With the most precious reward in his hand, Arin unceremoniously uncurled it. This scroll was a parchment made out of some kind of exotic animal. The feel of it felt unnatural meaning that this could have possibly been the skin of some kind of Pravum. Arin tried to lightly tear it apart to no avail.
Reading the title, Arin couldn’t help but gain extreme curiosity about it.
“Biography of Railan Ferroth.” Reading the title alone, one could estimate the value of this. “Let’s see just how complete it is…”
Skimming through the contents of the animal skin scroll, Arin could already tell just how valuable the contents were. There were some insights that Railan had in the field of traps and concealment. Any person who had a specialty in these fields would without a shred of doubt pay quite a fortune for this.
As Arin continued reading, the contents just got better and better. Other than a few crossed-out terms, it was essentially complete. Arin read Railan’s life story. Bits of pieces finally came together. It had told Railan’s childhood and the core incident that spurred his desire to learn entrapments.
Going further on, it started referencing other notable places and figures. It even led to when Railan and Gaden met. Continuing on their story until the beginning of the war. For some reason, this term wasn’t crossed out at all.
“Nil Animus, the oldest conflict that everyone on the first layer knows of. From this flashpoint, everything before would be referenced as the Lost History.” Arin’s blood started boiling, he couldn’t help but laugh at how rewarding it was.
Reading further on, a name that he didn’t expect to appear showed up, Luther. Arin placed his attention on the name Luther, anything he could gather from this point would be vital in solving the Maze Trial, Arcane Truth.
Even here, despite having the term Nil Animus shown, Luther’s last name still hasn’t been shown. This could only mean that in terms of value and significance, Luther’s name was of immense meaning.
There just wasn’t enough information to fully determine the truth just yet.
“Amidst Nil Animus, Luther… escaped the Greedy Emperor Kald’ish’s personal dungeon. He brought everyone and incited a revolt, taking a valuable treasure of the emperor. Railan had coincidentally met Luther, taking this scroll away in exchange for a piece of armor to protect him…” Arin recalled the prisoners back then, at the very least he knew what he needed to do now.
“That’s why they were still alive. I was going to ask Dad about Luther but this gave me enough information. Then does this also mean that the angel was part of Nil Animus? What was its affiliation? Did Luther manage to kill it or merely escape from it? Too many questions to answer all at once, I should focus on what I can do first.” Arin hid this parchment within his clothes.
Right behind him, the other people escaped as well. Emilia had taken another rapier to replace the one she had lost. From the looks of it, she was beaming from how high the quality of this rapier was.
Everyone else had their own personal item of choice. Although they didn't manage to achieve a Perfect Clear, the rewards they gained were unbelievably valuable.
As they were enjoying their spoils, a certain pair of eyes were staring at them acting too excited. Emilia immediately acted, “We are willing to… give you half… Wait no, 70%! We can negotiate about this.”
Since they were ordered to aid Arin, all the spoils should have been given to him. This was an implied outcome due to their current state. Normally they wouldn’t have cared but the rewards this time around were just far too valuable to give up on.
To understand just how good the rewards were, Emilia’s previous rapier was already considered mid-quality, being on the edge of being a high-quality weapon. Even so, her rapier couldn’t even dent the metal ball from the Maze Trial at all but her current weapon could easily pierce these metal balls, increasing her combat prowess.
Adding on the fact that all nine of them received an item of somewhat similar quality, giving everything up would be just unbearable for them. Even if Arin mercilessly took everything away, at the very least they wanted to fight for them.
Seeing Arin’s unchanging expression, Emilia immediately went down as much as she could, “We don’t have anything valuable but our skills. If we keep one of the items, our strength should exponentially increase, letting us perform better in the later Trials.”
Every single item here wasn’t a Fragment but their value was nearing one. This meant that their current haul was unbelievably high for a Maze Trial. The Trials that Fiona had gotten were truly the cream of the crop, giving such exotic rewards. If Fiona used this to her advantage then the gap between her and the rest of the students would be unbridgable.
