Alnea felt an exhilarating sensation fill his entire being the moment he finished speaking, washing away all his troubles and worries. It was as if he had just completed an Oath, except, instead of sublimating his Spirit, the fragments of the broken chains of his Oath were flooding his body… and Heart. Was this how a normal breakthrough in the state of Heart felt like?

  It had been over two years since Alnea had learned about Wanderers. Two years since he began tempering his Heart. Several times less than the amount of time his peers from the Orthodoxies had spent tempering their Hearts. Yet, except for a few oddities like Yuri, he could proudly say that the state of his Heart was the best among his peers, never proving to be an obstacle on his path of advancement, no matter how quickly his Spirit Power had improved.

  However, the advancement of his Heart had never been smooth. Whether it was the time he had shed away the Mud staining his Heart, or the time he had attained Serenity, they had all been because of external stimulations forcefully bringing out the conflicts in his Heart. Only when he had expanded his Serenity from encompassing just his master to all the people he cared about, had his Heart advanced a bit more normally.

  Before he could build on that expansion though, he was forced to face Enthralled Wanderers, and learned about the ‘Way of the Strong’, forcefully advancing his Heart yet again. The countless life and death experiences he shared with Yuri and Cecilia in the Night Canyons, including taking his first human life, further advancing his Heart, could also be considered as a sort of external stimulation.

  If not for the Fortune Springs they had experienced, so many forceful advancements may have even left his Heart fragile, and prone to degradation. That was probably one of the reasons why his master brought them to the Night Canyons in the first place. And the reason why she brought them to the Lost City. In contrast to the canyons, the city was indeed much more suited to settling down, and precepting his gains. Fortunately, he had not disappointed his master…

  “Why are you smiling so much?” Cecilia said, when she saw the smirk on his face. “Are you laughing at me?”

  “…I just realised a few things,” Alnea said, shaking his head. “And no, it is not related to you.”

  “…I don’t believe you, but I will leave it at that for now,” Cecilia said, pouting at him, before turning her head away with a harumph. She still continued walking with him though, as did Yuri, looking at him with a hint of guilt and satisfaction mixed in her smile.

  “…Thank you.”

  “There is no need to use such words of gratitude between us. And like I said, I am not doing this because of you. I am doing this because I want to. Because this is my path to a Clear Heart.”

  “…Clear Heart? Are you sure?”

  “I am.”

  “…Although I should be happy for you, for some reason, I am feeling even more guilty than before.”

  “…That’s because you are a fool.”

  “You are more of a fool than me though.”

  “…I would rather be a fool than see the tears in your eyes.”

  “…You really are a fool,” Yuri said, and quickly turned her head away from him, but for a completely different reason than Cecilia. Alnea, on the other hand, smiled in satisfaction, as he led the girls back to their mansion, reaching it in just a few minutes. And if not for the episode earlier, they might have reached it even earlier. That was the reason why they had chosen a mansion so close to the Blood Hall in the first place. To make it more convenient to travel back forth between the Blood Hall and their mansion.

  Back in the mansion, everyone dispersed and went back to their own rooms to continue with their training. For the time being, that is. Unlike the time when they had just formed their team, when everyone focussed on just their personal strength, the Star Seekers had become a much more organised team, with everyone having their own responsibilities. A change that he had brought after experiencing the Lotus clan’s first ambush.

  Of course, everyone still had to focus on polishing their strength, but in addition to Wandering the Origin Sea, and expanding the means at their disposal, he also asked everyone to fulfil their own part in the team. Vestia, for instance, helped him manage the team, recording everyone’s missions and contributions, while also collecting information from all sorts of sources. Karl, on the other hand, relying on his low presence, and excellent stealth skills, went directly to all sorts of places to collect first hand information. The other Star Seekers though…

  Unlike Vestia and Karl, the other Star Seekers were not suited to collecting information. Not only because of their inexperience with such works, and lacking any related abilities that might help, but also because of their own personalities. Zain, for instance, was too flamboyant to be stealthy, while Fran and Aren were too gloomy to go unnoticed wherever they went.

