Lumia and Snowflake resumed their scouting, distancing themselves from the rest of the group; Helial, Zion, Francesca, Sidra, Lev and Caliban maintained their position in the centre; Vlad and Circe waited for the others to be far enough away before leaving.

But there was something wrong. Vlad was not at all focused on analysing the territory around him and, if an enemy had suddenly arrived, he would not have noticed. The Half Goblin was looking carefully at the palms of his hands, then closing them into a fist, then opening them again. Every now and then he glanced at Circe: was it possible that she hadn't noticed anything either?

At an unspecified moment in the clash with the Prince of Darkness, Vlad realized that something inside him had changed.

He had always felt a latent force sleeping within his blood, but so well hidden that he could rarely perceive it. Now, however, Vlad was sure that that same force had awakened and he felt he had changed, but he did not understand when it had happened or how. He only knew that, at some point, Blood Mana had begun to boil vehemently in his veins and fill his Meridians.

Vlad, in fact, lacked understanding of a fundamental passage: that, while he was fighting, time had been infinitely dilated and that one of the most terrifying beings ever existed in the universe had enjoyed awakening the Legacy of the Blood God hidden in Vlad's body.

To say the truth, Iblis and Alexander were also quite amazed at the number of latent and extremely strong Legacy carriers they sensed among those brats. From Snowflake, David's son, to Vlad, who owned part of the Blood God legacy, Orma seemed to be a receptacle for immature talents.

Unfortunately, without the help of two great monsters like the Devil and the King of Madonia, Snowflake could never have broken the Seal, nor could Vlad have discovered the secret inside his body.

But Alexander had done things in a hurry and had forgotten to warn the scarlet-haired boy, who was now slowly becoming aware of the change that had taken place inside him and the more he felt it, the more startled he was.

And he was so shocked that, after feeling the new power, he slowed down the pace of the fight against Trolls and Undead to explore his own body with his mind.

It had been a long time since then, but he still kept wondering what exactly had happened and how it was possible to achieve such power without even realizing it - in a blink of an eye.

His speculations could not even remotely reach the reality of the facts.

Yet, now that he was in possession of this new power, he felt he could change something.

His eyes were now capable of seeing ten miles away. As he held the bow in his hands he had felt a new energy binding him to his weapon and had estimated that he could safely take down a warrior in the Sixth Phase.

From a careful internal analysis, Vlad had noticed that a strange veil of reddish energy had covered all his muscles and tendons, giving them an explosiveness they had never possessed before. The bones inside his body had turned bright red and appeared to be harder than steel itself.

During the run he had tried to injure his palm with his fingernails, but his delicate pale skin was now as hard as leather and penetrating it had been difficult. To analyse the physical changes even more deeply, he thought he should try to inflict damage on himself with something sharper, a dagger perhaps. But now there was no time, he would do it once he was safe, and he would show it to Francesca too.

From the Stats panel he had seen a monstrous increase in Strength, Agility and Stamina.

His main attributes were, in fact, the physical ones. Even though his Mana had increased too, what had changed more had been its quality rather than its quantity. The awakened power within his body was suitable for a warrior on the front line.

Still, Vlad hadn't been discouraged at all by this.

"Do you have any idea where we will go?"

Vlad's thoughts were interrupted by his cousin's question, who was looking at him curiously. The boy woke up from what appeared to be a trance and took a while to respond with a simple shrug.

"You really don't know anything?" the Witch pressed, trying to retrieve some more information.

"Really. Helial has studied the geography of the nation several times and has been the disciple of the King. And then Francesca is with him; she should know more than one safe area to take refuge in a case like this. I believe that the priority at the moment is to get as far as possible from here and escape possible pursuers. Once we are safe, I think we will discuss it together. "

Of everything Vlad had said, Circe had focused on only a couple of words, which hit her in the chest. "Has been?"

Vlad smiled wistfully. "I don't have much hope that the King of Orma will survive this fight."

The boy's sharp words had a really strange effect on Circe: on the one hand, the Witch had realized then for the first time that the possibility of the end of the mighty Orma was not that far off; on the other, he had experienced a warm, nostalgia-tinted joy blossom in her stomach.

She was glad to be near Vlad again, in that desperate moment.

Now that all of them had fought side by side against the Trolls and the Undead, they had formed a much stronger bond than they could ever have imagined, touching the faint line between life and death.

There was a brilliant light in the eyes of the Witch of Orma, a glint of determination and fighting instinct that had brought her here.

But, in his heart, he felt a vibrant uncertainty. The feeling of weakness that had always held her hostage was making her bleed again.

If there was something she would have gladly done without at that moment, it was surely the Affinity towards the Elements, which allowed her to perceive even the slightest changes in the Aura of those around her.

Had she not possessed it, she would never have realized how devastating Pseudonym's and Helial's Auras were and the sudden changes in Lumia's, Snowflake's and Vlad's; if he had not possessed it, perhaps, she would have lived under the illusion of counting for something.

Despite having trained for years and non-stop, despite having earned the name of Witch of Orma, despite having managed to put together the strongest team in the entire City-State ... despite all this, Circe still felt at fault.

Looking at Vlad's scarlet hair and glowing pupils, she could tell that it wouldn't be long before he too could overtake her.

Circe was definitely demoralized. She was but the chariot wheel of a group of people who had developed the most powerful Inheritances from nothing.

A blood-red glow passed through the young half-goblin's gaze.

Vlad had never really been interested in others, but he was a good observer and had excellent intuition. These are two of those skills you develop when you are a geek with no desire to do anything: observe and sense.

“You know, the levels or strength that others have gained now aren't the only things that matter,” Vlad laughed.

Hearing the crystalline sound of his laugh, more unique than rare, Circe felt a real blow at her heart.

In those words, spoken by a person who had never even taken care of himself, hid a care and attention that Circe would never have expected. Taken aback by that attack, she felt her nose itch vaguely. A lump formed in her throat and her hands began to sweat.

Vlad said no more and continued running alongside his cousin, looking around again.

Okay, he had gained a new power. So what? His task remained the same as before: to become strong enough to protect Francesca, Helial, and everyone else. Or at least, enough not to be a burden.

He had not said those words only for Circe, but also for himself.

At that moment, it was utterly foolish to worry about a change he could not have comprehended except with meticulous study. Rather, it would have been helpful to understand how strong he had become.

What about his cousin?

Vlad was sure that the great Witch of Orma would regain vigour.

All Circe needed to do to improve was shake the mental block she had built with her own hands. If she didn't do it right away, she would always find herself one step lower than the others, as had happened with Pseudonym.

The Goblin's talent was devastating, but she had always had terrifying monsters by her side and she had never risked enough.

Snowflake, Lumia and Helial had faced death more than once, just during Iblis's training. And, considering that, it was incredible that Circe had arrived to where she was without anyone's help.

If one day someone had driven her, perhaps, her heart would have reached the same peaks that Pseudonym was on.