Fifteen people were detained, unable to offer any resistance. Sammuel had nothing else to blame but his luck. Just why was he placed in this situation? He had just gone through a war yet he was about to go through another problematic situation like this.
Since the metal box was already opened up, there was nothing stopping him from seeing what kind of faces were dragged alongside him. Sammuel finally saw the face of that suspicious person that kept trying to mix their stories together. To his surprise, it was a person wearing tattered clothes. Based on his attire, he was a beggar. Yet contrary to his seemingly unhealthy and malnourished lifestyle, he was lively than most of the people here.
The ragtag of captives' ages ranged from someone being even younger than Sammuel to someone who looked like they lived through numerous lifetimes. Despite everyone keeping to themselves, the depressing mood was palpable.
They all seemed to be just as if not more confused than him. Although nothing was really stopping them from escaping, not a single of them dared go against the King. The power the King had showcased was something none of them could fight back against. There was no point in trying to be the scapegoat for the true culprit.
Sammuel quickly looked through their statuses.
[Combat Power: 2]
[Combat Power: 29]
[Combat Power: 461]
[Combat Power: 16]
Sammuel saw the current state of the people around here. The average combat power of the people was hovering around to around a combat power of 10-15. Granted that this was absurdly low due to being mana-locked. Based on his own status, he estimated that every single person here had some right to be suspected as the culprit. Everyone definitely had the power, if given the opportunity, to do some harm.
However, there was one that completely caught Sammuel’s attention. It was the one singular person who managed to reach such a high number despite not being able to use mana. She had already caught Sammuel’s attention earlier but now, she had caught his interest.
[Name: Lilia Dunestro
Card Quality: Platinum
Star Quality: 3 | 198/200 | 86.44/100%
Affinity Level: 32.88%
Combat Power: 461 (9,148)]
“She’s pretty terrifying. She’s on the cusp of breaking through.” Sammuel couldn’t help but marvel at the current gap between them right now. Although it pained Sammuel, he was still far away from being her match on his own.
Physically, he was doing better than most but that didn't tell the entire story. He peered through even further in. He double-checked just how terrifying their true strength would truly be.
[Combat Power: 2 (6,592]
[Combat Power: 29 (1,342)]
[Combat Power: 16 (829)]
They were a cut above the rest, to say the very least. It had to be said that the Revelation Stage monsters that he had fought against back in Aganth only had a Combat Power of around 5,000- 6,000. For human bodies to be able to reach up to the durability and strength of monsters was akin to reaching an epiphany. People were much stronger than Sammuel had initially anticipated.
[Name: Sammuel Arthus
Card Quality: Silver
Star Quality: 2 | 50/50 | 0/100%
Affinity Level: 18.5%
Combat Power: 38 (476)]
I have to admit it, they are all monsters. Then again, it's not as if I can't catch up.
Sammuel proceeded to check the status of this kid from the slums. Despite looking like this, he wasn’t going to discriminate. Better to make sure than regret his decision.
[Name: Gregor Anthellion
Card Quality: Diamond
Star Quality: 2 | 50/50 | 100/100%
Affinity Level: 68.45%
Combat Power: 1.2 (523)]
“Sylph… do you see that kid from the slums? Can I ask what’s wrong with him?” Sammuel couldn’t believe what he was seeing. The Card Quality of this kid was Diamond… he was just as talented as Xeril and that felt wrong.
“Oh? You already found him? Hahaha, he’s one of the special ones in this batch. I told you this is going to be quite fun. But don’t think he and Xeril are the same...” Sylph replied in kind. That odd phrasing was something that Sammuel did not like one bit.
Sammuel remembered that he could directly see the exact stats of his [Ego]. He tried to check his own stats first.
[Current Stats:
Base EXP Gain: Silver (Ego: Base) | 20x
The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.
Card Drop Rate: 100%
Affinity Level Efficiency: 18.5%]
“I’ve only checked this a handful of times before since there was no need to. Although the war gave me the opportunity to rapidly increase my strength, that made me unable to understand the intricacies of [Ego]. I should start focusing on this even more especially now that I… only have 5 slots left.”
Out of the five slots, Sammuel has two slots already filled. These two [Ego] were [Ego: Human} and [Sebastian Winston]. When he used [Ego Overdrive], every single [Ego] he had was rendered to nothingness, essentially deleting from existence. He lost every single [Ego] that he had gained during that time. As much as it pained Sammuel, it was still a price he was willing to pay even if he went back.
Right now, he only had [Ego: Human] from Verim and [Ego: Sebastian Winston] from that werewolf that was considered as an outsider. The most pressing issue here was that they both had a Card Quality of 3, meaning that they were both in the Revelation Stage. Although Sammuel could freely use them, it came at the cost of his stamina.
Right now, he could only use [Ego: Human] for an hour while the most he could use [Ego: Sebastian Winston] was ten minutes. As for combining both of them, which is his current strongest state, only lasts for a single minute. Yet within that one minute, it was very difficult to find another person who could rival him within the Revelation Stage.
If not for Sammuel’s body being mended and [Ego] evolving during the battle then he might not even be able to use such terrifying [Ego]. For him to be able to fully utilize both identities then he would have to become a Revelation Stage expert as well.
Right now, it was very troublesome. He had to make sure that found appropriate identities to use. If he unknowingly killed a weak creature then he would be stuck with a weak [Ego] for a long period of time. Now, instead of hunting weaklings, Sammuel was forced to only hunt strong beings. That is until he manages to restore more slots. With how [Ego] works, it was only a matter of time before he regained everything.
