Morning light spilled pale and watery through the lattice windows of the Boar's Hollow. Outside, the canals of Vessel Town were already awake. Barges creaked beneath old stone bridges. Water slapped wood pilings in slow, hollow rhythms. Somewhere nearby, a drunk spirit-creature was still singing from the night before.
Kael sat at the breakfast table with a bowl of broth and fried river cakes while Lyra Farrow finished tying the sash around her waist.
Even exhausted, she looked untouchably beautiful.
The memory of the night before still clung to the room like heat trapped in silk sheets. The scent of wine, sweat, and their mingled essence lingered faintly in the air. Kael's body still felt drained in the best possible way. Every muscle carried the lazy ache of overuse. Even his Vitae moved slower, warm and heavy through his channels.
Lyra did not look at him much.
That bothered him more than he wanted to admit.
"I'll return before nightfall," she said coolly.
Kael leaned back in his chair. "You keep saying that like you're sneaking off to stab somebody."
"Maybe I am."
"That supposed to comfort me?"
"It should remind you not to wander into trouble while I'm gone."
She fastened her outer robe and finally looked at him directly. Those pale eyes carried the same hard warning as before.
"Stay away from the lower canals. Stay away from the old ferry district. And if anyone mentions the Heaven-Earth Tower, keep walking."
Kael clicked his tongue. "You wound me, Shreve Farrow. Since when do I go looking for trouble?"
Lyra stared at him in silence.
Kael grinned crookedly. "Fine. Fair point."
She stepped closer then, fingers brushing briefly across his chest. The touch lasted only a heartbeat.
"You're still being hunted," she said quietly. "Don't forget that just because you spent one night safe in bed."
Then she turned and left.
Kael watched her disappear down the stairs.
For a while he remained seated alone.
The room suddenly felt much bigger without her in it.
He snorted at himself, grabbed the last river cake, and stuffed it into his mouth.
"Pathetic," he muttered.
After breakfast, he decided not to return upstairs. Sitting alone in that room would only leave him thinking about Lyra's body and that strange final look in her eyes.
So instead he wandered downstairs toward the common hall.
The instant he stepped inside, he spotted the pig-spirit innkeeper waddling toward him with a grin wide enough to split his face.
Hog Grinnard practically glowed with forced cheerfulness.
"Lord Ashvane! Lord Ashvane!" he called. "Come, come! Sit this way!"
Servants rushed to arrange a private table near the canal windows. Fresh tea steamed beside trays of sugared pastries and dried fruit.
Kael narrowed his eyes.
There it is.
He dropped lazily into the seat anyway.
"Hear you slept well last night?" Hog Grinnard asked eagerly.
"So-so." Kael waved a hand. "When you're traveling, you make do with what you get."
The innkeeper blinked rapidly.
"Eh? Make do? My honored guest wounds me! The Boar's Hollow is the finest inn in all Vessel Town! Spacious rooms! Clean bedding! Morning and evening hot water! Finest silk blankets! Excellent lighting—"
"Too noisy," Kael interrupted.
Hog Grinnard froze.
"Every damn boat in this town passed under the bridge half the night. Thought the canal was gonna crawl into my room."
The pig-spirit looked deeply offended.
"But that is the charm!" he cried. "There's an old saying—sleep beside ancient bridges and dream to the sound of passing oars! Travelers come from hundreds of miles away for that atmosphere!"
Kael rolled his eyes.
"I'm a rough bastard. Refined culture goes over my head."
"No, no." Hog Grinnard leaned closer, smiling carefully. "I can tell what kind of man you are. Straightforward. Open-hearted."
He lifted the tea with both hands respectfully.
Kael did not take it.
"I don't drink tea," he said. "If we're drinking, bring wine."
The pig-spirit's eyes lit instantly.
"A magnificent answer! Yes! Wine!"
He slapped the table and barked toward the servants.
"Bring a jar of Crystal Basin reserve! Fifteen-year!"
A servant hurried off and returned shortly carrying a clay wine jar sealed in wax.
The moment the lid cracked open, fragrance flooded the room.
Rich.
Sweet.
Sharp with mineral coldness underneath.
Kael swallowed hard before he could stop himself.
Hog Grinnard personally poured the wine into a heavy cup.
