Red took a deep breath before sitting up.

“How much time has passed?”

“A-A few hours, master!”

‘Only a few hours?’

He felt like weeks had passed inside that nightmare.

“Did anyone come looking for me?” Red asked.

“N-Not that I could tell, master.” The imp shook his head. “I kept an eye on the tablet too, and no one broke in.”

“Good.” He nodded.

“Hey, are you just going to ignore me again?!” Aurelia glared at him from the side.

Red sighed. “I’m not even sure about what happened myself. I just need time to think.”

“W-What do you mean, master?” The imp looked around in confusion.

“Just be quiet. I’m not talking to you.”

Emer nodded and stepped back, unsure of what to do as he watched the youth speak to himself.

Aurelia frowned, but the youth’s words seemed to calm her down somewhat.

“Back there, I felt your consciousness disappear from your body.” she said. “What did you do?”

“I went to the Soul Realm.”

The woman seemed shocked. “Are you insane?! You could have died there!”

“I almost did.” Red nodded. “But I’m not sure you want to know the details.”

“No! Don’t say it!” She shook her head.

The woman had made a point of remaining in the dark about some aspects of Red’s life, much more so when they concerned anything related to the demon inside his body. It was only fair, as some entities could cause harm to others just by referring to them by name.

“Just tell me this: what happened to your mind back there?” she asked.

Red hesitated. “… I found something in my dreams.”

“A dream…” Aurelia narrowed her eyes. “From the same place you found your infernal runes?”

The youth nodded. “I feel as if a lot of knowledge was suddenly shoved into my mind - about those runes - that is.”

Everything still felt a bit fuzzy for Red, much more so in the exhausted state his body and mind were in, and he couldn’t properly sort through those strange new memories. It was as if an entire encyclopedia was suddenly shoved into his mind, but his vision was too blurry to read through the words.

Aurelia grunted. “Forcefully transmitting knowledge… That sounds a lot like an inheritance.”

Red shook his head. “Something tells me it wasn’t as simple as that.”

He still remembered the raging roar of that being when he revealed that droplet of blood. It was clear Red had taken something that didn’t belong to him, or at the very least something someone far more powerful than he had staked their claim to.

“That doesn’t matter.” Aurelia said. “You said it was about those runes, right? Does that mean you now know how to draw more of those infernal runes?”

Red nodded. “Their images are fresh in my mind. It’s just a matter of absorbing the information and practicing.”

“How many runes did you learn?”

“I’m not sure yet, but I’m certain it’s more than a hundred unique ones.”

“A hundred?! That’s basically an entire system already!”

This came to as much of a shock to her as it did to Red, too. A hundred unique symbols might sound like a small amount when you consider the size of the bone they were carved into, but it was natural in formations and talismans to make use of the same rune multiple times. What was nearly limitless instead were the variations in which one could draw each unique sigil depending on their purpose.

“Do you know their use?” Aurelia asked with eagerness.

“Somewhat.” Red nodded. “They’re all related to blood.”

This much wasn’t a surprise to either of them, but the woman still insisted on having the youth explain the purpose of what little he could decipher off the top of his head.

As Red already knew from his earlier experimentations, all these runes interacted with blood, both as a fuel and as a medium to enact their powers. Whether it was to cause blood to harden, to expand, to explode, or even to burn, there were dozens of effects these infernal runes could produce. It was easy to draw a comparison to the arcane system, but there were definite differences between them and some feats the elemental-based runes wouldn’t be able to accomplish.

In fact, although Red knew the general shape of all those runes and their supposed purpose, their exact effects were hard to interpret without experimentation.

“That’s incredible!” Aurelia seemed even more excited than him at this information. “An entire system of runes learnt just like that. And to think you were still trying to decipher them one by one back then.”

Indeed, if he knew they could all be learnt by just using his blood as a catalyst, then he wouldn’t have gone through the trouble of trying to draw them with a bone pen. Although, he still wasn’t sure whom he had provoked by causing that reaction yet, so he wasn’t eager to celebrate.

