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Chapter title: Chapter 29: Preparation

At dawn the same day, on the guild’s training ground.

“What happened to you two?” Grillion asked as he saw how beat up Toby and Lukas were.

“Please don’t ask,” Toby said as he felt sour all over his body.

“Don’t be such a drama queen. You merely fought a bunch of fish. I can hardly call that satisfying training.” Elaria said as she walked up from behind the two. She looked at the party of five and addressed them.

“First, you might be curious as to why we only pick members below Rank 3. Second, you must be curious about the plan. Third, you must be wondering how the city will provide support and reward you. I’ll address these in turn. After that, speak up if you have any questions.”

Elaria looked at the five, who nodded their heads and listened.

“Good. First. We only choose members below Rank 3 but throw out the recruit for everyone in the guild because we believe there are rats who sold our information to the vampires. This has happened before. We rooted out the rats, but we can’t take any chances this time. From what we gathered, the ruin has a magic formation that both detects threats above Rank 3 and conceals the ruin through Illusion and Disorientation Magic. No matter how we mark the place, we still fail to enter it again.”

“Second, the plan is simple. We will bait those vampires out with trading ships, let them attack and rob those ships. After that, the two parties will follow them. You will mark your location before you come in. That way, even if you have to run, we will know where you are. Now, one thing we deduced is that the ruin can’t be completely underwater since that would destroy everything the vampires robbed. It's more likely that they have a formation that creates air and dry land in the ruin. Your objective is to destroy, or at least disable, the formation that casts Illusion. As the for land formation, you can decide that for yourself.”

“Third, to support you all, the city mayor agreed to provide each one of you with one piece of the highest quality Rank 3 stat increase equipment. You won’t be able to withstand stronger or more equipment, so don’t ask for them. Once you complete the mission, you can keep the equipment, and each team can have one-tenth of everything the vampires owned.”

“Now that’s something worth celebrating for, haha.” Tootha laughed.

“Any question?”

“I have two, madam,” Lily raised her hand.

Elaria looked at Lily and nodded.

“You said that the ruin has an illusion formation, so why haven’t you been able to break it? Shouldn’t a Scroll Maker be able to discover and disable that kind of formation? Or you can ask an Illusionist to find the weakness in the illusion.”

“Good thinking. But we have tried both. Even a Rank 6 Scroll Maker and a Rank 6 Illusionist couldn’t find the formation's weakness. They said that the illusion is much more troublesome than they thought, and they couldn’t dispel it if they didn’t have any clue since it’s a unique illusion formation.” She peaked at Toby for a nanosecond.

So, the thing I need to find is most likely at the heart of the illusion formation. Noted. Toby thought.

Elaria continued, “Second question.”

“Haven’t you tried following them before? If you did, how different would this time be?”

“We have tried to chase after them before, but we always lost them after a while. They simply disappeared like smoke whenever we were close to catching them. Or the formation alerted them, making them suddenly went off somewhere random and led us on a wild duck hunt. We also searched the bodies of those we killed, but there wasn’t any special item that would lead us to the ruin or help us bypass the illusion. That’s why I asked an Illusionist I told you about earlier to cast a Skill on you that will make everyone else subconsciously ignore your existence for long enough to finish a morning training.”

“That sounds a bit too strong of a Skill,” Toby commented.

“It’s not without its flaws. You can still be found if your opponent sends out a Mana wave. Once you are recognized by your opponent, the Skill becomes useless. The moment you make a loud noise or touch anyone or anything else, they will recognize you. You will have to mask your sound and smell too, just in case.”

“Can’t you ask a Scroll Maker to make as many scrolls of that Skill as possible and use them repeatedly, master?”

Elaria shook her head, “This is one of the Skills that can’t be copied by Scroll Maker. Anything else?”

“How will we be to breathe while we follow the vampire, Guild Master?” Grillion asked.

“With this,” Elaria raised a piece of paper with a white magic circle on it. “This is a Scroll with a new version of Bubble Breathing Skill the Builders of Eldium joined hands to develop. It won’t be as easily popped as the old version, and it will also act like a thin layer of armor for you.”

