Geneva was once a neutral and powerful city. It still hosted numerous organisations that had been founded when the World Government didn’t exist like the Council of Merchants, which gathered the wealthiest companies in the solar system under its umbrella or the Moon Legion, which was a private army currently on the World Government’s payroll.

One organisation that to this day couldn’t come to terms with the biggest mistake they’d committed was called the Sovereign and it’d brokered a peace treaty between the old superpowers: USA, Russia, the Oriental League, Europe’s Alliance and the African United Front.

The Sovereign and Geneva’s Ministry of Nations had aimed to stop the endless string of assassinations of important political figures, scientists and people with Talents that could revolutionise the world and allow humans to colonise other planets.

It had been a simple intent that had meant to stop brewing world war and make life on Earth better. The Sovereign for all their insight and intelligence failed to notice the true threat.

His name was Vichy Ottoman.

A man who appeared out of nowhere and used his Talent to sway the governments to his idea of one supreme nation, which would conquer the galaxy in a matter of centuries, fix ageing and bring endless wealth and happiness.

The unification of the world and the rise of the World Government had been bloody and cost countless lives but sixty-two years ago, the World Government was finally born and Vichy Ottoman became its first President.

He used Geneva as its seat of power. But Vichy Ottoman had never been a fool to believe that Earth became a safer place. Its technological advancement and economy surged because it was easier to control them but enemies of the World Government hadn’t disappeared.

Under Vichy Ottoman’s boot, Geneva lost its neutral status and was turned into a fortress. After Vichy Ottoman’s assassination and the rise of Windsor Freeman, Geneva stopped being the World Government’s seat of power, which was moved to Paris.

But some lessons had been learned though, and Geneva built upon the foundation Vichy Ottoman had begun. The city surrounded the entire Lake of Geneva and used the geography to its advantage. The slopes of the mountains that in turn surrounded the city become natural barriers with many buildings resembling bastions and fortresses—although, officially merely tourist attractions.

Geneva was home to over two hundred million people and Keynes quickly learned that their sentiment toward the World Government was very negative. But if they declared sovereignty, the city would perish in fire and ash, according to the government’s propaganda at least.

What struck Keynes as obvious but wasn’t commented on was the fact that Geneva wasn’t attacked by the White Masks. The terrorist organisation sabotaged hundreds of cities and towns in the region, causing over a million deaths already. Even Lyon and Valence were hit. Geneva though remained untouched. It led Keynes to believe that the White Masks might have their headquarters here.

Several days after the unexpected arrival of his family and friends, and finding the owner of the hotel, alive and healthy, he decided to share some of his thoughts with Kaito Ren.

“Why do you care?” Kaito Ren asked with indifference, although Keynes noticed more than the ex-specialist realised. The recent news made even his hair stand on end and it had to have some impact on Kaito Ren.

Vivena had gone against her advice and tried to convince them to clear the rifts but they knew that it’d be futile. All the rifts were fortified and guarded by the military. Why didn’t they stop the rift monsters? The official channels were silent but everyone was warned that any attempt at clearing the rifts would be met with deadly force.

It was unbelievable that the government kept it going and it only added to the mystery.

Keynes breathed in the icy air and gently nodded. Since their reunion, Keynes had been a little distant and distracted. He didn’t seem like someone who cared about others but the truth was different, he cared though he didn’t show it.

“But do you agree with my conclusion?”

Kaito Ren shrugged.

“It doesn’t matter. The White Faces aren’t your problem. I get it that one of them tried to kill you but don’t you have different commitments now? You have promised Daiyu Fen to get stronger and rescue Tulli. Are you going to backtrack on that promise?”

Keynes expected that argument and the truth to be told, it wasn’t easy to come up with a counter-argument without revealing more than Keynes was willing to.

Nonetheless, was this the right moment to say more?

Sure, he didn’t trust Vivena. He’d even asked Daiyu Fen to stay with her in case Vivena decided to contact her family. But Vivena wasn’t here and he trusted Kaito Ren to not tell her.

As they strolled Geneva’s forested waterfront, Keynes pondered the pros and cons of telling Kaito Ren more.

On one hand, he’d promised himself to never be like the Old Blood and would not suppress knowledge, on the other hand, he noticed something disturbing.

Knowledge was power.

He was NOT going to hide it from his family and friends but the doubt started to creep in already. If he gave away everything he knew, he’d make himself weaker.

Is that right? Is empowering others leading to weakening oneself?

“Ren,” Keynes said while staring at Lake Geneva and the bastion-like structures built on the slope of a mountain Keynes didn’t know the name of. “What do you know about cultivation?”

Kaito Ren turned to Keynes, slightly taken aback but thoughtful. He didn’t expect such a question but how could he, they were just discussing the White Masks, moreover, cultivation wasn’t a thing that came up often—or ever. Except for one instance—the spiritual message from an unknown entity.

“Nothing and I don’t understand what it has to do with your promise.”