Even his passive regeneration increased substantially. What would take days would only take hours now. It wasn’t instantaneous but it was only a matter of time before he reached that point.
There were many hidden implications of taking another [Ego] right now. The most important question was how useful would it be. Sammuel currently had enough strength to defend himself against reasonable enemies which was enough for the time being. If there was an [Ego] that he would be glad to take then it would surely be something that was fast and stealthy.
“I haven’t even recovered when I’m back here. Still, I shouldn’t be so hasty. As long as I can get away safely, I should be able to recover fully. That is, as long as I get away freely.”
Their half-sliced cage gave the captives an opportunity to witness the grandness of the neighboring kingdom. As the King was personally accompanying them, there was no hope of escape. There were fifteen suspicious candidates for who did this crime.
Sunlight bore down on them. They were being suppressed to the point of helplessness. It was a miserable trip to the kingdom. On the way, Sammuel heard a few soldiers talking by the side.
“At least the Great Dragon of Moonlight didn’t go our way. We would’ve also fallen like Aganth.”
“Shut it. They might overhear you. You’re going to get lumped in with them in that case.”
“Alright, I’ll keep to myself. I’m just saying, it would've been a lot worse.”
As those soldiers were walking by, Sammuel heard everything. It wasn’t that his senses were good but instead, the soldiers were just talking out loud that if felt embarrassing to hear it.
“They have no idea! Ah, I can’t wait for what’s to come. This is already more entertaining than a Great Being appearing.” Sylph’s joyous tone heavily contrasted with Sammuel’s grim expression. From what Sammuel understood, Sylph’s definition of fun was not the same as his. Whenever Sylph sees something fun, it always means a disaster is coming.
It was no normal disaster either, it was the type that would make many fall. Not even the strongest people were guaranteed to survive in it. From how elated Sylph was, the upcoming disaster would no doubt be smaller than what he went through in Aganth.
“If it’s going to be fun, why not tease me with some information? You might get what you want faster.” He was testing the waters. At this point, the more information Sammuel had, the better his chances of getting out of this were.
“Sneaky, sneaky. You’re not as simple-minded as Sadin. I almost fell for it! Hahaha!” Sylph’s green form flew all around Sammuel’s head, taunting him. “But… I don’t see the harm in it at all! So here you go, ahem! If you manage to survive, you’ll be able to reach the Plains of Divinity. And if you lose, you die.”
“How is that good for me?”
“Hehehe, I never said that it’ll be good for you. But it will be very fun to watch. Fight on, Sammuel. I’m rooting for you.” And with that, Sylph had fully cut off contact. Unless Sammuel was willing to use his mana to forcefully use her powers, he wouldn’t be reach her.
Sammuel closed his eyes as he recalled everything he gained and lost over his time at Aganth. He took a deep breath before spilling some bit of information. “I could just leave.”
Sylph was about to mock him when he was sealed when she began to think about it. If Sammuel truly did have the capability to leave then she would be missing out on a lot. This did not align with her goals.
“What if you don’t?”
“Why shouldn’t I? If there’s nothing for me here then I should just leave.”
Sylph initially wanted to try and push back but thinking about the slightest risk of Sammuel genuinely going against her wishes, she immediately gave in.
“Ugh! Fine!” Sylph groaned. She acted like a spoiled teenage girl who was just told to finally do some work. “You can break through to the Revelation Stage if you go through this trial.”
A flash of suspicion appeared within Sammuel’s eyes. “And how do you know that?”
“A feeling. Hey, don’t look at me like that! It’s the same feeling Sadin gave me when he faced against a Great Being. So, please, pretty please, do it!”
A flash of enlightenment sparked within Sylph’s mind. “Breaking through the Revelation Stage is difficult and is completely based on luck! Who knows the next time you get the opportunity? If you want to get strong as fast as possible then this is the way.”
“This is not very convincing.” Sammuel shook his head.
“Hmph! It’s just cause you don’t understand!”
Sammuel sighed at this sad attempt. “I’m still not going to do this. I’ll take learning about this world at my pace.”
“Fine! What do you want? Power? Wealth? Secrets about this world? Name your price. I just want to see what happens next.”
“Alright. What I want is simple. To know the fastest way to get stronger.”
Sylph irritatingly sighed. “I don’t know. It’s different for everyone. But, argh, I was saving this for Sadin but fine you can get it. If you go through this then I’ll give you something that’ll make the winds of this world follow you. But there’s a catch, you can’t escape until the very end and I’ll need to go for a bit to prepare it.”
Sensing Sammuel’s confusion, Sylph immediately explained herself. “If you want to contact me, you’ll need to use your own power. That’s all. Don’t die before I get back.”
And just like that, Sylph disappeared. She didn’t even bother to wait for Sammuel’s reply before taking action. It had all happened so fast that Sammuel almost couldn't believe that someone so powerful would be this whimsical.
All this entire time, Sylph had been using her innate powers to manifest herself. Giving her some credit, took a large amount of power from her. With Sammuel’s current state, he was barely able to manifest her form due to how limited his mana capacity was. However, if he used [Ego: Human] or [Ego: Sebastian Winston], summoning Sylph would've be easy.
Sammuel couldn’t see through whether Sylph was acting frivolous or she had lived for so long that this was her way of handling her boredom. For someone that had so much power to act like this gave Sammuel an insight of the future. Still, he didn’t have the opportunity to take it all in before they arrived at the kingdom's borders.
“You all better get ready. We’re about to be trapped for the foreseeable future!” Gregor playfully teased everyone. “But no seriously, we are in deep trouble.”