Inside an elite district, a young man in wealthy clothes with long black hair slowly strolled through the street.
'I guess I can consider myself lucky.'
An odd smile appeared on his face as he sensed a certain area in his body.
There was no essence left in his seed.
Just as he expected.
It hadn't shattered — only cracked.
When he forced the last fragments of essence from his seed, he expected it to shatter. Instead, it cracked.
He vomited blood.
After he finished the treatment of Alisia's injuries, he tried to gather plant essence into his essence seed, but the moment he attempted it, he felt his heart almost about to explode.
He understood.
For now, he was no longer an essence cultivator.
As long as the seed remained, recovery was theoretically possible.
But he has no method.
A solution would be found. Eventually.
Now he can only rely on Body Tempering and Soul Refinement paths.
'Well. So what if I can't cultivate essence? It doesn't matter as long as Alisia lives.'
A dull pain pulsed deep within his chest — a quiet reminder of what he did.
'I just hope she reads the letter before she panics.'
He knew her well. His disappearance would shake her.
The letter would explain everything.
'Grow stronger and one day… we'll meet again.'
…
Inside a certain room, a young blond-haired girl stood by the opened window. Her long hair swayed by the calm breeze.
She looked at the sky as she held a piece of paper.
'What… have you done?'
When Alisia woke up, shivering from the cold, it was already night, she returned to the inn and found a letter beneath the table — something she had somehow missed before.
She had read it several times by now.
By this time, she had remembered everything that happened to her in that camp. All the pain and despair.
Alisia clearly recalled a moment when she was on the brink of death. Her vision was blurred by blood and she was barely holding her consciousness.
But at that moment, she remembered how the pain suddenly stopped and then a very familiar voice before her mind went dark.
Alisia was young and inexperienced, but not dumb or naive. Her state was at death's door and Alisia knew that Vincent was not a person that could reverse her state to normal.
But it happened.
That was what frightened her most.
'What price did you pay to bring me back from the dead?'
This question was tormenting her like nothing else before.
She doesn't know what exactly he did, but the price must be enormous.
Was this the reason for his departure?
Is his state so bad that he thought that he no longer deserves to be with her?
Or is there something entirely else?
Alisia's body started to tremble.
Tears started to fall on her cheeks, but her face was like a stone, emotionless as she stared at the sky.
'This letter…heh, you think I'm dumb and can't figure it out?'
Alisia gripped the letter in her fist, crunching it and with another hand casually wiped her face.
She took a deep breath and left the room.
Her destination was that abandoned mine.
There were marks of blood on her palm.
…
A young man had passed the exit of an elite district.
Without turning around, he went towards the trade guild.
It was night.
A barely visible transparent fire that was burning on his forehead began to disperse.
'I can no longer make an enemy with those two clans. If I still had essence, I wouldn't fear them, but now the situation is different.'
Vincent went to the elite district to scout the two clans with his soul sense.
When he was scanning their territories, he sensed several powerful people.
Previously, when he was here, he had attempted the same scanning and didn't feel life-threatening danger.
But now, he did. His body was shivering when his senses touched those people.
Gladly, his soul force was more advanced than theirs so they didn't discover his presence and only felt a bit odd than usual.
Vincent was quite frustrated.
Now, he has to completely change his behaviour if wants to survive.
Just yesterday he was confident that only one or two people in the entire North Star city could be dangerous to him, but now, this number has increased to almost twenty.
Taking a deep breath, his internal state calmed down.
Though his situation greatly changed, he doesn't plan on leaving the city.
There were still several questions that this place had to answer.
And the first was… trade guild. Specifically, the underground location beneath it.
When Vincent was buying that talon-ring, he once again sensed two signatures around forty meters under the trade guild.
Those two signatures were the reason for his odd feeling ever since he entered the city for the first time.
And he can't suppress his curiosity anymore.
Tonight, he'll find out what is going on.
…
"Hmm~"
Walking through the street, a man was humming a certain melody. He was holding a torch.
Arriving at a place, he stopped and turned around.
Seeing no one, he pushed a certain brick.
*Shhh*
Suddenly, a wall of an abandoned building moved.
Taking another look around, he entered and the wall went to its previous state.
The building was small with spiderwebs in the corners and almost no furniture.
The man went to the centre and tapped his foot in a certain way.
*Click*
The floor suddenly moved and opened a pathway underground.
The man entered and the opening closed just like the wall previously.
Going down the stairs, he arrived at the long passageway with torches on the walls.
At the end of it stood a massive metallic door with locks all over it.
After the man unlocked the last lock, he exhaled weakly, exhausted.
*Shhh*
Grabbing the handle, he pushed it open.
But the moment he opened the door, he felt his mind spin.
*Thud*
His body collapsed and the torch in his hand fell down with him.
When the torch rolled across the floor, its flame flickered — revealing a figure standing in the corridor.