“Keep it. We’re going to the next one tomorrow. I have other matters to attend to. Rion, go tend to their wounds.” Arin turned his back and immediately went straight into the city. Leaving the flabbergasted group behind.
“I should treat you three first then.” Rion took out some supplies and treated a girl who had her arm wrapped in bandages and another girl who had her thigh pierced through. With surgical accuracy, he stitched up the wounds and disinfected them so fast that they barely managed to rest when they were already fixed up.
Finally focusing on the Layla, he needed to treat her with more care than the rest.
“Necrosis, it’s annoying but nothing I can’t fix. This will take a while but in my hands, you’ll be fine.”
“You’re good.” Emilia couldn’t help but praise Rion’s skills. She had seen other healers tend to the wounded to the best of their abilities but his ability was leagues ahead.
Considering the fact that Rion didn’t use Malum but instead used herbs and ointments to perfectly treat their injuries, his medical knowledge was top-tier. If he ever used Malum then it was safe to say that he was way better than anyone she had ever seen.
Even within her organization, she had seen countless doctors treat patients but only did the bare minimum. As for Rion, he treated every single possible negative outcome as if he saw the future.
“If only Daine heard this… She doesn’t believe I’m the best of the best.” Rion raised his hand and disappointingly went back to his medical tent. With the combination of the high-quality medicines and his skills, it was safe to say that for as long as someone had a breath, he would be able to save them.
“I have a few questions. Do you mind answering them?” Emilia held the slave mark on her forehead. To ensure her friends’ freedom, she chose to sacrifice her own.
“One, he won’t force you unless you do something stupid. Second, yes the stuff I’m using is top-tier, a few Labyrinth Solvers might even have difficulty getting some of this stuff. Third, you’re going to get thrown aside if you stop being useful. Anything I missed?” Rion had been observing the entire scene this entire time, it was logical what questions she would ask.
“Actually there is one, will I ever get this… mark off me?” Emilia pointed at the slave mark clearly showing off her as Arin’s property.
“Better assume you’re never getting rid of that. I mean if you ever convince that lunatic then sure why not. Just know that seduction won’t work.” Rion shrugged his shoulders and walked away, leaving Emilia to blush.
“We’re ten years apart! Why would I ever-”
Rion raised his hand, interrupting her, “You might get desperate. Just play by his rules and you’ll live. He’s unreasonable but not that unreasonable. Besides, anyone can see why they sent all women.”
Emilia couldn’t disprove this point, after all, this was the same conclusion she had achieved. They were all chosen based on two parameters, being a Bind Solver and being a girl. The younger the girl, the more likely they were to be presented.
The author's tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.
Unfortunately, the youngest Bind Solver in their organization was already 25 years old. It was no easy feat to be a Bind Solver at such a young age. One had to take into account that they needed to either dominate or gain the approval of a Fragment. This point alone was a barrier that stopped most of the talented people from advancing.
This didn’t include outliers like Fiona, who was half a step into being a Seal Solver. She could already create a phantom image of her armor while being able to physically manifest a small part of it to cause immense destruction. She used this to toy around with Arin. If not for his monstrous vitality, he would’ve died.
“Where can we rest? It has been a rough day.” Layla asked Rion as she was being escorted.
“Rest? Might I suggest not doing that? Go look over there.” Rion pointed at the porters by side, who were in charge of transporting the rewards Arin had gotten. Right now, they weren’t tasked with anything so they were all practicing their Combat Technique.
Each and every single person here was training. Although there was a bit of banter between them from time to time, they all took this seriously. Every single moment they weren’t practicing was a moment closer to death.
“Why are they practicing so hard?” A girl was curious, she didn’t know why someone who only needed to transport goods was practicing. They were only humans, after all, there was no need to push themselves for no reason.
“Because if you ever slip up in this place, you die.” Rion took out a chair from within the medical tent and sat in front of them. “So go on, practice your Combat Techniques.”