“Then is it a Builder’s Skill, master? Why did Builder need to breathe underwater?” Lukas asked.

“Who do you think built all the dams and underwater constructions in this city?”

“Oh, hehe.” The boy scratched his head.

“Anything else?” Elaria asked. They all shook their heads. “Good, tell me what stat you want to boost, and it will be delivered here tomorrow. For now, we train.”

-----

Stolen story; please report.

In a not-so-run-down part of the city, where the mayor ignored and the guards turned a blind eye, Dorian took Voss inside a decent-looking house compared to the others around it. Two guards at the door nodded at Dorian before opening the door for him. Inside the house was completely different from the outside as if the outside was merely a shell made for deception. If the outside of the house looked as shabby as a shack, then the inside was sparkly clean, with multiple sets of high-end furniture and tapestries donned on all the walls and the floor like showing off their pets. As Dorian and Voss came inside, judging eyes followed their every move.

“Where are we, teacher?” Voss asked.

“A place that can help us get what we want,” Dorian answered as he walked inside.

“Oh my, you are an impatient one, aren’t you?” A woman's voice came down from the second floor.

Dorian looked up at the underground information broker he contacted. “Have you prepared what I asked?”

“Of course, we always prioritize our most important customers first.” She laughed lightly as she covered her mouth with her hand.

Dorian liked this useful woman. She got the job done fast and efficiently without leaving behind any clue or proof. A perfect pawn to take the blame if anything went wrong.

“Here is the information you asked.” She handed him a few pieces of paper with information about Toby, Lily, Lukas, Grillion, and Tootha on it.

Dorian took the paper and skimmed it right away. His first impression? Worthless bunch. But they have their uses. If he could use them correctly, he could achieve what he always wanted.

“Why are you looking for information on them, teacher? Shouldn’t we prepare to stomp them when we go to the sea?”

This naïve yet endlessly arrogant boy didn’t know a single thing. But Dorian was grateful since there were suddenly two Heroes from the same region, he could test out something he wanted to know. He might be wrong. He might be right. But the truth didn’t matter. As long as he could use them for his goal, that was all they were worth.

“I believe we have come across something extremely important, Jerek. Come with me.” He turned toward the woman and used his fake smile. “Thank you for your service.”

“It’s us who should thank you, loyal customer. I hope you will continue to cooperate with our organization in the future as well.” She returned the same fake smile to him.

Dorian kept his smile as he came out of the house, then led Voss back to his room. He sat on his bed, put his elbows on his knees, and stared at Voss. The boy swallowed a mouthful of saliva when he saw Dorian look so serious.

“What I’m about to tell you is a top secret that only a few members of the Celestial Temples know about. Are you ready to take on the burden? Are you ready to become one of us?” Dorian said in a low, slow, and steady voice.

“…Of course, I have been ready for this moment my whole life.” Voss thumped his chest as he pretended to be strong.

Dorian looked at the boy and thought it was a pity. Truly a pity.

“Then from now on, you are one of us. Knight of the Air Celestial Temple.” Dorian stood up. He looked down at the boy and said, “Kneel so we can finish the ceremony.”

“Yes,” Voss said quickly as his voice trembled with excitement.

Dorian pulled out his bladeless sword and held it in front of his face. “Do you, Jerek Voss, swear on your honor and the stars that you will use your strength to protect the greater good and the peace of Virelen?”

“I do.”

“Do you swear to fight to protect the innocent from the evil and cruel?”

“I do.”

“Do you swear your loyalty to the Air Celestial Temple and help us cleanse the evil of this world?”

“I do.”

Dorian tapped Voss’s shoulders with his sword’s guard. “Then by the authority entrusted to me by the Prophet, I, Dorian Draven, hereby declare you, Jerek Voss, a knight of the Air Celestial Temple. You may rise.”

“YES.” Voss shot up with great vitality and the eager look of an excited dog.

Dorian smiled and sat back down on his bed. “This is an absolutely crucial mission entrusted to me by the Prophet. We can’t pass up this opportunity to get rid of an evil that will soon corrupt our world. Are you ready to join the mission?”

“…Yes… I’m ready.”

