As Zack made his way to Mossley, he found himself lost in thought once again. It was kinda strange how he ended up saving Fannie. He couldn't shake the feeling that the satisfaction he got from saving him wasn't worth all the potential trouble he could bring in the future.

I mean, seriously, just within a day of saving him, trouble from the Holy Empire started rolling in. And sure, he might've felt a twinge of nostalgia 'cause he used to have dark hair in his past life, but that alone wasn't reason enough to go outta his way for Fannie.

It's like there's this weird subconscious urge pushing him to save him. Who or what could be influencing him to do stuff he wouldn't normally do? It's like... fate or somethin'. Like the fate of the world itself seems to be calling the shots.

Zack shivered a bit, realizing he only ever woke up to his actions after Fannie landed him in hot water. And lemme tell ya, trouble is the last thing Zack wants in his life. He's never been one for big ambitions. Back in his past life, if he had to choose between two jobs, he'd go for the one with less hassle, even if it paid less.

And if the gym near his place was closed, he'd rather just work out at home than deal with the hassle of going to another branch, even if it meant wasting his gym membership and slowing down his muscle-building progress.

He'd eat the same thing every single day if it meant avoiding trouble. Ya feel me? Zack hates trouble that much. And now that he's reflecting on his past actions, he's pretty dang sure there's one thing he definitely wouldn't do: go outta his way lookin' for a fight outside that tower.

Looking back at his past self wandering out of the tower because of some crazy itch for a fight, Zack couldn't help but think, "Who the heck was that guy?" Like, seriously, he wouldn't even consider stepping out just to satisfy some battle craving, no matter how unbearable it got. And since he lucked out and didn't stir up any trouble on that little excursion, his past self didn’t realize something’s wrong..

Thankfully, his other outings were actually necessary for gathering info or finding a way forward. But still, he couldn't shake off those goosebumps crawling up his skin. It's like somethin' out there's pullin' him into a mess.

He made a mental note to stick to his lane for the next decade until he hit level 3. By then, he figured he'd be unstoppable anyway, so who cares if he had to go lookin' for trouble? Nobody's gonna lay a finger on him. And speaking of trouble... he glanced over at Fannie, holding onto him like his life depended on it.

Just when he entertained the thought of ditching Fannie, alarm bells went off in his head. It was like fate was slappin' him upside the head, warning him he'd cross paths with Fannie again no matter what. And if he dared to bail on him, he'd probably show up next time with even bigger problems in tow.

Ugh, headache incoming. Well, whatever, he'd just have to roll with the punches. After reluctantly deciding not to ditch Fannie, he turned to Fannie and straight-up asked why the heck the Holy Empire was after him.

Fannie tried dodging his gaze and staying silent, but Zack wasn't having it. This time, he was dead set on getting to the bottom of things. And why the heck did he let this slide earlier? Why didn't he push Fannie for answers sooner? Didn't he need to dig into her past when he took Fannie in to avoid trouble in the first place?

Oh man, talk about a bombshell! Zack couldn't help but feel a bit angry with himself as the truth sunk in, making his gaze even more intense.

"It's not cool keepin' secrets from someone who saved your hide, don't ya think?" he prodded.

Finally, Fannie caved and spilled the beans about his past. Turns out, he was raised in an orphanage run by the church. But this ain't your typical feel-good orphanage story, oh no. This place had a dark side.

See, the church figured out that despair and anger could sometimes boost the talents of the orphans they were raising to be saintesses. And they exploited that, big time. A bunch of higher-ups in the church, mostly middle-aged to fifty-year-old dudes, would sexually abuse the orphans and torture 'em in all sorts of messed-up ways to fulfill their sick fantasies. And to top it off, they had healing miracles, so the poor kids couldn't even escape by dying.

Then one day, while Fannie and the other orphans were still trapped in the basement, someone busted into the orphanage. Some of the orphans took the chance and bolted, risking it all for freedom. Luckily, the orphanage was close to the border of the Fulminar Empire, where the church wouldn't dare to follow.

Outta the fifty or so orphans that made a run for it, only Fannie managed to make it to safety in the Fulminar Empire. If it were any other orphan, the church probably would've called it quits, but Fannie was special. His talent as a saintess was off the charts.

Now, Fannie's caught the attention of the pope and the saintess herself. The saintess is schemin' to absorb Fannie's talent to boost her own power, or maybe toss him to be part of her inquisitors. Either way, it's all about rampin' up the church's control and influence.

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So, basically, the church is risking tickin' off the Fulminar Empire just to hunt down Fannie. And they're all like, "Pshh, we can totally handle any backlash 'cause the Holy Empire's got this extra level 3 powerhouse now." Talk about bold moves, huh?

Zack nodded along as Fannie spilled his guts. But then he had a light bulb moment. Hold up a sec... ain't saintesses supposed to be, like, ladies? He cocked his head to get a better look at Fannie.

Caught off guard by his gaze, Fannie blushed and buried her face in his shoulder, feeling all shy and stuff.

Zack slowly turned his head back to face forward. On the outside, he looked chill, but inside, his brain was doin' backflips. I knew it! I knew it! 'Cause, like, in someone's novel, the first person you meet's gotta be a girl, right?

