There were several reasons why the high-levelled fight was different from a low-levelled one.

First of all, they moved faster than even Keynes’s perception could comfortably follow. It turned their moves into a blur. On top of that was the way they actually moved. They weren’t shackled by the laws of physics to the same degree as lower levels.

Once the assassin noticed Keynes, he tried to disengage but neither man gave the attacker the chance. The shift in the assassin’s focus told Keynes that they were sent by the World Government and that was fatal news. It meant that they had a way to track him down after all.

He'd need to figure this out later on but for now, it didn’t matter. Keynes knew that Freeman needed him alive so the assassin wouldn’t try to kill him. It gave Keynes an advantage. At least for the first few seconds. What Keynes had learned from fighting Hellescott and the White Mask assassin was that when facing a stronger foe, the greatest chance at winning came with the first strike. Then, with each moment, the odds plummeted. Higher Vitality meant more endurance, stamina, regeneration and resistance. Even a few points in Vitality made a difference.

The assassin thrust a dagger into Christopher Wolf but the Level 5 twisted and the blade only nicked Christopher’s ribs.

Kaito Ren attacked then, his Strength was slightly higher than Keynes’s but the assassin was too agile for Kaito Ren to score a hit with his dagger. Luckily, Christopher Wolf wasn’t out of combat yet and came at the assassin right away, driving him into defence for the first time.

Kaito Ren and Christopher Wolf weren’t enough though. It wasn’t their strength that was the problem but the superior combat technique of the assassin.

Keynes would ask Alice but she was away, although he was fairly sure that the attacker possessed some kind of fighting technique from a rift. It would explain his superiority over the Level 5 and the Level 3 at the same time.

It was time for Keynes to make his entrance. His [Spiritual Ghost] ran out so he had to rely on his own technique.

Keynes collapsed on the assassin a few seconds later. The intruder whirled around faster than Keynes could dodge the kick that came his way. But Keynes wasn’t going to dodge anything.

Two shortswords materialised in his hands a split second before the assassin’s attack connected.

Keynes’s Dexterity surged to 31 and Strength to 26.

The issue here was his Perception. Whatever the assassin’s Level was, their Perception made it possible to alter the trajectory of the attack, although not entirely. Keynes scored two deep cuts instead of killing blows, which he had aimed for. The kick also didn’t connect

With Christopher Wolf and Kaito Ren still in the fight, the wounds proved enough of distraction and the assassin missed Christopher’s punch in the head. Kaito Ren stabbed his leg but Keynes wasn’t going to leave the assassin alive when they didn’t know what their situation was. For all Keynes knew, Windsor Freeman could be on his way here and against that man, they didn’t stand chance.

Yet.

Two shortswords stabbed the attacker’s chest, killing him.

Keynes pulled the shortswords and put them into the dimensional pouch.

“Keynes, why?”

“He’s from the government. We don’t have time for an interrogation.”

Keynes grabbed the assassin’s dagger and handed it to Christopher then noticed another dimensional pouch on their neck and took it.

Master! Daiyu Fen is in critical condition!

He froze, anger blooming in his chest.

“To the hotel, NOW, Fen’s dying.”

They shot past the shocked and petrified hotel owner who stared at the dead assassin, then got to the room where Daiyu Fen lay on the floor. Keynes’s mother pressed a towel to Fen’s bleeding shoulder.

“We must get her to the hospital or she will die.”

“The moment we’ll walk into any hospital, the World Government will be there in minutes.”

“Then what? Are you going to let her die?” Christopher Wolf and Keynes’s mother asked at the same time.

“No. Never. Ren, here’s the address. Open the portal there.”

“I… can’t my Talent—”

“DO IT NOW!” Keynes snapped.

“That’s not how my Talent works. I must see the place first otherwise it won’t work.”

“To the hospital then,” Christopher Wolf said. But it wasn’t going to work. They could hear police sirens already.

“No.” Keynes shook his head, placed the address in Kaito Ren’s hand and told him to find a computer or a tablet, then find a picture of this location on the Web.

Kaito Ren wanted to argue but Keynes cut him off. There was no time for discussions. Keynes took off his dimensional pouch and checked the assassin’s, hoping to find a health potion, which he didn’t but he’d need to return to the content.

“Do any of you have equipment with Vitality or health recovery?” Keynes asked.

“I do,” Vivena said, then took a green coat out of her bag and handed it to him. “It isn’t much…”

Reflection of the Green Ocean (Rare)

“I am one with the ocean.”

-

+10% Health Recovery

-

+6 Mind Attribute

-

+10% Poison Resistance

-

{Enchants: Self-repair}

[Coat]

Level 1

“It’s better than nothing. Going forward, we must have health and stamina potions at ready. This isn’t the first attack. Now, let’s put the coat on Fen.”

