Ian opened his eyes.

“Anything?”

“No, I can’t sense it. Are you sure I’ve done something like that?”

“Yeah, that was weird. You entered flow for a few seconds, I guess.”

“How does that work? Why can’t I enter again.”

“I told you, you can either enter flow via hard work or if you are in a condition where your emotions are overflowing, only for the first time, of course. You’ll learn to enter it in no time, don’t worry.”

“Will I be that strong again?”

“Were you even listening to me? When you entered it back at the Lazor Kingdom, you had no control over it. Thus your power was overflowing. That is why it only took a few seconds, and you were unconscious for a few days. Next time, it won’t change you drastically until you become strong and master it.”

“Damn.”

Ian jumped from the bed and wore his robe again.

“I’m going to eat something.”

“Nice, after that, let’s do some training. You got only six months to rank up.”

“Alright.”

They prepared and went downstairs to eat breakfast. It was still crowded, not as much as the night time though.

“Hmm, no one seems to be drinking.”

Ian said while sitting down.

“Because we are not selling drinks before the sundowns.”

The girl who was working there as a waitress came to their table. She looked as young as Ian, but she wasn’t remotely looking like Ian’s mother and father. So he thought she couldn’t be his sister. She was blonde, and her eyes were black.

“Good thinking.”

Ian said under the hoodie.

“Isn’t it hot under that? Or are you one of those weird people?”

“I mean, he is being weird right now, but what kind of weirdness are you talking about?”

Jay asked while trying to hold his laughter back. But Ian spoke before she could say anything.

“Your finest breakfast, please.”

“Right away.”

She quickly went to bring their order and returned after a few minutes.

“Anything you want?”

“No, thank you.”

“Yes! I want to know something.”

Jay shouted while Ian shook his head at him in panic.

“Sure. What is it?”

“Are you the daughter of people who owns this place?”

She paused for a second. With that pause, Ian’s heartbeat accelerated.

“Not exactly. They didn’t have a child, I didn’t have parents, they took me in, and I’m helping them.”

“L-like, they never had a child?”

She leaned towards their table and began to whisper.

“Don’t tell anyone because they don’t like to talk about it, but they had a kid once. I’m not sure what happened. They say he was kidnapped 15 years ago.”

“I see. Thanks.”

Jay nodded while she was leaving for other customers.

“So? The information was true. What are you going to do now?”

“Eat my breakfast.”

“Then, you’ll keep being weird, I guess.”

Ian was relieved after hearing the girl. He began to eat and looked at his mother under the hoodie, who was working behind the counter. A smile appeared on his face but not for long. With a loud scream, everyone stopped what they were doing.

“AHHHH!”

It was coming from behind the tavern, from alleys. Jay quickly got up and went there. Ian followed him. When they got there, they saw a crowd looking at something. The back wall of the tavern was red, covered in blood from top to bottom, but somehow it looked clean. And at the bottom, where the blood trail ends, a woman was sitting, leaning against the wall. She was dead. She had a clean cut at her throat, and something was carved in the middle of her chest—a smiley face. The most disgusting thing was her eyes weren’t in their places, and she was holding something, a white rose.

“What the…”

Ian was about to throw up the things he had just eaten. Unlike him, Jay was smiling.

“Now, now, isn’t that interesting?”

Ian curiously turned towards him.

“What the fuck is ‘The White Rose Murderer’ doing here?”

* * *

“Huff. Huff.”

Neil was out of breath, walking like a dead man, trying to complete Wilbert’s training.

“Huff, I get him, but why also me? Huff.”

Eldron was also next to him, in the same situation.

“Aaron said you have some kind of weird power, show it, and I’ll let you walk away!”

“But I don’t know anything about it!”

“Then learn it!”

“How?!”

Eldron finally fell to the ground.

“Fine, I’ll let you go today, tomorrow at the same hour.”

“…”

Eldron took a deep breath in relief.

‘Finally, my muscles are crying!’

Eldron screamed inwardly. He couldn’t get up, so he was just lying there. Then he heard a crying voice.

“Please!!”

Neil said with teary eyes.

“Oh my god, are you gonna cry?”

Wilbert said mockingly, with a smile.

“N-no.”

“Fine, take this.”

He threw a wooden katana at Neil.

“Hahaha! Finally.”

But when he leaned forward to pick it up, he also fell.

‘Noo…’

Neil cried inwardly.

“Okay… Tomorrow at the same hour!”

