Before Seth could move, Marcus pulled something from his Endless Pouch—and the cacophony of the street vanished. The world around them sank into a muffled, unnatural silence. An Isolating Crystal, Seth realized.
Then it hit. A suffocating wave of bloodlust surged out of the Alchemist, locking Seth's body in place just like it did in the Champions of Chaos headquarters—only this time it was worse. His chest tightened, ribs clamping down until each breath was a struggle. The effect on Leonard Surani was even more pronounced. The man choked, dropping to one knee, clawing at his chest, raw pain carved across his face.
Beside him, Leonard’s wife and daughter were frozen in place as well, their faces stricken with shock and fear—but not agony. And that was when Seth noticed something else.
People kept walking past them. Merchants bartered, guards laughed, footsteps echoed on stone; none of them spared so much as a glance in their direction, as if they simply didn’t exist.
Seth didn’t understand how it worked. Not fully. He could feel a familiar barrier, like the ones created by standard Isolating Crystals, though whatever Marcus had activated wasn’t just hiding sound or sight—it was cutting them out of the world entirely.
Marcus strolled toward Elena's father, tilting his head. "You and your allies sold him out ten years ago, and you're all still breathing only because I allowed it. I was merciful then, but this time is different. If you so much as think about telling anyone about this kid, I'll hang you by the skin and bleed you out like a pig."
The old Alchemist's gaze then cut to Elena. Her face had gone pale, her lips drained of all their color. "A Legacy…" Marcus muttered before looking back at Leonard. "As if the king would have given one to a traitor's daughter. He doesn't know, does he?"
Elena's eyes widened, and she seemed to try taking a step back, though her body refused to obey. Marcus moved closer, raising a hand toward her face. "It would be disastrous if word were to get out. He'd probably carve open her chest himself to retrieve it."
Before his fingers could touch her, a powerful surge shot through Seth. His core erupted like a volcano, and he dashed forward to seize Marcus' wrist in a crushing grip. The old Alchemist looked at him, an eyebrow arched in amusement. "Trying to protect the damsel again?"
Seth didn't answer. His body moved on its own, his grip tightening on Marcus' arm as his core pulsed with its primal energy. A wave of profound anger washed over him. Someone was threatening someone from his pack—this was an absolute affront to his authority.
The Alchemist snatched his wrist back from Seth's grasp effortlessly. His gaze then returned to the Surani family, stopping on Leonard, who was still gasping while on his knee. "You should thank the boy. If it were up to me, I would have taken her with me to guarantee your silence."
As Marcus glanced back at Seth, aether swirled around his neck and a whisper flowed directly into Seth's ear. The Alchemist's voice reverberated deep inside. "She seems a bit too good for you, but you certainly made a good impression today….And I'll find you a Temporary Rift as soon as I can."
With a final, concealed wink, Marcus turned on his heel and walked away. The moment the Alchemist disappeared into a side alley, the suffocating pressure and the illusory veil around them faded, causing the sounds of the city to rush back in. Elena's father staggered back to his feet, eyes locked on the empty alley where the Alchemist had vanished.
As color came back to Elena's cheeks, she turned to Seth. "Who… who was that man?" she asked with a strained whisper.
Seth hesitated for a second, then realized Marcus's words left no room for lies. "A friend of my father," he finally answered.
"What do you mean a—"
"Enough, Elena," Leonard Surani interjected, leaning on his wife as if unable to find balance. Fear still lingered in the noble's eyes as he looked at Seth. "Tell that man we won't say a word as long as he doesn't tell the king about her," Elena's father said, casting a glance at his daughter.
Seth nodded. "I will."
A long, heavy silence hung in the air while people drifted past them. After a few seconds, Seth finally decided to leave. However, a few steps later, he stopped and closed his eyes briefly before facing them again. His gaze locked on Leonard. "Just so you know, sir… whatever my father's reasons were, I don't endorse what he did. That's why I told the Champions of Chaos I'd join the... cause. To make up for it."
