"Well, well, Wilberforce! You are even more suited than I thought."

Armad frowned. House Wilberforce had once ruled over the entire seven worlds. That was before the Decent, right now, all they had was a big mansion and, probably, a hundred or so slaves. He'd only known four members of the family: his sister who had gone missing two decades ago, his father and grandfather who were both dead, and then his mom.

The House was actually gone with the missing of his sister, who was actually the only one with astounding talent. His mom still fought, but she had an average talent like that of his dad. Armad might have had a brighter future with his grandpa if the man had stayed alive for a year longer. Honestly, Armad didn't even know why people still bothered about them.

Babara maintained his smile. It was difficult to discern what was going on in his head. After what seemed like forever, he threw a bottle at Armad.

Armad caught the bottle midair and immediately widened his eyes. "An Air Potion?"

Babara nodded proudly. Air Potions were potions that had an extremely low boiling point: they evaporated in seconds if left open. Making an Air Potion amount to having an exceptional expertise in alchemy. "That bottle contains an Air Potion worth a thousand diamonds. Your mother suffers from a longevity disease. She needs that potion and one other thing."

"What other thing?"

"Uh oh, not so fast. The other thing is difficult to procure even for me. It's only fair that I ask something in return."

Babara gave Armad a meaningful look.

"What do you want?"

"I want you to find the man called Triple-factor."

Armad's jaw dropped. He raised both his brows and shoulders. One just wasn't enough. "The... Triple-factor?! You want me to find the Triple-factor?"

Babara nodded vigorously, darting his eyes to the ground as if it wasn't a big deal.

"As if that's even possible. How the hell am I supposed to find the most wanted man in all the seven worlds? Are you in it for the bounty?"

The First World had put an insane bounty on the man, yet, the man had remained elusive for the greater part of the century.

"I didn't ask you why you want to save your mother, so don't ask me why I want the Triple-factor. Listen, Armad, you don't have to literally find the Triple-factor, if you bring me any reliable information about his location, I'll give you the other part of the cure."

"And why do you think a sixteen-year old boy can find the most mysterious man alive?"

"You are a Wilberforce, aren't you? I was told you are a lucky bunch."

Armad fell silent for a while. First, there must be some reason why the man would send him on such a quest. Second, he'd very little chance, if any, of finding the man.

But it all came down to one thing: what other choice did he had?

"How far are you willing to go to save your mom?" Babara asked.

"As far as I can." Armad said with a stern voice. He pointed at the bottle in his hand. "How long do I have before this expired?"

"Your mother needs that for nine months, after that, her life would depend on the second part of the cure."

"I have money, if you want I can compensate for it."

Babara shook his head. "The only thing I want from you is Triple-factor or his location. Do you accept my request?"

Armad drew a sharp breath. "I do."

You have accepted a mission from a mysterious healer.

+3 to willpower (permanent change)

Armad checked his attributes tab.

Name: Armad Wilberforce

Race: Human

Longevity: 51 years 8 days

Life energy: 51 (10.2/min)

Stamina: 40 (1/min)

Dexterity: 4

Strength: 3

Agility: 3

Constitution: 2

Vitality: 4

Willpower: 10

Charisma: 1.5

This recent gain in willpower had permanently raised his vitality regeneration from 0.7 to 1/min.

It was pretty difficult to raise any attribute permanently. Any spell or technique you learned would affect them but only temporarily.

"I will help you get started whenever you are ready."

Armad pushed the notification away and straightened his back. He would willingly take any risk for his mom. "I am ready right now. I just need to take my mom back."

"Haha... that's the spirit, Wilberforce. I'll be waiting for you here."

Armad ran back home while Babara drew a complicated rune on the ground.

Babara

He was called a fortune teller for a reason. His career began with enslaving a special Djinn called Teller. It didn't give him any elemental skill but it allowed him to read into the future. That was how he became a fortune teller.

Babara believed he was a descendant of the man called Triple-factor, and that it was his duty to find the man. His peers had told him, time without a number, that he was delusional, that his intuition was from the soundless whispers of his Djinn. Babara cared less. He wanted to find the man, he had to find him.

