When Illyan came out of the building, he took a deep breath of fresh air while covering his eyes with his hand from the light that almost blinded him.

  He hadn’t realized it before, as he woke up inside, but the air there smelled funny because of their dutiful work during the entire night.

  Now, when he came out, he felt the sweet air of the mountain range to be especially refreshing.

  He also thought about the night yesterday and how blissful it was to y with beautiful dies. It felt like a dream.

  However, wasting time wasn’t his style, and so, with a fast gait, he went back toward the center of the city where the others were.

  Despite choosing to spend time with Vanda on a whim, it paid off for him. Not because he finally lost his virginity in his thirties, but because she gave him a hint.

  Something had happened on Korin’s side, and she needed to go there to help. It meant that she definitely wasn’t just some nobody. He already knew that much, but the verification was very much appreciated.

  It also meant that this kind of ritual or whatever wasn’t just situated inside the city.

  If what Aurelia said right before her blood seal kicked in was true, then they were pnning on sacrificing people inside the square to open those damn doors.

  ‘However, there were people from both gangs and even the colleagues Korin collected. They wouldn’t throw them all away, right?’

  Illyan thought deeply. If Korin wanted to throw him away after one use, then he would not need to bind him down with a contract.

  ‘So there should be a way to avoid this. Firstly, I need to find how they want to perform that blood ritual. Then a way to counter it—No. In the first pce, why should I?’

  Now that Illyan thought about it, there was no reason to stop it unless it affected him.

  He couldn’t care less about the rest of the people inside the city.

  Only the kids he met for the first time had some kind of retionship with him, so he thought about helping them a bit. That was, as long as he didn’t have to pay too much. He wouldn’t risk his life for them.

  Instead, as long as he was sure he could survive this, he could exploit as many benefits as possible from this…

  ‘For example… stealing that inheritance…’ Illyan’s eyes shone with slyness and greed. He wouldn’t push it, but if the opportunity fell right into his arms, then he would be a fool not to grasp it firmly in his hands, right?

  ……..

  ‘Where is that ss? I need to consult the next steps with her,’ Illyan grumbled to himself as he looked for Aurelia.

  She was the only dependable ally in this pce that he could share his troubles with.

  He chose not to think too deeply when it came to her condition.

  People were dying every day. It was obvious some of them were people he knew. As long as they kept their beneficial yet distant retionship, there would be no reluctance on his part.

  Of course, if the inheritance could revive even dead people like others said, then it wouldn’t be impossible for her to survive.

  However, if it wouldn’t work, then it’s a pity since he finally felt at ease around someone, but it couldn’t be helped.

  “Hey, Kaoran!” Suddenly, someone called out to him from a distance.

  There, Garran waved at him with a weird grin on his face.

  ‘What now?’ Illyan inwardly rolled his eyes but decided to humor him since he couldn’t find the girl for now.

  Without any words, he came closer to the slightly chubby man and greeted him. Even though Illyan was slightly annoyed, he didn’t show any of that on his face.

  “Good morning, Garran. What is the matter?” As he didn’t want to waste time, he asked straightforwardly. But he had a bad feeling when he looked at the silly-looking apprentice merchant in front of him.

  It was not a dangerous premonition but something just very annoying…

  “Hehehe, as straightforward as ever. I just wanted to ask, as friend to friend… How was st night? Did you have fun?” Garran guffawed when he saw the bnk expression on Illyan’s face.

  ‘Ah… so this is about it…’ Illyan’s thoughts came back to the memories of yesterday’s night and his escapade with Vanda.

  While they were mostly acting low-key, they were still walking arm in arm when they left the square. It wasn’t surprising that someone noticed them and deduced something out of it.

  “It was fine, I guess.” Illyan, who had nothing to hide, just shrugged his shoulders. From Garren’s expression, he knew that if he tried to change the subject or hide information while being ‘embarrassed,’ Garren would become unbearable and mock him.

  While Illyan wasn’t someone to lose control over himself just because someone was mocking him, it would still be irritating.

  So, he just didn’t show any weakness as he nodded at Garren’s words, thus confirming it.

  Garren, who didn’t expect that, showed a surprised expression and sighed.

  “You are really different… I made a bet with Terren that this time you would definitely show an embarrassed expression. But there was barely any change in you. It makes me wonder if you can even feel emotions sometimes, hahaha!” Garren ughed loudly, but Illyan noticed the reluctance in his facial expressions.

  ‘He probably bet a lot of money on this, huh. You shouldn’t bet on something where you have literally no guarantee of winning. Serves you right…’

  Illyan felt that this was truly absurd.

  “So Terren was also part of this bet? Do you believe me if I say that I have concoctions on me that can make you miserable for a very long time?” This time, Illyan showed an ‘unfriendly’ expression as he narrowed his eyes.

