Enrico looked at himself in the mirror and observed his own back. The mark of the Fire Cancer had disappeared.
He brought his hand to his back and, concentrating for a few moments, made the mark reappear.
Since returning from the dungeon, Enrico had been thinking of a way to hide that mark. He did not want other people to discover his Fire Cancer and, in a way, he had been lucky with his clothes during the period he remained in Val'Drakar's dungeon, since they had managed to last until that moment.
'Thank goodness I managed to hide it from Valença.'
The reason the mark disappeared was simple. Enrico had discovered that he could control that manifestation of the Fire Cancer and transfer it inside his own body for up to ten minutes. Thus, whenever there was a risk of someone discovering his condition, he could simply hide it.
Enrico still thought that perhaps he could control some other characteristic of the Fire Cancer, but, until that moment, he had not discovered anything.
'Now that I think about it... The pain from my Fire Cancer was brought forward because I stayed in that place, wasn't it?'
He had already felt the pain corresponding to that month, but, for him, at least another week had passed in the dungeon. This meant that the next pain would be close and even worse than the previous two.
Enrico let out a sigh, but showed no concern. Then, he left the room.
'The only thing I hope is that this doesn't happen in front of someone. I was lucky that Angela took care of me when it happened the second time.'
[The maid of this dormitory is far too helpful for my taste.]
'Well, that's great for me.'
During that period, Enrico had also begun to suspect that Angela took care of him on Virelle's orders. Surely, his teacher was interested in turning him into her disciple, and Enrico wanted that as well. However, if he followed the original story, he would still need to defeat the two students Virelle had already mentioned to his family. After that, he could become her disciple without anyone being able to complain.
When Enrico left the dormitory, it was already night. The lights outside the academy illuminated the entire festival area.
Valença and Yumeha were standing in front of Serenya and Rina. From the looks of it, the four had formed pairs because of the dispute they were having.
"What are they arguing about?"
"Serenya and Rina wanted to return to your dormitory."
Seraphina approached and answered Enrico's question. He looked at the girls and simply shook his head, thinking about how some young people could manage to be like that.
[You are also a little young, if we're going to put it that way.]
'I agree, but I'm already responsible for myself. I'm twenty-one years old.'
Accompanying Seraphina, Enrico ended up interrupting that unnecessary argument. Serenya and Rina seemed disappointed that he had ended the dispute and immediately broke up the pair they had formed, returning to looking at each other as rivals.
Meanwhile, Valença and Yumeha shook hands, strengthening the pair they had formed.
"I thank you for stopping those... girls from making the master uncomfortable."
"You don't need to worry. I will help in whatever is necessary to prevent those... arrogant young ladies from making my love— I mean, Enrico— feel bad."
The two looked at each other and turned their faces away, already thinking about what they could do to prevent those two from approaching Enrico again.
On the way, they encountered Kai, Elian, Giulio, and Liam, who were also heading to meet the others.
The festival lights were quite beautiful and, incredibly enough, even the stalls had that characteristic luxurious touch of Sanos. There were several games spread throughout the place, as well as food stalls offering dishes such as red-horned boar and various other foods.
They started with the magical target archery game. It was similar to what existed in the real world; the only difference was in the weapons.
For the game to work, the bow had a magical mechanism that held the arrow in place. The participant needed to use their own magic to fill this mechanism and release the arrow. However, there was a magic limit established in the bow.
If they put in too much magic, the bow would break and the participant would lose. If they put in too little magic, the arrow would not have enough strength to pierce the target made of earth magic.
"You may begin, young ones."
The only one who did not participate was Liam, since he did not have an arm.
"This is sad... I wanted to participate."
"I'll win a prize for you, so don't worry."
Enrico smiled at Liam before starting.
As soon as they began putting magic into the bows, Valença's arrow ended up breaking. She had put in a very large amount of magic without realizing that even a small difference would be enough to exceed the bow's limit.