“Keynes, what are you saying?” His mother asked. “More attacks?”

“Yes. As long as Windsor Freeman is alive, he will hunt me.”

By the time they put the coat on Fen, the sirens were outside the hotel.

“Chris, keep the police out of here until Ren gets the portal ready.”

Christopher Wolf stood up and left.

“Get Harter and dad in here, mom,” Keynes said and went to check on Kaito Ren. It was taking too much time.

He found him in the lobby behind the counter, looking at the screen.

“Ready?”

“Almost.”

Through the door, Keynes saw Christopher Wolf barring the entrance to the hotel.

Four policemen had guns trained on him.

Keynes considered what to do next.

“Ren, we’re running out of time.”

More police cars arrived.

“One sec—got it!”

“Open it in the room Fen is.”

Kaito Ren’s gaze fell on Christopher Wolf who stood before the entrance, his hands in the air.

“He’ll be fine,” Keynes assured him. “Go.”

Before Keynes could signal to Christopher to leave or follow Kaito Ren, he wiped the search history and turned the computer off. He hoped that the authorities wouldn’t think about searching the owner’s computer.

“Christ!” he called out, knowing that Level 5 Perception would pick up his voice. “We’re leaving.”

Keynes started running and heard shots being fired. The Level 5 quickly caught up with him and together, they entered the room with the portal. Only Kaito Ren stood there.

“Fast. I'm almost out of mana.”

The three of them entered the portal and it vanished. They stumbled onto a quiet street with only one house. It had an oriental style with cherry trees in full bloom. The view was impressive but they weren’t here for sightseeing—

His family stood staring at the trees, mesmerised.

“Don’t look at the trees,” Christopher warned them. “There is something wrong with them.”

“I know,” Keynes agreed. It meant they were where they needed to be. Keynes didn’t plan to visit this address so soon but he had no choice. “Take Fen and follow me to the gate.”

A large wooden gate stood at the end of the street, beyond the rows of cherry trees. Keynes had to force his brother and father to go and Vivena did likewise with his mother while Kaito Ren and Christopher Wolf carried Daiyu Fen.

The air was colder as they were at a higher altitude. The house was built on the slope with a magnificent view of the lake and the city.

A high wall ran around the estate and a variety of shrubs and plants ran alongside it.

“No matter what you do, don’t touch plants.”

Keynes used his Talent and opened the gate only to find a root coiled around his feet. Across the large yard, on stairs stood a man wearing an elegant and rich oriental attire. He, himself, wasn’t of oriental origin. He was young, his jet black hair tied in a ponytail fell on his shoulders.

In one hand, he held a walking stick.

He descended the stairs and drifted toward them.

His face was aristocratic and cold, his eyes like two black marbles.

He glanced at them, noticing wounded Daiyu Fen.

“She needs immediate help,” Keynes said.

“I can see that,” the man replied. “But you’re in the wrong place.”

“We are not. I received this address from Hugo and Sophie. Hugo told me to visit you and I know what you are capable of.”

To Keynes’s surprise, his words were accepted with ease and calmness as if that man expected it.

“Oh, well, why not,” the man said and everything was consumed by darkness.

***

Dreux was eating when her phone rang. She answered the call and her mood was lifted. Her prey just resurfaced in Geneva.

That was excellent news. She grew up in that lofty city. It was time to visit her contacts and find the prey.

She left the food and called in the helicopter. Moving on foot was very hard in southeast France with all the monsters running rampant. Even the walled cities that were hit by the White Mask attacks, now struggled.

It was a shame she couldn’t do anything about it. So much free essence. A half a year here and she could ascend to Level 6. But the orders were orders, plus the reward for finding the hunted person was meant to outweigh the progression toward Level 6.

The helicopter landed thirty minutes later. A team of troopers waited inside. She sighed.

“I am Officer Hellescott,” one of them said. “You are in my team, Tracker Dreux. Failure is not an option.”

Great. She rolled her eyes.

***

Keynes shot to his feet. A dagger materialised in his hand. He whirled searching for danger, finding none.

The room he was in was elegant, with low-hanging yellow lamps, rich red walls, white thick rugs and marble floors.

And every corner had a pot with plants. Flowers and fruits were everywhere. Keynes assumed that everything had magical properties and he stayed clear of them.

“I have to admit, you piqued my interest.”

Keynes whirled, finding the same man from the yard standing a few steps from him.

“If I decide that you are my enemy, this dagger will not help you.”

Reluctantly, Keynes put it back into his dimensional pouch.

“That is better. So, Hugo Horta told you about me.”

“Yes, but can you tell me how my friend is doing?”

