“Fuuu~…” Vincent let out a long, drawn-out sigh. He was surrounded by darkness, but a couple dozen meters out, floating bubbles of various colors could be seen.

“I never knew it would be so taxing…” To cast spells far away. He didn’t feel much drain on his mental strength, but as the frequency of his spellcasting increased along with the distance, he became dizzy. Right now, he felt as if there’s a metal pin worming its way through his brain. If he forced himself to continue, he was going to double over and vomit.

From far away, Faerin finished his snacks and jumped down on the ground. Something about the way he walked seemed to say that he expected this outcome.

“Wow~! That was awesome! You put out so many lights!” Faerin laughed as he clapped exaggeratedly. Although Vincent knew Faerin was genuine, something about the fae’s tone irritated him.

“You knew this would happen, so why didn’t you tell me?”

“But where would the fun be in that?” Faerin laughed and started skipping around.

“Ope!” Vincent held the urge to vomit.

“Hahaha~!” Faerin stopped dancing around crouched down, patting Vincent’s back. “Why don’t we take a break? It’s night time so you should get some sleep.”

While in the inner forest, there was no concept of day or night, just darkness. However, Vincent wasn’t going to complain because he was feeling like Faerin was in his head throwing a tantrum. So, some rest would be welcomed. He forced himself up and dragged his body up a tree before collapsing onto the bed.

“You should wash first before—“

“Get out!” Vincent grumpily casted a pinpoint accurate wind spell that blew the door shut in Faerin’s face.

*Thunk!*

“Oof!” Faerin doubled back and nearly fell off the tree branch. “By dose!” He cried, covering his face.

That was the last thing Vincent heard before drifting off to sleep. That night, he saw a strange dream. In the dream, his grandfather was standing in a garden. His back was towards Vincent, but Vincent knew that it was his grandfather.

“Papa!” a little girl ran past Vincent and hugged his grandfather’s thigh. She was like a ray of sunshine displayed against his grandfather’s gloomy paradise. Vincent saw his grandfather’s shoulder’s relaxed when he noticed the girl.

“Kitty, what are you doing out here?” His grandfather bent down and picked up Catherine. “You’re still recovering from your cold. You shouldn’t be out here.” He softly reprimanded his daughter.

“Ehehe~!” Catherine blushed as she tugged at her father’s beard. “I wanted to see Papa.”

“Papa’s a bit busy right now, Kitty.” He rubbed his beard against her face, eliciting a playful complaint.

“But you don’t look busy?” Catherine asked.

“Papa’s just taking a quick break before going back to work.” He smiled and placed her down. “Kitty, do you like flowers?”

“Mhm! I like them!” She beamed brightly while vigorously nodding her head.

Vincent’s grandfather bent down and rubbed his daughter’s head. “Papa loves them too. These are your mother’s favorite. Do you know what they’re called?”

“I know! I know!” Catherine jumped up and down before thinking long and hard. “They are… Winter Blues!”

His grandfather let out a chuckle and said, “Close, but not quite.”

“They’re not?”

“They are called Winter Sapphires. I gave these to your mother to tell her how much I love her.” He bent forward and picked a Winter Sapphire and gave it to Catherine.

“Papa!” Catherine couldn’t hide her glee as she accepted the flower. She paused for a bit after admiring the flower and then picked another one. “Here! One for Papa too!”

“Haha, thank you, Dear.” He accepted the flower. “Alright, this is enough playtime, Kitty. You have to go back inside.”

“Aw~! But I want to be with Papa a bit longer!” She pouted and crossed her arms.

“I’ll be busy for a while.” Vincent’s grandfather shook his head. “However, if Kitty promises to grow big and strong, then Papa will make some time to spend with her.”

Kitty peeked out of the corner of her eye and asked, “Promise?”

“Promise.”

“Ehehe. Okay!” The joyful smile returned to her face as she hugged her father and ran away.

“Jorge, escort my daughter inside.” Vincent the First coldly commanded once Catherine was out of earshot.

“Understood.” A voice spoke out from out of thin air.

“Also, find out who the maid in charge of my daughter is. Investigate her background. If she’s clean, fire her immediately and replace her with someone trustworthy. If you find something wrong, find out what you can from her and then kill everyone connected to her.”

“That shall be done.”

Soon after, the dream ended and Vincent groggily woke up. When he opened his eyes, he stared dumbly at the ceiling. The only light came from a pot of glowing mushrooms by the bedside. He felt a chill hearing the last bit of the dream of his grandfather.

“In the end, was this dream real or not?” Vincent asked himself. “Let’s find out. Sanctus Aeternum.”

Vincent felt a sensation of being sucked into a vacuum and briefly closed his eyes. When he opened them again, he appeared in a small empty tavern. The location was eerily quiet except for the creaking of the building settling down. Suddenly, a cacophony of noise erupted as a drunkard made his way down the steps leading to the second floor.

“Huh? You’re here already? Damn, I thought I could sleep a little longer.”

“Huh?” Vincent unknowingly imitated the sound. The man that came down wasn’t Vincent the First. Instead, this man looked rugged. He was only about 160 centimeters tall, dark-skinned, thin and wiry. He also looked and smelled like he hadn’t showered in over a month. Not to mention the strong smell of alcohol coming off his body. “Who are you?”

“What? He hasn’t told you about me? Figures.” The man mumbled and pulled a chair over and took a seat across from Vincent. “Nice to meet you. I’m the seventh inheritor of Aion’s ring. Also, the eighth cannot be trusted.”