When Leonard finally opened his mouth to respond, Seth had already begun to walk away, blending into the crowd. As he strode down the street, he wove between passersby and slipped past merchants who stepped out of their shops to hawk their wares.
The whole interaction confirmed what Seth had already suspected—Marcus was absurdly strong.
He had forced a Crusader at the Peak of the Gold Tier to his knees with nothing but his aura. No spell. No technique Seth could identify. Just sheer presence, crushing and absolute.
'I definitely want the same aura as the old prick,' Nightmare said from within the teardrop, sending Seth a vivid image of Marcus forcing Leonard to his knees. 'I'd love to do that to people.'
'Try improving Mantle of Terror's quality,' Seth answered. 'You could probably achieve something similar.'
'Let's go practice, then!' the direwolf immediately exclaimed. A few seconds later, he showed through Link another moment of the altercation: Seth seizing Marcus's wrist. 'Oh, and I was wrong. That Kreytorus fellow must have a weakness for noblewomen with crimson hair.'
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'Oh, shut it.'
As the direwolf chuckled within the teardrop necklace, Seth's thoughts drifted back to Marcus's words. Elena had a Legacy. That must be the reason why she has been so strong during the squad skirmishes. And the exhibition fights earlier today. But when did she get it?
The caravan station was coming into view in the distance ahead when a voice called out from behind: "Seth, wait!"
Seth halted and turned to see Elena running toward him. She stopped a few feet away from him, hands dropping to her knees as she caught her breath. "What the hell happened back there?"
Seth glanced at the few people nearby. "We can't talk about it here."
Not missing a beat, the noblewoman immediately grabbed his arm and pulled him into the deserted alley next to them. She then took out an Isolating Crystal, and a dome of silencing aether spread outward, muffling the sounds of the city just like a minute earlier. "Tell me," she then pressed on. "My father won't say anything except that I should stay away from you. And when I insisted I needed to know, all he said was that it'd be best if I forgot everything that happened."
"He's right," Seth answered.
"Oh, come on," Elena protested, her hands flailing to the sides. "I'm tired of being kept in the dark. I deserve the truth. That man threatened to expose something that could ruin my family."
Seth sighed before shaking his head. "It's not just about your family—it's about you. If people knew you had one of those, many would try to kill you. If they did, they could harvest it from your body."
Elena's emerald eyes widened. "Harvest it from my body?"
"Yeah," Seth answered, pulling his face down with his hands. "There's a way to extract the Legacy from its owner's corpse. That's why people with Legacies normally travel with guards. Using one has put a target on your back for the rest of your life."
"How do you know—" the noblewoman began before stopping abruptly. Her expression then shifted as if pieces had just clicked into place. "You have one too."
Closing his eyes, Seth tipped his head back to look at the sliver of sky visible between the alley walls. Denying it was useless. They were both in the same boat now.
"I do," he finally said before looking back at the noblewoman.
"And that's why you've been changing." Elena's gaze locked with his. "Why you're getting more distant."
"No," Seth snapped, voice more raw than he meant it to be. Seeing Asethka had made it worse—living in Kastal made less and less sense. "My Legacy has nothing to do with this. I've changed because the Noble Houses never face any consequences for what they do, and I'm fed up. The Faertis treated people like livestock, sold them to beasts, burned a family alive, and nobody cares because the only people affected were commoners. And when I stand up to them, what do I get? An inscription burned into my arm so I can't leave until some trial that might put me in prison."
Seth raised his hands, then curled them into fists and let them fall. "This whole country is rotten. It stops commoners from awakening with stupid laws and cripples us as we march to war. A war where ordinary people will die just so a handful of nobles can get stronger."
He let out an exasperated sigh as Elena stared at him in silence. "That's what changed me. Why would I want to stay here? Why would I fight for this nation? Why should I keep going to an academy that hoards knowledge and doesn't give me the means to fight back? If that enchantment didn't chain me here, I'd be taking contracts in some far countries, hunting beasts, getting strong enough to avenge my parents. But no, I'm stuck here. Here, where I'm going to be used as cannon fodder by a kingdom that doesn't give a damn about its people. Especially those who don't have a fancy House name."
