In the black syndicate’s base. Three cloaked figures can be seen bowing with their knees on the ground as the old man gazed outside through a window. Stroking his beard, he appears to be contemplating as he looked at his disciples.

“Forgive us, master. We failed the mission. No. 34 and No. 46 both died in an attempt to kill the target. No 27 helped the target escape and directly killed both No.34 and No.46 during the scuffle. He appears to be helping the successor at escaping the empire for reasons unknown while the daughter of the Ice Monarch also helped.”

“I see..it’s a shame but what can this old man do. Anyways, make sure to kill No.27 as it will ruin our reputation. Take this” the old man calmly said before throwing a badge in front of the leader who in turn brought it to his face to inspect the item.

“It will trace where that traitor is, so make sure you won’t fail this time. Also, I’ll assign a combat slave for you to control during your mission”

“Combat slave?”

“The alchemist department has finished their prototype for enhancing potions. So they will use a slave to check if there are any complications during a battle.” the old man smiled wickedly as the leader gazed up before nodding. With the power of the combat slave that would never be exhausted and fights without fear. It’s the perfect killing machine.

Meanwhile, Leonard is in his castle eating dinner with his wife who looked terrible with her expression full of worry. Seeing this, Leonard grabs his wife’s hands gently before smiling. The wife takes off her hand from him as she continued eating silently.

“Forgive me Sharina…There’s nothing I can do”

“I know..”

“I know you miss your son..i miss him too but we must stay strong. My son wouldn’t die that easily.” He tried easing her worries but she merely nodded slightly.

“Duke! Duke Leonard! You gotta see this” one of the knights hurriedly runs over to Leonard with a parchment with the face of Lawrence painted in it with a 100,000 gold bounty in his head. It’s a wanted poster from the empire as Leonard sighed. Abruptly, the door opened as General Hermond with Loid behind him slowly walked over.

“Duke! Your general is here. I have heard of the news! It seems that Lawrence has become a wanted person in the empire. A lot of our allies will abandon us if you won’t denounce your son in the public” the general bowed and spoke with worry and sorrow in his voice. Leonard gritted his teeth as the general shuddered. Leonard knows what his general is planning but he can’t refuse. He gazed at his wife who seemed unbothered by all this as he sighed once again. He doesn’t want to do this, since denouncing Lawrence is basically removing his son from his family.

“I know your sentiment Duke Leonard but the other families will try to use this opportunity to shame everything your family has done for the kingdom. It will lead us to a decline.”

“Fine..if that’s what everyone wants and benefits us. I’ll do it” Duke Leonard gave up as he glanced at his wife to see her leaving the room. The general smiled mischievously inwardly as his job become easier than he has dreamed. Now, Loid will be the next head of the Aenir family.

“Does that mean that I will be the next head?” Loid gushed excitedly as Leonard glared at him as the general sighed.

“Forgive this child. He has only recently recovered from his injuries. He isn’t thinking straight” the general hurriedly tried to diffuse the hostile atmosphere

“No..it’s alright but you better won’t disappoint me. You might be the son of my brother but you are far from getting ready to become the next head” Leonard stands up before leaving the dining room.

“Dammit!” Loid cursed as he bits his lip in frustration

“Don’t worry, your future is finally assured. Just don’t get in trouble and become stronger than before.” the general warned as Loid nodded while tightening his grip on his sword.

The next day, the news scattered throughout the kingdom and everyone was shocked by the news. The citizen was starting to gossip that the son of their duke was a low-life thief who stole something from the empire. The reputation of the Aenir family is at an all-time low as the other nobility families are starting to get worried about allying with the Aenir Family. Since it might affect them too.

The merchant guild and the adventures guild are keeping an eye on what is happening as some merchants started to leave the dukedom. Knights of the Aenir family are getting worried about what might happen next. That afternoon, Duke Leonard announce that they will be holding a feast to address the topic as the majority of the nobility including the royal family sends their envoy to attend the feast.

During the feast, a lot of nobility is present to see what the Duke will do. As one of the pillars of the Kingdom of Rebia, having the heir who is wanted by the empire is a sign of disrespect and may cause a war. It is vital to respect the Empire as it controls the majority of the human continent. The Swordwin Empire might appear as the protector and hope of humanity but it also acts as a judge of humanity as most nobles have witnessed what happens if you disregard their authority. One of the kingdom’s sixth-star warriors was prosecuted and executed by the empire while the kingdom did nothing.

Upon seeing the Duke, everyone quieted down. The duke looked determined and heroic to some as he gazed at everyone.

“I know this must be surprising to all of you but believe me. I was surprised too. I didn’t know my son would do something that horrible. Please forgive me for raising my son like that but after this feast. I will denounce my son from my family.” there were a few gasps in the crowd but it wasn’t surprising to few.

“Please, continue the feast” Leonard added before leaving the hall as everyone whispered with each other.

“Is it possible for the duke to not know what his son is doing prior to the crime?” one of the nobles asked

“I hope the empire would be satisfied with that” another one whispered.

“Such a shame, a talented paragon is gone like that.” the magistrate sighed

“It’s the empire, we can’t do anything about it” the first prince drinks the wine as he stared calmly at everyone. There aren’t any emotions on his face as he keeps on sipping on wine like he has nothing to do about what is happening currently. He’s bothered by any of this as the magistrate gazed at him. Nodding to himself that this is how the next king should act. Neutral and calm to all problems.

