Alnea opened his eyes to his empty, white room. Not white like Yuri’s room had been back in big sis Serena’s mansion, but a normal white, with a hint of yellow and red being scattered all around him. It was quite a large room, almost twice as large as the single rooms of the city, and even had a few furniture, like the small table in a corner of the room, a rack to hold his sword, and the red cushion at its centre.

The best feature about his room though, was neither the lights, nor all the furniture. Instead, it was the slow, steady stream of energy being released by the floor of his room. It was very faint, so faint that he had not even noticed for the first few days, but it was there, rising from the floor, and seeping into his body, into his Spirit World, soothing his Spirit, helping him maintain a calm and sober Heart.

In normal times, the energy would just make him feel more comfortable, but when his Heart was disturbed, it would dive into the depths of his Heart, and dig out the memories that could help him the most. Something that he had already experienced quite a few times in the past few days, especially when he was practising the nine Blood Crystal Martial Styles. It was simply a perfect aid to temper his Heart and help him in his other trainings. No wonder Wanderers often scrambled to reserve rooms on the first and second floors…

Pushing himself off the ground, Alnea stretched out his limbs to bring them back to life, before going to the bathroom to freshen up. An attached bathroom that was almost thrice the size of bathroom in the single rooms. It also had some extra amenities. Like the bathtub, a water closet, a sink, and even a separate box that could wash all his clothes for him. Not that he needed it. His robe could clean itself on its own. And he did not trust some Glyph devices with the robes that his master had made for him.

Of course, none of the objects within the bathroom worked on Glyphs. At the very least, he had yet to see any signs of Glyphs on their surface. Or on anything related to the Lost City for that matter. It was as if the entire city was working on a completely different system. One unique to the Lost City. Just like the Martial Styles unique to the city.

Then again, the city also had its unique Glyphs and Arcanas. The Blood Crystal Patterns also seemed to have been inspired by some Glyph Arrays. Maybe the Lost City was indeed working on Glyphs. It was just that those Glyphs were hidden beyond his means to observe… waiting to be discovered… to be explored…

Even if that assumption proved to be false, the other possibility would only excite him more than before. Such a fascinating system of harnessing the powers of the Origin Sea… If his Heart had not been firm enough, he might have found himself inadvertently leaning towards this unknown system. Fortunately, his Oaths kept him sane, reminding him of his conviction… of his core… of the path of Wanderers.

Of course, just because he could not immerse himself in the strange system of the Lost City did not mean that he had given up on his bet. He still placed most of his attention on the Blood Crystal Martial Styles. But the Blood Crystal Martial Styles were not the only things he had to practice.

Wandering the Origin Sea, Forging his Spirit, tempering his Heart, practicing fighting skills in the mirror world, reviewing his Martial Styles and Arcanas, and practicing his new Martial Styles, his schedule was becoming more and more congested the more he progressed on his path as a Wanderer. And this was just the time spent on his training. He also had to take out some time to go fight in the Arena once a day, eat a meal, and wait for two hours in front of the Blood Hall…

Alnea was so busy, that he did not even had time for himself. And the girls knew it as well. They knew how precious his time was. Especially after they looked through the information of the Blood Crystal Martial Styles. They never had doubts about whether or not they could master the Martial Styles. It was just a matter of when. And that was the problem. Though they knew that the bet was just a farce, they still did not wish to see him lose. Especially to Weina…

For the sake of not wanting to see him follow Vestia’s orders, the girls swallowed their bitterness, and stopped trying to spend time with him. They even encouraged him to squeeze his time to practice more… Just imagining how he had spent his past few days was enough to make his butt feel sore. But the results were just as gratifying as his efforts. Humming to himself with a smile, Alnea quickly freshened up, and walked out of his room.

“You look happy,” Zain said, as he saw him walk out into the main hall of the mansion. “Did you gain something from your practice?”

“…You can say that,” Alnea said to Zain, glancing towards the doors of the rooms of the girls.

“Do not bother,” Zain said, waving his hand. “I have calculated. They should take at least half an hour more before coming out. That’s why I said that women are troublesome. If we had only men in our team, we would have already entered the Black Desert by now.”

