Roland’s mind was in complete confusion, not only the words of his masters made no sense for him, they talked so loudly and quickly that it damaged him.

“So they were that desperate to me not talk with Shin Tan? I wanted to make a good lasting relationship to the current genius of the city for my safety but this is also fine, less work for me and less time to deal with people I don’t like.” Roland mused watching Shin Tan leaving with his followers.

Jimmy forgot what he was going to say because of Shin’s interruption and an awkward silence reigned over the table.

Roland ‘to break the ice’ motioned to the middle of the High Area where the tenth activity is beginning. “Jimmy, Carmen, what’s that guy is doing staying still there?”

The disciples from Kirin Renascence looked relieved of being free from the previous mood and immediately explained after seeing the middle-aged man in red imperial robes with smelting furnaces symbols all over his clothes staying on the middle. “Ah, Roland, his name is Vaen and is an elder from Master Blacksmith Society. He probably asked for someone in the High Area to volunteer to learn Essence Reinforcement from him, but nobody is stupid enough to go, even the ones from his Society won’t go because Vaen is famous for embarrassing anyone that tries to learn something from him.”

Lucy telepathically said. “Roland, that man is interesting. Go try to learn something from him. It’s not that he always embrasses the people that try to learn from him, it’s only that his standards are too high.”

Roland touched Lucy to show his confusion.

She answered back. “I know this because he is holding an already blessed beginner talisman instead of inactive talisman, if he wanted to embarrass the others he would use the latter that is impossible for a beginner to reinforce. Of course, I can teach anything that man can say or do, but seeing another person in action or another point of view is important for all Great Arts even if you aren’t currently studying Essence Reinforcement. If you do it good enough, maybe he can even reward you.”

Roland was convinced and since his feeling of shame of failing is too small, even if he embarrasses himself he won’t care and he would also finally do something interesting in this until now boring festival.

Roland standing up, took Jimmy and Carmen of surprise. They thought he was going to the bathroom but instead, he confidently walked to Vaen in the middle of the High Area.

Jimmy couldn’t understand Roland why was doing that after he just got warned and Carmen was looking to this with fervent eyes, she feels this will be the event which will make her suspicions become true.

“Oh, finally someone with some guts. Are you that confident in your Essence Reinforcement?” Vaen put pressure on Roland by using his Essence and natural killing intent polished by years of war against enemy cities and Hybrids.

Lucy’s icy blue eyes narrowed and she growled in annoyance at Vaen, disrupting Vaen’s pressure and killing intent with her Essence. She didn't care if the muscular man tried to intimidade Roland, but Vaen was too brute and instead of focusing his powers he spread it, affecting Lucy that was enjoying Roland’s scarf.

Vaen looked in surprise to the white fox and grinned. “You have a good pet. Are you from Kirin Renascence?”

“No, I don’t belong to them. And to answer your earlier question, I’m not confident in my Essence Reinforcement since I never studied this Great Art in my life. So I’m here to see if you can show me how good this Great Art can be.” Roland said.

“A complete beginner then?” Vaen laughed, and in his mind, he already discovered why Roland was permitted to bring animals to Major Castle. “To think a beginner would have more guts than everyone here, it is a sad reality to our city but a good opportunity for you, young man.”

Vaen brought out another rectangular piece of paper in form of talisman. “Watch me closely, you will have to mimic me perfectly after I do this.” Vaen proceeded to not call Essence around him but within himself to inscribe one rune of ‘light’ on the talisman.

His fingers glowing danced on the talisman and when he finished of inscribing the rune, the light emanating from it was blinding. Vaen had to immediately destroy the talisman after finishing to not blind everyone on the High Area. “Now it is your time.” He gave the blessed beginner talisman to Roland.

People cursed in their minds how sudden the light was and how impossible the request Vaen was making to Roland. The category of ‘light’ runes is hard to even to experienced practitioners of Essence Reinforcement, asking a beginner to do that without even explaining to him the right ratio of force and Essence to use in the talisman not break is too shameless.

“So I just have to write ‘light’ in runes? Essence Reinforcement is easier than I thought and quite similar to Equipment Formation.” Roland patted Lucy’s head to release the Soul Spirit from her.

