shouted and sharp icicles started to form all around him. He red at the two of them and said. "Die!"

    "Hmph, a petty trick, and you still want to kill me with that!" Cecilia snorted, her face was filled with disdain when she spoke those words. She waved her hand and all around her hundreds of dark, sharp spears formed, then she pointed towards those iing icicles and spears dashed towards them.

    When the two spells met with each other a huge trimmer filled the entire area. Roclus and others werepletely pale, trembling in terror, and were trying to hide behind the boulder, to preserve their pathetic lives. They never thought that the boy they took with them had such a strongpanion. Furthermore, they had no idea where she hade from. Was she always with them? A simple thought was enough to make them shiver and turn their hearts cold.

    As the dirt settled, the scene became clear. Cecilia was still standing beside Kadyn, her hands were on her round beautiful butt, looking into the distance with a slight smile ¡ª while Jinn was nowhere to be seen in the sky when Kadyn searched, he found him, lying on the ground. He seemed miserable, covered in dirt, clothes tattered, and coughing blood nonstop.

    "Huh?" Kadyn was surprised when he saw him in that kind of situation because he didn''t think that attack was enough to deal with him. He was after all Rank 2 mage. How could he be defeated so easily? No matter how impressive Cecilia was, he would never believe that she could defeat Rank 2 mage just like that.

    Cecilia saw his surprised expression and exined. "It''s not as impressive as you think. I could get an upper hand because he was already injured. Furthermore, his injuries aren''t physical, but his soul was injured by someone. However, to defeat this guy would take more than just that attack. We still have a lot of work to do."

    "Injured?" Kadyn looked at Jinn who had already stood and seemed to understand something. "So that''s why he needed other people. He was devouring their souls to heal himself all this time."

    "Exactly," Cecilia nodded. "Due to his injuries, or maybe, due to the fear of his enemies he dared not to leave this ce. Therefore he conned these vigers to send him other people from time to time. Though the speed of his recovery would be slow with such a method, it was safe."

    "How dare you?!" Jinn shouted, as soon as he calmed. "How dare you injure me?!"

    As he shouted he looked at the Roclus and his group who were not too far away from him and extended his hand towards them. Once more the same illusory w formed and went towards them.

    "No good," Kadyn said, Cecilia was also caught unprepared, and couldn''t react in time. Jinn grabbed Roclus and Elder Tandu and others and crushed their heads into a bloody pulp. They couldn''t even beg or scream for mercy, dying a miserable death.Jinn didn''t waste his time and sucked their souls into his body.

    He looked at Kadyn and Cecilia with his red eyes and said. "Though it is not enough to heal me, it is enough to fuel me for a time being. Enough to ughter you! You dare to interfere in my matter. Now you have to pay for that!"

    "Humph, even if you were in your top condition, you would not be able to kill me, much less now," Cecilia said and stood in front of Kadyn. ``It is you, who will pay the price for doing so much evil, devouring the souls of innocents."

    "We will see," he sneered and attacked her together with the giant snake. Kadyn didn''t waste any more time and summoned others as well. Barret and Hot Rod and Khrom appeared beside him while Elora also appeared at his side. The group surrounded the beast and Jinn and the heated battle began.

    Kadyn looked at his sister and smiled. "Stay with me, strike at the right time, alright?"

 Chapter 126 - Wound Rupture!

    Khrom and Hot Rod went after the magic beast while Barret and Cecilia attacked Jinn. Kadyn stood far away from the battle with Elora, staring at the fight keenly. He was waiting for the right time to act.

    Cecilia was like a shadow at the moment, her speed was unbelievable and her attacking spells were fatal, sharp and deadly. She had already cast her Cloning Spell, which increased her fighting power even more, attacking Jinn from every side and every angle possible with her two clones.??

    Barret was using his earth element and the sword artefact to fight the blue creature. However, Jinn wasn''t so easy to deal with. His defences were solid ¡ª whenever Cecilia or Barrett attacked him, he would form a defensiveyer of water in front of him, deflecting or blocking their attacks.

    Not far away Khrom and Hot Rod were also fighting tooth and nail with the beast. Though they had the upper hand, it seemed that the battle wouldn''t end anytime soon. Khrom''s attacks were sharp and lethal while Hot Rod''s spells were destructive. They continued to push the magical beast back; however, it seemed the defence of the beast was stronger than they expected. Their attacknded on its thick skin, but they couldn''t wound the beast critically.

    Khrom was pale. After all he was just a 10-star elementary mage. Fighting with a Rank 1 magical beast was no joke. Hot Rod saw that the situation wasn''t looking good for Khrom and it wouldn''t take long before the beast would have an upper hand over them so he increased the intensity of his attack. He looked towards Barret and Cecilia.

    Their battle was in a deadlock. Neither party had the upper hand. It shocked everyone because not long ago, a single attack had injured Jinn to the point of vomiting blood, but now he was holding against Cecilia and Barret together. What is going on?Could devouring a few souls give someone as much strength as Jinn? They didn''t believe it.

    Hot Rod gritted his teeth and thought. ''I need to end this battle as soon as possible.'' The longer the battle they dragged the more energy they would lose.

    "Sunfire Torrent!" Hot Rod stood up and shouted and a huge sun started to form in the sky, lightning the entire dark Bamboo Cove. The burning heat spread in all directions, while zing light blinded everyone. Hot Rodughed and roared. "Die, you beast!"

    The sun was closest to the snake so it felt how terrible the heat actually was. However, it had no way to dodge it ¡ª when the sun bloomed with all in its glory it fell over the snake. As soon as the sun touched its skin it faded.The snake struggled and hissed and twitched but to avail. It fumbled its tail this way and that, forming a huge crater in the ground. In just a blink of an eye, it started to look like a barbecued chicken. However, the burning smell wasn''t so pleasant to smell.

    It took five minutes for the snake to calm down. Hot Rod had lost all of his strength and was lying on the ground limply with a pale face and drenched in sweat. His entire body was numb and his head was throbbing with pain. He had used too much mana in that spell. His most powerful spell.

    He stared at the snake, murmuring. "Is it dead?"

    Khrom also thought that the snake was dead, however, to their horror, the beast twitched and stood on its tail. It looked at Hot Rod with its red beady eyes and dashed towards him with a furious hiss and opened its mouth to gulp this bastard down its throat who tormented him so much.

    Despair filled Hot Rod''s face when he saw this scene. "Am I going to die?" he murmured. The beast was still a few meters away, but he had no strength to run, so he waited for his end. However, at this moment a shadow shed in front of him, standing with a proud posture, facing the beast with a single sword in its hand.

    "What are you doing?" Hot Rod panicked when he saw who he was. "You are no match for this snake. Get out of here, now!"

    "You know before bing Kadyn''s employee I signed the contract," Khrom didn''t look at him and continued to stand in front of him. "There was a point that you can''t abandon yourrades in times of crisis. Though you aren''t the employee of the shop, you are myrade and friend. We fought together; we worked together, and we even ate together. How can I leave you here to die? I would prefer to die fighting, instead."

    Hot Rod didn''t know what to say when he saw such a determined stance of Khrom. He felt touched and ashamed at the same time. Though he had joined them for a long time, and he wanted to build his rtionship with Kadyn, it was only because he knew that Kadyn could give him many benefits. He thought that he would have a glorious future if he followed him. He didn''t have much sense of belonging to the shop. However, at this moment his thinking changed. He changed.

    Hot Rod struggled and stood beside Khrom. He looked at the huge shadow that had appeared almost in front of them and stared at it without a trace of fear in his eyes. "If I''m going to die, then so be it. However, I won''t die like a dog!" he shouted as he clutched the handle of the sword.However, no matter how courageous someone was, without strength he could do nothing. Hot Rod tried to sh towards the beast, but due to weakness, the sword fell from his hands.

    He looked at his trembling hands and shook his head. But then he again turned towards the beast and punched towards with all his might. Khrom also attacked with the sword. Though he knew that he wasn''t a snake''s match ¡ª not after exhausted himself to the point of copsing ¡ª he didn''t back down, even if he was going to die, he would make this beast pay a hefty price. But just as they thought that their end hade a shout reverberated. "Now!"

    Soon after the first shout, another voice came. "Wound Rupture!"

    As soon as the shout echoed, the green light covered the snake, freezing it on the spot. Then in front of the shocked eyes of Khrom and Hot Rod it fell on the ground and started to twitch and twist as if it was in horrible pain and agony.

    Afterwards, the disgusting bubbles appeared on the snake''s body as someone was boiling it inside the water. The bubbles were made of blood. Not long after that the cracks formed on its thick surface. The blood pooled out of its body and puddled on the ground, forming arge pool below its colossal body.

    And after some struggle it became silent. Dead.

    "The heck has happened?" Khrom looked at the frame of the beast in trepidation and exchanged terrified nces with Hot Rod. Then the duo remembered two shouts before it all happened and turned around in that direction in disbelief. Elora was standing beside Kadyn with a frozen expression, covering her mouth with her right hand, while Kadyn had a smile on his face.

    "Boss, was that your doing?" Khrom asked with an excited expression. "That was fuc-uh, I mean it was awesome!" he controlled his surging emotions when he saw Elora standing near Kadyn andughed awkwardly

    "Nope." Kadyn shook his head. "It wasn''t me."

    "Then?" Hot Rod looked at him with confusion. Other than Kadyn no one could help them because Barret and Cecilia were still fighting with Jinn. Furthermore, the spell that killed the beast was kind of weird. They had never seen or heard about it before.

    However, it reminded them about the Necromancers. The same mages who controlled the dead and spirits of the dead. They were terrible people, even talking about them was a huge taboo in the Magic Association. Just thinking about them made Hot Rod''s heart tremble in terror.

    "Oh, it was Elora who killed that beast," Kadyn patted Elora''s head gently and said. "She is super powerful, you know. However, it''s just that no one knows the correct use of Healing Element. Very few people would be able to match her when she had full control over her element."

    Khrom and Hot Rod looked at Elora with disbelief. How could this be? Weren''t healing mages nonbative type? Auxiliary type? How could Elora kill a beast who was 1 rank above her? (actually about half a rank above her if you talk technically) Kadyn could kill a Rank 1 mage was one thing. But now, even Elora. Hot Rod felt as if he had wasted his entire life.

    Not only Khrom and Hot Rod were in disbelief, even Elora was left stunned when she killed the Rank 1 magical beast. She thought that she could at most hinder the beast for some time and give a chance to escape to Khrom and Hot Rod. This¡­ this¡­

 Chapter 127 - Elemental Essence

    "You three wait here," Kadyn said to Elora and Hot Rod and Khrom as he stared into the distance.

    "What do you mean we should wait here?" Elora collected her messy thoughts and asked. "Shouldn''t we go help Cecilia and Uncle Barret?"??

    "We can still fight," Hot Rod and Khrom said, however, their faces werepletely pale and it seemed that they would pass out at any moment and their entire body was trembling due to the effort they were putting in standing. Their bodies were covered in blood and bruises; they looked quite miserable.

    Kadyn rolled his eyes at them as he saw their condition and said. "Don''t try to push yourself too hard. It won''t be good for your future. Smart people should know when to fight and when to give up. Your time of fighting has passed. Now it''s my turn so just wait here and watch the show."

    Then he looked at Elora. "Your spell worked because that snake was heavily injured by Hot Rod''s spell and became weak to the point that it could not fight your spell. However, Rank 2 mage isn''t something you can deal with ¡ª even if he was heavily injured ¡ª the Wound Rupture won''t work on him. The difference in 2 ranks is no joke."

    Elora looked down at her feet and clenched her fist. Kadyn patted her head gently andforted her. "Don''t be too hard on yourself. Everything needs to be done in order, don''t rush to gain power, or it would only harm you."

    After that he turned towards the ongoing battle and walked towards it, leaving a sentence behind. "Don''t worry, there wille a day when our enemies will shiver at your name, and evil will tremble in terror."

    Elora looked at his wide shoulders and a warmth appeared in her heart. Kadyn''s words sounded boastful, however, she didn''t doubt them ¡ª she had seen him growing from stupid trash to what he was today, she had seen, how the boy who could even awaken a single star, reaching at the peak of Elementary mage in such a short time. She clenched her fist stared at the battle in the distance.

    Jinn had killed one of Cecilia''s clones while the other was heavily injured. Barret was covered in sweat and blood and was attacking with all his might, trying to support Cecilia as much as he could. However his power wasn''t enough to deal with Jinn.

    Although their group''s condition wasn''t looking good, Jinn wasn''t doing any better. He was covered in wounds and blood dripped out of the deep cuts on his body. However his water spells were quite lethal and strong, every single of his attacks pushed Cecilia and Barret back step by step.

    Cecilia looked at Barret and said with a grave tone. "I think this guy is using some kind of external source. Maybe a powerful treasure. Otherwise, he won''t be able tost this long against us with his injuries."

    "What should we do?" asked Barret as he shed the water shield in front of him. "His defence is so strong and his attacks are powerful. We can''t drag it for a long time or our condition would be worse every passing minute."

    "Haha, you want to defeat me?" Jinnughed mockingly, as he pped his blue wings behind his back. "It is you who will die in my hands. Although this fight would worsen my injuries it doesn''t matter if I can devour your souls. With your powerful souls, I would be able to heal 80-90% of my soul."

    "Hmph, we will see," Cecilia snorted and the red light shed inside her pupils. The remaining clone went back to her and merged into her body. Then two sharp fangs grew out of her mouth and ckrge wings spread behind her back. She flipped her bat-like wings and stood in the air, looking at Jinn with deathly cold eyes.

    "So you are a vampire, huh?" Jinn said in surprise. "No wonder you are so good at using the Dark Element. Why don''t you be my mistress, I would make you feel real good. How about it?"

    "Just for that statement, I will let you die miserably," Cecilia said and darkness started to appear all over her body, covering her. Then a huge shadow of a bat emerged behind her back.

    The bat was strange; other than blood-red eyes, its entire body was the embodiment of the darkness, it felt as if it was engulfed in ck fire but that was no fire. That was sheer darkness. The darkness that could devour anyone and anything. The bat pped its wings in the air and then dived into Cecilia''s body, merging with her.

    "Element Essence! You have such a thing?!" Jinn asked in shock when he saw a shadow behind her back. Even he felt a little fearful looking at that dark creature. However, he disregarded it and shoved that passing thought at the corner of his heart. How could he feel fear from the Element Essence? That must be my imagination. He thought.

    "Are you ready to die?" Cecilia asked with a deadpan expression, but inside her eyes something was brewing. Something terrifying was eager to burst out of her body and devour all the creation of the world.

    Jinn gritted his teeth when he heard her provoking words and peered at her. "Don''t be so cocky. I will make you moan under me no matter what. Do you think you are the only one with an Element Essence?"

    Suddenly a blue light burst out from behind Jinn''s back and a huge shadow emerged. Python! It was covered in blue scales and had green eyes and it was flicking its tongue in and out ¡ª then it dived into Jinn''s body bing one with him.

    "So that''s why even with your terrible injuries you were able to fight so long, huh?" Cecilia said as she stared at him nonchntly.

    Jinn looked at Cecilia andughed out loud as he had already achieved the victory. "Did you see my Water Python Element Essence?" he paused as if trying to find the despair on her face. However, there was no fear in her eyes. Her gaze waspletely different from before. She appeared as if she was looking at an insignificant ant.

    Jinn saw her gaze and rage-filled his heart. "Hmph, do you know the Rank of my Element Essence? It is not Rank 1 like your crappy bat, but Rank 2. I found it below thiske, or why would I stay here for such a long time? I have only refined it about 50 per cent, and it could enhance¡­ hehe, anyways, it is enough to handle a few of you."

    "You talk too much," at this time when he was trying to show off his awesomeness, a voice came from behind him, catching him off guard. Jinn cursed for his negligence and tried to dodge the attack. However, he failed to react in time.

    The sword had prated his back and pierced out of his chest. He coughed out a mouthful of blood and mmed on the ground with a grunt. He struggled to turn around and spotted the attacker''s face. "You¡­ how did you get behind my back?"

    "You don''t have a qualification to know," Kadyn sneered at him with a mocking expression.

    Though Jinn didn''t know how Kadyn got behind his back, others had seen the entire process clearly. "How many elements does this boss really have?" Khrom felt d and depressed at the same time. Fire, Space, Summoning and who knows how many more elements he could use. Just now he had used the Space element to get behind Jinn''s back when his guards were down. Khrom sighed deeply and shook his head.

    "Brother is so powerful!" Elora jumped with ecstasy when she saw Kadyn injuring Jinn severely.

    "s, my weak heart," Hot Rod sighed as he looked at the scene in front of him. Elora and Khrom rolled their eyes at him when they saw his exaggerated expression. But no onemented.

    As everyone was focused on Kadyn, no one noticed the strange insanity that appeared inside Cecilia''s pupils, drops of blood appeared at the corner of her eyes. However at this moment, she closed her eyes and when she opened them, they had be normal once again. She took a deep sigh and felt d that Kadyn could help in time, or he would have paid a hefty price to defeat Jinn.

    Kadyn didn''t waste his time in showing off and attacked immediately after his first sessful strike. However this time Jinn was ready and blocked his attack. Kadyn hurriedly took a few steps back and looked towards Cecilia. "Well, I don''t think I would be able to do anything to him anymore. He''s yours to deal with. I got to go."

    Kadyn said and dashed away from the battlefield, he knew his limits, so he didn''t want to act tough just because of the sake of showing off. Therefore as soon as he realised that he could not help them anymore, he ran away. Jinn tried to attack him, but Cecilia appeared in between him and Kadyn, giving him no chance to attack Kadyn.

    After that she vanished and appeared in front of Jinn, scaring him out of his wits, as he could not react in time due to his injuries and with just a simple swing of her, she grabbed by his neck. Jinn struggled but she didn''t let go.

    "You lost," she said as she red at Jinn, "now, handover the Element Essence or I would extract it by myself. Choose whichever method you prefer. First or second?"

 Chapter 128 - Father!

    "Dream on¡­"

    Cecilia didn''t waste her time on any further bickering and dug her hand into his chest, grabbing his heart, twisting in her hand, making him scream and twitch and curse. However there was no sympathy on her face. She had seen too much bloodshed in her life, she was a vampire after all.??

    Cecilia stared at his pale and horror-filled eyes and sweat-covered face and said with an emotionless expression. "Well, I gave you a chance, you can''t me me for being merciless. Now you can die resentfully or peacefully, your choice, no one cares!" as she said the heart in her hand burst into a bloody pulp.

    "Pfff!"

    Jinn''s eyes widened in sheer terror and he vomited a mouthful of blood, but not a single drop fell on Cecilia. She snorted and threw the body on the ground as if it was no living being, but some kind of trash.

    However, just as the body fell on the ground, a blue light shone on Jinn''s body and a python that appeared to be made of water emerged. But as soon as it came out of his body, the python dashed into the distance, trying to escape this demoness who had literally butchered its master.

    "Hmph, do you think it''s so easy to escape my grasp?" Ceciliaughed and vanished from where she was standing ¡ª and when she appeared she was already standing in front of the Elemental Essence.

    The python hissed and the water burst out of its mouth, trying to submerge the girl in front of her into its attack. Kadyn saw this and shook his head. Indeed it was just an elemental essence without much intelligence. Anyone could tell that its attacks had no strength in them. Without Jinn it had be a sword without an owner. No matter how sharp a sword was, it could not battle on its own.

    "Even your owner wasn''t able to do anything to me. Do you think a mere Elemental Essence like you can fight with me?" Cecilia said as he waved her hand in its direction. "Be suppressed!"

    The water attack vanished with just a simple wave of her hand.

    Suddenly the space twisted around the Elemental Essence and the dark ropes formed, restraining the snake''s movement in an instant. The Elemental Essence twisted and turned its long frame and hissed and tried to break free, but to no avail. Every struggle it made turned out to be futile in front of the restraining of the ropes.

    Cecilia appeared in front of the snake and attacked it viciously on its head. In an instant, the snake disintegrated and transformed into a single drop of water. Cecilia grabbed the water drop and then took out a vial before putting it inside and then turned to look towards everyone else. "I think the matter has settled here. What should we do next?"

    "Uhh," Kadyn was speechless by this girl''s manner. She changed her demeanour as some changed clothes. One minute she could be a grumbling maidservant, and then a ferocious vampire. She could cover the ground in a pool of blood, but she could also be a graceful maiden.

    When Kadyn first met her, she was following behind Nefia like an obedient servant. He never thought that she was such a powerful vampire, such a terrible mage. He looked at her right hand that was covered in blood and sucked in a cold breath. Then his gaze fell upon the vial in her left hand and asked. "Is that the Elemental Essence?"

    Cecilia looked at the vial and nodded and then threw it at Kadyn. "This is useless to me as I have the dark element. Do whatever you want with it. Use it if you can or give it to someone else if you can''t."

    Kadyn saw the vial in the air and his heart almost leapt out of his throat, but then he remembered that the Elemental Essence wasn''t a fragile thing that would die after falling on the ground and his heart rxed a bit. He caught it gently and nced at the swinging water drop inside. "Is it safe to put it inside just a normal vial?" he asked after taking a long breath.

    "Of course not," Cecilia said. "It is in a weak state at the moment, but slowly it would regain its strength and break free from that vial. You better find a way to restrain it in the meantime."

    "Oh," Kadyn nodded. "Well, if it''s just about restraining, it''s pretty easy." Not even Rank 3 mage would be able to walk out of his shop if Kadyn wanted him to stay. Controlling this water essence wouldn''t be hard for Kadyn as long as he was inside the shop.

    As he thought about it, he flipped his hand and arge building emerged in front of everyone. Under the dark sky and in between the towering bamboos. Kadyn looked at them and said. "Let''s go. We will stay here tonight and go to the nearest city in the morning. It must have been quite frustrating for all of you to live in the shop for a month without knowing anything outside."

    "s, just don''t remind me about it," Elora said from the side, her voice sounded quite depressed. Others also couldn''t help butugh bitterly when they remembered how frustrating the previous month was for them. They felt weak and useless when they couldn''t help Kadyn.

    Kadyn smiled and didn''t talk about it. He looked at the grand entrance of the shop and said, "Let''s go." He was the first to enter and others followed from behind him.

    As Kadyn entered the shop he focused on the vial in his hand and the status window appeared in front of him.

    [Name: Water Python]

    [Rank: 2]

    [Element: Water]

    [Effects: It can enhance the strength of the water spells by 50%]

    [Price: 500 energy points]

    Kadyn eyed the screen and his eyes widened in shock and ecstasy. The value of this Elemental Essence was really high. 500 energy points. Kadyn needed to work day and night for a few days before he could brew potions worth that much energy points.

    However after giving some thought Kadyn understood why that was.

    Although many powerful potions could increase the strength of mages, that was only for a short period. Furthermore, after the effect of some potions runs out, the mages would feel weak for a limited period. That could be fatal and life-threatening if their enemy was able to find them in their period of weakness.

    However, there was no such thing with the Elemental Essence. It would increase the strength of a mage by 50% for all the time and there won''t be any cooldown period either. Now when Kadyn thought about it he realised that 500 energy points were quite low for such a marvellous treasure.

    Anyways he had no thought of selling it, for the time being, he will think about itter.

    "Father and big brother Kadyn have returned!" an innocent voice sounded. Kadyn looked towards the source and his face clouded with confusion. Because the owner of the voice was Kove. Father? What does he mean by this?

    Before Kadyn could wrap his head around it, Kove dashed towards them and jumped at Khrom like an agile rabbit. "Father, you have returned." He said affectionately to Khrom and giggled pleasantly.

    Kadyn saw this scene and his jaw almost touched the ground in shock. Holy shit! He had already seen a few clues before that something was going on between Rayna and Khrom. However, he never envisioned that in this short period of a month they would be husband and wife.

    Then he remembered something and looked at Kove. "Hey brat, why are you calling me brother while father to Khrom. Call me uncle. You are ruining the seniority order here. Uncle. You get it?"

    "Alright, big brother Kadyn.''

    "..."

    Kadyn looked at that innocent face and his lips twitch, as if he was screaming from inside: you are doing that on purpose, aren''t you, brat?

    Everyone chuckled when they saw Kadyn''s depressed expression while Khrom became embarrassed. He looked at Kadyn and said. "I''m sorry, boss. I didn''t wait for you¡­"

    "It''s alright, matters of hearts are not in our control," Kadyn patted Khrom''s shoulder. "However, you must treat sister Rayna with respect. She has gone through too much hardship in her life."

    "Of course," Khrom said without a hint of hesitation and patted his chest proudly.

    Rayna who was standing not far away turned beat red and didn''t dare to look up. Kadyn saw this and stopped talking about it so as to not embarrass her anymore and changed the topic. "Sister Rayna, I haven''t eaten the food of your hands for a whole month. Can you please make something for me?"

    "Of course," Rayna nodded and scurried into the house. Others also followed, but just as Kadyn took a step forward the vial in his hand started to tremble and creaks formed over it and then the Water Python Elemental Essence burst out of it.

 Chapter 129 - A Talking Bird?

    As soon as the Water Python escaped it tried to attack Kadyn.

    "Truly a wild and stupid creature," Kadyn sneered and waved his hand and a light shed under his feet. "Crushing Hand!" he shouted. A huge image of a hand descended over the beast and before it could even touch Kadyn, it was smitten into the ground, it twitched briefly and then became silent, turning into a drop of water again. Kadyn looked at the drop of water and put it inside another vial.

    "Wow, what kind of spell was that, it was so powerful!" Kove, who was clinging to Khrom, said excitedly. "I have never even seen that element before."

    "Oh, it is Space Element, one of the strongest elements in the world," Khrom patted Kove and exined like a good father. He knew that Kove wanted to be a mage. However, fate didn''t allow him to be one. He could never be a mage. He sighed inside his heart but didn''t show it on his face.

    Kove wanted to say something but then became crestfallen. Khrom saw his expression and tried tofort him. He had already epted him. No matter what his shorings were, he would ept them as well. Then the group went into the house.

    Actually the spell Kadyn used wasn''t very powerful. However, inside the shop he could enhance his spells, even Rank 3 mage won''t be his match here. He was the king inside the shop, after all.

    After eating his fill Kadyn didn''t go to sleep but walked towards the main building of the shop. He wanted to meditate as he had already wasted a month. He would have be Spell Caster by now if not for the dy due to his injuries. So now he wanted to increase his strength as soon as possible.

    After encountering a Rank 2 vampire in the Orddono castle, he realised how insignificant his strength was. He was just a clown in front of them, a weakling whom they could ughter whenever they wanted. Every mage wasn''t as stupid and arrogant as Jinn, after all, giving an opening for a weakling like him to attack. He won''t get that kind of chance every time he encounters his enemies. The vampire in the castle was a good example.

    As he was lost in his deep thinking he arrived in front of the shop. It was still in the same shape and condition as it was in the Orddono. He pushed open the door and directly went towards the Meditation Chamber.

    However, when he entered the room, a light shed in the room and someone ¡ª or something ¡ª attacked him from the right side. Kadyn was caught unprepared. He didn''t even know what hit him before he was smashed into the chamber wall with a booming sound.

    He groaned in pain and blood dripped out of the corner of his mouth. He never thought that something would attack him inside the shop. He looked at his chest and saw a burnt mark at the centre and the shirt at the front waspletely charred as if someone had thrown a fireball at him. He lifted his dizzy gaze and looked at the attacker.

    "A Bird?" his mouth hung open when he saw a bird pping her wings in the air. It had white feathers that looked beautiful and were at least about four to five timesrger than its entire body which it was swinging in the air continuously ¡ª the white mes burned over it. It had blue sapphire eyes by which it peered at him.

    Kadyn saw the bird and hurriedly turned his gaze towards the corner of the room where he found the broken shell of the egg. Then he looked at the bird and didn''t know what to do when the bird opened its mouth. "You lowly human. How dare you establish a contract with me?!"

    "Eh?" Kadyn nced at the bird and his eyes almost bulged out of their sockets in shock. A¡­ talking bird?

    ¡ª¡ª

    Kadyn walked out of the house. His body still aches due to the beatingst night. It took a huge effort to solve the misunderstanding. Furthermore if he didn''t have the power of the shop he might have been bedridden for a period of time once again.

    He was still in shock at what had happened the previous night. He couldn''t meditate after the encounter with that strange bird so he went to sleep, but he still couldn''t calm his heart and just like that the entire night passed. He looked around, the surrounding was filled with fog and the cold wind whistled now and then. The sun was nowhere to be seen, hiding behind the cluster of clouds in the gloomy sky.

    The trees rustled with every passing gust of wind while the water inside the pool was as silent as a graveyard. The morning dew had gathered on the grass around the pool the environment was tranquil and pleasant.

    Kadyn checked the time it was 6:10 A.M. He sat on the chair near the pool in front of the house that was no smaller than an average pond. Then he brought out a vial from his robe and looked at the water drop inside. The water drop had already taken the shape of the python. However, it didn''t dare to break out again like thest time. It seemed that the Elemental Essence realised that it would be asking for a beating if it tried to escape again.

    Kadyn yed with the vial for a moment and then pulled its stopper. The Water Python rushed out as soon as it found an opening and stood a few meters away from Kadyn. Hissing vigntly towards him. It was more translucent than thest time. It had lost quite a bit of its strength after being beaten by Cecilia and then Kadyn.

    When Kadyn didn''t do anything, it became somewhat rxed and looked around it, examining its surroundings. And as soon as it saw the pool, it jumped inside without even looking at Kadyn. It was made of water, it could recover its strength faster inside the pool. Kadyn yawned and stretched as he murmured. "Well, you can live here until I decide what to do with you. It''s not practical to carry you everywhere I go."

    "Big brother Kadyn, the breakfast is ready," a voice sounded from behind him.

    Kadyn turned around and saw Kove was standing not far away. He sighed inside his heart. It seemed it''s not easy to teach children. "Let''s go," he shook his head and went inside the house.

    However, before he entered the house he turned to look in the distance. On a tree branch was sitting a beautiful bird, also staring in his direction. ''Humph, one day I''m going to tame you, just you wait.'' He thought and entered the house with a discouraged heart as he remembered hisst night''s encounter, the strength of the bird was unfathomable.

    Even with the help of the shop, he could not get an upper hand in the fight against it. He didn''t even know how long it would take for him to reach that level of strength. Furthermore, who knows what heights the bird would be able to climb at that time.

    Kadyn couldn''t wrap his head around as he thought about it. ''That damn bird is already so terribly powerful just aftering out of the egg.'' He sighed and went inside the shop.

    The bird stared in his direction and murmured. "Who would have thought such a thing happen. If you haven''t saved me I would have already killed you, no matter how big the bacsh I would face." It sighed deeply like a human and went on. "Well, fate is a strange thing." Then it pped its wings and vanished from the tree branch.

    ¡ª¡ª

    The group didn''t stay any longer after having their breakfast and started their journey. Kadyn had no intention of using Pengo Portal. After all, the price he needed to pay was quite hefty. He could not afford such luxury. Therefore he decided to travel on foot with everyone.

    Kadyn, Hot Rod, Barret, Slyff and Khrom went out of the shop while others stayed behind. The group looked around them and saw the pits all around in the ground. The battle has ended but the marks were still present. As the wind passed the water inside theke gurgled and waves formed now and then and the bamboo trees all around them danced with a rustling sound. Sprinkling tiny water drops from above.

    The fog was thick so they could not see too far away, but the scene in front of them was already quitepelling as it was. Kadyn sucked a deep breath of the morning dew and turned towards everyone. "Let''s go."

    He walked just around ten steps before he stopped. He looked at the side and a surprised expression appeared on his face. He dashed forwards and crouched down and a smile appeared on his face.

 Chapter 130 - Sandrock Village

    Around the Bamboo Cove, herbs of all kinds were growing in arge quantity. Kadyn looked at them and smiled pleasantly. He crouched down near theke and pulled a flower from the ground gently. Afterwards he took a sniff from it. "Red Savory," he muttered and hurriedly went to check out other herbs that were growing around. "Water Cinnamon. Winter Cassia. Fade Safflower¡­"

    The more Kadyn checked the more excited he became. Though there weren''t any Rank 1 or above herb, Kadyn was already content with what he had found. With these herbs he could brew a plethora of potions and make arge number of energy points by selling them.

    He looked towards everyone else in his group. He smiled and said. "Let''s collect these herbs before leaving the ce. Although they are just elementary herbs, they are still quite precious. At least for the current me."

    No one objected and did as Kadyn asked them. After an hourter they have collected almost all of the herbs around theke. There were hundreds of herbs of all kinds. Kadyn passed all of them to Elora inside the shop. He thought for a moment and then decided to make a medicinal garden so he could nt those herbs.

    He used around five hundred energy points to make a medicinal garden. Though his heart ached, he did it anyway. After all the soil and mana inside the shop wasn''t enough to support those medicines ¡ª without enough mana and fertile soil they would die sooner orter ¡ª so he used energy points to increase the quality of the soil and mana in that area, enough to support the elementary rank herbs.

    Afterwards he told Elora and others to nt those herbs inside the garden.

    After doing that the group resumed their journey. The only open space was theke but its surrounding was densely packed with brushes and shrubs and the tall Bamboos were obscuring the sky beyond. Even though they were following the same path from which Roclus and others came; from time to time, they still needed to cut the path open ahead of them with the help of their weapons.

    However, halfway through Kadyn lost the path from which he hade with Roclus. Left with no choice he could only tread forward with his group. After walking for around two hours like that the group exited the Bamboo Forest. The Bamboo Cove had already vanished from their sight, hidden behind tall rattans.

    As soon as the group walked out of the Bamboo Forest they took a deep breath and wiped the web and other kinds of trash that had gathered on their bodies and inside their hair when they were making a path ¡ª afterwards Kadyn looked around and realised that their surroundings were covered in mountains.

    They rested for some time and drank water or ate something to replenish their energies. Afterwards they again started their journey ¡ª the relieving thing was that they didn''t encounter any strong magical beast. Even though they hade across a few of the weak ones, Khrom and Slyff took care of them with ease.

    Khrom was already pretty strong and not many under Rank 1 could match him. He could even fight a weak Rank 1 mage if he was forced by the circumstances. However, Slyff was also catching up to him pretty fast. He was already a 9-star elementary mage and afterpleting his previous missions he had gained quite a few energy points.

    And with the help of those energy points, he had learned a 7-star bear transformation spell. He didn''t have enough points to learn more strong spells as he had already used them in the meditation room. Otherwise, he would have not reached the 9-star elementary mage.

    The group walked just like that until noon arrived. The sun was still hiding behind the gloomy clouds, reluctant to show its face to the people. At this moment, Kadyn summoned the shop and everyone went inside. Sister Rayna had already prepared the food for everyone while Cecilia, Nefia and Elora were helping her from the side. Though none of them knew how to even make tea.

    "Have youpleted the task I have given you?" Kadyn asked Elora when they were eating.

    "Ah, don''t worry, we have already nted all of the herbs that you have given us." She looked at Dion who was eating beside Hot Rod and said. "Dion did most of the work. Almost all of the herbs have been nted by him."

    "Oh," Kadyn nodded and continued to eat ¡ª while their group was outside they didn''t bring Dion, after all, he wasn''t powerful enough, he would be a burden instead of helping them if they brought him together. That''s why Kadyn left him behind. Though Dion felt somewhat bitter inside, he knew clearly his capabilities so he didn''t dare to object.

    After that their group went out again, and continued their journey. This time, however, Kadyn brought only Khrom with him. Previously he travelled with all of them with him because he was afraid that he might encounter a powerful magical beast inside those densely packed Bamboos that he couldn''t handle by himself. After all, the Bamboo Forest looked quite eerie in its own right.

    But now they could see far ahead of them and no hindrance was blocking their view ¡ª even if they encountered some trouble they would be able to summon their reinforcement in time, or even catch their adversaries off guard.

    ¡ª¡ª

    When it was around 4 o''clock only then the sun showed his face in the sky beyond the clouds. However it didn''tst much longer and once again it went into hiding behind the dark clouds. Kadyn and Khrom had walked a long way from the Bamboo Forest by now, but they didn''t see any vige or town on the way that depressed them quite a bit.

    ''How good it would be if I had a map of the entire Pengo.'' Kadyn thought and then shook his head. Although the Pengo Portal could send him anywhere on the Pengo it wasn''t a map.

    "Smoke?" while he was in a deep thought Khrom said with a confused expression. Kadyn turned his gaze into the distance where Khrom was looking and also noticed a cloud of smoke in the distance.

    "That must be a vige or a town," Kadyn said somewhat excitedly. After walking around half a day he found a ce with the human poption. "Let''s go." He said and dashed towards the source of the smoke.

    Though the distance seemed short when they started their journey, around half an hourter, they realised that their destination was far away. Nheless the duo didn''t stop and continued to sprint towards the source of the smoke. The ground was filled with pits, cobbles, and boulders. The ground was uneven and hard to run at a uniform speed. Nheless Kadyn cared a little about it and continued to rush with Khrom.

    Around forty-five minutester they arrived on a somewhat protruded ground from where they could look in a far distance. Kadyn and Khrom peered into a distance ¡ª the vige was around a kilometre away from where they were standing at the moment. However at this moment, their expressions froze, because the entire vige was filled with smoke.

    That wasn''ting from a chimney or by cooking food. After all, such arge amount of smoke couldn''t be produced by just cooking. Previously due to therge distance in between, they didn''t realise about it, but now they knew that something was afoot here.

    "Bandits?" Khrom muttered as he looked at Kadyn.

    "Maybe, we will know after reaching there," his legs were already in motion as he said. "Let''s go."

    Five minutester the duo reached the vige. The entire vige was on fire but the board at the entrance was stillpletely fine, on which the name of the vige was written. "Sandrock Vige."

    Kadyn didn''t stop at the entrance and rushed into the vige. He looked all around but found no dead or a living soul. He exchanged confused nces with Khrom. The duo could see a bewildered look in each other''s eyes. Where the hell did all the people of this vige go? He thought.

    When he failed to find anyone outside, he even went inside a few houses that were burning, to check if someone was there, but to no avail. He couldn''t find even a single dead body. They continued to search the vige and a minuteter they arrived at the centre of the vige and they felt a chill inside their bodies when they saw a scene in front of them. Their eyes were wide open in terror while their legs were about to copse.

    "Who the hell did such a thing?" Kadyn''s eyes turned red in anger as he furiously said. He clenched his fist until his knuckles turned white and the creaking of bones resounded.

 Chapter 131 - Staurious

    The bodies of men and women, children and elderly, were piled like garbage in front of Kadyn. He dashed towards the corpses and looked at them with wide eyes. His face twitching with rage and anger

    None of them had a peaceful expression on their faces. All of them had horrified looks before they died. Their expressions seemed as if they had seen a devil from hell at thest moment of their life. However this wasn''t the most terrifying thing about those corpses. The most unsettling thing was ¡ª all of them looked mummified as if someone had sucked their energy and blood from their bodies.

    No wound or blood mark could be seen on their bodies. No trace of resistance. It looked as if someone had frozen them on the spot and then extracted their energy. The poor people couldn''t even resist before they died.

    Kadyn examined those corpses and found many children less than 10 years old. However, they were in a simr condition, looking the same as others, mummified and shrunken.

    "Anyone who did this deserves to die a horrible death," Kadyn said as he clenched his teeth. His heart was bubbling with a raging fire, but he could not do anything even he wanted as he had no idea who did this to them.

    "Though plundering and killing are normal in the Magic Association," Khrom said from the side as he stared at the corpses. "But I have never seen someone killing people in such a way. It seems¡­" he was about to say something but then he shook his head.

    "If you know something just say it," Kadyn said.

    "I''m not sure," Khrom said. "But I have heard that Necromancers sometimes kill people to practice their evil spells. Some people would just extract the soul, some would extract blood, some would just turn them into undead."

    As he mentioned them, and what they do to others for just the sake of learning a few spells,a fearful look appeared inside his eyes. He paused and collected his thoughts and went on. "Though I''m not sure that they are the ones who ughtered this vige."

    "Why did you say necromance?" Kadyn asked. "Can''t they be Vampires? After all, there is no blood inside these people''s bodies."

    "It can''t be vampires," Khrom shook his head. "When vampires hunt their prey they don''t care about spilling blood on the ground and even if they want to make it clean they would still leave a few traces of blood here and there. However, we saw not a single drop of blood anywhere, did we? Furthermore, there are no bite marks on their necks."

    Kadyn pondered for a moment and realised that Khrom''s exnation seemed reasonable ¡ª if the murderers were vampires, they would definitely find traces of the blood all around them.

    "Alright, we need to go now," Kadyn sighed and stood up. He stared at the corpses of the vigers and then waved his hand; then a ball of fire emerged from his hand burning those mummified bodies. Kadyn turned around and walked out of the vige.

    ¡ª¡ª

    A few miles away in a dark valley that looked eerie in the gloomy weather, and covered with tall mountains from all sides, hundreds of people had gathered in dark robes. The group was mixed with men and women. However, they looked rather young, around the age of twenty-twenty five years old.

    At the front of the group was a man, wearing a purple robe, different from others. He had broad shoulders and red hair. At this moment, his eyes were closed, and he was meditating ¡ª everyone was looking at him with a respectful gaze and no one dared to make a noise. They continued to stand, waiting for him to open his eyes.

    Suddenly a light shed on the body of the man, wearing a purple robe, and a white spear that looked as if it was made of bones emerged from the centre of his brows. It was long like a normal spear and its tip was sharp. However the entire shaft was covered in white spikes ¡ª leaving only a small portion where the owner of the spear could hold it ¡ª and it was gleaming with a sinister light that made everyone''s heart tremble in terror as they stared at the spear.

    Then the man in purple opened his eyes and a peal of thunderousughter escaped his mouth. "Hahaha, I have finally seeded in practising Bone Spear Magic Rune. Who would dare to stop me from bing a core disciple of the Bone Spear Tower? I have ughtered thousands of people; I''ve extracted their blood; I have extracted their souls and finally ¡ª finally I have reached a Rank 3 mage. The Creation Rank!"

    "Congrattions Senior Brother Staurious," all of the disciples that were standing behind him bowed hurriedly as soon as they heard his words. They were just lowly outer disciples of the Bone Spear Tower, and the man in front of them was already qualified to be a core disciple, a height that only few would be able to do.

    All of them were aware that the status of Staurious would skyrocket when he returned to the tower¡ª it would benefit them greatly if they could build a good rtionship with him. After all, the core disciples were the real prodigies in the Bone Spear Tower. They had the same authority as the elders of the tower.

    Staurious looked at everyone in satisfaction and a smile appeared on his face. However if a normal person had seen that smile he would have been scared shitless as it looked too ugly and sinister ¡ª the long scar on his right cheek made his expression only more ugly. He rubbed the scar on his face as if remembering a painful memory from his past. Soon I would have my revenge, just you wait. He thought.

    Afterwards, he waved his hand towards them and said, "Don''t worry, I would not destroy the boat after crossing the river. You have helped me greatly all this time, I would also help you when we are in the tower. You will be under my protection from now on."

    "Thank you, Senior Brother Staurious," everyone hurriedly bowed at him once again and an excited look appeared on their faces. Who would dare to bully them if they tell them that a core disciple is their boss? This would bring them endless benefits for sure.

    However at this moment the man in purple curled his lips and waved his bone spear towards the bowing people ¡ª a sinister grey light appeared from the spear in the form of threads and entangled around everyone.

    It didn''t take much longer for everyone to realise what was happening. They tried to struggle with horrified gazes, but soon they realised that they could not do anything, except standing and letting him extract their soul, mana, and blood. They yed in terror as soon as the realisation dawned upon them.

    "Senior brother, what are you¡­"

    "Hahaha, did you morons think I would let you all escape that easily?" the man in purple cackled. "Do you think I would let such a vast amount of energy go just like that? Naive! You are no different than those vigers in my eyes, but with arger amount of energy aspared to them."

    "How could you do this to your fellow disciples?" one of the disciples said with an angry expression. "The Bone Spear Tower won''t let you go if you kill us! They will hunt you down!"

    "Yes, elders would find it eventually and you will have to face the consequences of killing us." Another disciple said. "Let us go this instant!"

    "Fellow disciples? Elders? Hunt me down?" He looked at all those disciples as if he was looking at idiots."You morons, Bone Spear Tower only cares about strong. They only value who could bring them the highest benefit. I''m now at the Creation Rank, who would care about a bunch of idiots like you?

    "They won''t do anything even if I kill you, even a few outer disciples in the tower. On the contrary, they would praise me for being such a talented individual. This is a world where strong rules and weaks are nothing but prey for the likes of us."

    "Now, die, and let me increase my strength!" as he said, the bodies of those disciples started to shrink and their blood essence and soul power and mana ¡ª everything was extracted by the bone spear.

    "No!"

    The miserable screams echoed all around. Some were cursing and some were pleading. A few writhing on the group in pain and agony while a few of them shrieking, holding their heads in both of their hands ¡ª in just a few minutes everything became silent, dead, and silent.

    Staurious looked at the mummified bodies and said. "Thank you very much, junior brothers and sisters. I would never be able to repay the help you have provided me all this time. I''m really sad that you have left me. What would I do without you? The heaven is cruel to the kind peoples."

    He made a sad expression and wiped non-existing tears from his eyes. Then he once more looked at the bodies and said with a sinister smile. "I hope you will live happily after in hell, fellow disciples."

 Chapter 132 - Elven Village

    Far away in a green lush forest that was filled with vigour and energy, soothing atmosphere and tranquillity, suddenly a boar dashed out of the thicket and rushed away frantically ¡ª falling on the ground and smashing shrubs all about, frightening the birds and scaring the dragonflies as they were feeding the newborns and dancing in the air. The boar stood and again sprinted in the same direction without looking back, as the blood dripped from the gash it had gotten after copsing miserably.

    However, before it could run over five metres an arrow wooshed out of the trees and dug into its neck. The boar gave a heart-wrenching screech and smashed into the tree in front of it, twisting and twitching briefly and then it was silent once more.

    The birds looked at each other confusedly and again went into their nests to feed their chirping fledglings. The dragonflies that had been frightened due to the noise again started to dance, joining each other and flipping in the air with new enthusiasm.

    After a moment a sound came from the front thickets and two figures walked out of them. A girl with pointy ears and blue hair and a green dress walked towards the boar. She looked around twenty years old and had a beautiful face and a nice figure. Then she said cheerfully. "Wow! Your archery is amazing sister Eddena!"

    "Alright, we need to go back now," another girl who looked around twenty-five years old and had silver locks and a voluptuous figure said. She looked toward the darkening sky and the diving sun behind the mountains on the horizon and continued. "We need to get back to Yefsari."

    "Yeah yeah, I know," said the first girl. "I will carry the boar for you. We are gonna eat roasted meat tonight!"

    Eddena looked at the cheerful girl and rolled her eyes. "I always thought that wood elves were nature friendly and they would never harm any animal and eat them. After meeting you guys I realise how wrong I was."

    "Hey, we love nature, alright?" Shasha argued. She carried the boar on her shoulders without any problem and continued. "But we also love meat." She winked as she said.

    Eddena shook her head and walked towards Yefsara, an elven vige. Shasha hurriedly caught up to her and asked. "Anyway, I always wondered what the blood of a human tastes like. You are a vampire so you must know. I heard vampires love to drink human blood."

    Eddena stopped. She looked at Shasha and a creepy smile appeared on her face. "Who told you that we love to drink only human blood?" she took a step towards Shasha and said. "Elven blood is also a delicacy in the Nightshade that all vampires crave for."

    "You¡­ You¡­" Shasha took a few steps back and turned pale.

    "Hahaha," Eddena burst into a peal ofughter when she saw Shasha''s frightened expression. "Look at your face. It has gonepletely pale. Did you really thought I was going to drink your blood?"

    "You¡­!" Shasha looked at Eddene with a nk face and then said embarrassedly. "You are really bad, I''m not talking to you anymore." She said and walked towards the vige.

    "Ohe on, I was just joking."

    Just like that both of them walked towards the vige and half an hourter the duo arrived at their destination ¡ª though the houses were built on the trees in this vige, woodendders were made for climbing.

    As Eddena and Shasha entered the vige they heard the chuckles of children who were practising archery not far away from them, a middle-aged man was instructing them and teaching them how to aim and take a proper stance.

    There were a few people who were wrestling in the dirt while other elves were surrounding them and cheering and cursing from time to time. The vige looked no different from any human vige Eddena had seen. And as the two of them walked deeper they saw a group of children, casting spells. An old vige elf ¡ª with white hair and wrinkled face and a wooden stick in her hand ¡ª with hunched back was standing behind those children and was instructing with a serious expression.

    The children shouted in unison. "Whip of the Holy Wood!"

    Immediately after that five stars lightened up under their feet and a long whip was released from their hands. Though there were a few children who failed to cast it. The old elf looked at their dejected expression and said with a stern expression. "What are you crying for? Cast the spell once more, and if you don''t seed then cast it again and again and again.

    "Remember only people with a hard-working heart and determined mindset would be able to walk further and be strong ¡ª if you can''t take this little failure, thenyou better go back and cook food for your family." She looked at them and said. "Alright, today''s lesson is done. Come tomorrow in the morning."

    After lecturing, the olddy turned around, but then her gaze fell on two silhouettes that were standing not far away and were staring at her back. "Oh, you two are already back from your hunt." She looked at the boar on Shasha''s back and went on. "Good, I was craving to eat meat for some time. I will eat today''s dinner at your home."

    Shasha grinned when she heard the olddy''s words. "Hehe, of course, it will be an honour to eat with Granny Ti. I will let my parents know about it."

    Granny Ti rolled her eyes and sighed. "You can''t even differentiate between a joke and seriousness. What a dumb child."

    Shasha looked at Granny Ti with a wide mouth and then muttered. "I wonder who could differentiate between your joke and seriousness."

    "Did you say something little girl?" Granny Ti narrowed her eyes when she realised that she was murmuring something but failed to catch any phrase.

    "Oh, no, it''s nothing. I was saying that I''m still young and have a long way to go to catch up to an elder like you. I will work hard, Granny Ti."

    "It''s good you understand." Granny Ti said and turned towards Eddena. "How is your sister-inw doing, little girl?"

    "Umm, she doing fine since Granny Ti has given her precious medicine." Eddena bowed towards her respectfully and went on. "We are really grateful for your kindness. Thank you for trusting us."

    "Hmm, you need not worry," Granny Ti said. "I have lived over two hundred years and have seen all kinds of people in my life, bad and good, righteous and evil. I can tell in a single look that your family is not evil, even though you are a vampire. Alright, I''m going to rest now. Send my meat into my house, little girl Shasha."

    Then she walked away without wasting any time.

    Eddena and Shasha exchanged nces and shook their heads and as well walked away. The duo arrived below a huge banyan tree and Shasha shouted. "Uncle Magnus!"

    Eddena rolled her eyes when she heard her. "You call me sister, but you call my big brother uncle."

    "Shoo shoo, words don''t matter, feelings do."

    "Yeah yea¡­"

    "You two havee." At this moment a voice came from the top of the tree where a beautiful house was built and then a handsome man walked out.

    "Need a rope to pull this boar," said Shasha.

    "Alright," Magnus nodded and dropped the rope. After Shasha tightened the rope, Magnus pulled the boar up.. Only then the duo went up by the support of thedder.

 Chapter 133 - An Old Man

    It''s been about two days since Kadyn had left the Sandrock vige. In this time he worked on meditating, eating and travelling. He also tried to talk to the ''strange bird''. However it didn''t work out as the bird didn''t seem to be in the mood to talk to him.

    Nheless he would see it from time to time, flying from here to there ¡ª some time inside the shop and some time outside the shop. About which Kadyn had no idea how it exited, the bird was insanely strong and more than capable enough to kill him in a single attack.

    Anyways, his hard work paid off and now he is just a step away from bing Rank 1 mage(Rune Building). All the nine elements had been absorbed by the Blessing Element. And now he just needed to build the Magic Rune and he would enter Rune Building Rank or Rune Establishment Rank.

    At first he thought that he needed to furtherbine all the elements into each other to advance his magic rank. However, when he tried to do that only then did he realise that how stupid his decision was, all the elements rejected each other fiercely; how could elements with different properties bebined? It was already a miracle that they could coexist together in the Blessing Pool.

    If he hadn''t realised it in time he would have injured himself once more, just like the previous time, when he failed tobine fire elemental stars. However, the impact would have been too great this time as there were too many elements involved. Anyways, in the end, he figured it out and avoided the misfortune.

    Nheless, after travelling for two days he arrived in a town named Acton ¡ª it was a medium-sized town with a poption of around 2000. As he walked towards the entrance he saw hackery entering the town. It was filled with sacks of rice or maybe wheat, Kadyn had no idea. He was a little surprised to see hackery still being used.

    However his surprise didn''tst long as he could understand, after all not everyone was a mage who could drive the car, truck, or tractor, nor could anyone afford to buy them. He also spotted the maze field not far away from him where afew farmers were weeding in the fields as he walked towards the entrance of the Acton.

    "Broom!"

    As he neared the gate a bike rider rushed out of the town ¡ª the road wasn''t made of concrete, so the dust threw in the air, almost obscuring the surroundings due to the high speed of the bike, as the rider dashed away without looking back.

    Kadyn waved his hand and the dust faded away. He didn''t show any anger on his face and just shook his head. Everywhere one could find some arrogant people who didn''t care about thew and did what they liked because they thought it was cool. Earth was the same and this world was no different.

    He exchanged nces with Khrom and others and passed a fewzy guards who were ying cards at the side and were too busy to care about their surroundings, and went inside the town without bothering them. Now he knew why that guy dared to act the way he did.

    The houses of Acton were built very incoherently, there was no system or order to them. They were in a jumbled form. The roads were narrow, but not too narrow as a car or a truck could easily pass.

    There was a hand pump on which children were ying as they took a bath. Smashing water to one another ¡ª Kadyn smiled when he saw this and went deeper into the town. A few minutester they arrived at a roundabout where three roads met each other. At the centre was standing a statue of a man or... a boy? He was carrying a staff in his hand and looking towards the sky with a proud look on his face.

    "Are you new here?" at this moment a voice came from the side. Kadyn turned and looked at an old man with white hair standing beside him.

    "Ah, yes," Kadyn exchanged nces with hispanions and then replied to the old man ¡ª the old man nodded and looked at the statue and asked. "Are you curious about the statue?"

    Before Kadyn could say anything the old man went on. "He is the pride of Acton. His name ''is'' Morwag. He was able to build the magic rune and be a Spell Caster at the tender age of fifteen." He sounded quite proud when he talked about the statue. But then sighed sorrowfully. "After bing a spell caster he went to the capital to enter the army of the empire, and without problem, he was selected.

    "The empire supported him ¡ª as he was worth nurturing ¡ª and at the age of seventeen, he reached the Fusion Rank(Rank 2 mage). However in the war against the Bone Spear Tower, he died, but in that war he performed remarkably, killing hundreds of students of the Bone Spear Tower all by himself. He is our pride." He puffed his chest out when he recounted the glorious deeds of their hero.

    "Ah, well, that''s¡­ umm pretty good," Kadyn said while scratching his head, and then asked. "What is this Bone Spear Tower you talked about just now?"

    "You don''t know about them?" the old man examined him and hispanions and frowned, then went on. "Are you from somewhere else?"

    "Yeah, we havee from afar," Kadyn replied.

    "Oh, so that''s why," the old man nodded. He seemed rather tactful and didn''t inquire further about his details and exined. "The Bone Spear Tower is an evil organization. They practice Dark Magic simr to necromancy. They devour blood and soul and mana of others to advance their ranks."

    Kadyn''s eyes went wide as soon as he heard. He looked at hispanions and a light shed inside their eyes ¡ª the old man didn''t notice the shock on Kadyn and hispanions'' faces and continued to vent his anger and frustration "Those bastards aren''t human, but animals. They don''t care about anyone other than themselves. However they are as powerful as the empire, so they are pretty hard to deal with."