Wilbert left the two kids that were lying on the ground motionlessly alone and went inside the palace.

‘Let’s see what our emperor is doing.’

He was bored. The training was only at the beginning phase, so he was just trying to put Neil’s body into shape. He didn’t even let Neil hold a wooden katana yet. While whistling and skipping, he barged into Aaron’s room.

“What you doing?”

He said with a playful tone, but Aaron didn’t even raise his head to look.

“Is something wrong?”

“Very fucking wrong.”

Wilbert curiously got close to him. Aaron got up and threw some paper on the desk to show Wilbert.

“What am I looking at?”

“You are looking at the prisoners that escaped from the Limbo Prison. 4 SS-Ranks, 3 S-Ranks, and 4 A-Ranks. Highly dangerous criminals. Adventurers guild put a bounty on their heads.”

Wilbert looked shocked. His eyes widened while looking at the papers. Then he suddenly punched the desk.

“Damnit!”

“Wow, what is happening?”

“There is a manhunt across the globe, and I can’t fucking join! Damnit!”

He punched the desk again.

“Stop punching my desk! We should inform everyone to be cautious.”

“Yeah yeah.”

Aaron left the room in a hurry. After looking at the papers, Wilbert also left. It was time for him to do physical training. The two kids were still lying on the ground. Wilbert chuckled.

“I wonder what Elius is doing. I hope Idarin is giving him a hard time.”

* * *

“WOW! Just WOW! That was informing.”

Idarin talked until morning. Shortly after he began, he lost himself and kept talking without a rest. Elius was the same. He also lost himself and forgot to listen. He was snoring.

“Wow, look, the sun came up. Let’s stop here for today.”

Elius suddenly raised his head like he was listening and slowly clapped.

“Wow, just wow. That was informing.”

“Right?”

“Now, if you apply these things, you’ll realize an improvement.”

Idarin got up.

“Time to move again.”

Liam and Ruvyn were already ready. The shelter suddenly disappeared and turned back the way it was. In no time, they were on the move again.

‘How was it? Did you learn anything?’

“Hell yeah, if you stop slacking, we can master earth and fire too in no time and then move on to more fun stuff! We are still standing at the beginning line!”

‘Fine. Good thing I slept. I can work on it on the way.’

Elius closed his eyes and tried to focus.

‘I’m working on the fire. You work on earth.’

“Alright!”

Elly seemed enthusiastic and did as Elius said. The cart stopped after a few hours, and Elius opened his eyes.

“Are we finally arrived?”

“Yes!”

Ruvyn shouted in excitement and jumped out of the cart. Elius also followed them. When he got out, big city walls greeted him. They were at the entrance, but from what Idarin said, they shouldn’t have been stopped.

“What is happening?”

Elius asked Idarin.

“Something is wrong.”

Two guards were on the ground, and two were on the walls. They were dwarves. Compared to Elius, their height was almost half. They didn’t have any weapons, which was weird.

‘They are guards, but they don’t have any weapon?’

“You know how elves have a close aptitude towards nature, right?”

‘Yes, what is it have to do with this?’

“Dwarves have an aptitude towards earth magic. They are the best at it. I don’t think they need a weapon.”

‘Hmm.’

Elius took a step forward.

“Hey-”

But as soon as he did that, the ground under him caught his feet like a clamp. It didn’t end there. The ground also grew and grabbed both of his hands, pulling him down to make him kneel.

“What the-”

“Do not move!”

One of the guards shouted. Liam was trying to hold his laugh back.

“What is wrong, fellas?”

Idarin asked. It didn’t seem like there was a problem inside of the empire. The guard in front of Elius took out some papers and examined them.

“Show me your license!”

“You don’t have to yell at me, you know.”

In front of Elius, a little card appeared and fell to the ground. The dwarf picked it up. After a while, he freed Elius.

“Clear!”

‘Hmm? They are searching for someone.’

Idarin thought to himself. After examining the kids, it was Idarin’s turn. He glanced at the papers.

“Who are they?”

“People who escaped from Limbo Prison!”

Idarin’s eyes widened.

“What?”

“There is a global manhunt on all eleven of them!”

“That is all of them!”

Idarin unconsciously smiled.

“Clear!”

They were free to get into the empire now.

“New plan, kids!”

Idarin shouted while they were walking towards the gate. All of them turned towards him.

“We are finishing our job here as soon as possible, and then…”

He paused for a second and smiled again.

“We will join a manhunt!”