The only girl who managed to complete that part was Yumeha. She was used to controlling exactly the amount of magic she used in situations like that, while the others, because they were accustomed to having a significant amount, did not even notice when they exceeded the bow's limit.
Yumeha looked at the other girls with an arrogant expression, including Valença, as if she had just proven her superiority.
Yumeha prepared the arrow and fired it, but it did not pierce the target.
It lost strength along the way and fell before managing to hit it.
The girls tried to hold back their laughter.
Yumeha had been so arrogant that she ended up missing as well.
Among the boys, everyone except Enrico and Kai failed to complete the first part. When the two finally fired their arrows, both completely shattered the targets.
The stall owner was surprised.
Most of the young people who participated in that game could not even complete the first stage.
Kai took the prize, while Enrico looked at him.
[Unique Skill unlocked: God of War.]
[Any weapon or form of combat that the user observes can be learned and improved faster than by anyone else.]
[Second part: ?????]
Kai had just unlocked his first Unique Skill. It had two abilities, but the second would only be discovered when he evolved to the Seventh Circle.
'How annoying.'
Enrico had an idea and handed the reward to Liam. It was a glove that would help Liam handle his spear better.
The girls became a little discouraged when they saw Enrico give the prize to Liam.
"I'll win prizes for you too."
The five girls immediately became excited.
Enrico then grabbed Kai and took him to another part of the stall. He would not lose to a Unique Skill so easily, so he decided to make a bet with Kai over who could hit more targets.
Kai, wanting to compete with Enrico, immediately accepted.
The two began playing.
Camila and Sílvia found the two during the competition and ran over to them, wanting to participate as well, even without knowing exactly what it was about.
Meanwhile, Caelan, who was arriving at the location, saw something different happening. A boy was robbing another person.
Without wasting time, Caelan ran toward him and trapped him inside a bubble of water.
The thief ended up passing out due to lack of air. Caelan immediately dispelled the bubble to prevent him from dying.
"Thank you very much."
"No need to thank me."
When he looked ahead, Caelan saw a boy with black hair and black eyes. What stood out the most, however, was his extremely pale skin, making Caelan think for a moment that he could be a vampire.
"My name is Shade. What's yours?"
"All right, Shade. You can call me Caelan."
Caelan did not know who he was, but he felt a strange sensation around him. Because of that, he preferred to leave. Shade, however, insisted on thanking him and handed him some coins.
"Please, take some as a thank-you."
Since Caelan also liked money because of his family, he ended up accepting. He put the money away and left, without suspecting anything.
Shade remained standing for a few seconds, watching him walk away.
'Good. With this, he won't suspect anything.'
No one should know his true identity. After all, that appearance was his true form.
Since he had never been seen in that form, he could remain at the festival peacefully. The only thing he needed to do was make sure that no one suspected he was a Nartheis, and proving that he was human would be easy, especially because his father, Rirus, had worked very hard for that.
The only people who knew who he really was were Deymon and another person whom he had managed to convince to join him.
Jago put his hand into his pocket, where he had prepared the coin he had just given to Caelan.
'Since he touched the corrupted coin, the corruption will begin and explode in a few months.'
That was an ability created by combining his own magic with Deymon's.
After putting away the remaining coin, Jago turned his attention back to the festival.
It was then that his eyes found Enrico and Kai.
The two were near a stall, competing in the magical archery game.
Jago watched the two for a few moments. Whenever he looked at them, he felt something strange, a sensation that was difficult to explain. It was as if, if he approached those two, something bad would happen.
'I don't know why I'm feeling this... They should never have seen my true appearance.'
He really could not understand that sensation. Enrico and Kai should never have seen his true face.
Even so, Jago decided to trust his instincts.
'Better to stay away from them, at least for now.'
He had just reached Faizes Rank Level 3. There was no reason to take unnecessary risks, especially while surrounded by so many elite mages in the city of Sanos.
For now, remaining hidden would be the best choice.