    The man was staring at the statue this whole time and clenched his fist as his eyes became somewhat wet. "If I had the strength I would have ughtered every single one of them. Every single one of them!" he gritted his teeth as his body trembled in rage.

    "So do you have any rtionship with Morwag?" Kadyn asked when he saw the wet eyes and trembling body of the old man. One could easily tell that he had a deep rtionship with the boy in the statue, or he would not act the way he was doing, no matter how great a hero that boy in the statue was. And indeed he guessed correctly.

    The old man eyed Kadyn and took a deep breath before replying. "He is my grandson," when he said thest word he puffed his chest proudly.. He wasn''t showing off, but the feeling came from deep inside him.

 Chapter 134 - To Devour

    After parting with the old man, Kadyn''s group found an inn to stay in for a day. Afterwards, Kadyn also sent Khrom to buy a map, as it woulde in handy when they would travel to the capital of the empire. Furthermore, he also let everyone out of the shop, and as soon as they appeared, all of them went to roam the town with excited expressions. After all, it''s been a long time since they have seen the outside world.

    Kadyn didn''t stop them as they were strong enough to protect themselves, at least no one would be able to harm them in this small town.

    After everyone left, Kadyn took a deep breath and fell on the bed. He hadn''t restedfortably for some time, especially after seeing the scene in the Sandrock vige. "Bone Spear Tower," he muttered as he stared at the ceiling of the room, deep thinking, his eyes twitched as he felt someone else''s presence inside the room. Kadyn flinched at this sudden intrusion, but when he saw who it was, he sighed in relief and once more fell on his bed.

    Then he said, "I thought it was a dragon''s egg."

    "Excuse me?" the bird that was sitting on the windowsill of the room said confusedly..

    Kadyn retracted his gaze and peered at the bird. "I mean when you were in your initial form. I thought you were a dragon egg. After all, that dragon made quite a mess because of you, or was she doing it for something else?"

    "No," the bird said and fell silent. She seemed to be hesitating but then went on. "That bitch was after me," then she sneered and said, "and please, don''t call her dragon, she had almost no dragon blood. How could you call such a low life a dragon?"

    Kadyn was caught off guard by the intensity of her words. He looked dumbstruck for a moment but then asked. "I don''t get it. What was the egg of a sparrow doing with a dragon, and why did she go on a rampage when she lost you?"

    The bird tilted her head and said. "Before I reply to your question, I need to ask you something: how did you rob the egg?" the bird stared at him with her beautiful eyes and went on. "I was inside that bitch''s garrotte, but then I felt a spatial suction all over me and before I could realise anything, I was in front of you," the bird paused for briefly, " so tell me, what kind of method did you use to teleport me fromthat cave to this ce?"

    Kadyn left agape when he heard her words. "What do you mean by ''you felt spatial suction while you were inside the egg? Weren''t you just an ...ah, I mean just an egg?"

    "If you want to know about me, then tell me about the method you used to sabotage me." The bird didn''t leave any chance for negotiation. It felt like she wouldn''t open her mouth before she learned about his secrets.

    Kadyn gritted his teeth as he didn''t know if he should tell her about the Wheel of Fortune, or his shop, or anything else, or if he could trust this bird, or would she kill him and try to seize the shop after knowing his secret?

    The bird narrowed her tiny eyes into small slits and said. "If you are worried that I will harm you after knowing your secret then your worries are unfounded. We have already established a link among our souls when I continued to absorb your energy and blood essence while inside the egg. I would hurt myself If I hurt you. Can''t you feel a kind of thread, connecting us together, inside your consciousness?"

    Kadyn frowned and looked at the bird. Then he took a deep breath and said, "I have drawn a lottery and the thing that came out was an egg ¡ª yeah, the same egg about which we are talking right now." Kadyn said. Then he looked at the bird. "Now it''s your turn."

    "What the hell?" the bird opened her tiny eyes wide and said in anger. "Are you fucking with me?"

    "Uh," Kadyn looked at the bird and denied. "No," then went on. "I have told you the truth, and if you want to know more you have to be an employee of the shop. Now, it''s your turn."

    The room fell into pin-drop silence. The sound of Kadyn''s breathing could be heard. He looked at the beautiful bird and said. "Hey,e on. Tell me why that egg was with the dragon and she went on a rampage after losing it? Did your ancestor give the task of protecting you to her or something like that? Hmm, it seems a nice theory."

    "Devour, she wanted to devour me."

    "What?" Kadyn looked confused. Why the heck a dragon wanted to devour an egg of a sparrow? But then again this sparrow was no joke. "Why did she want to devour you? At least give me a full exnation."

    "Humph," the bird snorted and then said. "At least my exnation makes sense, but what about you? Your exnation is like a man without a head or leg. If you want to know more then tell me more about that lottery thing you are talking about."

    Kadyn looked at the bird for a second and then closed his eyes without speaking anything.

    The bird thought that he was just acting and would ask again like a curious child. Two minutes, three minutes, five minutes¡­. Ten minutes went by, but Kadyn showed no sign of opening his eyes.

    "The hell!" the bird cursed. "Hey, hey, are you listening?"

    No reply.

    "Damn, the bastard has fallen asleep!" the bird fluttered her wings in frustration, but Kadyn showed no sign of awakening. "Just you wait. I will make you spill everything sooner orter.

    Then muttered in a voice that only she could hear. "He has the aura of the Inheritor, but it is somewhat different from other inheritors. If I hadn''t observed him closely, I would have taken him as an ordinary inheritor. The shop artefact is also strange, I can barely exit and enter inside. Now he talked about some lottery thing. Hmm, mysterious, very mysterious." Then she vanished without a trace.

 Chapter 135 - Money Problem

    After talking with the bird Kadyn thought about it for some time; however, he realised that it was no use, so he dropped the idea for the time being and dozed off. He would know everything eventually, and therefore he fell asleep due to fatigue.

    When he came to his senses, he realised that it was already the next day. Only now did he feel fresh and full of energy. Only he knew how much he needed a goodnight sleep while he was roaming mountains and jungles all this time.

    After refreshing, he went out to meet with everyone to have breakfast. As they ate the delicious and healthy food that was provided by the inn, Kadyn looked at Khrom and asked. "Did you get the map?"

    "Uh¡­" Khrom looked at Kadyn and scratched his head and exchanged nces with everyone else. He had no idea how to reply to Kadyn.

    "What?" Kadyn asked when he saw a strange atmosphere. "Did I miss something?".

    "Well, you certainly did," Elora replied with a smirk. "Association''s money is invalid in the Ceston Empire."

    "What the¡­" he looked agape at Elora, having a hard time speaking. He realised that he was no longer in the Magic Association and every empire has its own currency. Even if there was a ce where they could exchange the money, he doubted that he would be able to do it in Acton Town. "Damn." He had tons of money from the Association, but he knew that it was useless.

    Elora looked at his dumbfounded expression and found it quite funny. "But don''t worry, I have taken care of everything. The money problem has been solved."

    "Hmm?"

    "What do you mean by hmmm?" Cecilia said when she saw his confused face. "You are supposed to be the leader of the team, but you were snoringst night as if you have nothing to care about in this entire world."

    "I don''t snore," Kadyn said but when he saw everyone''s expressionless face and narrowed eyes he felt a burning sensation on his cheek. "Do I?"

    "Anyways," Cecilia sighed when he saw his expression. "When we went to reserve our rooms yesterday ¡ª while you went to the cafeteria of the inn ¡ª we realised that our money was invalid in this empire. We had no idea what to do when the manager came and asked what was going on. As soon as he heard the receptionist that we had no money he wanted us to leave, but at that time Elora saved our asses."

    "Really?" he blinked as he looked at Elora whose face had turned red after hearing Cecilia praising her.

    "Hmm," the vampire girl nodded. "At that time she said that the manager was ill, and when he heard her words he became irritated and wanted us to leave immediately. However, when Elora said that she could cure his ''insomnia'' he stopped dumb on the spot. We had no idea what was going on and when the manager asked how she knew about his illness that only he and his wife knew about we immediately realised what was going on."

    "So you are saying that she cured his insomnia and that''s how we were able to spend a night in this inn."

    "Yeah," Cecilia nodded.

    "Then what about the map?"

    "Khrom will go to buy it after having his breakfast," Cecilia replied nonchntly.

    "Wait a minute," Kadyn looked even more confused. "Didn''t you say that we have no money?"

    "Oh, god, why are you so dense?" Cecilia said. "Do you think she cured the manager just for staying in this inn for a night? Do we look like stupid? Why would we do that? Healers may bemon, however, healers with high-level spells would be greatly respected wherever they go.

    "Elora might not be considered a high-rank healer in the capital of the Ceston Empire, but this town is situated in a backwater area, she is like a god in the eyes of the people of this vige who has the ability to grow limbs of people with her powerful spells." Cecilia looked at him and said. "We asked for a definite amount of money from the manager and he reluctantly agreed with us after gritting his teeth for some time."

    "Oh, so that''s what happened," Kadyn nodded and also felt a little embarrassed when Cecilia called him dense, but he didn''t argue with her. Sometimes he really was ¡ª simple things would feel like aplex web of spiders to him, and he would have a hard time understanding them ¡ª and he knew it.

    After having breakfast Khrom went to buy a map and carriages. Though everyone else other than Kadyn could enter the shop while he travelled, Kadyn knew how boring it was and they have spent so much time inside already; now it felt like torture to them so Kadyn didn''t ask them to enter the shop and let them travel with him.

    After an hour, Khrom came with a map and two carriages. They didn''t buy more because it would attract unnecessary attention and all kinds of bad people would try their luck on their group. Kadyn didn''t want that to happen and no one objected to his suggestion. He knew he wasn''t some kind of amazing leader so he always asked about everyone''s opinion whatever he wanted to do.

    "Alright, let''s go!" Kove shouted excitedly and entered one of the carriages.

    Kadyn smiled when he saw the excited child and as everyone was about to enter the carriage a shout came from not far away from the group. "Wait!"

    Kadyn turned and saw a man in ck pants and a white shirt; he wore a ck coat over the shirt and his shoes were shining ck. Though he had no idea who he was. Kadyn frowned and looked at others with a questioning gaze.

    "Hello, Mister Manager," at this moment, Elora greeted the man politely.

    "Ah, I heard from the receptionist that you were leaving. That''s why I came here to express my gratitude. I can''t tell you in words how grateful I am for curing me. No one in the town could do that. I have seen quite a few healers, but no one even came close enough to heal me."

    "Mister Manager, can you please skip all these things and go to the main topic. You can see that we are gettingte." Elora said, though her words implied that she was getting impatient, her tone was anything but impolite.

 Chapter 136 - Gift

    "Ah, yes," the manager said and gestured towards his servant who was standing behind him as if he didn''t even exist until now. Everyone looked at the servant and their eyes went on his hand ¡ª he held a wooden box. The servant passed the box to Elora. The manager spoke again. "This is a small gift for curing me."

    "But I have already taken¡­"

    "Please, don''t refuse," the manager insisted. "You don''t know what kind of torment I have gone through due to my insomnia. I wanted to sleep but I couldn''t. I wanted to feel that refreshing feeling after waking up in the morning, but I couldn''t. You don''t know what it means to me. I realised that one needs to love the small things in life and care about them. You only know their values, when you have lost them."

    Elora hesitated when she saw his earnest and sincere face. She looked at Kadyn for help. But the manager spoke once more. "However, there is a problem with a thing inside the box."

    "Oh, would you care to borate?" Kadyn asked, a curious look appeared on his face.

    The manager looked at Kady and hesitated but then told them what was inside. "Ah, actually, inside this wooden box is Mermaid Pearl."

    "Mermaid Pearl," Kadyn''s eyes started to shine, " you mean the actual Mermaid Pearl that every mermaid could produce only a single one in their entire life and would protect it with their lives?"

    "Yes, the same one," the manager nodded.

    Cecilia saw Kadyn''s excited look and patted him on his shoulder to calm him down. She looked at the manager and asked. "You said there was a problem with it?"

    "Yes," the man nodded with a grave look on his face. "Actually, it was my father who found this pearl. He also found a skeleton with it, so that the pearl must have belonged to him," he paused and then went on. "My father was a 10-star elementary mage. He thought that he would be able to break through to the Spell Caster Rank with its help, but failed ultimately.

    "I know because he told me this aftering home in excitement, and after that, he went into the mediation room. However, not long after he entered a shout came from inside ¡ª when I rushed inside I saw a pearl floating in front of him, releasing a ck fog, and then it fell on the ground and with that my father also fell, when I rushed to him I realised that he was already dead."

    "I have never told anyone about it, but you are my benefactor, so I want to repay your kindness."

    Elora narrowed her eyes as soon as she heard the exnation, and a cold light appeared inside her eyes. She was kind, but not naive. However, before she could say anything, someone else took the lead. "Alright, we will take it with us."

    Manager''s eyes glowed in excitement, but he hid it immediately, but who were these people standing in front of them? Almost everyone saw that look, but no one spoke about it; though they found things suspicious, they were also curious why Cecilia would ept the gift from this man who was acting all sceptical. "Alright, let''s go," she said and entered a carriage with a wooden box in her hand.

    Kadyn exchanged nces with everyone and also went inside the carriage. Though they had only two carriages they were wide enough for seven to eight people to sit inside, maybe not toofortably, but enough for them, nheless. Eight people sat in one carriage and seven in another.

    When they were inside the carriage Kadyn looked at Cecilia and asked. "Why did you take that thing, even I can tell that something is wrong with it, terribly wrong. That manager was nervous when he offered the pearl.

    "When he said that his father got the pearl from somewhere else, I smelled a lie from him. That means it was he, or his father who got the pearl," he paused, "I doubt that you didn''t notice it, so I would presume that you have a solution to resolve the problem."

    "Yes, but I can easily solve the problem, so it''s nothing," the vampiredy repliednguidly.

    "And you are letting him go just like this?" Kadyn said, "I would rather believe in the flying of a pig."

    "Hehe," she chuckled but didn''t say anymore. However, it was evident to see that she would not let the manager go so easily. No one like to be conspired against them, after all.

    ¡ª¡ª

    The manager looked at the disappearing carriages in the distance and a glint shed inside his eyes.

    He hurried into the inn, and directly went into the area where he lived. Then he entered a room. He looked at the picture on the wall with a face full of hatred. "Due to your greed you died a horrifying death, but why should I pay for what you have done in the past." Then he turned towards another picture on a different wall and a gentle expression appeared on his face. "I am sorry, I couldn''t save you. I really am."

    He gently touched the picture of a woman on the wall and tears fell from his eyes. "You know there was a group of powerful mages, I have given them that cursed thing in the disguise of a gift. I hope they would be able to handle it, or¡­ anyways, even if they die, it won''t be anything new."

    "Oh, it seems it isn''t the first time you have done something like this."

    "Who?!"

    The manager was horrified when he heard the voice from behind him. He clearly remembered that no one was inside the room when he entered¡­Someone had followed him and he failed to notice it, a chill ran down his spine.

    He looked at the speaker and his face turned paler. "Yo-you are the girl from before. What are you doing here," he was afraid but tried to control the urge to run away and said with a forced smile.

    Cecilia smiled and then two teeth began to grow out of her mouth and then she said. "I came here to send you to your beloved."

    "Vam-vampire!" he shouted and stumbled back in horror. "Stay away from me."

    "Hehe, you are cute," Cecilia said, then she shook her head. "But not cute enough. Do you think I will drink your disgusting blood myself?"

    Before he could understand what she meant, Cecilia waved her hand and a bat appeared out of nowhere, "I had given up on this spell once, as it is too evil. However, in recent days, I realised that it won''t be a bad thing if I use people like you to practice it, with that I will have more strength to protect myself and¡­" she paused for a moment, and a gentle smile appeared on her face," ...and my friends."

    "No, no, please," the manager paled. "Listen to me, this is a misunderstanding, a big misunderstanding."

    The vampiredy shook her head when she saw a frantic look on his face andmanded the bat that was pping its ck wings in the air as it stared fixedly at its prey. "Go!"

    And then the miserable cries began.

    After a minute, only a husk of skin and bones remained on the floor, eyes had shrunken and the hairs had fallen, simr to a mummy. The bat''s eyes had turned redder after drinking the blood and then it vanished into Cecilia''s body.

    "What a weakling, his blood is like a drop in the ocean for me, couldn''t even produce a single wave. If I want to make my clones stronger I need to suck the blood of many other humans, but I don''t want to hurt any innocent people. Nefia and others won''t like it." She said and scattered into hundreds of bats before vanishing.. Only a mummy looking corpse remained in the chamber.

 Chapter 137 - Encounter

    "Do you know how to lift its curse?" Kadyn asked, looking at Cecilia.

    "A minor thing to do," Cecilia replied. "It was just a rank 1 mermaid, even if she was alive she won''t be able to do anything to me, much less after dying. Though I wonder what kind of trick the father of that manager used to defeat her?"

    "That''s good," Kadyn smiled. "Now Khrom can solidify his foundation and remove the sequ caused by the herb he took at that time."

    Cecilia looked at him and asked with a little surprised expression. "You are going to give him the pearl?"

    "Yes."

    "Do you know how much you can earn by selling it?"

    "Doesn''t matter," Kadyn shook his head. "We can earn money whenever we want, and maybe we can get many things with the moneyter, but a true friendship is certainly not one of those things. Khrom is a true friend."

    Cecilia gazed at Kadyn for some time, then nodded without saying anything.

    Creak~

    Suddenly a sound came, it sounded as if someone was breaking a wooden nk, slowly. Everyone exchanged nces and then their gazes fell on the box in Kadyn''s hand. It was trembling.

    "Humph, can''t wait anymore, huh?" Cecilia snorted and waved her hand and the box went towards her. But just as itnded into her hand, it burst open into ck fog. "Be suppressed, you evil thing!" she shouted and everyone saw a bat with red eyes appearing.

    Before anyone could understand anything, the fog was devoured by the bat and everything became normal. A blue pearl was lying inside the wooden box. Pure and untainted by any impurity or dirt.

    "Done," she looked at everyone and smiled.

    "What was that?" Kadyn asked after a brief silence.

    "It was the evil spirit, formed by the resentment of the mermaid," Cecilia replied. "It would have killed us if we weren''t powerful enough before going back to the manager. After all, the real target of the curse is that guy, as he was the descendant of the person who killed the mermaid."

    "That bastard!" Zelie cursed.

    "I wouldn''t have cured him if I knew what kind of a bastard he was," Elora also gritted her teeth in hatred. She wanted nothing more than to break the manager''s neck at this moment.

    "Anyways," Cecilia smiled when she heard their curses," the curse has lifted and the pearl ispletely fine now."

    "By the way," Kadyn hesitated for a moment before asking. "What kind of Elemental Essence is that bat with red eyes? It''s¡­ incredible."

    Cecilia bit her lower lip and thought for a moment and then said. "It is the treasure my family protected for a long time. Now it is my turn to protect it."

    Kadyn waited for more detail, but Cecilia didn''t speak anymore. He was a little reluctant and wanted to know more about her elemental essence; he didn''t push her; everyone had their secrets, after all.

    After a brief awkward silence, Elora asked. "How much time do we need to reach the Capital?"

    "Ah, around five days," Kadyn replied.

    Boom!

    "Huh, what was that?" Zelie said with a surprised expression. At this moment a sound of footsteps came from outside.

    "Two groups are fighting in front of us," Khrom came running to Kadyn''s carriage and said as he looked inside through the curtain.

    Kadyn came out and looked into the distance. An intense fight was happening. One group had been surrounding the four carriages, protecting from another group that was covered in dark clothing from head to toe. Then Kadyn realised that there was another group, in luxurious clothes. However, they weren''t fighting, rather hiding behind the first group of people.

    "Bandits," Kadyn murmured, but he didn''t make a move, as he had nothing to do with these people. He didn''t want to get involved in unnecessary trouble. But at this moment, his group was noticed by the people in front of him.

    "Hahaha, today our luck isn''t too bad, go take them down." The group leader of banditsughed as he fought with one of the men who was protecting the merchants behind him.

    Immediately, seven bandits rushed towards Kadyn''s group. "Hey, we don''t have any intention to fight, please, let us go," Kadyn said as he saw those people. When they heard him, bandits burst into a peal ofughter.

    "What tender skin you have," one of the men chuckled, "I want to feel it."

    "Ah, man, you and your boy fetish," another man shook his head.

    "You should try some manholes as well," the first man cackled, "I guarantee that you would fall in love¡­"

    "Puchi!"

    Before he could finish his sentence a shadow appeared in front of him and dug its hand into his chest. The shadow was none other than Kadyn. He looked into the man''s eyes and pulled his hand out, on whichid a heart that was still beating and pumping warm blood on his hand.

    Other bandits were scared silly by the gory scene and the way Kadyn killed theirpanion. Kadyn pushed the man to the side and his body fell on the ground lifelessly with open eyes and turned towards other people. "You should listen to the people when they say something, well, better luck in the next life."

    "No, we¡­"

    "Burst!"

    Kadyn opened his hand towards the man and then closed it into a fist as if he was grabbing something, and the head of the poor man burst into millions of blood drops.

    "No wonder the space element is one of the super elements," Kadyn grinned.

    He looked towards others and as soon as his gaze fell on them they turned around and dashed away without further ado. "Leave none of them alive," hemanded coldly and two shadows sprinted after those people, and the terrorizing screams filled the air. When Barret and Hot Rod came back, they were dripping in red liquid.

    Kadyn looked at the Bandit leader and realised that he was a Rank 2 mage, and he was fighting another rank 2 mage. As soon as they realised Kadyn''s gaze, both parties became nervous. After all, they were in a deadlock at this moment, and if Kadyn helped either of them, the other party would lose.

    "Sir, please help us, we will reward you greatly when we get back to the capital."A man who wore expensive clothes said with an expectant expression ¡ª and the face of the bandit leader changed as soon as he heard his words. He shouted threateningly towards Kadyn.. "Boy, you don''t know what kind of situation you are getting into, get lost, or you will regret it."

 Chapter 138 - Sweeders And Webney

    "I don''t like it," Kadyn shook his head when he heard the bandit leader''s shout. His face remained nonchnt.

    "What?" the bandit leader looked confused. "What do you mean?"

    "Your tone," Kadyn smiled, but there was a dangerous glimmer in his smile, and said, "I don''t like it."

    "Boy," the bandit leader''s gaze turned cold when he heard him," do you really want to go against us?"

    "No," Kadyn replied, shaking his head. The mercenary guy and others were disappointed by Kadyn''s gutless reply, but then Kadyn continued and left everyone stunned on the spot. "I want to tear you apart, do you mind?"

    "Humph, kill them all!" the leader shouted and many of the bandits who were trying to break the encirclement of the mercenaries went towards Kadyn''s group, like hungry wolves.

    "Kill them," Kadyn said, "leave no one alive." ¡ª if the bandit leader hadn''t threatened him, he would have left them alone without interrupting, as he had no reason to help either of them. However, who would have thought that he was such an arrogant cunt, don''t know why, Kadyn didn''t like it.

    As soon as Kadyn spoke, Hot Rod and Barret dashed towards the rushing bandits. However, before either of them could reach their targets, heads flew in the air, and blood-spattered and sshed their bodies. The duo froze. They felt as if the world was going crazy.

    Then they looked at each other in shock and shook their heads before turning towards Kadyn, walking with dejected looks, muttering. "Well, you should have told us if you wanted to hunt, why show us that ghastly sight. Our poor and old hearts almost stopped beating."

    Kadyn eyed Cecilia and his eyes shrank ¡ª the blood on the ground moved towards Cecilia on its own and when it touched her feet, it vanished. Then the bodies of the dead started to zombify as if their blood had been sucked dry out of them. The sight was creepy as hell.

    At this moment the sound of fighting stopped and everyone stared at Cecilia in horror who was like a goddess of war, standing amid the creepy, zombie looking corpses, hair flying with the wind, clothes fluttering. Kadyn couldn''t connect this heroic image to the timid maid who followed Nefia. She looked valiant and bold and daring. He shook his head and smiled bitterly.

    "Who-who are you?" the bandit leader stuttered and a fearful look appeared on his face for the first time. All of those people who were ughtered by Cecilia just now were Rank 1 mages, even he couldn''t cut them down as easily as her. His legs couldn''t help but shake when he saw zombie-like appearances of hisrades, but not a single stain could be seen on Cecilia.

    "You aren''t qualified to know my name." She replied coldly. The bandit gritted his teeth in fury and shame. How long has it been since someone dared to insult him, he could not remember, and those who dared they have since long became dirt. But he dared not to belittle Cecilia as he knew that he would die if he irritated her. "What do you want?" he took a deep breath and calmed his beating heart. "We are here on the order of Sweeders. Trust me you don''t want to annoy them."

    "Kill him," Kadyn frowned when the man continued to threaten them directly or indirectly, he didn''t like this feeling. No one can threaten me, a ruthless light flickered in his eyes.

    "Listen Sweeders aren''t someone you can afford to offend. I am telling you¡­"

    Suddenly Cecilia vanished from where she was standing and when the bandit leader saw this he hurriedly stepped back and looked around vigntly. However, the mercenary guy didn''t stand still and a water ball appeared in his hand that he threw at the man.

    Though the attack looked normal, it was quite lethal, the ball of water was highlypressed and its power was unimaginable. The bandit leader didn''t dare to take it head-on and tried to avoid it.

    However, just as the attack sted a tree behind him, a dangerous feeling crept out of his heart. He spun around, but no one was behind him. He sighed in relief, but then he froze and blood gushed out of his mouth. He looked down and found a w dripping with blood and a wildly beating heart on it. He could not believe that he was looking at his own heart. He never thought he would die in such a pathetic way.

    "Puchi!"

    The hand was pulled off his back with the heart. The bandit leader tried to turn around and see his killer but fell down halfway through. His eyes were filled with grievance and unwillingness and hatred, but it did no good. The winner was already decided.

    Cecilia peered at the corpse coldly and the blood essence rushed towards her, vanishing into a thin air. Then she disappeared and appeared behind Kadyn, looking at other people ¡ª there were still a few bandits left, but as soon as her gaze fell upon them, they froze and their legs gave in, falling on their knees, begging. No one paid them any attention, though.

    At this moment, a man with a white beard and sharp eyes and expensive clothes walked out of the crowd and bowed towards Kadyn. "Thank you very much. The Webney family will not forget this kindness."

    "Uh," Kadyn looked at the old man and realised that he was the man who asked him to help them. "You are from the capital?"

    "Yes," the man replied nervously. He didn''t know if Kadyn was a friend or a foe, so he was very careful. "May I know if the benefactor is also going to the capital?"

    "Ah, yes, I want to start a business in the capital, but I don''t know anyone there," Kadyn replied. He knew that it might be his chance to build a good rtionship with someone from the capital. After all, friends in an unfamiliar country were the best thing he could ask for at the moment.

    "Oh, so that''s how it is." The old man nodded, his eyes shining with an intelligent glim. He looked at the mercenary leader who had alreadye to stand not far away from him and said to Kadyn.. "We are also going to the capital. Why don''t we travel together?"

 Chapter 139 - A Viper

    The ruler of the Ceston Empire was the Ceston Royal family. The most powerful force in the entire empire. After thates Four Great Noble Houses ¡ª Sweeders; Webney; Woulsto; Wilbrick. All of them controlled over sixty percent of the empire''s economy. EvenCeston Royal family would avoid pissing them off if they need not to.

    But as the saying goes that there is no end to human desire. It fits the description of the Four Great Noble Houses quite well. They fought with each other in light, and they fought each other in dark, trying to damage one another in the hopes of bing the strongest noble house. However, when the two armies fight, there will be corpses from both sides. No one can avoid it.

    The same thing happened this time. The Sweeders tried to rob House Webney but lost horribly due to Kadyn''s interruption.

    ¡ª¡ª

    Kadyn travelled with the old man (Babul Webney) and his caravan for five days before reaching the gate of the Ceston Capital. At this time Kadyn also got to know the name of the mercenary leader who fought with the bandit boss. He was called Bren. A mercenary, of course.

    The Webneys had hired him and his group to protect them from bandits and beasts in their travels. Though they didn''t mention the reason behind the attack, Kadyn guessed that it wouldn''t be a simple matter. There must be a precious thing that the Sweeders wanted from them.

    Nheless, they reached the capital.

    Kadyn looked at the colossal gate of the Ceston Capital and arge g at the top on which a golden lion was etched. Insignia of the empire. Then he turned his attention towards the guards and found that all of them were above 8-star elementary mage. The captain was Rank 1 magi.

    "Do you have anywhere to stay?" asked the old man.

    Kadyn looked at the man and shook his head. "No."

    "Oh," Babul nodded and said. "Why don''t youe to our Webney House. It would be our pleasure to have you as our guests."

    Kadyn stared at the man and curled his lips. He knew that Babul wasn''t polite because Kadyn helped him, but because he had Cecilia who could ughter a Rank 2 mage like a pig. He was trying to win her through Kadyn as Babul knew he was the leader.

    "No," Kadyn shook his head. "We are good."

    Although Kadyn didn''t feel any malice from him, he couldn''t tell for sure if he was really a good man, or he was hiding something else behind that polite facade.

    "Oh," Babul looked disappointed. Then he turned towards Cecilia and said. "Miss, would you like toe to our house."

    As soon as he said those words, Kadyn''s eyes flickered with a cold light, but he said nothing.

    Cecilia eyed Babul and curled her lips. "I have seen many shameless and ungrateful bastards in my life, but you," she gestured with her hand towards him and went on, "are one of a kind."

    Babul''s face that was filled with a confident smile changed, but he recovered and nodded as if he understood her meaning. "What a shame," he breathed a deep sigh. "I wonder what will happen when Sweeders hear that you helped us to carry our goods to the capital."

    "You bastard!" everyone in Kadyn''s group burst into a rage. Who could have thought that the polite old man was such a cunt.

    Kadyn waved his hand and everyone quieted down. However, their eyes were spitting fire, ready to burn the old man at a simple gesture of Kadyn.

    "I don''t like it," Kadyn said as he stared at the old man coldly.

    "What?" asked Babul in confusion.

    "Your hypocritical attitude," he replied. "Be careful not to die in the middle of the night. Let''s go."

    Babul looked at Kadyn and others back with a cold face. He clenched his fist into a ball and gritted his teeth. "How dare he?!" In the end, he burst into a roar. He never thought that Kadyn would dare to threaten him, in the capital, nheless."I will make you die without a corpse."

    "Should we¡­" someone tried to speak from behind him.

    "Do you think you can defeat that woman?" asked Babul, almost in an angry tone.

    "Ah, we¡­"

    "Then shut your hole!" he roared. No one would be able to connect this furious old man and the kind and gentle one who met Kadyn a few days prior. One could only say that he hid his true face too deeply in order to con others. But since Kadyn refused to be Webney''s dog, he showed his true colours.

    ¡ª¡ª

    "Fuck, I want to beat someone," Slyff scowled, clenching his teeth in fury.

    "If I had enough strength I would have cut that bastard down piece by piece," Dion said from beside him. "Ouch!" as soon as he said Hot Rod pped him from behind. "If you don''t have enough strength then work hard."

    Dion lowered his head in dejection and didn''t speak.

    "No matter," Zelie said. "That old man deserves to die. Bastard."

    Everyone appeared furious at this moment. Kadyn smiled and shook his head nonchntly. "Don''t worry about him." He eyed Cecilia and went on. "He is a goner."

    "Huh?" Everyone exchanged confused nces, but before they could speak Kadyn increased his pace.

    After five minutes the group arrived in a deserted alley. He turned towards them and said. "Alright, everyone needs to go inside the shop, as I don''t have enough money to afford so many rooms in the inn. Even after selling carriages, I have just a few thousand Ces."

    [Author Note: Ces is simr to dor]

    As he sent everyone into the shop a small thing fell from above and sat on the broken street light. The bird looked at Kadyn and asked. "Want some help?"

    Kadyn peered at the beautiful Sparrow-like bird that was burning with strange fire and shook his head. "No, thanks.. I can handle Tom, Dick, Harry like him."

 Chapter 140 - Celestial Flame Sparrow

    The night fell and a sickle of a moon hung on the dark starry sky, visible from the window of the tavern room, amidst the asional passing clouds. The cold wind blew and smashed his face, as Kadyn gazed at the flickering lights on the city walls from time to time.

    "Don''t kill him immediately," Kadyn said with a nonchnt expression. "Get as much information as you can about the capital and its forces. Don''t leave any clue behind or it would be troublesome. We are just minions in the eyes of these powerful houses. Need to think twice before we take a step forward. I wouldn''t have thought about killing him, if he didn''t touch my nerves. He could be an eyesore in the near future if we let him live this time."

    A shadow standing behind him nodded and then scattered abruptly, vanishing into thin air.

    Kadyn took a deep breath and moved his eyes towards the tall castle that stood at the centre of the Capital. "I wonder what kind of a person the emperor is; hope he is not like those idiots from the Sweeders and Webney."

    After that, he turned around and fell on the bed. As soon as heid the room lightened up. A small figure appeared and sat on the windowsill. "Do you realise how dangerous it is?" the bird opened her mouth. "You will have a hard time surviving if they find out the culprit behind it."

    "And you think I will livefortably if I let him live?" he said as he stared at the bird. He still didn''t know anything about it, but he knew that this bird must have a powerful background.

    As he thought about it a graceful figure appeared inside his head. It was the most beautiful woman he had ever seen in his life. His heart started to beat faster as he thought about her, but then he shook his head. She was like an immortal fairy while he was a lowly beggar on the street aspared to her. No match at all. No chance at all.

    "Are you¡­" he hesitated for a moment but then went on. "Are you from another world?"

    The bird stared at Kadyn but didn''t speak. He curled his lips. "So you ''are'' from another world, huh?"

    "How do you know about another world?" the bird asked. "You aren''t powerful enough toe into contact with the secret of ascending."

    "Ascending?" Kadyn looked surprised. It was the first time he heard such a word. "What do you mean?"

    The bird nced at him and then shook its head. "It''s not a good thing for you to know some things, or the karma wille back to bite you."

    "Hey,e on," Kadyn said in irritation. "Talk in a way I can understand, at least. Anyways, can you tell me about the world you came from?"

    "Nope."

    "..."

    "How did youe into this world?"

    "Not a chance."

    "Why¡­ did youe here?"

    "Forget it."

    "What do you want from me?"

    "Nothing."

    Kadyn took a deep breath and calmed himself. He clenched his teeth and asked. "If you don''t want anything from me, why are you following me? You are already so powerful, why aren''t you going on your way, and I go on my way? What do you say?"

    "You''ve saved my life and we are connected through blood and spirit. Even if I want I can''t leave you," it said. "That''s why I was so angry when I came out of the egg. Anyways, you saved me and helped me to hatch. Otherwise, I would have eaten by that idiotic hybrid and died with her."

    "Died with her?" Kadyn looked confused.

    "Hmph, that moron wanted to devour me and improve her bloodline." As it talked about Zephire, its voice became cold with every word. "A lowly hybrid dared to spheme the Celestial me Sparrow! Do you think she would have seeded after swallowing me? A fat chance! She would have been blown up like a balloon and with her, I would have also died.

    "So that''s how it is," Kadyn nodded in understanding, and when the iron was still hot he spat another question. "So how did you turn into an egg?"

    "That was because¡­" it stopped midway. It looked at Kadyn and narrowed her eyes. "Are you trying to get information from me?"

    "No, no," Kadyn shook his head. "I just want to know more about you. As you said we are together in this, so we should understand each other better so we could cooperate without any misgivings in the future?"

    "Oh really?" said the bird disdainfully. "How about telling me about yourself and¡­ the shop?"

    "Well, I can''t tell you about it?" he denied without batting an eye. But when he saw a hard stare from the bird he hurriedly exined. "I can''t tell you because I don''t know anything about it myself. It just appeared one day in my head, out of nowhere. How can I tell you anything if I don''t know myself."

    "Out of nowhere?" the bird chuckled in sarcasm. "Do you think something like that would appear out of nowhere? Do you take me for a fool?"

    Hey, I''m not lying!" Although he hid a few things, what he said was really true. He had no idea where his system and the shop hade from.

    "Alright, I believe you." The bird said. It looked at Kadyn who was staring at her suspiciously and exined. "We are connected through blood and spirit. Even if we want we can''t lie to one another." ''Just hide'' it thought inside her head.

    "Oh," Kadyn was surprised to hear it. He looked at it and asked after a short pause. "Do you know anyone in this world... who is from another world?"

    "I was in an egg form ever since I came to this world. How would I know any¡­" it suddenly stopped talking. She blurted out something she didn''t want anyone to know. "Damn it!" it cursed and vanished.

    Kadyn looked at the empty windowsill speechlessly and shook his head. "Weird bird."

    Previously he thought that she was some kind of old cunning monster ¡ª as he failed to subdue it inside the shop when it had just hatched ¡ª but now he realised how childish his thinking was. Then he chuckled and a rxed smile appeared at the corner of his lips. At least, it wasn''t hostile towards him like before, and he could tell that it wasn''t evil.

    "Whoosh!"

    At this moment a cold wind flew inside the room and a shadow appeared beside Kadyn''s bed. "It''s done," Cecilia replied.. Kadyn''s face changed and he stood abruptly when he saw blood dripping from her shoulder. "How did you get injured?"

 Chapter 141 - Time To Become Rank 1 Mage

    Kadyn knew that Babul wasn''t powerful enough to hurt her. She must have encountered someone powerful. Someone stronger than Rank 2 mage.

    Cecelia took a deep breath and sat on the bed before replying. "Just when I finished Babul, a rank 3 mage arrived, before I could react, one of his spellsnded on me."

    Although she didn''t exin further than this, Kadyn knew that she must have fought a hard battle before she escaped. Anyways, Kadyn also didn''t go into details of the fight.

    "I was careless. Otherwise, he would not have been able to wound me, even if he was rank 3 mage."

    Kadyn felt surprised hearing her confident voice. He remembered the red-eyed bat and nodded in understanding. Even he felt a little uneasy whenever he thought about her Elemental Essence. Though he had no idea about its rank it must be higher than the Water Python he had gotten from Jinn.

    "Did he see your face?"

    "No."

    It was silent for a moment. He eyed Cecelia and then said. "Hey, umm, would you like to work for me?"

    "Huh?" a bewildered expression appeared on her face. She asked in confusion. "Ain''t I working for you?"

    "No, not like this," Kadyn shook his head. "Right now, you are doing it because Nefia is with us. You just want to protect her." He looked at her and went on in a serious manner. "But I want you to work for me ¡ª if you know what I mean."

    Cecelia peered at him and curled her lips. "What can you give me in return?"

    "That would depend on what you can do for me," Kadyn replied in a serious tone. He knew that if he had enough Energy Points he would be able to upgrade the shop, and he knew that it was just a matter of time. At that time even Cecelia would feel honoured to be the employee of his shop,

    Thedy looked at his serious expression and replied. "I don''t know from where your confidencees from, and I don''t know why, but I want to believe you. Alright, I will work for you."

    A smile appeared on Kadyn''s face. "I assure you that it is the best decision of your life you have ever made."

    Cecelia didn''t say anything and just smiled in return.

    Kadyn waved his hand and a scroll appeared in his grip. He grinned at thedy in front of him and said. "Read it, and if you agree to all the conditions inside the scroll, drop the blood on it."

    ¡ª¡ª¡ª

    In the early morning, Kadyn looked out of the inn through the window of his room. Red mixed with orange and yellow was about to burst out from the horizon. The people were walking on the streets, shops were opening, and children sprinted on the street as their chuckles resounded in the slightly foggy weather.

    Suddenly a bird appeared and sat on his shoulder. Kadyn looked at it but didn''t say anything. He had be ustomed to her sudden visits by now. But at this moment there was no fire burning on its white-feathered tiny body.

    "What are you going to do now?" it asked when Kadyn didn''t speak anything.

    "I don''t know," Kadyn replied and shook his head. "I just wanted to open a shop and do business, but now, I don''t think it will go as smoothly as I thought at first. Though we have killed Babul and the matter has settled for now, but if they could dig a little deeper, it won''t be hard to reach us."

    "So what do you intend to do?"

    "For now," Kadyn looked at the bustling city and took a deep breath, "let''s just try to establish our business. We will talk about other thingster. If Sweeders and Webney found us, let''s just escape. It''s never toote to revenge."

    After that, the bird vanished. Kadyn thought for a moment and then another figure appeared behind him.

    Hot Rod eyed Kadyn in bewilderment. He didn''t know why he was summoned here, as he was about to ask, Kadyn said. "Do you want to be an official employee of the shop?"

    Hot Rod trembled at that, an excited look emerged on his worried face. Kadyn turned around and threw the scroll at him. "Read it before dropping the blood."

    The man held the scroll with his trembling hands. Then turned towards Kadyn. "I believe you, I don''t need to read it." After that, he drops the blood on the scroll. His action caught Kadyn unprepared. Then he opened Hot Rod''s window and a pleasant expression appeared on his face.

    [Employee Name: Hot Rod]

    [Employee Rank: Iron]

    [Magus Rank: Rank 1 mage]

    [Element: Fire]

    [Energy Points: 0]

    [Loyalty: 36]

    [Evaluation: Good. There is always room for improvement]

    Kadyn never thought that Hot Rod''s loyalty had reached so high, almost equal to Khrom. If it wasn''t for the Energy Points he would have be a Gold Rank Employee already.

    He looked at the man in a new light and said with a smile. "Go, forge a few Rank 1 artefacts. The more we can sell your artefacts, the more energy points you will earn, and the more you will be able to learn from the library. Didn''t you want to learn the rune and forging technique of the Space Artifact? There are lots of precious runes and forging techniques in the library. Work hard."

    After he sent an excited Hot Rod into the shop, a smile appeared on his face. "It would be great if Hot Rod was able to increase his rank." It was the reason he asked him to be an employee. After all, he was almost like a ve to Kadyn for two years, he could make him forge artefacts for two years without giving much in return. However, then Hot Rod would always remain at the Rank 1 mage and artisan.

    That''s why after giving some thought Kadyn epted him as an employee. They were at a ce where they could spot Rank 1 mage anywhere. They needed to improve their strength and skills at the same time. Hot had a good chance to be a Rank 2 artisan in a short time if the opportunity was given to him.

    Kadyn stretched his hands and twisted his waist and then said.. "It''s time to be a Rank 1 mage."

 Chapter 142 - Stunning Whirlwind Chamber Of Commerce

    Kadyn walked out of the inn as he inhaled the fresh morning air. He eyed Cecilia and smiled. "Let''s go."

    "Where are we going?" thedy asked, confusedly. Her wound was already healed. One could only click his tongue at the recovery speed of vampires. Enviable indeed.

    Looking at her fair skin and heartwarming smile, Kadyn couldn''t help but fall into a trance. Then he hurriedly controlled his trembling heart when he remembered her bloody form and his heart shivered. He nced at her and coughed embarrassedly and replied. "We need money to purchasend to establish our shop, but we don''t have much money."

    As she was about to ask how they would earn it, her gaze fell on his right hand, in which he twirled something. She was surprised when she realised what it was. "So you are going to sell it, huh?"

    Kadyn unfolded his hand and revealed a small and blue crystal ball. Something was moving inside, then said. "This water essence doesn''t have much use to me, nor anyone else in our group is a water mage,but we can earn a good amount by selling it. So why not?"

    Cecilia nodded and followed him closely. Not speaking anything. Last time she had sealed it hurriedly that''s why it escaped easily. However, this time she had taken her time and now it could only struggle inside but not escape.

    As they moved they also looked around them. There were only single-story buildings around them, and though the roads weren''t shining like stainless steel they weren''t filled with lots of garbage either.

    Although he didn''t have much money, he had enough to live in an average ce like this. Furthermore, he was the only one who stayed in the inn while others were in the shop. So he didn''t spend too much money on it.

    As the duo walked the buildings started to be taller and the road became wider. Cecelia looked at him and asked. "Where are we going?"

    "There," Kadyn looked in the distance and smiled. She followed his gaze and found a tall building. It was built elegantly, in front of the building was a beautiful garden, at the gate stood two guards. People wereing and going now and then. Though it wasn''t rushed. Cecelia''s eyes moved towards the board at the top¡ª Stunning Whirlwind Chamber of Commerce. It was written on it.

    Kadyn exchanged a nce with the beauty beside him and strolled towards the gate. Before the gatekeepers could say anything, Kadyn voiced. "I have a business. Can you please inform your manager?"

    The gatekeepers looked at each other. One of the gatekeepers hesitated and asked. "Sir, can you please tell us what business you have with the manager?" the gatekeeper saw a frown on Kadyn''s face and said hurriedly. "Sir, don''t take us wrong. It''s just that¡­ we don''t know if your work is worth disturbing the manager, or we will be punished."

    Kadyn thought a little and then said. "An elemental essence. Is it worth disturbing your manager?"

    The two guards looked at him with wide eyes and turned to each other in shock. Someone was selling an elemental essence! Though elemental essences weren''t that umon in the capital and will appear from time to time, all in all, they were still pretty precious.

    "Come inside please, I will inform the manager," one of the guards said and led them inside. The floor was of exquisite marble and the walls were painted white; there were windows from now and then as they walked, frames carved with intricate designs and ss dazzled with sun rays, blue curtains waved with a passing gust of wind. The paintings on the walls entuated the beauty of the ce and flower washes on the side made it elegant.

    "Please, wait here," said the guard as he led them into a waiting room. "I will inform the manager."

    Kadyn nodded and looked around him. A beautiful chandelier hung on the head of the duo attracted his gaze very first. Arge painting was the second ¡ª a beautiful woman was sitting at the edge of the river, looking at the setting sun on the horizon as if waiting for someone. It gave a tranquil and a sad feeling at the same time.

    Then his gaze fell on the floor, which was adorned with a lovely carpet that was intricately designed, flowers and leaves and whatnot.

    He and Cecelia exchanged a nce and then sat on the squishy sofa, hemented, then. "Pretty rich, aren''t they?"

    Cecilia nodded, and then a servant girl entered the room and brought tea and snacks and biscuits of all kinds. Kadyn looked at the beautifuldy in a maid dress and said with a gentle smile. "Thank you very much. I needed this tea, I have yet to have breakfast," without waiting, Kadyn took a teacup, as the maid served him. "Aha.. nice tea, miss. Free things are indeed tasty, I heard it somewhere, but today I got to experience myself."

    Suddenly ck lines appeared on the maid''s forehead. She red at Kadyn and walked away. Not bothering him anymore. Though he heard her murmur. "Where did this bumpkine from?"

    Kadyn just smiled without speaking anything and bit the biscuit as he sipped the tea through the rim of the cup. Those guards were indeed quite experienced and didn''t judge him based on his look, as his clothes were indeed too cheap inparison to the people he had seen previously on the road, walking. The way of talking? He didn''t think there was anything wrong with it.

    It took around fifteen minutes before the duo again heard the sound of footsteps. Kadyn and Cecelia turned towards the entrance and then a middle-aged man walked inside. He had a gentle smile and he was tall, appearing simr to that kind uncle who will kidnap children with a single candy.

    He looked at the duo inside the room as duo looked at him. Then he said, "I am sorry for making you wait, sir, mam," he extended his hand. "I am Omm. Omm Woulsto."

    Kadyn looked surprised hearing hisst name, but he didn''t show it on his face. He hurriedly shook his hand with the manager and replied. "Kadyn," then he gazed at Cecelia who was still sitting. It appeared she had no intention of greeting the manager. Kadyn smiled awkwardly and said. "She is my friend."

    "Oh," Omm the manager nced at Cecelia and nodded but didn''t say anything more, and sat on the other side of the sofa. "I heard you have an elemental essence to sell?"

 Chapter 143 - Clover Square

    Kadyn looked at the man and nodded before taking out the crystal ball. "Yes. It is a Rank 2 elemental essence which could increase the attack power of water spells by 50%."

    "Oh," Omm''s eyes shone with interest when he heard his words. Kadyn passed the crystal ball to the manager to check the elemental essence.

    Inside the crystal ball was a blue python that from time to time would disappear as if turning into the water itself.

    "It is indeed the Rank 2 elemental essence," nodded Omm, as he passed the crystal ball back to Kadyn, though there was some reluctance in his eyes, Kadyn acted as if he didn''t see it, and put the ball inside pocket. Omm eyed him and asked. "Would you like to sell it to me, or you want to auction it?"

    Kadyn thought briefly before asking. "When will the next auction be?"

    "Day after tomorrow."

    "Alright. Then we will auction it," he said, not taking much time to think. After all, he knew that the value of the elemental essence would increase tremendously in the auction. He would be stupid if he sold it to the manager. After all, the day after tomorrow wasn''t too far.

    "Perfect!" Omm pped his hands and smiled at the duo. "This is just a weekly auction. The Rank 2 elemental essence could easily be a finishing product of the auction. I''m sure many youngsters of the noble houses woulde to get their hands on it."

    "So how much money would I be able to get after the auction?"

    "At the very least 6 million Ces." The manager replied. "5% of the money will go to the auction house. All in all, it will be a pretty good amount. However, if you sell it to me right now, I won''t give you over 4 million Ces."

    Kadyn nodded and then said. "Ah, actually, there is one more thing. We want to buy a small plot ofnd. Do you know someone who is in the real estate business?"

    "Why would I know someone like that when I am one myself?" Omm Woulsto grinned at Kadyn. "What kind of plot do you need?"

    "I need it to open a shop so it would be great if it is in the Clover Square."

    The Clover Square was the main marketce of the city where all kinds of things could be found. Though he didn''t know why the Stunning Whirlwind Chamber of Commerce was built at this ce. It was quite a distance away. ''Maybe, they don''t need a special ce such as Clover Square. After all, they are one of the four great noble houses.'' He thought, and then shook his head, not thinking much about it.

    "Shop, huh?" Omm eyed Kadyn and then said. "No problem. I have a shop in Clover Square. It would cost around 2 million Ces."

    ''Shop?'' Kadyn didn''t want a shop but and, because he could build the shop himself. Anyway, he knew that it would not be easy to get a innd in such a busy ce so he didn''t speak about his thoughts. ''2 million it is, then.'' He decided. "Alright, then I wille the day after tomorrow. For auction, and for the shop."

    He shook hands with the manager and stood up with Cecelia.

    "Have a nice day, sir." Omm Woulsto said and sent them with a professional smile on his face.

    ¡ª¡ª

    "What do you think?" Kadyn asked.

    "I don''t trust him," Cecelia replied.

    "Me neither," Kadyn said, "but what can we do? We need money¡­ andnd."

    "Do you want me to break into another noble house?" thedy grinned when she said it and rubbed her hands in anticipation. One could easily see the excited glint flickering inside her eyes. Kadyn rolled his eyes at her, seeing her reaction, "don''t be ridiculous," and shook his head.

    "Are we just going to wait for two days?"

    "No," Kadyn said, he turned towards her, grinning,and went on. "He is the one who will wait."

    He Juggled the crystal ball in his hand and sped up towards a certain direction. Cars and bikes and cycles and pedestrians passed on the road continuously, but he cared a little about them, as he scurried through them one by one.

    "Where are we going?" Cecelia asked when she found that he wasn''t walking towards the inn.

    "Clover Square," Kadyn replied. "I have heard about it from a servant in the inn, but I don''t know much about it, so I want to see the ce where my shop will be in the future. Furthermore," Kadyn turned towards her and said. "Didn''t you say you don''t trust him? So how could we stay at the same ce we didst night?

    "Maybe, he won''t do something like attacking and snatching the elemental essence, but it doesn''t hurt to be extra careful, otherwise, it would be toote to realise the mistake. Huh?" At this moment he sensed something and exchanged nces with Cecelia.

    "He is pretty impatient, isn''t he?" chuckled the beauty disdainfully.

    "Let''s go," Kadyn smiled and increased his speed, and in no time the duo vanished somewhere in the distance. One was the holder of the dark element while the other had dark and wind and even space elements. Who could catch him if he wanted to escape?

    Around thirty secondster the two of them vanished, three men appeared at the same spot. They exchanged confused nces, and one of them said. "I think they discovered us. Didn''t think they would be able to find us so easily."

    "What should we do now?" Another man asked, worriedly.

    "What can we do?" The third man replied, his voice cold, almost to the point of emotionless. "Let''s try to find them, or we will be punished by Mr Omm. Our east branch isn''t doing too well in recent days, the other three branches are already providing the family with a lot more resources than us. This customer may help us attract and increase our customers.. We can''t lose him."

 Chapter 144 - A Shadow

    The Stunning Whirlwind Chamber of Commerce ¡ª was the establishment of the Woulsto House of the Four Great Noble Houses. It had four branches and a headquarters. The one Kadyn visited previously was one of the four branches, and it was called the eastern branch.

    As for why it was built at such a poor ce, it was due to the bet of the two noble houses'' leaders ¡ª Woulsto and Sweeders. The two leaders made a bet and Woulsto''s were defeated. It was only then they realised Sweeders had tricked them.

    But it was already toote, the leader of Woulsto couldn''t go back on his words in front of so many people. He had to honour his word and move away from the eastern chamber ofmerce from Clover Square no matter how unwilling he was, as it was the condition of the bet.

    "So that''s why," Kadyn nodded in understanding after inquiring a little more about the chamber ofmerce, "It seems we have wronged that poor guy, he must be desperate to get a deal like ours which would let his branch gain a little more status. After all not many rich people would go to that area, but for Rank 2 elemental essence they would surely do.

    "That''s why he sent his people to track us down. Well, that''s just spection. Who knows, there might be something nefarious cooking in his head. No matter what it is, kind intention or nefarious, I don''t like someone spying on me."

    Cecelia nodded without expressing her opinion on the matter.

    After that, he continued to inquire about the capital, and he got to know that Clover Square was just one of the markets, though it was the biggest in the eastern district, it was at the fifth ce in the capital. It seems the inn servant skimmed a lot of things. But then again, you can''t expect more than that for free, can you?

    Kadyn looked at the bustling market in front of him and was a little overwhelmed by looking at the rush and crowd all about him after such a long time.

    After looking around for some time Kadyn realised that the market was divided into mini sections ording to the vendibles sold in the particr section, simr to the market he visited in Avibria city, but on apletely different level. There were street food stalls, there were fruit stalls, and there were restaurants. It was a food market.

    There were jewellery shops at one section of the market, and it was a jewellery market. Most of the women could be seen at this ce, and a few husbands being dragged by them, ''reluctance'' was written on their faces.

    There were magic weapon shops, potion shops, and all kinds of magic-rted things. It was the magic market of the eastern district. He also realised that the weapons weren''t just elementary ones. There were Common Rank weapons and even Umon Rank ones in those shops.

    Kadyn realised the difference between the Magic Alliance and the Ceston Empire instantly. There was noparison at all. How could someonepare an ant to the mammoth, the Ceston Empire was that mammoth and the Magic Alliance an ant.

    He shook his head and strolled away. Then his gaze fell on an enormous building in front of him. Maybe it was the most majestic building he had seen in the entire Clover Square. A crowd of people wereing and going, youngdies andds, men and women. The ones who entered appeared eager, those who left had satisfied smiles on their faces.

    But when Kadyn saw the words written at the entrance, his expression darkened. ''Dogs and poor are not allowed here.'' After all, he was poor at the moment, he felt as if someone had pped him. Shining Fang Chamber of Commerce, was written at the top of the building in marvellous calligraphy.

    "Oh, so it is the ce that used to belong to Woulsto house and now Sweeders own it," Kadyn said with a sad and dark expression.

    He nced at the stunning building to which the building of the Stunning Whirlwind Chamber of Commerce could neverpare and then shook his head, and turned around and left. He had no good feelings towards Sweeders, and he might be their enemy when they realise it was he, who foiled their n of robbing Webneys.

