‘What could she possibly need from me? I know too little about her.’ Faust eyed Elena carefully.

She looked at him, looking just as wary. They were both risking a lot.

‘To begin with I need to know who she works for… she’s stronger than me, she doesn’t really have anything to lose…’ he pondered and made up his mind.

“Elena, who are you working for?”

The young woman was startled by his direct question, taking a moment to recover from the shock.

“I… I am a servant of the Venerable in Antioch. He is an underground leader.”

She had already chosen to trust this man and ask him for help.

Faust’s head jerked to look at her directly.

“Is that what they call him? The man with the magical powers?” he asked her, clenching his jaws.

She nodded briefly.

“He has taken over a part of The Tide of Blood, forcing its members to work for him under the threat of death… he has killed everyone who refused…”

Faust caught a hint of sadness in her voice and he was alarmed by her words, putting his hand at his dagger. Then he remembered how much stronger she was than him and brought it to his lap again.

‘What’s the likelihood? I don’t know about the underground organizations, but this fits the description Titus gave me perfectly… I need to know one more thing before I tell her about myself.’

“Elena, did you gain your powers from him?”

She hesitated briefly and then nodded.

“More or less. He helped me find my own powers…” she scratched her head, visibly uncomfortable revealing this information.

Faust nodded. He was satisfied with her answer.

‘Can I reveal who I am to her? It seems like she doesn’t like the Venerable at all… we stand to gain much more… probably… this could change so much in the big picture…’ he thought of Alexander and the great responsibility he felt right now. Talking about responsibility was one thing, but having to make such an important decision was an entirely different matter.

He hesitated and Elena grew slightly anxious until he sighed.

“I guess I can trust you. We met on accident and you ask for help… you hate the Venerable don’t you?” he asked her calmly and she nodded, clenching her jaws.

“With every ounce of my being.” She pressed out.

‘Good. This is an opportunity… but also a gamble… Ill take it!’ he decided.

“My name is Faust, a knight of Alexander Argorus.” He introduced himself and looked closely at Elena’s reaction.

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It surprised him to see her react with a huge smile. She cupped her face and started to quietly laugh. It sounded relieved and happy. Then she looked up again at Faust, who gazed at her expectantly.

“Sorry, I am just… I have wanted to get in touch with the Argorus Family and ask them for help before I met you… this is just too fortunate… to think they even have a cultivator! You might really be able to help me.” She grinned at him, suddenly the cold front was gone.

This change was a bit too sudden for Faust who was at a loss.

“You… uh, were looking for us? I still don’t know what a cultivator is Elena…”

Both were visibly relieved as the tension lightened between the two.

“So… what’s your element? What stage are you at? Who initiated you?” she bombarded him with questions and terms he had never heard in this context at all.

He put both of his hands up to stop her verbal assault.

“Elena… I have no idea what you’re talking about. Can you please explain?” he asked a bit annoyed, but more curious than anything else.

She looked at him seriously.

“You really don’t know?”

“I told you! I have no idea.” Faust shrugged with a sigh.

She took a deep breath.

“Then what do you know?”

Faust looked at her and was thrown into thought.

‘What do I know about it? Other than that my body has changed greatly… nothing. I can’t tell her off the cave can I?’

He decided to tell her a half-truth.

“I have experienced a certain event. I should have died, but I gained these new powers… I am faster, more perceptive, agile, and more.” He explained.

She tilted her head back.

“That should not be possible…” the woman’s words caused Faust’s annoyance to peak.

“Come on, tell me already, stop beating around the bush, you’re driving me crazy!”

She looked at him and ruffled her hair.

“Look, you obviously know about the new power in Antioch. It is the Venerable’s organization. I am part of it. Now listen well. He is a powerful Cultivator. A man who has left humanity behind and made use of a magic energy called Mana to cultivate his body and mind beyond human limits.”

Faust had so many questions, but he chose to listen as he could see she wasn’t done.

“He came from another continent where this was something everyone knew and did. He was forced to flee and through sheer coincidence… he landed on our shores.” She took a deep breath.

“Then he showed a small part of us how to cultivate, that’s what we call the process of developing those powers… the Venerable holds a monopoly on it… we needed a bit of his energy to become cultivators, we tried to help normal humans but it was in vain.” She sighed.

“That’s… why I am so shocked and excited to see you… a cultivator.” She concluded and Faust found it hard to take that all in at once.

“So you are telling me… some incredibly powerful man from another continent landed in Antioch, started taking over the underground, and has enabled some of his servants to cultivate like he did? How does this cultivation you speak of even work?” He asks doubtful.

‘Did I become a cultivator by accident? Is there a connection between the light at the cave and that Venerable?’

Elena nodded.

“You got that right. To make someone a cultivator they need an advanced cultivator to begin their journey. Everyone can cultivate, but require a high level cultivator to start. The first drop of mana in someone’s body needs to come from outside.” She explained briefly and the puzzle pieces in Faust’s mind started to fit together.

‘Then within the lake… whatever happened to me must have made me a cultivator… I should have received this energy… what did she call it… Mana?’ finally it started to make sense to him. While there were many questions left unanswered, he was no longer alone. There was a high chance he would understand what had happened to him.

“Then… what if I told you I became a cultivator through an outside influence but never knew I did?” Faust asked her.

Her eyes seemed to have been set ablaze and she looked at him. She was much more confident.

“Then our meeting today was fated. If you help me, I promise to teach you all I know.”

“I can only promise you to talk to my superiors. The group inside… are Alexander’s most trusted and loyal knights. You will need to convince them. But I will help you. Then we will send a messenger to Alexander together,” then Faust suddenly got an idea.

“I just had an idea. I can promise you, that as an individual, as long as you don’t force me to go against my oath of loyalty with Alexander, I promise to help you. In return, you will guide me.” He looked at her and she pondered briefly before a smile blossomed on her face.

“Deal.”