“From what I just gathered, it seems that one of that Blue Wolf boy’s companions has a high chance of being the Dark Lord. The one that will bring war and destruction to our world sooner or later. Do you have an idea of who it might be?”

Voss's entire body shook. He gripped his hand until they turned white.

“It must be that turtle,” Voss said through gritted teeth.

“Oh? Why do you think so?” Dorian was going to push this pawn into thinking that, but it seemed it wasn’t necessary.

“He’s a filthy animal that can talk and use Skill. He’s also an evil bastard who constantly torments people to fulfill his twisted desire. The only one who can be the Dark Lord is him.”

Dorian smiled and thought it was truly a blessing to have such a convenience pawn.

“I’ll go and kill him right away. We can’t let him live any longer.” Voss tried to storm out of the room.

“Wait.” But Dorian stopped him. “You can’t do that, Jerek, my disciple. It’s a major crime to accuse someone of being a Dark Lord without any proof. Many tragedies have struck the innocent when the greedy use that excuse to drag others down.”

“We can’t just leave the Dark Lord alive like that. Who knows what he is scheming?”

“That’s why you will expose him, Jerek.” Dorian stood up and patted the boy’s shoulders.

Voss opened his eyes wide and asked, “Me?”

Dorian smiled, “Yes. You will be the Hero who exposes the Dark Lord’s true identity to all of Virelen. You will be the one to slay the Dark Lord. You will be the Hero among Hero. Your magnificent deed will become songs that will be passed down for generations to come.”

“I will be the Hero among Hero,” Voss mumbled.

Dorian almost couldn’t stop his sneer. “That’s right.”

“What do I have to do, master?”

“This is what you have to do when your party boards the ship…”

-----

After the first day of training, Lukas felt like he was going to turn into a slime.

But it wasn’t as bad since he could still walk normally. Big sis Lily couldn’t even talk properly after their training. Big bro Toby said maybe they could buy something sweet for her, so Lukas volunteered to do so.

As he walked down the night street, the voice of the person he admired came from behind him.

“Good evening, Lukas. Mind if I join you?”

Lukas turned back, and there he was, the Hero of Lighting. “O-o-of course, not sir.” He bowed as low as he could. “It’s truly an honor to meet you, sir.”

“Hahaha, don’t be so tense. I’m just talking to a fellow Hero.” Dorian smiled.

“…I’m not worthy of that title yet, sir.” Lukas looked up at Dorian.

“Oh? Why is that? If I may ask.”

“I-I-I haven’t done anything that worthy of being a Hero. I… couldn’t protect my parents. I couldn’t protect my village. I couldn’t even protect my sister.” Lukas almost choked on his words, but he held it in. “But I will train hard to be a true Hero someday. Just like you.”

“Thank you for thinking so highly of me.” Dorian patted Lukas’s head. His hand was warm and ruff. “I think I can help you with your sister’s problem, Lukas.”

“Really,” Lukas looked up at Dorian with big, clear eyes.

“There are many great Healers in the Holy Empire, Lukas. You just have to come with me. We will find someone who can heal your sister.”

“That’s great.” Lukas’s tail wagged from side to side. “I’ll tell my sister, and we can go with you after this, sir. We can heal big sis Lily’s legs. That’s great. That… why are you looking so down, sir?”

“Unfortunately, Lukas, I am but a knight. And you, well, you are not a member of the Celestial Church. I can’t bring our Healers to help your sister if you are not one of us. I’m truly sorry.” Dorian bowed his head.

“But… but… You said you can help big sis Lily.” Lukas drooped his ears.

“I can, but you will have to come with me to the Holy Empire to finish your Hero training and officially become one of us, Lukas. I’m sorry, but it’s the only way.”

“…I’m sorry.” Lukas bowed as low as he could. “I can’t leave bis sis Lily on her own.”

“But she isn’t on her own. She has friends around her. They can surely look after her when you come with me for your training.” Dorian’s voice sounded like honey. “You don’t have to carry this burden alone, Lukas. I can help you.”

“But… but… I promised her.” Lukas’s voice quivered.

“Think about it, Lukas.” Dorian turned around and left, leaving behind the conflicted Lukas.