  Ralph and Norren did not have such problems, but they themselves were not the kind of people who paid attention to details. And though Cecilia did have the necessary qualities to gather information, she was too impatient to stay in a place for a long time. Who knew what sort of imaginary details and factors they might add in the information they gathered?

  As for letting Yuri gather information… That would be waste of her abilities. Not to mention the danger she might get exposed to if someone recognised her. Of course, he could not just let her sit in the mansion either. The same went with the other Star Seekers. If they wished to never be pushed into a corner, they had to be prepared. They had to collect enough information. Not only of other Wanderers, but also of the desert and the places they might go. And of any potential enemies. That was how the mission system of Star Seekers was formed.

  Exploring the desert, completing specific Bood Missions to learn more about the Oren Beasts of the Black Desert, visiting different parts of the city, exploring the dynamics between the Wanderers of the city, exploiting the dynamics of the Wanderers… These were just a few of the many different kinds of missions that Yuri and Vestia came up with. Missions that could help them push the further towards their goals. And keep them safe.

  Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

  It was only natural then, that neither Alnea, nor Cecilia and Yuri were as free as they used to be half a year ago. Not that they had too much of a free even back then either. With the experiences that the three of them had been through, and the threats they were facing, they had cultivated a habit of spending most of their waking hours in training and Wandering the Origin Sea.

  After forming a team, and realising their weakness, they could only squeeze their training hours, and their resting time, to find enough time to fulfil their responsibilities. It was not just them though. The other Star Seekers were just as busy as them, if not more. Especially Vestia. And she did not even ask for any Medals. Rather, she contributed a few Medals to the team. He had to think of a way to compensate her later…

  In any case, with everyone having their own responsibilities, they could not spend all their time in their training. After tempering his Heart to stabilise his realm, and further strengthen his resolve, Alnea completed a round of the Art of Spirit Rebirth, and recovered his Spirit Power, before walking out of the room. Not long after, the other Star Seekers also walked out of their rooms, and gathered in the main hall of the mansion.

  “Since everyone is here, let’s begin our meeting. Vestia…”

  “Leave it to me,” Vestia said, flashing her dimples at him, before turning towards the rest of the Star Seekers. “A new team has risen in the Tenth Blood Hall of the Norther District, defeating quite a few of the older teams in its area.”

  “A team in the Tenth Blood Hall should not have any intersections with us,” Yuri said, shaking her head. “Is there anything special about this team?”

  “That’s where I was going… the Wanderers of this team, they are all Peak Stage Wanderers who have spent over a year in the city, gaining enough fame to earn their own nicknames. In the past, they refused to join any teams, even the ones formed by their own clans. For some reason though, they have now all banded together to create a team of their own.”

  “…Are the members of this team all from the Tenth Blood Hall, or from different parts of the Norther District?”

  “That’s the problem. They are all from the Tenth Blood Hall.”

  “Is it a coincidence, or was it all planned from the very beginning?” Alnea said, only for Vestia to shake her head.

  “I do not know. They have risen too quickly for me to gather any substantial information about them. Still, from what I know, I can confirm that they might be one of the biggest obstacles in the way of our goal.”

  “…Are there any members of the Lotus clan in this team?”

  “Not that I know of.”

  “…Karl.”

  “…I know. Give me a couple of days.”

  “Vestia, record it as a seven Star mission.”

  “Got it,” Vestia said, nodding solemnly, before continuing with her briefings. “There have been rumours of a new species of Oren Beasts in eastern section of the Black Desert. From past experiences, it could become one of the requirements in passing the Trials to enter the inner city…”

  “…Norren.”

  “I know.”

