Saved from the claws of physical abuse, Alnea glanced at the Blood Hall. There was still one hour left till dawn, marking it as the darkest time of the day. Yet, the city was still as bright as ever. If the blood red of the city light could be considered as bright, that is. Such an eerie light… It always unnerved him. Especially after what he had done the day before…
No, Alnea told himself. He was already over it. Although he had killed the man in accident, that did not change the fact that the man was his enemy. If they had met during Desert Trials, he was sure that the man would not have kept his hand either. By killing the man, he had just rid himself of an enemy earlier than expected. That was all to the man’s death. And to his unfounded guilt.
Subduing his unnecessary thoughts into the depths of his Heart, Alnea glanced at the people around him. Even if the city was shrouded in an eerie blood red light, it had no effects on the flow of Wanderers on the streets. The weak were still stalking the streets, looking for their next hapless prey, trying to survive in the city, while the strong went about with determined steps, trying to advance in the city, and uncover its secrets.
“Should we go exchange the Martial Styles we selected first?” Alnea said, looking forward to the Martial Styles of the Lost City. He had already read their introductions the day before, as had Cecilia and Yuri. Memory crystals could only last for a day after all. Besides, he was always very interested in Martial Styles and Glyphs. As for Arcanas…
He had read the information about Arcanas anyway, hoping that it might help him broaden his horizons. And distract him from the memories of the Whitebud heir’s bloodied face, of course. Unfortunately, even Martial Styles had not been enough to help him get rid of the bloody face flashing in his mind. Thankfully, he could always count on Yuri. She was not just his Heart, but also its guardian. At the moment though, she was also the destroyer of his hopes.
“Who is going to welcome out new team members then?”
“…I don’t think anyone is going to come today,” Alnea said. “Besides, exchanging for the Martial Styles is not going to take too much of our time.”
“What if someone comes looking for us while we are inside the Blood Hall? Are you going to break the promise you made in front of the entire city?”
“…It was not the entire city, and it was not a promise either,” Alnea mumbled.
“What did you say?”
“I said, we can go in one by one, while the others stay outside.”
“We cannot do that either. All four of us were there when we said that we would welcome our new teammates. So, all four of us need to be here to receive them. That is the basic etiquette that a Wanderer must have.”
“…Although her standards seem to be too high, I agree with her on this, Alnea,” Vestia said from the side. “Whether we accept the people coming to us or not, we should all receive them together. That is the least amount of respect we should give to them as fellow Wanderers.”
“…Do Wanderers really have so many annoying rules?” Cecilia said, scratching her head in annoyance, bringing a sense of relief to Alnea. He knew it. Though they often fought and argued, he could always count on her when needed.
“I never read about these things,” Alnea said, shrugging his shoulders, trying to support the only girl who was with him. Unfortunately, their opponents were too strong, and had the greatest weapon with them. Reason.
“That’s because these things are just common sense.”
“…But I never saw so many rules in my clan.”
“…Your clan is a little special.”
“Your clansmen tend to rely more on their fists than their wisdom,” Vestia added.
“…Are you saying that my clansmen are all just muscle brained?”
“Is that not the truth?”
“…Forget it,” Alnea said, hurriedly catching Cecilia’s arms before she could pounce on Vestia. “We will just ignore them, Lia.”
“…At least the people of my clan do not go around the world to seduce men,” Cecilia said with a snort, before turning away from Vestia, earning a helpless smile in return.
“…Do not mind her, Vestia,” Alnea said, scratching his head in embarrassment. “She has a soft heart, but a hard mouth. If she is speaking so much to you without cursing you and your family, then it means that she has already started to accept you.”
“…Speak for yourself, pervert,” Cecilia said, glaring at him.
“…Let us save something for when we are back at our mansion, alright?” Yuri said, glaring at all three of her teammates. “As for your Martial Styles… have you selected which ones to exchange for already?”
“I did.”
“Good. Then wait until the time we had set is up before exchanging them.”
“But if I exchange them now, I can use the time to practice those Martial Styles…”
“With your talent in Martial Styles, a delay of two hours should not affect your practice.”
“…I guess.”
“Then what are you so excited for?”
“…I want to try the Martial Styles.”
Yuri looked at Alnea in silence for a few moments, before letting out a sigh, and said, “It will only take a couple of hours.”
“…Fine. I can wait.”
“Good. Any other questions?”
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“…Where are we going to wait?”
“In front of the Blood Hall.”
“But there is no place to wait here,” Cecilia said, glancing around the area. “How about we sit on the stairs?”
“I agree with her,” Vestia said. “Just standing in place will make us look awkward.”
“…As you wish.”
After a brief discussion, everyone chose to settle down on the first few stairs to the Blood Hall. Before they sat down though, Vestia warned them to be careful.
“After we have shown our strength, no should come to trouble us without any reason. But you must not forget that there are people who do have reasons to trouble us. Whether it is to avenge their heir, or to regain their lost face, the Lotus clan is not going to leave us alone.”
“We know that already,” Cecilia said. “Tell us something new.”
“I spotted three Wanderers following us from our mansion. And the number has only increased as we neared the Blood Hall. There should be around ten—
“Fifteen,” Vestia corrected. “There are fifteen Wanderers keeping an eye on us… Now there are twelve. Three of them just left us after they saw us sitting down.”
“The Lotus clan,” Alnea mumbled.
“Maybe,” Vestia responded. “There must be people of the Lotus clan among those following us, but it does not mean that it is the Lotus clan that is following us.”
“…Are you sure?”
“Of the three… now it is four. Of the four people who just left, one of them was from Green Mountain Clan, and another was from the Purple Leaf clan.”
“Green Mountain and Purple Leaf… I have not heard about the Lotus clan having any relationship with these two clans.”
