The rest of the conversation between the pair of magi and Camp Sebastian's headmaster flowed rather smoothly. They quickly explained everything they discovered in that floor of the dungeon—the colossal chasm that seemed to have been secured tightly through the powers of a mysterious barrier, as well as the existence of the Hall of Death which was filled to the brim with lifeless malevolent hex puppets… Rodrick remained silent for most of the summary.

They also told him about the conflict between the Floor Guardian and the veiled woman who Soren had named "Shepherd of the Nameless Fold." Her ability to command the Soul Skinners was once again confirmed. Even now, as they were retelling everything, Soren still couldn't believe it. The fact that She was able to easily defeat something as horrifying as that lich was beyond sanity…

She was truly a powerful existence. One at or near the level of a Monarch. How such a being was able to hide its existence without any care for so long baffled even a seasoned explorer like Rodrick.

As for Her motives, it was hard to tell. The pair did have a theory, however. If She had awoken recently and was planning on leaving the dungeon, then it was reasonable to assume that something had to have triggered that awakening in the first place…

The Whispering Dream.

Who else but him could be responsible? From the Nameless Mist massacre in Yadria, it was reasonable to assume that he was currently in possession with the key to unlocking the chamber leading to the Avalon Ruin's dungeon core. An item steeped in mysticism which holds some kind of authority over the Nameless Mist…

That woman… Could She be after what he had stolen?

His thoughts continued to churn as he leaned back against his chair. His vibrant Soul Weapon was resting silently on the wooden desk in front of him.

After they had finished explaining everything to Rodrick, he had assigned them rooms inside the noble estate to rest in. Embracing the cold silence of his room, Soren couldn't help but sigh…

"How tiring…"

Everything about this journey was exhausting beyond belief. A part of him wanted to be lazy—to rest and not worry about the future… But he knew that was impossible. The Whispering Dream and his motives aside, there was also the unease of knowing he would die in just four more months.

There was no time to waste.

As his face was warmly lit by the light of his Soul Weapon, he gave the mental command for his new ability to activate.

[Cards of Insight]. A mysterious new ability that allows him to pass over any amount of information he has already chronicled to others. He watched silently as the pages morphed themselves into a golden plaque that hovered over the ancient tome.

Soren observed its patterns while noting down his observations:

The speed at which they form is always the same—regardless of the information stored within. 2 and a half seconds…

He then gave The Records another mental command to create more cards. Soon, an entire set of five golden plaques formed above the mysterious book. A shimmering aura swarming in their presence.

Soren nodded then raised his hand towards them, holding them tightly.

"It's been a while since I last played poker…" He chuckled to himself. With a bit of sleight of hand, he shuffled the cards swiftly then spread them across the table evenly.

"The maximum number of cards I can create at the same time is five. As for the knowledge inside them, they can only contain a single chronicled entry. Information from two or more separate genres or topics cannot be added to the same card."

Despite the limitations, Soren was very pleased. The fact that he could essentially teach anyone anything he desires without many drawbacks was extremely useful… He could, for example, use this ability to share his thoughts with his allies on the fly during battle, or even sell the cards to others who desire the knowledge… The possibilities were endless.

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However, there was one other drawback that fascinated him a lot… The mental pain the cards exhibit.

He had seen its effects directly once already—Myrin explained how it felt to have the knowledge absorbed into him. Not only was the migraine excruciatingly painful, it also caused a brief loss in senses.

Of course, Soren had already known all of this. After all, this pain was something he had personally needed to get used to… Every time he uses [Eyes of the Fairy] to absorb knowledge from the Beyond, a similar sensation takes over his body. After using it for so long, the pain had unsurprisingly became less and less crippling.

However, the same doesn't apply to others who will experience it for the first time. This, of course, gave him an idea. Perhaps in the future, he might have a use for these cards in battle…

As he pondered about its prospects, a familiar voice entered his mind once again:

"I still haven't heard a thank you…"

Hearing this, Soren couldn't help but chuckle then smile. "Alright, alright—thank you… For nothing! You damned creep—stop trying to peek into my thoughts!" He slammed his hand against the desk.

Tazzith couldn't believe His ears. He clicked His tongue then voiced his displeasure: "As expected of a fairy—none of you are ever truthful with your words."

"That's rich coming from a demon." He stood up and began to stretch. The ancient grimoire closed on its own as its flickering pages dimmed. Even the manifested [Cards of Insight] disintegrated.

Soren took off his cone hat and immediately jumped into bed—his eyes struggling to stay open. Turns out, using those cards was more draining than [Eyes of the Fairy]... He didn't know whether that was due to it being a new ability that he was not used to, or just a property of how the influence within Rune Fragments were allocated.

Seeing His contractee lazing off, Taazith couldn't help but sigh.

"That item… When are you planning on obtaining it?"

Soren pondered for a moment before answering, "Probably on the last day of our stay here. I will need to prepare after all."

"Two weeks?" He clicked His tongue. "That's too slow."

Soren rolled his eyes. "And who's fault is that? You never mentioned that the item you're requesting would be this difficult to obtain…"

Tazzith remained silent. Seeing this, Soren sighed:

"I need to prepare many things before trying to obtain it. And there's also the issue of Myrin…"

"You haven't told your elven companion yet? So much for the 'trust' you were discussing earlier." The mockery in His tone was easy to detect.

"It's not a matter of trust," Soren replied. "It's a matter of safety. The less people know about this, the better… I trust that Myrin will understand my intentions."

"Whatever~"

Soren shook his head. He then remembered something. "That veiled woman… Do you know anything about Her? You clearly understood the danger She posed—that's why you told me to focus [Eyes of the Fairy] on the Floor Guardian instead, right?"

There was a moment of silence before he heard an answer:

"The Shepherd of the Nameless Fold. Indeed, Her identity is shrouded in mystery. Aside from the fact that she once held the title of 'The Empire's Holy Maiden,' little is known about Her…

"I too was surprised when you stumbled upon Her in that hall. Like everyone else in the empire, She was assumed to have disappeared completely. For Her to still be around is certainly something to take note of… She may hold some involvement with your wretched fate."

The words hit Soren like a wooden stake piercing through his heart. All he could do was sigh.

"How exhausting…"

Tazzith chuckled, "You mean to say, how entertaining…"

Soren didn't answer back. He simply shut his eyes, awaiting the warm embrace of sleep to greet him once again. His dreams… They were plagued with the same dream of a mountain. Its presence was like a beacon in the dark, and Soren was the moth attracted to its radiance.

Though, there was one thing different this time. Its proximity…

He had drawn closer to its presence… The very rock piercing through the heavens was slowly becoming more and more visible.

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