"This comes from the Crystal Basin waters themselves," he said proudly. "Aged deep underground. Please, Lord Ashvane. Taste it."
Kael grabbed the cup without ceremony and knocked it back in one long gulp.
Heat spread down his throat and exploded warmly in his stomach.
His eyes widened.
"Damn," he said honestly. "That's good."
The pig-spirit beamed.
"Then drink more! Drink more!"
He poured continuously after that, flattering and coaxing with almost desperate enthusiasm.
Kael, pleasantly warmed by the alcohol, gradually relaxed.
The ugly pig-faced innkeeper even started seeming likable.
Then finally the real question came.
Hog Grinnard leaned closer and lowered his voice carefully.
"Lord Ashvane... may I ask where you acquired that enormous piece of Ghostlight Moss?"
Kael almost laughed.
There it is.
"Where else?" he replied lazily. "From the top of Vane's Summit, obviously."
"Yes, yes, naturally." Hog Grinnard nodded quickly. "But... how did you get it?"
Kael's eyes sharpened slightly.
"Why?"
The pig-spirit coughed awkwardly.
"Well... I was wondering..." He forced a smile. "Whether perhaps Your Lordship might be willing to part with it."
Kael said nothing.
"As for the price," Hog Grinnard hurried on, "I promise you'll be satisfied."
Kael pretended to think.
Truthfully, he had no idea how much the thing was worth.
He only knew it had come from the Dream Nest back on Vane's Summit, and resources from there were never ordinary.
Still...
He had been expelled from the Runeward Chapter. Who knew when he would ever return to the mountain again?
Selling it too cheaply now would be idiotic.
Hog Grinnard cautiously raised a hand beneath the table and flashed eight fingers.
Kael's thoughts raced instantly.
Eighty?
Eight hundred?
Eight hundred sounded impossible.
Eighty sounded insulting.
He snorted internally.
The Little Saint-Lord might be broke, but he still had dignity. Anything under a hundred silver crowns was robbery.
"Well?" Hog Grinnard asked nervously. "Does that sound acceptable?"
Kael lifted a brow.
"How much are we talking?"
The pig-spirit swallowed.
"Eight thousand silver crowns."
Kael nearly dropped the cup.
Wine splashed all over his clothes.
"What the hell?" he choked.
Hog Grinnard jumped up in panic and began furiously wiping at Kael's robes with a handkerchief.
"Lord Ashvane! Are you hurt?"
"You're serious?" Kael stared at him. "You're not joking?"
Eight thousand silver crowns.
That was enough to buy a huge estate near the foothills of the The Jade Peaks.
Enough to hire servants.
Enough to buy horses.
Enough to take a beautiful wife and several warm-bed concubines besides.
Hog Grinnard saw the look in Kael's eyes and suddenly grew uneasy.
"No joke! None at all!" he babbled. "I truly wish to purchase it sincerely! But I only run a small inn, you understand! My means are limited! If needed... perhaps I can add more?"
Kael's heartbeat thundered.
More?
His mind screamed in agony.
By the gods.
Ghostlight Moss was worth this much?
He should have stolen half the Dream Nest before leaving.
The pig-spirit wiped sweat from his forehead.
"All right!" he blurted desperately. "Twelve thousand! Twelve thousand silver crowns! That's the absolute limit of my ability!"
Kael's face turned red.
Twelve thousand.
Twelve thousand.
His soul nearly left his body.
Calm down.
Calm the hell down.
He forced himself to breathe before answering slowly.
"At first... I was considering selling."
Hog Grinnard leaned forward instantly.
"But now I'm not."
The pig-spirit's face collapsed.
"Why?!"
"Because you lack sincerity."
Kael rose from the table coldly as if preparing to leave.
Truthfully, he was bluffing wildly.
But apparently it worked.
"Wait!"
Hog Grinnard grabbed his sleeve frantically.
Kael looked down at him without expression.
Honestly, he was starting to impress himself.
The pig-spirit's face twitched violently. Fat trembled beneath his skin.
Finally he ground his teeth and spat out:
"Twenty thousand!"
Kael's heart nearly stopped.
"Twenty thousand silver crowns! That's truly everything I can offer!"
