The group of people which consisted of the caravan’s guards and passengers made their way toward the city center. With their eyes locked on Ethan, none of them seemed to be interested in the mythical-looking ancient city. Or perhaps, this wasn’t the first time they saw this place, and their curiosity had already waned.

Ethan and the others quietly waited for their arrival. He was able to tell that it wasn't going to be a friendly meeting. Because he noticed the resolve in the eyes of others whereas Joey’s face was radiating glee and impatience.

When they were close enough, Joey couldn’t help but burst out laughing. ‘’Ethan, you can’t imagine my surprise when I heard that you already cleared the city of the goblins. I was expecting at least a few more weeks. Well done, truly!’’

‘’Thank you,’’ he said, wearing a sincere smile on his face. ‘’I’m sure you guys could do better. Though I thought you’d be on your way to Mirasatra by now. What happened to the departure after three days promise?’’

Joey’s smile sharpened. ‘’Oh. It was Malik who made that promise. Sadly, he is dead now.’’

Carl grasped the hilt of his sword as he took a step forward. ‘’You… You killed Malik?’’

With a motion of his head, Joey signaled his man. They made a semicircle, still staying close to each other, and suddenly, everyone lost their connection with mana.

Liam grimaced. ‘’[Mana Blockage].’’

Fraeya called her staff with a solemn expression. ‘’They have an anti-mage.’’

Joey seemed to be enjoying their discomfort. His posture relaxed even more as he spoke to Carl, ‘’Well, it's been a long time coming. You should know that he was the sole reason that we were still doing caravan jobs after all these years. Originally, I was planning to leave with my brothers to start a mercenary band, but not only did Malik stage my humiliation from an outsider,’’ he said, throwing a seething glare at Ethan. Opening his arms wide, he continued with an increasing volume. ‘’He also denied our chances to become rich! Even after learning that we’ve found the lost Imperial City, he kept insisting that we have a duty to fulfill! You didn’t think that my brothers were stupid enough to follow those silly orders, did you?!’’

Ethan let out a polite laugh. ‘’Of course not! Under those circumstances, anyone would murder their leader in cold blood. Your comrade who fought alongside you for years? The one you shared bread with for so long? The mentor of many of you? Who gives a fuck when you can go from rags to riches? Right?’’

‘’Shut the fuck up!’’ a guard yelled hysterically, blood rushing to his cheeks. It was the man who lost his brother in the sandworm attack. ‘’Do you think you can survive this!? You are nothing without your [Blink]! What makes you think that you can still be cocky!?’’

‘’Don’t be impatient. You’ll naturally see soon enough,’’ Ethan said softly before turning to the merchants in the group. ‘’So, the guards chose to abandon you and become mercenaries. Then, you guys hired them to help you search the city?’’

‘’Hiring us wasn’t among the options,’’ Joey said, his cold eyes glued on Ethan. ‘’The options, which are valid for you guys as well, is either to join us or be sold as slaves to the Union. Resist, and you’ll die. Oh, the two of you are exceptions. One is Ethan and the other is the thief. Yes, we’ve searched everybody, and we know the thief who fooled us so far is among you.’’

Vivian sighed and made a grabbing motion in the air, creating a pink cleaver from mana. ‘’I hate to say it, but I told you so.’’

‘’Impossible!’’ someone from the crowd cried.

‘’T-That’s a [Mana Armament]! But how could she ignore the [Mana Blockage]?’’

‘’Manaborn! She has to be a manaborn!’’

‘’It’s you, isn’t it?’’ Joey asked, licking his lips. ‘’Turns out the thief is our lovely Vivian. Then maybe we can arrange something else. You should know that at tier-3, you stand no chance against so many tier-5s. Manaborn or not. Join us, and I might even let you keep everything you stole.’’

Vivian shook her head, looking disappointed. ‘’One shouldn’t leave today’s work for tomorrow,’’ she said before disappearing from sight.

‘’Stop!’’ Ethan yelled sternly. ‘’Remember what I said. My problems are mine.’’

Vivian made an appearance once again, watching Ethan in disbelief. ‘’Do you mean–’’

‘’None of you will fight,’’ he said, looking at everyone around the table. ‘’Since his misunderstanding is stemming from me, I want to show something to Joey. Personally.’’

