“To seek the truth of the world is impossible.” Sammuel read the contents of the book in his hand out loud. “Figured it was going to be something like that.”

Walking along the empty plains, he casually walked through without a care in sight. A few creatures roamed around on the periphery of his vision yet not a single one came close to those ferocious creatures he had fought back in Aganth. There was nothing that could threaten him here. Although he was still only in the Awakened Stage, his combat prowess was already at its peak within the same stage even without using an [Ego].

He had a lot of skills at his disposal. Although his mastery on a majority of them was around the Novice Mastery level, the sheer amount of them was more than enough to give him an advantage. Not to mention [Flowing Swordsmanship], which he received from Verim. The sheer power of that skill alone was enough for him to battle against Revelation Stage enemies.

If that wasn’t enough then he could push his body and use Verim’s [Ego] and completely and utterly decimate anything in his path. Due to [Ego: Base] only being limited within the Awakened Stage, it took a considerable amount of energy to utilize a Revelation Stage [Ego].

“I need to figure out how to break through so I can use everything I have.”

“That is difficult. I have no idea how you humans break through but Sadin reached the Revelation Stage by duking it out with a Great Devil. Maybe try that.” Sylph shrugged her shoulders.

Sammuel let Sylph's words pass through his ears.

“As expected, this book is the only hope but it's too confusing. This would’ve been easier if there was someone I could ask about these things. For example, ‘The truth is objectively wrong and subjectively right as such one should come to terms that there are multiple truths in the world.’ Care to enlighten me about what this means?”

“I thought I was going to see something fun, not be dragged into being someone's guide.” Sylph crossed her arms and puffed her cheeks. She flew to Sammuel’s head and poked his cheeks unrelentingly. “Do something already.”

“I can’t do anything until I figure out what anything inside this book means.”

“It’s already been a week since Alyur took that little girl away. You’ve done nothing but walk aimlessly this entire time. At least when Sadin travelled he had an army he could play around with. You’re just a bore.”

Sammuel chuckled. “It’s not as if I was the one that wanted to tag along. What did you expect? I have no backing and I’m still trying to figure out how anything works in this world. It’s already a miracle I’ve made it this far.”

Their banter was immediately interrupted by a sudden situation before them. The trees surrounding them eased up into a clearing. Arriving at the edge of this clearing was a cliff that looked over a vast open field. Unknowingly they had managed to step directly in the middle of some sort of competition. Two speeding figures ran out vying for one particular treasure in the distance.

Sammuel noticed a series of followers watching on from the distance as an even slower crowd tried to catch up. Shouts of support followed these two figures. There were even banners that showcased their devotion to their idol. It was a very festive event, completely contrasted by the battlefield he had gone through.

As far as Sammuel could tell, it was a friendly match between two geniuses. They were stealing an exquisitely decorated orb from one another. Potent offensive spells flew out, leveling the ground flat from time to time. The terrain around them could not handle their attacks.

This red-haired girl wore gloves clad in some mystical metal that kept morphing its shape to her will. She used this to try and launch sneak attacks towards the man. A formidable blade came from nowhere and appeared to block that attack from her. He lightly laughed as he taunted the girl even further.

“Callix and Rachel. They seem pretty decent.” Sylph mumbled out. “But not even close to the talent of those who died in Aganth. If you want to team up with someone then don’t bother thinking about those two. They're... fodder.”

“So you’re in charge of who I party up now? I thought you were going to just be an observer.”

“I’m just saying. If you want someone then it should be at least as good as that Xeril guy. That’s the bare minimum if you want to bring them to the Plains of Divinity.”

Sammuel couldn’t disagree with Sylph, after all, she was right. Although Sammuel didn't have any personal experience with it he knew the dangers in the Plains of Divinity far outweighed the dangers within the Wasteland of Mortality. Alyur's existence was enough of a sign of that.

It was to the degree that Sammuel believed that the war in Aganth was nothing more than a daily occurrence in the Plains of Divinity.

“Any suggestions then?”

Sylph briefly glanced over everyone in the vicinity and shook her head. “There are but I don’t feel like answering you. Hehe.” She covered her mouth with her hand mischievously. Her eyes darted all around before landing on a few people in the crowd. Her eyes suddenly lit up with a light that was brighter than a child's. “This is going to be an interesting week for me then. It’s about time something happens.”

“What are you-” Sammuel felt a foreboding sensation fill up his chest.

But before Sammuel could finish his sentence, he realized something was amiss between those two.