“What will you do with that knowledge?” Aurelia asked.

“What am I supposed to do with it?” Red shook his head. “Nothing about my situation has changed.”

The infernal runes were too much of a risk to use in public, which was why he put their research aside. Even if he knew more of them now, it wasn’t like he could use them.

She snorted. “Bah! You know nothing! You may not be able to use them, but you could still learn something about them.”

Red frowned. “What do you mean?”

“Did you forget what arcane runes are?” She asked. “They’re a physical representation of the laws of the world! Although you can’t necessarily deepen your comprehension just by looking at them, it is possible to derive some information about how our world works through their use.”

The youth had a realization. “You mean…”

“That’s right! You might be able to understand the world where they came from better if you learn how these runes work.”

Red had never considered things this way. Arcane runes were based on an elemental system, and one could learn about how the world worked through their interactions. For instance, how fire and water could create steam, and how lightning was conducted better through metal and water. This was basic knowledge for people of this world, but what did Red know about that infernal plane? Did the fire created by blood interact the same way with water? How well could lightning conduct through the hardened blood? What about the interaction of blood with other materials?

These weren’t questions that would necessarily make him stronger, but it would increase his knowledge of how that hellscape worked, which was something Red was in dire need of after wandering blindly for so long. In fact, it might also help him understand the being inside his body.

“You’re right.” Red nodded. “But I don’t have time for that right now.”

“It’s your choice.” Aurelia shrugged. “I can’t tell you how to cultivate.”

“You can help me with something else, though.” He said. “What was the realm of that cultivator that attacked me?”

“I couldn’t tell.” She shook her head. “But I’m almost sure he wasn’t at the Greater Ring Realm, if that’s your concern.”

‘So I wasn’t wrong…’

Red didn’t think he was capable enough to survive an attack of a cultivator an entire realm above him, even if he was confident in his abilities.

He looked over at Emer. The imp was shifting on his feet uncomfortably, holding back his urge to interrupt his master’s conversation with himself.

“That organization - the Shadow - they attacked me.” Red said.

“T-They did?!” The imp trembled in fear.

“They did. Apparently, the one who attacked me was referred to as a Shadow themselves. Can you clarify what that means?”

This time, Emer almost lost his balance as he heard Red’s words. “Y-Y-You were attacked… by one of the Shadows?”

“Tell me who they are.” Red cut him off.

“R-Right!” The imp nodded. “S-Shadow is the name of the organization, but people also refer to their leaders as the Shadows.”

The youth frowned. “So I was attacked by one of their leaders?”

“I-If it was one of the shadows, then yes…” Emer said.

“… They have assassins in their numbers?”

“A few, yes… T-They rarely act though, and when they do, their target always dies.”

‘And yet, here I am.’

“Have they never been caught?” Red asked.

“O-Once, a long time ago, but they exploded themselves before they could be captured, so no one ever knew their true identity.”

“I see. Then tell me - throwing dagger that explode into shards - do you know a Shadow with that kind of power?”

The imp froze. “E-Exploding daggers?”

“That’s right.” Red nodded. “Who is that?”

“… T-They call them the Sha-Shattering Steel.” Emer said. “T-They’re a Greater Ring Realm assassin, and they killed the Duke of Northenvale in the past.”

‘A duke?’

Red wasn’t too familiar with the nobility of the kingdom, but he knew that dukes were the nobles just below King Thomas in rank and were the heads of the most powerful families in the country. To have killed one meant this was an extremely powerful and notorious assassin.

‘Still, Greater Ring Realm…’

That word kept bothering Red, but there was no point in dwelling on it.

“These Shadows - are they assassins for hire?”

“Y-Yes.” Emer nodded. “B-But they are extremely expensive, I hear, and they don’t really make themselves available for hire… O-Or so I think.”

“And yet, one of them came for me.” Red frowned. “Why?”

“I-I couldn’t tell you, master.”