“Technically, the three clans are indeed related. But this relationship goes back around ten thousand years. There was a big war among the Orthodoxies back then… That was when the three clans split up. But it could also be a cover up. We can never tell with Orthodoxies. In any case, being a little careful is not going to hurt us.”
“…Alright.”
“…How about moving a little towards the edge?” Alnea said. “This the central area of the stairs after all.”
“Do you think that these Wanderers are blind? Can they not just go around us?”
“They can, but what if someone uses the excuse that we are blocking their way to provoke us?”
“…You do have a point,” Yuri said, while Vestia just smiled at him. Thankfully, she did not wink at him. Why was he feeling that he had lost something though? Curious about the sudden feeling of loss in his Heart, Alnea stole a few glances of Vestia, only to be caught red handed by her, earning him the wink that he was missing. And just like that, the feeling of loss was gone. The feeling of pain near his waist though…
After coaxing Cecilia, Alnea decided not to provoke Vestia for the moment. But then, what else could he do? He could not Forge his Spirit out in the open, and neither could he temper his Heart. As for Wandering the Origin Sea… that would be beyond foolishness. In the end, with nothing else left to do, he could only observe the Wanderers passing on the streets.
Most of the Wanderers looked around seventeen to twenty years old, but even if they were older, they would still look the same. After all, breaking through Ranks of Wanderers was equivalent to breaking through the shackles of life. For the False Rank, this shackle was ageing. Once one broke through the False Rank, it was only when they reached the end of their lives that they would being ageing at a rapid pace. Until then, they would look as if they were in their twenties or thirties.
In any case, judging the age of Wanderers just from their looks was not an easy task. Especially if the said Wanderers were over eighteen years old. But then again, the Orthodoxies sent only their genius scions to the Lost City. So, even if these Wanderers were older, they would never be older than thirty years. Because if these Wanderers could still not break through to the True Rank by the age of thirty, they would not be worthy of the title of geniuses.
Of course, these ‘geniuses’ could only be considered to be average in truly flourishing Orthodoxies. Like the Serpia clan. Or the Faed clan. Even the Weina clan, for that matter. After all, Vestia also seemed to be only seventeen years old, but had already reached the Peak Stage. Although she could not compare to either Cecilia or Yuri, she could also be considered to be a genius among the ‘geniuses’ of the Lost City. And it was this second type of geniuses that they were looking for as their teammates. Wanderers who had not only reached the Advanced or Peak Stage at a young age, but also had considerable proficiency in their chosen paths.
Of course, Alnea could not see if someone was the kind of genius they were looking for unless he had all their details, but he could still feel how strong the Wanderers walking in front of him were. Or rather, the dark cat lying by Cecilia’s feet could feel how strong these Wanderers were. If there was a particularly strong Wanderer passing by, the cat would raise its head, and look at the Wanderer as if eyeing its prey.
Fortunately, the cat, dumb as it was, was not as feral and wild as it used to be. At least, it could hold back its hunger until Cecilia took it to the Arena. In any case, since they had a ‘strength radar’ with them, they were not worried that someone would fool them with their strength. The problem was, how to get the dumb cat to cooperate with them. It did not listen to anyone, except Cecilia. And even Cecilia could not exactly command the cat. All she could—
“It looks like you are still alive.”
Alnea withdrew from his thoughts, and looked at the man standing in front of them. Dressed in a white robe, the man had a smirk on his face that screamed at everyone looking at him to come beat him up. The things that the man said did not help him either. It was a miracle as to how the man was still living a good life in the city. From Cecilia’s face though, it looked like the miracle was soon going to be broken.
“What are you doing here, Zain?” Alnea said before Cecilia could jump the man. “I thought that you did not wish to have anything to do with us.”
“Oh, if it is not the famous Alnea that everyone in the city has been talking about. The genius, who is most likely to obtain the legacy of the Lost City. Why, now that you are famous, you think you can decide what I do?”
“…We do not have time for you, Zain. Go and harass other people.”
“Or what? Are you going to kill me too?”
“That’s enough,” Vestia said, stepping up before either Yuri or Cecilia could. “We may not wish to provoke trouble, but we are not afraid of it either. If you do not wish to spend all your Blood Coins on getting yourself treated, then just be on your way. We do not welcome you here.”
“Vestia Weina… Another troublesome woman,” Zain said with a frown, before turning towards Alnea. “I thought I warned you about the dangers that you are facing. Why are you deliberately picking up even more trouble for yourself. Do you not know how much trouble being with a Weina would bring to you?”
“…Do you wish to die?”
Alnea left Cecilia, and hurriedly pulled Vestia away from Zain before she could erupt. At the same time, he could not help looking at the white robed man once again. Although he knew that the man was annoying, but to anger even Vestia to such a degree, and that too when he did not even mean it… Even Yuri was beginning to feel annoyed at the man. A feat that only Vestia had managed to achieve.
Except for the Lotus clan, of course. But the Lotus clan was their enemy, and Zain was just seeking their attention. And Alnea knew that if he did not shut the man up, then he might also anger Yuri to the point that she would erupt just like Cecilia and Vestia. So, for the sake of the girls, and for his own sake as well, Alnea bit the bullet, and tried the impossible. Talking sense with Zain.
“…What do you want?”
Zain stayed silent for a few moments, glancing at the girls, and then turning back at Alnea, before finally shaking his head, and letting out a sigh.
“…You have about a tenth of my good looks. And you are quite talented too. Probably around half as talented as me. If something happens to you, then it would be a shame to the whole world of Wanderers. So, I have decided to help you out with your troubles and get you through the dangers of the Lost City. But only while you are in the Lost City. There is only so much I can do.”
“…So, you want to join our team?”