Every single one of the girls was taken aback, Arin had specifically told them to rest. Why was Rion suddenly forcing them to work even more? They all looked at each other, eventually letting their eyes rest on Emilia’s back. She was their leader, she needed to speak for everyone here.
After everything they had gone through, she wanted to give her friends a break first. “We’ll work on it after a short break. They deserve it.”
“Hahahaha! Deserve it? That’s actually hilarious.” Rion was sitting down on the chair with the back side of it facing the front. He was resting his arms on it while letting his head weigh down on it.
“What’s so funny?” Emilia wasn’t liking the sudden turn of events. Rion was actively making them push themselves.
“Your Fragments are wasted on you lot. Any other person in this underground city is more suited to it than you are. Anyone can tell you’ve lived happily because of your talent. But let me tell you something fun, you’re nothing but dregs by the side, meatshields at most.” Rion tilted his head, mocking them.
“He’s agitating you, there’s no point going along with it. Rion, I don’t know why you’re saying this but there’s no point to it.” Emilia didn’t understand why Rion changed his tune so suddenly.
“No point? I’m trying to help you out here, you don’t know what it means to struggle. That’s your flaw. That way, you might actually be somewhat competent.” Rion teased them. From his point of view, this batch of meatshields was amusing. Since they survived this small test, they were a little better than the rest.
“Ignore him, we’ll find somewhere to stay in the city. Let’s go.” Emilia turned her back, walking away.
“Hey, Emilia, there’s a reason why the big man made your boss send you here. And let’s just say, it wasn’t cause we don’t have enough people.” Rion waved his hand, smiling the entire time.
Rion had already treated Layla’s injuries by this time.
They turned a deaf ear to him. Although Emilia was grateful to him for treating all of their injuries, he had the same foul personality that Arin had. They were mocking them for being themselves.
“Ignore him, he’s nothing but a hypocrite. He’s telling us to practice when he hasn’t been practicing either.” Emilia felt more at ease when she said this out loud. Little did she know that Rion heard this.
One of the porters came up to Rion, “Sir Rion, one of your pets ate someone’s leg.” He had been waiting to intervene.
“Is that so?” Rion raised his foot and stomped down. Malum started to connect down to an already premade network spreading all over the garden that Daine had created. All the murderous plants she had set up were tamed by him.
He had created a system to further reinforce his own Combat Technique, accommodating his fighting style. Using this method, he could further increase his strength by practicing the control he would have over this gigantic forest. As it turns out, Rion had also been practicing the entire time under everyone’s eyes.
He felt through the entire system until he found the rebellious plant. Using the Malum he had sent out, he filled in the roots and stems of this plant, dehydrating it in real time. He made it spit out the poor man’s leg.
“This Combat Technique really is terrifying. Deriving your own personalized Combat Technique from it. Combat Technique, Culled Future: Fauna.” Rion had sent out his Malum covering the entire area once more, checking for any wilting plants. Once he had seen some signs of it, he used his Malum to revitalize it.
Once he had turned this dying plant into something more vibrant than before, a certain energy was siphoned from it, returning to Rion’s body. He felt his body slowly strengthen, it was barely perceptible but the improvement was there.
Disconnecting from the network once again, he reassumed his station, waiting for the next time he could reap the rewards of this setup. If not for Daine being so theatrical in her showcase, he wouldn’t have been able to siphon so much from these rare and valuable plants. He owed a personal debt to Daine.
“Keep training. Don’t be like those fools. They might seem strong right now but strip their Fragments and they aren’t worth anything.” Rion waved his hand before realizing something. “What happened on Lucas’ end?”
“He didn’t even use his Combat Technique, Culled Future: Plague. He only used the base form.” The porter reported wholeheartedly. As one of the big shots of the underground city, Rion had access to more manpower than one would assume.
“That makes sense, Sefi’s unfit for that Mysterious Fragment like we’ve been informed. Any word from the big man about correcting this mistake?”
“Master Kian had only said to let things be. If they die, it was meant to be. Don’t interfere with Arin’s matters with the exception of the job you’ve been given.” The porter respectfully relayed the information.
