Glenn groaned, struggling to open his eyes. He felt as if his head was caught in a vice, heavy and confused. He coughed and struggled to sit up, blinking as he took in his surroundings. He was lying in his bunk bed, the dim light of the evening’s sun entering the small tent.

‘Hello, sleeping beauty…How was your day?’ Diamanes asked sarcastically, ‘For me, it went terribly. Terribly boring.’

Glenn rubbed his forehead, ignoring the entity’s words to Meditate instead. He needed to make sure of something. He slipped naturally into the meditative state, finding his Mana Heart where he left it.

“I really did it…” He muttered, bewildered. Spinning lazily around the Magellanic Clouds were two rings of gray, mystical runes. He had indeed managed to break through to the next rank.

Glenn sighed in relief and pulled out of his Meditation, returning to an annoyed, complaining voice.

‘You don’t even bother replying, now? I see, if that’s how it is, I can ALSO shut up and not say a word for the rest of my life!’ Diamanes hissed.

‘Oh, but please do!’ Glenn snorted. He shook his head and left his tent, finding Redan and Sahro to be sitting at a nearby campfire. The old man and the Black Heir both looked up at the same time, one with relief etched on his face, and the other with mixed apprehension.

“Kiddo!” Redan saluted with a warm smile barely hidden by his white beard, “Seems like ya did listen to my classes, ay?”

Glenn nodded with a smirk, “It does appear so. I’m a Second Circle now.”

Redan laughed, “Yes, I know boy. Just like Sahro here!” He patted the Black Heir’s shoulder, who tensed up at the contact. The old man didn’t seem to care and laughed widely, “Well, now that things are like this, we can speed things up! Prepare, ya’re both leaving in an hour!” he declared.

Glenn paused, “Leaving? For where?”

Redan grinned widely, “...But for King’s Rise, of course! No need to keep ya here if ya reached the Second Circle. Go crazy in the city, kid!”

He patted Sahro’s shoulder once more and added, “Your friend will be waitin’ for ya in the Auberge, ‘aight? He had to use some more…underhanded means to go into town, after all!”

Sahro nodded slowly as he clenched the hilt of his sword tighter. Glenn moistened his lips and sighed deeply. So it was finally time to get the hell out of this cesspool of a place.

Finally.

After these few words, Redan and Sahro left Glenn to get prepared. The latter was now meticulously checking the contents of his dimensional bag, ensuring he had everything he needed. He had carefully cleaned and folded his cleaning clothes, leaving them on his bunk bed. He grinned widely as he donned once more Jefferson Howard’s black clothes, the straight coat fluttering pleasantly. He strapped his Fire Staff on his back, intending to at least make use of the magic weapon and get his money's worth out of it. And it was way easier to use than the incredible spell he created earlier.

‘Come to think of it…’ Diamanes suddenly interrupted his preparations with a serious tone, ‘...Did you not settle on a name for the spell?’

Glenn tapped his chin for a few seconds and shrugged, ‘Actually, I did.’

He tightened the bandages around his left arm and grinned, “Implosion. I’m naming it Implosion.”

Diamanes scoffed, ‘What a grandiose name for a watered-down explosion.’

Glenn ignored the entity and left the tent, his preparations over. He went to the edge of the camp, finding Redan and Giselle waiting for him there.

"Well, I hope ya'll find the grandson, kiddo. Don't anger the lady, she's particularly mean." Redan said, clenching the young man's shoulder in a supporting way.

"I can hear ya, ya old fart! Don't worry, I'll only kill ya, nothing too painful, so ya better find my kin." Giselle said with an easy tone, making it even more terrifying for him.

Both of them chuckled, but Glenn could only gulp tensely. His survival depended on their good graces, after all. He did not doubt that after the mess he made in the Thorn’s Church prison, he was probably the priority number one of these sickos. Having Redan and the Black Heirs backing him was the only way he would be protected. It wasn’t the best solution and was only temporary, but it was the best he could come up with. Hopefully, he’d be able to grow strong enough to take on the cultists by himself.

“A few things ya need to know,” Redan clenched his shoulder with a more serious look, “There are two religions that have a monopoly on King’s Rise: the Church of Onnea and the Gold Church. They both hate the Thorn’s Church, so ya should be pretty safe with them around.”

