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 free labour like you, hmm?"

"Spirit Contract?" Artisan Hot Rod almost screamed, looking at Kadyn with tearful eyes, almost pleading. Leader Barret and Potioneer Yel exchanged glances, the duo could see a pleasant expression in the eyes of each other. As the saying goes, hardship comes 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 glanced at Kadyn with his pitiful eyes that were completely ignored by the latter. "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 chair comfortably as he sipped the tea through the rim of the cup that Rayna had made for him.

"Wow, so beautiful!" a peal of laughter sounded from the distance. Kadyn smiled as he looked at Kove and Melvona running behind butterflies, trying to catch them and exclaiming 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 playing. 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 dog last night." Kadyn said and smiled at his sister. "Did you have a nightmare or something?"

"Don't play with me. I know you very well."

Kadyn gave a hollow laugh but didn't comment 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 dollars 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 become 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 become 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 overcome their shortcomings.

….

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.

Kadyn laughed 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 placed his hands on his ass and cursed. "It's hard to sit for hours in a single place."

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 a commotion 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 this commotion 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 village after village, 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. "The last city he destroyed was Zhodon."

"Zhodon?" Kadyn said with a surprised look. The city where Artisan Ironclad 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.