The man whose hood Noah removed was—for lack of better words—deformed. His pale, elderly face was covered in black lines, like a spiderweb, resembling sickly, swollen veins that slithered beneath his skin like snakes.

  Noah frowned at the sight, unable to comprehend what he was looking at. But he could clearly sense the presence of divine energy moving through those black veins.

  ‘blood?’ Noah deduced, though he wasn't certain.

  The old man in servant’s attire from earlier hadn’t displayed such symptoms, despite the divine energy around him being denser than in the man Noah was currently examining. So why was this one so disfigured?

  ‘Maybe they obtained a source of divine energy in a way that wasn’t directly granted to them by a god? But that doesn’t explain how they can use it—if they even can. The fact that they’re alive while it flows through them is shocking enough.’

  Despite all of Noah’s thoughts and attempts to draw logical conclusions, he simply didn’t know enough. Even with everything he had learned over years of wandering, he hadn’t been able to grasp higher, divine knowledge like what lay before him. His goal of learning more about himself hadn’t progressed much, but it had led him to the Empire.

  That wasn't exactly Noah’s intended goal, but it was a start.

  Noah turned his head to look at Eyolian above him. He had almost forgotten about her. But when his eyes landed on her, he found her expression utterly shocked. She hadn’t even bothered to hide her reaction from him.

  Noah frowned. Does she know something? Does she know about this? But he couldn’t just ask her—she would only mock him. And right now, he wasn’t in the mood to deal with her sarcasm. So instead, he refocused on the unconscious man, preparing to touch the divine energy in hopes of understanding it better.

  That would have been a risk if he were in the human body that "Winter" had crafted for him, but in his soul form, he was immune to it for some reason. "Winter" had confirmed this during his brief time with her—she herself had been both ignorant and curious about it.

  Noah reached out to expose more of the man’s skin, but Eyolian’s voice stopped him.

  "Stop!" she ordered, her tone leaving no room for argument.

  Noah turned to look at her with a frown, about to voice his thoughts, but she spoke first.

  "It’s not safe… to touch that. I… never mind. It’s dangerous to touch it. You’ll die."

  Noah’s frown softened slightly, and he replied, "Don’t worry, I won’t die."

  Without looking at her again, Noah resumed what he was doing… or at least tried to.

  Eyolian kicked the body away from him, sending it tumbling into the middle of the lake, where it slowly sank.

  Noah stared at the lake, his face frozen in shock. His mouth opened and closed multiple times, but no words came out.

  Finally, he reached his breaking point and turned toward Eyolian, who was watching him calmly.

  "You annoying, insufferable little girl! Why in the damn gods names did you do that? Why… why… I… Where am I going to find another opportunity like this?! You—" The words seemed to fail Noah, but the biggest reason was the expression of pain on Eyolian’s face.

  If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.

  ‘Why the hell do I feel guilty for yelling at her?!’

  "I saved your life, and this is how you thank me?" Eyolian snapped in her own burst of anger. Mana flared from her body, but she kept it controlled to avoid alerting anyone. "You would’ve died a pathetic death in some corner of the world if I hadn’t intervened. And just because I stayed calm with you, you found your voice to yell at me… You…!" She turned to leave.

  But Noah quickly stepped in her path. Something about her words didn’t add up. 'What did she mean I would die in some corner of the world? Wasn’t she worried about me touching the black veins?'

  "Wait a second!—"

  Before Noah could finish his sentence, Eyolian swung her hand to push him aside. But unfortunately for her, her hand simply passed through him.

  Her eyes widened in slight shock, but she quickly controlled her reaction and started leaping from branch to branch, ignoring Noah as he chased after her.

  "What did you mean? Why would I die from that? And in some corner of the world? I told you, touching that man’s divine energy wouldn’t have harmed me…" Noah kept speaking into her ears as he followed her.

  Though she looked annoyed, she didn’t respond.

  "Why do you have to be so stubborn?!" he said in frustration.

  Surprisingly, that was what made her stop.

  Eyolian turned to Noah with displeasure and said, "Why should I listen to you if you won’t listen to me? You think you’re better than me, better than everyone else, just because you keep your secrets and know things others don’t. You’re not better than me. You’re not better than anyone else. Sure, there are things you know that I want to know. But there are also things I know that you don’t."

  Although Eyolian said those words to Noah and meant them, she had also said them to herself. She, too, saw others as lesser than her. It was a weakness of hers, and she was aware of it.

  But unlike Noah, she wanted to change that about herself—to see others for who they truly were, despite how difficult it was. At the very least, she was trying, and that was why she had stopped.

  She still wanted to mend what could be mended with Noah. Despite their differences, they were similar, and that was something she both appreciated and resented. And she hoped that Noah had enough sense to stop as well—to do better.

  "I’m sorry," Noah said. Though his expression didn’t change.

  Regardless, Eyolian wasn’t going to push further. She had done that before, and it had led nowhere. "Apology accepted. Now, keep your end of the deal and tell me what you learned from that man. I’ll answer your questions after. Also, I killed him by detonating his heart with mana. Don’t ask me to go back for him."

  Eyolian leapt from a tree branch to the ground below, leaning against the trunk and waiting for Noah to stand— or float, or whatever— in front of her.

  When he came, he watched her for over a minute before speaking.

  "I didn’t learn anything. If I had touched him, I would have learned something, and I would have shared it with you. But that won’t happen now since he’s dead!… And like I said before, touching his divine energy wouldn’t have harmed me. Your concern was unnecessary, but I appreciate it… I guess."

  Eyolian rolled her eyes at Noah’s words, which clearly sounded irritated.

  "who’s the childish now?!... And for your information, unlike you, I don’t doubt every word you say. If you say you’re immune to divine energy, I won’t stop you from touching it or whatever. Of course, I doubt the truth of your claim, but I won’t stop you from trying."

  Noah was about to ask, 'Then why did you stop me?' but Eyolian beat him to it and continued, "I stopped you because the moment you touched those black things, whether you learned something or not, you would have alerted the bigger head. Even if it doesn’t seem like it, the divine energy in that man is connected to a larger network controlled by a greater mastermind. I saved your future, and your response was to curse and insult me."

  Noah watched her for a moment longer. If her words were true, then she had indeed saved him from bigger trouble. She stared back at him in return, her beautiful face seeming to demand an apology.

  But all Noah thought about was the fact that she knew more about this than he did. He wanted to ask her about it, to share her knowledge with him, but he was sure she would make it as humiliating as possible. That is, if she would share anything at all.

  He was truly helpless when it came to dealing with her. But he was also somewhat grateful—however that worked.

  Would Noah apologize now?

  No. Hell no.

  One reason was that he didn’t want to lose to her in whatever battle they were having. And the second—

  "Eyolian!"

  Eyolian’s smile twitched slightly, expecting an apology.

  "I’m about to save your life now!"

  Eyolian’s smile turned into confusion. And before she could voice her thoughts…

  "The servant in black that you seemed so interested in… as if you almost knew him!"

  Eyolian’s confusion turned into a frown. How did he notice?

  "He’s heading toward the lake."