“I know but it’s a small amount to pay for this peace” the magistrate shrugged

“I agree” the prince replied mindlessly before leaving the hall.

In the forest, Lawrence is sitting cross-legged. Internal mana is circulating around his veins as he can feel his 3rd meridian opening up. It was like he was swimming in cold water as he shuddered for a while. Within a minute, the third meridian opened up as he felt his body improving with every fiber of his body tightening. His muscles grew denser and he can control the daggers more precisely. The daggers are circling around his body as he can finally use his control over gravity to lessen his own weight allowing him to move faster than before. He can also lessen the weight of everything he wants as he can control spears and swords with ease as if they’re paper. Out of nowhere, he randomly gained enlightenment as he passes out once more. Oddly enough, he didn’t fall to the ground.

Inside a white room, he found himself wearing nothing but a white tunic and white pants. In the corner of his eyes, he saw a statue of a teen he knew. It was a statue of Ozial staring at him with his expression full of solemnity and anguish. In his right hand is carrying an orb while the other hand carries a sword. His robe is torn and dirtied while scars run through his arms. It was different from the Ozial he knows.

“I have given you the knowledge of removing the need to use the magic node.” a gentle voice rang inside his mind as he looked around to find no one. Suddenly, the surrounding cracks like a mirror as he immediately wakes up to find he is still sitting where he is. It was random but a welcomed enlightenment nonetheless. Finally, enlightenment, where he doesn’t do anything horrible or something horrible that will happen to him.

The knowledge given to him isn’t powerful nor does it change how he will fight in the future but the knowledge seems to only give him a shortcut. It’s like the world has pity on him as there doesn’t exist any gravity spellbook in the human continent. The knowledge given to him is that he can avoid using the magic node by using his qi to cast the spells. Meaning instead of mana, he will exchange it to have more qi. He closed his eyes as he used his mana to create more qi instead of aura as he opened his eyes to find a blue glowing string covering his body. He cast repulsion and it worked as intended, the force is stronger and it is much faster than before.

“You have a weird qi” Luke said out of nowhere before jumping off from the tree he’s hiding in.

“It isn’t for attacking nor defending. That really is weird..it’s my first time seeing a qi manifesting as a string” he added

“It’s a qi created by my mana…it doesn’t do anything except that i can create spells easier and cast it using this qi.” Lawrence explained as he stands up

“Well, congrats. Wanna spar?” Luke asked with a smile as Lawrence nodded.

“You better be careful since i won’t hold back” he commented before merging into the shadows of trees. Lawrence didn’t move as he looked around calmly. Luke used this chance as he appeared behind him with the dagger aimed at his back but before it can reach Lawrence, it stopped midair and he can feel an invisible force pushing him away. Daggers flew towards him as he jumped back but suddenly, he felt a forceful tug on his body as he felt his body moving towards Lawrence as daggers are moving in. He parried each dagger with perfect timing but a fast-moving spear nearly cuts his face as he moved his head sideways. Lawrence turned around before dashing forward at a speed unnatural for everyone to do as Luke can only see a blur before Lawrence’s palm is touching his chest as Luke was repelled forcefully where he crashes to a nearby tree.

“Dammit, how the hell did you grow stronger?”

“Let’s stop the spar for now” Lawrence calmly replied

“Why?”

“If we spar seriously, we might injure each other. We are currently not safe in this forest”

“Fine..i knew you just want to show off your new powers” Luke replied as both of them return to the make-shift camp they created.

There, two tents are erected as a small campfire is situated in the middle. The camp they created is near the river so they have can easily find drinkable water. Lawrence saw that Vania is strengthening her mana heart with the help of Catalinna by her side. He didn’t expect Catalinna to be good at this as he can see the tremendous progress Vania achieved. She’s already at a mid-1-star mage. He didn’t know what knowledge Catalinna gained but he was curious. Still, he can’t ask her since she would probably not answer.

Their plan, for now, is to stay in this forest to recuperate and get stronger. Gather artifacts and slowly gather allies. Their goal is to help the north in defending against the heavenly generals. For now, all of them will head to a secret place where they can meet an ancient bronze dragon. The bronze dragon is situated at the surface of the mountain range near this forest. It wanders around the mountain pretending to be an old man using a cane with difficulty in walking. No one can see through his illusion as he will only give gifts if someone in the group has true sight and identify him or did a great service to him.

In the novel, Cain met this old man while he is getting hunted by the golden knights of the Empire after killing a noble. He was given shelter and has been taken care of by the old man who also gave him a relic.

The difference between an artifact and a relic is that the relic has a history or a myth. Meaning that once the artifact is used by a powerful and influential person, it will turn into a relic containing some power of the original owner. Such example is the moonlight break spear used by Lucarius, it can allow the owner to be stronger during the night, gain attacks that can be launched, and use moonlight spells created by the Lucarius. Also, relics can choose their wielder and stopped anyone from using it.

The bronze dragon might give them relics but Lawrence isn’t fond of that idea. He wants more mana since he felt his qi dwindling faster than just using his mana to cast spells. That fight with Luke took a third of all of his qi meaning that it was too much for him to handle a prolonged fight.

What used would be an item if he can’t use it properly for the lack of his mana unless it uses aura, he has no interest in it. Another thing about the bronze dragon is that Cain was the only one who met it so it might not be there now or it’s just because of Cain’s godly luck that the old man is there.