“Paul… Please tell me I am not looking at what I think I am looking at.” Jacob suddenly scowled at what his eyes showed him.

“Sorry, Jake. I Can't do that, I am afraid.” Paul replied, not one whit happy at what he was seeing either.

Wondering what exactly the two men witnessed, Martin, Evelyn, and Adam stepped forward and around them to witness footsteps, and many at that, marching towards one destination.

“It can't be.” Martin cried out. “How?”

“I take it that is not a good sign?” Adam inquired of the Adventurers.

“Good sign?” Evelyn retorted instantly. “It's terrible. That is what it is. Paul, how did they get ahead of us? We should have been days ahead of them?”

Hearing the prompt, Jacob answered instead of Paul. “Quilboar territory! That's the only explanation.”

“What?” Martin suddenly exclaimed out loud. “Are they stupid? That's a death sentence, right? Didn't you describe it like that, Paul?”

“I did.” Paul said. “And I stand by that description. This means they had unbelievable luck by not coming across anything. Or they did and powered through with plenty of death following them. That or…”

“Or?” Evenlyn prompted for an answer, but her mind supplied it immediately. “They had a Grandmaster to lead them through?

“That or multiple Masters.” Jacob added on top as a possibility.

Not quite getting the gist of everything but filling freely for the in-between, it was rather easy for Adam to extrapolate the general understanding.

That done, Adam spoke up. “Why can't it be all of those above?”

“Hngh… The kid is right.” Jacob nodded and affirmed his expectations. “It's best we overestimate and not underestimate the odds.”

“Jake. Unless we hope for them to have gotten extremely unlucky while making it through the Quillback territory, then we are vastly outnumbered and underpowered to face whoever Talim managed to rope in.” Paul reasoned out. “Should we give up?”

“No.” Jacob asserted as the leader of the team, and the main decision-maker for the team. Realizing his tone, he corrected his answer. “Not yet. at least… Let us first find out who we are facing and how many. It should not be too late to retreat at that point.”

“Alright.” Paul agreed, a bit more hesitant because, unlike Jacob, he and the rest are much weaker if combat is inevitable. Then, a moment later, Paul corrected his thoughts and ignored the wildcard that was Adam from the term rest of them. Somehow, Paul doubted the kid was weak, even without the artifact by his side.

No, everything he had shown so far hinted at a top-tier methodology at work, even if the kid had yet to attain any colors. Moreover, Paul could not forget what had occurred during the Day after leaving the Dreamscape since Dawn had come to chase away its presence. No, in fact, it would stick with him and his team for the rest of their lives because they had witnessed firsthand the Favor of Ina descend down on a man, well, a kid right before them.

Quickly recalling it, Paul centered his thoughts on how the kid had shrugged his shoulders at the light show before replying with a simple sentence. ‘It happens every time I give a Prayer of Gratitude to Ina.’.

Yes, the kid will be fine. Somehow. Paul affirmed in his head. It's the rest of us that I worry about.

“Paul?” Jacob suddenly called out, seeing the thoughtful look on his face. “Anything you want to add?”

Brought out of his thoughts, Paul blinked his green eyes before refocusing on the now. “Maybe? Give me a moment.” That voiced out, his right hand went for the little pouch hanging on his belt. From its insides, he brought out a parchment on which, once unfolded, a rough map of mountains and rivers revealed itself.

Studying it for a moment, Paul nodded and finally answered his leader. “If the map is to be believed, then the Gate should still be some time away. On the other hand, I am not sure how strong Talim’s memories are. Regardless, as someone of the Blue Aura stage, it should be good enough to lead anybody to the general location. However, considering the freshness of the footprints, I strongly believe that they should not have found the entrance yet. At most, they should be searching around the area for it.”

“I see.” Jacob replied as his mind conjured up scenarios.

Martin and Evelyn had very little to say. Adam simply remained silent and picked up on as much information as he could to puzzle out a coherent picture for himself.

Then, a moment later, Jacob centered his gaze on Adam. “Tell me, boy, will you have any problems killing people?”

“Ah…” Seeing the momentary silence, Jacob did not rush him.

Neither had the other members.

Meanwhile, Adam pondered just how to explain himself.

