It took a few more moments before Jin managed to settle his breathing. He was still panting a bit and cold sweat filled his back, soaking his robes, but his mental state returned to the usual. He tried to get down from the position he was in to no avail. Rodolph grabbed him tightly, too tightly for him to be able to do anything.

When the disparity in power reached a certain point, even techniques would no longer matter.

Jin settled down and, instead, he asked: "Where are you taking me?"

Rodolph answered matter-of-factly: "To Vrislorin"

Jin was unimpressed by this answer. He had been in a bad spot but he heard everything that was said back there. He was well-aware of the fact that they were sending him there. What he wanted to know was how and why. He retorted: "How and why?"

Rodolph remained silent and continued walking towards his destination.

Jin tried to ask a few more times before giving up as the man's lips remained closed.

A few minutes later, they reached some kind of harbor where small vessels laid. A dozen small boats laid there on the ground. But there were no waters here, they were still in the floating island after all.

Jin did not ask but received his answer soon enough as Rodolph dropped him within one of the boats.

The boat was big enough for two people to sit face-to-face but nothing more than that. It was made of white bark and had a mast in the middle of it. The sail was black with a golden G drawn upon it.

Rodolph sat opposite to Jin and grabbed the steering mechanism which was no more than a simple wooden rod.

And then, the boat began to float up.

They moved upwards for close to fifty meters before the boat shifted angle. From pointing east to pointing south. Then, it sped up. And it was quite fast.

Rodolph who remained silent all this while finally spoke: "We should arrive in around two hours at this speed"

Jin had seen his fair share of wondrous items and flying boats were no longer strange things to him. But this was still the very first time he boarded one so small. He was quite impressed by its speed. He ended up asking: "What kind of boat is this?"

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Rodolph answered: "It's called an Ark. The owner makes them himself"

Jin frowned. That man made the earrings he now wore and this boat as well... It did not take long to understand that this man was undoubtedly a master at formations and arrays.

Jin still had many questions. In fact, he had more questions than anything at this moment. One in particular needed to be answered: "Why is he helping me?"

Rodolph chuckled before turning his sight towards the horizon. Then, he said: "Is he, now?"

Jin did not expect an answer. And while this answer did not seem like much, it actually gave him many hints. Whether or not Rodolph intended to give a meaning to his words was yet to be proven but the fact remained that Jin managed to deduce a few things from such a small answer.

First, it was unlikely that he was really being helped. That man was probably making use of him in some ways to earn profits for himself. He had no idea and no ways of knowing why and how though.

Second, 'now' indicated the possibility that things could change at any given moment.

It made him understand that they were not truly going to set him free. They found him and planned to keep him for themselves... It was just that, for now, it was better for them that he remained hidden away...

He would be able to act freely in Vrislorin only for a definite amount of time. Which meant that his life was actually on borrowed time. He would have to figure out a way to escape from their grasp while on the lower continent with no clue as to how long he had.

He tried asking some more, probing Rodolph with diverse questions. However, the man remained silent from there on. He kept looking at the horizon with a small smile on his face.

It irritated Jin but there was nothing to do about it.

As such, Jin decided to figure out his situation by himself.

The first thing that came to his mind was the earring. It was likely a tracker of some kinds. He planned to take it off. That's when Rodolph made a move to stop him, grabbing his arm. Rodolph stated: "You better keep it where it is. You'd die otherwise"

Jin frowned and questioned: "What do you mean?"

Rodolph chuckled and stated: "This thing will explode if removed. It's made so that only one being will ever wear it"

Jin retorted: "So, either I keep the tracker on or I die? Shameless"

Rodolph laughed before he stated: "It does not have the ability to track you. We won't need that to find you… Check your arm"

Jin did as he was told since there was nothing to lose. And was flabbergasted at the sight greeting him. It was no longer the corrupted limb he got familiar with. It was back to the human arm form it once had.

Yet, Jin could still feel the corruption...

Was it really an artifact capable of hiding his corruption? And not a tracker?

...It could be both.

Rodolph said: "Keep it on. It'll be your lifeline for some time"

Jin snickered: "Even if it enables you people to track me?"

Rodolph nodded: "Yes. Even if it had that ability. The pros overweight the cons greatly. I was not bragging when I said that we could find you without it and so, we did not bother adding a tracker in it though"

Jin snickered but did not bother retorting. Instead, he tried to divert the topic back to their organization and such. And Rodolph returned to his silent self.

Jin sighed and stopped speaking. He looked at his corrupted arm that no longer looked like it and made it shapeshift a few times. Even as it shifted, it continued to look 'humanly'...

Certainly, such an artifact would be of great help to camouflage himself in society.