Chapter 30: Robbery, Arcane Enforcer

Possession and Phantom Claws failed to break the spider webs. With severely limited options, Ain could only comply with his aggressor.

“What do you want?” he uttered, feigning a calm demeanor.

The thin man gestured at his right hand, “That storage ring. Hand it over and I’ll let ya go.”

Ain frowned at the thin man’s words. It turned out to be the worst-case scenario.

I should’ve been more careful… He thought helplessly.

Judged solely by its appearance, the silver ring didn’t seem extraordinary. But combined with his lacking equipment and luggage, its identity could be readily inferred.

Moreover, the storage ring interfered with Phantom Claws, so he’d only used the skill with his left hand in fear of damaging it. The silver ring on his normal hand was easy to spot.

With no other choice, Ain wriggled around in the spider web, stretching out his right hand. “Here, take it.”

The thin man smirked, “Toss it over.”

“I can’t remove it with one hand.” Ain replied. His hands couldn’t reach one another.

“Oh really? Let me show you how to do it.” The thin man sneered while exaggeratedly removing his own storage ring with one hand. “See? Just do wha-.”

Before the thin man finished, Nox abruptly lunged out of Ain’s body with Phantom Claws! However, just as it appeared, another mass of spiderwebs rapidly flew over, pinning it against the wall, right beside Ain!

“Nox!” Ain exclaimed restlessly. His final plan had failed.

Unperturbed, the thin man jeered, “You think I wasn’t rea-“

Boom!

Halfway through his sentence, the thin man was suddenly struck by an explosive green and blue fireball!

“Urgh!” The thin man wailed painfully as he collapsed onto the ground, emitting wisps of black smoke. The giant spider wasn’t spared either as it was also caught in the explosion, writhing in agony.

The sudden turn of events stunned Ain who was still stuck on the wall.

Whoosh!

At this moment, a tall figure suddenly fell from the sky, landing right beside the thin whimpering man.

“Looks like you didn’t listen to my warning this morning.” The figure said, stepping on the thin man’s chest.

“Argh… y-you again…” The thin man squeezed out with some difficulty as the giant black and yellow spider vanished with a flash.

Ain stared at this scene incredulously.

Not far from him, a robust man, appearing to be in his twenties, stepped on the thin man with his red hair scattered like a lion’s mane. A mocking glint was reflected in his hawk-like yellow eyes as he said, “Since you didn’t listen the first time, I gotta make sure you get it this time. Now, hand over your storage ring.”

“Y-you…” The thin man was dumbstruck, appearing extremely anxious.

“What? Didn’t hear me?” The red-haired man asked arrogantly.

“You’re an Arcane Enforcer… y-you can’t do this…”

“Oh? And who’s supposed to stop me? You?” The red-haired man snickered. He pressed down with his foot, spawning another green and blue fireball in his hand.

Sensing the heat, the thin man panicked. The aether fluctuations were way beyond him.

“What do you say? It can be easy or it can be hard. Doesn’t make much of a difference to me.”

“Here, take it!” Not daring to waste time, the thin man hastily removed his storage ring and handed it over.

After taking the storage ring, the red-haired man kicked the thin man. “Now, get lost!”

The thin man, disregarding his injuries, or maybe just dropping the act, scampered off speedily, vanishing into the night.

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The red-haired man turned his attention to Ain. “You alright?”

Ain recovered his thoughts and nodded reservedly, “Yes.”

Although the thin man was out of the picture, this red-haired man’s intentions required scrutiny. The words ‘Arcane Enforcer’ were also curious.

The red-haired man tapped the spider webs, which instantly disintegrated into ashes, granting freedom to Ain and Nox.

Upon being freed, the unharmed Nox immediately perched on Ain’s shoulder, silently observing the red-haired man. It was prepared to use Possession at a moment’s notice.

“Huh. You wanna join the recruitment with a Rank-0 Spirit Pet?” The red-haired man asked curiously.

Ain didn’t know a thing about increasing Nox’s rank, but he planned to figure it out before the recruitment. Of course, there was no need to mention all that, so he simply nodded.

“Well, you probably have an enrollment token if you don’t care about your strength. Anyways, here, take this.” The red-haired man commented before passing over a cloth pouch.

Baffled, Ain grabbed the pouch and asked, “What’s this?”

He’d seen the red-haired man move something from the thin man’s storage ring into the cloth pouch.

“As they say, don’t eat alone when others are around. It’s just some aether crystals. Consider it your share of the loot.” The red-haired man said casually.

Aether crystals? Ain was moved. His doubts regarding aether crystals could be resolved now. Pocketing the pouch, he bowed his head, “Thank you for your help.”