Elena pressed her lips together. "There are still things worth fighting for. People worth protecting."
"But that's not why we're going to war," Seth retorted. "We're not being sent into those Warfare Rifts to protect some towns from the Bridan Empire. We're being sent so the king can keep some Legacies and allow his grandkids, who seem like total jerks, to easily break through and become Platinums in a few years."
"Then let's use this war to get stronger," the noblewoman said, meeting Seth's eyes. "Strong enough to change things."
"That's if we survive," Seth said. "It'd be better to walk away, get strong somewhere else, and come back when we can actually take him down."
Elena's gaze dropped to his forearm, where the Scribe had carved an enchantment two months ago. "But you can't do that."
"No," Seth answered, also glancing down at his arm, "I can't."
A long silence stretched between them, and after a moment, Elena spoke again. "Can I ask you another question?"
"Yeah."
"Why was my father so afraid of your eyes?"
"Because of my father," Seth said, rubbing the front of his neck awkwardly. "He made a deal with the king ten years ago. Stop a rebellion by butchering an army made up of Adventurers and soldiers of… several Houses. In return, the king was supposed to keep his location a secret from those who were after him. But someone from the Houses found out where he was from… and they sold him out."
Elena's lips parted, her voice barely more than a whisper as it escaped. "So my father… is the reason yours is dead?"
"Yes," Seth said, surprised for an instant at how he barely felt any anger. "And mine is the reason this greedy king still rules over Kastal and Houses like the Faertis do whatever they want.... But who knows, maybe the one who would've taken the crown from him wouldn't have been any better."
"It probably would have been Marshal Vancaws," Elena answered after thinking for a moment. "He may not be the best to lead a country, but he would've been fairer to commoners. He would've scrapped a lot of the laws that keep them from taking control of their life."
Seth tilted his head, doubting it. "Judging by his granddaughter, I don't think he would've been much better."
Elena's mouth twisted, but she said nothing to that. Seth could see it in her eyes, though—she knew the man might have been an improvement, but not a solution. With seemingly nothing more to ask, the noblewoman deactivated her Isolating Crystal and tucked it away. The silencing dome around them vanished, and the city's noise came back. "We should get going," she said. "The others are probably waiting for the caravan."
Seth nodded and fell in step beside her as they walked back toward the main street. The silence between them was heavy until Elena broke it a few seconds later. "I'm sorry… for your father, and… everything."
"It's fine," Seth replied, his gaze fixed ahead. "It happened a long time ago. And like I told your father, I don't endorse what he did. I understand why people sold him out."
"Yeah," she murmured, tucking a strand of crimson hair behind her ear. "Just so you know, I'm not lying when I say I want to change this nation for the better. And my offer to do it together still stands."
A half-smile touched Seth's lips. "We'll see if I'm still alive in a few months."
Elena immediately nudged him with her elbow. "Oh, stop it." After a few more steps, she glanced his way. "Well, at least now you have someone to share your secret with."
Before Seth could answer, Nightmare's voice rose from the necklace: "Hey, he already has me!"
Elena laughed, her eyes finding the teardrop pendant at Seth's neck. "Sorry, Nightmare. I forgot about you."
'Me too,' Colossus said through Seth's mind, unable to speak aloud like the direwolf.
'Yeah, I know, buddy,' Seth answered mentally.
Ahead, the Trogan students waited beside the massive caravan that had brought them to Oskon. The moment Brandon spotted them, he raised his hand and waved with exaggerated vigor.
Elena quickened her stride to meet the group, while Seth held his pace, watching her go—her crimson hair swayed behind her like a banner in the wind. She might want him to fight for this nation, but he struggled to find the motivation. Not when he knew the only ones who truly stood to gain were the avaricious king and a handful of nobles.
But if Seth ever wanted to leave, he'd have to find a way to break the enchantment carved into his forearm. And he had no idea how… or if it was even possible.
I should have asked Marcus, he thought with a sigh before walking toward Elena and the others.
(NOT UPDATED):
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First leap of faith for Seth!
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