The appearance of a Wilberforce at his doorstep could be a new opportunity. But whether the boy succeeded or failed, he would continue to chase after Triple-factor for as long as he lived.

He drew a hexagonal rune on the ground. After a minute, wind picked up and swept everything away. When it settled, a dark green portal appeared. It was so green that, not only the area around it, even the surrounding rocks turned green.

It was roughly Babara's size, which meant Armad had to bend to pass through.

An hour later, Armad returned to find the portal.

"You can't travel to any world because of the recent war. This portal will take you to the Fourth World, the last known location of the Triple-factor." Babara explained.

Armad nodded. Seven years ago, Triple-factor was spotted on the Fourth World, Northern Hemisphere. It was in the news so everyone knew about it.

Armad walked to the portal but he stopped and turned around. He looked at Babara critically before he turned and stepped into the portal. It was just nine months. When he returned, and his mother was okay again, he would have plenty of time to get back at the healer.

A sudden darkness gripped his eyes. He managed a few steps before he heard the banging of the portal behind him. The portal had closed and he was all alone. Armad felt as if he was falling through an abyss.

He felt dizzy and weak.

It wasn't clear how long he'd been in this state before he regained consciousness and saw himself lying on a white soil. With an array of giant, white trees everywhere.

He looked right and left, up and down, but he was all alone. No any building or ruin that could indicate any current or past civilization.

Does that portal misfired? That was the only thought in his mind. He knew the Fourth World, and it wasn't anything like this. In fact, none of the seven worlds had any white soil.

The eerie silence was broken by a footstep that seemed so distant as if it was coming from another world. Armad saw a shadow of a man (or woman), walking toward him.

He took a step back and summoned his soul sword.

You have summoned your soul sword.

No attributes effect.

Despite the name, soul swords were common and had no special skill. Any mage who could meditate and control life energy could summon one. But everyone only ever had one soul sword. If it was destroyed then you would never have another. Armad's soul sword was a meter-long, red, double-edged sword.

He put his hand on the hilt of the sword and waited for the person behind the shadow.

5 seconds, 10 second, 20 seconds, 30 seconds...

Still the shadow didn't end and he couldn't see the person behind it. He wondered how tall they were.

A minute later, a middle-age man appeared behind the shadow. Armad did a double check to see whether the shadow was truly his. The man was just two meters, barely any taller than he was. How could such a man gave a hundred meter long shadow? It wasn't as if there was an abnormally large sun in the sky...

Armad looked at the sky. No sun or moon, it was just a plain opacity that shone a dim light on the white soil.

Armad had no skill to read someone's level but he had a rune engraved in his eyes that allowed him to read longevity. Every year was equivalent to a level. He'd fifty-one years and fifty-one levels. This trick served the same purpose as some of the appraisal spells but it also had the same limitations.

Longevity: ??

If he saw one question mark, then the man had twice his longevity. If he saw two question marks, then the man had at least three times his longevity.

A voice in his head cut him off.

[If you want to pass through you have to win.]

It was just a voice, but because of the power behind it, Armad felt as if an entire mountain had just fell on his head. He didn't even see the man speaking which meant it was a telepathic relay.

Dammit! A telepathic relay? That's at least a 7th Tier spell.

[In all my years guarding this place, I have never seen anyone with such a weak longevity. You are lucky, by order of Queen Elvenuil Randuil, I've to suppress my level down to yours. If you still can't defeat me like that, then you don't deserve to pass.]

There was a short silence before the man spoke again.

[You can attack whenever you are ready.]

Armad clenched his jaw. The first obstscle had come in an unexpected way. But nothing could stand between him and the cure.

Spell activated.

Lightning Bolt: convert one unit of life energy into a 30cm sphere of lightning.

Limitations: none

Cost: 1

+1 constitution

+2 agility

NB: attributes effect will remain as long as the spell is active.

Armad created three bolts of lightning and joined them together into a 90cm bolt.

He fired the bolt and then attacked head-on.