    Furthermore, the more he came into contact with them the faster they would find out about him. He had no intention to confront them at the moment. It would be no different than suicide. Though he was a little curious about the goods inside the building, he suppressed his curiosity. When the matteres to one''s life, every curiosity is equal to the death trap.

    Kadyn looked into the horizon and realised that the sun was already about to go down and vanish beyond the mountains in the distance so it coulde back again tomorrow. It was winter, and the clouds covered the sky most of the time, the days had shrunk and became smaller, the time could flow faster sometimes than we think.

    The rustling wind became colder as the sun went down.

    The duo wandered, as the market was illuminated with light. It was a beautiful sight. However, he had already checked out the entire market, and he didn''t want to buy anything, even if he wanted he could not afford it at the moment. "Let''s go," he said.

    "Are we going back to the inn?" Cecelia asked. "Or are we going to find a new one?"

    "Neither. I saw a field when we came to Clover Square. I think it will be a good ce to stay for a night. It is a little deserted, I doubt anyone would go there at night. Only dogs and ghosts and madmen would wander in such cold weather."

    Fifteen minutester both of them arrived at the area Kadyn was talking about, it was dark here. Only the talking and murmuring of insects could be heard, which stopped as soon as they arrived, only starting after a brief silence again.

    It was already 8 o''clock and the crescent moon was roaming beyond the clouds, ying hide and seek, as if jumping from one cloud to another and concealing itself from the people who were looking at it.

    The cold wind howled ¡ª the clothes fluttered and danced with it, as it yed with their hair and whispered in their ears. Kadyn felt a sudden chill, he turned around and looked behind him, but there was no one there. He turned to look at Cecilia but to his shock, she was gone.

    "What the fuck!" he cursed, as a panicked look appeared on his face. He felt someone watching him just now. Who could have thought that Cecilia would vanish suddenly? "Did something happen to her?'''' A worried look appeared on his face. "Or she went to chase the thing I felt just now?"

    He would be stupid to think that something he sensed but Cecelia failed.

    "Cecelia!" he called out when he still failed to see her. "Where are you, Cecelia?!"

    No one replied. A somewhat fearful expression appeared on his face, but he braved his heart and suppressed his anxiety and fear. "Fuck!" he cursed, to calm himself. And then, there was a sound. Footsteps? No, it felt as if someone was dragging something, he could not tell, but sound nheless.

    Then a shadow came into his view, a human shadow, at least that''s what he thought, but he could not tell who it was.. "Cecelia, is that you?" he asked after gathering some courage, but there was no reply, only the sound of footsteps and dragging of something.

 Chapter 145 - Soul Devouring Worm

    When the shadow was about ten meters away from Kadyn, he saw clearly who it was. It was a man, two meters tall, with broad shoulders and bushy brows. His face, expressionless. Aside from all these normal traits, there was something eerie about him, his eyes were white, with no pupils in them, sending a chill through Kadyn''s heart.

    Then his gaze fell on his right hand in which the man held a gigantic hammer, dragging on the grassy ground, producing a sound he heard previously with footsteps.

    "Hey, who are you?" Kadyn asked when the man stopped a few meters from him, but he didn''t get a reply. The man tilted his head and grinned. What a chilling smile that was, Kadyn felt a cold sweat trickling behind his back.

    Then, before he could collect his jumbled and confused thoughts, the man moved and swung the gigantic hammer in his hand towards Kadyn.

    "Fuck!" he cursed, and sprang back, avoiding the hammer by an inch. "Who are you? Why are you attacking me?"

    "Kekekeke."

    The man cackled in reply and attacked again. It seems he had no intention to talk. Only intention to kill.

    "Is he mad or something?" Kadyn asked himself. After all, the man indeed appeared to be a goner. He didn''t know, and he never met him, yet he still attacked him for no reason.

    Just then the hammer again whooshed in his direction. Kadyn almost screamed in misery as the distance had shortened between him and the attacker, it had be a lot harder to avoid.

    He twisted his left ankle and bent backwards, and again survived. But just as he sighed in relief, his leg slipped on the damp grass, and he lost control of his body, falling on his butt, a fearful look emerged on his face.

    The man looked at his expression and showed a wicked grin, eager to turn him into a bloody pulp. Kadyn crawled back on his hands in a crab style as the hammer smashed between his legs, almost wrecking his groin and destroying his glorious future.

    "Stop, you motherfucker!" he cursed and cast a 10-star fire spell. Molten Bomb!

    "Boom!"

    Theva bubbled from underneath the man and burst into horrible mes, producing a mushroom that enveloped the mad man inside itself. "He must be dead after taking such a powerful attack, won''t he?" Kadyn said nervously.

    When the attack vanished, and the dust settled,Kadyn looked with wide eyes in front of him, and his mouth fell agape. "What the fuck is he?" he shouted. The man was standing with the same grin on his face, without a single scratch on his body.

    Kadyn roared and again fired a 10-star spell, this time it was wind, but it did no better than thest one. Only now did he realise that the man in front of him waspletely out of his league. He was too strong for someone like him.

    When he was thinking what he should do, the man once more moved.

    "Where the hell did Cecelia go?" he felt like crying when he thought about her. Did she dump him and run away? After all, her loyalty was zero.

    But then, he shook his head. Abandoning him was equal to betraying him, and the system won''t tolerate it, he would have gotten a notification if something like that had happened. Not betrayal, then what? He couldn''t guess.

    "No matter what, I have to fight it, if I want to live," he red at the man and shouted furiously. "Come, you fucking bastard!" and dashed towards the man who also grinned evilly at him, and lunged with his hammer.

    "Puchi!"

    Abruptly a weird sound came, and the grin of the man with a hammer froze. A confused expression appeared on Kadyn''s face, but he didn''t stop and cast another spell. "Stop!" However, before he could send the attack towards the man, someone spoke. He halted.

    "Is that you, Cecelia?" he asked, but then the head of the man in front of him burst like a melon, revealing Cecelia behind him.

    "What the¡ª" he was left speechless. He had done everything, but he couldn''t even leave a single scratch on the man''s body, but Cecelia turned him into a cold, headless corpse with just a single move. The difference between strengths could be painful sometimes.

    "What is that?" when he waspletely speechless by the show of her strength, his gaze fell on her hand. Something was writhing and convulsing. Worm? "What is that thing?" he asked with a shocked expression.

    Cecelia looked at her hand and looked at the struggling worm in between her thumb and index finger, then she turned towards Kadyn. "This worm controlled that guy just now."

    "Wha¡ª"

    Kadyn didn''t know what to say when he processed her words inside his brain.

    Cecelia eyed the worm and then pinched it into a goo, turning it a slimy liquid, then shook her hand before wiping them with a handkerchief and went on. "There were others like that man. Actually, five more." She pointed at the headless corpse on the ground.

    She didn''t seem to see the shock on Kadyn''s face and continued. "I went after them when I felt their presence, but I didn''t know, another was hiding away from the group."

    Kadyn opened his mouth a few times but didn''t know what to say as he had many questions jumbled into his head. Then he took a deep breath and asked. "What is that thing?"

    "Soul Devouring Worm," Cecelia replied. "They were Rank 1 worms. Without a host they are nothing but when they possess an elementary mage, their physical strength would let them fight with Rank 1 mage, and if they possess Rank 1 mage, only a few Rank 1 mages would be able to defeat it."

    She looked at his shocked expression and said. "The most shocking thing about these worms is that they live in a colony with their queen. They only go out to collect soul power for their queen."

    "But how could there be such a creature in the city and no one knows about it?"

    "There is indeed something fishy about this matter," Cecelia said. Then shook her head. "But it doesn''t matter to us. Let''s go, the city guards must have sensed something wrong in this area."

    So the duo vanished, but Kadyn didn''t realise that the man who was covered in blood had turned into a husk.. The blood on the ground had also vanished.

 Chapter 146 - Only One Step Away

    "Who dared to kill my children!"

    Somewhere in the capital, a furious roar resounded. A young man stood up in rage. His dark eyes were cold and his face trembled with rage. His red hair and handsome face gave him a devilish look. He was tall, wearing a white shirt, trousers and cowboy boots. But at this moment his face was red in fury.

    However, after the initial outburst, he took a breath and closed his eyes, when he opened them again, all the rage and fury had vanished, reced with calm and indifference. He turned around and looked at the man who was standing respectfully, not too far away.

    "Go, find out who killed my children," he said in a soft voice, no previous anger remaining, "no one could escape after killing my babies," but there was a certain edge in his voice, a kind of chill we feel in the icy nights of December.

    The servant bowed respectfully and left without speaking anything.

    Then the red-haired turned towards the tform not far away from him, wherey a half meter long worm at the centre of the formation, struggling, twisting and turning, but to no avail.

    The man grinned when he looked at the worm. "So what if I can''t control you right now? I can still use your strength. I''m the one who summoned you, and I am the one whosemand you will listen to. Maybe not now, but when my strength increases after devouring all those soul fragments you will be mine to control, HAHAHA."

    ¡ª¡ª

    After escaping from the precious ce Kadyn arrived in another location. It was even more deserted than thest one. Amidst the trees and bushes. Kadyn exchanged a nce with thedy beside him and shrugged. Then he waved his hand and the shop appeared in front of them.

    At first, it looked exactly like a toy house, but then it started to erge. In just a blink there was an entire shop standing in front of them. Tall and mysterious.

    "Let''s go," Kadyn said and strolled through the gate of the shop. Cecelia looked at therge shop with a serious expression and then rushed behind him.

    As soon as they entered, everyone greeted them. After a short catch-up with everyone Kadyn excused himself and went into the shop where he entered his personal meditation room.

    "Here Ie, Spell Casters," Kadyn grinned from ear to ear when he thought about bing Rank 1 mage. He had already awakened all the stars in the journey previously.

    Now, he just needed to break the wall in front of him, and he will be one of the strong, maybe not one of the strong as the standard of the strong had increased when they arrived in the capital. Rank 1 could be considered an average strength for someone of his age, but if someone knew that he didn''t take even a year to reach this stage they would definitely shake to the core.

    "Let''s start¡ª" he closed his eyes and started to merge the glittering, burning, and twisting, and all kinds of stars ¡ª which were formed due to abination of other elements.

    As he was trying to break through a small bird was sitting on the tree branch, its small head buried into its white feathers.

    But at this moment it lifted its tiny head and looked in the direction of the meditation room, and then again packed its head into its feathery chest, leaving an almost inaudible murmur. "Too weak. Why am I wasting my time with this guy? If not for that mysterious and powerful vibeing from him¡­ if I had myplete strength I would have been able to find the source of this shop and whoever is behind it¡­ sigh..."

    ¡ª¡ª

    It was 4 o''clock in the morning when a burst ofughter came from the meditation room. Theughter resounded in the entire shop due to the silence, disturbing everyone, as they rushed out of the house and gathered in front of the shop, looking at each other in confusion.

    Five minutester Kadyn walked out of the shop. When he found everyone standing in front of the shop, he scratched his head in embarrassment, apologising. "I am sorry for disturbing everyone. I was too excited to control myself after breaking through."

    "You are Spell Caster now?'''' Everyone looked at him with a pleasant surprise. But they weren''t too shocked by the revtion. After all, Elora had since long broken through. She just needed to build a rune before entering the ranks of Spell Casters. Even Khrom was about to break through after his problem was solved when he refined the Mermaid Pearl.

    Kadyn looked at them and replied. "I have yet to build a rune. Only after forming a rune would I be able to call myself Spell Caster."

    "I don''t have enough energy points to buy a rune," Elora grumbled from beside him. "When are we going to start our business? I need a lot of energy points. I have seen a rune inside the library which would help my healing element to evolve into a life element." Her eyes glittered in anticipation when she thought about the evolution of her element.

    Hot Rod looked envious when he heard her. After all, he still hadn''t earned a single energy point since he became an employee. Cecelia on the other hand didn''t seem to be that impressed.

    She had seen the things inside the library; they were indeed far more precious than she had thought, but after all, she was not a Rank 1 mage anymore. She was Rank 2, and the shop had yet to evolve into Rank 2, so she couldn''t find something appealing to her inside the shop.

    "Don''t worry," Kadyn replied to Elora, "if everything goes ording to the n, in two days we will have a ce to settle our shop. You just focus on brewing potions."

    Kadyn looked at everyone in front of him and hesitated for a moment but then he flicked his hand and a bunch of scrolls appeared in his hand. He eyed Barret and Zelie, Rayna and Nefia, Dion and everyone else. Only Kove and Melvona were missing from the group.

    "You guys have helped me a lot in this period of time without a singleint," he said as he eyed everyone one by one with a smile and twirled the scrolls in his hand. "I don''t have much to return. These are the contract scrolls if you want you can be employees of my shop. There is nopulsion. It is your choice."

    Without waiting for their response, Kadyn turned towards Rayna. "I have found a way to make you and Kove mage. After I form my rune, I will be able to solve this problem."

    Everyone''s eyes went wide when they heard his words. All of them were aware that Rayna and Kove were ordinary people, and had not even a single trace of magic power inside their bodies. It was impossible to solve this problem. It was as if someone was iming to lit amp without oil.

    Kadyn continued. "Don''t feel pressure because of this, though," he smiled. "Even if you don''t sign the contract I will still help you."

    "It is impossible," Cecelia was the first to object. She eyed him and went on. "It is impossible to solve their problem. I have checked their condition by myself.They don''t have a trace of magic power. Let''s consider you somehow awakened their elements; they still won''t be able to activate elemental stars. It will be futile."

    Everyone nodded in agreement. They also felt as if Kadyn was talking about the impossible.

    The bird looked at Kadyn in surprise from the rooftop of the shop. It also thought that Kadyn was talking nonsense, even if he could awaken their elements they would only have a mediocre talent. The cost won''t match the result.

    "Oh, don''t worry," Kadyn grinned at Cecelia. "I will let you guys know how awesome I am. Also, Rayna and Kove''s talent won''t be less than any of you. It might even surpass you."

    "Stop boasting," Cecelia said in an annoyed tone. She had spent a lot of time with Rayna and became friends with her, and she knew how kind she was, and she would never want to see her expectations shattered. She, of course, wanted her friend to be happy, but if Kadyn''s im was false, it would only hurt her.

    Kadyn smiled at her and stopped arguing. It won''t do any good. He just needed to show them how it''s done when the timees. He shook his head and said. "Don''t worry, everyone will know, it''s just a matter of a few days."

    After that, he walked towards the house. Then he stopped and said to Rayna. "Sister Ryana, can you please make breakfast. We can''t let anyone see the shop, so I have to go out early. But I am quite hungry right now."

    "Ah, sure," Rayna came back from her stupor. Khrom grasped her hand tightly and whispered. "No matter if you have magic or not. I will always love you."

    A sweet smile appeared on her face and her grip tightened on his hand before walking towards the house, but in her heart, she had already made her decision. Due to her incapability of using magic, she always felt inferior to others.

    But no matter, she could still spend her life as she didn''t have much ambition, but she could not see the disappointed expression on Kove''s face. How could she not tell the thoughts of her son whenever he looked at others using magic?

 Chapter 147 - Life Goddess

    The next day passed just like thest day, and when the night came Kadyn entered the shop. Tonight he was going to select a rune. He had no idea what kind of rune he was going to choose, his heart couldn''t help but beat faster in anticipation.

    After all, every rune would give a different advantage to the mage. Like, Barret''s Earthrune gave him the ability to suppress his enemies by increasing the gravity in limited space.

    Hot Rod''s Firerune gave him the ability to control and manipte fire ording to his will. Though he would be at a disadvantage against someone who had built an explosive, fighting type rune, he cared a little about it, as he was passionate about forging.

    So he would rather have a supporting rune that would help him increase his skills than the one that gives some kind of brute strength.

    As for Cecelia, Kadyn had no idea what kind of rune she had formed, and neither had any intention to ask.

    Kadyn shook his head and entered the library. Then he went towards the Rank 1 section. He stopped neither at the spell shelves, nor on the potions, nor any other section. He directly passed them one by one and arrived in front of a group of shelves. Rune Section ¡ª it was written at the top of it.

    Then Kadyn noticed that the shelves were again divided into mini-sections. Rank 1 to Rank 6. He had already inquired about it and knew that the runes were divided ording to the Spell Caster Ranking.

    Rank 1 rune would let anyone reach a Rune Building stage, Rank 2 to the Fusion, Rank 3 to the Creation, so on and so forth. Hot Rod and Barret had built Rank 2 runes so they could reach only Fusion Rank.

    [Author Note: if you build a Rank 2 rune it will just give you a slight chance of reaching the Fusion Rank, and the same is true for other runes. It doesn''t give a guarantee, but just a small possibility. Many other factors would decide if one can reach a certain rank or not.]

    Kadyn drew a deep breath and took a scroll out of the first shelf and opened it. Barbaric Bear was its name. The entire scroll was covered in unreadable gibberish, or more precisely, it was a sketch drawn by hundreds of lines. After looking deeply, Kadyn realised it was the face of a bear. There was an exnation below the rune, but Kadyn didn''t read it.

    He ced the scroll back on the shelf. It was just a Rank 1 rune, and he had no interest in it.

    Afterwards, he turned towards another shelf and took out a scroll. It was a Rank 5 rune scroll.Inside there was a picture filled with vibrant colours ¡ª mountains and trees could be seen inside. Robust Mountain, Gentle Trees. That''s what it was called.

    And this time he read the description below the rune and realised that the rune had two elements: wood and earth. The wood would give the ability of self-healing while the earth would give a powerful defence.

    "Does that mean people can have more than 1 element?" he murmured. After all, he had never seen or heard anyone having more than 1 element. On the contrary, Barret had told him previously that he never heard of anyone having two elements, and Kadyn was almost a miracle in his eyes who could use quite a few elements.

    He wet his lip in anticipation and ced the scroll back on the shelf before looking at the final shelf and rubbed his hands with excitement. There were hundreds of Rank 6 runes that could let him reach the Assimtion stage. So he started to browse through them from one side.

    Burning mes. It was the first rune he saw. When he opened the scroll, he felt as if the temperature had risen around him. But after looking briefly, Kadyn realised that it wasn''t suitable for him.

    After all, he had ten elements while that rune focused on just fire. Then he came across earth and wind and all kinds of runes. He had even seen runes that focused on five or six elements, but he didn''t find a single scroll that had 10 elements.

    Around half an hourter, his gaze fell on a scroll that was brimming with life energy. When he opened it, he realised that this rune focused on the life element, and its name was ¡ª Life Goddess, and indeed there was a rune in the form of a woman who looked no less than a goddess.

    He eyed the rune and realised that it was a familiar figure. But then he remembered where he had seen this picture. It was the same figure he had seen when Elora had used the healing spell on the soldiers in the Avibria city.

    Then he hurriedly looked at the description of the rune and realised that the rune was perfect for Elora. It could evolve a healing element into a life element. Furthermore, it would give a terrible self-healing ability to the wielder of the rune called Undead.

    After reaching Rank 3 mage, this ability will be even more terrifying, if there was even a single drop of blood remaining the wielder of the rune would be able toe back to life.

    Kadyn couldn''t help but be a little excited for his sister. If she could build this rune she would definitely be one of the strongest people in his shop.

    Then his gaze fell on the energy points needed to get the rune ¡ª "2000," he frowned, but then rxed his brows. "Though it''s a bit pricey, with Elora''s ability to brew potions, it won''t be hard to earn 2000 energy points."

    Though he had about 7000 energy points he didn''t want to waste them for no reason. He needed just 3 thousand more to upgrade the shop to the next rank. Moreover, Elora was capable enough to earn that amount with her talent, if he still gifted her the rune, it would be unfair towards other employees.

    After that, he proceeded towards another rune and as soon as he touched it a kind of resonation was produced.. His eyes shone with anticipation and opened the scroll.

 Chapter 148 - World Lotus

    World Lotus ¡ª it was a mythical flower on the Pengo; the stuff of legends. Every petal of the flower held different elemental energy in them, and if a mage with the same element of a particr petal could refine it, he would benefit beyond the expectation of one''s thinking. Furthermore, the leaves of the flower could bring the dead back to life.

    The water in which it bloomed was no ordinary water ¡ª it was a kind of elixir for which nations would destroy each other and races would wage a cataclysmic battle on each other.

    But no one knew what was the use of that elixir, it was even more mysterious than the World Lotus itself. Legend above legend. Myth Beyond Myths. A myth that imed that whoever gets the elixir in which the World Lotus grows, would rule the world.

    World Lotus ¡ª it was written at the top of the scroll and a mysterious rune was blooming down in the form of a beautiful flower. It had unique petals ¡ª one of them was burning with fire, another was flowing like water. There was a petal covered in eerie darkness, and there was a petal that appeared to be almost invisible. There were all kinds of petals, weird and mysterious. Chilling and dazzling.

    Then his gaze fell on the green leaves at the bottom, blooming with life energy. Then he looked at the water in which such a mysterious flower would grow. It was golden. And when Kadyn''s gaze fell on the water his elemental pool started to vibrate, making a buzzing sound in his head as if cheering for something that Kadyn could not decipher.

    Kadyn didn''t think much after that and put the scroll in the pocket of his ck coat. His heart was beating eagerly because he felt a resonance between the rune and the blessing element just now.

    He was excited because ever since he awakened his elements he always wanted to know what the hell this thing called Blessing Element was.

    Now it seems he would be able to solve the mystery, or maybe not. Only time would tell, but no matter, he had felt a resonance between Blessing Element and the water inside the World Lotus Rune. Maybe after building the rune he would be able to solve this mystery.

    ¡ª¡ª

    When Kadyn walked out of the library, it was already 5 o''clock in the morning. So he could just store the scroll for the time being. He needed to go out before anyone could spot the shop.

    Kadyn didn''t even go to inform others. After all, it would cause pain in the ass if someone were to discover a building standing in between the trees where there was supposed to be nothing. He didn''t want to entangle himself in such a mess.

    ¡ª¡ª

    Kadyn strolled towards the Stunning Whirlwind Chamber of Commerce. He had just had breakfast in the nearby tavern before scuttling to do his business. Today was the promised day when the chamber ofmerce would hold the auction.

    As he passed through the pedestrians and vehicles on the road and arrived in front of the building. He looked around and found that it was the same as usual, not a thing had changed. Two guards were still standing in which one of them was picking his nose and the other his ear.

    Kadyn walked towards them with a smile. Both of them noticed him when he arrived about thirty meters away. They exchanged a pleasant look with each other and rushed towards Kadyn.

    "You are here, sir," one of the guards said politely. Then went on. "Our manager was very worried. He thought you won''t show up in the end and went to another auction house to bid your thing."

    Kadyn smiled but didn''t reply. He looked around and asked. "Today is an auction, isn''t it? Then why is this ce still as deserted as thest time?"

    "This¡­" they hesitated when they heard his question. After all, they can''t possibly tell the condition of their auction house. They still wanted their jobs.

    "Mr Kadyn," a voice came from behind them while the duo was in a dilemma. Kadyn eyed behind the guards and spotted Omm Woulsto standing there with a smile on his face. "I thought you would note back."

    "What are you talking about?" Kadyn replied politely. "Why would I go back on my words? I just don''t like flies around me."

    "Oh, I am really sorry about that," Omm said. "I will be more mindful next time."

    "Much better."

    The guards looked confused when they heard the conversation between the two of them. They exchanged nces and shook their heads. Not understanding a thing.

    On the other hand, Omm led Kadyn towards the guestroom. Just now Kadyn had given him a short warning in a roundabout manner, and it seems the man had understood what he meant.

    Therefore, Kadyn didn''t linger on the matter. It was better to be clear about some things, or it could be a trouble in the future ¡ª if Omm insisted on doing the same thing and made an excuse or yed a fool, Kadyn would have been really disappointed; but the manager seems a lot more honest than he thought. He admitted his mistake straightforwardly. Not many people could do that.

    The duo sat in the room as the maid served them beverages. It was the same maid who called Kadyn bumpkin thest time, but right now, her attitude was 180 degrees opposite to thest time.

    She appeared so polite and lovable that Kadyn blinked his eyes a few times and thought maybe she was someone else. But when the girl arrived in front of Kadyn she made a miserable expression as if pleading with him not toin about her.

    Kadyn couldn''t help but chuckle at that and shook his head. He didn''t hold any grudge against her, anyway. He would not destroy someone''s life just because of a smallment.

    He turned towards Omm and asked.. "Why is the auction house so deserted? Isn''t there an auction today? There should be a hustle-bustle and swarm of people around the auction hall."allnovelfull

 Chapter 149 - Hayla

    Omm Woulsto sighed when he heard Kadyn''s words. Then lifted his head and said in a sad tone. "It is the chamber ofmerce just in name. The truth is that that it can''t evenpare to a single high-profile shop in Clover Square."

    He looked at the ceiling and then said with a deep sigh. "If it goes like this, our chamber ofmerce would be shut down by the House. After all, we haven''t given them much after relocating to this ce. Our business is almost equal to none."

    "Then what about the weekly auction you hold?"

    Omm chuckled, but there was a self-mocking grin on his face. "It is nothing but a joke," he said. "Only people who live in the area woulde to see the show. Only a few people would be interested in bidding for something.

    "There aren''t many things that we could ce in the auction, much less anything precious that would attract any important figure. Moreover, no onees to this rundown area to auction their treasures. After all, they have other better options. More famous auctions, where they could get better biddings."

    Kadyn shook his head inwardly, he could only guess how hard it must have been for Omm to run this almost non-existing chamber ofmerce.

    After being driven out of Clover Square, the Eastern Stunning whirlwind Chamber of Commerce became aughingstock of the capital, and people started to look down on it, turning it into a present state.

    "So," Omm said, "do you still want to auction your elemental essence in our auction house?"

    Kadyn hesitated.

    Omm knew what he was thinking. So he gave him one more push. "If you auction your elemental Essence here, we will advertise it with everything."

    He paused and looked at Kadyn. "But other auction houses won''t give it as much importance as us. Our branch is almost at the brink of death, after all. Furthermore," he leered at Kadyn and proceeded, "if you help us this time, I will owe you a favour. When the timees I will repay, if it is within my capability."

    Omm looked at the frowning Kadyn and slouched back on his couch, not disturbing anymore. He knew that his first offer was nothing tempting as even a dunce could tell that other auction houses would attract many customers on their regr auctions and if they said that there was a Rank 2 elemental essence it would spread like a wildfire.

    So he could only count on his second offer. But he didn''t know that Kadyn didn''t care about either of his offers. The hesitation he showed was a facade. He wanted to look more like a genuine customer. Otherwise, people will start to think he was a scammer ¡ª even if wasn''t ¡ª due to his carefree behaviour.

    ''I only know two chambers ofmerce,'' Kadyn thought, ''in which one of them is on the brink of its death, while the other is not a ce where I want to go.''

    He chuckled inside his head and looked at the Omm. "Alright," he said, finally. "Let''s do it."

    Finally, a smile appeared on Omm''s face. He extended his hand to shake and said. "Happy cooperation."

    Kadyn shook hands with the manager. "When are you going to hold the auction?" he asked.

    "I usually hold a weekly auction at noon, but I have already cancelled today''s auction because I didn''t hear any news from you, and we had little to auction," he paused and an embarrassed look emerged on his face, but then his eyes shone brightly. "But now, we have Rank 2 elemental essence. House Woulsto will definitely provide us things that we could auction before the main thing appears."

    "You didn''t¡­ tell anyone about the elemental essence yet?" Kadyn asked when he realised something from Omm''s words.

    Omm looked embarrassed when he heard him. He chuckled and said. "You vanished and didn''te for two days. I thought you had gone to another auction. That''s why I didn''t announce it, and even cancelled the auction."

    Kadyn was left speechless, but he could somewhat understand his concern. The reputation of the chamber ofmerce was already lying on the ground. If he imed that the Rank 2 elemental essence would appear in his auction and failed in the end, the reputation of the Eastern Stunning Whirlwind Chamber of Commerce would end up in the gutter, and he would have no option but to shut it down in the end.

    Omm eyed him and said. "The auction will begin at 8 o''clock in the night."

    Kadyn nodded. "Hey, can you send someone with me to Clover Square?" He said. "I want to see the shop you were talking about."

    "Oh, alright," Omm nodded. Then he thought about something and went on. "How about this, you can settle in the shop if you like, and I will deduct money from the money you will get from selling Water Python."

    "Cool," Kadyn agreed without blinking an eye. After all, he was more eager to buy the shop than to sell the water essence. "I will be here at 8 o''clock then."

    Omm looked at the maid behind him and said to Kadyn "She is Ha. She will show you the ce."

    Ha opened her mouth wide, but then hurriedly closed it and nodded reluctantly.

    After sending Kadyn, Omm eyed the two guards at the door and said. "Send Zastan and Barion into my office." Then he again walked into the building. The two guards exchanged nces and then one of them rushed to inform Zastan and Barion, as he was told.

    ¡ª¡ª

    "I''m sorry," whispered a voice from beside Kadyn.

    "What?" Kadyn said in a confused manner.

    "I said I am sorry." This time Hy said in a clear and audible tone.

    "Sorry?" he eyed her and creased his brows. "Why are you sorry?"

    "You..." she gritted her teeth. She could tell by the smirk on his face that he knew what she was talking about. But he still teased her. But no matter, it was she who was in the wrong. "I''m sorry for my misbehaviourst time. I shouldn''t have said those mean things." She apologised.

    "Mean? What do you mean? Can I hear it again, pretty please?" Kadyn said with a grin on his face. He almost burst into a peal ofughter when he saw how hard she was trying to apologize.

    "You¡­" Ha was left speechless. "You are pulling my leg, aren''t you?"

    "Oh my god!" Kadyn jumped when he heard her words. "I am really not pulling your leg. There must be someone else hiding here!"

    "You are such a joker," she covered her mouth with her hand, trying to control herughter. Then said. "It is a figure of speech, you stupid."

    "Wow, I never knew that. I guess you learn many things when you are in the presence of great people."

    Ha rolled her eyes at him and said. "So, did you forgive me?"

    "Forgive you for what?"

    "You¡­ you are such a bully. I am not talking to you," she said and rushed ahead of him. Kadyn chuckled and followed from behind.

    Just like that, the duo arrived at Clover Square.

 Chapter 150 - Location For The Shop

    After talking for a while Ha didn''t realize that she became a lot rxed around Kadyn. The duo talked, joked, andughed all the way and arrived at Clover Square without even realizing it. When they reached the bustling market, Ha led the way through the crowd and went towards the Magic Market with no dy.

    Kadyn was a little surprised when he realized where the shop he wanted to buy was. Isn''t this ce perfect for his business? His eyes shone in anticipation and quickly followed from behind Ha. Shop by shop passed. Artifact shop, Potion Shop, Herbal Shop and many others. In just a short time Kadyn arrived in front of the Shining Fang Chamber of Commerce.

    At this moment Kadyn''s surprised expression had already turned into a confused look. He had no idea why Ha would take him here. Does that mean the shop is in this area? He thought but then shook his head. How could someone sell a shop in such a perfect ce for just two million Ces? No matter how delusional he was, he knew that it was impossible.

    Although confused, he didn''t ask anything and followed Ha silently.

    Ten minutester, the duo walked out of the Magic Market and arrived in the Food Market. Kadyn opened his mouth wide, struggling to say something, but no word came out of his mouth. Maybe it''s not what I am thinking? Heforted his heart.

    A mouth-watering smell teased his nose as he passed by the stall at the side of the road. The sound of utensils hitting each other resounded in the area. Theughter of people echoed as they ate and talked with each other. It was indeed a Food Market.

    AT this moment, Ha turned toward Kadyn and said, "It seems I didn''t tell you the location of the shop..."

    As soon as she started to speak, Kadyn felt an awful premonition. She looked at the strange expression on his face but didn''t think much about it and said. "It is in the Food Market."

    Kadyn almost choked when he heard her words.

    "What''s the matter?" Ha asked and looked at him confusedly.

    "Oh, it''s nothing," he replied and put a smile on his face. ''Well, it is still better than having no ce at all.'' He told himself subconsciously. ''So what it is in the Food Market. I will make it more famous than the Magic Market.''

    "Let''s go." He said to Ha when he made up his mind.

    "No need. That is the shop," she replied as she pointed in front of her. There was a piece ofnd, lying amidst the other buildings, and it was fenced and surrounded.

    Inside, shrubs and grass and all kinds of weeds were growing, and at the center was standing a building covered in ivy. A tilted board hung at the door of the shop on which something was written ¡ª FINGER SUCKING RESTAURANT.

    Kady rolled his eyes subconsciously when he saw the name. Whoever the owner of this ce was, he must be a man of culture as the people used to call on Earth. Just a single name could make a person''s mind run wild.

    "The owner of this ce," only when Ha spoke did hee back to his senses, "sold this restaurant to our chamber ofmerce when we still had our branch in Clover Square. But then lots of things happened, and we didn''t have enough time to deal with thisnd. Now, we are in a desperate situation. That''s why the manager sold this ce at such a cheap price to you."

    Kadyn nodded in understanding. Although this shop was in the Food Market and not in the Magic Market, all in all, it was still in Clover Square. Its value was definitely over 2 million Ces. It was Omm who was in desperate need of a treasure for an auction. Otherwise, he would not sell this shop to him at this price.

    As for why House Woulsto didn''t help him, Kadyn didn''t know, but he could make a few guesses. People''s hearts are the most unfathomable ce in this world. Who knows if there is jealousy or envy or gratefulness or something vicious cooking there?

    House Woulsto was one of the four great houses. Kadyn didn''t believe that everyone''s heart was clear, and they had no jealousy for the people such as Omm who held a prestigious position in one of the four chambers ofmerce branches of the House Woulsto.

    "Well," Ha interrupted his train of thought, "check out the ce, then decide if you want it or not."

    "No need," Kadyn shook his head.

    "You don''t want it?"

    "You misunderstood," Kadyn said, and went on. "I mean I have already decided to buy this ce."

    "You should at least check it out," Ha murmured.

    "Oh, you mean the Stunning Whirlwind Chamber of Commerce would cheat on me?"

    "That''s not what I mean.''

    ''Then it''s alright."

    "..."

    The truth was that he had already checked the ce. After reaching the Rune Building stage, he could use Spiritual Energy, with its help he could talk with others without speaking and could see without opening eyes.

    Just now, he had used Spiritual Energy to check the condition of the shop, and it wasn''t good. But Kadyn didn''t need the shop. He would rece it with his shop anyway, so he didn''t care about it. He just needednd that he had gotten already.

    Kadyn turned towards Ha and said. "Let''s go, I will send you back to the chamber ofmerce."

    "No need," Ha declined. "You must have a lot of work to do."

    Kadyn thought and then nodded. "Alright."

    Ha was left stunned by his reply. She thought he would insist oning with her and then she would reluctantly agree and go back together. Who knew that he would give such a simple reply.

    ''Are you still a man? Hmmm? Hmmm?'' she thought, '' you want to stay and clean the rubbish of this ce when you can apany a beauty like me?'' Though her thoughts were a bit narcissistic, she was indeed a great beauty.

    "Then I am going, hmph!" she snorted and left without further ado. Kadyn looked at the back of the beauty and chuckled. "What a weird girl," he shook his head and then walked through the shrubs and bushes.

    Then he looked around. There were lots of peopleing and going on the road who could see him.. Therefore he went behind the Finger Sucking Restaurant''s building and summoned others.

 Chapter 151 - Lets Clean!

    Everyone looked around and realized that they were standing in a ce that someone hadn''t taken care of for ages. A building was standing in front of them, studded with cracks and covered in dirt. Kadyn noticed confused expressions on everyone''s faces, so he exined. "Alright guys. This is the new location for our shop."

    "Waah... so this is where we are going to do our business." They looked around and started to check their surroundings.

    "Yeah," Kadyn nodded. "But before that, we have work to do. Half of us will clean the grass and weeds and half of us will demolish that building."

    Everyone bobbed their heads in understanding. Their faces were covered in excitement. After such a long time they had a ce where they could stay without being afraid of city guards.

    In no time they started to work. The women were cleaning out the shrubs and wild nts while the men were demolishing the building. Except for Kove. He had no magic power and his body was too weak. Kadyn feared that he would get hurt so he let him tag along with the weed-cleaning party.

    "Haha, I have learned a new spell," Slyff suddenly walked towards the building confidently andughed. "Let me show you guys how powerful I have be. Huh!"

    As everyone eyed him curiously, his body started to change and in time he turned into a giant monkey. His body was covered in ck hair; muscles could be seen underneath them. He balled his fingers into a fist and punched at the building.

    "Boom!"

    To everyone''s shock, a hole appeared on the wall through which they could see the other side of the house. This strength could evenpare to the Rank 1 spells, but everyone knew that the guy was still only an Elementary mage. Slyff looked at their surprised faces and said somewhat arrogantly. "I am only a 10-star elementary mage, but my strength¡­ hehe, do I even need to say?"

    Khrom and Dion''s lips twitched when they saw his arrogant pose. Khrom narrowed his eyes and then he walked out without saying anything and then swung his hand. Afterwards, he walked back to his position as silently as he went. Just when Slyff was about to speak, a booming sound came from behind him. When he turned around his eyes almost bulged out of their sockets. "What the¡­"

    The upper half of the building had vanished and was lying on the ground in bits and pieces as if crushed by the grinder, but a te line could be seen on the remaining walls as if someone had sliced the upper part of the building like an apple.

    Slyff looked at the scene and his lips trembled and then he slowly stood at the side not speaking anything. He thought that he had already surpassed Khrom when he sessfully practised the 10-star King Kong Transformation spell. However, who would have thought that Khrom had be even more terrifying and powerful.

    Slyff shook his head, but he didn''t lose his confidence. How could such a small setback make him despair? He never admitted defeat when he was at the bottom of this world. There was no chance he would admit defeat now.

    Nheless, there was someone else whose expression had turned awful at this moment. Dion looked at the two of them as if they were monsters. Just a few months prior Slyff was nothing but a brat no one cared about, and now he had already be so powerful. Though Khrom was strong, Dion thought that he would not be too far behind him. There was noparison between him and them anymore. However, he could guess that it was due to the spells they had gotten from the library, but still¡­

    ''I need to earn energy points so I could also enjoy the books and scrolls inside the library.'' He clenched his fist as he thought about it.

    Kadyn smiled when he noticed the altering expression of everyone. "Being proud and confident is a good thing," he said. "However, always remember there is not much difference in being proud and arrogant. If you want to be truly strong, you need to remember that thin line between confidence and arrogance."

    Slyff''s face turned crimson in embarrassment when he heard his words. Though Kadyn didn''t point towards a specific person, he knew that Kadyn was warning him to not be conceited.

    "Alright, get to work. There is a lot of work to do." Kadyn said. So everyone nodded and started to shower the building with spells. Barret had done most of the damage, as he was the earth elemental mage. But others also didn''tg much behind. And in no time, the entire building had been ttened into bits and pieces.

    When the people on the road saw the scene ying in front of them. They eximed.

    "Wow, look at those people. They have demolished the entire building as if it was made of cards."

    "Look at that gori punching so furiously. He is so powerful."

    "That wind mage is not bad either."

    "Who cares about those men? Look at those beautifuldies. How could someone make them clean rubbish?"

    "So beautiful!"

    "..."

    Though Elora, Nefia, Ceceilia and others ignored everyone, they still felt embarrassed when people pointed at them. "Ahh, so frustrating," Elora grumbled.

    Cecelia looked at her and shook her head. Then she waved her hand and dark energy released from it, vanishing into the ground. Shortly after that the green shrubs and nts lost their greenery and dried, bing lifeless.

    "Wow," Zelie''s eyes lit up when she saw this. "Why didn''t I think about that? Let me try this as well."

    Then she flicked her hand and threw a ball of fire towards the withered nts. "Hehe, isn''t this more convenient?"

    Cecelia eyed her and then at the burning fire and said. "We are in trouble."

    "Huh?" Zelie looked at her confusedly. "What do you mean?"

    "Look at that," Cecelia said.

    Zelie and others followed her gaze, and their bodies stiffened. The fire which was supposed to burn the trash that remained after the trees dried was burning so furiously that it felt as if in no time it would turn the Food Market into ash.. "Oh no, the fire is about to reach our neighbouring shop!" Elora shouted.

 Chapter 152 - New Name

    "Oh, shit," Zelie''s face flushed red when she noticed her mistake. She looked at the group and said. "We need a Water Mage to¡­" but halfway through she paused as she realised that no one was a water mage in their group.

    "What should we do?'''' She turned towards Cecelia. After all, she was the strongest person there. However, thetter shook her head. She was strong, not omnipotent. She was a dark elemental vampire. She had no effect on the fire. On the contrary, the fire was her nemesis which made herpletely helpless in this kind of situation.

    "Oh, no, the fire is about to reach other shops!" Nefia eximed in an anxious tone. Others also became flustered, andpletely helpless.

    However, when the fire was just a few feet away from the shop a kind of force dawned upon the scorching mes and gathered them into a ball, leaving everyone stunned. Confusion was written on their faces when a chuckle brought them back from their stunned state. "You guys were supposed to clean the thickets, not other shops," Kadyn walked out from the other side.

    They sighed in relief when they perceived that Kadyn had controlled the fire. Zelie became even more embarrassed. She walked out and said. "It''s not their fault. I was the one who made a mistake."

    "It''s alright," Kadyn said. "But be careful next time."

    Then he flicked his hand and the fire that was gathered in a kind of invisible bubble burst and vanished into thin air. "It is a sealing type space elemental spell." He exined. "I learned it in my free time."

    "Wow, no wonder space is one of the strongest elements. It could control such a wildfire so easily," Nefia said enviously.

    "You are wrong," Kadyn however shook his head. "I could control the fire because it was wild. If someone was controlling it, I would have a much harder time doing it. There is no inferior element, only inferior mages."

    Suddenly Kadyn contracted his brows and looked towards a gate of the shop, or one should say a restaurant that was about to burn just a minute before and saw a man ring towards them angrily. "Ah, sorry boss," Kadyn said. "It was our mistake. It won''t happen next time."

    "Humph," the owner of the restaurant snorted and rushed back into the shop.

    "Well¡­ whatever," Kadyn shook his head and asked everyone to get back to work. There was the rubble of the building to clean and the entire area had be charcoal ck after Zelie burned the dried nts, so they needed to clean it as well.

    As they resumed their work, an uproar broke out on the road where people were watching the show.

    "Did you see that?" one of the men yelled. "She almost burned that restaurant."

    "Who cares about that woman," one of the women snorted. "I am more interested in that handsome young man."

    "Look at your face and then look at his face."

    "Yeah, I know we are made for each other."

    "..."

    ¡ª¡ª

    When they were done with cleaning, it had already started getting dark. Due to the cold weather, all the people who were standing had already vanished one by one. The cold wind blew, the streetlights glowed, and fog showered. It was just 6 o''clock, but the sun had already vanished, as the darkness engulfed the world.

    Kadyn looked around and when he realised that no one was paying attention to them, the shop appeared in his hand that started to erge and in no time it was already a majestic building. Two groups smiled when they saw the shop and everyone rushed inside. Inside the shop, Kadyn could adjust the temperature at his will, so it wasn''t cold, nor the icy wind was blowing.

    "I will go make tea for everyone," Rayna said when they arrived at the house and strolled towards the kitchen.

    "Alright," Kadyn turned towards everyone and asked. "Since we have found a ce for the shop. Now I want a new name for it."

    "New name?" Elora asked. "But didn''t you name it Divine Tiger or something?"

    "Divine Lion Magic Shop," Kadyn corrected. "But I don''t like it anymore ." After all, he could not tell that he didn''t name it.

    "I also didn''t like it," Elora nodded in approval. "I didn''t want to hurt you, that''s why Ididn''t point it out."

    "..." Kadyn.

    "Anyway," he didn''t linger on the same topic. "Anyone has a cool name for our shop?"

    "How about Divine Hammer Shop?" Hot Rod said, eyes gleaming with excitement.

    "Yeah, right," Barret snorted. "Why don''t we name it Forging Shop instead?"

    "..." Hot Rod left speechless.

    "Divin Dragon Magic Shop," Barret suggested. "How about it?"

    Kadyn facepalmed and shook his head. ''Is there any difference between this name and thest one?'' he thought.

    "I was at least a little creative." Hot Rod mocked. "You are almost saying to everyone ''I DON''T WANT TO USE MY HEAD!''"

    "..." Barret.

    "..." Crowd.

    "Hell''s Gate," Cecelia said after a brief silence.

    "Nice name," Kadynmented, "but I think people could take it the wrong way. After all, it doesn''t sound like a righteous name. Furthermore, they are constantly fighting with an evil organization like Bone Spear Tower. Such a name could backfire us."

    "The Pegasus," Elora said.

    Kadyn shook his head.

    Rayna arrived with a tray of teacups. She looked at them and said after a little hesitation. "Uhmm, I also have a name if you don''t mind."

    "Yeah, sure, go ahead," Kadyn encouraged. Rayna didn''t talk much due to herck of confidence. So he was quite happy when he saw her speaking.

    "Heaven''s Door," she replied.

    "It''s a good name," Kadyn nodded. Then he turned towards everyone. "What do you guys think?"

    "Yeah, I like it," Elora''s voice chimed, and shortly after everyone also nodded in agreement.

    "Alright," Kadyn said. "It''s settled then. The name of our shop will be Heaven''s Door from now on."

    Shortly he asked the system to change the name and remove the statues of the lions from the door. Moreover, he also changed the design of the gate of the shop. Now it was even more majestic. Well, it doesn''t need to be said that everything costs energy points.

    Afterwards, hebined the buildings into a stunning tower. At the bottom was Kadyn''s main building while at the top floor was the library. However, the house and the medicine field was still behind the shop. Kadyn used energy points and obscured them and the extra space to avoid trouble in the future.

    After he was done. He had spent almost 500 points.. And when he was done, it was already time for an auction so he set off towards the chamber ofmerce.

 Chapter 153 - The Real Use Of The Meditation Room

    "You are here, Mr Kadyn."

    Kadyn lifted his head only to find Ha standing at the entrance, smiling. He struggled through the crowd that was eager to enter the auction house even in such cold weather and reached the girl. "What are you doing here?" he asked.

    "Oh, I was just waiting for you," she said. "After all, if you didn''t show up, we would have be theughingstock of the town. It''s good you are here, I was just about to go and find you."

    Kadyn nodded and examined the crowd as he inquired. "How did you spread the news in such a short time? From the crowd, it looks as if everyone knows about today''s auction."

    "Of course," Ha said. "After all, no matter how much our chamber ofmerce''s reputation has been reduced, behind it is still standing a gigantic Woulsto House. No Rank 2 and below water mage would say no to the Rank 2 elemental essence. So it didn''t take a lot of effort."

    Kadyn nodded, and then the duo went into the building. He turned towards Ha and said. "I won''t stay until the end of the auction. I am here just to deliver the elemental essence and to take the paper of the shop."

    "So you won''t stay?" Ha asked with a surprised expression.

    Kadyn shook his head. "I have work to do," he said. "I wille tomorrow or send someone to get the money."

    He had already gotten the rune, but he had yet to start etching. He could control himself until now because he hadn''t found a ce to stay, but now he had settled, and he didn''t want to waste his time anymore.

    He could feel that he was too weak aspared to the standard of the Ceston Empire. He had no news about his parents, and vicious vampires were searching for him because he had saved Cecelia. Who knows how many unknown dangers were lurking in such a big empire.

    ¡ª ¡ª

    After a brief talk with Omm Woulsto, Kadyn went back to the shop. Excitement was written all over his face. He wanted to try and build the World Lotus Rune as soon as possible.

    He knew that every Spell Caster rank was divided into four minor levels ¡ª Low, Intermediate, Upper, Peak. He would be a low rank 1 mage if he built less than 25 per cent rune and intermediate at the 50 per cent, and when hepleted the rune, he would reach the Rank 2 mage. Other ranks would also follow the same system.

    Kadyn didn''t even go to have dinner and entered his meditation chamber. As he sat at the centre of the formation, he took out a scroll from his pocket, covered it with the spiritual energy, and started to probe it.

    He needed to understand its structure before he could start building it. Every single detail needed to be exactly the same. Otherwise, the rune wouldpletely change, bing something else entirely in ce of the World Lotus Rune. It could even harm his consciousness and turn him into a dolt. So Kadyn could not afford to make any such silly mistake.

    As his spiritual energy touched the surface of the rune, his elemental pool started vibrating. However, after a brief tremble, it became silent once more. Therefore Kadyn resumed his probing. It took around four hours before he memorized the structure of the rune. Only then he started to build it inside his consciousness. He needed to use his spiritual energy to etch it inside his consciousness beside the elemental pool.

    When he began, he felt as if he was tearing his head apart from inside; pain burst into his skull, and his body shuddered. But he gritted his teeth and continued. Slowly an almost invisible line started to etch on his consciousness, but it was really slow.

    Nheless, Kadyn didn''t stop. Pain or no pain, he needed to move forward. Even if it was slow and tardy work to do, he didn''t stop. He didn''t know why but as time passed; he felt that he needed to be strong; he needed to do something, but he didn''t know what that something was. Therefore, he persisted.

    But shortly after he faced a problem. He needed spiritual energy to continue building the rune, but he had already used it entirely. Without the spiritual energy, he could not continue building the rune. He fell into a dilemma. Just when a thought of stopping came into his head, a warm feeling entered his body, and it replenished his spiritual energy in no time.

    ''Formation?'' Kadyn thought. It was the formation that was etched on the floor that replenished his spiritual energy. He had always thought that the only use of the formation was time eleration and mana gathering. However, only now did he realize what was the biggest use of the formation!

    Wizards could build the runes with only their spiritual energy. Without it, they could do nothing and let it replenish on its own. Only after replenishing it could they resume their rune building. It was the reason Kadyn was so much surprised when he realized that the formation could replenish it.

    If people knew about it they would not stop at any price until they obtain his shop. ''Looks like I can''t let others use the meditation room anymore.'' He thought. ''I can only let my trusted people use it.''

    ¡ª ¡ª

    At the same time when Kadyn was lost in meditation, far away outside the elven vige, a group covered in dark appeared amid the thickets.

    "Is your intel correct?" asked a voice.

    "Yes, milord," another voice replied. "I have confirmed Magnus is hiding in this vige."

    "Very well," the first voice said. "We will paint this vige red tonight. We will have a party of Elven blood."

    The group snickered behind the man. Their red eyes glittered as the icy wind rustled and their sharp protruding fangs looked vicious.. The man at the front moved towards the vige and hispanions followed from behind.

 Chapter 154 - Night Of Terror(1)

    The night was cold and windy. The people of Yefsari had already put themps off of their houses. There was no electricity in the vige as the human empires did. They could only use magic stones to fuel themps, but they didn''t want to waste unnecessary stones, so they could only turn off themps if they didn''t need them.

    At this moment a man walked towards the thickets and unzipped his pants before starting to relieve himself. He looked towards the cloudy sky and the crescent moon, as he murmured. "I will surely tell her tomorrow," a smile appeared on his face when he thought about the girl he loved. "I wonder how she will react. Will she ept my proposal?" a little nervous and a little hopeful look appeared on his face.

    "Is that you, Brother Purtham?" Just when he zipped his pants and was about to go back a voice came from behind him. The elf turned around, but he saw only a shadow and failed to see the face of the man due to the darkness.

    A confused look appeared on his face. He asked. "I am not Purtham. Who are you? I don''t recognise you."

    "Oh, you aren''t Brother Purtham?" the shadow said in a disappointed voice. "Then I will take my leave. Sorry to disturb you."

    "Wait a moment!" the elf said when the man turned around to leave. "As far as I know, there is no Purtham in our vige. You aren''t from Yefsari. Who are you?"

    "Oh, there is no Purtham in Yefsari?" The man sounded surprised. Then said in a disappointed tone. "That is sad. Anyway, it was nice meeting you. Let''s meet in the next life."

    "Huh? You.. urghhmmmm¡­" before he couldplete his sentence something sharp pierced his neck, pain burst throughout his body. He felt as if something was torn apart from his body, and as a shriek tried to escape his mouth, a hand gripped his jaw, suppressing the shout. The elf struggled and his legs iled in helplessness, but slowly the light vanished from his eyes, and the life left his body as it turned pale, as if there was no blood in his carcass.

    The vampire who had sucked the blood of the elf threw his body and blurped satisfyingly. "It was tasty! I can''t wait to have some more. Let''s go," he said and the others walked out of the shrubs and moved towards the closest house. Leaving the cold corpse, buried in thickets with his open eyes and iplete love story.

    It didn''t take long before the clouds of death rumbled in the sky and the rain started to tter furiously, as if crying for the death of the innocent. Nheless, the murderers cared a little about the rain and continued their hunt. In just an hour half of the Elven houses were filled with nothing but death and untold stories of misery.

    However, at this moment light from one of the houses lit up. Then a shadow with a hunched back came at the door of the hut that was hanging between the branches of arge tree and muttered. "Damn, it''s again pouring down," she said, looking at the dripping ceiling of her hut. "I have to call someone to fix it before it bes even more troublesome."

    She grabbed hermp and looked towards the other houses. However, when she was about to shout for help, she saw a group of men rushing towards one of the houses. Though she could not see clearly, even a blind could tell that something was not quite right here. Who would go out in such cold weather and run around, on top of that when it was raining.

    She observed them briefly and then they also noticed her and rushed towards her house. The olddy didn''t stand either and rushed inside her house and then started to beat one of the utensils. Alerting the vigers.

    Magnus walked out and turned towards Old Ti''s house as the olddy shouted. "There are intruders!"

    "Huh?" Magnus looked downward and spotted a suspicious group. However, his sight wasn''t obscured due to the night like others. On the contrary, he saw the faces of the people down there and rage started to bubble on his face. "Sandor, you bastard! What are you trying to do?!" he roared as the lightning rumbled in the sky. However, even the lightning couldn''t suppress his shout, it echoed in the entire Yefsari.

    "Hehe, Magnus. Long time no see," the man whom Magnus called Sandor grinned when he spotted him. "I am here to meet you. Won''t you wee me?"

    "Get out of here, now!" Magnus said through his gritted teeth. "I don''t have any intention to fight you. I just want to live my life peacefully. So leave!"

    "You want to live your life peacefully?" said Sandor with a confused face as if he didn''t understand his meaning. But then he grinned evilly and said. "Do you think I would let you live peacefully?"

    Magnus gritted his teeth, and then took a deep breath to calm himself down. "You want to fight me? Good, I will fight you. But don''t touch the vigers."

    "Oh, now, that is not good," Sandor said. "I have already killed almost half of the vige. You should havee out earlier. Sorry, you are a little toote."

    "What!?" Magnus and every viger felt as if their mind went nk for a brief time. They could understand Sandor''s meaning, but they dared not to believe it. Half of the vigers? How could they dare to believe such a thing? They were their brothers. They grew up together. They hunt together. They wrestled together. How could they believe such a horrifying oue?

    Magnus calmed down and then gestured towards Eddena who stood behind him. She nodded and rushed to check those houses from which no one came out until now. And it didn''t take long before she walked out with a pale face. She looked at Magnus and said with her trembling voice. "Bro-brother, they are dead. All of them are dead!"

    Magnus stumbled back in shock. It was Salona who supported him. He looked at Sandor and the fury burned on his face that he had since long-suppressed inside his heart. For happily living with Salona he even let go the thoughts of vengeance; for her, he changed himself. For her, he became a man from the beast he was.

    He found a ce to live and people who epted him as he was, but his past still came hunting after him. Destroying those beautiful people, destroying his peace. At this time he let go of thest barrier on his vampire bloodline and a bloodthirsty aura permeated the surroundings.

 Chapter 155 - Night Of Terror(2)

    Now, that''s more like it!" Sandor grinned at Magnus. "After you defeated me, I had only one goal in my life, to crush you under my feet, as you did thest time to me. Now the time hase."

    "How shameless can you be?!" Eddena shouted. "If you want to fight with my brother to win your honor back, fight him when he is in peak condition."