Kael almost agreed on the spot.
His mind was already racing through visions of luxury.
Wine.
Weapons.
Beautiful women.
A private manor.
Enough money to swagger through half the empire like a king.
Still...
Something in him hesitated.
Maybe greed.
Maybe instinct.
Maybe just fear of ruining the deal by pushing too hard.
He inhaled slowly.
"All right," he began—
"Hey. You."
A sweet female voice interrupted him.
Kael and Hog Grinnard both turned.
A large group emerged from the inner hall.
At the front walked two stunning young women dressed in purple and blue-green robes.
Kael recognized them instantly.
The butterfly spirits from the previous night.
The purple-robed butterfly spirit led the group with a playful smile.
Beside her walked blue-green-robed spirit, eyes colder and sharper.
Behind them came two dozen spirit-creatures carrying blades, hooks, spears, and axes. Leopard-headed brutes. Crooked-horned monsters. Scarred canal demons with green skin and jagged teeth.
As they approached, the purple-robed spirit casually flicked two fingers downward.
The mob halted immediately.
But not before subtly spreading out around the table.
A loose encirclement.
Kael noticed.
Of course he noticed.
His hand twitched near the sleeve hiding the coiled length of The Eight-Claw Flamescourge.
"What do they want?" he wondered silently.
The purple-robed butterfly spirit pointed at Hog Grinnard.
"You. Move aside."
The innkeeper looked miserable, but after glancing at the armed monsters behind her, he obediently shuffled away.
Neither butterfly spirit looked at him again.
Both focused entirely on Kael.
The blue-green-robed butterfly spirit spoke first.
"We heard you've got a very large piece of Ghostlight Moss."
Kael crossed his arms.
"Maybe I do."
"Show us."
Not a request.
A command.
"No."
The sisters blinked.
The purple-robed butterfly spirit tilted her head slightly.
"Maybe he doesn't actually have it."
The blue-green-robed butterfly spirit snorted.
"Probably these idiots saw wrong."
She turned and glared at the gathered monsters.
One leopard-headed spirit hurriedly protested.
"Mistresses, we really saw it yesterday with our own eyes—"
"You blind fool," the purple-robed butterfly spirit snapped sharply. "Do you know how rare Ghostlight Moss is?"
The blue-green-robed butterfly spirit sneered toward Kael.
"Or maybe somebody painted an ordinary rock blue and tricked you idiots."
The monsters immediately shut their mouths.
Kael folded his arms tighter.
Trying to provoke me?
Nice try.
The Little Saint-Lord wasn't stupid enough to fall for something so obvious.
Unfortunately...
The blue-green-robed butterfly spirit kept talking.
"Sister, look at this country bumpkin." Her gaze dragged openly up and down Kael's worn clothes. "If he really owned Ghostlight Moss, would he dress like that?"
Kael's temper exploded instantly.
Before either butterfly spirit could react, he slapped a hand against the The Wardian Satchel.
BOOM.
A massive blue-green crystal stone the size of a pumpkin crashed onto the table hard enough to make cups leap into the air.
The entire hall went silent.
Both butterfly spirits stared.
Their eyes brightened immediately.
"Well?" Kael barked. "Does that look painted to you?"
The sisters rushed closer.
They circled the crystal slowly.
Blue-green mist curled faintly within the translucent mineral veins like drifting smoke. Pure essence shimmered deep inside the stone.
Their expressions changed more and more with every second.
Kael felt smug satisfaction rising in his chest.
The blue-green-robed butterfly spirit breathed softly.
"There's really one this large..."
The purple-robed butterfly spirit inhaled sharply.
"The purity is unbelievable. Almost no contamination at all."
The blue-green-robed butterfly spirit stared greedily.
"If this were ground into powder... how many weapons could be soul-bonded with it..."
Without thinking, she reached toward the crystal.
But suddenly it vanished.
Both sisters froze.
Kael casually patted the The Wardian Satchel and shifted it behind his back.
"You—!" The blue-green-robed butterfly spirit snapped. "Why'd you put it away?"
Kael rolled his eyes.
"It's my property. I can store it whenever I want."
"We hadn't finished examining it!"
"That sounds like a personal problem." Kael lifted his chin arrogantly. "Did you pay me? Are you relatives of mine?"