Keynes spied a bench and sighed relieved. They had been walking for hours. Even at his level, staying on his feet all day wasn’t desirable.

As they slowly approached the bench, Keynes started carefully explaining what cultivation was. He had to remember that Kaito Ren didn’t have his perfect memory or the Enhanced Learning buff, which trivialised learning for Keynes.

“You’ll see when I finish. Cultivation is a technique of controlling the essence in one’s body. It is the thing that got me through the painful experience of my first delves.”

“Delves?”

“Killing monsters in a rift.”

Keynes proceeded and told Kaito Ren about his first attempts at guiding the essence and how strange but satisfying it felt, then he moved on and told him about the spiritual charge of items from rifts and how they gave him better insight into cultivation. It prompted Kaito Ren to mention Captain Ventura who had spoken about this during their training.

Eventually, Keynes dropped the bomb on Kaito Ren.

“I found a Scroll of Lesser Teaching and it gave me a Technique of Lesser Cultivation, with it, I’ve managed to reach the Medium Stage.”

It was a good thing they sat because Kaito Ren looked ready to fall over. And he seemed paler than usual. He wasn’t very tan, to begin with, but at the moment his face became like a sheet of paper. He considered Keynes’s words in silence until he shook his head.

“How much else haven’t you told us?”

“This is a tip of an iceberg, I’m afraid.”

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“Smart,” Kaito Ren said. “I don’t trust Vivena, though you said that her family has secrets of their own.”

Keynes nodded, saying nothing.

“So, why is cultivation so important?” Kaito Ren asked when he realised that Keynes was not going to comment.

A corner of Keynes’s mouth moved up a little. Keynes freed his spiritual aura for a second then quickly wrapped it around his core. It was risky though the ‘suburbs’ lay in the northern part of Geneva where a few kilometres wide patch of forests was located between the lake and the mountain. It gave the feeling of being away from civilization while staying inside the gargantuan city. How could the small hotel without guests afford a place like this was the owner’s dark secret. It also seemed like a descreet location.

Kaito Ren made large eyes, losing his cool.

“What was that? This felt like a Level 5 or 6 aura.”

Keynes hadn’t considered how strong his aura was in comparison to others.

His little show alerted Alice. She hastily returned to him.

Master! What is happening?

Everything’s fine. Keep patrolling.

Keynes’s mind returned to a meeting with Waxilium Earl when he’d blasted his aura to stop Keynes’s emotional affliction from turning Keynes into a rebel. Keynes’s aura was stronger now. It told him one thing: the Medium Stage Level 2 aura was stronger than the aura of a Level 5 in the weakest stage. This only reinforced his conviction that rushing levelling was a mistake and the system had many hidden rewards for those who wished to uncover them.

Although Captain Ventura’s aura was a little stronger than Keynes’s current aura.

“Spiritual aura,” Keynes replied.”

“I get that but how is this possible?”

“Cultivation. Levels aren’t everything.”

Kaito Ren went back to silence and in the silence they sat for a while, allowing the chill to fall on them.

“What does cultivation have to do with the White Masks?”

“They know it. The saboteur I encountered had his Spirit at least in the Medium Stage. He might have come across it as a reward from the rift but his notes indicated otherwise.”

“Medium Stage? His notes? Keynes, I applaud your secrecy but I have to ask, what is going on?”

Yeah, this was what Keynes had been worried about. This knowledge was quick to overwhelm.

“It’s getting late. Let’s go do the shopping and head back to the hotel. I will show you the notes when we get there. They explain early cultivation much better than I thought possible.”

“Keynes, you have a perfect memory. You remember every word you read.”

“Yeah but I’m not the best teacher.”

***

“Why don’t you want to train with me?” Daiyu Fen asked, irritated.

Wolf was Level 5 but for some reason didn’t want to fight with her. Keynes had told her they’d get stronger fast but after that conversation, they didn’t train at all and Daiyu Fen grew frustrated. Tulli was out there, alone and scared. For a person with a Mind Control Talent, Tulli had a fragile personality. With every day spent here, the risk of losing Tulli increased. It was unacceptable.

“Because the hotel isn’t the place for that and I don’t like fighting.”

“You’re a soldier.”

“I am an ex-soldier.”

“So?”

“The answer’s the same.”

Daiyu Fen sighed, annoyed then phased through walls. She was going to find the blonde and beat the crap out of her again. For someone who had killed a Level 7, Vivena was a weakling.

The biggest difference between the women was in their martial arts, Vivena had none. Daiyu Fen passed through several rooms until she found the blonde. She was talking to Harter, Keynes’s younger brother. How they could be brothers was a mystery to Daiyu Fen. Both of them were attractive but Harter was a complete gym freak like Samuel and had an easy-going character while Keynes was difficult to like.

Daiyu Fen was about to leave the wall when Vivena asked.

“Can you at least talk to him? This is very important. It will save the lives of billions of people.”

Harter snorted.