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“And become food for the Oren Beasts?” Alnea said, shaking his head. “It is better if we wait for a few more people to join our team, and gain some more experience, before venturing into the desert.”

“The best experience that you can get is the experience of the Black Desert… but you are right. We do need more teammates. Why has no one joined the team yet? Are they jealous of my talent?”

“…That’s probably the reason,” Alnea said, nodding along with the stinky mouth, trying not to get tangled up in his words. “Anyways, I will try to meditate until the girls come.”

Walking to the centre of the hall, Alnea chose a seat, and sat down, closing his eyes to meditate. Unfortunately for him, Zain had no intention to let him be on his own.

“Do you have to be so desperate?”

“…What do you think?” Alnea said, without even opening his eyes.

“You are not going to win the bet anyway.”

“We do not know that.”

“But those are Blood Crystal Martial Styles! Everything else aside, just condensing a Blood Crystal should take you around a week or so. Even if you have half of my talent, you should be able to master only three or four of the Blood Crystal Styles in a week. Mastering nine of them…”

Alnea ignored the ramblings of his crazy teammate, preferring to meditate instead. Although he had the help of the strange energy emanating from the floor of his mansion to keep his Heart calm, relying too much on external forces to aid his training was not ideal for his future. So, after learning of the perks of living closer to the ground in the city, every now and then, he would try to meditate and calm his Heart with his own efforts.

“You are up earlier than usual.”

Alne opened his eyes and saw Vestia sitting across from him, looking at him with a confident smile.

“Usually, you are the last one to come out of your room, trying to squeeze as much time as you can. Yet, here you are, earlier than everyone else.”

“I was the first one to come to the hall,” Zain grumbled, but was ignored once again.

“Are you finally going to give up?”

“When did I ever say that I was going to give up?”

“…You have only two days left.”

“So?”

“…If you give up now, I might be willing to be a bit more lenient with you.”

“Why should I give up when I am going to win?”

“Are you sure?”

“Of course.”

“…Let us see then.”

Alnea smirked, returning Vestia’s grin with his own. Sometimes, he could not understand what the blue robed woman was thinking. Was she testing his resolve? Or was she really offering him a way to back down? Maybe a mix of both… He would never know. Because he would never agree to her conditions.

“Are you trying to tempt him again?” Cecilia said, as she walked down the stairs with Yuri, looking at Vestia with a frown.

“Tempt? Am I such a person in your eyes, Cecilia?” Vestia said, trying to sound pitiful, but was met with Cecila’s and Yuri’s ruthlessness.

“Yes.”

“Absolutely.”

“A vixen.”

“A temptress.”

“No doubt about it.”

“…Since you have already taken me as a temptress, then I might as well try to tempt him,” Vestia said, dropping her aggrieved look for a grin.

“…Stay away from him.”

“…The bet is not over yet, Vestia.”

“It is just a matter of time,” Vestia said, still grinning at the girls. “Two more days, and he will be practically mine…”

“Keep dreaming,” Cecilia said with a snort. “We will see how you laugh when you lose the best.”

“Sure,” Vestia said, shrugging her shoulders, before winking at Alnea. “You will not ask me to do anything inappropriate, right?”

“…You should have thought about that before making the bet. But rest assured, Alnea is not like you,” Yuri said, answering Vestia for him. But she did not forget to give him a glare… What did he do this time?

“Anyways, it is time for us to leave for the Blood Hall.”

“What’s the hurry?” Zain said. “It is not as if anyone is going to join us.”

“I think today might be a little different.”

“I agree,” Vestia said. “It has been five days since we began recruiting. Those who were collecting information about us should have already collected as much as they could, while those who were waiting for other people to make the first move should not be able to wait anymore. It is time for people willing to join our team to finally show up.”

“What are we waiting for then? Let’s get going.”

“…Wait,” Alnea said, scratching the back of his head while trying to hide his embarrassment. “I have something to ask before we leave.”

“…Keep it short.”

“…It is about our bet,” Alnea said to Vestia.

“…What do you mean?” Vestia said, with a hint of confusion and disappointment on her face. “Are you really giving up?”

“Who said anything about giving up?”

“Then the bet—

“Of course, it is because I have already mastered all the nine of the Blood Crystal Martial Styles.”