Early morning.
The sun had just risen.
The training grounds had already returned to peace.
After months of continuous battles, headquarters had finally returned to stable operation.
Patrols.
Training.
Supplies.
Repairs.
Everything was proceeding according to a fixed routine.
And Lucian finally had some time to himself.
At the center of the training grounds, Lucian stood there alone.
A training sword was held in his hand.
No guards.
No spectators.
The surroundings were completely quiet.
A gentle breeze slowly passed by.
The blade reflected a faint glow.
The next second—
He swung the sword.
The movement was clean and decisive.
There were no unnecessary variations.
Nor any flashy techniques.
Just the most basic slash.
He sheathed the sword.
Turned around.
Then swung again.
The movement continued to repeat.
The placement of his feet.
His body's center of gravity.
His breathing rhythm.
Everything remained stable.
The blade cut through the air, continuously producing a faint whistling sound.
That was the only sound left in the training grounds.
Lucian never stopped.
Time slowly passed.
Sweat gradually soaked through his collar.
Meanwhile, his thoughts began organizing everything that had happened recently.
Viper.
Grave Hound.
Crow.
And Cobra, which had already come to an end.
That battle seemed to have ended quickly.
In reality, however, it had revealed many problems to him.
The most obvious one was organizational structure.
Cobra was powerful.
Far more powerful than many countries had expected.
Yet when Viper died, the entire organization quickly collapsed.
Because everything had been built around a single person.
That was a fatal flaw.
Lucian swung his sword again.
His gaze remained calm.
If his own forces became like that in the future, then the outcome would be no different.
A strong individual could build something.
But that did not necessarily mean they could maintain it.
Viper had already proven that.
With that thought, Lucian slowly stopped.
Then he returned to his starting stance.
And swung the sword again.
This time, Dawolf appeared in his mind.
Originally, he had merely been a combatant involved in a commission.
Now, however, he had unexpectedly become an important acquisition.
In the past, Lucian had focused more on combat power.
But after this operation, he gradually realized something.
What truly mattered was not pure combat strength.
It was the system.
Dawolf had extensive experience.
He had management skills.
He had training capabilities.
These things were far more important than combat itself.
In the future, building a nation would require many people.
One person alone would never be enough.
With that thought, Lucian slowly lowered his sword.
His training was over.
He then headed toward another area.
It was the archery training grounds.
The area was wide and empty.
Targets were neatly arranged in the distance.
Lucian picked up a longbow.
He nocked an arrow.
Drew the string.
The movements flowed together seamlessly.
The bowstring gradually tightened.
Then he released it.
Bang.
The arrow struck the bullseye.
Lucian did not pause.
He took another arrow.
Drew the bow again.
The second arrow.
The third.
The fourth.
One arrow after another flew through the air.
Every one of them hit accurately.
Archery was different from swordsmanship.
It tested patience even more.
It also tested judgment.
Every breath.
Every release.
Could affect the final result.
And at this moment, Lucian was thinking about the future as well.
A nation needed an army.
It needed an intelligence system.
It needed logistics.
It needed administrators.
It needed a sufficiently large structure.
These things had never been planned in detail before.
Because there simply had not been enough time to consider them.
But things were different now.
Viper was dead.
Cobra had ended.
Lucian finally had time to organize his plans.
Another arrow flew through the air.
It struck the bullseye.
Lucian slowly lowered the longbow.
His gaze gradually became more profound.
He remembered the scene of the Ability User Academy being swallowed by darkness.
The air fell silent.
Lucian stood there without moving for a long time.
Although the academy incident had nothing to do with him, the result was right there.
A massive organization had ultimately been destroyed.
The reasons might have been complicated.
But one thing would never change.
Internal problems would eventually spiral out of control.
If something similar happened to his future nation, the outcome would be no different.
With that thought, Lucian slowly closed his eyes.
His plan had to be more complete.
He could not rely on luck.
He could not rely on temporary responses.
And he certainly could not place everything on a single person.
Otherwise, sooner or later, the same situation would happen again.
Noon.
Training was over.
Lucian arrived deep within the courtyard.
Water slowly flowed beneath a stone bridge.
Leaves gently swayed.
The area was extremely quiet.
He sat down cross-legged.
And entered a meditative state.
Everything that had happened recently was continuously reorganized in his mind.
Viper.
Grave Hound.
Crow.
Dawolf.
The escort unit.
The future structure of his forces.
The future nation.
Various thoughts were continuously combined.
Then discarded.
And rebuilt.
Time slowly passed.
No one knew how long had gone by.
Suddenly—
The terminal emitted a notification sound.
Lucian slowly opened his eyes.
His brows furrowed slightly.
Because this was not an ordinary communication.
The source was unknown.
The encryption level was extremely high.
It could not even be traced normally.
The notification sounded again.
Lucian looked at the terminal.
Then pressed to answer.
No image appeared.
No voice came through immediately either.
The other end of the communication was completely silent.
Several seconds later, a familiar voice slowly sounded.
"Looks like you have some free time."
Lucian's eyes changed slightly.
Crow.
The air fell silent again.
Neither of them spoke.
After a moment, Lucian slowly said,
"Quite unexpected."
"I thought you would keep hiding."
There was a brief silence on the other end.
Then came a quiet sigh.
"That was the original plan."
"But your bounty caused a lot of people to lose their minds."
Lucian did not respond.
Crow continued.
"Cancel the bounty."
His voice was extremely calm.
It sounded neither like a request nor a threat.
More like a transaction.
Lucian leaned back in his chair.
"Reason."
Silence returned to the communication.
Then Crow slowly said,
"In exchange."
"I'll give you some information."
Lucian's expression did not change.
"What information?"
This time, Crow remained silent for even longer.
As if he were confirming something.
Finally, he slowly spoke.
"The information you need most right now."
The wind passed through the courtyard.
The leaves rustled softly.
Lucian remained silent.
Because he knew Crow would never contact him voluntarily just to stay alive.
If he had appeared now, it meant that what he possessed had enough value.
On the other end of the communication, Crow continued.
"You're preparing for the future."
"Building your forces."
"Developing core members."
"Expanding your influence."
"All of that is correct."
"But there's one problem."
After a brief silence, he slowly said,
"You have no idea what you'll face in the future."
Lucian narrowed his eyes slightly.
Crow continued.
"Viper wasn't a national-level Ability User."
"Grave Hound wasn't."
"Even the Ability User Academy in the past…"
"Never truly came into contact with that level."
The air gradually fell silent.
Then Crow slowly spoke his next words.
"The information I'm giving you…"
"It concerns national-level Ability Users."
Lucian's gaze changed for the first time.
National-level Ability Users.
It was a term that rarely appeared.
It was also something many countries deliberately kept hidden.
The vast majority of Ability Users had never even heard of it.
And on the other end of the communication, Crow calmly said,
"You think you're already close to that level."
"But in reality…"
"You haven't even seen the threshold."
The courtyard returned to silence.
The wind passed through the treetops.
And Lucian's eyes gradually became serious.