[Corrupted Flash]

A blinding light filled the scene as everyone in the vicinity was unable to see anything at all. This included Sammuel, he had to cover his eyes with both his hands. That flash was then followed by a gruesome scream. A piercing noise rang through the air, startling him back.

By the time Sammuel and everyone else came to their senses, the two prodigies competing for the prize were both lying down on the ground. One singular slash appeared from both the contestants’ sides. Callix’s sword had tried to block this sneak attack yet it had snapped in half, unable to even defend himself.

This attack had nearly slashed Callix’s torso in half yet fortunately, Rachel had reacted accordingly as the metal within her gloves covered Callix’s body. This wasn’t at a price as Rachel had lost her left hand in exchange for Callix’s life. She tried to place her hand back but a cruel purple energy surged out, preventing her from attaching it back.

Callix was on death’s door while Rachel had lost a hand. The prized prodigies of this city that had once soared in the skies now fell onto the ground.

“Seal the premises! No one within a thousand kilometers is allowed to leave! No exceptions!” The roar of a monstrous voice forced everyone to tremble before its might. Even Sammuel had to bend his knee to such might. He had once experienced this kind of strength back then. This man had an air of ferocity and bloodlust all around him, he was burning with pure wrath. "Find the one who did this to my daughter!"

A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

He’s as strong as Weston. I can’t do anything against him.

“Men, secure the crown prince! Anyone that seems suspicious, apprehend them! At once!” The voice of another overwhelming entity surged through the lands. This time, Sammuel had his hand forced. From his radiating aura of pure dominance, there was a hint of elegance that commanded absolute authority. From the looks of it, he was the King of this land.

[Switch Ego: Human]

He had to use Verim’s [Ego] to even stand his ground. Everyone else was nearing death’s door except for him.

[Flowing Swordsmanship | Gain: +58,768 | Sammuel: 65,640]

He's... stronger than Weston! I can't even move a finger... This King... he's... how is he so powerful?!

Sammuel even used [Flowing Swordsmanship] to try and alleviate as much pressure as he could yet it was clear that even then he was struggling to keep his ground. Everything around had already shattered into fine dust, leaving him open to be seen from the skies.

Even with my ability to take everything from my slain opponent, I still didn’t get that mysterious power from the Genesis Foundation. I only have a fraction of Verim’s true power. I guess my ability isn’t as omnipotent as I thought. That or the secret of the Genesis Foundation is something that’s on the same level as my gift.

“You knew that this would happen, didn’t you?” Sammuel stabbed his down direction on the ground, creating an anchor for him to hold steady. His surroundings weren't affected at all yet he could feel his body begin to weigh down on the ground even further. If this continued then he would be crushed into a paste.

Sylph giggled, unaffected by the overwhelming pressure exerted by the two monsters before him. “Now this is fun. Who knew we would… Hahaha, I almost exposed it. I can’t wait to see what would happen now.” Saying so, Sylph disappeared from Sammuel’s eyes. He couldn’t even feel her presence anymore but he knew for a fact that she was still watching from wherever she was hiding.

Two soldiers wearing prominent silver armor descended from above. They had caught Sammuel holding on for dear life. It was an odd scene as these two soldiers seemed to be unaffected while Sammuel’s entire body was being burdened with an unbelievably heavyweight.

“I didn’t expect a kid could handle our King’s aura. He might be the culprit.”

“Let’s take him in for questioning.”

Sammuel wanted to run but handling the suppression was taking everything out of him. He had no power left to fight against these two soldiers. For this suppressive power to be targeted, Sammuel felt that it was odd yet there wasn't anything he could do about it.

They took out cuffs and shackled Sammuel’s arms, preventing him from using any mana at all.

Mana was used to increase a person’s physical strength as such, Sammuel was brought back down from his lofty level. What made it worse was that he could no longer support [Ego: Human] due to his weak base strength.

[Switch Ego: Base]

[Status: Mana-Locked | Lose Combat Power: -??? | Sammuel: 38]

Now that he was brought back down to his original strength. From being a captive in Aganth to now this, Sammuel truly didn’t have the best of luck. Feeling that resisting was useless, Sammuel immediately opted to comply with the guards' demands.

“I didn’t do it. I’m willing to comply with you until you find who did it.” Once he wore the cuffs, the terrifying pressure he experienced disappeared. He could finally breathe once again.

“Just what I wanted to hear.” One of the soldiers took Sammuel’s sword while the other dragged his chains. Sammuel was quietly taken into a small carriage as a few onlookers immediately redirected their anger towards him, mistaking Sammuel as the culprit who did the act.