If people were surprised by seeing the white fox spat a floating ball of water, they got stupefied when Roland got enveloped by what seemed a coat of water after touching the Soul Spirit and how Essence created a strong vortex never seen before around Roland.

“This… impossible!” Not only was Vaen was surprised to see such way for gathering Essence, people at another secret room seeing Roland were bewildred and were preparing themselves to make an appearance on the High Area if one person within them didn’t win against them in reaction speed.

Roland not cared for the commotion and focused on his job, he concentrated his Vital Energy on his hands and the Essence following his actions also concentrated there.

Holding the talisman in his left hand, he made the Essence wrap around to give it consistency to endure the process in a way similar he does for his equipment, only that he copied how Vaen secretly used his other hand to stabilize the talisman with a strange red energy.

He continued to mimic Vaen by writing ‘light’ without touching the talisman but guiding the Essence to inscribe it, the talisman seemed to almost break when so much Essence went to it, however, Roland easily fixed that with careful calibration of his Vital Energy.

Soon enough the talisman began to shine like a sun on the HIgh Area, it didn't reach the level of Vaen’s talisman but was strong enough to illuminate all High Area.

Roland sent the Vital Energy back to the Soul Spirit and cut off the Essence going to the talisman to shut it off.

“What it enough, Mister Vaen?” Roland said.

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“It was splendid. How about you coming-” Vaen was going to recruit Roland and then give him a reward for helping in the activity of the Major Castle, but a presence coming from beyond the doors of the High Area that he knows too well made him pause and curse. “Wasn’t her a little too quick to snatch him from me? Did the patriarch help?” He thought.

Knocking over the doors, Elizabeth appeared and shouted. “Vaen, some strange people surged and Father said to you come back already to the Elders' room to also participate on the talk.”

Vaen run over and left the High Area, thinking. “That little queen should be able to convince Roland alone. But is the patriarch really accepting to negotiate with those people? How people change near the death.”

Elizabeth walked to the middle of the High Area, with her fan in hands and a new amulet that looked broken in half with the symbol remaining being black with a white spot at it hanging on her chest.

Her appearance caused different reactions on the people of the High Area, Shin Tan, for example, looked for a moment lecherously to her bountiful chest before remembering how notorious she is and extinguishing all lust within him and substituting it for vigilance against her.

Others avoided like a plague and didn’t dare to look at her. A path was opened to her, and her alone to walk. Everyone else shunned away in fear.

“I don’t know if is to me be impressed or sad about her situation.” Roland thought, turning to Elizabeth.

“Good to see you again, Sir Roland. Why didn’t you go to my Father’s birthday? You took too long to come and the party is already done, they are now having a ‘business’ with strange people.” Elizabeth smiled, closing her fan.

“Elizabeth, I thank you for the invite but I don’t it is right to me, a stranger, intrude into a moment so important to you and your father.” Roland said without backing off of her.

“Bullshit, Father would love to meet you. He is deeply interested on you for various reasons.” She said and thought. “Although one of those reasons I hope to you never discover, should I tell him we discovered he went from the fifth layer to the seventh layer of Essence Reformation in one night and that his method earlier of making talismans was something coming from legends?”

“Another time I will meet him then.” Roland said courteously, not thinking that would really happen.

“If you become a member of Master Blacksmith Society it will be easier to you meet him. How about you becoming my one and only follower? It’s a offer you can’t lose, and before you say anything, I know you don’t pertence to Kirin Renascence and won’t go there.” Elizabeth with her eyes red as blood shining and a terrible sly smile that shook the people’s mind, said in a enticing manner combined with the natural aggressiveness she emanates.

“Calm down a little, lady. You’re scaring me a little with how eager you are.” Roland thought before saying. “It’s true I’m not from Kirin Renascence, but how do you know I don’t pretend to enter it? I know some people from there.”

“It is simple.” Elizabeth touched the ends of his scarf, looking intently to it with a kind smile not befitting her normal self. “These clothes, you by yourself made them and was able to make it at High Mortal tier without being too used to Equipment Formation. I can sense small mistakes that beginners do and your Essence is flowing from it, making easy to identify it as your creation despite you having other clothes equal in appearance.”

