Chapter 52: Preparation

Although it was just a small process, Charles felt some invisible shackle disappeared all of a sudden! His senses became heightened, and he even perceived the surrounding areas more clearly.

Abel and Emilia also noticed some change appeared in his soul and became surprised.

"He really is Ranking-up," Emilia muttered solemnly and then glanced around to locate the Holem's Crown.

Meanwhile, Archbishop Abel scanned the surrounding area through his soul power and soon frowned.

"I didn't see the presence of A-035 nearby." He muttered and then shifted his attention to Charles.

"There is nothing wrong with his body. He is ranking-up perfectly, and the possibility of him turning into a Distorted Shadow is less than 10 percent." His words caused Emilia to widen her eyes in disbelief.

"What the hell do you mean by that? Are you saying that A-035 completely hide its presence from your scan and helped him rank-up already?" Emilia stood up with a serious expression on her face. Her face was now dripping in cold sweats, and she looked more nervous than ever.

"Holem's Crown might have the power equal to a Series-S Artifact." Muttering, Archbishop Abel also stood up and then added,

"It must have some ability to hide its presence even from a Rank-5 Mystic."

Emilia glanced at Abel for a moment and then nodded with a sigh. Today, she had heard and even witnessed an absurd scene in her life, which made her lose her calm completely.

While the brother-sister due was chattering, Charles calmly added one free attribute to the constitution and another free attribute to Wisdom.

A second later, a change occurred in his mind and his eyes.

His mind began to think faster at a much faster rate, and his eyes started to analyze even the minute details like a machine!

Charles instantly knew that his Wisdom attribute had already crossed a certain threshold and got stunned.

Hiding his excitement, Charles looked at the ten skill points for a moment and soon thought of ranking up one of his unique skills. He knew that ranking up his subclass was still not possible, so he instantly looked at his unique skills and soon fell into a dilemma.

'Hmm, should I increase my [Inspect] skill? Or [Conceal] skill?' He thought for a moment and soon added ten skill points to [Inspect] skill.

[Inspect skill has been upgraded!]

...

'That's it?' He raised his brows for a moment and soon checked his 'status window' bar.

...

[Name: Charles Nightwind

Health Status: Normal (Inflected by Amber's Curse)

Race: Human

Rank: 2 (Uncommon)

Main Class: Level 1 Fire Weaver (0/759)

Sub-class: Level 5 Trickster (0/506)

Title: Serial Killer (- 20 Percent favorability of Riverdale Citizens)

Health Points: 131/131

Exp: 1050 Exp

Attributes:

Strength- 14

Dexterity- 18

Constitution- 14

Wisdom-20

Charisma- 12

SP (Skill Points): 0

AP (Attribute points): 0

Class spells:

Fire Wings- 50

Incinerate-50

Flame Body-50

Crimson Robe-50

Burning Thoughts-50

Blue Cure-50

Crimson Steps-50

Sub-class skills:

Magician's Hand- 50

Clown- 50

Sixth Sense- 50

Unique skills:

Conceal- 50

Dark Vision- 44

Intermediate Dagger Arts- 50

Inspect- 60

Sharpshooting- 30]

...

'Good.' He curled his lips upward and opened his jade eyes.

"Congrats, Charles." Emilia also woke up from the shock when he opened his eyes and congratulated him with a smile.

Meanwhile, Abel also nodded his head and said in a solemn tone.

"Congratulations."

"Thank you, Team Leader. Thank you, Your Excellency. If not for your presence, I wouldn't have dared to think of ranking-up the Main-Class." Charles bent his waist a bit and thanked both of them like an honest kid.

After that, he asked them some questions regarding his 'Elemental Heart Creation' ritual and left the underground basement.

He then opened the locked entrance gate, took the classic black umbrella, and walked out of the Withering Shadow department before holding it above his head.

...

Mad House, 158C Amber Street, Nobles' Borough, Royal Capital, Arc Kingdom.

A three-storied mansion stood there as if the surrounding nature had embraced it, that the flora flowed within it as much as around it. The architect had loved the trees so much that there was a mighty oak tree in the center, centuries-old, and the great mansion had been built around it.

Under the oak tree, there stood a man in his late 40s. He wore a blue robe, a long green pendant around his neck, and two unique platinum earrings. He had long wavy blonde hair, wide-set oceanic eyes, a lean body, and appeared around 184 cm high.

If not for the slightly wrinkled face, he would have looked more like a handsome young man from the popular romance novels!

While he was standing in a daze, a pebble-like stone flew from the sky and directly fell on the glass tumbler placed on the table. The glass tumbler faced the fierce enemy with a ting noise and soon revealed cracks all over its body. A second later, the glass tumbler fell from the table and broke while spilling all the yellowish juices outside!

A look of puzzlement crossed on the blonde-haired man's face as he stared at the broken glass for a second and then narrowed his eyes in suspicion.

He then suddenly took an ancient-looking book from the table and started flipping the pages. The white pages fluttered in the breeze and soon calmed down upon reaching a certain page.

