Hadrian's plan of locating himself ran into an impasse. He had made progress in finding the general location of where his main vessels might be, but they weren't allowed to pass through specific halls.

He had thought that, with the ceremony, he could perhaps use Baruch's flesh path abilities to sneak around.

With the host guards at specific turns, he couldn't. And they were mages, even if they were just rank one mages.

A loud trumpet thundered outside, bringing Baruch and Shey to a stop. It did so twice more.

"It should be starting." Shey said with her arms crossed, "We should probably go back, this was disappointing anyway."

Hadrian gave her a weak smile and nodded.

This whole thing has only made my standing with Baruch drop. From a powerful existence to one that's sneaking around.

The host guards did not waste time leading the touring mages out.

As they took a turn, Hadrian looked over Baruch's shoulder to the hallways they had not been let to pass through.

…

In that dark expanse, Hadrian's self doubt and worry only grew. Now that he was this close, it was even worse.

It's not yet over. He told himself. I still have one more thing to consider. The underlying fact is that the mystical artifact is still here.

He had decided to put this off until he found the mystical box, but now, he didn't have much of a choice.

All three of his vessels in that dark expanse took on the same look. Pinched brows and tightly pressed lips. He currently didn't care to put on an act that they were all him.

His mind raced.

From Baruch's memories of what had happened in that dungeon, it sounded like the woman had been in a hurry to take the box somewhere.

It couldn't have just been the Baron's keep, could it?

The negative effects?

He shook his head.

Yes, before, Hadrian had planned to take advantage of this. However, that was when it had only been an hour since he'd been captured, and he thought Baruch still had the chance of catching up to her.

Haldon and the old witch only made it more difficult for him, and now, it had been a whole day after and the woman and artifact were still here.

Hehe, I'm not complaining, but if the cost of using such a mystical artifact is to this extent….

Maybe I shouldn't think too hard, perhaps she is still here because she doesn't have much agency to leave yet.

Hadrian's eyes narrowed on the mystical sword floating in front of him. He licked his lips.

Perhaps, I had always had the right idea, but my vision was limited.

…

Outside, in the field, Baruch and Shey looked for their cohort among dozens.

and eventually found them.

In front of the large assembly on the dais, some figures walked out.

The first was a man with handsomely gaunt facial features and olive skin. He dressed like a military general.

The new Baron….

Hadrian made a guess.

He wasn't focused on him, though, but the pale woman who walked up the dais with him among six others. Bagdona was among the six.

Hadrian's pupils shrunk as he peered into the pale skin woman's essence sea.

She truly isn't a mage.

Hadrian wasn't really surprised, he'd already made his guesses since he'd heard her use terra sorcery.

To wield such a mystical artifact, it seems with sorcery one can still become quite strong, and the box might not be the only one.

Baruch's eyes left her and went to the New Baron.

Hm.

He was surprised and even slightly disappointed.

Only rank four. One higher than Bagdona.

Thinking about it, it made sense. Bagdona had once told him that going from rank one to two was the easiest, and that it only got more difficult with each rise in rank. Even at rank four, the general should still be considerably powerful.

It's easy for me to forget that it's different for others.

Studying the others, apart from Bagdona, there was one other rank three while the remaining four were all rank two Mages.

Eventually, his gaze returned to the woman.

Should I call her essence?

Even if he wanted to, he was still outside his range of doing that. And if he could, it would have been stupid surrounded by all these mages.

Surrounded by all these mages…..

Hadrian licked his lips.

He realized he was practically standing in a goldmine of cores. Even though he had a threshold of mage vessels to keep his sense of self, he could still take the cores and store them up in that dull white space.

Of course, they were only fantastical thoughts. It would be stupid to face all these mages.

What would not be stupid, would be the mages in the three paths tied to him. If their reaction was the same as Baruch, a fight was unnecessary.

Surprisingly, he found himself excited at the thought, even slightly maniacally.

…

In the dark expanse, Hadrian had a contemplative look.

He'd only been in the mage world for only a month, but one thing was already becoming clear to him. There were rules.

And just like Haldon had told him once, when they had captured him with the old witch for the first time, there's order to magic.

Once you know what one mage of a particular path is capable of, then you know what they're all capable of.

This should apply to mystical artifacts too.

Since he had two space path cores, he clearly knew the limitation of using the "carry" ability.

When he'd obtained the rank two sword and "carried" it for the first time, the time items could stay in that mystical artifact was reduced, because the sword outranked him.

While he was certain his current vessels didn't outrank the mystical box artifact, there was something that probably did.

The dull white space.

In that moment, he came to the realization that there was something that seemed so insignificant, something he'd done so many times it was almost as automatic as breathing, that he had not really considered it.

Entering and leaving the dull white space.

Every time he would enter that space, he would lose connection to his vessels, such that he couldn't perceive the real world through them when he was in there.

The only unique instance he could do this was through Baruch, whose core was tied with a mist string into the fog.

It was one of the reasons his control over Baruch excited him more than his other normal vessels.

It was why he'd always been cautious of when and where he chose to enter that space.

It's so simple and obvious, I had not truly thought about it.

My vessels stay connected to me, despite me not being able to perceive through them when I'm in that space, because that space keeps them connected to me.

If they stay connected to the space, and that space outranks the box, every time I'd enter, the mystical artifact struggled to contain me.

So, if I not only stay there longer, but also stimulate the space and fog….

Thinking this, he was quick to close his eyes and sink into his centre.

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.