  If he didn’t stare at them a little, they would think he was an easy target and annoy him even more. They were already adults, yet they were so childish. Was this the result of having a good childhood?

  If so, then he needed to put them into their rightful position.

  When Garren heard this, he showed an awkward expression.

  On the other hand, a sudden noise resounded behind the caravan that was next to them.

  Soon, an embarrassed Terren showed up from behind in his guard uniform as he ran toward them.

  “H-haha, I am sorry, Kaoran! We didn’t mean it in the wrong way!” Terren’s face, which was already crimson red, turned one more shade darker as if he would fall to the ground any second.

  Illyan just cast a side gnce and sighed.

  ‘These guys really have too much time on their hands.’

  As he was thinking about how they should focus on their jobs, they started bickering about who started the bet.

  This irked Illyan even more, and he sternly stopped them.

  “Stop the ruckus. Instead of wasting your time doing this, you should do something useful for once.” In the end, Illyan wasn’t in the mood to have a lengthy conversation with them, so he only scolded them a little before going to look for Aurelia once again…

  When Illyan had already left, Terren turned his face to Garren with an anxious expression.

  “I told you that we shouldn’t do this! Now he is angry! W-what do we do? We need to apologize—”

  “Terren, you are really naive! If he was really angry, then he wouldn’t advise us even now. Sigh… He is really collected and mature. I guess that’s when you grow into a man…”

  “Garren! Stop the rubbish!”

  “What? He basically confessed! So there’s no need to guess. He really got lucky, that guy…”

  Garren grumbled in jealousy. Now that Nord and Cara had ended up together, he, Terren, and Illyan were supposed to be the lone dogs.

  But Illyan betrayed them so suddenly!

  “I mean… Kaoran is much better looking than us… It should be obvious.”

  “Don’t say it like that!”

  And so, two childhood friends, bonded through loneliness and jealousy, continued bickering, not knowing that Illyan’s hearing was powerful enough to hear them despite being already far away…

  …….

  ‘Those guys… Is it really so important to get a woman? It was definitely a ride I do not regret, but it isn’t something you can’t live without… Well, I guess they have different priorities. Vilgers always marry as soon as possible.’

  As Illyan reminisced, he felt another gaze on the back of his temple.

  The gaze wasn’t hostile, so Illyan didn’t hesitate to look back at the source.

  High in the clouds, where the peak of the citadel’s tower stood proudly, a woman was sitting on its edge as if she didn’t fear falling at all while staring at him.

  ‘No wonder I couldn’t find you…’ Illyan muttered to himself. Even with his eyes, he had problems seeing that high. If he didn’t focus his entire mind on it, he wouldn’t have noticed her.

  The Gondorian buildings were that impressive. Everything was tall and big, yet sturdy, as if it couldn’t be destroyed at all.

  ‘Now that I think about it… The walls in Winterfrost look simir. Are they imitations, or was Winterfrost a city of Gondoris before?’

  His eyes shone with a small golden light as he narrowed them…

  …….

  Since the building was inaccessible to anyone, Illyan had to climb the tower from the outside.

  This was the first time he climbed this high, so Illyan felt a certain exhiration as he looked down. Not even the highest trees he had climbed upon reached a third of the height of this tower.

  The wind blowing against Illyan’s face was chilling and coarse, but he didn’t mind at all. There was nothing to worry about when climbing for him.

  In fact, climbing was already deeply engraved into his body as he skillfully relocated his weight from one limb to another while grabbing tightly onto every jut or cavity in the tower as he swung himself up.

  The only thing to worry about was hiding his presence from people on the ground.

  However, at some point, he was so high that normal people would have trouble seeing him. Of course, Illyan, being cautious, still chose to climb from the side of the building where people in the square wouldn’t see.

  “You are here.” At st, he heard a soft voice as he finally reached the peak of the tower.

  “Hufff… You are really hard to get along with.” Illyan compined as he gasped for air. Despite his stamina recovering quickly, it was still difficult to do something like this in one go.

  “You should have used blood energy or flow.” Aurelia covered her mouth with her slender hand as she ughed.

  “I could, maybe, but then there would be a chance of someone noticing.” Illyan grumbled as his breath soon evened out.

  Aurelia looked surprised at this for a moment but didn’t say anything.

  Instead, she commended his cautious nature.

  “You are really different. While most acolytes think simirly and don’t show off too much, they are still far behind the attitude you have.” She looked genuinely impressed by his thought process.

  But Illyan wasn’t proud. Not because he was being humble, but because of his reason for being cautious.

  “When I barely know anything about my enemies, it is always best to prepare for the worst,” Illyan said as he sat down next to her.

  She already knew that he was mostly ignorant of the magical side of this world, so it didn’t matter to admit this.

