Watching the beast's cores manifest, Hadrian heard distant thunder rumblings, which surprised him as it was not the season for it.

When they fully formed, Hadrian hesitated to accommodate them.

Having the rank two elemental path cores had affected his number of mage vessels, which he attributed to his tier, so he wondered what having another pair of rank two cores would mean.

My enemies are strong.

With a lick of his lips, he called at the essence.

I need to be as strong as I can be.

Since he had the rank one force path core, naturally, he could accommodate the rank two cores.

His muscles strained and veins bulged on his body as he felt like a mountain had been dropped on him.

Gritting his teeth, he accidentally bit his lower lip, breaking its skin.

Expected, and like always, he persevered through the effects of grasping the force path essence.

After a few minutes, the physical manifestation of the cores had vanished.

With the distant thunder rumblings dying down, Hadrian once more ascended the tall tree, carrying some rock with him.

Up on a tall branch, Hadrian sat with Alia next to him. More than the additional sense of safety, he simply loved the feel and view up here.

Swapping out the space path cores for the new force path cores, he assessed his new abilities.

From his fight with the corrupted monkey, he'd been interested in the aura of suppression.

Like he'd guessed, it was a quasi present force that made opponents in a twenty metre radius move like they had a boulder on them.

Of course, as he'd been channeling rank two essence, it had been manageable for him.

It also gave one the aura of being stronger than they actually were.

Facing other creatures it would be good, but I don't think another mage would fall for that.

He could also summon a thin barrier above his skin that slowed down in coming attacks, slowing down the force they struck with.

So, that's why my rock spears felt like they were bouncing off.

His augmentation, and augmentation of other objects, got a boost. The force of his blows, like he'd felt with the corrupted monkey, was devastating.

His physical attributes, that had already gotten a boost from the rank one force path core, got an even greater boost.

He could leap high, hold his breath for long and run faster for longer.

Even passively, his senses like sight, smell and hearing were much better than regular humans.

Actively, he could make them even more precise.

He saw better at night and could focus on distant sounds and smells.

Hadrian looked over the edge of the branch, his eyes narrowing on a specific spot.

Even from that great height, he could make out the corpse of the corrupted monkey.

His resistance to cold and heat had also improved, so did his mind and soul fortitude.

Satisfied, the rock layer beneath him rose and formed a tent, cutting off the wind and its howls.

Gently placing his hand on it, he augmented the tent.

It was still nighttime, he'd exhausted himself from the fight and had an excuse to go to sleep, but before that, he tugged at his centre, entering that space.

In the second layer, the mist twisted and shifted, taking shape of his hall projection.

The floor of it was actually made up of the rock he'd carried into this space. That way, it reduced the essence consumption he needed to sustain the projection partially.

Placing his hands on his armrests, he leaned back into his seat, also made from real stone, and summoned all the cores he'd obtained.

The highest rank cores were the death path fiend's rank three cores.

He was yet to find a beast and spawn of the death path, even if he did, there would still be the particular problem of his tier, and the maximum number of mage vessels, or cores he could accommodate at the time.

I need to learn how to raise my tier soon.

When he'd only had basic lifeforms, the rats in the sewers, the maximum number had been forty.

He had not tested the maximum number with humans, but he imagined the number reduced, as it did for ascended vessels.

Next, the rank two cores he'd accommodated rose, followed by their respective rank one cores.

His unaccommodated cores were of spawn's of the force, space and elemental paths, which were common in this region.

It's rather strange the death path fiend was where it was.

He'd gotten these from hunting the rare spawns he ran into as he made his way through Krager's wild.

There were two new rank one space path cores, one new elemental path core, and one new force path core.

Not knowing the maximum number of cores he could accommodate at his tier, and not knowing how to unaccommodate cores, he was saving a vessel spot for Haldon.

He was firm on this decision, as death seemed a quick way out for Haldon.

Moreso, if his guess was right, and his plan with the witch and box succeeded, he might bring Haldon back with full awareness.

He'd attempted merging the cores, but he failed.

However, it had seemed possible, but like he was missing a crucial piece to bring the merger to full fruition.

Now, how will I get back into the city?

As he'd seen through Baruch, the new mages had been training and being stationed at different positions.

For me?

Hadrian didn't really believe that.

But as he'd experienced moving through Krager's wild, a lot of the powerful kritas and wildlings seemed to have already been hunted.

So, the evident militarization of mages across the walls seemed rather unnecessary for an attack from corrupted creatures.

Still, the number of mages was limited, and not only were the walls massive, there were two of them.

Is this why Jasmine didn't leave?

Hadrian descended into the mist, returning into the real world.

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