Redan looked to the side, recalling old memories, “The Gold Church…they believe in Plutus, the Golden Dragon, the Lord of All that Is Golden. They’re the holders of the mainstream bank in Munirp, and most if not all merchants use their services.”

The old man shook his head and continued, “The Church of Onnea…they’re alright. Don’t be evil, and ya’ll be fine. I won’t spoil the experience further. Go out and explore the city, will ya? That’s the best way to grow for ya.”

Glenn nodded tensely as Giselle turned to him, handing him a sheathed sword, “Here’s a gift from me, boy. Ya shall learn to defend yourself with a weapon too, and a sword is as good as any. Also, show the pommel to any Black Heir, and they’ll help ya and Sahro, ‘kay?”

“...Okay,” Glenn muttered as he accepted the sword. The pommel had an emblem carved into it: a black tree with crimson droplet-shaped leaves within a white circle. It looked pretty badass. Glenn breathed in deeply, a little anxious. King’s Rise massive walls loomed over him, adding to the pressure on his shoulders. The city was supposed to be massive, and it would be a lie to say that he had no fear of entering it. He’ll have to do with what he had, and, all things taken into account, that wasn’t much. Redan had always avoided discussions about King's Rise when Glenn wanted to find out more, leaving him wanting more. Nevertheless, Glenn wasn't interested in past trauma or the aversion Redan seemed to harbor towards the city.

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Giselle's demeanor shifted into solemnity, and she gripped Glenn's shoulders.

"Alright, kid. One last thing. The Howard family are nobles. They won't be in the Fourth Circle, and will probably live in the Third one. Ya'll have to find a way to get up there and bring Sahro with ya. So, good luck."

She patted him on the back, reinforcing his apprehension.

'Great, I don't even know what that Circle thing she's talking about is, but great,' thought Glenn, despairing. Couldn't they give him some kind of tourist booklet, like The Three Best Places in King's Rise, or maybe The Most Delicious Tavern in the Whole City!, that would do as well. No? Alright…

Redan just nodded, done with everything he wanted to say, the corner of his lips slightly curved upward. Glenn's sigh marked the commencement of his journey, and he departed from the Black Heir's camp, Giselle and Redan's figures fading behind him.

Thankfully, there was no time limit on finding Callum, Giselle’s grandson, but the faster he did so, the better off he would be. Glenn would rather not keep himself indebted if he could. The more he thought about it, the less qualified he found himself. He had pretty much lied about his resume, even though he did have some kind of blurry connection to the Howard family, thanks to finding Jefferson’s body/dust pile in the Still Peaks’ ruins.

The Black Heirs in his way didn’t say a word. Only Redan and Giselle had some kind of interest in him. Sahro was the exception, but then, Sahro was also pretty unique in his own way.

He made his way through the Sewers’ sinuous streets, glancing at the few ragtags lying on the ground like zombies. They were the people who didn’t have enough money to enter the city, nor enough skills to make that money. Often drug addicts or disabled people were the rejects of society and were the majority of the people living in the Sewers. Glenn had asked Giselle about them one time, out of curiosity, but she didn’t care too much about them, unable to understand why she should bother helping some tramps when she already has a hard time supporting her own. She also seemed to be a stranger to the notion of charity, but that wasn't surprising. The Black Heirs weren’t exactly rich, after all.

Lost in his thoughts, Glenn failed to notice that a group of slightly livelier guys had started following him. The sound of the steps following him finally startled him after a few minutes, and he discovered a small crowd of people covered in ragged clothes, holding rusty knives or broken planks. He strained his eyes, before gasping in surprise when he recognized the same group that tried to rob Redan and him when they came to meet the Black Heirs some days ago.

'Well, I would have mugged myself if I were in their positions. But don't they learn from their errors?' He thought sarcastically as he took his Fire Staff off his back.

Their boss seemed to have changed, a skinny guy obscenely licking a knife crouching toward him, a malicious look on his face.

"Well, look who's lost in our dear Sewers...You look like a noble." He smelled, snorting with his nose, before turning toward his group, "Smells like someone is going to die today!" Cackles echoed this declaration, as they got closer to him.