    "Oh, Eddena, my darling. How are you?" Sandor licked his lips as he sent a flying kiss towards her, and the vampires behind him burst into a peal ofughter.

    Eddena trembled with rage, but said nothing and turned towards her brother. "Brother," worry was written all over her face, as she tried to convince him. "You have sealed your bloodline for such a long time. You aren''t as strong as you used to be¡­" but when she saw the determined look on his face, she suppressed her next sentence in her heart. She knew he had already made his decision, and if anyone could change it, there was only one person.

    She turned towards Salona for help, but thetter shook her head. No one knew Magnus better than her, and his temperament. Furthermore, she wanted to be his strength, not the shackles that hold him back. So she didn''t say anything but eyed Magnus with love and concern.

    Magnus smiled when he saw the worry in her eyes and said. "I will be back." So she believed in him and nodded. "I will wait," as she replied.

    He jumped from the door of the wooden house. The mud sttered under his foot as the water poured down from above. Magnus looked at Sandor and said. "I will make you pay for killing those innocent people. I will ughter every single one of you, Hemlock House''s bastards!"

    "Oh really?" Sandor Von Hemlock snickered and went on. "I would like to see it. By the way, I was the one who killed your father and trust me, he died a painful death."

    Magnus clenched his fist until his bones started to make a sound. Even though he didn''t like his father, he was his father, nheless. Even though he somewhat resented and hated his father for his cruel nature, he was his father, nheless.

    No son, if he really was his son, could standstill when he heard such mocking words from the murderer of his father. Even though his father was cruel and vicious, without a shred of mercy in him, he was his father, nheless¡­

    Magnus didn''t waste any time and his eyes turned bloodshot and fangs protruded out of his mouth, and then he vanished. When he appeared he was already in front of Sandor. However, Sandor didn''t panic, on the contrary, a creepy smile emerged on his face, as he met Magnus'' fist with his own.

    Both of them took a few steps back. Sandor narrowed his eyes and said. "You came down, but you left your wife unguarded."

    Magnus looked towards Salona, and he indeed saw someone rushing towards her. Naturally, Eddena and Salona had also noticed the man. "David, you traitor!" shouted Eddena furiously when she saw the face of the man.

    He was the same person who took them back to Von Hagen House back then. They never thought that he had already turned a traitor, and fell into the trap of their enemy. In that same incident, Salona took the poisonous attack and saved Magnus, but they barely escaped from the encirclement of their enemies.

    "So what I am a traitor in your eyes," David sneered at her. "I am at least alive. Not like those inflexible Von Hagen bastards. Furthermore, now, I am Hemlock. I have no rtion with Hagens except for enmity, of course."

    "I will fight you, bastard!" Eddena cursed and went to meet him.

    Old Ti was standing on the door of her house in which water was pouring down. However, she didn''t seem to care about it. At this moment, she looked towards the vigers and said with a calm voice, but it echoed in the entire vige. "Did you hear what they say?" she said. "They have killed our people. Our friends, our neighbors¡­ our lovers.

    "They killed the people with whom we used tough and cry. They killed the people with whom we used to bicker and fight. They killed¡­ something important to us. Something that can''t be described in words.

    "They didn''t kill just those people, they tore our hearts. And yet¡­" Her gaze roamed on the faces of her people, then she went on, "...and yet, you are standing there, dumbly, waiting for someone to take the lead. Don''t you have any pride of an elf? Don''t your blood boil in fury? Have you already turned into walking corpses, or¡­ you are still alive?

    "If you are alive, then show me! Show me there is still dignity in your heart; there is still pride in your bones; there is still vigour in your body! Today, tear away the kindness in your heart and let the world know that we are the noble people whom no one can trample upon. Let them know that we are still alive. Let them know the price of their arrogance! KILL!"

    "Kill!"

    "Kill!"

    The eyes of every elf turned crimson as they heard grandma Ti''s words. They were afraid because they had heard about the viciousness of the vampires. They had forgotten the glory of their tribe. They have lost the heart of a fighter after living a peaceful life for a long time. But when they remembered, their bodies trembled with vigour and their eyes burned with bloodlust.

    They were one of the noblest and ancient tribes of the world. Although they were just one of the small viges of their tribe, they still had the pride of an elf hidden in their bones.

    "Boom!"

    When the vampires and elvesunched attacks at each other it felt as if it was the end of the world. Bodies fell one by one, the sky rumbled, and the blood coloured the water red. This was the war, filled with corpses, filled with eerie coldness, filled with a sinister air. The war that destroys life as the pesticide destroys the weeds.. The war was cruel because¡­ it was war.

 Chapter 156 - Got To Make You Leave

    Magnus and Sandor''s spell casting speed was eye-popping, people could see only their shadows and asional thunderous collisions, and whenever they mmed into each other, the ground would sink and vegetation would vanish, and the pouring water woulde down to fill them, forming puddles here and there.

    "You have reached Mature Rank, huh?" Sandor narrowed his eyes when he couldn''t take any advantage in the battle against Magnus, but then he sneered. "So what if you can fight me? You won''t be able to defeat me that easily, and even if you did¡­" he said as they continued to cast spell after spell on each other, "...even if you did, so what? Could those people hold that long? Although their number is greater, the strength of my people far surpassed theirs. As time passes, their number would start to decrease. Don''t you want to save them, Magnus?"

    "You¡­" Magnus gritted his teeth in rage when he looked at the battle between vampires and elves. Although Sandor said those words to affect his state of mind and to find an opening to attack him ¡ª and he knew that ¡ª what he said was indeed true.

    The number of vigers was rapidly plummeting. It won''t take long before only a few vigers would remain. He trembled in fury but then his gaze fell on a particr corpse and his body stiffened. His mind went nk and tears dripped from his eyes which were cold and impassive all this time.

    "So what if he is a vampire!?" a memory surfaced inside his head. "Can''t you see there is a human with them as well?" It was a memory about a teenage girl who had protected him, Salona, and Eddena, when they needed the help most.

    "You want to kill them?" she roared. "Over my dead body!"

    "How could you think such a thing? Do you still have hearts? Can''t you see how injured they are?"

    She was the girl who had gone against her vigers on their behalf. She was the one who convinced Grandma Ti to treat Salona and let them stay in Yefsari. She was a kind girl. Innocent, but smart. She was stubborn, but with a heart of gold. She was Shasha.

    [Note: She is the same girl who went hunting with Eddenast time.]

    Beside Shasha was another corpse. The olddy who acted uncaringly, but there was nothing in her heart other than kindness. The olddy whose eyes used to shine with wisdom, now they were closed. Her body that was old but still filled with vigour had already turned lifeless, cold.

    Magnus never imagined that the two most kind people he met would die because of him. He just wanted to live peacefully with his loved ones. He was even thinking about bringing Kadyn and Elora to this vige. Who would have thought¡­

    He fell on his knees in the puddle as the tears dripped down from his eyes with rain. He clenched his fist and roared towards the sky, full of pain and indignance, full of sorrow and misery. However, at this moment, a kind of aura started to seep out of his body, and with the aura came a kind of pressure, freezing the entire battlefield. Even Sandor couldn''t budge from his ce.

    Magnus held his right hand with his left and screamed. However, this time the scream wasn''t due to fury, but due to pain. No one knew what was going on with Magnus. Salona and Eddena looked at him worriedly. They didn''t know what to do, and even if they knew they wouldn''t be able to do anything, as they were also under the pressure released by Magnus.

    As time went by, Magnus'' right arm started to morph. First, red-coloured scales appeared on his arm and when the scales reached the elbow, they morphed into a sharp spike, and then the scales cracked, a white light mixed with blue hue emitted from within as if the light was burning underneath them. The entire hand was covered in red scales but his fingers were emitting cyan light. Each of them as sharp as any dagger.

    Other than the change in his hand, Magnus'' hair also turned blue from silver.

    This strange evolution frightened most of the people that were present there. Sandor or elf, even Eddena looked pale. There was only one exception ¡ª Salona.Previously, her eyes were filled with worry and confusion, but now, she looked at her husband with eyes full of tears, as if she had remembered something.

    Everyone''s attention was on Magnus sp they failed to notice the change in Salona. Her body also released a kind of aura, but different from Magnus. Her hair turned green, her eyes became emerald, and she looked younger than before

    Previously, she was appeared about thirty, but now she looked around eighteen. Her bearing changed, she looked like a goddess descended from heaven. However, tears never stopped falling from her eyes. Without realising the pressure that she was feeling just now vanished. She stumbled towards Magnus. Only then people noticed her and the change in her.

    Salona walked to her husband and crouched down. Then a choking voice escaped her mouth. "Da-Darius~"

    Magnus lifted his head and revealed his face that had be a lot younger than before, tears dripping from his blue eyes¡ª but when his gaze fell on Salona, a smile appeared on his face as he muttered. "Sylvia~" and then the duo hugged each other tightly in front of the bewildered and frozen crowd, who were already on the verge of crying.

    The duo lost in each other''s embrace; it felt like an eternity, only then they separated from each other. Magnus looked at her with eyes filled with love and said. "Let me finish something first."

    "Go ahead," thedy nodded.

    Magnus turned towards frozen Sandor and his face turned cold as ice. He strolled towards the man at a slow pace. Sandor shuddered when he saw him approaching. "Mag-Magnus, we can talk about it peacefully. Didn''t you want to live peacefully?"

    Magnus didn''t speak anything as he stood in front of Sandor and looked at him emotionlessly. Then he lifted his right hand(evolved one) and grasped his hand and before the man could plead anymore his head burst into a bloody mist.

    People''s hearts shuddered in terror at such a sight. No one dared to make a noise.

    Magnus wiped the blood from his face with his hand and said. "One time offer. Take it or leave it. You didn''t take it, and you didn''t leave it.. Got to make you leave."

 Chapter 157 - Change

    "Ahhh!!" in the midst of meditating Kadyn howled in agony. Cyan light emitted from his right hand, but he didn''t seem to notice, as his eyes were closed and the body was covered in sweat, trembling.

    However, when he opened his eyes, when his pain alleviated somewhat, he was shocked beyond words. His hand that waspletely normal sometime before, had morphed into a w. Covered in red scales, cyan light was emitting from the cracks on the scales, and the fingers were no more fingers, they had turned into pincers of crab, and his hand had turned into a dragon w.

    Kadyn wiped the sweat out of his forehead and fell on his butt as he tried to intake long-deep breaths ¡ª to calm himself. After that, he examined his hand. He could feel that it had be a lot stronger, but that was exactly the cause of his concern. Why did his hand morph into something like this? Why did it be stronger? He had no idea. He felt a creepy feeling, his heart was screaming, his body was spasming, but he could do nothing, he knew nothing.

    He looked at his hand and clenched it into a fist, a cracking sound came. He could not tell how strong it had be, but he felt a frightening strength from within. After that, he sighed and stood up.

    When he walked out of his meditation chamber, it was already morning. The rain had just stopped. He looked at his hand and wrapped a white cloth on it. He didn''t want to show it to others until he didn''t find what was going on. Was it a curse or something else? He didn''t know, but he knew that this change might scare others, so he decided to hide it for the time being.

    Kadyn thought for a moment and then went towards the house. It was around 6 o''clock in the morning, and everyone was already up. Rayna was cooking, and Elora was helping her. Zelie and Cecelia were talking to each other while Nefia was sitting at the corner of the hall, her head on Slyff''s shoulder. Others were also present.

    They turned towards the entrance as soon as he appeared. "What happened to your hand?" asked Khrom abruptly, attracting everyone''s attention towards Kadyn''s hand.

    "Oh, it''s nothing," Kadyn said, as he settled on a couch. Then he looked towards everyone and said. "I have decided something."

    Everyone looked at him. He proceeded. "I have decided to revoke the Hall of Formation and turn it into a Hall of Intelligence." His gaze roamed on their curious faces, then said. "As you know you can only earn energy points by working for the shop. However, someone like Slyff doesn''t have talent like potion-making, nor could he forge artefacts. So he would have a much harder time to earn them aspared to Elora and even Dion. That would affect your growth."

    When he saw the contemtive look on their faces he continued. "Other than the Hall of Intelligence, I have decided to open a restaurant."

    "A restaurant?" Everyone eyed him with incredulous looks.

    Kadyn smiled before exining. "As you know our shop is in the Food Market, it would be weird if we don''t have anything to do with food." Kadyn chuckled when he saw a confused look on their face. "Actually, the main reason I want to open a restaurant is because it would let sister Rayna earn energy points."

    "Huh?" they ogled at him, so he didn''t maintain the suspense and went on. "As you know that selling potions and artefacts lets us earn energy points, don''t you think that we can do the same with the restaurant."

    "Wow, you are right," their eyes shone in understanding. They all have be his employees so he needed to make a way to let them earn energy points so they could read more books inside the library and enjoy all the facilities that the shop had to offer.

    "Other than that," he said. "You can also work in the medicine field, and if other halls need some helpers, you can also work for them. Of course, you will earn energy points for everything you do."

    "But why did you decide to close the Formation Hall?" Cecelia asked. "Weren''t you learning formations?"

    "Well," Kadyn scratched his head in embarrassment before blurting it out. "After many trials and errors, I realised that the formation master profession isn''t for me. I couldn''t learn it."

    "Well¡­" no one knew what to say when they looked at his red face.

    "Tada! Breakfast is ready!'''' At this moment a voice came from behind them. Elora and Rayna were driving a trolley on which they were carrying food.

    Kadyn turned around and a deep frown appeared on his face. "What happened to your hair?" he asked, as he saw Elora''s hair were of a different colour.

    "Oh, this," Elora said as she caressed her green hair gently. "This happened in the morning."

    "What happened in the morning?" Kadyn frowned.

    "Uh, I mean when I woke up my hair had already turned green."

    "What?" Kadyn opened his eyes wide and his mind instantly drifted towards the change in his hand. ''Does her change is simr to mine, or am I overthinking?''

    He wanted to ask more, but he didn''t think that it was convenient to talk about it in front of everyone, so he decided to find Elorater."What happened to your hand?" asked Elora when she noticed a white cloth wrapped around his hand.

    "Oh, it''s nothing, " Kadyn said. "I got a little injured when I was practising."

    "Show me," Elora hurriedly went to him. "I will heal it."

    "No, let''s have breakfast first." Kadyn didn''t wait for her to finish and sat at the dining table. Everyone found it weird when Kadyn rejected Elora''s offer. If he was really injured, shouldn''t he let her heal? But then they shook their heads and started to eat breakfast.

    When they were done, Kadyn looked at his sister and said.. "We need to talk."

 Chapter 158 - Young Master Fidomar

    How did your hair turn green?" asked Kadyn when they arrived in her room.

    "I don''t know," Elora replied. "When I woke up it was already like this."

    "Already like this?" Kadyn frowned. When the change happened in his hand it was so painful and excruciating that he almost passed out, but she didn''t even realise it. "Do you feel¡­ different?"

    "Well," Elora hesitated for a moment before saying, "if I say that I feel stronger than before, will you believe me?"

    "Of course," Kadyn nodded.

    "Will you really¡­" she stopped abruptly and her eyes widened.

    "What?" Kadyn felt as if something was amiss.

    "Your hair¡­"

    "My hair?" Kadyn touched his head, but he didn''t feel anything wrong. So he asked. "What do you mean?"

    "Your hair colour changed!"

    "Huh?" He frowned and went to get a mirror and when he saw his reflection inside, he left stunned. Elora was telling the truth, his hair had turned blue from silver.

    "It happened just now?" Kadyn turned towards her before asking.

    "Yes," Elora nodded. "In the blink of an eye, your entire head changed its colour."

    He was just about to speak when he noticed something. Observant as she was, his weird expression didn''t escape Elora. "What happened?" she asked.

    "Tell me," he didn''t reply, instead asked a question, "what is the colour of my eyes?"

    Elora peered into his eyes and frowned. "They are still blue, but they are somewhat different. I think previously they were sky blue, but now¡­"

    "Cyan?"

    "Yes, cyan!"

    Kadyn took a deep breath and sat on the couch. Elora also seemed to understand something, and before she could pose any question Kadyn unwrapped the cloth of his hand.

    "What happened to your hand?!" she blurted in shock. The sight of his hand was shocking. Anyone would be left gobsmacked, Elora was no exception. As Kadyn thought she would be scared due to his change, Elora eximed. "This is so cool!"

    "Cool?" Kadyn looked at her weirdly. He thought she would be scared due to this change, who would have thought she would find it fascinating instead. He sighed and said. "Even though you don''t mind it, other people won''t think the same."

    "What do you mean they won''t feel the same?" Elora said, dissatisfied, and went on. "Brother Slyff can turn his entire body into a beast, but no one finds it weird. Why would they think differently just because of your hand? Only jealous people would think that way. It''s so cool!"

    Kadyn was stunned for a moment but then he realized that he might be overthinking, He was in a magical world. Strange things happened here, and his hand might not be as strange as he thought of it. When he realized the truth of the matter, he sighed in relief.

    He looked at his hand and this time he didn''t feel repulsive. He found it cool like his sister. He remembered the games he yed on earth. Weren''t those characters also had variations in their bodies and he fantasized about bing just like them? Now he had be one!

    "Thank you," Kadyn said to Elora, and then went on. "By the way, your eyes turned emerald."

    "What?" Elora grabbed the mirror in his hand and indeed, her eyes had changed. "Why is this happening to us?" she asked.

    "I don''t know," Kadyn replied. "However, I think I might have something to do with our parents."

    "Why do you think so?" she said. "Why can''t it be the system?"

    "Well, if it was the system then others would have been also affected. But it''s just us," Kadyn paused for a moment and then said. "And there is a single link between us, our parents. I can''t think of any different reason behind it."

    "Indeed," Elora nodded in realization.Then she frowned and asked. "But if that is the case then why are our changes different?"

    "That¡­ I don''t know," he shook his head. He was also thinking the same thing, but he had no clue so he could not arrive at any conclusion.

    After a brief silence, Elora turned towards him and asked worriedly. "Do you think mom and dad are fine?"

    "Of course, they are," Kadyn replied without hesitation. "You might not have noticed it, but our old man seems no ordinary man."

    "Why do you say that?"

    "A gut feeling," he said. "Alright, let''s go. Need to open the shop."

    ¡ª ¡ª

    "Hahaha," a peal ofughter sounded in a dark room. A man with red hair stood up as he looked at the wriggling worm in his palm. "I knew it was just a matter of time before you submit to me. Now you are mine, and your strength as well. Though I am just at the Fusion Rank, I can exchange blows even with the Creation Rank mages with my enhanced body."

    He grinned and then the worm vanished from his palm. He turned around and asked. "Did you find who killed my babies?"

    The servant trembled before casting his head down and stammered. "Y-young Master, I tried to find the culprit, but he left no sign behind. I couldn''t trace him."

    "If you can''t even do just a simple task, then what''s your use?" sneered the red-haired man, and a small worm appeared on his palm. Though it looked simr to thest one, it was smaller.

    "Young Master Fidomar, p-please, give me one¡­ one more chance," the man fell on his knees as he begged. "I won''t disappoint you."

    "There is no second chance for worthless people," however Young Master Fidomar sneered at the servant''s pleading. He walked to him and grasped his face in his hand. The man tried to struggle but he couldn''t get himself free. Then Fidomar shoved the worm in his mouth.

    The servant slumped on the floor, he trembled briefly, and then¡­ he stopped. After that the worm crawled out of his nose, covered in slime, looking a bit bigger. Fidomar took the worm in his hand and then the worm vanished.. "Aaha! Soul of a Fusion Rank mage is indeed a lot stronger."

 Chapter 159 - Awakening Kove And Raynas Elements

    When Kadyn walked out with Elora, everyone was shocked when they saw the colour of his hair, but what shocked them the most was the change in his hand. Nheless, after Kadyn exined that there was nothing wrong with him, he was even feeling stronger; they sighed in relief. It seems they were worried about him, not scared. Kadyn couldn''t help but feel warmth in his heart.

    Afterwards, Kadyn checked the time, it was seven in the morning. The Clover Square opened usually at around 8 o''clock. There was still some time before shops would open. Therefore, Kadyn turned towards Rayna and asked. "I will give you nine options, you decide what kind of element you want."

    Everyone peered at him iprehensibly. He smiled and said. "Wind; Fire; Lightning¡­" he voiced all the elements he possessed except Blessing. "Now tell me what kind of element you want?"

    "You mean I can choose any one of them?" Rayna said with a shocked expression. Others were also equally stunned. They thought Kadyn had some kind of method by which he could awaken Rayna and Kove''s magic stars. However, in that kind of situation, the element would be unknown, but right now, Kadyn was asking what kind of element she wanted. The fuck!

    "Yes," Kadyn rolled his eyes at their exaggerated expressions. "You can choose any element."

    "Can I also choose?" a voice muttered from behind Kadyn. He turned around and found a little child gazing at him with eyes filled with hope. Kadyn smiled at Kove and took him in his arms. "Of course, what kind of element do you want?"

    "I want to be a summoner, they could summon beasts and make them heed theirmands. They are so cool!"

    "You want to be a summoner?" Kadyn said. "Alright!" Then he ced his hand on Kove''s head and a golden glow covered the kid''s head. And when everyone was still in confusion, Kadyn took his hand off his head. "Done." He said. "Try to feel your Mana Pool."

    Kove blinked, but he still followed Kadyn''s instruction, and when he opened his eyes, he jumped excitedly and hugged him. "I can be a mage as well now!"

    "Is this for real?" Elora looked shocked at such a turn of events. They thought that Kadyn was just being a little too confident, but he proved them wrong. He awakened Kove''s element in an instant. Moreover he gave him nine options to choose from!

    Then Kadyn turned towards Rayna, thedy thought briefly and said. "I would like to choose¡­ Psychic."

    "Alright," Kadyn ced his hand over her head, and the same golden glow appeared once again. Immediately afterwards she realised that there was a Mana Pool inside her consciousness.

    "Thank you, Kadyn, really." Rayna bowed deeply to him. Although she always pretended as if she didn''t care about magic and stuff, she always felt inferior to others. Furthermore, her son always wanted to be a mage, and whenever she saw that envious look on Kove''s face, seeing others casting spells, her heart pained. But she could do nothing.

    "You don''t need to do that, Sister Rayna," Kadyn said. "You just need to work hard."

    "I will," she nodded.

    Kadyn turned towards others and said. "As you can see," he paused for a moment and went on. "I can give magic element to others, and it isn''t limited to someone without a magic."

    "What?"

    Kadyn''s statement left them dumbstruck for a moment. They could not believe what they were hearing. "Does that mean we can awaken our second element, and we can even choose which one we want?" Barret asked in an agitated manner. He never thought that such a thing would be possible. None of them thought such a thing was possible. The realisation shocked them to the core of their hearts.

    "Yes, but¡­" Kadyn paused as he grinned at them.

    "But what?" Elora couldn''t help but ask.

    "But nothing is free in this world. So don''t expect anything for free." Kadyn said, and then continued. "If you want to awaken your second element, you need a thousand energy points.

    "Thousand!?"

    Everyone''s jaw almost fell on the ground. Even Elora would need a lot of time to earn that many energy points, much less them. Kadyn looked at them, but he didn''t seem to notice their expression, as he continued. "And if you want to awaken your third element, you need to pay ten thousand, and for the fourth ¡ª hundred thousand ."

    "What, we can even awaken the third and fourth element?" Everyone felt like pulling their hair at this moment. What the hell was going on? Didn''t they say that people could have just a single element?

    "Do you think it is impossible to have more thanone element?" Kadyn chuckled. "Ain''t I the living proof? I have nine elements. Yes, nine. So why can''t any of you have two or three elements?"

    They nodded, as all of them knew about it. At this moment, Hot Rod hesitated briefly and said. "But even if we could awaken more elements, what''s the use? Rune decides how further one could go while I and Barret have already built our runes. I would be able to reach Rank 2 mage at most."

    "Oh, you don''t need to worry about it," Kadyn said nonchntly. "I can remove your runes without harming your foundations. There are lots of amazing runes in our library, you can choose any of them. Though you will be an elementary mage once more, your potential will be limitless."

    "Is that really possible?" Cecelia, who was standing silent all this time, couldn''t help but ask in an agitated tone. "If that is possible I would like to remove my rune."

    If anything she liked in the library, that was the runes. There were hundreds of Rank 6 runes in the library. Those runes were Radiant Rank. They were the highest rank treasure. Just one of them would cause chaos if people knew its existence.

    Even Cecelia''s n that was one of the strongest in the Nightshade didn''t have Rank 6 rune.. However, she was already a Rank 2 mage, so she could only watch them reluctantly ¡ª but now she had the chance to change her rune, she would not let the chance go.

 Chapter 160 - Starting The Business

    Don''t be in such a hurry," Kadyn replied when he spotted an eager look on Cecelia''s face, then continued. "To remove your rune you need five-hundred energy points."

    "..."

    Hot Rod, Barret and Cecelia looked at one another in dismay. They thought that Kadyn would help them just this time, but his reply told them otherwise.

    "I told you," he said, "there is no free lunch in this world, you have to earn the things you desire. Furthermore," he peered at the trio and went on, "don''t be in such a hurry to remove your runes. You need to remember after you be an elementary mage, it would be a lot harder to earn energy points. So make sure you have lots of them before doing it."

    "Uh," at this moment Nefia asked. "I want to ask about the Hall of Intelligence ¡ª what do we need to work on, information gathering?"

    "Well, you can say that," Kadyn nodded, "But you will also receive other missions as well. Alright, let''s go. It''s time to open the shop."

    ¡ª ¡ª

    A new building had appeared beside the tall and majestic tower. It was a restaurant that Kadyn was talking about, and while he was talking about it with others, he gave amand to the system to build it.

    "But we don''t have ingredients to cook," Rayna said. "We need a lot of meat, spices, vegetables, and many other things."

    Kadyn turned towards Khrom and Slyff and said. "You two would go and help in shopping Sister Rayna."

    Khrom was stunned for a moment, he wanted to speak something but then he shook his head as if remembering something and remained silent."It''s settled then," Kadyn said.

    "Will we receive energy points for this as well?" Slyff asked as he rubbed his hands eagerly.

    "Oh, you need energy points for it?" Kadyn curled his lips. "Well, it''s fine by me, but you need to pay for what you ate until now cooked by sister Rayna as well."

    "Alright, alright," Slyff''s mouth twitched. "I will do it."

    "That''s good," Kadyn said. "Furthermore, to gather the information you have to go out anyway, so you can do that as well. Every piece of information would be priced by the system, simr to the artefacts and potions."

    "Excuse me," at this moment a voice came from behind them. Kadyn turned towards the neer and found a beautiful girl standing there. "Hey, the manager has sent me to deliver the money."

    "Oh, thanks, Ha," Kadyn nodded.

    Ha looked at him and examined the towering building in front of her with a shocked expression. She never thought that she would see such a grand sight in just a single day after leaving this ce. Four Great Noble Houses and even the Royal Family won''t have so many brick builders to build such a grand building in just a night.

    ''How did he do it?'' curiosity began to appear in her heart. "What kind of shop is it?" she asked.

    "Oh, it''s potion and artefact shop," he replied. "We have also opened a restaurant, but we are still nning a few things about it. There might be other things avable in the future as we progress."

    "Nice," Ha eximed. Then said, "Hey, I was injured not too long ago, do you have any potion for it?"

    "Of course," Kadyn said and then turned towards Elora. "Take Miss Ha to the Hall of Potions."

    Elora nodded and walked away together with Ha. After Kadyn made changes he decided all the goods would be stored in their respective halls. At the counter, he would just receive money. It would make the shop look grand and would make things convenient.

    He looked at Dion and said, ``You stand here and receive customers." Learning from Slyff''s example, Dion didn''t ask for energy points. He had already forged artefacts, if anyone were to buy them, he would receive his energy points anyways.

    Afterwards, Kadyn went towards the counter and sat down as he waited for customers. His shop was new so people were curious. Though there would be some scepticism inside their heads, regarding his products in the start, he believed he could win people''s hearts through the quality of his goods.

    As he was lost in thoughts a sound of footsteps sounded. He lifted his head and found four youngsters walking towards him. Two were boys and two were girls. One of the girls nodded towards Kadyn and said. "We want to buy Rank 1 artefacts."

    "Take them to the Hall of Artifacts," Kadyn said to Dion who was leading the way for the group. The boy nodded and went upstairs with the customers.

    About fifteen minutester Ha walked down with Elora, carrying a basket. Inside there were around ten potions ¡ª healing, strength increasing, speed increasing and many more. They didn''t have a Rank 1 potioneer yet, so the shop had only elementary rank potions.

    After Kadyn did a little math, he realized the potions'' cost was around 60,000 Ces, and it was ording to the shop. He looked a little troubled. There was no way Ha could pay that much money, she was just a servant in the worst chamber ofmerce of the capital.

    "It''s 60,000 Ces." Kadyn gritted his teeth and blurted out, he could not lower the price anymore as the shop had fixed it, no bargaining was avable.

    "60,000 Ces?" Ha blinked in surprise. However, the reaction Kadyn was expecting didn''t appear. On the contrary, Ha looked pleasantly surprised. "Why is it so cheap?"

    Kadyn''s lips twitched. ''Sister, you are just a servant, shouldn''t 60,000 Ces be a huge amount for you?'' But his thoughts were limited to himself. He smiled and said. "It is our first day, so we are giving fifty per cent discount."

    "Even if you double the price it''s still cheap."

    "Oh, then you should let others know about it as well, cheap and high-quality goods is our motto," Kadyn said through his teeth. ''Am I too poor, or did I underestimate the sry of a servant?''

 Chapter 161 - Selecting Spells

    "Nine thousand five hundred," Kadyn looked at the energy points in the virtual window with a pleasantly surprised expression. "I didn''t think that in just a single day our shop would do such a good business. Maybe it is because our shop is new and everyone is curious about it, but still. I am just five hundred short of reaching ten thousand, and then I''ll be able to upgrade it to rank 2."

    It was 9 o''clock in the night as he sat at the centre of the Meditation Formation. He thought briefly and went out. After ten minutes he arrived in front of the library that was at the very top of the building. He had already built around twenty per cent rune, but he had yet to learn any Rank 1 spell.

    Spell Casters were different from Elementary Rank. At this stage, people didn''t cast spells using magic stars. Instead, they used Spiritual Energy. Every spell had a unique pattern that people called Spell Glyph.

    Furthermore, some of the elements needed a few more things other than Spell Glyph to cast the spell. For example, summoning element. To summon above elementary rank magical creatures, mage needed the True Name of the beast. Summoning Spell Glyphs were useless without the True Name of the creature. Or a Curse Element, it needed the hair, nail, or anything rted to the person on which one wanted to cast the curse ¡ª or of course, one could just use True Name.

    [Note: Creatures have the True Name of one word, but humans True Name is different ¡ª the date of birth, the ce of birth, the time of birth, the parent''s full name, and the victim''s full name. All these elements together made the True Name of humans.]

    As Kadyn read the information he frowned, as he remembered the time when he summoned a rank 1 creature at the time of his escape from the Magic Alliance ¡ª if it was impossible to summon Rank 1 magical creature without its True Name then how did he seed thest time?

    "That creature didn''t reach Rank 1 yet," at this moment a voice sounded in Kadyn''s head.

    "Oh, you are still alive?" Kadyn said surprisingly.

    "Of course, I am," the system replied.

    "Anyways, what do you mean the creature wasn''t Rank 1?"

    "Because it wasn''t," the system replied. "The magical beasts don''t make a breakthrough to the Rank 1 in one go like humans. They merge a single star each time. That beast had merged nine stars, but he had yet to merge thest one, so it was still short to reach the Rank 1 magical beast."

    "Doesn''t that mean for beasts it''s easy to reach the Rank 1 aspared to humans?"

    "Easy? You are thinking too much. They need years to awaken just a single star, while you used just a few months to be a Spell Caster. Moreover, they need a huge amount of treasure to progress if they don''t have a powerful bloodline."

    "Oh," Kadyn nodded in understanding. After that he went to search for the spells. There were thousands of spells of all kinds and he had ten, uh¡­ no, nine elements. The Blessing Element wasn''t an element but a kind of ability. There was no shelf for the Blessing Element in the library either. He didn''t know how and why he had such an element, but he thought it might be rted to other elements and the system. Or maybe his¡­ parents.

    At this moment he arrived in front of the Fire Element section. He picked a scroll from the shelf and opened it. Deadly Show Off ¡ª it was the name of the spell. Kadyn got curious when he read the heading. But when he went through the summary, his expression became weird.

    The spell was just ¡ª as its name said ¡ª to show off. It would set the hair of the mage on fire without hurting him, of course. And that was it. The Deadly Show Off.

    Kadyn shook his head and picked another scroll. Fiery Typhoon ¡ª as the name suggested it would produce the typhoon of fire. It was an area attack. He could deal damage to an entire bunch of mages. However, the problem was that it needed a lot of mana to cast it, the low rank 1 mage won''t be able to battle after casting the spell.

    Kadyn thought briefly but then shook his head. Although Kadyn had a huge amount of mana aspared to others, he didn''t think it was usible to waste just because he had more.

    "Let''s check out another spell," he picked another scroll.

    The name of the spell was Fire Smash. As soon as he read the details, Kadyn made up his mind to choose this one. It was a punching spell. As for why he chose it? Because itplimented him.

    After evolving his hand had be terrifyingly strong, and with the addition of the spell, he thought that could take down any Rank 1 mage easily. Furthermore, the spell also didn''t require a huge amount of mana like Fiery Typhoon. A perfect pick.

    After picking up the fire spell, he went towards the wind section, and then wood, and then others one by one. He took around two hours to choose the spells for all nine elements.

    As he was about to walk out of the library, he saw an additional shelf ¡ª Food Section. Curiosity got the better of him, and he picked a scroll and checked it out. Inside the scroll, there was a recipe, but it was not an ordinary recipe, it could heal the wounds of elementary mages.

    After that he picked another scroll. It had the property to calm rank 1 mage when he was anxious or worried about something. One by one he checked tens of scrolls, and he could not help but exim in surprise. "If sister Rayna could learn these recipes, our restaurant would be famous overnight."

    However, Rayna didn''t have any energy points and Kadyn didn''t want to help them too much. He shook his head and then went out of the library.

    "I wonder what is going on in Avibria City? Did Elder Jyn find the whereabouts of father and mother?" he muttered, but then his eyes became bright. "Why am I muttering here when I have the strength to check everything out in person?"

    He used the ability Pengo Portal and a map appeared on the screen.. After two minutes of searching, he found the ce he wanted to visit, and then he vanished.

 Chapter 162 - Returning To Avibria City

    Kadyn walked on a silent road, as the moon strolled beyond the trees and clouds. He put his hands into his coat pockets as the icy wind blew on his face. He trod for around ten minutes before he reached his destination.

    He looked at the silent and dark house and sighed deeply. Then his gaze moved towards another house, and it was also as dead as the haunted lighthouse beside the sea. Kadyn frowned, but then he moved in another direction.

    It took another ten minutes before he arrived in front of arge building, the lights illuminated the area, and a few guards were standing at the entrance. As soon as Kadyn walked out of the fog, he attracted their vignt gazes.

    And before any of them could speak, he said. "I''m here to meet Elder Jyn. Can you¡­"

    "Who are you?" Interrupted one of the guards.

    "My name is Kadyn," he said. "Can you, please, inform Elder Jyn or Potioneer Yel?"

    The guards looked at each other in dismay; they didn''t know what to do. If this person wasn''t someone important, and if they interrupted the good night sleep of the two elders, they would surely be punished.

    The guard captain thought for a moment and said. "Pleasee back in the morning. The two elders are sleeping and they won''t be happy if we were to disturb them at this time."

    It was one of the reasons behind his refusal, the main reason was that Kadyn appeared suspecious, what if he had an ulterior motive. They would have to pay the price for their negligence. Kadyn clearly knew what they were thinking. But he had no time to waste on them. He frowned and said. "I won''t be in Avibria City in the morning. So I need to meet either of them now."

    "Sir, don''t make things hard for us. Please leave," said the captain as he gestured towards hispanions who unsheathed their weapons one by one.

    Kadyn sighed when he saw this, though he didn''t me them, after all, it was their job. But he didn''t have time to waste. Just as the guard captain was about to order his people to send him away, Kadyn vanished.

    "Be careful!" Shouted the captain, but as his voice sounded a few thuds echoed. The captain shivered as he turned around. Hispanions were lying on the ground, unconscious. Though alive, but incapable of fighting, or even moving. He was all alone now, and he knew that he stood no chance in a fight against Kadyn after he disyed his means.

    "Wh-what do you want?" His voice trembled as he looked at Kadyn''s nonchnt expression.

    "You know what I want," Kadyn said, "do you want to inform them, or should I do it myself?"

    "I-I will do it," said the man and then he rushed into the building.

    After ten minutester a sound of footsteps came from inside the building. Kadyn looked at the

    arrivers, and finally, a smile appeared on his face. "Long time no see, Elder Jyn."

    The old man was stunned when he saw him. It was only when Kadyn spoke did hee back to his senses. He opened his mouth a few times but no word was spoken. Elder Jyn shook his head and finally said. "Come inside."

    "Ah, these guards," Kadyn looked a little apologetic when he nced at unconscious people on the ground.

    "Don''t worry about them," Elder Jyn said, then he turned towards the guard captain and told him in a stern voice. "Take care of them."

    "Yes, Elder Jyn," the captain replied. He looked at Kadyn curiously; he never saw Elder Jyn talking to anyone with such a polite gesture. It was the first, and he doubted that there would be a second time, considering how arrogant Elder Jyn usually was.

    Kadyn walked into the building with the old man and asked. "Did something new happen after we left?"

    "New?" Elder Jyn nced at him, and as he entered a well-furnished room, he sat on a couch and gestured towards Kadyn. "Come sit, and we''ll talk about the new things that happened recently."

    Elder Jynn let the servant put the tray of teacups and snacks on the table and gestured to him to leave. Then he looked at Kadyn and said, "The Magic Alliance has almost fallen."

    "Fallen?" Kadyn was startled, he sat straight and peered at Elder Jyn. "What do you mean?"

    The old man sighed and began to exin. "It is the vampires," he paused as he sipped tea and continued. "Do you know about their attack on the Capital Orddono?"

    "Yeah," Kadyn nodded, "though I don''t know the result of the attack."

    "They murdered the king and his every kin," said Elder Jyn with a long, deep sigh. "Though I heard rumors that Princess Nefia and her maid vanished, and no one knows their whereabouts."

    Kadyn looked at the old man in front of him with wide eyes, his expression frozen. He never thought that utterly powerful figure fighting in the sky with the vampire woman would die in her hands. At that time no one had the upper hand, and it seemed that the battle would end in a draw. Who would have thought the king would die battling?

    ''How would I tell such news to Nefia?'' Kadyn sighed.

    He looked at Elder Jyn and said. "How did the king die?"

    "He was surrounded by more than five rank 3 mages," Elder Jyn looked at Kadyn as he said. "Do you think he could have escaped in such a situation?"

    "Five?" Kadyn''s heart trembled, but then he frowned. "But I saw a single woman attacking the king at that time."

    "It was a trap," he replied and went on. "The woman was there just to tire him up, and when he became weak after fighting that woman, the other four surrounded him and in the end, the king was killed brutally."

    "If they had attacked together there was a chance that the king would escape without fighting, so they used such a strategy, huh?"

    "Indeed," Elder Jynn nodded and turned to him. "After killing the king they didn''t leave the Alliance like usual, they captured the entire Shado Kingdom," he looked at Kadyn and proceeded. "But they didn''t stop there either; in just a short ten days the whole Magic Alliance fell."

    Kadyn''s eyes went wide as soon as he heard this.. He was having a hard time believing it.

 Chapter 163 - News About His Parents

    Kadyn took a deep breath to calm himself down.

    "What happened afterwards?" he asked.

    "Two days ago someone, no, actually, there were three people." He looked at Kadyn and went on. "They were asking about you."

    "For me?" A confused look emerged on his face, but then he became agitated. "Are they my parents?"

    "Well, they didn''t say anything about that," Elder Jyn looked at Kadyn''s right hand and continued. "But the man had his right hand simr to yours."

    "What?" Kadyn eyed his right hand and clenched his teeth. It seems his conjecture was on the spot. The change in his hand had something to do with his parents. Then he turned towards Jyn, asking, "What happened then?"

    "Though he was super powerful I felt he had no malicious intent towards you; so I told him that you went to Capital Orddono. But I had no information about you, as I didn''t hear about you ever since the attack on the Orddono. So they left."

    "And?"

    "And just yesterday we received news that every single vampire in Magic Alliance was ughtered by a mysterious man," he paused briefly and then said. "After gathering a few more pieces of information I realised it was the same man who came here to ask about you."

    Kadyn clenched his fist and felt a warmth in his heart. Ever since he came into this world, he had to do everything by himself; he could depend only on himself. Though Elora cared a lot about him, she was his little sister; it was he who needed to protect her.

    Only now did he realise that he also had someone who would paint the ground red in blood for him, ughter hundreds and thousands of people for his sake. The feeling of being protected was new for him, but he cherished it a lot.

    "Do you have any news about them?" he asked with a hopeful look, but became disappointed when the old man shook his head.

    "Maybe we could spread the news about you," suggested Elder Jyn.

    But Kadyn shook his head. "It would attract unnecessary attention. Vampires are vicious by nature. I don''t think they would let me live if they knew I have a rtionship with the one who ughtered their tribesmen. It''s good as long as they are fine." Kadyn took a deep breath and said. "Alright, I will take my leave then." So he stood up.

    He had got the news about his parents, and he got the news about the condition of vampires(which seems in human''s favour. At least for the time being). He didn''t think they would attack Magic Alliance soon after receiving such a setback.

    "Uh, so where are you going?" asked Elder Jyn.

    "Don''t worry about me," replied Kadyn. "I and everyone else are fine. I will contact you when I need to." And then he vanished like a cloud of smoke, leaving a stunned old man behind.

    ¡ª ¡ª

    Kadyn stood in the Meditation Chamber and a smile appeared on his face. "I will tell Elora about it," he took a step forward, but then he realised it was midnight. "I will tell her in the morning."

    So he sat on the floor and closed his eyes. Time to meditate.

    ¡ª ¡ª

    "Is that true?" Elora said with an agitated voice. She never thought her parents were that powerful. They ughtered every single vampire in the Magic Alliance.

    "Of course, it is true," Kadyn said. "Though I didn''t see them by myself, I don''t think anyone else other than Father would have a unique hand like me. How could such a coincidence exist in this world?"

    Elora nodded, and then asked, "But why would they kill so many vampires?"

    "Do you even need to ask?" Kadyn rolled his eyes when he saw his smart sister asking such a stupid question. "They must have gotten news about our fight with vampires. How would any parent feel when they learn someone tried to kill his or her children? Furthermore, the whereabouts of their children were unknown. No matter how tolerant someone was, and I am pretty sure father isn''t a type who is tolerant at all, his heart would burn in fury."

    "So that''s how it is," Elora nodded in understanding, but then murmured. "I wonder where they went after killing those vampires."

    "No matter where they are, they are fine, and that is enough for me," said Kadyn. "Alright, let''s go. It''s time to open the shop."

    As soon as the duo arrived at the shop, they spotted quite a rush outside the gates. "Who are they?" Kadyn asked Slyff.

    "They are customers," replied he, absentmindedly. He seemed to be stunned by such a crowd in front of the shop. But he also felt envious of Hall of Forging and Hall of Potions. He knew these people were here to buy artefacts or potions. It had nothing to do with him.

    "Don''t worry," Kadyn said when he saw the envious look on his face. "You will be able to earn energy points as well. You just need to work hard."

    Kadyn instructed them to open the gate, and the customers entered one by one. Though he knew his shop would be famous sooner orter, as his products were top quality, but he never thought it would take just a single day. As he was thinking about it, a familiar figure walked towards him.

    "What are you doing here, Ha?" he asked. Then he thought about something and said, "All these people are here because of you?"

    "I just told them about the shop and the good quality products. They are here on their own," Ha said. "I need to buy a few strength increasing potions and a few speed increasing potions." She went into the shop without turning towards him.

    Kadyn frowned and asked. "Why are you helping me?"

    She stopped and said, "Because I know it''s just a matter of time before you earn your ce here. I am just hasting the process. To earn favour from someone as talented as you, I don''t think it is anything bad."

    Kadyn was stunned for a moment. Then he asked. "Are you really just a maid?"

    Ha chuckled at his question and entered the shop without replying.

 Chapter 164 - Attack

    Today Rayna opened the restaurant as Kadyn had instructed. Many people went to try her food after purchasing potions or artefacts, and without any surprise, most of the people loved the food. Earning their praises and money at the same time. Kove and Nefia helped her, as she didn''t have staff. While Khrom, Slyff and Cecelia went out to gather the information. Barret was the only one who didn''t know what to do, left with no choice, he could only go to the Medicine Garden.

    Kadyn sat in the Meditation Room, gazing at the 13,000 energy points with a grin. "I didn''t think I could earn so much money in such a short time."

    Furthermore, these 13,000 energy points were left after paying everyone in the shop.

    "I can upgrade the shop now." He opened the window and put the shop on the upgrade.

    [Do you want to put on an act and upgrade the shop in twenty-four hours, or do you want an instant upgrade?]

    "Oh, now, such an option is also avable?" Kadyn said and selected an instant upgrade. Building a new shop in a single night wasn''t a big deal in an extensive empire like Ceston, not many would think too much into it. Moreover, the upgrade would change the shop just a little, no one would even notice it. So Kadyn didn''t waste his time and went the easy and fast way.

    [All the functions have been upgraded to Rank 2.]

    [New function Pengo Formation has been added to the shop.]

    After scanning the information he had received just now, Kadyn realized that the defences of the shop had been upgraded, and now, not even a low Rank 4 mage could harm him and anyone else inside the shop. Other than the defences and the library, other buildings were also upgraded. Even Medicine Garden could now breed Umon rank medicines. While elementary rank would grow even faster.

    There was also a new function added to the shop. Pengo Formation. By using it any employee could travel the whole Pengo just like Kadyn. This gave Kadyn a pleasant surprise. Now his employees could travel all over the world and gather all kinds of medicines, ores and even information.

    And to teleport back they just needed to think, and they would be sent back to the shop.

    "This is great!" Kadyn said.

    Knock! Knock!

    Someone was outside the Meditation Room. Kadyn opened the door and stared at the figure outside. "What''s the matter, Cecelia?"

    "I have interesting information." She nced at him. "Would you like to know?"

    "Sure." He walked out and sat on the sofa that was lying beside the counter. Cecelia sat on another couch. "Go ahead," he said.

    "There is a group of people outside the Ceston Empire." Kadyn straightened his back as soon as he heard her words. She followed. "Their leader is called Staurious. If I''m not wrong he is Rank 3 mage."

    "What about the garrison stationed at the border?"

    "Captured," said Cecelia. "Those people devoured every single soldier. Blood and soul. Nothing left except their husk skeletons."

    "Bone Spear Tower?" Kadyn widened his eyes in shock. He remembered Sandrock vige. All the vigers had lost their blood and soul. Onlyter did he realize that it was the work of Bone Spear Tower.

    "What are they trying to do?" he asked.

    "It was one of my clones who was monitoring the situation there. It seems Staurious is trying to be a Core Disciple of Bone Spear Tower, and he needs to kill three low Rank 3 mages for that. There was only a single Rank 3 mage stationed in the garrison, so I suppose they would attack two other posts. I was thinking about following them but they discovered me. Staurious killed my clone in a single attack."

    Kadyn nodded and asked the system to evaluate the value of the information. "300,000 Ces!" Kadyn eximed. Three hundred thousand Ces were equal to 3000 energy points. He looked at Cecelia and stood up. "Let''s go."

    "Where are we going?"

    "To advertise the Hall of Information." Kadyn grinned as he strode towards the exit. Cecilia stared at his back, then followed hurriedly.

    ¡ª ¡ª

    "What brought you here, Mr. Kadyn, at this hour?" Omm Woulsto was enjoying the warmth of his mistress when the guard knocked on hisdoor. Though he felt a little irritated, he rushed out when he realized Kadyn had important information that would let his status rise in the House Woulsto.

    "Can we talk inside?" Kadyn said.

    "Of course, of course," Omm Woulsto led the duo enthusiastically towards the guest room. Kadyn didn''t notice Ha at this hour, an unfamiliar servant was serving them. He waited for him to leave, only then did he turn towards Omm. "The information is rted to Bone Spear Tower."

    "What?" Omm almost jumped on his feet. A clear fear was visible inside his eyes. A normal reaction for a citizen of Ceston Empire. They had experienced the terror of Bone Spear Tower for years. They had experienced their cruelty, cold-blooded ways and evil magic.

    "Calm down," Kadyn said. "If I knew anyone else I wouldn''t havee to you. Your luck isn''t bad. What do you say? You want to do a little business?"

    "I¡ª"

    "You need to make your decision right now because the enemy is moving pretty fast."

    Omm closed his eyes, he clenched his teeth and then said, "Alright, what price do I need to pay to earn the information?"

    "You need to pay just three hundred thousand Ces. However," Kadyn said, "I need you to do one more thing for me."

    "What is that?" he said. "If the information is useful, and if your demand is just and within my reach, I will do my best to fulfill it."

    Though he didn''t have as much prestige as he used to have in the past. Three hundred thousand Ceses weren''t too much for him. He felt even agitated, if the information was useful he might gain a better standing in the House Woulsto.

    "Good," Kadyn nodded. "I need you to spread news about our Information Hall."

    "Huh?" Omm looked at him confusedly, as if he didn''t understand.

    While Cecelia''s eyes glittered in understanding when she heard his request.

 Chapter 165 - Commander Jareth

    3 A.M., Ceston Empire''s border.

    "Damn, they knew about my attack!" Staurious sprinted into the woods, not even giving a second nce to his screamingpanions behind. His body reeked with sweat and blood; his clothes were in tatters. His face was pale, and he looked miserable.

    After taking down the first garrison, he thought it would be a piece of cake toplete the mission. However, when he attacked, he realised that there was a huge army waiting for him. Intermediate Rank 3 mage was their leader, in addition to five low Rank 3 mages.

    Though he was more powerful than an average low Rank 3 mage, there was no way he could take down five of them all at once. Furthermore, there was an intermediate one as well. Only death would be his prize if he dared to sh with them. After realising the blunder, he escaped without giving a single thought. If he was even a little hesitant, he would have lost his life, or had been captured. Just like his screeching and screamingpanions.

    "I will get my revenge. Just you wait, bastards of Ceston Empire!"

    A scream echoed in the woods, startling the animals around, and then faded amidst the cold gusts of wind in the darkness.

    ¡ª¡ª

    8: 30 A.M., Capital Ceston. Heaven''s Door.

    "One Rhino Bracelet, a pair of Rush Boots, and 3 strength increasing potion. All of them Elementary Rank," Kadyn said. "6000+5000+12000. Hmm, you need to pay 23000 Ceses."

    After the customer paid the money another customer came forward. There was quite a long line. The shop looked stuffed because of it. It took him about forty-five minutes to deal with them. In this short period, he had already earned quite arge amount of energy points.

    "Haha, Mr. Kadyn, I have brought a guest. I hope you won''t me me for not notifying you in advance."

    Kadyn lifted his head and spotted a group of three people strolling towards him. Two of them were familiar faces, Omm Woulsto, and behind him followed Ha; he didn''t know the man who walked at the very front. Even Omm had a look of reverence on his face.

    The middle-aged man was tall, and he looked some kind of bodybuilder from the earth; his eyes looked tired, but a slight smile hung at the corner of his lips. His boots were covered in mud; his clothes somewhat reeked of sweat; a red colour¡ªno, it was no colour; it was blood, on his sleeve.

    This is¡­?" Kadyn said as he looked at the man.

    "Oh, can we talk somewhere else?" proposed Omm.

    Kadyn was a little troubled, but he nodded nheless. He looked at the Barret who was gazing towards the neer with curiosity and said. "Take care of the counter for the time being."

    Then he led the trio towards the restaurant. Many customers wereing and going. Kadyn smiled and then walked towards the counter where Cecelia was sitting.

    Kadyn gestured towards Cecelia and continued towards the first floor. The ground floor was for regr customers while the first floor was for the people who wanted to have their own private room. It was especially for those who don''t like the crowd and instead like to eat their food in silence, or for someone who had some private talk to do.

    As they entered the room, Kadyn looked around: It was an average-sized room, white-washed, but well furnished. A beautiful carpet was lying on the floor, and walls were decorated with paintings. At the centre of the room was a table, sofas surrounded it from all sides; one could see half the sun behind the clouds through the window.

    Kadyn gestured to them to sit. The middle-aged man sat first followed by Omm while Ha just stood behind them with a gentle smile. Only then Kadyn sat down. He didn''t speak, just gazed at the unfamiliar man.

    "This is Commander Jareth," Omm Woulsto introduced the man. "He wanted to meet you when I told him it was you who sent the information about the Bone Spear Tower." He looked at Kadyn and said. "He is Intermediate Rank 3 mage."

    "Oh," Kadyn nodded. He already knew about his rank. Inside the shop, only super-powerful people would be able to hide their ranks. The man in front of him was just an intermediate Rank 3 mage. No big deal. But he smiled politely nheless and said, "Nice to meet you, Commander Jareth."

    "Likewise," the man said in his thick voice. "I''m here to thank you on behalf of all the soldiers whose life was saved because of you."

    "I am d I could help."

    Jareth stared Kadyn and said, "Mr. Kadyn, Omm told me you have¡ª"

    Knock! Knock!

    Jareth paused as someone knocked on the door.

    "Come in," Kadyn said.

    Cecelia entered with a trolley decorated with all kinds of food. Fish Curry, Butter Chicken, Tikka Kebab, and many more ¡ª looking at the delicious food, Jareth gulped down his saliva. The first time Kadyn saw his tired look, he knew the man was hungry. He appeared as if he hade from a battlefield. That was the reason he took them to the restaurant, even though he could talk in the shop as well.

    "We will talkter," Kadyn said. "Please, first have some food."

    "If you say so, Mr. Kadyn," Jareth nodded righteously and served himself without giving a second nce at the surrounding people.

    ¡ª¡ª

    Kady stared at the fading backs of the trio and fell into deep thought. He shook his head and then walked into the shop. It had been around an hour ever since Commander Jareth and others came. Now, there was already a long line of customers.

    Kadyn eyed at the Barret who was sweating profusely. He didn''t know the rate of the artifacts or potions so he could not sell anything. Therefore people became enraged the longer they waited. They were already on the verge of cursing.

    Kadyn rushed towards the counter and said in a loud voice, "What, you don''t even know the price and are still sitting on the counter? If you can''t do this, you should have told me?" As he chided the man, he winked in a pleading manner. He knew that there was no other way to calm these people down, so he could only sacrifice Barret.

    Barret looked at Kadyn''s pleading face and sighed, "Sorry sir, I won''t make such a mistake next time."

    They knew each other for some time now, so Barret didn''t think too much into it. Kadyn could tell it because he could see Barret''s status. He could feel the change in his emotions.

    Kadyn smiled and sent him 200 energy points for his work.

    Barret was startled when he received the notification. Then he looked at Kadyn and a smile appeared on his face. "Sir, if you have some work to finish, please go ahead; I will take care of the counter."

    "..." Kadyn.

    "..." Crowd.

    ¡ª¡ª

    4: 15 P.M., Heaven''s Door.

    Dion walked towards Counter at this moment and said, "All the artifacts that we had, have been sold out. We don''t have any more artifacts for sale."

    "Oh¡ª"

    "Same is for us," Elora strolled towards them with Zelie. "All the potions have been sold, so we need to brew more of them."

    Kadyn frowned, but then nodded. "It''s alright. All of you have worked hard in this period. You guys already have enough energy points to buy the strongest runes, and all of you are already Bronze Rank employees(Requirement to read Rank 1 books and scrolls in the library). You can go, get your Runes. After you be Rune Builder your forging and brewing speed would increase; you could also forge and brew Rank 1 artifacts and potions."

