Renata walked out of the city slowly, her steps measured and calm.

She hadn't healed Marquis Rhaegor Darkwind for free. He had paid a hefty sum in gold and silver. However, had she not been familiar with him, she wouldn’t have come personally to treat him. The price for her personal attendance was at least 100 million silver.

Her organization, the Bloodstone Order of Mages, was home to many powerful mages. At its helm was a single Golden Mage—the only one in the entire kingdom. He ruled over the order as its leader.

The name "Bloodstone Order of Mages" might sound grand, but in truth, the order only had eight Silver Mages under its command. Despite the kingdom's vast population exceeding 100 million, there were fewer than ten known Silver Mages—an undeniable testament to their rarity.

Of course, it was possible that other Silver Mages existed outside the order, but Renata had never met one. And until she saw such a person with her own eyes, she wouldn’t believe they existed.

Beneath the Silver Mages, there were roughly 100 Great Mages and 1,000 Average Mages. Thousands of servants and students with even the faintest trace of magical talent trained under the order, though only a few might one day reach the rank of Average Mage—let alone higher.

When high-ranking nobles requested a mage through official channels, the Bloodstone Order usually sent an Average Mage or, at most, a Great Mage. It was extremely rare for someone outside the royal family to have access to a Silver Mage.

Among the eight Silver Mages, four were battle mages, one was a formation master, one was an elixir master, and another was a crafter. Renata was the eighth and the newest—a healer.

As a Silver-rank Healer, her value was immeasurable. Even 100 million silver might not be enough to summon her services. This time, she needed special permission from the leader himself just to come here and save an old friend.

...

As she walked out of the city, a tall man with tanned skin appeared before her. Rings adorned eight of his ten fingers, and piercings decorated his nose and ears.

"Master Renata, is your task complete?" he asked.

"It is over, Lord Fabian. We can return."

Renata, as a Silver-rank healer and the greatest in the kingdom, could not travel alone. To ensure her safety, a Golden Knight had been shadowing her from a distance.

Fabian frowned and said, "Master Renata, I'm afraid we cannot leave yet. I've already summoned reinforcements—Duke Stonefist and Master Elliot are on their way."

Renata's brows furrowed. "What happened?"

Fabian’s expression darkened. "While I was following you in the city, I noticed someone else tailing you. I suspect he might be a Golden Knight."

Renata froze. "A Golden Knight?" she whispered, a chill running down her spine. She had never imagined that a simple trip to help a friend would turn into a life-and-death situation.

"I can’t say for certain," Fabian admitted, "since knights cannot directly sense each other’s strength unless we fight or see their aura. But based on his movements... using my three centuries of experience, I am moderately certain—he was a Golden Knight."

Renata's heart pounded.

"Don’t worry," Fabian reassured her. "The man left a while ago. I only called for reinforcements to ensure we can safely return to the protective formation of the Bloodstone Order. Once you're secure, we will investigate who this man was."

Fabian's duty was solely to protect Renata—nothing else. He hadn't dared to reveal himself to the suspected Golden Knight. While Fabian was strong, if a fight had broken out, he wouldn’t have been able to protect Renata and fight at the same time.

Hearing this, Renata nodded. "Then we shall wait in the city for Master Stonefist and Master Elliot."

Fabian nodded and followed as Renata turned and stepped back into the city.

...

While Edric was busy in Darkwind City, his clone was preoccupied with planting the seeds of the next generation of the Windwalker Family.

Although it was merely a clone, lacking independent consciousness, its reproductive abilities were fully intact—perfectly healthy and fertile.

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Technically, he still wasn’t sure whether children conceived by the clone would be recognized by the System as his own. However, after using a few Silver-rank spells to test some of the women, he confirmed that genetically, the offspring were completely indistinguishable from those conceived by his real body.

For that reason, he was hopeful. If the System ever assigned him a task related to having children, it might recognize these offspring as his.

...

After ensuring everything was in place, Edric returned to Windwalker Castle without being detected. He recharged the clone before heading out once again.

His plans for the future were simple—explore further.

"If only I could extend the clone’s lifespan..." he thought.

Right now, he had no choice but to return every day to recharge the clone, restricting his time spent outside. He couldn’t venture too far from the castle as long as the clone required daily maintenance.

He had a few ideas on how to fix this issue.

Elemental Crystals and Magic Stones seemed like potential solutions, but he lacked the knowledge to create the necessary formations. He couldn’t just shove a magic stone into the clone’s body and expect it to work. There needed to be a system—a proper flow of energy, just like installing a battery in a construct.