Now it was time to Roland really be frightened by Elizabeth and to Lucy finally look at Elizabeth with praise contained in her eyes while thinking. “I like of this girl, only someone that profoundly love Equipment Formation can perceive such small details. I even want to exchange my stupid son for her.”

“So what you say, Sir Roland? Will you become my follower?” Elizabeth looked to Roland’s reaction and made her own conclusions. “Oh, could be you don’t know how followers work in Societies? It must be so. If not, you would already accepted my proposal.”

“Please enlighten me.” Roland said after calming down. “I was thinking of joining one of the two Societies after the festival, and only intended to search for how to join them in that moment.”

“To enter a Society you need to pass through a small trial of fire made by the founder to you swear fealty to your Society. Inside of the Society, the member and disciples are divided in several castes to instigate competition and evolution. And there is a special caste besides of course, Elder and mine that is of Queen. It is of being a Follower.

"You receive similar privileges to the one you ‘follow’ but at a small quantity, so everyone wants to be my Follower since my Caste is only lower than my Father, the Patriarch’s King. And since you want to join a Society, you must join mine because we are the only ones that can help you in your study of Equipment Formation and you won’t feel oppressed there like you would because of that new genius named Shin Tan in the Kirin Renascence. You will live near me and nobody will dare to kill you, even the ones that ambushed you.” Elizabeth send the final offer, if Blue Light or Kirin Feast tries to kill again Roland she will exterminate them.

Roland couldn’t receive a better offer, he had Lucy to teach him so the argument about helping him study doesn’t matter to him but the offer of protection? It’s all he needs and moreover, since she said he will live near her it can only mean one thing, right? “If you let me see your teleportation portal whenever I want, I will immediately join your Society and become your follower.” Roland’s eyes shone with the same intensity of when he discovered he could one day build one of the teleportation portals

“Deal!” Elizabeth surprisingly could understand why Roland’s eyes were shining and her own breath came faster, remembering when she also first saw the beauty of teleportation portals. “I see you are a person of culture as well. Let me guess, you also began to study Equipment Formation after seeing the beauty of teleportation portals, right?” Elizabeth felt as if she had found a dear lost friend, one that could finally understand her eccentricities and walk the same path of her not mattering how behind he is in comparison to her.

What her father said earlier today for some reason doesn’t seem so bad to her after she looked to her new amulet.

Roland clasped her hands without fear, saying to her a title she kind of liked. “My comrade! Since you said ‘also’ could it mean-”

“Of course it is.” Elizabeth tightly held his hand back with fervor, innocence and happiness in her eyes matched with Roland’s own eyes when looking at her. “The love for that eldritch beauty is eternal, transdimensional and beyond the mere concepts of gender.” She felt as if she had for the first time a friend in her life.

“I am sure our relationship will be good and well lasting, my comrade Elizabeth.”

“I too think so, my comrade Roland.”

They shook hands and now they looked to each with a respect they never gave to other person.

They were no more strangers, disciples of the same Society, Follower and Queen, restaurant’s boss and provider of ingredients, or even friends.

From this moment, they were undoubtedly best friends!

“Let’s talk more in another location, those envious eyes of our friendship is starting to annoy me and we can’t continue to standing here in the middle, there are others activities to happen in the High Area.” Elizabeth guided Roland to outside of the HIgh Area.

Roland followed her without questioning her.

When they left the place was when everyone on the High Area could process and comprehend what happened in their bewildered states.

Not only Roland at first did what they thought to be impossible, showing his talent at Essence Reinforcement, he became the follower of the notorious Elizabeth that doesn’t even fear the people from Real Existence and suddenly began to talk as if in another language with her in a fervent state.

Jimmy and Carmen were the most surprised since they knew Roland since he was only at the fourth layer of Essence Formation days ago, and Carmen was lively and at the same time sad her suspicion became true. “What will I do? He went to the other Society, I am in danger now.

"I don’t want to bet my life on Shin Ta that is similar to Roland in relation to what swindler God said, but that man not only is lecherous, I feel like his future will be bleak if he continues to do ‘that’ thing to the weak disciples.

"This is probably my last chance, I need to make Roland come to my side no matter what before the time limit.

"But how?”