The blue-green-robed butterfly spirit nearly choked with fury.
Her finger stabbed toward his face.
"You little—"
"What?" Kael leaned forward slightly. "Want to fight?"
Steel rang instantly through the hall.
Every monster behind the sisters drew weapons at once.
Blades flashed cold beneath lantern light.
"You asking for death, brat?!"
"How dare you disrespect our mistresses!"
"Cut the little bastard apart!"
The crowd surged with snarling rage.
Kael stepped back half a pace automatically.
Vitae began circulating through his channels.
Slow.
Controlled.
Ready.
At the same time, hidden beneath his sleeve, he quietly fed power into The Eight-Claw Flamescourge wrapped around his forearm.
If things went bad, blood would flood this inn within seconds.
Then the purple-robed butterfly spirit raised one delicate hand.
Instant silence.
The monsters immediately stopped moving, though murderous glares still burned toward Kael from every direction.
Violet smiled sweetly again.
"Little brother," she purred softly, "could you perhaps sell the Ghostlight Moss to us?"
Kael snorted inwardly.
What a pair of slippery little spirits.
One look at the real thing and suddenly their attitude changed completely.
"No."
The purple-robed butterfly spirit blinked prettily.
"We'll pay. A great deal."
"Not selling."
Kael still remembered the disdainful looks they had given him the night before.
Refusing them felt wonderful.
"Name any price," the purple-robed butterfly spirit coaxed.
"Not interested."
The smile on her lips tightened faintly.
"All right then. We can trade rare materials instead. We have Wolf Azure Ore, Violet Scorpion Venom, Emberglass Crystal, Warding-Vase Bamboo, Ghostvine Creepers... whatever you want."
Kael paused slightly.
"Warding-Vase Bamboo?"
"You want that?" the purple-robed butterfly spirit asked quickly. "We'll trade twenty stalks for your Ghostlight Moss."
Kael almost laughed.
Warding-Vase Bamboo?
He immediately thought of Eya Verdane.
The memory hit him unexpectedly hard.
Her smile.
Her voice.
The way she looked while crafting wards late into the night.
Warm pride swelled inside him before he could stop it.
"Not interested," he said smugly. "I've got more Warding-Vase Bamboo than I can use already."
The sisters stiffened slightly.
Kael kept going recklessly.
"I've got a friend who practically wholesales the stuff. If you want some later, maybe I'll even give you a discount."
For a brief instant, real killing intent flashed through Azure's eyes.
Kael saw it clearly.
Ah.
There it is.
The atmosphere shifted.
The monsters behind them tightened their grips on their weapons.
Kael's own expression cooled.
His Vitae circulated faster now through his channels.
Beneath his sleeve, the scaled body of The Eight-Claw Flamescourge grew warmer and warmer against his skin.
"Hey, little brother." The purple-robed butterfly spirit smiled sweetly at him again. "My sister and I are both Farwyns. I'm Violet. She's Azure. What about you? What's your name?"
Kael blinked.
The sudden politeness almost threw him off balance. Most people either feared him, wanted something from him, or tried to kill him. Very few bothered with manners.
He scratched his cheek awkwardly.
"Surname's White," he said. "Cairn White."
"Brother Cairn." Violet leaned forward slightly over the table. "You're clearly a practitioner. Whose disciple are you?"
Kael paused.
Why ask that now?
A tiny warning bell rang inside his head.
"I don't belong to any Order," he answered carefully.
The sisters exchanged a quick glance.
Azure gave the faintest little nod.
Kael's heart tightened immediately.
Ah.
There it is.
They're probing me.
Trying to decide whether they can rob me openly.
He kept smiling lazily while his mind raced beneath the surface.
"So it's true?" Violet asked lightly. "Then where did you get Ghostlight Moss like that?"
Kael's thoughts spun.
Then he grinned.
"Stole it."
"Stole it?" Violet blinked innocently. "From where?"
"The top of the Jade Peaks," Kael declared proudly. "Straight from Vane's Summit."
Both women stared.
"You robbed Vane's Summit?" Violet said. "The Dream Nest's guarded year-round by Ascendant Covenant disciples."
