The next morning.

Old Sam’s shop.

“I spent the whole night on them. “said Old Sam as he presented two shining silver gauntlets. He continued: “If you gave me more time I would have done a better job. It’s a pity.”

“They fit me perfectly. How much do you charge for these?” Nilus asked.

Old Sam was thinking: “How can I charge the Silent Owl for two measly gauntlets? If this gets out, my reputation will be ruined.” He sighed as he saw the stern glance that Cale gave him: “A thousand gold coins will do.” He thought of the lowest believable amount he could think of.

The ignorant Nilus paid and they finally left under the puzzled gaze of the old midget who thought: “Maybe he is a noble who never went to a blacksmith's shop on his own before. He can’t be that stupid not to realize that he got them for the cheapest price ever.”

Outside Violetmill city.

“This is the map of the country. Where do you want to disappear to?” Cale asked as he unfolded a map before them.

“Hedgebourne city in the Wood province. That Jeffrey guy said that he has an interesting job for me.” Nilus said.

“I see. He must be after new recruits for his bounty hunter division. His branch specializes in that.” Cale explained.

“The same job as a normal assassin?” Nilus asked confused.

“For the Assassin guild, a bounty hunter tracks and kills assassins who used their status to steal from the Assassin guild as well as killing fellow assassins for the right to claim a bounty that is not theirs to claim. He must’ve thought that since you are being hunted by assassins, it is the perfect job for you. “Cale said.

“That Jeffrey has a good sense of humor. How do we track them?” Nilus asked.

“Even I who works for the intelligence division do not have that information. You must be a member of the Bounty hunters division to know. All I know is that all assassins are afraid of the bounty hunters. It is not easy for the intelligence division to completely find out an assassin’s identity but the bounty hunters have an efficient way to do so.” Cale explained.

The Light province in which Violetmill city was located was right in the middle of seven other provinces. Of all the eight provinces of Greenwick country, the Light province was the only province in the middle and was connected to six provinces. All the other provinces were connected to another country as Greenwick was land-locked.

“I guess I will have to level up slowly this time. There is no way a bounty hunter’s job will allow me to eat more souls than I just ate in the last hunt.” Said Nilus as he urged his horse to speed up.

Cale who had caught up said: “Not necessarily.” He added: ”There are many bandit groups everywhere in the country. You can just take a contract on their chief’s head and kill all his subordinates before you get to him. It will be justified. Besides are you not the hero who’s been helping the poor and the oppressed all over Violetmill city for years? There won’t be any difference with the other cities as well. I am pretty sure the nobles have some shady aura harvesting facilities like the ones you dismantled.”

“You knew what the nobles did and never did a thing to save those poor souls. I never said anything about what those places were for.” Nilus said as he stopped his horse.

Cale did the same and came back. He said: “What happened in their lives is not my problem. Where do you think nobles get their power from? And where do you think that they get their gold? You think the king is such a good Samaritan? Let’s not waste time arguing on this and hurry to Hedgebourne city.” He immediately turned around and his horse galloped as fast as it could. He did not want to say something that would lead Nilus to the royal city and launch a one-man attack on the King.

Nilus was no fool but still needed proof. He had made many conjectures about the mastermind behind the aura harvesting facilities and the King was one of them.

He ignored the conversation and hoped to stumble upon a bandit group on the way. He had grown jealous as he saw the fast way he had improved Cale’s bone dagger to the 6th stage.

He wanted his own gauntlets to reach the same level for now. He reckoned that it would take him a few years to even dream of having both gauntlets at a satisfactory stage unless he found himself in the middle of another hunt in which he could kill at his leisure. For the time being, he was focusing on the right gauntlet.

He had been channeling his aura inside the right gauntlet from the moment he got it and a core had started forming. It was still far cry from the 1st stage.

As if God had heard his prayers, a group of twenty-three bandits attacked them. He got his gauntlet to the 1st stage but still had a gloomy face. It was still useless.

It took them three days to reach Hedgebourne city. It was just before the gates closed.

The guard was lax and even more so towards to unknown assassins who had covered their faces. It was as if there was no need for them to even be there.

They led their horses toward the city gates.

Hedgebourne city was a city of the same caliber as Violetmill city.

They rested at the most luxurious inn for the night.

The next day, they were leisurely walking through the streets of Hedgebourne city as they headed for the Assassin’s guild branch.

“Do we even know if had the time to arrive at his branch?” Nilus asked.

“Jeffrey is a Shadow envoy. I know from my master that his body is at the 8th stage. He doesn’t need a horse to move around. His aura is at the 9th stage. He can sustain flight for a while by condensing wings. It can take him half a day to get here. He could have arrived before we even left the city.” Cale informed.

“Isn’t that a bit too much?” Nilus asked.

“You own father is stronger than him. He is an Asura level. The higher the stage you’re at, the more difficult to find the resources needed to level up, you know that. Being a good assassin can allow you to get there. As for your father, he is a loyal noble but he earned every bit of his strength by working for the king. The king needs fighters when the time comes for a war, he lets the nobles reach the Asura level and keeps them there. Your brothers and sisters must not be far from that level as well. The Asura level is a threshold that cannot be passed without the corresponding resources. Even if the nobles cheat sometimes, it is impossible to reach the eleventh level and above in any area. Only the royal family can.” Cale said.

