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 successfully 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 place 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—it 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 as compared 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 become 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 Formula 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 a larger quantity!

This was certainly due to the upgrade. After all, his mediation ground had already reached the level of Spell Casters—on 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→ 9]

Not even ten minutes passed, and a star awakened. Purple lightning gathered on his body, whizzing and fizzing, but he didn't feel uncomfortable and continued to drive it into the Lightning Elemental Pool. Around fifteen minutes later, 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.

——

While Kadyn was immersed in Mediation, thousands of miles away from him in a dangerous wilderness, two shadows flashed, dashing through the woods in the murkiness of night—a 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. "According to the mana fluctuation I have felt from them—one 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 according 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 accompanying 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."

Magnus laughed at her words mockingly. It was 'he' who destroyed his strength. And now he wanted that power back to slaughter his enemies. He believed that if anyone knew this truth, they would laugh 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—realising that the woman he loved so much was crying—and groped her round butt tightly. Salona cried out loudly at Magnus' action and bit his ear furiously. "Ouch," he yelled, but then laughed. "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—with 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 his companions and jabbed with full force, as out of nowhere a black dagger formed in her hand.

However, that man wasn't easy prey, either. Before her dagger could reach him, a large shield appeared in his hand and blocked the attack. Just as he thought that he had blocked the attack successfully, his face paled in terror, because the woman in front of him started to become illusory and then faded completely. "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 succeed.

[Author's Note: Nightshade is kingdom of vampires]