Glenn sighed and waved his Fire Staff toward them, infusing the bare minimum of Mana into it. A cloud of flames shot out from the staff, lighting up the emaciated faces of the pitiful bandits. The little show of strength was enough to discourage all of them, except for a single kid trembling like a leaf. Glenn yawned and slid the staff back in his back.

"Two times I get mugged, and the two times it's the same speech...Can they even intimidate anyone with these skills?."

The small kid was holding a rusty blade with both of his hands, and snot was dripping from his dirty nose. His rags couldn't hide his skinny body, so scrawny it was more bones than blood. His most disturbing aspect was probably his eyes, empty of any desire besides hunger.

Glenn stopped for a second, looking at the kid. Taking out a bit of food from his dimensional pouch, he gave it to the kid, kneeling beside him.

"Listen, if you want to rob someone, just do it instead of talking, alright? It's lame if you don't do that." The kid nodded and turned back, the meatloaf he had given him tightly clenched in his tiny hands. Glenn didn't even walk a few steps away when he heard the kid already licking his fingers.

'This is a real shame. I don't understand how the people in the walls can live, knowing that a whole population is living like this besides their home.' Glenn questioned, staring at the absurdly high ramparts.

'Well, the truth is that human beings care mostly about themselves, so the pain of others is certainly saddening, but not enough for them to care about it. It's fine as long as it doesn't happen to yourself, ain't that right?' mocked Diamanes.

Glenn finally arrived at the Frozen Gate. He peered at the two ice sculptures guarding it. Wondering about something, he placed Diamanes on the foot of the statue on the left.

'Hah, nice try, but you'll have to wait for at least the Third Circle to try 'taking' the magic in this thing,' said Diamanes while snickering. It seems like he was now used to being covered in bandages.

'So I can 'take' it. Noted.'

If he could manage to take the magic guarding the Frozen Gate, Glenn was pretty sure he would be safe for quite a while.

'Hey, that's another thing that should motivate you to get to the Third Circle!' exclaimed Diamanes in Glenn's mind.

'Yep.'

Arriving in front of the guard post, he saw two knights holding halberds. They weren't the same that he saw when he first arrived here a few months ago.

"Identification, sir!"

Glenn held his right hand out, recalling it was the one that he had used during the Magic Identification process. One of the two knights took out a wand with a white crystal embedded in its tip and used it to scan Glenn from head to toe.

'There is no reason it wouldn't work, right?' A bit of stress took Glenn's guts over. Like walking down the street and meeting police officers when you have nothing to blame yourself for.

The white crystal shone green, and the guard showed the way to the young man. A small door, enough to let a single person pass, opened at the base of the gigantic gate. Glenn hid a short sigh of relief and looked up.

'I mean, that makes sense, no way they're opening those big doors every day.' Nonetheless, Glenn was still a bit disappointed. He followed in the guard's footsteps, the door he just passed leading to a small corridor, where a small box awaited him, before another door.

The guard glared at him, a strange look in his eyes, "Is it your first time here?" He asked, twiddling with his halberd.

Glenn nodded affirmatively, wondering what else would block his way to King's Rise.

"You need to pay the toll. It's one silver." A mocking grin appeared on the knight’s face as he casually made the blade of his halberd rattle against the stone floor, creating some sparks.

'Hah. They're so blatantly asking for a bribe. We're off to a great start,' Glenn thought sarcastically. Nonetheless, he took out a single silver coin and pushed it into the box. He then looked at the guard, wondering if he was free to go now.

Glenn's gaze hardened, and he prepared to take out something.

The guard smiled even wider, hoping for another coin, but he quickly lost that grin when he saw the ring that Glenn was holding. This was the Howard family crested ring.

"I'm sorry, sir. Please execute me now!"

The previously cocky guard was kneeling on the ground, his halberd in front of him. His forehead was touching the ground, his hands shaking uncontrollably.

'So that's power. It’s quite scary to see the influence the Howards have. I’ll have to be careful,' Glenn realized as he stepped over the guard and opened the next door with his own hands.

Finally, it was time for him to get into the biggest city he had ever seen in his life, be it in the real world or fiction, King's Rise.