“We’ve been waiting for you, Ethan Blacktree.” When he stepped out of the cultivation chambers, in his heart, he already expected them to be there. He sighed, it’s a shame that they proved his suspicions right.

Three nobles of the same class, and two commoners, their lackeys waited for him.

“I sort-of guessed I’ll see you, Lord Pithold.” Ethan tried his best to do a friendly smiled.

“Well, Mister Blacktree, glad to know you've been expecting to see me. I thought, since you’re so good at running, it be nice to test your capabilities against the five of us.” Merif Pitlord grinned.

“Challenge accepted. Catch me if you can.” Ethan smirked, activated his shadow steps, and ran into the park. The five chased.

The Garden's parks were large, and so it wasn't difficult at all to actually find a place to hide. It helped that the nobles seemed fairly incompetent. Once he felt somewhat safe, he summoned Zaram. "Yes, Commander?"

"There are five of them. Any chance you can beat them, but don't kill them? Or just threaten them and see how it goes."

Zaram smirked, his lips curving into a snake-like grin, "I would give it my best shot. Now?"

Ethan nodded, and Zaram popped out of the bushes. It wasn't hard to find the five searching students. "Hello there, fellow students. I heard you are looking for Ethan Blacktree?"

The five immediately turned to see the tall man staring at them. Merif stared back at Zaram, and took a step back. Zaram was physically intimidating. Tall, muscular, and tanned. "Who are you?"

"Zaram Blacksword." He smiled. "May I understand what business you have with Ethan?"

"Why, have you seen him? The noble business of fists and a beatdown can't do without him." Merif said, confident in their numbers.

"Why, I happen to have a keen interest in that business too." He flexed his muscles, and his power radiated outwards. His presence was heavy, and the noble next to Merif panicked and stared at Merif.

"He's a 2nd realmer with a strong core! At least in the middle stages! Merif, you told me he’s just a chump, with no friends!"

“That’s not him!” Merif said and then turned to Zaram. “I don’t see why you involve yourself with that useless man.”

“Oh, I happen to see him as a good man, so, if you want to exchange some fists, I’d be happy to participate on his behalf.”

Zaram’s presence was like an imposing wall, at least, superior to the group of 1st realmers. The noble looked at Merif. “Merif, you idiot! I'm bailing!”

"I didn't know he had powerful friends!" Merif swore.

"So, back to this noble business." Zaram stepped closer and the earth seemed to shake with his every step. "I happen to love a transaction of fists..."

The two commoners sensed trouble, panicked and ran. The three nobles nodded and turned. Merif’s face contorted in frustration. "There’s five of us! We're running from one dude!"

"We're running from a guy an entire realm above us, idiot! He could kick our asses and some."

Merif stomped his feet, frustrated. But then, as he noticed Zaram getting closer, he decided to bail. "Tell... Tell Ethan he better watch it! You won't be there to cover him all the time!"

Zaram laughed. "Oh, you would be surprised."

***

“Patrol the garden, spy on Miss Violet, or spy on the two others?” Kaname asked. “Miss Violet wanted to talk to me.”

“Actually, is the library open at all times?” Ethan suddenly thought of an idea. “I want to visit all of the nearby five-goddesses' temples, but I need to know where it is. There might be a map in the library or something.”

“I’m... I’m not the best person to do research in the library, master.” The ninja shook her head. “Books... they bore me.”

“Fair enough. I’ll do it myself. Tonight, patrol the garden then. I don’t see any benefit in spying on Miss Whitetower that much. Maybe look into Celeste Mirrorsong, but keep your distance. If she made a deal with the dark goddesses, she’d have some special powers in her sleeves.”

Stolen story; please report.

“Got it.”

It was a quiet night, the dark goddesses did not make their move. The lady Mirrorsong spent her time cultivating in her room and was already in the 2nd realm.

Ethan wondered why she didn't do anything. Perhaps it is a feint, or her powers didn't require her to physically do anything.

***

Week 2, Day 2

“I see you’ve already made enemies of nobles.” Alia’s smile could light up the darkness. “Welcome to the club.”

Ethan returned her fistbump. “I’m actually planning to visit the library today, to uh... do some research.”

“Oh. Can I help you with it?”

“Are you sure? You may want to just take the rifts instead, to earn more GP.” Alia thought about it for a moment, and decided Ethan had a point. GP was more important, and if she wanted to escape from the noble’s clutches, she had to have the funds and be stronger.