Alice, where is the rest?

I cannot leave this room, master. There are runes and formations in place that stop me.

“She is fine,” the man replied then added. “Why then he messaged me to not accept you.”

“Oh.” Keynes frowned. “Wait. He told me you are very old and at death's door.”

Alice, what level is this man?

Uh, this man…

“I once was but then the Vitality happened and I got my youth back.”

He’s at least Level 7.

That’s trouble. Big one.

There was a moment of silence as Keynes pondered what to do next. He couldn’t defeat Level 7, on top of that, everything in this room was a potential danger.

“Let’s have a chat.” He beckoned to Keynes to follow him.

He touched the wall and it separated revealing a dining room with a thick marble table, at least ten metres long, and sharp marble columns running on each side.

They took opposite seats in the middle of the table.

“My name’s Wagner Zimmermann, a gardener and an owner of the largest gardening company in the world.” He said it with a smirk. “It isn’t a coincidence that Hugo sent you to me. No one else on Earth knows more than me about gardening.”

Two women with skin painted gold, entered the dining room and placed a large bowl of fruits, two bottles of water and two glasses. As suddenly as they appeared so they vanished.

Keynes wasn’t exactly sure what he saw, even his photographic memory had a little issue holding the memory of the two exotic-looking women.

Wagner Zimmermann noticed it.

“The cream on their skin is made from a goldskin flower. It makes their presence easy to forget.”

If this flower was strong enough to affect his memory then Keynes had to assume that everything else was as powerful here and that could pose a problem. So far, Zimmermann didn’t show hostility toward Keynes and his friends except for making them fall unconscious. But to be fair, Keynes and the rest had entered his estate without an announcement. Zimmermann had the right to be angry.

“What now?” Keynes asked.

“Judging by your company and the accident at the Park district. You are in trouble.”

Keynes stiffened, cursing himself for his naivety. His friends were wanted and it was impossible to predict what this man would do. He didn’t expect him to be this young or Level 7!

Did he just walk into a trap? He’d rather die…

“A bit of trouble, yes. We can leave anytime.”

Zimmermann raised his hand.

“No need. Hugo and Sophie are my good friends, and their friends are my friends. I wish they would agree to work for me. I would level them up so they could live longer but no, Hugo would never work for anyone. It’s a shame. Hugo’s Talent is a real gem.”

“His food tastes shockingly good.” Keynes agreed.

Zimmermann nodded then his expression hardened.

“While you can stay here, I don’t run a charity and I’ll have you and your friends work for me during your stay here.”

“Work?”

“Don’t worry, it will help you. You, especially.”

Keynes narrowed his eyes, not being sure if he understood what was going on here. Working for this man?

“Could you elaborate?”

“Sure, but first let’s get one thing straight. I need more than a fake name. I know your name isn’t Brandon. And with the government after you, I need at least to know who I host under my roof.”

***

After an hour-long conversation about things Hugo had taught him, Zimmermann led him to the common room where his friends and family were staying. On their way there, through marbled halls, Keynes’s opinion about Zimmermann shifted several times.

It was a man who loved splendour but at the same time, he was a perfectionist. In the halls, they met many different people. Guards, servants, other gardeners, scientists.

Then it struck Keynes. There was more to this house than met an eye. At first glance, it resembled a palace, although nothing as ridiculous as Windsor Freeman’s estate but rich enough to make a person gape. But the presence of scientists told him that there had to be laboratories and gardens somewhere. That made him curious.

As they descended, the scenery changed, more wooden panels, less red, black and white. One thing remained unchanged though – plants.

They were everywhere.

Keynes wondered about the roots that had caught him when they’d entered Zimmermann’s estate. Keynes was convinced that plants could only possess passive abilities. He also suspected that the roots made them lose their consciousness.

The common room was spacious with seats arranged on the floor that descended like large stairs. Everyone’s head snapped toward the door as Keynes and Zimmermann entered.

Even Daiyu Fen was here and she seemed perfectly fine.

They were not alone though. Two guards in black armour stood on each side of the door. Keynes took in their situation and had to admit that they were treated well and even received new clothes.

“Keynes and I made a deal,” Zimmermann announced. “You will stay here for some time. I will provide anything you need but at the same time, you will work for me, though I assure you, you won’t regret it.”

He turned and left, taking with him the two guards.

“Keynes, what deal?”

Before Keynes replied he approached Daiyu Fen.

“How do you feel?”

“Like new. They gave me a potion that healed my shoulder in one hour.”

“I am glad,” he said, knowing how close he was to doom them all. If this was a trap or Zimmermann didn’t turn out to be the man he was, they’d be in big trouble. “Now, before I answer any of your questions, we have to talk about the rules of this house.”