"So what?" Kael snorted. "The Little Saint-Lord merely waved a hand and walked through the place like it belonged to him."
Violet laughed.
"Brother Cairn, you're making that up. The Covenant's terrifying. I heard the one guarding Vane's Summit is Lady Magister Isara herself. Master of the Five-Force Path. Holder of the Primal Veil-Map. Even Archons avoid provoking her. How exactly did you deal with that?"
The moment he heard Isara's name, something twisted hard inside his chest.
Pain.
Sharp and sudden.
His master's pale face rose in his memory.
Cold eyes.
White hair.
The woman who had protected him for years while never once explaining why the world seemed determined to devour him alive.
Kael immediately lost any desire to joke about her.
"She wasn't there that day," he said instead. "Only her disciples."
"And?" Violet asked.
Kael leaned back smugly.
"Then came a glorious battle. Three hundred exchanges. Flames splitting mountains. Rivers boiling dry. In the end I beat the five of them until they fled for their lives." He waved casually. "Then I smashed the guardian of the Dream Nest and harvested the Ghostlight Moss myself."
Azure frowned.
"I don't believe you. You don't even belong to an Order."
Kael smiled slowly.
"You girls should understand something." He lifted his cup. "I'm not ordinary."
Then, for no reason he understood, words rolled out of his mouth like they had already existed somewhere deep inside him.
"Before chaos broke, I already stood awake.
Before the void opened, I walked first.
The eight horizons are roads beneath my feet.
And no soul alive knows where I truly came from."
The instant the words left him, Kael froze.
What the hell was that?
He had only meant to bluff.
But the verse flowed too naturally. Too smoothly. Like some ancient memory speaking through him.
The entire room went quiet.
Even the butterfly spirits stared at him differently now.
Kael sat there in cheap fisherman's clothes, rough-spun and travel-stained, yet for one strange heartbeat something invisible seemed to blaze around him. Not light exactly.
Presence.
Ancient.
Untouchable.
The air itself felt distant around him.
Then a woman's voice suddenly drifted through his mind.
Soft.
Beautiful beyond reason.
"So it really is you."
Kael jerked upright.
"Who said that?"
He spun around sharply.
Nobody nearby had spoken.
The inn patrons continued eating and drinking as though nothing had happened.
"Come." The voice echoed through his thoughts again. "I'm waiting."
Warm.
Gentle.
Impossible to resist.
Kael's pulse hammered.
"Where are you?" he demanded.
He rushed out of the inn immediately.
The voice vanished.
Gone completely.
Kael stood outside the Boar's Hollow staring left and right down the wet streets of Vessel Town.
Rainwater still dripped from roof edges. Thin mist hung over the canals. Willow branches swayed softly in the cool breeze.
Nothing unusual.
No woman.
No source.
No trace.
"What the hell…" he muttered.
But he knew what he had heard.
Clear as day.
And stranger still—
The voice felt familiar.
Not familiar enough to place.
But enough to ache.
A strange hunger slowly rose inside his chest.
An unbearable urge.
I have to find her.
He looked both directions down the street, chose one at random, and started walking.
The storm had finally passed.
The blue stone roads gleamed wet beneath the fading daylight. Canal water flowed quietly between rows of buildings. Moist air carried the scent of river moss and rain-soaked wood.
Kael wandered slowly through the town while searching for the mysterious voice.
Before long he found himself drifting into a far busier district.
The streets widened.
More people crowded the roads.
Lanterns glowed beneath awnings.
Storefronts stretched in long rows beside the canals.
Kael's mood immediately lifted.
He loved places like this.
Noise. Merchants. Strange goods. Shouting crowds.
It felt alive.
He began wandering from shop to shop with growing excitement.
At first the stores looked ordinary enough—wine houses, apothecaries, cloth merchants, spice stalls, silver banks.
Then Kael noticed the others.
Shops selling monster materials.
Spirit beast bones.
Weapon racks glowing with enchantments.
Ward-Treasures displayed behind crystal glass.
Rare herbs sealed in jade boxes.
Kael's eyes widened more and more as he walked.
"This town's insane…"
He wandered like a child through a festival.
Then suddenly he thought of Selene.
If Sel were here, she'd probably drag him through every damned street in the district.