The party, who were in shock from Vivian’s actions, were stunned even more, but before they had a chance to speak, Ethan started walking toward the enemy with slow and deliberate steps.

‘’Your only mission is to capture the ones who try to escape,’’ he addressed his friends as he walked. ‘’A tough job, that’s for sure. By the time their delusion becomes clear, they will run without turning back. Panic will take over their desperate minds. Some will throw their weapons and surrender, which is probably smart, but some, who know that there won’t be any redemption for them, will step over their friend’s bodies and flee with all they have.’’

Ethan shared his foreboding with a calm and deep tone. His small steps carried him to the enemy while his eyes met with theirs one by one, assuring them of his sincerity. They were getting tenser every second. Most of them were eying Joey, waiting for his command, but Joey was gritting his teeth and watching Ethan with a dark face.

He stopped right in front of the guy who had lost his brother. The trembling sword was a few inches away from him when he gave the man a sympathetic nod. ‘’It’s true. My mobility is crippled without [Blink]. An anti-mage is certainly an effective way to fight me,’’ he informed before turning to look at Joey with pity. ‘’But to kill me with a newly formed bandit group? Oh, Joey, you forgot the most important thing.’’

The shadows of every single living being screamed in unison, ‘’You should’ve brought a fucking army!’’

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Everyone was startled and abruptly turned around, some even swinging their weapons without looking back. Whereas Ethan called his daggers and started his carnage with the guard who stood before him. A brief jolt was all the opening he needed, not to mention a crowd who was freaking out thoroughly.

He avoided the sword with his dagger and penetrated the guy’s skull with Devi, pulling it back right after. His powerful kick sent the body toward the crowd. Crouching low, he jumped forward with an [Overcharge] while opening his arms wide and grasping his weapons tightly. As he dived into the enemy ranks, two people lost their legs and fell to the ground with screams.

The moment he planted his foot, he started dashing to the closest enemy. The man screamed and thrust his spear forward. Ethan sidestepped, closely avoiding it, and made a half spin as he swung Devi, cutting the man’s head off.

‘’Kill!’’ Joey’s roar echoed through the streets of the Imperial City.

The shadows started chuckling darkly. ‘’Kill? Do you perhaps mean suicide?’’

Ethan was already making a bloody path toward Joey. He parried a sword and stabbed his dagger into its user’s heart before rotating the body and blocking another sword with it. When the man behind him hacked his axe toward his head, he kneeled and pulled his dagger back, switching to a reversed grip, he stabbed it into the axeman’s stomach. As he jumped to his feet, he slashed the man’s throat with the other dagger.

Without a pause, he turned back and found the swordsman pulling his sword from the corpse. Ethan threw his dagger instantly and pierced the man’s eye, killing him on the spot. The one behind him dropped to his knees, choking on his blood. He quickly picked the axe from his hand and threw it toward Joey with an [Overcharge].

The double-edged axe whistled through the air as it passed and pounded the guy before Joey. With an axe in his chest, the guy collided with Joey, hurling him backward.

Ethan turned and leisurely picked his dagger back. Throughout the battle, the clangs of the dropping weapons were sounding one after another. Not even two minutes had passed, but he killed seven men and crippled three without getting a single injury.

Aware of the horrified looks he was receiving, he ignored everyone and ambled toward Joey. Almost half of the group threw their weapons and stepped back, distancing themselves from death itself.

One of them made a sprint and tried to escape from where they came from, but the next second his head rolled over while his body collapsed as it rolled on the ground. Vivian showed herself with her bloody pink cleaver, a smirk tugging at the corner of her lips.

Ethan felt his connection to mana reestablish and immediately [Blink]ed in front of Joey, who had just stood up with a crazed look. His crossed daggers slashed Joey’s neck swiftly. With wide eyes, Joey held his neck with one hand and called a potion with another.

Ethan stored his dagger and grabbed the man’s wrist, staring into his eyes. ‘’It wasn’t my intention to humiliate you,’’ he said, letting the man drop to his knees but still clutching his wrist tightly. ‘’I just wanted to show you that I can take your life easily. Forgive me if I wasn’t clear enough.’’

Joey struggled to speak, but his eyes became lifeless soon after. Ethan released the arm and turned around. A few more clang sounds followed as everyone surrendered, and even though they’d gained access to their mana once again, no one tried to escape. They were utterly shocked by the outcome.

