It had taken his network quite some time to find the location of Phyranhol, but through some accidental conflicts with another organization, some information managed to get to his hands. Thus allowing Septimus to stand where he was now.

Standing on a rather large cliff overseeing the small town at the foot of the mountains, Septimus felt like he was on top of the world. Especially with Source coursing through his body, he no longer felt like the world was losing its luster.

He arrived at the location a few days after the incident at the Makers’ District but chose to stay his arrival.

At that moment, the footsteps of another traveler traversing the rocky landscape made their way into his ears.

Septimus smiled to himself. The footsteps stopped.

“It’s been a while, General Corvus. I must congratulate you in finding the town before me, but I do have to say, we lost to her this time around.” A powerfully deep, hoarse voice broke the tranquil silence.

“I also congratulate the Progenitor of the Dark Sun for finding the town mentioned the last time we were all together. I’m quite sad with my performance this time around, but losing to the Hermit of the Northern Cliffs is nothing to be ashamed of.” Septimus replied with a hint of teasing.

They stood next to each other, quietly gauging the new potential and power that the other might have gained from the powerful being in that mysterious world.

Slowly they turned towards each other. Septimus decided to talk first.

“My new power is telling me there’s a strong individual nearby that can completely overpower me. I assume it’s the nondescript contact that’s supposed to answer our questions from that wondrous place.”

“Eh, we're far from the boundaries of the town. I’m more interested in how I fare against the new and improved Sword of the Golden Kingdom.” Jack smirked, the previous calmness had disappeared.

A wild grin was plastered over Jack’s face as he rushed towards Septimus.

The latent energies around them flared up, images of a long war-banner fluttered behind Septimus while the shadow of a being flickered behind Jack.

With each step Jack took towards the General of the Golden Kingdom, the oppressive nature of both images sent loose rocks and debris flying around them. This was just a small part of each of their innate Source abilities.

The two men met and a series of hits were exchanged within the few seconds they collided.

This was the raw power of some of the active characters within the world of Xerveres. Without the aid of Source or magic spells.

BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG!

With the last collision of fists and arms, both flew back from each other.

“You really live up to your name Septimus!” Jack congratulated the knight standing before him and bowed.

“I can say the same to you Jack… a shame that we’re on opposite sides of the Kingdom laws.”

Septimus narrowed his eyes at the Cult leader of the Dark Sun. He was inwardly surprised at how well versed Jack was with physical combat. It was now no surprise to him that all attempts on assassinating the fellow failed miserably.

Unless it was a person equivalent or stronger than himself, the Golden Kingdom really had no choice but to let him go unless they wanted to experience a massive loss.

He reciprocated Jack’s bow, it was a sign of respect and equality between powerhouses.

“Besides an increase in strength and vitality, have you experienced any major changes with the Source in your body?”

“Don’t waste your breath Septimus. Probing won’t bear you any fruit, since we’re both here we might as well find that person in Phyranhol.”

The tense air slowly faded between them. There was a tactic understanding between them to establish a silent truce lest it troubles the people in the village.

The information they received suggested that despite Phyranhol being in the middle of the wilderness, it was a popular hub for various Underworld organizations. Additionally, the city lord kept a close eye on foreigners after the so-called “fire man” incident. People were scared and rightly so, the churches had been quite active preaching their faith and beliefs.

“Should we head down together?” Both asked at the same time before letting out quiet chuckles.

The two-headed towards the town and investigate for the person that could answer their questions about Source. An esoteric and unknown subject such as this, they were both glad they could at least find some sort of guidance.

Unbeknownst to them, a pair of eyes silently watched the show before it flew away towards the same direction they were headed.

------

A bird glided and eventually landed on the arms of a young girl, in her early teens, standing on the rooftops of a building. It was Merla, her overall appearance had changed compared to when she first encountered Eliott. The clothes she wore were also of a higher quality and now sported a simple dress, leather shoes, and a few raven feathers in her hair.

“I’m glad that my efforts worked! It’s a bit draining…” She muttered to herself before writing in a small book.

The bird silently flapped its wings and flew into the air before it dissipated into blue particles midflight. Merla, happy with her new spell, turned to leave the area careful to not leave traces behind.

[Familiar Eyes. 1st order magic. Summons a small creature made of Source as a familiar that the caster can share their sight with. Increased range and duration drains more magical energy from the caster.]

On a familiar street, she quickly found the way to the library. Today she saw some interesting things that might interest Eliott and the new lady who she had taken to calling Aunt Thea.

