The girl finally regained her calm after a long series of fluctuations but it was again broken by just a few words from him.

Her eyes turned cold, but it seemed that their coldness wasn’t pointing at Ragnar this time.

“That’s… Fine. Can we resurface now? It’s starting to get suffocating.”

Ragnar was amused by her reply, since it seemed like she was almost… glad, that Ragnar killed them. He inquired to satiate his curiosity.

“You don’t seem too bothered by their deaths?”

Her cold expression didn’t take long to return to serenity as she replied.

“I only kept them around to have 3 extra lives whenever I needed them. It’s not like they really wanted to follow me. They were probably sent to keep a check on me by that guy anyways.”

Her voice turned a bit resentful and helpless by the end of her sentence.

Ragnar couldn’t be bothered to inquire any further since it didn’t intrigue him. But the girl suddenly showed a hint of excitement as if she had seen a glimmer of hope, so she asked.

“Um… since I will be helping you, could y-“

However, her voice was cut off by Ragnar before she could continue any further.

“It would be good for you if you understand this well. ‘You’ are not helping me. This… is a deal.”

The girl’s excitement seemed palpable in this moment as she asked to confirm.

“Does that mean I can ask for something as well?”

Ragnar looked at her as a chuckle escaped his lips. She clearly didn’t understand the situation.

“You have already received your end of the deal.”

The girl furrowed her brows in confusion from his answer.

“i… Have?”

Ragnar replied as his playful tone returned.

“You get to live, don’t you?”

Before the girl could process his words, the scenery around them changed rapidly as they appeared back on the surface.

Ragnar had already lost a quarter of his essence in the time they had been talking. Bringing a human inside with him was really taxing on his Essence.

The girl’s excitement had died down completely as she looked lost.

Ragnar did not feel bad in the slightest with his decision since the deal seemed more than fair to him. Rather, she might be on the winning side in this.

The girl’s sour thoughts were broken by a whimper that sounded beside her. Ragnar had already created some distance from her and stood in front of her.

When she looked to the side, she saw her mount peeking from behind her as it stared at Ragnar with pure dread in its striking eyes.

She could not make head or tail of this situation. As far as she knew, these creatures were supposed to belong to a rather prideful species. And it was also an Arcane just like the guy it was scared of. She could only look at the guy to see what it was, about him, that would result in this reaction.

You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

Ragnar might have an idea as to why the creature was reacting in this fashion. He hadn’t been sure before but it was plenty clear now. Since he was an Arcane, he had started radiating a hint of his Primordial aura. It would mean that he would radiate it more and more as he ranked up.

But it wasn’t something that was out of his control. He tried to control it within his body and it vanished just like that. It wasn’t much noticeable for humans which was why he didn’t notice it before. That was also why the girl couldn’t sense anything wrong with him and still looked confused.

Ragnar was about to say something to leave this awkward staring contest but her confusion suddenly vanished. A hint of recognition appeared in her serene eyes as she exclaimed.

“I remember you! I have seen you before!”

That… was unexpected.

Ragnar was quite surprised that she would remember him. Firstly, they hadn’t had any interaction whatsoever, and secondly, he looked quite different from how he was before entering the Rift.

“You are one of the Eclipsians aren’t you? But then why would you ask me for the identity? Wait, why did you try to kill me? Who would order you to kill me? Was it her? No, she is not in HCR right now, it can’t be her.”

Her words had turned into a mumble by the end but Ragnar still heard them very clearly. He took a moment to take it in and then replied to only one of her questions as his voice became bone chillingly cold. He should’ve just broken the Rule before.

“No one… ‘ORDERS’ me… to do anything.”

Her eyes twitched as she was at a loss. She couldn’t get a handle of how this man’s mind worked. She realised she had said something triggering for him. So, she tried to quell the situation in a calm tone.

“Aren’t you an Eclipsian. Why would you try to kill me then?”

Ragnar took a few seconds to calm down before he could reply. His voice still sounded a bit cold but it seemed like he was willing to ignore the earlier transgression.

“I don’t know what you mean by Eclipsian and I tried to kill you because I wanted to.”

She did not react to the second part of his answer since she clearly did not believe in his reason for killing her crewmates. And the first part had already left her baffled.

The Shifted beside her had already calmed down but it still did not meet Ragnar’s gaze. Its master on the other hand, stood there, gawking at Ragnar with a blank look.

She said after staring at him for 3 seconds, still with the blank face.

“Do you live under a rock? You don’t know what Eclipsian is?”

Ragnar did not feel the least bit embarrassed in showing off his lack of knowledge.

“I don’t live anywhere in particular. And no, I don’t know what Eclipsian is.”

He felt like he had heard that word from Tristan before, but he could not put a finger on what it was. He didn’t feel like overworking his brain right now so he just looked at her, expecting an explanation.

She did not disappoint as she said with obvious exaggeration.

“It is one of the 7 Ruling Factions! How could you not know them when you are using their blade?”

She said as she pointed at the dagger whose hilt was visible around his waist.

Several things clicked into place for Ragnar as he moved his gaze down to look at the moon drawn on the hilt of his dagger.

So, Vorlock was one of the Eclipsians. Ragnar smiled. This time, his smile looked so dangerous that it made the girl retreat a few steps until she collided with her mount, almost falling.

These 7 ruling factions were the 7 families that ruled their own respective continents. Ragnar had of course, learned about them but he couldn’t remember it very well. He knew that they were the ones who also had a surname, similar to his own. So Eclipsian also must be a surname.

So, his enemy belonged to one of the ruling factions, but did it matter? Not in the slightest. He will have to die, there was no other option to choose out of.

At this point he heard the girl speak again, her voice sounded hopeful.

“You at least know who the Sylvancrests are, right? You used the stronghold in their territory.”

He did in fact, know the Sylvancrests. They were the ruling faction in the continent he lived in, the Continent of Nature.

It might have stuck with him since he lived in their territory so he could be bothered to remember their name. This was one of the earliest lessons from Tristan, hence the reason behind why his memory seemed so hazy on this topic. He wasn’t very interested in world politics anyways.

Ragnar did not keep her waiting for long as he gave her the answer she had been craving.

“I do”

The long-lost confidence returned to the girl’s eyes. She seemed to be gloating at the fact that a person who did not know the Eclipsians, did know the Sylvancrests.

Now that Ragnar thought about it, the people he had killed were also surnamed Sylvancrest. That would explain the reason behind her gloating expression. She was also one of them.

He thought about what he would do if her faction wanted to confront him about their dead members. But the thought went by as soon as it came.

Since they will just be adding themselves to his list.