“Yeah. You could join us.” Andrew and Jovan asked. “I heard from Ethan that you saved his ass, and we could use some cover.”

Alia nodded, and Ethan watched them go. He made his way to the library soon after.

The library was large, and thankfully, not crowded. In fact, there was hardly anyone there, a far cry from the days when it was filled with juniors cramming for their exam.

“Is there a map or something about the five goddesses? I’m looking for a listing of the five goddess temples.” Ethan asked the librarian on duty. The librarian actually sat down for a while and thought really hard.

“-I believe there’s a book on the temples visited by the traveling priests, but no registers. You might have to visit the Temple-Capital for a list.”

“How far is that?”

The librarian stared at Ethan like he was an idiot. “The Temple capital is five days away by the fastest horses.”

“Oh.” Time away from the Garden was time away from the rifts. Which was a GP drag. But it boosted the strength of his goddess powers. “Do you know of others... uh, five-goddesses’ temples around here? Other than the one in the Garden.”

The librarian smirked. “There’s one small one near District 0, next to the train station. You didn’t see it?”

“Oh. I must’ve missed it.”

“Kids these days. There’s another one in Parkbridge.” Parkbridge was just an hour away. That’s doable. He could make a trip to Parkbridge and back in a day.

“I see. Thanks.”

He spent an hour at the civil affairs section, and it was mostly filled with government announcements, royal decrees, and mundane stuff like the genealogy of the nobles and the origin of the 2,000 noble families of the Kingdom.

After that, he went to the 2nd temple within the Garden itself. It was much smaller, nestled around a park, and really close to the train station. It didn’t actually look like a temple and instead, was just a small enclosed area with flowers, trees that made a small covering.

In it, was a single statue of the five goddesses all standing together.

[You’ve gained 5 fragments of divine energy. You now have 7 fragments]

[You’ve visited 2 of 128 Five-Goddess Temples or Statues in the Kingdom]

[You’ve restored 0 of 487 damaged Five-Goddess Statues in the Kingdom]

***

“A train ride to Parkbridge is 1 Gold for guests, free for the students and employees of the Garden. Please display your student card for verification.”

The train was an incredible thing, constructed from the metals harvested from the rifts and powered by a large crystal core. It could pull 1,500 passengers and arrive at Parkbridge within an hour along its steel tracks, when all the ten cabin-units were in service.

For non-busy days, only two cabins were in use.

Ethan was hoping to get a quick ride to the town, and saw Lady Camelia Everfrost waiting for the train. He immediately slunk to the corner, but kept his eyes on the Lady.

“That guy’s looking at you, Lady Everfrost.” The girl whispered to Camelia, but he heard it loud and clear.

Camelia’s eyes turned, and briefly they saw each other. She looked at him momentarily, blushed, and looked away. “...ignore him.”

“Got it. Don’t worry, I don’t think he’ll dare to do anything. He’s just a commoner.”

The train doors opened, and they boarded their seats. It was free seating, so he sat far away from the two. There were some other students, juniors and seniors on the train too, but it just so happened he could still keep an eye on the two from his location.

“Camelia, I’d love to have a Titan-grade Core. Do you think your grandfather, Archduke Everfrost can help with that? Please? I hear your family has many of them lying around.”

"I can't get you a titan-grade." Camelia sighed.

"I'm sure you can do something, Camelia! Your grandfather's one of the most powerful archdukes! Help me out here, I'm your only friend!"

Camelia stared at the girl for a while. "I can't. I'm serious."

"Camelia, you really can't help out your only friend in the garden? Everyone else abandoned you already!"

Camelia responded frankly, her voice harsh. “Yannie Housan. Is this why you’re here? Trying to pretend to be my friend so that you can get my family to give you stuff?”

The girl frowned. “Camelia! I’m your friend. Your ONLY friend here. All I want is a titan-grade core. It’s not even Dragon-grade! Your family has hundreds of them!”

Camelia’s face turned so cold it felt like the entire cabin was freezing. “Yannie Housan, you’re not my friend. I won’t use my family connections to get you a titan-grade core.”

“You!!” Yannie stomped angrily and walked to sit somewhere else in the cabin. Camelia sighed, and just looked out the window.

Yannie smoldered in her own corner, while Camelia ignored her former-friend.

***