“In short, the Asura level is reaching the 10th stage and Jeffrey might die without ever reaching it.” Nilus said.

“It’s not like we all eat souls like a certain somebody. Your path to the divine level is already assured if you decide to kill anything you see. Hopefully, you’re not mad enough to try something like that.” Cale

They had arrived.

As they entered, Nilus noted that the atmosphere was the same as the branch in Violetmill city.

Everyone had their faces covered except for the smiling Jeffrey in the middle of the hall. It seemed that he could not wait to see them.

He advanced towards them as if he already knew who they were. There was a woman following him.

“I was sure it was you.” Jeffrey enthusiastic voice was heard. He coughed in an embarrassed manner as he said” I took the liberty of recording your aura signature when you were fighting last time… A bad habit of mine… “He then turned around and gestured the woman behind him to come forward and presented her:” This is Black rose. She will be your new squad member along with two others, Elena and Davis. They will be here soon.” Jeffrey said before either of them had a chance to introduce themselves and state their business.

Even Cale was scared that he was seen through so easily.

Nilus was just surprised to hear that there were other tracking abilities similar to his mind soul mapping. He could see souls and auras in a radius of two hundred meters. He was only wondering how recording an aura signature worked compared to his ability.

Nilus then looked at the hooded Black Rose. He did not know that he and Cale would end up in a squad so soon. If that happened, some of their plans would be postponed or carried in secret.

She wore a mask as well but did not fail to reveal most of her body which contradicted with the idea of hiding one’s identity. It’s not like her unscarred long legs, arms and chest could be identified. Some connoisseurs could surely recognize her without her face.

As Nilus thought it was fortunate for him to check her out under his mask, she looked his way. He could guess that she was smiling.

“Is that a kind of tracking ability?” Nilus could not understand how he’d been seen through. He could tell her facial features as well as her thoughts that were reflected by her soul’s facial expression. His ability to spy on others was real and almost unmatched, but hers seemed weird.

“Sir, you never said that there would be another tracker in our team.” Black Rose whispered to Jeffrey.

Jeffrey appeared surprised and asked: “Oh…Are you sure? Which one is it?”

“The one on the right. I just caught a weird power scanning me coming from him. Is he at the 7th stage of aura enhancement?” She asked.

“No idea. I only know the energy signature of Stewart’s apprentice. I knew they would be coming together.” Jeffrey said then added: “I just recruited him after I watched him forcing Stewart to use his aura during their fight. He never used his own aura and simply outwitted Stewart who was three stages above him in physical strength. It is quite a feat considering Stewart’s experience. That’s why I knew that he'd survive the army of assassins waiting for him outside.”

Black Rose showed a thoughtful look and asked Nilus: “Can you show me your aura?”

“What for?” Nilus immediately adopted a defensive approach. He did not want any accident to occur with his weird soul eating power.

“There is nothing to worry about just show it to her.” Cale who had been close to Nilus during the eruption of the green aura knew that it appeared normal on the outside and could even be appraised.

Nilus willed a wisp of his green aura to appear on his index finger. Since the end of the refinement during the eruption, he had grown to learn that his aura automatically leveled up at the same time as his body. Every soul he ever ate was refined by the green soul core. The green soul core was where the aura stayed and up until now, it needed the power of 5th stage body to show itself just like an aura weapon did. For every soul he eats, the soul core took a portion and sent the other to the body so they’d level up together.

“That is the 5th stage. How can you develop a tracking ability two stages below the required level?” Black Rose exclaimed.

“A tracking ability?” Cale asked.

Nilus was not surprised and thought: “So she found out. I wonder how I am getting out of this one. I wish I told Cale of all of my abilities before we set out, but it seems that even him has no idea what a tracking ability is.”

Jeffrey took a serious face, which was funnier than his happy face and said: “ She just told me that you also have a tracking ability. Coming from a tracker like her, I have no choice but to believe in my apprentice since her talents are better than mine. There are many abilities when it comes to aura enhancement. As you reach the 7th stage or above in any area, it will manifest itself, but that is almost for the chosen ones. For the majority, they will wait until they reach the divine stage for their ability to manifest itself in all areas. It is rare for the ability to appear at the 7th stage. Too rare. Yet you have one at the 5th stage. It is impossible. It has never happened in the entire history of humanity.”

Nilus could feel the label of a creature of the dark being almost placed on him. He had to find a subtle way to eliminate their suspicions: “How can you know it never happened before? I am the living proof.”

“So you do admit that you have a tracking ability?” Jeffrey's voice was even more pronounced.

Cale wanted to hit his stupid friend. All Nilus should’ve done was deny everything and he would have been fine.

“What can your ability do?” Black Rose finally asked. She was itching to know what kind of tracking ability could be caught in the act of being used. Even a tracker being tracked would never know until he was face to face with another tracker.

Nilus sighed and said:” I can see auras if I close my eyes and concentrate. It is like a second sight.”

All three immediately stilled.

Jeffrey was almost going for his weapon as he was stopped by Black Rose.

Cale who had heard the same thing was already clutching his bone dagger.

Multiple hidden aura encircled them inside the halls. Jeffrey’s act of reaching for his aura weapon had attracted the attention of the guards who had come as if summoned.