  “…A clan in the Southern District…”

  “…Lia…”

  “…A team in the Fifteenth Blood Hall…”

  “…Zain…”

  Vestia revealed all the information she had gathered in the past few days one after another, quite a few of which were related to their advancement to the inner city, while the rest were related to the Lotus clan’s movements. Except for some rumours that could affect their strength, of course. Like the rumours about the Fortune Springs, or the legacy of the Lost City.

  “…Ilrak of the Yumen clan spent seven years mastering all thirty six of the Blood Glyphs. With the help of his clan, of course. He may be one of the best Scholar of his age in the Lightning Region, but he is still not a monster capable enough of gathering all thirty six Blood Glyphs. Unfortunately for him, and for the Yumen clan, he failed in combining the thirty six Blood Glyphs, and uncovering their secret.”

  “I am not surprised,” Ralph said, shaking his head. “This is not the first time someone has tried to uncover the secret behind the Blood Glyphs, but the results have always been the same.”

  “I do not understand,” Norren said. “Why do these people still keep trying, and throwing away their future in vain?”

  “To inherit the legacy of the Lost City…”

  “Just by their virtue?” Zain said, scoffing at the thought of someone other than him uncovering the legacy of the Lost City. “Have they not seen their faces in mirrors?”

  “…We can complain about other people’s foolishness later,” Alnea said, bringing everyone’s attention back to himself. “Let’s finish our discussion first.”

  “…As I was saying, after losing all its investments over the past decade, the Yumen clan will probably try to recuperate its losses by…”

  It took some time, but their meeting finally came to end. With everyone taking on a couple of missions at the very least. Some, like Vestia and Yuri even took on four missions at once, while Alnea himself decided to take on some of the most troublesome tasks. It was for a reason that their contribution to the team was higher than others.

  Then again, it was only because the two girls were responsible, and could be trusted to do a good job that Alnea acquiesced to them taking on four missions at once, while allowing Cecilia to take on only three missions. That too, some of the simplest ones, which did not require much thinking and adaptation. After all, with her recklessness, he could not deny the possibility of her creating more troubles than solving them.

  “…Since there is nothing else to discuss now, let us call an end to this meeting. If you have any questions or doubts regarding your tasks, you can come to me or Vestia. On another note, do not forget to increase your ranking in the Arena as soon as possible. I want everyone to reach the top five thousand rank in a month’s time, and top thousand rank in three months. By then, we should also be ready to conquer the Trials, and head to the inner city… Is that clear to everyone?”

  Seeing everyone nod, Alnea nodded back with a smile, and said, “You can all disperse now. We will meet again the day after tomorrow at the same time.”

  “See you then, leader.”

  “Hey, wait for me, sneaky Karl. Goodbye, captain!”

  “…We will meet the day after tomorrow…”

  “Two days… I am going to miss you, captain…”

  “…Vestia, can you stay behind? I have a favour to ask of you.”

  “A favour?” Vestia said, staring at Alnea with wide eyes. Just like Cecilia and Yuri. And the rest of the Star Seekers who had yet to leave. “You are asking me for a favour?”

  “…I want you to do something for me. To satisfy my personal curiosity. It will not help the team. So, it can only be a favour, and not a team mission. But if you don’t want to—

  “I want to. Earning a favour from you… Only a fool would miss such a good deal.”

  “…What are you getting so excited for?” Cecilia said after finally coming to her senses, giving a stern glare to the blue robed woman, before turning back towards him with a pout. “And you too… What are you doing asking her for a favour? I don’t know what you want to do, but if you just want to satisfy your curiosity, then you can ask me or Yuri to do it for you. We won’t even ask for a favour… It will much better than letting the vixen take advantage of you.”

  “…You are not suited for this task, Lia,” Alnea said, shaking his head, before turning back to Vestia. “I want you to investigate the people of the Lotus clan who have come to the Lost City in the past six months, and give me their information. Their name, age, what Stage they are at, what branch they are from… things like that… Can you do it?”

  “…It will take some time,” Vestia said, with her brows furrowed in deep thought, before letting go of all her worries, and smiling back at him. “But it will be worth it.”