    "Alright!" Their eyes glittered in anticipation. Dion, who was the weakest of them, had also reached the Rank 1 mage.. He just needed to build a rune, like Elora and others.

 Chapter 166 - Mission Board

    8:30 P.M., Heaven''s Door.

    Kadyn chewed a bite from a chicken leg and turned towards the others. "Tomorrow the shop will be closed," he said.

    "Wow!" everyone eximed in happiness.

    Kadyn looked at them and then said, "Except the restaurant."

    "What, no!"

    They voiced their disappointment. They thought everyone would be able to have some fun together. Who would have thought Rayna won''t be able to join them.

    Kadyn rolled his eyes at their behaviour. "I said the shop will be closed." He eyed them one by one. "I didn''t say there is no work to do." Looking at their confused faces, Kadyn exined, "I will issue a few missions. You all have to choose at least one of them."

    "What kind of missions?" Elora asked.

    "You will know in the morning," Kadyn said. "It isn''t just for tomorrow, this schedule will follow on every Sunday from tomorrow onwards." He looked at Rayna and said, "Though I said the restaurant won''t be closed, it still depends on you. If you desire to go on a mission like everyone else, you can close the restaurant."

    "I am good," Rayna replied. She didn''t know what kind of missions he was going to assign, but she knew there would be fighting and maybe bloodshed that she didn''t like.

    Kadyn nodded and returned his gaze towards others. "There will be two forms of missions: one is a group mission and another is an individual mission. Though remember that the group mission might not be any less difficult than the individual mission. So choose wisely, and don''t die."

    "Wh-a-at about me?" Melvona stammered, grease from the meat was still on her face.

    Kadyn looked at her and smiled. "You will help sister Rayna tomorrow."

    Though she had be a lot stronger ever since she joined them. She was still an Elementary Rank 9 fire mage. She was still far away from reaching Rank 1. Furthermore, she was just a little kid, Kadyn didn''t want her to experience too much hardship; she had already experienced a fair share of it. Though he wanted all of them to be strong, it wasn''t time for her, yet.

    After that Kadyn wiped his hands with a napkin and stood up. Rayna and Khrom exchanged nces and then stood together with him, saying, "We have something to talk to you."

    "Oh," Kadyn eyed them and then nodded. "Alright, let''s go into my room."

    Rayna caressed Kove''s head and said, "I will be back in no time, honey."

    ¡ª¡ª

    "So what''s the matter?"

    Khrrom and Rayna exchanged a nce. It was Khrom who spoke, "Actually, uh, we wanted to tell you that we-we, actually, aren''t husband and wife."

    "What?" Kadyn looked at them with wide eyes. Then said, "But didn''t you tell me that you married when I was in aa in cton Vige?"

    "We did because we had no choice," Rayna sighed.

    ¡ª¡ª

    After talking with Khrom and Rayna, Kadyn realised the truth of the matter. It seems they didn''t marry; it was just an act. All of this is because of Kove. It seems when Kove came here; it was Khrom who treated him the best. He yed with the child and went out from time to time(everyone knew he was trying hard to suppress his grievance, and Kove made it easier for him to do that).

    However, as the child spent more time with Khrom, he started to treat him like his father. He started to call him ''father''. When Rayna stopped him, he stubbornly stopped eating. He fell ill and insisted on Khrom bing his father. Rayna and Khrom both refused, but Kove didn''t back down, he continued to refuse to eat, and he became weaker and weaker each day.

    Left with no choice, both of them decided to put on an act. In front of Kove, they acted as husband and wife and would say a few sweet words to each other from time to time.

    Kadyn didn''t know what to say after learning the truth. He had always thought that Khrom had moved on too fast. After all, he had experienced such trauma in his life. People would take a long time to move on and some might never walk out of that shadow. He shook his head.

    "We are sorry," Khrom said. "We couldn''t tell you sooner because we didn''t know how to exin it, and then many things started toe one after another. All of us became busy."

    "It''s alright," Kadyn said. "But how are you going to solve this issueter? In order to solve the situation don''t make it moreplicated."

    "We understand," Rayna replied. "We will think about something. Kove is too young. He will understand when he is a little mature."

    "Alright," Kadyn nodded. "I won''t interfere in your private life. But if you need my help, don''t hesitate. Don''t think of yourself as just employees of the shop. You are my friends. I trust you, so I expect the same from you."

    ¡ª¡ª

    8:00 A.M., Heaven''s Door.

    "Alright, the Mission Board is ready," Kadyn said. "Take a look, and decide what kind of mission you want to choose."

    As he spoke a window appeared in the air, in front of everyone. There were many missions avable for them to choose from. There were herbs gathering missions, ore gathering missions. There were even beasts capturing missions avable.

    Cecelia looked at the board and frowned. "Though all of these cese into the range of Ceston Empire, still, aren''t they too far away? We will waste many days just by travelling."

    Others also realise the peculiarity of the matter, frowning.

    "Don''t worry," Kadyn smiled. "You won''t waste any time."

    "If you say so," Cecelia said and stared at the board. "I will go to the Glovergonie Hignds."

    Kadyn stared at the board and nodded. "Glovergonie Hignds are on the eastern side of the Ceston Empire. There is a huge number of Common Rank ores in this ce. Even Umon Rank ores could be found if someone is lucky.

    "But be careful, though it is and of treasure, it is also filled with all kinds of dangers. Remember, we don''t need the entire mine of ore, but just a chunk and that''s it.. It is an individual mission so you can only depend on yourself. Next!"

 Chapter 167 - Demoness Of The Highlands

    Short-Tailed Jackal Woond was arge forest not too far away from the Capital. There were lots of Short-Tailed Jackals there, so people started to call it as such. However, aside from these beasts, many precious herbs could be found in the forest as well. Elora and Zelie formed a team and chose a Common Rank herb gathering mission.

    After that Slyff, Nefia and Khrom formed another team while Hot Rod, Barret and Dion made the final group. Though they were surprised when they realised that they could travel all over the Pengo whenever they wanted, soon after a thrilling expression appeared on their faces. An arrogant person once said that the world is in his palm, currently, they were feeling the same.

    Kadyn sat down on the couch that was lying near the counter after everyone went toplete their missions. Rayna, Kove and Melvona had also gone to work, leaving him alone. He thought about something briefly and then opened the Pengo Portal. Then he went to Avibria City to ask about his parents, but he was disappointed. Elder Jyn still didn''t know where they went after causing havoc.

    Nheless, he couldn''t do anything about it and had to go back in disappointment.

    ¡ª

    Cecelia looked at the tavern in front of her and strolled towards it at a slow pace.She had just arrived and realised that the Pengo Formation had sent her to the outskirts of the Glovergonie Hignds. The tavern was called Molten Cod Bar. Mostly adventurers and criminals gathered here. Some came to find an opportunity to turn their lives for the better while others came to take their fortune for themselves.

    Thews were a joke here as it was the border, far away from the reach of the empire. Furthermore, Ceston Empire didn''t ce any army at this ce either as it was almost impossible to cross the Glovergonie Hignds. So they didn''t care much about the differences against the Phn Empire that was on the other side of the mountain range.

    The Molten Cod Bar was bustling withughter and shouting and curses. However, when Cecelia walked into it, many people fell silent, gazing at her curiously. There weren''t many females in the tavern and those who were present couldn''t be said to be appealing from any angle. Therefore, when they saw a beauty like Cecelia their eyes lit up, gulping sounds could be heard all around the tavern. Many licked their lips and their lower bodies started to react.

    Nheless, Cecelia didn''t care about the gawking crowd and sat on an empty table near the corner of the hall. "One ale!" she ordered.

    It didn''t take long for her order to arrive. However, when she was about to pour herself, someone came to her seat. A grin appeared on the scarred face of the burly man, and he sat down without asking. "5000 Ces," he said.

    Cecelia looked at him and an amused expression appeared on her face. The man misunderstood her smile for something else and straightened his back before saying, "How about 10,000, then? I don''t think you are a virgin, even virgins would cost less than ten thousand; though you are beautiful, ten thousand should bemore than enough for a loose cunt¡ª"

    Before the man could finish his sentence, a terrible pain came from his chest. Then blood dripped from his lips. When he lowered his head, he realised a hand had pierced his chest. When he lifted his gaze, a grinning face that was too beautiful for the likes of him appeared. The face that cost him his life.

    "You can watch however you want. You can think however you want, but you can''t talk however you want. Remember to control your dick and tongue in your next life," Cecelia said and pulled her hand out of his chest. However, there was something extra in her palm. A heart. Furiously pumping heart. The man looked at his heart in Cecelia''s hand and then crumpled lifelessly.

    After that Cecelia threw the piece of meat at the corner and wiped the blood off her hand with the napkin. She looked at the horrifying gazes of the bystanders and grinned. People felt cold sweat trickling behind their backs as her gaze fell on them. No one dared to make a sound until Cecelia remained in the tavern.

    Only when she left did the tavern ownere in front of the corpse and examined it. "Huh, what''s this?!" he said with a horrified voice. The corpse was no longer a corpse, but a mummy, and there was no blood around or over it, as they had expected.

    Cecelia didn''t know that her tale would be famous after this incident and people would call her the Demoness of the Hignds.

    ¡ª

    The two figures rushed through the woods, hand in hand, and covered in sweat and bruises. Breathing heavily and fatigue was apparent on their lovely faces.

    "Fuck!" one of the two girls cursed as they tried to escape from the pack of the Short-Tailed Jackals. "I never thought that a single Common Rank herb would make us so miserable."

    "Don''t worry," Elora said. "We just need to escape from them, and then we will be able to heal ourselves."

    "I hope so," replied Zelie.

    "Grrr-grrr-grrr~"

    Suddenly a jackal rushed towards them from the front. The duo didn''t panic as this wasn''t the first time they were dealing with such a situation. After many trials and errors, they had be a lot proficient in dealing with tricky situations like this. Zelie first acted and tens of fire arrows rushed towards the jackal that was intercepting their path. The attack wounded the beast but it was far from being fatal. It stood and again lunged towards the duo. This time Zelie didn''t move and Elora attacked.

    "Wound Rupture!"

    The jackal froze as soon as she cast the spell. Then it started to roar furiously as if in agony.. And before itspanion could catch up to them, it burst into a bloody mist.

 Chapter 168 - Fishing And... Stealing?

    "How are we going to catch them?" asked Slyff.

    In front of him was a vast Ashvista Lake; half covered in fog, as the cold wind blew and the water waved. The gloomy clouds looked eerie and the chilling roars of the beasts that came from the mountains in the distance made him nervous.

    Ashvista Lake wasn''t too far away from the northern border that connected Ceston Empire to the Gubia Empire and that was attacked by Staurious a few nights before. Though many dangerous beasts roamed here from time to time, many still ventured toe to this ce. All of this because of the Rainbow Fish.

    Although most of them were just an elementary rank (There are still many Rank 1 and Rank 2, one could also find a few rank 3 Rainbow Fishes, and there was also a Queen that was Rank 4). It was something even Spell Casters greatly desired. Not only was it delicious, but it also had a warming property. It was one of the best foods in the winter that many affluent people desired to eat. s, it wasn''t easy to catch these fishes.

    Moreover, the people didn''t dare to go deeper into theke as there was a Rainbow Queen inside. Even the Emperor had to act cautiously in theke, much-less normal hunters. Nheless, the queen only stayed at the center, and only elementary rank fishes remained on the outskirts. So it wasn''t dangerous as long as one didn''t court his own demise.

    "Hehe," Khrom chuckled hearing him, "just wait and see."

    He then waved his right hand, and a few nking sounds reverberated in the silent atmosphere. There were two sets of breeches on the ground and two pairs of boots that could cover the remaining parts of the legs after wearing the breeches. Then he once again waved his hand and a huge appeared; there were also a few jars filled with some kind of oil.

    "You have a Storage Ring?!" said Slyff and Nefia in unison, an envious look appeared on their faces.

    "Look at your expressions." Khrom rolled his eyes. "You can also buy it from the Hall of Forging if you want. As we are the employees of the shop,there is a fifty per cent discount for us on everything."

    "Why didn''t they tell me?" grumbled Slyff. "I also wanted a Storage Ring, no, actually I wanted two."

    Nefia blushed, and a cute expression appeared on her face. She knew better than anyone for whom he wanted that second ring. Khrom''s lips twitched as he looked at their lovey-dovey act and said, "You can simp all you want for your girlfriendter. But we have lots of work to do."

    Nefia blushed so hard that she wished to find a hole to jump into. Slyff also had an awkward expression, but he recovered faster than her and coughed a few times. "Um, so what do we need to do?"

    "We have to set this fishing inside theke," said Khrom.

    "What?" Slyff shivered just by thinking about entering the cold water. He looked at Khrom and said, "How are we going to protect ourselves underwater from the attacks of the Rainbow Fishes?"

    "Hehe," Khrom chuckled and grabbed the set of the breeches and boots and said, "Look at this; I have bought it from Forging Hall, though it is just an elementary rank, it is more than enough to protect us from the Rainbow fishes in the littoral zone."

    "Oh," Slyff nodded slowly. He had thought they would fish with a fishing rod(which he had brought with him). Who knew that they were going to take apletely different approach. He thought he and Nefia would sit on a boulder side by side and drag a bunch of fish out of theke together with their fishing rod. s¡­

    "D-do I also need to enter¡­ the-theke?" Nefia asked with pleading eyes. She didn''t want to do it. Her thoughts were the same as Slyff, after all, she was a princess of a kingdom. How would she know about these things? But she never thought even Slyff didn''t know much about it.

    Nefia didn''t know, Slyff never left the Capital Orddono in his life; whenever he fished he used a fishing rod, as he didn''t have money to buy a huge that professional fishers used. However, he forgot that these fishes weren''t ordinary; they were magical beasts.

    Furthermore, even if they had a special fishing rod, capable enough to deal with these fishes, it would be able to capture just a single fish at a time. Even then, the fishes would be injured, or maybe killed; while the could help them to catch as many as they could and without fear of killing them. They were here to capture, not to hunt.

    "No," Khrom said, smiling. "You just need to take care of the fishes that we would throw out of theke."

    "Al-alright," she replied with a half confused face.

    Then Khrom turned towards Slyff and said, "Alright, put the breeches and boots on. I will apply a special oil on the that I purchased from the Hall of Potions. We are going to earn a lot of energy points, hehe."

    ¡ª

    Far away, there was and covered in sand in the Ceston Empire. It was called the Ethereal Frontier. A desert that spread in miles. At this moment three figures were hiding inside a cave. Their condition didn''t look good. Their clothes had been torn apart while dust had filled their hair. Even in the cold weather, they were sweating profusely.

    "Who the heck said it would be an easy mission?!" Hot Rod grumbled.

    "Calm down," Barret gestured towards him with a pleading expression. Only then did the man take a deep breath and fell silent. Dion was sitting on the other side, his face deathly pale and a deep wound could be seen on his chest.

    Hot Rod looked at him and sighed, "Are we going back just like that?"

    "What can we do?" said Barret. "Who knew we couldn''t even steal an egg?"

    "That damn adulterous couple of peacocks!" Hot Rod gritted his teeth indignantly.

    "PIIII!!!"

    Suddenly a thunderous screech came from out of the cave. The trio exchanged nces and a fearful look appeared on their faces. "It had found us," said Dion.

    "Fuck, who knew they were so cautious," said Barret. "One of them always remained behind to protect the eggs."

    "Let''s go," said Hot Rod.

    And then the trio vanished.

 Chapter 169 - Morwag

    8.30 P.M., Heaven''s Door.

    Everyone was sitting at the dining table chatting,ughing and talking about their adventures except three people who settled at the corner with their heads down in embarrassment.

    "Oh,e on, dad!" said Zelie seeing the crestfallen looks on the trio. "You can always try the next time. It''s not the end of the world!"

    "Or you cane along with me to catch fish the next time," Khrom suggested with a wide grin over his face.

    "Herb gathering isn''t bad either," Elora interrupted as she used the fork to cut the Rainbow Fish on the te. Kadyn wanted to reward them for their hard work and wanted to celebrate their(well except for a few, you know what I mean) splendid performances. So he asked sister Rayna to cook the fish. Today they could eat without paying the energy points.

    Ores, medicines and anything else that everyone brought from their missions, Kadyn had already paid for them. Now, they had no ownership over these things. He would give ores to the Forging Hall for forging, but they needed to pay him fifty per cent earning in every artifact. Same was for the Hall of Potions and Restaurant. Only the Hall of Intelligence just needed to pay twenty-five per cent energy points, as Kadyn didn''t provide them any material like other halls.

    "You can also try your luck in the Glovergonie Hignds," said Cecelia with a pleasant smile. A rare smile. Then went on. "But I can''t guarantee that you will be able to save your chastity if you don''t have strength. You will find all kinds of perverts there; just I killed fifteen."

    Everyone looked at her in shock. All of them had told about their adventures except Cecelia; though she had given Kadyn four Common Rank ores. One could say that she hadpleted her mission with overwhelming sess. However, they didn''t know she had killed fifteen people just after leaving them for about a little more than a half-day.

    "What is ''pervert'', Mama?" asked Kove innocently. Though he was a little more mature than the children of his age, at the end of the day, he was just a child. His eyes glittered in curiosity.

    "Uhh," Rayna eyed her son with an open mouth unable to reply for a few seconds, but then she smiled and said, "They are bad people, son. Bad people. You should stay away from them."

    "Oh," nodded the child and started to eat his food. Rayna sighed in relief and resumed her diner as well.

    "So," Cecelia grinned towards Barret and the other two. "Do you want to go?"

    "I love my arse; have no intention of donating it," Hot Rod blurted, making everyone burst into a peal ofughter.

    "What does he mean¡ªhe loves his arse, Mama?"

    "..." Rayna.

    "..." Hot Rod.

    "..." Crowd.

    ¡ª

    6.00 A.M.,

    In the Gubia Empire, there was a valley named Sickly Steppe. Not many people knew that the headquarters of the Bone Spear Tower was in the valley. Staurious made his way through the woods and boulders, slipping and falling. His condition looked miserable. But he didn''t stop and continued to run in a single direction. Not long after he arrived in front of arge gate. The guards were the outer disciples of the Tower.

    As the Staurious stumbled towards them, they noticed his presence. However, when he neared the gate, they recognised him. "I-is that se-senior brother Staurious?!" one of the outer disciples stuttered.

    "Holy Dark God," cursed another guard.

    "I heard he took the core disciple''s exam, and was on thest phase," thest guard said. "Even the elders were very optimistic about his sess."

    "May Dark God have mercy on us," said the third guard. "Who could have done this to senior brother Staurious?"

    "Let''s go, inform the elders!"

    As all this was taking ce at the entrance of the Bone Spear Tower, a man covered in a dark hood was strolling on a road inside the Bone Spear Tower at a steady pace. There was an insignia embedded on his chest, a word was written inside ¡ª POISON.

    In the outside world people thought that Bone Spear Tower only used wierd devouring magic, but very few knew that the Bone Spear Tower was divided into two Halls. Bone Spear Hall and Poison Hall.

    "Is that senior brother Morwag?" As the man covered in dark clothes passed, all the passing disciples turned to look at him in shock.

    ''"What did you say?'''' One of the girls almost screamed when she heard herpanion''s voice. She looked at the dark silhouette and gasped. "It''s really true!"

    The surrounded disciples started to talk excitedly to each other. "I heard seniorbrother Morwag used to be a citizen of the Ceston Empire. In the war against our Bone Spear Tower hispanions abandoned him. He was captured and was made a ve. His elemental pool was destroyed. However, not long after arriving in the Bone Spear Tower, the Leader of the Poison Hall discovered that he had a great affinity to be a Poison Master."

    "Furthermore, he became a core disciple in just a year after bing the Poison Master."

    "What''s even more shocking is that he is just eighteen!"

    "I heard he poisoned an entire city when he took the core disciple''s exam."

    "I also heard that story! How cool is that, I wish it was me!"

    As the crowd discussed heatedly, the man they called Morwag had already vanished from their sight. After walking for five minutes, Morwag arrived in front of arge medicine field. However, the medicine field wasn''t a normal one, it was a poison medicine field! An aura of death could be felt in the air.

    He took a step forwards but then stopped and crouched down. Then sprang on his feet forward and extended his hand. When he fell on the ground, he was gripping a cobra through its neck. The creature hissed furiously and then spat ck substance at his face. Morwag didn''t move, a smirk appeared at the corner of his lips under the hood. The substance fell on his face but Morwag didn''t react.

    Then he grabbed the snake''s neck with both hands and twisted it, muttering, "Only if you knew how many poisons I had to endure before bing a Poison Master."

    Afterwards he flicked his hand and a snake vanished; he walked deeper into the poison field.

 Chapter 170 - Definition Of Loyalty

    "Poisons are really interesting," Kadyn murmured as he read the book while sitting on the counter, waiting for customers. After realizing that he had no affinity with Formations, he stopped learning about them and focused on learning about herbs¡ªand poisons alsoe in the same category, so he also learned about them, and the more he learned the more interested he became.

    There was a method inside the library that would let one develop Poisonous Mana Pool. That really caught his attention. After developing the Mana Pool they needed Spell Glyphs to cast their spells, but other than that¡ªthey also needed to concoct poisons and then merge them with their Mana Pool, and to cast a spell required Spell Glyph together with specific poison.

    Poison Masters had the same ranking as other mages, like¡ªonly Rank 2 Poison Master or above could merge Rank 2 poisons. If your rank was lower than a poison, death would be mercy for you.

    The concoction process of poisons was also terribly hard and tedious, even harder than potion brewing¡ªas there was no danger in potion brewing, but poisons were something else.

    Nheless, though poisons could kill, they could also save lives of many, and that was the reason Kadyn delved into this topic. Though he never tried to concoct poisons before he was very interested in it.

    As he was sitting, reading the book, Hot Rod walked down the stairs. "We are going tounch Storage Ring tomorrow," he said. "I have already asked Dion to find a printing press. We will use the temtes as you asked us. With this even more customers¡ª"

    "Why can''t I ess the Rank 2 books and scrolls in the library?" interrupted a voice. Kadyn and Hot Rod looked at the neer and found Cecelia was scuttling towards them.

    Kadyn eyed her and then lowered his gaze and started reading the book again. "Maybe," he said, "it''s because you can''t let go of your pride." Then he lifted his head. "Or, maybe because you don''t trust anyone other than yourself."

    Cecelia frowned. "What do you mean?"

    "Did you try to read Rank 1 books?"

    "I don''t understand¡ª"

    "Go, and try to read Rank 1 books," he said. "Then tell me what happened."

    Cecelia was still frowning. She was confused but went to the library, nheless.

    Hot Rod stood at the side, he cast a curious gaze at Kadyn and asked, "Boss¡­ why can''t she read Rank 2 books?"

    Kadyn lifted his head and smiled at the man. "She can''t even read Rank 1 books. You will see; just wait."

    Hot Rod looked more and more confused, but waited nheless; and after five minutes, Cecelia walked down with a terrible expression. She looked at Kadyn and said, "What''s going on?"

    "You really can''t read Rank¡ª?"

    Cecelia gave him a hard look and Hot Rod flinched. He felt a dangerous sensation, but soon it vanished as Cecelia turned towards Kadyn.

    "You know," Kadyn said. "There are a few requirements to fulfill before you could be a Bronze Rank employee. 100 energy points and¡­"

    "And?"

    "...and your loyalty."

    "Do you mean to say I need to treat you like my master?!" Cecelia''s expression turned ck.

    "Was there any such requirement in the contract?"

    Cecelia paused; she looked at him confusedly, "No," she said.

    "Then why do you think I want you to treat me as your master?" Kadyn went on.

    Cecelia didn''t know how to reply. Then she said, "But then what do you mean¡ªI am not loyal?"

    "Loyalty is a strange thing. Wife could be loyal to her husband, does that mean she is her husband''s ve? Siblings could have loyalty to each other, what do you think that means?" said Kadyn. Then he pointed at Hot Rod and said, "He is already a Bronze Rank employee. Tell me, Hot Rod, what do you think about me?"

    "Uh," Hot Rod didn''t know what the hell was going on, but he replied nheless when he felt two piercing gazes. "I think, uh, Mr. Kadyn is a great man, and it is only a matter of time before he finds his ce in this vast world. I think I will also be able to wash in that glory when the timees; so I am ready to face all the troubles thate in our path as well."

    Just as he finished Kadyn spotted Slyff entering through the door. "Slyff," he said, e here."

    "What happened, Brother Kadyn?" asked Slyff as he perceived the strange atmosphere.

    "What do you think about me?" he didn''t reply. "Tell me."

    Slyff eyed at them confusedly and then nodded. "Brother Kadyn has given me everything I have today. Strength; a good ce to live; friends; and even my love¡ªI''m with Nefia because Brother Kadyn saved her. I think he is even more important to me than a blood brother. He is like a big brother to me."

    Kadyn smiled and then turned towards Cecelia. "What do you think? Are they like ve to me? Both of them are already Bronze Rank Employees."

    "I¡ª"

    "I knew you only cared about yourself and Nefia," Kadyn said. "But I thought you were different from other vampires. You deserved a second chance. I wanted to help you because I thought you were kind hearted as Nefia said. I trusted you, but you never trusted me, or anyone in the shop.

    "Well, let me tell you what is the true meaning of loyalty¡ªloyalty means to do what you can when your loved ones and friends and lovers and anyone that is precious to you faces the crisis. Loyalty is amitment to yourself. You never thought of us as your friends; so there was nomitment."

    He looked at Cecelia and went on, "Loyalty can be anything, but very. Where did you even get that idea from? I don''t know what you went through in your life; what you experienced. But know that, everyone has their own fights to do, and they fight. But when you have friends and someone to share that burden alongside you, it bes easier to fight against your adversaries. They would stand together with you, to share your burden. Responsibility. Pain."

    Kadyn paused briefly.. "Though we can''t revoke the contract¡ªas it''s not in my control¡ªI can let you go if you want; nothing will happen to you, as long as you don''t betray me."

 Chapter 171 - Cecelia

    The hall was silent. No one said anything for a long time. Then Elora looked at Kadyn and asked, "Does that mean sister Cecelia has left?"

    Kadyn smiled bitterly and just when he was about to nod, a sound of footsteps came from the entrance. A figure walked towards them and said, "Who said I left?"¡ªwho could it be other than Cecelia?¡ª"I just wanted to ponder about a few things in silence. Who knows, you guys have already outcast me." As she spoke, her gaze remained on Kadyn.

    "Eh," Kadyn scratched his head awkwardly and said, "You didn''t say anything before leaving so I thought¡ª"

    "You thought I left for good?" Cecelia said, then went on. "Well, now I have returned. Why are you guys staring at me? I''m hungry, sister Rayna¡ª"

    Suddenly Nefia jumped from the couch she was sitting on and embraced her tightly and started to cry. "I thought you left me. How could you even think about that? You wanted to leave me?"

    "Who said I left." Cecelia gritted her teeth as she pierced at Kadyn whoughed awkwardly and started to look here and there.

    ¡ª

    Kadyn walked towards the Meditation Room; but at this moment, he felt something and turned around. "What are you doing here?" he asked.

    "I wanted to thank you," Cecelia said.

    "Thank me?" he stared at her, then asked, "For what?"

    "For making me realise that there are more people who care about me," she said. "After my family was ughtered, I became alone. I was a small girl at that time, covered in blood. I was on the brink of death when Nefia found me. I thought I would leave after recovering but as time passed we became closer and closer like sisters. It was strange for me, being a vampire, to associate with a human emotionally. The same human whom we considered nothing but food."

    Kadyn remained silent as she continued, "Though I considered Nefia as my friend, sister even, I never trusted anyone else. Humans are greedy and vicious. At least we vampires do everything openly, and we admit ourselves as an evil race. But humans? They are hypocrites. They would act all friendly and righteous, but would turn far vicious than even vampires¡ª"

    "That''s what you learned when you were with vampires?"

    Cecelia stumped at his abrupt question and then said, "Well, yeah, but I have seen all kinds of treacherous acts in the Castle of Orddono."

    Kadyn smiled. "I won''t deny all of your ims. Humans are vicious and greedy, but every human is not the same. Simr to you¡ªyou aren''t like all other vampires who treat humans like nutrition. Simrly, all humans aren''t the same either.

    "There are people who could die for others; there are also heroes who sacrifice themselves without asking anything in return. I don''t im myself a hero who would sacrifice for others, but I would also let nothing happen to my friends and family when the timees to fight." He looked at Cecelia. Then said, "You guys are my family. Always remember that. Alright, go back now. It''s alreadyte."

    "Hmm," she nodded, turning to leave.

    "Wait a moment," Kadyn stopped her abruptly. "There is one more thing I wanted to tell you. Actually, it''s about Nefia. I wanted to tell her by myself, but I don''t have the courage."

    "What do you mean?" Cecelia frowned.

    "Actually, her father is¡­ dead."

    "What?!"

    She froze on the spot. Her eyes went wide in shock, her body started trembling. She clenched her fist and gritted her teeth. Soon her face turned red in fury as the bloodlust crept out into her eyes. "I will ughter them! They would beg for death but death won''te easy for them!! Fucking bastards!"

    "You don''t need to do anything." Kadyn knew she was talking about those vampires. "They are already dead."

    "Dead?" Cecelia eyed him with a bewildered expression. "What do you mean?"

    Kadyn took a deep breath and exined what happened in the Magic Alliance. Cecelia was silent for a few seconds. Then she asked, "So your parents killed all of them?"

    "That''s what I heard," he nodded. "Though I have yet to confirm if they are my parents."

    "Alright," Cecelia all of a sudden felt tired. "I will tell Nefia, but I don''t know when." She always wanted to kill her enemies. She had been hiding from them since very young. Who knew they would kill Nefia''s father? She wanted to scream, to shout her frustration, of not killing her enemies herself. She wanted to cry on behalf of her friend. "Tired. I am too tired. I will talk to you tomorrow."

    Kadyn watched as Cecelia vanished into the house. He sighed and entered the meditation room. "I have already built around thirty per cent rune. I think I will be able to finish it more than forty per cent by morning."

    "How useless can you be?" Suddenly a voice came from the right side. He found a beautiful bird, gazing at him with eyes full of contempt.

    "What happened now?" he asked.

    "What happened?" the bird gritted its beak. "You are so useless. You havepleted just thirty per cent rune. I thought you would be able toplete it in a few days."

    "What does it have to do with you?"

    "Do with me?" it said, as it fluttered its wings in fury. "It has everything to do with me. Because of you, I can''t progress anymore!"

    "What?" Kadyn eyed the bird confusedly. He didn''t know what the hell it was talking about.

    "You have fucking signed a contract with me!" she shouted, in a voice, full of indignance. "Now I am connected to you, and you are useless. So it''s normal for me to be useless¡ª" the bird abruptly stopped. "What the hell!?" it suddenly cursed. "How could it be?!"

    Kadyn frowned and then realized that it was staring at his hand fixedly. "You," he said, "recognise this hand?"

    "Recognise?" the bird shook its head. "I never thought I would meet someone of such a great lineage in this lower world. Great great, hahaha." And before Kadyn could ask anything, it vanished. He looked at his hand and frowned. He knew that his hand had a special origin, but he never thought someone like that strange bird who hade from the upper world would be able to recognise it. But then he sighed and sat down on the floor.. He would know everything eventually when the timees.

 Chapter 172 - Lack Sweeder

    One month passed. The poprity of Heaven''s Door became greater and greater with every passing day. By now there was no one in the capital who didn''t know about the shop. Everyone became shop''s fan after experiencing the quality of the products. The price of the goods was also almost ? of the other shops.

    Not many were going to other ces to buy artifacts and potions if they needed Elementary and Rank 1. No one had too much money to waste, after all. Not only that, the restaurant gained its poprity amongst the masses as well¡ªtheyunched new dishes that could help them in many other ways. Some could heal wounds slowly; some could cure some incurable diseases. Others could strengthen one''s body; a few others could make people younger and beautiful. It was the first time people heard such a thing was possible.

    Not only that¡ªHall of Intelligence became the topic of many high-level officials in the capital. There was nothing that could be hidden from the Hall of Intelligence of Heaven''s Door. No one knew how they gathered the information. Two groups even trespassed in Heaven''s Door in the night. But, well, Kadyn made them vanish from the surface of the world. No one knew about their existence, anyway. And those who knew, could not ask, as it would expose them.

    As Heaven''s Door became popr other business hubs became agitated and anxious due to their continuous losses. The customers decreased greatly in the start and now no one wanted to buy their Elementary and Rank 1 artifacts and potions. On top of that, people also criticized them for being too greedy. They should learn from Heaven''s Door¡ªsuch talk was normal from any customer they received.

    It was normal for people to be furious when they learn someone else was robbing their customers from them. Shining Fang Chamber of Commerce was such an example¡ªas it was nearest to the Heaven''s Door, established in Clover Square; they took the heaviest loss of all the people in the capital. Not even a single person came to their chamber ofmerce to buy things that Heaven''s Door sold.

    "Where did this bastarde from?!" shouted a furious man in the hall. He was none other than the leader of the Shining Fang Chamber of Commerce¡ªLack Sweeder. The people in the hall exchanged nces with each other and shook their heads. They didn''t have much information about Kadyn and his group.

    "We sent a group of people a few days ago," one of the elders said, "However, we have yet to hear from them. I think they are dead."

    "Elder Ji was leading the group. He is peak Rank 2 mage," Lack Sweeder said, "Not weak in any sense. Even if he couldn''t do anything to Kadyn and his group¡ªor suppose there was a Rank 3 mage¡ªit still shouldn''t be too difficult to escape. It is indeed strange."

    At this moment a man walked into the hall, and behind him was another person. Everyone eyed the neer as the neer looked at the man who sat in the head position. Not giving even a single nce to others. Then he pointed at the man behind him and said, "Brother, this person is called Bren, he says he knows about Kadyn and his little gang of rascals."

    Lack Sweeder looked at his little brother and then eyed the man behind him. "Speak," he said.

    "I¡ªI met him wh¡ªwhen I was escorting the caravan of Webney''s to the capital," said Bren.

    "The same one that our people failed to rob?" he asked. It seemed he didn''t care much about his reputation, or he thought too little about Bren the Mercenary. And it appeared thetter was most probably true, after all, his face was full of arrogance and pride. People like him did all kinds of atrocities, but never let them spread.

    "Yes, mi¡ªmilord," nodded Bren.

    "And?"

    Bren the Mercenary could feel the piercing gazes directed at him. The cold sweat appeared on his temples even though it was a cold day. He wiped the sweat out of his forehead with his trembling hand and said, "We met him when the bandits attacked us. So I don''t know much about¡ª"

    "Throw him in the well¡ªhow dare he waste my time like this!" said Lack when he realized he was just another greedy man.

    Bren almost jumped in fright when he heard the furious shout from Lack. Although he was a low Rank 2 mage, he was nothing in front of a big-shot like Lack who was Rank 3. He thought he would be able to earn a fortune if he told them about Kadyn, who could have known that he was nning to get himself buried.

    The guards held him by the hands and started to drag him out. Bren struggled, but to no avail. Then he turned towards Lack and said, "Th¡ªthere is o¡ªone mo¡ªmore thing I want to tell."

    Lack looked at the man, who looked pathetic than a beggar, then he smirked. "Let him go." Then he stared at the man on the ground with his piercing gaze and said, "Go ahead. But remember if the information is useless, your punishment would be harsher."

    Many swallowed hearing his words. Bren turned pale, but then he gritted his teeth and nodded. "I¡ªI am sure it is important," he paused briefly and went on. "I am su¡ªsure milord knows about Babul Webney."

    "The guy who was assassinated?" frowned Lack. "But what does Kadyn have to do with him?"

    "Though I am not too sure," Bren said, "but I think Kadyn was behind his death."

    Lack''s eyes finally lit up. He straightened his back and asked, "Exin."

    "When we arrived in the capital, Babul tried to poach one of Kadyn''s followers and Kadyn said a few insulting words to him. Babul said he would not let the matter settle until he made Kadyn pay. However,ter that night, he was assassinated. I think¡ª"

    "Perfect!" Lack Sweeder pped pleasantly. "Now, we would let two of them fight and watch the show from the side."

    "But brother," said Lack Sweeder''s little brother Gaur, "we don''t know if he really killed Babul or not. How are we going to prove that?"

    Lack grinned at his brother''s na?ve question, but he still replied, "Sometimes to burn down the jungle, you don''t need a whole matchstick, just a spark is enough. Bren is that spark. Just wait and watch.. The show is about to start."

 Chapter 173 - Death Valley

    As Bren walked out of the building, a fly emerged from the pocket of his coat and flew into the sky. No one spotted it, nor did they realize its existence. The fly travelled about ten minutes and arrived in front of a huge gate. Many customers were waiting outside in line. Though the cold wind was blowing on the road, no one onceined.

    The fly entered the shop.

    In a few seconds, it appeared in the massive hall and transformed into a human form, but no one noticed as their attention was somewhere else; and even if they did, no one would find it strange, as they knew that there was a Shapeshifter in the shop.

    Slyff looked at Kadyn who was dealing with customers and walked towards him and whispered something in his ear. Kadyn curled his lips and murmured, "It doesn''t matter what trick they have up their sleeves; they can''t do anything to us, anymore. If it was a month before, I might be a little apprehensive about offending them, but now¡ª"

    He trailed off and a disdainful look appeared on his face. There was nothing he didn''t know in the capital, except a few matters rted to the royal family. It was the same about the Sweeders and Webneys. They might be strong, but he knew how to deal with them.

    Furthermore, if they dared to attack him inside the shop, they would only die a miserable death as he had already upgraded the shop to Rank 3. Even peak rank 4 mage could only escape if he dared to attack. He had no one to fear as long as he stayed in the shop.

    "Common Rank healing potion," Kadyn said to the customer. "15000 Ces."

    It continued for around three hours. It was already 5 o''clock in the evening when all the customers left with satisfied smiles on their faces.

    Everyone gathered in the house for evening snacks. "How should we deal with Sweeders," Elora spoke. "They dared to y tricks on us. It seems we were too soft. We shouldn''t have just killed their people. We should have hung them at the Shining Fang Chamber of Commerce''s gates after slitting their necks. Humph!"

    Kadyn looked at his sister, and a slight smile appeared on his face. The hardship that she went through in the previous month had changed her temperament quite a bit. She was no more that naive girl that she used to be. She had seen blood; she had shed blood. She had seen all kinds of treachery and cruelty on her missions. If it wasn''t for the people by her side, she would have died a long time ago. It was the same for others, too. They had changed considerably.

    Nheless, they were cruel to others, they were still as gentle as before to each other.

    "Yes," Slyff said. "That guy Lack, the leader of the Shining Fang, thinks himself too smart. He wants to see us fight with the Webneys and watch the show."

    "Don''t worry," Kadyn said. "We willunch Rank 2 potions from tomorrow."

    Everyone''s eyes lit up as soon as they heard his words. They knew that Kadyn had reached Rank 2 around 15 days before. Now he could brew Rank 2 potions! This blow was going to make some people realize that they could not offend Heaven''s Door.

    Kadyn looked at Barret, Hot Rod and Cecelia and asked, "How much time do you need to reach Rank 2?"

    It seemed they had already abandoned their old runes and had chosen new ones from the shop. However, they didn''t take too long to reach Rank 1 as they were already at that rank. They have a lot of experience with it, and in addition to the spirit replenishing of the meditation room, they didn''t have to struggle a lot to reach their former strength.

    "I think I will need two or three more days to reach Rank 2." Cecelia was the first to speak. Previously, she was already at that rank, so it wasn''t surprising that she was reaching there once more.

    Then Kadyn looked at the Barret and Hot Rod. "I think," said Barret, "twenty to thirty days."

    "Same," Hot Rod nodded.

    "It''s too long," Kadyn frowned. "Try to reach Rank 2 in eight days, or I will send you to Death Valley to gather herbs."

    "Bu¡ªbut¡ª" the duo stammered in horror, but fell silent when they spotted Kadyn''s piercing gaze. It wasn''t just them who grew in the previous month. It was Kadyn who made the biggest progress in this time, and all of them knew that. Now Kadyn was really the boss of the shop in every sense.

    "Remember," he said, "if you fail, you will go to the Death Valley, and you can''te back before spending a whole day at that ce and if you did," he curled his lips, "you will have to spend two days there, and you have to repeat the process until you seed, or¡­ seed?"

    The Death Valley was one of the deadliest ces on the Pengo. It was where the most necromancers of the world gathered. If they caught any suspicious fellow, they would make him into a living corpse, undead, or a spirit that could fight for them. Even some of them had turned themselves into lich to get strong. No one didn''t fear those creatures. Furthermore, Barret and others had seen them with their own eyes so they knew what kind of abomination those things were.

    Around ten days before, Kadyn offered them a mission; he himself went with them. It was the mission of herb gathering, no one thought too much, as it had already be normal for them toplete mission regrly on every Sunday¡ªthe ce that Kadyn brought them was Death Valley, as those herbs could not be found anywhere else, and then everyone realized what kind of nightmare they had entered.

    "What do you mean seed, or seed?" Barret asked indignantly.

    "Seed toplete your mission, or seed to¡­ die."

    "..." Barret.

    "..." Hot Rod.

    "..." Crowd.

    Kadyn grinned at them and said, "If you don''t want to go through that nightmare again. Just be rank 2 in eight days."

    "I think I was going to meditate," Barret stood up and dashed towards the meditation room.

    "I¡ªI am also going to practice," Hot Rod sprinted behind Barret.

    "Don''t you think the punishment is too harsh?" Cecelia spoke after a brief silence.

    "Is it, really?" Kadyn turned towards her. "Didn''t you see howzy those two are? They are old so they think it''s enough for them until they can be Rank 2. They have little ambitions left in them.. I won''tpromise with it, because there is no ce for losers in my shop."

 Chapter 174 - Meeting Jareth Again

    As everyone left, Kadyn asked Slyff to remain behind. "What is it, boss?" he asked

    Kadyn flicked his hand and a vial appeared in his hand. It was filled with some kind of blue liquid. "Do you know where Bren lives?" he asked as he eyed Slyff.

    "Yes, I know."

    Kadyn nodded and passed the vial to him. "Take this, and ce it inside his room. Don''t breathe after opening the stopper."

    Slyff eyed the vial and then Kadyn, a deep look appeared inside his eyes. He shivered when he realised what was going on, but he smirked and walked out of the shop. ''Who told Bren to be so greedy? Now, you have entered the tiger''s den, so be ready to be eaten.''

    ¡ª

    As the dawn arrived, the news spread like a wildfire in the entire Clover Square and then in the whole Capital Ceston. Heaven''s Door was going to sell Umon Rank potions from today. Many influential figures sent their servants to stand in the line, outside the shop. Even then, many people couldn''t get the potions as they had already been sold.

    After all, Kadyn was the only Umon Rank potioneer in the shop so he could brew only a limited number of potions. Though Elora and Zelie had be Rune Builder¡ªtherefore, they could brew Common Rank potions¡ªthere was still some time for them to reach Fusion.

    Although the customers were happy, as they could buy potions at a much lower price than before, there were quite a few people who mmed their heads on the wall in fury.

    ¡ª

    "Bastard!" Lack Sweeder cursed as he smashed the ss on the floor. Others were standing behind him, but no one dared to make a sound. "Why can''t we kill him, directly?!" he asked as he gritted his teeth.

    "Ever since Kadyn opened his business, he has been providing potions and artefacts and intelligence to the royal family¡ªand at a much lower rate than his regr price¡ªso low that it is eye-popping and hard to believe. He is a very important person to the royal family now."

    "I know it, damn it!" snapped Lack at the elder who replied. The elder felt a bit disdain for Lack but dared not voice it. Lack''s standing was not something that he couldpare. His father was the n leader.

    Lack took a deep breath and calmed down before turning towards others. "Where is Gaur?" he said. "Ask him to bring Bren here. I wanted to wait for the right time. But now¡ª"

    "Brother!" A man dashed into the hall, covered in sweat, while his face looked anxious.

    "What happened?" asked Lack.

    "Dead, he is dead!" Gaur Sweeder spoke in a much-hurried voice as he sucked air in deep breaths.

    "Who are you talking about?" A bad premonition appeared inside his heart.

    "Bren!" Gaur said. "He is dead!"

    ¡ª

    "He is dead," Slyff told Kadyn. "I have just received the news."

    "Good," Kadyn said. Then shook his head. "If I could concoct rank 3 poisons, I would have made Lack realise the real pain¡ª"

    "Boss."

    Kadyn lifted his head, spotting Dion, walking together with Commander Jareth. Kadyn stood up and walked towards the visitor and shook hands.

    After Kadyn sold his goods at a cheaper price than any other chamber ofmerce to the royal family, Commander Jareth started to treat him pretty well. After all, his men were also benefiting from those things. The more artefacts and potions they had, the more secure they would be.

    After exchanging a few words, Kadyn perceived that Jareth looked worried, so he led him into a private room.

    "Did anything happen,mander Jareth?" he asked.

    "Yes," Jareth said. "I need your help in something."

    "Please, do tell."

    "It''s about artefacts and potions," said Jareth. "We need a lot of them."

    "You need¡­ you mean¡ªroyal family."

    "Yes."

    "How many artefacts do you need?"

    "Er, around fifty thousandmon rank speed boots, fifty thousandmon rank defence armour¡ª"

    "Hold a minute!" Kadyn''s eyes went wide when he heard the shocking number. "I don''t think I could provide that number¡ª"

    "I know," Jaret smiled. "We just need your help in something."

    "Can you, please, exin?" Though Kadyn didn''t know what was going on, he could tell that the matter was pretty important.

    "You will know after meeting his majesty."

    "His¡­ majesty?" Kadyn looked at him, stunned. Though he had done a lot of business with them in the previous month he had never met the emperor. That''s why he was shocked when he heard the invitation.

    "Yes," Jareth nodded. "I wille tomorrow again; we will leave together."

    "What''s going on?" he said in confusion. "Are we going into war or something?"

    Jareth smiled bitterly. "We have received intelligence from our spy that Bone Spear Tower is about to attack."

    Kadyn gave a deep look to the man in front of him. He had never thought that the royal family had a spy hiding in the Bone Spear Tower. He thought that his Intelligence Hall was doing pretty good; however, he knew nearly nothing about Bone Spear Tower¡ªexcept that it was hidden somewhere in the Gubia Empire¡ªwith this one could tell that the emperor was a formidable man.

    Furthermore, with this information, Jareth also indirectly told him that they trusted him. Though the major events like war can''t be hidden for too long. The preparation had just started, and if the public knew about this information, the panic would spread.

    "Oh," Kadyn nodded after realising the graveness of the matter. Furthermore, the royal family had their own potioneers and artisans, and if they were buying so many arms from others that means the situation was far worse than he thought.

    He could already imagine corpses and blood. He could already imagine how those vicious people would suck the blood and soul essence out of the people.. Though he knew that the war was going to be cruel, he had seen worse¡ªafter all, Bone Spear Tower was far from reaching the level of Death Valley.

 Chapter 175 - Leader Of The Four Great Houses

    A new day began¡ªJareth came to pick Kadyn up in his luxurious car. After instructing others Kadyn went with Jareth. As he sat inside the car, he felt a kind of nostalgia. He remembered the time on earth, when he went on a trip, together with his parents, in a car. He sighed and turned towards Jareth. "Let''s go," he said.

    Jareth instructed the driver, who used his mana, to drive the car. Though magic stones could also be used for the same purpose, it wasn''t cost-effective. Mages could always recover their mana, after a night''s meditation, but magic stones were exhaustible resources. Furthermore, driving could also be considered a kind of training, as it helped mage to control the mana more effectively.

    Kadyn watched therge buildings on the way, wide roads, ying kids, and working people. He also saw a temple¡ªafter asking Kadyn realised that the people of the Ceston were quite religious, and they worshipped quite a few gods.

    They took quite a few turns on the way, and twenty minutester, they reached their destination¡ªwhen Kadyn exited the car, he spotted a majestic castle in front of him. It was where the emperor lived.

    "Let''s go," Jareth said, as he walked ahead of him. The guards at the entrance saluted when Jareth passed and eyed Kadyn curiously. He caught up to Jareth. He examined his surroundings¡ªthe garden; the servants; the intricate designs on the walls of the castle; the beautiful long pirs that supported the walls and ceiling; the expensive carpet on which he walked; the gallery that went on and on, to a few hundred metres, whose end was obscured.

    ¡ª

    "Who else ising, Your Majesty?" asked a man politely, who sat on a plush chair, as he rested his hands on the table before him.

    "You will know when he arrives, Eugan Sweeder," said the emperor, as he tapped his fingers on the armrests of his throne. He had broad shoulders, and he was tall. He had ck hair, revealing under the crown that he wore, and a small beard. He didn''t seem to be an arrogant fe, as he had a gentle smile on his face. Though one could not judge a book by its cover, it was hard to tell his true nature.

    Eugan Sweeder fell silent as he exchanged nces with hispanions sitting around him. At this moment, another man spoke, "May I know the purpose of today''s gathering, Your Majesty?"

    "Mr. Oswyn Webney," spoke a man who sat at the very front of the table. "His Majesty has already said that you will know when the expected person arrives. Can''t you wait just a bit, or you have more important work to do?"

    "I was just asking, Left Minister," said Oswyn Webney, smiling. "All of us have already gathered. Even His Majesty has arrived. However, this person has yet toe. Don''t you think he is too arrogant¡ªmaking His Majesty wait for him?"

    "Don''t try to y your petty tricks here," frowned the Left Minister in displeasure. "His Majesty decides everything here. Not you, nor anyone else. Or you think you are above his majesty?"

    "You are twisting the meaning of my words!" Oswyn''s expression changed when he heard the Left Minister''s words. They never saw eye-to-eye, but Oswyn never thought the Left Minister would try to set him up. After all, he was just trying to express his displeasure for the person who still hasn''t arrived, who knew this bastard would twist the meaning of his words.

    "That''s enough!" The emperor waved his hand. His gaze roamed on the people in the hall. His face frowned in displeasure.

    "Commander Jareth has arrived"¡ªjust when the emperor was about to chide them, a guard''s voice entered the hall from the entrance¡ª"with a distinguished guest. He is asking permission to enter, Your Majesty."

    "Let him enter," the emperor said.

    The eyes turned towards the entrance, curious, to know the identity of the person for whom the emperor made them wait. First to enter was Jareth¡ªafter he arrived a thin and tall looking boy around the age of neen. The hall was pin-drop silent. No one could fathom this scenario. They thought they were waiting for some big shot. But who knew it was just a kid.

    "We were waiting for him?" Oswyn frowned. "Who is he?"

    "I think your son hasn''t told you about him yet," Xod Woulsto, the leader of House Woulsto, spoke with a chuckle. "He is the owner of Heaven''s Door."

    "Oh," Oswyn and the other two leaders of the Four Great Houses narrowed their eyes as they stared at Kadyn with deep gazes.

    Only Xod Woulsto had a smile on his face as his main business wasn''t artefact and potion-making. While Segast Wilbrick remained expressionless from start to end. No one could tell from his expression what he was thinking. On the other hand, Oswyn Webney andEugan Sweeder peered at Kadyn like hungry wolves. After all, because of him, they had received quite a few setbacks.

    As everyone in the hall was examining Kadyn, Kadyn was doing the same. His gaze passed through everyone''s faces. He already knew about every one of them. His Intelligence Hall wasn''t just for show. He even knew many of their secrets, but he would only use them when he needed to use them.

    However, when he was about to retract his gaze, he felt as if a vicious viper was staring at him. He tried to find the person, but the feeling had already vanished. He frowned. ''Is it Oswyn or Eugan?'' he thought, but then shook his head. It wasn''t time to daydream. He turned towards the emperor and greeted him with a slight bow.

    Just as Oswyn was about to shout at him for not kowtowing, a voice sounded. "Alright," it was the emperor, he nodded at Kadyn and said. "Take your seat."

    Everyone appeared bewildered. Other than the leaders of the Four Great Houses and a few other officials, everyone needed to kowtow in front of the emperor. However, Kadyn didn''t do it and the emperor didn''t get angry. ''Doesn''t that mean, the emperor treats Kadyn as important as the leader of the Four Great Houses?'' The same thought appeared inside everyone''s head.

    Kadyn nodded and sat on a seat at the corner. People raised their eyebrows. Every one of them wanted to sit at the very front, in the spotlight, but this guy just had to sit at the furthest seat in the hall. After Kadyn, Jareth also sat beside him. People shook their heads. Not paying much attention.

    "At least, he knows his limits," Oswyn sneered.

    Eugan chuckled at hisment and shook his head. His thoughts were simr to Oswyn. Xod and Segast remained silent.

    "Alright, begin the meeting," said the emperor.

 Chapter 176 - Shameless

    The Left Minister stood up as his gaze roamed on the faces of gathered people. "We have received information¡ªBone Spear Tower is going to attack."

    Immediately everyone''s eyes went wide. "How could this be?" Oswyn said. "We have fought a great battle with them just about a year before. How could they recover so soon?"

    "They have lost many of their high-level mages. They shouldn''t be in a condition to attack us," added Eugan.

    "Is the source of information reliable?" Segast said for the very first time. Only Xod was frowning deeply.

    The Left Minister smiled bitterly. "We don''t know how they recover so fast," he said, "but I can tell you that our source is safe."

    Oswyn''s gaze moved towards the emperor as he said, "May I know what His Majesty want us to do?"

    The other three leaders also had the same question.

    Kallus Ceston smiled and said, "Of course, you have to send your mages in the war¡ªbut don''t worry, I will reward you ording to your merits. Other than that," his piercing gaze roamed on the four leaders, "I want to discuss with you the prices of the artefacts and potions."

    "Prices of the artefacts and potions?" Eugan frowned. "Your Majesty, is there something wrong with the price?" Of course, he knew Kallus wanted to lower the price for the uing war. He was just ying dumb. After all, wartime was the time when artefacts and potions earned the most. How could he let such a wonderful opportunity go to waste?

    Oswyn also narrowed his eyes. Segast was calm as usual, while Xod cared little about it. He was more than happy to lower the price for the war, if he could make the other three houses suffer.

    "Mr. Eugan Sweeder," the Left Minister began. "Have you no loyalty towards your empire? Did you ever wonder how ordinary people would think if they knew about it?"

    "You¡­?!" Eugan almost choked on his saliva. Even a dunce could hear a threat in the Left Minister''s voice, much less a cunning fellow like him. If people knew that he refused to help the empire in time of need, there was no doubt they would boycott him and his family. The royal family just needed to spread a single rumour, and the reputation of his family would go into mud, in a single night.

    The Left Minister curled his lips in disdain, but then he smiled and said, "Don''t worry, we won''t take advantage of you. We would offer you a decent price. You won''t take any loss, that I promise."

    "I am all ears," said Eugan, a little more docile than before.

    "Good," the Left Minister nodded in approval. Then he turned towards Kadyn and said, "Mr. Kadyn, can you, please, tell our guests; at what price you are selling the artefacts and potions to our royal family?"

    "Oh, sure." Kadyn stood up with a pleasant smile. "I was selling my artefacts to the royal family at half of the market price. Now, since the war is brewing, I am ready to lower the price even further. How about at 1/4th of the market price?"

    "Weren''t you already selling at that price?!" Oswyn almost jumped in shock as he realised what was going on.

    Kadyn eyed the man and shook his head. "How is that possible? Do you think it is possible to sell at that price? I would just be able to recover the price of the materials, and to pay the potioneers and artisans, I have to pay from my own pocket. Why would I do such a thing? However, now the time is different. So I am ready to make this little sacrifice."

    "You¡ªyou are shameless!" Eugan''s countenance also looked terrible.

