“How long, Merling. How long have you been here relaxing? Living a life of leisure. You know what? I don’t want to know, but answer me this. How long did you wait before showing the entire realm that you, Merling, had a powerful secret? Not going to answer, well let me tell you then. IT WAS THREE DAYS! IT ONLY TOOK YOU THREE DAYS BEFORE SHOWING IT OF FOR ALL TO SEE!”

Merling had imagined a great many situations where he would meet Samuel again, but this was not one of them. He was ecstatic when he heard he showed up at the gate. Yet it did not seem this was going to be a pleasant encounter. He was already so angry. And why was he angry? After all, they created this thing together. Something that all powers in the Shattered Realm were fighting to obtain. He should be proud. He should be joyful. He should be basking in the ray of glory that he is. But instead, he's angry. It didn't make a lot of sense to Merling.

“Samuel, what's the big deal? Something like this should be shown off. And it's not like I did it on purpose. I had to. We were attacked. We were ambushed. To survive, I had to use the trump card.”

“You didn't use THE trump card. You used ALL your trump cards. Not only did you make it blatantly obvious, you also didn't need to. You didn't need to kill that person. You could have just used a few and then run away. You did this because you wanted attention. Without ever thinking about the repercussions this could have for other people. You know the entire realm is almost at war just because of you showing this fucking thing to everyone. And you know what happened to me, huh? Want to know what happened? Not even hours after you showcased this new prospect of ‘your power’ to everyone. I was captured by the Black Lotus. They kept me in a dungeon to rot as they tortured me for three months. For three fucking months. And you stand here asking me, ‘What's the big deal?’ The big Deal is that you didn't consider anyone else when you used those trump cards. And as such, I've deducted one of the favors I owe you. I only owe you one now. After that, we're done. I don't ever want to see your face again. Damn you. So, you are going to tell me, and you're going to tell me now, one thing that you need, I will do it, and then I will be gone. I'm a man of my word. But I can't stand being anywhere near you.”

Silence descended upon the area. A silence that applied not only to the humans but also to the flowers. They no longer moved, as if sensing the great anger and sadness emitted by the figure standing in their midst. Merling was shocked. Shocked beyond words. Beyond belief. Never, ever had he Imagined such a scenario. What had he done?

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“Samuel I, I'm, I'm sorry. I, I didn't know. I never would have done it if I knew.”

“It's in the past, I don't care. But what I do care about is that one of your goons, one of those servants that greeted us in Stargate Port. He ratted me out. And I want his head. If you don't know who it is, I'm going to take all their heads. I don't care what you decide but figure it out. You owe me that much. But before that, I want you to tell me your favor. So that when I'm done with it, I can take that head and I go. As I would like to be gone before those two pesky pieces of shit from the Runemaster Guild get here. Yeah, you know the ones I'm talking about. That old man and that young lady. The ones coming to reinforce you. Yeah, yeah, them. I don't get along with them. Maybe it's a common trait of the entire Runemaster Guild, huh?”

“How did you have a falling out with the daughter of the Headmaster of the Guild?”

“Oh, she's the daughter of the headmaster? You know what? It doesn't even matter. She accused me of being some degenerate loser. I took offence. And I left. Simple as that. Nothing more, nothing less. Yet I can't stand that pretentious bitch. And yeah, I'm angry right now, so I am going to be cursing. I don't care. Now tell me your God damn favor.”

“Well since it must be like this, then… I guess you can help me with one thing. The Runemaster Guild sees great potential in our technique. However, they would still like it to be more powerful. They wanted to encompass all runes not just specialized ones. You think you can help me with this?”

“You can engrave all types of ruins on your body if you're powerful enough. It's that simple. It regards talent as well. Talent is the only thing that can compensate for power. Meaning some pesky talent that will only reach the Mortal Evolution stage will never be able to engrave runes upon their bodies. However, if their talent reaches the peak of the Enlightenment stage or even the Transcendent stage, then they will be able to. Otherwise your physique needs to be particularly powerful at the Enlightenment stage, and only then will you be able to engrave whatever you want to engrave upon your body. There is no other way. There is no other technique. That is how you can do it. Simple as that. Now that I've given you this, I have repaid my debt. It's now your turn. Bring me the head of the bastard who ratted me out. You know what? No. Give me the location of the guy and I'll take it myself. The supposed daughter of the Headmaster of the Guild is going to be arriving in about 30 minutes. I don't want to be here when she does.”

“Well, I don't know which of them ratted you out, but all of them are still posted at Stargate Port. If you want, you can go and interrogate them yourself. But anyway, it's going to take you weeks of voyage to reach. Are you sure you want to do that?”

“It will take nothing but an instant.”

As soon as he said that, he fell backwards into a rift that magically appeared behind him. Quinn was about to say something, but Samuel was already gone.

“He left just like that? And what was that? Did he make it appear? Wasn't that a tear in space? How powerful is he now?”

Question upon question was asked but no answer was given. And maybe no answer would ever be given. Maybe this was the last time they would ever see Samuel. He was about to do something dangerous after all. But first, he had some other revenge to tend to.