“My brother is… I don't know who he is. I don’t know how to behave when he’s around. If what he says is true, then he isn’t someone I know anymore,” he sighed and his tone turned a bit more solemn. “Listen, Keynes was always a timid guy who avoided conflicts unless I stood in front of him. He didn’t like that his younger brother could kick his ass. But when he told us that for two weeks he’d killed those rift bears—bears!—with nothing but a dagger, I realised that we share a surname but he’s a stranger to me. I don’t know if there is anything I can do.”

Harter left the room, leaving Vivena alone. Daiyu Fen had an urge to come out then but once again she didn’t and instead waited, watching Vivena as Keynes had asked her—

Daiyu Fen picked up the sound of quiet steps. The door exploded and Vivena shouted. It was time for the entrance. Daiyu Fen fully phased through the wall. She still had enough mana to do a few more phases.

Vivena lay on the floor, a long cut bled on her cheek while a person in a black outfit stood above her with a dagger in their hand. Neither of them noticed the appearance of Daiyu Fen

She attacked without a second thought, exploiting the element of surprise.

Except it didn’t work.

The assassin dodged her fist then with a Level 5’s speed turned and kicked her. Daiyu Fen grunted, collapsing on the floor. The kick didn’t break anything but it was freakingly strong.

“Where is he?” the assassin asked.

“I have no idea who you’re talking about,” Daiyu Fen spat.

“My Talent never lies. It senses people my target cares about and while he seems to have some anti-tracking means, people he cares about don’t. Where is he?”

The assassin stood between Vivena and Daiyu Fen, holding a dagger that seemed to come from a rift. That was a problem. Nothing to do with the fact that he’s Level 5, she thought snarkily.

Neither girl answered.

“There are bounties on your heads too. I don’t need to present you in one piece, or alive.”

Daiyu Fen attempted to get to her feet but the leg the assassin had kicked gave in. The assassin didn’t react to her unsuccessful try.

“I am going to kill you slowly.” He glanced between them, considering who to start with. “I will strip you from your willingness to live.” He lowered to one knee, picking Vivena. She looked defeated.

“Tell me, where is he? And I will let you live.”

Vivena slapped his masked face.

“That is fine.” A syringe appeared in his hand. “It will make your screams silent while I’ll cut piece after a piece out of you.”

Daiyu Fen saw the horror on Vivena’s face but the assassin’s hand stopped halfway, he whirled in time to block Wolf’s kick. The Level 5 came out of nowhere. The assassin produced a dagger and aimed it at Wolf’s ribs, but Wolf moved out of the way.

Daiyu Fen started to crawl away.

Idiot. You can phase through the floor. They were on the first floor. But then she glanced at Vivena and cursed herself for even considering this. Wolf’s intent was to move the fight out of here and the assassin knew it as he thwarted his attempts.

In mere seconds, the room was a ruin. At least everyone was going to be alarmed. And where the hell is Keynes?

“We must go!” Daiyu Fen called out to scowling Vivena who nodded.

“Not a chance,” the assassin said and threw the dagger. It hit Daiyu Fen, pinning her shoulder to the wall. It hurt like hell but it was a mistake.

“Ouch!” Daiyu Fen phased out, unpinning herself from the dagger. The assassin cursed and Wolf took advantage of his distraction. They exchanged blows but it didn’t look good. The assassin’s moves were more fluid and well-practised.

“We must go,” Daiyu Fen said to Vivena. Her body began to lose strength. “I think—”

She lost consciousness.

***

Keynes and Kaito Ren stopped by to buy groceries in a nearby shop. Kaito Ren looked hilarious in a black wig, glasses and a fake moustache. Keynes promised to not laugh at him, which wasn’t easy.

With millions of rift monsters running at large, prices of food were getting steep and—

MASTER, quick, an intruder in the hotel!

“We must go, fast,” Keynes shouted to Kaito Ren and shot toward the hotel, leaving the basket on the floor. “Catch this.” Keynes threw him the dagger with a piercing affix.

The hotel was close and they could already hear the ruckus. Christopher Wolf and a black-clad person fought on the hotel’s front lawn.

Christopher Wolf was bleeding and limping while the attacker looked perfectly fine.

Keynes activated [Spiritual Ghost] feeling its drain on his mana but he was detected because that moron Kaito Ren couldn’t wait and rushed the assassin.

Christopher Wolf tried to punch his opponent’s face but its fist was intercepted with too much ease. Hell, Christopher was Level 5. If the assassin was Level 6, Keynes and Kaito Ren were going to have a problem.

Find my family, Vivena and Fen! He said to Alice while thinking about his next move. Charging a Level 6 was idiocy but leaving those two here meant death for them.

“Ren!” he called out. “Wait!” You idiot, you would be better preparing a teleport than fighting this person.

Kaito Ren hesitated, giving Keynes a conflicted look, then picked up his pace and joined Christopher Wolf’s side in the fight, which didn’t look like a normal low-levelled brawl.

Keynes sighed but what had to be done had to be done and Keynes knew how to do it.