But here's the kicker: usually, in these stories, the girl brings all sorts of trouble for the main dude. And as much as Zack's got a bit of a big ego and thinks he's the star of the show with the girl as his love interest, he ain't about that romance or harem MC life. Nah, he's all about keepin' it low-key and being the overpowered MC 'cause that's the best shot at survivin' in this world.

So, he's seriously thinkin' about ditchin' Fannie here and makin' a run for it somewhere else. Plus, he's got that sweet [Thousand Faces] skill, so he could easily disguise himself as an apprentice wizard and score a tower contract.

Thing is, he's already got a game plan mapped out. He's gonna slowly rack up them contribution points, and when the time's right, he'll apply to level up to a level 1 wizard at the lightning magic tower. Once he's in with the bigwigs there, he'll snag that level 2 knowledge and power up big time.

Then he'd just wait for the right moment again and apply to level up to a level 2 wizard. With that slick [Thousand Faces] skill of his, he didn't even need to stress about signing a contract. So why bother huntin' down level 2 wizards and studyin' their mana hearts when he could just get the knowledge handed to him straight up?

He'd keep on this grind all the way to level 3, fingers crossed. Only thing is, he ain't sure if other towers have the know-how to hit up level 3, 'cause as far as he knows, the lightning magic tower's the only one sportin' level 3 wizards from back in the day till now.

Now, if he chucks his identity and becomes some loose apprentice and signs up with the lightning magic tower, who knows if he'd score that level 2 knowledge. 'Cause let's be real, his background might raise some eyebrows.

He could play it safe and pretend to be a regular guy with wizard potential and start fresh with a clean slate, but man, that'd take forever.

After dukin' it out in his head for a while, he finally decided to stick with Fannie. But he's gonna keep his nose clean and steer clear of any trouble, that's for sure!

But man, it's kinda awkward luggin' a girl around like this. Fortunately, Fannie's so dang skinny from all that torture and runnin' from the church, Zack barely feels a thing when he's holdin' her. It's like cradlin' a skeleton.

Anyways, he's gotta think about Fannie's feelings too. Droppin' her and tellin' her to hoof it on her own would probs mess with her head. Plus, it's quicker for him to carry her and zap up some [Lightning Flesh].

Sorry for babblin' on, folks. But he had to get this off his chest. Off to Mossley they go...

…

After arriving at Mossley, Zack kept up his alter identity and started scoping out houses. Thanks to his wizard status, he got some VIP treatment, which was pretty sweet. In the end, he settled for a spot in the middle-end area—nothing too fancy where the big shots live, but definitely not the slums either. Just your average suburban vibe, with decent security and all that jazz.

After stocking up on food and supplies for Fannie, he told her to hang tight and wait for his next move. He even arranged for the nearest general store and a restaurant to deliver supplies and grub regularly for the next couple of weeks.

Then he bounced outta the city, switched back to his original look, threw on his lightning magic tower robe, and strolled back in. Even though he was just an apprentice wizard, he still got treated like a VIP, probs 'cause of his tower affiliation.

Instead of scoping out houses first, he made a beeline for the arrays and formations workshop of the lightning magic tower to report in. The manager, a fellow apprentice from the tower, was all over getting the transfer process sorted.

Turns out, the guy had scored a sweet gig in the capital after five years on the job. See, after five years of grindin', apprentices can level up and apply for better gigs with better contribution points pay. But they gotta fork over their contribution points to make the jump. Or they can choose to stick around.

Zack wasn't sure what he'd do after the five years, but for now, he was locked into this gig. His job? Keepin' the workshop in check. Every week, a shipment of array disks would roll in from the tower, and he'd be in charge of receiving and stocking 'em on the shelves. No matter how many disks got sold, all the cash went straight to the tower. But for every disk sold, he'd rake in some contribution points.

Zack is allowed to whip up his own array disks and sell 'em on the side, snaggin' some mana stones for himself in the process. But there was a catch—he could only sell a set amount of his own disks. On top of that, he had another gig: setting up and maintaining formations for the folks in Mossley City, whether they were military or nobles.

In this job, the tower would take a 10% cut, but the rest would line his pockets. Not too shabby, he thought. He couldn't figure out why the previous apprentice wanted to bounce, though. Maybe the gig in the capital paid even better in cash or contribution points.

Plus, he didn't have to babysit the workshop all day long. There was a caretaker on deck for that. If there was a formation to set up or maintain, the caretaker would give him a heads up. And if any problems popped up, he could hit up the tower through the monolith in the workshop and sort things out.

The monolith was kinda like the floating one in the mission hall. Oh, and he splurged on a communication tablet. It was pricey, but it came in handy for talkin' with other folks who had one. He didn't need it in the past, but now he needed it to chat with the caretaker and his clients about formation stuff.

Next up, he snagged himself a house near the business district where the workshop was, but in the fancier part of town. This way, he could keep his tower apprentice gig separate from his other identity.

With that all squared away, Zack was finally settled down. Time to lay low for the next five years.