    "How am I shameless?" Kadyn sneered. "Tell me, is it possible to sell potions and artefacts at 1/4th of the market price? If it is possible, why don''t you sell at that price, too?"

    "I¡ª"

    The man waspletely at a loss for words.

    "If it wasn''t for the war," continued Kadyn, "I would never sell my goods at such a low price. If you don''t believe me¡ªyou can ask His Majesty. Ain''t I speaking the truth?"

    Kallus'' mouth twitched. He was the majestic emperor, he never thought he had to lie in his life shamelessly¡ªwhen everyone knew what was the truth.

    As he was about to speak, Xod stood up. "It doesn''t matter at what price he sold his goods previously. It is true he is selling them at 1/4th of the market price now." Then he bowed towards the emperor and said, "Your Majesty, I am ready to sell at the same price as Mr. Kadyn."

    "Xod, you¡ª" Oswyn and Eugan clenched their teeth furiously when they saw the situation turning for the worst. Even Segast gave a few nces to Xod. This guy knew how to take advantage of the moment.

    Kadyn eyed struggling Oswyn and Eugan and calm Segast. At this moment, Segast stood up and said, "I''m also ready to help the empire. After all, this is the ce where I grew up. Even Mr. Kadyn¡ªwho arrived just a month or so before¡ªhelped us with all of his strength; so how can I be left behind. I would be ashamed of myself if I didn''t help."

    Kadyn gave a few curious nces to the man and nodded in approval. Although he didn''t voice his support immediately, at least, he was better than Eugan and Oswyn, who were still struggling to decide.

    Kadyn smiled and asked, "What is your decision Mr. Oswyn and Mr. Eugan? Do you want to help your empire in tough times, or watch as our brave warriors sacrifice themselves due to theck of artefacts and potions?"

    "Fine!" the duo said in unison. "We are ready to help!"

    They red at Kadyn deeply and sat down with gloomy faces.. The two of them looked as if they had swallowed a rotten fly, but others in the hall were all smiling.

 Chapter 177 - Creation Rank

    In the next two days, Cecelia reached the Fusion Rank. Barret Duncan and Hot Rod followed closely behind, and five dayster, the duo achieved their greatest desire. They had shrunken, looking like skeletons, after seven days of hard word, without eating or sleeping. As soon as they finished their task, they copsed¡ªand the next day, Elora and Khrom also became Rank 2.

    Far away the storm was brewing at the borders of the Gubia Empire. Arge army had gathered in the closest town¡ªStanlow¡ªto the border, waiting for the enemy. They had already abandoned their garrison, as it won''t do any good, holding. The watchtowers standing tall at the walls of the town, the torches flickered, as the guards signalled one another.

    Due to thick fog, it was hard to see too far away. They could barely detect anything a few hundred meters away. To cover this blind-spot, quite a few summoners had sent their summoned beasts to petrol round the town, so as not to let anyone suspicious escape from their sight.

    "Roar!"

    A painful roar of a wolf echoed. It was silent briefly.

    "The enemy has attacked!" a guard shouted; he started to ring the bells on his watchtower. The entire town echoed with panicked cries of a few stubborn townspeople who refused to evacuate. All the mages wore their defensive artefacts and grabbed their spears or swords or wands, as they rushed towards the walls. It didn''t take long for all the soldiers to gather.

    About a minuteter, they spotted torches flickering a few hundred meters away. Jareth wasmanding the soldiers, together with him there were two other people of the same rank as him. "It¡ªit looks as if there are more than a hundred thousand soldiers!" he said with a shocked voice, as he stared at the flickering torches in the distance.

    "We have just fifty thousand soldiers," Jareth''spanion¡ªEnan¡ªsaid. "I¡ªI think we should ask for reinforcement."

    "Le¡ªlet''s inform the em¡ªemperor about the situation," said another man¡ªBayo¡ªin his nervous voice, as he grabbed his mobile phone to call.

    "Have your brain also frozen due to fear?" Jareth said, furiously. "How could you use your mobile to inform such important news? Any ordinary Psychic could hear our talk!"

    After that, he took out amunication artefact and contacted the emperor.

    ¡ª

    Mages needed to build a rune at the Rune Building rank; they fused their Mana Pools with the Rune at the Fusion rank¡ªwhen theyplete the fusion process, the rune would be alive, it is called the Creation rank. It hadn''t been long since Kadyn had reached Fusion rank; however, he was already on the verge of reaching Creation rank.

    As Kadyn fused his Mana Pool into the World Lotus rune, his entire body trembled. His forehead was covered in a cold sweat, and his face somewhat pale. Only he knew how much painful it was to proceed at this rank. However, whenever he was about to reach his limit a kind of mysterious energy would appear and recover his spiritual energy. The process repeated time and again, and Kadyn had almostpletely fused the Mana Pool into the rune.

    "Just a little bit more," he muttered as he continued. "I am just a step away from reaching the Creation rank."

    "Boom!"

    As thest bit of Mana Pool fused into World Lotus Rune, a booming sound echoed in Kadyn''s head. Then he felt a terrifying burst of pain in his head. He clenched his skull and started to froth, his body twitched, he whimpered, he moaned, he cried¡ªbut it did little to soothe his condition. In the end he lost consciousness.

    An eternity passed¡ªso as Kadyn felt¡ªbefore he opened his eyes. He supported his trembling body with his hands and settled on his aching arse¡ªhe had no idea why it was aching, though. Then he took a deep breath. "Fuck, I almost shit my pants," he never thought that he would have to feel such a pain in his life after experiencing all the torments previously.

    Only now did he realize the use of the Practice Room, where he didn''t go¡ªto practice¡ªfor ages. It was to strengthen the will of a mage. He thought, previously, he had reached his limits in that area. Only nowing to the truth that he was far from reaching the limit. A few things could still make him tremble in fear, such as the pain that he went through just now.

    He sucked a deep breath and closed his eyes, checking the changes inside his Consciousness. There was no Mana Pool left. What remained inside was the Golden Ocean, covering his entire Consciousness with it. Kadyn eyed the Golden Ocean and then spotted a tiny ''sprout'' at the centre of it. A lotus sprout. It didn''t even have a bud yet. There was nothing noteworthy about the sprout. Though Kadyn could feel his nine elements within it. Otherwise, it looked ordinary from every angle.

    Then his gaze moved towards the Golden Ocean. "So that''s what has be of the Blessing Element, huh?" he muttered. He had discovered a single ability of the blessing element, and that was to bless someone with his elements. However, that process would gradually weaken his own elements, so he was a bit hesitant to use it. He was still wondering about the real use of it.

    He opened his eyes and walked out of the chamber. The sky was already starting to lit up, as a faint orange mixed with violet was trying to bloom in the east.

    ¡ª

    The emperor was sitting on his throne, the Left and the Right Ministers were also present. "The Chief Commander must be reaching at Stanlow," said the small and weak looking old man. He was the Right Minister. The controller of the taxes of the entire empire, while the Left Minister, a middle-aged man, was the Chief Justice of the empire. He dealt with major crimes. Only crimes simr to treason would be passed to the emperor to deal with.

    "Don''t worry," the Left Minister¡ªor Chief Justice¡ªsaid. "Commander-in-Chief, Dyso, is peak Creation rank mage. Unless the Tower Head of Bone Spear Tower sends one of the two deputy heads¡ªthe head of the Poison Hall or the Bone Spear Hall, I think nothing could go wrong. Gubia Emperor is just a dunce at the intermediate Creation rank¡ª"

    He stopped abruptly as he saw an abrupt change in the emperor''s face. "What happened, Your Majesty?"

 Chapter 178 - Thrashing

    "Don''t break the line," Kadyn said as he collected the money.

    "Sir, why aren''t there any speed boots and defensive artefacts for sale?" asked the customer, as he passed the potion to Kadyn, for evaluating its price.

    "Ichor of Fire. Umon Rank potion. It can increase the strength of fire spells by 50% for an hour," Kadyn nodded. "60,000 Ces."

    The customer passed the money and looked at Kadyn, confused. "Oh, yes," Kadyn said. "Speed boots and defensive artefacts aren''t avable. We have already sold them to the royal family. By now, you should already know why they need those artefacts, right?"

    The man nodded gravely and gave the way to another customer. Kadyn lifted his gaze and stared at the entrance where Slyff was huffing, trying to suck air. Then he walked towards Kadyn and said something in his ears. "What?" Kadyn looked startled after hearing the news. "Is that true?"

    "Yes," Slyff said, "as the army could not rush back in such a short time¡ªthe emperor himself is going to hold the enemies."

    Kadyn nodded and turned towards the customers. "Sorry for the inconvenience, but we have to close the shop for today."

    "Oh, man!" Disappointed looks appeared on their faces, but they knew better than to cause trouble in the shop.

    "How can you close the shop so abruptly?" However, it was normal to find a few arrogantds amidst the crowd of a hundred. "We have lined up for such a long time, and now, you are chasing us out, as we are nothing."

    Kadyn eyed the youngster¡ªred-haired, dark-eyed¡ªsitting on a sofa that was lying beside his counter and asked, "So, it is Young Master Fidomer. How can I help you?"

    Fidomar Webney was bewildered for a moment, for Kadyn had recognised him in just a single nce. Not many people knew his true identity here. But then, his expression became calm, and he looked at Kadyn arrogantly. "Now, you know my identity, make it fast. My servant is standing in the line. I have lots of things to do." As he said a man walked out from the line. He was holding a trolly filled with tens of potions and artefacts of all kinds.

    "Sorry," Kadyn, however, shook his head, "the shop is already closed, and I don''t differ between the Four Great Houses and an ordinary person in my shop¡ªif I sell you the goods, won''t it be unfair towards the other customers?"

    Many people nodded in acknowledgement. Previously, they were feeling a little disgruntled¡ªfor Kadyn closed the shop too abruptly. However, now they were looking at him with respect.

    Fidomer red at Kadyn and then said, "You know who I am¡ªyet, you still dared to refuse me. Do you have a death wish!" His voice became a sharp shout at the end of the sentence. People shrunk back in fear.

    Kadyn didn''t seem to notice the anger on his face. He smiled and said, "Even if your father were toe, I won''tpromise, much less you, a toddler of a frog." He eyed Slyff and said, "Throw him out!"

    Slyff nodded and strolled towards Fidomer. "Sir, please, don''t make me drag you out," said Slyff.

    "Just you?!" shouted the man and then punched. Slyff was caught unprepared, he couldn''t dodge in time, and a fist smashed his chest. He coughed the blood andnded at the corner of the hall¡ªgrabbing his chest with one hand while wiping the blood off his mouth with another.

    "Humph!" Fidomer snorted, and just as he was about to turn towards Kadyn, he felt a choking grasp over his neck. He didn''t even realise a figure had appeared behind him. Kadyn tightened his grasp on his neck and said, "You can be arrogant, outside, all you want. But why do you have to show your arrogance in my shop? Moreover, you even dared to touch my people."

    "You¡ªhow dare¡ª" ''Boom!''

    Fidomer''s servants tried to rush towards Kadyn¡ªKadyn waved his hand and the men fell on their knees. "Space Element!" Everyone cried out in shock. Even dangling Fidomer appeared stunned.

    Kadyn cared little about people''s reactions. He eyed Fidomer and said, "I can forgive your insolence, however, you should not have attacked Slyff."

    "You¡ªcough, cough¡ª" Fidomer tried to speak, but due to Kadyn''s grasp, he almost choked.

    "p!"

    "Yo¡ª"

    "p!"

    "Bast¡ªcough, cough¡ª"

    "p!"

    Kadyn pped Fidomer for over five minutes, continuously. His face had turned crimson, while blood dripped out of his lips. He didn''t even try to struggle anymore. However, his eyes were like the mouth of an active volcano, spitting fire andva, continuously.

    Kadyn looked into his eyes and smirked. "If you respect others," he said, "only then others will respect you. If you devour others¡ªothers will devour you. It is the rule of the jungle and this world is the biggest jungle, so be careful about what you do." Then Kadyn threw him out of the gate. Fidomer''s servants rushed to help him, but the guy pushed them away, furiously. He stared at Kadyn, and clenched his fist, and then walked out of the shop.

    The surrounding was pin-drop silent. People were still shocked. They never thought Kadyn would dare to hit someone from House Webney. "What are you waiting for?" Kadyn said towards them. "The shop is closed. You can leave now."

    Only then the customers came back to their senses and left one by one. Muttering and whispering among themselves. Slyff, who was standing behind Kadyn, said, "Why didn''t you kill that bastard, boss?" he said. "He is a Dark Summoner!"

    Dark Summoners were simr to ordinary summoners. However, they summoned evil spirits, or evil beasts, that required sacrifices to evolve. Kadyn''s Hall of Intelligence had since long infiltrated the Four Great Houses, so he knew many of their secrets. Fidomer was just one of them.

    Kadyn eyed Slyff. "I didn''t kill him," he said, "because he is ''a'' Dark Summoner. Everything should be done at the right time. The time hasn''te to deal with him, yet," he paused. Then began, "Let''s go.. We have a mission to aplish."

 Chapter 179 - Battle Begins!

    "So you mean only the army of the Gubia Empire attacked, but they took the advantage of the night and portrayed a picture of a hundred thousand soldiers attacking?" Barret asked with wide eyes. "And to fight against such an enormous army, Ceston Empire sent their Chief Commander Dyso, but as the light of day spread, they realised that the enemy had fooled them. There were not even twenty thousand enemies. What a mess!"

    Kadyn nodded. "Now they have attacked from the side of the Glovergonie Hignds," he said. "I don''t know how long they have been preparing for this attack. They have already captured ten towns of the Ceston Empire, and they aren''t showing any signs of stopping."

    "How much time would the Chief Commander take to rush back?" Hot Rod asked.

    "At least, 8 hours," replied Cecelia. "They are using trucks. Otherwise, it''d have taken over 2 days."

    "So now," Kadyn began, "the emperor is recruiting the mages. He has asked our help as well." He looked at the people and went on; "ording to shop rate, an elementary mage''s life is worth two hundred Ces; rank 1 mage worth 2000; rank 3 mage worth 30,000. The emperor has promised a little higher price, but I don''t care about money¡ªas you already know."

    Kadyn looked at Rayna and said, "You take care of the children. All of us are going for a battle."

    "Al¡ªalright," nodded thedy.

    "All of you," Kadyn said to hispanions, "use the Pengo Formation to teleport to the Carran Town where the army would face against the people of the Bone Spear Tower. Remember, killing is our second objective. Our first objective is to not die¡ªand by any chance, if you get injured," he said. "Teleport back to the shop, and don''t head back until you are fully healed."

    After that, all of them went to take the artefacts or potions they wanted before heading towards the battlefield. Kadyn also opened his Pengo Portal and vanished from the shop.

    ¡ª

    "Boom!"

    A ball of firended at the centre of the Carran Town, not far away from Kadyn. Drops of cold sweat trickled from his forehead, but he didn''t have the leisure to stand idly, as the shouts of panic were echoing in all directions. "Fuck," he cursed. "Didn''t they say that the enemy would need some time to arrive at the Carran Town?" He wondered if he had gone to the battlefield on foot, what kind of scene he would have seen?

    "I told Elora and others to meet me at the entrance of the town. However, now the situation has changed." He focused his mind inside his consciousness and used his Spiritual Energy to carve the Spell Glyph¡ªa wind spell. Then, mysterious energy discharged, from the small sprout of the World Lotus, inside the vast Golden Ocean, and transformed into two wings, behind his back that he pped like an eagle and stood in the air.

    He looked at the scattering people below, screaming children, wounded women. Then he eyed beyond the walls of the Carran Town, an army was standing outside, shouting and hooting in triumph, as the catapults propelled stones and spears towards the town.

    "Where the fuck is the emperor and the army that has arrived?" he grabbed one of the soldiers hiding behind the parapet and asked. "Why aren''t you attacking?"

    The man was rank 2 mage, however, when he felt the pressureing from Kadyn he swallowed and replied, "Emperor? He hasn''t arrived yet."

    "Fuck!" he cursed and eyed the enemies outside through the hole in the parapet and asked, "How many enemies are there? How many rank 3 mages do they have?"

    "Sir, who-who might you be?" asked the man with his trembling voice.

    "Does it matter who I am?" Kadyn frowned. "Tell me!"

    "Ye¡ªyes, sir," the man''s lips shivered. He looked overwhelmingly nervous. "There are n¡ªno rank 3 mage. But they have about ten rank 2 mages. However, I am the only rank 2 mage in the town. So we could just hide behind the walls, but it is just a matter of time before we fall."

    "What the heck is the emperor doing?" Kadyn frowned. The man flinched when he heard Kadyn''s curse. He would have escaped from this ce if it was ordinary time. After all, someone dared to curse the emperor in front of him¡ªif anyone thought that he had some connection with Kadyn, he might not be able to die peacefully.

    Kadyn, however, didn''t care about his reaction and stood up. Until now he had thought that the enemy had rank 3 mages, but now when he knew that they have only rank 2 mages, it had be a lot easier for him. He once again cast a spell, but this time, it wasn''t a wind spell¡ªbut a summoning spell.

    "Jeeran!" he shouted the True Name of the creature, as he carved the Spell Glyph inside his consciousness¡ªand a portal appeared in front of Kadyn from which a monster dashed out. It was the rank 3 beast that he had already tamed.

    Kadyn¡ªand the man beside him¡ªlooked at the gigantic creature pping its ck wings that were mixed with brown, as it opened its sharp yellow beak and screeched. Its neck to head was white, and it had ws powerful enough to tear the hide of an elephant. It was basically an eagle, just twenty or maybe thirty timesrger than the normal one.

    Kadyn jumped on the back of the creature and dashed towards the enemies. All the arrows and spears were ineffective in front of the thick hide of the Jeeran.

    "Wow, is that brother?!" Elora, who was healing a crying child in the city eximed as her gaze moved towards the sky. Others were also staring in the sky, dumbfoundedly.

    "Why, now we won''t be able to have fun." Slyff sighed. "He is going to end them by himself."

    "I won''t be able to sleep tonight if I don''t kill at least a hundred of them," Khrom said as he looked at the corpses at the side of the road. "So, see youter.." Two wings spread behind his back and he dashed towards the battlefield.

 Chapter 180 - Slaughter

    "Wait for me!" Slyff shouted and transformed into a tiny bee before dashing out of the town together with hispanion.

    Jeeran bolted towards the catapult handler who was shooting stones. However, before it could reach the man, Kadyn saw a shadow appearing behind the enemy and his head and blood flew in the sky that Jeera gulped down its throat.

    Cecelia grinned towards Kadyn and said, "I guess, you were a bitte." Then she cut the right hand of the corpse in a swift manner and moved towards another prey.

    Just as he was about to dash, a light released from the corpse that Cecelia had killed just now. Kadyn tried to dodge, but he failed. It vanished inside his body. He thought it was some kind of spell that the enemy had used at thest minute prior to his death¡ªhowever, nothing happened. He looked confused.

    He didn''t attack and let Cecelia kill a few more enemies. The same thing happened again. A light discharged and vanished inside his body. There was nothing weird inside his body, though. Then he checked his consciousness and a shocked expression appeared on his face. The World Lotus sprout was absorbing those lights.

    His eyes shone in anticipation; he grinned as he patted Jeeran''s neck. The beast roared furiously and opened its mouth¡ªshooting a gale of wind. Screams echoed, as the gale shredded them into minced meat. Even Rank 3 mage would have a hard time protecting against such an attack, much less these people. Even rank 2 could watch just helplessly. "Don''t crush them!" Kadyn said. "How would I im the reward from the emperor?"

    "Grrr?" Jeeran twisted its head and eyed him confusedly.

    "Kill them," Kadyn replied, "but don''t crush them¡ªor at least, leave their right hand intact."

    "Grrr," Jeeran nodded and attacked another catapult shooter. This time it used its sharp ws and crushed the head of the enemy, a rank 2 mage. Kadyn waved his hand, the body started to fly towards him, then he cut the right hand and ced it inside the space ring.

    By now the enemy had also realised that it was not possible to battle in close range with catapults so they abandoned them and started to use spells instead. They used different kinds of spells, but no one used devouring magic¡ªor poison magic¡ªas it was the specialty of the Bone Spear Tower.

    "Roar!"

    A roar attracted Kadyn''s attention. Arge chimpanzee was wreaking havoc amid the enemy camp. Kadyn smiled at the scene. Slyff was just a rank 1 mage, however, he was a special kind. He could transform into powerful beasts that could fight stronger mages than themselves. Previously, Fidomer had caught him unprepared, otherwise, he might not have ended that badly.

    Kadyn jumped down from Jeeran and started to attack on his own. Jeeran also didn''t stay idle, its every attack took tens of people. Then Kadyn would rush and collect his trophies.

    "Wound Rupture!" he heard a shout. A group of enemy mages burst into a bloody mist¡ªexcept their right hand¡ªElora grinned towards Kadyn and once again attacked. Though it was a bit annoying to collect the right hand again and again¡ªit was a necessity. One could not believe a man, just because he said something. Proof was a must.

    "Die!" another shout echoed. Kadyn was surprised when he saw Dion standing at therge walking tree¡ªwhich waved its branches like its handa¡ªcrushing his opponents like ants. Rank 1 wood spell! Sentient Tree: it could awaken a tree for a short period of time. Only w was that he could awaken just a single rank 1 tree. Nheless, as the tree crushed his enemies, his hands turned into wood that he extended and collected the right hands of the corpses.

    "Run!" No one knew who bellowed, but as soon as the shout echoed, the enemies started to escape.

    "Humph!" Barret snorted, then he ced his hands on the ground and walls started to grow out of the ground. Blocking the path of retreat. Kadyn saw a ball of fire falling from the sky and roasting the enemies. Enemies smashed on the walls and screamed¡ªsome of them even begged.

    However, no one showed them any mercy. They didn''t think a single time before throwing those stones and spears towards the city. They didn''t care about the children inside. Showed no mercy towards innocents. So how could they expect such a thing from others?

    It didn''t take long for the area to be silent¡ªKadyn had captured just a single rank 2 enemy mage. The blood and guts and faeces were rolling, some of the bodies still twitching. Eyes open, terror written, men and women, young and old. There was a singlemon thing in those corpses¡ªtheir right hands were missing.

    Though there were soldiers of the Carran Town amidst the corpses, they were in minority.

    Kadyn wondered if one day he would also lie like them, eyes wide-open, filled with fear, begging to live. Would his enemy show him mercy? He doubted. So he could not show them mercy either. The world was a jungle and in the jungle only strong lives. There was no mercy¡ªonly survival instinct. And his survival instinct told him to kill these people if he wanted to live.

    "Wow! They have defeated them so easily!"

    A smile appeared on his face when heard victorious shouts from the walls. From the city. At least, he had saved those who deserved to live more than those he killed.

    Did he feel guilty? He eyed the corpses and looked towards the sky. Maybe. Maybe, he felt guilty¡ªfor the rtives of these corpses who were waiting for them to return victorious. For their family members; for their wives and children¡­ Maybe he felt¡­ but no matter what he felt, he didn''t regret it. If he had a chance to do it, he would do it again. Because that''s what his heart told him to do.

    He walked into the town and a smile appeared on his face when he saw people looking at him like a hero. He was no hero. He knew that. However, he felt very pleased when he saw admiration on their faces for him. He knew his heart wasn''t wrong. What he did wasn''t wrong.

    "Ahhha¡­" his train of thought broke when he heard the painful moaning. "Go help them," he said towards hispanions who were walking behind him. All of them nodded and rushed towards the injured to help. Zelie also had a wound on her breast that after using a healing potion vanished.

    Nefia looked pale, blood covering her entire being. Enemy blood. Once she was a timid princess, now she was a valiant warrior. She slouched at the corner of the road, a tired look appeared on her face. She drank a Mana Replenishing Potion and closed her eyes. Slyff hurried towards her and ced her head on hisp, letting her rest.

    Kadyn, on the other hand, eyed the man whom he had dragged from amidst the corpses. Just as he was about to speak, a man rushed towards him. "Sir, we have news about the emperor!"

    Kadyn lifted his gaze and found the man he had talked on the town wall before the battle.

 Chapter 181 - Traitor

    "Grrrr!" Jeeran sprang towards the sky, leaving Carran town with Kadyn and hispanions.

    "So they intercepted the emperor?" said Cecelia.

    "How did they know what route the emperor would take?" asked Elora.

    "Well, there are two possibilities," Kadyn began. One, they have an informer in the Capital. Second, someone has turned into a traitor."

    "I think you should omit the first option," Cecelia said as her hair flew in the air.

    "Why is that?" Kadyn asked. Others also turned towards her.

    "I don''t think the emperor is foolish enough to tell his expedition route to ordinary soldiers. Only the strongest¡ªand trustworthy¡ªpeople in the empire could know something like this."

    "Who do you think is it?" Zelie asked.

    "I don''t know," Cecelia shook her head. "However, I have my suspicions."

    "You also think it is¡­ either Oswyn or Eugan?" Kadyn probed.

    Cecelia smiled but didn''tment.

    "How much time before we reach Moonbright town?" he asked. Elora opened the map that she had gotten from Carran and searched the ce they were rushing to. "Just a bit more. We are about to arrive."

    "Jeeran fast!"

    ¡ª

    "What are you doing?!"Kallus Ceston shouted in shock, grabbing the sword that dripped with his blood.

    "Father!"

    "Protect the emperor!"

    "You bastard! How dare you betray the one who fed you?!"

    Furious shouts echoed in the open sky. The murderer twisted the de, to agonise the emperor, with a grin on his face.

    "Traitor? Bastard?" The man chuckled and a twisted expression appeared on his face. The expression that no one ever saw on his face. The expression of the maniac. Of mindless dog. Of ughtering demon. That''s what he looked like. Segast Wilbrick. Yes. No one dared topare that calm and collected man to this evilly grinning devil.

    "Why?" asked Kallus.

    "Why?" Segast gritted his teeth. "I also asked why. Do you remember?"

    "That¡ªthat wasn''t my choice and you know it!" said the emperor with a pale face.

    "Stop right there!" Segast shouted towards the people who were proceeding towards him. "Or I will dig out the guts of you majestic emperor!"

    "Bastard!" Oswyn cursed.

    "I would have nothing toin about if it was you or Eugan, but Segast. What a mess," Xod sighed.

    "You bastard. How dare you say¡­"

    Segast didn''t pay attention to their dog fight. He turned towards Kallus. "Wasn''t your choice?" Fury surged on his face. "If you didn''t have control over your choices. Then why the hell did you promise to marry her!"

    "Alright!" Kallus said. "I ept that it was my fault. However, the people of the empire are innocent. How could you collude with our enemies?"

    "Hehe, why should I?" chuckled the man. "Your father married you to the princess of Gubia Empire to form an alliance. It indeed helped your empire to reach unprecedented glory¡ªbut what about my sister? She killed herself!"

    He took a long deep breath. Then eyed the emperor in his eyes. "Haha, but as they say karma will always get you. The Gubia Emperor fell into Bone Spear Tower''s hand. They killed every single one of their bloodline. Your father died fighting them. Now, you, and your bloodline will die as well. Just like the Gubia Empire''s royalty vanished from the world!"

    "But people are innocent!"

    "People! Yes¡ª" Segast said. "For these people you rejected my sister. Now you will see the bloodbath. The bloodbath!"

    "Puff!"

    He pulled the de out, and then again dug into the emperor''s chest. The man coughed a mouthful of blood. The blood that painted Segast''s mouth red. But he didn''t feel disgusted. On the other hand, he revealed an evil grin. The grin of a devil, that is.

    "You will see the carnage!" he shouted and kicked the emperor in the stomach. Kallus was smashed more than ten metres away, lying in the pool of his blood. Not dead, yet, but almost. Although he was a rank 4 mage, his body was weak as most of the mages. He could also feel something else. Something trying to corrode his cells.

    "Attack!" shouted Segast. The mages of House Wilbrick and Bone Spear Towerunched an attack.

    "Protect the Emperor!" shouted the Left Minster. The Right Minister was too old to go into the battle. "Where are the damn healers?!"

    They hurriedly surrounded the emperor, and healers started to heal his wounds.

    "Die!" a furious shout echoed, and ady dashed amidst the enemy camp with a long wand in her hand. "Sun Burn!" she shouted and a ball-like sun descended from the sky on the enemies, roasting them alive.

    She wore a magic robe, an artefact that increased the defence and deflected the elemental attacks. Her father, Emperor Kallus, also wore the same robe, of better quality¡ªs, it could not deflect the physical attacks.

    Her hair danced, as she spun the wand, breaking the shin of many enemies. Her valiant attacks encouraged many people, who were cowering in front of the soul-devouring army of the Bone Spear Tower. If Kadyn was here, he would recognise her¡ªHa, maid of the Stunning Whirlwind Chamber of Commerce.

    "Follow the lead of the princess!" shouted Xod Woulsto. He had also got to know the truth not too long ago. It seems the emperor made his three children enter a different chamber ofmerce and made them learn on their own. He tilted his head and saw two men crushing their enemies not any slower than princess Ha. They were her brothers. Big brother Grym, and little brother Palio. Xod could hardly believe that all of them had reached the rank 3 mage at such a young age.

    "You aren''t the only one who can suck someone dry, bastards!" a shout echoed. Fidomermanded his summoned beast, which was merged with his body, and hundreds of small Soul Devouring Worms entered the battlefield. Sucking enemies'' souls dry. The corpses littered the battlefield. Blood pooled, sshing under the feet of the army.

    "Haha, die you bastards!" Fidomerughed. However, then he felt a tremble under his feet and before he could react, the ground started to morph and took the shape of spikes, pinning him on them. The spikes vanished, and he crumpled on the ground. His body twitched and then became still.

    "Son!" Oswyn screamed mournfully as he attacked Segast. "I will kill you, bastard!"

    "Hahaha! Die!" Segast, however, justughed even louder as he heard the screams. Those screams were no different than music to him. "You all should die. Every sinner must die!"

    A powerful force released from his body, making Xod, Eugan and Oswyn tumble back in shock. "He¡ªhe has reached the peak of the rank 3!" Eugan''s voice trembled. All of them were high rank 3 mage.

    However, without letting anyone know Segast had surpassed them. The second strongest person after Kallus was Chief Commander Dyso, who was at the peak of rank 3. Now Segast had also reached the same rank. He didn''t need to fear anyone other than the emperor and Dyso. However, one of them was heavily injured while the other was not present.

    "What a cunning bastard you are!" cursed the Xod furiously.

    "When you have an enemy stronger than you, cunningness coulde quite handy. You can see the result by yourself," he said, as he pointed towards the healers, who were trying to heal Kallus'' wounds. "Do you think the de was just any ordinary weapon?" he shook his head disdainfully. "I had dipped it in the poison given by the Leader of the Poison Hall. Though he is at the peak of the rank 3 mage. His poisons are quite effective even against the low rank 4 mages. The bastard is as good as dead!"

    "Ggraaaaaa!" a weird roar filled the entire battlefield and a colossal shadow appeared in the sky.

 Chapter 182 - Powerful Segast

    "Kill them!" Kadyn shouted as he jumped down off the back of Jeeran with hispanions. Everyone on the battlefield was stunned briefly. It was indeed just a brief moment. They again engaged in life and death struggles, fighting even harder.

    Ha looked at Kadyn''s group and a smile appeared on her face. "I didn''t help him in vain, after all."

    Kadyn''s shop became famous in such a short time, it was all thanks to her. She had used her sources to spread the positive reviews regarding his shop. Though before doing that she had used the artifacts and potions by herself, making sure not to trust Kadyn blindly.

    "Boom!"

    Ha starred in the distance and found a rank 3 enemy mage, racking havoc among the empire''s army. She dashed towards him with her long wand in her hand, as she smashed whoever came to block her path.

    Kadyn, on the other hand, arrived where the emperor was lying and looked at his body that was covered in blood, healers trying to patch his wounds that would burst open from inside every time. "Stay back!" one of the guards surrounding the emperor shouted towards Kadyn.

    "He is with us," the Left Minister said from behind the guard. Then walked towards Kadyn.

    "He is poisoned?" Kadyn asked.

    "How do you¡­?"

    "Even someone stupid would be able to tell that much, looking at his condition," Kadyn said. "I don''t think their spells would work until they remove the poison from his body."

    "Do you have any solution?" asked the Left Minister.

    "If the poison is below rank 4, I can help him remove it."

    If it was before he became rank 3 mage¡ªor before he updated the shop¡ªhe might not have been able to help the emperor. However, after reaching Creation Rank, he could concoct rank 3 poisons. Who couldpare to the poisons inside the shop''s library? Leader of Poisons Hall or not.

    Simrly, he could find a solution to deal with all the rank 3 poisons.

    "Please, help him," said the Left Minister.

    "We have to take the emperor to my shop. I need to brew some kind of special¡­ um, potions." Then he looked towards the sky where Jeeran was gliding, a mage hanging in his sharp ws. "Jeeran!" he shouted.

    The beast gulped the hanging man and swiftlynded near Kadyn. Kadyn looked at the Left Minister and said, "Hope on it and take the emperor to my shop."

    "What about you?" asked the man.

    "Don''t worry about me. I will be there before you," Kadyn said. He looked at the ongoing battle and said. "But before that I need to end this shit. Go!"

    The Left Minister didn''t ask any more questions. He climbed the back of the beast together with the half-unconscious emperor and the healers. As Jeeran spread its wings, Kadyn turned his attention towards Segast who was ying with Xod, Oswyn and Eugan. "It seems my guess was wrong." Then he grinned and dashed towards the man. "No matter what. Let''s experience the strength of the peak rank 3 mages."

    [8 minutes before]

    "Earth Golem!" Oswyn shouted. The soil started to mould all around him and in no time it took the form of a colossal golem. "Crush the bastard!" hemanded.

    The giantplied with his master''smand and punched Segast. The man, however, just grinned and waved his hand. His entire body turned into water and then sshed on the golem. The golem tumbled around like a dolt and then its body started to melt, turning into mud.

    "Fuck, he is using his water element to ovee my earth element," Oswyn said, gritting his teeth indignantly.

    "Let me do it," Eugan took a step forward and the fire started to burn all over his body. This spell was the counterpart of the spell that Segast used against the golem just now. Turning into a fire-human.

    "Let''s do it together," Xod interrupted. "You are fire mage while he is water. You couldn''t win against him when he was at your level. What made you think that you could win now?"

    "I¡ª"

    "Let''s attack together!" Oswyn said, as he formed another golem. Xod nodded and then touched the nearby tree. As soon as he did, the tree started to wave its branches like tentacles and then it pulled its roots out of the soil. Xod touched another and another and another. In just two breaths, five trees were standing behind him. Xod turned pale.

    "My limit was four, now I can awaken five, hehe," but his face contained a rare smile. "Though Awakened Trees are a minor-level lower than me. But they could still crush the high rank 3 mage."

    [Author Note: Minor levels are low, intermediate, high and peak.]

    "Humph, futile struggle," Segast reformed into his physical form and snorted. However, his expression had turned graver¡ªif anyone could hurt him that was Xod. Wood element was the nemesis of water.

    The water attacks that were deadly against Oswyn and Eugan might help Xod to recover his strength. Xod and his Awakened Trees could use water to heal themselves. Every element had its pros and cons, wood elements had its own prose.

    "Attack!'''' The trio surrounded him and attacked. Segast paid no attention to Oswyn and Eugan and dashed towards Xod. Immediately, afterwards, his skin shone and a blueyer formed over his body.

    "Divine Whale Conversion." As he shouted an image of the whale appeared behind him and then merged inside his body. Segast directly punched the stem of one Awakened Tree and then did the same to another. The punch shattered the trees into two parts. The scene shocked the trio beyond their beliefs.

    "Surprised?" Segast grinned. "It is the spell Bone Spear Tower has given me. It can convert Mana into physical strength. The strength that could rival the strength of the whale."

    "So what?" Xod said. "How long can you maintain that form?"

    "How many trees can you awaken?" Segast grinned at his formerpanion. "One more thing: though there is a limit for how long I can maintain this spell. I won''t feel weak after the effect ends.. The mana that has been converted into physical strength can once again turn into its former form."

 Chapter 183 - Uncle Dog

    "Don''t hear his bber," Oswyn said. "Just pummel him down."

    Eugan turned into his fireman form again¡ªas it was his strongest spell. Oswyn also used his strongest move, and a golem appeared. Xod together with his remaining three awakened treesunched a volley of attacks.

    However, just five minutester they were beaten ck and blue by Segast. Though the shining blue light on his body had also be a lot dimmer, as he had said¡ªhe didn''t seem to be affected after using such an overpowered spell.

    "How could this be?" Oswyn wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth and eyed Segast indignantly. Unable to ept his defeat. Xod and Eugan were not doing any better, either. Eugan had turned into his normal form while Xod had lost his remaining three Awakened Trees.

    Segast looked at the trio and revealed his toothy grin, "What do you think? Powerful, isn''t it?" He eyed the trio one by one. "You can also get so many powerful spells like mine if¡ª"

    "If we be Bone Spear Tower''s dogs?" Oswyn said.

    "That''s why I like you, man! Easy to talk."

    "Go eat the arse of your master, bastard!" replied Oswyn, and grinned at Segast as if feeling quite aplished¡ªat his creativity of the curse¡ªfor the first time since the battle started.

    "You really have a death wish, don''t you?" Segast''s face turned cold. "Then, I will fulfil it for you!"

    "Hey, hey, doggy uncle."

    Segast froze as he heard the voice and turned towards the neer. "It''s you!"

    "So what if it''s me, uncle dog?" Kadyn said confusedly. "Dogs are to be kept on the doors of their master''s house, to watch¡ªa watchdog? Yes, Watchdog, what are you doing here?"

    "Pfff!" Oswyn burst into a peal ofughter. "A watchdog? Indeed, that''s what he is."

    Eugan and Xod as well grinned, a refreshed smile appeared on their crestfallen faces.

    Segast''s face, on the other hand, twisted into a rage. "I will crush you!" he shouted and punched Kadyn.

    "Careful!" the trio warned.

    Kadyn curled his lips and vanished from where he was standing. Segast and the other three''s expressions froze. "S-space element?"

    "Boom!"

    Before he could walk out of his stupor an attack arrived from behind, sending him toppling in the dirt.

    "Crush him!" A shout resounded. Kadyn turned around and found it was Oswyn. Kadyn never liked the man before this day. However, today he had seen him and the other two in apletely different light. The one he thought to be the most trustworthy appeared to be a traitor. Faces indeed lie. Lies are indeed in the faces. People''s faces, hiding secrets beyond belief, hiding malice beyondparison.

    "I will kill you!" Segast sprang from the ground and lunged at Kadyn like a hungry wolf he was. Kadyn once again vanished. Segast immediately stopped and turned around where Kadyn was supposed to appear. Then he sneered, "Humph, do you think I am going to fall for the same attack again. Na?ve!"

    "Boom!"

    As he shouted a wnded on his back, making him scream in agony. Last time Kadyn had used his normal hand to attack. This time, however, he used his evolved right hand, painting Segast''s back red in blood. If it wasn''t for his buttressed body, he might have been wounded far worse than he did. After all, Kadyn''s hand was too powerful. Mysterious even.

    "It is very important to read the moves of your enemy before he attacks," Kadyn said. "I have learned the lesson after many trials and errors. Don''t worry, I won''t give you a chance to learn it."

    "Humph!" Segast snorted. "You can hit me because I am in my physical form. How would you deal with me if I do this!" he said and transformed his entire body into water. One could see through him.

    Segast was furious, embarrassed and confused. He couldn''t believe that Kadyn wounded him. He could tell that it hasn''t been long since Kadyn reached rank 3 mage¡ªhe was just a low rank 3 mage. So how could he use rank 3 space spells so spectacrly? Furthermore, where the hell did he get the Teleportation spell? He was just a lowly shopkeeper!

    Kadyn narrowed his eyes as he looked at the man in a water form and vanished again.

    "Haha, do you think you can do anything to me?" Segast remained standing as Kadyn appeared in front of him. Not doing anything. Justughing mockingly.

    Kadyn turned his w into a fist and smashed at Segast''s chest. The trio who hadpletely drained themselves looked at the scene and then shook their heads. They knew that it was futile. Only the wood element could deal with him at this moment. Fire could do the same thing as well, but the fire mage needed at the same rank as Segast at the very least.

    "Boom!" "Pfff!"

    A muffled sound echoed and Segast''s expression froze. Same happened with Xod and the other two. They could not believe what they were seeing. A physical attack had injured Segast in his water form. He coughed the blood as he was smashed on the ground like a rice sack. Moreover, previously, his body was strong but after turning into an elemental form the effect of that spell vanished. Standing at the same sport was his biggest mistake. Stupid even.

    Kadyn eyed his right hand and curled his lips. He just wanted to check if his evolved hand would work against Segast. He didn''t have much hope. It was known to everyone that in the elemental form one could not hurt someone with physical attacks.

    Kadyn walked towards Segast crouched down beside the unmoving body. Then he grabbed ''his'' ragged hair and turned his bloody face towards him. Segast eyed Kadyn with hate and rage. Kadyn curled his lips and said, "What happened to you, uncle dog?"

    "Ptff!"

    Segast coughed another mouthful of blood and fainted. Kadyn turned towards Oswyn and asked, "Did I say anything wrong?"

    The trio shook their heads as an amused look appeared on their faces.. Kadyn stood up and then turned towards the bloody battle.

 Chapter 184 - Another Traitor

    "Puchi!" A head fell from the body like a slice of an apple as the de made of wind slitted the neck. Khrom didn''t show any mercy when he faced the enemy. He was like this even before he met Kadyn. Now after going through many battles he had be stronger and more decisive.

    "Life Fairy: Rain of Healing," Elora shouted as the rain started to pour on the wounded, but the strange thing was that it fell only on the people of the Ceston Empire. The enemies could just grit their teeth in hate and indignance.

    Life Fairy was a collection of Life element healing spells from elementary rank to the rank 3 inside the library. Though Kadyn had said that there might be more volumes in the future when he further updates the shop.

    Zelie nodded towards her as her wounds faded and continued to battle.

    There was a shadow wherever it went it crushed and sliced the enemies like tofu. Though the shadow intentionally avoided fighting with rank 3 mages. After all, they were out of its league at the moment. She was none other than Cecelia. Killing and devouring. Her moves were smooth and experienced.

    Her eyes had turned darker than ck, her hair flew like the waves of a river, and her dagger dug into the chests of enemies like a hot knife inside the butter. Whenever the enemies tried to surround her, she vanished, turning into a dark shadow and appeared at another location.

    Kadyn eyed the ongoing battle and took out three potions from his space ring and tossed them towards the trio. "Drink this, we have more work to do."

    The trio nodded and drank the potins without any hesitation. They didn''t suspect that Kadyn had a bad intention. After all, in their current condition Kadyn could easily subdue them. Why would he use such an underhanded method?

    As they gulped down the potions, the mana started to replenish rapidly. Their eyes went wide and then the thrill passed through their bodies. Although they also did the business of potions. They had potioneers in their families¡ªnone of them could brew a healing potion as amazing as this.

    It took just a few breaths before they fully recovered their mana. Though their bodies were still covered in wounds. Kadyn took out another three potions. The trio excitedly gulped them down their throats and then their wounds healed.

    "Alright," Kadyn said. "Let''s finish this farce."

    Xod, Oswyn and Eugan stood up and dashed towards the ongoing battle. The enemy had only a few intermediate rank 3 mages. They didn''t even have a single high rank 3 mage. So it didn''t take long for the battle to be one sided. As the ughter ensued Kadyn could see that same mysterious lighting out of the corpses and vanishing inside his own¡ªWorld Lotus sprouts devoured them continuously.

    Many tried to escape. However, no one gave them a chance. Heads were sliced off their shoulders, legs were torn from their body, and guts were dug out from their stomach, mixing with blood, spreading the pungent smell. Kadyn stood amidst the corpses, covered in blood, taking a few deep breaths before turning towards the survivors.

    Some of them cheered while a few looked crestfallen due to losing their friends in the battle. Others didn''t seem to care as theyid down in the pool of blood of their enemies. Kadyn''spanions walked towards him, covered in blood and sweat, weary with fatigue, in their ragged hair and clothes.

    Ha turned towards Kadyn and their eyes met. Kadyn nodded and said, "Take the army back to the capital."

    "But the enemy¡ª"

    "We have already taken down all the enemies," Kadyn said. "There are no more enemies."

    "How could¡ª"

    "Hummm¡­"

    As she spoke a humming sound came from the sky and then a locust of bees covered the sky above the army. "Oh, shit," Ha cursed. She looked at Kadyn and said. "Didn''t you say there were no enemies?"

    "They aren''t enemies," Kadyn smiled and then a honey-bee that wasrger than the restnded on his hand, humming continuously with its wings, as if singing a pleasant melody.

    "Summoned beast?" Ha said. "So many?"

    "No," Kadyn shook his head. "I just summoned the Bee Queen. It was the Bee Queen who controlled other bees, spreading them all over the Ceston Empire to look for the enemies."

    "Amazing!" Ha eximed.

    "But aren''t you Space¡ª"

    "I don''t have much time to linger here." Kadyn interrupted Oswyn. "I also need to remove the poison inside the emperor. The more time we waste the more he suffers. The poison might not kill him in a short time, but it will kill him, nheless, if he wasn''t treated¡ª" Kadyn abruptly stopped speaking and rage boiled on his face. "Bastard!" he cursed.

    "What happened?" asked Ha.

    "The Left Minister has also betrayed the empire."

    "What?!'' everyone almost jumped in shock.

    "Wh¡ªwhat happened to the emperor?" Oswyn said. "Didn''t you send emperor with him?"

    "Emperor is safe," Kadyn shook his head. Then he started to walk towards the thickets. A deserted ce, not too far away from the battlefield. Kadyn removed the shrubs and bushes, revealing a body in the thickets in front of the group, unconscious.

    "Father!'' Ha said. Others also looked at Kadyn in shock. What the hell was going on?

    "Hehe," Kadyn chuckled. "Just a small trick. It wasn''t hard to fool the Left Minister. I just needed to cast an illusion spell. He is just a rank 2 mage after all."

    "Illusion spell?" Oswyn again interrupted. " Psychic element? How many elements do you have, bro?"

    Kadyn ignored him and said, "He is still inside my illusion and thinks that he has killed the emperor. Now he is going towards the Capital."

    "Why would he go to the Capital?" Ha asked. "Isn''t he afraid that we will kill him?"

    "Maybe, he isn''t," Kadyn replied. "Or maybe he knows something that we don''t."

    "How did you know that the Left Minster is a traitor," Euagn asked.

    "I didn''t," Kadyn shook his head. "But even a dunce would be vignt after what happened with Segast. That''s why I remained alert all this time. Are you also nning something nefarious?"

    "...."

 Chapter 185 - Well Of Supression

    It''d been over an hour since they left the battlefield. They were just a few miles away from reaching the Capital Ceston. The Left Minister eyed the constantly healing healers and then a nefarious light passed through his eyes. He fished out a dagger from his left shoe and slit the windpipe of one healer. The blood spattered as the healer clutched his neck trying to block the blood-leakage.

    Other healers jumped in shock, "What are you doing?" one of them shouted. The Left Minister, however, didn''t stop. He thrust his dagger again and pierced the eye of the one who shouted. Others looked terrified. They were healers, not battle-mage. They could not fight the Left Minister even if they wanted to, so it took almost no effort for him to deal with them.

    After dealing with the healers the Left Minister turned towards the emperor and grinned, revealing the dagger that dripped with blood. The emperor was unconscious so he could not see or move or even hear. "Sorry, your majesty," he said. "I also have ambitions that Bone Spear Tower promised to fulfill."

    "Puchi!"

    "Graaa!" as he thrust the dagger into the emperor''s chest, Jeeran screeched. Then it glided in the air and threw the Left Minster from its back. The emperor''s corpse aso tumbled off its body, but the beast caught ''it'' in the ws and dashed eastward.

    The Left Minister kept falling and then sshed in the water. Soon after he burst out, groaning deeply in pain. Although most of the damage was neutralized due to theke, he still felt as if someone had beaten him with a wet whip. Then he walked out of theke and sat on the ground, taking a few deep breaths. He was still in shock that he had almost lost his life.

    He had considered all the scenarios but forgot to add Kadyn''s summoned beast. He thought it was just an animal. Won''t know anything other than carrying him, as his master had instructed. He didn''t know that Kadyn didn''t instruct it to ''just'' carry them to the capital.

    Soon after he brought a mirror from the space ring that he wore. A face appeared on the mirror, it wasn''t his. "We havepleted the task," said the Left Minister. "When the Tower Leader would send more troops?"

    The man inside the mirror looked surprised when he heard the news, but then shook his head. "We can''t send troops for the moment."

    "Why?" the Left Minister was shocked. "Tower Leader himself made the n. Segast even lost his life toplete this mission."

    "Segast died?" the man frowned. "Useless. We have wasted so many resources on him for nothing." He shook his head and said, "There is an important matter that the Tower Leader needs to deal with. We also didn''t expect that the envoy from the World Magic Assembly would arrive at such a critical moment."

    "World Magic Assembly?" the Left Minister''s eyes went wide in shock. That was the most powerful organization in the world, where the strongest wizards of all the races¡ªexcept a few¡ªon the Pengo gathered. That was a ce where rank 4 mages were like sheep and goats. Only rank 5 and above were valued individuals. So why would they send an envoy to a ce that was ruled by rank 4 mage?

    "Alright. You hide for some time. We would discuss after the envoy goes back. We will deal with the Ceston Empire. Kallus is dead. Who would dare to oppose us?"

    "Indeed." The Left Minister''s eyes lit up. "Then I will hide inside my hideout in the Capital Ceston. When the people of the Tower attack, I will be able to help them."

    "Do as you see fit," said the man inside the mirror, then his figure vanished.

    "What is going on?" the Left Minister frowned, but then shook his head. He wasn''t even qualified to sit with rank 4 mage. How could he decipher what a vehement like World Magic Assembly was trying to aplish? After that, he walked towards the capital, not realizing a bee was constantly following him.

    ¡ª

    Sickly Steppe, Bone Spear Tower.

    There were four people inside the meeting room of the Bone Spear Tower. One of them was sitting at the throne¡ªthat was exclusively made for Tower Leader Wynfir¡ªand no, he wasn''t the Tower Leader. Wynfir was standing below like two Vice Leaders¡ªK''len and Janryc. K''len and Janryc were tall, but Wynfir was a head taller than the duo.

    The other man sitting on the throne was none other than the envoy from the World Magic Assembly. He didn''t speak his name, and others didn''t dare to ask. "Today, I havee here for a very important matter," said the envoy with a hoarse voice. "The Well of Suppression is about to lose its effect. It won''t be able to hold ''them'' for too long. It would take, at most, a year or two, for the suppression topletely vanish. So get ready to battle when summones from the Assembly."

    "Well of Suppression is losing its effect¡­" Wynfir''s face turned pale. Those who knew about the Well of Suppression were all the most powerful people in the world. After all, it was suppressing the most terrible foe the Pengo has ever seen. Blood Tribe.

    K''len and Janryc were startled when they saw his pale face; the envoy, however, didn''t seem to be surprised at his reaction, or showed any disdain. On the other hand, it would be weirder if there was no fear on his face¡ªthat was Blood Tribe. The terror. The devourer of all races.

    "Wh-what about the vampires?" Wynfir asked.

    "They are still moving in the shadows," said the envoy. "They have attacked a few smaller regions, but there wasn''t any big move from them."

    "Ca¡ªcan''t we repair the formation on the Well of Suppression."

    "If it was that easy¡ª" the envoy shook his head and stood up. "Alright, I need to spread the news in other ces as well," he paused and looked at Wynfir before saying gravely. "I would suggest you stop the battles against other human empires. It would be for the best," he shook his head and then vanished from where he was standing.

    "Rank 5 space elemental mage!" the trio cried out in unison.

 Chapter 186 - Curing The Emperor(1)

    "It''s Nightmare poison," Kadyn said as he eyed the Emperor¡ªon the bed¡ªwhose entire skin was turning blue. It took about four hours to get back to the capital for everyone. Though Kadyn and hispanions used their own means to get back, to make preparations to cure the Emperor.

    Kadyn opened three boxes on the table that was lying at the corner of the room. "I have Green Mint, Viper Turmeric, and Demon Garlic," he paused and turned towards the three youngsters in the room. Grym Ceston¡ªhe was the Crown prince. Palio Ceston, the second¡ªand youngest of the three¡ªson of the emperor, and Ha Ceston, the one and only princess. "I still need Medusa Leaves," Kadyn said.

    "All the medicines you named," began the Crown prince, "are deadly poisonous. How are you going to cure our father with these things?"

    "Crown prince," Kadyn smiled. "Have you heard a saying: iron cuts the iron?" Grym and the other two looked confused, so he borated. "Poisons aren''t only for killing. They can also save lives. There value is no less than any other medicine that we usually use."

    Ha looked at Kadyn and then turned towards her elder brother. "I trust him, brother."

    "Do you?" the Crown prince said.

    Ha nodded and said, "I have been observing him for quite some time, and he is quite capable. Furthermore, if he wanted to do anything bad to father, he didn''t need to do anything. Left Minister would have already killed our father."

    Grym Ceston fell silent and then looked at Kadyn. "I think we have a few stalks of Medusa Leaves in the castle."

    "I will bring it here," Palio hurriedly said and dashed out of the room. The emperor would frown¡ªor groan¡ªfrom time to time, in pain. Kadyn and the other two waited for about half an hour before Palio rushed into the room. He passed a wooden box to Kadyn and said, "It''s inside."

    "Good," Kadyn nodded. "I need to brew a potion. I will be back in an hour or two."

    As Kadyn walked out, Grym looked at his sister. "Do you really believe him?" he asked.

    "Yes," she nodded, seriously. "Ever since he arrived in the capital, I have been keeping an eye on him. Didn''t you notice what his people, and he did in the battle? Without them, we would have been crushed by just Segast. Bone Spear Tower didn''t even need to do anything."

    "Isn''t it weird?" asked the silent Palio.

    "What do you mean?" said Grym.

    "Father is injured," he said. "Our army is absent, the remaining army is injured or tired." He looked at his siblings and proceeded. "Why Bone Spear Tower din''t take the advantage of the situation? I don''t understand. Do you think, they colluded with Segast and the Left Minister, for just fun?"

    Ha and Grym exchanged worried nces but said nothing. This matter was also weighing on their hearts for quite some time, but neither of them brought it up. All this time, they were busy caring about their father.

    "No matter what they are nning"¡ªHa looked at her unconscious father¡ª"they will never seed as long as father is alive. They think he died. This, we can use against them."

    ''Knock~ knock~''

    Someone hit on the door from outside. "Who is it?" asked Grym.

    "It''s me, Dion," a voice said from outside.

    "Come in, please," replied Grym.

    Dion opened the door and stepped into the room. "Someone has been dispatched by the Right Minister to inform that a very important guest has arrived. He wants to meet the Emperor."

    "Did the messenger say who it is?" asked Ha.

    "No." Dion, however, shook his head. "He said it is very important, and if the Emperor couldn''t go, then the Crown prince must hurry as soon as possible."

    The siblings exchanged nces. Grym nodded and then walked out of the room together with Dion. An hourter, Grym arrived back. He was still in shock by what he had heard.

    "What happened?" asked Ha.

    "Commander Dyso has arrived with the army," said Grym.

    Ha looked at her elder brother and asked, "Is he the reason behind your troubling frown?"

    "No," he shook his head. "There was someone¡ª"

    ''m!''

    The door of the room burst open. Kadyn walked in, covered in sweat, smelling like a rotten fish. "I have seeded in concocting the counterpart of the Nightmare poison. I am ny percent sure that it will work."

    "What about the remaining ten percent?" Palio objected.

    "That it won''t work. Isn''t that obvious?" replied Kadyn.

    "Which means?"