The audience took out rocks and started lashing their anger out on him. Sammuel raised his hands and blocked most of the rocks thrown at him. As for those relatively larger and more dangerous, the soldiers took it upon themselves to block them for Sammuel.

“Watch it. We don’t know if this kid’s the culprit. He just might be an innocent bystander. Until the King says as such, don’t do anything rash.”

Sammuel was relieved that the soldiers of this kingdom were much more civilized than he had thought. They were still on the rougher end as he was thrown inside the carriage but all in all, he was relatively fine.

The carriage, if you could even call it that, was a metal box that had solid walls. Light couldn’t enter or escape this box. Fortunately, oxygen could still find its way inside this cell. It took a little while before Sammuel could see the door open once more.

Another person was thrown inside. “I didn’t do it! I’m innocent!” Sammuel didn’t get a clear look on this person since he was blinded by the sudden light.

“So, any idea where we are?” Sammuel openly admitted his question. He might be familiar with Aganth and its surroundings but he wasn’t that familiar with the rest of this world. He knew the key landmarks but he had no idea about a place like this one.

“Are you serious? You don’t know? Just my luck.” This person’s voice seemed to be pretty agitated but he still decided to divulge information. “Listen here, buddy. We’re in a really bad spot right now. Just hope that they actually find the culprit or else we’ll be the ones biting it.”

Sammuel felt a headache coming on. If Sylph’s actions were anything to go by, this wasn’t going to be as simple as an assassin being hired by a third party. “What are the chances that this is going to blow up?”

“Me? I think… we’re gonna have to make a really good case about our background or else we’re the first ones to die. Alright, where are you from? I have my own circumstances so I can’t tell you my background but I’m not the culprit. We can fix our stories together so we won’t look suspicious.”

Sammuel didn’t even direct this question to the man. He waited for a bit before a whisper from a very troublesome creature spoke. After speaking her piece, she once again disappeared.

“This is going to be a fun play!” Sylph’s playful tone didn’t sit well with Sammuel at all.

“If you have a questionable background then there’s no reason for me to join you, right? That’s going to make me suspicious as well. Besides, making a story up with some random person just isn’t a smart move.”

“Tch. You don’t understand what’s going to happen. This is basically a death sentence. You gotta-”

The metal box opened up once again, throwing another person inside. Her feminine groans immediately turned to a heated screech. Based on the grunt of the soldiers from the outside, she was more of a handful than anyone else here.

“You fuckers, let me out! I didn’t do shit! Hear me?!” The clanging from her chains was still audible as she stood up. Sammuel might not have seen anything but judging from the sound, this girl was about to do something crazy.

“I said…” A swift wisp of a sound was created as she mustered up the remaining strength in her legs and kicked the metal box they were in. The entire cell shook as an audible dent appeared on the box where she kicked it. “Let me out!”

Sammuel saw the revealed maiden's covered face. She wore a black priestess garb with no fancy jewelry accompanying it.

How could’ve Sammuel known if her attire was black? Simple, it was no longer pitch black. A small crack in the seams of the metal box let that tiny sliver of sunlight reach in. It revealed a maiden clad in heavy cloth, covering every inch of her body except her eyes. These eyes looked at Sammuel in irritation.

“What?” She viciously replied.

“Duck.”

She didn’t understand yet her instincts told her to follow this man’s instructions. At the very next moment, the entire metal box was sliced in half, prying it wide open. This revealed the outside world.

It revealed the King of this kingdom staring at the detained prisoners down there. “Behave.”

As such the girl finally reeled it in. She quietly sat down alongside the others. The following captives weren’t as rowdy as she was. The people carried along this half-cut metal cell numbered fifteen. There were fifteen primary suspects in this incident.

Sammuel felt that this was going to be much more troublesome than he had anticipated. After all, there were far too many things wrong happening here.

This situation is very…

“Fun.” Sylph placed most of her attention on this particular scene.

“Problematic.” Sammuel kept wracking his mind on just what was going to welcome him this time.

“Devastating.” The King of this kingdom placed his hand over his son’s chest and inserted a massive amount of mana to help him survive the gnawing evil energy. Despite this, he was unable to get rid of this all-consuming purple energy.

“Interesting.” A bystander watched on as a purple lightning current passed through his pupils. “Another outsider that got thrown away?” He mysteriously smiled as he walked away. “He could be a good candidate. Isn’t that right, Madam?”

“Don’t call me that. It’s disgusting.” Another female bystander sighed and snapped her fingers.

[Teleport]

These two had disappeared from anyone’s view. Not that anyone had managed to realize they were there in the first place.