  “Hehe, I guess that’s true too. Well, I wouldn’t be afraid too much if I were you. You have no mana while the blood energy, mind power, and flow are internal powers that are usually easily hidden if not used. Acolytes are mysterious to normal people, but they are still just ‘apprentices.’ That’s why the old sages named the power stage ‘Apprentice Stage.’ Even if it is an outdated way of ranking strength, it still shows a lot of knowledge these ancestors of ours had.”

  Aurelia expined calmly as she waved her dangling feet over the edge.

  “Hmm… I see.” Illyan nodded.

  He knew that the thirteen stages weren’t used that often on the Oberuan Continent.

  The Mortal Stage wasn’t acknowledged at all, for example.

  It made Illyan feel annoyed but at the same time excited that there was so much to learn yet.

  “Don’t worry, I will teach you everything I can. We made an oath, after all.” Aurelia smiled at him.

  Illyan frowned. How could she smile like that when she was rotting from the inside?

  He sighed before asking her a question.

  “Since we made an oath, it means we are allies, right?”

  “Yes?” Aurelia showed confusion as he asked such an obvious question.

  “Since that’s the case, then we should join forces.”

  “Oh?” The confusion on her face melted as if it hadn’t been there in the first pce, and she showed an ambiguous smile. She wasn’t a fool, so she could guess Illyan’s intention.

  “You are quite a greedy one, aren’t you?”

  “Being greedy isn’t a problem. In fact, without greed, I wouldn’t achieve anything. You only need to be in control of that greed and know your limits and when to stop,” Illyan said with a small smile.

  “So you think this is within your limit?”

  Aurelia was really curious why he looked so confident.

  But she didn’t expect what he would say next.

  “No. I think that it is within our limits. As long as we work together, we should be able to do it.”

  Obviously, what he was talking about was the inheritance of the Eternal Gondoris’ alchemist. She needed it to survive, while he wanted it to get stronger. The other competitors were both their enemies too, so it made perfect sense to join forces and get it together…

  Seeing him like that, Aurelia’s smirk disappeared from her face as she stared seriously into his eyes.

  But Illyan didn’t dodge and kept eye contact.

  In the end, it was Aurelia who got embarrassed and turned her head away.

  “It will still be dangerous.”

  “I thrive in dangerous situations anyway. And you also don’t have anything to lose, right? There is no resignation in your behavior at all.”

  What he said hit Aurelia deeply. Before, she had weak thoughts about surviving.

  But she didn’t take it seriously. She was too weak. In fact, it was all the fault of that disease. If not for it corroding most of her body, then how would she be so weak?

  However, drowning in despair never crossed her mind.

  Her grandpa didn’t raise her like that. Life was one of the most precious things someone could have.

  She clenched her fists.

  But then she released them as she elegantly ughed and teasingly asked back.

  “You say that, but didn’t you dance yesterday in that bitch’s hand?”

  Hearing the venomous words, Illyan was surprised.

  “Do you know her?”

  “I have my suspicions,” Aurelia said with a snort.

  Illyan’s heart sank. If she was someone that even Aurelia took note of, then maybe his secret was already out.

  “You don’t need to worry too much. She probably felt part of your life energy and used that time when you pyed together to take some, but she probably doesn’t know too much. From what I know, she was heavily injured in the past and lost most of her means.”

  Aurelia expined, albeit with annoyance.

  Illyan sighed in relief as he smiled.

  “Then it’s good. It was worth it.”

  “Worth it?” Aurelia’s brows violently went up as she stared at him.

  Illyan gnced at her.

  “Yes. I finally know why she bothered me so much. I also found out that she left today because there was a mishap on their side.”

  Illyan expined this while Aurelia calmed down. She didn’t care much about the fact that he id with a woman, despite her being an enemy. However, she could tell that he decided to let off steam because she showed him her weak side, which was unforgivable!

  She knew from looking at his face back then that some traumatic things happened to him in the past and he was now unstable. She wanted to comfort him the moment she took care of her injuries, but who would have thought that he would already be in bed with that bitch?!

  How could she not be annoyed?

  Seeing her like this, Illyan decided to change the subject as he asked her.

  “Do you know what they are doing outside the city?”

  Aurelia narrowed her eyes when she saw his clumsy attempt at diverting attention. But then, she chuckled. She wasn’t someone who would hold a grudge over silly things like this.

  “But of course… They are setting up the four nodes of Blood Star,” Aurelia said with confidence.

  Then, she pointed her finger down.

  “One of Korin’s ckeys is setting up the main array, ‘Blood Sacrifice of Thousand Stars.’”

  When he looked down, he saw only small dots that were the people doing their own stuff. It would be too hard to see anything else.

  But Illyan felt that when he focused his mind power, he could truly see the grooves that Arun was maintaining. When one looked at them from the ground, they didn’t look special, and most people would think they were part of the sewer system.

  However, looking from above, Illyan could see the geometrical shapes covering the entire square, shaping a circur array around the citadel…