“…of the Bluesoul clan…”

  “…too much…”

  “…not up to us…”

  “…but…”

  “…just do as you are told…”

  “…no reply…”

  “…Raythorn… ask the Arias what they mean…”

  “…reinforcements…”

  “…my brother…”

  “…those bastards…”

  “…kill them…”

  “…patience…”

  “…plan carefully…”

  “…worse than death…”

  “…the clans behind them…”

  “…leave the…”

  “…what about…”

  “…do as you wish…”

  “…wait… something’s wrong…”

  “…What is it?”

  “…The flow of air… the presence of a Mystery… Someone is spying…”

  Alnea held his breath, while continuing to maintain the Shelter of Light, as he quickly made his away from the base camp of the Lotus clan, throwing his pursuers away in just a few moments. He had come on a whim, never thinking that he would actually succeed. How stupid were those people to discuss their plans out in the open?

  Then again, with how scheming the Wanderers of the Lotus clan were, it could also be a trap. It would not be the first time they tried to trap him with their words anyway. And the way they had begun talking about their plans out in the open, as they had passed by him, prompting him to follow behind them, was too deliberate. There was definitely something wrong with the information he had just collected.

  A hidden pitfall, or maybe even trap designed against him. What exactly were the Lotus clan planning? To stop him before he entered the inner city? Why? What exactly were they afraid of? Was it because of the legacy of the city? Did they think that he could inherit the city’s legacy? He surely did have a chance…

  In any case, even if they thought that he might succeed in inheriting the city’s legacy, would it not be better for them to watch him succeed, and then force the legacy out of him? Were they so sure that they would not be able to catch him? So why were they still antagonising him? An Orthodoxy’s stubborn pride, or something else entirely?

  Regardless, for their trap to succeed, their words had to be mixed with a hint of truth. Only then, would there be a chance for him to believe their words, and fall into their traps. Though he had to admit, he was indeed tempted by their words. If he did not know better, he might really have fallen for their trap. If it was a trap, that is.

  Even if it was not a trap though, he was not naive enough to believe their words completely. From his experiences, he had learned that unless the situation was urgent, it was best not to act on information that had yet to be verified. And though what he had heard did make it sound as if the situation of his team was grim, the danger was not urgent. Not only did the Lotus clan have to wait for the reinforcements of their clan, but they also had to wait for the promises of their allies.

  Neither of those were things that could be completed in a day or two. At the very least, there was still enough time for him verify the information. On second thought, with how biased he was against the Lotus clan, it was best if he left the verification to Vestia. He was not sure if the anger in his Heart would allow him to think objectively. On that note, he probably should also have not taken the task of spying on movements of the clans in the Northern District.

  Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

  Shaking his head, subduing the errant thoughts into the depths of his Heart, Alnea glanced around to make sure that he had left the Wanderers of the Lotus clan behind, before dispersing the Shelter of Light, and continuing his task. Roaming around the city to observe the flow of Wanderers, and see if he could find any clues regarding the movements of the clans.

  For instance, the Wanderers of the Oniya clan seemed to be unusually active recently, always running around the city, and going out into the desert almost every other day, while the Wanderers of the Bluesoul and Arias clans seemed to have fallen asleep, barely taking part in the activities of the city. The latter information even conformed with what he had heard from the Lotus clan. But that was not enough.

  What if the Lotus clan was trying to distract him? After all, there was no contact between the three clans on the surface. Maybe the two clans were trying to preserve their strength. He did hear some rumours about outstanding juniors in their clans, who had the potential to enter the inner city. Were they gathering their forces to help their juniors obtain the city’s legacy?

