A few days later, Ben was waiting in front of some manor. After much mental work, he had finally adapted to being called Leo.

The place he was staying was fancy but uneventful.

He was still worried about his friends around town, but he could only wait patiently and hope no danger came to them. The fact that the people around him looked decent was reassuring, but there was no guarantee. So he stayed cautious.

'Since it was a fake identity, they may not bother them. And Yukk also agreed to keep the pretense I was dead. They'll even help strengthen this Leo Moon origin. But I still want to leave as soon as possible.'

Matt had notified Leo that they were leaving soon. They were only waiting for Ginn to arrive with the spatial artifact.

Leo had already given them the list of items. And they said the promised items and money would be ready before the treatment.

For the VIP items, Leo accepted the proposal of participating in the auction. Their destination city had a good auction. So he would be part of one after the treatment since those generally occur sporadically.

After the caravan waited for a couple of hours, Ginn finally arrived in a carriage.

"I'm sorry it took a bit longer than expected." He went to talk directly to Leo.

"No worries." He answered as he received a package. A strong box protected the item inside.

"Could you check it while in the move?"

"Sure, we were all waiting for you anyway."

---

Leo spent most of his time on the trip studying the golden statue he received.

He studied its origin. And if the directions given to him about how to use it were correct.

He was very cautious about the ripples that he might cause. But after much work, he finally implanted a small rune into the artifact. Thus, when they finally arrived at their first pit stop, Leo was ready to use the statue when needed.

---

The scale of the caravan was monstrous, so their movement was much slower than when a cultivator moved alone. However, that ensured they were safe and held some sense of privacy.

It was such incredible work that the whole caravan served like a battle formation. Wherever they went, they were like swords, killing any monster that came close. While also being like ghosts, hard to be tracked.

Before they arrived at their destination, Ginn and Leo finally sat back down and talked.

< "So was the key what you wanted?" >

< "I'll never understand why they call it that. But, sure, that's what I was asking. And the quality is much better than what I thought you could get me on such short notice." >

Keys were a one-time-use strategic artifact. Once used, they would teleport what they could to an origin structure protected by many restrictions and hidden somewhere.

They were hard to produce but still floated in the market. But in that case, the Key's origin was often blurry.

Such uncertainty created many legends of riches or legacies. But due to its astronomic price, very few people would dare waste it away. And due to the restrictions, studying them would trigger their effect.

< "I was already planning on buying this. And I got it because I'm interested in the field. But I wouldn't use it while leaving the people I care about behind, nor would I send them to who knows where. Aren't those who keep such a thing of unknown origin also playing the lottery when hopeless enough to give it a try?" >

< "Yes, looking at it from this point of view. This one seems to have Myriac Ruins patterns. Was this from there?" >

< "Nope, but also I found it similar to their pattern. However, I bought it privately, and its origin is the Tritecnic Clan. Also, I heard their upper echelon was using those. So a few entered the market not long after the clan annihilation. I guess they had some link to Myriac Empire." >

The Myriac Empire once lorded over the cold peaks of the Myriac Mountains range, far to the north.

Their story ended around one hundred thousand years ago. But they were still famous because of their unique location and style.

The Tritecnic Clan fell two hundred years ago and was the last fallen powerhouse around this region.

< "Interesting, that explains why you gave me one so fast and of such quality." >

< "If you ever find a key, I can pay you for the opportunity to study it. My interest is quite high, so the deal can even include me giving it back to you after a few weeks or months." >

The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.

< "Sure, I'll keep that in mind. But about this trip, can you tell me how long it'll take?" >

< "Sorry for being so cautious. It should take slightly less than two days if we keep our pace." >

Leo just nodded. He wasn't annoyed by the over-cautiousness. On the contrary, he valued that. But he guessed they were getting closer.

They then kept their little talk going while eating, approaching the field Ginn held an interest in. Next, they talked about Leo's expertise in ruins exploration and history. Unfortunately, their lack of trust in each other held them back, so they only approached the subjects superficially.

---

The traveling was rough. Staying inside such a battle formation wasn't kind to one's body. So Leo focused intensely on staying in his peak condition.

'Survivors. That would've been amazing. Were they trying to rise again, farther from their last home? Is their collapse due to some people discovering their plans?'

Despite being busy, Ben still took some of his time to speculate.

He loved rumors.

He lived in a world filled with life, history, scars, and mysteries. And hearing about rumors and legends had always been Leo's favorite hobby. This obsession became the main reason for his time in ruins, searching, exploring, and studying whatever.

So he knew of some rumors about Myriac. Leo's favorite was the mystery about their origins and the associated speculation of them being aliens. Despite them resembling humans, gossip said otherwise.

'If they were killed or not because of that, I'll probably never know. But this made me wonder who those poor things angered so much.'