He called his ship and pointed at it with a finger. ‘’You will stay inside the cabin until I decide what to do with you. Without my permission, anyone who leaves, dies,’’ he stated, and when no one moved, he added harshly, ‘’Hurry the fuck up, and get inside.’’

They grabbed their injured friends and entered the ship in haste. None of them were able to look him in eyes, let alone speak against him. When the last one set foot in the cabin, he turned off the rune that allowed them to use their [Mana Sense], isolating them in the empty cabin. It was still possible to get out, but he had a feeling that they wouldn’t even think about it.

He looked at his friends tiredly and found them all too serious.

‘’H-How did you do that, Ethan?’’ Carl asked with a low voice. ‘’How can you slay tier-5s like that without using a skill?’’

‘’With practice,’’ he joked, and when no one laughed, he felt that it’d be better if he explained it. ‘’Well, other than that, there are two more reasons. Thanks to the artifacts we’d found and the elixir I’d drunk before, I have an extra hundred– I mean, my abilities are already close to the tier-5s. The other reason is even more important. I started the fight the moment we noticed them.’’

Liam’s eyes shone with a strange light. ‘’You were bluffing!’’

Ethan smiled faintly. ‘’Somewhat. I have confidence in myself, but if they were to have cooperated with each other and fought me with high confidance, I’d have still struggled a lot. If they had enough loyalty to their cause and sacrificed themselves to stop me, I might even have lost my life. Hence, all that time Joey was yapping around as if he’d already won, I treated him and his group like a joke. Let alone the others who were watching me with intent, even Joey himself started to doubt their chances. So, before I killed the first one, I already broke the spirits of half and shook the rest’s resolve.’’

‘’And you have a stamina-based skill,’’ Fraeya added. She sounded like she was trying to convince herself.

‘’I know at least three guards with similar skills,’’ Carl said, rolling his eyes. Raising his hand, he pointed at one of the corpses. ‘’Mark was one of them. He never had a chance to use it.’’

‘’That’s the broken spirit he is talking about,’’ Vivian said. ‘’When he screamed through their shadows, there was only one thought in their minds; surrendering. The fight was over before even it started.’’

‘’V-Vi, is it true?’’ Hayley asked hesitantly. ‘’The thief. Is it really you?’’

Vivian paused and bit her lip. She sighed and walked toward Ethan. Under everyone’s gaze, she held his hand and took a step in the air with her new boots, matching her height with him. Leaning forward, she gave him a long and juicy kiss before parting her lips. A soft whisper left her mouth, ‘’I’ll find you in Mirasatra. Don’t forget, you promised to introduce me to those people.’’

Then, she disappeared.

‘’I didn't notice during the fights with the goblins, but this can't be just an illusion. I think she already has a rank 2 [Mana Conceal]! That’s why we can’t detect her with our [Mana Sense]s!’’ Liam exclaimed in high spirits. ‘’Unbelievable! She really is a manaborn!’’

Unlike the excited Liam, Hayley seemed to be devastated. She blankly stared at where Vivian had vanished. ‘’I can’t believe that bitch stole my ribbon and consoled me for three days afterward. That was an heirloom of my family. The only thing they had left for me.’’

Ethan threw an odd look at Hayley and was struck by a thought at the same time. Warily, he checked the inside of his storage ring and found a single missing item. Among all the treasures he had, his small coffee table was gone. He let out a sigh of relief while wondering how the hell she did it. As long as his mana was in contact with his ring, no one should be able to peek inside, let alone steal something. She did touch my ring just now, but to steal something from the inside with a touch… That’s ridiculous! He lifted his head and looked at the others. ‘’Can someone tell me, what the hell is manaborn?’’

‘’I can explain it, but before that, I think we have a bigger issue,’’ Liam said as he walked among the corpses, the faint frown on his face getting deeper. Everyone focused on him, wondering what made him change his mood so quickly. Bending low, he grabbed a head by the hair, and after a quick look, he cursed under his breath before showing it to the others with a dark face. ‘’There was one person among them who wasn’t familiar to me. This man, the anti-mage, was neither a guard nor a passenger from the caravan. I think other people started to find this place sooner than we expected. We should talk with your prisoners and find out what’s going on outside.’’