“Not yet? This is dragging on for far too long in my opinion. What about the other Overlords? Have they done anything of note?” Rion’s casual expression turned more serious than before. This matter was more important to him.
“Nothing important. Only one of the Overlords’ sons, Lucas, had any involvement with the Seal Academy students. Everyone else has been radio silent on this matter.”
“That sounds about right, Sefi’s the only semi-important chess piece here. The other two are completely normal. Well, I should hold my tongue, who knows how they’ll change after they get their Combat Technique?” Rion dragged the chair he took out back inside.
“Especially that Noah. He gives off the scent of a cunning wolf. He better be careful though, play around long enough and you’ll pay the price.”
~~~
Arin had come into the city to leave. There was a special exit within the heart of the city. This wasn’t usually used due to being out of the way but it was the safest one. He didn’t need to do anything but start walking towards it.
Five servants saw Arin’s movements and realized that he was going to use this exit. For months, they would do nothing but laze around and practice but now they needed to do their job, they wasted no effort to ensure that nothing went wrong.
This kind of job was beloved by most of the residents of this underground city. A stable pay without needing to spend hours upon hours every week waiting for contested Maze-level Trials. With stability and time on their hands, they could focus on themselves, growing stronger by the day.
Getting out of the underground city, he returned directly to his room. Looking outside, it was pitch black. He waited for his father to return but in the meanwhile, he cooked up something basic to eat for the time being. He was no chef but at the very least he knew the basics. It wasn’t overwhelmingly delicious but it was edible.
Taking out the parchment from within his clothes, he started reading more of the contents. As soon he opened it up, he felt the same overlooking pair of eyes staring at him. No matter where he was, there would always be a pair of eyes watching over him.
Arin didn’t know whether it was from his father’s plan or some malicious third party trying to do something. He got up and closed the blinders, letting him read in peace. The contents of this parchment were without a doubt valuable, he needed his father’s help for this one.
Eventually, the sound of a car engine parking outside could be heard. A tall man wearing a fancy suit entered, “I thought you would hole up yourself down there for much longer. Regardless, nice to see your ugly mug, son.”
“Likewise, Dad.” Arin showed a genuine smile. After opening up with some small talk, Arin finally reached the point that he wanted to address. “Dad, I got something interesting from one of the Maze-level Trials. I was planning on selling it.”
“Something that caught your eye? Hmm, let me see.” Kian reached out his hand to which Arin handed the animal skin scroll. He opened it up and was immediately intrigued by the title.
“Biography of Railan Ferroth! This title is enough to be worth quite a bit! Auctionable already!” Kian was full of smiles. This was a good item, information was a really valuable resource.
“If you like that then you’ll like what it’ll say later on.” Arin laid back, waiting for his father to fully read through it.
Kian was already initially interested but once he arrived at the insights he had as a master of traps, he couldn’t help but be amazed at how good this was. As expected, there were a few crossed-out words but it barely filled in the text. Of course, Kian could read them but Arin couldn’t, it was simply the difference between experience and knowledge.
“So, what do you want to sell it for?” As Arin’s first item to be sold, Kian made sure to try and get as much as possible from it.
“Essence. How many grams will this be worth?” Arin recalled that a Perfect Clear of a Maze-level Trial gave from 1-10 grams of Essence based on the difficulty. As always, there are outliers but generally, these are the numbers.
“I’ll be honest, this is new information, filling in quite a big piece of the Lost History. Even I don’t know how much it’ll be so how about I’ll let you choose? An auction or direct trade?” Kian nudged his son’s shoulder.
“Let me guess, directly sell it to you so you could make a profit?” Arin sighed. This was something his father was notorious for.
“I’ll give you ten grams of Essence.” Kian plastered a business smile on his face.
“That’s… so low…” This was blatantly stealing it away from him.
“Ten grams of Essence and I’ll pull a few strings,” Kian smirked, letting Arin fully understand what he meant.
“Deal.” Arin agreed without hesitation. He could always get more Essence but a favor from his father was extremely valuable. The father and son duo shook on it.