The ‘loot’ proved the red-haired man’s positive stance. Since he wasn’t a threat, Ain expressed his gratitude. Losing his storage ring would’ve been quite upsetting, especially when he had yet to even play with it properly.

“Don’t worry about it. It’s part of my job.” The red-haired man pointed at a badge on his chest.

Ain revealed a puzzled expression, “Arcane Enforcer?”

“Hmm?” Sensing the doubts in his voice, the red-haired man asked, “You don't know about Arcane Enforcers?”

Ain shook his head.

“Well, I shouldn’t be surprised. You’ve probably just arrived at Heart City.”

“To put it simply, we’re enforcement officers from Arcane Heart University’s Bureau of Arcane Enforcement. We primarily operate within the University, but our authority extends to the city as well.”

“Around the recruitment period, thousands of newly awakened spirit masters flock to Heart City from all over the Dawnstar Federation. We usually patrol around this time to prevent things like what you just experienced.”

“I see.” Ain nodded after hearing the red-haired man’s explanation.

“By the way, you didn’t happen to run into the Herbalist by any chance, did you?” The red-haired man suddenly asked with a strange expression. His voice was a bit lowered.

Taken aback at the sudden question, Ain replied truthfully after some thought, “No.”

“Oh.” The red-haired man seemed disappointed.

After a brief pause, he continued, “Then how about this? Let’s exchange contact information. If you meet the Herbalist, inform me immediately. He tends to seek out prospective students to form connections.”

As he spoke, the red-haired man activated his hololink, gesturing at Ain to do the same.

Hololink accounts, though created through a registered identity, also allowed for anonymous avatars. As they’d met in person, they directly exchanged contacts without using avatars.

Moments later, Ain’s contact list gained its very first entry – Elric Hyfner.

“You’ve already seen my name but I’m Elric. Nice to meet you.” Elric closed his hololink before extending a hand.

Ain habitually paused before shaking Elric’s hand. “My name is Ain. Nice to meet you too.”

Elric glanced at his hololink while saying, “Alright Ain, remember to call me if you run into the Herbalist. You’ll know it’s him when you meet him.”

After reminding Ain, he turned around and prepared to leave. However, after taking a single step, he looked back again and added with a chuckle, “Also, next time you find yourself in such a situation, try shouting for help. I’ve never seen someone silently getting mugged next to a busy street.”

Then, he jumped onto the neighboring roof and disappeared from sight.

Ain stood there silently, considering Elric’s final advice.

He glanced at the constant flow of bodies walking past the alley’s entrances. In the slum, nobody offered help, even when robbed before a thousand eyes. He naturally didn’t consider this option.

“Maybe it’s different here…” Ain muttered before putting these thoughts behind him. No matter what, strength was the ultimate factor. This wouldn’t have happened if he were stronger.

After dusting off his clothes, he exited the alley with an improved mood, recalling the information he’d obtained from Scan.

[Name: Elric Hyfner]

[Species: Human]

[Rank: Rank-4]

[Innate Talent: Flames of Life]

Aside from himself, Livia and Elric were the only spirit masters he’d used Scan on, and only the latter provided him with complete information. This was substantial progress in determining Scan’s limits.

“For now, I can say that Scan is viable up to Rank-4. I’ll have to find another opportunity to test further.”

“Nevertheless, Elric is really powerful. I wonder how strong that robber was.” Ain mused, staring at the row of cheap inns before him. Just as he’d seen earlier, these inns were mediocre compared to the Welcome Home Inn.

Thinking of the Welcome Home Inn, his expression turned sour. “That robber was probably working with the chubby innkeeper. I have to settle the score one day.”

Promising revenge, Ain felt the newly obtained aether crystals in his pocket before entering one of the inns.

…

The Welcome Home Inn.

The chubby innkeeper leaned comfortably in his large chair while scratching his bald head.

Glancing at the main door intermittently, he thought, “He’ll be back soon. Let’s see how much it is this time.”

Just as he was wondering, the door at the entrance opened.

The chubby innkeeper immediately perked up with an expectant look. However, upon realized that the visitor wasn’t whom he’d expected, he sank back into his chair.

Sigh, I’m too eager. I need to be more patient.

“What kind of room do you want?” The chubby innkeeper asked, discreetly observing the visitor. As an innkeeper, he’d honed his observation skills over the decades. Along with his keen intuition, his businesses had always been profitable.

Hence, upon sighting a red-haired man, whose strength he couldn’t discern, displaying an Arcane Enforcer’s badge, the innkeeper simply sighed again.

What bad luck.

“Yo, where’s my share?” Elric grinned.

A few minutes later, Elric exited the Welcome Home Inn contently.

“Patrol missions during the recruitment period are always so profitable. Let’s see how much I can make this year.”