They might also be interested in her new spell!

-----

Lukas was in the library once again. He was sitting on the front desk with an open book in front of him, its pages were littered with various symbols and diagrams. This was the book by Faust XX, which would help him build up the community of runemasters which would help make magical items and the like.

Unfortunately, he didn’t seem to have any talent in this regard since he’s gone over this book a few times and never got any idea on how to start. Over the few days in his spare time, he had tried to change the nature of a few things, but there was never really any significant change.

[Host, the ‘Create’ function given to you can make magic items easily at the cost of some Source reserves. The book is meant to be for a talented person in the world and is useless to the host.]

“Now you tell me…” Lukas quietly sighed.

“Tell you what?” A feminine voice asked nearby.

It was Thearessa Hart. She had made herself at home in Phyranhol and made it known to her connections that the library was meant to be untouched.

Her attainments in Source were considerably less than Merla but was talented nonetheless. She diligently studied and participated in the talks about Source with Merla and Lukas often. Thus allowing her to learn some of the simpler spells they knew and even got a simple understanding of her Source ability.

“Ah nothing, I was talking to myself. I really don’t think I’m talented with the contents of this book.” Lukas closed and lifted up the book to show her.

“Maybe you would be interested in this? It’s about enchanting, runes, and the creation of magic items,” he paused. “You could say magic items are similar to the churches’ or cult artifacts.”

Thearessa’s eyes widened and got up and took the book from his hands.

“Runes… they look magical, as you say it.” She looked at him, “can I take the book with me to study when the library is closed?”

He affirmed and she gave him a smile before walking back to her table and sitting down to open the book with relish.

As she did, a figure ran into the library threshold with a slight blur. It was Merla, she seemed to wear a new kind of dress today.

“Eliott! Aunt Thea! Hello, I saw something interesting at the outskirts of the town today while I was practicing my new spell.”

Thearessa looked up, “Oh, your spell worked?”

“Yeah, I managed to release the energy this time with the form of a bird. I was able to share its sight, but it was drained a lot of my Source the further it got away from me.” Merla talked and walked towards the table. She took out her book and opened it on the table, showing its contents to Thearessa.

“Its 1st order spell from my knowledge. It relies dependently on a person’s Source reserves.”

A blue raven suddenly appeared on the table. The eyes glowed in conjunction with Merla’s own eyes.

“Interesting concept. I think the effect would be empowered with my Source ability.” Thearessa looked over the notes and studied the raven on the table.

It didn’t seem alive, it occasionally looked around when Merla looked around.

Lukas saw all this and smiled to himself, he was glad that magic was at least accepted by such talented people. It would be worse if there was resistance towards its acceptance. Maybe there was a reason this world’s fate was so low.

He shook his head and remembered that Merla saw something, “So, what did you see out there? Anything strange?”

“Oh! Two people were atop a nearby cliff facing the town, I think it’s called Liar’s Leap by everyone in the town. But the two people fought and I found it hard to see their moves.”

Merla ended her spell to Thearessa’s disappointment.

“Then they both stopped and bowed. The last thing I saw was that they were headed to Phyranhol.”

She took on a thinking pose, “Are they dangerous?”

Lukas took this in and felt enlightened when he put Merla’s fragmented clues together.

“I believe the last two guests are about to arrive! Thearessa, do you have an idea who they are?” He clearly knew, but feigned dumbness. He inwardly congratulated himself on the improvement of his acting skills.

“The Sword of the Golden Kingdom and the Progenitor of the Dark Sun. Hopefully, they behave themselves. To be honest, Eliott I think you shouldn’t have too much trouble with them if you used some spells if they decide to get rowdy.”

Thearessa then looked at Merla who had sat down and taken the book about runes.

“Even Merla can take them down from afar with the spells she has.”

Merla looks up at her, “are you sure Aunt Thea? They looked strong.”

Thearessa had taken quite a liking to the young girl in front of her. It reminded her of her youth and frankly, wanted to teach Merla everything she knew. Eliott had a good eye for finding such a talented individual. Not to mention he was talented himself.

“As long as you don’t get close to them, I don’t think you would get hurt if they wanted to fight.”

She then looked at Eliott, then at the books on the table.

“Though I can’t wait what it would be like to talk about Source as a group. It reminds me of the scholarly exchanges I used to attend.” Her eyes seemed to glaze over as she recalled some memories.