Scratching his chin while considering it, Adam replied. “Theoretically speaking? No. Since I neither know nor carry any goodwill with the unknown people we will meet soon. However… I do pay attention to how and who I kill.” Adam reasoned out for them, and although he had never killed anybody yet, Adamu’s memories told him of the experiences and the consequences. “Otherwise, my Karmic Alignment will tilt out of balance.”

“Karmic Alignment?” Jacob asked with his eyes of confusion. “What is that? Something to do with being Favored by Ina?”

“Ugh… Not exactly.” Ceasing there, Adam picked the most childish explanations possible. “Imagine it as the Divine keeping tabs on who is being a Good boy/girl or Bad boy/girl. Of course, it's more complicated than that, but that is essentially the core function of the Karmic Alignment.”

Somewhat intrigued by what Adam said, the team of Adventurers pondered on the repercussions of something like that existing when, all of a sudden, their minds centered on the same thing. Regardless, it was Evelyn, who first connected the dots because she had been worrying about just that ever since she managed to overcome her First Nightmare, and as a result, Awakened as an Essence Master.

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“Is that why White and Black Auras manifest after the First Rank?” Evelyn said before centering her gaze on her leader as he was the only one within the group to possess such an Aura. “I've been told that the attainment of either Black or White colors is highly dependent on the approach of passing through the Seven Stages of the First Rank. Is that not so, Boss?”

“It is.” Jacob nodded and answered. “Depending on the actions and the emotions involved during each Color Stage, the results tally upon each other before eventually manifesting in White or Black Aura. With White being the more favorable one because individuals with Black Aura’s are highly self-centered on themselves and nothing but themselves.”

“Of course, it's not a hundred percent guarantee, but most of the time it is.”

“Is that what you were referring to?” The team of four Adventurers wondered.

“Umm… Maybe?” Adam answered halfheartedly. However, before the Adventurers could say anything else, Adam explained himself. “I am new to Essence, so I can't tell you for certain. What I can tell you is this. All actions, whether Good or Evil, in one’s life, are reflected upon one’s Spirit. As such, as long as you can observe people’s Spirit, it's usually very easy to figure out who belongs where, though there are ways to hide it as well.”

“Soo… From your reasoning, I take it you should not have a problem getting rid of people with Evil intentions?” Jacob summarized after ignoring the seeing peoples' Spirits, causing Adam to nod hesitantly before correcting the statement somewhat.

“Just having Evil intentions will not do.” Adam told the group. “It's one thing to hear and be told about somebody's Evil and another to witness, understand, and deal with it.”

“Regardless.” Jacob shook and nodded his head. “If Evelyn’s information network is even vaguely right, you won't have a problem.” That said, Jacob centered his gaze on Evelyn. “Explain everything you know to the kid on the way.”

“I will, Boss.” Evenly responded.

Nodding her way, Jacob faced Paul. “Paul. Can you look around and see if you can accurately guess the numbers from just the footprints?”

“I'll try.” Paul, the Ranger, nodded and went about the job for the next half an hour searching, comparing, and evaluating the numbers.

Meanwhile, Evelyn began describing the Rose Heart Syndicate, a Crime Family that was very well known for their acts of vandalism, theft, treachery, and quite a few other more nefarious plots centered around money loaning before taking back triple or more from the individual repaying all that loaned wealth.

Naturally, after many years, they have firmly lodged their position within the walls of Roselia, the Dukedom City of the nearest major human-controlled territory, further south of the party's current position. As such, although it was never confirmed, it is believed that they had managed to bribe all four Counts within Roselia and the Duke, to some degree, since he had never gone directly against them.

Regardless, the Rose Heart Syndicate, alongside the other Crime Families of similar status, held quite a lot of sway within the lower society of the Roselia Dukodom, in which the Adventurer Guild was firmly rooted as the number one provider of Methodologies for ordinary people to rise from poverty to places of status, provided they survived that long.

Overall, despite being curious, Adam barely asked the minimum amount of questions aside from the names, yet even that garnered a side eye from the other Adventurers, minus Paul, who was busy with his task.

Either way, Adam had heard enough to get a picture of the deeds the Rose Heart Syndicate continued presence above the weak and innocent, from bribery, threats, and even outright taking the daughters of those who failed to repay their loans only to sell them to the highest bidders depending on their beauty.

Boys and young men got either enslaved directly to the Rose Heart Syndicate till the debts were repaid, which never happened for some reason, or sold to whoever needed the labor.