The thought hit him unexpectedly hard.
He missed her.
Badly.
He could almost see her walking beside him with that proud little expression she wore whenever she pretended not to enjoy herself.
The memory left him strangely hollow.
Distracted, he wandered farther until something enormous rose into view ahead of him.
A tower.
Huge.
At least a dozen stories tall.
It loomed above the surrounding buildings like a fortress planted in the middle of the merchant quarter.
Kael approached curiously.
Only when he stood directly before it did he realize—
The entire tower was a shop.
Crowds flowed endlessly through the massive front gates.
Above the entrance hung a black plaque carved with enormous golden characters.
THE HEAVEN-EARTH TOWER.
Kael frowned.
"Heaven-Earth Tower? What kind of stupid name is that?"
His curiosity immediately won.
He stepped inside.
And stopped dead.
The interior was gigantic.
Rows upon rows of counters stretched across a vast hall larger than some palaces.
But that wasn't the shocking part.
Hanging behind the counters floated countless glowing green cages suspended in the air by invisible force.
Large ones.
Tiny ones.
Hundreds of them.
Inside each cage floated treasures.
Rare ores.
Arcane blades.
Ancient relics.
Monster eggs.
Living spirit beasts.
Some cages even held strange creatures Kael had never seen before—multi-eyed birds, translucent snakes, floating jellyfish-like things pulsing with Aetheric light.
The entire hall looked unreal.
Kael slowly inhaled.
"Damn…"
He wandered forward in a daze.
Every few steps another treasure caught his eye.
He could have stayed there for hours.
Then suddenly he stopped before one particular cage.
Inside floated a blade.
Just over a foot long.
Wide and heavy despite its size.
As it slowly rotated in the air, faint mist drifted along the edge like beads of water suspended inside moonlight.
The glow coming off it felt cold.
Beautiful.
Deadly.
Kael's heart immediately jumped.
Water-aligned.
Selene.
He remembered her lost Jade-Wave Blade instantly.
Then he remembered Hadrian Corvel forcing that replacement sword on her afterward.
That damned peacock grinning while pretending to be generous.
Kael's expression darkened.
No.
Absolutely not.
There was no way he was letting Hadrian's sword stay in Selene's hands forever.
He pointed toward the cage.
"Shopkeeper! I want to see that blade."
A middle-aged man in grey robes approached from behind the counter.
"What would you like to inspect, sir?"
"That one."
The shopkeeper glanced up at the floating cage and nodded.
He muttered a short incantation.
A small door opened in the glowing cage overhead.
The blade immediately descended into his hand.
He passed it carefully to Kael.
"Please inspect it at your leisure."
Kael accepted it eagerly.
The weapon felt excellent in his grip.
Balanced.
Cold.
Smooth.
"What's it called?"
"The Tidewarden's Echo," the shopkeeper replied proudly. "Long ago, during the reign of the ancient warlords, a master smith from the Outer Sea forged a legendary blade known as Tidewarden. This weapon is a perfected replica produced by our own artisans."
"Replica?" Kael frowned.
He rubbed the blade with his thumb.
The drifting mist along its surface vanished beneath his touch.
Illusion-work.
Clever illusion-work.
The shopkeeper puffed up proudly.
"Our craftsmen surpass the originals whenever possible."
Kael almost laughed at that.
Sure they do.
Still…
The weapon really was beautiful.
"And it's water-aligned?"
"You have a good eye."
Kael tested the blade a few times.
Then suddenly he slashed toward empty air.
A crescent of pale mist burst from the edge and flew nearly half a foot before fading.
Kael's eyes widened.
His own fire Vitae didn't even match the weapon properly, yet it still released force that easily.
If Selene used it—
His imagination immediately ran wild.
Selene holding the blade beneath moonlight.
Water Vitae spiraling around her waist.
Hadrian standing nearby looking miserable while she ignored his ugly gift forever.
Kael grinned.
Perfect.
"How much?"
"Nineteen thousand silver crowns."
Kael quietly exhaled through his nose.
Close.
Very close.
But still manageable.
If he sold the Ghostlight Moss to Hog Grinnard, he would barely have enough left over for food and drink.
Worth it.
"I'll come back with the silver," he said immediately. "Don't sell it."