That Empire's uncanny destruction was overnight, with no prior warning about wars or conflict. At least not one big enough to be recorded in history. Hence, such a mysterious and sudden ending led their tale to fit perfectly on Leo's list of ["poor bastards that angered someone they shouldn't"].

'Maybe I should go to their ruins someday, but it's so far and cold...'

After thinking for a while, Leo closed his eyes to rest. Even if he would rather not sleep when surrounded by people he couldn't trust, he could at least relax his tired eyes and mind.

However, even if he wanted, he couldn't sleep easily. Because outside, a Spirit Storm raged. As a result of the battles, they became quite common, and it would likely be so for a few more years.

---

By the time they arrived, all the carriages had scratches all over the place, and some even had pieces falling. In addition, the beautiful creatures which pulled them looked worn out by now, and all the people leaving the carriages looked pale and sick from the travel. The storm was just too brutal.

< 'Ah, we look so discolored. Like it was a washing machine.' > Leo looked around.

< 'Ground! Such a beautiful thing!' > He thought as he finally stepped out.

"Should we go?" He asked as soon he saw Ginn.

"Are you okay with seeing her first?"

"If I don't see the patient first, I would feel like this experience was worthless."

"Alright, follow me," Ginn chuckled in happiness.

Before following, Leo took a last look at his surroundings.

He failed to recognize the tree densely surrounding this multiple-story white building.

Those high trees, 50% higher than the house, worked like an obstructive curtain isolating this place from the urban area surrounding it.

'My instincts say those are somehow involved with the protective array, but I can't sense the link...'

As he entered the mansion, he sensed the change in the atmosphere one generally finds in protected structures. But he still ended up puzzled about the abnormal trees outside.

Indoors, Leo found the decoration expensive-looking but forgettable.

He then followed Ginn to the stairs. They went up three floors before finally stopping as they encountered a group of people in what looked like a waiting area on the third floor.

Leo noticed that the group was wearing a sect uniform. But their style was different from Ginn's sect.

When the crowd's eyes finally focused on the new group arriving, Leo felt a prickling on his skin and the tension in the air increasing.

'I don't seem to be welcomed here...' He looked at the walls.

While Leo was feeling the dangerous gazes, Ginn finally began to talk.

"Up ahead, we'll pass through the systematic measures implemented so that everything that entered would be safe. We did everything we could to avoid unwanted external interference."

"From where is she?" Leo asked while trying to endure the pressure.

After asking for this detail, the surrounding unwelcoming eyes wanted to pierce through him even harder. And Ginn could only answer awkwardly.

"She's a core disciple from Volcano Sect."

"The sect from that Volcano? From the man who had such a name first and then refined an enormous volcano later?"

"Ha... Yes."

"Such a background..." 'Holy crap! You look like a little cub compared to those monsters protecting your wife...'

Not able to fully endure the auras that kept growing since he entered, Leo's hands began to tremble.

Yet while struggling to breathe, he still asked.

"I can only ask nicely, but could the masters from the shadows stop the poking at me? I may pass out here." His plain voice carried a sense of unwillingness and sorrow deep inside.

Ginn's expression became serious as he activated his eyes.

The glowing eyes made the group on sight tremble.

And following, as if responding, the heavy pressure inflicted on Leo slowly retreated.

Coughing, Leo tried to recover his breathing. 'Self-assured idiots.' He thought, but his expression didn't show the feelings he held.

Only once recovering a bit, Leo finally whispered in a monotone voice: "Lead the way."

Ginn kept his serious expression but didn't say anything and only began to move again.

The rooms they passed through had tight security and very high sanitary requirements. After a long sequence of checks, they finally entered Eloise's room.

Inside all this, Leo encountered a big dim-lit room with a bed straight at its center. Many apparatuses surrounded the bed. And tables and boxes were straight up against the walls making the room packed.

The bed, floor, walls, and ceiling had all kinds of engravings. The light that such a system emitted was the only light source in the room.

The patient was in bed, but she wasn't alone. Present were also eleven other people prepared to work immediately.

"They implemented the changes in the array as requested. The one responsible for leading the process is here if you have any questions. All the personnel you requested is also here. If you need more, they're all waiting for your call." Ginn spoke after the door closed.

Feeling every connection with the outside broken, Leo was finally free from all remaining pressure.

Nodding to Ginn, Leo walked closer to the bed and finally saw the poisoned lady.

Anyone sensitive enough could smell the sickening overuse of medicine and feel the brutal energy of the poison suffocating her shattered aura.

'Her presence is so weak. She's barely alive.'

"Are you still well enough to prank people?" Leo asked in a playful tone.

Behind him, Ginn shook his head as he knew his wife well. However, some people around showed confused reactions for a moment.

"Hello, I'm Eloise Breaker. I'm pleased to meet you. Unfortunately, I can't stand to greet you formally." In the bed, the young woman slowly opened her eyes. Despite trying hard, she couldn't hide the tired expression of someone who had been fighting death for months.