Arvin was lying on his bed in his inn in Arcane city. While lying Arvin asked Lopt…

'What do you think Lopt? Is he alive?' ​​

{Who?}

'Josh.'

{Maybe.}

'Maybe?'

{Yeah. It is very hard to say. But if I have to guess then I could say that if someone intelligent is responsible for this fiasco then there is a 100% chance that he/she would have kept him alive/}

'Really?'

{Yeah. Probably they will use him as a hostage to lure you over. But be a prepared kid. We don't for sure what is going in there… I am just saying that you should be prepared for the worst.}

'Hmm.' Arvin said.

Arvin knew that he should prepare for the worst. But he didn't want to believe that the worst could happen. Still, he suppressed all the feelings in his heart. He can't let his emotions get better of him. So Arvin started thinking about his next steps…

'Lopt how should I increase my transformation time?'

{It could be increased with mana meditation and in a specific manner.}

'How so?'

{For that first need to understand some things. So first Arvin do you know about is a magician or magus?}

'From what I have heard magicians or magus are the beings that use mana to perform supernatural things.'

{Correct. Listen to me very carefully,

Magician or Magus all perform supernatural phenomena with the help of mana. They are further divided based on the way that they perform supernatural phenomena. Like some magus used their magic to enhance normal day-to-day items so that that item can perform supernatural things. These types of magicians or magus are called Enhancing Morticians.

All magicians or magus might be different from each other because of the paths that they walk. But all of them have one thing in common. That they are eunuchs. So all you have to do a cut of balls. That way you will be able to absorb more mana.}

'….'

{….}

'Please be serious.'

{What? I thought you could use a joke.}

'….'

{But it was funny right?}

'….'

{Alright… Remember how mana meditation worked? Remember that mana would originate from your heart and then you would send your mana throughout the body. And mana when going through your body will nourish every part that it wents through.}

'Yeah.'

{Think of mana like nourishment. When it passes through your body parts it leaves behind some nourishment. And then your body parts absorb the nourishment left behind giving you a boast physically.}

'Ok'

{So when someone uses mana stone, the mana inside the stone leaves behind a huge amount of nourishment. So your body took some time to digest it. Remember when you first meditated your level increased significantly.}

'Yes.'

{Yeah, even after your level increased there was still a huge amount of nourishment left for your body to absorb. That is why I forced you to do battle training for a month. And the result that you got is before you.}

'But how did the extra nourishment was absorbed?'

{Good question… And the answer to this question is the ax that everyone is looking for.}

'That ax?'

{Yeah… Didn't I once said that this ax is absorbing mana from the air?}

'Yes…'

{So when you use the ax, like a parasite that ax absorb mana that you have in your body.}

'Woah Woah… You are telling me that I have using a parasitic ax till now?'

{Yes.}

'And you are telling me this now?'

{That is because… although that ax is parasitic it could be of great help to us.}

'How exactly?'

{When this ax absorbs mana from you, the excessive nourishment in your body is absorbed by your body parts. That is why you were able to grow this much in the past month.}

'But when all my mana stones are completely depleted, then what?'

{That is something that the future has to figure out. But for now, forget about it.}

'….'

{Anyhow… You could sense that you store all of your mana in your heart. So if you want to increase your mana capacity, you would need a very powerful heart. That is why I was waiting for you to exceed level-95. According to my calculations only after that, your heart will become strong enough to withhold a large amount of mana.}

'Ok got it… Hey, you said that I should use that egg after I have crossed level-100. Was my mana capacity reason for that?'

{Yeah.}

'Ok. So how should we increase my mana capacity?'

{By becoming an acolyte.}

'A what?'

.....................…..

The next morning.

Arvin straightway transformed into a Corgan and flew away towards the direction of Dwane city. After 4 and half hours of traveling like a bird, Arvin transformed back into a human. After transforming back, he wore his clothes and started running towards Dwane city. And soon by night, Arvin reached the city. As his face was famous throughout the floor, he camped 4Km outside the city for safety reasons.

Dwane city was located south of Kalgan forest. It was the city that was far away as possible from the Kalgan forest. It was because of this it was considered one of the safest cities on the 1st floor. As the safest city, this city was the most prosperous city on the 1st floor. In a sense, it could be said that Dwane city is a type of urban city. While Arcane city is a type of industrial area.

From up far, Arvin could see its humongous size. If Arvin would have come here in the past then he would have impressed by its size. But right now all that he could think of was due to its humongous size it would thrice hard to find Josh…

After resting for the night, the next morning Arvin went straight towards the city. Like Arcane city, this city also had a wall surrounding it. But unlike Arcane city, the size of the walls around Dwane city was just 20-25 feet high. The guards of this city were strong but they were nothing compared to the guards of Arcane city.

Arvin transformed into the same middle-aged old man with the cruel face and got into the Dwane city. And when he got inside he was seriously impressed cleanliness and infrastructure of the city. Even though he was just on the outskirts of the city, this city was far more fabulous than Arcane city.

There were no people in rags sitting on the footpath begging for anything to eat. People that he could see were well dressed and seemed well fed. There were no small roadside stalls in the city. The streets of Dwane city seemed less crowded as well as well managed. Arvin was seriously impressed by the city.

Arvin starts going deeper into the city. He knew that if there is an estate of any Nobel family like the Cullens then it would be located in the inner parts of the city. So he started walking in. After 20 mins of walking, Arvin finally came to the inner part.

The inner part of the city was surrounded by another wall whose height is 15-16 feet high. Arvin watched and found out that very few people were given access to the inner city. People who entered the inner city showed some sort of token to the guards. Then only guards allowed anyone to enter the inner city.

Arvin could easily enter the inner walls after transforming so he didn't worried about it. But the problem was the period of his transformation. If he enters as a Corgan then after one hour he would transform back. But he wants to find the whereabouts of Josh as soon as possible then he would need to extend his transformation time…

Arvin then waited and see if he could get into the inner city any other way. But he got dejected as he could find any other way, at least for now. The security around the inner city was very tight. Probably due to war the security must be this tight.

After waiting for some time Arvin then started looking for an inn. He wanted to have a place to crash that is nearby the inner city. So while looking for an inn near the inner city walls, Arvin looked around the market a little bit. While walking Arvin eventually came across a square. That square was very crowded. Between that square was a statue of a warrior.

The warrior of that statue was holding a very big circular shield and was throwing a spear with his idle hand. Arvin ignored the statue and was about to walk past it. It was then Lopt started speaking…

{Hey Arvin, do you see that statue.}

'The statue on the square?' Arvin asked

{Yes. That one… I will need its shield.}

'Huh?'

{What huh?}

'I mean to ask why? Why would you need his shield?'

{It is for your training.}

'…'

{What?}

'I don't believe you, How can I be sure that this is not one of your shenanigans?'

{I will need that shield. Whether you want to believe me is not is up to to you. And by the way when have I ever broken your trust?}

'…'