A week had passed and the initial disruption between major forces has quieted down.

Two figures kneeled down before a figure that exuded tyrannical strength on a throne. Eyes filled with a hint of curiosity looked down upon them.

“Speak.” A powerful voice spread out through the hall.

“We’ve recently come back from our mission to seek out some followers of the Dark Sun Cult and gleaned some interesting information about the place we were sent to.”

The one speaking was recognizable. It was Corinth, Germain’s partner during their investigation in Phyranhol’s Grizzly Birch Tavern. However, the lazy attitude he was known for had disappeared in lieu of a professional killer's demeanor.

There was no response, so he decided to continue.

“As we traveled back here, we heard some rumors circulating the underworld that there has been an interest in a town situated at the foot of some mountains.”

A quiet commotion could be heard throughout the room, but Corinth continued to speak with his head lowered.

“We have reason to believe that the town that is of everyone’s interest is indeed Phyranhol and is related to the information we wanted to relay to your majesty.”

His head bowed even deeper and the accumulation of sweat dripped down his nose onto the floor.

The pressure in the room had slowly risen the more he continued to speak his findings and it became almost suffocating when he named the town.

Silence pervaded the room.

“Please everyone, leave the hall. This information concerns the welfare of the kingdom and its citizens.” The king’s voice rings out.

There’s a slight commotion and whispers of resistance to the command, but eventually, all people left the room.

BANG!

The large doors closed, signifying for the duo to continue their mission report.

“I- uh, during our time in Phyranhol we witnessed an event that exceeded our knowledge.” Germain’s shaky voice continued. His cocky demeanor was crushed under the pressure and attention of the king.

It certainly didn’t help that said king could easily kill him if he misspoke.

“We saw a flaming man. Completely on fire, like those mentioned in stories by the churches. B- But we were taken by surprise and couldn’t follow and interrogate it.”

Germain bowed his head down more.

“Interesting… I wonder what this entails for my glorious kingdom. Are they really demons described by the churches? To think those greedy bastards might have actually been onto something.”

“Since you came out unharmed and alive I’m going to safely assume they aren’t affiliated with any of our enemy forces.”

The king pondered out loud, his voice was calm and exuded a hint of mirth.

“Hahaha! Does this mean that times are changing? If so we must contact them first.” He slammed the armrests on his throne.

“Both of you return to Phyranhol! Take some treasures from our treasury and get ahold of this demonic fellow.”

“And tell those worthless nobles to come back in. Then tell the captain of the guards to come with a regiment. We mustn’t let this information spread.”

The orders resounded through the hall, filling Germain and Corinth with a deathly chill down their backs. They saw through the hidden bloodlust laced within the order.

The nobles were indeed an unfortunate bunch in this kingdom, but it was the doing of their predecessors that the current king doesn’t place much trust in them.

“Per your will, your majesty!” The two responded in parallel. Both finished a deep bow and left the throne room to relay the commands and start their new mission.

If they dared to look into the eyes of their king before they left, they would be stupefied by the dangerous look that could be held within them.

------

“I didn’t expect we would be trying to recruit that demonic person instead of hunting them down.” Germain broke the silence and glanced over at his partner.

The duo had left the capital quite quickly and was now on the way back to Phyranhol. Luckily they managed to leave before noon, so they had a decent start.

Corinth was looking out their carriage, his lazy characteristics had returned when the both of them left the vicinity of the castle.

“I didn’t expect to come out of there alive.”

The reply left the carriage in silence.

“You’re right… one misspoken sentence and we would have been those nobles.” Germain sighed.

“Let’s just hope things don’t haven’t gotten worse since we left Phyranhol. The others looking for it seem to have powerful individuals backing them.”

“I heard that the Hermit of the Northern Sea was one of those involved.” Corinth shook his head as he relayed the information he personally received after using all his resources to buy all the information in one of the black markets located within the capital.

“I’m surprised she reared her head again. What would a bookworm even want in a place like Phyranhol? Demonic power?”

“She should know that her own ideas are dangerous and don’t need any external help.”

The Hermit of the Northern Sea. Even Germain was scared of her and that was saying something, his own prowess and techniques could rival many battle-hardened individuals. In the face of the Hermit, he wouldn’t even last a second.

Not many knew she held a history of being one of the best assassins in the world, well known for her unknown methods of disposal. Even when she was surrounded, all that was left of the hunters were clean bones and puddles of liquid.

He shivered at the thought. Before he took the job as one of the kingdom’s intelligence agents, he was actually one of the many bounty hunters who wanted to take the Hermit to get rich. Luckily, Corinth dissuaded him and got the two the lucrative but dangerous job they had now.

“Knowing her new pursuits, whatever is in Phyranhol can probably give her answers to those ridiculous questions she had back then.” Corinth snorted from his seat in response to Germain’s speculations.

