After the Forevaraxes, they had returned to Sertayaz and received their reward. With Ernest leveling up to level twenty-seven, they could now update their adventurer registration.

However, Karma was already aware that Ernest would continue to level up. The next time they updated his registration, if Ernest's new level was too high, they would be exposing his Cendrian identity.

When they left the guild building, Aurion cast a spell on Ernest to better conceal his level.

"Hide the information revealed by my command, protect my friend."

"What did you do?"

"If anyone asks you your level, you will say you don't know. Now no item can reveal your knowledge."

"Thank you. I'd be in trouble if anyone else said I was king."

Umbriel was having a health check at the guild building. When he completed his check-ups, he joined the others.

"Master, are we going as a party now?"

"What made you think of that?"

"Now that we have our reward, we don't need to go around with these."

Umbriel was actually jealous of Ernest and Aurion's closeness.

"Umbriel, you know I don't want to risk you. But as you said, we need to move forward as a party."

"Why? Do we need them?"

"We are going on a journey with Master Karma. You can skip it if you want."

"You dragged me into this and now you're throwing me out?"

"No, it's not what you think. I thought you might want to be free to roam Sertayaz."

"After all this time, you're just now thinking about it? It's too late now. Where you go, I go."

Aurion had dragged Umbriel along on all his missions until now, working carefully to make him stronger.

"I thought you said if you made enough money you wouldn't do this anymore. Didn't you get seven gold coins for this mission? You could retire, considering all the others before."

"Did you get your share? I saw you go out. Two of them were bruised and battered and we didn't even have a scratch. They obviously did all the work."

"I still think you have enough money."

Aurion's real desire was to keep Umbriel away from the dangerous journey. After all, they were preparing a fake king. If they failed, there would be a price on their heads. The less he knew, the better, he thought.

"Actually, you don't need to come, Ernest and I can handle it."

"Don't be silly, Karma, we're in this together."

Aurion and Karma had been going on adventures together for years. They knew each other quite well. But in this situation Aurion couldn't trust Karma. Karma didn't want to trust Aurion either. Umbriel was trying to show his determination. For the first time he was not being cowardly.

"Then we'll go."

"First we have to celebrate. Only two people cleaned out a whole nest of ferovarax, that's something to be proud of. The bill's on me!"

They went to the Witch's Cauldron. In essence, the Witch's Cauldron was a tavern, completely unregulated by the state. They sat at a table. People started gossiping quietly.

"Isn't that the boy who is pertil?"

"Be quiet. I heard he's from the spirit group, maybe he'll be a Royal Wizard one day, don't you think?"

"Okay, pertils may be accepted in the palace now, but the people are still prejudiced. I don't think they'll let him get that powerful."

"How quickly have you forgotten the king's words? Elvandor is an apocalypse that only cendrians can cause. The Pertils are not to blame."

"I don't know."

Ernest could faintly hear the whispers. Aurion had stolen a goblet before sitting at the table and had already finished it. When Karma had asked for Eldoria wine, Umbriel and Ernest had ordered the same. Their drink had just arrived.

"Did the cendrians cause Elvandor?"

Umbriel was unaware of the conversation. He babbled to prove his wisdom and look superior to Ernest.

"How could you not know that? No one except Cendrian can become so powerful..."

"Umbriel, shut up!"

"But, master, I just wanted to make a thing."

"I know, now is not the time."

Aurion was losing his composure as he drank. Now he started sipping Eldorian wine for the second time.

"Look, young man, if you're so curious, Elvandor happened because of the corrupt Cendrians' greed for power. Lyrielle took Yarya to the apocalypse to gain more power. And the cendrians all shared the cost."

"The drunkards don't lie, they say."

"He doesn't. Elvandor is a saga from 700 years ago. Everyone has different opinions. This is one of them."

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"And Umbriel, what do you believe?"

Umbriel looked at his master's face first. Aurion gave him an approving look.

"I believe they experimented on Lyrielle. After all, cendrians can level up very quickly. They wanted to bring her to the final level. She was to become the false god of Arvania. However, at that time the population was not so large and there was not so much mana in the air. The intense waves of mana brought the apocalypse."

"And what about you, Master Karma?"

"I don't believe in prophecies or epics. If you want to hear a saga, I can tell you about the meeting of Umbriel and Aurion."

Karma's attempt to change the subject did not go unnoticed. Lying was not Karma's style, so he changed the subject.

"It was six or seven years ago. Aurion and I had been to Eldoria and we were on our way back and Aurion suddenly stopped. He got off his horse and what do you think he said to me?"

"What did he say?"

"The thread of destiny is knotted here. You might want to leave your horse."

"Exactly! But he sounded more cool than that on that day."

It was a winter day. Aurion and Karma were just young. They were both apprentices of the same master. As apprentices, they could go on missions alone.

Eldoria was the border neighbor of Arvania. The two nations never mixed, except with monsters. By that time most of the monsters in Sertayaz had been killed and the adventurers had become babysitters. That's why Aurion and Karma traveled to Eldoria.

They soon became famous on their journey to Eldoria. After all, they were a group of adventurers, nineteen years old, one beautiful and the other handsome. Moreover, they did not discriminate between missions, they accepted all the missions that were offered.

Eventually they stayed in Eldoria until they received a letter from their master.

"Dear apprentices,

Our king wants the opinion of all wizards for the Royal Wizard. I want to make sure that you will be here and support the same person as me. We hope to see you again soon,

Your master."

The letter was written in a language too formal for their master. They began to wonder why the grumpy old man had suddenly turned into such a man and set off on a journey to Sertayaz.

The journey of many days was almost complete and they were close to Sertayaz. That's when Aurion dismounted.

"The thread of destiny is knotted here. You might want to leave your horse."

"Not again. Somehow it always happens with you."

They dismounted and walked a little further. It was overcast, it was evening. The horses started to run away as the wind blew hard.

"I told you."

They were sure that there was a creature in the forest disturbing the natural balance. They rode on until they heard screams.

"Help!"

It was Umbriel's merchant father. He was swinging the staff he had bought to sell at random. Aurion went to the merchant in a leap, missing him by seconds. Glacibestias were nesting nearby. The merchant did not know about the changed route, so he traveled close to the nest.

The merchant was eaten by the Glacibestias, leaving only his child. The child was Umbriel himself.

"I'm so sorry, I'm sorry for your loss."

"No need to be sorry, we haven't even met yet."

"And then what happened? You swore to kill monsters and became an adventurer?"

"What? Why would I do such nonsense? It's all the fault of the man next to me."

Aurion often visited the orphaned Umbriel, bringing him food and money. He took his responsibility personally.

One night he caught Umbriel crying.

"Why, why is it that all the children can laugh and play and I can't?"

"One day you will, I promise."

"How can I? They won't even let me in!"

Aurion impressed Umbriel by telling him how he had made friends since he became an adventurer. He promised to train Umbriel when he started to go hunting on his own.

Ernest felt nothing as he listened to this story. At first he felt sad, but towards the end he didn't care. In a few hours it would be morning.

"Then that's enough talk. Tomorrow morning, straight to Eldoria!"

Umbriel lifted Aurion, who could hardly stand, onto his back to take him home.

"Then each to his own master."

Once Umbriel started talking, he had forgotten that Karma was there.

"Wait, I don't know where he lives!"

Umbriel didn't know either. Aurion tried to explain with his drunken mouth, but nothing could be understood.