    "Prince Palio," Kadyn said. "At first I thought you don''t speak much. But now, I am wondering when you''ll stop."

    An awkward long pause.

    "Cough, anyway," Kadyn said. "Five percent chance is that the Nightmare poison would ovee the poison that I made, and I have to find another method to save His Majesty."

    "What about the other five percent?"

    "That the poison I made would devour the Nightmare poison, and I have to find another solution."

    "..." Palio.

    "..." Ha.

    "..." Grym.

    "Hey, don''t give me that look," Kadyn jumped when he saw their pointed looks. "It isn''t easy to maintain the fine bnce of two poisons. I have tried my best, and let me tell you¡ªif I can''t cure him, I doubt anyone would be able to do it either."

    "Can''t you use a different method?" Ha asked after taking a long deep breath.

    "I can concoct a rank 3 potion that could cure the Nightmare poison. However, it isn''t easy to find the herbs for it. The Emperor won''t be able tost that long."

    The trio looked at each other. They didn''t know what to make of this situation. Kadyn was their only hope, but this hope looks full of holes. If they made a wrong decision, they would lose their father, and if they didn''t, they would still lose him.

    "We don''t have a choice here." It was Palio who spoke. "I think the more time we take the worse father''s condition would be. I am ready to pin my hopes on Mr. Kadyn."

    Kadyn was surprised.. Though Palio was the youngest of the three, he was the most decisive of them.

 Chapter 187 - Curing The Emperor(2)

    Kadyn poured the poison inside the emperor''s mouth and used his Spiritual Energy to drive it towards the Nightmare poison. The emperor groaned and his body trembled in pain. The trio looked tense as Kadyn continued to close his eyes. The beads of sweat started to gather on his forehead.

    The blue color deepened on the emperor''s face. Ha and others clenched their teeth, suppressing their urge to rush and stop Kadyn. However, as the time passed the blueness on ''his'' face started to wane. The trio''s eyes lit up, exchanging anticipated nces.

    It took around half an hour before Kadyn retracted his hand from the emperor''s head. He fell on his butt, wiping the sheen of sweat from his temple. He looked at the siblings behind him and a smile appeared on his face. "It''s done," he said.

    Only then the expression eased and a smile blossomed on their face. "We are very grateful for your help. If you need any help in the future, please, inform us." The Crown prince indeed looked appreciative.

    Kadyn had heard how terrible the rtionship of the princes and princesses could be, as they were thepetitors of each other. However, he never saw that kind ofpetition among these three.

    "Well, I don''t need any help for the moment," Kadyn said, then went on. "But I would like to im our rewards for killing the enemies in the battle. Take it." He passed the space ring to Ha. "Inside, there are the palms of the right hand of the enemies as proof that we killed them."

    The trio looked at him with mouth agape. Kadyn scratched his head and said, "What? You have any problem with this?"

    "Ah, no," the Crown prince shook his head, as he looked at Kadyn. "I will send the reward money when we get back there."

    "Thank you," nodded Kadyn. That was a few thousand energy points, and he didn''t want to miss them after doing all the shit. Though he could ask money for treating the emperor as well, he didn''t want to lose the favorable impression in the eyes of the royal family. He was still living in the Ceston Empire, and he would have to deal with them on many asions.

    "Cough! Cough!"

    Everyone turned around in surprise and found that the emperor had already opened his eyes. "Didn''t your treatment work too fast?" Ha asked as she poured the water for her father.

    "I have given him a healing and mana replenishing potion, after removing the poison, that''s why he could wake up so fast. I have used 2 rank 3 potions and 1 rank 3 poison. Well, I guess I can use this favor in the future, and you won''t be able to refuse, hehehe."

    Ha rolled her eyes when she heard him. Others in the room also smiled. "You have an amazing sense of humor, brother Kadyn," Grym said.

    Everyone became a lot rxed after the emperor woke up. "He just needs to rest for a day or two, and he will be as good as new," Kadyn said.

    ¡ª

    After sending the guests Kadyn entered his Meditation Chamber. He needed to check something out. He sat on the floor and closed his eyes. He looked inside his consciousness and his gaze fell upon the Sprout. Right now it has be somewhat bigger than before. He could feel it. Furthermore, he could also sense many kinds of energy from the Sprout. So his consciousness entered the Sprout.

    "Is¡ªis that water?" Kadyn felt a soothing energy, flying in the void. That was definitely a water element. "This is healing element," he muttered after sensing another ball of energy. There were lots of healers on the battlefield in which many remained there for forever. "Huh? Why this element feels like dark element?" he found an element simr to dark element but not exactly the dark element. It was something else. "It''s shadow element. It''s a branch of the dark element as the healing element is the branch of the life element."

    Kadyn nodded and focused on the shadow element and then pushed it towards the dark element. As soon as they neared each other, the dark element devoured the shadow element.

    Now there were eleven elements inside the Sprout. His other elements looked much stronger than before. "It must be because they have devoured the ''same'' element from the corpses. Only shadow and healing and water elements were left behind as they are different from others. I could merge the shadow element with the dark element because of their simr properties, as they havee from a simr source. But healing and water elements arepletely different. So now I have two more elements."

    Kadyn nodded in understanding. Then he stopped abruptly. "If the World Lotus Sprout could devour all the elements¡ªwhy didn''t it devour the devouring element of the Bone Spear Tower? There were quite a few poison masters as well. Where is, then, the poison element?"

    He frowned and then he thought about something. "The poison element isn''t a natural element, people formed it after using a trick. Does that mean the devouring element is also man-made? Yes, that must be the case."

    ¡ª

    "If that is true," the emperor spoke after Grym reported a matter to him, "then the chances of our survival are very low."

    "Is it really that serious, father?" Ha asked with a worried face.

    "You don''t know how horrible those creatures are," Kallus said. "They are nothing but demons, they would rape woman diffrent from their own to increase their poption, as their reproduction speed is too slow; they would eat children, old, and man. The Pengo would turn into a living hell if those creatures were released."

    "What should we do then, father?" asked Grym with a serious expression. He knew how strong willed his father was, if even he was feeling frightened by those creatures, they must be creatures of nightmare as the stories made them.

    "What should we do?" Kallus looked at his son and said. "That''s what I am thinking, too."

    "And what about the Bone Spear Tower?" said Palio, feeling eager to get his revenge.

    However, the emperor shook his head. "We don''t need to worry about them now. If I was dead, they might have tried their luck, but I am still alive. They won''t fight with us when they know what is about toe. The world is about to change. The real bloodshed is about to descend.. The whole Pengo would face its greatest crisis¡ªwhy would he care about us? If he does, then I would question his intelligence."

 Chapter 188 - Yun Che Of Pengolla

    The next day.

    "What did you say?!" the Left Minister shouted at the man inside themunication mirror.

    "It''s not my decision," said the man impatiently. "The Tower Leader himself passed the order."

    "Then what about me?"ined the Left Minister. "I have be like a rolling stone."

    "Try to escape from the capital ande to the Tower. We will provide you protection. That''s the best we can offer."

    The figure vanished from the mirror.

    "Bastard!" cursed the middle-aged man as he gulped down the ss of wine, feeling furious. "I killed him with my own hands. How did he escape? He died in front of my eyes. How did he be alive?!" He continued to drink while cursing to alleviate his anger and indignation.

    "Furthermore," he said, "I have done so much for those bastards. Almost killed the emperor, and this is how they rewarded me for my hard work."

    "Really sad," a voice said from behind him.

    "Isn''t that righ¡ª" the Left Minister abruptly stopped as he realized that he was alone in the house. So how could someone speak to him?

    "Have I gotten so drunk that I started to hear voices. Anyway, why does the voice sound familiar?"

    "Of course, it''s familiar," he again heard the same voice.

    Only then the Left Minister became somewhat sobbered and turned around in shock. "Yo¡ªyour Majesty!"

    "How''s it going?" asked Kallus with a cold smile.Grym, Ha and Palio were standing behind him, staring at the drunk man with eyes filled with hate, eager to tear the bastard apart.

    The Left Minister tumbled back in terror and fell on the table. The wine bottle and ss shattered as they rolled down the floor.

    ¡ª

    "Have you heard, they have detained the Left Minister. Tomorrow will be his execution," whispered one of the customers as he stood in the line.

    "Humph," another customer snorted. "That bastard was Bone Spear Tower''s spy, and tried to assassinate the emperor. One execution is letting him off easily."

    "I heard they would behead him with Segast Woulsto."

    They didn''t know it was Kadyn who had saved the emperor as Kadyn asked them to not make the news public. He was already in a very good spot right now. He didn''t want too much lime light. Though ordinary people knew Kadyn also participated in the battle, they didn''t know they won the entire battle because of him.

    The customers continued to whisper among themselves but the queue never stopped moving forward. "You had asked us to spy on your wife if she was cheating on you, right?" Kadyn asked.

    The man nodded nervously. Kadyn eyed the man for a few seconds and sighed as he took out a camera from under the counter. "Take this," he said. "But I would suggest that you watch it alone."

    The man''s body shook when he heard Kadyn''s words. Then he took the camera from Kadyn with his trembling hands. "There are few private rooms avable in our restaurant," Kadyn suggested. "You can go there to watch if you want."

    Kadyn felt a little strange when he said it. After all, he knew what kind of content was inside the camera. He knew that the man was going to experience another world in just a matter of a few minutes.

    The customer paid the money and walked out of the hall, walking towards the restaurant. Kadyn didn''t pay any attention to the man and continued to do his work.

    "Elementary rank water goggles. They would let you see underwater," said Kadyn. "Twothousand Ces."

    Just then a sound of bawling came from out of the shop. Kadyn collected the money and frowned before standing up. When he looked at the man who had asked them to spy on his wife, Kadyn''s expression softened a little. The poor man had just experienced agreat shock.

    "Hey, get lost from here!" Dion walked towards the man and said. "If you want to cry go somewhere else. Why are you disturbing others?"

    "Hey, Dion," Kadyn waved his hand. "Let him cry, poor man had just received a great shock."

    "Brother Kadyn, you don''t know the full story," Dion said. "I had taken that spying mission so I know. Do you know how many wives this man has?"

    "How many?"

    "Fifty."

    Kadyn almost choked on his saliva. He looked at the bawling man on the ground with a weird expression. Dion continued, "Women also have needs and desires, and man have limitations. He tried to chew more than he could digest. He got what he sow."

    "You mean to say he couldn''t satisfy his woman so someone else got the chance to do it?" Kadyn''s expression was strange when he said those words.

    "That''s exactly what I am saying," Dion said. "Even if he did it with one woman a day, he would need fifty days to reach thest woman. Furthermore, do you think he has the strength to do it every day?"

    Kadyn eyed the man who must be nearing his fifty and shook his head. "That woman might be guilty, but this man is more guilty than her. Furthermore, he has forced most of his women to marry him."

    "Well," Kadyn scratched his head and said, "throw him out."

    Dion did as he was told. The man didn''t resist and continued to scream and curse and bber about the love and promise and many more.

    "Fifty wives, and you still expect them to love you?" Kadyn shook his head. "Do you think you are Yun Che? Even Yun Che didn''t have that many."

    [Author Note: Yun Che is a famous character of a chinese allnovelfull¡ªif you don''t know.]

    He turned around to go back to the counter when he found a silhouette standing at the gate of the shop. "What are you doing here?" he asked.

    "I have something very important to talk about," Ha smiled at him. After assuming the role of the princess her temperament and style hadpletely changed. She looked more gentle and graceful, as a princess was supposed to be. "Do you have some free time?"

    "No, I don''t."

    "..."

    Ha''s expression became strange. Not expecting such a response from him.

    "Ah, I mean," Kadyn knew he had said something inappropriate so he exined. "I need to deal with the remaining customers. Then we can talk. I can''t leave them hanging in the middle, can I?"

    "Sounds good," Ha nodded. Her expression easing.

    "Dion," Kadyn said. "Take Miss Ha to the restaurant, I will be there shortly after dealing with the remaining customers."

    "Oh, don''t worry," Ha said. "I will wait in the hall."

    "Are you sure?"

    "Why are you asking me something like that?" Ha rolled her eyes. "Have you forgotten I used to work in the Stunning Whirlwind Chamber of Commerce?"

    "Come in, then."

    The duo entered as the customers pointed at Ha and whispered among themselves. After all her beauty was as dazzling as Elora. Though they didn''t know who she was, as they couldn''t tell her identity through Kadyn''s conversation with her¡ªthey knew she was someone very important.

    Ha sat on the sofa and started to read a book that was lying on the table.

    Kadyn again resumed his work. It took around 45 minutes before he got free of them. He turned towards Ha who eyed him with a let''s-go-now-or-die look.

    "Let''s go," Kadyn smiled and gestured towards thedy.

 Chapter 189 - Going To Death Valley Again

    "I don''t understand what you mean," Kadyn frowned as he sat on the sofa. Ha was sitting in front of him, her hair tied in a bun. In betweenid a table on which snacks and beverages had been ced.

    "The Pengo is about to face its greatest crisis," Ha said, her voice grave. "When we first met, you weren''t even rank 1 mage." She stared at him with glittering eyes. "Now you are rank 3, not any rank 3 mage, but who can battle and defeat someone like Segast, a peak of the rank 3 mage. Not just you, many of yourpanions had advanced leaps and bounds in just a short period of time."

    Kadyn became vignt.

    "No need to be alerted," Ha, however, shook her head. "I don''t have any bad intentions. I just want to be strong. I want to protect my loved ones when the time to battlees."

    Kadyn rxed and asked confusedly, "What kind of crisis are you talking about?"

    "Have you heard of Blood Tribe?"

    Kadyn was silent and then asked, "Are you talking about the ancestors of vampires?"

    "Yes, the same creatures," nodded thedy. "They are about toe out of their prison and when they do¡­" she trailed off, not daring to imagine the possibility that her father had told her. She took a deep breath and exined what was going on. The more Kadyn heard the more incredulous he felt. He knew a few things about them already, but most of them were false.

    Like the Blood Tribe had evolved from the battlefield after umting resentment and negative emotions. It was false. ording to Ha, someone had summoned the Blood Tribe to fight against his enemies. However, he lost control of them and was devoured by them instead.

    After that the Blood Tribe caused a chaos that people of Pengo had never seen before. So the enemies turned into allies and opposed them together. Hundreds of thousands lost their lives and as many as that turned into ves, but when the crisises, heroes rose, and the same happened at that time as well. Many sacrificed their lives to seal those creatures as they could not kill them.

    "The seal that they had ced on the Well of Suppression has waned after such a long time. The envoy of the World Magic Assembly said¡ªthey won''t take over two years to break out of the seal."

    "Why don''t they form another seal?" Kadyn asked.

    Ha shook her head. "To form that seal hundreds of thousands of mages sacrificed their lives. In which hundreds of them were 6 ranked. The ultimate peak that anyone could reach in the Pengo. They did it because they had seen the terror of those creatures. However, after enjoying the admiration of the masses, the people of World Magic Assembly had becent. Do you think they would give their lives without fighting? Not a chance."

    Kady nodded. It was normal for them to be greedy for powers after enjoying such a treatment for thousands of years. Although they knew that a terrible foe was about to descend and they could seal them by sacrificing their lives¡ªbut they didn''t feel satisfied.

    They wanted to battle those creatures themselves and then decide what to do. They knew that it would bring chaos, but they didn''t care. It was the nature of humans or the nature of any race. They would always forget what their ancestors did to gain peace and freedom for them. They take everything for granted. That''s what happened with the World Magic Assembly. Though it was sad, it was true.

    "So," Ha interrupted his train of thought, "can you help me be strong?"

    Kadyn looked into her eyes and then a scroll appeared in his hands. "Read this scroll¡ªif you agree with the terms and conditions, drop the blood on it."

    Ha took the scroll from Kadyn and examined it.

    ¡ª

    A few dayster.

    Kadyn looked at hispanions and said, "Today is Sunday, and today, we''re going to Death Valley."

    "Fuck," cursed Dion. "I was waiting for this moment. I''m going to get my revenge. I almost shit myselfst time. This time, however, I would make them shit, instead."

    "I was so terrifiedst time," Zelieined, "that I couldn''t even do anything. However, this time I''m going to crush those ugly skeletons."

    Others nodded in agreement. Kadyn smiled when he saw theck of fear on their faces. After all, everyone of them had already reached the rank 2, and they had gone through many life and death struggles. Elora and Khrom, Barret and Hot Rod, had reached the peak of the rank 2. While Cecelia had finally crossed the bottleneck, bing the second person to break through rank 3 mage.

    Kadyn turned towards another silhouette and said, "Are you ready, Ha?"

    "Ah, yes," Ha felt like running away from these lunatics. Death Valley was so powerful that even the World Magic Assembly didn''t bother them. That was the turf of the necromancers, lich, and all kinds of spirits. Just thinking about them made her tremble. However, when she saw everyone''s confident faces, she gritted her teeth and nodded.

    "Alright," Kadyn said. "Let''s first teleport to the Death Town outside the Death Valley¡ªso we could gather before heading into the Death Valley."

    Everyone nodded and then vanished from the shop; Leaving only three figures of Kove, Melvona and Rayna behind. The two little children were clenching their fists in eagerness.

    "I know you also want to go with them," Rayna said. "But you are too small for these dangerous missions. Didn''t you see what happened to you big brother Dionst time? He lost even his clothes and escaped naked to save his life."

    Kove and Melvona shivered when they remembered that ugly sight. Melvona had since long be rank 1 mage while Kove had reached elementary rank 10. They weren''t weak in any sense, butpared to others they were indeedcking a great deal of strength and experience.

    "I will definitely go the next time!" Kove said, determinedly.

    "Good, but for now, you need to help me chop the meat."

 Chapter 190 - Death Town

    The group gathered in the tavern inside the Death Town. It was a small town, not over 200 people lived here. However, the town always bustled with adventurers. Today was no different. Kadyn and his group upied two tables as they ordered ale and meat. Though they always ate delicious food cooked by Rayna, eating outside had its own perk.

    Many other groups were paying them a lot of attention, as they had many women in their party; all of them were top-notch beauties.

    "No matter where you go," Cecelia whispered. "You will find some morons. Just do what you need to do."

    Others smiled when they heard her. No more paying attention to others in the tavern.

    "Hey, I''m Booga," they didn''t pay attention to others that didn''t mean others wouldn''t pay attention to them. One of them came to their table. Kadyn lifted his gaze and found that he was taller than seven feet. He had bushy brows, and he carried a huge ax on his back. His gaze roamed on Cecelia, Nefia, Elora and every girl in the group.

    "How can I help you?" Kadyn asked and gobbled his food, acting as if he didn''t know ''his'' intentions.

    The robust man revealed his yellow teeth as he extended his hand, covered in grease. Kadyn just looked at him, without showing any intention to take his hand. The group chuckled, and Booga''s face turned red.

    A vicious glint shed through his eyes, but then he smiled and said, "Actually, I am here to invite you to join our team. I am rank 3 fire mage. All the mages of that rank are captains of their teams or loners. If you want to find something worthwhile inside the Death Valley, you got join a strong team."

    "Sorry," Kadyn denied. "We don''t want to join any team."

    "I''m not talking to you,d," Booga said tly. "I''m talking to the members of your team. They can decide themselves, can''t they?"

    "Sure, they can," Kadyn shrugged and did not pay any attention to him.

    "How about this," Booga continued to pester others. "Leave his team and join me. You will earn a huge profit."

    "Sorry, not interested," Elora was the first to speak.

    "I''m very happy with my current team," Zelie replied as a mischievous smile appeared on her face.

    "Come on, man. If you are horny, go find the brothel." Dion didn''t pull his punches when he spoke. "But you dare toe here and pester these beautifuldies in our team. Are you asking to die!?"

    "You¡ª"

    Booga red at Dion furiously, clenching and unclenching his fist. Others in the tavern were also enjoying the ongoing show; eager to know the oue of the drama. There were also a few tables that were deathly silent, looking at Booga as if he was a dead man.

    "He could have antagonized anyone, but he had to push that Demon Lord," one of the menmented.

    "Seriously," another man said. "Last time, Lamita tried the same antique, and he died a horrible death. He was also low rank 3 mage. Does Booga think they are weak due to their age?"

    "Furthermore, thest time that boy just used his w to crush Lamita''s head. It was such a gory sight," someone elsemented, people shivered as if remembering that sight.

    "Take a look," a man who was silent until now spoke. "Never antagonize anyone because they look weak. First inquire about them and only then decide if you have what it takes to take them down. Don''t die just because you can''t control your dick."

    "Yes, Boss is wise as always."

    "How could someone like Boogapare to him in wisdom?"

    "He is nothing but muscles."

    The boss smiled and nodded pleasantly as he heard the praises showering on him from all sides. However,st time when Kadyn arrived in the tavern this guy also had intention to capture the woman in his party. However, Lamita was first to act, so he escaped the crisis, but he would never confess such a thing to party members.

    "I wanted to help you," Booga sighed as he looked at Dion. "Who would have thought that you won''t appreciate my kindness?" Then he nced at everyone in the tavern and again turned towards Kadyn''s table. "No matter what the members of your party think, I''m still going to save these women. I can''t watch them die just because of someone''s negative influence. He must have used some kind of illusion magic to control you guys."

    "This is too much," Zelie face-palmed herself and mimicked hitting her head on the table. Other members were also feelingical. What the hell was going on? Was he trying to make themugh to death?

    "Boys," Booga said to his party members. ''Take these women to safety. We must save them from these devil men. I think they are the dark magic users."

    "Just finish him," Kadyn couldn''t take anymore. He gestured towards Cecelia who shed a beautiful smile on her face before turning into a blur.

    "Puchi!"

    Booga''s hand flew in the air as the blood spattered. His party member who had just stood, froze on the spot. It took over two breaths for Booga to realize what had just happened, and then the piercing pain burst into his right arm.

    "Ahhh!!!" he screamed and fell on his knees as he tried to cover his wound with his remaining arm. Cecelia was standing in front of him with an emotionless face. Before the tavern was bursting withughter and cursing and shouting, but now, it was pin-drop silence. No one dared to make a sound.

    "You people never learn, do you?" Cecelia shook her head. "Last time our captain killed a rank 3 mage. This time we thought not to go through this shit again, s¡­"

    She held a dark dagger in her hand and crouched in front Booga. The man was covered in blood and sweat. His face pale, his eyes filled with terror. The sight was pitiful.

    But¡­

    "Puch!"

    Cecelia didn''t give him a chance to ask for mercy; there was no point.. One should learn to take responsibility for their actions.

 Chapter 191 - Death Valley(1)

    Death Valley was on Ivrora Continent. Simr to the Eozen Continent, it was also highly popted by humans, but a few other races also lived. Though Death Valley covered about 4th of the entire continent, so one could say that they were its ultimate rulers.

    Some people imed that the valley had many rank 6 mages, however, they lived at the center of the Death Valley. While at the outskirts of the valley, there were many sinister spirits and lich and other creatures roaming. Though from time to time many necromancer apprentices woulde to capture humans for their experiments. That was one of the biggest threats in Death Valley, even bigger than vengeful spirits or roaming liches.

    However, the valley was filled with riches¡ªso people still took their chances to adventure inside. Though many of theirpanions would be left behind, turning into one of those sinister beings, but human greed knows no bounds, the same could be said for these people.

    Kadyn''s group stood in front of a forest, the chili wind blew, hissing inside their ears. The fog spread all about them, no one could tell what was happening inside the forest. Though they could hear asional cries, dreadful and sinister. Terrifying screams. To terrify the invaders, to warn them about the dangers inside. To make them retreat, to give them a chance to live. But as the saying goes, when a wild animal''s deathes, it runs towards the city. Tens of groups were standing outside the valley to enter.

    Kadyn exchanged nces with hispanions and took a deep breath. Their faces turned grave as they had encountered creatures inside once before, and they knew how terrible and terrifying they were. Most frightened in the group was obviously Ha. It was her first time, and she had heard a lot of terrifying stories about this ce.

    "Don''t worry," Ceceliaforted the girl. "It''s not as frightening as you think. We have seen everything with our own eyes. Furthermore, you are rank 3 mage, you are one of the strongest members of our team. Even Dion and others, who are rank 2, don''t feel as nervous as you."

    "I¡ªI''m fine," said Ha, clenching her teeth.

    "Good, let''s go," Kadyn said and strode at the front of the group. There were other groups, who were going inside Death Valley, but all of them avoided any contact with Kadyn''s. After what happened inside the tavern no one wanted to cross paths with this group of evildoers.

    As Kadyn stepped inside the forest a cold sensation wafted his entire body. Others also felt the same. A rotten smell filled their noses. The resentment and all kinds of negative emotions started to run wild in their heads that were mixed in the environment.

    Kadyn turned towards hispanions and warned them. "Don''t get distracted, or others might take advantage when we are not paying attention; protect your mind from negative emotions." he paused and went on. "We won''t go beyond a hundred kilometers. There are rank 4 necromancers beyond that line."

    The group members followed behind him.

    "Whoosh!"

    Suddenly the ground in front of them burst and a shadow dashed towards Dion. The boy didn''t panic and his hand morphed into a w made of a branch of a tree.

    His fist collided with the creature. Members of the group looked at what it was and found bones scattering all about, trembling continuously, there was a red gem amidst the bones that shone with glittering light.

    "Go, grab the lich-gem, or it will revive itself," Kadyn said. Dion rushed towards the glinting gem and ced it inside the space ring. The bones stopped trembling, and then scattered like dirt.

    "It was just a rank 1 lich," Dion said regretfully.

    "Now, now," Zelie said. "Don''t be so greedy. Do you remember what happenedst time when you encountered rank 2 lich?"

    Dions'' face flushed in embarrassment. "I''m not the same Dion I used to be," he protested. "This time I''m going to make them pay."

    "Just don''t lose your clothes again. The sight was really ugly. Whenever I remember I feel the urge to vomit."

    "You¡­"

    "That''s enough," Kadyn frowned. The duo shut their mouths as if feeling Kadyn''s mood. "There is a ce about 10 kilometers away from here. Last time we found quite a few Special rank 3 herbs there. However, we had to run away when the peak rank 3 lich appeared. Now, we are far stronger than before. Let''s go, check out that ce."

    "Oh, yeah!" Dion eximed, an excited light shone inside his eyes. Ha was walking at the very back of the group. Just the environment of this ce made her want to puke. However, she controlled urge.

    "If you want to be strong," Ceclia whispered from the side. "You need to battle in different environments. Different types of enemies. Only then you will be able to cultivate your willpower where you won''t feel surprise by your enemies."

    Ha looked into her eyes and nodded. She felt grateful as Cecelia constantly encouraged her, not mocking or looking down on her, just because she felt ufortable in this environment. That alleviated her fear towards Death Valley. Otherwise, she might have already escaped, either by the rotten smell in the air, or by ugly and gross creatures.

    As they traveled they were intercepted by many liches. There were many of them in this area. Kadyn guessed that this territory might belong to them. Otherwise, he would have encountered other creatures of the valley as well. Last time was also the same. Butst time, they hade to this ce after searching for a long time, so they had encountered many other spirits and creatures along the way.

    [An hour and a halfter.]

    "Boom!"

    Zelie used her fire spell to burn down the rank 2 lich and grabbed its gem with a wide grin on her face. "Hehe, I have about five rank 2 gems, now. Sister Elora, we needed lich gems for the new potion that we are working on."

    Elora nodded, but didn''t say anything. She was moreposed than herpanion. She looked ahead of them, a mountain appeared, half covered in mist, revealing only half of the mountain that looked like the skull of a human. "We are here," she whispered.. Others also became vignt.

 Chapter 192 - Death Valley(2)

    The group of skeletons was roaming in the distance. The leader seemed to be high rank 2 lich. Other skeletons were rank 1, or low rank 2. Furthermore, these skeletons looked intelligent beings, not like the one they had killed while traveling to this ce.

    "I think the creatures we encountered all this while were adventurers, due to the strange environment, they turned into lich after dying¡ªwhile these liches are natives of this ce. There are lots of secrets about Death Valley. I''m not sure if my theory is correct."

    "No," Kadyn said. "I think that''s most likely the case. Or maybe these liches are also an adventure but have gone through some kind of evolution, gaining their intelligence once again."

    "That''s a very thought-provoking theory," Cecelia''s eyes shone in surprise.

    "There are lots of books inside the library, whether they are vampire, lich, elf or any other race, you can find about them. There aren''t any specific books about Death Valley in the library, but there are many of them about undead creatures."

    "Oh, I have also seen those books," Cecelia said, "but I didn''t have many energy points so I didn''t bother to read them." Then she thought about something and asked, "Are there any books about the Bl¡ª"

    "Alright," Kadyn interrupted her. "We can talk about these things after going back, but for now, let''s focus on our mission."

    Cecelia nodded and crawled towards the guarding lich together with everyone while hiding behind the boulders and trees all the while. Suddenly the lich started to look all around, sniffing and screeching. They seemed to be talking in some iprehensiblenguage. Kadyn assumed.

    "They have sniffed us," Kadyn informed hispanions. "They can smell living people. So we can''t hide anymore. Let''s attack."

    The group nodded and rushed towards the liches from behind the boulder. The liches'' hollow eye sockets glittered with red light and they roared and then rushed towards Kadyn''s group, with theirnce dancing in the air.

    "Crush these bastards!" shouted Dion. His hatred for liches ran deep. Furthermore, he was a wood elemental mage. A form of life energy, while the lich were undead, so his attacks were very effective against them. Kadyn used his w to crush the skull of those creatures, collecting the gem inside his ring. In just a few breaths, they had finished all of them.

    "Let''s go," Kadyn said. "The disturbance would alert other liches."

    Everyone followed Kadyn closely. Ha who was feeling apprehensive all this time started to feel a kind of thrill from this adventure. Her fear fading slowly. Those creatures weren''t as deadly as she had thought. She rushed behind them.

    "Let''s go. Let''s go," Khrom shouted, encouraging others. He was a wind mage so his speed was naturally faster than others. Though everyone had Speed Boots, they didn''t want to use them until they had to. After all, the Speed Boots had a cool-down period of 15 minutes. They could not be used for fifteen minutes after every use.

    As the group rushed towards the Lich Mountain. The herbs started to appear. "They are just elementary rank herbs," Kadyn said. "Don''t bother with them. We can find them in any other less dangerous location."

    No one stopped.

    "Screech!!"

    A weird shriek sounded about a hundred meters ahead of them. "It''s a peak rank 2 lich," Kadyn warned. "Barret, Hot Rod. You two deal with it."

    The duo nodded and rushed towards the undead. Intercepting it while others continued to rush deeper.

    "Let me use a fire spell," Hot Rod said. "They fear light and life rted magic the most."

    Barret Duncan nodded. He was an earth elemental mage. So his magic wasn''t as effective against the undead creatures as Hot Rod''s.

    "Just hold it for a moment," Hot Rod said.

    Barret nodded and built a wall in front of the lich. The creature used its sphere and smashed the wall into bits and pieces. "Just a bit more!" Hot Rod shouted.

    Barret knew that Hot Rod wanted to use his strongest spell to finish the battle as soon as possible, but he needed some time to carve the Spell Glyph. He again cast the same spell and once more a wall blocked the lich. The lich again destroyed the wall. Just when Barret again wanted to block its path, the lich sprang and arrived in front of him. Barret was about to use his Speed Boots when Hot Rod shouted, "Step aside!"

    Barret jumped at the side. Lich grasped itsnce and lunged towards Barret when a burningva burst from the ground it was standing on. The lich tried to struggle, but soon, it lost any resistance. The spell vanished, leaving only lich-gem. "We will divide the energy points fifty-fifty from this gem." Hot Rod said.

    Barret nodded and the group rushed towards theirpanions who had already encountered another enemy, and this time there were more than one.

    "I will take care of that rank 3 lich," Kadyn said. "You guys deal with others."

    Everyone nodded. Ha also joined the flurry. She was also rank 3 mage, and fire elemental at that. So her spells were quite effective against the undead.

    It took about five minutes to deal with twenty liches. Kadyn looked around and found that there were quite a few rank 2 herbs growing here.

    "Grab them!" he shouted and othersplied. Though the herbs looked dead, they were special. They were filled with sinister air and negative emotions. Kadyn could use them to concoct very terrifying poisons. Not only that he could use them to concoct the potions that could increase the willpower.

    Though the Magic Shop had a chamber where they could temper their willpower, Kadyn didn''t allow customers to use the chamber as it could bring a lot of trouble for him. So the customers would love these potions, as it wasn''t easy to temper willpower. Furthemore, there was no side-effect.

    After collecting the rank 2 herbs they went even deeper. "We are about to reach the ce!" Kadyn shouted. "Be careful. The real battle is about to start!"

    "How!"

    As he warned hispanions a powerful howl made them halt.. Kadyn gazed in the distance and his eyes narrowed. ''It''s here!''

 Chapter 193 - Mysterious Change

    In the distance a lich,rger and sturdier than a normal of its kind, was standing¡ªa piercing tip ofnce glinting in his hand. His hollow sockets of eyes twinkled with red light. Behind thergest lich stood a group of his kind, waiting for hismand. His toothless jaw ttered. "Dare toe back," said the lich.

    Kadyn had already heard him talking before so he didn''t feel much surprise. He looked at hispanions and said, "Let''s take this ugly and arrogant thing down."

    "Yes," Dion replied. Though his hands trembled a bit, his eyes glinted with excitement.

    "Then, what''re you waiting for? Attack!" Kadyn shouted and dashed towards the strongest creature. The lich also didn''t stay idle and lunged towards him with hisnce.

    Kadyn grinned and used his w to block the attack. Sparks flew in the air at the collision. Both of them took a few steps back. Kadyn, however, didn''t feel disheartened as he hadn''t used a single spell, yet. Lich couldn''t use any magic; they had only their physical bodies and their physical bodies were terribly strong. Faster than the wind mages; deadlier than the fire mages.

    However, Kadyn dared to collide with him head on, just because of his mysterious w, and it didn''t disappoint him. Last time he had to retreat due to his low rank, but this time he was going to crush this lich.

    "How did you be this powerful in such a short time?" asked the creature. Though Kadyn couldn''t see the shocked expression on his bony face, as it was impossible to make any expression, he knew the lich must be feeling confused, amazed, and fearful. After all, it''d not even been a month since he was chased by this creature in a miserable condition. Now he was already terrifyingly strong.

    "You don''t need to know," Kadyn said and then punched. The lich blocked the attack with hisnce as he tumbled a few meters back.

    Suddenly Kadyn vanished; when he appeared he was already in front of his target. Last time when he used this spell, the lich evaded it with no problem. Just teleporting wasn''t enough, how fast you attack after closing in to your enemy mattered the most. Teleporting won''t do any good if you couldn''t touch your enemy. This time, however, his speed and strength both increased significantly. He was like an unstoppable beast.

    The lich again tried to block the attack, but Kadyn was faster; his w found its way into the creature''s chest. The lich froze. He looked at Kadyn, muttering. "L¡ªlich Ki¡ªking will avenge us."

    Kadyn frowned, but then he took his hand out of the skeleton''s chest. He was holding the gem. It was bigger than others they had collected on the way. There was some kind of glyph etched on its surface. Kadyn couldn''t understand them so he threw the gem into his space ring.

    He turned around and found that his people had also finished their battles. Dion was sweating profusely, his face red, his chest heaving up and down, and he was grinning.

    "Fucking awosome!" he eximed.

    After that the group rested for a moment and then collected the herbs. Cecelia turned towards him and asked, "Do you know what the lich''sst words mean?"

    "You heard him?"

    Cecelia rolled her eyes at him. "Is there anyone who didn''t?"

    Kadyn eyed hispanions who shrugged their shoulders. Only Dion was looking confused. He was too engrossed in his battle against the liches that he paid no attention to his surroundings.

    "Well," Kadyn said. "I think there are many strong liches living in this mountain. The strongest lich of this ce must be the Lich King."

    "So what now?" Barret asked. "Should we retreat?"

    "And why is that?" Kadyn said. "We can always escape, and no Lich King would be able to stop us. So why should we fear him? Let''s check out a bit deeper into this ce. I might not be able to use rank 4 herbs yet, but it won''t take long for me to reach that level."

    Everyone shook their heads. Kadyn was indeed a monster. It hadn''t been much long since he had be rank 3 mage, and he was already talking about reaching rank 4.

    No one doubted his im. After all, jus now, he had defeated the peak rank 3 lich without breaking a sweat. The monster that other peak rank 3 mages would try to avoid at all the costs. It was too hard to defeat lich of the same rank. Only a group like Kadyn''s could pull something like this. After all, they had gone through hundreds of battles. Their spells were the best of the best. Others could only dream about getting these spells.

    "Anyone is feeling tired?" Kadyn asked. "Or should we continue?"

    No one objected as the battle was over quickly. They continued and the deeper they went darker the surrounding became, and the lich started to appear more frequently. They had found quite a few rank 4 herbs, but not rank 4 lich. Kadyn looked confused. Didn''t that lich talk about the Lich King? If there was a Lich King, he should intercept him. Why was there no rank 4 lich, then?

    The group was already sweating and huffing after battling against many rank 3 lich. Ha was no longer fearful, her expression was simr to others, neutral. She even feltical when she recalled her fear against these creatures.

    Though the group started to look weary, and their clothes became haggard, no one asked to stop. This was a kind of training and they wanted to do it properly. Only in extreme conditions would they stop. Furthermore, they had all kinds of potions to replenish their energies.

    After about an hour''s walk, a cave appeared in front of them. The entrance of the cave looked simr to the human skull. Almost identical to the head Kadyn had seen when he entered this Lich Mountain.

    Dion looked at the eerie cave and he felt a kind of fear he had never felt before. He turned towards Kadyn and stammered, "I¡ªI think it''s enough fo¡ªfor today. We can coe back again."

    "Though his words sound a bit cowardly," Cecelia said. "I think he is correct this time. I can feel terrible pressure. I don''t think we can deal with the creature inside the cave."

    Kadyn frowned because he could feel what Cecelia was talking about. Every minor level was a huge gap amongst the mages. What about the gape of an entire rank? The creature inside the cave was beyond the understanding of Kadyn. He might be even stronger than rank 4 mages. There was no way he would be able to battle such a being at his current rank.

    "Alright," Kadyn nodded. "We wille back when we are strong enough."

    The group nodded, and just when they were about to leave, Kadyn felt a powerful suction force, pulling him towards the cave. He was horrified. He turned towards hispanions, but they werepletely fine. He struggled, but everything turned out to be futile, and before anyone could understand what was going on, he was dragged inside the cave..

    "What the¡­" everyone froze in shock and their heads went nk. But then, all of them rushed towards the entrance. Not even caring about the creature inside. However, when they tried to enter the cave, a mysterious energy pushed them away. They pounded on the entrance, but nothing helped.

    Elora''s eyes turned red, and she clenched her fist, furious at her inability to help her brother.

    "What should I do? What should I do now?" she muttered, horrified at the thought of losing her brother. Her family. Her everything.

    "I am sure he will be fine," Cecelia said. "He has a way to teleport back to the shop."

    Elora looked at her friend with teary eyes and said, "Can''t you feel his mana is still inside the cave? There must be something interrupting him from teleporting away. What should I do now? What would I do if something happened to him? Nothing should happen to him."

    She grabbed her green-hair in frustration; tears falling down continuously. Her body trembled as he cried. No one knew how to console her. Simr to her they could also tell that Kadyn was still inside the cave. They could feel him.

    "What is that?" Cecelia eximed, suddenly. Others also spotted anomalies in Elora. Her body was releasing a green light. Her clothes fluttered in the air. The green grass growing all around her. One had to know that thisnd was called thend of dead. No green nt grew on this forsakennd. Even trees reeked the smell of dead. So this phenomenon was beyond anyone''s understanding. Then a crown appeared on her head, a crown of¡ªred, white, yellow and pink¡ªflowers and leaves; it felt as if the entire world was roaming around her, and she was the ultimate ruler.

    After that Elora stood up and rushed towards the cave once more. Others looked at each other in dismay, not understanding what was going on, anymore. They had already tried, and they had failed. There was no way Elora alone could¡­ Everyone''s eyes widened in astonishment when they realized that Elora had already gone inside the cave, and without any resistance, whatsoever.

    "What the hell just happened?" Dion looked at hispanions in shock. Others simrly had no idea. They were staring at the cave entrance with their mouths agape.

    "Maybe, the barrier has vanished?" muttered Zelie.

    "Let me give it a try.." Khrom walked towards the cave, his eyes fixed on the skull-like entrance.

 Chapter 194 - Darius And Sylvia

    On the Eozon Continent, a small vige called Cullfield was sitting amidst the mountain range that surrounded it from all the sides. Towering trees, covered in snow, stood. Icy wind wheezed in the valley; the clouds rushed from the top of one mountain to another, obscuring almost half of the snow-covered peaks, portraying a striking picture of nature.

    An inn stood at the center of the Cullfield. Two hearthstones were burning inside it, to warm the ce, but the cold was still dominating every corner of the inn. People devoured meat and gulped ale as they talked andughed and punched each jokingly. At the corner three figures were sitting, covered in ck. No one paid them any attention, as if they didn''t even exist.

    "We have searched the entire eastern region of the Eozon Continent," said a woman''s voice in frustration, "but we didn''t find a clue about our children."

    "I am also baffled," the man said. "We are already at the peak of this world, if we push our strength a bit more we would be forced out of the Pengo, and yet, we could not find a trace of them. It feels as if they have vanished into thin air."

    "Why can''t we sense their bloodline, either?" the woman said, her brows wrinkled in worry.

    "The Pengo is a different world, Sylvia," the man sighed when he saw an anxious look on his wife''s face. "It has its ownws. We could awaken our bloodline because we had sealed them inside our souls. Our children are different. They would need some kind of catalyst to aplish it."

    "How would we find them, then, Darius?" Salona¡ªwhom the man called Sylvia¡ªasked.

    The man sighed, remaining silent. The other woman sitting together with them was silent. She seemed confused, but her eyes flickered with curiosity.

    Darius looked at his sister and said, "Your body still has a trace of vampire bloodline. After I remove it, you won''t have any restrictions."

    Eddena looked up, her face worried. "Is it true, Brother Magnus?"

    "How many times did I tell you not to call me that?" said the man. "I''m Darius."

    "Alright. My bad," said Eddena. "So, is it true?"

    "Of course," Darius replied. "It''s better to get rid of a faulted and inferior bloodline as soon as possible, or it would only benefit others."

    "Won''t I be elementless? My Mana Pool was connected to my bloodline, so is my rune. I will lose my magic if my bloodline vanishes."

    "Didn''t we talk about it already?" Darius frowned. "I will solve that problem. Don''t you trust your brother?"

    "If I didn''t trust you, would I let you remove my bloodline?"

    "It''s settled, then."

    Eddena grumbled something about not telling her the whole truth. Darius smiled. He turned towards his wife, and his expression froze.

    Sylvia''s eyes shone with green light. Her green hair started to fly in the wind, and a crown appeared on her head. Crown of flowers and leaves. In no time, the entire inn was burst into a green light. The expression of the crowd froze as they looked at the source. A beautiful woman,no, calling her a woman was sphemy against her. She was a goddess. Goddess of Beauty.

    Sylvia eyed her husband, and an excited look appeared on her stunning face. "I¡ªI feel a connection with her!" her voice wasced with excitement. "Darius, I can feel Elora. Now we can unite with our children."

    Darius sprang from his chair, simrly feeling pleasant for this sudden development. "Where?" he asked. "Tell me. Where are they?"

    Sylvia frowned at his question.

    "What?" asked Darius, feeling a little worried.

    Sylvia looked at her husband and said, "They aren''t on the Eozon Continent, much less on the eastern region."

    "Really?" Darius felt bewildered when he heard his wife. He never thought that his children were strong enough to travel such a great distance in such a short time. It would take months for ordinary mages to cross just one of the regions. "How did they travel to another continent in such a short time?"

    Sylvia shook her head. Then said, "They are in the Death Valley of Ivrora Continent."

    Darius'' eyes widened in shock. "Let''s go." He wasted no time. He waved his hand that was covered in red scales and a space sliced open, bing a portal. After that the trio entered it.

    Even Eddena didn''t seem surprised anymore. Magn¡ªer, Darius had used this move many times to travel from one ce to another. The inn was silent. Then a ss of wine shattered on the ground, breaking the silence and the entire inn burst into chorus. From today onward, the tale of Goddess of Beauty and the God of Divine w would be a legend of Cullfield.

    No one noticed the third figure, though.

    ¡ª

    "Damn it!" Khrom crouched down, panting. Others in the group simrly looked haggard. "How did Elora enter if it was closed?"

    "I think," Cecelia said, "it has something to do with the change in her¡ªthat happened¡ªbefore she dashed into the cave."

    "So what should we do now?" asked Zelie.

    They sighed. No one knew what to do. After all, they had used everything, but couldn''t enter the cave. "These bastard skeletons!" shouted Dion in frustration. His hatred for them increased as every second passed. Not that others were feeling less fury.

    "Are we going to sit here just like this while boss and sister Elora is fighting against enemies?" Slyff said, as he punched a boulder into dust. Still in his gori form.

    None of them noticed a small bird hovering in the sky. Her entire body was covered in white mes; whenever the ck smoke from Death Valley touched the mes it evaporated into thin air.

    "I didn''t think I would encounter the two greatest bloodlines from the upper world on this small," she said. "Well, I think I will help him just this one time. Although he is stupid sometimes, I am still connected to him through bloodline. Furthermore, his bloodline is far more powerful than mine, so it''s questionable if I would survive if he dies. Damn it!"

    However, just when she was about to rush to help, a portal opened in front of the cave, and three figures rushed out of it.

 Chapter 195 - Lich King

    It was dark. Pitch ck surrounding inside the cave. It took some time for his eyes to adjust. He was standing in front of a throne on which sat a skeleton¡ªLich King, he thought. Lich King had a huge body, biggest lich Kadyn had ever seen. His eye sockets burned with blue fire, peering at him. His right hand''s ring finger wore a red shining gem, and he tapped on the armrest.

    "What do you want?" Kadyn said in a calm voice. Though he was feeling anxious inside as he could not teleport back, he forced himself to look unafraid.

    Lich King peered at him with his glittering eyes, then ten skeletons appeared out of nowhere, surrounding him.

    "Defeat them if you want to live," said the Lich King from his throne.

    Kadyn eyed him and could feel the unfathomable strength hidden in the skeleton. He could not even begin to fathom the strength of his adversary. He felt depressed. Why the hell did he insist oning here?

    Nheless it was no time for self-me so he suppressed his emotions. Then, he looked at the ten skeletons, all of them carryingnces, and his expression darkened. "All of them are rank 4. How would I defeat them?"

    "Defeat them if you want to live," Lich King repeated, and before Kadyn could ask anything more, he felt a gust of wind from behind. He used teleportation and appeared a few meters away.

    "Swish!"

    He turned and found that one of the skeletons had arrived behind him, and if he waste, even a bit, he would have died. Kadyn looked angry, but no one gave a shit about what he felt.

    Ten skeletons attacked him simultaneously.

    "Wind de!" he shouted and a de discharged from his hand. His spell hit the target. However, it only destroyed one hand of the skeleton. Other parts of its body werepletely safe.

    Furthemore, after two seconds, the broken bones of a hand were also attached to the skeleton. Kadyn cursed and used his teleportation to evade their attacks. There was no other way. Even wind elemental mage won''t be able to do it. He could do so because of the space element.

    However, as the time passed, he started to feel tired. His mana was limited. ''If this continues, I will die here.'' He thought. Then his hand turned into a branch of a tree.

    The wood element was quite effective against the skeletons, as they were formed due to the excessive death energy in Death Valley. He teleported behind one of the skeletons and attacked. However, the skeleton wasn''t someone like Kadyn had faced in the past. It dodged!

    Kadyn was stunned, but he didn''t remain in that state for too long. He again teleported and dodged the attack. After that he tried to use the same attack many more times, but the skeletons evaded his attacks easily. They were faster and stronger. Though they could not cast spells; they were not something any ordinary mage would be able to defeat. Kadyn started to sweat, pant, and his speed to cast spells became slow.

    "Boom!"

    He failed the teleportation spell and so he was caught by two skeletons. However, he used the earth spell, and a wall appeared in front of him. The spell was rank 2, due to the limited time, he couldn''t cast rank 3 spell. It was easily destroyed, passing through the wall, theirnces piercing Kadyn''s right hand. He screamed miserably and tumbled back, clutching his blood dripping hand.

    The skeletons, however, didn''t slow down. They once more surrounded him. Kadyn looked at them, his entire face and body covered in sweat. Kadyn didn''t have speed boots either so he could not use them to increase his speed. They weren''t too much use to him. He was already rank 3 mage, while Hot Rod, the best artisan in his shop, was still at the peak of the rank 2; he could not forge rank 3 artifacts.

    Kadyn took out a potion from his space ring and gulped it down; only then the color recovered on his face. As their attacks arrived, he again teleported. His hand, still transformed in wood. He suddenly changed the spell.

    "Fire Pit!" The fire burst under the feet of the skeletons.

    However, when the fire vanished, he grunted in frustration. The skeletons were still standing,pletely safe. He used water spells; he used wind; he used all the spells he had, but he could not take them down. Not even one.

    Kadyn panted heavily. As he continued to evade the attacks, he realized it was just a matter of time before theirnces would find the way through his chest, or neck, or heart. Many times the thought of giving up came to his mind, but every time he forced himself to remain standing.

    He remembered the time he spent with everyone in the shop. He felt blessed; he felt happy, and when he turned towards his enemies his expression changed, he would not let them¡ªanyone¡ªtake his happiness away from him, he would not die.

    "Boom!"

    "Ahhh!!"

    However, the reality was harsh, before he could do anything the deluge of attacks made him soaked in blood. Heid on the ground, crawling, panting, whimpering, and trying to stand up and falling again and again. Ten rank 4 liches. Previously, he thought that there might be a chance to win, that''s why Lich King gave him such a task. Only now did he realize that he was just being delusional. There was no way he could defeat so many strong enemies. Even a single of them would be a tough battle for him.

    He looked at the skeletons walking towards him as their eyes glittered and then turned towards Lich King who was grinning. As if enjoying the game, he had set, like some kind of god. Kadyn felt furious and helpless at the same time. He wanted to tear this bastard limb by limb. However, he had no strength; he felt tired; he wanted to sleep. Heid down, resigning himself.

    "Brother!"

    However, a shout brought him back to his senses.

 Chapter 196 - Elora Showing Her Pros

    Kadyn lifted his face, dripping with blood, and found a shadow standing not far away from him. Though his head was dizzy, and his vision was blurry. After blinking and focusing, the shadow became clear. It was Elora. He frowned, confused.

    Elora looked somewhat different. Her body emitted green light and her eyes shone with the same light. She depicted the picture of a holy and ethereal goddess as she wore the crown made of leaves and vines and flowers.

    Kadyn opened his mouth but only blood came out. His body was covered in wounds ofnces, punctured in many ces, but far from death. It seemed the Lich King had no intention to kill him yet. He wanted to enjoy Kadyn being tortured. He wanted to see him beg for his life, beg for mercy, and in the end, beg for a painless death.

    "Wh¡ªwhat are you doing here?" After struggling sometimes Kadyn blurted out a sentence in his hoarse voice. "Get out of here!"

    Elora eyed and her body trembled when she saw him in such a miserable condition. The light that was emitting from her body intensified even further. Her fist clenched into a fist.

    "Such a powerful life energy. Wonderful!" Lich King said from his throne. "I never thought that someone would be able to enter the cave without my permission. Only someone like you can enter." Elora lifted her gaze and red at the skeleton hatefully. Lich King''s eye-sockets burned with fire and he said, "Defeat them if you want to live."

    "Get out of ptfff!!" Kadyn shouted, but halfway through, he vomited a mouthful of blood and tumbled down once more.

    "Brother!" Elora eximed, but before she could reach Kadyn, she was already under attack. Her fury clouded her reasoning and punched towards one of the skeletons. A mysterious energy burst out of her punch, reaching the skull of the skeleton. The lich was shocked at her speed. Even Kadyn didn''t move this fast.

    "Boom!!"

    Although the skeleton tried to dodge, Elora was faster, and what was even more frightening was that the entire skeleton disintegrated at her contact with it. Kadyn looked at his sister with bulging eyes. He could not believe what had just happened. Elora killed the skeleton! Furthermore, her single touch made itpletely vanish, not even a single trace of moving-bone''s left behind.

    Lich King also straightened his back as he narrowed his glowing sockets.

    The ce was filled with death, and dark energy, but it could not approach her. She was like a glowing spark in the dark and eerie night. Contending against her enemies without any fear. She bolted towards another skeleton and the same thing happened with this one, too. No matter how it tried to dodge, it could not. Turning into dust and vanishing like hispanion.

    After the two skeletons were defeated, all the skeletons attacked together, not willing to approach her one at a time. Though they were nothing but skeletons, they were beings capable of thinking, intelligent, maybe not equally intelligent as humans, but intelligent nheless.

    Kadyn looked worried and felt deeply helpless. He never felt so useless in his life as much as this moment. He wanted to fight and protect his sister, but now, his sister was protecting him, instead. He felt self-loathing. He tried to stand, but his cramped legs couldn''t support him¡ªhe could only look and curse and shout.

    Lich King, who wasyingnguidly on his throne previously, was also eyeing the ongoing battle with interest. His eyes didn''t stray from Elora, all this time, he was peering only at her, as if he had found something incredible.

    "Boom!"

    Elora moved with eye-popping speed and her handnded on the bony-head of another skeleton, turning it into dust. Then came an attack from behind her, but she dodged it. However, then came another attack, and this time she failed and thence prated her left chest. The skeletons snickered and one by one they pinned theirnces into her body, dying her clothes red in blood.

    "Elora!" Kadyn screamed. Tears covered his face. He stood, but then crumbled, so he crawled towards his sister, leaving a trail of blood behind. However, when his gaze met with Elora, he found her smiling, looking at him with her sorrowful eyes, that gave him a pause. But then he saw sevennces prating her body. He felt as if the world was about to crumble. "Leave her!" he shouted and iled his limbs around helplessly.

    All the skeletons, including the Lich King snickered, feeling pleasant.

    However, when Elora continued to stand they looked at each other and started to pull out thences. "All of you have my blood on your bodies, don''t you?" Elora grinned. The skeletons looked down and found that all of them were covered in her blood.

    "You let us attack you so you could ce your blood on us?" one of the skeletons said with his shocked voice.

    "Bingo!" Elora chuckled and then the blood on their bloodies started to glow with green light. The skeletons tumbled back and tried to wipe away the stain, but as their bony-hands touched the blood they also started to glow with the same light.

    In the blink of an eye all the remaining seven skeletons started to turn into powder. They struggled and shouted and iled all around but nothing helped them. All of them turned into dust in just a short period of time.

    Then Kadyn spotted Elora''s wounds healing on their own.

    "Undying Body?" Kadyn looked confused.

    "p! p!"

    Elora looked towards Lich King who was pping and frowned. "Bravo!" said the lich.

    Then Elora stiffened as the tremendous pressure fell upon her.

    "You said you would let us go if I defeat them!" she said.

    "And you believed me?" Lich King chuckled. "Aren''t you too na?ve?" he stood from his throne and descended slowly from the stairs. His sockets gleaming. "I have never seen Life Element so powerful. Never.. If I could devour you, I might be able toe back to life again, gaining my body; my eyes; my hand. Would I let go of such a chance?"

 Chapter 197 - Crybaby

    <style>#M785277ScriptRootC1274098 {min-height: 300px;}</style>

    "Is that so?" a cold voice said.

    "Who is there?" The Lich King flinched and tried to find the source of the voice. Nothing. There was no one. He could not find where the voice came from. He could not tell where the speaker was. He could not tell how he entered¡ªbut he could tell the person was ''very'' strong, for he could not even determine his location.