He then closed his eyes, signifying the end of the conversation.

Germain stared and huffed in acceptance. It was going to be a long journey even with their early start, he soon fell asleep to the sounds of creaking wooden wheels and horse clops.

------

Thearessa stood before the entrance of a town. It was quite a picturesque view with the slightly wavering trees due to the gentle breeze that came down from the slopes of the nearby mountains.

Her eyes glowed with a mystical, but faint light.

If Lukas saw this, he would definitely be surprised that one of the champions he “blessed” was able to make and use a spell so quickly without much guidance. It was somewhat expected though since they were supposed to be talented champions chosen by the system in the first place.

After a few more moments, the glow in her eyes faded and she found herself a bit exhausted.

“Damn that being! They could’ve at least provided some more information than some vague description of the location.” Thearessa huffed angrily to herself and threw a brief fit before an eerie grin crept up on her face.

A nearby passerby who saw her fit saw this development and slowly backed away, completely dismissing the idea of offering their help. This woman was crazy!

This was the sixth village she had walked to during the week after receiving the list of possible locations that matched the description she gave from her connections. Thearessa’s inhuman stamina allowed her to travel nonstop; it was a great result to come out of her restless years of research throughout many nights.

Over time, her Innate Source responded to her cries and created a means to ease her increasing frustrations from the ceaseless traveling.

[Guiding Sight. Source order. A spell that was created by the Innate Source of the individual, Thearessa Hart, in response to her frustrations. Source empowers her eyes temporarily to guide her in the vague direction of her goal by tinting her vision with darker shades of blue whenever she is staring in its direction. It lasts for 1 minute.

Constant use of the spell induces mental and visual exhaustion.]*

Fortunately, with the use of Source, she had received from the being, finding the town was a bit easier. She occasionally used her newfound skill to find the correct directions and after some hardship in the wilderness, her goal was before her.

The town was indeed Phyranhol!

Of the three individuals blessed that night, she was the first to find and reach the town. The other two still had a long way to go or were preoccupied with other circumstances to make it to the small town in such a short time frame.

With a clear head and a gentle smile, Thearessa made her way into the busy streets of Phyranhol. She was determined to find that library and learn more about this new power. Behind her determination, a pang of insatiable hunger for knowledge of the unknown was slowly waking up from its long slumber.

Unfortunately for her, the town seemed to be distant to many foreigners or outright looked like they didn’t want to be associated with newcomers.

Thearessa was unbothered since she found the town, which meant there was a connection to the underworld. There, even big bosses in large cities couldn’t ignore her even if they wanted to.

She eventually found signs of the hidden underworld after a few hours of wandering. It was within the Makers’ District and eventually led her to a burned-down building.

Indescribable shock and fury contorted her fair face.

WHO THE FUCK WOULD ATTACK THE UNDERWORLD?!

------

During this exact moment, the individual who had unknowingly declared war on the criminal underworld was within the depths of the library with his eyes closed.

“Oh… did Merla breakthrough so soon?” Lukas opened his eyes.

He felt a sudden surge of Source nearby, but couldn’t pinpoint the exact direction of where it was happening. Merla was the only person who established control over Source near him that he knew of, so it wasn’t a completely useless guess. Sighing, he accepted his loss in terms of talent and continued to peruse the book he was in the middle of Runes & Variations by Faust XX.

It was quite an interesting read on how to use symbols or words to carve Source into objects to make them have a unique function. The equivalence was definitely similar to enchanting methods he read about in his past life or writing code into a computer, but those were less than fruitful when he tried.

Lukas was indeed an average man.

As he read, he eventually heard the increasing commotion from the open door of the library.

Curious he left his quiet little section and found Gareth also staring outside from within the door threshold.

“What’s happening out there?” He could see a plume of smoke rising up in the distance, once again in the direction of the Makers’ District. Lukas actually felt bad for them attracting so much misfortune completely forgetting that he was one of the main reasons they experienced anything bad, to begin with.

“I’m not sure, there was an explosion and then all of the sudden town guards and other people started rushing towards the Makers’ District.” Gareth scratched his head.

“Did a forge blow up? But even then, the smoke wouldn’t be that bad.”

As Gareth said these words, Lukas suddenly had a daring thought.

Didn’t he do something quite similar when he was consumed by anger? Did… did Merla get upset at something?

He started to sweat profusely. Shit.

Did they ever go over how Source can react quite volatile when the caster cannot control their emotions?

Lukas started to pat his father’s back.

“Dad, I’m going to check it out. Stay here or lock up and go home, it may be dangerous.”

Before Gareth could reply, Lukas had already left the doorway and was dashing through the streets in the direction of the Makers’ District.

*Thearessa or other characters do not know the contents of the data panel. Used purely to inform you, the reader, and Lukas if he gets curious.