  Forget it, Alnea thought. His task was only to collect information. It would be for the best if he left the job of reading into the information and coming to conclusions to the professionals. Though he probably would have to learn something about drawing inference from the collected information at some point or another. But he was not in the mood at the moment. Maybe after he dealt with the Lotus clan…

  After roaming around the city for roughly a couple of hours, Alnea met up with the rest of his teammates at the Blood Hall, and had his dinner. A hearty, and sumptuous dinner. One that made him feel guilty of taking advantage of the Blood Hall. Eating roughly three to four times than others, while still paying the same amount of one Blood Coin…

  It was the Blood Hall’s fault for keeping the price so low, Alnea told himself, as kept devouring his dinner. After a while, when everyone was done, they made their way back to their mansion, chatting and laughing along the way, talking about inconsequential things, while teasing each other. Especially Vestia and Cecilia. The two could never leave each other alone.

  Back in their mansion, everyone went back into their rooms, and delved right into their training. Practising his Glyphs, in Alnea’s case. He did have to make up for his somewhat lacking foundations. When compared to his proficiency with his Martial Styles and Arcanas, his proficiency with his Glyphs was indeed on the lower end. Or else, he would not have struggled so much to complete the Trials of the Scholar Hall.

  Of course, he could also use the excuse of not having an Advanced Stage Glyph to cover up for his mistakes, but he was never the kind of man to make excuses. It did not matter if he had just reached the Advanced Stage, and could not carve any Advanced Stage Glyphs onto his Spirit yet. He had no intention of carving any Advanced Stage Glyphs onto his Spirit anyway. Though he might have to change his mind if he wished to clear the Peak Stage Trials perfectly in a couple of months…

  In any case, he did complete the Trials perfectly, and even earned some Medals in the process. Had his proficiency with his Glyphs been higher, he probably would have done even better in the Trials. At the very least, he would not have had to struggle so desperately. Recalling the way he had completed the Trial earlier in the day, and how exhausted he had been, Alnea could not help feeling a little dissatisfied with himself.

  And so, when he got back to his room, he took out a Glyph Disc and a Carving Knife, and began practising his Glyphs. Winds of Annihilation, Water of End, Fire of Doom, Last Earth, Black Lightning… One by one, Alnea kept carving all the Glyphs he had mastered onto the Glyph Disc, before erasing them and beginning anew.

  He was not satisfied with practising just the Glyphs though, and went a step ahead, and trying all sorts of combinations to create new Glyph Arrays. That was his chosen path, after all. The path of an Array specialist. One of the most complicated paths for Scholars, and a nigh endless one at that. Yet it was also the path most suitable for him. The path that could help him create miracles…

  After he was done with his Glyphs, Alnea put away his Glyphs Disc and Carving Knife, before meditating to recover his Spirit Power. What followed next, was a quick visit to the Mirror World, before another round of meditation, with the blood red wisps of energy seeping into his body helping him to recover as soon as possible. He was not hasty in his mediation though, taking his time to adjust his Heart, clearing away all the stains and irrelevant thoughts, subduing what he could not, before finally stepping into the Origin Sea, and braving its wild reaches.

  Constantly defending against the attacks on his senses, while trying to grope his way around the bright and colourful world of endless fantasies, dealing with the naughty Aspects while he was at it, Alnea spent roughly a couple of hours in the Origin Sea, until his Spirit Power was almost completely exhausted, before returning back to his Domain, and then to his Spirit World, where he was greeted with the warm and cheerful welcome of the Aspects he had already tamed.

  Facing his Aspects with a smile, Alnea played with them for a while, soothing their restlessness lest they trouble him at unexpected moments, before leaving his Spirit World, and beginning another round of meditation. With how high his Spirit Power was though, by the he completely recovered his Spirit Power, another couple of hours had passed, leaving him no time for himself once again. Not that he was complaining. It was just that he would have liked to spend some time with Yuri and Cecilia, like he used to…

  Maybe it was time to consider how to ‘compensate’ the girls for their contribution to the team, Alnea thought, as he got up from the ground, and stretched out his limbs to get rid of the numb feeling flowing in his veins. Should he ask for their opinion? What if they ask him to spend some time with them? Break his training schedule and follow their wishes? Although that might affect his rhythm a little, if they insisted, then there was nothing he could except fulfil his responsibilities.

  “…That’s right,” Alnea mumbled, as he made his way out of his room. “I am just fulfilling my responsibilities…”