The shopkeeper shook his head apologetically.
"Items on the first floor cannot be reserved."
"First floor?" Kael repeated. "So higher floors can?"
"Yes. Floors above the first allow reservations."
Kael glanced upward toward the spiraling stairs deeper inside the tower.
A shimmering veil of pale light covered the stairway entrance.
Tiny sparks drifted through it like living dust.
A Restriction.
Strong one too.
"What's upstairs?"
"The higher the floor," the shopkeeper said calmly, "the greater the treasures."
Kael stared upward.
The first floor already held weapons like this.
What kind of monsters did they sell above?
Divine relics?
Ancient dragon bones?
Actual gods?
"Can anyone go up?"
"Only guests holding Heaven-Earth Tower sigils. Seven ranks. Seven colors."
"And how do I get one?"
"The lowest rank requires purchases exceeding one hundred thousand silver crowns."
Kael nearly choked.
"One hundred thousand?!"
The shopkeeper merely smiled politely.
Kael looked up toward the higher floors again with naked longing.
One day.
One day he was absolutely robbing this place blind.
Reluctantly, he handed back the Tidewarden's Echo and headed toward the exit.
The moment he reached the front doors—
He slammed directly into someone.
"Watch where you're walking, you little bastard!"
A huge hand shot toward him instantly.
Kael's temper flared.
He raised an arm and blocked the grab with a hard smack.
The man before him was enormous. Fat-necked. Broad-shouldered. Wearing dark blue robes stretched across a body like an angry bull.
Before Kael could explode back at him, someone behind the giant hurriedly spoke.
"Reverend Stillwater, please. Don't cause trouble here. This is the Heaven-Earth Tower."
Kael froze.
That voice—
Familiar.
He slowly looked up.
And immediately wanted to spit.
Hadrian Corvel walked in surrounded by several figures.
His forehead remained bandaged from the beating Verdis had given him earlier, and his complexion still looked pale beneath the lantern light.
Kael instantly lowered his face.
Damn it.
Of all people.
"Lucky for you this isn't my territory," Reverend Stillwater snarled. "Anywhere else and I'd rip your balls off."
The giant shoved Kael hard.
Kael retreated with the force instead of resisting it.
Even so, his chest vibrated from the impact.
Strong.
This bastard's Vitae was absurdly dense.
"Master Stillwater seems especially irritable lately," Hadrian said with a thin smile.
"Damn right I am!" the huge man snapped. "We've chased that fox brat halfway across the realm while my Whitefang Tiger nearly drops dead from exhaustion, and we still haven't seen a trace of him! You sure you're not feeding us bullshit?"
Another older cultivator nearby spoke coldly.
"Yes. Hundreds of miles without results. Why are you so certain the fox escaped this direction?"
Hadrian smiled calmly.
"My seniors misunderstand me." His tone remained respectful. "The thief stole my Griffin Carriage. I know its scent perfectly. He definitely fled this way."
Kael's teeth clenched so hard his jaw hurt.
That bastard.
First he spreads word about the Shadow Fox Lineage.
Now he's leading hunters after me personally.
Hadrian passed directly in front of him.
Kael seriously considered sticking a foot out and sending him crashing face-first into the floor.
"I don't care," Reverend Stillwater growled. "You're paying for my tiger's food."
"Of course, of course." Hadrian chuckled. "The Heaven-Earth Tower surely carries something worthy of a great Whitefang Tiger—"
Then he stopped walking.
Completely still.
Slowly, Hadrian turned his head toward Kael.
Silence stretched.
Kael knew instantly.
Too late.
Recognition flashed across Hadrian's eyes.
Kael slowly lifted his head and grinned.
"Oh? The Griffin Carriage was stolen?" he asked lazily. "Young Warden Corvel, your skin's getting thicker every time I see you."
Hadrian's face twisted instantly.
"That fox is here!" he roared. "Get him!"
His hand flashed toward his waist.
Kael's eyes exploded with killing intent.
"You should've let that spider eat you alive!"
Before the last word fully left his mouth, Hadrian hurled something into the air.
Golden light erupted across the entrance hall.
Ward-scripts exploded outward in all directions.
Then the Adamant Ward-Net descended from above like a collapsing sky.