"Another variable? No, it's not just a variable; it's a big variation in the Fate itself," A frown hung on the man's wrinkled face as he stared at the page for a second and then closed his eyes.

A few seconds later, he opened his oceanic eyes and showed a doubtful look on his face.

"Charles ranked up? How did he do that?" He muttered loudly and soon grew solemn.

"He ranked up in just three months. Hmm, leaving him alone will only trouble me further." He closed the book with both hands and then shook his head.

"But killing him is an impossible task now. Tsk, nothing can be changed now. I can only send Daniel to lure the artifact away from the City and seal it in the 35th Chaos Rift for a day."

After saying those words, the blonde-haired man sighed heavily and then sat on the nearby chair.

...

Meanwhile, Charles entered the dome-shaped Life Church, done his usual prayer, and purchased few things in the market street using 10 Life gold coins he got as a payment. He first went to a bread store called Dream Pie and purchased a few packs of dry bread, dried meats, and dried fruits for one gold coin and 50 silver coins! He spent a total of 150 silver coins on food and went to a dress shop.

He then purchased few leather jackets, tent fabrics, a few inners, linen shirts, and leather shoes for one gold coin in the dress shop and then stored everything in a large leather bag. After that, he walked out of the market road, situated in Olive Street, and went to 45 El Street.

Once he walked inside the compound gate, he tapped the space ring, stored the leather back into it, and then went into his house. In the reception hall, he saw Eve sat on the ornate sofa while holding a towel in her hand and seemed to be waiting for his return.

"I'm home." He said as he placed the classic umbrella near the porch and walked inside.

Upon hearing his words, Eve also stood up from the sofa, turned around, and walked in his direction with a smile on her face. Once she arrived in front of him, she gestured him to lower his head and started drying his hair using a white towel. Once she finished drying his head, she put the towel on the nearby rack and said,

"Remove your shoes before walking in."

Nodding, Charles removed his black leather shoes, put them near in the corner, and then wiped his feet on the doormat. After that, he walked on the chilling tiled floor and moved towards the spiral staircase.

After he climbed up the stairs, he went to his bedroom, took a long bath in the shower, and soon walked out while covering his lower body with a brown cotton towel. Charles then changed his cloth into short pants and a brown shirt and lay on his wooden bed.

He then placed his head on the spare pillow and then fell into deep thoughts.

'Everything is prepared. But it's not time yet. The only worry in my heart is the [Astrologer] class mystic. He will definitely show up on October 2nd and try to capture A-035. But he will most likely show himself by the end of the day... Unlike other mages, I can construct my spell models quicker. So, I have a big advantage-' While he was in muse, he suddenly heard Eve's call from downstairs and sat up in a hurry.

He then checked the time using the pocket watch and soon noticed that it was already 1.00 P.M.

Shaking his head, he stood up from the bed, went near the wooden door, opened it from inside, and walked out. After that, he went downstairs and soon walked into the dining hall. Eve and Saron were already seated in their seats and waited for him to sit on his own seat.

Once Charles walked near the chair, he pulled it a little and sat on it without making any loud noise. After that, he placed the napkin on his lap and then waited for Eve to do the serving. As usual, Eve stood up from her seat and started serving the foods like fried meats, fully fried eggs, roasted beef, and a bowl of vegetable soup.

After serving those, she also took a large jug from the center of the table and poured white sparkling Champagne into three glasses. Once she did all these servings, she returned to her seat, clapped her hands together, closed her eyes, and started doing a usual ritual to thanking the Goddess Nira for giving the gracious food.

Saron and Charles also followed her action and joined the prayer. But Saron didn't utter the divine name of Goddess Nira when chanting and thanked the Wisdom God instead.

After they have done the usual prayer, all of them skillfully picked the fork and knife and started eating.

Charles sliced the roasted beef into three parts, stabbed his fork into one piece, raised his hand, and put it in his mouth. A mixture of spicy and salty taste entered his mouth and gave a unique taste to his tongue. Due to pepper powder sprayed on the well-cooked flesh, Charles sniffed two times to smell the unique aroma and took another bite. After munching it for a while, he gulped it down and took a sip of Champagne.

"Awesome food, mom." He commented in praise and soon asked,

"Did you find anything odd during these past few weeks?"

Eve paused her fork in mid-air, wiped her mouth using the napkin, and spoke,

"Nothing unusual. I also noticed that abnormal coincidences are not happening these days."

'Now that she mentions it, I also didn't encounter any familiar person often. Does Addie Baker is the one who caused those abnormal coincidences?' A strange thought appeared in his mind.

'Am I thinking too much in the past few weeks?' He took the napkin from his lap, wiped the corner of his mouth, and took another bit of roasted beef. He then turned his gaze towards Saron White and asked,

''Lady Saron, you are not a Rank-2 Mystic, right?''

After his Rank-up, Charles had already cast [Inspect] skill on Saron and saw that the inspect skill had been failed.

'It means her wisdom attribute is above 20.' He raised his eyebrows and stared at her in suspicion.