An assassin that rarely ever appeared in public made an exception to their secrecy to kill a random cultivator - and for what reason? Even if Red had angered some people in the city, how could they ever place the same importance on his head as a Duke? Things didn’t add up, and this made him all the more confused.

The youth frowned in contemplation before looking back at Emer. “Do you know anyone famous by the name of Leon?”

“Leon?” The imp seemed to be in thought. “W-Well, there are a few Leons in the city, but if we are speaking about famous ones, then only Duke Leon would fit the criteria.”

“A Duke in the city?”

“W-Well, yes. He’s the Minister of War for King Thomas and one of his most trusted men, so he resides in the capital, a-and also… His home is in the hands of the Empire now, so he couldn’t return even if he wanted to.” The imp said. “He just so happens to also be the current Duke of Northenvale… His father was the one that was killed by Shattering Steel.”

“… How old is he?” Red asked.

“I-I’m not too sure, but he should be in his forties.”

‘That doesn’t match up.’

The young master that came to visit him was at most in his early twenties, this much Red knew for certain from his crimson sense.

“Are there any other Leons?”

“A-Any others?” Emer frowned in thought. “T-There’s also his son, who goes by the same name. He’s one of the most talented young cultivators of our kingdom.”

“Describe him.”

The imp didn’t seem too sure about the young man’s appearance, but what he did know seemed to match with the appearance of the individual who bought his talismans.

‘The son of a Duke, huh?’

A powerful position by all means, and this made Red wary in how to deal with him.

“What is his reputation in the city?” He asked.

“W-Well, he is very well-liked by people, even more so by the ones of lesser means. Some people say he even helps the refugees outside our walls with donations.”

‘A generous person?’

It was a rarity for a noble, much less one who was also a cultivator.

“Is that all you know?”

“I-I’m afraid so, master.” Emer nodded. “Only people in the noble circles he is in could tell you more.”

“I see…”

Red trailed off, looking over at the boxes of materials in the living room.

“Which one of those did you say they threw the powder on?”

“T-This one, my lord!”

Emer walked over and pointed at a box near the corner of the room. Red got up with some difficulty and walked over to it, inspecting its contents. These were mostly materials for drawing the advanced talismans, with inks, pigments, and other ingredients strewn inside.

Red used a bit of his Spiritual Energy and picked up one of those materials - a bundle of blueish tree bark - with a strand of wind. He examined it, but just like the imp said, he couldn’t find any signs of a powder.

He made the material float over to the imp with his strand of Spiritual Energy.

“Burn it.” he said.

“A-Are you certain, mast-?”

“Do it.”

Emer offered no further protest, pointing a finger at the material. The tree bark caught fire with ease, burning away in mere moments. No explosions happened, but as Red looked closely, he noticed a strangely colored wisp of smoke rise from the burning material.

He breathed, and a strand of blood gale flew over and surrounded the wisp in a bubble of air before it could dissipate. To Red’s surprise, though, as soon as his gale touched the wisp, it started to melt away into nothingness. The youth was quick to retract what was left of it, but upon further thought, he let the bloody gale dissipate instead of reabsorbing it into his body.

Red used what little was left of his Spiritual Energy to blow the wisp outside through a window, even as he felt the strands corrode his powers. Still, at the end, he was successful with the task, but the discovery put him on guard.

‘A poison that can corrode Spiritual Energy…’

The fire seemed to cause it to activate, but the ingredients targeted by the infiltrator wouldn’t need to be burned in any form. There was probably another means of activating it which would occur during his drawing process, but after confirming the danger of the powder, Red wasn’t eager to continue testing it.

“We’ll burn everything in that box.” Red said. “One by one, with extreme care.”

“R-Right.” The imp nodded.

“Those too.” He pointed at two other boxes that were right next to the poisoned one.

“B-But, master, those weren’t poisoned…”

“Do as I say.”

Red would not take any chances in this matter. He would rather lose a dozen Spirit Stones than risk dying for the sake of small profits.

He wasn’t so greedy as to lose sight of what was more important for him, after all.