Bowen successfully made a blood contract with Casper and placed the bird in his space bracelet.

“Is it here?”

“Yes, this is where we were told to wait.”

“Are you sure this is the right place?”

“There is no other abandoned temple in this mountain other than here.”

“It will be good if we finish this fast. Hey, when is that man coming?”

“We came here early. We are an hour ahead of the scheduled time.”

“What the hell, do we have to wait for an hour now?”

“Don't complain, bald head. We already got paid handsomely for the job.”

“Of course, it is a risky job after all. If people found out, we could be killed or sold as slaves.”

On hearing the conversation through his heightened senses, Bowen stealthily moved in the direction in which he heard the voices. He saw five tall men dressed like rogues carrying weapons like swords and maces, talking in front of the small, abandoned old temple. He decided to hide behind a thick tree trunk, wait and find out the purpose of those men who seemed like bad guys.

Just then, "Hey, did you guys see a small bird flying here?" Renault, who came searching for the bird on the way, decided to enquire with those men.

"This stupid kid, can't he see that those men are strange?" Bowen wanted to slap Renault out of his foolishness.

The rogues looked into each other's eyes, silently coming to an agreement about something. Without talking, they quickly surrounded Renault.

Renault sensed the dangerously weird atmosphere. "You, what are you trying to do? Don't come near me," Renault said.

“What are we going to do...hehe... Of course, we are going to kidnap you just like others,” said the bald man, licking his lips.

Bowen got startled to hear about the kidnapping. It means he is nearing his first kill target.

Renault started sweating, "Wha...what? So you were the ones responsible for the kidnappings happening in the village?"

“hehe....That's right, it is the work of our Majestic Raven gang,” said another rogue loftily.

“You guys don't even think about laying a hand on me. Do you know who I am? I am the grandson of the chief of Barn, a noble. And my father is an awakened ranker. If you harm me in any way, my father will definitely chase and kill you. And be careful, I am also awakened,” said Renault to scare the kidnappers.

“Noble and awakened at such a young age?”

“Guys, we got a jackpot. This kid will bring us double the reward.”

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“Of course, that man offers more money for a kid with higher talent.” The rogues seemed more interested now.

“No, don't come no...no...”. Saying this, Renault produced a Mana ball and threw it towards one of them. The rogue easily deflected the ball with his sword.

“Hey kid, don't waste our time. We all are e-rankers. Your lame beginner magic will have no effect here.”

“Just accept your fate.”

Renault resisted but soon got hit on the neck and lost consciousness. The rogues quickly tied Renault in ropes and carried him inside the abandoned temple.

Bowen took this time to secretly escape from that place. Being powerless as he is now, there is nothing he could do. He doesn't want to face the same ending as Renault. He quickly ran to the gathering place. He saw Martha and Gerald back from their business.

“Miss Martha, Mr. Gerald, there is a problem,” he said hastily.

"Bowen, where were you? Where is Young Master Renault? Didn't we say not to roam around?" Martha was angry at Bowen.

"I am really sorry, Miss Martha, but there is no time now. We have to save Renault," Bowen replied.

"Save Renault? What happened to him?" asked Gerald with a serious face.

Bowen narrated everything that had happened except for the detail of making the stylus his familiar.

"This is serious. We have to go and save Renault immediately," said Gerald.

"No, we cannot do that," interfered Bowen. "According to their conversation, all five of the kidnappers seemed to be E-rankers. We can't defeat them."

"True, I can handle two of them at max," said Gerald.

"What do we do now? I can't imagine what will happen when Mr. Dale hears about this," Martha started panicking.

"Please don't worry, I heard that they are going to wait for someone. It will be enough for us to call for help," assured Bowen.

Soon, Elena, Gerard, Jago, Meele, and Bowen ran down the mountains. They directly went to the chief's house and told them about the situation.

Herald, the village chief, Dale, Bowen's father Theodore, and other strong men of the village soon gathered on hearing the news.

"What do you mean Renault got kidnapped? How could you leave a child carelessly? If something happens to my kid, I will drag you all to the town's court," Dale started shouting furiously.

Martha became pale with fright. "Sorry Mr. Dale, we didn't expect this to happen. I'm really, really sorry," she apologized with tears.

"Mr. Dale, please calm down," said Gerald. "It is not your child that got kidnapped, of course, you would be calm," Dale picked a fight with Gerald.

"Stop it, everyone," the village chief's voice put everyone to silence. "Accident or not, what's done is done. Our priority should be on catching the culprits. We have to move soon," the village chief knew it was not the time for an argument. He soon directed the people to think about the solution.

"The Raven gang that Bowen mentioned, I have heard about them. They are long-time wanted criminals of Aswalt town," said Herald, which shocked everyone gathered for the meeting.

After some discussion, the village chief made his final decision. "Me, Dale, Mr. Gerald, and Herald are the only awakened present now. We will go there first. Others will gather support from nearby villages and come there soon," the chief said.

"Please let me come with you," interfered Bowen.

"Kid, this is not the time to play. Get going," said Herald with frustration.

"What I mean to say is let me show you the way," said Bowen.

Herald understood what Bowen meant. Even though Gerald had already gone there once, as a first-timer, he could not serve as a guide. Taking Miss Elena was also not an option. A commoner could not match the speed of rankers. Comparatively, it was easy to carry a child like Bowen. And with his sorcerer's sight, he would make a perfect guide. As Herald gave his approval others didn't deny Bowen's company.

Gerald agreed to carry Bowen on his back, and the two groups quickly set off. The group of awakened individuals ran at an astonishing speed of 40 to 50 km/hr. Bowen was amazed to see even older men like Herald and the village chief, who seemed to have one foot in the grave, keeping up with such a pace. Even Gerald, who as a magician might be expected to lack physical agility, had no difficulty running while carrying Bowen. The most surprising runner of the group was Dale, who was always leading the way but also seemed to slow down occasionally to allow others to catch up. Bowen did his best as a guide, pointing out the shortest routes to take to avoid danger.