“Considering your earlier comments about that Talim guy?” Adam posited. “Could he be indebted to them, thus forcing him to betray your party?”

“It's certainly possible.” Evelyn answered, but then she shook her head in denial. “That is the part that makes no sense. As an Adventurer, no matter the debts, he should be able to pay them back easily unless he had taken such a huge loan that it would take years for him to pay it back.”

“Additionally, as an Adventurer, Talim is afforded the Guilds protection to a degree. Otherwise, the Rose Heart Syndicate would have gone after Adventurers a long time ago.” Shaking her head again, Evelyn cemented her opinion. “No, there is plenty of evidence that messing with the Adventurers Guild, as fragmented as it is between the four major cities and the capital city Inaria, is not a good choice because even Nobles were known to vanish when the Adventurers Guild was pushed to protect its creed.”

“No… There is a reason the Adventurers Guild is the third most influencing organization within the Kingdom after the Church of Ina and the Royals.”

“I see.” Adam said while nodding toward Evelyn before shifting his gaze away, causing her to, once again, feel unacknowledged. “I've heard enough. Thank you, Evelyn.”

“You better be.” Evelyn sent Adam’s way. “Not everybody has the inside knowledge about the Rose Heart Syndicate as I do.” Then, just as her mouth opened once again, it closed up. Instead, she switched topics. “You know… How did you not know at least the names of the Kingdom or Dukedom you found yourself in? Well, almost found yourself in. Did you live beneath a rock or something? I thought everybody knew at least that much?”

Hearing the questions, Adam replied with a smirk and a brief glance at her. “Circumstances, I won't be sharing. Though, you are right about one thing.”

“Which one?” There, Evelyn ceased before quickly going over her last words. “Wait. Do you mean to tell me that you lived under a rock?”

“Haha.” Chuckling, Adam nodded. “Was born inside a cave and livid within one for a good part of my life.” Adam explained, though wilfully ignoring the strange look sent his way by retaining the amount of time he had actually spent being alive because what he had done before attaining the Bloodline of the First of Men did not count in his mind for the ‘good’ part of his life. “Leaving my story to the side, I think Paul finished examining everything.”

Pointing with his head, everybody turned to the pony-tailed man coming their way.

Seeing everybody staring his way, Paul told them of his conclusions. “It's a rough estimate. So, I could be wrong. But I have counted at least fifteen separate footprints. Keep in mind that if Masters are involved, very few clues will be left behind. So I am verifying at least fifteen First Rank Essence Masters.”

“Even so, that is a big number considering they are not Adventurers going for a Raid.” Martin finally opened his mouth to say something after listening to Evelyn drone on for the last half an hour. “If Masters are involved and if they follow the five-man party protocol, that should at least hint at three Masters. Right, Boss?”

“Yes.” Jacob confirmed. “With one Grandmaster to lead those three, damn it.”

“Boss.” Martin spoke up again in confusion. “I still don't understand. Why send so many people? Did you not say that it's a Rank Two Nightmare Gate? Unless the Nightmare Gate is not, in fact, a Rank Two, but higher?”

“As much as I don't like agreeing with Marty, Boss, are you sure it's Rank Two?” Evelyn inquired.

“Yes. That was what the notes said.”

“Notes?” Adam suddenly spoke up curiously. “You're out here by following clues without definitive knowledge of the location or rank?”

“Yes. No… The notes mentioned a Rank Two Nightmare Gate, while the map pointed at its location.” Jacob answered. “Just perfect for one party to clear.”

“Yet, despite being betrayed and one man less, you still came this far?” Seeing the somewhat hesitant nods, Adam had a sudden feeling, a sensation itching for his mind to speak up. “Do you have the notes? Can I see them?”

Jacob was a bit hesitant, but then Evelyn got reminded of something. Inching her way to her Boss, Jacob, she whispered in his ear.

Adam couldn't hear it, but after Jacob nodded, he fished out a small bundle of half-burned paper notes from his pouch that could hold more than its appearance suggested.

“Ignore the first page.” Jacob stated and passed the damaged notes to Adam.

Curious about the why, Adam stared for a single moment before his golden eyes opened wide to a familiar script conveying a simple yet very profound message.

Though it is Rank Three. Convince them it is worth the risk. Adam!!!