It frustrated him.

"It’s a shame those books had nothing on this..."

Even though he was a Golden Mage, his average talent meant he had no chance of inventing a Silver or Golden-rank spell or formation on his own.

His System had allowed him to break past his talent limitations and reach Golden rank, but when it came to creating or innovating new magic, raw talent was still necessary.

And that was something he simply did not have.

...

A few days later ...

"I have 23 hours until I have to recharge the clone," Edric thought as he gazed at the snowy road ahead. Then, he gave the command.

"Go!"

The servant, seated at the front of the horse-drawn carriage, snapped the reins, and the caravan began moving.

Edric sat inside the lead carriage, but he wasn’t traveling alone—behind him, twenty other carriages followed in formation.

Before, when he was still a silver mage, he used the Eagle’s Wings spell. But now, as a Golden Mage, he no longer needed Eagle’s Wings at all—he could simply use a Flight Spell. Flight spell is faster than Eagle's wing so that he could recharge the clone faster.

...

He was leading a trade caravan to a neighboring city.

His destination? A city ruled by Countess Freya Bloodstone.

She governed a border city that marked the division between King Bloodstone’s lands and those of Marquis Darkwind.

Though King Bloodstone ruled the entire kingdom, he didn’t directly control all of it. Much of the land was governed by Marquises and Dukes from other noble families.

That said, as king, his personal domain—the lands directly controlled by the Bloodstone Family—was the largest in both population and size.

However, the king rarely personally involved himself in these affairs. Instead, his vast territory was divided among various members of the Bloodstone Family, who were granted noble titles and put in charge. Unlike the Marquises and Dukes of other noble houses, these Bloodstone nobles had no autonomy whatsoever—they were bound entirely by the will of the Bloodstone Family’s capital.

But Edric didn’t care about the kingdom’s power struggles.

His reason for leading this trade caravan was simple.

He needed an official identity—one completely separate from Edric Windwalker.

He would become a merchant.

This caravan had been carefully assembled with the secret assistance of Kaelith. Its cargo? Luxury goods—expensive items meant only for the wealthy elite.

Using magic, Edric had completely altered his appearance. His once-red hair was now black. His green eyes had turned a deep brown, and his skin had darkened. Nothing about him resembled his true self.

He had even crafted a detailed backstory—one that would hold up as long as no one dug too deep.

To the world, he would be a minor noble landlord who had sold everything to start a trade company. If anyone bothered to investigate, they would find witnesses who could confirm his tale. They would even find records of the land he had supposedly sold to fund his new venture.

With this new identity, Edric Windwalker would disappear.

And in his place, a wealthy merchant would rise.

Of course, he would only initiate the plan if something goes wrong with Edric's identity.

All of this had been carefully arranged with Kaelith’s assistance. Even though Rhaegor had been healed, even he had to grit his teeth and obey Edric. After all, no one could afford to become the enemy of a Golden Knight—not unless they had the support of multiple Golden Knights themselves.

Of course, from Edric’s perspective, there was no way Rhaegor or Kaelith could gather the backing of more than one Golden Knight in a place as barren and isolated as this.

So, he wasn’t particularly worried.

As a final measure, he planned to silence everyone in the trade caravan once their journey was complete. He couldn’t allow anyone to leak information about his location or his new identity—not to Kaelith, not to anyone.

Even though none of these merchants and servants knew his real identity, they could still provide clues. Clues that might eventually lead back to him.

Once he registered as a merchant under the Bloodstone Family, he would gain an official identity, recognized across the entire Bloodstone Kingdom. At that point, he could abandon the identity of Edric Windwalker and fully embrace his new persona—Carl, the merchant.

Having an official identity was crucial.

Without it, accessing certain key locations would become unnecessarily difficult.

One such place was Flicker Port—the largest port in the Bloodstone Kingdom.

Once every decade, an advanced magical ship would dock there, offering direct passage to the mainland of the Flicker Empire. If he wanted to secure passage aboard that ship, he needed an official identity—otherwise, it would be almost impossible to get on.

Of course, there were other ways. He could simply kill someone, steal their appearance, and board the ship under their name.

But that was a last resort.

A more long-term, carefully built fake identity was the better option. That was why he was here, traveling with this trade group—carefully crafting a new life.

As he thought about his future plans, he leaned back in his carriage seat, waiting patiently.