    As the lich was looking around Kadyn exchanged a shocked nce with his sister. They had recognised the voice. Though the duo was surprised and confused. They didn''t dare to show any emotions.

    "Don''t hide if you dare!" said Lich King when he failed to find the culprit. Then, he lifted his head, and the space ripped like a paper and two figures appeared from within. A man and a woman.

    "Who are you?" asked the lich.

    The neers, however, paid him little to no attention. They were gazing at the two youngsters on the ground. However, when they saw Kadyn''s condition, a glint passed through their eyes. Especially the woman, she clenched her knuckles until they turned white and started to make sound.

    "How dare you ignore this king?!" The Lich King became furious when they treated him like air.

    "I will treat him," the woman said. "Capture that bone frame." Before the man could reply, the woman was already beside Kadyn. Kadyn''s eyes widened, such speed was unheard of. He had never seen anyone move so swiftly.

    Even though he could use teleportation, it was nowhere close to what this woman had done. He looked at the woman in front of him; she looked no more than twenty years old. Her beauty was iparable. A kind of noble aura surrounded her.

    "Mother?" Though she looked far more beautiful¡ªand younger¡ªthan before and her face had changed somewhat; there was still some resemnce.

    "Don''t worry, child." Sylvia said with a motherly voice. "Mother will protect you."

    As soon as Kadyn heard those words¡ªhe didn''t know why¡ªhis tears started to flow. He might have not been that emotional if it was only him, but this time, Elora almost lost her life.

    "Mother¡­" he muttered once more, fearing that it was just an illusion. A kind of dream that people see before dying.

    Then he felt a warm sensation all over his body. He could feel his body recovering rapidly. His wounds healing, tiredness vanishing. "I¡ªis that really you, mother?"

    "Who else, child?" said Sylvia, and caressed his face lovingly.

    Kadyn looked at her and then embraced her tightly. He had no words to describe his feelings. He just feared that it was all a dream and his parents would vanish in a next second. He didn''t even realize; he was crying, all this time, drenching his mother''s shoulder.

    "It''s alright," Sylvia patted his back. She clenched her teeth in fury. She never thought the next time she would meet her children, it would be like this. She felt as if she had failed her son and daughter. She lifted her head and looked at Elora, who was looking at her, smiling.

    Kadyn also controlled his emotions and separated from his mother. "Wha¡ªwhat are you doing here?" he asked. "You should not havee here. The Lich King is very strong."

    "Strong?" Sylvia sneered. "Look at him. He is nothing but a weakling."

    Kadyn lifted his head and frowned. The Lich King was still standing, at the same spot, he had seen him thest time; and it has been quite some time ever since his parents had arrived. "Why he¡­"

    Then he found his father. He was also a lot younger than thest time he had seen him. He looked just as young as Kadyn''s mother.

    Sylvia eyed the Lich King and fury burned in her eyes. "A frame of bones like you dare to touch my son?"

    "Let me go!" shouted the skeleton. He was frozen due to some kind of mysterious power that Kadyn could not fathom. Though he knew that it was not magic, as he could not sense change in mana in the surrounding. "Or you won''t live, either."

    "Oh," Sylvia smiled, coldly. She looked at her husband who was standing with Elora. "Can you put some sense into his thick head, honey?"

    "With pleasure, darling." Darius vanished, and when he appeared he was already in front of the skeleton. He grabbed one of his skin¡ªand muscle less¡ªhand and pulled them off his body. The skeleton screamed and fell on the ground helplessly, screaming. Kadyn frowned. Lich were undead creatures, they felt no pain, so why the Lich King was acting as if he was in so much pain.

    "You father is using his bloodline," Sylvia replied when she saw Kadyn''s confused face. "He had sent a special energy inside the gem of the lich. That''s why the lich is feeling so much pain."

    Though Kadyn didn''t understand what his mother was talking about, he nodded, nheless.

    "Crack!"

    "Haaaaaa!!!"

    The skeleton screamed miserably. Even Kadyn felt goosebumps. Though he had seen Khrom torturing Mayor Palius in Avibria City, he could feel that Lich King was feeling far greater pain than him. His screams were too pitiful, but Kadyn felt no pity. Lich King would have not shown him any pity either, if his parents made it a bitter.

    "Stop!"

    However, at this moment, a thunderous voice sounded. Kadyn turned around and found that a group of people was standing not far away from them. He could feel a pressure that surpasses Lich King hundreds of folds. They were at rank 6. Around ten people. All of them rank 6. Kadyn felt a lump inside his throat.

    "It''s fine," Sylvia said when she felt uneasiness on Kadyn''s face. Only when he saw his mother''s confident face did he calm down. After looking at Lich King''s condition he could tell his parents weren''t ordinary people.

    "You want me to stop?" Darius grinned, and then prated the skull of the lich and grabbed a shining gem.

    "You dare?!"

    "Why wouldn''t I?" Darius said¡ª

    "Kacha!"

    ¡ªand then crushed the gem.

 Chapter 198 - World Snatcher

    "Now, what were you saying?" asked Darius.

    Silence.

    Everyone was utterly speechless. No one thought the boy who didn''t look over twenty years would be so daring. What baffled them even more was that he seemed very rxed, as if he was expecting their arrival. Or maybe he didn''t care about them at all.

    "Who are you?" asked the old man. He was holding a stick to support himself, eyes hidden behind the wrinkles, loose skin on either side of his face. His head was clean, not a single strand of hair could be seen at the top. However, Darius eyed this half-dead looking guy intently. After all, he was the leader of this group. "Who sent you?"

    "Who am I? None of your fucking business."

    "How dare you¡ª"

    The people behind the old man became furious, but the old man waved his hand, silencing them.

    "As for who sent me?" Darius continued. "I am the man of my own will."

    "Do you know the consequences of your foolish actions?" said the old man.

    "How would we know who is foolish until we try?" Darius shrugged his shoulders. "Do you wanna try?"

    "You are pretty arrogant, boy."

    "I know. What can you do about it?"

    "..."

    Even Kadyn waspletely speechless by his father''s arrogant and shameless attitude. He turned towards his mother, who was giggling all this time, and sighed. What had happened to his parents? Had they lost their minds, after getting power. Had they gone towards the darkside?

    Sylvia spotted his expression and said, "There is a very fine line between arrogance and confidence. What you did was arrogance; what your father''s doing is confidence."

    Kadyn turned red, but he didn''t know what to say. After all, his mother was correct. He was indeed being arrogant. Now, when he recalled what he did this time, he felt foolish. Elora almost lost her life.

    "Yuxir," said the old man, "go check if this youngster has the right to be so arrogant."

    "No, no," Dairus said. "I am just being confident, not arrogant. If we talk about arrogance, old man, it is you who is trying to do something beyond your abilities. Don''t twist your waist in anger. Might not be able to join your bones again."

    "Die!" a man¡ªYuxin¡ªdashed towards Darius. He was thin, to the degree, looking almost like a mummy. However, at this moment, he transformed into a giant. Long fangs protruded from the corner of his mouth, sharp and vicious looking. His eyes turned crimson red, and hair started to grow all over his body.

    "Dark Shapeshifter¡­" Kadyn muttered. Simr to the Dark Summoner who summoned evil creatures and needed to sacrifice humans to make progress, Dark Shapeshifters also needed human sacrifice. Furthermore, people would be almost like savage creatures in this transformed state, and if theypletely lost control, they would be nothing but a killing machine. Losing themselves in the bloodlust.

    Though Kadyn didn''t find it shocking. After all, it was Death Valley. One of the most feared ces on Pengo. The ce where all kinds of evil reside.

    Kadyn looked at the dashing gigantic beast whose hands had transformed into two sharp ws. However, when he turned towards his father, there was still a rxed smile on his face. ''And mom said I was being arrogant,'' he thought.

    Nheless, there was some worry as well in his heart. He was still skeptical about his father''s strength. He wondered if he would be able to defeat his adversary. After all, he was going to sh against rank 6 mage.

    However, at this moment, Darius waved his hand¡ªw¡ªtowards the enemy who was just a few meters away from him. To Kadyn''s shock, the w started to erge and be a few meters long, and then Darius mmed on the creature.

    "Boom!"

    Then it was silent again. When Darius retracted his hand, people gasped in horror, Kadyn included. The creature that the man had transformed into hadpletely disfigured. t like a paper. It looked as if a truck had crossed over a cat. Nheless, blood painted the floor red, metallic smell permeated the surrounding.

    People of Death Valley were also shocked, the old man looked at the minced-meat on the ground with wide eyes and then a shriek escaped his toothless mouth. "Kill him!!"

    So the remaining eight people attacked together. Darius curled his lip disdainfully. They were indeed dark mages. Even their honor and pride had faded in that darkness.

    He waved his hand and sent Elora towards Sylvia. "Take care of them," he said.

    Sylvia nodded. Still looking nonchnt, as if everything was under control.

    One of the men summoned a spirit that had half of its tongue out of its mouth. It had ragged hair, sharp fingernails, and its lower body was invisible. Another man summoned a huge skeleton. Many times bigger than the Lich King Darius had crushed just now. One of the men transformed into a dog¡­ all of them dashing towards a single man.

    ''Fuck, I am nothingpare to dad,'' Kadyn thought.

    "Boom!"

    Darius didn''t move from his position, and again waved his w towards his enemies. Erging again, bigger than before, the man who had turned into a dog was smashed into minced-meat like hispanion. The body burst like a watermelon and blood filled the air like a mist.

    Kadyn watched his father, taking care of all those super mages like it was nothing, with mouth agape. He never realized how cool his father really was. He always thought himself as the protagonist of this world, but now, it might be his father instead.

    As the spirit with its half tongue out neared Darius, the man curled his lips and cyan light discharged from his w. Before anyone could understand what was happening, mysterious cyan threads extended from his w and restrained the spirit. "A lowly spirit dare to attack me, a World Snatcher!?"

    And spirit shrieked before it was sucked into his w. His enemies tumbled back and looked at him in sheer terror.. How could someone be this powerful? Even peak rank 6 mage would struggle against theirbined attack.

 Chapter 199 - Killing Machine

    As the fight continued, blood puddled, feces rolled, limbs scattered, and bodies fell. It was a gory scene. Kadyn, who had seen all kinds of gruesome scenes, had also felt the urge to throw up, but suppressed the nausea. Elora, however, couldn''t hold herself and puked.

    Sylvia supported her and then sent a green light from her hand. Elora felt a calm sensation inside her body and head and then felt the urge to sleep, and then closed her eyes in Sylvia''s hands.

    She turned towards Kadyn who shook his head. "I''m good," he said.

    He looked at his sister and felt a strange feeling inside his heart. How did his parents be super powerful? He had the urge to ask his mother. However, it wasn''t a time, nor a ce. Since, now, they had united he would have plenty of time to ask about their experience. What kind of encounter could make someone as powerful as his parents?

    "Boom!"

    They turned towards Darius and found him crushing the head of thest man. The lich that one of the men had summoned turned into nothing but broken pieces of bones. Another man had summoned a beast of unknown origin, now, had also been lying at the corner. All of its limbs were torn apart from its body.

    The blood pooled around Darius. It was a gruesome, scary, ugly scene to look at. Brain scattered about, eyes open, horror written over their face. Some of them even looked confused. Though the blood and feces scattered all about him, not a single stain could be seen on his body.

    He turned towards the trio, and a smile appeared on his face. It was a rxed smile, if it was somewhere else. He didn''t look as if he had ughtered a group of people just now. He looked more like a butcher, who had killed a goat and now he was expecting a customer.

    Kadyn felt like an alien; just now he realized that he never knew about his parents. Not him, nor his predecessor. He felt fear. Fear that they would know the truth that he was not their son. Fear of losing family; fear of losing his loved ones almost overwhelmed his heart with anxiety.

    Suddenly a shadow shed and arrived in front of Kadyn, Elora and Sylvia. "You dare to kill my people. I will kill your loved ones. You''ll regret what you did!"

    Kadyn eyed the man with mouth agape. A savage-looking man appeared in front of them. He had yellow teeth, but what was shocking was that his face waspletely wrinkleless. It was hard to believe that he was the same old man who looked half-dead. Now, his body looked robust, nimble and his eyes shone with glittering light.

    Kadyn assumed that he was also using some kind of shape-shifting spell, but he had better control of his power than others. Furthermore, he was definitely stronger than all the people Darius had fought previously.

    The Valley Lord turned towards Sylvia and grinned dangerously. He was confident that everything was under his control. Though he said that he was going to make Darius regret what he did, he was just trying to capture Sylvia and others, so he could pressure open a road for his escape. After all what Darius did to his people, he realized that there was no way he could fight him honorably.

    Darius, however, showed no sign of panic. His face was nonchnt as if looking at a fly buzzing around.

    "A bad move," he muttered and shook his head.

    The man extended his hand, trying to grab Sylvia through her throat.

    "Be careful!" Kadyn shouted when he came back to his senses. The speed of this geezer had be far greater than before. Kadyn''s heart came to his throat. He wanted to rush and stop the man, but he could not reach. Once more he felt how weak he was. He clenched his teeth and screamed.

    However, just then a green light shed over her body and she waved her hand at the man.

    "p!"

    A sound echoed, sending the old man towards the bloody ground. The blood sshed as his body rolled on the slippery ground. He roared and sprang from the ground, his face was covered in blood; though Kadyn could not tell if it was his blood or the blood of his people. He was having a hard time believing what had just happened. His mother had punched rank 6 mage like a sack of rice.

    "You really are thick headed, old man," Darius shook his head. Then walked towards the man. However, at this moment, the man rushed into another direction. He didn''t even look back.

    Kadyn opened his mouth wide. Shocked at his cowardly escape. The old man acted so mysterious and powerful, but this was the result. For real.

    "Trying to escape, huh?" said Darius and shook his head disappointedly. Not expecting such a turn of event. He waved his hand once more. Simr to before cyan threads started to spread from his w and rushed behind the sprinter and then shackled him.

    He tried to struggle out of his shackles. He punched all around him. He screamed. But after everything failed he stopped.

    "What are you?" he said to Darius hatefully. "How could someone as strong as you exist in this world? Even the leader of the World Magic Assembly isn''t this strong. Who are you?"

    "None of your fucking business."

    "You¡­" the old man almost choked, hearing such a t reply. He red at Darius, but didn''t know what to say. He waspletely speechless and then shouted, "Let me go!"

    "Sure," said Darius and the man burst into a bloody mist, pieces of meat and brain and feces fell on the ground, painting the ground red.

    "No bulshit," Kadyn muttered. He thought, at least, his father would give him a chance to speak, but he was killed just like any roadside gangster.

    "Let''s go," Sylvia said.. "Your friends are waiting outside."

 Chapter 200 - Aunt Meeting Nephew

    "Umm¡­ So you are a vampire and also my¡­ aunt?" Kadyn asked somewhat ufortably.

    After taking care of everything in Death Valley they teleported back to the Ceston Empire. What shocked Kadyn most was that his father could also teleport anywhere he wanted, as long as he knew the coordinates of that ce. Though he said it was possible because of the shallowws of this world. Whatever that meant.

    Anyway, that''s how they arrived back to the Ceston Empire, and they were sitting inside Kadyn''s shop.

    "Yes." Eddena winked at him, and then burst into a peal ofughter. He was so cute. Her little nephew. Though she didn''t tease further, when Sylvia red at her, shrugging her shoulders resignedly. No fun. Her sister-inw.

    "So that bite mark on my neck was left by you?" Kadyn asked.

    "Ah, yes," Eddena said, as if recalling the time when she invited Kadyn into her house, for tea. "I wanted to check if you have a vampire bloodline."

    "And what did you find?"

    "Nothing."

    "And why''s that?"

    "Because," Darius said, "you have a far stronger bloodline that destroyed the vampire bloodline."

    "I see," Kadyn nodded. Then he eyed Eddena again. "Then why did you bite my mother?"

    "Your mother?" Eddena looked at Sylvia, confused. "I never did."

    "Don''t lie to me," Kadyn said. "I have seen the same mark that you left on my neck on my mother''s neck."

    "Ah, son," Sylvia interrupted. Her face flushed. "It wasn''t Eddena. It was your father''s doing."

    "Ahh¡­ what?" Kadyn and Elora were gobsmacked. The duo exchanged nces with each other. Unable to understand what she meant. That made Sylvia even more embarrassed. Redness deepened on her face.

    "Actually," Darius helped his wife, from this embarrassing situation, "I was trying to destroy my vampire bloodline, but I was still a vampire. So I needed blood to drink one way or another, or I would have lost control of myself. So Sylvia helped me as she didn''t want me to drink the blood of other people. Not especially women. She gets jealous of small things, you know."

    "What did you say?" Sylvia red at him. Dariusughed embarrassedly, but said nothing. Sometimes, it was good to remain silent.

    "Ah, I see," Kadyn nodded. He wondered if Cecelia also needed to drink blood from time to time. But she never made it obvious to him. Maybe she was afraid that he and others would feel disgusted by the prospect of her drinking blood.

    Then something urred to him, and he looked at his father. "You said I and Elora have powerful bloodlines that destroyed the inferior bloodline of vampires. But our bloodlines havee from you and mother, so why your vampire bloodline¡ª"

    "Actually," interrupted Darius. "We have sealed our bloodline inside our souls. Basically, it was stored inside our bodies in inactive form. Your bloodline on the other hand was always free in your veins, though still inactive, but not sealed. It would never allow other bloodline to exist together. And before you ask, let me tell you: though we had sealed our bloodlines, our children could still inherit it from us."

    "What about your names," Elora, who was silent all this time, spoke. "Why are you calling each other by different names?"

    "Because they are¡­ our real names," Darius looked at his daughter, fondly. "Our names given by¡­our parents." He looked pained when he talked about his parents. "Our names that were given to us before everything was snatched from us. Snatched from World Snatchers. Don''t you think it''s kind of ironic?"

    "Honey," Sylvia grasped his hand, looking worried.

    "I''m fine," Darius said, wiping the corner of his eye.

    Kadyn and Elora also perceived the emotional change in their parents, so they stopped prodding any further. One day, they will know everything eventually. They just needed to wait for the right time. No rush.

    At this moment Darius lifted his head and looked towards the window. "Aren''t you tired of hiding, child?"

    Kadyn and others eyed towards the window and to their surprise, a shadow rushed into the room. A bird. Burning with white light. Eyeing each and everyone in the room. It was beautiful.

    "Celestial me Sparrow. What a surprise," Darius smiled.

    "I¡ªI was just cu¡ªcurious, sir. I don''t have any other intentions."

    "I know," Darius said. "You are my son''s contracted beastpanion. So I won''t doubt your intentions. It won''t do you any good, after all."

    ''How did he know about it?'' Kadyn thought, shocked.

    Darius didn''t exin, however. "You don''t need to be afraid of us, child. I have some rtionship with your tribe."

    "Thank you, sir, for believing me," the bird said as it sat on the windowsill.

    "Come, sit together with us," said Sylvia. "How did you end up in this world?"

    Kadyn''s ears also stood up, as this damn bird never told him about it.

    "It''s been about twenty years since I came to this world," the bird sat on one of the couches, fire vanishing from its body and went on. "I failed my tribtion and fell into a rift. I thought I would die, but I arrived in this world. Due to the change ofws in two different worlds, I survived¡ªbut I lost my strength."

    Darius nodded. Then asked, "How is your tribe doing? Do you have any information about your tribe?"

    "After the World¡­" it stopped, the bird looked at Darius and rearranged her words and proceeded. "After our enemy won the war a thousand years ago, my tribe went into hiding. Like many other races. Our Ancestor died in that battle."

    "Old Sparrow died¡­" Darius sighed, looking sorrowful.

    Sylvia tightened her grip on his hand and said, "We will avenge him. One day. Each and every one of them."

    Darius nodded and licked the blood at the corner of his lip before anyone could see it.

    "D¡ªdid you know about our ancestor, sir?" asked the bird curiously. "But wasn''t it a thousand years¡ª"

    "There are many things beyond our understanding in this world, child," Darius said. "It doesn''t mean that they don''t exist. Anyway, why are you still in this form? You must be already capable of transforming."

    "Ah, yes," said the bird and started to change its shape.

 Chapter 201 - Alerathla

    Kadyn gawked at the bird as she changed her shap. In just a matter of a few seconds the bird turned into a beautiful girl. She had long white hair, and her green eyes were captivating. Her fair skin and that innocent face was enough to entrance any man. Her burst full and her figure slim.

    She adjusted the hem of her white dress and smiled towards everyone politely.

    "Holy¡­"

    "Language, Kadyn," Sylvia red at him. Though he swallowed the remaining word, he was still shocked. He had never thought that small bird was capable of transforming into such a charmingdy. Those beguiling rosy lips were dangerous. Very dangerous. His heart thumped in his chest furiously.

    "Control," said Eddena with a teasing grin. "Even I can hear your heartbeat. That red face is quite cute, nephew and that drool at the corner of your mouth. You are just a step away from bing a full-pledged pervert. Jump at her and you have achieved your target."

    Kadyn coughed embarrassedly and looked away from that charming and cute face. Damn, it was hard to look away. When he couldn''t take any longer he tried to peek from the corner of his eyes. ''So beautiful!''

    He was done for.

    "Such a beautiful girl," Sylvia smiled as she said with her soft voice.

    "No, you are more beautiful¡­" she blushed, but that dazzling smile told otherwise.

    Slyviaughed and asked, "What is your name?"

    "Alerat," replied the girl. Her voice was husky. Though Kadyn had heard the voice many times before, it was the first time her voice felt so sweet. ''Damn, these hormones.''

    "Good, I will call you Alera," said Sylvia. "You can call me Aunt Sylvia, or just aunt would do."

    "Ok, Au¡ªaunt Sylvia," her face flushed. With just one look one could tell that she wasn''t ustomed to such behavior. Nheless, her every frown and blush was killer. For a certain someone, at least.

    ''So beautiful.'' Kadyn continued to stare at her. Enchanting. Almost as beautiful as that girl named Aleera he met in Avibria city. ''Pah pah¡­ I need to get my mind out of gutter. Stop thinking about her.''

    "Good, child," said Sylvia.

    Kadyn also calmed himself and looked at his parents, asking, "You didn''t ask me about the shop and how did we end up in the Ceston Empire?"

    "We did," Darius smiled. "Not just to you."

    "Wha¡­"

    "Oh, ignore him," Sylvia said. "You have the inheritance of someone. You are guaranteed to be as strong as the owner of that inheritance if you follow that path. However,"¡ªshe stared at her son¡ª"remember, depending on shortcuts might let you achieve something, but if you want to achieve more than ''something'', you have to find your own path."

    "Should I depend on the shop or.. not?" he asked. His face was confused.

    "You can depend, but don''t be dependent on it. That''s what I mean. There is a long way ahead of you. Of course, if you have any intention to walk that path," Sylvia said.

    Kadyn waspletely baffled by what she had said, because he had no idea what she had said. Should he depend on the shop or not? He shook his head.

    Then he looked at his mother and asked, "Father is a vampire, and he is from Nightshade. Where are you from, mother?"

    "Like your father''s parents, mine were also killed," Sylvia said. Her face was expressionless. It didn''t look like she was talking about her parents, at all. Instead, about someonepletely unrted to her. Kadyn always thought that his mother was an emotional person. This was something new. "I have already avenged them by killing the murderer. It was the least and most I could do for them as their child."

    Kadyn didn''t probe any further. It seemed Sylvia didn''t want to linger on this topic. Though he was curious about what had happened, he suppressed the urge to ask another question. Some things better left unsaid.

    Then Sylvia and Darius exchanged nces. Both appeared somewhat hesitant about something. Kadyn noticed the hesitation on their faces. "What happened?" he asked.

    Darius looked at him and then towards Elora. "We are leaving."

    "Leaving?" Kadyn frowned. "To where?"

    Darius took a deep breath, Sylvia nodded, he went on, "We are leaving Pengo."

    "What does that mean?" Kadyn''s eyes widening in shock, looking at his father and mother, bbergasted.

    "Calm down." Sylvia grasped his hand, speaking, "Listen to your father first."

    Kadyn stared at Sylvia and Darius and nodded.

    "There are some things that we need to do in life, son," said Darius, gazing at Kadyn and Elora, fondly. "We need to free those who trusted everything to us. The people. Dear and honorable people. They trusted us once¡­ but we failed them. Not many people get another chance in life. Not like us. We can''t waste it, and we can''t let them down again. Never again. Furthermore, we have already reached the limit of this world. We can''t be any stronger here."

    "I don''t understand what you are talking about¡ª"

    "Look, it''s hard to exin. The more I exin the more confused you will be," said Darius. He thought briefly and said, "Why don''t youe with us?"

    "What?" Kadyn said, confused, staring at his parents.

    "You cane with us," said Darius. "I can take two people with me to the higher world, and Sylvia can do the same. You and Elora and Eddena and Alera. All of you can go to the higher world together with us. How about this?"

    "No, I can''t do that," Kadyn, however, shook his head. "Though I may be stupid sometimes; I may not be a good person. But I certainly am not an unfaithful person who leaves his friends behind. My friends. What would happen to all those people? Those people who left everything behind to follow me.

    "Though, previously, they followed me because of the benefits I could bring them. But as the time passed, I could see the change in them. They are not just employees. They are family. Should I leave them just like that? Never."

 Chapter 202 - A Poem

    The next day Sylvia and Darius departed. Together with Eddena. Alera also wanted to tag along with them, but without Kadyn it was not possible. She was bound to him. Darius and Sylvia also considered taking Elora with them, butter rejected the idea¡ªshe also voiced her unwillingness¡ªElora had already awakened her bloodline. She would only be stronger as the time passed. Darius also indicated that when the crisis of Pengo arrives, she would be the biggest help to Kadyn.

    Kadyn thought about asking his help to resolve the problem of Blood Tribe on Pengo. After all, his parents were super powerful. However, Darius'' reply was simple. "People of certain strength¡ªlike us¡ªhave some restrictions in the lower worlds. We can''t affect major events of the world, and if we do¡ªwe have to pay the price that we aren''t willing to pay."

    "But you destroyed the entire Death Valley," Kadyn asked.

    "Because you are my children, and no one can bully you," Darius had said. "I can afford that much burden. For you and for Elora."

    Kadyn felt warmth when he heard Darius'' reply. Though he did not understand what they were talking about, he could tell that they must have taken a huge risk by helping him.

    After that the trio departed, Darius gave him a warning before parting. "There is a vampire in your shop. Remove her bloodline if you can. Kill her if you can''t."

    Kadyn looked at his father''s serious expression and felt a graveness gripping his heart. He could tell that his father was implying something through this. Something important. something¡­ But he didn''t exin any further, so Kadyn could only guess. Nheless, one thing was certain: he wasn''t going to kill Cecelia, and that left him with an obvious answer.

    Kadyn sat on the sofa of the hall with every member of the shop. Except Kove and Melvona. The danger that was approaching would reveal slowly for everyone, but Kadyn wanted to preserve their innocence as much longer as he could. He won''t let them battle if he could battle on behalf of them. He would not let them take risks if he could take risks himself. He would train them for dangerous situations. The situation where they needed to fight, so they could fight.

    He eyed everyone in the hall one by one. "You have already heard some rumors of sorts, about Blood Tribe, I presume," he said.

    The group nodded. Kadyn saw a tinge of worry on Cecelia''s fair face from the corner of his eyes. "Cecelia." She looked up in surprise. "Do you have any information about them? After all, they are your ancestors¡ª"

    "The vampires have human blood as well," Cecelia replied sharply. Onlyter did she realize how loud her voice was, so she lowered her head and fell silent. Her hands interlocked with each other. She was patting her shoes on the ground continuously. One nce and Kadyn could tell how ufortable she was feeling for the moment.

    "Now, you don''t need to feel so awkward," Kadyn said with a smile. He could tell her mood. He just could. Maybe it was because of the system. Whatever the reason was, he knew her feelings at the moment. "We are just trying to collect some information about them so we could fight with them. So we could protect each other. Remember we are family, and I don''t want anyone to be hurt in my family. So. Can you help us?"

    Cecelia took a deep breath and detached her hand fingers from each other and lifted her head. "My Family opposed them together with a few more families," he said. "But we weren''t many so they destroyed us one by one. Simr to the Von Hagen House that your father belonged to. That ''you'' belonged to. My House was destroyed many years before, when I was just a little child. Though they destroyed everyone in my family from human to animal, I escaped with the greatest treasure belonging to my family. The reason many are still hunting for me."

    Kadyn nodded. He didn''t have any interest in the greatest treasure of her family, his attention was somewhere else. "So there are two factions in Nightshade¡ª"

    "No," Cecelia shook her head. She eyed the confused looks in the hall and exined, "There ''were'' two factions in Nightshade. Now there is only one."

    "I see¡­" Kadyn nodded in understanding. It seems Von Hagen was thest nail in the coffin. "What were you opposing for them to destroy all of you?"

    "They want to bring back the Blood Tribe," she said.

    Kadyn eyed her in surprise. Now they wereing to the main topic. He needed to know as much possible as he could. For if he wanted to fight them. "Can you, please, borate it?"

    "They think," she began, "when the Blood Tribees we would gain strength unthinkable by any human. We would be the ruler of the world."

    "What is the reason behind their im?"

    "They have books left by their ancestors that describe the ancient time¡ªthe time when Blood Tribe ran amok on the Pengo. The book details that vampires were soldiers of the Blood Tribe. When theymanded vampires, our eyes would turn crimson red and our bodies would unleash unthinkable force. Even a normal vampire could ughter rank 6 mage."

    Kadyn''s heart tightened when he heard her exnation. And when he joined it together with the warning his father gave him before his departure¡­

    "Then why did your family oppose them?" he asked. His expression turning stiff. His palm sweating. This was very important.

    "My ancestors also left something behind regarding Blood Tribe," she said. "A warning. Simr to other families, but different at the same time. A poem. Or you can say a story hidden in the poem."

    "What was it?" Kadyn asked. Others also looked at her eagerly.

    Cecelia eyed them and began to recite the poem:

    [Fallen from the void]

    [Looked at the summoner, annoyed]

    [With their destructive power, collide]

    [Robbing the shells, bing humanoid]

    [Mating the ves, to birth something that can be toyed]

 Chapter 203 - New Function

    Another month passed. In this time Kadyn earned enough points to upgrade the shop to the next level. Rank 4. The shop unlocked another function after upgrading. Now he could establish branches in different kingdoms and empires, all over Pengo. Though the Branch Manager needed to be at least tinum Rank employee and rank 3 mage. It wasn''t too hard as the shop already had quite a few people who fulfilled the requirement, already.

    Nheless, this was an unexpected but pleasant surprise. He already felt the need to establish the branches, as just a single shop wasn''t enough. It would take forever to upgrade the shop to rank 6, if they just work in a single ce. After all, now they needed an exuberant amount of energy points to advance.

    Other than energy points they also needed employees. So Kadyn started to recruit. He summoned Potioneer Yel and Elder Jyn from Avibria City. He asked even the Emperor of the Ceston Empire. Though at first he was stunned as if Kadyn was joking with him. To make the drama short, Kadyn challenged Kallus, and the poor guy didn''tst a minute in front of Kadyn. epting his offer after Ha tempted him with many benefits of the employee.

    Kadyn also recruited Ha''s brothers, after she asked him. Chief Commander Dyso and Commander Jareth and many others also became part of his shop. Many refused at first, as they were skeptical about Kadyn and his shop, or due to their pride. So Kadyn challenged them. Of course, Kadyn didn''t fight them himself and asked hispanions to show them the difference. It was Elora who defeated Dyso in a single attack, stunning everyone. No one else could stand in front of Cecelia and others.

    "So where are you going to establish the branches, and how many?" asked Cecelia. She was already a tinum Rank employee. So she was eligible to be one of the managers of a branch.

    In the past month Kadyn used many kinds of methods to remove her bloodline but he failed every time. Though he tried to use Blessing Element as well, and at first it worked, butter it also lost the effect. Kadyn concluded that he needed to be stronger if he wanted to remove her bloodline. Or the consequences would be dire.

    "First branch will be in the Ceston Empire," Kadyn said. They had already discussed it, so everyone nodded. "Second will be in the Magic Alliance."

    "Ah, actually," Elder Jyn said from the side. "There is no Magic Alliance now. All the kingdoms have decided to the break the alliance after that incident in the Shado Empire."

    "I see," Kadyn said. As he looked at the people in the hall, he saw Nefia whose eyes turned red when she heard about the Shad Empire. Slyff must have told her about her father. Kadyn turned towards Elder Jyn and asked, "Who is ruling the Shado Empire?"

    "Ah," Elder Jyn nced at Khrom and then released a deep sigh. "It is¡­ Elder Beor."

    Kadyn frowned. He felt as if he had heard the name somewhere before. Then his eyes went wide. "You mean¡ª" The man behind Khrom''s misery?

    "Yes, the same bastard," Elder Jyn continued. "He was already a peak rank 2 mage and just a few months before he became rank 3. As you know, such a figure is almost at the peak of the former Magic Alliance. So he easily became the ruler of the kingdom."

    "Boss," Khrom suddenly stood from his chair. His fist clenched, body trembling. "If you don''t mind, I would like to take charge of the branch in Shado Kingdom."

    "You sure?"

    Khrom nodded.

    "Alright then." Kadyn said. Then he looked at him. "But remember to not lose yourself in revenge."

    "Don''t worry, boss," Khrom said. "I will never forget who I am."

    Kadyn nodded and then turned towards others. "I am going to shift our headquarters to Vrs."

    Everyone looked at him with a shocked expression. Vrs was the most developed city on the Pengo. The city was ruled by the World Magic Alliance. It was standing tall at the center of the four continents. Every race on the Pengo could visit the city, without any restriction. Even vampires.

    The Rank 4 mages were asmon in Vrs as rank 2 mages in the Ceston Empire. Even Rank 5 wasn''t hard to find. Only rank 6 mages were the real deal. That was the reason everyone looked so surprised when they heard Kadyn''s n. He was just a rank 4 mage.

    "Boss." Dion walked into the hall as he said, "Mister Eugan is here. He has some information about the Bone Spear Tower."

    Kadyn exchanged nces with everyone in the hall and frowned. The Emperor was also present, but he seemed unaware of the information that Eugan came to deliver. Kallus spent most of his time in the Meditation Room, orpleting missions. He wanted to improve his employee rank as soon as possible. Maybe that was the reason he seemed ignorant. Otherwise he would definitely know something important.

    "Send him in," Kadyn said. Then a middle-aged man walked into the room. He was the n leader of the House Sweeder. He had also be the employee of the shop together with his two other rivals. Xod and Oswyn.

    Behind him were two youngsters. Eugan''s sons. Kadyn had some conflict with them in the past, due to business. Nheless, at the moment, two of them looked quite nervous as they eyed Kadyn. Kadyn, however, just smiled and gestured for them to sit. He wasn''t so petty as to hold a grudge against them when they had already be his allies.

    "What information did you want to convey?" he asked.

    Eugan eyed everyone, and then his gaze stopped on the Emperor. "Your Majesty, Tower Leader Wynfir is going to behead Morwag."

    "What?!" Kallus sprang from his seat as he looked at the man in front of him. "What happened?"

    "I don''t know," Eugan shook his head.. "One of my informants sent me that they have found that Morwag is our informant."

 Chapter 204 - Courage

    Kadyn stood¡ªin the Gubia Capital¡ªamidst the spectators as he looked in the distance towards the tform. A man was tied to the pole. His body was covered in blood that dripped drop by drop; though most of it had already dried, forming redyers on his face and exposed hands. His eyes were closed. It was hard to tell if he was even conscious. His clothes had been torn, revealing ugly wounds underneath. His breath was shallow and his face disfigured.

    Two men were standing on either side of the pir on which Morwag was hanging. Though they were wearing the military uniform of the Gubia Empire, everyone knew that they were from Bone Spear Tower. No one had the courage to point it out, though. Only misery awaited for those who defied the order of the king. It was hard to imagine what would happen if they went against the will of Bone Spear Tower.

    "It is all my fault," Kallus whispered beside him, clenching his fist. "I should have told him toe back when the Envoy of the World Magic Alliance had arrived."

    "It is not your fault," Kadyn said. "You can''t trust someone like Bone Spear Tower. Anyway, the time to remove them has arrived."

    "But the World Magic Alliance¡ª"

    "It is just a small part of Pengo," Kadyn said. "They won''t know what happened here even monthster. That is only if they did get the news. Though I doubt it. Even if they did, would they care about our petty problems when they are preparing to fight against a gigantic enemy that is about to descend on Pengo?"

    At this moment amotion broke out, and a luxurious car appeared. The driver hurriedly opened the door and a tall man walked out. There were two more cars from which other two men exited, joining the first guy, though they didn''t look as impressive as the first person. He had thick brows and broad shoulders and a long nose. Smile hung at the corner of his lips. Confidence? Arrogance? Maybe both.

    The man waved his hand, and the people stopped whispering. There were thousands of people gathered here. However, at this moment, not a single whisper could be heard. The fear. Yes, that''s what it was, fear. On the faces of the spectators. Because they knew the man in front of them.

    "He is Wynfir. The ruler of Bone Spear Tower," Kallus said, using Spiritual Communication. "The other two are his Vice Leaders. K''len and Janrys. K''len controls Poison Hall while Janrys controls Bone Spear Hall."

    "What about the king?" Kadyn asked.

    "Dead," sneered Kallus. "He was leading the army to attack Stanlow Town. Jareth was enough to kill him when they realized their tricks in the morning."

    "I see," Kadyn nodded. He turned his attention to Wynfir who had stepped on the tform on which Morwag was hanging by the pir.

    "Oh." Cecelia seemed surprised about something.

    "What is it?" Kadyn asked.

    "The guy," she said, pointing to a man, standing below the tform. "He was the man who attacked the border for the very first time. Remember the time when I informed you that my clone was killed by someone? He killed it."

    "I see," Kadyn nodded. Not paying much attention to the guy. He was just a low rank 3 mage. Not worth his time. Even Cecelia could kill him with a flick of her hand. She was at the brink of bing rank 4 herself, after all. She was just surprised to see him. Nothing else.

    Wynfir looked at the gathered people and nodded with a smile. "Today I have asked you to gather here," he said in his imposing voice. "For what, I think, you have already guessed the reason so I will make my speech short." He pointed towards hanging Morwag. "I hate to admit this, but this guy decieved me, and each and every one of us. We showed him kindness and gave him a position, but in the end he turned out to be a spy. Today, I want to make an example of this man. That no one¡ªno matter who it is¡ªwould be able to escape after deceiving me and the Bone Spear Tower!"

    "Oh," Kallus said from the side. "He intends to take control of the entire empire. That''s why he is speaking so openly."

    "Why didn''t he do so previously?" Kadyn asked.

    "It didn''t matter who was the king of the Gubia Empire in the first ce," said Kallus, "as Wynfir always controlled them from the shadows. However, now the time is changing. A terrifying enemy is about to descend. If he wants to recruit as many people as possible in his army, even if it is an army of cannon-fodders¡ªhe needs toe to light. That''s what he is doing. He doesn''t want to take any chances, so he is taking control of everything himself."

    "Staurious," Wynfir continued. "Take him down. I will give you an honor to behead him as our newest core disciple."

    The guy that Cecelia had pointed looked up in surprise and then a vicious grin appeared on his face. Staurious had always wanted to be a core disciple, and always envied them. Though now he had be one. He was always jealous of someone like Morwag who was a super genius with a high status in the Tower. Now he had the chance to vent his frustration, and he would do it dly.

    Staurious entered the tform as the two guards who were standing previously untied Morwag off the pir. He stood in front of the wounded and ragged and shivering body and kicked. "I feel pity for you. You did so much for your country, but see, what is going to happen to you. No one is here to save you. Really, a death of a dog. No one cares, not even its owner."

    Morwag''s eyelids twitched as he tried to open them, but due to clotted blood over his eyes he could not open thempletely. Anyway, he could see the blurry face of Staurious from the slits. Then he curled his swollen lips and chuckled, "I¡ªcough, feel really sorry¡ªcough, for you. The frustration of remaining always behind others. No matter¡ªcough, no matter what you do. Indeed, a life of a pathetic loser.. I would prefer death instead. Why are you still alive?"

 Chapter 205 - Courage(2)

    Staurious'' face flushed red. It was humiliating but true, and he knew it. Though Morwag was covered in blood, there was a grin on his face. A fearless, daring, and confident smirk. It looked as if he didn''t care about his life at all, and eyes, though swollen, were piercing. Staurious wanted to surpass this kind of genius, but he could not. That''s why he hated them. Why other got better talent than him. No one could be better than him.

    Morwag''s gaze could make anyone ufortable, and that''s what it did to Starious, and when he became flustered, he kicked the man on the ground. Morwag grunted and coughed a mouthful of blood, his body trembled in pain. Then he looked at Staurious and smiled. Not saying anything else. Just a look was enough.

    "Don''t waste any more time," said Wynfir impatiently. "Do what you are told to do."

    "Yes, Tower Lord," said Staurious hurriedly. He sweated when he felt Wynfir''s gaze setting over him. The viciousness in that gaze was enough to make people submit in terror. Even more so to those who knew his true nature. Cruel and uncaring. Vicious and twisted.

    Satuarious grabbed Morwag through his cor and dragged towards the center of the tform. The center was protruded. Made of stone. Staurious held Morwag''s hair and ced his head on the stone. Then grasped a sword that was ced beside the stone.

    "I think," Cecelia said, "he is brave."

    "I think," Elora, who was silent all this time, said, "he is tuff."

    "Told you," Kallus curled his lips pleasantly. He had told Kadyn that Morwag was a loyal and very courageous boy. However, Kadyn still wanted to check it out himself. He was pleased to see that Morwag didn''t break down in front of death. Not many people could remain as fearless as him. Kallus doubted if he would be able to remain as uncaring as him. Such bravery.

    "I think," Kadyn said, "we need to save him, or he is going to lose his head."

    They turned towards the tform and found Staurious was about to plunge the sword at Morwag''s neck. Kadyn nodded towards hispanions and then the group sped towards the tform. Kadyn was the first to reach the tform, as he used the teleportation spell.

    "Ptfff." Straurious, who was about to slice Morwag''s head, coughed blood, and looked down in disbelief. There was a w digging out of his chest. Dripping with crimson liquid. Then darkness formed in front of his eyes and his body copsed. Dead. Lifeless.

    "Who dare¡ª'''' Before Wynfir could understand the situation, an attack came from behind him. He jumped on the ground and sessfully dodged the attack. He turned around hurriedly as a ck spear appeared in his hand, giving a cold feeling. Bone Spear Rune could materialize outside. It was its speciality.

    "Kallus!" he shouted when he saw the attacker.

    Kallus was also holding a spear in his hand. Made of light entirely. Two of them lookedpletely opposite. Although Kallus'' spear was not made of his rune, it was a spell. Maybe a little weaker than Wynfir''s spear, but he could also cast other spells that Wynfir could not. Everything had its own advantages and disadvantages, after all.

    As the duo faught, Elora and Cecelia also arrived in front of their targets. Cecelia chose Janrys who was the leader of the Bone Spear Hall and Elora went after K''len.

    In just a matter of seconds Cecelia pinned down her opponent and then slit his neck. The blood gushing out and flooding on the floor. No one knew how she had done it as it was just too fast. Some of them whispered about a bat, but others just couldn''t tell.

    Elora took her time and exchanged many punches with K''len. The guy grinned disdainfully at first when Elora tried to fight him head on. He was a poisoner, after all. Enemy didn''t fight him close quarter. That was a death sentence. However, after just a few exchanges his face turned pale because no poison worked on Elora. It looked as if a child was trying to push an elephant. Elora grinned and then punched, and K''len''s head burst into a bloody mist. Though not a single drop of it fell on her.

    She turned around and found that a group of people was dashing towards her. Just a single nce, and they froze on the spot. No one dared to confront her, looking at each other, hoping someone would take the lead. No one did. She had just killed a peak rank 3 mage with a single punch. No one was eager to follow their leader. They could always earn money, but they had only a single life.

    She eyed in another direction and found that Kadyn and Cecelia had already dealt with their targets. After Kadyn had killed Staurious, many more came after him. So there was no chance of survival. Pieces of their body were scattered all about, metallic smell permeated the air. Many people in the audience puked before escaping from this ce. Kadyn and hispanions looked no different from a member of a Blood Tribe to them. Unfathomable and scary.

    There was only one battle left toplete. Kadyn, Elora, and Cecelia turned towards Kallus and Wynfir. The duo was having a tough battle. One holding a spear made of light and another was fighting with an eerie and ck looking spear. Natural enemies. Two of them.

    "You won''t be able to defeat me, like always, and you know that!" shouted Wynfir as he swung his weapon at Kallus. Kallus deflected without struggling too much. Kallus smirked and then his body scattered into small specks of light. A new spell. Wynfir had never seen this before, neither his spies told him about it.

    "You are too confident of yourself," Before he could understand anything a voice came from behind him. "Puchi!" and then a light burst out of his chest. Wynfir lowered his head and realized that it was Kallus'' spear. Bright and crimson.

    "How¡­" He could notplete his sentence as the darkness consumed his consciousness, and he slumped down. Hole visible at the center of his chest. His lifeless eyes still wide open.. Disbelief visible in his terrified pupils.

 Chapter 206 - Revenge, But Not At The Cost Of...

    Khrom walked as the cold, and stiff breeze rustled around him. He looked in front of him, a castle, was standing, glittering with lights. The castle had be grander than before he had seen thest time. The guards were still standing at the gates, looking all about for an infiltrator. Beor must be living quite an amazing life after bing the ruler of the kingdom. He had also seen many changes in Orddono Capital.

    Previously, many noble families controlled the kingdom and its economy. However, after Beor became the king, he took the direct control of everything. Not giving even a little power to others. He crushed those who opposed him, and captured their women, for the enjoyment of his officials. Raping them day and night. No one dared to oppose him after that. No one.

    "Damn, those girls of noble families are amazing. I wonder when I will be able to taste them," one of the guards said.

    "Don''t even think about that," another guard replied. "Only the captains or above could enjoy those beauties. We won''t even be able to touch them."

    "s, I know," said the first guard. "How amazing would it feel to ravage an arrogant and juicy daughter of a noble family. Don''t you think so?"

    "Of course, but we are ju¡ªWho are you?" the second guard shouted, suddenly. Others around him also noticed a suspicious guy, and rushed towards ''him'' vigntly.

    Khrom lifted his gaze and smiled. "Oh, hey, I am Khrom. Here to kill your king."

    The guards left stumped, eyeing each other with mouth agape, wondering if what they heard was correct. It took some time for them toe back to their senses. "Kill him," one of the guards¡ªmost probably the captain¡ªshouted.

    The soldiers reacted soon after hearing themand and rushed towards Khrom with their weapons. Some of them even cast spells without batting an eye. Khrom on the other hand curled his lips disdainfully and vanished. When he appeared he was in front of the man who gavemand, while other soldiers around them clutched their necks as the blood spattered and then slumped with thuds.

    The captain paled when he saw the scene. He gawked at Khrom with wide eyes and tried to say something. However, before he could make any sound, his head sliced off his shoulders, blood pumped out like a fountain. The body remained standing for a second or two before copsing. It twitched until the blood remained in the body and then became still.

    Khrom eyed the corpse for some time and then entered the door of the castle. Maybe they were innocent; maybe they also had families waiting for them. Maybe they were evil and had done lots of bad things. Maybe¡­ he was just trying to find an answer to justify himself. Khrom stopped, he turned back to look at the corpses and clenched his fist. Maybe they were no good¡­

    "Arghh, why am I giving an exnation to myself for killing my enemies?" he shouted, but then a voice said inside his head. ''Don''t lose yourself due to revenge.'' He froze.

    Khrom had promised Kadyn that he won''t.

    "I won''t," he said, his expression changed, as if he had been jolted by someone out of his deep sleep. He took a deep breath¡ª"I won''t lose myself"¡ªand then entered the castle. He encountered a few guards, but this time he avoided them. Though he could kill them easily, he did not. His heart didn''t allow him to do it.

    Maybe many of the guards were evil, and had done all kinds of wicked things, but that didn''t mean all of them were the same. If he killed all of them, there would be no difference between him and Beor, someone whom he hated the most in the world. He would turn into that man.

    He ''would'' not turn into that man. He ''could'' not turn into that man. He clenched his fist and spotted a group of guards standing at the entrance of the extravagant looking chamber. All of them were rank 2 mage. It was weird for a rank 2 mage to stand guards. Much less four of them. ''Is it where Beor lives?'' he whispered.

    And then he walked towards the guards. They noticed him very soon. At first they thought he was a servant in the pce, so they ignored him, but when he continued towards them, they became vignt. Because his attitude and walking style was nothing like servants. He looked more like an owner of this ce, instead. His glittering eyes terrified them.

    However, before they could react the man vanished. "Huh?" The group exchanged nces. Shocked and bewildered. "Find him," shouted one of the men. "Or we have to pay the price if he somehow disturbed the king. He may also be a rank 2 mage."

    Hispanions nodded and rushed to check in the hall. Only one guard was left behind, standing at the door''s chamber, guarding it. However, no one noticed a gust of wind that blew and vanished inside the chamber. The guards continued to look around but found no one.

    At this moment¡ª"Ahhhhh!!"¡ªa screech of a woman came from inside the chamber. The guards rushed towards the chamber, the one who was standing at the entrance waspletely frozen. He didn''t know what to do. To enter or not. The king would definitely punish him if he rushed inside his chamber without his permission. Maybe, he would lose his head. However, he had no time to consider such things and bolted inside the chamber. Even a stupid person could tell that something was very, very wrong. At first that unidentified man, and then this.

    Nheless, as the man entered the room, hispanions also arrived from behind. All of them looked at the corpse on the ground with horrified expressions. Their king was lying in the pool of blood, headless. The blood painted the intricate floor that was made of expensive tiles and arge bed on which a woman was lying, naked. One of the guards went and checked the condition of the woman and found that she had just fainted due to shock.

    "L¡ªlook at that!" said a guard. Others turned around and found that something was written on a huge mirror that was hanging behind them. They failed to notice it, previously, due to the blind-spot.

    The guards looked at the crimson letters¡ªmost probably written from the blood of their king¡ªwith frightened expressions.

    [BE WISE IN YOUR NEXT LIFE¡­IF THERE IS ANYTHING LIKE THAT....]

    The group exchanged nces after reading this, confused. Not aware that someone had just poured his hatred in those words.

    "What do we do now?" asked one of them, his voice shivering.

    "Should we wake up that woman and ask her about the guy who killed the king?" another of them suggested.

    "Do it, if you have a death wish, but I don''t want to die," replied hispanion. "The king was rank 3 mage, and he died before he could even make a move. If he wanted to kill us, we would have already done that. Isn''t that enough that we are alive? And you want to provoke that devil. Do what you like, I am out of here." Then he rushed out of the chamber. Others exchanged nces and also departed including the man who suggested an investigation.. No one wanted to die, after all.

 Chapter 207 - Dream Or Reality

    "So you really are from Acton Town," Kadyn said with a wide smile as he looked at Morwag. "I passed from Acton when I was traveling to Ceston Capital."

    The group was sitting on a dining table. Morwag''s wounds had beenpletely healed. Not even a mark could be seen on his body. Elora''s healing was beyond this world. Fast and effective. Furthermore, Morwag had already be an employee of the shop. He didn''t hesitate to ept the offer when he realized that Kallus was also a part of Heaven''s Door. Kullus had already been his idol after all.

    "Really?" Morwag eyed Kadyn with an excited expression and then sighed, "I wonder how my grandfather is doing?"

    "You know what, I have met your grandfather," Kadyn said.

    "What?" This time Morwag became agitated. His parents had already passed away from this world. His grandfather was the one who brought him up. He was the only family. His sentiments and feelings were deep for him. However, he could not give a better life to him even after all his grandfather did for him. His only regret.

    "Yeah," Kadyn nodded. "He seemed immensely proud of his grandchild called Morwag." Kadyn saw a pleasantly surprised expression of Morwag and continued, "At first when I heard your name I thought that it sounds familiar, only now did I realize where I heard it."

    "I¡ªI would like to visit Acton Town," Morwag said.

    ¡ª

    The next day Morwag went to meet his grandfather.

    Kadyn continued to make preparations of his departure from Ceston Empire. He had decided to leave Barret in the capital. After that he sent Slyff and Nefia to Ivrora Continent. The duo had already reached the peak rank 3 mage. Furthermore, no one could hurt them until they left the shop, and even then if they encountered some problem they could always send for others for help.

    Kadyn wanted to establish branches on Arura and lor. Arura was ruled by Elves while lor was the continent of Dwarves. However, Kadyn didn''t have too many tinum rank employees. Though Rayna, Zelie and others had also be tinum rank. Kadyn didn''t want to send them. After all, he didn''t know what kind of dangers they would encounter there. He didn''t want to lose them just for some profits.

    Nevertheless, it was just a matter of time before his influence reached the other continent. But the thing was that he didn''t have much time. The powerful enemies was about to escape his prison, and it would have pretty soon. He had just a year or two. Not more.

    Anyway Kadyn decided to settle with just three branches for the time being. He had also sent many people to those branches. Like Ha''s brothers, and the leaders of the three great families(which were initially four great families).

    ¡ª

    It was already midnight. Kadyn sat in the hall alone. He had already sent over 1/4th of his most trusted and most powerful people to other branches. He knew he needed to do this, but he felt a kind of hollow in his heart. Not that he always spent his time with them, but just the thought of them far away trying to establish themselves frightened him.

    He wondered if they would be able to aplish for what they had gone to other ces. He wondered if they would be able to face this frightening world all alone, but then again, if he could do that, others could also, maybe they would do even better than him. After all, all of them were better than him, in many ways.

    Slowly his eyes started to feel heavy, and he dozed off¡­

    When he opened his eyes, he was standing at the center of a battle. Blood flew like a shower, puddling on the ground. People rushed all around, screaming and shouting. He was shocked by the scale of this massacre. He never saw so much bloodshed. It was flowing like a fountain, thousands of corpses could be seen littered on the ground.

    The sounds of metal hitting metal reverberated. Smoke filled the surrounding area. He walked with frightened eyes, but stumbled and fell down. He turned around and found a head, eyes wide opened, frightened, lips dried, hair entangled with blood.

    Suddenly he felt a chill creeping behind his back and tilted his head on the right side. Smash! A fire spell brushed past his shoulder, if he was even a breathter, he would have lost his head. He turned around and found a creature standing in front of him. ck wings were spreading behind its back, eyes crimson red and two fangs were protruding from the corner of its mouth. ''A vampire?'' he thought.

    However, that thought shocked him even more, because as much as he knew vampires could not use any element except Dark. So how this vampire was using a fire element.

    "Oh, you dodged it," the vampire snickered. "It''s good. Otherwise, it would be too boring."

    Kadyn didn''t know what was happening, but he stood up firmly. The vampire revealed a wicked grin as the fire started to burn on his arms. Kadyn didn''t back down and dashed towards the adversary. He looked at his right hand and realized that his hand had be normal once again. The w had vanished. He was shocked. Then, he hurriedly checked his Magic Rune and realized that he had only a single element. Space.

    Though he was confused and bewildered, he had no time for leisure and used teleportation, avoiding the attack. Then he turned around and waved his hand, arge spatial de formed and sliced at the vampire. The vampire froze, and then a red line appeared on his body from head to the crotch, blood leaked and then he was divided into two symmetrical parts, falling into two opposite directions.

    Kadyn looked at the body for some time, confused about what to do next. However, at this moment, a shadow appeared, looming in the sky. Kadyn felt cold as it covered the sun. It was hard to see its figure clearly, and then it lunged at him; but at this moment, Kadyn opened his eyes. He was in the hall once again, covered in sweat, shivering.. He fell down the sofa, but he cared little about it and tried to take deep and long breaths.

    The Novel will be updated first on this website. Come back and

    continue reading tomorrow, everyone!